IT WILL ONLY TAKE A MINUTE !

How many  times a day do you tell yourself that something will only take a minute or have someone say that to you when asking a favor of you ?  It is one of those wonderful little catch phrases that are nothing but a HUGE LIE !

I tell myself things will "only take a minute" about a hundred times a day and then find myself into something that has me working on it for hours, days, weeks or even months.  The old "I'll just stop and do this real quick" lie we tell ourselves when we know for a fact this is something I REALLY shouldn't start right now because I am going to get side tracked by it and not get another thing done for the rest of the day.

But then there are those times when I honestly believe something will "only take a minute". Really! This is so simple, I can just whip this off and be on to something else in a matter of minutes !  HA !
Like the button I have been meaning to sew on to my new pair of shorts. It's just a matter of cutting the button off from one place and moving it over an inch and sewing it back on.  How Hard can that be ?
I have only owned this new pair of shorts for about 5 years. THAT'S how hard it can be ! Well, to be honest, I did buy them when they were a little tight but the price was right and "I'm going to loose 100 pounds." Because they were a little tight I didn't hang them in my closet with my clothing that actually fit but rather put them on the shelf. When I gained 10 pounds rather than loose 10 the shorts got moved from the shelf into a box under my bed. And there they had sat for a couple of years. Since H died I have been pulling things out of closets and drawers and down sizing my Stuff. I found 2 boxes full of clothing I had not been able to wear in years and among them were these shorts. I tried them on and surprise, surprise they actually fit. Except for one small button that held a skirt type over lay in the front of the shorts they looked great. I just needed to move that little button an inch and I would have some new skorts to add to my wardrobe. So the shorts went from the box under my bed to the rocking chair in the corner. (My "to do" rocker.) There they sat along with some things that needed ironing and there they stayed for about 2 months. Until today when I actually told myself, "Why don't I just sew that button on and then I can wear the shorts today. IT WILL ONLY TAKE A MINUTE!"
An hour and twenty minutes later I have just finished my project and am so exhausted from sewing on a button I had to sit down to rest.

It was a classic case of "rolling snow ball".  First I had to find my sewing box. I spent about 30 minutes in the garage looking for that when I finally realized I had efficiently moved the sewing box into my closet. DUH !  Got the sewing box out and found some matching thread but couldn't find a needle. What sort of sewing box doesn't have needles ?????  I knew I had some but where the heck were they? (Obviously these are things I have NOT organized yet!) Back to the garage and another 15 minute search for the missing needles which were stored with my sewing machine. (They are now moved to the sewing box.) Okay, pants, button, needle, thread . . . . now all I had to do was put the button on the pants. Except that I couldn't get the damn thread into the damn needle !  I tried everything but the eye on that needle was so small not even a dust mote could get through it. So the search resumed for the little piece of thin metal with a loop of wire on the end that helps thread the needle. I figured it HAD to be in the sewing box so after I had dumped out EVERYTHING there it was on the very bottom. STUCK to the bottom in a pool of something sticky. That lead to me WASHING out the sewing box, re-grouping everything that was to go back into it and organizing it all into a some what neater mess.

An hour and fifteen minutes have now passed and I STILL have NOT sewed the damn button onto my shorts. That took all of about 2 minutes, tops !

I think I now know why we live in a disposable society. It just takes too long to fix things! It's easier to throw them out and go buy new. I could have been to the mall and back with a new pair of shorts in the time it took me to sew on a button !

HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW ?

Did I tell you about my next door neighbor stopping over last week ?  I was just settling in after a busy day, got comfy, (you girls know what that means, off with the bra!) and had dinner cooking on the stove when my door bell rang. NO ONE ever comes to my door unless it is a delivery so I gave a quick thought to just how low I was hanging and figured I was OK to open the door.  There stood my neighbor, tears in her eyes saying, "Well, we have something in common." I immediately knew she meant her husband had died so I invited her in, gave her a stiff vodka and apple juice on the rocks and sat down to hear her tale.

She and her husband are renting the house next door and have been there for about 4 years. We have never shared more than a hello in all that time, probably because both of us were busy taking care of husbands. Gerry used to speculate all sorts of tall tales about why we never saw this couple out and about. He would keep track of the few and far between cars in their drive way and also would keep track of how often they missed garbage day and put their trash out on the wrong day.  Ger was quite entertained by these two neighbors and quickly established, (from the items in their recycle bin), that they drank A LOT !  The word in the neighborhood was that they were both in their 80's and had moved here from one of the wealthier communities near by.

And now I am sitting in my living room with a sobbing widow who I really don't know and I am learning way more than I ever needed or wanted to know.
It seems that my neighbors were married for 58 years, she came from Brooklyn, just a few blocks away from where Ger grew up and he came from Queens, not all that far from where I grew up.  They met young, married quickly and partied on Long Island with the well to do but not so famous folks. They moved often and never had children. It seems they also spent every cent they had on the party circuit and never saved for a rainy day or retirement. And now, 77 year old neighbor, (she let her age slip), has buried her 89 year old husband and is left with NOTHING !  And I do mean nothing !  They rent the house and she says she won't be able to afford to stay there. She drives an older car, has no retirement, (even though she worked for years and years), had no life insurance on her husband who also had no retirement so her only income is her Social Security check.

How could you let that happen ??  Did she never lie in bed at night thinking how she could survive without this man she married? Had she never considered that he might die or leave her? Had she never thought about leaving him?  Is she not human ?

I can not believe there are women out there who are so dependent on their husbands that they have no idea what their financial situation is. That just blows my mind!  For my entire marriage I always handled the money and had a contingency plan in case husband got sick of me and threw me out. Thank God he never did but I think I could have survived if he had. I wouldn't be living in Paradise like I am but I could have survived.

As for my neighbor, I haven't seen her since she stopped in,  although I know she is still there because the garbage was out on the wrong day and her news papers keep getting brought in. I think I'll give her some space in case she is thinking about moving in with me.

MISS CATH- REAN

I totally understand how people mangle my last name but how the heck do you mess up Catherine ?

When I was a kid I hated my name, I wanted to be called Alice. (I was a huge fan of ALICE IN WONDERLAND.) But I put up with Cathie. (Note it is CathIE, NOT CathY.  My mother said I was a Cathie with an IE because there is no "Y" in Catherine.  Although there are the existing Cathyrnes or Kathyrnes of the world but I was not to be one of them.) Alas I am not exotic but I am not common either. And I am not Alice ! Nor am I KATH REAN which is the name given me by the woman who just called. Oddly enough she WAS able to pronounce my last name, which is a killer for many folks but she screwed up Catherine.

Who are these people who make these phone calls? They have got to have lived in caves in the highest mountains of Tibet only to have climbed down the mountain, crossed rushing rivers, sailed a raft across the ocean to reach America and been snatched up by some telemarketing company. I haven't checked lately but I bet if I check the want adds there are companies who specifically target those folks who can not speak English. WHY ? It is bad enough when you call tech support that the guy can't speak English, but you expect that! All the English speaking computer nerds are locked In a room making their first billion designing  computer programs that will change the world or ones that will figure out how to win the lottery.  But when I call my local town hall I really would like to speak English with some one I can understand. If I travel to France I expect to have to try to use some of my high school French. If I am in Italy I will attempt to make myself understood with sign language but when I am in my own country why aren't people speaking ENGLISH?

It's not even that some of these people are speaking a different language, they just are not speaking English English. (As I am sure folks from England say about us Americans all the time,) but living in America we like to give opportunities to one and all and who else would want the job of a telemarketer except the person who apparently never knew anyone named Catherine. Now if I was a Bobbie Jo Sue or a Kneesha they probably would have gotten the pronunciation correct.

EEYORE LIVES

The characters from Winnie The Pooh have always lived in my mind and heart.  I don't remember when I first discovered them but they have been with me from some of my youngest memories. I softly shared them with my children and all the children I taught. I'm sure none of these children remember much of Pooh but I was always fond of singing, "Isn't it funny how a bear likes honey, Buzz Buzz Buzz, I wonder why he does".  It's a "ditty" that stuck in my head from ages ago and remains there still. That along with the poem, "They're changing the guard at Buckingham Palace, Christopher Robin went down with Alice . . .  " I can still, today, recite the first verse.

My kids did not have Winnie The Pooh stuffed animals nor did they have Pooh and friends decorating their nursery walls when they were babies but to this day I have Eeyore sitting on my bed. I found him somewhere years and years ago and I HAD to have him. Besides his buttoned on tail, sad eyes and droopy ears he emits a "sigh" when hugged. He has been my favorite "stuffed" companion through the years. (Aside from Sammy Lamby who finally disintegrated about 30 years ago. Now THAT was a well loved stuffed animal.  Sammy came to me when I was 3 and had my tonsils out and I never let him go until our tearful good-by sometime back in the 80's.) Eeyore has sort of replaced Sammy in my life although I don't carry him around nearly as much as I did Sammy.

Today as I was talking with a Florida Friend, (who needs to be distinguished from my BFF's in NY because NO ONE will ever replace the love I have for Sharon and Jeanne!!!!!) my friend wondered why I remain friendly with people who are "Downers".  You know those people in your life who are just plain negative !  No matter what is going on in the world they twist it and turn it to be something that brings them down. You can be telling them about the most beautiful bird you had singing in your yard and they will tell you how the damn birds wake them up every morning. They will complain about the NOISE of the fountain, the annoyance of the gardeners working in the yard, (They are working in my yard so I don't have to be pulling weeds in 90 degree weather!!!). The Eeyors of the world will find a down side to an ice cream sundae !  I'm talking here about the pessimists, the grouches, the glass half empty type of folks.  Eeyore is always feeling SAD !  But he lives in the Thousand Acre Woods and has the BEST friends EVER ! Kanga and Roo, Piglet and Owl, Christopher Robin and my all time favorite TIGGER !!!  If ever there was a character I could identify with it is Tigger.   "He's bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, Full of fun, fun, fun." I really would like to think that I am like Tigger. And yet I do LOVE Eeyore in spite of all his woes.

I guess it just takes all kinds to make the world but if you think about it . . .  wouldn't you REALLY rather be Tigger ?

SHOW TIME !

The things we do for our kids and grand kids . . . .  Grand ma was up at SEVEN A.M. this morning to get into the car and drive an hour to Fort Lauderdale to see Smith and his fellow pre-schoolers perform in the end of year production !   It was worth the hour and a half of stop and go rush hour traffic, (Yes, we have rush hour traffic in Florida!) the getting up early and the lack of sleep just to see the 5 or 6 minutes of these little three and four year olds singing and dancing their hearts out !

I arrived perfect timing to meet Kristen in the parking lot of the school.  We were smuggled in a back door by a couple of Kent's students and escorted up to Kent's class room where we had a quick reunion with the kids I had met at the zoo on Tuesday.  Then the fill in teacher arrived so Kent could escape for a half hour or so to go see Smith perform. We went down to the "auditorium" where our reserved FRONT ROW seats awaited us. (It pays to know people who work in the school!) About 2 minutes after we were seated the show began with Smith's class in all their glory!  THEY WERE FANTASTIC AND HYSTERICAL !  Each one totally into the music out performing each other.  It was a lively 2 songs filled with laughter and smiles by the waving participants. Do you know a preschooler is totally incapable of NOT waving to mom or dad ?  Once Smith's class finished the curtain closed only to open a minute later with class # 2 set and ready to go with their songs. Each class was dressed differently, one wearing tie dyed shirts and white pants, another with paint splatter tee shirts. Smith's "costume" was jeans and a dark blue shirt. There apparently was some difficulty getting Smith to wear the jeans since all he ever wears is shorts but mom and dad held strong and the boy fit in just great.
It's amazing the difference a year made because last year Smith was the kid on stage who just stood with his head hanging down not moving an inch.  This year the pictures show just how much fun this boy had!

A GREAT time was had by all and I'm still smiling.

Yesterday Finn attended his three year old class end of year ceremony up in Maryland.  I'm including his picture just because it is too good not to share !

FINN

SMITH

Hand movements too !

Add caption

WHO'S LAUGHING NOW ?

Once again I have to tell you that I am proof that God has a great sense of humor.  Although the fact that I have not dropped dead already does say otherwise.

The other night as I was falling asleep I was chatting with THE LORD and telling Him just how great I was feeling.  Not so much physically but mentally and spiritually.  I am calm and at peace with everything. I thanked God for that blessing and my many, many other blessings and gave special thanks for this sense of well being.  No anxiety, no depression, no worry. Just plain happiness and joy at being alive and well.  I thanked God for my happiness and asked Him to please keep the devil from realizing what a good place I was in. And God said, "OK Catherine, I'm glad you realize your blessings and I'm happy to hear you say 'thank you'." (I didn't really hear God say this, I'm just imagining that's what He would have said. I'm not completely crazy yet. )

Then the next day arrived by way of a ringing telephone. And God began to chuckle. It was someone calling about the refinancing of my house, asking for some obscure paper that I SHOULD have "in my files".  Has this person ever SEEN my files?  Obviously NOT!  Oh, I have lovely files filling an entire desk drawer, AND 2 file cabinet drawers in the closet and 4 boxes in the garage. FILES did you say, you want me to find something in the files ??????  And God began to laugh.
I set to work to find this paper and 3 hours later I had come up with somethings that looked like they could possibly contain the information the bank needed. Now I had to fax the files to the bank. And God's laugh got louder.  I could get the fax machine to accept but not to SEND my faxes. I got out the instruction  manuel and started reprograming the fax machine. By now God had tears running down his face from laughing so hard.

The day ended with my stomach in a knot, my head pounding like a drum and me cursing the fact that I had been so smug to think I had this all under control.  Tonight when I go to bed I will simply thank The Lord for a wonderful day and shut up before I get myself into any more trouble.

STREAMING . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As if TV wasn't bad enough we had to go and invent a machine that could record a TV show in case you were not going to be home when "your FAVORITE show" was on. Great Idea ! Record the show and watch it later when you had time. But that wasn't enough, we had to go and invent a machine that could not only record one show but it could record up to SIX shows at one time ! Just in case "your FAVORITE showSSSSSSSSSSSSSS" were all on at the same time. AND if THAT wasn't enough along comes the computer that allows us to watch our favorite shows ON LINE at any time we want without the bother of recording anything. What could possibly be better than that ??????  How about a computer you can carry around with you so that all you have to do is press one button and VOILA, instant entertainment. But it only gets better . . .

Enter NETFLIX !  Not only can I watch my favorite show any time I want but I can watch seven hundred and twenty hours of a show one episode after another, after another, after another. And these are shows I never even heard of !  But someone said, "Wow, have you seen (fill in any show you care to name)  Lost?  Walking Dead ?  Weeds?  Breaking Bad?  Orange is the New Black ? "
Was my life complete before I spent the past 14 months of my life watching Netflix? I thought so but apparently I was wrong. Now I can keep up with anyone discussing the details of "Friday Night Lights" or "Arrow".  I was happy going out for walks, spending time with friends, reading a good book. Now I hardly see the sun, I am loosing weight (a very good side effect), have bags under my eyes from sitting up till 2 AM watching episode 427 of "Scandal".  BUT THE SHOW IS SO GOOD I JUST CAN'T STOP !

I haven't actually gotten THAT bad YET but I think I am approaching the point of needing an intervention.  Or maybe you just need to take the iPad away.

MOE TOE VATION

As in lack of or full of motivation.

These past few days I have been one major wet noodle. All I have wanted to do is stay in bed and sleep.  How is it possible for me to sleep 14 hours ?  And yet that is just what I did last night.  Around 7 PM I had eaten a nice dinner and just decided I was tired and wanted to go to bed.  SO I DID !
I woke up at 9 PM needing a pee stop, took a shower and WENT BACK TO BED.  I fell sound asleep again and woke up at 9AM this morning.  I was still not wanting to get up. But I did ! Ate some breakfast, put in some laundry and went BACK TO BED !  And slept another hour or so.

DEPRESSION you say? Well Hell Yes !  I think my body and brain are finally processing the fact that Husband is gone for good. Not just a long awaited holiday but a final and everlasting GONE!  I have been so busy and ecstatic about being on my own that reality hadn't taken hold of the BIG picture. I AM fine. In spite of some setbacks I am good. Over the years I have learned not to fight myself. If I feel tired and uninspired I just go with it.  If I feel sleepy, I will sleep. If I feel cranky I will piss and moan and if I feel like crying I can do that too! Husband always used to make fun of me and say to people I could cry at a cat food commercial on TV. And it is true.  Given the right mind set I can cry at nothing.
That's a good thing too cause I don't keep stuff in. As Grand Daughter Kaelin would sing, "LET IT GO!".  And so it seems that is exactly what I am needing to do. My body and brain are telling me to let some more "stuff" go. Not in the way of purging my home of stuff like I have been doing for the past 3 months but in letting my soul heal a little more. I've been very busy with the out of body stuff so I guess now I need to spend some time on the inside body things that are still with me.

This afternoon I roused from my lethargy and put on MUSIC.  There is nothing better than music to help me to heal.  I'm feeling better, moving around more and ready to come back to life. Even if only for a bit before the next swing hits me.  Since Ger is gone there have been a lot less swings hitting me in the back of the head. No one here to trigger my moods. This would be an excellent case study for doctors to look into.  Are women's moods hormonal or caused by husbands ?  I bet no one REALLY wants the true answer to that ! There is probably some chemical that husbands emit that causes wives to go into attack mode.

What ever is going on I'm rolling with it.  I think I need to DO less outside and spend a little more time healing. I can do that !!

HEADLESS CHICKEN

When did I loose my brains ????  Ever since Ger died I have been running in circles and am so UNfocused I can't even find myself.  BUT . . . I no longer am stressed about it because my screwiness effects no one but me. I am no longer responsible for keeping Ger afloat so all the pressure is off.  I can't tell you the last time I had a "break down" or "burn out". When I screw up now I just shrug my shoulders and say, "Oh Well" and move on to correcting my errors.  I am not feeling guilty for messing up nor am I worried that I will upset anyone. It's only me who has to live with my nonsense so it's OK !

But I am wondering how I got SO busy so fast ?  I took a day off today to collect my wits. (They are scattered from here to kingdom come and back.)   I have papers everywhere and lists to find my lists. There are notes in my shoes to remind me to do something and notes on the bathroom mirror to remind me to put on my shoes.  I think I am out of control !  Today I have taken stock of the calendar and I need to  make some adjustments to it. The fact that I could be out and about 7 days a week panics me because I DO love my alone time, even though I know I have a tendency to lean toward being a hermit. Thank You God for putting all these wonderful people in my life to get me out of the house and interacting with the world. But could we just slow down a little ?

I am now "booking" dates with friends two months down the road. I am planning things for AUGUST for goodness sake.  That is insane !  How is it possible I never knew I had all these people in my life when Ger was around. OH YEA, I remember . . . Ger was my focus. The poor guy wouldn't do anything without me. But it also was kind of nice having Ger as my excuse for not doing so much. Now there is no reason why I can't go and do 24/7 except for the fact that I don't want to.
Don't get me wrong, I"m having a great time reinventing myself but taking stock today has made me realize I do need to slow down.  I need to get back to breathing and real relaxation.  I haven't been to the beach or sat by my own pool with a good book in oh so long.  I think I am ready to enter the next stage of being alone and take some quiet time to figure out just where I am in this whole process.
So if I don't answer the phone or return your email just hang on till I make it through some down time. The calendar is as full as I want it to be, my brain needs to turn off for a while. My chicken legs are stopping for a few till I regroup. If you're looking for me I'll be in the pool meditating !

FRIGGIN * FRAGGIN * FRACKING * BANKING ON LINE

I do not think I am stupid ! I think I am fairly computer literate, at least enough to do my banking on line and not go bust at the end of each month.  BUT who in holy hell sets up these websites ?????

I have just spent 27  minutes trying to log into my mortgage account.  The fact that I know I have a mortgage, what bank holds my mortgage and how to access any and all information regarding my mortgage is all much more than husband ever knew or cared to know. Ever since our first year of marriage when Ger handled all the bills and would add his monthly "CF" ("correction factor") to our check book balance at the end of each month and inevitably would bounce a minimum of 5 checks a month, I have taken care of our finances. We are talking about the TIME BEFORE COMPUTERS! (Yes I really AM that old!) The good old days when you had a bank book that you took to the bank and handed to the teller. She would add or subtract what ever amount and mark it in the book. Then you went home and wrote out checks for all your bills, put them in an envelope and snail mailed them to whom ever. Once a month it was recommended you sit down and look at your bank balance to see if it agreed with what you thought you had in the bank. I guarantee the two numbers were NEVER the same. I would spend HOURS trying to match those numbers and every month I would succeed!

But now we are enlightened! We go on the computer, put in a code and POP! Up comes all the information you need regarding your accounts.         MAYBE       My checking account works fantastic!  I know the pass code, I put it in and within seconds I'm paying bills and checking balances. Same for savings! Easy as pie ! But then there are those accounts that you don't check all that often. You know the ones that you only need to check when someone asks you for specific information regarding them. Car loan accounts, mortgage accounts, home equity accounts.  Some banks are very kind to us and if you have checking and savings with them they will also show you any special loans that you may also hold. But then there are the difficult banks ! The ones that want you to work for your money.  Because they haven't made you crazy enough with all their fees and hidden charges they make it so hard to find your money information that you just want to throw up your hands and say,"Take my money! What do I need it for? You can have it all because I just don't care!" THAT was where I was about an hour ago. All I needed was the number of my mortgage loan. Naturally it was not listed with my checking and savings information. NO!  I had to go to a separate web address and put in my secret ID and password that even I didn't remember. When I found them in my little black book of passwords I tried to log in but the computer kept telling me it wasn't ME who was logging in. If it wasn't me then who the heck was it ???  Why in God's name would ANYONE want my mortgage information ??  Is there a fairy Godmother out there who wants to pay my mortgage for me ?   Is there someone so twisted and sick that they need to see what other people are paying for their mortgages? Why does this have to be rocket science to check an account number or a balance?  I get it with the checking and savings accounts but this is my mortgage! It's a BILL I pay every month.

By the time I found the information I was looking for I had forgotten why I needed it.  I wonder if I log back in it would tell me why I was there in the first place.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !

I have always hated Mother's Day.  I think I have written about this before  and probably will write about it again.  It never had anything to do with my children, rather my dislike of the day always centered on Husband.  In my perfect little world inside my head my husband would take my 3 children shopping the day or week before Mother's Day and help they pick out something for their mom. They would make cards together, wrap mom's gift and make mother's day special for mom. The reality always was that I would be reminded of how unimportant I was in the lives of my family. That was my translation of the lack of interest on the part of Husband. The kids would always come through with something they made in school and I would pretend to be SO happy. Then I would make a nice dinner and we would all be the perfect little family.  That night Ger would tell me how busy he had been that week so he didn't have time to get me anything. He would add," to buy flowers for Mother's Day was just crazy because they cost so much more on that particular day". I would rationalize in my head that he was right and stupidly think that maybe next year would be different. It never was. And so I came to hate this particular day.  I wasted all those years feeling disappointed when I should have realized it had nothing to do with Husband and everything to do with my brain.

This Mother's Day was WONDERFUL !  I loved ever second of the day.  I spoke with my 2 children who are living in other states. They are both THE MOST AMAZING people I know and two of the most incredible parents ever ! The third child and his family were here with me for the day and all we did was laugh and have a fabulous day in the pool with the 3 grand kids. What an absolute joy that was! I love spending time with Kent and his family. To see my child parenting his 3 children is such a wonder. To think that this "baby" of mine has babies of his own and is teaching them and caring for them and nurturing them just boggles my mind. I never could have believed that my children would have gotten so good at parenting in spite of what their parents did. I doubt if it is a case of learning what to do from watching Husband and I but rather a case of learning what NOT to do.

How ever it happened I am so proud of my children and what wonderful parents they have become.

FAMILY FUN IN THE POOL !

ALLERGY SEASON ?

When people tell me why they could never live in Florida you can be sure they will include the fact that they just LOVE the change of seasons up North. Well let me tell you about Florida seasons. We actually DO have trees that loose all their leaves in the winter and pop out new ones in the spring. Then we also have the rainy season, coconut season, love bug season, dragon fly season and of course Snow Bird season.  We have more seasons than anywhere else in the U.S. And all these seasons have one thing in common. They all occur during allergy season ! That's the wonderful thing about living here. You just start taking allergy drugs the day you arrive and never come off them. There is always something blooming that is going to cause your nose to drip down the back of your throat and fill up your ear canals. Once the ear canal fills it in turn backs up into the glands in your neck and you end up with swollen glands that hurt like hell. All thanks to allergies.

Right now my jaw is so sore in one spot that if I bump it I want to cry. (It's on the right side so I know it's not a heart attack!) This happened to me last year right around this time and the gland got infected. I thought I would get ahead of it by going to the doctor today but all she recommended was taking Sudafed to drain my ears. My ears feel fine, it's my jaw that hurts.
There is the outside possibility that it is my New York dentists fault from when he was doing a root canal on my tooth 25 odd years ago and broke the tip off one of his instruments. That little piece of metal is still floating in my jaw some where and I often wonder if and when it will make it's way to my heart or lungs. Every time I get a pain in my jaw on the right side I think of it and wonder if that's the cause. None of my doctors down here seem to think it is a concern when I mention it but if I drop dead in my sleep be sure to check my teeth. There could be a juicy law suit in the makings.

Back to allergy season . . . I took a walk this morning with 2 friends and you could actually see the pollen in the air.  That is unusual for down here. There were also dozens of butterflies all over the field where we were walking. At one point there were so many we were almost stepping on them. The tortoise we saw crossing the field didn't see to mind us or the butterflies. He also did not seem to mind the pollen.
If the pollen doesn't slow down I may end up retiring to the house a lot sooner than usual this summer. This April and May have been exceptionally warm and everyone is complaining that summer has arrived too soon. With the heat comes the rainy season which also leads to indoor season.

WHO SAYS FLORIDA DOESN'T HAVE SEASONS ?????

ITCHING TO TRAVEL

It's been a long, long time since I have packed a suitcase and headed off into the sunset.  Something like 3 weeks ?  Does my trip to see Kyle and the family count as "travel"? I guess it does since a suitcase was packed and tickets were bought. But for someone with the travel bug I have gone through withdrawal these past few years. I came across some photos today of Ger and I on our last adventure and it brought back such wonderful memories of all our travels. We used to laugh that we live in Paradise and yet we never stay home to enjoy it.  I'm ready to start making some adventures of my own. I've got lots in the works so the suitcase is out and in the guest bedroom.  It hasn't gotten opened yet or put up on the bed but at least it is out of the closet. I'm one of those people who pack weeks ahead of a planned trip. I freak if I haven't "gotten organized" well before lift off. I think I get that from my dad who was forever GETTING ORGANIZED. We would ask him how he spent his day and inevitably he would say he spent the day getting organized. I don't think he ever reached his goal but he had a great time keeping busy.  I totally relate to that. My catch phrase seems to be DIGGING OUT, as in "I'm in the garage digging out." (If you ever saw  my garage/playroom you would understand the literal term digging out.  There is usually a pile of toys in the middle of the floor that I have to dig through to put away.) Like Papa Danny I don't think I will ever achieve success. But it keeps me out of trouble.

Back to the travels. I think I would like to be like "Waldo" who is constantly lost in a hive of activity. I can have friends and family play, "Where's Cathie?"  Or for those of you old enough to remember the movie. "If It's Tuesday It Must Be Belgium".  I love not knowing what the day will bring or where I will be.  I get up in the morning and always find myself embedded in some task or adventure, large or small.
That trip to Atlanta a couple of weeks ago brought back just how much I love to travel. I'm itching to do a road trip. Just me, a good book on tape and a map. I usually picture a large shaggy dog sitting on the seat beside me but that's not going to happen.  I think I see a short trip in my near future. Up till now I've been content to drive to Pompano to see the twins and Smith but I think I'm ready for a little more of a challenge.  What I'd really love to do is another road trip with Sharon and Jeanne but I honestly don't think Jeanne will ever do that again. I think we put her on overload with all our silliness. And since Sharon broke her leg this winter I don't think she is up to doing hours and hours in the car. But that's all OK because I'm going to see them next month so we can have some adventures close to their home. God do I miss those two !  There is nothing like "old" friends who know everything about you and still love you in spite of what they know.

Thank goodness for Google Maps. They take all the hassle out of travel. Just pop in an address and voila! You have a road map to your destination. Remember the old days of going to AAA to get a TRIPTIC ? We used to go every summer with a list of all the places we wanted to see on our summer camping trip and the agent would pull all these little pages from cubicles that they would put together as a map for the trip. We got to see some of the most wonderful places thanks to those agents. They always had some out of the way place that we just HAD to stop at. Camping at the bottom of a canyon in Texas was the most memorable but there were so many others. The computer doesn't do that for me but as long as I have my route mapped out I can stop where ever I want.

So if I should disappear for a few days you can assume I am on the road again gathering stories for my blog. Until then I'll just keep boring you to death with my ramblings on paper.

THE CELESTIAL CHOIR

I was talking with a friend the other day as she was preparing to return to NY for the summer.  She was saying how much she looked forward to going "home" in May when all the flowers were blooming and the birds had returned after the winter. She looked forward to the sounds of singing birds.
I wondered to myself how she could not notice that here the birds sing year round and the flowers bloom constantly.  The month of May is one of the BEST months here in South Florida. The magnolia trees and the gardenia bushes are in full bloom. They bloom continuously year round but this is their peak season where they literally EXPLODE !  My gardenia outside the front door is old and I have a feeling it is on it's way out. But in spite of that it is a riot of blossoms that scent the air as you come up the walk. The smell is wonderful and I now understand why my mother loved gardenias. It is better than lavender for soothing my soul so I pick a few blossoms each day to put in small bowls of water to scent my house with their heavenly smell. I can't help but smile when I catch their scent.
As for the magnolias, they too have gone wild with blooms and fragrance. I don't have any of them around my house but many of my neighbors have magnolias on their front lawns and it's all I can do to just enjoy their scent as I walk by and not grab a flower to take with me. (I'm sure no one would mind me snatching one HUGE bloom when there are so many but I feel it's better to leave them so I can enjoy them on my next walk.)

Speaking of that daily walk I am taking . . .  that's where the celestial choir comes in.  No matter where I am around here I am accompanied by the singing of birds. Mocking birds to be exact. For some reason these little fellows LOVE my neighborhood. No matter what time of the day or season they are singing their little hearts out. They're a pretty little bird and I swear they follow me on my walks. The entire time I am walking there are birds singing in the trees around me. I find myself talking to them, (Oh Oh ! ) and they DO talk back with their lovely songs.  When I go out to get the mail there is usually one sitting on the mail box singing to me.  They are forever on the roof and chimney chirping away and when I am in the pool there is ALWAY one in one of the palm trees that surround the yard. They sing and sing and sing! All winter, all summer. And I LOVE to hear their song. It's almost like they are calling me to be happy and joyful.

I used to comment to Gerry about how beautiful they were and he would stop to listen for a moment. Usually he thought they were annoying but he would humor me. He was more concerned that they were getting into the chimney and building nests there. (I thought that would be wonderful.) We had a couple of bird feeders for a while but H didn't like them because they "attracted rats".  They did attract blue jays and the big black grackles which I never see otherwise but I never saw a rat.

 I have a resident cardinal who is here with his wife and I think they are in the process of building a nest. Probably in one of the big cactus' outside my front door.  I guess they too like the smell of the gardenia.

NO PHONE !

I am having phone problems, along with the Internet connection and TV reception.  We had a wild and crazy storm the other day and I think it has done something to the wires on my house. I realized Wednesday that it had been very quiet all day, no ringing phone. Since I don't have the TV on much I hadn't realized it was not working. It was really only when I went to write my blog that I realized THE CABLE WAS OUT !  Horrors !!   How can a civilized person survive without cable ??? It could have been out on Tuesday but since I was way too busy celebrating my birthday with lunch and a pedicure with Kent I didn't pay attention to TV or computer.

Once I realized there was a problem I went to call Comcast Cable on my cell phone but no matter what I did the call refused to go through. (Is this Husband at work again?)  I finally dialed 411 for information and they gave the me same number I had been trying to dial but then they connected me and the call went right through. Comcast and I went through the usual "Push 1 for English", and after I put in my 10 digit phone number and the last 4 digits of my social security number I finally got to speak to a real person. That lovely person asked for my address, phone number and last four digits of my social. Then we went through the drill of unplugging the cable box, turning off the router, shutting down the computer all which produced NOTHING !  (I could have told her that right from the beginning because that was the first thing I did when I realized the cable was out!) FINALLY we made an appointment for the service man to come today between 10 &  12. Hallelujah !!

This morning my HOUSE phone rang at 7:50 and woke me from a dead sleep. I almost killed myself getting across the room only to hear a recorded message telling me Comcast would be here between 10 & 12. After I hung up I realized the phone was WORKING! I turned on the TV and that was WORKING !  I checked the computer and that was WORKING !  How about that ! Magic ! It all fixed itself !  (Oh what a fool I can be!)  With that my cell phone rang and guess who it was? Comcast Cable confirming my appointment between 10 & 12 ! I had choices this time where I could cancel or reschedule or leave well enough alone. HEY ! Everything is working, so I cancelled !  DUMB DUMB DUMB !  I swear it wasn't a half hour later that everything was NOT working. Phone was dead, cable was out and Internet was not to be found. At this point I wanted to kill some one at Comcast Cable, preferably with a piece of cable. Once again I picked up the trusty cell phone and tried to call the cable company and once again, just like yesterday my call would not go through. After three tries I called 411 again and had them connect me. (They are probably thinking, "This woman is an idiot, she can't remember this number from one day to the next!") Once again I gave my life history and 4 quarts of blood and was finally given a human to speak to. Now I know the poor slob sitting at the desk with a telephone some where in the world is not the person responsible for my cable going out but it sure is hard to remember that as they are asking me the 20 questions I just answered yesterday and asking me to perform the 20 silly tasks to prove to them my cable really is NOT working. We got through the drill and set up another appointment for TOMORROW between 10 - 12. Naturally the appointment that I had just cancelled 15 minutes ago was gone. Do I really believe they gave it to someone else or is my repair man having a 2 hour lunch today?

As of right now my cable, phone and TV ARE ALL WORKING ! I have received 2 phone calls already from cable verifying my appointment for tomorrow and I'll be damned if I am canceling it ! Let the cable guy drag his ass over here and check this out. It's the least they can do for the amount of money I pay each month.