JANUARY MISH MASH

Well. Happy New Year!  Yes, I'm a bit late with that greeting.  If January is any indication, 2019 will rocket by at lightening speed.  I may get two or three blog posts written, but don't hold your breath.  The days disappear in a cloud of good intentions.  Here's what's up:

NEW YEAR'S EVE: Hub and I used to throw big New Year's Eve parties.  A raucous racket would emanate from our upper porch as noise makers and cheers of 20-30 jubilant souls joined the fireworks on the horizon to greet the new year with friends and family.  This year the two of us huddled together quietly, kissed another year out and new one in, and watched the Space Needle fireworks on TV.  Ho Hum Perfect.

BUM KNEE:  Then Hub left on a 2-week Idaho snowboarding vacation.  Well, almost two weeks.  All went well the first week, but the second was a struggle as his bone-on-bone knee (and nearly as bad shoulder) finally, after years of nursing it along with cortisone injections, gave out.  He limped home three days early, sad, sore, and resigned to the fact that this is the year for a new knee.  He knows this is the end of his most joyful obsession -- screaming down Double Diamond Black Runs plowing through the glades of fresh powder with wild abandon.  The new knee will get him back on the mountain, but it won't hold up to the challenges he's enjoyed for the past 20 or so years.  (He didn't even take up snow sports until he was 45 years old!)  He'll be a "groomer" guy, which for him is a far distant second choice to his preferred boarding experience.  The past week has been a daily marathon of research and phone calls and setting up appointments for seeing knee replacement surgeons.  Onward.

FLIP THAT HOUSE: Son One and our DIL bought a new house.  Well, not brand new.  Old, actually.  A little fixer-upper.  Son One decided to use the slow season of the painting business to take the risk of diving into something he's wanted to do for a long time -- flip houses.   I was immediately nervous, being of the worry-wart persuasion.  I "what-if'd" the decision to death, but I'm learning again that my cautious nature isn't shared by all and seeing his excitement, determination, and happiness are worth a little sleeplessness on my part.  It's not my problem, none of it!  He's all grown up and my role is to cheerlead him on.  I'm so proud of all he's accomplished in less than a month.  Plus, BIG BONUS!  The house is right here in our neighborhood.  I can see it from my upstairs porch!  I take him Starbucks mochas and check in on the progress a couple times a week.  Hub has assisted with hanging doors and making dump runs to haul away the demo debris.  We are having fun feeling part of Son One's work life and he seems to enjoy our support and company.  So many unanticipated rewards from this endeavor so far.

WEDDING BELLS: Son Two and his fiancé are full-steam ahead with wedding planning.  Engaged in October, they initially said there was "no hurry".  But once a date was set (May 2020) things clicked into high gear as the wedding machine fired up.  They are planning a big, traditional (by today's millennial standards) wedding and that means booking a venue over a year in advance, beginning to go to catering "tastings", thinking about photographers, flowers, cakes, DJs, hotel room blocks for out of town guests, wedding gowns, etc etc etc etc.  I am not a fan of the hoopla that has become the modern wedding and I am appalled at the expense.  I have not been quiet about this opinion, but I was taken down a notch by my son who sat me down just last night and told me to knock it off.  They'd just had the same conversation with his finance's parents, who feel similarly to Hub and me. (We hosted a brunch for the combined families last Sunday, while the 'in-laws' were in town from California.)  It's a delicate dance, to try to counsel "the kids" to reign it in, but also to want them to have the day they want.  We parents don't hold all the purse strings, so really, it's none of our business.  I just have an opinion -- that I will now keep to myself.  Again, my job is to cheerlead my adult son, just like I am doing for his brother.  Plus, it will be a hell of a party and really all I have to do is show up.

ART STUDIO: We've seen a lot of the grand girls lately too.  Our eldest at 9 has grown frustrated with her little almost 4 year old sister for getting into all her things and "messing everything up".  She's very organized and likes to keep her art supplies, especially, organized.  They share space at home and here in the "Girls Room", a bedroom  I converted for them as a play space.  But I understand that at her age, she wants a room of her own.  So, Hub and I cleared out a nook in our lower level that had become a messy catch-all storage area.  It is now our gal's "Studio" and her sister doesn't even know it exists because she's afraid to go down to the dark lower level!  Sneaky, perhaps, but big sis is delighted and we had such fun together shopping and setting it all up.  Today, a school friend is coming over for a playdate and they are thrilled to be able to hang out in the Studio.

SWEETNESS: Little Sis was here was us earlier this week too.  She spent the majority of the time "cleaning" my kitchen sink and countertop, going through about half the bottle of my new lemon-scented hand soap in the process, as well as creating a few floods.  Well worth it, I say, to see her so happily engaged in "helping" grandma.  We also talked and laughed and sang songs and danced; had snacks and drew pictures.  At one point she stopped in mid-activity looked at me and said, "I just love coming to Grandma and Papa's house!"  Be still my heart.

STEPPING BACK: I've written about The Tribe previously, our group of 12 friends who gather monthly for socializing and a sharing circle, where we explore who and why we are the way we are and find insight, support, and challenge for growing in introspection and connection.  This group celebrated its 3rd anniversary this month with our annual review of how things are going.  Hub and I have facilitated this group for the whole three years, but announced that we are stepping back from that role now. It was a huge decision to make; many, many conversations and deliberations ensued. Our decision will change the focus and dynamics of the group, I'm sure.  We are excited not to have the responsibility, and a little concerned that the personal growth focus may fade away, which would be hard since that's so important to us.  But we are open to learning from others and experiencing what they will bring to the group.  Change is difficult...and exhilarating.

LECTURE SERIES:  Along with two friends, I'm attending a weekly lecture series at the University of Washington entitled, "How to Beat and American Demagogue".  The lecturer is fabulous -- knowledgeable, motivating, inspiring.  I appreciate the historical perspective of the rise in demagogues over time, how we got here at this point in history, and what we can do about it.  Gearing up for 2020!

YOGA TEACHER TRAINING: The other big event of this month was me starting my 200 hour yoga teacher training.  I've written about this in the yoga blog https://circlingthemat.blogspot.com 
It's a weekend "intensive" consisting of Thursday night, all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday one weekend a month for 6 months, culminating in a 5 day mountain retreat in July.  Plus, there is homework.  I won't repeat details here (read the yoga blog!), but I will say it has taken up a lot of psychic space if not actual time.  I haven't done homework in like 35 years, nor really had to study an unfamiliar subject in about that long.  I'm hoping this is growing new neurons by leaps and bounds, staving off dementia a little longer.

CATARACT: Speaking of older person issues, I also was diagnosed with a cataract this month.  Vision is cloudy in one eye and night driving more challenging.  Surgery is on the horizon, but not until yoga training is over because the recovery protocol prevents me from bending over!  I've got Downward Facing Dogs to do!

I could have written a detailed blog post about any one of those topics, but the pace of life has been such that these brief summaries will have to do for now.  Hopefully I'll find my writing rhythm soon and be back to more regular postings.  For now, I feel I'm caught in a whirlwind of change -- stressful and joyful change.

At least, that's the view from here....©