150 not out

I wish I could've said that in my cricket playing days! The best score I ever managed in a serious competitive match was 13, which sums up my batting skills pretty succinctly. At least I could bowl a little bit - my off spinners did actually spin every now and then.
My 150th post, then, something that seemed impossibly distant when I started blogging at the end of February. The irony is that I haven't really got anything significant or substantive to say. Maybe I'll just meander a bit, and see where the post goes.
My impending job move obviously leads to a longer term assessment of what I want to do and where I want to be over the next few years. The main determining factor in how long I have to stay in my new job is money. The object of the exercise is to resuscitate our ailing finances, and how long that takes self-evidently depends on two factors - how much I'm going to earn, and how much we spend. There's already a rumour about a possible school trip to Finland for my daughter's year some time in the spring, which certainly wouldn't be cheap, and that's leaving aside various things that need doing in and around the house which have consistently been put off in favour of paying the monthly bills over the last few years. Aside from anything really off the wall happening (like a winning lottery ticket), I can't see it taking less than 4 or 5 years to regain our financial equilibrium, by which time I'll be around 55. At that stage, to be honest, my main ambition is likely to be early retirement. My dad died when he was 59, less than a year after he'd retired (largely on health grounds), and I have to say I've no wish to follow in his footsteps. It would certainly be nice to be able to give up work while I've still got a bit of life left in me, and I would certainly have no problem in finding things to do to occupy my time - one of my main hassles in life is that there never seem to be enough hours in the day!
Another ambition I still harbour some hope of achieving is to write stories that others might like, perhaps even to the point of coming up with something saleable. I've written one or two things that I consider to be reasonably good, although, of late, I seem to be struggling to get past the early stages of anything new. Genuine inspiration seems to be an insurmountable problem at the moment, and, at least in my case, no amount of perspiration can replace that missing spark. I'm not despondent, though - if I've come up with good stuff before, I can do it again.
Finally, I'd like to take the opportunity of another milestone for my blog to thank all those who've taken the time and trouble to read and comment on my blog over the last 7 months. I really appreciate every one of you and the encouragement that your interest gives me.

Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B