10 years from now

Where will you be 10 years from now?

It's the year 2023.

Wow, 2023....that sounds so far away!

L will be a Junior in high school, Big A is a sophomore.  What school they will be at depends on a variety of factors and circumstances that could happen between now and then.  I would like them to be at either Loyola High School or St. Viator's High School.  This will, solely, be based on our household financials at the time.  Little A will be in his final year at St. Emily, and Jim and I will be preparing to accept the Golden Eagle award, which is given to families who have gone above and beyond the call of duty during the time their children attended the school.

We will be living in a new house, well, new to us at least.  It will have 5 bedrooms, enough for each child to have their own and for me to have an office where I can close the door and just be.  It will sit on at least an acre of land, J's dream, and will have a pool.  The basement will be newly refinished, and it will be the main "hangout" for the kids and all their friends.  The new house will also have a large front porch with oversized wooden rocking chairs, just like you see when you go to Cracker Barrel.

As for me, I will be teaching at a local University and very happy with my position.  I will be the type of professor who is firm, yet has an open door policy that students use frequently.  I will either have a private practice on the side, or I will work for the school's Counseling Center and help students through the various crises that come up during those years of adjustment and growth.  Hopefully, I will still be seeing you on a regular basis as you have decided not to retire. (Because, right now, imagining you retire would throw me in a crisis!)

J and I will be more in love than we are now, if that's possible.  We certainly will be more relaxed since our children are growing up beautifully and our money situation will have calmed.  We will be able to take vacations and weekend trip without children, which will only prove to strengthen our bond.  Our trips will include going to our neighbor's lake house in Michigan, finally getting to Outer Banks, North Carolina, and planning our big family vacation after Little A graduates to Europe.

I will be happy.  I will be content.  I will know that I have the love of a good man to guide me through the tough times, although they will be further and further apart.  I will have children who, for the most part, want to talk to me and tell me what's going on in their lives.  I will have friends, friends who come over for just a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and to chat.  They will not be high maintenance friendships, but light and easy.

I will be happy.