Today

This morning I came into work and this is what I found:

 Adriana was a very busy girl yesterday and unfortunately I disappointed her as I didn't come in for work. Ooops. But to say I was pretty surprised when I opened up the office door this morning is an understatement, and I really appreciated what she did.  Now I can't wait for HER birthday...

Not All the Time

Whenever I see or hear this, I always think, what if you have a nightmare? What if you just have a regular dream that doesn't really mean anything? While the premise seems sweet, it isn't really true, no matter what Disney would like us to believe or how his movies end. Granted, I wish I did dream often of the things my heart wishes for, but sadly I don't. And sometimes when I dream it definitely isn't  something I would ever want to happen.

Of course, maybe I am just overthinking this. But since kids hear this song and go to Disneyland, the happiest place on earth (which it should be considering how much it costs to get in now days), do we really want them thinking this? Especially if they have a very bad dream?

Hmmm...could this be why we're all so screwed up now?

The Last Year of My Fifties

Today was my 59th(!) birthday and I have to say I really don't feel like I should be this old. But the calendar and my birth certificate says differently so here I am, now on the cusp of 60.

I really didn't do anything special today; planted the flowers I bought Friday and got my birthday drink from Starbucks, and for dinner Hector grilled steak and yesterday he actually went out and got me cupcakes, which was a surprise as I can't remember the last time he got me anything cake related for my birthday. He bought 12 of them, one of each flavor so we would have a choice, though really half a dozen would have been just fine.  Of course I took a picture:

Because who knows when I'll ever get cake again for a birthday.

Anyway, I have my "New Year" resolutions for this last year of my 50s:

1) Keep up my blogs

2) Lose weight (yes, again...I did manage to this past year so it CAN be done.

3) Do something different with my life by the time I am 60.  I'm ready to move, to change, to have a different life.

So those are the three.  And since there are only 3, they should be doable, right?  Right.

And here we go....

And I Did It!

This is my 100th post for the year since my last birthday.  Granted I should have more than 100 but considering what has gone on, I think 100 is a pretty good number, not to mention it's more than what I have done since I have had this blog. So I'm pretty proud of myself.

And to top it off, tonight is prom for Sean Michael, so here are a few pictures of him and his girlfriend Ryane:

Are they cute or what? I wish Mom was still alive because I know she would have loved to have seen these. Hopefully she is looking down from Heaven and smiling at them.

Well, here is to another year !

My Friday

Bob doesn't look so sure about this. Cali does this to him all the time.

 

And I went to Lowes shopping for flowers.

I live such an exciting life.

It Would Be Interesting

I never really thought of it before but it would be fascinating I think if we could all do it just to see. then again I'm sure different people have different point of views about us, so who would we choose?

Bird-Watching

Last night we were sitting out on the back deck with the dogs and CaliGirl was fascinated by the birds flitting about (they were trying to get to the bird feeders I have hanging but they would see us and fly away). Hector took the pictures and even managed to get a bird in the first shot which I thought was kind of cool.

Do We?

I think I only have one but really I'm pretty much an open book.

Monday: I Need Caffeine

This is how I said good morning:

As I usually say good morning. But man I needed the caffeine because I didn't sleep well at all. Then again, I don't sleep well on Sunday nights anymore being as I have to get up and go to work on Mondays now, which I really hate.  I started out okay last night, we went to bed around 11 and I don't think it was long before I was out, but then around 2:30 Bob started barking and from then on I had a hard time getting back to sleep. And today at work I have been sleepy and dozed at lunch, so I'm considering a Starbucks run on my way home to keep me awake at least for a little while this evening.


So the weekend. Friday:

Sean Michael getting a haircut and Schmoopette directing the stylist on how to do his hair (which I don't think she particularly appreciated but oh well)

This is what I get when I let him have my phone.

Peruvian food for dinner and they are both eating cow-hearts-on-a-stick. Blech!

Saturday morning got some dirt for my raised gardens...now I just have to put some seeds in them.

Went to Lowes and looked at flowers (even though I bought seeds, I think I'm gonna buy already-in-bloom plants to get started) and I liked this arrangement so I figured I would take a picture of it to give me an idea when I do start planting.

Sunday: My puppies...CaliGirl just had to lay next to Bob and then of course she had to start bugging him. But she really adores him and always wants to play with him, even though he doesn't seem too ambitious at the moment.

And that was about it. I live such an exciting life.

To Make A Dream Come True

And I am already planning this for when I hit 60.

Coffee Memes

Because coffee was the reason why this is called "A Shot of Sharl"

 

And Then It Will Be Too Late

I experience this quite often with a couple of different people... and they think I have forgotten. I haven't. And eventually they are going to realize it when I'm finally leave.

Those Oh So Meaningful Memes. Not.

Sometimes when I am on Pinterest I will read the Quotes section, and a lot of times I have to wonder where do they get these things  and who thought to even make them quotes.  Some of them are pretty stupid and some of them I know that people are thinking "Oh my! How profound!" but in actuality they don't even make sense. Or maybe it I just don't get it. So here a few:

And what if you two didn't even like each other? I have had dreams of people I don't like and I know didn't like me, so I don't that's why I dreamt of them.

Or maybe we just meet people because that's life.

Uh, no. Very seldom do I regret something like that. I regret the wrong things I did.

This is so stupid.  It's called L-I-F-E. 

Now I did like this one because it is true.  Stuff happens.

And what exactly could that be? Quit my job? Yeah it would be a different life then, I'd be broke. Kill someone? Oh good...prison orange jumpsuits and girlfriends named Bubbette...no thanks. Most of us can't make that "one decision" for a better life, so this is really easier said than done.

While I don't particularly agree with everything happens for a reason (and actually I kind of hate it when I hear someone say that) I do like the last part of it.  Because a lot of things that happen to us is because we did make those bad decisions.

But I do believe this and think it is as profound as it gets:

One Hundred Posts and Dreams and Resolutions

I am really trying to get to 100 posts for the year before my birthday, and with this one I will have 90, which means I have 10 to go.  Even though you won't really be able to tell because 2015 and 2016 are split up since I started this on my birthday last year, but just for my own mind I want to hit 100.  Last year on my birthday I decided that would be my "New Year" and made resolutions, to which I have kept mostly, but did fall off the picture taking wagon. That one really wasn't such a big deal because I do take a lot of pictures anyway, just not every day like I had planned.

I know I should have had more posts on here, but considering being somewhat depressed and my mom dying, I think I did pretty well, and I hope to keep on.  I like writing but when I'm not in the mood to do it or feel like I don't have anything to write about, it's kind of hard.  But then I should force myself to write, because it is good practice.  I would really like to write a book or two, I even have ideas of what I want to write, but for that I need to not have distractions or be interrupted and have plenty of time, all of which don't happen.  When I was at Mom's that would have been a perfect time except I was so sad at what was happening I sure didn't feel like writing a book.

I'm still sad about her being gone and sometimes it doesn't take much to bring tears to eyes about it, but I suppose as time goes by I will get used to it, at least a little, and accept that she is gone.  I actually had a few dreams about her and grandma the other night, and though I don't remember what they were about now, they were nice.  Those are the kinds of things I should write down as soon as I wake up.  Funny how some dreams you remember years later and the ones last night you don't though you know you had them. 

After my grandma died in 1994 I had a couple of dreams about her and the first one she was sitting on this bench in the middle of a street and there were all kinds of people around and I asked her if she knew she was dead, to which she replied "Well of course I know I'm dead." Okay then. The second one was we in some kind of party and she and Mom were there and just chatting. I didn't bring up the dead thing then, figuring she knew.

After Nicole's accident, I dreamt that Hector and I walked into this restaurant and there was Nicole, standing by the hostess, and was like "Surprise!", and she just started chattering away.  That dream gave me faith then, even though in reality she was in a nursing home and in a vegetative state that the doctors said she would never come out of.  Boy were they wrong.  I know I had a couple of more dreams about her, and even though she doesn't walk or talk, she at least is in a wheelchair and knows us and can get on Facebook and is in much better shape than we ever thought.

Anyway, thinking about them now I wish I had written them down in the detail at the time so I could remember. the one thing I did do though was during Nicole's time in the hospital I wrote a journal as things were happening so she could see it one day, though even now she doesn't want to, which maybe she has a point because the few times I've reread it since then, it still brings tears to my eyes remembering. 

So here's to 10 more posts and another "New Year" and new resolutions, besides keeping a couple of the old ones.

Craziness Here

This morning when I was looking here to write I noticed that some of the pictures I posted are gone. I have no idea why either.  I don't know if it is Blogger itself or my computer or what.  Because I also notice on my pictures, where there used to be the postcard-like pics, now there is a little teeny tiny picture of me. Not all of them are gone but a few. So weird.  I need to look at my computer at home and see if the same thing is happening there also.


Craziness....
In the meantime, Mondays are good days to have ice cream for lunch.

I Was 22

which lead to this:

But in my heart I still know we were supposed to be.

Wednesday

People write some really weird stuff on their blogs. Maybe people think I write weird things on mine but I know mine isn't as weird as some  I peruse on here.

Take the freakin' dogs out when you get home!! Really is that too much to ask????

Yes I do like using "...." because it means my thoughts are trailing off and you can use your own conclusion. Or mine. Whatever...

People use the "f" word way too much.  I don't know when it got to be like an every day word but really, have respect for others who don't talk like that. Especially when it is around someone who is old enough to be your mom.  Makes me wonder if they actually talk like that around their moms. Then again Beau does so maybe they do. Still I think it is unacceptable.

Compared to all the years I have had this and the other blogs, I have done really well for a change. Here's to the next year.

I still need to take Sean Michael to have his senior picture taken. I don't know why it is so hard to get this done. I wish I had it done in Fresno at the same studio I had mine taken.

I did order his graduation announcements yesterday though.

This is the first April I haven't gone home for Vanessa's and Janie's and my birthdays in quite a few years.  Part of me wants to but really there isn't a reason to. And I kind of dread going to Mom's empty house.

On that note, I would also like to go to a play at Roger Rodka's when I do go home but it reminds me of Mom and I just don't know if I can yet.

I miss my mom.

Yes We Do

In my case, it isn't the chair, but my hopechest that sits at the end of the bed. And if I'm being honest, it is also the jewelry armoire by my dresser. Both of these things tend to get clothes piled up on them until I finally get tired of it and put everything away.  And then eventually the piles start to grow again...

The Weekend Not Planned

 This weekend didn't go like I thought it would but it turned out okay.  Originally I was supposed to go to a craft show with Vickie and Tonda but Vickie texted me to cancel because she was meeting up with her son who she hadn't seen in quite a while, and then a couple of days later Tonda texted me to cancel because she had to go to her parents because they both were having health issues.  I could have still gone by myself but that just isn't as much fun, especially to have to drive that far, so I said forget it.

I had been wanting to see the Sally Fields movie "My Name is Doris"

 and I saw that it was playing at the E Street Cinema in DC so I told Hector to look for a movie there that he would want to watch so I could see my movie.  He said he would see the movie with me and since we're there let's have dinner too.  He wanted to go to a Brazilian restaurant called Fogo de Chao

 which was pretty pricy but what the heck.

So we had dinner first and I have to say that for the price of the food I really wasn't all that impressed.  It was good but I didn't think the meat was very well seasoned or salted and was kind of boring. And the salad bar, eh.  The drinks were good, I had a strawberry lemonade thing that was $15(!) but it definitely had booze in it. A couple of those I would have been loopy.  For dessert I had a coffee that had Godiva liqueur and Baileys in it and boy that was delicious.  Maybe it was a good thing I had that alcohol because it dulled the pain of the bill which would have equaled a grocery shopping trip. Yeah, that much.  We decided that was my birthday dinner even though my birthday is a few weeks off.

Afterwards we went to the movie and it was cute and rather sad and had what I would call a "no ending".  That was kind of disappointing but I suppose they meant it to be.

We decided to drive around DC a bit so I took pictures:

The street the movie was on

New Trump Towers

The Capital

And the Washington Monument

Today was very quiet and didn't do much except take the dogs for a walk which evidently was tiresome for  them:

And later I called Mom's best friend Darlene to see how she is.  She seemed okay but I'm guessing with her dementia it does dull the pain for her than if she didn't have it. And maybe that's a blessing for her.