Where do you want to be?

I remember someone asking me, where I saw myself at when I was in my 50's or 60's. Now I consider that question to rank up there with that horrible interview question of "Where do you see yourself professionally in 5 years?" What if I had responded that I saw myself in jail for embezzling money or maybe I think I might be dead in 5 years? I don't like that question. I really try to live for TODAY. And let me just say that living for today can be hard if you are like me and never know what day it is! That's why I wear a digital watch that reminds me of the time, the date and the day! There was no mistake made when I got this watch!
I asked Pete the other day where he thought he might be when he got to be in his 50's or 60's...well considering that Pete is 47, I guess that 50 isn't such a far shot from here. But he gave me the kind of response that I gave.....I DUNNO....
The person that asked me this question accused me of being completely unromantic! Why hadn't I been able to project my wants and desires forward 30 or 40 years? Well, the thing is this....I really don't have a clue how each day is going to go or each week or each month and I never know from year to year! Supposedly 2008 was supposed to be like a new beginning...in some ways it has been. But really, I've had a kidney stone this year, two stomach viruses, I've been hospitalized for my heart and gone to the ER a couple of times. I had cardiac ablation last month......so I don't know! I just hope I survive until the end of the year without having to accumulate more doctors bills! Where does the romance figure into that??
Anyway, where would I like to see myself? I would like to think I could retire in my 60's. Pete will have been retired for several years at this point. The girls will be in their near 30's then. Maybe I'll have married daughters, perhaps with grandchildren. Maybe I will have a retirement then.....a 401k instead of a 201k that we seem to be sporting right now with our economy (I cant take credit for that joke either...I just thought it was a good one!).
I would like to think that at 60ish, I might be able to work in my garden. Maybe Ill take up painting or writing. Hopefully I wont be all stove up and gnarled up from arthritis (from blogging too much). Perhaps Ill like to travel. I really want to make a trip up the East Coast of this great USA! I want to go out West and see the Grand Canyon and see those huge trees that you can drive a car through.
I suppose that when I'm in my 60's, Ill drive my children crazy just like my mom drives me crazy. I did mention to one of her coworkers recently that my purpose in life was to make my mom crazy and visa verse. I think we are doing a good job! :) We are real professionals..especially my mom!
I hope I'm not an ole cranky person when I get up in age. Some of the people in my family get crotchety as they get older. My Grandad got real stingy with things like toilet paper and water as he got older. He never wanted you to waste paper or flush the toilet too much. And PLEASE don't leave a light on! Older people love to live in the dark...Pete's already that way! I have terrible night vision...I like turning on lights.
But back to being cranky.....I hope I don't have horrible hot flashes. I hear those things can continue on into your 80's. That's just wrong. We pay our dues all through life...can't we just catch a break...that Eve...why? WHY? why? And what about hormonal imbalance. Men can joke about this all they want. This is a miserable feeling. Our hormones effect everything....body temp, body weight, metabolism, bone density, urination...the list goes on. And not all of those hormones originate in our ovaries...there is the thyroid gland, the pituitary gland.....Lest you forget men, you too have hormones in YOUR body....not just in the nether region....you too have a thyroid. You too have a pituitary. You too act like you have ovaries sometimes too......I'm just saying.....
Anyway, I still don't know where I want to be when I'm 60. I just hope that I don't out live my own children. I really hope that I still have Pete. I hope that my parents are hanging in with good (enough) health. I hope that my brother and I will see each other more than once a year (that could be a stretch). I hope that I have good (enough) health. I pray that we all make good life choices and that no one ends up in jail or on America's Most Wanted. Other than that....I'm good just taking it all one day at a time......What is today anyway?