The Things in My Head

Well...kind of a scary premise? My head could be part of the great unknown. Some might describe it as full of air. Others might opt for a lot of loose screws. Neither or both could be correct.What I'm referring to here are the things in my head that keep me awake at night, some trivial and others troubling. Let's focus on the trivial.

The trivial are the constant songs or parts of songs that keep running endlessly, looping, in my head. A couple are especially prevalent. "Break My Stride" is a prime example. Another one is "Hopelessly Devoted to You" I have probably guaranteed myself another sleepless night merely by thinking about them.

I have also discovered that playing an online game of Scrabble or working a Soduku puzzle are equally problematic before attempting to get some sleep. I am constantly filling in grids...numbers or words depending on which one I was foolish enough to be working on before bedtime.

I have also discovered that I can come up with any number of bon mots before getting to sleep. Of course they are completely irrelevant then. And I can't even begin to tell you what wonderful letters and poems I can compose prior to drifting off to the wonderful bliss of sleep. Of course, if I can even remember them in the morning they don't seem quite as earth-shattering as the did the night before.

Being inside my head is scary....even to me!

They Light UP My Life

Going to bed the other night (About 4 AM.. hey,it's still night to ME), after the lights were out , I noticed a multitude of glowing red, green, blue and amber lights. WOW!! It's like constant Christmas. There are about 8 on my DSL modem and router alone. There another 2 on the CPU, 1 on the computer speaker, 1 on the keyboard,2 on the Wii charger, 1 on the Wii, 2 on the Tivo box, and 1 on the DVD player...and that's just in the living room.

Next offender...kitchen....about 5 on the laptop, 2 on the phone, 1 on the stove, 1 on the microwave, and 1 on the smoke detector.

The other rooms are less culpable. Curiously, there are no lights in either bathroom...maybe I should put some in there...I mean, at least I could see what I was doing!!

Who needs Christmas...my lights are always with me.

Directions

Have you ever had the misfortune to ask a man for directions? If so you have probably gotten some such nonsense as "go North 5 miles, go 5 more miles and turn East and you'll be there. Now, that's all well and good if you know where North and East are. I don't. I lack a sense of direction. North, South, East, and West don't have any meaning to me. And then, to add insult to inury there are those who throw in such refinements as south southeast, north northwest, etc. PUHLEESE! I thought, until I was an adult, that I was always walking North as long as I was going forward. That assumption was due to the fact that in grammar school, my teacher told me that North was in front of me. I thought she meant it was always in front of me. I could go South only by walking backwards! Imagine my surprise when I discovered the sad truth.

If you want good directions you can get them from women. Things like "turn right out of your subdivision, turn left at the 7-11, and when you see the red house with the purple shutters you're there". Now that's comprehensible....unless you don't know left from right and everyone knows that. Right?

I guess I see a GPS in the future. Besides, I love everything electronic.

My Christmas Visit and Miscellaneous Musings

I got back from my annual Chrismas visit to Illinois on Tuesday. I had a great time and did a lot of fun things. Went bowling, to the Childrens Museum, out to eat, shopping, and supervised a New Year's Eve for my 11 year-old granddaughter and her friend. There was a lot of pot banging and screaming as only teeny boppers can do.

I arrived home exhausted and am just now getting used to the quiet of my life. I also finally got warm!! I had almost forgotten how cold cold can be. I've gotten to be a big baby about cold.

I wonder why my neighbor has a pickup load of snow? It's ARIZONA and nearly 70 out!

Why do men cuss and look aggrieved when they sneeze? Heaven forbid they should follow it up with a second sneeze!!

We went to the final check up for Duane's cataract surgery yesterday. Everything is fine and we only need to do the eyedrops for one more week. YAY!!

We stopped at the Fresh and Easy store on the way home. What a geat store and the prices aren't too bad, plus they almost always have a coupon...this one was for $5 offa purchase of $20.

Why am I getting a minute-by-minute account of a college basketball game that I'm not watching?? Guess it's a man thing. Hopefully my "imagine that" and "really" seem to be sufficient commentary on my part. I expect I'll watch the AZ Cardinals tonight (my expectations are low) or get commentary on that also.

I guess I should wrap this up before I lose it, which is what happened prior to this effort. That post was MUCH better...honest!

Small moments

Everyone has large moments in their lives, births, deaths, marriages, graduations, and numerous others. I believe everyone has small ones as well, both good and bad. I am going to focus on the good ones here, commensurate with the Holiday season we are currently in.

Sometimes, very rarely, I am overwhelmed with a feeling that everything is incredibly good. It is usually a fleeting feeling, lasting mere moments. They are such powerful moments and they are equally difficult to recapture when they are gone. While they are unable to be duplicated at will, they can be recalled, to be wondered at and treasured. I do treasure them.

There are other moments as well, memorable for no obvious reason. One I particularly remember is one golden afternoon on Halloween . The day had been spent fishing on a small lake, surrounded by glorious Autumn foliage. On the drive home we saw children trick-or-treating. And for no reason, this day stays in my memory as a happy time.

Another moment I cherish involves my sister, my mother and my niece. My Mom was in the nursing home but ambulatory and mentally herself. We were baking cookies in Jyme Sue's kitchen, chatting and laughing, when, to put it inelegantly, I farted....long and LOUD. That sent us all into gales of laughter, perpetuated by simply looking at each other. I laughed so hard that I was sobbing. To this day and as of this moment I want to both cry and laugh.

As I write this I have a big lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. It is such a good memory and was such a good time in my life.

If anyone reads this , I wish for you some of those small, wonderful moments.

When did I become compulsive?

I have noticed for some time now that I have become compulsive. The signs were there when my kids were young, but I was too busy to indulge them. I distinctly remember counting the kids' blocks. There were 100 of them, all shapes and colors. I not only knew how many there were, but how many of each shape and color. I couldn't rest easy until I had found all of them before bedtime. Fortunately, I wasn't so far gone that I also did the same with Legos. The best way to find missing Legos was by walking barefoot nearly anywhere in the house,

The next sign was when I was working at the bank. I had to have all supplies at my fingertips and full to capacity. Of course I was raided often by the less compulsive. Things got out of hand a bit when I was put in charge of ordering supplies for the teller line. Other branches used to ask for things. It was faster than ordering from the main branch.

The 3rd sign was when I retired. Since I had a lot of time on my hands I decided to clean my closets. I knew I was sick when I began to color-code my clothes. Yikes!!! Who does that?

Now I am a full blown sicko. After washing a load of dishes I place the silverware neatly nestled together, all bowls and dishes turned the same way, all coffee cups with the handles facing the same direction. These are just a few of my idiosyncrasies. There are more, believe it or not.

Good thing I have a lot of time on my hands.

I'm finally ready!

OK...here goes, my very first official blog.

First a few notes. I plan to do the Jerry Seinfeld thing or a blog about nothing. According to my mood and experience my thoughts may be light or more serious. My life is a very quiet one and the things I blog about will probably be of limited interest to many, if not all. MMM, that's all I can think of for now. Please forgive any syntax or punctuation errors. I used to be good at both, but have lost some of the skills and, yes, interest.

OK lets go...

I have lived in Arizona for more than eight years now and I have a few observations.

Arizona has rivers with no water. Yup, seems odd to me too.

Arizona has two kinds of vegetation...things that won't grow and things that will not DIE...no matter what you do, think lantana in particular.

Arizona has dry rain, called virga.

Arizona has dust storms called Haboobs, which are actually quite impressive.

Arizona really does have monsoons.

Arizona has LOTS of old people.

Arizona has snowbirds (who ARE old people).

Arizona has lots of beautiful flowers year around, especially bougainvilla.

Arizona has terrible schools.

When parking one doesn't look for the closest space, one looks for the space closest to the trees, shade is of paramount importance. Also, be cautious when touching your steering wheel, you could get a surprise and a burned hand.

Arizona does not send out driver's license renewal forms. Ask me about that one.

Arizona has a lot of dust.

Don't touch cactuses (cacti?), even if they look smooth. They're not any such thing. Trust me on this one.

If you see a sign saying : "Don't cross when flooded", don't. An inch of rain here can be a disaster.

If you come to Arizona and want to hike, take water, people, and lots of it. I'm getting tired of my tax money going to rescue the idiots who think they know everything.

KEEP YOUR CHLDREN AWAY FROM SWIMMING POOLS!!!!

Don't take State Route 88 unless you have an adventurous spirit and a rugged vehicle.

Aizonans go outside in thunderstorms.

And last but not least for today....be kind to your air conditioner....your very best friend.