This week amid the full speed, face paced life that I live, I took a little break to reflect on a major event in my life. Amy, my wife, turned 40 on Monday. Since we are a couple who, due to my busy travel schedule, spends most of our birthdays apart, I made it a goal months ago that I would be here for this one. With Monday being the big birthday, the weekend prior proved to be valuable time to get everything ready that I needed to for this big day. I had thought ahead and already had flowers ordered to arrive on Monday and a reservation set at our favorite place for dinner, but the little things like the balloons, cards, presents and cakes were items that I didn’t quite have nailed down.
So, the weekend was spent finding these items and enjoying my quest for finding what it would take to make the birthday a special event. While running errands and driving all over town for these, I used it as a time of reflection and made sure to think about all the milestones in life that have already come and looked to ones ahead. We both still feel and act like we are so young that it is hard to imagine telling people your age and the first number you tell them starts with a 4. Yet nevertheless, it is still quite an accomplishment.
It was a great time and a good couple of days as I had no travel on Monday or Tuesday of this week and got to spend my nights and mornings at home without the frantic mindset that I am leaving town and have a large list of materials to prepare in advance of leaving. It seemed easier and more laidback for once, even though the hectic nature at work didn’t seem to slow down at all. It felt great to take a moment out of the business and day-to-day grind to get some time to enjoy this particular milestone that Amy got to enjoy.
Even with all the hustle and bustle of a life that seems to – on most days – be running 500 miles per hour, taking a small break from it was good.