The Game of Life...

Do you remember playing Mitel's version of Life, the game that let you create an idea of your future by cruising around a colorful checkered boad in a plastic car? Depending on the roll of the dice and the selection of a card, you could find yourself being a doctor, with a $150,000 salary, living in a two story mansion with a husband and three kids. Or, you could wind up being an artist, with a $20,000 salary, living in a two bedroom apartment with a cat. Even in the land of make believe, competition was bred, and you wanted to be the lucky player to draw the highest salary and live in the biggest house, while filling your car with a spouse and children before crossing the finish line. Wait a mintue - this is a kid's game? Then what's life?

Here I am, twenty-seven years old, married and mother to one, and I feel like my car took an unchartered detour down a dimly lit road called reality. While some of this journey has held moments very much like some of the brightly shaded blocks labeled in that game I played as a child, most of the ride has consisted of experiences conspicuously absent from the pile of cards you could pick from within that cardboard box. I guess it wouldn't be as fun to play if disease, debt, and disappointment were thrown into the mix. But isn't that where you learn what Life is really all about?

So, as it stands now, I am an account manager, making a modestly meager salary, living in a newly purchased, century old farmhouse, with my husband Brian, our son Liam, and our Boxer puppy Tyson. Since Bri and I just celebrated our first wedding anniversary, and have only been parents for a few months, everyday seems to be a new adventure, or a comedy of errors. Want to play along? Welcome to my so called Life!