I could never...

When reading - usually a newspaper article, wedding announcement, or obituary - I often say to myself "Wow, I could never..." I never really realized it before - but there are a lot of things that I think I could "never" do.

These include (in no particular order...): living in Manhattan (I always, always think this when reading the wedding announcements in the NYT...I know it's Manhattan-centric, but every time I read that A, a lawyer, and B, a VP at a financial firm, have tied the knot and live in Manhattan...I get a little twitchy. It might be all big cities - I've only lived in one and outside of another, really, and I'm more of a small-town kind of girl - but the very idea of living in Manhattan, well, it gives me hives. And wow, this is a long parenthetical...); having 12 children (frequently seen in local obits); living one's entire life and dying in the same town in which one was born (again, a relatively frequent occurrence in the local obits); being a member of 8 bazillion social organizations; and working in the same job for one's entire life.

I don't know if these "I could never"'s are merely a reflection of who I am - and if I am becoming more and more familiar with myself and my preferences - or if I am becoming, in some ways, a snob? Is it just that I like my life, or that I don't want to consider other ways of living?

It's starting to spill over into the having children thing. The more I read about children and messes and illnesses (usually barfy illnesses, if we're being honest here) and tight schedules and interrupted sleep...the more I start to think that maybe this child-free thing isn't so bad, after all.

Either that or my mind is trying to play a trick on me.

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 In other news, we are sort-of debating becoming a two-dog family. There is a 7 yr old Beagle mix at the shelter where we adopted our fantastic puppy dog. She was brought in because her owner couldn't care for her anymore. :( We don't know why she has been there so long - but we are debating going to see her this weekend. She might just be the missing piece of our family.

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I am really, seriously considering training for a triathlon. Today I swam for 60 minutes with minimal breaks. Woo hoo! I still smell like chlorine, too, which I secretly love.