Ok, all I ask is that you be kind. I know there are numerous things wrong with this pastel painting but I love it anyway. Ok, maybe I don’t necessarily love it but I still like it a lot. I completed this still life probably 20 years ago and it’s all wonky, but I love all of the vibrant colors. It’s never really gone with anything in my house so I keep it stored in the closet but maybe one day I’ll find a proper home for it. I call it ‘Still Life with Flowers and Wine Bottle’.
July 20, 2021 – On a scale of one to ten.
This evening, the phone rang and I let it to go voicemail. I always screen incoming calls because I don’t particularly like dealing with solicitors and I was unsure of who was calling as I didn’t recognize the number. After the ‘beep’, a female voice started up about animal control and her husband moving out and a number of unusual things to leave on a voicemail message. It didn’t take long to figure out who the female caller was, I recognized her voice. It was the older sister of my best friend ‘M’. At the conclusion of her message, she indicated that she really wanted me to call her back. “Why is she calling?” my husband asked, totally stymied. I didn’t have an answer. She never calls (me). The extent of our relationship is that she’s related to my best friend. That’s it, nothing more. As much as I didn’t want to call her back, I did. And when I did, I think I figured out why she called me (of all people). She was tanked. I didn’t even hear the initial things she said because of a dog barking loudly in the background. But after the dog stopped making a racket, I heard plenty, and none of it was good.
Continue reading “July 20, 2021 – On a scale of one to ten.”July 19, 2021 – Photo
This photo was taken during a short getaway to Vegas several years ago. I/we lived there for a couple of years back in the early 90s when my husband was stationed in Nevada. I even gave birth to my oldest son shortly after we arrived. It holds many memories, some good and a lot of bad. It’s amazing how much it’s changed! I used to be able to take my two older children and we could all eat dinner at the Circus Circus for under $5! Not anymore!! It’s so strange, of all the people and couples we knew who were also stationed there, our marriage is the only one that survived. It was a real test of our marriage, too, but somehow we managed to keep it intact. Don’t ask me how. I’m surprised myself!
July 18, 2021 – The sounds of silence.
There’s a famous quote, “Be careful what you wish for,” that comes to mind after today’s events. I woke up feeling hesitant about leaving my bed and starting the day. I knew that once I got dressed and headed down the hallway, that eventually I would bump into my husband. I can usually count on him being 1) seated in front of the computer (checking stocks), 2) standing over the stove and whipping up some breakfast, 3) working out in the gym, or 4) seated on the couch and watching a slew of YouTube videos addressing any number of topics. The latest videos he’s been interested in all center around ‘how to seal your asphalt driveway’. I’ve watched a couple of them with him and I have to tell you, it doesn’t look that difficult. I probably could manage it myself…just not on a hot day. The thing is, more often than not, once I’ve greeted him, he has a tendency to ‘unload’ on me. And by ‘unload’, I mean that he’s been thinking obsessively and excessively about a number of things and wants to share his thoughts with me (for a minimum of an hour). You see, my husband’s a ‘speculator’. He thinks very differently than I do.
Continue reading “July 18, 2021 – The sounds of silence.”July 17, 2021 – Photo
In an effort to get out of the house and get some ‘air’, I suggested to my husband that we go for a hike. He was all for it, so after doing a ‘quick’ sweep of the house (just in case someone was interested in looking at it while we were out and about), we hopped into the car and drove to the nearby ski resort (20 minutes away). There are two hiking trails near the resort, one that is mostly flat and rather long and one that is quite steep and rather short (3 miles round trip). We chose the steeper, shorter trail. It is fortunate that we brought our dog because she pretty much pulled me all the way to the top (like oxen pulling a plow). It was a beautiful day and we had the trail all to ourselves. There was literally not another human in sight. The two things that put a damper on the day were all of the bloodthirsty mosquitoes that mistook us for lunch and the fact that my husband sprained his ankle right after we started the descent, and had to limp all the way to the bottom. Aside from that, no complaints.
July 16, 2021 – Predicament
Just when life starts to make sense, it throws me for a loop. The latest predicament I find myself in is my own fault though. A couple of weeks ago, I thought my unemployment was ending and then I realized that it wasn’t necessarily ending, the rules were simply changing. For the last sixteen months, I haven’t had to do an actual job search in order to collect unemployment. However, if I want to continue to receive benefits, I must now actually do something more than file a claim each week while doing nothing more than sitting on my fanny. I must now actively look for work (while sitting on my fanny). How’s that for a concept?! In my warped mind, I thought to myself, “What’s the harm in reaching out to employers about job opportunities? As long as I make the effort, I’ll still qualify for unemployment. Nobody’s even going to show interest anyway so it’s not going to matter that our house is on the market and we’ll probably move soon.” Haha! My husband warned me. He said, “What are you going to do if someone actually offers you a job?”
Continue reading “July 16, 2021 – Predicament”July 15, 2021
Today’s events were totally unexpected. I awoke to find a text message awaiting my response; my realtor had written to let me know that the showing on our home had been cancelled because the potential buyers had to evacuate. Evacuate?! This is not good! Since we moved to the area, this is the second major fire that has broken out. The one about six years ago was intentionally started and resulted in millions of dollars of damage. Many people lost their homes. I am not sure what caused the one that is currently creating mayhem but I heard it started as a brush fire. Right now, it’s already consumed about 9,000 acres and the fire crews are having a heck of a time getting it under control. Yikes.
July 14, 2021 – Evolution
It seems like life is ever-changing. People and what they stand for can drastically change in a matter of days or weeks or months or years. This appears to be the case now more than ever. Even I find that I’m constantly changing; whether it’s for the better or the worse, I cannot be certain. But it’s not just me in a state of evolution, it’s my husband, my kids, my mom, my siblings, and from what I see on the news, a large majority of the population. And the changes are happening at a fairly rapid pace, certainly fast enough to take notice. Even our home is in a state of evolution! For me, the personal changes that have occurred have been substantial, and it seems like the turning point was my kidney transplant. I cannot explain why I’m different but many of the things that used to ‘define’ me are no longer. Dancing is no longer part of my repertoire, nor is painting (art). I paint plenty of walls and trim, but I cannot recall the last time I painted something on a piece of canvas. Appearance-wise, my hair is different, even my clothes. I was observing some much older women at a craft store the other day, and to my horror I realized that I looked a great deal like them. Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
Continue reading “July 14, 2021 – Evolution”July 13, 2021 – Photo
I know this photo goes against most, if not all, of the rules of photography, but I like it anyway. It’s even a bit blurry to some degree. If memory serves me right, I want to say I took it in 2004 while visiting my sister Cactus Annie. We went to the botanic gardens in late October (with our mother) on an unseasonably hot day. Of all the images I took, this one was by far my favorite. I like how the light makes it appear as though the cacti are glowing.
July 12, 2021 – The events of the day.
After sitting down in front of my computer for the last 30 minutes, I still haven’t figured out what I want to talk about. Today was filled with so many activities and I have yet to whittle them down to just one. The only expectation I had for this afternoon was an open house and that did happen, although the results were disappointing. However, in addition to the open house, there was a last-minute showing, a mind-blowing first in my culinary repertoire, talk of ‘mantras’, and a delightful place we discovered while being completely spontaneous. See what I mean? Which one do I pick? Or do I just pick them all? I suppose I could just go through the events of the day as they were unlike any other. There were many similarities, of course. Knowing that an open house was scheduled, we started out the day by fiendishly cleaning the house from one end to the other and ‘sprucing up’ the yard. That whole process is becoming ‘old hat’ but I would prefer it not be. Spending hours each day cleaning my house is not my idea of a good time. A lot less cleaning and a little more lounging sounds a great deal better.
Continue reading “July 12, 2021 – The events of the day.”
