Tag Archives: family

The Wrong Kind of Wealth

Longtime readers (if any) may remember posts about a twice-yearly wine tasting trip taken by members of my family. I think most of the posts have concerned my dithering decisions about said trip (What shall I wear? How will I get there? Should I go at all?) This spring’s trip is next weekend. Let the dithering begin.

My first dither, about whether or not to go, actually did not take much debate. The first wine trip originated under the heading “Life’s too short.” Life is still too short. I will add the sub-heading “People don’t last forever.” Thus, my decision is made to spend time with my family when I have the chance.

A more troubling dither (to me, anyways) is what shall I wear? I still haven’t taken off the five or so pounds I put on over the holidays. Oh don’t stand there tsk-tsking at me (you know who you are); nobody’s perfect. In my defense, this is my first year of being in my fifties. I daresay my metabolism has changed.

I’m not inclined to purchase new clothes for my current waistline. I shall look to my existing wardrobe for inspiration. If only I could know for certain what the weather will be like. Cold? Warm? Precipitation? Sunlight? Perhaps the operative thing to do would be to have two or three potential outfits in mind. Have I enough clothes in my wardrobe for such a thing? Am I clever enough to plan one outfit with sufficient layers to take all possibilities into account? Oh don’t bother to answer that last question; I know I’m not.

This is turning into a rather silly blog post, even for me. Oh, and that reminds me of another thing! I have to plan ahead for my blog posts. Both my potential transportation schemes have me leaving the house on Friday. I might not return till Sunday. For the least possible stress it would be a good idea if I typed in posts for Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Thursday night. Well, for Friday and Saturday at least. We all know I don’t sweat Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

I have other dithering questions. What to bring? When and how to fill my thermos with coffee? Do I have enough cash on hand? Answers often raise more questions.

To make matters worse, I’m thinking I will get no sympathy for my wealth of indecision. “Oh, quit blubbering and get on with it!” I will admit, as problems go, these are some pretty fun problems to have. And not for nuthin’ but, with all the kinds of wealth to be blessed with, I would get a wealth of indecision. Just saying.

What, Bloggers Don’t Get Holidays?

Merry Christmas Eve, to all my readers, regular and irregular (you know who you are).

It’s Tuesday, but it feels like Saturday, because I have the day off;, it feels like Sunday, because I’m very wrist-to-foreheady; and it feels like Friday, because I’m about to do an extremely lame post (and what does my computer mean by telling me “wrist-to-foreheady” is not a word? You all know what I mean, don’t you?).

My current stress is really all my fault, because of my silly obsession with posting every day. Not all bloggers post every day. Some post weekly or three times a week or just when they darn well feel like it.

Full disclosure: I don’t really feel all that stressed. I love Christmas Eve; it is my favorite day of the year. I confess to a certain… urgency. I want to post this before I have to finish loading the SUV and run a couple of errands before picking up my dear husband at his not-so-dear job (YES! We’re happy he has a job in this economy; doesn’t mean it couldn’t be a little better in some respects) (ooh, that might form the basis of some half-baked philosophy for when it really is Lame Post Friday).

I don’t have to finish it right now. We are going to my parents’ house and I could happily make my blog post from there; I’ve done it before. Only by then I will want to sit in the kitchen, eating good food and making silly jokes with everybody.

You know, it really is great fun to sit here at the computer typing nonsense. Who invented this blogging thing? I must send that person a thank you note.

Ooh, almost 300 words. That’s quite respectable. I’ll try to say something less nonsensical tomorrow. Then again, it will be Christmas.

Once Again, I Say Too Much

While this is a post about Why I Can’t Write a Post Today, it is not another lament about Writer’s Block or Writer’s Blank or whatever it is I suffer from. It is a mere statement of practical considerations.

I have been Christmas shopping and plan to do more. Of course I love to plug local businesses, and this is a grand opportunity to give a few shout-outs. However, SOME people who MIGHT be receiving presents from me may POSSIBLY read this post.

Someone may suggest that I be cagey, mention the store but not the item. I could do like my Mom does and say, “I got you a … and a …” Well, my family is pretty clever. If I mention the store, they may guess the item. In fact, already I’ve said too much.

Additionally, I think it makes a better post if I tell what I purchased. It is the sort of concrete detail that makes the writing ring true. Or do I flatter myself?

My original plan was to not give presents this year. I was going to send each person a lovely handwritten note reading: “Dear (name), No present this year. You were bad. Love, Cindy Claus.” I eventually decided against it, because my handwriting is not all that good, and it really is not the sort of thing you would want to type. Perhaps a nice counted cross stitch, although I am also not very deedy in that respect (my computer is telling me “deedy” is not a word, and I cannot find it in the dictionary, but I am certain I’ve seen it used in a book) (it was a Regency Romance, so perhaps it is an archaic term)(how old must something be to be to be archaic?) (yeah, yeah, I know, how old am I — must you make such obvious jokes?).

Where was I? Ah yes, trying not to give away what I am getting people for Christmas. In pursuit of that object, I’ll shut up now.

Be Thankful the Post is Short

After all, I don’t HAVE to write a post every day. I CHOOSE to write a post every day.

Wouldn’t that be silly if those two sentences were my entire post?

In fact, it is Thanksgiving Day, and I don’t got much. That is, I have a lot to be thankful for, of course. But I don’t have a lot to write about. Oh, I know, I could write a post about everything I’m thankful for, including perhaps a little snippet about how we OUGHT to be thankful every day, not just the day before Black Friday. Blah, blah, blah. Let’s save the half-baked philosophy for Lame Post Friday, shall we?

I did take a walk today, which is often good for a post. It was cold. I was glad I had borrowed my father’s hat. It was like a big hood not attached to a coat. The coverage was great, head and neck.

One sister and one nephew walked with me and Tabby. I ought, perhaps, to mention that I was at my parents’ house in Rome, NY. They live in a nice quiet neighborhood, good for walking. We walked down the middle of the road in a couple of places, to avoid patches of ice. We took to the sidewalks in other places but had no mishaps. Phew!

A few people had their Christmas decorations up already. I think tomorrow is a better day to begin our Christmas celebrations, but what are you going to do? My nephew revealed that he had perhaps inadvisedly volunteered to put up the Christmas lights at his house. I believe this was before the temperature dropped and the snow fell. We discussed my previous quest for a hard plastic light-up snowman (NOT the blow-up kind!).

Yes, it was an uneventful walk, but as usual we enjoyed it. I will strive for a more adventurous post tomorrow, but it will not include Black Friday shopping. That’s not how I roll.

Me and the Angels

I believe in angels, but I do not believe in Facebook posts. Yes, half-baked philosophy is once again creeping onto days other than Lame Post Friday. What’s a blogger to do?

Earlier today, Steven and I took our schnoodle Tabby for a walk. As we approached home, we discussed our agenda for the rest of the day. I added, “Unless somebody was to call us up and say, ‘Oh, come here and do this!'” We both remarked that really nobody does that to us any more, we reminisced about a couple of times it had happened and was fun, then we were home.

Steven got on Facebook and shared one of those pre-printed things about angels seeing us struggling with something and they were about to make something good happen to us. If we re-posted it. Or something like that.

And then the phone rang. It was my sister asking did Steven and I want to meet her and two of her daughters at Fly Creek Cider Mill. Steven thought it was a great idea. So did I! We made the date.

Steven got back on Facebook and shared a picture of Fly Creek Cider Mill and the story of posting the angel thing and then getting a fun invitation. Could there, in fact, have been a connection? Who cares! We had a fun afternoon! I can probably get two or three blog posts out of it as the week wears on.

But today, I felt like writing about the angels.

Could my sister actually be one of them? Discuss amongst yourselves.