As a woman of a certain age, I have lived a certain number of years, and in that certain number of years, I have learned many lessons. Such lessons include but are not limited to the following:
- It may seem like a good idea to take the brownies out of the oven with your bare hands, but it isn’t.
- It’s not possible to make coffee without putting water in the coffee pot.
- If you couldn’t ride a bike as a kid, you can’t ride a bike as an adult.
- If you’re trying to flirt with a gentleman caller by talking about David Mamet’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, you’re not flirting well.
- If you’re trying to flirt with a gentleman caller by talking about how crazy it is that there’s a Star Trek character named Chekov, even if it’s spelled differently and all, you’re really not flirting well.
- Cats make for excellent back-up alarm clocks.
- Rompers are not a good look for anyone over the age of five.
- “But it’s on sale” is not a good reason to buy something.
- You can’t delete an e-mail once you’ve sent it.
This week, I can add another item to this list: if there’s something wrong with your body that can be cured only with rest, your body will make you rest even if you refuse to do so. I also learned that Web MD will always tell you that you’re dying and that cats like to walk through paint and glue.
Oh, and I took some pictures. Here they are:
Day 272: I admit it: I’m obsessed with Martha Stewart and her cats and her craft projects and her coordinated paint and glitter sets. Mostly I’m obsessed with her glitter sets. I’m also obsessed with Real Simple magazine, which I bought to look at while my body forced me to rest.
Day 273: As I’ve mentioned (probably ad nauseam times) on the blog, I participated in The Grind for six months this year. This means I wrote a something-a-day for six months. This means I have a lot of new material. Like, a lot. I’m now in the process of making said material readable, and some of said material is actually ready to send out. I’ve been carpet-bombing literary journals with my poems and stuffs, and it feels remarkably good to finally have a lot of work in circulation again. Of course, it’s probably going to feel remarkably bad when all of the rejection letters start coming in. Thankfully, I’m also teaching myself to sew, so I’ll be able to make my own hair shirt when the naysayers start saying nay.
Day 274: You know what’s amazingly restful? Crafting. Especially if one crafts in polka-dot toe socks.
Day 275: In order to continue my restful crafting, I had to pull on my toe-socks and head to Hobby Lobby, where I saw these heads. I am both terrified and fascinated by them.
Day 276: One of my favorite things about the photo-a-day project is that it makes me much more aware of my surroundings. This is helpful both because I’m usually so unaware of my surroundings that I tend to walk into closed doors, poles, and walls, and because it allows me to catch small moments of beauty I otherwise may not see, like this butterfly on a bush on campus.
Day 277: I got this thank-you note from my god-daughter today, and it was so incredible I had to take a picture of it for my photo of the day. I’m trying very hard to remember that I am indeed a woman of a certain age and therefore shouldn’t buy these dolls, even if they do appear to be unbelievably awesome and if they seem to come with unbelievably awesome accessories, like hot pink owls. Hopefully, my god-daughter will let me play with hers the next time I’m in town, if I promise to try very hard not to steal them.
I see your flirtation problem. You should try “Star Wars” next time. Worked for my wife and I. Or maybe Dr. Who.