Another birthday come and gone...

How in the world did 64 years pass by so quickly?  Not a complaint, mind you, just an observation. I've learned from my 103-yr-old Aunt Dolly not to quibble about every year you're given because each and every year is a blessing. Well, as of yesterday, I've been blessed sixty-four times.

My husband and I went out to lunch yesterday, then went to the local phone store because I had it in my mind to get a new cell phone for my birthday. We were in the store for over an hour, with a very nice girl who explained all the bells and whistles on the new Smart Phones, iPhones, Androids, and what-have-you.  By the time she was done with the explanations, I decided that maybe I'm not smart enough for a Smart Phone. Possibly, my little flip-phone is all I need, even though sending text messages drives me completely nuts because there is no keyboard on the flip-phone and I have to use the number-buttons.

I literally had a headache by the time we walked out of the phone store, and that was due to my inability to grasp all the technology that's available on the new phones. Do I really need a phone to capture my eMails? To sort my photos into galleries? To connect me with Google Maps in case I get lost? To log me into the Food Network if I want a new recipe for brownies? To take videos of Savannah as she plays in the dog park? To pay my bills and check my bank balance?

All I wanted was a slightly newer phone with a simple keyboard so I can type out text messages without having to deal with the number-buttons on the flip-phone, and some sort of phone that would give me access to Pinterest.  Was that too much to ask? Apparently so, because most of the phones out there at the moment aren't that simple. (And what the heck is an Android anyway?)

Well, give me a blessed break. I didn't get a phone. I told the nice girl in the store that I would need to think about the available options, and I told my husband that I didn't want to pay for a phone that would give me all those 'apps' that I probably would never use.  I don't take pictures so I have no photos to put into galleries, and the photos that my cousins send me can just as easily be saved on my lap-top.  I don't need  my phone to be connected to the Food Network, Google Maps, my bank account, someone named Siri, or anyone related to E.T.

I just wanted a simple upgrade on a phone that wasn't a flip-phone. I may go back to the store next week. They had these cute little "Blackberry"-ish looking phones that had a real keyboard. The screen was a little bigger than that on my flip-phone and the Blackberry-ish thing didn't look so intimidating. I really don't want a phone that's smarter than I am. Is that such a bad thing?

For the moment, I still have my flip-phone. You should see the looks I get when I'm in a store and my phone rings (the music is "When You Wish Upon A Star") and I take the phone out of my purse and everyone looks at it as I flip it open and I can see that little smirk at the edges of their lips. They probably think I'm as antiquated as my cute little phone.

Oh well. Happy Birthday to me and my flip-phone.

Saturday stuff...

Can't believe it's been so many days since I've written in here. I've been keeping up with my "A Puppy Named Savannah" blog, so that's been taking up a lot of time. Plus my books, and our Waldorf Wednesdays group which has turned into Tiffany Thursdays. And my booth in the antique shop in town, and letters and cards and eMails going out to friends and family every day... plus the house, and the laundry, and groceries, and the cats... everything just takes time.

Our tea party group has turned to crafts... a simple beaded snowman the first week (very easy), which led to beaded snowflakes (a bit more difficult), and I've got a box of other craft-y ornaments for everyone to try, and some of the other ladies have asked to have their own craft ideas put into the queue. I've asked everyone to bring some sort of shoe-box-sized craft box that they can use to organize materials and supplies, but one thing we all need for these crafts are our eyeglasses. (The most important accessory for any craft-minded person of a certain age.)

The weather here went from very mild to very cold, and now it's warming up again. As I type, my cousins in the northeast are getting pummeled by a blizzard. They already have more than two feet of snow on the ground, and it isn't supposed to quit snowing before daybreak tomorrow. One of my cousins on Long Island just eMailed me a photo of her backyard which is filled with snowdrifts that have just about reached the height of her fence. I sent her an eMail back which read "What's all that white stuff?"  (I'm positive she was not amused.)

A few days ago, my husband was driving on the main highway between here and the next town, and another driver tried to make a U-turn (on a main highway filled with twists and turns?!) and he slammed into the passenger side of my husband's car.  I was at the dentist that morning, which was a good thing, because had I been in that car, all of the damage was on my side. No one was hurt, thankfully, and the at-fault driver was very apologetic and concerned that a stupid move on his part caused so much inconvenience. My husband is driving a rental car now, truly missing his larger and safer vehicle, and it will be at least a couple of weeks before the insurance adjusters let him know if his car will be repaired or replaced.  When I asked my husband if he had any aches and pains after the accident, his answer was "The only pain is dealing with that other driver's insurance company."

During the recent cold days, I found myself questioning my sanity about getting another dog. Especially such a big dog. (Savannah weighs over 60 pounds now.) It seems the colder it is outside, the more Savannah loves it. She just walks and walks and sniffs and smells and I'm just there freezing and shivering in sweaters and a coat and gloves and boots, and if there's one thing I hate, it's the cold and the wind and having to go outside in such uncivilized weather.

I have to remind myself that Savannah is still a puppy (nine months old now) and she will have her puppy moments. But then there are the magical days when she goes outside with a purpose and takes care of her business quickly without paying attention to all the distractions out here in the hills. There are all kinds of wildlife out on these properties after dark, and I'm sure Savannah has sniffed out fox and raccoons and possums and coyotes and snakes and deer and heaven-only-knows-what-else. I try not to think about all of those critters because on any given night, I am outside waiting for her to 'visit' the grass and all I'm holding is a flash-light and a prayer that nothing vicious on four paws comes running out of the woods.

Savannah just walked over to my chair and as I type this, she has her head resting in my lap. Nine months old and 60-plus pounds, and still growing. She is a sweet and obedient dog, loyal to both my husband and myself, and she plays nicely with the cats and hasn't destroyed anything in this house except her own toys. What a great dog she is. I have to remember that on the next windy and cold night when I'm out there in the dark waiting for her to 'go' in the grass.

Life is good. Sometimes too busy, and most times I'm wishing for more hours in a day. But everyone in this house is happy and healthy, and that's what counts.

Four words for Julian Fellowes...

Are. You. Kidding. Me?!?!?!?!?

I have just watched the last episode of the last season of 'Downton Abbey.'

So I repeat:   Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Annie

I first met Annie about four years ago... she works in the women's section of the one and only department store in our town. Annie is the embodiment of customer service in that store. Not only does she know all of the merchandise in her section, but she knows exactly where to find it, what will look good on 'women of a certain age' and if something isn't perfect for you, she gently suggests something better. I don't usually get so friendly with salespeople in stores, but there was just some tiny connection with Annie that just called out to me... nothing that can be explained, just felt.

After about a year of shopping with Annie's help, I spoke to the manager about "that very nice lady in the women's department" and the manager suggested I call the main offices of the store. So I did that, telling them about Annie's helpfulness and friendliness and genuine concern that her customers get just what they were looking for instead of settling for just what they found on the hangers. Over the past few years, I think I called the main offices about Annie's exemplary customer service at least six or seven times.

In February of last year, I gave Annie a little red gift bag filled with pretty Valentine soaps and candies. I can't explain it, but even as Annie's smile lit up that women's department, she just seemed a bit sad to me and I thought a Valentine would be the right thing to do.

For Christmas the year before that, I made a Happiness Box for Annie... pretty little box that I decorated with her name and holiday embellishments, and I included a pen with her initial and some pretty papers to get her started on her mission of Being and Staying Happy. Annie was positively thrilled with that Happiness Box and rather than her usual little hug she gave me a giant hug as if we'd known one another for all of our lives and I'd just given her the world.

This past summer, I hardly went into that store for anything because we were just busy and I didn't really need anything. When August was over and I went there looking for sales on the summer merchandise, I was disappointed because I didn't see Annie in the women's department. I asked one of the other ladies and they told me her schedule had changed a bit. Between September and the
week before Christmas, I popped into the store from time to time hoping to say hello to Annie and wish her a Merry Christmas. No Annie. Oh well. I found some bargains but it wasn't much fun searching for things that Annie would have recommended.

And then... this afternoon.... I was just coming back into the house with Savannah and I saw the mail truck coming up our hill. I brought Savannah into the house and then went back outside so I could catch the mailman on his way back down the hill... I wanted to wish him a Happy New Year and just say hello.... I had left some baked goodies in the mailbox for him last week and wanted to ask if he had enjoyed the cookies.

I was standing there at the edge of my driveway and noticed that our regular mailman Charlie had another person in the truck with him... I figured that he was training a new replacement for his off-days and vacation days because the other replacement girl had moved out of town.  And as soon as that thought went into and out of my mind, Charlie's trainee turned around and we saw one another and we both just screamed at the same time.... it was Annie!  She quickly got out of that truck and we hugged one another as if we were long-lost sisters... and Charlie sat there shaking his head with his mouth hanging open and saying "What? What?!"

The first thing Annie said to me after that great big hug was that she was still using her Happiness Box and there had been times during the past year that the box "saved her day."  The light in Annie's eyes when she said that was genuine and personal, and it just made me smile and laugh and it made me ridiculously happy just knowing that I had made Annie happy.

I have no idea what the 'connection' is between myself and Annie but what started out as a salesclerk helping a customer blossomed into a sort of friendship without either one of us knowing much about the other.

I am a firm believer that people who come into one's life don't just appear by accident... people come into your life at times when you need them and they oftentimes go out of your life when the need disappears. These past four or five days have been so very depressing on this road... cloudy and damp weather without a drop of sun, and then there's the emptiness that always comes after Christmas which brings memories of past holidays to haunt one's soul day after day.

Seeing Annie this afternoon was like a breath of fresh summer air and sunshine and I have no idea why... I hardly know this woman. But for some reason two years ago, I just felt that Annie needed a Happiness Box and I made one for her and that infrequent salesclerk/customer relationship suddenly turned into something more because of a pretty little cardboard box with a purpose that Annie understood immediately.

Finding Annie again was not an accident. She is still working at that same department store, but only in the evenings now because she is in training at our local post office during the day. Annie will be delivering the mail on Charlie's route on his days off and when he takes vacation. I don't think Annie is married, being that she's working two jobs now, and I do think that Annie may need some new people in her life. That's just a guess... just a feeling, and I don't know why it occurred to me.

I plan to make it a point to see Annie on Saturdays when she delivers the mail on our road here. I will tell her about our tea parties on Thursdays... and ask her if she'd like to join us when we have our holiday parties.

I'm still smiling. For whatever reason in this universe right now in this little Hill Country corner, seeing Annie in that mail truck today just made me happy. Well, that's something else to add to my own Happiness Box.

Thursday things...

Woke up at three o'clock this morning... not because Savannah was barking, but because I heard my husband get out of bed... then he was in his office on the computer... then he was getting back into bed to tell me what the stock market was doing in China... and then he got back out of bed because he couldn't sleep. By that time, I was wide awake also.

Did I really care what the stock market was doing in China? Of course not. I barely care what the stock market is doing in this country.

It's amazing what one can get done when the day begins at 3:00 in the morning. Now I understand why both of my grandmothers always got up at five o'clock every morning... they got so much done on the first floor of the house before anyone else came down the stairs.

As I type this, I can hear the train whistle from the next town.  And Savannah is sleeping through it, wonder of wonders. When she was a few months younger, she would wake up and bark at those trains all through the night.

Today is the first day of our Waldorf Wednesday teas, after taking a break during most of December because everyone was busy with the holidays. We've changed the day from Wednesday to Thursday, so now I guess we can call it 'Waldorf Wednesdays on Thursdays.'  Along with tea, we'll be doing some sort of craft project. I don't know yet if everyone will be doing their own individual craft, or if we'll all be working on the same items.  I've bought a bunch of beaded Christmas ornaments to make, enough for a bunch of Thursdays... and more than enough to share with everyone else if they don't bring crafts of their own.

The weather has been cloudy and drippy and cold lately.... the exact opposite of those warm and sunny days we had around Christmas. The temperature today is supposed to be up around 70 degrees, and the weather wizards have promised sun. I will believe it when I see it. We had pouring rain last night and the fog is so thick outside at the moment that I can barely see to the end of our driveway.

Our puppy Savannah now weighs 56 pounds... but somehow seems even heavier than that, especially when she's tugging at her leash when a neighbor's car or truck goes up the road. Savannah's mission in her puppy life is to protect me from other people and their vehicles, but she'd do better to just ignore the cars and trucks on the road. I'm hoping she will learn to do just that before my arms are stretched out to the point of no return.

I seem to be pouring more words into my 'A Puppy Named Savannah' blog... I've been writing in that particular blog more than the others, hoping to keep a chronicle of the first year of Savannah's life with us. 'A Puppy Named Savannah' is reading like a book, and I'm hoping to turn it into just that when this first year with Savannah is over. (To be followed by 'A Dog Named Savannah'?)

It's just after seven o'clock now... the fog is still thick out there, but at least it's light enough to take Savannah for her morning walk. I can hardly wait till we turn the clocks again... these short days are getting to me, as well as all of this cloudy weather. On the bright side... at least it's not freezing out there. And we don't have snow to worry about. And I only have one 56-pound puppy to walk, not two.

Happy New Year

We didn't stay up last night to see the New Year come in, and I don't think anyone else up here in the hills did either. We've had a cloudy stretch of days here this week, no sun to speak of and very damp. Last night was no exception to that, plus we had some rain so that put a limit on the fireworks we usually hear at the stroke of midnight.

After not getting much sleep the night before last (Savannah was barking at some unknown critter outside) I knew that I'd fall asleep as soon as my head hit that pillow last night.  Not only were there no fireworks around here, but Savannah didn't bark at all last night and when I opened up my eyes this morning it was 8:45. I can't even remember the last time I slept so late. When I got downstairs, Savannah was still sound asleep in her bed and I literally thanked her for letting me get some sleep.

We had a last dinner with the big tree in the dining room tonight, and tomorrow I will start taking down the ornaments on that tree. I've packed away all the other Christmas decorations... with the silver tree going back into its box this afternoon. Love that 1950's silver tree... such a happy tree every year, filled with all vintage ornaments.

The gray/white stray cat has come back... he was out there meowing by the coop just a little while ago. He/she looks healthy enough, and doesn't seem to be thin or starving, and I have not fed that cat. I don't even leave food out on the porch now for Gatsby... if he's hungry, I put him into the garage and let him eat there. It's been so cold and cloudy this past week that both Mickey and Gatsby have been inside the garage rather than out in the yard during the day. I am not feeding that gray/white cat. I am not feeding that gray/white cat.

I looked at the calendar this morning and realized that this year is a Leap Year... not that it makes any difference one way or another, but it's just a point of reference.

I hope this year brings good things to my cousin P in Chicago... he's had an awful experience with a massive stroke and is still recovering. I spoke to him on the phone last week and it was heart-breaking to hear what's left of his voice. But it's a start... and we're all praying that P is soon back to his very active and creative old self. (And I'm complaining about a stray cat? Give me a break.)