Vincent

Vincent Van Gogh was a master painter.  Many of his paintings are iconic and instantly recognizable.  Everyone thinks he was a mad genius.  Well, he did cut off his ear for unrequited love so you can see how he got that reputation.
Other than that, the general public doesn't know much about Vincent.
I learned today that a study done in Holland showed that Vincent wasn't quite as mad as we may have thought.  Apparently he was meticulous in his work.  He even used lines to help him get the perspective right which they can detect with some machine now.
Also, he might not have used the actual colors we see because the red paint from that era lost it's pigment leaving blue behind when it was originally purple.  Luckily, he did use blue paint for Starry Night so no worries there.
I learned some about Vincent years ago when I saw Leonard Nimoy in a one man play about his brother, Theo, the not mad one.  He was solid as a rock and loved his brother like crazy and took as good of care of him as Vincent would let him.
Artists then were literally starving and would sacrifice food even from their own children to buy paint.  So apparently, Vincent wasn't the only mad one.  Just the most obvious about it.  Monet's family almost starved and lived on the graciousness of others many times.  But Vincent had Theo.
I learned a little about Vincent from Dr. Who too.  That was the Vincent I liked best.  Passionate and a little raving but so sweet.  That's who I think of when I think of Vincent.  I think he deserves it.  After all, he did give us Starry Night.

Oh, Deer

There are a ton of deers around our house.  They are a herd.  I think there are about twelve of them at least.  The dirty dozen is what I call them.
Listen, I used to think deer were beautiful and gentle creatures.  Then they came to live with me.  First, they ate all the landscaping I bought the first year we lived here.  Then, they started on all the landscaping in sight.  They ate all the ground cover in our back yard so that what used to look like a beautiful park area now looks like a dead zone.
They even eat plants that they aren't supposed to like.  They even at rose bushes, thorns and all.
SO, I hate them.  They are pushy and arrogant.  A couple of nights ago there were two of them standing in our backyard staring at us while we ate dinner.  It was very disconcerting.  I pulled the shades.
One morning, last spring, I pulled up a shade first thing in the morning and the darn thing was standing right there staring at me.  I jumped about a foot.  It didn't run away or anything.
In some places(not here thank goodness) the deer get so aggressive they try to jump on kids at their bus stops.  Sometimes they are standing in your yard like they are your pet or something.  They run out in front of cars and don't look both ways before crossing.
I cried when Bambi's mother died...............not any more.

Mes Amis ( My Friends)

Welcome to Mon Ami, mes amis!  We had a wonderful day at the winery in Port Clinton, Ohio.  It is a venerable old place.  It's been there since the 1870's.  It has not one basement but three.  When I was a young girl, I thought it was the most posh place on this Earth and believe me, I was not far from wrong.
We had a fun tasting with a friendly bar keep. She was talkative and knowledgeable.
We fell in love with the Walleye White but then we had their Spumante and we were hooked.  Not too sweet as some are.  Just right for our palettes.
We were with our good friends, my WP and her husband and my DH's childhood friend and his wife.  Everybody liked a different wine but that's ok.  When we all found our favorite, it was off to the dining room for lunch.
Well, the food was excellent.  I had the crab cakes and fried spinach.  The crab cakes were delish and the fried spinach was melt in you mouth after the initial crunch.  Very interesting(and loaded with potassium!!)
Everyone loved their lunch and then it was time to say goodbye to the childhood friend and his wife and head to Avon Lake where we met WP's daughters and brother with his girlfriend.  The first winery was Klingshirn.  It was a rustic little place and very crowded even just by us and a couple others.
The wine was ok but not for me. I was too spoiled by my Spumante.
So we packed in the cars and headed to John Christ winery just down the road.  Now this place was really enchanting starting with the young owner who reminded me of Dr. Patrick Drake from General Hospital.  He was sweet and helpful and cute.  We found a Riesling we liked, got a couple of cheese trays and went out on their screened in porch.  Did I mention how cute the owner was?  Well, he was.
The very cute owner thought we were from a bus at first and told us no buses.  WP's husband asked him if a mini van was OK and the very cute owner laughed and said of course.  We were really in three cars but you know what he meant.  The eight of us had a fun talk and then we all headed to dinner.
It's a nice thing, having friends.  Sometimes they are your age, sometimes much younger and sometimes they are new.  It's important to have them...even if you only have a few.  Oh, yes and did I mention how cute the owner of the last winery was?

What's Up Doc? II

Sorry, I just can't help myself.  You know that movie I told you about yesterday?  Well, I went back to it and couldn't believe what I was seeing.
The young doctor was flirting with his patient whose life he saved, of course. Precise work, remember?  She said she thought she could walk and she stumbled across the room and then stood there for a moment of dialogue and she sauntered back to her chair like she had never had a problem.
The young doctor told her to get back in bed and she refused(the little minx) and he swooped her up and put her in the hospital bed himself.  They proceeded to kiss--a lot.  Of course someone caught them and she pipes up with it's OK, we're engaged.  He looks stunned, the other person leaves and she says, OK?  And he says OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What man on Earth ever did that, I'd like to know?  Oh, old Hollywood how you led us on.
Anyway, they marry,  It's a disaster.  They fight.  She leaves in a huff after he tells her off but good and voila!  she's in a car wreck and has a disfigured face.  Three guesses.  She wants him to stay and, feeling ridden with guilt, he says OK.
Weeks later, she removes the bandages and she doesn't even have a scar.  Just the day before she wouldn't let her husband look at it and she insisted the drapes be drawn since she woke up in the hospital.  But, she's fine.
Just one thing after another for that couple! He tells her that she's back to normal so he is going back to the hospital and the girl he really loves and she says OK.
Do you wonder why I grew up with a warped sense of romance?  Each one of these scenarios is laughable in itself but the hits just kept on coming, one after the other until the end when he reunites with his true love(who happened to be Tarzan's wife) and guess what, he doesn't even kiss her!!  OK!
P.S.  Just want to say these movies were old in my youth too.  Just in case you were wondering.

What's Up, Doc?

I just watched the first twelve minutes of a movie from 1937 about Emergency Room doctors....at General Hospital!!  But the name of the hospital is not the subject of this post.
The young doctor who was an intern worked the emergency room and made twenty dollars a month plus room and board and, as the receptionist was happy to point out to him, free laundry.
Yes, twenty bucks.
Then his colleague who pulls out a bottle of booze from his medical bag and has a snort, asks this young doctor to go on the next emergency call because he was too tired(or possibly drunk).
This young doctor goes-yes, I said goes, to the site of the emergency, climbs this impossibly high ladder and opens the medical bag and oops! he took the one with the booze in it.  No worries, he had the patient drink it up and then he proceeded to amputate his arm.  His supervising doctor told him it was the best job he ever saw.  So precise.  Yes, really, he said precise.
The patient's wife was so grateful to this young doctor that she kissed his hands.  Oh, yes, I'm guessing that was before she was presented with the bill.
It got me thinking about the last time I went to the doctor.  It was for my annual physical and she gave me all of five minutes.  Imagine kissing her hands.  Not in this lifetime.
Just think of the money that doctors make now.  It is mind boggling and even struggling interns probably make more than twenty dollars a month but I'm not sure about the free laundry thing.
I guess I'm saying I'd like to see a doctor climb a ladder and cover an emergency for his colleague.  If I'm ever in that situation, I hope he brings the bag with the booze in it!

Stalked II

Oh, yes, I am dieting again.  Oh, sorry, I'm making a lifestyle change.  You know that's what they say now.  But who am I kidding?  I'm on a diet....again,
I really don't mind.  I love veggies and fruit for the most part--let's not get into brussel sprouts.  I can give up sweets pretty easily.  It isn't such a hardship really.
I only need to lose about 15 pounds.  That doesn't sound like much especially when you consider what people have to lose on the Biggest Loser but man, it is hard.
Those pounds just don't want to budge.
Also my jaw is getting tired.  I have chomped my way through so many carrots and celery sticks, that I have lost count.  I've also been eating a lot of bird seed.  Most people call it Quinuoa.  It looks like what you put into a bird feeder though.  It tastes fine but it makes me laugh every time I eat it.
Also, on this life style change(see I'm catching on) I eat like five times a day.  So it seems like I'm always cooking.  DH and I figured out why I am sick of cooking dinner--I have to make a "fancy" lunch every day instead of just slapping together a sandwich and by the time dinner time rolls around, I am completely uninspired.
Good thing pizza is on the lifestyle change.  No, really it is.  Not a whole one or anything like that.  Just a couple slices.  Mmmmm. I'm getting hungry.
I hope I will be able to write a blog entry somewhere down the road(like in 12 weeks) and write about how successful and thin I am.  Keep your fingers crossed and I'll keep cutting up that celery!

Stalked!!

OMG!  I can not go on to my home page without that grumpy old guy who thinks you need to buy a house or insurance or something showing up.  Every day, every time I open the darn page.
And now he turned up on Facebook.  That's right.  There is no escaping him.  I tried to capture his picture to post here but it didn't work.  You know how they have pictures of the most wanted?  He is the least wanted.
To make matters worse, now he's sending his brother.  Another grumpy old man but I don't think he has any teeth.  I tried to capture him too but it kept turning the cursor into a pencil so I would sign up for something.  Probably hawking the same thing as his brother.
I don't want old men showing up on my computer screen uninvited. It's just....well, icky.
I think it's safe to bet that nobody wants those two showing up on their screen, not even grumpy old women.
If I was ever going to click on one of those ads(and I never am no matter what I swear on a stack of Bibles) it would never be one with a creepy old guy.  They should opt for some good looking old guy--like Sean Connery--yeah, he would work.  Then lots of grumpy old ladies would open it for sure.
But not me.  I never am going to click on an ad on my computer screen no matter what, no way, no how.....wait a minute, did I say Sean Connery?  Hmmmmm.

Trek Star

I haven't been on an outdoor hike in quite some time.  We used to go regularly on the weekends but with winter and all it's been a while.  DH loves to go and asked me to go on Saturday but it was too cold but on Sunday, the temperature was warmer and the sun was shining so I said sure.
The hiking trail we follow is about 1.5 miles and takes us around a half an hour.  Usually when I am done, I feel exhilarated. Yesterday, I felt like I climbed this:

Our path starts out on a pretty steep incline and my poor old legs were not happy to make its acquaintance again.  Plus my asthma(not a bad case, very mild) decided to rear its ugly head so I was kind of gasping for breath by the time we got to the top as my legs screamed "What in the H are you doing to us?" 
Once things leveled out a bit I could go on with few problems except when I slipped on a mossy rock and when I missed the next rock completely and almost fell and when I tripped on a tree limb and when I got slapped with a branch.  Otherwise, I was perfect.  A hiking princess.
OK, not exactly a hiking princess but at least I made it without doing myself harm. That's something, right?

My Favorite Book

When I still taught kindergarten, I would read a book to my class every day.  Every day I would tell them the title and I would say, "This is my favorite book!"  They always said after about 20 titles or so, "You say that every day!"
They were right but so was I.  On that day, it was my favorite book.  Who could choose just one in all the great children's stories there are?  I loved Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Millions of Cats, Brown Bear, Brown Bear and hundreds of others equally.
As an adult I've read thousands of books.  I like series but only if they keep the story going at the same level.  I hate series where the first book is great, the second is good and by the third you are ready to scream because it is so trite or boring or juvenile.  It happens more often than you would think.
I love a good love story too.  If you read too many of those then you just get sick of them too.  You know the very successful female gets cheated, returns home to lick her wounds, and TA DA!  there is her old sweetheart or lover that she "hates" and by the end of the book they get married or are going to.
Fantasy books have caught my interest lately.  I read The Night Circus and loved it even though I barely understood parts of it.  I read the Eragon series.  I read Game of Thrones.  Funny thing about Game of Thrones, if I had seen it in the library I probably wouldn't have read it because it is about a million pages long but I downloaded it to my Kindle so I was blissfully ignorant and away I went and I'm glad I did.

Our book club read Little Women, a book I would have said I loved at one time.  First of all, it came in two parts.  Say what???  It was didactic and boring.  Apparently there is a children's version (in one part) and that is what I read all those many years ago. Great editing, whoever did the job.
I could go on and on about books but I think you get the idea.  Pick up a book.  Who knows it might be your favorite.

Curves

I wish I had curves.  Look at Jessica Rabbit up there.  Now those are curves.  As I said, I have none.  Don't believe me?  I got measured on Wednesday.  41-41-411/2, I swear.
Needless to say I wasn't very happy about it.  I mean remember that song, She's A Brick House?  Well I'm the real thing-straight up and down and solid as a rock.
So, I go to Curves.  I go five days a week with my workout partner.(Hence, will be known as WP).  I work hard and so does she.  We sweat while other ladies just...well, they don't.
I should have the sculpted body of a goddess but I don't.  And you know what?  I still don't have curves of my own. Now, don't get me wrong.  I look fine.  I have to be careful what I wear but I can find stuff that fits.  Pants are the worst.  When I find something that fits--I buy 'em.  I'm a size 8 bottom with a size 14 waist.  As you can see from my measurements I have no hips and my butt has disappeared.  I call it the flattest butt in America.
So as WP works on her curves( and man, she is getting them) I struggle along hoping that one day, I'll be 41- 38- 41!!!

All You Need Is Love

According to something I read on Facebook, the Beatles used the word love 614 times in their songs.  Ironic, isn't it? Considering the giant rift and all the anger between John and Paul when they finally broke up.  Anyway, I digress.
Love happens to be the most important thing in the world.  We just don't survive without it.  It could be romantic love but it doesn't have to be.  The love from your family or a best friend or even a pet is just as important.  You even need to love yourself.
For me, loving myself is difficult.  It seems so impolite somehow.  We were raised not to show off or think to highly of oneself.  Any flaws I had were handily pointed out and I took that and ran with it.  I can be self deprecating like a pro.
I am still working on it.  When there is something that asks what you like about yourself, I really have to spend time thinking about it.
Romantic love gave me a hard time too.  Too many Cary Grant movies and happily ever after stories or stories where when the man leaves, there is another one waiting breathlessly in the wings.  Guess what I found out?  Not true, at least not for me.
I thought a man had to sweep you off your feet and say glorious things to you and buy you fancy gifts and wine and dine you.  I found out that a man who sticks by you and helps you raise your family and holds your hand when you cross the street, that's THE guy.
My DH doesn't have flowery words or grand gestures.  Sometimes he even falls asleep right in front of me in the evening while we watch a show.  But, he always compliments dinner(even if it is a flop), holds my hand in public, cleans up after dinner because I cooked, irons his own clothes and hasn't strangled me yet for sleeping for the last thirteen years while he slogs off to work!  He supports my decisions and gets my sense of humor.
Now, that's love and it's all I need.

I'm Shy

If you know me, you are probably laughing your ass off now.  How in the world could I say I am shy?
In my professional life, I was always outgoing and opinionated and made new friends easily.  I got along well with my colleagues and parents for the most part because nobody can get along with everybody.  I was a speaker to parent and teacher groups.  I had confidence and pride in my work.  Shy would be the last word you would think of when you thought of me.
However, on a social plane I am the complete opposite.  I have a really hard time meeting new people.  I don't know what to say after hello and nice to meet you.  My brain freezes up and I feel like anything I say is going to be stupid.
DH is the same way.  You'd never believe it of him either because he is big and has a booming voice and commands attention because of his size.  Ask him to meet someone new and he just doesn't know what to do either.
Now give us a little glass of wine or other spirits and we are less shy but still feel nervous and it's really not a good idea to drink before you meet new people.  It's not a good idea to drink before you have to hang out with someone you don't really like either but that's another story.
When our kids were little, they did not suffer from this malady.  So, excellent parents, that we were, we would push them into the room of strangers and follow behind them saying we're their parents and smiling a lot.  My kids could talk to anyone.  They were friendly and outgoing, smart and cute as buttons.  It worked for us for a long time....like til they went to college.
Once again we were on our own and frankly, our circle of new friends diminished rapidly.  We rarely go anywhere where we meet new people.
So, this weekend, we have to meet our son's girl's parents.  OMG!  We are both pretty nervous about it.  Luckily, the girlfriend is a chatty little thing so they probably won't notice if we are a little quiet or awkward.  And luckily, wine will definitely be involved.  We have to get to know them because I'm pretty sure those kids are headed to the altar.
So, wish us luck.  DH and I will survive and hopefully, not be big bomb outs.
He and I will be clutching hands under the table...until we have enough wine!

The Worst That Can Happen

When I was a young girl, I thought the worse thing that could happen to a President was that he would not be re-elected.  Then in junior high, President Kennedy was assassinated.  My childish ideas were lost in a second in the algebra class as girls cried and teachers looked grim.  We stayed home for three days from school and the whole country mourned.
When I was a teacher, I thought the worse thing that could happen in a school was a fire.  Children would panic and teachers would do their best but it would be a tragedy if it ever happened. Our school was really old and would have burned quickly with its wooden infrastructure.  Then, Newtown happened and my ideas were lost in a second.  I can't imagine the horror for all those involved.  As a teacher, I can't help but think of those innocent kids first.  How they didn't understand what was happening.   I think of the teachers who would try and comfort them.  I think of the worried parents who felt helpless.  Our whole country mourned.
When I participated in the Susan Komen 5K in Cleveland, I thought the worse thing that could happen at a marathon would be that someone cheated to win.  It has happened before.  Then, the Boston Marathon took place yesterday.  I had just returned home with my BFF from book club and we saw what had happened.  We both sat there stunned.  What should have been a fun and uplifting event turned into a horror show.
Our whole country mourns.

Do You Have A Favorite Song?

Do you have a favorite song?  I don't.  I love too many of them and I could never pick one favorite.  I equally love modern songs, kids' songs, old songs and hymns.
C is for Cookie and Old Rugged Cross make for quite a combination, don't they?
However, my DH and I had no trouble choosing our favorite song.  It is You're So Vain by Carly Simon.
Did we choose it because we are vain?  Maybe we are a little vain but no more than anyone else.  Did we hear it on our first date?  Nope.  I don't know how it started really...well, yes I do but I'm not sure I can explain it well.  We were listening to it on the radio and we started singing together and then I said wouldn't it be funny if your sisters were the back up singers?  And then we started thinking about how they did those songs on the Cosby show and we just started laughing at the mental pictures of me, DH and his sisters dressed up in some kind of get up and lip synching to the song.
So now it is our song.  We always start laughing.  When it comes on the radio DH says, They're playing our song.  No kidding, he really does!
I hope you and your significant other have a special song too.  Ours came to us just a few years ago but it has given us so much pleasure that I recommend that you go out and get one ASAP.
Thanks, Carly for the fun.  We couldn't have done it without you.

Book Club

You'd have to have a good laugh about our book club.  We are all pretty old women.  I am in the middle at 63 and our youngest is probably fifty-something.
We get pretty rambunctious though.  Our discussions can get lively and interesting.  You should have heard us talking about Abe and Mary Lincoln's sex life!  We have hardly ever all liked the book we read so that makes for good debate. 
I am the fearless leader and I think I hog the conversation a lot of the time and I really hate that.  I just can't help myself though.
The worst book we read was by a book club member's family member.  OMG!  The subject was disgusting and it was so boring and long winded, I couldn't stand it.  I had to force myself to finish it.  But the worst part of all was when we met to discuss it at the same member's house.  You couldn't exactly say this was the most disgusting book I ever read in my life.  You couldn't say to the woman what ever you do don't get locked in the same room with this author for any length of time because there's no telling what she might do to you.
So, you can imagine that I was a little nervous when they all agreed to read my sister's book , Waiting for Dusk.  I thought if they didn't like it they would never admit it.  I knew my sister wanted honest feedback.
Luckily, all was well.  The book club loved the book.  I know they weren't faking because I've known most of them for 40 years or so.  They can't wait for the next book in the series to come out.
I was so happy for my sister and frankly, for me.  I wouldn't want to have been the member who everyone lied to about their family member's book.
Sis came and did a lovely presentation about the time period of her book and talked about the writing process and everyone was engrossed.  Sometimes we break off on a tangent and start talking about our former students, etc.  That didn't happen when Sis came to speak with us.
If you have an author in the family, you should be proud.  It is difficult as h-e-double hockeysticks to get published in any form.  I am so proud of my sister I could burst wide open.
However, read the book before you have your book club read it whatever you do!

Dial M for Murder

I never thought the "M" in murder would stand for me!  My weapon of choice?  Milk and a sandwich.  Say what, you ask?  Let me explain.
I recently spent some time with DD and I suggested she try not eating gluten products for the time we were together to test a theory I had.  She did and when she got home Friday night, she told me that she felt SO much better but then she had eaten a sandwich on Thursday and felt crummy again.  So AHA! I was right.
We set out yesterday for Whole Foods to buy some gluten free products that aren't always available.  As we drove along, she was talking about how the sandwich had made her feel and I had a sudden realization.  I had been feeding her sandwiches for 20 years.  She always had a goofy stomach so when she complained we just thought she was a little complainer.
Then to compound matters, she has discovered she is lactose intolerant and hasn't drunk milk in years.  Three guesses what I gave her every day to wash down that sandwich?  You guessed it, MILK!
OMG!  I said to her. Honey, I've been trying to kill you for years!!  Luckily, I was an utter failure as a murderer and hopefully, not an utter failure as a mother.  We had a good laugh but not as good as when I told her not to worry that Elizabeth Hasselback would save her!  She has Celiac's disease and wrote a gluten-free cookbook.
Talk about being saved by the belle.

Don't You Hate a Hangover?

OK, so did you ever feel like this fella here?  I know I have.     Don't you hate getting a hangover?  I sure do.  I don't have one right now and I haven't had one in quite some time but the fact that I have had more than one remains.
First, why didn't I learn from the first time?  You would think feeling like a half dead kangaroo would not be an experience one would want to repeat.  Yet time and time again, I've done it.  I bet a lot of you have too.  Not many people can claim to have had only one hangover in their lifetime.
I don't even remember the first hangover I had.  No surprise there.  Maybe it's like the pain of childbirth.  Once it's over you forget all about it and go for it again.
I remember trying to convince my mother that I wasn't hungover after puking my guts out ten minutes before she got to my house.  Peppermint schnapps did that to me and believe me, it has never passed my lips again!
Hangovers can be taken care of with a couple of aspirin or Tylenols sometimes but sometimes you need a big meal and sometimes you just don't want to hear about it...the big meal I mean.  You need lots of water to rehydrate.
I have a friend who recently had her first hangover.  She couldn't believe how lousy she felt. I could have told her never mix wine with cheesecake.  Trust me it is never a good idea.
Can you prevent a hangover?  Sure, don't drink.  Just kidding, try a tip that I read in a magazine(or possibly more than one).  Every other drink, have a glass of water instead of the alcoholic beverage of your choice.  Take a couple of pain relievers and a glass of water when you get home.  Don't go to Taco bell and whatever you do don't eat any cheesecake!!

Wake Up, Sleepyhead

A woman in Michigan woke up from a five year coma recently and the first thing she said was she wanted to go to a Bob Seeger concert.  Well, that's interesting.  She kept that pent up for five whole years.  Of course, she is going.  Who wouldn't grant the request of a person who woke up from a coma?
Won't she be surprised by all the changes there have been in just five years.  Just think of your smartphone.  The great quality pictures it takes.  Look at the changes in Facebook and Twitter.  She'll soon find out about Pinterest and Instagram.  Wait til she finds out the soaps have moved to the internet.  And Robin's "dead" and Luke and Laura are back on an adventure again. And Helena Cassadine is "dead".......oops, sorry, she might not give a darn about GH.  I just got carried away.
Think how her family members have changed.  If she has kids, five years is a LOOONG time.  Think of the difference between a two year old and a seven year old.  Or what about ten years old to fifteen years old.  Yikes!  Think of waking up to a couple of teenagers.  Or what about her husband, he'll look ancient to her I'll bet.  And wait til she sees herself in a mirror.  Well, at least, she won't be too fat.
She doesn't know about Game of Thrones or that Kim Kardashian is pregnant or that Kim Jong Il is dead and his equally crazy kid is in charge.  She doesn't know that President Obama is in his second term or that Republicans are trying to filibuster.
Oh, she'll probably catch up quickly due to all the information out there from the media and the Internet.  But first, she has a concert to attend.

Day 30 Something I'm Excited For

I'm excited for the future.  I don't know what it holds and that is thrilling.  I think of all the things that have changed in my lifetime and just in the last ten years and I see endless possibilities.
I hope the future brings more cool inventions that make my life easier.  I'd really love some kind of vehicle that was easy to use, didn't require balance and didn't disturb the environment.  I think it could happen and I hope it happens in my lifetime.
I hope the future holds the answer to Alzheimer's disease. You should too.  There are going to be a lot of us Seniors around and I bet you'd be much happier if we were all lucid.  I hope the scientists are working their butts off.
I hope my future holds grandkids.  I think I'd be a pretty good grandma.  I would bake with them and read them stories and listen to what they had to say.  Even when they are surly teenagers I will think they can do no wrong.
Isn't the future wonderful?  You can imagine anything and it might come true.
I'm not a one to think that the future is bleak and we are all doomed.  I'm just not put together that way.  I think good will abound.  I think we will improve as a planet.  I think we all will try to make the world a better place.
Am I naive?  Perhaps, but that's the way I like it.
P.S.  I am also glad it is the end of this challenge!!!  Happy 30th day to me!!

Day 29 Five Weird Things I Like

First, let me say, I don't really like weird things.  But one man's weird is another man's not weird so I'll give it a go.
I like peanut butter only.  No jelly, no banana, no nothin'.

I like soap operas.  I don't think they are weird but a lot of people do.  I think they are fun and funny(sometimes) and terrible sometimes but mostly just good fun.

I like my Peeps old and hard and crunchy.  Don't give me a fresh Peep.

Just rip open the plastic wrap and let them sit there--about a month is right.

I can't think of any other things that I like that would be considered weird but I can tell you about my mother's weirdness.  She loved to snack on banana peanuts and beer!

When my DD was little her favorite combination was canned peas and yellow mustard.  Now that is weird!  Sorry, honey, but you know it's true.

I guess everyone is a little weird.  Maybe if you asked someone other than me, what I like that is weird you'd get a better answer.  I guess I just don't think I'm a weirdo!

 

 

Dday 28 The Place I'd Like to Live

Do you know the way to Santa Fe?  I know that's not the old song but it's where I would love to live.  It is beautiful and serene there.  I love the temperate climate and the Native American influence.  It is a place that feels peaceful and awe-inspiring.
I have visited Santa Fe on several occasions and have loved it more every time.
I would love to have a little adobe house and maybe even a horse.  I would  be able to walk to downtown and roam the streets and check out the shops.  People would recognize me and say,"Hi, Sue!"
I would wear turquoise jewelry and let my hair be curly and wild.  I would wear full skirts and cotton tee shirts and sandals.  I would be tan and healthy.
Maybe the real Santa Fe would never be like that.  Maybe I'd be lonely and would have to live to far from town to walk there but I can dream and boy, do I!
I can even imagine my sister and her husband meeting us for breakfast in one of the restaurants because they would live there too.  I can see my kids coming out for visits and drinking iced tea or cold beer on the patio I know we'll have.
I can see my husband, all tan and in jeans with a western shirt and cowboy boots and once in a while, he'd even wear his cowboy hat!  You know, just to fit in.
I would pursue some kind of art.  Maybe sculpture or perhaps painting.  I'm no Georgia O'Keefe but I'd love to give it a go.
Trust me, there is nothing wrong with Northeast Ohio that a little more sun couldn't fix but Santa Fe has over 300 sunny days in a year.  No vitamin D shortage around there!
It will never happen but a girl, even one as old as I am, has to have a dream.

A Quote I Try To Live By

First, Do No Harm.
I'm no doctor and I don't play one on television but this has always spoken to me.  As a teacher, I wanted to enhance and enrich children's lives and never, never do anything to undermine their self esteem or faith in their abilities.
I think all teachers should have to take that oath, just like doctors.
As a mom, I wanted to make sure that I supported my children and helped them to set up boundaries and standards for themselves.  I wanted them to be strong and confidant adults.
As a person, I want to give people the benefit of the doubt.  It is really hard for me and I have to work at it.  I have 100% tolerance for children and their quirks and zero tolerance for adults.  I know it isn't fair but that's how I am.
I would never dream of doing physical harm to anyone although once in a while I wish I drove a tank so I could just tap the bumper of someone who cut me off and do no harm to my own car.
The more I think of it, we should all adopt this idea for ourselves.  Just think if Kim Jung On would think this we wouldn't be worried about their nuclear weapons.  He would just put them away.  People who buy guns with intent to kill, just wouldn't.
I know this is a rose-colored view of the world but wouldn't it be nice if it was true?

Day 26 What I Like And Dislike ABout Me

Wow, I wasn't raised to like things about myself, believe me!  My mother didn't hand out compliments or ever say that something we did was good enough.  So I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about it.  I'll give it my best shot though.
I like my curly hair.  It used to be straight as a poker but since menopause, it's curly and I think it suits me.  I like my eyelashes too.  They are nice and long although not as thick as they used to be.  My hair is getting thin but as my Dad used to say, "who wants fat hair"? So I'm ok with it.
I like my crazy laugh.  It is loud and uninhibited and usually I tone it down but sometimes I can't help it and I just laugh.  I like my quirky sense of humor too.
I like my decorating sense.  I have a good eye for color and what goes together.  I love how I decorated my house.
Now, I dislike  a lot of things about myself.  I will just pick out the top ones though or you'll be bored to tears or maybe you'll just be in tears!
I intensely dislike my belly.  It is the bane of my existence.  I know I've had good advice to just embrace the belly but it's easier said than done.  The rest of me is skinny, well, sorta.  I feel like my belly enters the room before I do!
I dislike my age.  Nothing to do about it though so I try not to dwell.
I dislike my wrinkles but am not willing to do anything unnatural to them.
I dislike my solitude.  I spend too much time on my own so I think too much about the past and mistakes I've made.
I dislike that I am like that!  LOL
Do I like more things about myself than I dislike?  I think so because if the opposite were true how would I get up in the morning or look at myself in the mirror?

Day 25 What I'm Worried About

Guess what?  I'm not worried about much.  I'm a little worried that I will drink too much wine and eat too much pizza tonight.  Oh, and I'm a little worried we won't get DD's house in the order we want before we have to go home.
Other than that, I'm worry free.
Except for Income  Tax day.  Still have to do those taxes but I have all this week, right?
No worries.

Day 24 Words that Make Me Laugh

I can laugh at the most inappropriate things.  Did you ever see an old movie allied Cowboys?  It is a John Wayne movie where he is saddled((get it?) with a bunch of young boys and they have to do a round up or something.  Bruce Dern is the bad guy.  At the end, they tie Bruce Dern to the back of a horse and he gets dragged around. Well, it is hilarious to me so you see what I mean about being inappropriate.
However, some words make me laugh too.  The guy in the insurance commercial who says BON JOUR because he's a "French model" cracks me up every time.
My DS and DD have this thing going where one says you're a (fill in the blank with anything form fish to nuts but no swearing) and the other one says your mother's a(same word here).  It's when you don't know what to say when you are being teased. Trust me, it's always funny.
Here's an example:  I think you ate some pie.  You're some pie.  You're mother's some pie.  Ok, Ok, it's a terrible one but you probably get it now.
I guess it's funny because it's never mean. It's all in fun.
When one of my soap characters, John McBain, speaks in his whispery voice, nine times out of ten it makes me laugh.  He is supposed to be all angsty and a loner and holding himself back but I just think he went to the same school of acting that I like to call the Jack Bauer school.  You know, those heroes who talk real quiet- like so you know that even though they are menacing they are really the good guys. Actually all the soft talkers crack me up.  Keep listening to your television, a lot of them do it.  Oh, I know, kinda like Clint Eastwood when he finally talked.
I love to laugh and I find all kinds of opportunities to do so.  So maybe most of them are inappropriate, like in church, but I don't mean any disrespect.  I just have a peculiar funny bone.

Day 23 Something I Miss

What do I miss?  Well, sometimes I miss  my youth.  I think I may have possibly squandered it. I would like not to feel the aches and pains that remind me every day how old I am.  Not that I think I'm that old.
I miss my Volkswagon Beetle.  I just loved that car and wanted it since I was a teenager. ..even though I didn't even learn to drive until I was 24 years old.
I miss the scent of my babies.  You know that powdery, baby smell?  They don't have it anymore. And thank goodness since they're both in their thirties!
Sometimes, I miss school.  Not the work of it or the problems or the demands but I do miss the kids.   Five year olds can be pretty good company.
I miss eating whatever I want.  I know that's terrible but I wish I could still eat cookies and cake and hamburgers and onion rings with no guilt attached.
Really, I don't miss much.  I don't miss any of the things I mentioned for more than a few minutes once in a while.
It seems like a waste of time to miss things you can no longer have and possibly a little self-indulgent too. But a little self indulgence is ok once in a while, don't you think?

Day 22 My Academics

I'm pretty sure that you could care less about my academics.  At this point in my life, me too!
But I am willing to tell you what I have learned in sixty three years.
Being nice does not always work out.  I have always tried to be nice and have been kicked in the teeth for it more than once.  I am not going to stop being nice though.  It makes me feel better about me.  You would feel better about you too if you are nice.  Just don't be so nice you are a doormat or a punching bag.  That isn't nice.
Try to look on the sunny side of life.  This is not always easy...like when someone you love is ill or in jeopardy.  It's hard to look on the sunny side of life when things aren't exactly going your way.  That's when it's the most important.
Respect children.  Don't treat them like idiots or babies or pander to their every demand.  Treat them as you wish to be treated(now where have I heard that before?).  Try to stay clam and deal with things in an adult manner.  No screaming or hitting allowed.  First, if you scream, they just tune you out.  If you hit, then you are just not a respectable adult.
Have faith.  You pick.  It could be God or your fellow man or science.
Love your family  with all your might.  They are all you have whether there is one of them or fifty.  Sometimes they make it pretty hard but don't give up on anyone in your family.  Just keep loving them. That doesn't mean you have to like everything they do or say.  You may not like the way they treat you.  Love them anyway.  It's kinda like separating church and state.
Take goo care of your body.  Don't let your body suffer from neglect or overindulgence.  Believe me, I weight 200 pounds at one point and I was the queen of self indulgence.  Exercise is good when you get used to doing it and totally worth it.  Keep your mind engaged too.  Try to keep learning and finding out about new things.
Love yourself.  You are the best you in the universe!  Embrace what you are. Stop berating yourself for your looks or your weight or your social standing or your wealth.  Take a look in the mirror and give yourself a big old smile.  If you don't love you, who will?
You can't change others.  You can't make them love you or be nice to you or stop putting their socks under the bed.  It's just a fact.
Look forward to the future.  We never know what it may bring but I say bring it on1
None of these are very insightful or big news but they are true.  I know because I learned them myself...the hard way...by living it.

Day 21 What My Future Will Be

I'm currently in Michigan visiting my DD.  I hope my future holds many more visits and fun times with her.  I also want to spend as much time with the rest of my family as is humanly possible.
I hope I will grow old gracefully and not become too outspoken or rash in my decisions.  I don't think being older gives you the right to hurt people's feelings or telling them things they don't really want to hear especially about how they bring up their kids or relate to their spouse.
I want to still have adventures.  They don't have to be big fancy ones though.  I don't expect to travel the world or anything like that.  I still want to try new things and have fun.  I want to zipline and ride in a helicopter.
I want my brain to be a functioning entity.  Oh, it can be slower--that just comes with age.  I just hope it doesn't break down.  I want to be aware of my surroundings and the people around me and enjoy them.
Most of all, I want my future to be as long as is possible. I am shooting for 100 and I hope to make it there by hook or by crook.  Hence, my taking care of my body and my mind to the best of my ability.
Oh, and I hope there are flying cars and moving sidewalks and yummy stuff like cake that won't make me fat!!  And it better be delicious.  I hope my grandkids find me fun and funny.  I hope my kids still want to hang out with me...and if I am in a  nursing home (God forbid)I hope they will smuggle the booze in to me.

Day 20 My Fears

Who, me scared???  I think I established that I was the little old lady who wasn't afraid of anything.  But you aren't kindergartners, now are you?  SO I guess I have to come clean.  I am afraid of a few things.
I hate scary movies.  Don't like to see them, not even the trailers at the theater or on television.  I know it's not real but I can't help it.  It just looks so real.
I'm afraid of Alzheimer's.  We all should be.  The statistics show that 1 in 3 seniors will have some sort of dementia.  I try to keep my brain active and get into new and challenging situations so I have to exercise my brain as well as my body.  Have you ever known someone with Alzheimer's?  It isn't pretty.  It's like progressing backwards.  First you are like a child, then a toddler and finally a helpless baby.  No thank you.
I'm afraid of where this world is heading.  I want a world where kindness is regarded as the norm.  I want a world where every individual is respected.  I want a world where no one is starving or dying from lack of medicine.  I want a world where rich people help poor people in their own neighborhood and across the world.  I don't see this happening and that saddens me and frightens me.
Being afraid all the time is counterproductive so I try to bury me fears and follow the very good advice, "Keep Calm and Carry On".