November 2018 Wrap Up: A Life List

Days flying by. I have been doing a lot of different things in my morning routine. Mostly listening to podcasts and journaling. I haven't given serious thought to blogging for weeks. I remember when I first started this blog, my mind went crazy with ideas for blog posts. I want to get back to that place. Part of it I think, as I sit here writing, is that I simply need to write for myself, no matter how scattered it may sound. I added a photo of my home office desk here. How messy my desk is usually is an indicator of what's happening in my mind. It's kind of a mess right now. It has been for a while. My mind and the desk.

PONDERING I am in the process now and putting together my application for retirement with the State of Alaska. My target date is early June. I have a few things to pull together before I send in the packet but I'm heading in the right direction. Trying not to future trip ... it 'aint easy.  WATCHING Just finished up Ozark, second season on Netflix. Loved it. Watched The Kominsky Method (Season 1) yesterday. Liked it a lot. Watched a full length movie called Fair Game that stars Sean Penn. Loved it, recommend it. PODCASTING I've been listening to a lot of interviews with Alec Baldwin on his podcast called Here's the Thing. READING Can you believe I am still reading a book I started last summer? I'm embarrassed to say that. CREATING I made a birthday card to send out to someone special today. LEARNING I can do anything I put my mind to. PLANNING Thinking about putting together a pizza party for the hubby's birthday which is not very far away. FINAL THOUGHTS Never give up.  love, susan

 

Much To Do About Nothing or Everything

I recently had a nice conversation with a stranger on a FB group I belong to called YOU'RE PROBABLY FROM FAIRBANKS IF YOU CAN REMEMBER ...  Someone posted Remember A&W Drive-In? CJs? Which was better?

Listen, I've forgotten so many things in my almost 60 years since birth but there are some experiences burned in my brain that I can recall as if it were yesterday. Where my boyfriend took me to lunch is one of them. I never forget a good sandwich or boyfriends I  have married.

Step back in time ... when I first started going out with my first husband, he would pick me up for my half-hour lunch and whisk me away in his sexy brown, 4x4 Ford pick up.  I'm sure I loved that truck as much as I loved him. A package deal, really. And, those lunches. He was existing on unemployment checks, living in the basement of his parents' home. That he spent his little amount of income taking me to lunch made it even more special. Luckily, he wasn't unemployed too long because I really loved going to lunch as much then as I do now. I'm not sure he could have afforded me for long. 

I can picture everything about that scene. His curly mop of hair. The sound of that throaty truck, the drive-in where we parked for lunch, the cute waitresses. I think Sandy Miles worked there. If you are from Fairbanks, you knew the Miles girls. Those were good times.

This is much to do about nothing unless you're me. It doesn't take a lot to put me in a melancholy mood these days. I seem to cry at the drop of a hat. Memories have been bubbling up, as they often do in the winter depression that is my regular visitor. It's all good. I don't wallow in it.  As a matter of fact, I've come to enjoy the memories and learned to let them be. I'm just here today to record it.

How about you?  Remember much? 

love, susan

Tom Hanks

Talked with my step-daughter yesterday. I have been disturbed ever since. Some would say I have always been disturbed. They might be right.  No, really, I kind of am.

Her new beau had tickets for a book signing with Tom Hanks recently in Portland. For some reason I cannot recall, he went without her. I mean ... Tom Hanks! Who doesn't love him? Anyway, if you hadn't heard, he wrote a book. I have the audio version which is read by Tom Hanks. It is fabulous.  You should buy it.

Uncommon Type: Some Stories

by Tom Hanks

Okay, I'm over it now (not really). 

love, susan

Bathroom Humor

Had a great conversation with my son over the weekend. I made him laugh.  A belly-busting, tear jerking laugh. The moment was totally unexpected and I'm still on a pink cloud thinking about it.

 

I was telling him about this new comforter I bought a couple weekends ago. I had put it on the bed and decided to lay down and take a Sunday afternoon nap with my dog. I reached down to pet her and found a wet spot in the middle of my brand-spanking new comforter that had less than 30 minutes use. Exploding anal glands was the source.  (this is where my son lost it!) OMG, it's the worst smell you can even imagine ... which made him laugh harder.

 

My son has my sense of humor. I don't presume to describe his but mine is perhaps best described as ironic with a hint of dark. Anyway, the conversation went from there to how their cat seems to always find the carpet instead of the linoleum as a catching place for his vomit. Why??????

 

Thanks for the laughs, son. It truly will keep me going this week.

 

love, mom (Susan)