Let the wild rumpus begin!

When I get older
Losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a Valentine?
Birthday greetings?
Bottle of wine?
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me?
Will you still feed me?
When I'm sixty-four?

You'll be older, too,
And, if you say the word,
I could stay with you ....

First verse of the song by the Beatles 


Some people make resolutions for the New Year. I'm not one of those people. I make resolutions on my birthday, which is a very good day to have a birthday, by the way. It's just far enough past Christmas that I never got cheated on gifts. And, it's far enough before Lent and Easter, so I never got cheated on gifts. (I still feel bad for those folks whose birthdays fall between December 24 and January 2.)

This year the theme is "When I'm sixty-four."
So, here is a list of the things I will accomplish while I'm sixty-four:

1. Print a book filled with 64 photographs by me. I will title it, "When I'm sixty-four." I hope it will be mostly portraits of people I know, but a few cat and dog photos will probably sneak in there.

2. Whittle my voluminous doll collection down. I have too many, my collecting habits have changed, and it's time to sell and give away at least 64 of them, sending them off to adventures with others.

3. Write 64 blog entries. Sounds easy, doesn't it? There are 365 days in the year, which breaks down to one blog entry every 5.7 days. That's more often than once a week, you know. Sometimes I have weeks go by when I can't think of anything to write about, so this one will be a real challenge. I need a good challenge though, so let's have at it, shall we?

Three things is enough, I think.
Besides, I still have three more days until my birthday!

Let the wild rumpus begin!

what's doin'?

celebrating my daughter's departure to Paris, her first journey to Europe!

watching "The Sopranos' final episode again and discussing what it means. What DOES it mean?

crying because I still miss my dog.

thanking my darling husband for finishing the kitchen cabinets. (A custom job, it took a while. After all, he does work full time!)

watching as the back porch is transformed into a livable space.

cleaning my closet and donating under worn items to Goodwill.

taking an inventory of my Momoko dolls. (I have 34 of the little darlings.)

eating more veggies and fish and less red meat and fast food.

designing marketing materials for Art Gallery 21.

getting a summer haircut.

updating the German Bread Haus web site for my best girl friend.

discovering the organic coffee beans now available at Trader Joe's!

counting the days until school lets out.

researching how to protect my neighborhood from exploitative investors.

keeping up with pulling weeds in the yard before rainy season arrives.

seeking a good book to read that I haven't already read.

improving my writing skills by taking a stab at short stories.

shooting Jazzercise technique photos for the instructors.

enjoying the last "cool front" of the dry season.

needing to find time to play dolls.

What are you doin'?

Happy New Year!

It's here! A new year!

My "to do list" for this year includes ...

taking individual photos of all my dolls, one doll at a time, as an inventory

organizing five years worth of photos a little better, so I can find what I want a little quicker

planning for the future of Art Gallery 21 at the Woman's Club of Wilton Manors

writing a memoir for the AARP contest (due February 15)

deciding when my darling husband and I are going on vacation to Germany

using my sewing machine more often

smiling at strangers every chance I get!

How about YOU?

What's up?

I haven't been writing much on my blog here lately because I am ...

dancing in my Jazzercise class.

smiling every time I walk into our home and see our “new” kitchen.

relieved to have my doll room organized.

enjoying the free time Manfred and I have together.

making so much progress on restoring some old Barbie dolls.

using spreadsheets to manage my finances.

finding it easier to not buy as time passes. (Thanks, Pinterest!)

feeling optimistic about my brother finding a job after almost three years of unemployment.

running as fast as I can to keep up.

spending time going through drawers of doll clothes.

using pencil instead of pen these days.

checking on the crape myrtle we planted in June.  (It’s blooming!)

pleased to have honored my doll spending freeze for three months.

loving my yard, a Certified National Wildlife Habitat.

preparing to open Art Gallery 21 at the Woman’s Club of Wilton Manors.

eating fresh mangos and watermelon in my salads.

sleeping poorly due to worrying about my daughters.

watching season one of The Newsroom with great anticipation.

spending today writing a script for Tea with Barbie next week.

planning on being joyful no matter what happens.

racing through the summer.

writing a blog post with some thoughts that need to be shared.

My contest entry ...

              Me and Samantha, 1989

I love to write.
Sometimes I have to toil to get the words out. And, sometimes they just spill out of me. When they're spilling, I'm grateful that I took typing in high school!

Last week, I wrote a story and entered it into MORE Magazine's "One Amazing Thing" contest. I did submit a story last summer, which the MORE editors posted to the web site, and that was kind of neat. (It's here.) But, this contest ... well ... I really want to win.

I've posted it on Twitter and Facebook quite a bit in my attempts to get someone ... anyone ... to read it and vote for it. I e-mailed it to a bunch of my women friends and asked them to vote and some of them have voted. I think the "registering" part is what spooks people, though. They're afraid they're going to receive lots of e-mail or spam as a consequence of registering. They won't, and I tell 'em that. But, still, they don't vote.

So, here I am, five days from the close of the contest and I've moved up to No. 31 with 15 votes. In order to qualify I need to be in the Top 25. From those 25 entries, the editors of MORE will chose one winner and that lucky person will have a one-hour phone consultation with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, the author of "One Amazing Thing," described by MORE's web site as a "breathtaking tale of survival."  The winning writer will then expand her story to 1600 words to be posted on MORE's web site and, maybe, Barnes & Noble's web site. That's it. No prize money. Just an opportunity.

The current top entries are about cancer survivors, a night at the Emmys, saving a life, raising a child ... things that are uplifting and wonderful. My story isn't quite so "warm and fuzzy."  It's brutal. It's honest. And, it took me 22 years to write.

Friends who have read the story have written messages or told me to my face that they are so glad to know how I turned out.  If I win, it would give others a chance to find out WHY that experience was, truly, 'one amazing thing 'for me.  It really did change the course of my life forever. And, I'm sure no one will be disappointed how it ends.

It may not be pretty, but it was amazing to live through.
Cross your fingers. And, if you haven't already, go read it and vote.
You'll never be sorry you did.
I promise.