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The fantasy older brother that you wished one of your friends had.
The TV character and the person who played him melded into one indistinguishable heart throb. And he could sing. And his hair feathered. And we loved him.
IYKYK
dailyprompt
Bucket List
Speaking of buckets…way to go Boston Celtics! 🏀☘️ NBA championship #18.
I started a Bucket List (I’ve heard some say “Life List”) in the notepad app on my phone a couple years ago. I update it whenever the mood strikes. Sometimes a TV show, movie or book will shake up the order. For example, I read a book called “Independent People” by Haldór Laxness (a Nobel prize winner in literature) which resulted in Iceland getting booted from my list.
Here’s the latest version:
Grand Canyon ✅
Paris ✅
Finger Lakes & Hot Air Balloon ✅
Tanglewood
Yellowstone National Park
Ireland
NYC comedy club or SNL
Southern Italy (Naples; Amalfi Coast; Cinque Terra) and maybe Sicily
Sweden
Return to Paris in warmer weather and see the sites we missed
Argentina?
Return to SoCal – LA/San Diego; Santa Monica; Venice Beach; Yosemite; Joshua Tree?
Key West
Austin TX
Greece
Acadia National Park
My friend Julie (the eventual artist) made sure we visited the Watts Towers in South Los Angeles.
Birthday card
Oh gosh, this is an uncomfortable prompt.
Did I ever mention that I have double-jointed thumbs?
I liked a birthday card I got from my husband this year. The pre-printed inside says “Nobody does you like you do.”
The outside is a little felt banner.
Waxing gibbous
From WikiHow:
- During the waxing gibbous moon phase, the moon’s illumination is increasing with more than half of its surface being lit up. This is the phase before a full moon.
- The waxing gibbous moon signifies the final stretch of completing a project. It is the phase for knocking off tasks and tying up loose ends.
Maybe this is a good metaphor for retirement. Try to go out on a high note—building to your full power. Maybe retirement should be the time when you become the best, fullest, most authentic version of yourself.
My piano’s big birthday
My piano is turning 50 this year and I still use it—maybe not daily, but weekly during the church year. I use it mostly to learn and practice my choir music.
Thanks to this prompt, I looked in my piano bench and discovered paperwork documenting that my parents purchased the piano on September 10, 1974. I was nine. They bought it so that my sister and I could take lessons. I took lessons for about six years with a couple of different teachers. I really liked playing the piano. I think I enjoyed it more after I stopped taking lessons. Then I could play what I wanted and nobody was nagging me to practice. I liked playing pop songs and singing along.
When my husband and I bought our first house, my parents gave me the piano because I was the only one who played it. They paid real piano movers to bring it to my house. My daughter took lessons on it.
When we moved to our second house, I had regular movers take the piano with the rest of our stuff and it got slightly damaged, but nothing major. My daughter took several more years of lessons on it after the move.
So here’s to you old friend. I promise to get you tuned for your birthday.
Westport
Describe one of your favorite moments.
We were lucky to have close friends with a beautiful beach house while my kids were growing up. It’s near the loveliest beach. The water gets really warm in August. One year, my daughter had a waterproof/underwater camera. Photos from that visit always make me happy.
Ocean, Sun, Joy, Love, Floating Happiness
iPhone Journal
On January 24, 2024, I tried out the new “journal” feature on my iPhone and I’ve added an entry every day since.
I’m finding it’s a good way to keep track of the notable (and mundane) things that happen in my life.
Apparently, the journal lives only on your phone and is not kept in the cloud anywhere. It’s like an old-fashioned diary. It’s meant only for you. There’s no “share to Instagram” button.
I’m finding it’s a handy memory aid. If my mother asks me what I’ve been up to for the last few weeks, I can whip out my journal and jog my memory. I can look back and see which day exactly I got this manicure, or went to the doctor, or talked to my friend Susan.
Occasionally I put some deep thoughts in my journal (things that I wouldn’t share on my blog), but it’s mostly just a quick photo or workout summary.
Here’s my concern: it doesn’t seem like Apple has figured out how the journal will get transferred to a new iPhone, when the time comes. Since the journal doesn’t get backed up in the cloud, when the phone is gone, the journal will be gone too. At least, that’s my understanding.
Please share your thoughts on this new iPhone feature. Have you tried it? Do you like it? Are you concerned about losing your entries when it’s time for a new phone?
Outdoor swimming season
This is an easy one for me. I’ve been at the outdoor pool every day that it’s been open since Memorial Day weekend. Starting this week, it’s open every day. The lifeguards are mostly high school students and the seniors are out for summer. Woo hoo!
Related post:
A/C
For most of my life, I lived in homes with no air conditioning. Growing up, we made it through the muggy New England summers with fans and one window air conditioning unit in my parents’ bedroom. Throughout college and my first few apartments, I had no a/c at all. We purchased a window air conditioning unit for our bedroom in our first house.
It wasn’t until we moved into our second home that I experienced the true luxury of central air conditioning. I was 39 years old. Between menopause, global warming, and the extra layer of fat I now wear, I could never go back to A/C-less living.
It’s my birthday and I will not be going to the grocery store.
That’s my tagline for today. This is the last birthday of my fifties. My sixtieth year—my sixth decade—starts now.
That’s right, GenX is gonna be hitting 60 in 2025. I found a couple of very 80s concert outfit pics from 1982ish. I saw both the Go-Go’s and the B-52’s live in Boston. I can’t remember which outfit was for which.
50 Happens 