7 Quick Takes (Vol 50)

Man the time does fly by these days. 13 more days and all the chicks will be back in the nest for a bit.

-1-

Can I tell you what one of the better things is about having kids who are not little anymore? It is that we don't have to search and seek and scheme to find the latest and greatest toy that is around. Oh my gosh that is such a great feeling. Evidently the Zhu Zhu Pet is the "big" toy this year. This thing just came across my radar about two days ago which, if I had younger children, is about 2 months too late to get one. I don't have to worry about that thankfully. And to be honest we rarely ever played into whatever the latest toy and gadget was for Christmas. We have never owned any sort of Playstation or other video game system. I just made them go outside, even when it was snowing. I am such a mean mom. Or we actually, gasp, made them sit and read a book or three. Torture! Well, not torture for them cuz they all love books.

So, if you are desperately looking for a Zhu Zhu Pet I wish you luck. And I am glad it isn't me.

-2-

OK, so this is the only time on this blog that I am going to talk about this Tiger Woods thing. I have tried as best I can to avoid reading about, listening to, wasting my time thinking about the whole debacle that has become Tiger Woods life. Do we really need to know all about this? Honestly do we? I don't think so. Leave the man alone main stream media. His life is in a shambles now and we don't need to read about it any more. We don't need to give anymore publicity to women who would sleep with him even though they knew he was married.

And Tiger, don't you think it was a tad idiotic to send those steamy text messages, or any text messages for that matter. Text messages can be kept you know. I mean really boy, put the gray cells to work there.

I am done with my soap box for the moment.....

Unless you want to talk politics......

No? OK.

-3-

Do you ever have days where you had a whole big list of things that needed to get done, that list is staring you in the face like a dog that hasn't had he breakfast, not that I would know anything about that. You have that huge list that isn't going to get done by itself and you look at it and you go......

Ah forget it, I'm going to read a book!

Yup that was my yesterday. Laundry......no. Cleaning........no. Ironing.......no. Wrapping Christmas gifts.........no.

Reading a book.....YES!

-4-

HHBL has been gone for 9 days. Um, gone as on a business trip not gone as just left. I thought I ought to make that clarification.

He used to travel quite a bit when the progeny were younger. California every other week. Milwaukee every week or two. Other places. But in the last few years he hasn't done much traveling so this has been a very unique experience. I mean, I have been alone in the house in the evenings and at night. All alone. In the house. And it has sometimes been a tad unnerving as well as more than a shade lonely at night I can tell you.

When your big, strong husband is home at night you don't notice all the little noises that the house makes as it settles down for the night. Those little sighs and groans and squeaks and pops and..........

Come home soon HHBL so that I can get a good night's sleep.

-5-

Do you sometimes feel that there is so much stuff in your life, your house, your brain that you don't know where to start some days. That is how I have been feeling and I really do not like it. Sometimes I just stand and look at the things that I need to do or want to do or think about doing and just don't know where to start.

You wouldn't necessarily think that would be a problem for me but it is. And I get to the end of the day and think, "What did you really do that was important today? Did you actually finish a project or did you flit from one thing to another and not finish anything?" And more days that I want to think about it is the flitting from one thing to another without finishing things.

I really don't like this and I am trying to get better at it. But Lord, it is hard.

-6-

Do you send out Christmas cards? We do but we have switched to sending out those long "Christmas postcard" things with a picture on the front and a greeting. I love those things. I write the annual Christmas letter and structure it in such a way that I can print them out, cut them and stick them on the back of the Christmas postcard. I usually have them all done and in the mail by now but......we have no family picture yet.

That is the problem with having all children out of the house, the opportunities when we are all together are limited. But, by the 23rd we will all be together including the almost son-in-law so we will do the picture then, I will order the cards and send them out after Christmas. No one will know and you won't tell will you?

-7-

I love dropping donation stuff off at my local AmVets donation place. They have a small "booth" set up in the back parking lot of one of the local banks. You drive around and the man who "mans" the booth comes out of his little spot, complete with space heater, to help you unload.

I love talking to this man. He is one of the more interesting people I chat with on a semi-regular basis. A libertarian, Jewish, veteran who loves sailboats and has an opinion on everything. I know that if I am dropping off something I need to allow an extra 15 minutes because we will talk. Wednesday we covered sailboats, sailing on the coast of Maine, traveling in Uganda and Rwanda, politics (always a favorite), what school kids aren't being taught, travel in general. It was great.

I have to get another box of stuff together just so that I can visit him.