Earl, Jamie, and Chris gave me an afternoon at the “man spa” today. Festivities included a 90 min deep tissue massage, my first mani-pedi, and my first hour long facial.I feel amazing!
Fun and Games Dept
Avoidance.
I’ve been avoiding politics on Twitter. I unfollowed a bunch of journalists that habitually retweet each other. I’ve blocked a few extra keywords from appearing in my timeline. I’m using the Twitter app the make the platform less appealing to me and I no longer wear pearls; lest I won’t clutch them during the Twitter Outrage-Du-Jour.
In short, I strive to throw water on the raging dumpster fire of the platform instead of gasoline.
It’s not that things are getting any better, quite the opposite. We are rapidly heading into the age of “The Handmaid’s Tale”, but so many in society are incapable of separating reality from reality television or dystopian television shows and movies in general, it doesn’t really matter anymore. Honestly, I’m tired. I just want to nap until someone else, anyone else, takes the high-chair in the Oval Office.
American news broadcasts are useless. There is no reporting anymore; it’s all speculation, conjecture, and opinion. I follow Al Jazeera and the BBC.
I don’t want to be part of this team sport we call politics anymore. I want to be part of a sane society that encompasses the world.
It’s a shame I’ll probably never see it in my lifetime.
Awesome.
As Earl and I were driving along the roads of Northwestern Illinois yesterday I asked him how he was doing on a more than normal basis. This was his first time on a ride in the Jeep since his surgery and since he’s been in recovery for only a couple of weeks, I was worried this might have been a little much for him.
I was wrong.
When I asked to his well being, my husband would respond in a very positive voice, “I’m doing great”. It’s this positivity that has brought him along in his recovery much faster than I ever thought he would progress. He would occasionally ask me how I was doing and I would say, “OK”. In reality, I was enjoying the moment, and I was feeling grounded in my element. When I can’t fly I enjoy going for long rides. It’s what I do. Earl’s response to my “OK” was, “I want you to be better than OK. I want you to be great! It’s all about the attitude.”
This led to a discussion about the world in general and how recent events in the country are really bothering me. This is when Earl told me something that helped adjust my attitude.
“They want you to be just OK. They want you to feel fine. But our life is better than OK. Our life is great. And it’s OK to be vocal to help others make their life great, but it’s important that we stay upbeat and positive as it’s the only way to beat the negativity.”
As always, my husband is completely right. It’s time to stop worrying and to put more positive energy in the world. The people in charge right now lead miserable lives and they want everyone around them to be miserable. Let’s counteract and shut this out with a whole bunch of awesome.
That’s how we can make the world a better place.
Open Road.
Earl and I just arrived back home after a 12 hour ride from Chicago to Iowa and back, exploring various nooks and crannies of Northwestern Illinois along the way.
It was very relaxing and a great way to escape the heat of the city. The sky was beautiful, the small towns interesting and we spent some time driving along the Mississippi River.
A great way to spend a Saturday.
Rain.
I love being able to sit on our balcony and not get wet during a rainstorm. If the rain is coming from the Northwest (like this current storm is), I’m able to sit in the Northwest corner against the wall of our lanai and enjoy the sights and sounds and smells of a good rain storm without getting wet.
I realize I could do this anywhere, but doing this is at home makes it especially wonderful.
Relaxed.
I’m sitting on our balcony wrapping up the weekend, doing some chores on my iPad and making sure I’m ready to tackle the workday bright and early tomorrow. Earl is relaxing in bed; he is coming along nicely in his recovery. He decided to skip his pain medicine today and he’s no worse for the wear. I think his very positive attitude is the leading reason for his recovery coming along so well.
After he went to bed last night I spent some time sitting on the balcony reading and watching television. I ended up falling asleep out here and slept for about two and a half hours “under the stars”. The breeze was beautiful, just like it is tonight, and there’s no bugs. I mentioned this to my Mom during a phone call this morning; I told her I figured mosquitos were too lazy to fly up five stories to get to us.
I find it so calming and peaceful to have this little peace of nirvana in the middle of the third largest city in the United States. I’ve mentioned before that I’m tired of Chicago getting a bad reputation, especially when folks that have never been here believe everything the Tanned One says about how Chicago is a war zone. He just doesn’t like it because the Obamas live here. Plus, he’s racist. Honestly, I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I thoroughly love that we moved to Chicago and I’m damn proud to call it home.
It’s nearly 10:00 PM and it’s still 86ºF. The breeze is refreshing. Life is good, especially when we are determined to keep it that way.
Carol Burnett.
Tonight we went to see Carol Burnett at the Chicago Theatre. It was the first of her two shows here in the Windy City; I purchased the tickets as a Christmas present for Earl. We were all delighted with the show. Earl and I were a little concerned that Jamie wouldn’t know much about Carol (he’s a little younger than us), but he enjoyed the show and I saw him look at Wikipedia only once.
Carol Burnett with Elizabeth Montgomery in the 1963 movie “Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed”
Carol’s show as basically an extended Q&A session like she used to do at the beginning of her variety show back in the 1960s and 70s, interspersed with clips from the show. We all agreed this approach was quite brave as she had no idea what kind of questions she would get from the audience. People asked her about current events, what it was like working with the very celebrities she had on her show, about growing up, and some asked for advice on how to break into the business. Carol had a way of weaving her answers with humor and it was truly a fun show. We laughed a lot.
I thought about asking a question; I had always wondered if she had improvised her dance in “Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed”, but I none of the ushers made their way to our row. All in all it was a great experience and I was a little choked up when she first came out on stage; it’s great to live in a city where it’s easy to see a legend in person.
Everyone was smiling at the end of the show. It was a really good time.
