Sayings for all occasions

I love language. Well, most of you probably already knew that. In this post we are going to look at a couple of sayings and see which trumps which.

The first is "Hope Springs Eternal!"

The second is "Flogging a dead horse."

So which is it? Does one keep hoping that by flogging a dead horse our desired (or hoped for) outcome will actually occur? Or do we stop hoping for what we were flogging a dead horse for and start hoping for something else? I would have to guess the latter. Hope isn't about one thing, it is more of a general thing - along the lines of "X is like buses (which is probably no longer true in most places since most places don't have a robust public transportation system) - wait a minute and another one will come along" or "There are plenty of fish in the sea" unless the human race continues to destroy them...Gee, these are depressing. Better get back to hoping...

A couple weeks ago I was optimistic that I had found someone who was going to be a major part of my life. I thought that they were going to be helpful and supportive of me while I would be helpful and supportive of them. Unfortunately this is turning out not to be the case. So I think I will stop with the flogging already and change the focus of my eternally springing hope. Life is that way sometimes.

Does anyone know anyone who I might ask to help me with cleaning up and organizing the house? Someone did offer to watch mom sometime if I wanted to go out. Actually two people have offered - though neither of them has really followed through. But the offers are nice.

I think I will start another puzzle today since I have my exciting new puzzle mat thing.

Uncertainty Rules!

There are rules for uncertainty, aren't there?

First, a quick catch-up from Monday. Nothing too exciting or out of the way to write about. Jenny, mom's aide, did not come, which was a mixed blessing. Mom was not eager for a shower - which is nothing new. I called the service provider and discovered that they somehow thought our being away for a week meant we were still away two weeks later. I know, working with a calendar can be challenging. I also know that I could have called them last week to tell them we were back. But I didn't. Because I thought we had an understanding. Which we apparently didn't. Which is not surprising. Nor exciting. But it is uncertain...

I also spent part of the day watching rehearsal for the Opera at the Smith. Don Pasquale has a fairly straightforward Commedia plot - young lovers thwarted by Pantalone (Don Pasquale) who are aided by Dottore in this case (who is more like a Harlequin character than a Dottore). Rah. I could direct this. Heck, I could direct anything. I miss directing. Sigh. Maybe I will get back to it one day.

Meanwhile, back at the homestead, two papers I was looking for turned up in exactly the place they were supposed to be. I am not the most organized person on the planet. I hope for either a helper or for stripping my life waaaaaay down so I don't have too much to keep organized. I don't really want a stripper (combination of stripping and helper...) - though that might not be a bad thing...

Which brings to me to this morning's contemplation: what will the future - the larger future - have in store for me. I wish we could shop for our futures. Sigh. Anyway, I do think about it once in a while. At this point, my options are pretty much unlimited in terms of choice. Sure, I doubt I will choose to become a concert pianist or an opera singer. Both are possible, both are pretty unlikely. My thoughts vacillate between sticking it out here in Geneva - trying to cobble together a life and livelihood - or taking to the road either here in the US - buy an energy efficient/alternate energy vehicle of some kind - preferably a Type whatever the small type of RV is - and drive around a lot - or head abroad - I have never been to South America and I must admit to a fascination with Brazilians - what better place to find Brazilians than Brazil...Or maybe a trip to Asia - Russia and India are both high on my list of places I wouldn't mind visiting/living a bit before I exit the world. Yippee and yay for possibilities!

Today is another day, apparently.

Five out - One Back

I have at least four letters out that I am hoping will produce some useful information. Oops, five. Three are about theatre in the area - how to "bid" for a theatre production at the Geneva High School and how to go about getting to do a show at the, ick, black box theatre at the local Boys and Girls Club (by the way, I just don't like black box theatres all that well - I understand that they are a necessary evil and that there are more and more of them, but I just don't like them)(I prefer theatres with wings and storage areas and fly spaces - call me whacky, I just do.) So far, one is a total non-answer - the second seems like a non-answer at this point and the third - well, I will give him a week - he has been busy not selecting me as one of the new Theatre professors here at Hobart and William Smith. Oh, did I not mention that? I applied for either of two theatre positions here at Hobart. And I wasn't even given an interview. True, I have not been an academic for the past 23 years, but I have done some theatre - and I did graduate from Hobart with a degree in theatre - and do have an advanced degree in Directing (MFA from UT Austin). And my father taught at Hobart. And my mother. Still, not a reason amongst all of those to even give me an interview. Their loss. Moving on. It looks to me like I won't get an answer from any of those three and I will just have to figure out where to go from here.

The other two were inquiries to Organizer types. I hope I can find an organizer who is a little less expensive than the one I used down in NC. Ok, considerably less expensive would be nice. I figure if I can find the right person, we take the house in little chunks and start to organize and weed out stuff. I think the linen closet would be a good place to start - especially since I am about to dump all of my linens in there as well. (One of the organizers just wrote back - we shall see what information gets communicated)

My distasteful task yesterday was moving the lumber that constituted the platform bed that I took apart out of the front hall. I put it all in the garage - another place that could do with a serious bit of organizing. Seriously, there is not a place in the whole house that couldn't stand with a bit of organization. Though the kitchen isn't as bad as it was when I first came here three - eeek - years ago. The eeek was for it being three years already. I imagine I will be here for ten. By that time I will be sixty-ish and ready for a new challenge.

And I ran errands. Bank, Library and Grocery Shopping! Yes, I capitalize them because they are all so very important and earth shattering errands. Yay!

Aha!

I love epiphanies. And I think I just had one. One of the things I am looking for in my relationship partner is my audience. In a person. I am looking for someone who gets me, who reads my stuff and always says "wow" even when it is crap - because she (I am assuming a she because I like shes) knows that it will get better or whatever - but she reads something, or listens to a story or even my most boring, repetitive drivel and her gut response is "yay."

And I would hope that I could be for her whatever she wanted or needed wherever she was in her life...

That being said, there are lots of other things I am hoping for in a relationship partner, but that was a big "aha" for me. Just saying.

Yay!

Ok, moving on - yesterday was a weird day. Weird but good. It was a struggle getting mom up and out, but we managed. First stop, Rite-Aid. I admit, I went in with a little trepidation. One of my myriad crushes, my favorite pharmacist, works there. The previous night I found her on Facebook. And saw that she was being hugged by a man in her profile picture - a pretty clear sign that she is at least dating the guy - and wrote and apologized for flirting with her. I didn't put any identifying comments in the message - as she has copies of my card and my name in and of itself is fairly memorable. After hitting the send or reply or whatever button, I thought "gee, maybe she didn't even realize that I was flirting with her." I mean, I am not in her head - she could have just thought I was a freak. Oh well. Anyway, I was dreading seeing her again. And she wasn't there! Yippee! There was a new-to-me staff member who took my mind off my F-PH for a minute.

Next stop, Walmart to return one of mom's pairs of sweatpants. That was easy. And despite have a brand new pair - she wore her icky old ones again. Sigh. I don't know why I don't like them, but I don't.

We went to see We Bought a Zoo. It was that or Sherlock Holmes. I can always watch Sherlock Holmes by myself sometime. I thought this would be a better choice. And it was great! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't hate Matt Damon. I would have liked to have seen and gotten to know more of the animals and the zoo staff, all interesting seeming - but the movie really was more about Matt Damon and his getting out from under the weight and shadow of his beloved's death. Good stuff. And the little girl who played Rosie was amazing! And I loved the idea of 20 seconds of amazing courage. I have done that in the past and will aim to be aware of doing it again in the future!

Next stop, Friendly's. They are getting to know us there. As we were leaving one of the managers said - See you next week! Sigh. We are in a rut! I hate ruts!! Anyway, we were served by Jeanette (who has the same name as my mom's mom) who presented mom with a hat that mom had left there a few months back. (I don't think I used mom enough in that sentence...) I hadn't realized that she had lost it. It is a hat that I also am not a huge fan of, but mom loves it, so I am glad she got it back. Dinner was ok.

Back at home, mom scared the poop out of us both by tripping over a table. Luckily she tends to fall in slow motion so didn't break anything. What a nightmare that would be! But she was quite shaken up by it. As was I. Glarp.

Oh, I almost forgot - drawers. I cleaned out three kitchen drawers. I actually threw away three icky spatulas - and boxed a lot of other stuff for later disappearance. Maybe in a yard sale, maybe to the Center of Concern. We shall see. (More pictures of the drawer organizing will be posted on Facebook soon)

So, all in all it was a day.

All of that was in one drawer!

Yay art picture!

I didn't see a Zebra with a ribbon around it in the movie...

Friendly's food with funions!

Safely Sunday

I like alliteration. Yippee!

I didn't sleep particularly well Friday Night. Could have been the beer, could have been being on the road, could have been anxiety of the coming day. Who the heck knows. But I didn't. Oh well. Life goes on.

It was moving day for Karl and his family. He was making the move of the big stuff, and changing his abode from the old to the new. Mom and I were to bring some stuff back to the Geneva house, but most of what he wanted us to bring wasn't ready, so we only ended up bringing back Eleanor Cecile. Mom's childhood doll. Which, I believe, she gave to Kristen (Karl's eldest child). EC is an antique - and the size of a three year old child! I can understand how Kristen can't keep her just yet. Maybe one day. Or maybe not. Who knows.

Candace (my brother's current wife) and Mom do not get along. At all. I tried to keep them apart, but mom was like a homing missile and headed straight for her as soon as I was gone. There was a lot of screaming, mostly on Candace's part, apparently. Luckily, I was driving a van load of boxes to the new house and missed the histrionics. I am not a huge fan of histrionics, unless they are my own. :) So, soon after I got back, mom and I drove back to Geneva, Lickety split! And arrived home safely.

Dinner was at the new Mcdonald's - where my big mac had been put together hastily and incorrectly. I figure I will go back in a few months and have another one. Mom had a fish sandwich.

Welcome Follower 27! Sherree, I hope you enjoy it here. I am feeling a bit on the boring side, but I will persevere. If nothing else, I am feeling good about posting every day. Yippee!

Jeff, one of my longest term friends, had a brilliant idea - to make podcasts about beer. So I ordered some books from Amazon to help me see if this is something that I would like to do. We shall see.

Since part of what I am doing to keep myself moving forward is organizing my mom's house - I wanted to share some of my organizing thoughts. Step one - lump everything together in one place so that you know what you are dealing with. Step two - a quick once through the pile to see if there is a lot to throw away. Step three, much later, sorting into more distinct piles and putting things where they are supposed to live. It is a long process, but the first one gives a great sense of accomplishment. The second is liberating and the third just feels so good when all is quietly put away. It is so much easier doing this for someone else's crap! :)

Pictures from July 16, 2011: (more pictures will be going up on Facebook - later today perhaps)


Old house.


New house. (No Red House, Blue House...)


Mom and her granddaughter Skyelyn (Pronounced Skylynn)


The new Geneva McDonalds - functioning and happy!