Burning the candle at both ends...

Our Mom had some wonderful expressions that I sometimes hear coming out of my own mouth.  I particularly remember her talking about feeling like she was "behind the eight ball".  For years I had no idea whatsoever what she was talking about.  I totally get it now, and unlike her, I don't even have a laundry room packed from floor to ceiling with boxes of Girl Scout cookies that need to be distributed to all the members of the troop.

Another of her particularly apt phrases was "burning the candle at both ends". Coming off a busy holiday season not so long ago, I am thinking that I am not alone in having felt both "behind the eight ball" and like I have been "burning the candle at both ends".  It's not always easy to make the holiday special for our families. For all of you out there who know what I mean -- Good job on that! Aren't you glad you could make it all happen?  Now -- we need to take some time for ourselves and maybe even put our feet up for a bit now and then. There is always tomorrow to "make a dent in things" (another of our Mom's favorite phrases).  

Dream on...

Those of you who were reading my blog a year ago may remember that I don't make New Year's resolutions because I never keep them and that makes me feel the mild guilt(s) of being somewhat of a failure as far as resolutions go.  I don't need reminders of things that I don't accomplish. My self-reminders play inside my head. That's enough. Now... all of this has me thinking. Why not switch from promises that you know you probably will not be able to keep, to focus on dreams instead? There is an important difference between a promise to give up chocolate covered doughnuts and a dream to... ... well,... the possibilities are endless. Why not start this new year with a written list of dreams you plan to work on making come true --even if it is only to take a step or two in that direction?  All of this is related to the entire notion of the self-fulfilling prophecy...if you think it will happen, it will happen...you somehow make it happen.  Each step you make may bring you a little closer to the realization of any one or of all those dreams. I heard someone say that he believes that people are only given dreams that are possible for them to make come true -- to realize  -- that dreams are within reach or -- you wouldn't have them. I like that idea.

Want to join me in making a list that you will open on New Year's Day 2017 to see how much closer you are to making your dreams come true? I am going to limit my list to three dreams -- if I can think of that many.  Remember -- dreams are a step beyond a Bucket list.  As I write all of this I am wondering to myself why it is that we Boomers don't seem to talk very often about dreams? I don't want to think that we ever stop dreaming. Do you?

Perhaps the secret to a potential success is in writing the dreams down.  Remember -- you don't have to share any of this with another person; it is just about you.  We are allowed to dream.... When we retire or are close to that point, it doesn't mean that we give up who we are. It doesn't mean that we stop having dreams and give up working toward realizing them. It is a time of new beginnings. It's a time to look and to move forward - maybe to do something we always wanted to do  -- or -- to learn something we never had time to learn before.  We are not what we used to do, but rather what we are doing now and plan to do/to become.

So -- Begin....  By January 1, 2017 I will:   (Go ahead ... write.... Put the list in an envelope and place it in with your holiday decorations or somewhere special, so that you will find it in time to open one year from tomorrow. It is a present to you from you.)

Happy 2016 everyone!
May it be your best year ever! May your dreams come true.... Make it happen....

Dream on...

December 24, 2015

Wishing you...

• Merry Christmas, 
• Happy Holidays, and a 
• Blessed New Year.

May there be peace on Earth.... (oh, how I wish that could be....)

An Historian, I am not...

I take my role as a grandma quite seriously and as such I believe that one of my responsibilities is to tell my grandchildren about things of the past.  You know -- the olden days.... like the 70's and even before that.  My grandson refers to these adventures into the days of yore as "olde timey". Neither he, nor my granddaughter roll their eyes when I lapse into such tales ...yet, but... I am preparing myself as I can sort of feel that coming. Anyway -- we have had several conversations about long-ago things.  In relation to these "look-backs", here's the concern of the day....  In explaining some details of life and times when I was growing up without television and including a mention of the whole black&white thing evolving eventually into color situation in both TV's and Brownie cameras, I guess I created some major confusion in the mind of my 4 year old granddaughter, who is now thoroughly convinced that prior to the mid-50's, there was no color in the world -- that TV shows lacked color because the world was black&white -- that cameras took black&white photos for the same reason. Here's the problem -- she is sort of like me when I get an idea in my mind -- sometimes it is hard to let it go. Is that tendency to hang on a bit hereditary?

To my acute frustration, I don't seem to be able to fix this.  Believe me I have tried.  It would be easier at this point to just let it go -- no harm really. Eventually she will figure it out and in the mean time?  We can just hope she doesn't bring it up in conversation... or at school... or on a college application. But -- here's an additional complication.  I am not sure that people believe me when I tell them that my Granddaughter came up with this on her own.  It seems that I may have told my own daughter one time that when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, that they were banished to a small far eastern country that will remain nameless at this time.  I have absolutely no recollection of telling her this. None!  Honestly, I do not remember that at all.  I do confess to perpetrating the whole Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny "things". I totally own that.  And -- I do remember that I once told an entire English class of students that William Shakespeare sold real estate and wrote plays on the side -- in his spare time, but in all fairness... that is not entirely untrue. William Shakespeare did invest in land as a part of earning a livelihood. Honest.  Google him if you don't believe me.  

Now that I am considering all of this... I think that I may have even told my grandkids about some of their ancestors who came from Rotterdam to NYC in a schooner and then traveled cross country in a wagon to settle in nearby Clymer, New York. I do hope I remembered to mention that the wagon was pulled by mules or horses, so that they do not get an incorrect mental image of a couple traveling in a little red wagon with all their earthly possessions. If I haven't shared this story with them, I will be sure to do that at some point. Family history is interesting and sometimes important.  I remember that my Mom loved to embellish a story a little bit.  It made things more interesting. Perhaps I inherited this tendency from her. Perhaps that is an olde timey tidbit in and of itself.  Kids should know from whom they come. They can be better prepared that way or maybe understand themselves a little better at some point. Such tendencies are not the worst thing that a person could inherit. Right?  Sometimes life can use a little additional color... a black&white world is way too drab. Can we leave the black and white to the Historians? Actually they have been known to color things up a bit themselves. Oh my....

News Fatique and The T-shirt

The past couple of weeks have been especially horrific on the news front, so once again I have banned CNN, Fox News and all regional TV news shows from my home. The ban also includes newspapers and magazines, both paper and online.  I need a break sometimes. Actually -- I have been known to "tune out" for months at a time. It may be shameful to be so out of touch, but I survive very well that way. Actually I am not only sick of listening to and watching news reports, but have become, at this time, totally intolerant of all the speculation that reporters engage in. Seriously, to describe them as self-impressed is an understatement. It rankles. Many reporters and broadcasters have become major irritants -- they so like to hear themselves talk and to interrupt each other and the people they are supposedly interviewing. Their rudeness is an assault. No viewer/reader has to subject him or herself to that.  

So -- today I think I will talk about the T-shirt. 

I like T-shirts - especially the long sleeved ones.  Not only are they comfortable to wear and require no ironing, but they are sometimes really fun to read. Some make me laugh out loud. Consider: 

• Well, another day has passed and I didn't use ALGEBRA once.
• Paddle Faster! I hear banjos.
• Runs with Scissors
• If you say "GULLIBLE" slowly it sounds like "ORANGES".

Am I alone in this?  I think not.  Try Goggling "Funny T-shirts" and see what happens.  I am curious though.  What is your favorite T-shirt?  You may include in your response/comment words from T-shirts that you think are funny, but that you would never wear. 

 For instance:            I meditate.

                               I burn candles.

                               I drink green tea, and...

                               I still want to smack some people.

Who thinks of these?  I would like to meet them, shake their hands and say, "Thank You for the break from the heavy stuff".

What's on your mind?

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I am thinking that many of us have spent more than a little bit of time in gratitude for important aspects of our lives -- family and friends in particular. It's a nice time of year in many ways.  This year has been especially pleasant in that the weather has cooperated around here in lovely fashion.  Of course many of those native to NW Pennsylvania are totally convinced that because we have enjoyed a beautiful Autumn so far, we will have to pay by having snow into May or June.  We will see....  

Black Friday is over as is Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.  I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to just easing into the next Holiday Season now. I want to "feel" the spirit of Christmas -- sort of like a winter version of ..."stopping to smell the roses". I have the feeling that several of you might agree. Am I correct in this? What's on your mind?

And so it is that I wish you a Happy First Thursday of December.  You have three full weeks until December 25th. My hope for you is that you enjoy every single minute.  

What's going on? Part One?

Have you ever ignored things without knowing that you were doing so?  Maybe it's a form of self-preservation?  I don't know.  What I do know is that even though I try very hard to be mindful, I am excellent at ignoring what I don't want to see. I am, in fact an expert at it ... after years of experience.  

A case in point is that I have come to realize that my house is sort of "haunted". This is nothing new really -- lots of people have encounters with ghosts, spirits, unknown entities.  They just don't always talk about it.  Even as a kid I remember our house had a frequent "visitor".  Eventually I named him. I distinctly remember coming home from church one time to find the Sunday newspaper spread out all over the living room, and ... he (?) once hid a sewing project by wrapping it up in a towel and putting it in a built-in drawer in the attic.  Those are just two of the "happenings".   Further -- he/it  went to college with me and freaked out my roommate by doing such things as making the blinds go up very slowly and then pulling them down again more rapidly.  I was used to such activity.  Unfortunately she was not. (I sometimes wonder whatever happened to her.)

Anyway -- I lived for several years in my home before I allowed myself to realize that I didn't live there alone.  Other people commented on that fact before I finally admitted it to myself.  It's not scary, just interesting and sometimes -- annoying.  It all came to a head one holiday time when I had a full house.  There were taps on shoulders, pats on heads, and one more serious grabbing of a leg.  Prior to that it was just a suspicion that my grand-babies were talking to or laughing with an invisible someone/something and occasionally noticing that it was odd the way the various pets acted, etc.  I tuned it out. Anyway...when my youngest grandchild clearly stated,  "Stop tapping me on the head. I am sick of it!", it was time to get real and figure out what was going on. Her mom and I were in the same room with her --but no where near her -- and-- as a rule we are not head tappers anyway. Actually..my daughter and I had been watching my daughter-in-law being tapped repeatedly on the shoulder just prior to that.  She kept turning around thinking that someone wanted her and no one was there. She was confused and maybe a bit annoyed. My daughter and I explained that she shouldn't take it personally. Fortunately she still comes to visit.  It's all good -- nothing too scary -- seriously -- a person gets used to it.   Pictures move, coins appear, small items fly through the air, the oven occasionally starts by itself, unusual noises startle, etc.  Nothing out of the normal as far as these "things" go.

It's not nice to bother children though -- so that's when I agreed to call in ghost hunters - paranormal investigators.  An experienced team of them has been to my house and property now two times and are planning a third hunt.  (They like to come here -- lots going on.  I think they are arranging for some additional detecting equipment at the moment.) I have also had a medium here as well as a psychic. It seems that my property, especially my small barn, has a lot going on.  The house itself -- mostly just a place for entities to hang out for a little while on their way through to where ever it is that such beings go.  I find it all very interesting.  I am not sure that others do. There may be more on this and other "adventures" later...maybe.  We will see....  Anyway -- the holidays are approaching once again -- Thanksgiving is only a week away.  It will be interesting to see if the house is full , once again, with more than just my family.  If I wake up Thanksgiving morning to find my son on the couch in the living room because the guest room became a "creepy corner" during the night,  I'll know that we still have visitors.  It would be nice if they could at least help with the dishes.