Facebook

I love Facebook. I am absolutely fascinated by how many people I've re-connected with. It's like having friends from high school, current friends, family and co-workers all in the same room. It's a party!

Looking at my list of friends, I'm in awe of the diversity. I think I must have the most interesting, brilliant and/or quirky friends of anyone I know. For instance,

• my friend, Christian who can start sentences with the words, "when I was a spy".
• my friend, Dawn who, through her status update, lets us know she's now the proud owner of a gee-haw whimmydiddle. Wiki it. It exists.
• my seriously warped brother, Eric who updates his status every 15 minutes or so, sometimes when he's sleeping.
• many people I consider close friends that I've never met in real life.
• our four grown kids in Rochester, Albany and Massachusetts. There are some pictures they've posted I wish I'd never seen.
• my stepmother in Colorado who is bed-bound from multiple sclerosis and the bravest, most optimistic person on earth.
• my friend, Sonja who has written many books and even had one made into a movie you may have seen.

It's hard to not feel grateful for this wonderful group of people who make my life richer by their friendships.

Take care of your body

Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live. ~Jim Rohn

I'll be 45 next month. I've always considered myself to be strong and healthy. I'm also blessed with good genes. I manage to keep my weight under control without having to exercise or be on a strict diet.

Over the past six months, I've noticed changes. A knee starting to hurt. Pulling muscles in my back. A general feeling of weakness and deconditioning. I don't like it.

My schedule makes it very difficult to find time to exercise. Alright, I suppose I should clarify that. I had a membership to the gym. In a good month, I went once a week. I hated it with a passion. If I had the motivation, I could go to the gym after work but I'm exhausted, hungry and just want to go home. I will not keep with a program that is such an anathema to me.

When spring comes, my intention is to walk on the walking trail at the lake after work. That form of exercise is pleasant and doesn't feel like exercise. It will feel good to build up muscle, strength and stamina again. If it's not too late.

Normal days

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.
One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in my pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.
~Mary Jean Iron~

This quote really touched me. I was brought back to the days right after 9/11. I felt like I had, up until that time, taken for granted all the things that were normal in my life. I just wanted normal again.

I wondered if things would ever be as they were. I was filled with fear over another, even more devastating attack. I listened to way too much news on TV and found myself petrified over an anthrax attack.

At the time, I was a stay-at-home mom and had an 16 month old, an almost three year old, a 12 year old and a 16 year old. My days were rote and filled with driving kids to school (preschool, middle school, high school), making dinner for a large family every night and the boredom and isolation that comes with not having a job outside the home.

It wasn't until the attack that I realized how beautiful that life was. It was a life free of fear and full of promise for my future and that of my children. It had all changed in one horrible day.

At this time, we have a resident dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. She is 57 years old and we are watching her die, bit by bit, every day. How she must long for normal and does she reflect back on the days when she complained about having to get up to go to work now that she is completely paralyzed and dependent upon others for the smallest tasks.

The "rare and perfect" tomorrow may never come. I shall enjoy my normal while I am still able.

Killawog

I get my hair done at a tiny shop in a tiny town called Killawog. Killawog actually has its own post office but don't turn around in it because you may knock something off a shelf.

I go to Killawog for my cut and color not only because it's cheap ($45) but the hairdresser is excellent. The added bonus is, as I'm sitting with goop in my hair waiting to "process", I get to enjoy the ambiance.

This ambiance is usually in the form of the other patrons of the shop whose lives rival those of Jerry Springer guests. Who had a paternity test? Who was seen at the local watering hole with whose wife? What's your new tattoo? Did your brother get into the plumber's union?

What I cannot understand is that these people go on vacation more often than I have in the past five years! I'm not talking about snowmobiling or 4-wheelin' vacations either (that's every weekend, not a vacation). I'm talking about going to Cabo or on ten-day cruises. I've thought about this for a long time wondering where they get the cash to do this and have come to a couple of conclusions. Either they're putting it on a credit card or they own a meth lab. Either conclusion would work.

First post

I recently read the blog of an old friend from high school and found it fascinating to get a peek into her everyday life over 25 years after we graduated. I thought it was time for me to start my own. I'm sure there are people who will read it and have nothing better to do than criticize me (and you know who you are) but life is too short to worry about the opinions of those bitter, old people. Okay, enough of that. :-)

 Tonight was a night that made me question why I live here. I had a nasty commute home that took twice as long as it usually does. Part of I-81 was closed due to two tractor trailer accidents and I had to slip and slide in the bumper to bumper traffic that crawled along Castle Creek Road. Thank God there was a kind soul behind me who didn't tailgate. I fishtailed my way up the hill to the lake and was so grateful to be home. I couldn't get the bottle of Cabernet uncorked fast enough and managed to grab a quick bite before Todd brought the girls home. 

 I do love living here most of the time. Sure, there's a lack of culture and I'm not real crazy about the typical Whitney Point resident but I have a great apartment with great neighbors. It also gives me a chance to save some money as the livin' is cheap here. There will come a day, very soon, that my credit card will be paid off and I will be in a good place financially. I dream about what I will do when that day comes....plan a trip to Disney for Bob, the girls and myself....buy nice living room furniture (furniture that wasn't given to me by a resident who "moved out" of Castle Gardens)....start putting money away for the girls' education, etc., etc., etc. As much as I look forward to that day, I have learned to be very happy with very little right now. Collecting material possessions is a shallow, transient pursuit that holds no appeal to me. I am so far removed from most of my peers who want the latest electronic gadget, a huge DVD library with a big screen TV or a fancy car. Okay, I confess...when I'm out of debt I may splurge on an iPod and will probably feed my book addiction but I would prefer to spend my money wisely. 

 So, for now, I take pleasure in the little things life offers my little family. I can walk to the lake to take the kids to the beach or rent a boat or even just take a walk around it on the new walking trail. I can send my kids with two one-dollar bills to the "Egg Man" across the road to get fresh brown eggs that have deep yellow, rich yolks. I can pop in on my fun neighbor downstairs to watch movies, drink rum and laugh like crazy. The village does have one fantastic diner and a restaurant with authentic Italian food. I have seen sunsets over the lake like I have never seen before. I am blooming where I am planted and fully living each day as it comes. There may come a day when I think back on this time of my life as a very fond memory. A quote I recently read said, "True affluence is not needing anything." Amen.