Today is Kakizome

Kakizome means "first writing" of the year. This is my first writing and this is my traditional writing tool. Have long ago quit using the pen... so much so that it's hard for me to even try writing that way.

These five are only a few of the turkeys visiting my backyard last year... actually December 30 last year! There were more than a dozen in this flock.

Wild life love my place! In the past year this little acre has harbored birds small and large, groundhogs, chipmunks, a few deer (including a mom and fawn together), many skunks early in the year, bunny rabbits and even a few feral cats. Remember the kittens under the back deck?

Last year was a really positive transition for me... a year of learning and adjustment... and NO, i did NOT 'grow up' yet! I don't really want to and you can't make me!

The year 2009 included:

• A new baby - great grandson Logan James, son of James & Amanda, grandson of Pam & Mike. He arrived June 16, 2009 and is perfect in every way.
• I liberated myself a bit from the cable company by getting rid of my landline telephone. My home phone for over 50 years now goes wherever i go. I use MagicJack but only because it's really really cheap and i can use it for those hopelessly long waits with service calls.
• More liberation when i purchased my own TiVo box at a really really good bargain, got rid of the cable company's box and receiving only Basic Plus television service which more than meets my needs. The TiVo works with my computers and wireless system, making it very flexible! I haven't even used all it's features yet because i don't really need them yet... maybe later.
• Learned Charter now has a cheaper high speed internet service - hi-speed lite!!! It works for me!
• Linda and i visited the girls in San Diego. Loved it! If i didn't like my current home so much i would choose San Diego as home.
• Learned i don't need a human roommate... at least for now. Moving my sister in with me didn't work out. It seems we have very little in common. Before she moved out i was feeling used and abused (mentally, not physically... but it hurts just as much.)
• Visits with my mom enhance life. About every two weeks we go grocery shopping and either lunch or dinner afterward. Her hair stylist for over 30 years is great! She now cuts my hair regularly.
• Frank has become a beautiful idealized memory. He sometimes watches over me in my dreams... and awakening reminds me that i can remember those good times but must live now.
• I joined an online People Meeting service... not once but twice (two different ones). What a farce! I'm convinced they have fulltime employees acting as shills to make us think they are for real.
• My house continues to grow into my dream home. It is a warm, comfortable environment for me and my remaining feline roommates, EllieMae, AmyLouMae, and Miss Kitty.

Life is good. Life always moves forward. I will enjoy it to the fullest with family and friends and... if i really get lucky, maybe a special friend to share some of the travel and good times i am still young and vibrant enough to enjoy.

Don't Bundle Me...

Funny how one thinks when young, in love, and married... emphasize married. I don't think it was just that though; it was also the era of 'The Brady Bunch' and 'Father Knows Best.'

In 1955, when Frank and i married, there were men's jobs and there were women's jobs.... well, sort of. There were exceptions like my mom, who chose not to remain in a bad marriage. She chose to work as a waitress and support her own kids in a 'women's job.' During WWII she joined Rosie the Riveter, working in an automobile plant, but quit when the men came home.

Anyway, when we married, Father Knows Best was still the ideal so it was easy to allow gender to define our roles. Besides... Frank didn't like changing diapers and i didn't want to carry out the garbage! It worked.

When the time came when it appeared my only language was baby-talk, Frank suggested i get out of the house. I did. Interacting with other adults, i discovered a whole new world of excitement. I was 'my own person' as they say. All this while, we still did many things within our classic male or female roles... keeping both of us relatively happy and relatively sane in a fast changing society.

He was the tech and all around fixer upper. I was the homemaker, cook and housekeeper.

He has been gone 4 years; tomorrow is our 54th wedding anniversary. I have learned much in the past 4+ years. That is a good thing.

This week i learned why men do a task and ask questions later... if they must!

Saturday last i purchased a TiVo and a new TV. I set up the TV - piece of cake! Sunday i tackled the TiVo. Piece of cake? Not so much!

Step 1 told me to activate my service, giving a choice of phone or online. I chose phone. WRONG CHOICE! The chick on end of line said i should talk with a technician if i'm setting up using a wireless adapter (because i no longer have a telephone landline.)

The tech gave me 45 minutes of convoluted directions, including 'take the box to a neighbor with a landline to get started...' I ignored him totally. Monday i bought a wireless adapter. I followed directions in the box.

Success with NO pain! How do those guys get their jobs, anyway?

Oh! The title? Don't Bundle Me???

I cancelled the Charter Communications DVR service AND phone service. I now have basic+ cable service and internet service. Don't let them kid you. I AM saving money by NOT bundling!

It's a Birthday...

Does anybody remember besides me? i love you Frank. i always will, but i realize the physical door between us is closed.

i'm opening new doors... and i even opened one that lasted 7 months and it is presently in process of being closed! i know you would approve of closing this one!!!

i've opened several other doors though. These are real keepers and i know you would encourage me in them.

Quote of the day today is:
'The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.'
- Flora Whittemore, author