Life Is An Amazing Adventure

Posted on by learning to live like water

I wrote a blog, and when I pasted it from word and looked at it, I thought, who cares?  Who cares that you went to open mic again, and had a wonderful evening, and that it’s getting cooler and may not go above 60 tomorrow?  It’s all so mundane.

I mean, I’m happy.  I’ve never been so consistently happy in my life.  I’m content.  I’ve left the drama behind me, I have the foundation laid for a lovely life here.  My friend who took the walk with me the other day walked me to my car tonight, we remarked what a small world it is, both of us kind of running into people we knew long ago.  The boyfriend of my bff in Iowa texted me that he was coming tonight, and he sat with us, though he left early, he has a longer drive because he doesn’t live in Gulfport.  I think he feels safe with me, knowing my bff won’t get jealous of him hanging with me because she knows I have no designs on him, nor would I even if they weren’t together.  Totally not my type.   Then someone my walking friend, I’ll call him P, ran into someone who got him started singing karaoke.  I also told him about meeting my jr. high school home ec teacher….

Really, what a small world.  This man, P, is so dear to me.  When he hugs me hello or goodbye he pulls me into him, and hugs tight.  He used to do just the one armed hug, but we are pretty close now.  So happy to have his friendship, I treasure it.

So, that, friendship with him, is not mundane.  The people I love are not mundane.  Going through the motions of living are.  My bff’s boyfriend said to me tonight, “We’re in paradise here….”  Yes.  Yes we are.  Laid back, loving, friendly, no stress.  Perfect weather almost every day.  And the days that aren’t are a welcome change.  Every day I try to express my gratitude for this.  Life is an amazing adventure.

Love and light, all.

Delight

Posted on by learning to live like water

stars-and-moon

What does she say
When the night rolls in
And the light fades?

She watches quietly
She smooths her dress
And bows her head
And says “Thank you”.

The moon rises
The stars twinkle.
Planets shine their brilliant light
Gratitude delighting the universe.

By Deborah E. Dayen

Picture from Google Images

Really Settling In

Posted on by learning to live like water

Wow! Four nights of good sleep in a row, without any sleep aid. Last night was the best yet! 8 hours, with only one wake up for about a half hour. Awesome! So what is allowing me to sleep so well?

I think that I’ve let old things that caused me anxiety just go. I don’t wake up wondering about them any more, or even caring about them. New things, happy things, have come into my life, and when I wake up, I think of them and go back to sleep. I think I’m finally settling into my new life, and feeling comfortable here.  I am remembering that I named this house Avalon, a mystical place of new beginnings.  There was so much I wanted to let go of from my old life, and so much more I wanted to bring in with my new life.  It’s all happening.  I see that the journey from there to here was the way it was purposefully, bringing me to a much better, happier, fulfilling place.

For instance, tonight is open mic night. Both the friends I usually go with have been sick with bad colds, so I don’t know if either of them will go with me. But I am comfortable enough to go alone, because I know there will be people there that will be happy to include me. I have a circle of people here, and it’s a huge comfort to me, to have a base.

The big work on my house is mostly done now. I still have tree trimming and a shed to put up, but that’s not big stuff. No more workers in my house all day. I have to go curtain shopping for the windows now. The shades I bought will not work with the new windows, so I have to take them back and get something else. Right now my bedroom windows have tablecloths over them, and the living room has towels, lol. I’m going to re-install the blinds I had in the living room, they are fine for the living room. I had the same ones in my bedroom, but they let too much light in. I wanted the better shades I bought, but they won’t work. I think I’ll have to go for room darkening curtains. But that’s ok too. Whatever it takes.

When I was moving furniture yesterday away from the windows, the mirror on my dresser, big heavy mirror, fell off. Apparently the movers had stripped the holes where the screws went. So now I will need help getting it back up. I’m sure my handyman will help me with that. Thank God the mirror did not break. But it so aggravated me that the movers just left it like that.

I’m going to get going early this morning. To take back the shades, to look for curtains and a few other errands. I want to take a good long walk on the beach today. Tomorrow it’s going to get cold. Well, cold for here, lol. High of 60. By Sunday it will be back to 80, happily.

Lots of good things happening. I still pinch myself every day, I’m so amazed that I have this wonderful life here. Just so blessed, so lucky. When my sister and I were shopping, we were waiting in line to pay. She remarked that it was 3 PM. I said, “Oh good, we will have time to get into the hot tub for awhile and have a glass of wine before we go down to sunset.” Then I looked at her, hearing myself, and said, “It’s a rough life isn’t it? LOL.” She said “Thank you for reminding me…..” We both know how lucky we are.

Love and light, everyone.

Waiting on Windows

Posted on by learning to live like water

I’m sitting out on my deck while they put the new windows in. Way too noisy in the house. I’m wishing I had a good rake, I could have done some work in the yard with the leaves. It is apparently a year round phenomenon with leaves here, at least on this banyan tree, that they just continually fall off.

Oh well. Make a list, I need a rake and a good push broom, so I can clean my deck off.

After I wrote the blog about access to my other blog today, I got a notice from WP that I had a new follower. I clicked on the link to go look at their blog, as I often do, and it had been deleted already. Who the hell follows a blog and then deletes their own? Just seemed odd. Like in the same breath almost? Then come to find out, someone else did it less than 24 hours ago. Wonder what that is all about?  Crazy. One of the mysteries of life. LOL.

My new windows are going in as I type this. I’m looking quite forward to having this done. I’ve been texting with Laurel, who says she’s going traveling with me. 🙂 I’ll told her if she goes, she has to eat something besides Boost, lol.

While I was sitting out here I called the power company about the power line that runs from my house to the pole in the back yard. It goes through branches of my tree, and through the palm tree. Apparently the homeowner is responsible here for trimming the trees from the house to the pole. But the power co. will come out and shut the power off and turn it back on when the trimming is done. So my handyman will have to give me a date he can do it, and I’ll get that all scheduled. Then fix my gutter, and then get a shed erected. Then I’ll be done with the biggest stuff, and my sis and I can plant my front yard.

I kind of wanted to go downtown to eat, to the outdoor restaurant where the keyboard player is playing tonight. But don’t think I’m going to be able to go. Maybe next week. Sunday I’ll be back at my sisters, going to her neighbor’s New Year’s party. Who knows, maybe I’ll meet the rich guy with the yacht, lol.

Life is good. It’s warm today, but just very comfortable here on my deck in the shade.

Love and light, all.

Access To My Private Blog

Posted on by learning to live like water

About my 2nd blog, Live Like Water 2.  I generally only allow people access that 1.) I know from our interaction here, or at least 2.) have a current blog with many entries.  If you have never made yourself known to me, and are not a follower of this blog, I won’t be able to grant access. I do this for my own protection, to keep drama out of my life.  Someone whose name is Healingarys has requested access twice, and I cannot find a blog of that name, nor a comment ever.  If you are someone I know, please comment here and let me know who you are, so I can grant access.

Bitten By The Travel Bug

Posted on by learning to live like water

I want to go to Italy. I have wanted this for years, it has always been at the top of my list for travel. I think too much Eat Pray Love, and Under the Tuscan Sun, lol. But like Liz Gilbert says, I want to go somewhere where pleasure is not extraneous. Instead a place where people believe life should be about pleasure. I think I might be able to put it together in a year and a half, or two years . I want to see Tuscany, and the Amalfi coast. The ruins of Rome, Lake Como, Florence. I’ve been looking at tours, through the Road Scholar program to see what the costs would be. And Adventures Abroad for people over 55.

The problem seems to be that all the tours put on by these places are only for parts of Italy. Like just the southern part. Or the northern lakes region, or just the Amalfi coast, or Tuscany. Sometimes they include maybe two parts. I did find one that’s 18 days that says it does the southern and northern. Right now I don’t have a travel partner, which is why I’m looking at the tours. My sis and her hubby have done a few of the Road Scholar trips through France, and loved them. Well, I’ve just started looking.

If I had a partner, I might consider going without a tour group. Maybe rent an apt for a month somewhere centrally located, and get a rail pass. That would be fun, I think, and allow me to kind of have a home base.

I have a few other places on my list. Ireland, for one. I have a good friend there, who has numerous times offered me a place to stay with her. And of course, if I were going there, I’d hop across to England, Scotland and Wales. I’d like to see France too. Sweden in the summer. And Machu Picchu, even though I know that can be a strenuous trip. The Galapagos. Somewhere in Africa, Tanzania maybe. Photo Safari. A friend did that a few years ago, and absolutely loved it. India too might be on the list. That would be immersing myself in a culture so foreign to me, I think it would be fascinating. And then…maybe French Polynesia, just to hang on the beach.

I’ll not get to them all, unless I somehow strike it rich. I think I can do Italy, and Ireland though. I’ve never really thought of myself as someone who is dying to travel, but as I get older, I’m realizing that there are many places on this planet I’d love to see before I get too old to be able to get around. The world is such a big place.

In my younger days, I just wanted to sail around from place to place. 6 months in the Caribbean, maybe through the Panama Canal, up the coast to California.

Then again, there are so many places in this country I have not been. If I were to go out west, my son could come with me. The Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone. Utah….and even Colorado where he lives have incredible parks.

I spent so much of my life just trying to survive. An abusive marriage which almost left me homeless, if not for a true miracle. For so many years we were so broke, I just wanted to never be broke again. But now, I’ve managed to put together a decent retirement out of that chaos, and I can set my sights past my day to day needs, I think.

At least, a little bit. Fun to think about anyway.

Love and light.

Shopping and Sunsets

Posted on by learning to live like water

My sis and I spent the day shopping today. Neither one of us particularly likes to shop, but we both needed many of the same things, so off we went, hoping it would be more fun together. And it was!!

We first went for shoes. I have been wearing flip-flops for over 6 months. Except for the last month maybe, when I’ve switched off to shoes with arch support when I’m going to be on my feet for a long time. And my feet are telling me to quit the flip-flops. I LOVE flip-flops. They are like my trademark. But I bought a pair of athletic sandals to wear when I want to go for a walk. I also bought a nice pair of comfy open toed shoes too, in a kind of silver weave. My sis bought 3 pairs of shoes, lol.

Then I found jeans that fit me actually! I’m very excited about that. I’ve had to wear a belt for so long with my jeans because they tend to slide off of me. I keep tightening up the belt, now I’m on the 5th hole. So I now have 2 pair that aren’t made for teen-agers, but for adults. They are skinny jeans, but come up to my waist, so no more belt!! And they fit my legs tightly as skinny jeans do. Yay! So excited about that. I also bought some undergarments at Victoria’s Secret. I had them refit me because I wasn’t sure what size I needed any longer. It’s TMI to discuss but let’s just say I’ve lost enough weight to drop a couple sizes! And they were buy one, get one half price. We ended the day at Bath & Body Works because everything was on sale there, lol.

When we got home we went to the beach to watch the sunset. It was just amazing. The rest of this will be a pictorial essay on the setting of the sun over the Gulf of Mexico. I will let it speak for itself .

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Hope you enjoyed the sunset.  Love and light everyone.