ONE LOUSY LIMERICK--

There was this Senior Lady from Kent

Who would try to write what she meant.

Though her joints often ache,

And her memory quake

To live fully she was heartily bent.

This limerick actually lies

And I admit this with some small sighs--

I'm not really from Kent,

But "Kent" limerickly is heaven-sent,

And I'm not yet poetically wise.

If I could rhyme something with "Arlington Heights",

Or we all could go out and fly kites,

I would be truly a muse,

And you'd be amused,

And we could "Do The Twist" in flaming red tights!

I'm taking a colorful turn

To write limericks I have much to learn.

If you're still with me now,

I really don't know how

To this blog you would ever return!

A TAXING EXPERIENCE!

          So one week ago, on Monday March 14th, I did my income taxes for last year.  It seems I shoveled in such a lavish sum of money during 2015 that I was bumped up into a larger tax bracket than I anticipated.  I must be part of that wealthy crowd that needs to siphon off more money to the government in return for their abundant lifestyle.

          And so I needed to pay a large amount in taxes.  I was very depressesed.

          Remember that sweet blog I wrote just before this one?  The one entitled "Enough"?

          WELL, IT SEEMS THAT "ENOUGH" IS NOT  ENOUGH!

       ARGGGH!!!

ENOUGH!

          So this charming Mary Engelbreit print hangs in our apartment hallway, so that I can see it everyday, and affirm its message:

"TO BE CONTENT WITH WHAT WE POSSESS

IS THE GREATEST AND MOST SECURE

OF RICHES."

          I often need this reminder, when I'm paying bills, sighing over my credit card balance, checking over coupons. wishing I could winter in Florida, negotiating a few dollars off my phone and cable bills, and on and on.

          The Attitude of Gratitude does not always bloom in my crabby soul.  I think that I need more to REALLY be ok.....which is downright silly.  Compared to so much of the world, I live like a queen... like the goddess that I am!  I eat well (TOO well), am gloriously retired on an adequate fixed income, have all the comforts and entertainment that modern technology and restaurant menus can offer.

          More importantly, under the "Best Things in Life are Free" column, I have: 

 with three precious children 

and the same number of precious grandchildren; 

amazing sisters and brothers,

 a Mom still lively at the age of 96, 

so many other great family members, 

a veritable stable of friends and buddies....

my computer and smart phone,

my sense of humor,

my library card,

my writing, 

yes, yes, and yes.

SIGH.

          Still, my "dark side" (reference to Star Wars) will snarl "Yes, but" at odd moments during my day.  That little girl in the Engelbreit inspirational print?  The one eating that bowl of cherries and being soooooooo content with what she has?

          I'd still like to check in on her a few hours later, when all she has are pits!

         

FOUR BESTIE BABES

              Years ago, when we lived in New Mexico 

(a long story to be explained in a future blog),

 I HAD to purchase this sweet print of Four Indian Maidens, 

who seemed to be "hanging out together"

in a circle of great affection.   

They reminded me of my own three "Besties", 

Marianne, Judy, and Mary, 

and the special joy and closeness we felt with each other.  

That framed print still hangs in my home 

where I can see it every day

 and celebrate this incredible bond 

we continue to share through the years.

Years ago, we posed for this picture together,

 and I feel that love vividly...

THE FOUR BESTIES

(Me, Mary, Judy, Marianne, left to right)

Don't we just look like we share a special secret?  Can't you see the link between us? 

Marianne and Judy were friends from grammar school--Marianne from the age 5--

and Mary became my instant friend the moment I met her

in the Teachers Lounge where we taught high school together.

Mary became absorbed into our small group as if she had been there all along.

An added bonus:  our husbands became friends, 

so we could enjoy many social events together.  

We hosted frequent themed potluck "progressive" dinner for years.

We still "have" to share an occasional brunch together.

That special dynamic, 

of secrets shared, 

joys celebrated, 

sufferings eased, 

sorrows consoled, 

that thread so ethereal yet steely strong

 will bind us together

forever.

IT'S THE JOYOUS CONVERSATION 

THAT REALLY HAD 

NO BEGINNING

NOR WILL EVER, 

EVER 

END.

INSPIRATIONAL MUG THOUGHTS!

"Whatever your mind can conceive and believe,

it will achieve."

          So speaks a lovely coffee mug covered with inspiration, a gift from a lifelong friend Marianne.  I have often sipped from that mug, and even sometimes allowed myself to be inspired.  Never mind that it's somewhat difficult to read all the golden words as they encircle the mug--they are there, and I know they are there....

          And I often have been calmed and consoled--and even mildly fired up by this mug.  Or at the very least, I have been stimulated by the caffeine residing within!

"There's no failure except

in no longer trying."

          And so I dutifully try, try again....

Try another diet or "sensible eating plan".  

Try another occupation (I DO have a colorful crazy quilt of a resume now).  

Try another place to live--just ask my friends and family, 

who now enter my address in pencil.  

Try another exercise plan--or movement--or twitch.  

Try another weigh-in....

will the number go down if I put the scale on the bath rug? 

(Answer: it really does!)  

"Success is an attitude. Get yours right."

          No one can ever accuse me of lacking an attitude.  I can strike an attitude anytime, anywhere, as proven in this Christmas Eve attitude I tossed out while posing with my sisters. 

My brother John, the photographer, said, "Show some ATTITUDE", and so I did!

(That would be me on the far right, showing much elbow and attitude.)

"What you believe yourself to be, you are."

          WELL, AT THE VERY LEAST, I AM A TERRIFIC COFFEE DRINKER!

SUCCESS: DAY ONE

"Success consists of going from failure to failure

 without loss of enthusiasm." 

(Winston Churchill)

          So I've had a "successful day", by my lights. This blog is proof that I can still pull up feeble enthusiasm from some buried wellspring of optimism!

          With retirement came the gift of TIME, unfettered and unscheduled. When I come to Sunday afternoon and evenings, I remember the melancholy feeling of a work week beginning the next day, of free time and free choice gone again for five days.  Sundays were a real horror show when the work was unhappy, like my horrific year teaching special ed junior high English, with 90-minute classes, rowdy students and no faith in my teaching ability.

          I watch worker bees in the stores I visit during my occasional weekly errands, and I remember being restricted all day by my work schedule.  I had to be somewhere in a timely fashion five days a week, fifty weeks a year, with work I often dreaded.  Then I would come home and sob out my despair after dinner, hidden away in my room.

          Some of that drudgery was the result of a lifetime of untreated depression, finally lifted by the beatific prescription of Prozac in my mid-fifties.

          Adjusting to retirement and unscheduled time is wonderful but scary---not unlike working "without a net".  Your day is no longer shaped by your work duties and motherly duties and homemaker duties, so you are FREE!  But free can be scary.

          So retirees begin to volunteer, to take continuing education classes, to brunch or lunch with other retirees, to read, to babysit, and to.....to.....make THE BEST use of their time...  

RIGHT?

          I am strolling through my seventh year of retirement, and I still find the gift of unscheduled time a mixed blessing.  Because now I can use some of this time in SENSIBLE, USEFUL, HEALTHY pursuits.   Ugh.    Like exercising and writing and preparing sensible meals and thinking lofty thoughts.  NOT idly playing Spider Solitaire on my smartphone. NOT staring at the delightful bounty of television shows available via streaming.  NOT overdoing the reading--but I can't ever see that as a vice, as I stare with joy at my straining basket filled with ripe and juicy library books!

          After a delightfully winter of slothful hibernation (is there any other kind?), I woke up today, an abnormally balmy 70º day, knowing that I needed to start being successful. 

Successful, as in exercising, 

drinking water, eating well,

 writing in my blog--

yada, yada, yada.

          And, dear faithful blog readers, you see that I have not lost my enthusiasm to succeed, after so many failures to be healthy and productive and sensible with my time and energy!

          So for one perfectly sweet day so far, I have succeeded!!!