Well....

Well...

Well....


I've been absent again. And I've been thinking about why I can't seem to get into this Project Ninety x Ninety.
I think I've figured it out. A couple of things.
One: I'm busy. Not necessarily doing fun stuff but just taking care of business.
Two: and this is the main one: It's too broad a concept. Thirty years. I  can't think that far ahead. I don't want to think that far ahead. (Denial may run in my family. Just sayin'.)

So...what to do?

Think I'm going to steal a line from Buzz Lightyear.  I'm going back to Sixty x Sixty and just change it to "Project Sixty x Sixty... and Beyond."

Today's inspiration.

I'll still have me a list of challenges. I'll still post but maybe not regularly. Or maybe it will be. It will be looser until I figure out exactly what I'm doing with myself.

Apologies for the confusion. It's my state of mind recently.

BUT!

I have been having fun which is another part of the picture.

In the past month I have been to a musical with the former President George H.W. Bush and his lovely wife, Barbara.  I have slept with Frank Lloyd Wright.  I have partied with Florida Georgia Line.

Let me clarify.

A sweet friend took me to see the Sound of Music. A Sunday afternoon performance. The former Prez and his wife live in Houston and are great supporters of the arts. They were also in attendance and were acknowledged by the theater. It's funny, but I have been to three performances over the years where the Bushes have also been in attendance.  This time was particularly interesting as we happened to walk out right as they were also leaving.  Traffic was stopped- both pedestrian and vehicular. Mr. Bush was wheeled out in his wheelchair.  Secret Service men swarmed. The Bushes were loaded up and some very innocuous looking cars suddenly started flashing lights. Off they drove.    I was probably 40 feet from them at the time.

Apparently this is the obligatory "I was here" photo. 

( On another note, I have seen three presidents in my life time. President Kennedy when he was in San Antonio, two nights before he was shot.  President George W. Bush when he was still Governor of Texas and he led the Ft. Bend County Parade one year. And the Senior Bushes at the theater.)



Sleeping with Frank Lloyd Wright? Well, of course not literally.  He's been dead since I was four- that would be gross.  But I did visit a friend whose house has art.  And over my futon was a piece of wallpaper- original and hand printed-from his home furnishings collection, Taliesin.  Tacked to the wall with push pins. I was petrified a stretch during the night would result in a wallpaper tear. 

Beautiful wallpaper PUSH PINNED to the wall.

And Florida Georgia Line? They were at the  Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo where I went with my friend Martha. 

Me and Martha. 

Contemplating new careers 

as Rodeo Clowns.

They were much twangier in person than I expected. But a great show and a wonderful evening. 

Florida Georgia Line in concert at the HLSR.

Anyway, to infinity and beyond!! 

(And getting a great giggle at the fact that I've managed to include a toy action figure, a country music band, a former President and an acclaimed architect in one post.)

The End, the Beginning...

The End is also the Beginning....

In less than a week I will turn sixty. Wow!

Mentally it doesn't compute. I look in the mirror and still see my 18 year old self...I know,  I know. 100% delusional.   I pretty much feel 18.  Certainly no more than 30.

                        

18.                     almost 60. 

(Carlos looks embarrassed to be in the middle....)

And my list will not be completed. Some might see that as a failure.  I see it as an opportunity to continue learning and doing.

Twelve items on the list weren't done at all. Two have been worked on. One is scheduled. I've done a couple of extras.  When I made the list I could not imagine the turns my life would take in the coming years. I made the list while living outside the fourth largest city in the United States. I'm finishing up the list living in a tiny rural area in Colorado two hours from anything.  Number 20: MOVE!! was put on there as a lark. Mostly I was thinking move houses. Not move cities. Or states.

So those 12 items will be moved to Project 90x90. Maybe. I may rethink a couple of them.

And  until I get that 90x90 website up and running, I thought I would share a few things I've learned in the last three years.
Or maybe the last 60 years.

1) Food is love.
Maybe I've seen too many chef/restaurant movies or maybe I have just finally figured out that food is not just food.  Good food feeds your body. Junk food junks up your body.   I still have my fast food cravings (Chick Fil A anyone? Jack in the Box tacos?) and I am looking forward to Tex Mex but I know that the healthy stuff makes me feel better.
Beyond the actual health benefits of eating real food and healthy food, though, I have learned the joy  in making a meal and sharing it with others. In being the guest at someone else's table. In sharing my banana bread with some grateful young men. In making cookies to give away as thanks.
Food is love.

Food. Feed your body. Feed your soul.

(image from the movie: Burnt)

(And if you want to see a good movie with gorgeous food and gorgeous Bradley Cooper, go see Burnt. )

2) Change is good.
Really.
It can be uncomfortable. Scary. Even unwanted.
But every time you have to face a fear, make a change, deal with the world changing around you, well, you grow. You learn something new. Brain cells connect . Maybe your heart expands a bit. Your eyes widen.   Learning new stuff is cool. And good for you. Even if you think you didn't want to learn anything new, you just wanted to stay in your little shell. Change. It's good.

Make your brain happy.

Embrace change.

(image: here)

3) Friends are the Bomb.Dot.Com.
Honest. My friends are awesome. They have come through for me so many times and in so many ways. I try to be a good friend back. Some days I'm awesome, some days I fall really short. I'm whiney. I complain way too much.  I think it is my way of working through stuff.  But O! My friends have been such great sounding boards. I have some super smart friends. I learn stuff new from them all the time.
Friends are family you get to choose.  Make some. Nourish your relationships.

From this...

to this. 

I'm happy to say I have friendships 

that have almost crossed this time span. 

(I say "almost" because I'm not that old yet.)

4) Money is Power and Freedom      and
5) Work is dignity.
Money. Love it. Hate it. Worship it. Never enough, is there?
But here is what I know. A little money in a secret stash is important.  If you have your own money, no one can tell you what to do with it. That is empowering and freeing. I've been trying to impart this bit of wisdom to my girls. And especially to the boy.
Number Five goes along with Number Four because the most common way to get money is to work for it. And working gives you purpose and structure. A feeling of accomplishment. O! And a paycheck. So Four brings us to Five and Five brings us to Four.
I love a full circle.

Like I said, 

change is good.

Sooo...I'm signing off this website at the end of December.  And what posting I do between now and then will be even more random than it has been, if that is possible. I have a birthday, a friend's son's wedding and a 1000 mile move all scheduled in the next ten days. And then comes Christmas which I am woefully unprepared for.  Belle will be arriving in Colorado from Florida with a friend boy in tow.  They will help get Bunny back to Texas. A quick check last night resulted in a resounding "No" when I asked if there was a Christmas tree awaiting me in Texas.
Basically my life for the rest of the month will be herding kittens through Jell-o. Can't wait.

Join me in the New Year here:   PROJECT 90x90

NOT ON THE LIST.

Nope, this one was NOT on the list.

I double checked twice.
There is absolutely no mention of  No. 62: Raise baby chicks.
None.
(Click here for the real list.)

Peep peep peep.

There is a mention of entering something into the county fair.  That's No. 41.  But I really had jalapeño jelly in mind. Or maybe a quilt. Not laying hens. 

A quilt with Baby Clara wrapped inside: Yes.

Chickens: No.

And No. 39 is Grow a vegetable from scratch.
Not Grow a chicken from scratch.

But yesterday Bunny came home late from school with a big bucket, a waterer, a warming lamp, feed, fluff and not one but FOUR baby chicks.
Four of them.

Adorable. Peep.

Peep peep peep.

They are adorable.
They are upstairs in Bunny's room.
They are not my responsibility.
I keep repeating that to myself.

Adorable. Peep peep.

Peep peep peep.

There is some precedent for chicks in the house, I hate to say.
When I was little my brothers and I got baby chicks at Easter.
One of the chicks got eaten by the dog next door.
One followed my mother into the garage and she shut the door, not realizing he was behind her.
But mine….mine grew up!
And he was a rooster.
A rooster that crowed every morning on the backyard fence.
This was in Alamo Heights in San Antonio.
Not out in the country.
After the neighbors complained my father found "Chickie" a new home at the "chicken farm".
For a solid year after that ( maybe longer) my brothers delighted in exclaiming "O! It's Chickie" every time we had chicken for dinner.
Talk about traumatic.

Peep peep peep.

Anyway, there are chicks in the house.
Bunny assures me that she has some friends that will take them when they get to be teenagers.
She just wanted to enjoy the baby stage.
(Isn't that how everyone ends up with babies???)

Adorable.

And I'm trying to keep a sense of humor.
While I traumatize her.

Peep peep peep.

FINALLY!!

FINALLY!

I'll soon be back on track for my 60x60 list...

I have a knitting class (No. 51) scheduled for October 4th so I do still have it on my mind.

But getting reliable internet and getting our baby Hummer back have been the two things on my mind these past few weeks.

Wednesday morning I finally got a call from Century Link announcing that my DSL was "live". 
YAY!!!
Not only was it working ( only two days after it was promised) but it was speedy!
Pictures load! Videos come up! With the sound!   It's absolutely  amazing.

And yesterday I got the call that the H3 was ready except.... when they did the final test drive the sun roof would not open. An overnighted motor fixed that little issue and tomorrow I go to pick it up.

I'm not sure who is more excited, me or Belle.   I finally get my car back and not a minute too soon for my taste. With all of the rain the roads are less than ideal around the cabin. I find the rental skidding on the rock road with just the tiniest brake pressure. I do not like that sensation. Please give me my all wheel drive vehicle back.
And Belle has always wanted a Hummer, ever since she got her license. But Hummers  were deemed unsuitable (by her evil parents) for life in Houston and she had to settle on another choice for her first car.   But guess what? !   Hummers are pretty awesome for life in Colorado. So now she gets to drive her ideal car- even though it will stay here when we return to Texas. It's a cabin car, not a Belle car. We have to keep reminding her.

So expect a return to the list soon enough.

I just had to get life back on track.


And life this week includes homecoming at the high school.

There was a parade that Belle and Bunny got to be in and a bonfire which I was told I was not allowed to go to. Although I had already been told that parents were going to the bonfire by someone else. But I humored those girls and stayed home.
And a football game tomorrow night in suitably cool, Fall type weather.

Salida High School Cheer Leaders marching in the parade.

Busy, busy.   I like that.

First Time for Everything...

There's a first time for everything...


Part of my decision to do this Sixty by Sixty list was that I had gotten in a rut and wasn't doing new stuff. I wasn't doing fun stuff. I was just doing the same ol', same ol' stuff.

So while this wasn't on my list, I have to admit my trip to the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort probably should have been.

My friend Liddy came into town to see me. She has a house a couple of hours away from me in Colorado. We grew up together, first meeting at church in Houston. My parents helped cement the friendship by suggesting that Liddy come with us to San Miguel de Allende for a few weeks when we were just out of 6th grade. Liddy's aunt and uncle lived there while my parents had recently discovered the charm of that little mountain town. That was the beginning of my love affair with San Miguel and the beginning of one of my best friendships.

San Miguel de Allende at dusk.

Forty five years later we are still playing together.

Me and Liddy doing what we do best:

Traveling and ...ummm...Drinking? 

Two years ago, but some things never change. 

While Liddy was here we decided to try the natural hot springs outside of Salida.  My kids have been there before but I never had.

I will be back!

A lovely funky old entrance leads to two large traditional pools, one at a temp of 96 degrees, one at 103 degrees.

You walk into some boring traditional pools.

Not for us!

 We sashayed past those boring cement ponds and headed down the steps to Chalk Creek. There we found shallow pools of varying temperatures fed by the natural hot springs. Depending on where you stepped it was either VERY hot, warm, VERY cold, or Goldilocks Just Right.

Just like a natural hot tub.

Our only mistake was not taking (adult) beverages with us. There is no food or beverage service available, only a water bottle vending machine.

We almost had the river to ourselves. It was DIVINE.

A few hours of soaking and we could barely climb the stairs back to the car. Our legs were jelly and our stomachs were rumbling. Tension and stress were no longer our companions.

We weren't out of the parking lot before we were plotting a return. Maybe in the winter?  With a snow flurry or two floating gently down into the steaming river? Or in a few weeks while there is still a chance to get a little tan?

Soon.

Another Oldie, but a Timely One

Another Oldie from My Previous Blog that No One Ever Read:

Still not back to working on my 60x60 list yet.

Too busy getting settled in and getting the girls set for school and just ...breathing. 

But because school starts for them on Tuesday and because they will be the NEW kids and only know a few people and it seems possibly there is already some drama surrounding their arrival, it got me to reflecting on previous first days of school.  I always love getting the recap of the first day. This coming Tuesday's should be really interesting. 

But here is a post from a first day of school long past:  2008 to be exact.
It's from a blog that I had, but never made public.  Another post from that blog is here.

Emancipation Day!

Free at last! Free at last! The first day of school and all the kids are gone. While summer is anxiously awaited it never seems to quite be as carefree as we would hope. Boy had 6 weeks of summer school. Bunny spent 4 weeks in a cast. Belle was lucky and got to go away with a friend for a few weeks. So while I don't have the worries of toddlers-no fretting about car seats or diapers or where to park them for a moment of peace- there is the worry of preteens and teenagers. All that summer freedom brings concerns of where they are and who they are REALLY with. Sex! Drugs! Rock and Roll! By the time the last week of August rolls around, the safety of knowing where they are for 8 straight hours starts to sound pretty good. So this morning I waved goodbye to Boy as he drove himself to school for the first time. Belle came along to take Bunny to school so she could get dropped at her friend's house - no walking into middle school by herself for that girl! The most excited household member might have been Big Dog who LOVES the routine. What excitement! A car ride to the middle school. A walk to the bus. And then - quiet. The house to myself. Ahhhhhhh. Big Dog and I relax.
And that lasted until 3:30pm when in bops Bunny with a manila envelope full of papers to sign,forms to fill out. Belle gets picked up and hands me another sheaf of papers. "These need to be back signed tomorrow." Boy stops by his friend's house before coming home so I am spared his packet of papers. For a while. He promises to give them to me once he has "all" of them but how will he know when that is? O well.
So all survived the first day. Belle has friends in all of her classes. Bunny loves her morning teacher. And Boy apparently had the best day of all as he came home with a huge hickey on his neck-which he admitted he got "at school". New girlfriend apparently. Eek. Life is good but life is crazy.