Obsession

So what have I been doing in the three days since returning from The Villages on Sunday?  Obsessing over moving there, hahaha.

I poured over all the new spec homes for sale and all the resales listed by the Villages Realty and other Realtors.  I thought about the model home I love and drew little pictures of my own furniture on the floor plan. Then I decided this was silly since the beach condo and our house need to be sold first.  What if I find a house for sale that is just perfect and I can't buy it?  I would feel bad.  Better to stop looking at potential future homes and concentrate on selling the properties in South Florida!

So I bought 60 thirty-gallon Hefty bags and started cleaning out drawers and closets.  Hubby helped by stuffing four bags with ancient cans of unknown chemicals from the garage.  We made a tiny dent but hey, it's a start. Super Realtor Rick is coming over tomorrow to get our house listed.  He's been a little busy since he personally arranged for our beach condo to be painted yesterday and cleaned tomorrow and he also is shlepping bigger items from the beach condo to us in his pickup truck. He says he has two showings on Saturday and I am not above soliciting St. Joseph, the Patron Saint of unsold Real Estate for good luck.

I also 'rejuvenated" the marble in our Master Bathroom on my hands and knees and the Pergo in the library.  I cleaned out the big whirlpool tub and scrubbed a lot of other neglected places too.  And just to make my obsession complete, I popped The Villages sales DVD in for a second viewing. 

Yep, it looks just as good as I remembered. I think I will Keep Obsessing and Carry On...

;-)

Four Days

My head is spinning from my four day venture into central Florida to explore "active adult" communities and The Villages in particular.  I can see why Villagers have trouble describing "the bubble" they live in.  It is far, far more than a bunch of downsized homes and a recreation center with a big swimming pool and a gaggle of senior citizens playing shuffleboard or golfing. 

Oh no!  It is truly Disneyland for Adults.  Picture three Town Centers - an Old Western Cattle Town (Frontierland), a quaint Beachside Village circa 1900 and an Old Spanish town (California in the 1800s).  All filled with adorable eating establishments and businesses with places to park your golf cart, congregate, stroll and people watch.  All three are perfectly detailed and decorated to correspond with your fantasy of perfection.  The prices are surprising normal too and each Town Center hosts free live entertainment Every Single Solitary night of the week. I must admit I am hooked.  I took the bait, drank the Kool-Aid and am ready to make a Life Change and hi-tail to the Villages for my golden retirement years. 

What reeled me in?  Lots of things but these were the three top deciders:

1) Friday night services at Temple Shalom.  About 100 people attended and many came up to introduce themselves and kibbitz with us visitors.  They gave us "calling cards" with their contact information and told us to call them with any questions. They all love living in The Villages!

2) The Weekly Recreation Newsletter that is thicker than the Sunday Miami Herald.  Maj Jong every single day (of course) but also an Osteoporosis Support Group and Bone Builders low-impact strength training,  a Chai Club and oodles of other things I might like to do or try. Not to the mention the even thicker catalog of "lifelong learning" opportunities.

3) The one hour trolley ride/tour through the perfect neighborhoods and the 60 golf courses (31 free!), small, medium and large rec centers, pools and shopping centers.  Plenty of "normal" stores like Ross and Walmart too and even (gasp) a D'Lites.

Hello Villages.  Hold on, I'm coming!

The Past

This is not something I'm particularly happy about but I've noticed that as I get older I spend more time remembering the past than I do thinking about the future.  I am sure this is because (sadly) at this point in my life I have more past than I have future. 

Like everyone else I have memories of stupid things I've done, poor decisions and choices I should have made sooner instead of later.  But I take myself firmly in hand and make a conscious effort to kick myself out of any negative thinking about the past.  I've resolved to make the rest of my life the best of my life. 

Jspace posted this picture of Amy Winehouse who died two years ago.  How prophetic her words - Life is indeed short and hers ended far too soon. 

I truly am so excited about my future. No ifs, ands, or buts about it!

;-)

Dilly Dilly

I saw the newest Prince of England emerge from the hospital yesterday afternoon.  I wish him well and hope he will be a credit to his lineage in the years to come. 

I wonder if his doting parents will sing my favorite childhood nursery rhyme to him?  It dates back to England in the 1600s so I'm pretty sure it's still remembered there.  It goes like this:

Lavender blue, dilly dilly, lavender green,
When I am King, dilly, dilly, you shall be Queen.
Who told you so, dilly, dilly, who told you so?'
Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, that told me so.

Call up your men, dilly, dilly, set them to work
Some to the plow, dilly, dilly, some to the fork,
Some to make hay, dilly, dilly, some to cut corn,
While you and I, dilly, dilly, keep ourselves warm.

Dilly, Dilly, little Prince.  Good Luck and God Bless.

:-)

Better

Except for things like gardening or cleaning I am always looking to do things better.  I have decided that this is due to my youth when everything was graded and also due to having those rarely voiced but always present expectations from my Yiddisha parents.  I hear that nowadays kids are rarely admonished for failing to excel and even are awarded attaboys for just "trying". No way Jose would this have cut it in my younger days.

I find that I do best whenever whatever I am trying can be measured for improvement.  My weight on the scale each morning.  My checkbook balance.  Stuff like that. 

So it is no surprise that on my new pro-bone-health program of walking every day I have come to prefer the state-of-the-art treadmill in my community workout room to meandering with Dolly.  This device tells me how far I've gone (about a mile and a half), how fast my heart rate was (about 110 I think), how many calories I've burned (about 125) and how fast I averaged (about 3.1 mph).  Seeing these numbers reminds me of (ugh) school which motivates me to increase this machine's opinion of my performance.

After all, it might be going on my "permanent record". 

;-)

What Have You Done For Me Lately

I bought myself 12 tank tops from nomorerack.com and new athletic shoes from eBay.  I walked a half-hour every day this week with a ten-pound weight and read five books from the library on keeping my bones healthy.  I had a mani Saturday and chose my favorite color "Baguette Me Not".  I ordered "bone support" supplements to fill in where my regular vitamins were lacking.  I finished "The Heist" - the  very best book Janet Evanovich has ever collaborated on - in two days.  I guzzled bottles of Crystal Light in lieu of bone-sapping Coke Zero.  I stocked the pantry and called some friends and shmoozed with my neighbor and started to think about what to pack for our upcoming four day road trip.  I played Maj Jong on Thursday and went to shul on Friday.  I BBQ'd chicken and burgers for lunch yesterday and picked up some new "age-rewinding" make-up at Big Lots. 

And I hummed that insidious tune "what have you done for me lately" and decided yes indeedy, I've done quite a bit for myself lately!

;-)

The Guilt Trip (Caution - Spoiler Alert!)

The Guilt Trip with Barbra Streisand arrived yesterday from Netflix.  I was surprised to see it because I don't remember putting it in my queue. 

The story is pretty simple: Baby Boomer and long-time widowed mom (Joyce) confesses to her grown son (Andrew) that she had named him for a young man she was in love with when she was 21. Joyce believes original-Andrew did not return her love because he seemed to let her go so easily. Son-Andrew checks on the Internet, locates Mom's long lost beau and offers Mom a road trip with him as he tries to pitch his new invention to K-Mart, Costco and HSN.  His secret mission is to reunite the pair of formerly young (now senior citizen) lovers. When they arrive at the original-Andrew's home they find his son (also Andrew) who sadly tells them that his father died a few years ago and no, his father never talked about that time of his life. Joyce is sad and thinks original-Andrew never gave her another thought even though he was in her thoughts all those years.  But then in walks original-Andrew's daughter who introduces herself as "Hi, I'm Joyce". Wow!  Original-Joyce is moved beyond words and I must admit, tears filled my eyes.

Who would have thought this silly movie would actually touch my core?  It reminded me that I am thankful to have made the effort to reconnect with old friends while they are still alive!

No Guilt Trip for me!!

;-)

Detroit

Detroit, Michigan filed for bankruptcy yesterday. I am not surprised.

About 14 years ago I was working for an I.T. Director hired from the City of Detroit (big bucks plus relocation expenses) who amazed me with her repertoire of meaningless buzzwords and total lack of any kind of I.T. knowledge. But tucked in her resume was leadership of a giant 48 million dollar I.T. project, aptly named "DREAMS", from which she had the good fortune to escape to Florida shortly before it completely bombed. I was saddened by the thought of such incompetence wasting millions of tax payer dollars in a city that could little afford it, even then.

The pictures of the blight in Detroit are heartbreaking. No American city should look like a third world country or have police response time of an hour or more. I feel for the retired Detroit firefighters who will lose much of their pensions and who have no Social Security to fall back upon. Along with sadness, I am angry at the decades of mismanagement and graft that brought this once proud city to its knees.

I hope Detroit can emerge stronger from this mess and keep those old DREAMS alive...

:-(

Skechers

I'm proud of myself!  I am still marching along on my anti-osteoporosis walking program!  A half hour every day with a ten pound weight around my waist.  Hopefully this will provide the "weight bearing exercise" so strongly recommended to combat this yucky condition that comes with getting older.

My 3 1/2 year old Skechers have not had too much use but they still require replacement since I have every intention of keeping up my new daily regimen.  So I ordered these new ones from eBay - only $12.98 including shipping.  What a nice find!  I am a fan of Skechers and have several non-athletic pairs in my closet.  These will be a welcome addition. 

When you want to take a step in a new direction and make a positive change in your life what better way to start than with a new pair of shoes?!?

;-)

The Last Picture

My neighbor Marilyn sent a funny email with a collection of "last photos in the camera". OY!  Will the last photo we take or the last thing we see be a vision of our impending doom? 

I like to fill my little phone gallery with little glimpses of my happy life.  But I need to fill it up more!  Let's see, I have a wonderful cruise in February planned and just yesterday I learned of an upcoming simcha in Toronto in June!  But why wait until then?  We are going on a road trip to Ocala next weekend and perhaps I'll even take a quick snapshot of Maj Jong today.
 
Unless you are very close to your mortal end there's no way of knowing exactly when, where or how you are are going to leave this world.  So why not make the last picture in your camera the best it can be?

;-) 

Osteoporosis Part Two

I had a bad (horrible) reaction to the Boniva my doctor prescribed.  Luckily she wisely gave me only one pill to try it first (one pill is the monthly dose).  I do need to talk to her about other pharmaceutical options but in the meantime I am pursuing natural options - better vitamin supplements and a weight bearing exercise program.  The four books on osteoporosis I took out from the library today are filled with tips and encouraging words of advice.

So today I took my first half-hour walk (the recommended starting point for us couch potatoes) with a ten pound weight belt.  I walked my neighborhood and rediscovered the secret walking trail that lies behind some of our nicest houses. 

What a pleasant surprise!  I had forgotten how peaceful and beautiful the trail is.  It meanders up and down small gentle hills and exquisite landscaping and follows along our gorgeous hidden lake.  Benches are strategically placed at points that promise tranquility and untroubled meditation (just in case I need a rest).  

So my program is off to a better restart today and I am looking forward to many more walks in my secret corner of paradise.

PS Dolly did not mind it a bit!

;-)
 

I'm Trying

I'm trying to do better these days.  I'm having one of my periodic declarations of good intentions in which I resolve to iron out areas where I have floundered recently or have gotten complacent or just plain lazy. 

These occasional bursts of energy always start with a thorough (semi-thorough anyway) house cleaning and the purchase of lifestyle-enhancing items (like the new sofa) that make me wonder what I was waiting for.  With the house spic and span I can then focus on the harder stuff - stuff I've been meaning to do better like taking my vitamins religiously (I skip some sometimes) and calling old friends before they become former friends. 

I am happy to report that after only a few days of concentrated effort, the house is in good shape, the scale has applauded my efforts to tackle those pesky two or three pounds that keep creeping back and my social calendar is filling up.  I've checked in with folks in Chicago and my old work buddies, thrown out shoes that made my feet hurt and cleaned the inside windshield of my car.    

I vow to maintain my new energized approach.  It feels great. 

I'm trying!

;-) 

Joyride

Last night, after a rather downbeat kind of day, I grabbed hubby (who was comfortably ensconced in the new power reclining sofa) and said "let's go for ride".  I suggested we swing by the beach and see what's up with the new upscale developments which I am hoping will help make the sale of our modest beach condo go FAST.  A glorious South Florida night reminded me of how fortunate we are to be able to enjoy the ocean breezes, week-night live music on the beach and the one-of-a-kind beach-shack restaurants and shops anytime we want.  It IS true what they say, things ARE better at the beach. 

I was feeling a mite cheerier but just to make sure I would not relapse, I asked hubby to stop at D'Lites where I indulged in a larger-than-my-usual-size treat of soft-serve.  And making the loop down Sheridan to 441 (the long road home) what do I see??  A brand new Popeyes open for business!  A mere 2.8 miles from home! 

I have the beach and D'Lites and Popeyes, libraries and the shul and a plethora of other wonderful things right here close to home.  I am wondering now what I was thinking to ever suggest exploring active adult communities around the state and even beyond.  They are filled with old folks!  Hahaha

It is true that recent departures of friends to distant locales has put a slight crimp in our social schedule.  But this weekend brings two separate dinners-out with potential new couples that may grow into friendships.

Advice:  Need a new perspective?  Go for a Joyride!

;-)

Vantage Point

I'm listening to the George Zimmerman trial as I go about my domestic chores and I caught a witness saying that the key to understanding a situation is that there are many different interpretations of the same events. What is perceived is often a result on one's vantage point. The witness even mentioned one of my favorite movies, Vantage Point, another Dennis Quaid movie panned horribly by movie critics (who I no longer listen to). 

Strong-willed and opinionated people (like moi) are often sure what they believe is right.  Why can't everyone just see it our (my) way? 

;-)

Treasure

So much fun to get an unexpected gift! Even a little tchotchke like a pen from the bank or a sample at the make-up counter or a taste of something from the Costco lady.

I gave myself a present today just by looking in my cabinets and on my shelves. Six bottles of bath gelee in yummy scents like Pomegranate, Vanilla Pear, Sweet Almond and Apple Cranberry. A never-used candle in Healing Lavender. Four candles shaped like little flamingos. Wow, I bet there is lots more long-forgotten stuff where those came from, hahaha.

There's an old saying (well I say it anyway) that one should shop in one's own closet. Great advice even if I may have made it up myself!

;-)

Osteoporosis

I remember that feisty lady, Sally Field, touting on TV the benefits of Boniva, one of several drugs that help treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.  How weird to see that cute, carefree teenager Gidget chasing after grandchildren and worrying about brittle bones. 

Oh poop!  Now I have osteoporosis too.  I suspect this morning will bring a call from the Cleveland Clinic instructing me to pick up a prescription for Fosamax or Boniva.  My first (and probably not my last) prescription for those diseases that come with aging.  I am, in spite of my best efforts to remain eternally 39, officially o-l-d.

If I think positively (which I always try to do) the aches and pains of older age are merely the trade-offs for having (finally) learned and accepted who I am, liking myself and my accomplishments, and at last enjoying the freedom and resources to do what I want whenever I want. 

I'll try to remember that when I gulp down those pills.

;-)

Hashkiveinu Adonai

Hashkiveinu (Grant O God) is a beautiful prayer in the Reform Friday night service.  I learned it by listening to a CD of the Cantor singing the Friday night prayers.  Even though I do not know a word of Hebrew, I could listen for hours to his beautiful voice and after a while I too could sing the prayers in Hebrew (sort of).  And although I did not know what the words of Hashkiveinu meant I could tell from the sweet melody that it was a beseeching prayer, a bit unusual as most Jewish prayers are songs of praise and thankfulness, rather than ones asking for something. 

Last Friday night, the Rabbi explained the original source and meaning of Hashkiveinu and the commentary of learned Rabbis on its placement in the service.  I found his discussion fascinating and dare I say it?  Better than his usual sermons hahaha.  Hashkiveinu also has the line that I often hear whenever Israel is threatened by outside forces: Spread over us the shelter of Your peace.

I am reminded of how much I love the Shabbat Siddur (Mishkan T'Filah) we use at Temple Solel.  The traditional prayers are shown in Hebrew, English and phonetic translation of the Hebrew.  Interspersed are complementary texts that feature themes from modern Jewish life - diversity, feminism, social justice, human challenges, values, emotions and ideals.  They are lovely and several have touched me deeply.

Shabbat Shalom!

The Big Hurt

Christians are big on forgiveness.  Sometimes I hear things like "I can forgive but I can't forget".  Truth be told, I am not big on either forgiving or forgetting, especially when the hurt cuts very very deep.  There are only two people in the world that hurt us so badly I will never forgive them and I (God help me) even wish on them a portion of the agony that they inflicted on us. The pain, even after eight years, is still so great I can barely think about it.

But I do believe that if the motivation is there and the relationship is worth salvaging and you can't imagine going through life without someone in it, we can get past most things. 

The Big Hurt can happen when someone cuts you to your very deepest core, belittles the things you hold most dear, or trivializes your struggles.  It hurts even worse if you have trusted that someone with your biggest fears or most intimate emotions.

I blogged awhile back about the Hatfields and the McCoys.  It's the story of how the closest of friends turned smallish (but one could argue valid) slights, disagreements or injustices into a feud that morphed into hatred and murder.  How silly their generational altercation seems in retrospect.  How much suffering did they have to endure to maintain their prideful and unyielding sense of "we're right"?

I, of course, will never forgive the people that administered my own Big Hurt. But perhaps there are some stronger folks out there who will take the first step to repairing their damaged relationships.

Hope so...

On Top Of The World

Several friends that we would see frequently have moved away recently - Jen & Eddie and Terri & Fred and Jean & Steve.  My snowbird cousins are rarely here or available anymore.  Adult activities at the shul are down a lot since the first year we joined.  I explored options at the JCCs and the Aish center and the senior centers but the pickings are very slim. I'm kind of bummed out about our prospects for meeting new people or having much of a social life. 

So I asked hubby how he would feel about starting a search for an active adult community, something we've talked about for years but never felt the time was right.  He's always up for an adventure and immediately started studying "The Top 50 List" in the latest issue of Where To Retire magazine. He even glommed on to Denton Texas, home of the Robson Ranch retirement community. Wow!  I must admit it did look wonderful - near a quaint college town and a big Jewish community.  I asked him to file it away until we saw all that Florida has to offer. 

So we made reservations for a two night stay at On Top Of The World in Ocala.  I am impressed with its emphasis on lifelong learning, nice floor plans, and its list of clubs including a Jewish American club.  A Reform Temple is just 12 miles away and since we'll be staying over a Friday night we can check it out.  In any case, it will make a nice weekend get-away.

Could a new chapter be waiting around the corner?  Well maybe not around the corner.  Ocala is 290 miles away!

;-)

100 Greatest Part Two

Onward to Entertainment Weekly's list of the 100 Greatest novels.  Oh my, I must be woefully unenlightened as most of these tomes are of the classical variety, not my usual fare of heroic detectives, sly courtroom lawyers and grisly murders. 

I struggled through The Sound and The Fury in high school (thank you Cliff Notes!) and spent one hot summer with Gone With The Wind.  That's about it.  Luckily many of the top 100 novels (according to EW) have been made into movies (modern day Cliff Notes!) so I will attempt to broaden my horizons by adding them to my Netflix queue.  First on that list will be the latest incarnation of The Great Gatsby.

Of EW's list of the 50 greatest stage plays of the last 100 years I have seen exactly none.  That surprised me as we do enjoy live theatre and held subscriptions for many years.  Wow, there is a lot out there left for me to try. 

Right after I tear myself away from the TV set...

;-)