ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

I have thought a lot about design recently.

• form
• function
• color
• simple
• ornate

Today, I’m planning a baby shower and have thought a lot about what I should do. Is the design of the decorations more important than the function? What colors should I use that can reflect a baby girl and spring? Will what I do make everyone feel comfortable. Can I arrange my rooms so conversations flows and the honored guest is accessible to all those who attend? Should my foods be simple and tasty or should I go for over the top gourmet? Can I use decorations that I have and adapt them to my theme or do I need to purchase new ones? So many questions as I plan this most important event.

I thought how this design concept is similar to my life. What do I need to do to plan this next part of my life? Is simple the best direction to go or do I need to plan a life that is over the top? Can I use what I have? With retirement I feel that I'm not really starting over. Everything I have learned or done in the past is now culminating in who I am and what I am doing. I guess you could say I'm redefining who I am. I like this process especially since there is no competition and I have endless possibilities ahead.

CONSISTANCY

Last night we drove the 50 minutes to our favorite restaurant. It has been our favorite since before children. The father died and the mother, who was the main force behind the operation, is still in charge. We have watched the two little children grow up and are now very involved in the business. Because of their influence the restaurant continues to evolve in positive ways. The menu is still worth the drive and we love the atmosphere as do many others since it is always full. With all the changes a couple of things have remained constant. The first is they have the best enchiladas in the Midwest, if not the entire United States. The second are the tables. When we first went to Pueblo they had good solid tables that the owner had placed coins from the homeland and poured an epoxy over. The tables are now covered with coverings but last night we pulled up the coverings to discover the coins and the yellowed epoxy still there.

BUSY, BUT ENJOYABLE

This has been a rather busy week. Enjoyable, but busy. I’m not sure why some weeks are busy and I'm so happy to have them end and others are just as busy but I savor every moment. As I contemplate the events of this week I realize that I haven’t worried about each day. I’m just taking care of the day ahead of me. That is good but it isn’t the only reason my week is good. I have noticed two other things that are happening. I have spent time nurturing my friendships and taking care of myself. I love having friends but I have a tendency to think I’m too busy to do thing with friends. Putting that thought aside was important. After having to pamper my knee from a winter injury I am back exercising. These three things have made all the difference in my week.

VARIETY

We are having the first rainy day of the winter. It’s late February and I think we deserve a little rain. (The alternative being snow.) The rain is washing away the salt from the roads, parking lots, and anyplace the highway department trucks have spread their transportable safety net. I don’t mind rain. I do prefer sunshine but I remind myself that I wouldn’t enjoy the sunshine without some rain.


Life is like that. We might enjoy something but without a break it wouldn’t continue to bring us enjoyment. The adage “variety is the spice of life” really applies here. One food, one color, one holiday, one friend, once culture or one thought might be a favorite but a great variety makes our lives richer and more enjoyable.


I have learned over the years that we don’t usually remember the mundane or average. It is the strange, out of the ordinary, peculiar and outlandish people and events that make our lives interesting. They are what we remember and at times find humorous as we reflect back on our lives during our senior years. So here’s to wonderful senior memories. May I be remembered even if it has to be under the title of peculiar.

PRIDE

Well Ben and Becca have been at it again. I’m talking about taking pictures of my granddaughters. They do incredible work! I have watched them grow as photographers/photojournalist for the past few years. It is so fun to watch my grandchildren grow and my children grow too. My friend Jeanette (a professional photographer) and I were talking recently. She commented that Ben and Becca have become better than she is (See Blimbam on sidebar). That’s quite a compliment. Now to go back and reread President Uchtdorf’s talk on Pride. Ugg!

More pictures coming soon.

NEEDS VS. WANTS

It’s our children’s fault. They got us watching American Idol and now they are too busy to watch it with us. We aren’t too busy just too impatient to sit through endless commercials just to watch a program. Our DVD catches the show and we join in mid-program.

Last night’s Idol had a lot of drama and not much music. As boredom set in I found myself timing how much actual Idol we watched and how much commercial time I was fast forwarding. There would be 5 minutes of show and 5 minutes of commercial. Next it would be 3 minutes of show and 4 minutes of commercial. It is truly amazing how much advertizing we subject ourselves to in order to be entertained.

The sad thing is we are very much influenced by these flashes of light across our TV screens known as subliminal messages. Although true subliminal messages are banned some of the most creative people have found their way around the laws to help us become a debt ridden nation. We see very little difference between needs and wants.

I thought about the purchases I have been making. Maybe I was more careful because I wanted to make sure I didn’t accuse myself of being a person who purchased because of advertisers but unfortunately I found myself guilty. In spite of all my fast forwarding I have trouble differentiating between needs and wants.

YOU WILL BE MISSED

About 7 years ago I forced Kent to get a hobby. He was resistant because he didn’t have time. I was as insistent as he was resistant. He caved in and chose photography as his hobby. Slowly he found time for his new passion. I noticed he cared for his camera with the tenderness of a mother with a newborn babe. Today for the first time in 7 years my husband is without a camera. It became necessary to send the much loved Canon to New Jersey for cleaning and maintenance. The salty air on our last trip proved too much for his 30D. As my husband walked out of the house this morning with longing in his voice he said “I miss my camera.” I do too.

IT’S OFFICIAL

This winter has been hard on many people. It has been called “the winter that would never end.” Snow is everywhere. Plows cleared parts of the road but other parts just are buried. Trees have broken under the weight of snow. Body shops are doing a booming business (pardon the pun). But I want to announce that spring is on its way. At least in my mind it’s on its way.

Over the years I have developed indicators of the season changes that I consider accurate. For example the wooly caterpillar that I see in the late summer will tell me how soon winter will come and what kind of winter we will have. The caterpillar is normally brown with a black band. If the black band is small it means a mild winter; brown with a large black band signifies a harder winter; all the way to all black, which was this year.

The herald of spring is birds. I saw a blue bird this week. I thought this was a bird that decided not to head south and had survived the winter. Today, however, I decided that it did fly south but just got an early flight back. You see today there were two doves on my deck courting and this is truly spring behavior. Yes, I am her to announce that today’s 50 degree weather not only will melt the winter that would never end but its here to stay.

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE FUNNY

For those of us who missed the Super Bowl (parties, drinking, the first of many reasons to forgo our 2011 diet resolutions and football) there is always the post show analysis. So this morning I would like to do a little Monday Morning Quarterbacking.

After viewing the 61 Super Bowl Ads and seeing what the public voted as their favorite I have determined that my favorite ad made the top 10 (go beavers). I was also happy to see the Budweiser Clydesdales back. Snicker’s will never be able to top last years Betty White commercial but this years was rather funny with Roseanne. Dogs and Doritos’s appear to go together well. In my opinion the use of old celebrities is almost always funny. As we can see with the Best Buy commercial. Sex may sell but who can remember what Kim Kardashini was selling? And what about GoDaddy.com? The etrade baby is ageless. I have to say I don’t remember there being so many movie trailers in past Super Bowl adds. Cars with human characteristics and geeks were popular as ever this year.

I will have to admit that commentary would have been better is I had had a color man (person) sitting next me commenting but I couldn’t get Kent to watch the adds and Khloe (my grand puppy) wasn’t too talkative. Well, until next year this is my opinion of the Super Boll.

DOCUMENTATION

Today the world is changing and I feel the need to document the events I remember hearing would happen if we didn’t make changes immediately. This was in the 1960’s. Governments are being changed in non-peaceful ways. War is on almost every continent. The worst winter in my life appears to be never ending in spite of Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction. Violence in the streets of America has become so common we don’t seem to notice. Kidnapping, high-jacking, car-jacking don’t even make the news but a divorce or misconduct of a celebrity dominates the headlines. Well educated women want their independence and are forgoing marriage and childbirth. There are more babies born to unwed parents than to married couples. Civility has ended in the written and spoken word. Astronomical debt for individuals is considered normal. The me generation has grown up and now they are the ME generation. Wants are considered the same as needs. Permanent and reliable applies only to Gorilla Glue. If you want to recycle you need to pay for the privilege. Food and gasoline costs are rising. Global warming is threatening everyone. The middle class is shrinking and we are becoming a nation of haves and have nots. Although I have changed over the years I still have a gianormous carbon footprint.

I think it’s time to get out my light-box.

WE WILL MAKE IT

I have heard horror stories of couples having a miserable retirement because they couldn’t stand being together day after day. I have wondered how Kent and I would do. We are so different. When something needs to be done Kent stays with the job until it is done. He is methodical in how he works. I however, am rather easily distracted. I enjoy beginning and ending a task. The space in between the start and finish is best described as random.

On Sunday night we realized that a storm of Biblical proportions was coming. Kent decided he needed to work on Monday so we drove downtown to his office. I rode shotgun and my primary responsibility was to keep Kent from succumbing to sleep. With brief case and files in hand we were prepared for the winter storm.

The storm was big but not as bad as anticipated. None the less ever thing in St. Louis, including grocery stores, closed except for essential businesses. After three days Kent continues to work from home. As anticipated he is not easily distracted from acquiring those billable hours. His brief is ready to file, meetings have been planned, communication has continued and most important we are still in love.

I was surprised at how well we worked together. I didn’t have computer time but it was enjoyable to work in the same office all day. I enjoyed sleeping late, having casual conversations, watching the winter storm and having lunches together. I think we are going to ace this retirement thing when it comes.