HAPPY NEW YEAR...
I missed the daily chat and sharing with everyone - still not 100% - that early morning flight was a killer for my body but then flying is such a hassle these days the schedule probably wouldn't matter - there was a time when seats tilted back and I could snooze but now my chin keeps falling into my collar bone and oh today, the stiff neck - on the way east I had a window seat which allows me to put something soft between the window and my head and I can snooze but going home when my body said snooze there I was on the aisle.
I must say the one break that had my heart rate pumping was being picked up by my good friend Charlotte [Charlotte is 91] - I suggested to her by email 11: would be good since the plane was to land at 10:20 - well both planes made excellent time and were ahead of schedule so we arrived in Austin before 10: - a few minutes after 10: I called her and she said she was going to finish her cup of coffee and be right down - I figured on the outside 45 minutes since it takes about a half hour to drive from our area to the airport - an hour later no Charlotte - 30 minutes past the 11: and still no Charlotte - called her and of course as I expected there would be no answer - called my home thinking she forgot my cell number - no message - what to do - If I leave and she arrives what a mess - I know there are a couple of tricky 'Y's on the way and it is easy to end up in Manchaca if you do not make the one right turn - finally it is noon and I decide I just have to leave because I cannot look for her sitting on the low wall outside the terminal building.
Just as I am gathering my carry-on's and ready to take the Shuttle that will bring you to your door for $15 there is Charlotte - oh is she in a dither - she missed the airport entirely and ended up in Bastrop!!! 22 miles down the same road as the airport. Then on the way back she nearly missed the airport again, however, she saw Callahan's [a big western general store with everything from boots to a cattle gate
http://callahansgeneralstore.com/ ] and was able to turn in their parking lot across the road by about 200 yards from the entry to the airport. I laughed and laughed which allowed her to laugh instead of feeling so upset - what can you do but laugh - age does that to us and yet, we do not want to believe we cannot do everything we did at 60.
Ann - all that snow in Morgan town as well - after last year and now this year I think North Carolina is part of the snow belt rather than the South. Did your sister leave because of the snow or was the trip planned and so she fortunately missed the snow. I definitely want what the King promised perched on his tree in Camelot - "It's true, it's true, the crown has made it clear, The climate must be perfect all year" and for me that means the snow must be gone in 48 hours.
One of the happy moments when I got in yesterday was to get in my vehicle and HAVE TO turn on the AC - it was only in the 70s but sitting in the sun the interior of a vehicle does get hot.
Ah yes
Sheila I did mix you up with
Sally - sorry - it is Sally who lives in Llano and Sheila, you live in Northern California - now that is implanted in my brain - I have another friend who always says immediately after a mistake - "I love mistakes" - we know she means she has learned more in her life from her mistakes.
And yes,
Sally when I shopped for groceries yesterday, Whole Foods had every imaginable concoction of Black-eye pea soup. There must have been at least 10 varieties - hot, ready to ladle into a container.
The conversation between
Pedln and
Cubfan [Mary] was a wonderful view of Wisconsin memories. I loved eavesdropping. And
Mary I just finished a couple of Jimmy Carter's early books about retirement - I was shocked to learn that he left the White House a poor man facing the foreclosure of the family farm - I can see that it is only after they are out of office that they can put all their new knowledge and acquaintanceship into play to build their personal wealth. It seems so removed and far away the way we all acted over politics when Carter was in the White House - it will be reading history won't it reading about his White House days.
Me too
Ginny - thanks so much - with so many new devices it is like learning a new language - the Roman's have nothing on the 21st century - You really cleared it up... wow...!
Steph you sound like you really have embraced the IPAD - impressive how you are navigating this equipment . My oh my
Rosemary - your daughter - amazing - "is watching a DVD on one side whilst playing a game on the other" on a split screen - and then we wonder why they are needing greater challenges beyond the basic 'reading writing and arithmetic' while in school from first grade onwards...here of late with all these devices for communication don't you feel like we have made some sort of leap into another time.
With all these new devices the one thing I decided - no large reading device for me - there were all these readers on board that had to shut off all electronic devices not only landing and taking off but, if there was any reason while flying the pilot needed to be assure of his instruments as the pilot did flying through the upper clouds of storms over Mississippi and part of Alabama - while those of us who had a book could merrily go on reading. Since I am at the wheel when driving a book on tape works well and at home I often pay the extra for a hardback since I love the feel of a book in my hand that a soft back does not offer.
So many great ideas for organizing the tasks towards the plans for the year - I love the idea of scratching off and keeping a list for a year to celebrate our accomplishments - that is great - and
Babi YES, to look at it as a proposed list - super - looks like we all struggle with letting go -
I love Charlotte's views on letting go - she sees it as someone whose life could be more meaningful by whatever the item than the item is adding to her life - she feels that way about her body as well so that both Bill, who died 3 years ago and her body is iced down and sent to this place in Arizona where they harvest what they can - the biggie is, infants cannot produce enough skin after a serious burn to cover the healing burn - the burn area evidently goes through several grafts before the final one and so regardless of our age everyone's skin is valuable - after the harvest what is left is cremated and so rather than having a cemetery marker the family has a memorial window in their church - Bill's ashes were interned in Arlington since he was an officer with the branch of the Navy that after WWII became the Navy Seals.
With all that, I know how hard it is to scrap the paperwork we create to use with meaningful work - ouch, that is difficult - I guess we do put more value on what comes from our brain and creative abilities - with so much of our identity tied to our work for so many years I can see how hard it is for those retiring from a job where you have no say so in when you retire. My thoughts on that have been more and more rather than calling it retirement and acting like we are supposed to sit back and simply enjoy life we could plan a form of Graduation to another phase of life where we, for a couple of years put as much effort into figuring out that next phase as we did preparing and deciding our future when we were in our early 20s. At that time we stripped our teenage rooms of anything that no longer fit the new identity we decided for ourselves and we started to gather 'things' that expressed who we were going to become.
Mabel/Jean - New Jersey! - does that put you close to New York City? Do you visit the city often to take in shows, museums and all the other specials of that 'with-it' city? I guess that would put you close to Philadelphia as well - another great city or is your area so out of the way the traffic would pose such a problem it is not worth the time to make such an effort? Mabel my work is as a Real Estate Broker - every-time I think enough is enough someone calls - this is one business if you are going to help you need to be on top of it - none of this once in a while attending to the market and the legalities - I've always believed anyone who wants a home should have the best they can afford and then I love watching - you can see it on their face - when they understand - when they get it - they really understand the process of both buying a house and buying the money to buy the house - I like to be a teacher so they can make their decision with all they need to make a good decision.
Armed with lots of ideas for making my plans happen I am off to join some friends for the New Year...
