Thursday three has arrived

And I am finally woken from my blog-slumber to respond:

1) Name three events that occurred in your life that you look back on occasionally and wonder how things might have turned out if you had done something different.

One I can think of right away was the choice of grad schools. I don't look back as if it was a life-altering experience, I simply wonder what might have been had I picked up and moved to either Boston (technically Waltham) or Baltimore, as I had the chance to do at Brandeis or Johns Hopkins. Different friends, possibly different relationships. (Come to think about it, I didn't have any romantic relationships at all, so anything would have been a change.) I'm happier where I am, but there's always what might have been.

A second might be my choice to attempt a career as an engineer. I spent a year at an engineering school under the mistaken impression that I wanted a science career. My dad thought I'd be better off in a liberal arts school, which is in fact where I ended up, but I suspect I would have wondered for the rest of my life if I could have done it had I not tried. I'm glad I did, even if my dad had a point.

There's a couple of girls in my past, neither of whom I dated, that I still sometimes wonder about. One is a vague memory from second grade that I had 7 year old hots for, and the other is one from later who remains a friend. I did ask her, but she turned me down. Probably rightly so, but I still wonder sometimes.

2) If you could have lived in another time, what would it be? One stipulation--you have to be pretty much what you are right now--no going back in time and being Alexander the Great, no being Einstein or Moses or Casanova. If you’re a teacher, you’ll still be a teacher; a doctor, still a doctor; a car mechanic--well figure that one out on your own. You wouldn’t know the future, either--so no going back and betting on horse races and stuff. You would just be you, only in another time and place.

Hmmm. Hard to say when I'd want to go to, though I've developed a fondness for the Napoleonic Era. Archivist to Hammurabi?

3) What one aspect of your life, such as your family, job, social life, spiritual life, creative ability, etc., do you find most rewarding?

I suppose I should join the parade and say my kids, but rewarding may not be the right term for it yet. It's hard work, and I sometimes have a problem seeing the rewarding part of it. Though when I see them absorbing lessons (as when oldest voluntarily shared her loot from a treasure hunt with friends & sibling) it's easier to feel the reward. Personal fulfillment often comes to me from cooking, of all things. It's my one creative effort, and I like being able to eat the results.