Not jaded

Dragon Mood? -- still quivering with momentary patriotism

Here in Motown, there is a curious tradition where we celebrate the Fourth of July BEFORE the Fourth of July. Like last night, on June 23rd, a whole ELEVEN days before the real deal!

Anyway, dear readers, I wanted to give you the good news: I am not jaded. Towards the end of the spectacular fireworks display over the Detroit River, with hundreds of thousands of Windsor and Detroit spectators watching (S and I comfortably ensconced in our plastic Adirondack chairs watching on the boob tube), the fireworks zooming and bursting and whizzing to patriotic music, I cried. My tears probably were due more to the music than the fireworks, but I thought, "This is a great country. I LOVE America. These fireworks represent all that is great about America and her people. I'm glad we didn't move to Canada when Bush became president!"

Life with its funny twists and turns

Dragon Mood? -- surprised at my surprise!

Between doing laundry, steaming straight creases on some incredibly rumpled new work pants and waiting for the televised fireworks, I had a realization.

Not just any realization, mind you, but a "Wow" realization: Today, June 23rd, WOULD HAVE BEEN my thirty-fifth wedding anniversary ... if I were still married. But that's not the "Wow" moment.

I had turned to S and told her that I was really glad that I was with her and that we are sharing our lives. She smiled and asked with that I'm-so-glad-you-said-that look, "Really?"

"Yeah," I replied. But if you had told me thirty-five years ago (when I was all of TWENTY!), that in 2008, I would be sitting with my PARTNER, a woman, whom I've been with ... uh, going on 22 years, I NEVER would have believed you. Thank God we don't really know what life brings us! We might find it unbelievable!

That was when my "Wow" moment hit.

Sore throat to cough

Dragon Mood? -- sick of being sick

Yes, I'm a bit chagrined to admit that I stayed home yet another day feeling ill. Tuesday night, my extremely sore throat segued into a very annoying persistent cough that kept me up too much of last night. Chest feels tight. Massive headache. I felt extremely crummy this morning.

I finished a book today: Jayber Crow, a novel by Wendell Berry. I bought it last week at a used bookstore right here in our little Motown village. It was one of three that I bought as part of my summer plan to read, read, read and NOT watch TV. I got this hardback for a whole $6. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Which is why I sort of consumed it. And now I have TWO books for the rest of the summer. NNNNOT!

Actually, Ruth brought me (at my request) the John Adams' biography that we gave Paul about six or seven Christmases ago. I'm looking forward to reading that too.

Bleccchy

Dragon Mood? -- not so good

Home again this afternoon and feeling bleccchy. If you're not sure what I mean by that, take a really sore throat, add an annoying phlegmy-sounding cough, spin your inner ear like on a merry-go-round (or a Mary-go-round, hee-hee) and you're getting close! Or just use your imagination!

Home feeling sick and crummy

Dragon Mood? -- at home, ill, feeling crummy with a summer cold

But all was not lost ... I DID DOWNLOAD FIREFOX 3.0!

Professional networking

Dragon Mood? -- feeling positive about my professional connections

One of the things that I learned from my recent eighteen month stint being regularly and securely employed is that it is highly important to network with people. (Pause while Caroline, Josh and Aaron all yell, "I TOLD YOU SO!")

Now that I have LEARNED MY LESSON, I am attempting to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. Curiously enough, a guy I met at a metro Detroit career center (we were in a four-hour 'mature worker' seminar together) later sent me an email inviting me to join LinkedIn, a professional networking website. I joined with a bit of trepidation, but now I'm glad that I did. I have about 15 connections and hope to grow my network of resources.

To that end, I have placed a link on the left-hand side of this blog that looks like this:




I'll keep you posted.

...which I have not done ....

Dragon Mood? -- ???

Happy Saturday morning, everybody! A couple of years back, Saturday morning was one of my favorite times to post here. Two houses, moving the computer to the pied-a-terre and just-plain WORKING forty hours a week on not one, but TWO computers has definitely cut into my blogging time.

So I am doing something which I have not done in a darn long time! It feels good.

I'm sitting here in the 'weekend' house, the house in the pine trees, looking out the window at a wealth of green-ness. We've gotten several nice rains this past week so all the plants and the trees and the grass are perked up and looking happy.

S and I are watching our second grandbaby this evening, 21 month-old Madison. She is a pleasure to be with and she makes us both laugh. (Babies that make you laugh -- as opposed to cry -- are always a good thing.) Madison does quite a bit of baby talking, most of which I have a hard time catching the meaning. She is an escape artist -- she loves escaping from her clothes. At night, we have to put a onesie on over her diaper and underneath her jammies, in order to make sure the diaper stays on. She's also a water baby and LOVES to splash and play in the liquid stuff.

I'm also hoping to do a bit of painting this weekend. Given that painting is 90% preparation and 10% painting, that may be a bit ambitious. I've done virtually none of the prep. (Sigh!) Baby steps, remember?

wailing "... Ju-u-ulia JUNE ..."

Dragon Mood? -- feeling like I could use a little bluegrass energy, a la Alison Krauss

Hokey SMOKES, Bullwinkle, it's June the first and I've decided to write in my blog. It's been a curious couple of months: work consuming all my Monday-to-Friday energy with the weekends busting in for serious rest and relaxation.

As for the resumption of blogging, it's all Caroline's fault. She's writing in her blog ... AGAIN. While talking on the phone (as I was driving back to the house-of-the-pine-trees), she revealed (somewhat fearfully? trepidatiously? sheepishly?) that she had begun blogging again. I was surprised at her demeanor. Blogging, like bathroom time, is your OWN business.

But, I was glad to hear that she's writing again. She is, as the proud and TOTALLY OBJECTIVE mother that I am, a writer deserving of superlatives. Wonderful! Awesome! Articulate! Engaging! Conversational! Informative! Passionate! I love reading what she writes!

That's all I gots to say.

Oh, except that this post's title is a reference to some lyrics on the outstanding CD, Alison Krauss + Union Station LIVE