The in-between stage?

I have a birthday in about 8 days. I won't say how old I'll be but , well in a very few short years I'll qualify for social security benefits.

Today I went shopping at a clothing store. I have a couple of occasions approaching that I need to have something decent to wear.
Looking in my closet this morning all I see are Levi's, t-shirts, flip flops and tennis shoes. Oh lets not forget those comfy sweat pants!
This is my life.
This is my "style" - the laid back comfy style of I never go anywhere or do anything special life style.
So when something comes up once in a blue moon , such as a friends wedding, I then realize I have nothing to wear.

All I had in mind to buy was a pair of black slacks and some sort of nice top. Then also needed a pair of comfy decent shoes.
all I have to say is "UGH".

My mind says that I'm a young active girl who likes to be in current style of some sort.......BUT also wants to be comfortable.........AND doesn't want to look like an older person who's trying to look young ...but doesn't.
Ya know, those people we see out there who are obviously OLDer yet insist on wearing clothes that belong on my granddaughter! That is what I do not ever want to look like!
However......I also do not want to look like I'm 20 years older than I am! I don't do the plaid elastic waist polyester pants with the gauze type flowered button blouse , ankle socks and slip on canvas shoes.

YET, as I'm browsing around this nice big clothing store I realize that there is no in between!

So what am I? I don't fit into either category! All the clothing on the racks are the styles for the younger or the older! So again..........UGH.

In desperation I begin grabbing things as I walk by the racks and throwing them into the cart. I figure I'll just try on as many things as possible and maybe something will meet the in-between stage that I'm in.

As I'm trying on clothes I begin to wonder am I really in that in-between stage or am I just fooling myself into thinking I'm younger than I really am?
The discoloration of the skin on my chest as I'm trying on this blouse makes me wonder...........and the wrinkled sagging skin hanging down from my arms by the armpits as I'm trying on this sleeveless top makes me cringe!
The roll of .......whatever that is around my waist makes these pants look disgusting!
And what about the horrible colors and designs on every rank in the store! I look like a circus clown that threw up!

The pile of "nope not that" is getting bigger and the pile of "maybe a possibility" is very small.

Finally, after feeling like I've been in this store for about three weeks I give in. I settle on some black slacks that seem to fit well enough that I can sit down and not loose my last meal. I pick one top that is indeed sleeveless but I like it and it's comfortable. I decide that since the top is sleeveless I'll allow myself to buy the sweater to wear also. I did find some very comfy flat shoes and I have to giggle because the style is a "MaryJane" style which is the same style that I wore in high school! They were the most comfortable of all the shoes I tried on and comfort comes first for me now.

So there it is. Black slacks. Sleeveless top that is black with pretty blue swirls on it. A mid-length black wrap around sweater and some comfy black shoes.
Yes the dominate color is black. There was pretty much no other choice. Everything in the store is now the "fall/winter" style and the colors are all dark and dreary. I'll have to search through my jewelry to see what I can use to lighten it up some.
At least the wedding I'm going to is next month and I guess that October will be alright for dark and dreary! ha!

Besides, I'll be sitting in the back of the room anyway staring at the wrinkles on my hands and my MaryJane shoes!

and so it begins.......

Well it was a nice summer. Must of had fun because they say that time flies when your having fun and it sure seemed to go by fast!
I had plans of all sorts of things to do with the grand kids during the summer and didn't quite get through that list!

We did spend a few days at the beautiful bay. I could just move there! LOVE it there! It's the one place that we can go with or without the kids and just sit back and enjoy God's beautiful creations

We went to the zoo at least three times. The museums. The science center. Played baseball and tennis at the park. Used the swimming pool several times. Played the Wii numerous times.
We had sleep overs , treasure hunts, spy games and built forts.

All in all it was a good summer.

Now tomorrow school begins and so begins a whole different schedule. Things are changing. As of right now I'll be taking Conner to preschool two mornings a week and picking up Kyle from school four days a week. However, Vanessa doesn't know if she will be one of the chosen to be laid off as her company is now downsizing.
It's soccer season so there are practices and games that I will be going to and helping with the transportation.
Baseball season is almost over so Jim will be home more.
Ryan will be starting a brand new school this year.
Nathan and Sarah will be home schooled without their older brother for the first time.

Yep, it's all changing. But then life is all about changing right?

A Day Off

I watch my grandsons Tuesday through Friday. I'm busy on weekends. So on Mondays when I see people who know that I watch my grandsons they say to me " enjoy your day off".

So today, which is Monday, I :

got up at 6:30am.
watered yard
got a cup of coffee and banana
drove dog to the groomers
drove to the post office
drove to Target store
got my hair trimmed
came home and ate lunch
started laundry
got online and prepared package label for returning Avon item.
put one load in dryer and another in washer
baked two sheets of dog treats
folded one load of laundry and put another in dryer
worked on a "treasure hunt " game that the kids have been begging me to do
drove to the UPS office and dropped off the Avon package
stopped at a store to find a dog bed
drove to the groomers to pick up the dog
brought dog home
made a smoothie for Jim and I
cleaned up kitchen
began preparing stuff needed to go to the bay tomorrow with the kids.......this included,
making sandwiches, cutting up carrot & celery sticks, packing towels and sand toys, putting chairs and umbrella in trunk, putting bottles of water in refrigerator to get cold.
Pulled out the crock pot to use in morning to prepare spaghetti sauce so we can have spaghetti when we get home from the bay.
cleaned up kitchen
came in this office and began to put away all the Avon paperwork that I had thought I was going to organize today but since it's late it can wait.
Took a shower.
It's now 9pm.............oh yeah, there's still a load of laundry in the dryer needing to be folded!

I can't wait to go to the bay tomorrow and relax and have a nice day off!

Beach Bump

So we decided that we'd take our dog to dogs beach on Saturday. It's a beautiful beach area and on one side of the pier they allow dogs to run free without leashes.

The dogs are like a bunch of little kids in a playground. It's so fun to watch them. They never fight. Some like to just walk and relax. Some like to jump in the water and ride the waves.

Pepper just loves it. He romps around with a smile on his face wagging his tail and greeting all the other dogs.

Jim and I like to watch Pepper and the other dogs and we also just like the ocean air and relaxing walk................

But there are also dogs who love to run as fast as they possibly can after their play toys. Those play toys are the most important thing on their minds at the time and nothing,,,,,,,,,,,,,nothing better get in their way...............

and that includes little old ladies like me! As a dog came running through us so fast I can't even tell you what type of dog it was it caught the side of my leg/hip and being on the sand I lost my balance and went tumbling down!

So with a large lump on the front/side of my right leg and sore muscles all the way from my hip to my toes I will from now on have eyes in the back of my head as I take my relaxing walks along the beach!

oh, and no I do not wear a red dress with heels to walk on the beach :)

Drained or not?

Why is it that some days I feel like I've been bitten by a vampire during the night and all sources of energy have been drained out of me and then other days I feel just fine?
Doesn't seem to matter what I eat or do the day before or how much sleep I get.

For the last several days all I've wanted to do but couldn't do was sleep. I just wanted to lie on the couch in front of the TV and veg out.

This morning I woke up at 6am. Just woke right up without the alarm and was wide awake.
Today I've done two loads of laundry, broiled steak, baked homemade dog treats, cleaned the kitchen- twice, drove to the vacum repair shop and dropped off my vacum, brushed the dog, drove to pick up my vacum.........and I'm still wide awake!
I want to feel like this every day but Murphys Law -- tomorrow when the two boys get here I'll feel drained again before the day even starts!

Just don't go

Ya know, I think it would be easier if we just stayed home all the time and sat out in the back yard and listened to the birds and the wind chimes........ahhhh.

But life just isn't so simple.

Going to get an oil change in your car is like going to the dentist. Why is that?

I don't like going to the dentist. First of all , it hurts. Second of all it hurts worse after I go than it did before I went! I go for a routine cleaning and come out with sore gums and an appointment for all the extra work they say I need done.
Well that is how it is with the car.

I go in for a routine oil change and waa-laa, they tell me my rear brakes are in need of replacing.
Now maybe some things I can put off till the last minute but the brakes! ?? I don't think so.
So now I need to figure out when I can go back to sit for an hour or so and get the brakes fixed and in the meantime grow a money tree to pay for this extra expense I didn't plan on.

And to add to this wonderful gifts of life that we are given our refrigerator/freezer has decided to leak water onto the floor. Seems that it thinks it needs to create a frozen lake at the bottom of the freezer which as the water runs down onto this frozen lake it slides over the ice and out the door onto the floor.
As of right now there is a dish towel on the bottom of the freezer which is soaking up the water so that it doesn't flood the floor until the repair man comes to our house tomorrow. Can't wait to see his expression when he see's this frozen towel!
And of course until he shows up I have no idea how much that is going to cost.

They say when it rains it pours..............well I live in sunny California and it's not suppose to rain here!
Not having much luck growing that money tree either!

Wasting Time?

So what does it mean exactly to "waste time" ?

There is never enough time it seems. Yet time has never changed over the years. There is and always has been 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week since I was born ( many years ago ), so why does it seem that the older I get the faster time goes ?

How does one waste time?

I always, ALWAYS, have things I need to do. I'm a list maker. I have a list about 2 miles long of things that I could, should or would do "if I had enough time".

But really, how does a person actually waste time?

Is it really wasting time if you sit and do nothing? Are you really doing nothing?
You breath. You think. ..........gosh, my mind never seems to shut down. If I'm "doing nothing" and sitting still for five minutes my mind is constantly thinking of all the things that I should get up to do!
So how can one do nothing? Is that actually possible?

If I decide to type on this blog am I wasting time because I'm not finishing the laundry or making a grocery list?
If I decide to take a nap ( which is rarely done ) am I wasting time? My body is refreshing itself. My muscles are recuperating from the busy workout with the grand kids. My health is healing itself. So how can lying still and relaxing become "wasting time" ? Shouldn't we allow ourselves to relax once in awhile?

Don't we all just need to give in and give it all up once in a while? Forget about all the hubbub of the day, the stress, the long list of to-do's?
Can I actually do that?

Maybe instead of calling it "wasting time" we should say we are making a choice to accomplish something else. Maybe I should put that on my to-do list. #52 - accomplish something different today.

Accomplishing something..............hummmm, that is a whole different subject. I'll have to wait until I have more "time" to write about that!