Mid-winter Treat

My, my, my, what a difference a day or two make. Today, January 29th, I dragged a big old wicker chair out of storage, bashed winter's dust out of the pillows, poured a hefty glass of chilled Sancerre and sat out in the sunshine, in a t-shirt, pretending it was May. (Okay, so I've got a way's to go with New Years Resolution Number 3 - live in THIS moment - which happens to be in January and not May). It sure felt like May. I got a sunburn on my chest, Nigel was panting up a storm like he does in summer, the birds were loud and busy! It was such a treat, hours of sunlit warmth after the cold recently and I, for one, am so very grateful for it. . . .

Being sensible is overrated

Tomorrow morning Charles and I are going to test drive one of these babies! I'm excited but nervous too. Not sure it's a great decision to purchase a car with only 2 seats (Although, thinking about it, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've had anyone in the backseat of my Element). He says I might as well be driving on the interstate on a scooter and is more nervous about the safety issues. He may have a point but I should would hate to have my life ended before I've had the chance to drive one of these for a summer. Besides, I'll be super careful - I promised. That's it for today - I'll let you know how it goes - have a stellar Thursday!

Is It Spring Yet?

It is cold. Still. Look, I know it's only mid-January but this is Tennessee - shouldn't there be birdsong and sunshine most of the year round?  I wouldn't be so conscious of weather if I didn't spend a good portion of  almost everyday outside (I own a pet-sitting company and walk dogs all day). Last summer was pretty hot, even by TN standards - we had longer stretches than usual in the upper nineties with humidity so bad that within twenty minutes outside, sweat would be running down my back and the backside of my legs.  I could not wait for cold weather! I said I wouldn't complain. I took notice of how that sticky heat made me feel and vowed to remember that feeling and to conjure it when I felt a complaint about winter's temperatures coming on. Wouldn't you know it - after an unusually hot summer, it's been an unusually cold and, worse, SNOWY, winter!! We seem to have one snowstorm after another after another. Granted this is not snow like they suffer in upstate New York or Chicago - it 3 to 5 inches one week, 2 inches the next. But still, it gets old, especially on day two when it's been trodden down and the town streets and sidewalks have frozen into an ice rink overnight.  I've only slipped and fallen once and nothing was broken but . . . .

Despite my frustration with the winter, I AM an optimist and this is my Diary, so here's what I've noticed lately. . . . on my way to my bootcamp class at 5.20am each morning I can see the sky is lighter than it has been for a long while - it won't be long before the sun and I are rising at the same time. Yesterday, walking a dog in Sylvan Park, I saw buds beginning to form on the bare branches of what I seem to remember from last year is a Dogwood tree! I actually smiled a big grinning smile and stopped and looked at it! Then, on returning home, I saw the tree out front of my house also has buds! Today there were thousands of birds everywhere I went. Thousands of them, grouped by type - Robins and Starlings - on front lawns, in parks, on golf courses, in the trees in the neighborhoods where I walked - it must be some phenomenon heralding the imminence of Springtime - they were loud and busy and I was happy to see them back.

Seasons come and seasons go. We are pretty fortunate to live in Tennessee where, just when you think you can't stand it anymore, things change! I certainly don't want to wish my life away and I will endeavor to do better at appreciating the season I'm in but I must say - I'M READY FOR SPRING!!!

Friends make the world go round . . . .

I just wanted to write a few notes about my amazing, wonderful girlfriends. I have more than my share and, for that, I am so grateful. I've heard people say that it gets harder to make friends as you get older but that has not been my experience. I think it has to do with being more happy with who I am now and not being afraid to be me, showing all my cards, all my weirdness and, in effect, just saying "this is it . . .take it or leave it. . . " Plus I don't have children and other women my age are starting to be child-free now the kids have all gone to college, so they have time to devote to friendship 'stuff'. All my girls are smart, funny and caring. Some are hysterically funny! There are a couple who I can tell ANYTHING to and I know they won't judge me and what I say won't be repeated - that is such a gift because, trust me, I have issues.

Some of my friends are bootcamp buddies - there's something about sweating together at 5am that just bonds you together. I LOVE these women. We are a diverse group; moms, non-moms, conservative, liberal, young, older, runners, walkers, funny and even funnier! We started meeting for breakfast once a month and I find myself wanting them in my life more often than that. I've convinced Karen to meet twice a month for a glass or two of wine and I love our 'belly-up-to-the-bar' sessions! It's total therapy. . . .
The latest is we have all signed up to do the Music City Half Marathon in April and a Warrior Dash, a run through fire, mud and all manner of obstacles, in September.

I believe, as you age, girlfriends become even more important and valuable to each other. I cannot put into words how I treasure the women in my life. I look forward to our futures, to sharing the good times and the sad ones, to holding each other up and carrying each other when it's needed, to celebrating the joys and the victories we experience together . . . .

summertime dreaming . . . .

Last night we booked a beach house on Folly Beach in South Carolina! Every December and January I get to dreaming about the trips we might make the following year. Last year we went on a hiking trip in a remote and high region of Spain. This year we want to do two things . . . . a beach trip and a stay at Kripalu (a yoga retreat center in Lenox, MA)  I used to live in Charleston, Charles and I got married on an island there and two summers ago we spent a few days in Charleston, during which trip, I drove Charles out to Folly Beach as he'd not been there. Unlike a lot of the beach areas in Charleston which have been developed to within an inch of their lives, Folly has been protected. I guess a more accurate description is that, for a long time, it was ignored. Consequently all the old cottages are still there, some pretty run down, others renovated. The 'downtown' has casual, beachy taco joints, bars and coffee shops where you are welcome in flip flops & shorts. Local councils have realized what a mellow, relaxed, laid back island they have and are doing their utmost to keep it that way. I had seen a cute, dog friendly cottage a few blocks from the pier several weeks ago, but continued looking. Nothing looked as cute so last night I spoke with the owner and rented it! It's a days drive there and a days drive back (and we need to drive because we are taking Nigel with us!) so we've rented it for 5 days in May.  Yay! Today is frigidly cold and damp and, several times while walking dogs out there, I imagined us on the hammock in that warm Carolina sunshine! Mmmm . . . that's going to get me through the next couple of winter months!

Wet dog fun

This morning Charles and I decided to give Nigel a bath. It's been many, many months since this last occurred and during last weeks snowstorm, with Nigel playing out in it, we realized he was far from his natural white color!  We called him 'buff'!
Nigel HATES baths. Which is hard to understand because, walk by a lake or along a river bank, and he launches himself with the utmost excitement into the depths and will happily play there for hours. There's a whole prep list to be worked through sereptitiously before the lathering can begin. Being a small dog we can bathe him in our kitchen sink. First we have to remove all dishes, the dish drainer and any item on the counter around the area. We have to make sure we have towels and the dog shampoo to hand. Despite this being a totally irregular occurence, using his uncanny dog-knowing, Nigel often can tell what we are preparing for so, if he wanders into the kitchen, we commence whistling and do something else, something more normal like emptying the dishwasher or drinking a swig of milk from the milk carton, closing the fridge and going to sit with the newspaper on the couch.

Eventually we make our move, grab him and deposit him in the sink. We have gotten very adept and swift at bathing him because it is heartbreaking to watch and listen to. He cries and whines and shakes violently the whole time he is in the bathing process. . . it's so pitiful, it's kinda funny! But within 6 or 7 minutes it's all over and he is wrapped in the biggest and fluffiest of towels, is being hand-fed liver treats and coddled like a prince. The funniest part is once he extricates himself from said towel. He will crouch low and slide his face along the carpet, first the right side, then the left, over and over and over again! It is almost manic behavior and he continues in this crazy manner, no matter what we do to get him to calm down. I guess it's a natural canine action but I've never asked anyone else if their dog does it.
Anyway, the Big Bath Day is over for another few months, barring an encounter with a skunk or the discovery of something dead that smells just too good not to roll in. Nigel, for one, is glad it's over - all that excitement is just too much and he is asleep in front of the fire . . .

1/1/11 A New Start

So, here we are, the first morning on the first day of a new year. I'm on my couch, under a blanket, my beautiful Jack Russell Terrier snoring away next to me! I was recently speaking to someone and made an optimistic comment, as I'm apt to do often, and they shook their head and asked if I was always so positive, like it was an awful trait!  I'll be the first to admit I am mostly a happy, joy-filled woman and I guess that can rub certain people the wrong way, especially people who are mired in negativity and self-pity. Trust me, I have my moments of cursing the idiot who just cut me off on the interstate and wishing bad things would happen to mean people. But on the whole, I am so grateful for my life, my health and the people in it and thought I'd try and write a couple of lines a day about the good stuff that's around me. Who knows, maybe it'll rub off on a mean person! Ha Ha!