Tales of the Ordinary Days

"Are we back to normal again?" I heard my father-in-law, Larry (aka Old Guy), asking Garrett this as I laid in bed.  Garrett was performing his morning ritual of coffee bean grinding before brewing our morning specialty coffee. This was after he had read and stretched, all while I was still thinking about waking up. Through the crack in the door, I could see Larry sitting, feet up, in his favorite sofa spot. Jake, my step-son, was noisily filling his large water jug for a day in the sun at his summer job. This clanging of ice at 7 am along with the permeating coffee aroma and Larry's shuffling have been my morning wake-up routine of recent times. With my delivered cup of hot java, I hear the sounds of the morning; the garage door opening with Garrett taking Jake to work and the percolating of Larry's own coffee of choice, Folgers, in his Mister Coffee machine. His own pot to drink through the morning while enjoying his latest book. Yes, Larry, I think we are ...

Day 1 | 30 Days of Writing The new normal A week ago our new chapter of empty-nesting officially began. Our collective kids have moved on with their lives outside of Omaha, with Garrett's youngest leaving last Thursday. The sounds of our house are now filled with just me and Garrett, with our dog, Zeke, constantly at our heels. Our cat, Abby, is mostly hiding from the dog, with an occasional ruckus coming from battles between dog and cat. Yes, we are adjusting nicely. Two weekends in, we have found our quiet weekends full of dog walks, movies, football, house maintenance, food management, and peaceful conversations over a drink or dinner. Last night was no exception. After an early movie and Costco run, Garrett and I found ourselves enjoying some tacos and margaritas. Finally feeling out of my initial fog of life transition, I was anxious to talk to my husband, now free of interruptions and the pressures of a full calendar. My biggest challenge hasn't been the voi...

Me In response to the current Facebook folly of listing a number of things people don't know about you, here is mine. This was way too tempting as I have enjoyed reading everyone else's over the last few days. My ten in no particular order...  1.  I made my own clothes in high school. Although I didn't make every piece in my wardrobe, my favorites were those I created myself. I would see something I liked and then would search for a similar pattern through the Vogue and Simplicity books at the corner dime store. I would duplicate copyrighted designer logos like OP (Ocean Pacific) by carefully embroidering on my finished products. 2 . I have wicked intuition and a great bullshit meter. I can spot a crook or a lie a mile away. And adversely, I know the good guys within the first two minutes of a conversation. My gut is rarely wrong. It's the best weapon I have in living a life free of trouble and full of good-hearted people. 3. My interest in accounting w...