Growing old

I hope someday to be a beautiful old person. One of those old folks with beautiful wrinkles who radiates contentment. Not because their life has been perfectly content, but because despite all the sorrows, it has been overall a good life. Because there is so much to love and be happy about. Because the tears eventually faded into solace and one day there was joy again. 

I don't have any noteworthy wrinkles yet, but I do have a few stray gray hairs. They aren't noticeable, because my hair is a fairly light brown and they kind of blend in. And I have no intention of dying them or otherwise hiding them at this point. I have earned those gray hairs, every one of them. there is a life behind them. I'm not saying no one should ever dye their gray hair, or even that I won't ever--who knows what I'll do in another 20 years?! And dying them doesn't erase the life I've lived. Really, I'm just lazy about my hair and dying requires too much maintenance for a lazy bum like myself. 

But I do also kind of like those random gray hairs. And I hope that someday, I have more of them, with a lovely set of wrinkles to match. I hope I become a beautiful old person.

To buy or not to buy

I haven't had a car for the last five years, give or take. There was some weather, stuff happened, and a prayer was answered. But that's a different story. Anyway, so I'm car-less, which is great for the environment, not that that's why I am car-less. Mostly I get by on public transportation and car rentals. And every time I rent a car, I kind of wish I had my own car.

I've currently got the money for a car. And there are a lot of pros to acquiring one: grocery shopping would be so much easier, I wouldn't have to plan hours around any single errand, I could get out to some new places to practice photography (which I know you are all dying for) and generally just get away when I wanted to, the social life would be much easier. There are loads of reasons to go for it.

But then I hear people talking about all of their car troubles--repairs, registration, maintenance. There's also the cost of insurance and gas and my rent would go up to include parking And don't get me started on parking in this town. Or even just driving around! And to buy a car I have to deal with the person selling the car. Who wants to deal with salespeople?! Let's be honest, that's the real reason I've been putting off the car-buying. I just don't want to deal with the salespeople. A hassle I don't look forward to in my life.

So if anyone knows of any great car buying tips or cars for sale, let me know. Or if you want to buy a car, I'll totally reimburse you.

Good eats

Food is not my favorite. I mean, food is great, it's figuring out what to eat and then you have to fix it and it is a lot of effort and dishes and work. These days, my favorite food is literally anything I didn't have to come up with and cook for myself.

This week I ended up staying late at work one night, so a friend and I went to grab something to eat to tide us over. Well, there's a place nearby and I thought maybe I'd grab a cinnamon roll there (they are really good. And it would hit that sweet-carb craving. Simple, tasty, perfect). Sadly, they didn't have any cinnamon rolls, but my friend said, "Oh, rolls and honey butter. That would be so good!" Which was a genius idea, and what I got, and it was amazing. I've been eating them for breakfast the past couple of days and they have totally hit the spot every time.

Also, it is Sweetango apple season again, and what goes better with rolls and honey butter than an apple (and maybe some cheese). The simple foods really are among the best.

A Saturday at Last

Now that I'm back from my 'globe-trotting' (in one small part of the globe, at least), today was the first Saturday in over a month that I have been home. For the last four weekends, I have been traveling. It was incredibly fun and I got to see almost all of my nieces and nephews and a lot of family. I took family pictures, played Legos, went to the zoo, shot Rocket Copters, played lots of Candyland and baked a cake. I made S'mores over the stove, played Farkle, and gave an impromptu talk at a baptism. I did a bit of weeding, a bit of reading, a lot of chatting, and quite a bit of laughing. And I basked in the joy of little kids.

And now I'm back. Today, I went grocery shopping, made a book, and prepped some fruit for drying. Waaaaay more exciting, right? I think I need to plan a few more trips.

Home again home again

I have spent 3 of the last 4 weekends out of town. It was delightful. But now, I guess it is time to settle back into the routine of things. I've got a VERY lengthy list of things to work on that I have not been getting to that await my attention.

Which unfortunately, hasn't yet returned from my travels. Possibly this is due to the constant uprooting and lack of weekends (sorry folks, but when I go away for a weekend, my attention is on the weekend. I always take a project as a backup, but we all know there's no way I'm gonna work on it. And what's the point of going away if you aren't really gone? It's just a waste). Possibly because the routine is seeming a bit, well, too routine. Or possibly because I am just sleep deprived from late nights on the weekend without getting to sleep in (too much going on) and then late nights during the week for no identifiable reason except that I'm too tired to go to bed. Which sounds ridiculous, but it is a real thing. I see it with my nieces and nephews all the time, especially the 3 and unders. They are so exhausted and they really just need to sleep but they are so exhausted they can't' stop crying and just sleep. I get the same way, only without the crying. So I sit around wasting time even though I'm ready to drop and I dawdle and start on last minute things* and get to bed late and am continually exhausted.**

Anyway, I knocked off a couple of to-do items tonight, and I guess I'll just keep plugging away. And maybe I'll give myself a couple of weekends before I start traveling again.

*like a blog post!
**we adults pretend we have outgrown our childhood habits, but I have discovered that half the time, when I'm angry or frustrated, I'm really just hungry and tired. We should all embrace our inner child, have a snack, and take a nap.