Beauty

[Beauty$Junkie]

Dosey, so sorry for your loss and JustBee, your comments are always so inspirational to me.  I so appreciate your perspective on life and find it to be so calming.  I tend to get anxious and just want to buy something (just anything).  Life is so precious and today is my mother's birthday.  She would have been 94; although she has been gone 10 years, I still miss her everyday.  She loved to sing and she was excited when she realized she shared her birthday with Elvis.  My mother was not one to stock up on things, at all, so I don't know where I get this shopping compulsion from.  There are so many more important things to do rather than acquire more stuff.  Wishing all my ComPactors a great 2017.  Thanks for being here.

[just bee]

Speaking of expiration dates, I just looked outside to catch a glimpse of the sunrise.  I like waking up early and seeing the sun come up.  Kudos to New Mexico for having such spectacular sunrises.  Some are truly breathtaking.

I get angry with myself when I miss a sunrise, a sunset, a full moon or an eclipse.  If I miss a supermoon or a blood red moon, I want to kick myself.  People scoff and tell me there will be others but I know that this is not always true.

We only have so many spring flowers, lightning storms, autumn leaves and snowfalls in our futures.  We can't take them for granted.

[just bee]

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@Beauty$Junkie wrote:

Dosey, so sorry for your loss and JustBee, your comments are always so inspirational to me.  I so appreciate your perspective on life and find it to be so calming.  I tend to get anxious and just want to buy something (just anything).  Life is so precious and today is my mother's birthday.  She would have been 94; although she has been gone 10 years, I still miss her everyday.  She loved to sing and she was excited when she realized she shared her birthday with Elvis.  My mother was not one to stock up on things, at all, so I don't know where I get this shopping compulsion from.  There are so many more important things to do rather than acquire more stuff.  Wishing all my ComPactors a great 2017.  Thanks for being here.

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You need to listen to some Elvis today.  I keep my parents' music in the house so I can play Benny Goodman for my stepdad and Glenn Miller for my mom.  I remember disappearing into my bedroom to listen to The Who for hours on end, then one day my parents ordered one of those enormous Time Life collections of Big Band and Swing.  I'd come out of hibernation to get something from the kitchen and more and more I'd find myself lingering in the livingroom listening to Tuxedo Junction, A String of Pearls and Stompin' at the Savoy.

They had a huge influence on my musical tastes.  I still listen to The S__ Pistols, sure, but I also keep a solid collection of Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and Judy Garland.  But I influenced their tastes, too.

My mother's birthday was in December; my stepfather died on her birthday during my last year of college.  She died in November 2008.  There's a thread on the other forum where we've been posting things our mothers used to say.  It's a good thread.

I was thinking about what I do that my sister did and what my stepfather did that I continue to do to keep that part of them going.  That was easy.

Then I thought about what it is that I do to keep my mother alive.  I was stumped.  What is it?  What do I do?

Then it occurred to me.  I don't have to choose something and make a conscious effort.  It's unconscious.  It's involuntarily.  Whether I like it or not, I am becoming more and more like her.  I catch myself saying something and it's her I hear.

I remember my mother singing to me when I was little.

I love you a bushel and a peck
A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck
A hug around the neck and a barrel and a heap
A barrel and a heap and I'm talkin' in my sleep

About you, about you

Now I sing it to my dog.

You should sing today.  Elvis won't mind a duet.

[just bee]

Now that's interesting.  I just looked out the window and there are hot air balloons in the sky.  Behind them, snow is falling on the Sandias.

[just bee]

There is a silver lining in pruning stacks of junk mail.  I have an Executive Gold Star Membership with Costco.  I think I chose that because it allows you to shop very early in the morning before the store officially opens to the madding crowd.

Have I ever gone down there to shop in the wee hours?  Of course not.  But I do get these 2% reward certificates at the end of the year.  I found two of them in my junk mail pile last week.  Close to $160.

That paid for this year's renewal and then some.

Sometimes it pays to be a slug.  However, the price of the membership is not really worth it if we don't take advantage of the executive benefits.  Maybe we should get off the stick and start shopping with the sunrise.

If we don't, why are we paying double for membership?

Duh.

[geezerette]

So much to comment on...but I'll just stick to one topic.

dosey, I'm so sorry to hear about your FIL.  When one's parents die, it does make you reflect.  Beyond the grieving and memories, I think at that time we start to realize we are now (supposed to be) the grown ups.  It's a slightly scary thought and one I know I wasn't prepared for.  My condolences to you and your family.

I was going to go on with something deep and meaningful, but I think I'll just leave it at that for now.  Too many thoughts swirling around in my head today.  I've been thinking too much about the end of life lately and not enough about how to live well with what time I have left, however long that may be for any of us.

[PAlady]

Dosey - My sympathy to you and your family for the loss of your FIL.

[aprilskies]

Sympathies to you and your family, Dosey.  Death of a close one is so hard but even harder during the holidays.  it is events like these that make us realize what's important in life.  I wish you the best in 2017.  May you a achieve all of your goals.  God Bless!

[sapphire 2]

Dosey,

Sorry for your loss.

[KaySD]

And my relationships--comfortable and dependable! And my furniture. And my paychecks...