Satisfaction

Hubby mowed the lawn last night and I have to say it: it doesn’t take much to make me the happiest woman around.

When I was young I was kind of a bit on the edgy side; there were moments of wardrobe craziness, I used to dye my hair black (woo) and clomped around in army boots for awhile. I had a bunch of holes in my ears. These days that’s nothing, but back in 1992 I was pretty weird for my town. I never really imagined the way that my life would turn out. To be fair, I didn’t ever have a clear picture of where I wanted to be in 10, 15, 20 years, or what I wanted to do when I grew up. I knew what I didn’t want, but was fuzzy on the other details. I knew I liked to draw, I loved rock music and boys with long hair and animals and fashion magazines. What 16 year old kid doesn’t?

I sort of always imagined myself wearing black a lot, being really stylish, having kids, and maybe being an art dealer. Everyone in art history class wanted to be an art dealer.

Here I sit, 33 years old, in a wardrobe that’s getting progressively better-made yet more boring-looking, hair that looks vaguely like it belongs to a soccer mom, comfortable shoes (OK black Converse sneakers, but still. Heels? Not usually). I live in the country, 3 minutes from my parents, in a house that’s one year younger than I am but has aged less gracefully. I have a lovely husband, we have been together for 11 years and we had a beautiful wedding, and he is also settling into middle age comfortably (a recent quote: “I can’t understand how I’m getting so FAT with all this dog walking!” My response? “you’re 37 dear.” Was that supportive?). We have no kids, which I couldn’t predict and has thrown us for a loop, but even that is okay most days. I have a great set of European in-laws and a nephew, and my own brother has turned into a real man and found himself a heckuva nice lady too.

I live in a neighborhood filled with lovely people who are around our age and a bunch of nice dogs and cats. On Saturday, the big excitement was being invited to a neighbor’s house for game night with other neighbors. We had a blast and walked home at 11:30. I made dip. I take a pottery class also within walking distance, and my good good friend from a long time ago is moving in to the house behind me. I have what’s considered a ‘nice neighborhood’, filled with nice people.

My job is wonderful. I have a dream job. I’m not an art dealer but I’m pretty close, and I have a great health plan. I am downtown every day and sometimes I go to the Chinese grocery to buy my frozen squid and my fish sauce. Best of both worlds.

So this morning when I walked out onto the deck I took a moment to inhale. The grass is evenly clipped and fresh-smelling, and at this time of year it makes the garden POP. The tulips were covered in dew and the crocuses are still out, and the apple trees are starting to get teeny little leaves. The birds were chirping their fool heads off, and I made a mental note to fill a feeder tonight for the first hummingbird I saw in the garden on Monday. It’s my mother’s birthday today and as she is my very best friend, I left her a special treat on the kitchen counter, for her to find when she goes to walk Rosie at lunch. I look forward to joining a new doggie play group in my town after work, so Rosie will have the chance to run around and meet new dog-friends, and I remembered to leave meat out of the freezer for dinner. Work is going really well and we’re approaching a long weekend.

In the end, it takes little more than a nicely-mowed lawn to trigger the happy.