Channeling the Pigsty

I just spent the last 20 minutes cleaning up around my recliner.

When Raymond and I finally had enough money, and the kids were done with that spit up stage, we bought new furniture for our living room. Besides a couch and a chair rocker, Raymond bought a big blue recliner for himself that fit his stature, and I bought a smaller burgundy tweed recliner that fit my stature. They were always side by side with an end table between them.

The area around Raymond's chair was always a pigsty, especially after he became wheelchair bound. There would be books stacked all around, papers, magazines, projects, water bottles, cough drops, and anything that pertained to Raymond's latest hobby.

My chair would have a nice basket next to it with my magazines and books. Everything would be neat and picked up.

Sometimes Raymond's area would get to the point that I could not stand it and I would either ask him to clean it up or I would dig in and straighten everything up. Other times, it would get so bad he would clean it up himself. Believe me when I say it had to be pretty bad for that to happen, and it would usually follow a time when after he had been sick for a while and I had just left him alone.

The big blue recliner is gone now. The rocker chair sits on the other side of the table from my recliner. It is a change, but I have gotten use to it.

What I cannot get used to is the fact that the area around my recliner is now a pigsty. It is like I am channeling the pigsty that used to surround Raymond's recliner. Just tonight I recycled 8 water bottles, 2 months worth of TV Guide, school notices, old agendas from Council meetings, several pieces of junk mail that I thought I might want to read, but didn't, and picked up four books that I intend to read eventually. It is so weird for me to live like that, usually everything has a place, like the giant recycling bin in my laundry room.

Maybe this chair pigsty is just my way of keeping part of Raymond with me all the time. I don't know. I do know that there were other qualities of Raymond that I admired more than the chair pigsty, and I would rather channel some of those than keep making these messes.

Love This Bumper Sticker

God Bless Everyone, No Exceptions.

My Contract Says

The foundation repair work is done on my house. Overall, I am pleased with the work. The men cleaned up the job site each day, made sure that caution tape was over all the areas where it was necessary, etc. My biggest dissatisfaction with the overall project was that I was told that I would have at least one person on site that spoke English. There wasn't anyone on the job site that spoke enough English for me to understand what they were saying. Usually I was able to get my wishes across with a lot of pointing, but I still worried about whether or not either one of us understood the other.

When the work was completed the man that I assumed was the foreman of the project came to the door and pointed to where I owed him money and said check. I retrieved my contract and pointed to plumbing test and engineer's report and said "no check, not done." He smiled and we went through the whole thing about five times before he decided I really wasn't going to give him a check.

Today a lady called from the company and asked me if I was satisfied with the job and was there anything else they could do for me. I said that they could complete the plumbing test and the engineer's report. She said that she would make the necessary calls and see what she could do to make sure those were items were completed. She then asked when they could expect the final payment. I told her they could expect the final payment when they had fulfilled their contract by performing the plumbing test and supplying me with an engineer's report. She said thank you and hung up.

My contract says that I will get a plumbing test and an engineer's report. No check until that is done folks.

I have also made a contact with myself. My contact says that I will do my best not to get ripped off by any repair persons or service companies. I think giving them a check now would break my contract.

Why Do People Feel the Need to Change?

I know there are other bigger issues to think about in the world, but once a day I take the time to check out Dr. Tony Youn's blog. http://celebritycosmeticsurgery.blogspot.com/and wonder why people are compelled to change themselves.

Of course, I am sure people look at me and wonder why I don't change the way I look. The older I get the less I want to do to make myself super "presentable."

As the years have gone on I've have decreased the amount of makeup I were to a very bare minimum. I have changed my hair to a style that can be finger styled. I have two of the same shirt that is my favorite. I wish I had 14. I could wear one of them every day for two weeks before I would have to do my least favorite chore, laundry.

I used to have a really nice wardrobe. I worked in college and would drive to the big city of Lexington, KY, and shop at boutiques and have clothes that my friends envied. When I worked in Dallas, I always had very nice clothes that I bought at a little boutique in Plano. However, in the last five years or so I have decided that comfort should rule my life over fashion. If I find a shirt that feels good, looks good, and is reasonably priced, then I buy every color they have in that shirt. Same with jeans. I find a pair I like and I buy 3 blue pair for everyday and 2 black pair for dress. Now I do have dress clothes like skirts and tops, one dress, and several pair of dress slacks, so I can dress up if the situation calls for nicer clothes than what I wear daily, but I prefer my daily clothes.

I used to have at least 15 pairs of shoes at all times. My mother sold shoes through a catalog and was always ordering me really cute shoes to match outfits I had. I also had a favorite shoe store in my home town where I used to buy really nice dress boots and casual shoes from a family I had made friends with from when my parents would shop there for the family. Now, I have 7 pairs of shoes, three of those are sandals that I wear during the summer. Once I moved to Texas I discovered that I hate shoe shopping. I never had a chance to find that out growing up because my mom either ordered the shoes for me, or the family at the shoe store would call and say they had something they thought I might like. I was very spoiled when it came to shoes. Now I do the same thing with shoes that I do with shirts. I find a pair that are comfortable and fit, and I buy a brown pair and a black pair.

As I look at the people on Dr. Youn's blog and wonder about their body "revisions," I have to wonder about mine. Am I just being lazy, or have I just decided that life is too short to not be comfortable?

As I ponder the answer to that question, I think back to my "management" jeans. When I was in college I took a management class where I was paired up with an all male study group. We were required to meet outside of class once a week to work on certain projects. The guys in my study group were really cute, so I would spend a lot of time getting ready for study group "dates." I had one particular pair of jeans that always brought a lot of compliments my way, so they became my "management" jeans. They really were not comfortable. Even though I was much thinner in college, these jeans were still tight. I would go to these meetings and suffer for an hour and then go back to the dorm and put on my "fat" pants and enjoy myself so much more with my other guy friends. One of the guys in the management group finally did show some interest in me, and we got together on campus a few times without the others around. Turned out I should have just been comfortable at those meetings. He was definitely the cutest of the group, and the one I was most interested in, but when I found out he was barely a "C" student I lost all interest in him. Snobby of me, yes, but I knew I needed to have intellectual stimulation to stay interested in a guy. Plus he never once said he liked my jeans.

I know that I would never have cosmetic surgery to please another person. There are certainly parts of me that I wished looked different, but they are what I was given and quite frankly, if someone doesn't like how I look, then they can look some where else. Yes, I wish I was thinner, but that may never happen. I really wish I was taller, always have, and always will, but I know I will never be taller.

I guess what it comes down to is that I feel sorry for the people on Dr. Youn's site that have been compelled to change themselves, sometimes with frightening results. I don't know why they felt the need to change themselves, but I hope it made them happier in some way. I know that I am glad that I no longer feel the need to wear "management" jeans.

Some nights as I am looking at Dr. Youn's site I wonder if I just use the comfort issue as an excuse to not have to make an effort. I start wondering if someday I will be that old "toothless" woman that sits around in her rocking chair on the front porch braless in an old flowered cotton mu mu with her hair standing on end yelling obscenities at the kids walking home from school, but then I remember that I really don't look good in a flowered print.

WARNING – DEFINITELY A EWWW!!!!

Quite by accident last week I came across the term “anal bleaching.” I thought it was a joke until I started researching this “trend.” It was not a joke. People actually do this. You can have this done by a doctor, a spa, or do it at home. I also found out there were other areas of the body that could be bleached that did not necessarily involve hair. EWWW!!!!

I don’t know why this has stuck in my mind so much, but I can’t help but wonder “how did we get here?” I know that throughout the ages there has been behavior by some that would not be considered mainstream, but it wasn’t so publicized.

Maybe the internet has made this information more available to everyone. Maybe reality shows have made everyone want to be a star and in doing so they want to be “trendy.” Maybe the media that publishes pictures of young stars out partying without their underwear has something to do with people wanting certain parts to look “younger.” Whatever the reason, EWWW.

I do not understand some of today’s trends. I do know that if these types of procedures are what make you trendy – then I will never be “trendy.”

Raymond Would Have

I got up at 4 a.m. one morning last week to watch the lunar eclipse with my youngest. We watched for a little over an hour. I was so thrilled when total eclipse was reached and he decided to go back to bed instead of watching the rest of the process.

At first, I told my youngest that I was not going to get up with him, but then I surprised him by setting my alarm and going out with him. What made me decide at the last minute to set my alarm and go outside to be a feast for the mosquitoes? Raymond would have gotten up to see the eclipse if one of the boys wanted to see it

“Raymond would have” has been my test for a lot of things I have done since I have been making decisions on my own, especially when it comes to the boys.

Raymond would have gotten up whether or not he was interested in the eclipse or not. Of course, Raymond would have remembered to set up the telescope while it was still daylight instead of in the dark at 4 a.m. in the morning. Raymond also would have known how to work the telescope.

I’m glad I got up with my youngest. My oldest watched it in another city. I hope Raymond had a chance to see it too.