Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Welcome Home



I get the best greeting when I get home. One, two or three of the dogs will be at the gate. I get the full on welcome. Then they run inside to be right at the door when I walk in. It is just the best welcome anyone could ever wish for and I get it daily, often several times within a day.

The snow is supposed to be coming in every second. I think there are a few flakes falling now. It should be gone - washed away by the rain - by morning, so I am going to stay up as long as I can. Tomorrow is my last day of work before we head to San Francisco, so I don't need to be that alert. They will understand.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

And Now For Something Completely Different

There isn't any smooth way of returning to a blog after putting it on hold for months and months. It was an interesting little bit of time, however. Our son has moved on and is now living with his girlfriend and several other roommates, our nephews/de facto sons have been on various adventures most of which aren't legal and are possibly part of the roommate situation I just mentioned. Our chickens either flew off to their freedom or were killed by a predator. I think I know which one, but I know which one I'd rather believe. Two of our three dogs are now old enough to have serious problems with joints, arthritis and injuries. So am I. After working towards slowly getting healthier, I became overwhelmed by life and used that as an excuse for not being diligent when it comes to walking/exercise/food. I feel the difference. I really feel the difference.

But all is not heartbreak and misery. Oh no. Papa Seed and I have been able to get out and about now and then. We've done adult things, like stay up late and go to clubs to hear music and order cocktails in a bar on Christmas Eve and sit in a living room and read all night. Right now he is painting the former bedroom of Mancub as he begins turning it into a home office. We will be flying off to San Francisco in a few days to celebrate my 52nd year on the planet and to reconnect with friends I haven't seen in years - 33 years, 16 years, 8 years and one year for instance. We got busy. Time happens. I'm rectifying it finally. It is never too late for it to be today.

And while I'm not doing "Resolutions", I am all about new goals and adventures. I'm also all about the new amazon.com tote bag option. Find what you want and put it in the tote and it gets delivered once a week - no shipping, no handling, no fuss. They don't deliver to our home, but they do deliver to my work. I know this because I have experienced this for three weeks in a row now.



I've decided that, always late to a fad, I'd make this next year the year I learn how to make cocktails. I'm really not that big of a drinker, but there is always time to make that change. I guess the fancy cocktails either were or are trendy, depending on how au currant the source. I bought a couple of books to guide me on this new path. A journey of rum and whiskey, on the rocks.

I've never watched an entire episode of "The Biggest Loser". I watched a few minutes one season and it seemed humiliating. But the exercise DVDs are supposed to be pretty decent for bigger folks. I need something like that. I have a couple already - including what I call the fat person's yoga DVD. Even those are difficult for me. I have to use those exercise bands, thus that featured item in my shopping pleasure photograph.

And while we have 100's of cookbooks already, including many vegan and vegetarian ones (not bad for a couple of omnivores), I wanted to combine my love of Latin American food with my 2011 goal of eating something like 60% vegan, 20% vegetarian and 20% omnivore. That is a goal. It is not a label and I might not hit it and that is okay.



Although I have a library of unwatched DVDs and Blu-rays, I also can't resist a good bargain when Marlon Brando and the Marx Brothers are concerned, so I added a little something that will hopefully inspire me on an "art project" that I'll hopefully be posting about in the next year as well. Intriguing? Stay tuned.