YOU'RE WELCOME, DEARIES

 

This is Rick Springfield.

He is 76 years old.

If you're anywhere near 60 years of age, you're hearing Jessie's Girl in your head right about now, and you're thinking back to Saturday afternoons on the back patio listening to Casey Kasem's America's Top 40 on the radio whilst adding more baby oil and Sun-In to get that "fresh from the beach" look, even though you were 125 miles from anything resembling a body of water larger than a municipal swimming pool.

That photograph, by the way, is from one of his RECENT concert appearances. 

As in last week recent.

Did I mention he's 76 years old?

MONDAY...AGAIN

Good morning, Dearies. I'm up and moving, but not very far and definitely not very fast. The fatigue level is stupid-high lately, and it's about all I can do to keep my peepers open.

But I am freshly showered with clean hair...a mighty undertaking when doing so feels like running an IronMan marathon...and I am happily attired in my "leisure wear". (It's basically a pajama set that I fished out of the closet, but it's black and with the right accessories could pass for...pajamas.)

I've got my water filled and ready to go. I have to ask, though....is it possible for these sippy cups to lose their ability to keep things cold? I notice that ice is not lasting as long as it used to, and by the time I make it to the bottom of my fourth or fifth fill, I've gone through much more ice than I used to.

I had never understood what a hyper-fixation meal was until it dawned on me that I have been eating the same thing for my first meal of the day for over a year now:

There's something about the contrast of the cottage cheese with everything bagel seasoning combined with the fruit that makes me feel both healthy and satisfied. This is just such an easy go-to for me, and I usually have it between 11ish and 2ish. I can't seem to eat when I first wake up, and my appetite really only wants two meals a day with maybe a small snack of cheese and crackers in between, but this is a) highly approved by my people, and b) somehow exactly what I want. 

Go figure.

I finished Anna Karenina and sat with it for a few days and then grabbed this off of my TBR shelf. I really loved her previous book, Babel, and although it was completely out of my normal genre comfort zone, I decided to try this one, too. It's good, and I'm enjoying it, but definitely different than my normal thing.

When I finish this, I'm going to do a deep read of Joyce's Ulysses. I've never read it, but I wrote my Senior Thesis with a Joyce scholar named Ed Cronin, and he always told me to wait to read it until I knew it was the exact right moment to do so. 

I think this might be it.

My stitchy life is so quiet I have to poke it with a stick every now and then to make sure it's not dead. No worries, though. I go through this every single year at this time, so I'm sure that once I get a needle back in my hand all will be well once again.

My evening television viewing has been bingeing, bingeing, bingeing. First, I watched the final two seasons of Outlander. I had already seen Season Seven, but was so lost that I decided to re-watch it so I could enjoy the final Season Eight.

And I did.

Then, I watched Rooster on HBO. I was never a fan of The Office, so Steve Carell wasn't somebody I knew/liked a lot, but Rooster really did it for me. I loved his character and acting so much that I finished Rooster and jumped over to The Four Seasons and watched all of it.

Now I'm on Season Two of The Bear. Totally different sensibility, and I find myself having to pull my shoulders out of my ears because of the tense feeling of the scenes, but I'm also loving it (and Jeremy Allen White).

Other than that, I'm trying to behave myself while Rich is getting his mom situated in New Jersey. She had another fall a few months ago, and has been in a re-hab facility, but it's time for her to transition from living alone in her condo to a more secure situation. I think they've found the perfect place...so fingers crossed that it will all work out. (And if you're so inclined, a prayer to The Big Guy that the nuns at Villa Raffaella in Pleasantville can work their magic would also be appreciated!)

That's life in a nutshell here in Hoosierville, Dearies. Quiet. Easy. Beautiful. As I sit here writing to you, a teeny little girl is playing and singing on one of the balconies across the courtyard. Every now and then, her mom bursts out in the most beautiful laughter over something the little girl has sung, and it sounds like wind chimes to me. I can't understand the words...they're in Mandarin maybe?...but I could listen to her sing that funny little song all day.

Happy Monday. I hope your week is off to a wonderful start. What are you up to? Come tell me all about it!

 

HAPPY WEEKEND DEARIES!

 

GUESS WHAT I GET TO DO TODAY?

Somebody needs to fire my Appointment Secretary. Who ever heard of having to be somewhere at 9am?!

Yesterday I deep-cleaned the bathroom, so today I can't lift my arms or move my legs. Good thing all I have to do is GO TO THE DENTIST AT THE FREAKIN CRACK OF DAWN!

Happy Tuesday, Desries!

GUESS WHAT I'M DOING TODAY?

 

THIS AND THAT

 

I got the bright idea to flip my closet from winter to summer, and the task ended up being an all day affair. In between the grunting and the sweating and the purging of things, there were several major insights that resulted in me on the floor clutching pajama sets that I wore in high school.

I have hereby decided that I am going to give up the fantasy of weighing almost nothing, having a flat stomach, toned arms, great boobs, and a wardrobe full of cute little size six outfits.

I've spent the better part of my sixty years on this planet hating this big fat lumpy body of mine, but after a good long session of bawling my eyes out and praying for forgiveness for being so ungrateful, I have sincerely apologized to said big fat lumpy body, and I am, instead, very happy to acknowledge the miracles this body has been able to pull off to keep me here and in good stead. My focus now will be on taking care of it. (I see a lot of moisturizer in my future, as well as salads, evening walks, and maybe even a haircut.)

Besides...those cute little size six outfits would look ridiculous on a sixty year old, and who needs a flat stomach when you can use a big fat flabby stomach as a convenient place to prop your stitching? Or a book?

So Operation Acceptance has commenced, and we'll see where it takes us. Today my task is to figure out pants. Louie presents a few challenges in that department, but I'm sure I'll figure it out! He and Belly Bean are hanging in there...a few medication issues to sort, but the team is on it and I'll be right as rain very soon!

I haven't stitched in quite some time thanks to Ms Karenina, but I might give it a go later this afternoon. We have a few small errands to run, and I would like to attempt some time in the kitchen, so hopefully needle and thread will make it into my hand this evening.

Life is beautiful here in Hoosierville, Dearies! What's new with you?

THANK YOU, DEARIES

 

Writing this blog and meeting all of you has been the biggest joy and blessing of my life. (And God knows I have had more than my fair share of enormous blessings.) This blog has been my stage, my platform, my soap box, my confessional, my therapist's couch, my kitchen table, my refuge, and a source of all of those things I've needed to stumble my way through this crazy adventure of being a portly Midwestern spinster who likes to stitch. You have watched me navigate both the best and worst of times...sometimes simultaneously, and your unwavering presence here has shown me the true nature of friendship, love, and unconditional acceptance.

It's been a ride, Dearies, that's for sure! I thank you from the very bottom of my heart, and I cherish each and every one of you who has done so much to make this life of mine so very beautiful, indeed.

DONE AND DONE.

 

I was in Lima this weekend gathering with classmates from my high school days. We got together at a parish carnival, and it was wonderful to catch up with them for a little bit and to be "home".

It got me thinking about how incredibly lucky I am to have "people" from all walks and stages and places and interests, and how having these various people has been the single biggest gift of this beautiful life of mine.

Dearies, I know that I'm not stitching as much as I have in times past, and that my blatherings seem to be shorter and less frequent than they used to be, but I'm still here and futzing my way through the hours of the day with good intention and a lot of hapless adventures.

As soon as I get my little chores done for the day, and as soon as I figure out what we're doing for dinner (Oh, who am I kidding? I'll say salmon, rice, and green beans, but we'll go face first into leftover pizza like the animals we are), I'm going to put. the. phone. down. and pick up my needle and thread.

How 'bout you? What's blowing your skirt up today? Come tell me all about it!