The Convention

Is anyone out there listening to/watching the Democratic Party Convention?  I'm catching bits and pieces, including a bit of the speech by Kathleen Sibelius (Governor of Kansas) and whats-his-name, the governor of Montana (sounded like a really good speech), and a bit of Hillary Clinton's speech.  As cynical as I am, I still feel goosebumps when I see these rituals of American democracy... I get WHIPPED UP!!!  I just love this stuff...  (Hey, I used to get all whipped up when I went to the California State Bar annual meetings... go figure...)  But some of the BS really gets up my nose; in particular, the horrible demeaning nasty partisan politics -- the twisting of the truth, the baseless jabs, the disinformation, all the usual crap -- just makes me so very sad.  Am I naive to believe that The People couldn't figure out which end is up just fine without all the BS?  People like Karl Rove (sorry, Karl) really get up my nose.  I think it's because I am, for the most part, a very direct, honest, no-BS person.  (The folks who worked with me for many years can attest to that.)  And, when I see this nonsense go on, I get riled up!  Just my five cents.

I got a lovely call today from one of my sip-n-sew buddies, making sure I am OK.  (I've been going through some personal tsuris lately that's gotten me pretty down...)  LK, there is no way I can tell you how much that meant to me.  Really.  Hope your road trip went well, my friend...

I also got some great emails from my BFF, back in Massachusetts, which made me laugh out loud.  God love that woman, she never fails to raise my spirits.  Have a wonderful time on the Vineyard this weekend, my dear -- enjoy the sun, the sand, the books, the boyfriend, the whole thing...  You deserve it!

Also, a great big shout-out to KL, one of my buddies from work...  Thanks for the comments!  I'm stoked to know that you've been reading my blog!!!  And it's nice to know that I'm missed.  Sniff...  And another shout-out to my former assistant, MJ, who was IM'ing me today...  thanks for worrying about me!

This morning, after the spousal unit left for work, I keeled over and fell asleep on the sofa for two hours...  Guilty pleasures...  Then, spent an hour or so, ironing his vast collection of Hawaiian shirts...  It just bugged me that the lapels and front edges and hems were all lumpy and wrinkled... Yep, obviously NOT ENOUGH TO DO!!!  Then did some more cleaning and straightening of the vast pile of crap I brought home from the office, went to the supermarket (great selection of trash novels there -- hooray!), got semi-organized in terms of piling up things we'll need to take on vacation with us (more than two days in advance, by the way), and just generally futzed around.  Oh, and made sure that the dead animal disposal people actually showed up and hauled away the remains of the dead deer in the creek behind our house.  It was lovely to be able to go out on my deck today, without having to hold my nose because of the stench.  (Sorry, I know, TMI...)  It's going to be quite hot around here the next few days, so this is a wonderful thing (i.e., no smell)...

This evening, the husband and I went out to have our "usual" drink-and-appetizer outing to The Elephant Bar (yes, it's only Tuesday and not Friday, which is when we usually go, but what the heck)...  Nice to be able to have a date night with your spouse.  The son was lurking around our house, probably hoping to be asked to join us, but we left him to his own devices for dinner.  He cooked something (I think it was a heavily modified matzoh brei, with red tomato and garlic spread mixed in it), but left damn near every dish in the house dirty in the process.  I do believe he's getting in touch with his creative side...  Before I had a chance to get him to clean up after himself, the latest quasi-girlfriend showed up, and poof! he's out the door, to go get ice cream, back in a bit mom, I love you, bye...  Like a whirlwind!!!  

Then, got a call from The Daughter, who has finally gotten a kitten.  Eight weeks old, grey, probably to be named Gracie.  She's been wanting a kitten for a while, and nothing I could say would sway her.  She's living by herself, in a nice one-bedroom flat, and swears she won't let the kitten destroy things.  Ha!  She obviously doesn't remember what the last kitten (now a cat) did when she was a young thing...  I remember her scooting right up the middle of the Christmas tree, ornaments flying every which way... She was awfully cute...  Still is...

Really, my life is just BORING...  But, you know what?  It's OK.  I was telling the husband tonight that, finally, I'm quite comfortable in my own skin.  I am not inclined to take crap from anyone any more, don't see or feel the need to subject myself to hanging out with people who make me irriated, dress the way I think suits me, say what I think and consequences be damned (of course, I'm always compassionate and sensitive), and just generally I'm firing on all cylinders (to use a phrase from my corporate past)...  It's like all the boundaries I used to put on myself have dropped away.  This is really kind of exciting!  Who knew that being 60 would be so much fun!  (Yeah, but I'm still not totally sure about that tattoo...)  (Now, a face lift -- maybe -- definitely -- perhaps...)

OK, I took GB's advice, and wrote something for today.  It's not great, but I think of this as a kind of discipline...  Like yoga, but without the bending and stretching...

Cheers!