Thoughts on life...

"People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost." -H. Jackson Browne

I read this quote today on True Mom Confessions. If you ever feel like you're having one of "those" days, go log on to that site. You'll laugh, you'll be appalled, you'll thank your lucky stars that things really aren't as bad as they could be. You'll also learn that most other kids are just as crazy as your own.

It's a very fitting quote for me today, as I sit here and wonder how I got to this place in my life. I'm a college educated woman, who had big dreams of taking the medical world by storm. And then I got hit by the love bug, and life changed, and situations occurred, and it became that I would put my career on hold to raise my children. If you'd have told me 10 years ago that I'd be a stay at home parent, I would have laughed in your face. And then I'd have to apologize to you today, and pay you the $20 I bet you that you'd eat your words.

It was one of the best choices I've ever made. It isn't a job for everyone (hell, some days it isn't the job for me!), but I'm fortunate to have the means to do it. It is a privilege to watch my kids grow up before my eyes. Every step, every word, every thing...I have been here to see. Making this choice meant that I would give up a part of myself...a part that I really loved. But it wasn't good bye, it was "see you later."

It's taken a while, but I have fully accepted that this is my life now. I made the right choice. Someday my road will fork again, and perhaps that day I'll choose to get back on the path I started on. But for now, I'm having a great time paving new roads--and memories--with my kids. I don't feel lost at all...I feel like I've finally found my place.