TIME FOR A REVIEW. THERE WILL BE A TEST, CLASS....

I haven’t blogged in forever. It’s not that I gave it up, it’s just that life happens. We get caught up in the daily grind. I am a spontaneous writer—when I get an idea, I have to write it then, or it is lost. I have done some deep thinking this week as we have lost Chuck’s sister very unexpectedly with a brain aneursym. A little "life review", as it were.  First we lost his Dad, Ted, in August, then our brother-in-law Tom in October. They were both ill, which doesn’t make it any easier, but I had a little time to prepare myself for their passing. Christie’s passing was a shock. She was my age (which I prefer to think is not all that old), and in a blink she was gone. Looking back at her life made me look back at mine. What have I done in this life? Am I where I want to be? If I go tomorrow, what is my legacy?  With that in mind, I am laying out what I feel is important:

Love one another. Don’t judge one another. We are all just slogging along, trying to get through this life the best way we know how. And yes, there are those out there who don’t share your beliefs, morals, hygiene, or (Lord help us) fashion sense.  Jesus tells us over and over to love them anyway, and it’s not your job to judge them. For the most part, it is useless to try to change anyone’s mind.  Just love them.

Smile. Be kind. You never know when that grouchy hateful person might just need one.  Help people who need helping. Open doors, carry a bag, whatever. Throw a wink in with that smile. Maybe that person will pass your kindness on. Or the smile.

Be accountable. I struggle with this one. There are always excuses,”the sun was in my eyes”,“the dog ate my homework” or“I was going to come over, but the ShamWow infomercial came on TV and I lost track of time”. If you screw up, own it.

Tell those closest to you that you care. Why is it that we tend to not tell our husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, children, parents, etc, that we love and treasure them? Like they should just know it? Does the fact that we are still hanging around picking up their shoes and cooking a meal once in awhile mean that we love them?  We all like to hear we are loved and valued.

Reach out to people. As you all know, I am a social networking fan. Facebook sucks up more of my time than it should, but I enjoy keeping up with friends. I don’t accept friend requests from someone I have not met. While I may not chat with all of them often, I love to look at their photos of their kids, grandkids, cats, dogs, and goofy videos.  I read their comments, "like" their posts, and watch their journey through life. I laugh at them, pray with them, and poke them occasionally. I post what is going on my end, and post all my random silly pictures and jokes in the hopes of giving away a few smiles—if I can make a couple of people laugh, I have done my job. Not everyone shares my twisted, wacky sense of humor, and if they get tired of my posts, they are welcome to unfollow me. If they disagree with my beliefs and lifestyle, they are welcome to unfriend me. Mostly, I have found people just like to complain about it, but they are still on Facebook looking at my crap.

Don't sweat the small stuff. Ask yourself, "will I remember this in 5 years?" If the answer is no, cut it loose. Mop up the mess, wipe yourself off, and get back to it. Life's too short to nitpick.

Listen to some music. Whatever your preference is, it soothes us, lifts our mood, and for me, takes me to places only music can. Get up and dance once in a while. It is a real stress reliever, and in my case, provides comic relief to anyone close by.

Take care of yourself. Remember that we are not bodies that have souls, we are souls that have bodies. Our body has to carry us through this life, and our soul carries on through the next one. Nourish both.

For me, I try to approach life like I do driving--with reckless abandon.  Peace, friends.

"MY STYLE"

I got pulled down that black hole known as Pinterest a couple of years ago.  For creative, crafty, painting-sewing-photo taking furniture refurbisher like me, it is simply idea heaven.  But the bigger aspect of Pinterest is that there are virtually hundreds of subjects covered--travel, food, business, and even things on the risqué side. (Don’t ask me how I know that. Well, it was a mistake, I just saw this photo, clicked on it, and before I knew it I was on the wrong side of town.)

Anyway, for those of you who are not familiar with Pinterest, it is an online pinboard site that you can “pin” links to webpages, photos, etc  on your own “boards”. That allows you to go back to that web page by clicking on the “pin” and access it. When you first begin, they have created a few boards for you and pre-named them. One of the boards was named “MY STYLE”. I giggled and deleted it, thinking to myself, “Style is not something I have. Delete.”

You see, I have style challenges. I am not a girly-girl, but I like some girly stuff. I see those gals out there with the big hair and the big nails and the big purse and the big rhinestone outfits, and while I think it is cute, I would just....no. Not working that hard at it, I guess. Maybe I should call my style "LAZY".

I love that Youtube about the difference between the way men and women shower.  The woman takes in a minimum of 17 products, shampoos, scrubs, loofahs, pumices, and conditioners and after 40 minutes, walks out smelling like a flower shop.  The man walks in, washes everything with bar soap, including his hair, and leaves, dropping wet towels along the way. Me, I fall somewhere in the middle, but everything in my shower smells more like laundry soap than flowers.  My home décor is nowhere close to Pottery Barn, but is not quite Motel 6, either. I don’t like to spend a lot of money on clothes, mainly because it offends me that someone thinks I want to pay a hundred bucks for a pair of pants that looks like they were run over by a freight train. All 200 cars. I know there are more washings in that $40.00 pair without all the holes, anyway.  So, I guess I should call my style “PRACTICAL”.

When looking at the “Women’s Fashions” section in Pinterest, I realize there are a lot of options out there, but a lot of them are not made for a woman of my stature. My brother said it well once, quote-

“The guy who designed us had just got a promotion. His previous job was designing fire hydrants.”-–Ken Miller 

And as silly as it sounds, he is pretty close.  Growing up in the ’50’s when 36-24-36 was the desirable measurements for a woman, rolling in at 36-36-36 made it hard to find clothes. I have to smile when I think about my Grandmother Clifton in Dalhart. She had sets of matching shoes, purse, and hat—bone and white for summer, black for winter, and navy was for anytime, I guess. But she was adamant you could not wear the bone or white colored shoes before Easter or after Labor Day. She wore hosiery,  a hat, and gloves to church. Her earrings and necklace matched. While that was the norm for women in the '50's, I am glad those days have gone by. 

“Ain’t nobody got time for dat!”  —Sweet Brown

Then, you add in that I am now a “woman of a certain age” (which is just nicey-nice talk saying a woman is no longer young but is not REALLY old YET) and it becomes a real labrynth to find “my style”. Let’s be honest, some body parts just should not see the light of day after 50. That means short shorts are out, and we have to reel the neckline up on the tank tops. An armhole that stops that upper arm from looking like a spare parachute is nice, too. On the legs, factor in my 4 knee surgeries and waaay too many hours in the sun, and I am safe to just put on pants and call it a day.

I have actually gone back and created a style board for myself, and I have found a few things to pin. Mostly sporty looking stuff, that I will girly up by carrying my girly phone cover. Or maybe a fussy necklace.  On the Grammys the other night, they had a “shoe cam” where they had the celebrities show off their ridiculously expensive bunion makers. Chuck asked me at one point, “Did you see ANY shoes you liked” I just laughed at him. I have never seen anyone be able to walk with any grace at all in platform spikes-they all lurch along like Frankenstein.  The allure of them is lost on me.  But show me a cool pair of boots or running shoes, and I am all “ooooohhhhh, yeah”.

And so it is with a lot of “fashion”. My criteria is quite different than most women.  Does it fit?  Is it comfortable? Am I willing to pay that for it? Does this keep my muffin top from looking like a whole loaf?  If it meets these, it’s “my style”.  What's yours?