On someone you love turning 40

So my best friend is turning 40. What do I say to him? You know, to cheer him up.
40 shouldn't look that bad.
It's like riding a bike, going downhill is more fun anyway.
We have made lots of memories together.
The rocking chairs at the old folks home are starting to look fun.

Maybe:
I'm so glad to be with you.
I'm so glad we didn't wait any longer to get married.
You have always been there for me.
You have been patient, kind, forgiving, and faithful all the years I've known you. At least half my life.

All your struggles affect me too. When you wish it could've been different, I do too.  When you need a change, I'm right there with you.  When you've wondered where God wants you, I'm praying that for us too. We are in this game of life together. You are not getting older by yourself, my very own dear. Not in the least.

Let's leave it all to follow our dreams. Let's climb mountains (that have cabins at the top). Let's go on long bike rides together. Let's do all the things we've always wanted to. Let's find someone to adopt the children so we can run away together. How's that song go "the children woke and couldn't find them..." Etc?   Well, maybe some dreams are irresponsible but I don't think it's too late for some them. Let's not think that way :)

Most of all, I want you to know that above all the people I know, I respect you the most, honor you the most, and love you the most. And you don't make it hard to do.

What's a blogger to do?

Going back, let's see where did this blog first come from. I remember when I first heard about what a blog was and thinking, "what a great idea--journaling online--FUN." It was in a homeschool magazine probably around 2005. Some homeschoolers had set up a way for us to "make" our own blog.  It was called homeschoolblogger and it was free :)

  

For a while I entered regularly and viewed many other blogs on this site. It seemed safe and comfortable.  I liked the feature "random blog" and when I would read someone else's blog, it felt like I was making a new friend.  Soon, though, I noticed the number of teens and Tweens utilizing the blogosphere. I'm not sure befriending teens and "peering" into their world was all that much entertaining to me, an old frumpy mother. But mothers felt it to be safe thing for their young to spend time doing. 

After a time, I moved my blog to its current address.  Life got busy, Facebook erupted, and so I seldom posted. If I remembered to post, it would take so long to format it all and make it how I liked it that I just gave up altogether. I could never read other's blog anyway, so why try.  Everyone seemed to be doing the Facebook thing anyway. 

Once I read an article about how to make a successful blog. I don't recall all the details of that article, but it did have one point that I was just tonight pondering. The article told its readers that to have a successful blog, you should have a focus-- you know, something you always talk about so readers know what you are about, how you can help them, what encouragement you can be, etc.  I realized right then why I'm not a successful blogger--I'm too random. No one wants to read random. Right?

Really I just needed to get off Facebook. Now that all my time is not focused there, maybe I can think of blog posts. That's my biggest hurdle--what do I have to offer anyway?   I can visualize blogs like different places to eat.  Some people don't like fast food, so why would they stop at a Mcds?  Some people don't have the money to eat at MichaelAngelos, so why go in there?  Some don't like coffee, so why go into a coffee shop?  However, there are times when you visit these restaurants for different reasons even if it's not regularly. 

 Blogs are similar. There are different reasons for visiting a blog.  Some people don't care about cooking, why read cooking type blogs?  However, someone might be looking for a specific recipe.  Some don't like travel, why might they subscribe to a travel blog?  Maybe it is personal like eating at home and you just want to journal your own life journey. That is going to be a blog with lots pictures if your family. Ok. Good. This just doesn't mean that's all you ever do.  I see my blog like a small café. So perhaps random is ok. There could be a time place for it. And I should stop trying to be so silly. Ummm, no that won't work either. 

Perhaps 2:45am is not the best time of day to make comparisons.