Road Trip!

Daily writing prompt
Think back on your most memorable road trip.
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I write those words and immediately think of “Animal House”. Having said that any one of my road trip memories will pale in comparison. My favorite road trip was the first one we took with out kids when we first relocated to Florida. We were driving north to visit family for the first time since our move. We would be together, in the car for over 1,000 miles. Me, my husband, our twelve year old twins and our 10 pound Yorkie, Ted, were off and ready for our first, very long, road trip. The first 250 miles, we were just like the Brady Bunch. Singing, laughing – it was grand! We began to get hungry so we pulled over to a rest stop, picked a shady spot, and I handed out the sandwiches and snacks I had lovingly picked out that morning…I could almost see myself morphing into Florence Henderson, even if I did look more like Alice.

At the 600 mile mark, we trudged, tired into our hotel for the night. We stopped at Fredericksburg, Virginia. It was a hot August evening and we decided to go to the pool and relax a bit before ordering room service. Ted is an older dog and he was content to fall asleep and we were back within 30 minutes. Still, we were tired, and 4 burgers later, we were all sound asleep, ready to begin part 2 of our drive in the morning.

Our twins were always like day and night, from day one. One easy going, the other just a bit on the demanding side and I should add, it appears when she is both tired and hungry. For purposes of privacy, I will call them Thing 1 and Thing 2. Thing 2 refused to eat the hotel breakfast, and I offered her one of the car snacks, but she wasn’t having it. There was no singing. We would be arriving by 1pm at our destination, so there was no packed lunches. There was just constant moaning. The complaints began, the dog jumped up into the front seat, the girls are now fighting, first verbally, then things start to get airborne in the back seat. Dad is now yelling, the dog is barking and just like that, we have gone from Brady Bunch to The Shining! Well, maybe not all that bad – but I learned that day that there is a limit to road trip happiness – for us, it’s 600 miles.

there is no wrong time for pizza

Daily writing prompt
What snack would you eat right now?
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I have enjoyed pizza cold for breakfast. I have many ways to heat up a slice for lunch. And while there is no wrong time to eat pizza, my favorite is when I get to enjoy it in my favorite pizza place, as it comes hot, right out of the oven. The cheese at it’s height of fresh gooey goodness, and a crispy crust, with just the perfect amount of sauce and mushrooms, the mushrooms sliced thinly evenly spread to ensure that I taste everything, all at once, in every bite!

Teach your dog to talk!

Daily writing prompt
Come up with a crazy business idea.
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People love their pets and most will do just about anything for them. But it would be absolutely silly to think that you could teach your dog to talk, right? Unless “talk” means communicate…then it’s not so senseless – “teach your dog to talk” becomes the sensational “grab”. The advertising line that makes people take a second look. For my older readers: remember “Ayds” – the candy that made people lose weight? It was basically a very overpriced box of caramels that sold out every January as we watched thin women eat them and proclaim that’s how they “lost weight”. Is that any crazier than my talking dog scenario? Unfortunately, “Ayds” ended it’s campaign in the 80’s due to a tragedy with a similar name.

For crazy business ideas, one has only to look to the weight loss industry. My talking dog idea is not quite as crazy next to them.

Land of Redo

When I was young, I would constantly find myself in a state of regret for having said the wrong thing at the wrong time. Over time, I would work to finesse the ability of addressing an insult, a slight to the point of making said insulting person instantly regret having taken me on. This is not a positive trait, and worse, the better you are at this game, the worse you feel about yourself.

I want a re-do. I want to fly back into time and change how I would handle these things. I want to do so because I believe each instance created a miniature character flaw upon my person and that if I could unwind all of these moments, no matter how small, then I could be a better person.

I could work to be a better person anyway. And I do try, every day. But there are many people in my past wearing the bullet holes of my words and it is this I regret. I have no way to reach into the past and communicate that to the people I have injured.

DNA, to swab, or not to swab

About 10 years ago, I made the decision to know more about my ancestry, via Ancestry.com.

I received various, unsolicited opinions about doing so, the majority against sharing my DNA. I gave it some thought, and decided that my curiosity about my history trumped any danger of sharing my spit. It is 10 years later, and the world has changed a bit and I think I may have at least given it more thought prior to sharing, and at the very least I would have wanted to see a clause that would indicate that if the business in question registering my DNA were to fold, all registered DNA would be destroyed. Those who used 23 and me did not have that option and I don’t believe anyone knows who has ownership of their DNA. And while mine might be secure at the moment, that could change in the future.

The positives are big though, I have built a tree going back to the 1500’s, picked up photographs going back to the civil war (my third great grandfather who looks remarkably like my nephew). I have enjoyed discussions with others that share my DNA and gleaned a wealth of information. Most of my DNA comes from England, Ireland and Scotland (not really a surprise) plus Italy, Germany, France (the Italian and German I was aware of). I also was able to find death certificates, birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc. In summary, knowing what I have learned, I think I would have done it again.

It’s not for everyone, and I completely understand why some are guarded. It plays out like most important decisions though, you have to weigh what is most important to you and then make your decision.

Growing old

Grow old like a child.

That’s my advice. Though people seldom do, myself included.

“The only people that grow old, were born old to begin with” says Dudley the angel to the “Bishop’s Wife” in the movie of the same name. What a statement! We all know people that were born old to begin with. They are usually cranky, dismissive. They have their own personal view of the world and variations are to be called out. Whereas children are the exact opposite – open, friendly. Looking for ways to see the similarities that will ensure that they can find friends to play with and enjoy the day. When exactly does that change? Do we wake up one day and decide that we no longer wish to find friends? That it is more important to tell everyone else what to do? If so, around what age does that happen?

What does “old” sound like? Well, if young sounds like “come out and play” old would be it’s opposite – “stay in and work”. If young says “here, have some of my candy”. Old says, “keep your candy, it’ll rot your teeth”. Old would not be wrong

Attachments, or lack thereof

Daily writing prompt
Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?
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I was a navy brat. I don’t know what can possibly be bratty about having to pull up and move all the time, start a new school, leave old friends behind and make new ones, but that’s what we are known as. I honestly cannot recall being attached to anything as a child (as a grown up either for that matter). When it was time to move, it was a lot easier if you didn’t have a lot of stuff. I think that was the effect on me, and because of how I grew up, I learned to travel light, even today.

I traveled through Europe with a carry on bag for six weeks. Unlike most women my age, I have no “collections” and my home is what I would call sparsely decorated. Oddly enough, my sister, who grew up alongside me, 4 years younger, feels quite the opposite. She has various collectibles throughout her home, with shelves upon shelves of books, photographs, keepsakes and physical parcels of memories, sprinkled throughout her home. She feels that the experience of moving all the time, made her feel that she wanted to feel her things were all about her. She feels comforted seeing her memories all about her.

Two experiences, two very different results.

Mission: Be better, do better

Daily writing prompt
What is your mission?
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Everyday. There is always room for improvement. No matter how you feel, even if you can only be better for yourself, you can always do better, be better.

I am in the midst of a struggle to be stronger, more active. I am not young, yet I should be stronger at this point in my life. I know plenty of people older than me that are more active. I sleep well, in fact eight to nine hours each night, and I nap an hour or two each day. I have to push through my day because despite all of that sleep I am still tired.

So I push, one walk around the block. One set of arm weights. I don’t eat after 6pm or before 8am. The gym is off limits as I am immunocompromised, and each time I would visit would bring me a new virus to contend with that leaves me even more tired.

There does not seem to be a reason for my body to be this way, and I think that this is what I am tired of mostly. But I will move on, each day, doing at least one thing to improve my life. I refuse to give in, or give up. I will do at least one thing to be better. It is my way to say no matter what, I am never giving up.

I am a fountain of useless information

Or so I have been told by more than a few people. My dad first said this to me, and we actually had a great relationship. As I thought about it, he wasn’t wrong in the sense that my shared information wasn’t actually useful in the moment. But it may turn out to be useful at some point. I love to ponder useless information. Tidbits of this and that and everything under the sun.

Who can determine if it is useless? For instance, I am what is known as a trekkie – (some call trekker, but I am firm on this, I am of the original series, so the first name was trekkie) as I write, I realize that is probably useless information to most people. When it comes to Star Trek, the original series or any series after that, I could probably wax poetic on each character’s strength and weakness, importance to the overall series or to a particular show or season. This could be useful at a Star Trek convention, a trivia game, etc. But it’s more than likely useless information for the masses. Yet I continue to absorb and gain information not just on the original series, but just about every series since. That is just one area of my UI talents.

I have many other UI talents. Not just TV shows. But I also store some useful information. Perhaps it is the timing I lack? Information given in the wrong moment? Well, then I would have to agree, information shared at the wrong moment would be entirely useless!

So, poorly time information might be more suitable?

What is a very long life?

Daily writing prompt
What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?
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I think we all have a purpose. If we are lucky enough to identify that purpose, I think it would be safe to say that our life should be as long as it takes to complete our purpose. Nearing 70, I believe I may have completed my purpose, but he fact that I am still here would indicate that it is not so.

What I am trying to say is, I don’t think the concept of living a very long life can be measured in years. I have seen people under 40 who have lived life well and thoroughly, and people over 80 who do not seem to have lived at all.

Find purpose, find life. Ignore the concept of living a “long” life.