A New Decade

It has been so long since I have posted a blog entry that I forgot my password. Hey Silly, it's the same password as your e-mail. DUH! I will confess. I have become a facebook junkie, and most of the friends I have met through this blog follow facebook. And let's face it, life is boring and I didn't think anyone was too interested anymore. But I am home sick today and it's a new year so I am tying up some lose ends. Ok, I'm not so sick that I couldn't go to work, but I have a killer sinus headache from this weather, and I work at a major university during winter break where there are no students or professors so it's really boring. Also, I started working out with my daughter, and my quads are killing me. So I thought, ahhh, take another day off past the New Year's 3-day weekend and soak in a hot tub, fill up on Advil, drink hot tea and curl up in bed. And if you check out weather chick over there (look to right column), it's 3 degrees with a wind chill of NINETEEN BELOW ZERO. Come on, folks, stay home with me.

I just finished getting rid of Guy #2 post divorce (Blues Man) and it, too, was because of alcohol. Why do 50something men think it's attractive to consume large amounts of alcohol? It's so unattractive. Hey, I'm at the age of live and let live. I'm not here to change people, especially those of us with decades' old habits. But drinking is not a habit. It's an addiction. But first it's a problem, and if you can't admit that, then go find another partner who drinks. I'm just tired of it. So after 14 months of the most ecstatic love affair and 13 months of the best sex I've ever had (Sorry if that embarrasses some of my readers), I am solo again. It's a good thing.

Last Memorial Day Weekend (it's been THAT long since last we met) Daughter #1 (Mabel) got engaged. So we are planning a wedding for next summer. And yes, we have already had some fights. She is quite the princess sometimes, and when I tell her what is etiquette, she thinks I am telling her what to do. I'm not. She can invite who she wants (After all, she is paying for it.), but I am offering up the notion that she can't omit the spouse of friends just because she doesn't know him. She would like to tack on friends' names to their parents even when they don't live at home. Again, she can do what she wants, but I was just offering etiquette, something many kids don't know. But I digress. We have found her wedding dress, and it is a knock out. No lace, no rhinestones, no pearls. Simple eloquence. They have a place for the ceremony, a place for the reception, a great deal on hotel rooms for out-of-towners, a DJ, bridesmaids' dresses, orange ties for the men, an old gay guy to do the flowers (nothing like an old queen florist), a bakery for the cake, a color scheme, invitations, an address list, a priest (Episcopalian, of course), and enough ideas to run a thousand proms from now till the next decade. The wedding industry is mind-boggling, but they are trying to keep it within limits. She is pissed off that her sister chose THIS semester to study abroad when she needs her to do maid of honor things (whatever the hell those are). She is pissed off that stamps are so expensive and would like to do everything on e-mail. And in general she is pissed that she has to work and not plan her wedding full time. Luckily, she only goes into freak out mode when she's not teaching (summer, T'giving, winter break) so it's kept to a minimum. Pray for me.

Now all I have to do is lose 30 lbs. I did inform the bride-to-be that the second most important person at a wedding is... well, mother of the bride (herein referred to as MOB). She said, "Not even the groom?" I said, "Sorry, he's 3rd." I have managed to gain back 30 of the 60 lbs I lost when I shed the ex-husband. That's what happens when you get too comfortable in your skin. Well, that and not working out and eating crap. So I joined a gym for New Year's. I also started taking yoga after having a horrible hitch in my get-along (intense neck pain with subsequent visits all summer with the bone cruncher). I still fear the fart factor, but I have made it this far without breaking wind in class. I mean, come on folks, can you trust poses called the Half-wind and full-wind?? They're not called that for nuttin'. Much of the time I stare at the teacher and say, "Seriously." Some poses I know I can get into, but I don't think I could ever get out of. At my age, you need an escape route.

I did take a fun trip with my sister to Vermont in October to visit a blog friend. You remember, the one who took me to Montana 3 yrs ago. She wasn't a serial killer then and she still isn't. Always good to know. It was a beautiful autumn in New England. I felt very colonial and revolutionary. Did you know to reach Vermont, one can fly into Hartford, Connn and drive through the entire state of Massachusetts. I even sat in a restaurant in Brattleboro and overlooked New Hampshire. Who knew? I was surprised by all the waterfalls (left) in Vermont. Pam and her lovely husband Bill showed my sister and me southern Vermont, even slowing down to show me a typical Vermonter selling maple syrup by the roadside (right). They took us to the Yankee Candle Factory where I shit out a 700 lbs pumpkin (left). The autumn leaves were beautiful (although I do think Missouri had a beautiful fall this year). It was freezing in Vermont already as we took a hike one morning to see the sunrise. We ate apples off the ground because it was organic and not sprayed with pesticides. We toured the Nufane Country Store and traveled to Massachusetts to see the flower-covered bridge. We found a drugstore in downtown Brattleboro with our last name (see above). This is a hippie town that, until recently, allowed people to stroll naked down the street. Well, not me and not in October. It was a glorious time, and I am thinking I will make it an annual pilgrimage. Pam and Bill (formerly of Colorado) are the best hosts ever and love company so go visit them. One of the highlights was having another blog friend (from New York of all places) make the 3-hr trip to Vermont to meet me for dinner. That was a glorious unexpected surprise.

The holidays with family were good. Still had Thanksgiving with the ex in attendance, but he decided not to join us for Christmas. His loss. We had a great time. Daughter #2 (Dorothy) is heading to England for a semester abroad (a source of contention for the bride). We are so excited for her as she studies theater in Manchester. Mabel and I will go visit over spring break. Working out now will help me be a better traveler as we walk all over the place. I plan to visit a dear friend in Wales, and we'll pop over to Ireland where I will blend in with all the other redheads. I plan on meeting 2 other blog friends in London. While I don't blog a lot any more, I have met some wonderful friends from all over. And meeting them is so much fun.

So see? I'm still here. I'm just on the facebook train more often. Life is simple. I still have the most wonderful, sweetest cat in the world. Everyone is healthy. I refuse to get the flu shot (including H1N1) because the thought of being at home in bed for a week just doesn't sound like a bad thing. Of course, that's because I don't have children or parents to care for. The job is going well, although no raises for the 2nd straight year in a row due to budget crunch. We all work for the bennies anyway.

Maybe you're still out there, maybe you're not. But I'm still here.