Thursday, April 24, 2014

Thursday, April 24, 6:53am
State College PA - The Nittany Lion Inn

So much for blogging daily, huh?  I need to be dressed an out of this room by 7:15 - so this will be quick.

Yesterday was daughter Julie's 50th birthday.  This is not an easy time for her - and I don't think it is about the years.  Regardless, she is doing good stuff, tough stuff, stuff that makes my life a lot easier.  She is very special.  I love her so much.  (And we are going to go see The Lion King in Manhattan in May).

Watching reruns of Mad Men.  Had not seen it before.  Last night as I was watching, Betty had an orgasm with the rumbling washing machine.  Ouch.  These folks are my contemporaries.  It takes place in 1960 - and Betty is 28.  I was 25.  I remember those 'men-in-suits'.  As I deliberately recollect, I especially remember John B and Phil.  Certainly better than a washing machine.

Socks - where do they go?  Why do two go into the washer-dryer and only one come out?  I remember years ago someone telling me that she safety pinned her husbands (not hers because she was probably wearing panty hose then and me too) socks together before putting them in the washing machine so they would come out as pairs.  A little too compulsive for me.  I wonder if I can let myself wear whichever two socks my hands land on in the sock drawer.  If I land on a pair, fine.  If I land on two loose socks, fine.  Sometime I do that if I am going to be around the house all day.  Need to let myself do it for whenever.  Should take the same approach with earrings as I have many singles in my box.

Those are my morning thoughts.  Time to dress and go.




Wednesday, April 16, 2014

April 16, 2014

Made mistakes in yesterdays blog.  Only a year and a couple of months older than last post.  My date on that post was a year off.  Then, as I read yesterday's post, after I posted it of course, I found a few typos.  Wonder if I can post today without typos.

Joy was my waking thought.  Even though it was 27 degrees at 8 am in Pittsburgh.  The sun was out.  My pansies are still alive.  And I watched Mary Poppins last night.  Maybe it was ten days ago that I used my new ROKU box for the first time and watched "Saving Mr. Banks".  Many reviewers consider it one of the best movies of 2013 - and I truly enjoyed the movie.  It made me want to watch Mary Poppins again.  Then Monday night I watched "Dancing with the Stars" on TV.  This year, one of the "Stars" is Amy Purdy, a bilateral below the knee amputee and an Olympic bronze medal winner in snowboarding. She is a "must watch" for me.  Watching her challenges me to keep on movin'. Another pair of "stars" on the program are the two young folks who won the Ice Dancing Gold Medal at the Olympics, Meryl Davis and Charlie White.  And back to the JOY stuff.  It is Charlie White who gives me joy.  He danced to "Supercalifragiliticexpealidocioius" and I thought he was just wonderful.  I think I have the show taped and I am likely to watch Charlie do this dance again and again.  Watching Charlie is watching joy in action.  That led me to last nights time with Mary Poppins.  Turns out it wasn't a "watch it again" event.  I had never seen it before.  Another two hours of joy!!

 I am working at letting myself take the time to enjoy some of of this media stuff.  Watching TV at home - except for maybe a couple of hours a couple of night a week - has always given me a feeling of not doing what I was supposed to be doing (whatever that might be).  As I work my way to 80 years of living (about 16 months away),  I am giving myself permission to 'do' less and to just 'be' more.  I started this last year by lying in bed with a book for an hour and maybe more in the mornings.  Next I am going to work at letting myself watch some of the wonderful old movies with this magic box attached to my TV.

And now it is time to "do" a few things - like file away all the papers that are surrounding my desk as the result of tax time and just life in general.  But first, I am going to head down to the corner and get a haircut.



Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Two Years Older

It's April 15, 2014 - Tax Day.  And I haven't pushed "submit" on TurboTax yet or mailed my check to the IRS. That's very high on today's to-do list.  But somehow, I have been thinking that it is time to blog again - to blog about getting older and older and older.  As some wise said, that is better than the alternative - and that is true for a large part on life, but not for the last parts of it.  For me, it is still better - but I am watching my body and my mind slow down.  One of the most obvioius slowing down signs for me it that I only want to spend twleve or thirteen hours a day out of my bed.  My bedtime has become 9pm.  Mostly I wake up around 6:30 am (later on darker mornings), but I don't get out of bed until 8 ish.  More about this slowing down in the days to come.

One of the things I started the year off was a committment to gratitude.  I can't always hold onto that, but I am trying to keep coming back to it.  Yesterday morning when I came down to the kitchen and looked out of the window, I was assaulted - in the most wonderful way - with the weeping cherry trees in my side yard having burst into bloom over night.  Great beauty and joy right out my window.  Ceertainly cause for gratitude.  It set the whole day off right - even as I was finishing up the taxes.  Today, the temperature (and it is spring) here in Pittsburgh, has dropped to just above 30 degrees.  Sleet and snow are forcast.  I overslept because the sky is gray.  I came down to the kitchen to find a gas mask as well as an unwashed pan and crumbs from something on my kitchen counter.  My attitude of gratitude was seriously challenged.  As a matter of fact, I was ready to be cranky.  (I really like a clean kitchen and haven't had that luxury in years except when I pick up the stuff of those othere people in my house  - and more about that later too). Then I looked out the window at the blooming cherry trees - and they are surviving the cold just fine, thank you. Beyond the cherry trees, my neighbor's huge magnolia has just burst into bloom.  Cherry trees one morning, magnolia right behind them.  Thank you world.

This blog thing,  it is a meditative practice for me - an activity to quiet me mind and, like quilting, to reach toward my own soul.  I want to take regular time to do this.   I will see what tomorrow brings.