Woman in the Middle

1. Play hard

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2. Nap hard.

3. Take delight in every day things. Playing with a plastic bag can be just as exciting as climbing a famous mountain. It is all in your attitude.

4.. Always be comfortable. If that means letting it all hang out, well, then let it all hang out.

5. When things get a little scary, retreat to your safe zone.

6. Looking cute can get you a long way.

7. Take time to just look out the window and dream.

According to “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” you are to leave mementos until last, because they are the hardest to sort. The author explains that after you have sorted everything else in your house, you will be such a sorting expert that you will have the skills necessary to sort that more difficult of categories – mementos. The other suggestion is to set photos and mementos aside as you find them so you can deal with them last.

If I did that, my livingroom would currently be piled floor to ceiling with photos and mementos. That is what happens when you are the last man standing, so to speak, in your family. I am the holder of all family photos from my grandmother, my mother and father, and my brother. All those bits and pieces of furniture, the little knick knacks and such, are all in my house. Oh boy! This doesn’t even count the stuff we have from Mom-in-laws and our own personal family photos and such.

In other words, I have mementos everywhere in this house. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t look like an episode of Horders, but the bits and pieces are everywhere.

Happily, at least some of the photos are now digital. The wonderful thing about digital cameras is that the bad photos we take can be quickly deleted or just take up hard drive space. But we didn’t get a digital camera until 2009. Both of my children’s childhoods were recorded on film. Lots and lots of film. Many of those shots were put in carefully crafted photo albums that no one looks at. The rest, all those second copies, blurry photos, or the ones where someone blinked, currently reside in nine photo storage boxes.

I plan on going through the old photos to weed out enough to eliminate a box or two. I know, wishful thinking, but I must have goals! Meanwhile, in spite of what the book says, I have been dealing with mementos as I find them. Otherwise I would be a basket case. We aren’t talking about just vacation photos here. But, slowly but surely, things are getting sorted and weeded, even if I do ignore the infamous book’s advice at times!

I came late to reading. When all the other kids had graduated to chapter books I still sought out the big pictures books with their beautiful, colorful drawings. Then, finally, the summer between my 3rd and 4th grade year I found real books, books with hundreds of pages, and a life long love affair began.

While the city I live in was much more rural when I was a child, we still had a library, small though it was. The big city next door had lots of libraries, including its biggest one just 15 minutes from our home. Yet, in spite of this, we never, and I mean never, went to the library. I have no idea why. My mother loved to read. My Dad did too, if it was the right book and he had some free time.

When reading finally kicked into high gear for me my mother began taking me to the local thrift stores. The one we went to the most was in a former bowling ally and was quite large. It was called Value Village. My mom enjoyed looking around Value Village. I remember one time she found herself a house coat that was brand new and still had the tags on it. I don’t remember looking at anything but the books.

I remember Value Village having lots of tall shelves filled with books. Mom would let me buy several of my favorite books – Nancy Drew mysteries. They always seemed to have quite a few there. Sometimes I would pick up something else, like a Happy Hollisters book, but Nancy Drew was my favorite.

I still love going to thrift stores for books. You may find this ironic, but our local library has a room where the Friends of the Library group sells used books. I go the library all the time, but rarely to check out books. I go to check out the Friends used book room. I can usually find a book or two and a couple of magazines.  I just love it!

Same with the book section of my favorite thrift store over in the big city next door. I might cruise the aisles looking at everything, but I really love looking in the book section.

I did take my girls to the library when they were younger. We donate hundreds of books and magazines to our local library each year.  But I guess I still love the excitement of hunting through the shelves of old books, looking for something that seems interesting.  I will never lose my love of the thrift store library.

Youngest Daughter drives a classic first car – my old car. It is a 2000 Dodge Stratus.  It is made extra special by the fact that the front left fender is a dark silver, while the rest of the car is shiny silver. That is Youngest’s badge of honor from when she was hit by a drunk driver, way back less than two months after she got her driver’s license and the first time she drove herself anywhere after dark.  Hubby and I decided to fix the car at the time because we had seen what happens to cars in the parking lots of college campuses, and it isn’t pretty. Hubby went to a local wrecking yard to find a fender. His choices were purple or the darker silver color. He still says he should have gotten the purple one.

Her plan is to replace this beater car the SECOND she gets a new job.

Thursday, when she was being a road warrior, going all over Los Angles County meeting and greeting other engineers, one event Youngest attended was a mixer for folks who work in the theme park and entertainment business. The mixer was held at the historic and famous Roosevelt Hotel in the heart of Hollywood. Imagine her chagrin when she pulled up to the hotel and found that the only parking it had was valet parking. Not only was she not really happy for her wallet’s sake, but she was a bit embarrassed at having valets take care of her fine ride, two toned paint job and all.

Oh well, it was what it was and she handed over her good old Stratus with almost 200,000 miles on it to the same valet folks who have seen the likes of Brittany Spears and young Hollywood stars who like to hang at it’s night club.

When the evening was over and they brought Youngest’s car back around for her, she could help but quip to the valet who retrieved her car, “Smooth ride, right?” He replied, “It’s all good!”

Ah, that’s my girl! With parents like Hubby and me, I can’t imagine where she got that dry since of humor….

When you are pregnant with your first child, no one gives you a card at your shower that reads: “Congratulations! In addition to all the joy and happiness your new baby will bring, he or she will also come with an abundance of worry. Get used to it. Worry will now stalk you until the day you die. Much love and happiness!”

Yesterday was one of those days. Youngest Daughter was off to meet with an engineer at a local theme park and them to a networking event at a hotel in Hollywood.  Nothing like my child driving alone on LA freeways to give me heart palpitations. Oh, and she would be home late. That added a little extra slab of worry (because that is what worry feels like, a slab of something indigestible in my stomach.)

If anything could make me worry more than LA freeways it would be airplane flights. Oh, well, I had that, too! While Youngest was being a road warrior, Eldest Daughter was flying sky high, in an airplane that is. She was off to Salt Lake City to visit friends and go to  a Comic Con convention in that city.

So one on the road and one in the sky. Thank goodness I had a parks district board meeting to distract me last night.  Contemplating surveys and grant applications and all the things we have to deal with on a regular basis kept me going until 10:30. Then it was home, animals, tell hubby what happened at the meeting, snack, book, and bed.

I am happy to report that Youngest got home safely and Eldest got to Salt Lake City safely. I can stop worrying as much until Sunday night when Eldest gets back on the plane again.

I am starting this blog post at  5:28 a.m. All I can say is “Yuk!” I woke up about 4:30 with my back hurting. Usually when this happens and I can’t get comfortable I just roll over on my back and all is well. Not this morning. It hurt just as much in that position as any other. I got up, took some Advil, and went back to bed. I guess I was in some sleep deprived hopeful state as no OTC pain pill was going to kick in that quickly.

However, It did give me some time to contemplate why exactly my back was hurting. It wasn’t hurting when I went to bed…Then I remembered. I moved a chair. You know the old saying, “They don’t make them like they used to?” Well, in this instance, it is so true.

The chair in question is one we brought home from Mom-in-law’s house. I had a meeting at my house a couple of weeks ago and had to move the chair out of the living room. It dates from about 1960 and the foam that used to make the chair comfortable has turned hard, as foam will do after  55 years, apparently. I couldn’t keep it in the living room for the meeting because no one can sit in it at the moment.

It has been hanging out in the computer room, the smallest room in the house. I finally decided to move it back into the living room. If you squint, the sun is not shining, and you don’t try to sit in it, it looks OK. One of these days I will get it reupholstered. But right now, not at the top of the priority list.

Yesterday I enlisted Eldest daughter to help me move it back to the living room. Normally, I can move a chair by myself, either by lifting it or by scooting it. Not this one. It is very heavy. It doesn’t look that heavy, but it sure is. If I had scooted it, it would have scratched up the floors and there was no way I was going to pick it up and cart it around by myself. I guess they made very solid chairs back in 1960.

That is the only thing I can think of that messed up my back.   Whatever the case, after an hour of so the pain pills kicked in and I felt better. Maybe after the appraiser is done I will take a little nap. I think anyone who emptied a dishwasher at o-dark-hundred in the morning deserves a nap!

I felt so bad this morning, not giving the kittens any food or water and then stuffing them in the carrier and taking them to the vet office. It is all for good of course. Unwanted kittens and them in a constant state of hormonal uproar, trying to escape the house, getting in fights and such, wouldn’t be a good thing. But I still feel bad for the little tykes. They are my fur babies, after all!

To distract me I have a Parks District committee meeting this morning and then a mad afternoon trying to beat the house into submission because we have an appraiser coming in the morning as we are refinancing the house. Gosh, I think refinancing is worse that buying to begin with. One of the things they want is a letter explaining why I received unemployment over two years ago. Lets see, there was this Great Recession, see, and I was laid off, thus I was unemployed and eligible for unemployment…..

They don’t care that I am not earning a heck of a lot right now, just that I received unemployment at some point in the near past. Sigh…..

I hope you have a great day. You can think of me hustling about and then being reunited with the kittens between four and five. Lots of canned food and Temptations for them tonight (if they want them and the doctor says OK.)

I mentioned that on our Saturday shopping trip Yougest Daughter and I bought the kittens collars. This is how it went:

Nox: “Wait, what is that you are putting around my…neck. Oh you got it on. Whatever. What, you think I look cute? Of course I do! Allow me to pose so you can see my new neckware!”

Lumos: “What the he** are you trying to do, strangle me? I will use my claws if I have to to get you to stop trying to strangle me! There! I told you! Why are you picking me up and handing me to the other lady? Wait, this isn’t fair! Two against one! AHHHH…WHAT IS AROUND MY NECK!!!!! MUST GET IT OFF!!!!

Thank goodness they set me down so I can deal with this problem. Oh no! My brother is being strangled, too! I must go check this out. Maybe if I bite the thing around his neck he will be set free! Forget it, he is just laying there. If he is willing to die in such a passive manner, so be it. I must save myself!

Oh look, a ball with a bell is being dangled in front of me. I can ignore this thing around my neck for a moment while I pounce on the ball. The ball has stopped dancing, back to getting this thing off my neck. Gayk! Now my jaw is trapped under it! Don’t pick me up! I have a huge problem here! Oh, you got the neck thing off my jaw. I would say thank you but it is all your fault anyway. You say I look cute? I don’t care. I AM BEING STRANGLED!”

I think this pretty much sums up the difference in personalities between the two kittens. Nox is more go with the flow, Lumos much more skittish and reactionary. I am happy to report that both kitten seem to be used to their collars now.

The main reason for the collars is that the kittens are getting more and more opportunities to get out and explore the rest of the house. The little bells on the collars are needed so we can find them when we need to. You don’t realize how many little hiding places your house has until you get kittens!

I am feeling so darn productive today! It isn’t so much how much I have done but what I have done. A free shredding event was happening at the mall in the big city next door. I got my act together and took the two boxes and a bag of papers I recently cleaned out in my tidying up frenzy. It was way too much to shred here at home, one sheet at a time so it was just cluttering up the floor, waiting for a miracle, or a free shredding event. I even got to keep my boxes, so now I can get the pile in my bedroom floor cleaned up.  Yay!

Meanwhile, Hubby has spent  the day at a Thunderbird car show, making contacts and finding out the best way to sell an all original, low mileage 1962 T-bird.   He says he even got a goody bag. I love goody bags!

While we were out on the other side of town dumping off the papers to be shredded, Youngest Daughter and I did a little shopping as well. We picked up collars for the kittens and some cat nip, too. As we let the kittens explore more and more of the house, we need something to help us find Nox in particular, as he and his black fur blend into any shadow he can find. HE is getting a shiny gold collar. Lumos gets a shiny stripped one.

I am hoping the catnip will make the new scratching post we bought them more appealing. They love their original scratching post, but their new one, not so much. Lumos in particular has begun scratching at everything, even elbowing the new scratching post aside so he can scratch at the mattress. Keep in mind that the cat tree is one giant carpet covered scratching post as well. I am hoping the catnip will make the new scratching post more appealing than my mattress.

I am also excited because I just bought the whole family tickets to go to the Halloween party at Disneyland in two weeks. We have a Disney credit card so I was able to use Disney points. No money out of my pocket makes it even better! I have heard it is loads of fun so I can’t wait!.   I will tell you all about it after we go.

Well, I better go take advantage of the empty boxes and clean the pile of junk out of my bedroom. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

We have all known elderly people who stop watching what is on television now and instead entertain themselves with  old TV shows and movies. They are so cute and quaint in their viewing habits, revisiting those shows they liked in their younger years. They are also so completely out of it when it comes to current culture.

I realized yesterday that is very soon going to be me. I looked at the list of new TV shows coming this fall. After eliminating all shows on cable stations we don’t get, I found exactly one, yes one, that even looks appealing, and this one is only barely above 50% on the appeal scale. I didn’t realize that elderly television watching habits started at 53. Soon I won’t know who the latest Ryan Seacreast is. I will never be able to do another People magazine  crossword puzzle because I will won’t know the names of any  actors under the age of 50. (Who am I kidding, I am already there on that one!) Slowly all the shows I watch will be canceled and I will be left watching PBS and reruns to entertain me in the evenings. And I say …sigh…