As promised I am including two photos of the Man Cave. The one above is of the technology - an inherent part of this type of room - nice computer desk eh? The photo on the right is of the nest where the male of the house falls asleep watching sports shows.
Today was a beautiful September day and it was tough to arrange my schedule so that I ignored the sun and managed the art/writing show at the museum. I got two loads of clothes on the line (while thinking that I know do as many loads of laundry in a week as I did in one day when the kids were small) walked the dog early, went over to the fish plant and picked up the truck to get the bookcase we had picked out at the Wicker Emporium.
The museum session was fun and there was a good crowd of over 40 attending. Some artists, some writers and a few family fans there to listen to the readings. The artists got to take the matted copies of the stories with them. Plans for the writers to develop a story and the artists will have to capture it in a piece – now that should be a challenge! Lots of wine, cheese, crackers and fruit to graze and schmooze with but I headed out for my furniture.
I was tickled to get the bookcase home and rearrange the living room. We had downsized quite a bit but there were four shelves full of reference books, classics etc. It looks really nice with a pair of decoys on top which daughter # 1 had given to her father for Christmas one year. When we were choosing the decoys we discovered the felines had been climbing on the top of the kitchen cabinets as one of the decoys was on its side and there were kitty footprints in the dust. So that part of the redecorating will have to be done another time. Now if you’re relaxing on the couch you can see those beautiful sunsets over the harbour.
I have all the photos fitted into the PowerPoint presentation I’m working on about lobstering. Have already learned a lot about the program by playing with it. I will approach the library to see if I can present mid-November just before the season starts. I spoke to the videographer and this fits with her schedule too. It will give me a chance to polish up the material and practice a bit.
I must make up some posters for the scrapbooking session planned here for Thursday evening. Tomorrow will be my only evening to get some treats made for the gang. I’m off on Tuesday to a place in the valley called Ledgehill – here’s the link to check it out:
http://www.ledgehill.com/
It looks like a lot of team building and policy work for Wednesday and Thursday. Sigh.
As I will soon not be able to say I’m 50 but will have to acknowledge being over 50 I was pleased when a friend forwarded this email story, which I’ll paste here for you:
Today was a beautiful September day and it was tough to arrange my schedule so that I ignored the sun and managed the art/writing show at the museum. I got two loads of clothes on the line (while thinking that I know do as many loads of laundry in a week as I did in one day when the kids were small) walked the dog early, went over to the fish plant and picked up the truck to get the bookcase we had picked out at the Wicker Emporium.
The museum session was fun and there was a good crowd of over 40 attending. Some artists, some writers and a few family fans there to listen to the readings. The artists got to take the matted copies of the stories with them. Plans for the writers to develop a story and the artists will have to capture it in a piece – now that should be a challenge! Lots of wine, cheese, crackers and fruit to graze and schmooze with but I headed out for my furniture.
I was tickled to get the bookcase home and rearrange the living room. We had downsized quite a bit but there were four shelves full of reference books, classics etc. It looks really nice with a pair of decoys on top which daughter # 1 had given to her father for Christmas one year. When we were choosing the decoys we discovered the felines had been climbing on the top of the kitchen cabinets as one of the decoys was on its side and there were kitty footprints in the dust. So that part of the redecorating will have to be done another time. Now if you’re relaxing on the couch you can see those beautiful sunsets over the harbour.
I have all the photos fitted into the PowerPoint presentation I’m working on about lobstering. Have already learned a lot about the program by playing with it. I will approach the library to see if I can present mid-November just before the season starts. I spoke to the videographer and this fits with her schedule too. It will give me a chance to polish up the material and practice a bit.
I must make up some posters for the scrapbooking session planned here for Thursday evening. Tomorrow will be my only evening to get some treats made for the gang. I’m off on Tuesday to a place in the valley called Ledgehill – here’s the link to check it out:
http://www.ledgehill.com/
It looks like a lot of team building and policy work for Wednesday and Thursday. Sigh.
As I will soon not be able to say I’m 50 but will have to acknowledge being over 50 I was pleased when a friend forwarded this email story, which I’ll paste here for you:
The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, she was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question, and I would ponder it, and let her know.
Old Age, I decided, is a gift.
I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.
I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.
I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.
They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.
Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.
As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)
Must get my to-do for tomorrow list shortened a bit as I'm off to work in the district facility while covering for a couple of the team members. I was reading a newspaper story which spoke of folks in their 80s continuing to work as they loved it and I realized that retirement is not necessarily not working but working when and at what you want to. Now THAT I'm ready for.
