Off to the Opera!

Six of us are going to Jacksonville to see the Met broadcast of I Puritani by Bellini. Woohoo! Should be fun. Opera on the big screen, and not a film version!

Drat those cats...

Every time I try to get a picture of Chino and Roxy chumming it up together, one of them sees me and spoils the pose by getting up to come see me! Drat!

A Useful Link!

This link is for ANYONE who has ever tried to get past some company's automated voice system in order to speak with a human!!!
http://gethuman.com/us/

Why, oh why do we blog?

After staying up till 1 in the morning looking at other people's blogs, I got to thinking. For many people, the blog is like a diary. Since a diary is most often a record of private thoughts, why do we post it in such a potentially public place, on the WORLD WIDE WEB???

My Grammie wrote a daily diary. After her death, I found boxes of small black datebooks - her diaries. Each represented one year's recording of her activities, the weather, and her observations. She didn't rant and rave. That's not to say the reader couldn't glean something of her emotions, but they were subtle, nonassertive, even apologetic.

I associate the word "diary" with adolescent girls - do they have them these days? A locked leather book with a tiny key holds all their wishes, dreams, and heartaches.

Thinking of earlier historical and literary examples, I recall reading books that were a collection of diary entries - one in particular, the name of which escapes me presently, was the diary of a pioneer woman. I would like to relocate it and read it again in light of these ramblings. Then there is the film example of Dances with Wolves - the Kevin Costner character had a diary in which he recorded his experiences, complete with drawings. One poignant moment happened after the Cavalry came to his camp, and one of the soldiers used a page of the diary for toilet paper!

But the question remains, and it deeply reflects our times, I believe, Why record our thoughts, feelings, and experiences in such a public forum?

There is so much available to us on the information highway, that we feel at once puny and insignificant, and at the same time possessed of power to reach a multitude of others! What a heady mixture of excitement - the possibility of enormous gratification when one's post is read, and the comment is affirming! A perfect stranger, or a "blog buddy" sharing our thoughts! I believe that is why it is important to acknowledge a writer's posting with a pertinent comment, if one comes to mind.

We are so separate, and at the same time, we can see how very many of us are out there. No small town, this, but a potentially global-sized, limitless circle of acquaintances, or even friends!

It's a fascinating topic, this blogging, and I welcome YOUR comments, dear reader.

Feeling somewhat aimless

Awoke with a headache today, which must be related to the shower we were having at the time. When I drank I often experienced early morning headaches that were my version of a hangover. Seems rather unfair that I still have headaches and don't have the pleasure of my red wine in the evenings.

The heating and air-conditioning men are here installing the new heat pump, which, as it turns out, will cost us nearly $2800. Yuck! Ugh! Argh! Best laid plans of debt reduction.

So I have been researching "home based business" opportunities. Hmmm. I think they are only opportunities for those who have a yen to sell something, and I do NOT! More Daoist silliness, no doubt. How seductive to imagine making $500-1000 a week in 20 hours. No wonder they get so much traffic on their sites. I wonder if a business offering needlepoint/cross-stitch parties at home, rather like Tupperware parties, would find any takers? On the other hand, I know that I dislike invitations to such things, which are really ask one's friends and family to buy the product as a favor to the hostess. Even when I attend, I try to keep that in mind, because of my affection for my friend.

Chino, my 11 year old tabby (the bottom feline in the picture) just came down the hall into the computer room saying, "Rrrowww, rrowwww", with an orange plastic jack in his mouth, begging for play! When he was a little kitten that was his favorite game, and he would play it to the point of exhaustion and collapse complete with dog-like panting!!!! What an adorably engaging little critter he is!

So, if there are no get-rich-quick schemes that I can embrace, I need to be more creative. And creativity is something I do well...... ....

My Grammie and my mother used to say, "Where there's a will, there's a way," but I wonder....

the first business day of 2007

"It's bad news," I told my husband on the cell phone, and proceeded to inform him that the loud bang I had heard at 3 a.m. on New Year's Eve had signaled the need for a new heat pump unit - $2600. He replied, "That's it? I was afraid you were going to tell me about somebody we love!"

Now, didn't that put things into perspective! Well, yes, it puts a big crimp in the debt reduction plans we'd made, at least temporarily, but seen in the greater picture, it's a puny setback! So I am not going to fret about it. At least this summer when we are sweating through the heat and humidity, we'll have a new heat pump to keep us cool at less money than we paid last summer!

Teaching today, 1:30-6, and Jeff wants me back for some of the Masters Track kids, so money is coming in, too. The sun is shining, the humidity is down and our loved ones are safe.

turning a new calendar page

Happy New Year to you all!

I'm not so happy. Anthony and talked about the financial situation this morning and we are agreed. No new house this year, not even an old cottage. We have to get the bills taken care of first.

It's humid and cloudy - glad it's cloudy because with the heat pump in questionable condition, I prefer not to run it. Will see to getting it fixed tomorrow.

Watched a Pierce Brosnan/Woody Harrelson movie today - shades of 007. A jewel-thieving couple retiring to "Paradise". It's a concept lots of people would embrace, but it's not paradise to me. I wish for the woods of Goose Pond and the Grandmother tree. The subtle winter colors of the woods are beautiful to me, as are the trails through woods and fields and by the creek. Such an evocative environment. Anthony wonders if I would find NC as appealing and alluring. I have no doubt that I would, given time to explore and learn about the area. I could get really bummed at myself with all this debt. I know a lot of it is my doing. Now, I see a good reason for being more careful. I hope I can live up to my own standards. .

Six months have passed! Eventful months. Tiring months. And here we are at the end of 2006. We have had plans since mid-October to move to Asheville, NC. I need some relief from the relentless Florida heat and the pervasive worry that a hurricane will come by.

We've been through so many incarnations of the dream - sell this house and buy a permanent residence in western NC, keep this house and buy a small retreat or even a mobile home in the mountains. So far, nothing has happened except that my house is a lot cleaner. And that is GOOD!

I worry about having enough money to implement any version of the plan. I think that will be my New Year's resolution - eliminate debt other than mortgage, student loan, and car loan. And since I am the one working AND the one spending most of the money, I am the one who must take responsibility for making it work! I expect that the $3100 tax credit for the new Prius will help!

So, the year from June 27 to date:

1. Terrible blow up with my son, causing me to retreat from contact with him. This required a new acceptance of the distance he wants between us. Very hard. Very sad.
2. Totalled my 2003 Prius. ALL my fault. Who said I could be a cowboy? I paid with bruises and pain for a few weeks. Then I got a wonderful NEW Prius. Wonderful car - 50 mpg!!!
3. The opera company www.firstcoastopera.com came home again. We keep trying to give it away but still maintain contact and the spirit it was founded in. This time I stupidly, foolishly allowed myself to get completely back into the areas I haven't wanted to handle for several years. This has caused a lot of stress and ultimately the push for relocation! The worst results are headaches and stomach agitation.
4. Much more needlepoint! Christmas presents for nearly everybody came out of that. I love working with the colors and textures.
5. The unheard of has happened - I have an ARTIFICIAL Christmas tree in my living room! It is quite beautiful, though.
6. I find myself, at the close of 2006, needing to remind myself that my own positive energy will create the positive results I want. I will need to exercise some discipline and forethought to combat my spending urges, particularly when it comes to stitching. I have strong Taoist leanings towards non-action, and this must be something I reflect upon and quite possibly release. Louise Hay's affirmations are not non-active, and I embrace that concept too. Perhaps inaction comes from that long-held victim-stance that has historically gotten me in big trouble!

I included this in my Christmas/Holiday letter
"To see a World in a Grain of Sand,
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
William Blake"
AND
"We are ever mindful that joy comes from seeking the wonder in whatever surrounds us, and treasuring friends, family and experiences as a mother cherishes a newborn child. We wish you that joy, now and in the New Year!"

That pretty much sums it up... now on to a new calendar!