Something old, something new

This trunk is the new. The candlestick is the old gleaned at a yard sale. The running horse came from an antique shop. The metal container is new too. I just love mixing thing together in different ways. My eyes constantly need new stimulation. Some people are content to decorate and leave everything the same forever. That is not me. I am changing things around all the time with the seasons. I get joy and bliss from it. 

We are not too old to date

 I love to go on a date with my husband. You would think after being married for 53 years (on January 22nd) that we would tire of each other’s company. But that is not the case (and probably the reason we are still together). We spend a lot of time together, day in and day out. It is necessary to  also have some separate time which is why he fished and I joined clubs. 

   Yesterday Don and I went to Buffalo to spend the day with each other and celebrate our anniversary. We started out at Cabela’s and did a little shopping (I love their moccasin slippers) followed by a great lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I did a quick run through at Pottery Barn just to see what they had on display. I haven’t been to the Galleria Mall in quite a long time. We made a few other stops at Home Goods and Hobby Lobby before heading home. It was good to get out of town and the weather was cold but the roads were clear. We are expecting a big snowstorm on Saturday afternoon.  Chris is coming up to take us out for dinner for our anniversary. 

Today I went to a Literary Club luncheon at the hospital. Every year we have a luncheon there and always look forward not only to the good food but we always have a speaker. This time it was the CEO of the hospital who told us about the financial plight of rural hospitals. 

Yea.

I think I can blog using the blogger platform now. It seems the pictures are coming in. This isn’t the same one I like to use but it will have to do.  

Another test

Wise words

Oh, my God. What if you wake up some day, and you're 65 or 75, and you never got your novel or memoir written; or you didn't go swimming in warm pools or oceans because your thighs were jiggly or you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It's going to break your heart. Don't let this happen.
~ Anne Lamott

Testing for photos

i am checking to see if the photos will load from the computer.

Test

 

All of a sudden my blog cant upload pictures  i will attempt to fix this in the future  

We begin to find and become ourselves when we notice how we are already found, already truly, entirely, wildly, messily, marvelously who we were born to be."  ~ Anne Lamott 

Have you found yourself?  Do you now know who you are?  And do you love you?

   

 

Have you accepted who you are and do you love that person?  Can you forgive yourself for your past mistakes? 

 

 

   

 

Can you smile when you look in the mirror and say hello, you wonderful girl?

 

You are just right the way you are. 

 

 

Love yourself

I am unable to load photos into my blog. I will attempt to fix this at a later date. Sorry. I’ll have to work to figure this out. 

We begin to find and become ourselves when we notice how we are already found, already truly, entirely, wildly, messily, marvelously who we were born to be."  ~ Anne Lamott 

Have you found yourself?  Do you now know who you are?  And do you love you?

Have you accepted who you are and do you love that person?  Can you forgive yourself for your past mistakes? 

Can you smile when you look in the mirror and say hello, you wonderful girl?

You are just right the way you are. 

Preppy Empty Nester

One of the favorite blogs on my sidebar is Preppy Empty Nester. If you click at the sidebar you also will be able to enjoy her blog. Today she posed some interesting questions which I will attempt to answer....

1. Tell us something about your life in 1973.

1973 was a pretty exciting life for the Karrasch household. We were living in a small house on Tuna Crossroads.  It was our first real house but very small. A new highway was coming through the center of town and they were buying up all the properties which were in the way.  Our house was one of the last that was bought and they must have had money left over for they gave us way more than the house was worth. This enable us to buy our current home. We moved here in September of that year and I was 8 months pregnant with Ryan. 1973 was exciting because we added another boy to our family. 

2. What was your favorite pastime as a child?

I always brag that I grew up in the best neighborhood ever. It was the days of Sally, Dick, and Jane in the fifties and we were in and out of our neighbors’ houses like they were our own. We had a gang of neighborhood children and our favorite pastime was to play outdoors...all day, every day. Even in the winter we bundled up with snowsuits to go out with our friends and wouldn’t come in despite snow down our necks and in our boots until our parents’ called. 

3. What is the best way to cheer you up on a bad day?

A phone call from one of my sisters or my friends definitely cheers me up when I am down. I really miss my best friend who passed away because no matter how bad I was feeling she had a way of making it better. She and I would get in the car and go off shopping to take my mind off anything that was bothering me. One time in the middle of winter when I had cabin fever we went to a store that had gotten in their patio tables already. We both sat down in the chairs and pretended that we were in the middle of summer....and laughed at each other. 

4.  How old were you when you first started dating? Do you remember your first date? 

I was boy crazy..yes, I admit it. My first real official date was Cyril who asked me to the Apple Blossom Ball.  I think I was 15. It was a “fancy” dress up affair and mom and I shopped for a pretty dress. I even got my hair done. 

5. Do you like fig Newtons?

Yes, I love them. I like anything with dates in it. Date bread, date pinwheel cookies, even plain dates to eat. 

6.  TEll us something random ab out your week. 

 My sleep patterns have been all over the place this week. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep.  Other times I sleep in way past my normal wake up time. There are nights when I can’t get to sleep. I’m trying to establish a regular routine. If I go to sleep around ten o’clock I seem to do all right. 

Will you share your answers to those questions?

Skating

      This video fascinated me.   Can’t you just put yourself back in that time?  I love the women skating in their long dresses holding muffs. 

What is an artist?

Why are we our own worst critics?  For so many years I would not pick up a paintbrush because I couldnt produce the effect I wanted. I did not realize that I could have my own style. And if I practiced I could make art. Having art class has given me some confidence in my abilities and I look forward to Tuesdays.  

C-c-c-cold

I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the thermometer this morning. Four degrees. That is the coldest that we have had this whole winter. Of course it doesn’t stop me from going out today to meet my friends for coffee. We don’t let a little cold weather make a difference. I love getting up in the morning and having someplace to go. It starts my day off right to be with my friends and talk about all kinds of things. 

Today I am hosting the giggle girls at my house. We missed getting together in December so we are more than ready to start playing marbles with each other again. It will be nice to catch up on each other’s lives again. 

You have to make a space in your heart, in your mind and in your life itself for authentic human connection.

Marianne Williamson

Contemplation

The Winter Solstice is the time of ending and beginning, a powerful time -- a time to contemplate your immortality. A time to forgive, to be forgiven, and to make a fresh start. A time to awaken.”

- Fredrick Lenz

AS I sit here with one eye on the playoff football game my mind wanders. This year my husband and I have been watching a lot of football.  We were always fans of the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers but this year we have found the time to watch a lot of different teams. I think having a DVR has made the difference since we record the games and watch them later as we can fast forward through all the commercials. Our teams didn’t do as well this year so we are rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs with their young quarterback. 

    We find that we have a lot of time now that we are retired. Our family lives far away and we find that weekends can be rather quiet around our house. These slow days don’t bother me. I rather enjoy the extra time to relax with no particular pressure. I am using the time wisely by doing some organizing chores and decluttering. I feel I have entered a different mindset where I want to only keep those things that bring me joy. In the quest to simplify my life I want to have less to take care of. 

    I am reading Nine Perfect Strangers but haven’t made up my mind if I really like it or not. I’m looking for a good page turner like Lilac Girls which I finished a few weeks ago. Our library is small and the best sellers In demand   so it is not easy to find the best books.  It is a great time to spend the day reading. 

When you die, it’s done, the chance is gone. So when you live? When you live, make it all. Don’t wait for the rain to stop. Climb out of your tent with your mind engaged and your senses ablaze and let rain pour into you. Remember: you are not who you think you are. You are what you do. Be the kindness of soft rain. Be the beauty of light behind a tall fir. Be gratitude. Be gladness.”
- Katheleen Dean Moore

So grown up

We are so proud of Sean.  He is spending the day at Walters State College having classes in marine biology and 3D animation. This is the first in a series of Saturday classes for his gifted and talented class.  

Tidying up

Have you read this self help book? I read it last year and liked the concepts it contained but it wasn’t until Netflix began the series called Tidying Up that they hit home. Marie Kondo is a delightful tiny Japanese woman who simplifies keeping house. She has organizing systems for everything and wants you to “Spark joy” in everything you have and use. 

Just watching the program gives you ideas on how to make your own home neater. Today I tackled my dresser in the bedroom. I thought it was fairly organized but when I rolled and stored all my socks upright it dawned on me that this system really works. 

I continued with all my drawers, folding and placing my pajamas, nightgowns, and underwear upright. 

It gave me great pleasure to fold things neatly and place them in an organized way. Now I will continue to another dresser before tackling my closet.

The good news

 Finally our refrigerator is fixed. The repairman came today and put in a new compressor. The

funny thing was that after he was here last week to diagnose the problem it started working perfectly.  But we went ahead and got it fixed anyway since it was under warranty. 

     Every month our Literary Club has a card day. I went today and was able to play cards with three of the girls whom I got to know a lot better. Sometimes you tend to sit and talk at meetings with the same group of people so I was happy to sit some time with these girls and talk. We are always served a delicious lunch catered by the Kennedy Street Cafe. Today it was potato soup, ham loaf, Italian green beans and pumpkin pie. 

  Afterwards my friend Lynda and I went out to Crook Farm, a lovely historical place outside of town which has a schoolhouse, old house building and bank building. We attended a jam session where ten musicians gathered to play folk songs. I didn’t know any of the songs but enjoyed sitting there and listening to the music played by violins, mandolins, and guitars. I’ve always wished that I was more musical. It was a lovely day. 

The treadmill

Like most women in January I make a resolution to eat better and exercise more. For me that means going to the gym at the YMCA more often. I joined the Y over a year ago or more but haven’t been consistent at using the exercise room. So Monday morning I went. I really have no excuse for not going since it is right downtown, only five minutes from my house. And it is convient to go right after coffee at ten o’clock since on Mondays and Thursdays we have coffee at a downtown restaurant John Williams Pastry Shop (by the way I need a gold star since I never, ever, buy anything sweet there in the morning). So Monday morning is the time to make a new habit. My goal is to walk everyday for 20 minutes this week. So I hopped on the treadmill. 

I must say I really don’t mind being on the treadmill. I plug in to my phone and listen to one of my favorite podcasts, Happier in Hollywood, while I am walking. But I do have to push myself to finish the whole twenty minutes at a speed which is fast for me. After I am done I am tired which makes it hard to come home and do anything else. 

AT one time I had a treadmill at home. But there wasn’t a good place for it in my house and it ended up in my bedroom which is small to begin with. And like all things that are new I walked on it faithfully and then sporadically and then not at all and it became a place to hang clothes. Eventually I sold it at a garage sale. I find it easier to be disciplined if I have to attend a class or go to a gym. 

  So this week I have gone to the gym twice and in between times I have put on Jane Fonda’s old walking tape at home. I need to start getting in walking shape because I am planning on going to Hawaii with my sister in the spring. 

Winter is here

After a long spell of no snow we were hit today with a few inches and colder weather. I had a quiet day and am catching up on my reading. These January days are times of resting. It’s almost like I am taking a month off from all the usual things I do and just spending the days in quiet solitude. Other months are full of activity but January days can go by slowly. I am loving this excuse to be lazy. 

Winter in Tennessee

This is what my son and family do in January. 

Containerize

Containerize....that is the secret of organization. Some people are naturally neat and organized. I call them OCD..LOL. I like things neat and organized but I don’t come by it naturally. But I have developed systems over the years which work for me. Someone ought to write a manual for newlyweds that points out that if you have a place to put your keys when you enter your house it will save a lot of trouble. Or having bins in your refrigerator will keep the shelves from getting so yucky. Yes, there are a lot of little hints I wish I had learned sooner. Like keeping a pair of scissors in the bathroom too. And not having duplicates. How many spatulas do you need? But one of the best things I learned was to containerize. Boxes and bins have become my friend. Take the box in the picture above. You would never know that inside that box are my spare reading glasses, a candle lighter, hand lotion, some pens and all the remotes. And the person who invented that battery keeper that hangs on my basement stairwell ought to get a prize. Now I know just how many batteries I have and where they are. I still must admit I have an excess of pens hanging out all over the house. And another secret...keeping like things together. If all the flowerpots are together and in one place it makes life easier. I think January always seems to be a month of organization. It’s a good month to rethink how you can make your life easier. I love reading organizing books like Swedish death cleaning. (Yes, it is a thing where older people try to clean out their houses so their kids don’t have to ). Have you learned any “secrets” of organizing that have made your life so much easier?