Thirteen Going on Thirty

I'm back from my birthday travels! It was a great trip with my family, but now I'm exhausted, and I have a sunburn on my scalp. (That's always a delight, especially when it starts to peel.)

I'm hoping to start down new, more positive paths in this next decade of my life. While I was away, I decided it was time to shake off my case of nerves concerning my dealings with my insurance guy. I emailed him today to thank him for his concern (regarding my finance issues) but tell him that I'm still canceling the policy. I didn't want to be nasty to him, but I wanted to be firm. I think I accomplished that goal. If I end up finding another lucrative, permanent job, I will pursue other investment vehicles anyway (possibly through another agent, since I'm still a little huffy with this fellow for not immediately bringing up this issue when I got laid off).

I'm also hoping to cauterize my Goose-related wounds. No one will be surprised to hear that he did not acknowledge my birthday at all. After I knit him a beautiful scarf for his birthday, he didn't even write "happy birthday" on my Facebook wall, a feat performed by many people I barely know and rarely speak to. Unacceptable. Unacceptable. No more.

So, at this point, I'm still trying to get unpacked from my trip and get photos together to send back to local people we met who agreed to be in photos with us and who I promised to send copies of the photos to. I'm also trying to wash volcano dust out of the handbag I took on the trip, which is a new one for me, and find places to display all the treasures I brought home with me.

I decided the tone for my next decade was set by a little episode that occurred on my birthday. When my family and I were descending from our hike to the top of the volcano, we ran into some American tourists who had run out of batteries in their camera. This is a major bummer for many obvious reasons, not least of which is the fact that we were in one of the few countries in the world that allows tourists to monkey around atop active volcanoes. I had spare batteries in my voluminous handbag and was able to save their day by giving them some. They were incredibly appreciative. The good karma from that act should start me off in the right direction.