New Page-------New day

Kids still have old fashion birthday parties. I am staying at a B&B. That also does venues. Kids are streaming in for a soccer theme birthday party. The boys are so scrubbed ,they are carrying wrapped presents and they look very serious. I guess when you are 8 and you go to a planned party, it can be a little intimidating when it's not in a home.
But, it's good to see these kids. I hope they behave themselves. The parents are counting on it when they drop them at the front door.Oh boy, now the girls are coming and they look CUTE. A mixed party. I didn't know 8 year olds did this.
This brings back such nice memories of our kids having parties. I liked it better when we went to a fire station or a Playland. Coward that I am, a party outside of our house, sounded pretty good and not so messy.
The pony rides were a favorite. This party is planned, decorated and orchestrated, but the kids will have a great time. if I were not going to a wedding, I'd stick around for the cake.
It's never too late to get misty eyed when you see these little kids and realize that you are here to see your Grandson get married. Now that is a rite of passage

I will post later. I am at Grandson's wedding. I am waiting to be picked up at 6 AM to do a 10 K with my daughter from Colorado and 2 grandsons. Oy Vey, what did I get myself in for. see you in a couple of hours.

Not left overs but right overs. I was reading Jamie Geller's Blog, and really, I think my Blog is better. But she was talking about left overs and I can sympathize. It is hard to cook for two and we some times have left overs that can get two or three lives. Then too, the left overs can be so much better than the original that you say that it's too bad that you can never have these exact left overs again so you make this dish fresh.
But she used the expression right overs. That's so much more positive than saying left overs. I'd be happy to say that I made extra of a meal, just so I could have right overs. Left overs are not my favorite meal. But they are a fact of life in this house. I just have no respect for left overs. But right overs might make me more receptive to eating basically the same dish, two or three nights in a row. I guess that is where chicken croquets got their beginnings and chili one day followed by chili mac the next. I did this for years. The kids never caught on. (You can hide left over meat loaf in that chili, too.)
I will train myself to think of my left overs as right overs. I have them so I just as soon make them a positive. It's never too late to pick up gems of wisdom anywhere I can and I thank Jaime Geller 's Joy of Kosher for the thought.

I feel validated. I do feel left out when my friends take out their smarter phones and do all kinds of things with their fingers. I feel like an outsider. Like a poor relative. I must want what they have or why do I spend so much time coveting their smarter phone. Is it false pride that makes me not just go out and buy a damn phone that is smarter than I am. But, I have been validated by the internet. I looked up, via Google, "what phone should a person who is not high tech buy". Yes, there is a site for that question. I found that someone like me, who doesn't play games,doesn't do much more than emails and google, doesn't use a camera, really doesn't need a phone that does more than mine does. Call in, call out. No texting, no nothing. If that person has an iPad, that and a stupid phone is all that they need. I do have an iPad. I needed someone in Google-land to tell me this. I feel as if a burden has been lifted from me. No moe phone envy for me. I have the final word from someone whose advice I will follow. Until the next time that I get the urge to buy another phone.
It's never too late ,to always, with a little too much time on your hands, find the answer that you want to a question .

In my readings I found this statement: maximize the precious time we have in our body. That makes me want to take better care of myself. Like why did I eat that pastry from that wonderful new French bakery that recently opened up here in Paradise. I guess I would have to answer," because I wanted it". Considering that I will soon be 80, I had better get on board with the precious time concept.
I always liked the idea of being pregnant because I was literally eating for two. And the clothes were so roomy. Luckily, back in the days of my pregnancy, the know it all OB's kept you at a 20 lb weight gain. Now I understand that some women gain almost twice that . Since I have no intention of getting pregnant, I will have to use moderation to keep within the maximizing limit of my body. I wonder if I were taller, could I eat more. There would be more of me to fill.
I do take pretty good care of my body. I look to my parents for an idea of what may happen to my health. My father never went to a doctor until the week that he died. And I think he would have lived longer if he hadn't . He was 71. I have passed that landmark. My mother enjoyed poor health until she died in her 90's. She had a laundry list of complaints and enjoyed every one of them. Fully. She took a blue pill and a red pill and multi colored pills. She always said that she contributed to the addition that her doctor put on his N.O. house. She said that with pride.
Well I am going to enjoy the precious time that I have left by doing a lot of the things that I want to do. Being 80 gives me some slack, I'm just realizing. I have an upstairs neighbor who is 16. When I answered her as to my age, she gasped. She didn't know anyone could be this old and still do whatever I do. Lucky me. It's never too late to appreciate that I am here, I am doing and I am enjoying. Go me.

Over the summer, several flights of Olim have made Aliyah. And the same old questions are again being posted on the Nefesh B Nefesh group emails. Again with the light bulbs. Again with banking, which scares me and again with Credit Cards and mailing addresses and unlocking phones. I guess the new Olim aren't as obsessed with reading the daily updates as I am and they ask the same questions over and over again. Maybe they think the answer will change.
The question isn't how many new people does it take to change a light bulb, but will the light bulb fit or cause a short. The next time I go to Israel, I am going to check light bulbs. Usually when I travel, I go to a grocery store and check out the price of dog food. It's a game I do. Now I have a new international game. Light bulbs. How different can they be. I'll have to pay more attention.
Then there is banking. Much more serious. Some one is traveling with $10,000.00 cash and wants to know if they should put it in a bank or a Schwab account. That is 37,500.00 shekels. Easy. Spend it and it won't be a problem. That's a lot of money to advertise. He should be more careful.
And telephones. I have a Kosher phone, which I refer to as a stpid phone. It doesn't do anything. I would use it more if it was smarter, I am just too thrifty to hook up with a carrier, so I buy minutes. My 100 minutes can last 6 months. I don't call anyone and no one expects an answer from me when they call my cell phone number. That's $25 well spent.I'm reconsidering though. There is so much that the smart phones can do.But I would probably have to have a companion with me to help me figure it out. They do seem like more fun than my phone. I'll think about it.
I still have fun reading the updates. Yesterday, I found a posting from a rental agency. I contacted them and they are looking for a short term rental apartment for me , in Jerusalem,that has no stairs, is walking distance to a market, and might be pet friendly. Money did not come up. Maybe it is free.
It's never too late to read for enjoyment. One day, I might be the one writing the same old question of how to change an American light bulb in an Israeli lamp. Very carefully, I guess.

I have been told by the same person that I accuse of snoring that I ,too, snore. I believe it ,because I catch just a sound of the snore before I jerk myself up. But that's OK. It happens. My bedmate doesn't usually wake me with his snoring. It's not that loud. There is a third party on our bed who does snores and that is Cricket . She has one of those smushed ,short noses and that contributes to some heavy snoring. You hear this rhythmic sound and you are not sure where it is coming from. it's Cricket. I've told her it's not lady like, but she doesn't seem to care. I have been known to gently push her so she changes position,but when she is in a dead sleep, nothing moves her. Which brings me to this question. How can a dog sleep so many hours. And so soundly. She naps after her breakfast, she naps when we are sitting around, reading, she naps when we do ,after lunch,she naps after her nap and, she sleeps a solid 8 hours at night. She'll do great on a long flight to Israel. She is in training for it. She does listen for intruders and has been known to act as our door bell. And she does wake up when I open the fridge door.
As I am writing this, she has gone back to sleep. I don't want to go back to sleep, but her life convinces me that I have to be sure and make arrangements to come back in my after life as a well loved pet. It's never too late to look around and see which family appeals to me.

I cleaned and organized my closet yesterday. I vacuumed the base boards and even vacuumed under the dresser that we have in the walk in closet. I don't remember the last time I did that. I am trying to do the "if you haven't worn it in a year thing". That is so hard. What if I need that wool sweater that I haven't worn in 5 years. Would anyone else in Florida even want it ? Some of my clothes just don't wear out. I can't let that stop me from exorcising my clothes.
I have a collection of back packs . Why? I found one that I didn't know or remember buying. I can't give it away. It must mean something to me. I did find a bag of mementos from Israel. That was a good find. Bob enjoyed looking at them and asking me about it. I found a business card from a restaurant in Israel. I must have enjoyed the meal if I had their card. I googled the address and it was no longer there. Oh well. Happens to restaurants here, too.
I am arranging my closets in preparation for anyone who wants to rent my unit for a month. How much space do you think they will need ? Half a closet, the whole closet. Do I leave the ironing board in the closet ? Do they want to use Bob's yoga mat ?
I really like cleaning when you can see the results. My closet will look good for about 10 days. Then those closet gremlins will join forces and attack. Shoes will mysteriously jump ship and find another mate, the color coordinated organization will go color blind. I expect this. It is never too late to know that I can't expect me to keep this up. I will fall into my old ways and by the time someone says that they want to stay here for a month, I'll have to purge the closet again. Bring it on. As long as I can rebuy the stuff at Good Will ,later.

I had two two thoughts as I woke up this Saturday morning at 5:30. The first was,"why can't I sleep past 5:30?". and the second was is how I use to "see" our old cottage when I think of pleasant memories and now I have moved away from that.
I don't understand why I can't sleep later. It's a rest day. Cricket is at the foot of the bed, sleeping. Bob is making coffee. Maybe it's his fault. How can I sleep when the coffee smells so good. There was a time when on Saturday morning, I'd get up this early to meet my running buddies for our run and breakfast. Now I am up, but I'm not going any place. I like just sipping my coffee and waiting for the sun to come up. I guess it's worth getting up this early to have the time to do this.
About my memory of our cottage. It seems so long ago . My vision is fading and being replaced with this paradise. I see the green landscaping around me, the blue sky, and I don't need to see anything else. I do confess that a touch of the coolness of a Michigan morning might be nice right about now.
I suspect my thoughts are a little bit at our old cottage because Labor Day is coming up. That was always a family occasion. Raft to bring in, canoe, row boat and paddle boat to drag up and store. The more kids visiting the easier to do these things. I remember the togetherness, but not the work of closing up. Together is good. I'll dwell on that awhile while I sip my coffee. It's never too late to have some of the memories and fill in with the new ones, here in Paradise.

Many of you know that I attend a support group that meets once a week. I can't write about what we talk about but it has been so helpful. There are people who have been in the group several years. They are very helpful. Some are martyrs. Some are funny. I wish I had known some of them before they found their way to this group. Some discussions are very dark. Some discussions validate my experiences and thoughts.
Being with this group made me think of the different "groups" that I am a part of. I have my friends group, that give me my family of choice. My congregation group that meets my spiritual needs. My music group that tolerates my beginner status .I have a knitting group where we rip and knit, talk and knit, talk and don't knit, meet and don't meet. I have a small group of friends who we take turns cooking dinner for, so we can get together, but not stress over the planning part. I even have a book group where I have to actually read something other than a cook book. I have a small group of dog friends. This is mostly for Cricket, but she included me.
I really appreciate these different groups. It has enlarged my life.
It has made me aware that we are all so multifaceted, that I need these "groups" to be a whole person. I wouldn't be happy just being single focused. This is part of my reinvention. It's never too late to keep being open to new groups, my special old groups and to groups that I don't even want to be in.

I had been meaning to clean the freezer. Really. However, I didn't mean to do it as I was preparing dinner. Tonight. We buy a lot of our favorite coffee, from our favorite shop, in Chicago, whenever it goes on sale. No matter how careful we are, some of the ground coffee manages to come out of the bags. And it falls to the bottom of the freezer. It just doesn't look good.
I had a large watermelon. I don't know why I bought such a large melon. It didn't look that large in the store. And it was more than we could eat or store. So, I decided to make watermelon ice. I thought that I could put the melon in the Ninja, then pour the mix into a plastic container and put it in the freezer. Then every hour or so, I would stir it around until I had a icy concoction. This would have worked except, I didn't realize that the top wasn't quite on when I placed it in the freezer. After a few minutes in the freezer, I happened to look over at the fridge. It was leaking red liquid. All over the floor. What a mess. I had to struggle the whole bottom shelf of the freezer out from a space that had a wall on one side. I also noticed, as I was lying on my stomach trying to get all of the watermelon juice up from under the fridge, that the coils needed vacuuming. So Bob did that while I rinsed the mop and rags that I had used. We now have the cleanest under the fridge space, the cleanest floor and cleanest bottom of freezer ,in our development. It feels good.
It's never too late to put off a messy job until actually forced to do it. Who is in a hurry. I'm retired, remember.

I am taking a few days off. I haven't practiced my violin. I haven't vacuumed. I haven't had any great thoughts. I a giving my head a rest in preparation for the New Year. I am emptying it so I can fill it up again. It's working. I haven't a thought in my head. Now to be selective about what I want to refill it with.
I would like to leave politics out of it. I am too disappointed with the people that I thought better of. World peace isn't happening. I'm getting dissolution about this, too. I'd like to fill my head with good thoughts. Is this possible ? It would probably be boring.
I have little control over what thoughts come into my head. Some have to be discarded, immediately. Too impractical. To expensive. Too selfish.
I could just let what ever thought that wants to enter my head, go for it. It's never too late to be open to brain smacks.

I need the mailing address of a couple who winter here in Venice. I went to the internet and found so much more than that on this couple. Now this is scary.I didn't pursue looking for anymore info, but I could, for a fee get a police report, the value of their home. Anything. Now this is scary. There is no more such thing as privacy, or being a private person.
There is not too much to know about me, I'll tell all if anyone asks. But it is a little disconcerting to know that an electronic device knows so much about me. I am assuming that I have a profile on the internet. Somewhere.Wouldn't that be a hoot if I wasn't visible enough to even have a mention somewhere on the internet.
I did look me up ,once. I was listed in a running event in Steamboat, Springs, CO. I think I won in my age division. Of course, there was no one else in it. A win is a win. I hope that I get more notice than being the oldest competitor in a running event.
I now have the mailing address of this couple.
Won't they be surprised when they get a note from me. What if it isn't them, though. That might be embarrassing. I better not write anything too revealing. Why not ? They will be able to look me up and see that I won a race in the 70 to 75 year old division of a small race in a mountain town in Colorado. Not too exciting, for anyone but me.
It's never too late to be amazed by what you can learn on a Google search. Not only Santa, but everyone can know if you have been naughty or nice.

Hair envy never goes away. I was sitting around the table with grown woman ,all of us in our "declining years". Certainly old enough to be secure in our own skins. Conversation "...I love your straight hair. I always wanted straight hair. I love your curly hair. I always wanted curly hair. I ironed my hair when I was younger . I slept in frozen orange juice cans when I was in college so my hair would be curly." Who would know ,on the surface, that these achieving women, would have hair envy.
I solved that problem by getting a perm. Now I have it both ways. I guess I am the lucky one, here. Honestly, I like being able to go with whatever whim I have in regards to my hair. I can't do much about the shape of my face, my eye lids, the fading freckles or the old lady wrinkles, but hair is controllable. For a price. I rationalize this by telling my credit card that I don't smoke, I don't drink ,to speak of, I shop resale shops, so hair is something I can do. If I want to. And right now, I want to.
I don't think that I have heard men sitting around the table talking about their straight hair or their unruly curls. Even bald men don't dwell on their hair loss, I don't think. I know more men who are bald than who have hair, so bald is the norm to me. Even my youngest child is having more forehead than he used to. Happens.
It's never too late to know that we all have some "envies". Some are funny and we can work around them. The serious ones ? I can give you the name of a really good psychologist.

I hate being so manipulative, but I am doing it for a good cause. Me. Bob has never been sold on going to Israel. He loves it here in our development. But he also never wants to go any where. So that is not a surprise. But going to Israel, even on a fact finding trip ,to see if I really want to go, is important to me. So I introduced him to You Tube. We watch video's of walking tours of Israel, the foods of Israel,the 10 best tourist attractions, of Olim getting off of the plane in Tel Aviv with Nefesh B Nefesh , etc. It's exciting and the video's make you want to be there. So we are going for a visit.
I also used the computer to look for vacation apartments in Tel Aviv. This is cool, too . I can see photo's of the apartments, see how they are furnished,check out the kitchens, see if the bathroom looks OK. Some of the pictures have bedrooms with unmade beds. Who would post a picture like that when you want to rent your apartment? That's a red flag for me.
I also put some feelers out to a few snow birds that Cricket has made friends with. I'll let them "sit" my condo for a fee for the month that I want to be gone. That is my attempt to justify the expense of the Israeli apartment. I even have a form of insurance that will fly us back if we need medical evacuation . I am trying to think of everything so that we can have a wonderful adventure. I have the word out for a guide that a friend used when he took his 90 year old Dad to Israel. Have I left anything out? Cricket ! She doesn't come with our condo. She comes with us.
I have her travel case back. I lent it to a friend for her cat. I wonder if Cricket will realize that another species of animal was in her traveling home. Probably not, since she has never taken ownership of this case. Israel is very pet friendly , so she may come. I haven't thought her through yet. A month without her is too long . She may have to come along. I will absolutely have to learn how to say "no barking" in Hebrew.
I think I have thought of everything. I decided that this trip will be my birthday present to me. It's never too late to be good to yourself . I'm worth it.

I have a difficult time opening jars,or pill bottles, or things sealed in plastic wraps. The worse are the jars that have lids too large for my hand. I have been known to use my teeth on plastic wraps. But that is not a great idea. Last night at services, I saw a grown man try to unwrap a package of mints. First he tried his finger nail to break the seal. Then he tried poking the plastic to try and tear the wrap. Finally he took out a pocket knife and tore into the package. I'm glad he didn't shot it.
I just got a container of antibiotics for an infection that I have in a tooth. The seal says childproof, which in our house, is not a problem. The cap is impossible. Push down and turn. It's like pat your head and rub your stomach. Some people can and some of us can't. I took a deep breath and I did as I was told. It did open, but I didn't snap it back on when I put the pills in the medicine chest. If I have to take these pills every 6 hours, I am not going to go through this every time. If a child should wander into my bathroom, I will put the lid back on.
Large jars are a problem, too. I have tried knocking around the seal. Gently tapping the top on the tile floor, buying a rubber gizmo that gives you some traction and running the lid under hot water. I have even used pliers, if the size is right. Pliers work, but I have a fool proof way now. I take a can opener and I pry the lid off. Works every time. However, the lid is never the same.
There have been frustrating attempts to open lids, when I threaten to bring the product back to the store and let the manager open it for me.
I must really want to get into that jar if I have to resort to that.
It's never too late to know that other adults have the same lid opening problem. It's just another conspiracy against us . And we know who we are.