Sprinting through the Golden Years with a notebook and a dream
It’s been a while since I’ve written.
My mother passed away March 6.
Grief keeps its own schedule:
Not showing up when expected, like when I ordered the date to be carved into the headstone she shares with my grandparents.
Visiting at odd times, like when I tried to deal with a check written in her name.
But always at one o’clock on Saturdays, the time I used to call her every week.
Continue reading “Lessons in Grief, Part 1”I’m not a competitive person. When I play a game, it’s usually for my own enjoyment and personal best. I don’t pay much attention to metrics like scores or the time it takes to finish or solve. I have Spider Solitaire and Mahjong on my phone and they’re my go to’s when I’m watching tv – they don’t take much attention and I can keep track of the plot as I listen.
I have two word games I play, though, that need undivided attention. One is new and one I’ve been playing for a while.
What with the situation in Ukraine and other things happening in my life today, I’m not feeling too light-hearted. So, I fell back on a couple of easy likes.
Here’s The Husband with the Shamrock Oreo McFlurry we had this afternoon.
Continue reading “Things I Like Thursday – Not Much To Like Today”I know this meme is essentially about black women, but that green square brought up unexpected emotion for me.
For years, The Husband and I had a movie for every holiday (The Quiet Man for St. Patrick’s Day, Independence Day for the Fourth of July, etc.), which we seem to have let fall by the wayside in the last few years. But our Valentine’s movie was always Roxanne, Steve Martin’s take on Cyrano de Bergerac. It will always have my heart because it’s funny and smart and, ya know, Steve Martin.
The Husband and I are trying to get consistent in our nightly walking. We tend to go in spurts, being Good Doobies for months, then getting waylaid by rain or Santa Ana’s (wind conditions) or cold (yes, it goes into the 40’s in So Cal) (and yes, we’re weather wimps). We also do various floor and strength exercises because we want to keep active and healthy for as long as we can. It’s probably more important now than ever.
I also go through my meditation phases. When the least little thing sets me off like a rocket and I’m constantly tense, I know it’s time to light a candle, sit cross legged on the floor and get myself quiet. I think meditation is highly individualized and we should find our own method to give ourselves the peace we need.
I believe in the afterlife, Heaven, whatever you want to call it. I believe that there is more than just this life and time we live on earth. But fear of the unknown, the bane of all introverts times a million, has always tinged the notion of The Great Beyond with anxiety and dread for me, like a party where you haven’t seen the guest list and there isn’t a clear dress code.
So, when I read an article about Betty White recently, this excerpt gave me an excellent framework for upgrading the way I feel about continuing the journey.
Continue reading “Betty White’s Big Secret”5G
A simple number and letter. That cost me a ridiculous amount of money, buying a new iPhone 13. It had to be a 12 or 13 to be able to access the new 5G when 3G goes the way of dinosaurs, tv tubes and Howard Johnson restaurants. Maybe I could have gotten away with something a little cheaper but I figured if I get top of the line now, I won’t have to buy another for a very long time. Yeah, yeah, I know—in technology time, that’s probably 3-5 years, if I’m lucky…
I collect pins. Pretty much everywhere I’ve traveled, be it museum, historic site or tourist attraction, they all have pins. And they’re easier to pack and display later than t-shirts, figurines or even books (but you didn’t hear me say that!).
Later in the year, I might start showing some of the hundreds of pins I have on a denim duster that hangs in my hallway, but for now, I’m showing off a small collection of literary pins I’ve gotten in the last few years. To keep them all together, they normally live on a gray wool motorman’s cap.
When I think about the 1960’s, it brings back memories of death and funerals.
I was 11 years old when the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis. I would have sworn I was watching The Girl from U.N.C.L.E on a black and white tv in my room but it turns out it was probably The Flying Nun, which just illustrates my faulty recollection. I also thought his was the funeral that involved a train journey but no, that was RFK a few months later.
I'm Writing As Fast As I Can 