I had my 34th Birthday on Thursday. It was decidedly low-key. I spent the day with my Wife and Daughter. No phone calls, no random people showing up, no presents, no cake - just time with my little family.

In hind-sight, I think that was the wrong choice to make. It was really quite lonely and depressing. Julie and Basia had both caught a little bug from something they ate the day before. First Basia had gut problems in the early part of the day, then Julie at night.

All I got was a new job. I accepted a four-day position at the Emerald Grill, the Restaurant attached to the Holiday Inn downtown. Two short days at the Virginia Inn just does not bring home enough steady money to make ends meet. The new job is 32 regular hours that I can actually plan for. No bouncing schedules, no weird days off. A steady Wed, Fri, Sat & Sunday. Fridays will be the tough day, getting Basia situated over at Grandma’s before heading into work by 2:00 PM. I think it will work fine.

What have I actually done while I was 33 years old? Not much. I’ve worked. I designed a couple WP themes for this web site. I also finally planned out my two main Warhammer 40K armies. I also painted a few miniatures (less than a dozen - really). That’s about it. At this rate, I might actually finish one of my planned miniature armies before I die in 30 years.

That’s something I’ve been having dreams about again. My own death. I’ve dreamt that my own daughter, Basia, is talking to a group at a funeral. She smiles and has a short laugh, just before bursting into tears. At the very end, she says “I’ll miss you, Papa.”

I’m in the box.

I’ve had the same dream, more or less, since about a month after Julie and I found out she was pregnant with Basia. I’ve had the dream a half dozen or so times since then. Julie has suggested it may be triggered by stress. Maybe she’s right, who knows.

Dreams can sometimes be used as a way to foretell future events. I’ve had a track-record of doing just that. I knew we were going to have a daughter years before we ever really discussed having kids. I dreamt about someone who looked a hell of a lot like Julie years before I had ever met her.

Maybe I’m deluding myself. Maybe. Who knows. Human perception plays tricks on us all.