Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Pay It Forward and Artsy Pen Pal Gifts

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It's like Christmas here, all over again and I feel giddy like a little kid with all my new treasures!

In the Pay it Forward tag that we did a couple of months ago, my friend, Jenn at J-Online sent me this very creative hat box, that she decorated with stickers and sweet motivational quotes such as...Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year! And...Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows!

Inside it was filled with magnetic note pads, a journal, some fancy-schmancy Post-it page markers which I will use up promptly...since I highlight or mark passages in nearly every book I read...and the icing on this was a package of honest to goodness Texas Bluebonnet Lupine seed, since Jenn is from Texas!! I can't wait to add them to my garden!! Jenn commented in the card that accompanied this special gift, "As you can see, I'm not very creative!" HUH? Can you imagine her thinkin' that after seeing this! Silly girl! I think it's very creative and MUCH appreciated!!! Thank you Jenn!!!

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Then...over at C. Beth's blog, we did a holiday Artsy Pen Pal exchange and look at this adorable Sunny Snow-woman I received from another Jen, in Wisconsin! She's a stay at home mom of an 8 month old and found the time to create this outstanding little piece of art! Isn't it cute? (Jen....I want to link to you but I am still attempting to get your blog address from Beth to do so, but I send my sincere thanks!)

And....I am going to use this Sunny Snow-woman like a Flat Stanley! Her first stop? She's going to my son in Afghanistan for a visit and photos, which I will share later! From what my son tells me, Afghanistan is soooo cold right now, he could use a little sunshine!!! Watch for the photos!

Again, my thanks ladies for your thoughtfulness and creativity!

PS, My Pay it Forward gift went to Melissa the other day and Remo..yours is almost ready to be mailed and different from Melissa's so in case she posts an entry about it, it won't ruin your surprise!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Open Range

When visiting Cave Man; a serious movie buff, he's been sharing his love of modern day films with me-one who's been mostly film deprived due to my former inability to sit still and quiet my mind long enough to focus on plots and subplots.

Recently, we watched Open Range, a 2003 Western, starring Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall and Annette Benning. The story follows Charlie Waite (Costner) and Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall), cattlemen who believe in freegrazing (allowing herds of cattle to move freely throughout the country, rather than stay on a ranch)and the problems they encounter with some folks who don't want cattle grazing the praries.

It was a great film and I now love me some Kevin Costner!

Did you know Kevin Costner sings too? Here's a clip of him and his band, Modern West, singing Superman 14 which is a very catchy tune and will quickly become an "ear worm"......you know, one you can't get outta your head if you listen to it over and over, like me. Take that as fair warning, but do take a listen. I think he's amazing.



But, I digress!

In October 2008, I discovered Cheri Block Sabraw's incredible blog, entitled; Notes from Around the Block, when it was featured as one of Blogger's "Blogs of Note." Cheri is a teacher at Mill Creek Academy, in Northern California which she originally founded as a writing school in 1998. I would love to attend her writing classes but I think I am too old now!

Anyway, she posted a great entry today about some cattle wranglin' taking place right there in her neck of the woods...the San Franciso area! Yep...Happy California cows in the modern West! It's a great short story and I hope you'll stop by and read it!

Giddy up!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Friday Fill-Ins



You can play along with Janet by going to her Friday Fill-Ins blog!


1. Oh, I am so freakin' naive at times! ::shakes head::

2. I am so grateful for all my life's changes, big and little.

3. During my sleep, I snore and sometimes stop breathing.

4. My natural gas bill up 40 percent; are you kidding me???

5. Right now I'd like to be in one of the places that I consider a "peaceful safe haven." Location, location, location.

6. Duh! The computer is my favorite gadget.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to eating an IN and OUT cheeseburger, just prior to driving back up the mountain from our trip all the way down there just to go to the damn pharmacy, tomorrow my plans include biting off a few pieces of the elephant in the dining room and Sunday, I want to finish him off!

Clarification requested by some of my readers...In and Out (<--click on In and Out in the first sentence of this paragraph for more info) is a great "fast-food" place to get a very fresh hamburger and awesome fries. They cut their own potatoes right there in front of you and serve them hot and delicious! They are only in California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona.

Us Californians LOVE In and Out because it's soooo YUMMY, and the staff are extremely well trained in customer service, so they get paid more than the average fast food restaurant.

How to eat an elephant Pictures, Images and Photos

No darn it, the elephant is not chocolate, because if it was, it would have been polished off long before now!! I always tell Ab the best way to tackle a big project is like you'd eat an elephant...one little bit at time! My elephant is a huge stack of paperwork, magazines and mail that has piled up since before Christmas and I think it multiplies in the night as it's completely covered the dining room table. I am going to attack it, one bite at a time!!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Her best thinkin'.............

teenagers Pictures, Images and Photos


Rita Mae Brown said.....

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you.


She also said......

Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment.


In the AA and Al Anon circles, there's a saying that is often used...which is basically, "Your best thinkin' got you here!"

My poor young woman child and her mother are both "one out of every four Americans" that suffers from some form of mental illness. Her best thinkin' coupled with a little dose of bad judgement got her suspended from school yesterday, when one of her former girlfriends "crossed the line!" and Abbie decided to give her a significant "shove" away from the lunch table.

According to the Principal and Ab's version of this incident, it wasn't one-sided. The other girl was indeed attempting to provoke Abbie with what ever she was running her teenage hormonal mouth about. Ab called it, "Talking major crap!" and said the girl "crossed that line where she needed to have her ass kicked! And...she's lucky I didn't beat her ass instead of just pushing her away!"

Ab usually has a lot of patience and self-control with others, except for those of us in her immediate family! So, basically in public, she's on her best behavior. She's not unkind to others, or disrespectful of authority. She's polite, respectful and caring. So, I was somewhat taken aback by her behavior when I received the call from the school. Even the principal expressed his shock at Abbie's reaction calling her a "really good kid!" and apparently the other young lady was known for having some previous suspensions for HER behavior.

So, when Ab got home, we had the "talk" about self-control, the law when it comes to putting ones hands on another person and of course, I did my part with the appropriate parental admonishments, etc. Ab was naturally riding high on adrenaline after the incident and had no problem justifying her actions repeatedly saying that the girl had "crossed the line and needed to have her ass kicked" and she was somewhat proud of her self-control at only "shoving" her!

I was using my best parental and "inmate" type counsel, trying to get her to understand....Who decides when another person crosses the line verbally in a situation like that? I pointed out that it was she who crossed the line, including legally... by getting physical and how ironic it was that the other young lady didn't get suspended for her behavior. Ab was lucky the police weren't called, because apparently Abbie's fingernails caused scratches on the girls chest when she pushed her.

Abbie just had a hard time with letting go of the "judgement" aspect; the part about "crossing the line" continued to be the frequent justification.

I tried another tactic. I said, "Ab, you often cross the line with me, don't you? What if I 'beat your ass' every time you 'crossed the line'? Is your idea of crossing the line, different than mine? Probably. In fact I am sure it is, so you just can't make that judgement in relationships. That's how people get into domestic violence situations because they think it's their right to determine what is....'crossing the line!'"

I'm not sure if I ever was able to influence her best thinkin' but we'll see. Today she's suspended for the entire school day and we'll have another talk about her judgement and thought processes.

I hope I am using my best parental thinking. I must be, because I didn't have the slightest inclination to beat her ass! ;)

Teenage HELL, I'm telling you!

Let It Begin With Me.........




Your Word is "Peace"



You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of.

Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you.

While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life.

You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Viva Mexico!

M&eacute;xico Pictures, Images and Photos


As I mentioned in the 100 Random Little Things About Me entry...my now "former" mother-in-law is Mexican by birth, but she's an American citizen. She has always travelled back and forth to Mexico to see family, friends and the nuns in the Carmelite convent she was in as a young woman, which she left just before she took her final vows.

When Fly Boy was a child, he twice had the wonderful opportunity to travel with her deep into Mexico, where he experienced the culture, people and sights. I was and still am very envious because he had that experience with someone who knew the language, the environment and most importantly the people in the country.

Don't pity me, because I HAVE been there. For my 50th birthday, I experienced a magnificent cruise to Mexico, visiting stunning Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan! However a tourist trip is never the same as hanging out with someone who knows the ins and outs of all things Mexican. I have also had the very humbling experience of traveling into Tijuana with my MIL, to visit some of her family that lives in that poor border town, but it was only for a few hours each time. That's why I want to do the Mexican/Spanish Language immersion trip someday. I want to stay there for several weeks or months...maybe even a year and totally be immersed in the culture and language. Now that I am retired, it's something I can seriously consider doing once Ab is on her own.

Anyway...I was talking about Fly Boy's experience in Mexico with his Grandma Tutie. After returning from his first trip when he was about 9 years old, or so....we were talking about his adventures and he was very animated and excited while sharing his stories. I guess I got really excited when listening and thought maybe, just maybe he shared the same dream as me...to actually live in Mexico. I then had the brilliant idea that perhaps he'd like to be a foreign exchange student someday.

So, I posed the question after throughly explaining the concept of being an exchange student.

Me: "Fly Boy! Wouldn't it be cool to live in Mexico as a foreign exchange student? Going to school there for a year and living with a Mexican family!

Fly Boy: "No Mom, I think I'd rather be a terrorist!"

Me: "What? WHAT? A terrorist? I don't understand Fly Boy! What do you mean by terrorist?"

Fly Boy: "You know Mom! One of those people who just goes and visits the country like I did with Tutie!"

Me: "Oh you mean a TOURIST! YOU WANT TO BE A TOURIST!!"

Fly Boy: "Yeah, that's it! A tourist! I just want to be a tourist. That's all!"

Thank God we clarified that!

I am extremely proud to say that my son now is chasing TERRORISTS in Afghanistan rather than the choosing to actually be one!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

100 Random Little Things About ME!

princess Pictures, Images and Photos

Obviously, I've got a little too much time on my hands to sit here and think up this stuff on a day when I should be writing about the historic significance surrounding this glorious day of change in our nation as Senator Obama was sworn in as our new President. Everyone else has already done that so much better than I could, so I present this instead. I've run across several bloggers who have done this, so I decided to play along.

Here goes....

1. I sucked my thumb, well actually both thumbs…however not at the same time, until I was 12 years old.

2. It really upset me when I stuck my “favorite” left thumb in our wringer washing machine when I was about 3 years old.

3. My left thumb has the ugly scar to prove that stupid kid trick.

4. I used to habitually bite my fingernails.

5. I quit biting my fingernails when I got my engagement ring because I wanted to show it off with pretty hands and nails.

6. I am left-handed

7. I do not write with a left-handed hook like many people who are left-handed do.

8. I shoot a handgun using my right hand.

9. I cut with scissors using my right hand.

10. I am the only biological child of my mother and father-together.

11. I really like that fact as it makes me feel very special; like one of a kind!

12. I have 11 half-siblings born to my mother and father, and they have various mothers/fathers. Confusing, huh!

13. Only 7 of those half-siblings are alive. Two died as infants and two died as adults; both of cancer and at the age of 39.

14. I am a proud registered member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma due to my paternal Native heritage.

15. My birth took place in an unwed mother’s home in Los Angeles.

16. I was placed for immediate adoption after my birth.

17. My birthmother changed her mind and took me back before the adoption was finalized.

18. Later, when my mother married, her husband adopted me when I was 5 years old.

19. I found my birthfather when I was about 25 years old.

20. He became my very best friend and believed in me like no one ever had.

21. I miss him terribly since his death 4 years ago.

22. I want to marry someone like my birthfather.

23. I already married someone like my adoptive father and it wasn’t good so I divorced him.

24. I am the adoptive mother of two children, both Native American from the Cheyenne Nation of Oklahoma.

25. My youngest adopted child is my niece, by birth. She is the daughter of one of my half-brothers.

26. My youngest son, is her half-brother. They have the same birthmothers, but different fathers. Still with me here?

27. I am the biological mother of two other children; who are older than the adopted kids.

28. My first child was miscarried when I was about 5 months along in the pregnancy.

29. I didn’t breast feed those babies because it wasn’t popular at the time and also because I was afraid my husband would be jealous of the time they spent on the breast. Sick, huh!

30. I really regret that I didn’t choose to breast feed my kids. It’s probably the only real regret I have in life, which I think is pretty good.

31. I once lost $1000 in a pyramid scheme. It was a hell of a lot of money back then. It’s still a hell of a lot of money to lose foolishly.

32. I am extremely lucky…in Casinos, Drawings and Raffles, and Sweepstakes. I have won money and lots of other stuff. Nothing big like a car, but that’s coming! I’m sure!

33. I love playing the slots, especially the Wheel of Fortune machines.

34. I tried out for the Wheel of Fortune game show years ago and wasn’t selected.

35. I was in a run-off vote for Senior Homecoming Queen in High School and lost.

36. It was a disappointment, but secretly I didn’t want that much attention because I was extremely shy.

37. I have known my friend Cindi since we were in 2nd grade. We’ve always been close friends and our birthdays are just days apart.

38. She didn’t come to my big 50th birthday celebration and I don’t understand that at all.

39. I am still kind of hurt over that and it‘s been 5 years.

40. But, seriously I don’t hold grudges.

41. My mother used to raise AKC registered Collies and Shelties and entered them in various dog shows.

42. She taught me how to “show” dogs too and I won many ribbons in “Junior Handling” events.

43. I have witnessed and assisted in the birth of lots of puppies, including bringing a couple to life when the bitch didn’t do it herself…for example, cutting the umbilical cord, breaking the sac and roughing them up to start them breathing.

44. I don’t think I’d like to do that now.

45. I think I’ve always been more of a cat person as I think dogs require too much effort.

46. I don’t like cats as much as I used to now that we have four of them.

47. The best gift I ever gave someone, in my opinion, was a list of 86 Things We Love About Grandma Jessie, for her 86th birthday.

48. The best gift I ever received was a telephone call from “Elvis.” Even though it was an impersonator, it just made my day!

49. I’ve visited Graceland because I am a huge Elvis fan.

50. I wrote Priscilla Presley right after the visit to tell her how disappointed I was in the condition of Graceland. It was dirty and in disrepair.

51. She never wrote back. I don’t believe she ever got the letter, but I hope someone important there did and cleaned it up.

52. I think I loved both of my grandmothers more than I ever loved my mother.

53. My dream car when I was young, cute, skinny and single was a Datsun (Nissan) 280Z and I had two of them in a row.

54. I try to keep my car really clean, inside and out. The trunk, not so much.

55. I’d get my car washed/detailed weekly if I could. It needs it now!

56. I was anorexic for a few years when I was in my 20s.

57. I seriously got over that!

58. Backgammon is a game I used to play with a friend daily, when I was a young stay at home mom. I’d forgotten how to play it until Cave Man and I played it recently. It came back to me quickly!

59. Horses and horseback riding were my passion when I was a kid.

60. I used to ride as often as possible, in Griffith Park and at stables nearby my home.

61. I would clean horse stalls and groom the horses in exchange for the cost of riding the horses.

62. I was a highly trained Hostage Negotiator in my career. I was the “Primary” negotiator and later became the negotiations team leader at my place of employment.

63. I hated being the team leader and working side by side with the bosses in critical incidents.

64. I loved being a hostage negotiator and was damn good at it.

65. I wouldn’t be able to do it now, because I can’t think as fast as I once did.

66. In most cases, I could easily live without a telephone as I really don’t like talking on the telephone, which is the main tool of a hostage negotiator. Go figure!

67. Sometimes I think I write way better than I talk. Actually, I am sure of it.

68. If I had only one super power, I’d want to be able to be invisible at certain times, like while grocery shopping in my home town.

69. Scary movies scare me. Bad. I don’t do scary movies. AT. ALL.

70. Molasses cookies are my favorite-right now!

71. I had my upper jaw “reconstructed” because my teeth wouldn’t move back with braces and I had more jaw than I needed, probably because of my thumb-sucking as a kid. My mouth was wired shut for 6 weeks after the surgery and I lived on chocolate protein milkshakes.

72. I now HATE chocolate milkshakes.

73. I was fluent in Spanish when I was young, having studied Spanish in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.

74. My mother-in-law was Mexican, so I used my Spanish a lot when I was with her and her family.

75. Since my divorce, I lost most of my ability to speak the language, but I still understand and can read quite a bit of it.

76. I am hoping to go Mexico on a Spanish Immersion trip in the future. My former mother-in-law is assisting me in that endeavor as I want to relearn the language.

77. Sometimes I wish I was a Mexican me.

78. Mexican food is my favorite.

79. Japanese food is my second favorite.

80. I prefer dark chocolate and always have, even when I was a kid.

81. I love to play computer games such as Poppit, Spider Solitaire, Mah Jong, etc.

82. I don’t play video games and don’t have any interest in doing so.

83. Maybe I’d change my mind if I had a Wii Fit.

84. The last video game I played was Pac Man and it made me extremely nervous!

85. If I were wealthy, I’d have a full time housekeeper, a cook and a masseuse!

86. I hate it when my house is dirty and it‘s really bad right now.

87. When I was little I knew I wanted to be a cop and a cowgirl. I came close to both.

88. I’ve been to tons of country music concerts because I just love country music.

89. I hated country music until I started relating to the cheatin’ songs when I was going through my divorce.

90. I hated cheese as a kid.

91. I LOVE cheese as an adult.

92. I've had two non-cancerous lumps removed from my left breast.

93. I hated Ice Cream as a kid.

94. I LOVE Ice Cream now!

95. I wish I didn't love ice cream!

96. My next goal is to get my Private Investigator’s license.

97. I spend money like I have it to spend.

98. I have everything in life I want and need.

99. I have always been tender-hearted, but I am toughening up!

100. I think it's fun to drive a car with a manual transmission and miss it, but I am glad that I have an automatic transmission in my present automobiles.

Monday, January 19, 2009

How Much Can One Family Take?

God_at_his_computer Pictures, Images and Photos

This cartoon from The Far Side, by Gary Larson has always struck me funny because I really used to think of an all powerful, vengeful God as He's depicted here. One that is sitting around saying to himself..."Hmmmm. Let's see...who deserves this piano crashing down on his head today? Oh yeah...there's Joe, that schmuck! He's been a real pain in the patootie lately!"

CRASH!!!

I felt justified in my thinking, considering my bleak childhood, the so-called "Acts of God" people have suffered through and the general multitude of crap that life seems to dish out to us all! God was someone to fear and certainly we were all bound to go HELL anyway, since nobody I knew was ever even close to being perfect. We weren't a particularly religious family, but we did have some exposure to various churches as kids. I really never felt like I belonged in any of them. As a balance however, we were also exposed to the "New Age" beliefs of my maternal grandmother, who was very spiritual and actually pretty progressive in her metaphysical thinking way back when.

About the time my sister was diagnosed with a rare, incurable form of breast cancer at the age of 38, which would kill her shortly after her 39th birthday, I seriously began to question what little faith I had in the God of my understanding. Surely a loving God wouldn't choose such a devastating illness to inflict on my wonderful sister who was a good, loving and devoted mother and wife. I equated HIM with that cartoon...with Kim about to be clobbered by the piano that God held precariously over her head.

Kim had suffered more than her share of heartaches as a kid......being teased mercilessly for a seriously crossed eye and the 5 operations needed to try to straighten it, along with the resulting black eye patches she had to wear, being molested by her step-father, and of course, we were all taken from our mother due to her being deemed "unfit." Maybe I missed that lesson about life not being fair in school, because this death sentence Kim was handed was seriously unfair!! It was about that time that I began my spiral into depression and anxiety attacks.

Having such doubts and a lack of faith, I began reading, searching for answers. I think I changed my mind about God once I read the book, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" by Rabbi Harold Kushner in which he defined God in a way more to my liking, with concepts about the "WHY" that I could more easily accept. In essence, Rabbi Kushner contributes certain incurable diseases or tragic accidents to an element of randomness in the universe, the existence of laws of nature and of course the misuse of human freedom-tragic choices made by us "human" beings. Instead of the all powerful, controlling definition of God, Kushner writes, "The God I believe in does not send us the problem; He gives us strength to cope with the problem" and to over come it. That sorta worked for me, until recently.

I started this post to talk about how my faith in a traditional "GOD" has been wavering and evolving; how I am still in the process of determining the "God of my understanding" as I practice the Al-Anon principles. It's comforting to know even Mother Theresa had her moments of serious doubt too.

All of this came bubbling up as a result of a tragic situation that just happened to a friend of mine the other day. She and her 39 year old husband went to bed that night, and while he was sleeping he suffered what she described as a "seizure" and died! She gave him CPR for 5 minutes before the paramedics arrived, but he was already gone. The medics worked heroically on him for 45 minutes in vain.

The official cause of death has not yet been determined and the autopsy results are pending. Kirsten and Dave were devout Christians. Dave played in a Christian "heavy metal" type band, and they have an 11 year old son. But the worst part...the horrific part, is that Kirsten is fighting for her own life right now as she is smack dab in the middle of her second round of chemotherapy for breast cancer! Dave was a wonderful husband and her best friend! She had to quit her job due to her medical condition. He was the sole support for their family. She's devastated beyond words. Can you imagine how their son is feeling right now? I am sure he's frightened that he may lose his mother now as well.

It's so damn sad. Unfair. Life is so damn unfair.

Dear God.

I so want to believe.

But, right now...it's tough.

Catalytic Convertors, Caustic Comments and Mt. Vesuvius

Mt. Vesuvius Pictures, Images and Photos


It's good to be back?

There's nowhere like "home!"

Oh yeah. How I've missed the bitchiness of the two young women who inhabit this pig sty...I mean...humble abode and hurl caustic insults and curse words back and forth in nearly every encounter with one another.

HOME SWEET HOME!

But there may be hope...as this morning I got up and found that Tam is not here, having left in the middle of the night; keeping her usual hours. I have no idea where she is, but perhaps she's found someone to move in with? Nah...most men won't put up with the Princess of Quite A Lot for too long! Damn it!

In other news...The ride to the airport in Nashville was a BIG adventure, when about 10 minutes after our start, somethin' or other happened with the "catalytic converter" that my friendly realtor/driver just got fixed two weeks previously, and we lost most power and had exhaust fumes pouring inside the vehicle. With a piece of a black plastic trash bag and some electrical tape he covered a smoking hole on the top of the engine and we were off again!

You may have seen us. We were the ones in the silver Ford Explorer, inching along in the Emergency lane, using the flashers, of course....WITH OUR WINDOWS OPEN, in freezing ass weather.....going about..oh,....25 miles per hour...TOPS!

ALL. THE. WAY. TO. NASHVILLE.

But, we made it in TWO HOURS, with about an hour to spare before my flight departed. And...fortunately, because we had the windows open the entire time, the carbon monoxide poisoning I had was only minor, causing only a serious headache, which I really couldn't feel much because of the frostbite to my forehead! There's a bright side to every situation!

Anyway, I had good intentions to head down the mountain to get my Driver's License renewed today, but then I learned that today is Martin Luther King's Day from Ab when I woke her up for school. School's out, and so our State Offices will be closed as well. It's probably good, because I have a blemish on my chin that is about as ugly, red and hot as Mt. Vesuvius, which would NOT make for an attractive identification photo.

Sometimes when I internalize my stress......and I was somewhat stressing about Fly Boy's departure.....I will get a breakout on my chin. It's a good thing it didn't happen until after he left and I was done visiting with my grandchildren, because I think if my DIL saw it, (and how could she have missed the pending eruption forming).....she may have freaked and not let me near the kids, considering me toxic or something!

I mean..."MORE" toxic!

Being HUMAN. Another one of my irritating character flaws.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Looky Here!!!



This is what the river looked like from my upper deck this extremely cold, but gorgeous morning! Isn't it amazing, with the patterns of the mist rising just above the water! That's my backyard!!! Imagine sunrise coming just the other side of that view! Spectacular! ::big sigh:: I am one lucky woman to have found this place! And...I almost hate to leave!

But, on the other hand...............

It's 17 degrees here!

SEVENTEEN!

Tonight were dropping down to ELEVEN!

I know.... it's waaaaayyyyy colder where some of you people live. Bless your hearts.... I don't know how you do it. It's just that I have that born and bred California blood running through my veins, so 68 degrees is about perfect for me!

I am getting outta here tomorrow and heading back to sunny California just in time to avoid the snow that may hit here Monday! I can get plenty of that frozen precipitation stuff at home, in the mountains, where I have a car!

Since I had to give the "borrowed" car back to my son on Wednesday, I've been feeling somewhat restless. It's not like I need or really want to go anywhere, it's just the fact that I can't that makes me a bit uncomfortable. That will teach me to let my driver's license expire! Note to self...TAKE CARE OF THAT ASAP!

Today I actually did a little housekeeping, in preparation for my departure. I didn't wash a single dish while I was here, until today....because I was truly vacationing. The whole time I've been here has been pure self-indulgence and I've loved every minute of it.

I have vacuumed the upstairs and will finish with the downstairs tomorrow morning as this place has to be in tip-top shape when I leave, so that it's nice, clean and orderly when I return. There's a motive to my madness, of course! I'm sure it's a control thing too as this is the only piece of my little world that I think I've had total control over, at least in the housekeeping area. There's nothing better than to walk in here where it's uncluttered, organized amd peaceful, when you need to get away from it all!

Less is definitely more, believe me.