Ramblings of an Old Woman

I just feel old. Maybe it is the heat or the work or the overwhelming sense of wondering when the pile will really be smaller and we can get on doing some things we want to do? I just can't work as hard as I used to, and some days, I want to sit and knit. Period. 

June 20 was Anne Murray's 80th birthday. Boy, that is a blast from the past and from my very favorite decade of music: Anne, Helen, Karen, Linda, John, along with three dogs and bread. There is always a playful argument when we talk about the best songs written or performed by each.  What I remember about each is that they had an unmatched talent, a voice that was recognizable in 1,000,000, and I miss the kind of music they made. Helen, Karen, and John are gone - way before they should have been. Linda's voice has been stolen by disease. And Anne is 80.

Jaws was 50 on June 20, and I vividly remember my 17-year-old self nearly throwing up my popcorn; I was that scared.

And damned if Bobby Sherman did die on June 24! He was the only teen idol I ever had on my bedroom wall! "Julie, Do You Love Me?" "Easy Come, Easy Go."

I truly do miss friends that I wish could all live in the same town where we could get together for a Stitch and Bitch or have lunch.  I miss teacher friends who have felt more like my family or my children, far too many to name, each with a very special place in my heart. And now we attend too many funerals and write too many memorial checks. I've been around so long, my students are having grandchildren!

I cleaned out a drawer full of my parents' favorite music and movies - on VHS, cassette, and CD's for a swap meet. Lo and behold, someone bought the Oak Ridge Boys.

I just realized I have four vacuums - all have different jobs. Three carpet cleaners, but only one works. Outdoor water hoses that are at least 25 years old.

Hand-me-down furniture - you know the bedroom furniture we took so the kids could match, and we still have it? 

How often should I buy bath towels and sheets? One sheet I use outside was a wedding present! At least this summer I bought some new shirts and said goodbye to ones I've had since before the kids went to college. 

Every time someone says, I need or I could use, I offer one of the doubles we have. Seems only right to help out!  My mantra? When it is out of my house, I don't care what you do with it!!  

William Allen White's study

We joined a camping club a year ago, and we do like it - especially because we're on the young side comparatively! We look at history - a lot. (My English students would tell you that a lot is a place to park a car, not a measurement. In my older self, this term is acceptable.)

Then we go and add a bathroom remodel, the kind that is supposed to take 10-14 days. We are on day 13, over budget, and he just said it would be next Monday, at the earliest. They have great hours - 8:00-3:00 - but they don't seem to accomplish lots each day. I'm sure I'm just getting tired of the mess, but I guess I'm used to watching my dad and brothers knock out a one-room job.  

Funny thing? We're happy and healthy, not slowing down. This is a week busy with meetings, canning pickled beets, and watching the Three M's for an afternoon. The journey is just so different now. The questions are different, the answers, too! 

And we always have a welcome home crew, inside and outside!