My Week in. Word: Disheartening

Photo Journal: Peaceful Place

I am not ready for winter. At all. But I saw this the other day on Facebook, posted by Boston, Massachusetts (which means I do not claim this beautiful photo is my own) and I absolutely love it. It is so beautiful and peaceful to me...

And after a day like the one I had today, after most days this year, I wish so much to feel this in my heart

Email Madness

Used to be I could find five or ten minutes at the end of study hall or something that barely resembles lunch break to go through my email--quickly deleting those I had no interest in based on the address and/or subject line, leaving in my inbox those I should check out when I had more time. The occasional really good coupon made it worth the minimal effort. These days? Not so much.

Lately I don't get a single minute (never mind 5 or 10!) to scan my inbox during the day. Even if I did, it would not be enough time to go through the umpteen emails I get these days.

Case in point? I promised Amy today that I would catch up on her blog. (She and her husband won a Whole Foods recipe contest!) When I opened my iPad tonight, I had notification of 50 new emails since this morning when I last checked during morning coffee. Yes, 50.

That's it, I thought. I'm done with newsletters I never read and discount offers I don't take advantage of.

I proceeded then to spend AN HOUR OF MY LIFE THAT I WILL NEVER GET BACK unsubscribing from lists, some of which I never signed up for. God forbid unsubscribing be easy. Nooooooo. Some emails I had to download more of to find the prompt. Others provided links to unsubscribe that were easy to find, but when I clicked "unsubscribe" sent me out to their websites to rethink my request or tell them why I wanted off their list.

Then I spent FIFTEEN MINUTES deleting more emails that told me I have "successfully unsubscribed."

Meanwhile, I still haven't caught up on Amy's blog! Or finished a post I started writing last week.

My point exactly.

Grrrr!

PS Since posting I have caught up on A Couple in the Kitchen, and found out they won a photo contest, too.

Photo Journal: Pear-fection

My Week in a Word: Positive

Cheaters: A Sign of Our Times

I'm not talking here about students who think it's okay to copy their friends' homework ("it's only homework") and think I don't see their cell phones coming out of their pockets and onto their laps during quizzes and tests--although those are also both signs of the times, particularly the latter. Nor am I talking about people being unfaithful in their marriages. Or diets. I'm talking about reading glasses.

At my 30th high school reunion recently, the only difference from the 20th reunion really was all the cheaters in the room. (Here, more than one definition of cheater may apply. I'll never know.) Everyone looked the same to me as they did at the 20th reunion, but I saw more reading glasses coming out of suit pockets, worn on heads, and sitting at the ends of noses than I did ten years ago, before we turned forty.

One by one, everyone in my life over forty has started to wear cheaters. When I'm among people I don't know, it has become the way I spot forty-somethings: husbands and wives sharing cheaters at dinner to make their menu choices. I spy someone over 40!  Especially amusing to me is the dance of denial (vanity?) when I see someone try to read the menu sans glasses, only to give in and ask to borrow someone's cheaters when they discover his or her arms are not long enough to see where the appetizers end and the entrees start.

Finally, a safe topic related to aging--other than maybe blood pressure and cholesterol meds--that is okay to discuss among acquaintances. All that other stuff that's going on? Yeah, better left for conversations with close friends and family.

Or a semi-anonymous blog.

My Week in a Word: Erratic

After a weekend of fun, family wedding celebrations, I began my week tired. But I was happy. And hopeful. I giggled and smiled a lot.

By midweek I was distracted from giddy hopefulness by stress...And I began to feel doubtful. Skepticism set in as fatigue returned.

This afternoon I felt disappointed and a hint of embarrassed.

Tonight I am simply sad and discouraged.

I know, I'll bounce back. But tonight I'm not in the mood to try.