Off to a Slow Start

New Years Day has come and gone and I have yet to scream and shout at the top of my lungs...how much I want you all to have the BEST YEAR EVER!!!!

So let me do it now.  I am screaming it out at this very minute.  Can you hear me???? 

I know a few of my regular readers have mentioned various illnesses, broken bones, ongoing hangovers, incarceration (OK...I might not be entirely clear on that person's excuse).... but all in all... other bloggers seem to have  really valid reasons why they haven't posted or read blogs as of late.  I, on the other hand, will go with the general "catch all" excuse of being busy.  I realize that it's rather vague, unimaginative, and lacking of any detail but it also sounds far better than the words lazy and preoccupied.   

Our last house guest left 3 days ago and I no longer get  to sit around and talk someone's ear off, ply them with baked goods and haul them around Kansas City in search of the best barbecue  joints therefore, I should be getting caught up soon...real soon.

As I am now left to my solo endeavors in a amazingly empty house, I could/should  get crackin' on my list of things I resolve to accomplish this year.

I am not a resolution maker per se.  BUT....every January I feel the need to reevaluate, reorganize, and continue my quest to find balance in my life and home.  Oh yeah..  and let's not forget the all but obligatory.....I resolve to eat healthier and exercise more just like  99 percent of the population will resolve to do. 

I don't know why but every New Year I feel a pull within my soul to clean every closet and drawer within the confines of this house and decide what can stay and what must go.  It is only after the local charity drop off facility bans me from returning due to their space constraints that I  start to feel like I am accomplishing something.  Somewhere in my subconscious,  it seems, requires that having things tidy at the start of the year gives me a  boost for getting  the year off to a strong start.  I have no proof that it matters but still,.... we annually  spend the necessary time to get everything clean and organized in January.

I wish that I could clean up the other messes of the world as easily as a person can clean out a closet and divest it of the old and worn items.  I am wanting  generous amounts of "shiny and bright" to be infused in all things this year. Did any one else feel like 2016 was lack luster?

Here's hoping for a New Year that has more civility, less violence, more consideration and less contentiousness.


Hope your year is off to a wonderful start! I wish for you shiny and bright!

Resolve Dissolved

Another year has come and the realization of how inattentive I have become to my blog has smacked me upside the head.   ***sigh***

Six months ago I vaguely remember making an effort to revive my much neglected blog, but clearly it was a false start.  Given the fact that the rest of the world is making promises to themselves in the form New Year's Resolutions, has me thinking about some of the things that I hope to accomplish in 2016. 

I typically don't make New Year's resolutions per se.  I tend to make a multitude of promises to myself on a monthly, daily, hourly basis. It's not so much that I can't stick with a particular resolution as much as I continually alter the direction of where I want to go. Life's journey is a very crooked path for me.

 In theory, it makes perfect sense to me that people want to start a fresh new year with an idea of what they would like to accomplish.  For me personally, however,my goals are more like a moving target.  They would have to be reevaluated and changed from time to time.  

Crabby Pants and her trusty steed are taking aim at this year's goals.

BUT...back to the subject at hand.   Resurrecting the blog and committing to doing a better job staying in touch with all of you.   Did I mention how much I have missed you all.   I truly have missed interacting with my blog followers and  fellow bloggers.  Still...when I have sat down to write, my words seem inconsequential and uninteresting.  I don't imagine this post will break that trend but I will muddle on.

What have I been doing with my time??  Nothing of great importance to the masses but my life in all its mundane routine is a very nice life. Even as my writing has been in the dumper, my time seems to be consistently filled.  Not necessarily with matters of great importance mind you...but filled,  none the less. Initially, my intent was to take a short break from blogging in an effort to resurrect my reading of BOOKS. (yes, real hard-bound books...you do remember those, right???), meet and interact with real human beings, and spend more time on activities that were being routinely ignored.  It seems the time that I had previously spent on the computer was quickly replaced with other activities.  Finding balance in my life continues to plague me.

One of the more notable activities that has taken up residence in my time allotment is that I started teaching computer classes at a local retirement community.  This has been a real eye-opener. Even though,  I am now considered a "senior" (not sure that I am a huge fan of that distinction) it has been a very positive experience interacting with people that have 20 or 30 years on me. 

When I was approached to do these classes, I was told that the residents needed basic information on using computers, smart phones and tablets.  Sounded easy enough.  Turns out that most of this group is extraordinarily savvy when it comes to all things tech. Those that weren't "connected" have caught on quickly as they WANT to learn new things.   I have to tell you that whatever meager amount of information that I have taught them has come back 10 fold, in the things that I have learned about the grace in aging. 

As most of my regular readers know, I remain conflicted on just about every issue.  Most subjects have a  "good news", "bad news" component.  If that isn't confusing enough, there is often a mushy middle-of -the-road component as well. 

This is certainly the case in aging. 

I look forward  to catching up with all of you in 2016.  Let's collectively hope that our lives are filled with health, happiness and humor  this year..... ESPECIALLY HUMOR.