XYZ and the end of the road

I'm feeling the end for so many reasons this week.  Part of me is relieved and the other is sad.

Relieved because there's nothing like coming to the end of something and saying, "YES! Take that!!!"  The other emotion is, "Great. What's next?"

I've been in school for the last...*mumbles incoherently* years and I'm finally seeing the end of the light. Yet during that time I've also written half a dozen books, raised seven children, put my husband through his own schooling, kept my house in order (mostly) and served in my community. How did I do it?

Balance, baby.

Yet all good things must come to an end. We must have goals. We must have dreams. We must have closure. Like the alphabet game. Ever go on a road trip before tv's and dvd players? Then you most likely played the alphabet game.  "A!" someone yells and points to a sign, while a chorus of A's shout round about you.  The next goal was finding a B, then a C and so on. The hardest was always the X, Y, Z and right there at the end when you were all tuckered out.  You wanted to be done. You wanted to win. You wanted to go to the bathroom, but Dad wasn't pulling over for the umpteenth time!

The key was always Las Vegas. Really? Uh, yeah actually. As kids it meant we were near Zzyzx Road. Yes, like in the movie. Although I'd never heard of it until looking for today's image. Looks creepy (the movie, not the image), and nothing like the welcome sign that it always was to us; signaling the end of a very long game. It meant the chance to move on to something new. Something exciting. A bathroom! Awwww, come on Dad.

Kind of like publishing a book.  Or writing a month's worth of blogs while going to school. Finishing school! (almost there...almost there) You're happy to have finished the game, but you're ready to begin the adventure anew. Like the writer's conference I'm attending at the end of the month. :)

So next week I'll be back with more, because my brain is full of all sorts of things.  Mostly good. Muwah ah ah. I've enjoyed the ride, playing the alphabet game, and hope you'll come along for the next one I take. Because, baby...

You ain't seen nothing yet.