Rhyme and Reason from my Empty Nest

                                                                             What happens when your dream vacation doesn't end up to be a dream after all? With  all that planning,   all that packing, all that traveling to get to your destination.   All those shekels saved and arrangements made. Time to set up care for your dog. Buy fresh litter for the cat. Someone to water the plants. Someone to get the mail. You arrive ready to relax and revive. You're ready to dive into a cool pool or into a new adventure. What happens if the pool is closed for maintenance and the tickets for your grand excursion are now sold out! Is the prized vacation a wash out or now an opportunity to redirect expectations? We in America do not often enough take mini vacations throughout our days. We p...

                                                                                                                                              It's that time again. Time to assess. Time to analyze where best to invest - our time, our money, our energy, our heart in this new year. This requires true evaluation. This can lead to real inspiration. This could foster our needed motivation. We're better off if it does. We're already into the second week of this New Year. Can you believe it? Hopefully we haven't already lost our motivation. How's it going so far for you? My "word" for 2024 was joy. My goal was to choose joy in the midst of all li...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       I am sitting at my desk on Giving Tuesday composing this post and questioning ...

                                                                          Today is a big day for all of us. W e get to cast at last.  We've been watching and waiting and watching some more. Too many ads ad  nauseam. We are excited to get this behind us. That is something we can all agree on!  Are any of you going to join me to stay up all night watching the election results? I typically do random acts like organize closets or roll coins. It helps to pass the time and calm my nerves. This may be why you have time to read my blog right now. Are you passing time... reading while pacing and praying?  I'm hoping to get some sense of the results before I lay down my weary head. One can hope. Foolish I know.  Will my one vote make a difference? Truly? A single vote has made an altering d...

                                                                  Apartment #3401  For now, we call it home. Home Sweet Home. Apartment Sweet Apartment. I've found apartment living to be not so bad after all. After all, good things do come in small packages.   Four months ago, I wouldn't have predicted this positive response. Today, I can truly proclaim some of the benefits of apartment living. A big 'ole house is great but a simple 2-bedroom apartment has its merit as well.  No one in their right mind would choose to move 2x in 4 months. Right?   Ideally you would move directly from one address into another.  That's what we used to think. We couldn't so we didn't. Now we're glad we didn't. 😊😊  Packing and moving a large home of 24 years was exhausting and back-breaking. My aching back needed ...

                                                                        We have this dog.  This said dog is crazy. He's an old man at 12 years of age but acts more like a child. A spoiled child. This could be because we spoil him. More often it's my husband doing the spoiling but you didn't hear that from me.  He's cute as can be. I'm talking about my dog! Good for him. Cuteness is his most redeeming quality. His cuteness helped him rise to the position of the resident family favorite. No one is more loved in our family than our family member with paws. Everyone and everything are worthy of love - including our Murphy - but do we ever take it to the extreme? Yes, sometimes even oftentimes. Has our life gone to the dogs?! When we pause to ponder...Do we give more love and attention to our resident pet...

                                                                                                                                                                           I can't mince words. Nothing unusual there. I've gotta be real even if this one gets me into trouble. This one sits closer to home. Actually, it sits right next to me on the couch. It was a challenge. It wasn't easy. This was a test graded by pass or fail. I think we passed. At least we did for the first grading period. We passed by passing the half-way point in our arduous moving adventure. It's ...