January. A new year. Snow.
Time for resolutions? Reconsiderations? Regrets, even.
Who to be. What to do. And why.
Stay curious. Learn something.
Keep moving. Be healthy.
Play nice. Have friends.
Get organized. Be productive.
Pray daily. Don’t panic.
More like guidelines, really. Not quite resolutions. Yet worthy of consideration.
Can do. A good way to live + love. This year.
And perhaps, forever.
Looking at my calendar and contemplating the next few weeks, I’ve decided to skedaddle out of here. Bug out, if you will. Depart. There will be no more posting to this blog, The Spectacled Bean, until next year.
Let’s call 2013 a done deal, shall we?
But first before I go, I give you the following video: How To Wrap A Cat For Christmas. This video, which has been around since 2009, is new to me. If you’ve ever lived with a cat, this video will amaze you. Confound you. Inspire you, even.
I dunno, I’ve never seen anything like it before.
And with that, all that’s left for me to add here is this lovely blessing that I found inside a holiday greeting card. The words resonated with me, so I shall share them with you, my gentle readers.
Merry Christmas, everyone. And a Happy New Year, too.
~ • ~
“May the magic of the season warm your heart…
may you find hope and peace in the quiet moments spent with those you love,
and may your holiday be filled with everything that brings you joy.”
~ Victoria Barone
~ • ~
A FEW WEEKS AGO we drove four hours north to visit Zen-Den’s parents + his sister & her family. It was his mother’s birthday, so it seemed like a good time to see what was up with his mother and his father.
We arrived at his parents’ house around noon and spent the afternoon talking with them. Then around 4:00 p.m. we drove with his parents to a brand new Outback Steakhouse where we met his sister, her husband and their teenage daughter.
We were seated at a long table with banquette seating on one side of the table and chairs on the other. The room’s decor was modern with lots of muted dark colors in geometric patterns and large pendant lights with drum shades. The look reminded me of my late aunt’s home which was filled with mid-century modern furniture.
# # #
WE RARELY HAVE THE opportunity to get together with Z-D’s family so sitting in this beautiful restaurant, eating good food, chatting, laughing was special for us, for me. It reminded me of when my parents were alive and I was a little girl. The three of us would go out to dinner somewhere fancy, usually early because my dad refused to wait for a table. And we would have the best time.
So with my happy past in mind, while sitting there at the Outback Steakhouse I took a moment to look around the table, to really see who was there. And I was struck by the strangest thoughts, out of nowhere. Fragments of my life, I suppose.
# # #
I REALIZED THAT MY niece is the same age as I was when my father died. That my SIL looks so relaxed & happy that she could be half her age. That my BIL, who is retiring this year, is exactly ten years younger than my mother was when she retired. That my MIL, whose birthday we were celebrating, is turning the age that my mother was when she died. That my FIL is so lost in the fog of Alzheimer’s that I doubt that I’ll ever visit with the real man again.
And as for Zen-Den and I, here is what I observed: we are much older now, both physically and spiritually. In some ways, life has worn us out. On the other hand, we’ve learned, adapted, moved on so many times that somewhere along the winding way we’ve both developed deeper understandings of relationships, beliefs, limitations– and the value of focusing on shared happiness.
At an Outback Steakhouse, for instance. On an early Saturday evening. While dawdling around a table after dinner.
:: All I can say is thank goodness that over the weekend we were smart enough to get to the grocery & stock up on a few things. Not that this morning’s snowfall is all that deep, but it is slushy and messy. And I dislike putting on hiking boots, which are high enough to protect my ankles from the snow, so that I can trudge from the car in the parking lot into the store where my feet get too hot as I shop. This way, shopping ahead of the snow mess, my tootsies have not been inconvenienced at all.
Yeah!
:: I’ve spent most of the last week suffering from some stupid eye problems. I have rosacea in my eyes, which sucks; but most of the time I’m able to not think about it because of all the prescriptions I use to reduce the inflammation. [For me, Restasis is like meth. Gotta have it.] However, this last week I managed to chap my eyelids which means, in practical terms, that they itch like heck + they are flaking like flurries before a big snowstorm. Today, in fact, is the first morning I’ve awakened without my eyelids itching so much I want to scream. Yep, now I’ve progressed to a point where I want to mutter quietly about my eyes.
Huzzah!
:: Did I tell you that the overhead light in the laundry room stopped working? I was carrying a couple of baskets of dirty clothes into the room, hit the switch with my right elbow– and nothing happened. No noise, no sparks, not smoke. So, I put down the baskets and started checking the electrical outlets in the room. They all worked, meaning that our overhead light had wornout and died. Whoever heard of such a thing? Overhead lights last forever, right? Yet, here I am doing laundry in the dark.
Oh goody.
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 