Age and Eccentricity

I shall dye my hair some obnoxious color, give it a tight perm and start wearing rhinestone-studded spectacles.  Or maybe allow my hair to go fully gray, and grow it out long enough to wear in a thick braid down my back.

I shall wear flowing, bohemian skirts and weigh my neck down with lots of necklaces – at least one of which must have huge hunks of raw turquoise.

I shall turn the storage building in the back yard into my personal workshop where I shall make beauty products from natural ingredients, beaded jewelry and handmade greeting cards.

I shall keep bees, collect their raw honey and sell beautiful, golden jars of the stuff at a roadside stand.

I shall read Jack Kerouac, write haunting poetry, stay inside on a Thursday simply because it’s Thursday.

I shall have a cat and never name it because cats don’t come when they’re called so it doesn't really matter if they have a name.

I shall have a basset hound and name him Arthur.

I shall become comfortable using a typewriter instead of a computer and foster several false starts at writing the great American novel – or at least a book of passable poetry, thoughts and observations.

I shall live in an old Victorian home where the peeling wallpaper only adds to its charm.

I shall have a personal library and walk into it every day simply to inhale deeply and breathe in the scent of the volumes I've collected.

I shall turn my home into a bed and breakfast, fill the guest rooms with antiques and local artwork and the bathrooms with my homemade beauty products.

I shall kneel in the garden caring not one whit about the dirt on my knees or under my fingernails and wear a large, floppy hat to combat the sun and wrinkles.

I shall send my children baskets filled with love and my grandchildren shall receive pieces of ribbon and buttons and other leavings and findings with instructions to make something beautiful for me to hang on my refrigerator.

I shall help my husband tie his neckties when he deems the occasion fit to wear one and, with pleasure, listen to him sing to himself when he doesn't think anyone else is listening.

I shall smile secretly to myself at some half-remembered dream.

I shall feed the birds all year long and rise early to catch worms.

I shall paint my toenails simply because it makes me happy and then wear boots so no one can see what color I've chosen; it shall be my little secret.

All these things I shall do because I shall have no qualms at showing my age or eccentricity – though perhaps I shall begin today so my new penchant for flowing skirts and dirty fingernails doesn't come as a surprise to anyone tomorrow.

First, I must win the lottery.

***

NOTE: All this brings to mind Jenny Joseph’s poem, Warning.  I didn't realize it until after I’d written everything above how similar they are in some respects – but as a matter of note, I, in no way, intend to copy or reproduce her work or her style.  My style is my own, and so is my work.  I simply note here the similarities.

TTFN

JMS

Ice, ice baby

So, an ice storm blew through here yesterday and left about a quarter inch of ice on my car and about 2 inches of it on the road.  My car doors are frozen shut.  Thank goodness I have already communicated with my boss, because it doesn't look like I'm going anywhere any time soon.

We're lucky where we are, though; we didn't lose power.  Tananda, who lives just south of us, hasn't had power since about 10:30 last night. She says thanks to camping gear, at least there is coffee.  She even covered the cold cat with her Jack Daniels t-shirt.  Now that, my dear readers, is luv.

The big road in front of my house has been plowed, but it still looks treacherous.  I have a vague inclination that I will be working quite a bit extra this week to make up for time lost.  Hubby says there's really no sense in trying to chip away at the external ice on the car, but I dislike being away from work when I should be there and there is stuff to do, so I'm feeling very unsettled.

Kiddos are thrilled with the time off, though. They were both completely entranced by the falling sky icicles yesterday and boy-child kept commenting on how many inches he thought had accumulated.  (I think I may have a little weather man in the making...along with a master gardener, an architect, and an environmental scientist.)

Anyway, I suppose now that it's nearly 10:00 in the morning, I need to figure out some way of getting to the office because I know at least one other person is there, so therefore the roads in must be passable.  I shall leave you now and attempt to make myself presentable for what is ahead of me today.

Here's hoping, if you're local, that you're not suffering too much.  I think about all my friends and family up North who have not just a quarter inch of ice and a lot of yucky roads, but feet and feet of heavy snow, with the threat of more to come.  (sigh)  I dislike Winter.

TTFN
JMS

Good Stuff Happening!

Oh boy.  There's been A LOT going on lately!  I don't even know where to begin.  Some stuff I can talk about and other stuff I can't, but honestly, it's all good.  

First of all, as stated in one of my last couple of posts, VBS is over for another year.  It seems like I live year to year in fear of, preparation for, or recovering from VBS.  It's always a TON of work and it's always SO much fun, and it's always SO exhausting - but the kids have a great time (and not just my own) so it's also TOTALLY worth it.

I posted on Facebook the other night that I'm still "reeling from all the good" and that's still very true.  

Good friends bought their first house and are moving nearby, which is not only awesome for them (new house, YAY) but awesome for me, 'cause they'll be so close!

I went to the endocrinologist the other day and he proclaimed me in good health.  "Don't come back for another year!"  That's always music to my ears!  Apparently, 2 years and a couple of months post surgery, my body is adjusting well to the lack of a thyroid.  Meds are good, no adjustments needed, and the ultrasound looked all clear.  So, yay me!

And something else going on with me (something good) that I can't really talk about online, but that a lot of you will know about already, or find out about soon.  (No, I'm not pregnant.)  But definitely a major life-changing thing coming up that I am totally excited about and which I am feeling most overwhelmed and humbled by.

Father's Day Weekend was great.  We spent some time at the zoo that Saturday with Hubby's sister and her hubby.  Excellent day, and I hardly even got sunburned!  (Another bonus!)  And even though Father's Day this year happened to fall on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of my beloved mother, I'm OK.  I think maybe the overwhelmingly positive things balanced the very negative thing.

TTFN
JMS

Weekend Snapshot

Direct sun snapshot

I like it. Thought I'd share it so you could like it (or not), too.

TTFN

JMS

PS: Yes, I did take this my very own self.

Blinded by the light...

It's getting brighter and brighter outside in the early mornings when I'm driving to work. I like the daylight, very much. However, while I am sitting at my desk - at a certain point in the morning - the sun comes indirectly through the windows and shines directly in my eyes. For about 10 minutes, it's blinding.

You're probably asking, "What am I looking at here?" Well, there are three large, glass windows. The closest one is the hardest to see, but if you look to the left of the center of the picture you see two dark, vertical lines. That is where two large panes of glass meet and they are the closest to me. A little further back, and to the right side of the picture, you can see the reflection of the rising sun on the glass front entrance of the company across the hall from me. You can also see the sun reflecting on the wall, then the external glass windows, and the brick wall of the exterior of the building.

Make sense?

You can see how it would be blinding, right? I'm slightly off-kilter, a little off-the-wall, and maybe a little neurotic and OCD, but I'm not crazy, right?

TTFN
JMS

PS: The blinding reflection is gone now...until tomorrow morning.