Timeline

My youngest daughter left for college last week, and I have a new puppy in the house. My daughter has a studio in the recently "renewed" basement, and she left an unfinished painting behind. It has a few yellow flowers in the center of the unframed canvas is all, and even that makes me smile because when I look at it it reminds me of how she sees things with depth and color and freshness.

It's not the first time she's been away. But it always feels the same, a little sadness mixed with a little satisfaction. The puppy is what I get to take care of now, but she too will grow fast and then all I'll have to do is put food and water in her dishes and let her out to go to the bathroom. Everything moves along the timeline of life-whether we want it to or not. I am one of those things on that line, and as I move along, I can only hope that I don't see too many missed opportunities when I look back.

The Beast

We recently had our basement, i.e. "The Beast," redone. By redone I mean the ancient stone walls got power-washed, re-coated with new mortar and waterproof paint, and the floor poured with a couple of inches of smooth concrete. Now that it looks so much better and is sooo much cleaner and mold-free, I can store things down there, and I plan on using part of it for a hobby area.
With the walls neatly painted, the narrow streams of water running downward were very obvious to the naked eye. Where'd that come from, I said to myself? When I looked up-there was the culprit, plain as day. The old, galvanized pipes were full of pin holes from corrosion, and were leaking. Never noticed it when the stone walls were weeping mortar and covered with God knows what kind of microbial inhabitants.
It appears that the affected pipes go from the basement straight up to the second floor bathroom, which was remodeled three years ago with new commode, vanity and whirlpool tub. And to top it off, the pipes run underneath the fixtures and porcelain tile floor.
Well, at least we found this out before the Memorial Day three-day weekend, when we'll have some extra time on our hands. What else would we do with three long-awaited, hard-earned spring days?

Spring in New York

Here in western New York we wait agonizingly for spring to arrive, starting in like...January. We are nothing if not zealously optimistic. We had a really nice March for a change. The week of the 15th I was off work and it was mild and sunny every day!


I had planned to get a lot of cleaning done, but by Wednesday it was time to move on to more enjoyable activities. I started by giving my kitchen a little "facelift" with new satin nickel knobs on the cabinets and curtains for the windows. It didn't stop there though-matching cushions on the chairs and a tablecloth came next.


The kitchen looked so nice that the dining room chairs began to bother me (the plaid upholstery on them no longer went with anything in the room). So I disassembled them and covered them with a satiny gold fabric that matches the valences in the room.

The week ended with me feeling quite satisfied, although not as caught up on housework as I would've liked to have been. I did buy a new vacuum though, to replace the one that no longer would turn on. I've even used it once too.

Relativity

As I get older I am learning that perception is truly relative. Ideas, opinions and perspectives are as numerous as the individuals who hold them! And I am but one individual, whose ideas, opinions and perspectives are a miniscule, fragmented part of our (humankind's) collective world view.

Since this epiphany, if you will, I have been listening more to what others are saying because there are so many valuable insights to be collected and stored that will enrich life. Sure there is plenty of "junk" floating around too, but I am getting more and more proficient at honing my "filter" to save just the really good stuff.

Sometimes I hear people talking about going back and wishing they could have a do-over. Not me. Even though there have been many, many at times devastating bumps in the road, I'm definately a journey kind of person rather than a destination kind of person. I relish anticipation because it lasts so much longer than achieving or arriving at a goal. And while I'm anticipating, I'm collecting the good stuff.

Twilight

This was the amazing view from my front porch a few nights ago! Just wanted to share it. The strip along the right side is a post with our Christmas lights still wound around it.

Trash Day

It's easy to forget the part one plays in the daily routines of life...until someone's gone. Like I completely forgot that yesterday was "trash day," because my husband always takes care of it. He goes out the night before pick-up and wrangles the toter through the maze of flower beds, down our narrow, 100-foot-long driveway-being ever so careful not to scratch, dent or otherwise deface the stream of cars parked there waiting for another blizzard of activity in the morning.
When he and the toter make it to the front curb, two weeks of recyclables must take their rightful place alongside. Even a family of three can produce a lot of recyclable refuse in two weeks. Needless to say, the crates are always overflowing with things that can roll-like tunafish cans and water bottles that careen down the street needing to be retrieved and contained once again so they can be destroyed and remanufactured. Sometimes I wonder if I'm actually buying the same can or bottle. Ever wonder about that?
Anyway, with my husband out of country on business there are some things that just aren't getting done because I either forgot, or didn't want to go running down the street chasing speeding bottles and cans.

I Hate to Sound Cliche, But...

When it rains it pours! Have you ever had periods where life just won't let you catch your breath? I know, of course you have. So I know you'll understand when I tell you that this is one of those periods of time for me and my loved ones.
We just suffered an unexpected death in our family a week ago today, so we're still reeling from the shock. Needless to say we've been off work for a few days. When my husband comes home from his first day back, he announces that he has to go to Germany on business next week. We knew he had to go soon, but not this soon. This is not a good time for us to be separated (foot stomp).
On my first day back my co-worker gets sick (sigh), more for her than myself. This is where I have to remind myself to breath. As my dear late uncle used to say,
"This too shall pass."

Is it okay to be me?

In a country where there seems to be (okay, is) so much opportunity for self actualization, there are an awful lot of unhappy people. We have schools for everything under the sun, more disposable income per capita than many other nations, spas, amusement parks, golf courses and malls a-plenty, yet we're never happy.
We're never "us" either. I mean we don't know who "we" are. I don't know about you, but it seems like we spend a great deal of time listening to external voices giving well-intentioned "suggestions" about what we should have done, or should do with our lives.
In high school my loving mother said I should take secretarial classes so I would always have something to "fall back on." Only thing was I couldn't type worth a damn, still can't. It's taken me 30 minutes to type these three paragraphs! Some said I should join the military, but since I majored in art, I don't think the U.S. government would've had much use for my particular skill set.
I have always loved to write. Everyone knows that non-tangible abilities are just for hobbies though. But what does one do if that's how she's "built?" I have spent many years trying all kinds of jobs and professions, and you know what? I've got that humanities, linguistic, creative kind of brain and that's that. Whenever I try to do something else I'm just never as good as somebody who's good at it is.
So to answer my own question, finally, yes. It's okay to be me. I hope you know that it's okay for you to be you as well.