"The Villages"

Imagine over 107,000 people over 55 living within 5 square miles. It is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country! I don't think I would like it. Too crowded with wealthy retired people. It was founded by a billionaire and is known as "Disneyland for adults". It is in Florida, not sure exactly where.

A job has become available in my area of expertise. However, it is a "starter" job, downsized to 20 hours in order to save money on benefits. While it would be nice to have some extra money, the thought of having to commit myself to a schedule is not appealing and I would rather escape from some of the people who hang out at his place rather than help them. I am not proud of that sentiment, but there it is. I was there yesterday and some people came in and sat at the adjoining table. I couldn't wait to leave. Two people, one handicapped, curse words every other word, and a rank odor of cat piss. I am very sensitive to the smell of urine and unwashed bodies and stale smoke. (Hmmm...maybe I WOULD like the Villages?!)

Nice to wake up today with only the prospect of my usual research haunt and choir practice. Sometimes I wear myself out running around to all of my various activities. Like tomorrow, when I have arthritis exercise class at 8 AM, followed by art class from 9:30 - 12:30. Then I have to run down to Ocean City to return a library book. I tried to renew it, but someone had put it on hold. French women don't get facelifts talks about aging gracefully without too much intervention.

The goldfinch

Remembered a little bird I saw in a museum so I tried to find it online. I believe it IS what gave the idea for the book The Goldfinch. It is in the Frick Gallery in New York City. I started the book and only got 1/3 of the way through it before it became overdue. Then started all over again with the 26 CD audiobook. It is quite compelling!

Finished Then again, by Diane Keaton. I love reading autobiographies and finding out who knew whom and such like that. I am eager to read her new book as I enjoyed this one on my Nook. She never married (I like THOSE role models) and adopted two children. She also went through a lot with the decline of her mother.

Someone has been in my yard and it gives me the creeps. Came home and found one of the wooden pieces broken off on my gate. Then we found a SWEATER and a CELL PHONE under the steps. Just what I need, a careless, vandalizing trespasser. I have enough dislike of my neighbors without them invading my space. Called the policeman and he was very polite and took the cell phone although he thought it was broken and useless.

Feelings of impending doom

Torrents of rain and hours of gloom tend to depress me and give me feelings of impending doom. Let me count the ways...
- small ants are back in the kitchen
- tenants have given notice that they are moving
- Ceiling is wet with leaks
- doubting all of my decisions (thank God I didn't have to have jury duty!)
- this is the second day I have not exercised (country western dancing tonight?)
- heat (oil) still needed
- it will be gloomy and rainy for art class tomorrow
- neighbors with annoying barking dog have now gotten a SECOND dog

There must be some reasons to be happy...
- my grandmother is being honored tonight
- I finally got ahold of someone I have been trying to get ahold of for a good long time
- neighbors who had the most annoying barking dog may be moving?
- weight went down overnight

Which is worse, high blood pressure or slow resting heart rate?

So, I stopped taking my blood pressure pill as it was making my heart rate too slow. Now my blood pressure is too high. Darn, I thought maybe I was overcoming HBP with my modicum of weight loss and my pathetic, half-hearted efforts to exercise. Jeez...when you get to be 66 you just think about all of the things that can go wrong. And you see them happening to many of the people around you, even the ones YOUNGER than 66.

Taking an art class. I guess I like it. It is nice to get involved in something for three hours and I have noticed that I don't think about EATING during this time. I do, however, have a lot of competition anxiety. I don't think I am very good at it and have already mentally moved on to the next project. That is one reason I don't want to go out and spend a lot of money on fancy art supplies. Yes, my materials are possibly limiting what I am able to accomplish. Today I painted a sunset that I took a picture of down at Bivalve the other night. Now, I need to think of a project for NEXT week. Every week that I have been there the day has been sunny and gorgeous. And today a woman who fell down with a stroke a couple of weeks ago was BACK and none the worse for the wear. The nurse who had guided the rescue crew went home and painted her a picture and presented it to her in a frame today. After the class, I went out in back of the barn and relaxed by the pond. Was taking my "Vitamin D bath" and waiting for my watercolor to dry. Enjoyed greatly the sounds....wind chimes in the trees, waterfall fountain in the pond, wind blowing through the bamboo trees. Add to that the heavenly odors and another artist painting a fabulous pink flowered tree. It was rather heavenly!

On my way home soon. It is a struggle to get to spend time at home so I can read and organize (ha ha) and look out the windows at the sunny day. I was supposed to have a French club meeting tonight but one and then another dropped out so we ended up rescheduling it. I am just as glad as I had too many activities today. Started off with arthritis class at 8 AM, then art class, then a substantial lunch at the Olympia Greek restaurant, then chiropractor and massage, and now computer time at the Millville Public Library. It is a difficult life (not). I guess I should feel guilty about all of my self-indulgence, but, hey, don't I deserve it?

Bollywood dance class

Went to a one hour class on Bollywood dancing at the Vineland Public Library. The teacher was in casual clothes and taught us the steps slowly. I had the usual problems of remembering all of the moves and doing some of them. I am not too good at jumping and doing things fast. The class seemed lost on the really young and the really old. The teacher kept giving us positive reinforcement ("Good job!") even though she wasn't really watching us. Some little girls were acting crazy (what did THEY have to eat?) and I couldn't keep myself from speaking to them..."Girls...we are TRYING to concentrate here". The teacher thanked me, but the mother was oblivious to their distracting behavior. One little plump boy tumbled to the ground, more than once. His explanation was, "I am not used to standing on my tip toes."

Don't know much about mythology : everything you need to know about the greatest stories in human history but never learned (book), by Kenneth C. Davis: This was a fascinating book. In the end, too many gods for me to remember, but interesting to see the similarities between various myths and religions. I was interested also to learn things that might come in handy while doing crossword puzzles. And there were some good quotes.

People around me are trashing Ancestry.com. Woman can't find name of her family in the newspaper database...she has found the names using newsbank which is supposed to be linked to Ancestry. Very frustrating interaction with customer support. She thought the woman was an idiot. My experience with Ancestry was to find my grandmother linked to the wrong parents! They even included a photograph of her gravestone, which I have visited. THAT is scary!

Feeling like a sausage again

I have lost the feel for losing weight. Clothes are getting tight again. It is just so much work and deprivation to eat the right things.

Have NOTHING check out on my library card right now. THAT feels weird. Resisting the impulse to pick something up. I need to concentrate on the 5 books I am reading right now before I get one more.

Murder of a stacked librarian (book), by Denise Swanson: Picked this up as I thought it was a library series. Instead, it turned out to be a murder series. Just happened to be a librarian this time. I found that I have read her before. About an investigator who lives in a small town and has a lot of relatives. Usually, she is deciding amongst various men, but now she has married one. Most of the chapter titles had something to do with books. The murdered woman was a stickler for the rules, libraries being just one of the places where she exerted her wrist slapping behavior. So, there were a bunch of people who she pissed off.

Every pose is not for every body

So says my Yoga instructor. It was good to be back at Yoga today. What a good way to start out the week....with a Yoga class at 10:30 AM on a Monday. A co-worker asked me how I get out of bed being retired. I realized I have something to do every day of the week that gets me up and out. Lazing about in pajamas has only been a "problem" a few days.

I am in the cocoon which is the computer lab at the Ocean City Public Library. Good things are nicely behaved people and you can have up to three hours of computer time. I don't mind asking dumb questions since I don't know anybody. I always feel like I am being a PAIN at the local libraries where I know everyone. Hope I don't forget to pick up my book, which is the reason I came down here. For the price of the gas, I could have BOUGHT the book, French women don't get facelifts.

Tried to go for walk on the beach, but it was mighty windy and cold, as I might have expected. Beautiful, nonetheless. Walked for about ten minutes with shoes on. Ankle felt OK, but felt a twinge in the right hip by the end. I don't want to be one of those people who has a hip or knee replaced or has to have a triple bypass. All of that would be HIGHLY inconvenient since I am a single lady living on the second floor.