Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Out For a Walk
Working from home makes me feel so exceptionally lucky. It's raining outside, and cold. I take a noon walk up to the community store where the mailboxes are to get out mail and marvel at the beauty of the bare trees, green bushes that refuse to bow down to winter, and the birds brave enough to flit about in this weather.
Monday, January 10, 2011
A Blocked Blog
I don't know what it is, but this blog has me blocked. I may have scared myself with the title. I don't want to be a woman of a certain age. A few days ago I looked back at my blog over on Word Press and I am reminded that I wrote more, and it flowed (in my mind at least).
I'll give this site a reprieve for now.
Yesterday the husband and I pulled up anchor, vowed not to answer the phone if someone called, stayed in pj's until noon, and then made brunch. My husband made a quick trip to the grocery store after brunch while I straightened out the house a little bit, and when he returned we put away the provisions, put a 3 hour movie on the DVD and hunkered down to be drawn into a wonderful story for the rest of the afternoon. Once the movie was over it was time to start dinner. A chicken was popped in to the oven to roast while we enjoyed some wine.
I don't think I've enjoyed a day more in a long time.
I'll give this site a reprieve for now.
Yesterday the husband and I pulled up anchor, vowed not to answer the phone if someone called, stayed in pj's until noon, and then made brunch. My husband made a quick trip to the grocery store after brunch while I straightened out the house a little bit, and when he returned we put away the provisions, put a 3 hour movie on the DVD and hunkered down to be drawn into a wonderful story for the rest of the afternoon. Once the movie was over it was time to start dinner. A chicken was popped in to the oven to roast while we enjoyed some wine.
I don't think I've enjoyed a day more in a long time.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Looking Forward
Reading so many posts in the last week or so about preparing for the new year ahead; several of the bloggers mention taking time to look back at 2010 to think about what worked and what didn't, and then they make their resolutions or plans for the year ahead. This is honestly the first year I've read this about looking back first. I guess this might be a good thing to do, but I'm not sure if I want to dwell all that much on what didn't go well last year. I pretty much take things as they come, deal with them and then move on...it's over after that.
This last year was a bit difficult; we joined the thousands of people across the US that went through a foreclosure, but we opted to do this, we walked away from our home that was way underwater. We had bought the house just a few years prior during a move across the state and thought this would be our retirement investment. Not to be. We thought it out, did our homework and proceeded with what needed to be done. We are now renting a beautiful little home in a wonderful community and are glad that we made the move when we did. We handled it, we did what we had to do and we moved on. No real need to look back.
Looking forward to the year (s) ahead opens up a panorama of possibilities and dreams. I am spending some time thinking of what I want to do this year, really giving it some thought. I've not been a person to make resolutions for the new year, but now I will write a "to do" list of what I want to accomplish; not so much resolutions, but goals.
I guess I am getting older...I've never liked setting goals, it felt constrictive to me, I just did what I needed to do; I guess I was reactive. I now begin to see things a little differently.
This last year was a bit difficult; we joined the thousands of people across the US that went through a foreclosure, but we opted to do this, we walked away from our home that was way underwater. We had bought the house just a few years prior during a move across the state and thought this would be our retirement investment. Not to be. We thought it out, did our homework and proceeded with what needed to be done. We are now renting a beautiful little home in a wonderful community and are glad that we made the move when we did. We handled it, we did what we had to do and we moved on. No real need to look back.
Looking forward to the year (s) ahead opens up a panorama of possibilities and dreams. I am spending some time thinking of what I want to do this year, really giving it some thought. I've not been a person to make resolutions for the new year, but now I will write a "to do" list of what I want to accomplish; not so much resolutions, but goals.
I guess I am getting older...I've never liked setting goals, it felt constrictive to me, I just did what I needed to do; I guess I was reactive. I now begin to see things a little differently.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving." – Lao Tzu
We've been back from our most recent vacation for just a little over a month now. It feels more like a year. Having to work to pay for vacations sucks. And now that we're talking about it, I hate the word vacation. I like the word lifestyle....that's how it should be, don't you think? This working thing can get old.
I've always loved travel, always will. The husband and I love to get away alone, no hangers on, no agendas imposed upon us by others, going when and where we want on a whim.
Planning for the next trip is starting to percolate.
We've been back from our most recent vacation for just a little over a month now. It feels more like a year. Having to work to pay for vacations sucks. And now that we're talking about it, I hate the word vacation. I like the word lifestyle....that's how it should be, don't you think? This working thing can get old.
I've always loved travel, always will. The husband and I love to get away alone, no hangers on, no agendas imposed upon us by others, going when and where we want on a whim.
Planning for the next trip is starting to percolate.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Cooking From The Past
Getting back in to the kitchen to do a little more cooking over the last few weeks has felt good. Preparing a meal isn't usually something I enjoy, but at times the mood strikes and I get in there and actually have fun.
The Thanksgiving meal this year was my inspiration, that's my favorite time of year to slice and dice and bring the meal together. The turkey stuffing I make is a recipe handed down from my grandmother to my mother to me. My Mom was one of four sisters, but she was the only one who ever made that turkey stuffing; everyone loved it, but she was the only one who took the time to make it.
This year as I stood at the kitchen counter getting things ready for the stuffing, I could almost feel my grandmother and my Mom in the room nodding in approval. I thought of their hands over so many years doing what my hands were doing now.
The Thanksgiving meal this year was my inspiration, that's my favorite time of year to slice and dice and bring the meal together. The turkey stuffing I make is a recipe handed down from my grandmother to my mother to me. My Mom was one of four sisters, but she was the only one who ever made that turkey stuffing; everyone loved it, but she was the only one who took the time to make it.
This year as I stood at the kitchen counter getting things ready for the stuffing, I could almost feel my grandmother and my Mom in the room nodding in approval. I thought of their hands over so many years doing what my hands were doing now.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Passing Knowledge On
I gave my first lesson yesterday to a young new daughter in law; this comes, I had heard, as part of being a woman of a certain age. It helps to have a daughter in law who asks for a lesson and is open to receive. I wouldn't offer otherwise.
The afternoon presented itself rather serendipitously when our husbands and grandson decided to venture out to do some guy things.
The lesson was simple, but the bonding it provided was comforting to my soul. We spent an afternoon together preparing a turkey for the oven; this was a simple process to be sure, but one the daughter in law wasn't too sure about and I was happy to demonstrate.
Cleaning out the turkey cavities was part one of lesson number one that included a retelling of the story of an aunt long since gone who cooked the turkey with everything on board. This is a story my mom told me, and I now passed it on. A great thing about passing on lessons is passing on family stories.
We finished our family's method of the turkey prep, popped it into the oven and then watched a movie together.
The guys were back soon enough to break our quiet reverie and give us grief about the chick flick we were watching.
The daughter in law's parents were coming later for dinner. I hope they were proud of their daughter and enjoyed her meal. We took a final look at the turkey roasting in the oven, gave some final pointers about basting and tenting, if needed, and made our departure.
I can't help but think about the lessons learned from my mom and this wonderful feeling of being able to pass it on.
Our son and daughter in law sent a picture of the turkey right out of the oven, and it looked beautiful.
The afternoon presented itself rather serendipitously when our husbands and grandson decided to venture out to do some guy things.
The lesson was simple, but the bonding it provided was comforting to my soul. We spent an afternoon together preparing a turkey for the oven; this was a simple process to be sure, but one the daughter in law wasn't too sure about and I was happy to demonstrate.
Cleaning out the turkey cavities was part one of lesson number one that included a retelling of the story of an aunt long since gone who cooked the turkey with everything on board. This is a story my mom told me, and I now passed it on. A great thing about passing on lessons is passing on family stories.
We finished our family's method of the turkey prep, popped it into the oven and then watched a movie together.
The guys were back soon enough to break our quiet reverie and give us grief about the chick flick we were watching.
The daughter in law's parents were coming later for dinner. I hope they were proud of their daughter and enjoyed her meal. We took a final look at the turkey roasting in the oven, gave some final pointers about basting and tenting, if needed, and made our departure.
I can't help but think about the lessons learned from my mom and this wonderful feeling of being able to pass it on.
Our son and daughter in law sent a picture of the turkey right out of the oven, and it looked beautiful.
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