The luckiest children have parents who allow them to dream big. In our extended family we have kids who want to be astrophysicists, famous baseball players, stunt doubles, rock stars and even President of the United States. I came up with five life goals when I was about 15 and all but one have remained unchanged.
The one goal I abandoned was to be President of the United States. Politics is still one of my passions but I decided a long time ago that the job of President really wasn’t worth the aggravation. I know, I know. How selfish of me. I denied our children the privilege of meeting Derek Jeter and The Jonas Brothers. Sadly, into life a little rain must fall.
Here are the other four, in no particular order.
1 – I will never break the seal on the annual tax booklet. Now taxes can be done paperless but back in the day we all received those sealed booklets that included the forms and the instructions. When I first started working I handed the booklet and my W2 form to my dad and his wonderful accountant did my taxes. I then married an accountant and the problem was permanently solved. There was also a Plan C in that my brother married an accountant as well so if the marriage thing didn’t work out I was covered.
2. – I will speak Italian. I studied Spanish and French in high school but Italian wasn’t offered. I speak Spanish now and I can handle French enough to get by but I REALLY want to learn Italian. It is the language of my ancestors and I honestly believe it is the most beautiful language on earth. I will start working with Rosetta Stone this summer and if all goes well, I will start taking classes in the fall. Sono cosi excitatta! Auguretemi buona fortuna.
3. – I will never go camping. Despite being married to an Eagle Scout, camping is out of the question for me. The two boys love scouting and both hope to be Eagle Scouts as well some day. When the youngest was eight or nine he begged me to go on a campout with him. He is the one who can almost always convince me to do something, but this time the answer was different. In fact, I told him that I would throw myself in front of a moving bus to save his life but I don’t love anyone enough to go camping. The therapy was expensive, but he is OK now.
4. – I will play the piano. As evidenced by last week’s blog, I continue to play the piano in spite of the piano recital. Last week was the first time that I almost came to blows with my piano teacher. He was being very supportive of my recital panic and was trying to give me tips to overcome it. As a response, I was having a tantrum. I did take on one piece of advice. Instead of worrying about every note, I really tried to become one with the music. It paid off. The night before the recital I was able to play “Somewhere My Love” with no mistakes. It doesn’t matter that the version I played at the recital only resembled the actual piece. After five years of lessons, I am a pianist.
Thank you, Peter.
On a completely different note, the kitchen is essentially finished and we couldn’t be more pleased. Every single person helping us with the job is top-notch and professional. My last shout out is to King Top in where the granite was cut. Ask for Jay to help you finalize the cuts and ask for Francisco to install it. King Top may be reached at: 41 Drexel Drive, Bay Shore, NY, (631) 231 1025.