Blog birthday

Today's the third anniversary of this blog and the first time I've remembered it! Happy three years, Green Grass.

I don't remember what inspired me to start a blog, but I'm glad I did. At times I've been great about keeping it updated, even writing more than once a day occasionally, and other times I've been slack, but I've rarely gone more than about a week without a post. It's turned into a great record of life in the past three years, although there are some pretty major happenings that never got blogged about, and about 10 million mundane ones that did.

Three years ago, Mom was still recovering from her March 3, 2007, liver transplant. Her immune system fought the new liver hard, and Dad, Amanda and I spent weeks alternating days and nights with her at the Chapel Hill hospital so she was never alone. It was several months before I could breathe easy about the outcome of her transplant.

Today, she has more energy than she had for years before the transplant, she doesn't drink a nasty concoction five times a day to keep her liver hobbling along, and there's no trace of yellow in her skin. She and Dad are both retired and though they have no trouble filling their days, there's nothing they like better than getting down on the floor to play with Claire and Bri.

Three years ago, I was in the middle of the busiest year I probably will ever have in real estate. The market was hot, leads seemed to fall into my lap, and I made more money every month than I made all last year. But my phone never stopped ringing -- never -- not at night, not on weekends, not on holidays. I couldn't enjoy having a cup of coffee with a friend because I couldn't stop thinking about everything I had to get done. My "social life" consisted of Chamber of Commerce breakfasts, Realtor luncheons and Business After Hours.

Today, I almost never go into the office. I have a closing on Thursday, and it will be my first one in four months. If I could just sell my own house, it would be a major accomplishment. I work with family, friends and past clients -- no newbies, no lookie lous. I made more money last year freelance editing and writing -- from home, on my own schedule -- than I did from selling real estate. I'm not saying it will be like this forever, but for now, I like this balance.

Three years ago, we knew it was time to start thinking about babies, though it would be awhile before we actively starting trying for them. Today, I spend most of my waking hours with our sweet 9-month-old, helping her "walk" and pretending to understand her endless, lovely babbling. This morning I saw the baby in my belly wave his or her arms on an ultrasound. I really feel like Matt and I consciously made the most of our years without kids, and now I want to make the most of this phase of life.

There's so much more ... Three years ago, Amanda and Stephen had just moved back to Moore County and Matt and I were living on Raleigh Drive. His car was the Explo' and mine was the Ac. We were ambivalent about our church and unconvinced that there was value in small groups. I was on MySpace but not Facebook. The Southern Pines library let us borrow their books. I had not discovered Spanx, Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day, Rite Aid rebates or Anne Lamott. I could go on and on.

Three years from now, who knows what life will look like? I'm glad we only get the day-by-day view going forward. I like suspense.