What did Don and I do before FaceTime? Well, we talked on the phone like everyone else, but since this has been a year of a lot of time spent apart, though late to the game, we have enthusiastically embraced FaceTime. Seeing his face grounds me, as does hearing his voice. He has a great voice. I just finished a session with him before he headed to rehearsal.
On Sunday, the cast flies to New Orleans. They will be teching the show there. Not a bad place to put on a show, right?
Blogging update: Yesterday, after having given it a lot of thought, I deleted the book blog, Just Let Me Finish This Page.
Yes, I did. I hadn’t posted there for 6 months. 6 months! I found I was feeling guilty about it, but not really wanting to maintain the blog. I haven’t been writing as many reviews – just a few lately through TLC Book Tours, and I post those on this blog. There are many books I could review as I get offered advanced copies and I still might review them, but if I do, I’ll do it here.
The fact is, maintaining more than one blog is a lot of work. And I find that I am less and less inclined to do that. Maybe it is related to the fact that I no longer feel any ambition in that arena. (Thank goodness!) I love my blog, and I love posting every day. I am happy with what it now is, and feel no need to get more readers or have it be anything other than my little journal here on the Web. I found myself feeling tremendous pressure to read for the sake of reviewing and then feeling guilty because I wasn’t doing that.
I want to read because I love to read. At my own pace. For myself.
And the blog was linked to this blog on my host and I no longer wanted to worry about spam and hacking attempts or worry that someone would hack into this blog via JLMFTP. It takes too much energy and dealing with that kind of thing on this blog is more than enough.
So, it’s gone. I feel a twinge of sadness, but only a twinge. Since I haven’t posted in so long, you would probably not even notice its absence, but I wanted you to know, nevertheless. And if you do have it on your blog list, you can remove it.
The only reason my other blog, Through a Lens Daily, is still up is because it’s on Blogger and I can just leave it there. I also use it to catch up on other blogs through the blog list on the sidebar. I haven’t posted there in years!
One girl. One blog. And there you have it.
Happy Wednesday.
So funny. I was just thinking how I no longer care so much about the numbers and really how now, my blog is just about the writing and the connections made. But, I also find that with authentic writing, rather than promotion, the numbers still come :-)
Exactly! Thanks, Vicki!
Funny – I just looked at that blog late last week or early this. Understand your reasoning. Makes perfect sense to me.
And you were probably wondering why I hadn’t posted in so long!
Good for you! The simpler the better. ~Sherry
Thank you, Sherry!
I almost forgot you had that blog…well now you don’t. It is hard to maintain more then one blog and since you post daily here then just do away with the other. I only read for pleasure and can’t imagine the pressure to read for a review. Well I’m glad you are doing okay and facetiming with Don. The temps have finally dropped here and it’s the beautiful Fall weather I love. Hugs!
It’s beautiful here as well. re the blog: I figured since I haven’t been posting anyway, the only thing that troubled me was guilt and now that’s gone!
good for you! appreciate all you do here at mhc. :)
kathy in iowa
Thank you, Kathy.
I guess I had forgotten about your other blog…oops. But, I can’t imagine reading for other than pleasure. You certainly have enough to keep you busy these days, without another blog. Good for you….time to simplify! Enjoy your day! ;)
Of course you forgot about it! I wasn’t posting! Thanks, Donnamae!
Hi Claudia, I know how much you enjoy reading. Have you tried ‘The Keeper Of Lost Things’ by Ruth Hogan? If not, please do. It’s a wonderful book. I even persuaded my husband to read it ‘Not my sort of thing’ he said, but he was raving about it afterwards. I very rarely recommend books as I think it’s a very subjective subject, but this I can’t praise highly enough.
Very sad today, my brother died this morning. He was in hospital for an hernia operation, but his heart couldn’t take the strain. He was almost 90. Luv and Blessings Lesley
to lesley …
i am sorry for your brother’s passing. may you be surrounded by friends with casseroles and hugs. may you be comforted by happy memories and God’s promises and love.
with sympathy,
kathy in iowa
I am so sorry to hear about your brother’s death, Lesley. May you and your be comforted by his memory and his continued presence in your lives – he will be with you. xoxo
In deepest sympathy, Lesley. I’m so sorry for your loss.
I think you made a very smart move, Claudia. I follow someone else I found via Susan Branch’s blog who has 6 blogs of her own – though I’m really only interested in 3 of them – and I do not know how she does it. The time & energy it takes I can only imagine, but I don’t quite understand anyone maintaining multiples myself. If it was me, I’d just have one blog and change up whatever I was posting about. I’m continually amazed that you post something new every day! For me, that’s important because I tend to forget about blogs [or worse, lose interest] when the posting isn’t regular. I follow an architect in Dallas who posts every Tuesday – just Tuesdays – and it’s great because I always know there’ll be something there on Tues. And you’re daily. But my other blogging friend is very irregular [unless there’s some pattern there I’m not picking up on] and somedays I wind up getting 3 different blogs of her on one day. A bit too much at one time – then nothing for weeks. Oh well, I’m wandering. Anyway, I think you did the smart thing. Pop in a book review anytime here – it will be welcome by me. And you already post gorgeous photos here so we’re all set. Have a great Wednesday. Peace. 🍂
#Resist
Too many blogs, for sure. I’m happy to have just one now. And thank you about the book reviews, I think I will do that. xo
I’m glad you are keeping THIS blog, Claudia! I enjoy reading all of it, the good, bad, beautiful, ugly. You get to the heart (i.e., center) of any matter and make me think and feel. This morning, I’m reading your post with a delicious mug of latte in my Berkeley Peet’s mug. I’m so glad I fixed my espresso maker. After 6-7 years of disuse, I now use it every day. A perfect companion with which to read your post.
Ah, the joys of rediscovering your espresso maker!! Thanks so much for your kind words.
I can understand your deleting the blog. I an trying to delete a lot of the junk e-mails I receive. it is too time consuming.
Marilyn
Exactly. We have to get down to the essentials!
I think that you have made a wise choice Claudia…you have enough to handle as it is and now with you getting back into the miniatures and spending time away with Don this one blog will be enough for you I believe!
It will, indeed!
I understand completely Claudia. Life should be enjoyed without adding extra stress on one’s self. Savour all the special moments.
So happy for you and Don as this year has been quite uplifting for you both. I always
enjoy reading your blog and we share the same views on life and political matters.
Thanks for being in my life.
And thanks from the bottom of my heart for being in my life!
The subject of blogs…so many that are interesting, but so little time on the part sometimes of both owner and reader.
And in terms of the ones I try not to miss…there’s a running thread in them, no doubt driven to this point because of the tragedy on Sunday here in the U.S. (and Puerto Rico, and a list too long and growing), of readers speaking of how they’re stepping away entirely…I’m talking whole hog…from headline news, essentially because they just can’t take it anymore; worn down by the constant barrage of everything that’s bad and scary and horrible. The wounded soul that keeps getting nicked and picked. They’re not even trying anymore to strike a balance between enough and too much news. There’s a massive part of me that is magnetized to the idea; it’s pulling me, pulling me. Unplug; go dark. I mean, really do it, not just incrementally but cold turkey and all the way; just like when I’d be on vacation at isolated Club Med resorts in the 1980s and there was no connection to the outside world, the intent being for you to ‘get away from it all’ for the week or 10 days that you were there (you never saw a radio, a room phone or a newspaper/magazine, a TV; no cell phones or iphones or personal computers in those days). So, yeah, shut it off; shut it down; go off grid somewhere (like your own backyard)…in a bid for sanity in an insane world. The attempt to self-preserve. Feeling threatened, going from hyper-vigilance to…hiding…
I guess most blogs I visit are in some way birds of a feather; the posts…and readers who read those posts…are often of like minds which is what drew us together in the first place; common interests and often common sentiments. But the voice inside me says, “What IF I follow what they’re doing to avoid the stress of news stories/current events?” What IF we ALL do that? What if too many of us disengage; tune out; withdraw; retreat; become apathetic. We just can’t. We can’t surrender awareness and a measure of involvement; that’s when you’re ripe for change you’re not going to want. We can’t lose the fight in us. We know in our bones what’s right; what’s wrong. If we curl up in a fetal position, saying ‘world go away’, we can’t do it for very long. It’s too risky. There’s a consequence for relinquishing control.
I was looking up tonight at the sun beginning to fall…the light filtering through the palm trees in the evening breeze. It was so beautiful. It IS so beautiful. We can’t lose the beauty in our lives. We can’t lose our voice; our choices. It’s all lumped together. It’s called freedom. We’re human, meant to fly free.
After three grueling hours devoted to my Social Security issues this morning…in terms of protection after my info being breached by Equifax; 55-minute hold time on the phone and then reaching someone very nice who told me, after many words between us in a Q&A that lasted for awhile, that there’s really no way the SSA can guarantee that my future, untapped benefits will be safe in such a significant breach of personal information…I dissolved into a heap of tears that was utterly exhausting. There’s a block mechanism you can put on it which even you then cannot access; the SSA rep I spoke with seemed to almost dissuade me from doing it, so I’m still evaluating, but I feel let down; I wanted reassurance. I hung up feeling like it’s all on my shoulders. Nobody’s gonna bail me out of this problem which I had no hand in creating…
The whole idea of simplifying wherever we can…often spoken of here and on other blogs…gets dashed when I have things happening in my ‘realm’ that are through no fault of my own and which kill any attempt to live a quieter, pared-down life. Problems, problems. Complications. A part of life, yes; but enough is enough.
So, after peeling myself out of the chair, thinking of how to get from Point A of Stress to Point Z of Solution, I will formally apply for my benefits now, like I’d intended to over a year ago, because I’ll at least then know when I’m expecting a monthly disbursement, than somebody else stealing my money behind the scenes with me not having any way of knowing that it’s going on in the years remaining where I’m waiting (to file)…and Social Security Administration not knowing that another person is not ME. I dove into these deep flaws and had to come up with my own lesser-flaw although it’s a shift and an adjustment in our retirement plans and not what I wanted to do yet.
I just begin to wonder if there’ll ever be a time again, to be able to wake up in the morning and putter with a relaxed brain not riddled with worries. It’s a changed world, though. It’s what we talk about over and over again (I seem to, too much) in a quest for serenity. I’ve clearly got to work harder. I don’t think a Shirley Temple movie marathon is going to cut it. Instead, buck up and say, “I’m ready for the next wave. Can’t stop it from hitting. But I’ll somehow figure out what to do.” I don’t think, however, I can ever get the kind of trust back that I’ve heretofore felt, even though it was probably always a false perception. Lack of trust in too many things of late. Instead, cynicism…which is, unpleasant.
I could use one of those Club Meds right now, too. Do they still have Club Med? Maybe I better look into it. I’d probably never want to leave!
I believe it’s wrong to completely cut oneself off from the news. It’s an extreme measure that only weakens us. That being said, I do think we have to limit our exposure to it, for the sake of our peace of mind and because we have to live our lives.
I was talking to my dentist about Social Security. We are both of the mind that it’s better to access it right away. Supposedly, according to him, if you wait until 70 it will take you up to the age of 80 to make up for what you weren’t drawing all those years. Life is too short. Enjoy it now.
Well, I appreciate that you shared that discussion between him and you. It’s helpful to me. Thanks.
My husband and I are in discussions again about perhaps not waiting for him to retire in two years; rather, sooner. We know on the one hand it doesn’t make for the best financial sense. But, yes, life is ‘way too short. Life should be lived; now. I’ve been the hold-out, but I also think we could live better, be better…together. At home. The home he barely sees or gets to enjoy or have the time he needs to do the improvements it’s requiring (which is something he actually enjoys). How we’re living right now with his very-long employment hours and work commitments, maybe because we’re older in these later years, is just fracturing daily life. If anything, he’s tired. As in physically tired. Today, for instance, his work life begins with leaving the house at 7am (commute time in there, too) and he won’t be home til 11pm; tomorrow is the same. He’s open to working part-time in retirement which actually might be a good transition for him. We’ll see; but I feel a major decision coming down. It occurred to me that maybe we’d both cope more successfully with indeed those current events and news headlines if the other part of our life was more intact (like a big, dual-reinforced ‘shield’ against the rain of worrisome things!).
What’s great about how ‘work’ things are going with you and Don right now is that you’ve got breaks. You can flex it. And it changes. For instance, Margaritaville will have an ending at some point, but it was fun and lucrative while it lasted. Then, maybe you’ll have some time to kinda wind down; regroup; enjoy the cottage together; see what’s next. But without strain of deadlines in the in-between. You aren’t so locked in; you can make choices to work or not work. This was the beauty of self-employment with my father, like when he had times in life where it was necessary to cut ‘way back as the years went by, due to health primarily. Of course self-employment has drawbacks, especially in younger years when you have to consider health insurance or college for kids, etc. You don’t have that cushion of a backup paycheck; no supplemental source of income like SocSec (or interest income, ’cause you’ve probably not been able to save a cent yet in the throes of that youngness…but that’s also when Dad could go out and drum up even more work [it was a lot of adding and subtracting when I was growing up and of course some business would decrease just with attrition]).
And look how perfect it’s going to go when you can do some traveling with Don on the show road, when he has time (at certain times, in the schedule) to sightsee right along with you, like in the earlier part of a day. It’s really nice how it’s worked out, and that you can join him. And you’re getting to Chicago (hopefully) before really-bad weather sets in, too. I’m happy for you, Claudia! It didn’t work out with the Europe trip (yet) but it’s almost like you two are already fully-retired and getting in a lot of travel like you’d be doing anyway (but you’re still getting paychecks along with it, so…gosh…how ideal!). You two have figured things out for yourselves really smartly, while both being able to still work in a field you love, where you can see great results, get a tremendous sense of accomplishment, use all your creative genes, have self-expression and fun while doing it. It’s a heckuva lot more satisfying than sitting at a desk pushing paper! To me, you are a couple who really has it ‘together’!
Well, I’d like to take credit for it, but it’s just chance. We have had many, many lean years – both before we moved to the cottage and after. Times when we didn’t know how we were going to pay the mortgage, when all I did was worry about money and the lack of it. Freelancing was very hard on us, until we both started drawing Social Security and Don took an early pension. Those are the facts. At an older age, we are paying on a mortgage when most couples our age have paid off their homes long ago. But because of the work we do and the ups and downs of employment that it brings, we couldn’t even think about buying a home until we were in our fifties. If we tried to do it now, we would never get a mortgage – but we got ours during the boom not long before it all crashed.
Somehow, through it all, we’ve kept it together but I never want to sugarcoat things. It was very very tough. We felt it was worth it to have some equity and a home that we could truly call ours. It’s really only in the past 2 or 3 years that constraints have eased for us and work has picked up. We are profoundly grateful, of course, and Margaritaville gave us the chance to drive across the country and now, rendezvous in NOLA and Chicago. But it will also require a lot of time apart next year. We are not unaware of how lucky we are to have Broadway shows (mine this year, Don’s next year) at this point in our lives. It’s been a good year for us. And finding Stella was a peak experience – she is the most we’ve paid for anything in our time together (save the new oil burner and leach field for the septic system!)
I always enjoy hearing about any of this, Claudia. In many ways, your life with Don in terms of work/’how things have been’ are strikingly similar to what’s gone on with me and my husband over the past almost-30 years. Like you, we got such a late start together (marrying later) and there have been many dips and turns. My husband is convinced if he retires next year instead of the year or two afterward that we’ll be okay and can actually start living better with his pension plus his/my Social Security. We don’t have other money but we’re also not looking to live large. One security blanket we have is a paid-up Long-Term Health insurance plan with built-in inflation which, fortunately, we procured before all my health issues (so, I was still ‘insurable’ back then, in 1999). For me, the health/medical insurance picture has to be really solid/guaranteed before we can do anything in that gap before I can qualify for Medicare. And, yes, sigh…the mortgage. To move or not to move. It’s definitely a question. I’ve said it before but I find myself at times envying (hey, I’m human!) a couple of high school friends I have who married young, bought the house around the age of 30 or even younger, it’s paid for now with full equity…and then there’s my friend Shirley’s husband who’s had the same job for 41 years with a really-good employer (my husband and I have never known that kind of security and stability). My dad found his niche at age 39 with a home-based business which took him to age 80, and my folks were in the same house for 57 years (the only one they ever bought). My friend Sherry has now been in her paid-up home for over 40 years (nice home, with a view and on a hillside; has done nothing but increase in value); however, she got a boost with that due to a divorce settlement although she’s always worked to hang on to it, to her credit. She’s retiring now at age 66 and has no debt whatsoever. Everybody’s got a story. Doesn’t serve to compare. I just want to get to where I quit worrying so much about the retirement years; as you said, to quit worrying so much about money (that nagging fear). I want to feel more settled. But I know that decision is coming down for us pretty quickly now, and I’m looking forward to it. Thanks for sharing. Really. Makes me feel like I’m not the only one. And I feel nothing but joy for you that you’re in some good years now. I totally 100% feel happy for people who are in a good place in their lives, and mine isn’t so bad, not at all. Blessings; they’re abundant!
xoxo