Countdown

Next week at this time

we'll be in Paris.

 

This will be a busy week as final

preparations are completed.

 

Here's a section from my to do list:

 

finalize packing selections

go to the bank

get a manicure

pay bills

have my glasses adjusted

compile addresses for  postcards

avoid breaking toes

(or fillings)

 



Just to let you know...

... it's

snowing

 

 

and thundering.

Appropriate

The third word to describe how I want to

 be seen is appropriate.

 

Healthy.

Casual.

Appropriate.

 

So, here's where I am:

 

I hadn't planned to even think about

spring/summer clothes

until April, but everyone else seems to be...

 

Our weather can be unpredictable until

well into April.

Because my internal thermostat

is wacko

my current supply of clothes are

lighter and layerable

and hopefully will see me through

for a while, yet.

 

The undeniable fact, though, is that with my weight loss

I have no spring/summer clothes.

 

If I'm going to shop I want to add

pieces that will fit a broader plan for this

next phase of building my "look."

 

I've spent  many hours

sifting through Vivienne's wonderful archives.

The starting point always seems the

biggest challenge.

Two neutrals?  Three?

A favorite painting?

A scarf?

Just tell me where to start!

 

In spite of my ruminations it has been a good week.

Important decisions have been made;

Nails?  Shorter.

Hair? Longer.

The third word.

 

While looking through my closet for something else

I found several unexpected items that

helped shape a plan.

 

For whatever reason these things

have survived both the moving purge

and the weight loss shuffle and were buried, forgotten,

in the depths of my closet.

 

 

A blue Missioni-style sweater.

A plaid fabric belt. (!?!)

A pair of blue tweed pumps.

Blue and white cardigan.

 

 

 

Add the tan bag

- my favorite summer bag -

and I think we can see a pattern developing.

 

At this point I'm happy to go with a

Not So Crazy Eight

plan in navy.

It's a good starting place for me.

I'm excited to get started.

 

 

 

 



Senior Discount

I've noticed that many

retailers

restaurants

service providers

calculate senior status

beginning at different ages.

 60 being the most common with
an occasional 55 to be found. 

 

Apparently This Old House marches to its
own beat on this one.
Or has a terribly slow/thorough process
for finding seniors.

 

This came in the mail for me today:



 

 

Such a deal!

 

 

 

The Unexpected Delights of Rural Iowa

I ran a few errands earlier today.

 

I'm on my way home

- maybe three miles from the house -

when I crest a hill and looking

forward to the bottom

  see the unmistakable
white heads of two

- count 'em 2 -

bald eagles in the middle of the road

worrying a bit of roadkill.

 

They lifted away as the car came nearer

and I watched their shadows

circle past me to turn and land again.
There was no traffic from either direction
so I took my time
and enjoyed the sight.

 

 

Did I have a camera!?

Of course not, so I'll close with this image

courtesy of Google.

 

 



Change of Plans

 

Charlie and I are waiting for it to warm up a bit

before we take a walk

and as my run to Webster City has

been cancelled,

I have what amounts to a free day.

Yippee!

 

What to do!?

As with any free time - it will fill

much too quickly

and seem much too short.

 

It struck me, yesterday, that we

are half-way through November.  How that

happened is a mystery, but it

means that I need to get started

on Aidan's advent calendar which is

traditionally delivered

at Thanksgiving.

A tradition that started when we lived hours

 and hours away

as a way for me to share the

holiday anticipation with him.

 

One year he received fancy envelopes

containing a carol for each day.  His dad

sang them at bedtime.

 

Another year it was the pages

of a lovely story of a pine tree

 rewarded for its

kindness to other forest creatures.

 

His own tree and ornaments one year.

 

Last year his reading skills

allowed me to mark off

pages for him to read everyday

from a schmaltzy cute paperback

about a homeless dog looking

for a family during the holidays.

 

Other years have been a combination

of whatever

school supplies

trinkets

gum

coins

bills

games

puzzles

will fit in the chosen container.

 

Pinterest

 

It's time to choose a container and theme -

a task that gets harder as he grows older.

If I want to keep the containers manageable

the content is pretty limited.

He doesn't like chocolate

which eliminates an easy default.

He's a boy - cute stuff only goes so far.

 

So today will be dedicated to strategy.

Making plans and lists.

Sorting through materials on hand.

Necessary groundwork

for productivity

if this Christmas project

 is actually going to happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



More

This past weekend we did

squeeze in some fun between all

necessary chores.

 

Tim's brother, sister and their spouses met at our place

and together we took in the

World Food & Music Festival

in downtown Des Moines

on Saturday night.

 

The weather was perfect.

The crowd was just the right size.

We heard great music.

and ate some amazing food.

We laughed, chatted and ate our way through

several hours of relaxed camaraderie.

It was a fun night and the food - so delicious.

 

Did I mention how good the food was?

 

But if I'd known how this was going to work

I'd have brought my own spoon.

My own family knows that sharing food from a common plate

or a sip from a common glass is a challenge for me.

They love me in spite of it.

 

On this night, the festival spirit required

that you buy whatever delicacy

caught your fancy

and share it among the six of us. 

Sometimes we even shared the utensil.

 

 

At  some point I began to think

that I could survive the coming apocalypse.

 

 

 

 



Quickie

Just to let you know I'm still here.

 

 

A friend recently passed along a tip to use coconut milk

in smoothies.

 

After reading labels

I decided to go with coconut water.

 

So my first experiment was

to make ice cubes which could then

be added to my protein shakes.

(I make it at least an hour before consuming

so it can thicken a bit.)

 

Yesterday I added 4 of these ice cubes

to my standard ingredients

fresh strawberries

vanilla soy milk

malt powder

protein powder.

 

It was fine.

 

Today I added 4 coconut water ice cubes

to vanilla soy milk

protein powder

malt powder

and

unsweetened cocoa.

 

"My word," said the bird!

 

 

 



 

 

We had great weather for our day at the fair.

Saw more than we'll remember.

Laughed and chatted our way through the day

and slept like logs through the night.

 

Aidan heads home tomorrow.

It's always a short week...

Sunday Evening

Tomorrow begins the last week

of my ten week session of

kickboxing.

There will be final-results testing and tallies

an "after" picture

and a party.

 

I've already signed on to continue

for the next year.

I like the accountability.

I like the workout.

I like the way I look.

The way I feel.

 

We finished putting the deck back together.

(I really missed having my breakfast

under the tree.)

The hummingbird is back.

The green beans have been delicious.

Beets will come into play this week.

 

Aidan is here for the week.

We've already played tennis

and a round of golf.

Had ice cream.

And baked zucchini bread.

The State Fair is scheduled for Thursday.

And I'm certain the days in between will

be filled with a flurry of activity.

 

 

 

 

Something New

I tackled a project, this week, that

had been on my mind for a while-

inspiration from both Pinterest and my sister.

As usual, pictures didn't occur to me until

after things were underway.

 

The mirror used to sit on the dresser.

 

Switched the furniture

-the dresser weighs a ton! -

and added a surge strip and white lights to create

 

a place to do my hair.

Change of Plans

My afternoon plans changed

leaving me several attractive options

before leaving for work:

nap

watch a movie

write my haiku

post about the exciting

package delivered to my doorstep!!

 

I've recently spent too many hours

of too many days

looking online and in stores

for a pair of shoes for

Jacob's wedding.

 

I've never considered myself

a "shoe" person

but the longer you look

the more you see...

It does amaze me that shoes/heels/pumps

-which essentially share a standard construction-

can elicit such a varied response.

I've seen some that all

you can do is say

"That is a beautiful shoe,"

while the one sitting next to it doesn't earn a second glance.

To digress here about the seductive and expensive

options out there would keep me from

the object of this post

so let's soldier on.

 

 

 

Putting my best foot forward

I can only ask:

What do you think!?

 

 



Saturday Morning

If you only knew how gloriously this day started.

 

google images

 

Picture....

picture....

picture a margarine commercial

because it would require

the combined talents of

Don Draper

and his Madison Avenue cohorts

to script such a perfect day.

 

Fade in...

birds singing in the background

light filtering through still leaves as a

pale sun climbs the

cloudless blue sky.

Pan to

verdant green expanses awash with

sparkling dew

as an earth-mother-type

tiptoes barefoot through the grass

to pick spinach

from the garden for her morning omelet.

 

The two hours that this idyll lasted

is the payoff for all the

extreme weather we deal with

in the Midwest.

 

p.s. the omelet was super, too!



Close Shave

I almost broke the thread of haiku

last night.

Not because I was gone,

busy,
or had experienced a breakdown
of technology.

No, I simply lost track of time!

 

Tim was on a field trip.

He'd taken a couple guys to North Platte

 to see the train yard.

They were delighted.

Said it was everything

 - and more -

they could have expected.

 

I had to work this morning which

normally sends me to

bed at a very reasonable hour on a Friday night.

 

I was on the phone with my mother around 8:00.

Finished with her and picked up

the book I've been trying to finish,

intending to read for maybe an hour.

Maybe a little longer...

But the next thing I knew the clock said

11:45!!

My first thought was that the alarm was going

to ring awfully early the next morning.

Then I remembered there had been

no poem posted for the day!!

 

Yikes!!

I put something together - just made it.

The time stamp says 11:56.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Saturday Morning

Naphtali, Aidan and Proton arrived

last night.  They made good time.

Tradition says they sleep in on Saturday morning.

But I'm not sure how/why they ended up on the couch together.

 

Tim had Proton out for a walk earlier.

 

We'll head out shortly for graduation festivities.

We have plenty of sunshine but

a very cool wind is blowing.

 



Gated Community



 

Busy days ahead with

company

family events and

major projects on-going

in the house and yard.

 

 We've added some fencing

to make a section of the yard

 

dog-free.

 

Any plants that fail to thrive will fail

for reasons unrelated to dogs being dogs.

 

It's worked well for Charlie

but Proton will be here next week

and that will be the real test.

 

Naphtali and Aidan will come down Friday.

A graduation reception

and Mother's Day visits will fill the weekend.

They'll head home, Sunday, 

- with Tim's pick-up -

leaving Proton with us until Memorial Day.

 

Why?

Because they'll be moving!

 

Papers will be signed on Monday!

Painting

packing

hauling

will take up the next couple weeks

and Proton can skip that part of the process.

 

 

We're all excited to see this transitional

period end.

For so many reasons it will be good to see them

in their own home.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Morning.

A fire is lazily conversing behind me.

Tim is on his way home from Minneapolis

so it is just Charlie and I getting a slow start to the morning.

Delightfully slow.

 

 

I had company yesterday.

 

My mother and a sister scheduled a visit as they would be

 "in the neighborhood."

I wouldn't be home from work 'til 3:30 so I told

 them the door would be open and

please let Charlie out,

 if they got there first.  It wasn't too much of a

surprise to see their vehicle

in the driveway when I turned the corner to come home.

 

They came about 2:15.

 

They sat out on the deck, chatted, relaxed, waited.

They brought cute things for me.

We visited.  I fed them.

 We laughed.

They left.

 

A good visit.

 

 

Road Trip!!

 

 

This one will be just Charlie and me

heading to the Northlands.

 

 

So it makes a busy night.

There's always a last load of laundry.

Run the dishwasher

pack me

pack Charlie

pack audiobooks

pack gifts

pack winter gear

etcetcetc.



 

Friday night is Aidan's Chinese New Year program

followed by a dinner of

- what else? -

Chinese cuisine at a local eatery.

 

I've been told that Saturday will feature

frozen waffles

a Monopoly marathon

and a trip to the thrift store.

 

Sunday

we'll be looking at a couple houses.

(Keep your fingers crossed)

 

The day will be capped by a visit to Margo's house.

She and Naphtali have a presentation

for the "docs"

on their trip to Haiti.

Naphtali has only dribbled a few details

 so I'm excited to see and hear more of the story.

 

Monday will find me homeward bound.

I may sneak in another stop

at the thrift store before I leave town...

 

 

 





Monday Morning

Another grey week followed by

another grey weekend bringing us to

another grey Monday.

Are you seeing the trend?

 

But the other day a package arrived.

 

 

Packages, as you know, travel with

their own sunshine.

Doesn't a package always put a smile on your face? 

 

I'd recently seen something on Pinterest

that I figured could be replicated at my house.

So I searched Amazon for that *just right* option and ordered this:

 

 

 

to apply to my washing machine.

 

 

 

The dryer has a funny lip under the door which kept me

from running the decal across its front...

 

Bright, cheerful, cheap - always a good combination -

providing a small spot of sunshine in a grey winter.

 

 

 

Sunday Morning

Over the years there has been one phrase

- three little words -

that never fails to make my heart race.

I heard it again this morning.

*sigh*

Hold the ladder.
 

google images