Been a long time.

Being out of work and not having a schedule lets the mind wander and the body stay still. And get fatter. And not move around enough. And the whole person fails to grow. You need to attempt something to succeed at it. So there.

Again I say

There are not enough hours in the day. There are not enough days in the year. Gratitude is playing with my psyche today. I am grateful for my son, daughter-in-law(daughter), and 2 of the cutest grandkids in the world.

Today was a beautiful day in this part of planet Earth. I have gotten to swing on the front porch without suffering a melt down. I have read some good books. I'm making some pretty jewelry for the first time in a long time. Boy, it doesn't take much to make me happy.

Autumn is one of my favorite times of year. I always connect it with the start of school, though today's schools often start at the beginning of August. Anyway I was the dweeb of the world because I loved school. Of course the social opportunities (namely boys) were part of the program. I went back to my hometown the other day and was able to shop in the cutest shop with some wonderful decorative things. The shop is at 110 East Tennessee Ave. I lived in part of the shop when I was 8 years old. I even got to set foot in my old bedroom. Wow! Life surely does change. And when I was 8 was 53 years ago. I loved seeing the things that had been done with the building. I was with a friend I had met when I was 9. She is a treasure and I only recently was able to reconnect with her. It has been a treat. I am so much more able to appreciate things now. It is always better to go ahead and say so I think. Waiting for a perfect time to tell a person they are appreciated may result in a loss of opportunity.

I have been thinking about the old days, or at least as much as my memory will let me. The friday night football games for instance. I was in the band and of course I wanted to go on the boy search but the band members had to sit in the stands and play and set a good example. Of what I don't know. The smells and sounds and sights at a High School football game are the same all over. The popcorn, the coolness of the night, the fizz that goes up the nose from a really fresh coke. Yelling till hoarse, jumping for joy at a touchdown, and making plans for after the game were one of the most fun things about High School. Should you have a boyfriend, there is always the shared fun of being seen being doted on by the most wonderful guy in the world. But anyway, after the game I usually managed to find some friends to ride with to the local fun spot, the Wildcat Den. (Now a Senior Center) There was a band or DJ and we all had a great time dancing and pretending to be adults. Back then I didn't know that being an adult was not so much fun as I had thought. I loved dancing so much it surprises me that I have not danced since college except on a very few occasions. And I also didn't realize that a lot of guys don't particularly like to dance. Oh well!

I also loved the excitement of getting back to seeing friends that had been unavailable over the summer. There were always a few friends that lived close enough to see once in a while but the school year offered so much more to see and sometimes to gossip about. Yes, I did. It was"Did you see who so and so took to the Den Friday?" and "Oh, I just heard so and so is now wearing such-and such's ring. I didn't even know they were dating. Did you?" The latest of the things that happened over the summer took till about Thanksgiving to discuss, understand, predict the future of, and embrace or dismiss as false. I really don't know how anyone gets out of High School with the ego intact and the self esteem healthy. Or do they?

Fall is one time of year that has, therefore, seemed to be a beginning, not an ending as some would have it. Spring is the historic time of beginnings and Summer is the time for growth. Well, because I loved school so much and spent so much of Summer bored when I was young, I now associate Fall with a time of growth and Winter is the time to think over the things I have learned and how they fit me. Just think, 2 growth periods per year. Yippee!

Weathering the weather

People talk about the weather when they can't come up with a better topic of conversation. People complain about it when it isn't doing what they want it to. People get their juices flowing in the Spring when the warm days begin. People agonize over it if it is getting too destructive. It can be too hot, too cold, too windy, too humid, too dry, too rainy, too snowy, too sunny, too dark, and just too too. But on those days like I have seen in the last 2 weeks where I live, the weather has just been too beautiful for words!

To add to the day's joy

I miss having a schedule to keep. If you are reading my blogs, you can tell.

I am going to go to an art gallery tomorrow. I am always inspired by beautiful things, workmanship, color, artistry, etc. There are so many beautiful things in nature that I am also adding a trip to the woods to my list of things to do. A running brook usually has lovely colored rocks and silvery fish and ripples of color running right through it. There are always gorgeous colors in the bark of different trees, the leaves, the flowers on the roadside, and even on the strata of the rocks of the hillsides. The clouds and sky colors inspire a huge AHHHHHHH! My honey calls me a tree hugger and I guess I must be cause I have actually hugged a tree. I am impressed with the different shapes and sounds of the forest and with the calm that lives there. When my life is not calm enough, the woods are a comfort. So too is an art gallery to me. Therefore I must say there are two kinds of galleries, indoor ones and outdoor ones. Hurray for both.

Staying home

Staying home is sort of tough for a non-self-starter. I love it. But in order to get anything done I have to make myself focus. Without a child to follow around focus goes out the window. Now I must make a list. It's the only way.

Today I had the pleasure

Today I had the pleasure of talking to my daughter several times. Hurrah for cell phones. I can reach my kids at the drop of a hat. That is if they answer. I remember that it used to cost so much for a long distance call that I rarely made them. How much nicer it would have been to call MOM and say HI and not have to cram a month's worth of stuff into 10 minutes. I can now consult on the haircut my daughter will get and Mom just had to comment on pictures when I could afford to get them printed and mailed. What a wonderful change for families. Especially now when many families must move across the country for jobs or retirement or whatever, what a blessing it is to be able to just converse with loved ones. How wonderful!

Today is also a banner day. I didn't have to go to work. Darn I like that. I feel as if I have been let out of prison.

What's with the gas here? Where it is available, it is 50 cents per gallon more expensive than anywhere else in the Southeast. Think price gouging. Think go elsewhere for gas when I find out who started the trend.

The weather couldn't be better here. The days are balmy and the nights are cool. So super to walk outside and not have to take a shower when I come back in. Maybe that is partly responsible for the boost in energy I have felt also. Anything is more fun for me when I'm not sweating.

I would love to say something wise and deep today but --- oh well!

What's really important

My son. His car, that he has enjoyed and worked on and loved was damaged in a crash and what is important to me is not the car but the love he put into it and the fact that he is unhappy. Fortunately he was just banged up a bit. But I spoke with him and he sounds so darn sad. As a MOM I know that there are things I would really miss. And I know about cars that I missed when they went away. Old Rusty was the family car for so many years and boy did we put the memories into that ride. However, mourning for the car was my son't because he had known no other car but that one. It is truly important to have things to be interested in and the automobile certainly fills the bill for a lot of men. Then there are the Steelers. But that is another story.