I Am Thankful For:
Getting compliments
Taking a chance
The smell of fresh rosemary
End of the month
The cabinets are going up
Laughing
Foggy mornings
August beginning
The deck railing is installed
A new microwave
A burger topped with lettuce and tomato from my garden
Cooler temperatures
A rainy Sunday
Family
Pie
My new glasses are ready
Rest
Receiving a book I have been wanting to read
Lunch with my husband
Sushi
A break from the rain
I Am Thankful For:
Being able to order new glasses
New contact lenses
When the dilation finally wears off
Lunch at the ramen restaurant
A delicious coffee treat
The new moon
Productive days
The new kitchen lights are up
Saturdays
Pancakes
New nails
Quiet
A midday walking session
Feeling beautiful
Evening thunderstorms
New possibilities
Well, here we are. Tomorrow is the end of July. Over half the year is behind us. I hope it's been a good one for you so far.
Our daughter celebrated her birthday this month. We watched the grandkids so she and our son-in-law could have a grown-up date. Then we all gathered at our house for pizza and cake. I am constantly in awe of the amazing woman she became. I kind of want to be her when I grow up.
One night during the first full week of the month, I suddenly started seeing flashes of light in my peripheral vision on the left. As you can imagine, I panicked a little bit. A phone conversation with the on-call doctor quickly determined that I most likely was not having a stroke. I was told to take some Tylenol in case it was an ocular migraine, what to look for to determine if I needed to go to the ER, and to see my doctor if it wasn't gone by morning. It was not. So, after a few more phone calls I was off to the eye doctor. He was able to rule out a tear or detachment of the retina. Whew! Apparently it is something called Posterior Vitreous Detachment, and it's not unusual - especially in near sighted people over 50.
An upside of all this is that I finally scheduled a routine eye exam. I got new contacts and I have new glasses on the way. This was just the nudge I needed to get that done.
Our kitchen remodel is moving right along. The Man of the House and I (ok... Like, 98.5% him) finished installing the new tile the weekend before the cabinets were delivered. And I am obsessed. The flooring is every bit as beautiful as I hoped it would be.
Sadly, three of the cabinets are damaged and we are now waiting for the replacements to arrive. In the meantime, he has started installation on them. He'll just have to unscrew the damaged ones and switch them out when the replacements arrive.
He also put up the new ceiling lights. And they are also gorgeous. It took me forever to decide what I wanted. But I'm glad I took my time and didn't just go with the first thing I liked.
We are still waiting on our new deck to be completed. Last week we were told that they expected to have it completed by Monday. But then no one showed up to work on it Friday or Monday. Which is frustrating. On Tuesday they did get started on the floor part of the decking. So hopefully by next Monday. Fingers crossed.
In July I read "The Spite House" by Johnny Compton, "The Jackal's Mistress" by Chris Bohjalian, and "The Obituary Writer" by Ann Hood. The book I read for book club was "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin. I'm currently reading "The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen. And I'm Beta reading one of my daughter's upcoming novels. I didn't listen to an audio book this month.
Some of my favorite things from July included fresh cucumbers from my little greenhouse garden and spending a day with my grandsons.
I'm looking forward to August. I've potentially some new and exciting things brewing, so we'll see how rhay goes. Hopefully I'll have some fun things to report at the end of next month.
How was your July?
I Am Thankful For:
My dog's little stretches
Sunsets
Lavender
A little treat for myself
Hearing the neighbors rooster when I'm walking the dog
Fading hydrangea
My daughter
Work started on the last part of the deck
Sunny days
First cup of morning tea
Being an Oma
Pizza with the family
Running errands with my husband
Shark Week
The new kitchen floor is just as beautiful as I hoped it would be
My husband buying tickets to see Stevie Nicks this fall
Sleep
The sound of the kettle heating up
The breeze before the storm arrives
I felt the solid ground beneath my feet. The grass tickled between my toes.
I watched a cardinal fly from bush to bush along the property line.
A large bird drifted in lazy circles against a backdrop of building thunderhead clouds in the distance.
I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the sunshine on my face.
A breeze gently whispered past my cheek and caused my skirt to flutter around my legs.
I listened to the birds singing and the buzz of the katydids. A squirrel chattered away somewhere in the tree tops. I heard the roll of thunder from a storm on the other side of the mountain.
I felt time slow for that brief moment.
I thought about how it is possible to feel so completely connected and totally disconnected all at the same time.
Unplug. Pause. Listen. Feel. Ground yourself. Recharge your spiritual battery. It only takes a few moments.
I Am Thankful For:
Getting a same day appointment with the eye doctor
What's happening is perfectly normal
My husband helping find a solution
Skirts
Listening to all the "outdoors" sounds
Perfect timing
A moment to recharge myself
Gathering storm clouds
Chicken salad
Working on a DIY project with my husband
Thunderstorms
My youngest niece
Pain meds when you really need them
A burst of creativity
Watermelon
The new cabinets have been delivered
Making it to book club after all
Early to bed
A busy day at the library
The first cucumber from the garden
The Midlife Crisis. It's one of the things that often comes to mind when people think about this stage of life. It's a time full of changes and challenges which can leave us feeling off-kilter, disoriented, and uncertaint about what we're doing and where we're going.
As we begin seeing more and more of the physical signs of aging, we may start recognizing and assessing our own mortality. This feeling that time is somehow running out may cause us to begin thinking about how our life has played out so far and what we want to accomplish with whatever time we have left. This can lead us to realize that we have goals that we never achieved or abandoned along the way. We might feel a sense of dissatisfaction with what we have achieved. We may be realizing that jobs and relationships we've had no longer serve us.
Our children are either on the cusp of becoming independent or are already grown. We're finding ourselves with empty nests for the first time in 18 years or more.
Other people may have expectations of what we should be doing or how we should behave (or dress, or do our hair or makeup) because we have reached a certain age. And these ideas might not fit with how we feel on the inside or what makes us feel confident and the most like our true self.
Midlife is only a crisis if we focus on the endings portion. As Semisonic told us way back in 1998 - "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." Midlife isn't the end! You're not too old. And it's not too late.
You still have an opportunity to rediscover that dream or goal you once had and look into chasing it. Or make some new ones!
Having grown children means not having to focus our time and energy on their needs. This gives you more time to concentrate on what you want to do. This is YOUR time!
You are under no obligation to do what other people expect! Now is the time to live life as your authentic self. Especially if you haven't been doing it up to this point. Wear the dress. Or the shorts. Or that bathing suit. Grow out your beautiful silver hair - or not! Put on the red lipstick. Or don't wear any makeup.
Figure out what brings you joy and do more of those things!
This chapter of life can feel like a collection of endings. But it can also be a time of new beginnings and opportunities.
Did you ever watch "Game of Thrones"? Or read any of the books?
If so, do you remember the leprosy-like disease that was so feared by the citizens of Westeros? Grey Scale - where the skin literally turns to stone.
Last weekend we were tiling our kitchen. Apparently I am excessively messy with the mortar. By the end of the day, I looked like an extra from an episode of "Game of Thrones"!
The moral of this story? Take and use the gloves your husband offers. 😂
I Am Thankful For:
Clean laundry
A new book
A cool breeze
A new vision for my crochet project
Basil harvested from my little garden
Finishing one book and starting another
Meds for my little chiweenie's anxiety
Fresh caprese salad
Wearing the shorts
New tile
Shrimp rolls
Progress
A deep cleaned bathroom
Sunshine
East summer outfits
A plan to deal with the unexpected complications
A beautiful morning
Fresh tomatoes from the garden
