Dog Days of Summer

It's been so hot and humid for the past few days. The meteorologists say that we're entering the dog days of summer which usually occur in August. The temps get higher and it gets very humid here. Usually by the time September comes the dog days begin to go away and the heat is not as intense. After such extreme heat, fall is always welcomed by me.
It's been a busy summer, filled with activity. I really can't believe that it's almost the end of July. Where does the time go? Time goes fast whether you're having fun or not!

A Place For Everything

Finding a place for eveything in a small condo when you have many hobbies is not an easy task. You can purchase storage containers to house things, but if you're not careful, pretty soon you're tripping over storage containers. My father use to say that there is a place for everything, and everything in it's place. Not so in condo living. Who designed these dwellings? Obviously it wasn't someone who had hobbies or any personal belongings. I've managed to downsize, and have donated many things to charity. My craft room needs more cabinet space so that "stuff" isn't in sight. With more cabinet space I may be able to find a place for everything and I will certainly put everything in it's place.

A First Time Scrapper

Today I designed a scrapbook page for the first time. I'm going to a birthday party in a few weeks and we were requested to do a page for a scrapbook which will be presented to the person having the birthday. I found the task to be very enjoyable but time consuming. However, I had so much fun doing it that I didn't realize the time it had taken until I was done. I have collected many supplies for this activity over the past few years, but have always put scrapping on the back burner while I do my other hobbies. Well, now I'm hooked! I shant put it off any longer. The shoebox full of photos I have will be put into the appropriate scrapbooks in the near future. Designing a page is sort of like designing a collage. The last time I did that was in undergraduate school when I was taking an art appreciation class. I have 2 Memory magazines which contain ideas and it so happens that before I was given this challenge, I re-subscribed to the Memory magazine. It's fun to have another creative outlet. I would love to sit for an afternoon with a friend or two and do scrapbook pages. There are many pictures which recollect fond memories waiting to be put into scrapbooks. Happy Scrapping!!

Nothing To Say

Haven't written for awhile because I had nothing to say. Life is still good. Family responsibilities have taken up my time recently. Ones daily routine is interrupted by such things, but I'm always happy to be able to help my family out. The day to day routine is not so sacrosanct that it can't be interrupted or put on the back burner.

Waiting For The Rain

This morning I went to water aerobics class at 9am. I arrived home at about 10:30am. I made a few phone calls and took care of some mail. The weather report said we'd have thunder storms this afternoon. I put off going out to do errands because I was waiting for the rain to come and then go. It never came where I live. So, I spent this warm summer day inside waiting for the rain. I was hoping for it to cool us and to get rid of the humidity. Tomorrow I will go to W.A. again at 9am. I will go out to do postponed errands ,whether it rains or shines, after W.A. I'm beginning to think that "waiting for the rain" is a little like, "a watched pot never boils".

As Appealing As Candy

A friend and I visited 3 of our favorite shops yesterday. One was a quilt shop, one was a knit shop and the other was a bead shop. No matter which of the 3 shops you entered, your senses had the same reaction to the beautiful colors of the fabric, the wool and the beads. I've always loved fabric which is part of the reason I started to sew. I also love the various colors of yarn available to knitters, and the bead shop has any number of possibilities for making jewelry.
I'm as excited entering these shops as I was when I was 6 and I entered Mrs. K's candy store where all the penny candy was displayed in a glass case. The shelves of candy were right at my eye level and it was a hard decision deciding which of these appealing sights would leave the store with me that day. It's just as hard deciding on which fabric to buy for a quilt, or which yarn to buy for a special project or which beads would make a perfect piece of jewelry. They are all as appealing to my sense of sight and touch as candy was to my sense of sight and smell. One advantage to choosing fabric, yarn or beads is that when you're done choosing, you have something which doesn't disappear in a few seconds as candy did to a 6 year old. Did I tell you that I love fabric, yarn and beads? I have a stash of fabric. I've resisted more with yarn and beads although they're just as tempting as fabric and candy.

An Afternoon Spent Reading

I've been so active for so long. I don't usually give myself much time to just read. This afternoon I did just that. I had Easy Listening music playing softly in the background and I read, sipped iced tea, and read some more. Tonight my plan is to do more of the same. The book I'm reading is not a "fast" read. It's well written and has many references. I'm enjoying it very much. It is a long book, there are 869 pages if you include the index. It's going to take me a long time to read it unless I devote more days to just reading. Maybe it's time to wind down a bit, take time to smell the roses, and read.

A Hidden Blog

I wrote another blog earlier tonight. Thought I published it, but can't view it on the blogsite. I wonder why that is? Did I forget to click on something? It'll be interesting if I can get it to appear. Not that it's anything earth shattering. Oh, well, I'll try again.

Secrets

There's another new book coming out. It's about information which has been designated as top secret. The author feels that having too many secrets is not a good thing. He mentioned a quote in which he said something like, if you keep an eye on your toothbrushes with the same vigor you watch your diamonds, you'll lose more diamonds than toothbrushes. It may be worth reading that book. I'll let you know if I do.

Another Biography

Saw Bob Novack on TV twice yesterday. Seems he's written an autobiographical book. I don't always agree with his thinking, but his book may be an interesting one to read since it's about his life in Washington, D.C. as a reporter. I'm sure there'll be a waiting list at the library and the book will be a 2 week book since it's new. When I finish the book I'm reading I may consider reading his book. So many books, so little time.

Garrison Keillor

Listened to Garrison Keillor on Book TV on C-Span2. He is the host of A Prairie Home Companion which is heard weekly on more than 580 radio stations. I enjoyed his talk. He has humor as well as intellect. He spoke on the beauty of libraries. Makes me want to visit what he calls a "real" library . His library is in St. Paul. He said that New Yorkers will never visit St. Paul even if there is a large star in the sky over St. Paul with angels all around. I'm not a New Yorker, so I probably could be lured there especially by a star and angels all around. I've never had the privilege of visiting the NY public library. I'm sure that would be interesting to see and to investigate. At the current time, I'm reading "Edith Wharton" a biography by Hermione Lee. I've always enjoyed biographies because they give me a glimpse into the lives of people who came before me or during my lifetime whom I did not and will not ever know in person. They also give me a glimpse into other cultures and customs. They paint a picture of places I've never seen and may not ever see. As a young girl biographies gave me heroes and people to admire as I was becoming my own person. They also give me "things" to aspire to. I have not reached all of those things I've aspired to (i.e. speaking French) but there is still time. It's good to have a dream or two. Like the song says, "I can dream, can't I?"

Catching Up

We had lunch with a former colleague today who we haven't seen in about 4 years. She moved away to Delaware after retirement. We went to Teaberry's, my favorite tearoom. We met at 1:00pm and said goodbye at 4:00pm. There were four of us at lunch. We caught up on our friend's news and she was updated with ours. I enjoyed the afternoon very much. We set aside a weekend in November when we "Jersey Girls" will go down to visit our friend in Delaware. It's always fun to "catch up" with old friends. Someone once said that new friends are like silver but old friends are like gold.

A Good Workout

A friend and I attended water aerobics twice this week, on Monday and again on Wednesday.
We got a good workout both days. Monday's class was more like pilates in the water with stretching and aerobics. Today's class was mostly aerobic. What I like about attending these classes is that there are several teachers and you get a variety of workouts. I've decided to attend 5 classes next week since I'm free each morning of the week. I prefer attending class in the morning rather than in the evening. The classes usually energize me, but today, for some reason, I was very tired after class and required a nap. That may have something to do with the fact that Sandy woke me at 4:30am, or the fact that I'm dieting. Anyway, I fell asleep for an hour after eating lunch and now I'm still going strong. My next water aerobics class will be on Friday. I look forward to it. I hope that these classes will hasten my weight loss and also strengthen my heart as well as exercising my body.

Another Line

I awoke at 4am this morning. I had dreamt about the movie I saw, "Evening". When I awoke, another line from the movie came to me. Ann, on her death bed, said, "I always thought there'd be more". She was referring to her great love for Harris. She had 2 failed marriages and never found anyone else she loved as much as she had loved Harris. That line had the most meaning for me because I had the same thought not to long ago about my own love life. I had always thought there'd be more; At least one more. I read once that marriage is a decision you make. I wonder how many people who marry are not totally in love with their choice of partner? But because they were not able to marry someone they truly loved, had settled for someone else. I suspect that that happens more often than not. If your goal is to be married and have a family, you get married and have a family. If your goal is to find someone else who is the love of your life, you wait until you find that someone. You may be disappointed if they never come along.

A Chick Flick

Tonight, a friend and I went to see "Evening" at the movies. We both enjoyed the show. There were a few lines which resonated with me. One in particular line said by Ann, played by Vanessa Redgrave, was "Where did my life go?" I've often had that same thought since I've reached senior citizen age. There are so many years behind me. They seemed to have gone by in a flash. They were full years. I hope that I still have "full" years ahead of me. Another line said by Meryl Streep's character was that after awhile it doesn't matter any more. Meaning things we worried about when we were young or things that were so important to us at that time don't matter any more. Now when you look back after a full life, those things don't matter any more. All the life crisis' which occurred in my youth can be summed up with "Time does heal all wounds." Thank you, God. "There are no mistakes", is another line which has much meaning now. Life has unfolded according to God's great plan for me. I may not understand why it's unfolded as it has, but it wasn't a mistake that it did. I can honestly say at this point in my life that I have no regrets. Hopefully, God willing, I'll have many more years ahead of me. I wonder what lies ahead?

A Day's Worth of Ironing

Today was a hot weather day. I decided to stay in and iron all the clothes I've laundered and put off ironing. I've finished all but 3 outfits. How I managed to do it all is a mystery to me because I hate ironing and I can't sit down when I do it. My feet and legs start to hurt. As I was ironing and listening to the Golden Oldies on the music channel, my mind wandered to a time when I was a young girl. I thought of my mother and other women of her generation and how ironing was part of their daily chores. A sadness overcame me. Our mothers and grandmothers went through a lot that we didn't go through trying to maintain a home and family and also keep up with the ironing. My mother's first washing machine was one with which she was required to pass the clean clothes and other items through a wringer to remove the water. I can remember standing on the opposite side of the machine and asking if I could help by pulling the towels or sheets through on the other end. Her warning was" be careful of your fingers by the wringer". My grandmother, I am told, had to use a wash board to wash clothes and an iron which doesn't compare to the great irons we use today. Still they were both better ironers than me. Maybe it's because they had so much "practice". Thank you to all the people who have invented all the modern conveniences we have to use today. I know that my housekeeping is made easier by them. Now if I could find it as easy to have an "attitude adjustment", or maybe think of Mom and Grandma as I do my chores, I may not despise ironing so much.

A Short Vacation

I returned today from a short respite. I went to the Jersey shore for 4 days. I brought Sandy, my cat. He spent most of the time hiding behind the couch because he was in unfamiliar territory. I managed to go for a walk and to sit on the boardwalk and watch the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. Took in a movie and watched a couple of DVD's I hadn't seen before. I didn't talk on the phone or work on the computer. All in all, it was a nice break from the usual busy pace I seem to keep. It was good to get home this morning. I treated myself to a pedicure today and went to lunch with a friend. Since Sandy had such a tough few days, I bought him a running water fountain dish. Hopefully, this will satisfy his desire to drink water out of a running faucet. Maybe he won't wake me up in the middle of the night anymore when he wants a fresh drink. Time will tell about that.

Homekeeping

My daily routine day has turned into a three day weekend routine. I've washed every piece of glassware or china in the hutch. I don't know how Martha Stewart does it all. I bought her "Homekeeping Handbook" and it's amazing how busy cleaning one could be if you did nothing else. Most of the weekly jobs are the routine ones. She's got monthly and seasonal jobs to do if you don't have enough activity keeping your home dusted and vacuumed. If I can get to it, I have 2 closets to straighten and go through. One is a coat closet , the other is a bedroom closet. She suggests that you take all the dishes out of all your cabinets and clean the cabinet and the dishes. My dishes are in constant use so I guess I luck out in that regard because they get a weekly if not a daily wash in the dishwasher. Martha what's your secret? I know, it must be that you have thousands of people working for you. I'd settle for 2 extra hands. One person to keep my home dusted and vacuumed and the other to wash the dust off of things which I display on tables, for instance a tea set on a tea table. I KNOW that the old adage "A woman's work is never done" is definetly true.