"Great" is a great word!!

Some days are destined to be good ... sometimes great. Today felt like one of those days.

It started out a bit shaky. I was worried about my knee from yesterday's fall. As I rolled over in bed this morning and decided to get up, I braced myself for knee pain. I fretted that this injured knee would set me back on walking, again!!

Shock!

Almost no pain ... in my knee. But my neck ... now that was another matter. My neck was just fine if my head remained upright, balanced on my shoulders, but when I bent over (like to get out of bed), a muscle in my neck tightened up in a serious way. Darn! I popped 600 mg of Advil with my morning coffee and that controlled the pain in my neck. The knee and the neck wouldn't get in the way of my walking. Great! I can live with that.

Lunch was shared with an old friend from a previous neighborhood. Thirty years ago we lived several doors down from each other. Our children played and walked to school together, and we became friends. We both moved away from that old neighborhood, but over the years our paths crossed several times, and we would catch up on our lives and that of our families. Some friendships seem to stand the test of time. They don't require lots of tending, they allow each person to change and evolve without judgement, and they respect each other's differences as well as being joyful in the similarities. That is what I have with this friend. And that was what I needed on this day. We laughed and enjoyed each other's company as if nothing has changed over the 30+ years. Lots of things have changed, but basically we haven't.

It was really great.

Coming home I was glad to find mom was doing well. She sometimes gets anxious when I have been gone, for no real reason other than I am not in the house. She is a worrier, always has been. It isn't something you can talk her out of after 84 years of worry. But today she seemed good. No negative reactions to my absence.

I was batting a 1000 in the "great day department"!

And to top off this great day, I finished a pair of knitted socks I started in January 2009. I consider that a very good sign. All of last year I dabbled around doing bits and pieces of my hobbies, but I focused on nothing and finished little. It wasn't so great. My hobbies have always been an important element in my happiness. Finishing these socks really felt great.

Really, really great. And they will look just great on my daughter's feet!

Last day of January 2011. The month started out very badly, but I am glad to see it is ending with a bang! A great bang!

Now to get more Advil!

Snow men in town

Although this snow as difficult to shovel, it apparently was fantastic for making a snow man. They were popping up all over the neighborhood and some of them were very cute.

The remains of the snow storm made the footing a bit more difficult today. Melting had occurred all over the neighborhood, and almost as quickly, as the water drifted over the sidewalks, it re-froze. The ice was sometimes hard to identify until you were upon it.

And our parking lot is still being cleaned out. We can get in and out with no problem but the side walks and the parking spaces have been huge obstacles for mom. She has been home bound a lot lately. But each day I make sure she takes "her walks" around the house for 8 minutes. She is tired after that. Next week I am going to bump it up to 9 minutes. She has also been very good about doing her daily exercises.

Despite the fact I have been supremely careful when out for my walks ... today I fell. I have been keeping to the streets. As you can see, many of the sidewalks not attached to residences are snow covered, as well as blocked by fallen branches. This road looked very clear - no snow or ice, so I was allowing my thoughts to drift when my left foot tripped and I fell forward. Can you see what tripped me up?

Here is a closer look. Stupid stick - firmly buried in the curb side snow.

I got up carefully and did a body-check! Everything seemed in working order so I continued on my walk. But now, while I sit at my computer, my left knee is sending me signals that maybe I was a bit premature on the body-check.

I felt like I could walk longer than I did, but it was close to lunch time and mom would be wandering around the kitchen looking for something to eat. Over the last 4 1/2 years, her ability to make choices - even the most simple ones - has deteriorated greatly. If left to her own resources, she would have cheese and crackers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am a big fan of cheese and crackers, and we always have them in the house. And I sometimes have that instead of a regular meal, but a steady diet of that isn't healthy. And she can't seem to see anything else. So I headed home. But I am really encouraged that my body is once again adjusting to the exercise of walking.

I feel happier today. I am making an effort to focus my thinking of happier thoughts and avoid those memories that bring me down. Keeping busy helps too. And walking is the backbone of it all.

This afternoon I am going to get out my spinning wheel and spin.

It is a good day!

Today's walk and Today's lesson

The walk today was beautiful. The snow still clings to the all the trees and plants in a way that is reminiscent of a holiday card. This storm surely did cause havoc in our area, but it left beautiful scenes behind. My walk today was very hit or miss. Most side walks were cleared in my area, but sometimes I was forced to step into the street. It wasn't a major problem.

And the walk gave me some very needed private time to sort through my turbulent thoughts. December and January have been difficult months in our household. So much of this time has been spent sick, fatigued, worried, angry, or upset. It has drained me so much that I hardly sleep at times, and find keeping focused on the regular things of life difficult. Peace has been missing, and I wanted to find a way to get it back. Strangely, the answer didn't come in my walk.

I read a posting from a blog I follow: The Totally Together Journal by Stephanie O'Dea.

http://totallytogetherjournal.com/permission-granted/

I encourage you to check it out. Stephanie O'Dea is also the author of two crock pot cooking books (Make It Fast, Cook It Slow and More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow - both excellent books.) The focus of this post was to be happy! In fact, the title "Permission Granted" refers to permission being granted to be happy! Her blog post reminded me that happiness is a choice. And recently I was watching an old Monk TV show and the same theme - Choose to be happy! - was part of the story. Both the blog and the TV show seemed to have a message directly aimed at me.

By nature I am a happy person. I have had times in my life when the problems have seemed overwhelming. I have always found a way to bounce back. Big changes are happening in my life once again, changes beyond my control - and change always carries its own stress. I need to stay focused on the gift nature gave me, the ability to be happy, to choose happiness and then peace will return. I am sure of it.

Thanks, Stephanie.

Mother Nature Paybacks

When you are angry with Mother Nature - be sure to keep your angst to yourself!

Last night we had a snow storm, but it left a big heavy foot print on our area. It was a fast moving storm, with alot of moisture in it, and it left behind a very heavy snow - about 6-8 inches. It was alot like wet cement.

I enjoy snow storms, but I usually don't need to go out. I can sit by my window and enjoy the beauty of the natural event. But last night the storm hit its stride around rush hour. Each report on the news seemed to get more dire. Snow, ice, freezing rain - all building up quickly and falling between the hours of 5 and 11.

Under normal conditions, both my kids had an hour trip ahead of them when they left their jobs at 4:30 pm. My daughter arrived at our house at 7:30 pm - 3 hours later. My son made it to his house at 8:30 pm - fours hours later. Terrible terrible trips. They reported problems with folks stranded in their cars along side the highway, four-wheel drive vehicles spun out off the road, buses pulled over because they couldn't make it up a gentle hill, near white-out conditions on route 95 hiding the road bed. Very dangerous.

Thankfully they made it to their destinations safely. My daughter says it was the most stupid thing she had ever done. If she had known what she was driving into, she would have gone home (four miles from her job) rather than trying to drive to my house. My son also had his periods of unease. Each reported their vehicles handled the conditions well, but each were concerned about sharing the road with those who did not have the right kind of car or were traveling too fast for the conditions.

This morning we awoke to a beautiful view. Snow clung to all trees, bushes, roads, yards, sidewalks. It was a very "white" scene. Watching its beauty was eye candy. But lifting the shovel filled with snow ... heavy with water ... was not so great. And as we shoveled, the trees were dropping their load of snow on our heads. We are very tired tonight. Tomorrow we will be very sore.

Last week I had a winter tantrum - angry at Mother Nature for sending a nuisance snow - freezing spit - I think I called it.
http://mynext20yearsofliving.blogspot.com/2011/01/winter-tantrum.html

Guess she took me seriously! She sent me a decent storm - but I see it as "pay backs" for giving her the finger for sending frozen spit last week.

My apologies to Mother Nature - and to everyone else who struggled through this storm last night. The next time I am annoyed and requesting substantial weather - I will carefully word my angry response - making sure to describe EXACTLY what kind of storm I expect.

Winter's Day Chopping

Typically on a winter's day, if you are inspired to cook anything, I would bet it would be a stick-to-your-ribs stew, hearty chunky soup, bread that fills the house with a homey aroma or maybe a hot mulled apple cider. Those choices fill the magazine covers now.

Not me. I am usually not inspired by the covers of cooking magazines. Today I felt the need to cook - rather chop up - something different. Some might say "summery" even. I love to mix up a cold "black bean and whatever" salad with an olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper dressing. Here is my latest creation.

There is no recipe. It is always alittle different ... just whatever I feel like throwing into the bowl. My cold salads typically have the dressing described above, and always black beans and fresh cilantro (I totally love cilantro) but sometimes fresh basil, sometimes I add garbanzo beans, canned corn, usually onions and celery and just whatever I have in the house. This time I added cauliflower and radishes - that was a first for those items.

There was another first. Today I added pasta. Here is a closer picture of the pasta. Does it remind you of something?

This was "Dog Lover's Pasta" and the pasta should look like paw prints. I think it does when you look at it ... looking for a paw print!! What is too funny is that I also have "Cat Lover's Pasta" and they look exactly the same. :-) I got these specialty pastas from a children's fundraising event last fall.

I have said it before ... I am a big lover of winter.

But I am a big lover of summer dishes!!

Our cat history!

There are cat people and dog people.

I am a cat person!

Shocking as that statement is to my neighbors (I am always walking dogs.), those who have known me for a while are not surprised.

Over the last 41 years my husband and I have shared our lives with 9 cats. The first 3 were friends with each other - not related but close in age. They slept together, they cleaned each other, they played together. Life was simple. So simple that we thought the next bunch would be the same - so why not get 4 cats!

Life with the next 4 cats was like living in the Middle East - you never knew when hostilities would breakout, but it was a sad fact that they would. Peace was possible with major adjustments, frequent accommodations, and substantial barriers and bunkers. It was always a fragile peace. But our cats are part of our family, so just as we wouldn't get rid of a kid because he didn't get along, we wouldn't get rid of any cat just because scud missiles would regularly fly. It was a long 12-15 years for us humans!

But we loved those 4 cats enough to commission an oil painting of them. No, they never sat as close as they show in that painting. Artists are skilled at making unlikely things look likely, look natural. Don't they look like they are pals and just "hanging out" together on our deck during a sunny afternoon? It is the way we like to remember them. The painting hangs in our living room now. It will be one of those items that our children fight over after we are gone. "You take it." "No, you take it." "Please, I insist you take it." "Hell, no - I offered it to you first." I guess it is too much to ask that they check with "The Antiques Road Show"! :-) (From the bottom clockwise: Gandy, Alex, Teddy, and Cassie)

Anyway, now peace has returned. Maximilian and Wallace are the current cat residents. They are brothers and were selected as kittens because they were a "bonded" pair - able to live with each other without the benefit of bullet proof vests or automatic weapons.

Max is a stomach on legs. Food is what makes him tick. Anything that remotely reminds him of food brings him on the run. The rattle of a pill container or the crinkle of a bag can send the wrong message to "the stomach with legs". He is not very smart, but the stomach is not the best organ to think with.

He has degenerative kidney disease that will shorten his life, so while we have him we cherish every moment - even though we rank #2 behind his dinner.

Wally is a thinker. He is smart. Frighteningly smart. That means problems because a bored smart cat can be a terrible thing. Bumps in the night, crashing sounds, puzzling out containers with secured lids, dancing on the computer keys - all are valid activities when you very smart ... and bored. He loves dogs, even crazy ones like Milo who he is still trying to figure out! And he loves my dog-walking coat. When I am not wearing it, he is.

He is healthy now except that he carries extra weight - we hear about that every single time we go to the vets. I have had "soul-searching conversations" with Wally about his expanding waist line, but so far it has fallen on deaf ears. The truth be told, cats seldom take anything you say seriously. Selective hearing is one of their "charming" traits. Only a cat lover could call that charming, of course!

My grand-dogs are very dear to me,

but if I had to choose between only cats or dogs,

cats would win hands down!

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

If you aren't familiar with Bill Bryson's work, you should really check out one of his books. My all-time favorite of his, A Walk in the Woods, was reviewed in a previous post. Currently I am reading The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid and it is every bit as good as A Walk in the Woods.

Published in 2006, this work describes the author's growing up in Des Moines, Iowa - middle America - during the 1950s. This story, however, is more than just a chronicle of his early life. Bill Bryson shares his memories of a time when America was changing, growing, inventive, ... a time when all things seemed new and possible. As an added bonus, he invites you into his imaginative childhood world, where he donned the persona of the Thunderbolt Kid (later to be called Captain Thunderbolt), often influenced by the super heroes of the time. He shares his remembrances of everything from the heyday of baseball, the unregulated life of a child in the 50s, cigarettes, sex, jobs and living in a new nuclear world ... to fictional characters as Superman, Roy Rogers, Sky King, Davy Crockett and Zorro. He seems to reflect on everything.

And, as expected, Bill Bryson has a way of seeing the world that at times is thought provoking and often funny. This book is no different. Each chapter begins with a quote from a local newspaper - quotes that often reflect the innocence and the culture then. And the quotes are followed by a picture taken in the 50's. One of my favorite pictures shows an ad with a mature man who is obviously a doctor smoking a cigarette. The bold words state: "More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette!" It made me smile. I wonder how many of those doctors died from lung cancer. Another picture shows school children kneeling down behind their desks with arms over their heads during an air-raid drill - part of the post World War II reaction to a possible nuclear attack. I remember those drills very clearly. Looking back to my own childhood if we were ever attacked by a nuclear blast, our desks and our arms wouldn't have saved us.

Reading this book is alittle like looking through an old family album of America, but the images are described in words. For those who lived through this time, the images are formed by your own memories of the times - the names and places may be different but the life experiences are pretty universal. And the enjoyment of this book is not limited to just the baby boomer generation - you just need to have been a child.

So while this book includes his trade mark humorous observations on his youth (making the book worthwhile all by itself), it also includes a touching and nostalgic look back at America - a time that is long since gone, but is a part of who we are today.

This is a great read! One of his best works. Be sure to check it out. If any of my family or friends are interested in borrowing my copy, I am glad to share.