Young At Heart

 Rolling right along with today's letter of the day...

O is for oxymoron

'a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction;

a self-contradicting word or group of words'

Let's talk about aging gracefully. Is that phrase an oxymoron? From the moment we're born we're all growing older, we just seem to remark on it in a more negative way after a certain point on the birthday timeline. 

So what does it mean to age gracefully? There are of course the obvious things we all know to do like eat right, drink lots of water, exercise, and get enough sleep, but what about the less obvious, but equally important habits we need to cultivate if we want to live a grace-ful life? 

There are traits I associate with the term, and also with women I know who I think are aging gracefully, that I want reflected in my own life as I lean into this third act. Here's some of what I've observed and also what I aspire to...

have a positive outlook

laugh a lot 

forgive easily

stay curious about the world around me 

be gentle in speech and action

live with an open heart and open hand 

stay grounded

be humble

self-aware

accepting of change

grateful 

Easier said than done some days, but I'm still a work in progress. 

I read somewhere the opposite of aging gracefully would be aging poorly or prematurely, which I don't think anyone aspires to yet many end up doing just that. I like having this list written down. It's a visual reminder every day is a gift and I get to choose how I live it. 

'Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.' Psalm 90:12 

The Hodgepodge. Not Taxing At All.

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions, add your link at the end of my post, then hop over and leave a comment for the blogger before you. Or all the peeps there if you have the time. Here we go- 

1. Do you complete your own taxes? Besides actual taxes, what's something you've found taxing lately?

We don't complete our own taxes. We pay the professionals and in my opinion it's worth it. Fun fact...in the state of SC you have until May 1 to file this year. 

Something I've found taxing lately? 

When we got our new patio furniture they took the cushions from the furniture on our upper deck to refurbish. I mentioned to the decorator I was going to buy new and he said they could make them look as good as new and the price was reasonable. Far less than new cushions would be. So off they went. 

Getting them back has been a bit of a headache though. The shop is about an hour from me, but I'm over that way now and then so wanted to get them on one of those treks as opposed to making a whole 'nother trip for pick up. Plus we're having a party early May and we need those cushions. Plus they've had them since February so it's past time to have them returned. I was going to be nearby on Monday, and when hubs called the left hand hadn't talked to the right hand and we thought it wasn't going to happen. He persevered though, and did that squeaky wheel thing he's so good at and yay! I got the cushions. 

Gosh that was a lot of explaining. Maybe my answer to this question will be what you find taxing today-ha! 

2.  What are three values you treasure most in a friendship? 

A friend who is trustworthy, vulnerable, and selfless 

3. Do you meal plan or do you mostly wing it? Share your dinner menus for this week. 

I meal plan. Mostly. I always have a general dinner plan for the week, but I'm flexible if there's a last minute change of plans, an invitation to dine out, or we ate a big lunch and don't need an actual dinner. I have never been someone who decided last minute what we were having for dinner. That sounds super stressful to me, unnecessarily so. 

What's on tap this week..

Monday-wings on the grill, baked sweet potato, green beans 

Tuesday-homemade vegetable beef soup, salad, bread...I made this meal for a neighbor I'm taking dinner to, but my soup recipe makes a lot. I normally freeze half, but instead this was our dinner too. I play Mah Jong on Tuesdays so I don't always eat dinner on those nights. 

Wednesday-grilled Asian (flavorings) salmon, steamed spinach, roasted cauliflower

Thursday- butter chicken over rice, roasted veggies 

Friday-crock pot stroganoff, salad 

4. Thomas Sowell is credited as saying, ''There are no solutions, only trade-offs.' Agree or disagree? Discuss.

Well I mostly agree. I do think there's always a  solution, but not always the one we want. And solutions come with trade offs. If you say yes to one thing you're saying no to something else, right? I think what you're saying no to needs to be considered just as much as what you're saying yes to. 

For instance if I say yes to a full time job, that means I cannot participate in daytime activities I might enjoy like a book club or women's bible study. If I say yes to watching my grandchildren while their parents are away I'm saying no to my usual weekday activities. 

5. What's the best perk you've enjoyed at a job?

Most of my working life has been spent in classrooms and school buildings and there's not a lot of perks there. Unless you count the satisfaction of helping a child in some way a perk. Which I do. In most of my jobs I've really enjoyed the people I worked with too, so friendship might also be counted as a perk. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Using this space for my April A-Z Blog Challenge letter of the day today-

N is for Nostalgia

'a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations'

Consider this a p.s. to yesterday's post. If you missed it you'll find it here-(Pressed Between The Pages Of My Mind)

I've been sharing Easter throwbacks in my random thought on Wednesdays for the past several weeks so I'm incorporating today's letter into the picture. I've shared this snap on my blog before, but it's a favorite so I'm sharing it again.  

Easter, 1991...

Be still my heart. 

I see so much of my youngest granddaughter in the face of her momma there...her momma is the laughing baby girl my dad is holding. They grow up y'all but sometimes they birth one so much like themselves you get to relive the sweetness all over again.  

There's my niece with her darling smile wearing an old t-shirt over her clothes so she wouldn't make a mess. And my first born beside her with her favorite color egg cup-pink. She has a daughter of her own now, and guess what her favorite color is? 

I like the word wistful in defining nostalgia. That's exactly how this photo makes me feel. A great big sigh...happy, weepy, a longing for just a minute to be back in my momma's kitchen. 

Wishing you all a heart full of hope this Easter. 

Pressed Between The Pages Of My Mind

Whoohoo! We've reached the halfway point in the A-Z Blog Challenge today, with 13 letters down and 13 left still to write. Go us!   

 M is for Memory

'the power or process of recalling what's been learned and retained, 

especially through associative mechanisms; the fact or condition of being remembered; 

a particular act of recall or recollection  

In this season when we refer to the term memory we're talking about one of three things- 

Remembering...pretty much anything. Why did I walk downstairs? Into this room? Out to the garage? Why did I come into the pantry? What did I do with that statement-receipt-document? What did she just tell me her name is? 

Names are tough in this season. I used to never ever ever forget a name. I was once the Director of a large preschool and kindergarten and I knew 300 names and the faces to go with. Now someone introduces themself and my brain short circuits. I try to give myself a mnemonic when I meet someone new to help remember their name, otherwise it flies right on out into space.

Initially when things like this happen you wonder if you have some sort of serious memory disorder, but most of the time it's just plain old aging. Not always of course and if you're truly worried you should see a doctor, but everyone I know who is my age-ish says the same thing. They're not as sharp as they were a decade ago. They don't remember names the way they used to, and multi-step tasks require greater concentration than one would think. 

Less multitasking, more let me give this my undivided attention and get it done. 

Hubs and I have many a conversation that goes something like this-'What't the name of those people who lived next door to us in xyz state? They had a daughter who was friends with our daughters and he worked for a software company and blah blah blah.....' 

Then hubs will answer with a name that's close but not quite right, like he'll say Joe and I'll say no it was Jim, Jim!! Yes! Jim!! And then we put our heads together and come up with the last name and a few more details and then we congratulate ourselves and also feel a little bit like we just finished a 5K. 

A lot of thinking in this season requires a collective brain. Truth man. 

Remembering the past...if you're on Facebook I'm sure you'll agree those timehop photos are like a zinger to the heart. You're scrolling along when all of a sudden BAM! there's your daughter at her high school graduation. 

So you look at another picture, then another, and before you know it two hours have passed and you haven't done any of the things you intended to do, because you've spent the better part of a morning traveling down a rabbit hole. 

And then there's your children having children. Few things wing you back a couple of decades the way your kids having kids of their own does. I think we're always looking for all the ways our grandchildren are similar to their parent, the child we birthed.

And when you do get a glimpse, in a look or a gesture or the way they turn their head just so, it makes your heart go squish. 

Watching your grown children feed and love and care for their children takes you back to that time in your own life...to the exhaustion and the frustration and the sweetness most of all, and how ding dang fast it's all gone by. 

Making new memories...this is true and important in every season, but I think I'm more aware of it in my third act. Hubs and I are both currently healthy and we're active people. I was at the doctor Monday for my physical and she asked if I'd had the pneumonia vaccine and I said 'am I 'old' enough to need that?' 

Sometimes I forget my age. 

I want to enjoy spending time and doing things with the people I love, talking to the most interesting little people I know hearing about all they are discovering, wondering and loving. I want to meet new people and see new places, hear other people's stories, what they've experienced in their lives. 

On the whole I think we remember the milestone events that happen within the life of a family, but I want to remember some of the smaller moments too. I so wish I had more pictures of my girls with my own parents. We never lived in the same town, so photos with either set of grandparents are typically of the birthday or holiday celebration variety. These are of course very special, but it would be sweet to have more of the everyday ordinary snaps taken with them. My mom played such great imaginative games with my girls and I wish I had captured more of that. 

My grandchildren (and my children for that matter) don't always want to have a picture taken, but I annoyingly persist and eke out a few every now and then. They'll thank me someday. My dad died unexpectedly young and I treasure the pictures I have of him with my girls. It's cliche to say it I know, but it's also true...we're not promised tomorrow. 

Easter, 1992

We have today and today is as good a day as any for making a memory. One that will feel tender and precious as we look back on it in the years to come. 

Linking this post with Talking About It Tuesday hosted by Joanne at Slices of Life 

HeLLo Monday

I'm still working my way through the alphabet this month with the April A-Z Blog Challenge, and my loose theme of life lessons learned. Today I'm doing my regular weekend recap because I missed it last week. 

I think something I've learned is to notice the little things that bring joy, the tough things that need grace and lots of prayer, and the everyday ordinary moments that make a life a life. These recaps are a good way to remember and record all of the above. 

L is for HeLLo Monday 

life lesson: 'something from which useful knowledge or principles can be learned;

a valuable piece of knowledge or wisdom gained from experience, 

often about how to live or make decisions'

There's always something happening here and we're just trying to keep up. We had a full week with our wine club dinner on Tuesday night, then a fundraiser on Wednesday night. I don't have pictures, but it was for the local hospital's cancer center so money was raised for a good cause. The event had a 1920's theme and almost everyone dressed up. 

Thursday evening hubs and I attended an event at the local university hosted by their chapter of Turning Point USA. Originally my daughter was going to go with me, but she had one child not feeling well and another going to baseball and it all just felt like a lot. 

So hubs tagged along and I think he enjoyed the event. We heard Allie Beth Stuckey speak, and if you've never heard her in person, she was exactly as you'd imagine. So articulate, and such clarity in her message. We arrived early and were lucky to get in. More than 100 people were turned away due to space limitations, and she did go outside and try to at least say hello and greet the people who didn't make it through the doors. 

I listen to her podcast (Relatable), and while hubs has heard an episode here and there, he wasn't as familiar with her as I am. She's so impressive both in her ability to communicate and her depth of knowledge about current events, today's culture, and theology. 

Friday was pretty much chaos here. We made the delightful discovery of what appeared to be a leak so the plumber came by to check it out which involved cutting a whole in a bedroom ceiling (ugh!).  The Terminix guy also showed up to do our yearly inspection, and the electrician arrived to install our fan and outdoor lighting in the new dining space. Trying to get a car out to go to the store was a real challenge. 

I had a cute helper though, which was fun. 

No leak so good news there,  and we now have a working fan and almost working lights in the outdoor space too. The bulbs are not dimming even though they're described as dimmable, so we've got replacements coming and hopefully that does the trick. We may have to switch out the dimmer, but honestly that's not in my need (or want)-to-know department, so I'm letting hubs sort out whatever needs sorting there.  

Both grandboys had baseball games on Saturday, and we were excited to attend. Definitely one of the perks to having them close. It's been a while since I've had kids in sports, and T-ball is still T-ball, but I can't believe how the 7 and 8 year olds play with the coach pitch! It feels intense to me, but maybe that's because I'm the Nana, or maybe it actually is a little intense? The boys have fun either way, and it was a great day to be outside. 

There was more baseball on Sunday and we had plans with a group of friends to go to the university game. Always such a fun day, and while they won the series they lost Sunday's game. The environment at these baseball games is so upbeat, the stadium is super nice, and we always have a great time.  

There are big screens in the stadium so when there were play breaks they'd put the Masters up so everyone could check out the score. We got home at the tail end of the match and had been rooting for Rory all weekend.  What an exciting finish! Even if you're not into golf at all, it was a moment of such raw emotion, which the commentators let happen without comment and the whole thing left you feeling good. 

And that's the weekend that was. Busy, beautiful weather, fun sporting events, friends, family, and one step closer to having the outdoor space (or the never ending project as I call it) complete. 

The kids (and their parents) are still here with us, but will be closing on their own house very soon. We're grateful for the time we've spent living under the same roof, but everyone is so excited to settle into their own space and call that new space home. 

Big thanks to Holly and Sarah for hosting this weekly Monday morning link party.

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 598

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (April 16) to share answers with the universe. See you there! 

1. Do you complete your own taxes? Besides actual taxes, what's something you've found taxing lately?

2.  What are three values you treasure most in a friendship? 

3. Do you meal plan or do you mostly wing it? Share your dinner menus for this week. 

4. Thomas Sowell is credited as saying, ''There are no solutions, only trade-offs.' Agree or disagree? Discuss.

5. What's the best perk you've enjoyed at a job?

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Kounting My Blessings

In keeping with my Saturday A-Z Blog Challenge tradition, here's a list of 20 things in no particular order, all featuring the letter of the day, that I enjoy-love-am grateful for in this season of life. 

K is for Contentment is Key

'feeling happy with what you have;

deliberately choosing to be thankful'

secrets kept

my kin 

knowledge gained

kisses

key lime pie

even-keeled people

kingfisher on the lake 

unexpected kindness

kaleidoscope skies

a clean kitchen 

music by Kenny Chesney

promise keepers

kids

Lake Keowee

kayaking 

keen insights

kudos given

the Florida Keys

blooming kalanchoe

kindred spirits

J is for Jumble

 Moving right along into Day 10 in the A-Z Blog Challenge...

J is for Jumble

'an untidy collection or pile of things; 

mix up or confused in an untidy way' 

I'm pretty sure I imagined when I reached the age I am now there would be more blank space everywhere. In my home, on my calendar, and most especially in my head. 

But guess what? There's not. 

I remember being a young mom and having just an endless jumble of thoughts running through my head nearly all the time. Most of those thoughts revolved around raising children, because mothers are the keeper of everything and it all just pings around your brain pretty much on a loop. 

We're just us now, so what sort of jumbled thoughts can possibly need untangling in this season of life? Here's a peek...

Why does my back hurt?

Is 7:30 too early to put on my pajamas?  

Call my mother. 

Call hubs mother.

Where did I put that card I bought? 

Did I sleep funny? 

Is that why my back hurts? 

Are we free the third Tuesday of next month?

Did he feed the dog? 

Was I supposed to feed the dog? 

Let's go somewhere. 

Let's stay home. 

Did I take my vitamins today? 

I've done something to my back. 

What was the name of that book I wanted to read? 

Show I wanted to watch? 

Movie I wanted to see? 

Where did I leave my keys? 

Are my roots showing? 

The grandchildren 💕

Why does my neck look like that? 

Does it always look like that? 

Does this dress make me look old? 

Is this dress too young for me? 

Why is it so hot in here? 

Didn't the guy say I need new tires? 

Are my girls getting enough sleep? 

My girls 💕

What in the world did I do to my back? 

We need to paint the house. 

Buy a car. 

We need to stop spending. 

Let's go to the islands. 

Is that spot on my face something to worry about? 

I don't like driving at night. 
I need new glasses. 

What am I wearing to that wedding next month? 

We'll need a leaf in the table for Easter dinner.

and...and...and...

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."

Isaiah 26:3