Happy Birthday to me

Today I clock over to 49 years old. I celebrated the day quietly working on my home, my truck and my finances.

My home suffered with years of neglect during my darkest depression--and it looks it. Slowly, my life, my health, and my home are being rebuilt.

For my home, I unclogged a sink that had been clogged for nearly 5 years and replaced the lens in my florescent lights. This allowed me to reclaim an area of my home that's been "out of order" since 2005/2006.

For my truck, I emptied 4 bags of garbage I'd been carting around in the bed of the truck for about that many years. It's incredibly freeing. I don't have to be ashamed every time I get into my truck anymore.

For my finances, I took the time to take a look at my annual social security statement and the savings in my 401k. The good news is that I only have $100k more to go until I'm fairly set for retirement. $10,000 per year for the next decade.

This is not the way anyone else would choose to spend their birthday. But I so wanted to start the year with a clean slate. I didn't do a "perfect" job of completing all the tasks I needed to do, but it's enough to get started.

I'm studying Ezra these days...learning about how the Jewish people were allowed to return to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity in Babylon...and they had the freedom and finances to rebuild their temple. I feel their same joy and freedom...the hope that comes with the process of rebuilding. Amen.