I did the "adult" American thing and bought myself some shelter last year. I figured I was on my own for providing shelter for myself and there's some financial rationale (which I learned and forgot pretty quickly) for buying rather than renting.

For a year and a half, I have been part owner of my shelter. I figure that I own about the bathroom now. No one gave it to me. I figured out how to get it.

Seems as though a lot of things go that way.

And now my shelter is a haven. Granted, it is often a mess, frequently a money pit, and sometimes a source of stress. But it is a place to which I can retire from the world, sit on the couch with a cat or two, and let the world go on without me. Not that the world wouldn't go on without me anyway, but this way, *I* have a respite, too.

There is something to be said for deciding what it is you want and need and then figuring out how to make it happen.

Sheltering the Stones

Please have at this week's title:

Gimme Shelter.

Walking, Nancy-style

Walking away is something I've discovered that I'm quite good at doing. Especially from relationships. If there is a relationship equivalent of fight or flight, I am prone to flight.

Granted, there is some melodramatic, heart-rending decision making to do. How bad is too bad, what is worth fighting for, how do I know if this is "right?" And in the end, I come to the same conclusion -- if staying were what I really wanted, I'd make it happen.

These boots are damn well made for walking -- they're hiking boots.

Check 'em out...

My favorite place to shop in the whole world is K's closet. She's on top of the fashion world, she pays more than $4 for a pair of jeans without crying... she just gets.it. I'll spend money on clothes and shoes for her and my grandkids, but never on myself. So one year when K was in jr. high, I bought her a pair of boots. This was - what - 13 years ago...and, like everything else, when she was "done" with them - I got them! LOVED.THEM. Wore the HELL out of them.

Fast forward to the after Christmas sales last year...I called K & told her that I'd bought mySELF a pair of boots!! YEA, YIPPEE, WHOOEEEEEE!! She about stroked out - I'm not kidding. That picture up there? My new boots. Comfy, make my size 9's look small...nice. And I finally threw out the pair I'd bought K 13 years ago, and had been wearing every since. They were getting a tad uncomfy. So I've got some new boots, and my even be able to walk in them. Life is good......

These Boots Were Made For Walking

I have never owned a pair of boots. I have large calves - thanks Dad! - and therefore, boots are not feasible for me. bummer.

So what can I write about??? hmmm..... I was a teenager in the 70's. There were some really great shoes back then. (What font can I use for sarcasm?) Famolares were a big trend where I lived. I had a pair very similar to these:

One night, a friend and I were out-of-town. We had gone to my cousin's graduation which meant graduation party, which was boring because we didn't know anyone and my cousin was too hammered to bother with us, so we went to the drive-in movie and then drove around checking out the local scenery (translation: looking for boys!) We did find a couple of them that were cute and fun so we spent a few hours with them, including a bit of time out of town....nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Well, it's now about 2 am and we really should get back to my uncle's house, so I go to put my shoes back on....can't find one of them. We look all over were we were parked - nowhere to be found. Well, the shoes were new, and expensive and my mother would kill me if I came home with only 1 shoe. So, the only other place it could have been was at the drive-in. Well, we went back there, drove in, found where we had been parked and sure enough. . . there is the shoe. Back in the car we go, start heading off the premises and voila! two cop cars appear. Check us out (thankfully we were sober) and after they find out the story, send us on our way. Whew.

So, nothing to do with boots, nothing to do with walking, but it did involve footwear and boys.

Week Again with the Beginnings and Monday and such

These Boots Are Made for Walking

Go to it, chicas.

Sunny Days

Sorry I'm late, but I just couldn't tear myself away from the weather channel.

I like sunny days - North Dakota has 198.3 predominately sunny days per year.

North Dakota recieves an average annual rainfall of 16.7 inches, and an annual snowfall of 39.1 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) in North Dakota is 97.2 The average number of days with a high temperature over 90 (F) is 27.9 The average number of days with a low temperature under 32 (F) is 164.1 The average July high is 85.5. The average January low is 3.2.

North Dakota averages 27.9 days per year are above 90°F. North Dakota averages 164.1 days per year that fall below 32°F. The average July high in North Dakota is 85.5°F. The average January low in North Dakota is 3.2°F.

Average daily temperatures for North Dakota
Jan 7.6
Feb 15.5
Mar 27.8
Apr 42.9
May 56.2
Jun 64.9
Jul 69.9
Aug 68.5
Sep 57.2
Oct 44.6
Nov 26.6
Dec 13
Annual 41.2

The average annual wind speed is 10.6 mph.

The air quality in North Dakota is 51.9% higher than the national average. I like that fact, cuz, well, I really like breathing. Especially on a sunny day.

The Tao of Big Bird

Did you know that Sesame Street was a Taoist plot to brainwash America's youth? Or, at least, it could have been if, say, Taoism led one to want to take over the world. Which, really, as I read it, it doesn't.

Seeking to find that place, Sesame Street, drives the clouds away. Not that clouds are bad (no judgments!), it is just that the light offers clarity. Clarity is key to a seeker of the Tao. Clarity is seeking the truth in this moment, knowing that the only eternal is change because, well before Einstein, the Chinese philosophers knew that all things were related. We are but one part of a larger web, and we are connected to all.

Within that, with that understanding, maybe we can seek and find those moments of harmony where truth is a partner and there are no illusions.

And Maria and Gordon will be there to sing along.

Seriously

When daughter K was young, I was jarred awake many a Saturday morning with Sesame Street BLARING on the TV, KISS on the stereo. Together. In stereo.

We have watched this movie 100's of times...STILL love it!

And last, but most certainly not least? The very first time HeartSquatter #1 got to come spend the WHOLE WEEKEND with me and no parents, we went to Sesame Street Live...he LOVED it!
Sunny days indeed..... ;-)

Sunny Days

Your mission for this week, should you choose to accept it, is to blog the random associations that come to mind when you are given the title of the Sesame Street theme song. Big Bird is counting on you -- I mean, it's not a Peter Pan thing where he will die if you don't clap and believe in fairies, but still, would you want to disappoint the naive, giant, yellow bird who had an imaginary friend that was a Snuffalupagus??

One Night in Bangkok

I think I'd like Bangkok. I'm basing that on, well -- I like cities, I like traveling, I love Thai food. I like temples and bars, though I've never been to a massage parlour. Queens of all sorts are good. Reclining Buddhas? Muddy Rivers? Bring 'em on. And I love chess.

And I'd truly love for the world to be my oyster, chess champion or not.

I've seen Chess on stage. Twice. Think of the 1980s, the US-Soviet tensions, the mild cultural fascination with chess, the state of world politics. Add a metaphor or two. A love story. Some ABBA. Make a musical. Add theatre geeks. Feel the love. Watch the game. Control it.

And I'd bring Yul Brenner.

One Night in Bangkok

I want John Karr, the psycho asshat that claimed to have killed JonBonet Ramsey to have to go back to Thailand and spend one night in their jails...one night there should be plenty. And I want him to feel HUGE humiliation (if that's possible for sickos like him) and MONDO pain. ALL.NIGHT. And, for your viewing pleasure, I will not go into the Bangkok jokes. You're welcome.

On a much LIGHTER note.......while in Phoenix this past weekend, I got to see pictures taken by a very good friend that recently returned from Bangkok on business. He had some AWESOME pictures...the detail, the gold (leaf & real)..did I mention the detail?? Beautiful, colorful, absolutely totally awesome. Good friends, good drinks, amazing pictures. Life was very good.

Damn, I feel left out :(

I turned 29 for the first time on Friday (the 1st). Hehe And my birthday present? Chester the frog



Chester needs go to peepee

Wake Me Up, When September Ends

By request, I'm posting the whole month of songs for your perusal.

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But first:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEG!
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Songs in the Key of September..... theme? Random things I have to do this month.

1 September: One Night in Bangkok, Murray Head

8 September: Sunny Days, the Sesame Street Theme Song

15 September: These Boots Are Made For Walking, Nancy Sinatra

22 September: Gimme Shelter, The Rolling Stones

29 September: Vacation, The Go-Gos

It's Meg's Birthday!!

Have a great one! Kt & Cooth!