Wednesday, the Middle of the Week

We certainly look forward to our Friday’s in America, don’t we? Somehow, we villianize Monday, glorify Friday, and don’t think too well of Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am grateful to still be breathing and living another 24 hour period. I don’t want the rest of my life to pass any quicker than it will, I will love every day as an opportunity.

I visited Mom this morning. She’s injured her foot, and is wearing a boot. The doctor never followed up with her, and she doesn’t know what she’s to do now. Tomorrow, she’ll have her cleaning lady dial the phone, and she’ll ask about it. I was tasked with calling different places to see who may groom cats. Her cat looks like a wild animal, and she can’t groom him herself anymore. I would have rather called the doctor!

Even when we need to leave a relationship (file for divorce), change jobs, or move away for our own safety, well-being, sanity, or safety, we can have some feelings of fear and trepidation. We don’t want to follow through, even if we know it’s for our own good. We’re scared. We don’t want to take such a risk. Old age is an example of fear at changing something in your life.

Fear of change, the unknown, and being out of control is at work in each of us. We need to keep those negative behaviors at bay, especially in old age. For instance, Mom has lived in the neighborhood since 1949. The atmosphere has changed dramatically. The house if far too large for one person and a cat. She does have a stair lift to allow for safety going upstairs and downstairs. She has accepted the fact she needs to stay out of the basement. No stairlift there, she has her cleaning person do the laundry. Thank goodness!

Mom’s goal is stay home until she dies. She’s reasonably healthy, her vision is her main problem. And her hearing. And getting around is tougher. I’ll be surprised if she’s still in the house at Christmas time. She may fool all of us. And I hope she does. I just want her safe. It was a different kind of visit today. She was genuine, nice, positive and grateful. That will probably change next time. We are not especially close. To show myself where we will probably remain, distant but in each other’s lives, today I wore a top I have of a white dandelion, with some fronds falling. I also just received a pair of earrings I ordered online. They are small plastic balls with Dandelion seeds in them.

I’m reading the book “just dandy,” by Sandra Swenson. It’s about living with Heartache and Wishes. It’s another Hazeldon Book. The author had an addict child, and was always bailing him out. Her point of view no matter how badly things are for people around you, you can say you’re “just dandy” and usually mean it. It takes a tremendous amount of work. Hard work.

I’m trying to learn to forgive some things from long ago. My character in the novel has to do the same thing. Coincidence? Not really, but my female main character learns and grows as she becomes able to forgive. It’s a hard thing to learn. It’s hard to practice. And it’s not for the other person we do it. It’s for ourselves. Why carry hatred, grudges, or animosity? They become quite heavy and cumbersome. A lifetime of it will weigh you down, your heart, and damage your soul. Release it. Let the wind take it away.

Prayers help immensely. We gain so much from learning to be positive. Try it, you might like it! See you tomorrow, I hope you have a pleasant evening. We are going to the VFW with our friends. Be Safe. Be Happy. Be Grateful. Be Positive.

Hump Day!

What a crazy day yesterday was. We went to the Post for a very productive meeting, you almost never hear meetings being productive, and had a couple adult beverages with the folks that were present. It was a nice early evening.

Eddie Van Halen, the guitar god of the universe, died yesterday. My son Frankie was a huge fan of his. I became one too. That was one group he played I didn’t holler at him to “turn it down!” We had a bet one time, who was better, Eric Clapton, or Eddie Van Halen. Clapton is a master, but Eddie may have single handedly influenced more young musicians than anyone else on the planet – including Clapton. And on top of that – he was married to Valerie Bertinelli. That alone would make him a hero.

I love the videos of him playing incredible riffs, and looking up with the boy-like look he always had, and smiling with pure joy. That’s how we’ll remember Eddie. Bless Wolfgang, his son, and his wives. Sad days for them. After all is said and done, I think it’s always, always, simply about the music.

I saw a Tweet that stated, “There are guitars gently weeping all over the world.”

And we’re almost to the next Zoom meeting with Sam Tyler, my book coach. We have a few things to discuss tomorrow, and then I think there will be more writing going on. I do look forward to it, and now it’s been three weeks, not just two. More about my new adjusted plan tomorrow.

Gratitude – even about difficult things.

Yes, this is how it is. When people speak of gratitude, it’s easy to have gratitude for the easy things, the things you want. It’s hard to have gratitude for hard times, missing your commuter train, getting fired from your job. We must learn gratitude for even the hard things. It’s only then, can we truly appreciate the gift we receive after the hard one. It’s hard to remember.

And people who you must love from afar. Difficult parents, former spouses, siblings who are hard to deal with. We all have them, somewhere. It’s ok to love them from afar. You don’t have to spend time with them. More people would keep their sanity if they would embrace this. It takes a long time to do that, when you feel as if you’re alone in a crowd. But you really aren’t. The rest of us are there, too.

So as I go to the deck and enjoy the fresh air, I hope you all have a wonderful day. Listen to some music. Read a good book, or at least decide on something relaxing to do. We owe it to ourselves to be nice to ourselves once in awhile. Pick today. Pick tomorrow. Just make sure you do it. And it’s even better with a beautiful puppy to pet. See you tomorrow!

Hump Daaaaay!

A pessimist would say, “Why bother? Hump Day? Every day is the same as another when you’re stuck at home.” An optimist would say, “Wednesday is just a great as any other day! You woke up today, the sun is shining AGAIN!” And aren’t we lucky we have some place, whatever it is, to self-distance/quarantine ourselves? Yes, we are. When you look at countries like China, India, the Middle East, Africa, they don’t even have basic sanitation and clean water to drink. How on earth would we survive that? We need to count our blessings and be grateful.

Even if you are diagnosed with Corona Virus (COVID-19) chances are, you will survive with little damage to your lungs. People like myself, who have asthma or any other underlying health issue, will have a harder time if they have the lung damage associated with the virus. This IS different than the flu. The mucous is extra thick once it settles into your lungs. It causes permanent damage to the lungs where it sets up house, so to speak. I’d hate like hell to have my lungs compromised because some person decided they were bored and gathered with a crowd, playing a game of soccer, went shopping to Target to get their Starbuck’s and just browse the racks, or sent their kids to visit Grandma and Grandpa because they needed a break from home-schooling. Please, don’t do it!

Even though we need to be vigilant, we can still keep occupied and not go stir crazy. If you are a person who is still working, maybe enjoy how your home (apartment or house) looks all day long. You’re usually at work and don’t often get to enjoy it during the day. It makes you have a different perspective of your abode. You may (safely) have a little talk over the fence with the neighbor. The Babe is out doing that all the time. He knows everyone by first name. I love that about him. Everyone loves him. I’m lucky. And so is he!

A cousin’s daughter scheduled her wedding for April 4, 2020. They have had to cancel the reception. They will still have the ceremony, reduced to 7 people, them, the officiant, and have rescheduled the reception for later this year. Her younger sister is set to marry in August, along with another cousin’s son, also in August. Hoping these young people get started on their lives together and all brides and grooms get to have their time. I can imagine how devastated they all feel, and at the same time, they’re all very responsible people who know they must follow these new rules for living. They’re temporary restrictions, not permanent ones. God Bless all of you!

As a fund-raiser for their tip wage staff, Union Pizzaria and Sports Bar in Omaha, NE, printed some t-shirts with their various businesses on it and is donating all the proceeds to a fund for their impacted workers. What a great employer in the food and beverage business! My son works at Union, along with his room-mate. When they lost everything in an apartment fire last fall, these guys were right there, making sure they were getting what they needed, time off, whatever needed to be done. So grateful my son is associated with people like this. God Bless you guys! Go to their Facebook post for more info!

A great way to feel better? Help someone else. There are many, many restaurants who have gone to pick-up food to keep their doors open. Try ordering out! I don’t know about you, I’m a bit tired of cooking, but I do like it’s healthier than what we eat out. I just need to get back to salads and the like. It just all takes time. I’ve probably had quite enough comfort food for awhile. I truthfully don’t even like french fries that aren’t done to a certain degree of crispness. Nothing soggy, thank you very much.

Thank you for reading, I appreciate it. Union’s tip wage staff would appreciate it greatly if you’d stop by 156 & Maple for a t-shirt or two. Order their daily special before you go and you can solve the dinner problem. They appreciate it greatly. I’ll be here tomorrow, and hope you come back. Have a happy, safe day.

Hump Day!

How much we wish our lives away! Most of the talk surrounding the days of the week is we wish it were another day. Not like, “I wish every day was my birthday,” but more to the tune of, “I HATE Mondays!”, “Almost Friday!”, “Friday Eve!” and so on. Why isn’t today good enough? There are movements among self-help groups now that everyone should know they are “Enough.” I agree.

Maybe this “Enough” movement ought to include the thoughts that each and every day of the week ought to be “Enough.” I don’t think we find enough joy in each twenty four hour period. If Mondays have the bad rap of being the worst day of the week, the first Monday after daylight savings time begins is always tagged as, “the worst day of the year.” Sad. You could have the best day of your life on that day, but you don’t think it has anything to offer. Kind of how we view people sometimes. “She’s old, she’s not hip with the times,” “She’s too young to teach me anything,” and a good one, “She has such a pretty face, it’s too bad she’s overweight.” Think about it. It’s all a bunch of hooey!

Know you are enough. Preach it to the choir if you must. And also know each day of your life is more than enough to do the things you can do to make your day and your month and your year wonderful. I know this from experience. In being a very broke single Mom, I found happiness in the fact I got to make all decisions for myself. No one hassled me if it was wrong If it was wrong, I just made a mental not not to do it again.

If the car broke down, I could have chosen to complain and grouse about the situation. But I could be happy if it only cost $50 to fix instead of $500. You can find something in every situation to be positive about. When my dad died of cancer at 64, I was glad I had someone that the kids and I missed. He was a great man and a good person. A lot of people are estranged from their parents for any number of reasons. But Dad was always present as much as he could be, working at night. He was a good example. He was kind.

It’s Wednesday and so far, Monday and Tuesday have been challenging. I’m happy it’s food night at the VFW and we’ll meet with our friends again. Check in with everyone, and make plans to meet on St. Patrick’s Day at the Post for their dinner. We can use today to plan for a week from now, but I’m not going to waste the next week and all those days have to offer me in terms of living. I can wait as opposed to, “I can’t wait until . . . ” Our lives can be perfect and fulfilling right now. Not when something else happens. It take a mind set change. Be a maverick. Be living in the moment. Be aware of today, not just wishing for tomorrow. This day is enough. You are enough.

Thank you for reading today, I love when you take the time. See you tomorrow, as I’ll be right here. Have a great Wednesday!