Well, here I am. Approximately 946,728,000 seconds ago I made my first appearance on the Earth and since then it’s been a constant war between it and me to see what I can accomplish and what I allow to happen to myself. I never expected to be where I am, but if there’s one thing that life has taught me, don’t expect anything — it’ll surprise you at every turn.

A lot of people have asked me (as they tend to do) if I have qualms about passing this milestone. In general, I don’t. I realize the aging process isn’t an instantaneous thing, but a linear progression that happens with ever nanosecond of my life. I am not instantly 30, I’m always in the process of aging to 30. And at the same time, I’m in the process of aging to 80. So I tend to not get my feathers ruffled about attaining such a marker in my existence because it is only one of a billion other delimiters — people just tend to notice the nice, round ones.

That being said, the other day I had a few hours of extreme depression wash over me, mostly from my mind considering where I am in life and being a bit disappointed at some things. By now, I had really planned on being more financially secure, in a much better job, and in general being more successful. Some of this has to do with chance; some of it is my own doing (or lack thereof). I sometimes wonder how many mistakes and bad decisions I’ve made that not even I recognize. I’m sure there’s a million.

However, I am also at the same time extremely blessed with a great many things, and I don’t want any of that to be diminished by my short spurt of wistfulness. I have a good house, a decent job, a wonderful wife, and my first child on the way. I could be in a far worse situation and I’m thankful that I’m not.

Since people like to see some evaluation of time, and you all like round numbers, here’s some stats from the past 10 years and what I’ve done and accomplished. This is by no means comprehensive, and by no means perfectly accurate — there’s two things you lose with age, the first is your memory and the second…uh…what was the question?

• I dated 8 women, kissed 6 of them, was intimate with 4 of them, fell in love with 2 of them, and married 1 of them. (does that make me sound like a manwhore?)
• I married my wife, Yolanda, twice — February 28th, 2004 and December 18th, 2004
• I managed to help conceive three children, lost two, and one is making his/her way to becoming our first child.
• I worked nine different jobs, 8 part-time and one full-time, as a groundskeeper, construction worker, webmaster, helpdesk support, computer programmer, and system administrator.
• I lived in 7 different locations — 3 dorm rooms at Luther College, 1 parent’s house, 1 apartment, 1 rental house, and 1 house that I bought.
• I had five different pets, only one of which is alive today — 2 anole lizards, 1 dwarf Russian hamster, one turtle, and one cat.
• I vastly revised my religion and belief system from that of a staunch, conservative Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) Christian to that of a custom, mostly liberal I-don’t-know-what.
• I would like to say I changed drastically physically, but I can only state that I’ve only probably added about 40 pounds to my frame. I have had three serious bouts of dieting and exercise.
• I traveled once to the East Coast, twice to the South, twice to Australia, and numerous times around the Midwest.
• I have flown on 21 flights and been to 11 airports. I have been on three charter buses and no trains.
• I’ve owned four cars — a 1984 Buick Century Ltd, a 1996 Dodge Intrepid, a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS, and a 2007 Mitsubishi Galant Ralliart.
• My main home workstation has gone through 5 major upgrades and numerous small upgrades, but has retained the name “Simon” the entire time. I started on a 75mHz processor with 32MB of RAM and a 2GB hard drive.
• I have been in 8 weddings (I think) and attended many others.
• I’ve had stitches and staples in my head once, but no other major health issues.
• I have been in one accident, hit two deer, had a car towed twice, and had one flat tire.
• I have had 7 phone numbers, exactly one cellphone, and three major email addresses.
• I have participated in six different musical groups – choral, barbershop, and concert band.
• I played naked soccer 8 times and streaked 3 times. I have yet to skinny dip.
• I’ve had four roommates if you count my wife.
• Including this post, I have made 162 blog postings.
• I have made more friends than I can possibly count.
• The number of hugs I’ve given and received over the years would astound even me. And that’s a good thing.

Here we go into the next 10 years. I hope you come along with me.