Milestones and Accomplishments

Let it be known far and wide that it is the second day of January and my Christmas tree is down, back in its box and all its decorations completely put away. Well, except for the taking it down to the basement part. I know this doesn't sound like much to many of you but there are those of you out there who actually remember when my tree often didn't come down before my birthday in mid-January (as Darling Mollie once put it "It has to be up for Jesus' birthday, not yours!"), a few times not before Valentine's Day and one terrible year when I spent Palm Sunday taking down my Christmas tree.

The year I wheeled it on its rolling table into a spare room and threw a sheet over it and never took it apart doesn't count. Don't ask me why...it just doesn't.

Today I was thinking that 2007 will be the anniversary of a few events. It'll mark thirty years since my sister graduated from college and my brother from high school and then I got to thinking about what anniversaries of my own will come up in 2007.

In 1967: I started Kindergarten. I learned to ride a bicycle.

In 1977: I French kissed for the first time. I learned to drive a car. I got really, really drunk for the first time. Two of those events are connected - I'll leave it up to you to guess which two.

In 1987: I bought my first house.

1997: I moved to Germany.

I'd like to think that I move up in events every ten years. I hope that mean that in ten years I won't be celebrating the anniversary of when I got my Christmas tree down in a timely fashion.