Life. . .

Here I am “re-running a Blog I did in 2009.  I came across it when I was checking back to see if I’d already written about another subject. (I still don’t know because I got distracted with sharing it again.) 

I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions but this seems to be all of the resolutions for a life in one list…except for the big one: “I’m going to lose weight.”

It was written By Regina Brett 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio.

A few of my favorites are high-lighted.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement, starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ?In five years, will this matter??
27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

OH DEAR OH DEAR!

All of my photos have disappeared from my Blog!  I wonder what has happened with Blogger?  Is anyone else having this issue?

SO FRUSTRATING!

WHAATT? A name change for prunes!

I’m a big fan of The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond and recently re-read her Ten Important Things I’ve Learned about Blogging.  Number 5 has a sentence: “I’ve found, over time, that I tend to blog about the same things I’d talk to my sister about.”

While I am not longer able to actually talk to my sister Micki;  we, including our sister-in-law Lee did have quite a talk about prunes and dried plums before Micki passed away last month.  She was taking very strong pain medications, which, if you didn’t know, cause constipation so we were buying prunes in large sized containers/bags.  And they seemed to help her!

I happened to look at the large bag one day and noticed that one of the bags did not say Prunes.

It was labeled (in very small print dried) Plums! PLUMS? Ah, are they trying to change the image of prunes?  Yes, of course!  I even found a website dedicated to dried plums with nary a mention to prunes: http://www.californiadriedplums.org/.  It does have a section which states “California Dried Plums are one of the best natural constipation remedies.”

Well, ok then, dried Plums it is!  (As for me, no matter what they call them I still don’t like ‘em.)

Mom, my sister and I.  Man oh man, do I miss both of them!

I will continue writing about subjects which she and I (and yes, Lee too) would talk about.

Walkie Talkie Thoughts by a friend…

My friend Sal wrote this and I like it so much I got permission from him to share it with you.  I wish I had written it!

WALKIE TALKIE
This is not a story about hand held radios. It is a story of an observation I've made over the past four days. I have been...
working turn two at Laguna Seca for a five day motorcycle event. Each day after lunch I've notice two woman walking briskly around the lake bed area. The entire time they are involved in rapid conversation. At one point in their chosen course they pass close enough to turn two for me to hear them but not really understand what they are saying.
This got me to wondering as I have many times in the past. Where do people find so much to talk about?

These two women were either good old friends with a lot of catching up to do. Or co-workers gossiping about co-workers. Whatever the subject they seemed to enjoy sharing their thoughts with each other.

Note from me:  I don’t think I could EVER talk that long!
It's about a mile around the lake bed area and they do about eight laps. Imagine walking eight miles and talking the whole time.

Note from me:  I particularly can relate to this next paragraph, especially about those with a gift for gab that GET has!
Those of you who know me know I am not much of a talker. This doesn't mean there is nothing going on in my head. On the contrary there is a lot, maybe too much to consolidate into a sentence. When I was a child my family would always ask,"How come you don't talk?" And my father would reply "Oh he's just shy." This was not the case. I was and continue to be an observer of mankind. Also I have learned that if I open my mouth I only create a larger space to insert my foot. So I choose to keep my mouth closed before the sarcasm comes flowing out. Which it usually does. And I have learned that not everyone is a fan of sarcasm. But I envy those who are blessed with the gift of gab. It creates good public relations and can get you far in life.

Note from me:  Sal has this picture of him posted on Facebook.  Sarcastic expression at this age?

So tomorrow when I see those two women walking an talking, I will smile to myself and think, they must be good friends who haven't driven each other crazy. Yet.

Note from me: This has nothing to do with the thoughts Sal shared here but all of us that know him love to see photos of him during his younger years!  A hippie at Disneyland?  Sure appears so!

Note from me:  I guess even very good friends drive each other crazy sometimes but its almost always a temporary crazy!

Pinterest, I love it BUT. . .

I just spent the last hour (or so) browsing, “liking” and Pinning on Pinterest.  I love Pinterest but what is the point? I have a bunch of Boards and lots of items pinned on them.   I “follow” 44 other Pinners and have 29 who follow Me, most of whom I don’t personally know.

Why do I need to collect pictures of “All kinds of critters?”

I know why I started this Board.  GET and I used to follow “love is…” in the newspaper because we related to this little loving couple.

I love to read, love libraries and search out Carnegie Libraries as we travel the country.  Other than really liking the libraries I’ve posted I’m not sure why I spend time collecting and posting them on Pinterest!

I’ve always saved quotes and “words to live by” in a little book.  Now I post my favorites on a board. 

The main board on Pinterest.  All kinds of intriguing pictures and subjects to browse through and “Pin It” to my boards!

I do enjoy it and will continue to Pinterest even though I don’t know why!  Come see me on Travelerlady if you also like to spend time doing something of dubious value!  Who needs a reason!

Not Me. . .Happy Pinning!

We go on the road…the good, the bad and the ugly!

We hadn’t been on the road with our fifth wheel for awhile and were happy to be out curing a serious case of “itchy-hitch.” (As in we are itching to get on the road.) As we hooked the Escalade up to the truck I had a flash of foreboding but brushed it aside.

Our trip down the coast was uneventful.  Found a spot at one of our favorites along the coast, Rincon Beach in Ventura County and had a nice evening enjoying the ocean and a glass of wine with my sister.

The next day got a WHOLE lot more interesting.  Our name wasn’t on the list when we pulled up to the guard shack at Coronado Naval Station to check in for Fleet Week Coronado Speed Festival. 

When the young Shore Patrol sailor at the gate directed us toward a small-ish parking lot to wait for clearance GET told her he didn’t think our long rig would make it. “Oh, it’s ok for you to drive over the curb.” she told him.  So, following orders we started to pull into the parking lot only to hear sirens and bells and alarms go off!  At least four security vehicles arrived within seconds and a huge steel gate rose from the ground effectively closing the Base down!

The back of our fifth wheel had “brushed” against the concrete barrier at the guard shack! No damage to the concrete barrier but our home was definitely dinged up! No matter, the Shore Patrol security personnel took both of our driver’s licenses, our insurance, registration, asked where we each were born and asked GET if he had ever been in the military. (yes sir-he proudly served six years in the USAF.)  We were surprised that they didn’t request Dulee’s adoption papers! They didn’t throw us in the Brig and we were finally cleared to enter the Base.

GET thought that this was just a little repair job until we got the estimate from the RV repair shop: $3,000!  Thank goodness for insurance!

After the incident we got settled in our fifth wheel’s designated spot on the Base runway.

View from my window (because of my hip replacement I wasn’t able to be a Course Marshal for the event):  a racetrack, a cruise ship and a Navy helicopter.  Pretty cool, I thought.

GET doesn’t often do Course Marshaling.  Here he is in his whites setting up at Turn 7 on the racetrack.

More from my window: Vintage muscle cars (my favorite) gridded up to race. WAY back I owned a ‘65 Mustang similar to #222.

I liked the design of this helmet.

After good, bad, and ugly at Coronado Fleet Week we continued on to a new location for us: Jalama Beach. A bit more “ugly” at Jalama Beach where we were assigned a site which we could not get our rig into. . .of course the sun set to darkness as we were trying to figure out where to park. . .and, of course the Ranger Station had closed for the night so we winged it and parked in a less-than-desirable vacant spot for the night.  Next day it was all worked out with the Ranger and we were set for the next few days in a site with a perfect view of the Pacific.  Pretty close to paradise!

Jalama Beach Store advertises “world famous Jalama burgers.”  One of our friends noted that GET is checking out other good buns in this photo!!! Nah, couldn’t be, but it sure appears that way!

The burgers were GREAT just as they said.

Fabulous Pacific Ocean sunsets.

Working our way up the coast, our next stop was Morro Bay.  Our home with a view of Morro Rock which is part of a chain of nine extinct volcano peaks called the Nine Sisters.  Morro Bay has been one of our favorite destinations for years.  I always visit The Garden Gallery store and add to my succulents collection.

Found these cute earrings at Poppy.

This guy was obviously on the lookout for fish waste and most likely trash too!  We didn’t give him a chance to get near our Dungeness crabs.

We ended this adventure at Camping World where we had this HD satellite dish installed on our home.

My initial sense of foreboding really hit me just as we were finishing at Camping World and I learned that my sister is terminally ill.  Much too hard right to write about now…maybe never.

Life really does have the “good, the bad and the ugly” doesn’t it?

Would love to be moving like this!

And, as a result of a total hip surgery I am now a bionic woman and will soon will be buzzing around!  I thought I would be writing lots of blogs as I recovered but was in no frame of mind to do any writing!

This card wasn’t designed to be a get well card but Judy said it just seemed so appropriate for someone who has the use of only one leg!  I agree.

For three weeks following surgery this walker contraption and I were (reluctant on my part) best friends. . .

Then this cute cane on loan from my friend Sandy took over as my (again, reluctant on my part) good friend:

Now, a few months later, this bionic woman is hobbling around on her own power and we’re even doing some traveling!

Glad to be back to the Blogging world!

It’s a dog’s life. . .

Dulee is happy. . .Harvey’s Lake Tahoe has pet-friendly rooms and he feels so special!

In our room he was greeted with a doggy placemat, two nicely decorated bowls for his water and food, a clip-on case of poop bags and gourmet Alaska’s Bakery dog treats! (He doesn’t like the gourmet treats, guess he’s just not a gourmet-type dog.  He prefers his Charlee Bear treats which are “healthy” rather than gourmet.)

He happily sighed and settled quite comfortably on the bed.

Of course, nature calls and Dulee has not only a map for finding his “bathroom”. . .

But the path to the “bathroom” is also marked outside on the sidewalk!

And he hangs his door tag when he is in.

His view from our room on the 14th floor.

He’s come a long way from his days as a stray on the streets of Orange County!

Postscript to A Tale of Shoes

So, the “grand's” received their package in the mail.

Stanley in his “Enjoy the Show” t-shirt and Will in his new shoes.

And Mary in her pink top.

Will looked at the new neon athletic shoes and very seriously said: “I bet these shoes are fast.” put them on and outside he went.  Russ said he ran up and down the block several times and when he finally came back he reported that “yes, these shoes are very fast!”

The “FAST” shoes.

Don’t ya just love the way a child’s mind works?