November 13, 2019 - 61 - "Co-written by..."

     I'm thinking I'm not giving credit where credit is due.  

     My name's on everything but I can't do any of this alone.  I have to admit I've had a ghostwriter on all of my posts.
  
     Her name is Ella and she is ever-present when I'm writing.

   She's not much for fixing all the spelling, grammar, tense, and point of view issues I amass...but she does let me know when I'm getting boring.

November 12, 2019 - 60 - "Seeing Red"

This is the only picture I could find with my hair at
it's weirdest.  But it looked worse in real life.
It sort of took on an interesting dayglo effect.
 I avoided direct sun like a vampire if
cameras came out.

     A year or two ago I made the effort to use more natural products.  Better for the environment.  Better for me.  Chemical free.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.

     I started with my hair color.  A friend said she was using henna.  I thought that was just for having red hair, but she was brunette and said they have all sorts of mixes.   I did a bunch of Googling and YouTube-ing and found a company that got good reviews, and a henna/indigo mix that I thought might get pretty good results.  

    And it did...at first.  The first round or two was, basically, covering my already dyed-brunette hair.  But as my white roots started showing more and more, the color was just turning them a sort of orangey-red.  Like the little old ladies from my church growing up who 'henna'd their hair'.

     The product might be natural...but the results on my hair were anything but.  Definitely under the category of 'colors not found in nature'.

     ...not in hair anyway.  Originally it leaned toward a nice auburn, but as time passed  it more resembled Hawaiian Punch.  

November 11, 2019 - 59 - “You Say You Want a Revolution”

     No. Not that kind of Revolution.   

     I'm talking about the kind I have to douse on Ella once a month.  It's the name of her anti-flea/anti-heartworm medicine and I may as well be trying to stage a revolution to get it on her every month.  

     The stuff smells of rubbing alcohol and kind of gives off vapors as it dries.  

     She hates that.  

     I have to hold her still so I can get it at a spot behind her neck where she can't lick it off.  

     She hates sitting still...when it's not her choice.

  

    Based on her reaction as it goes on I'm guessing it's unpleasantly cold as it touches her skin.  

     She hates that too.

     I try to explain it's for her own good but, well, she's a cat.  

  

     I've developed all sorts of techniques to a) remember when to do it, b) set the medicine up so it's ready to go whenever she wanders by, and c) actually get it on her.

     See that paper-clip holder deal in the photo?  

November 10, 2019 - 58 - "Getting Back on Track"

Recognizing Stress

     Sometimes you don't know how stressed you are until it's over.  

     Michael 'celebrated' having completed a big goal by getting a really hellacious cold.  (It's actually kind of genius.  Your body just says:  You need to rest NOW.  And 'bam'...you've got no choice.)

     I am celebrating by eating every crappy non-food-stuff I can get my hands on, and slacking on my entire life.  

     Neither of these are conscious choices.  Okay, well, not exactly.

Mini Habits for the Win

     When I'm focused on a big deadline I keep laser-beam focus on my mini-habits.  I know  it's all too easy to lose track of them.  I also know if I don't keep them up I won't have the energy or motivation to reach my big goal.  

    But after getting our Mexico house interior to the first stage of 'done', and having a great time with Michael's kids for Day of the Dead...now there's suddenly a break.  For the last couple of days I've had all the time in the world to accomplish whatever I want to, and here it is almost 10 o'clock at night and I'm just now thinking about a post for the day.

     I can't even say what I did today.  I just know it wasn't anything productive.  

     I just sort of frittered my time away.  I watched a bunch of YouTube videos about random things.  Watched a biography of Audrey Hepburn on TV.  Kept wandering to the kitchen to see what kind of junk food I could rustle up.  Looked at a catalogue I got in the mail and have almost zero interest in.  I definitely don't need to order anything from this company.  

     I did a lot of staring into space and kind of dozing.  But it was so unfocused I can't even count it as meditation or rest time.  

Red Flags

     I follow a woman on YouTube named Alison Lumbatis.  She talks about things that are Red Flags for her as far as getting into a rut.  She says that produce going bad in her refrigerator is one of her warning signs of falling into a rut.

     I can't call it getting into a rut.  My schedule, life and constant change of locations don't leave  much room for ruts.  Ruts actually sound appealing to me.  I genuinely crave routine. 

      The danger for me is more in the direction of spinning completely out of control.  Sometimes it's like I'm too busy trying to just function to remember to actually live well.

    Instead of a 'rut' I think of it more as getting off track.  

November 9, 2019 - 57 - "Phew!!!"

Michael asked me this cryptic question around noon today:  "Do you know what we did today that we didn't have to do?"

Me:  "Huh?"  (See how cool it is for Michael to live with a wordsmith like me?  It's just one snappy retort after another.)

Michael said again:  "Do you know what we did that we didn't have to do?"

Me (staring stupidly as my brain tried to understand what the hell he was telling me):  "Huh??  I
          don't understand what you're saying."

Michael:  "We sat in the hot tub."

Me:  "Yessss...?  That was fun.  Sooooo...?"

Michael:  "We didn't have to.  It wasn't on a list.  We didn't have to do it."

Me:  "Oh.  Oh!  Oh, wow!  You're right!   I see what you mean."

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November 8, 2019 - 56 - Mexican Casa Renovation 3 - "Master Bathroom-View 1"

January 8, 2019

     Here are some progress shots of the Master Bathroom at our new place in Mexico.

     The house was on the market for many, many, years.  Michael and I can look past a lot of cosmetic issues...but most people expect not to have their water heater as the main focal point of the master bath.

    They also expect that you can have a mirror above the sink.  (Two sinks would be a bonus.) . But having the open-roofed (just a screen above) atrium in the center of the bathroom pushed the vanity way over.  And the glass around it made a place for a mirror near-impossible.

August 12, 2019

November 7, 2019 - 55 - "Golfiness"

 

 I've recently started playing golf.

  I think that's how you say it.

   So far one of the toughest parts of the game is remembering how I'm supposed to refer to it.

   There's something I say that Michael keeps wincing at.  I think you can't say 'going golfing'.  Like you just 'play golf.'

   Yeah.  That's it.  Or...well, maybe?

    Anyway, I guess because I am the contentious sort, and enjoy getting Michael's goat.  I just keep coining new phrases to cover the fact that I can't remember, for sure, which phrases are right and which are wrong. 

   Unsuccessfully, of course.  Michael knows me too well to buy that.

   But I also do it because it amuses me.

November 6, 2019 - 54 - "Rainbow Reflections"

 
I never expected to gush to my stepson:

        "I really like your makeup!"

   On Day of the Dead we all got our makeup done.  Keenan's masque had a sort of rainbow effect around the eyes.

     He said:  "It's like I got punched in the face by a bag of Skittles."

     He later amended this to:  "It's more like two Care Bears pooped on my eyelids."

Bahhhahahahaa...

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"I think if human beings had genuine courage, they'd wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween.  Wouldn't life be more interesting that way?"

-Douglas Coupland

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"A mask you ask?  Optional I find!
Masks lend appeal of a mysterious kind."

-E. A. Bucchianeri

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November 5, 2019 - 53 - "Truth in Spelling"

      We lived in Germany for six months back in 2001-2002.  (Special assignment with Michael's work.)

     For the first three months I took German lessons.  Three months, of twice a week lessons, even with studying in between, does not a speaker make.

     As with all language it's a 'use it or lose it' proposition.  When I was there I could maneuver my days pretty easily with the level of language I spoke.   New words would pop into my awareness many times a day and I had a pretty serviceable vocabulary.

     At this point I'm back to the 'please/thank you/count to ten' level of language.  It wasn't a beautiful language. It was hard for me to wrap my head around the structure of the language.  And I felt their biggest attack on reason was how they combine 3 or 4 words into one. 

     But I did admire the fact that if you knew the German alphabet, and you knew how a word sounded, you could combine that information and spell the word perfectly.

November 4, 2019 - 52 - "Somebody Needs a Nap"

Ella:  World-Class Sleeper

   Don't you hate it when you're hanging out with a real grouch?

    They're all whiney and out of sorts and not enjoying anything no matter how great it might be.

     It's a total drag.

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     Especially when it's you.

November 3, 2019 - 51 - "Love Hurts"

 

 The good news is:  I'm in Mexico.

     It's good because they know a thing or two here about accepting and coming to terms with death.  

      They seem to understand that it's best for everyone to mourn loss fully and to accept that it this pain will be an ongoing part of life.  We don't lose someone once, we lose them every time we want to ask their advice, hear their voices or their laughter, be in their arms again...

     But, in Mexico, it seems they also know that this world is made for the living.  Loving life, and the people who are left behind, is also part of the Mexican philosophy.

     During the Dias de los Muertos celebrations they support each other, tell stories of those they've loved and lost.  They sing the songs and share the meals beloved by those they celebrate.

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     The idea of this season seemed creepy and morbid to me once, but it's so much more beautiful and happy than I would have imagined.  Accepting the fact that we, and those we care about, won't always be here is so much more honest than our way of tending to ignore it.  

     The fact is none of us get out of here alive.

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     I so respect and admire all of this, but that all being said...

     The bad news is:  I have had reason to learn some of these lessons this past year.

November 2, 2019 - 50 - "Day of the Dead"

   We all got made up for Day of the Dead.

    This is the fiesta part of Dias de los Muertos.  It's a chance to celebrate being alive, and to laugh in the face of death. 

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"For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one."

-Kahlil Gibran

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November 1, 2019 - 49 - “Altar-ed States”

Warning:  This is a bit of a cheat post.

     We're in Mexico with Michael's kids and their spouses and we're having sooo much fun.  Only problem is, it's almost midnight and I've finished nothing.

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      It’s Dias de los Muertos, and it’s a party, and somber, and playful, and oh-so-sweet all at the same time.  Here are some pictures of the cool ofrendas (altars) that people have created around town to celebrate those who have passed. 

    Check these out...then go hug someone you love.

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"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."

-Thomas Campbell

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