Today has been a welcome change! After ending last night all riled up and high strung, forcing myself to go to bed at 1:00 after promising a friend I would get up and have breakfast at 8:30 out of the house - which are two things I don't normally do - leave the house early and eat breakfast, let alone in a restaurant before noon!
Of course I woke before the alarm feeling achy and stiff having not slept too well, I made a cup of tea, fired up the computer and checked out my life - blog - check my stats and comments, facebook - "Words" if I am feeling up for it - that is, if my brain is awake enough!
Emails to see how many millions I have been "given" for my participation, or FBI - I think they would show up instead of writing a spam email! Backgammon if I have time - which I usually do, at least a few quick games to set my day off right, win, lose or draw - the challenge, the strategy and the mental stimulation!
I could not even go near G+ or else I would be sucked in for the day! Too many interesting people and posts to interact with, especially after having been away for so long!
Tea, cigs, computer, shower, more computer - being careful not to get too involved as I wanted to be ready as my friend had to be to work at 11. Not really awake, we take Grange Hill Road - nice scenic route, over the hill and through the woods, to Ozzies Family Restaurant in Hinsdale, MA, for a wonderful breakfast - two of the most delicious omelets, and amazing hash browns with perfect toast!
The atmosphere was so charming, the decor very pretty! It was clean and had a separate dining room as well as the front of the house, with its tables and counters. The staff was amazingly friendly and on the ball! I highly recommend this for an wonderful New England Country breakfast at a very reasonable price!
That was just the beginning of the day! After a ride back to town, a visit with some friends and a nice walk by the solar panels and lake where I used to walk my dog, despite the wind, it was a awesome morning, arriving back at home by 11:30 to catch a great radio show by my good friend Shane and have a tea and warm up!
I got some actual housework done, finally accepting the fact that I need a new vacuum, having done fine on the rugs, but the floors necessitated a sweeping after! Vacuums are sort of a running joke in our house! I own an Electrolux which needs a new hose, a Kirby with a Shampooer, awesome machine, but I need bags and my main bag is in the storage - somehow shuffled away from the machine - story of my life, but hey, the amount of things which I have reunited with their counterparts after years separate has exceed itself this year!
Coming home today, I walked by a shop and outside was a wicker table, one that was mine, which I thought was in Tom's garage, but which I apparently left in one of my last three apartments, as it was there, in broad daylight! Kind of ironic - I was just missing it the other day and wondering where it was - wonder if it is a sign or just coincidence?
After the vacuuming, I almost moved the living room around, the furniture was moved after cleaning anyway, it would have been easy - but more time consuming than the twenty minutes before my visit with two of my dearest friends! So I threw it together the way it was, modifying it a wee bit, satisfied, it was noticeably better but still not perfect.
My friend Lori is crocheting me curtains for my dining room. Whoever installed the double window must have been drunk because it doesn't have the same amount of space from one side to the other, I mean it is like a few inches off! It is insane! It drives me insane!
She is such a creative person! She begins and ends a craft or project in no time, and I don't mean little ones either! She brought over one of the completed panels of I thing 6, and we just talked about the project! She began it only hours after we discussed it, mapping out the pattern and design in her head, having to sleep to solve a problem and woke up knowing the solution!
They are going to be great! I cannot wait! Then I will have to finish arranging the dining room for real! I may seem slow, but I have moved the living room around three or four different ways since May, having to make allowances seasonally for the heating in the room in the winter, and the a.c. in the summer. I don't mind, it is something I enjoy and I will know it is right when it is right! It is fun turning a house into a home!
The day was so much nicer with things to occupy my now normal wait for 7:00 visits at the hospital. After my friends left I did some more computer things and puttered around the house, listening to music and waiting for First Friday Art Walk, where local artists show all over downtown Pittsfield.
I was preparing to leave, bundling up in a few layers before throwing on a scarf, hat and gloves and my rabbit fur coat - wishing it were longer so my legs could have been as warm as the rest of me as I walked headlong into the wind, detouring to venture to the ice skating rink they put in the Berkshire Common on my way through the park!
It was half melted, yet still large. I love ice, although I have a fear since I have become an adult, of falling in. This ice was poured on grass though, so I skated in my sneakers across the slippery surface, wishing I still had my ice skates, (which got ruined by mold in my last apartment, along with many other prized and some useless possessions as well,) grateful still - despite the freezing wind to have the ice to slide and swirl on. There were amazing clouds in the sky, which were so fitting for the day! Large, dark and ominous, yet fluffy and inviting in their formation.
I hightailed it for the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts - where I was greeted warmly by Megan, and the staff. I was delighted by my first art in months! There were various artists and I could not pick one which I liked over all as there were too many wonderful painting to fill the senses! Having an hour to take in all of the Art I could I headed to the Bus Station where there was a very interesting show going on, with an interesting sculpture made of gum which stood out most definitely!
A couple of stops later and I was on the second floor of the Artist Studios which, unless you have a studio, I think is only open for this event. I love going up there. My friend Diane Firtell has a studio, and she just moved, so I had to check out her new space, which I love. People came in so bopped out.
I headed down the hall to drop in on Scott Taylor. He is by far my idol in the painting world to date. Not too many people were out so for a change his studio was not packed with people on top of the massive quantities of canvas he has lined up in rows.
They are usually tricky to look at in the crowd (his walls are completely covered with amazing colour, texture and feeling. Have I said that I love his work? I love talking with him as well, and he gave me his web address to his new site, which I admit, I checked out already and thanked him for the early preview!
On my way down the street, I ran into a young woman, who I met when she showed the last time I was at Art Walk a few months ago, our second encounter that evening, and we chatted on the street for a few minutes before I had to run off to my visit - after I stopped and picked up a candy bar, and had a good laugh with Deb at Rite Aid, another girl I went to school with.
It made the rest of the walk to the hospital a little warmer and before I knew it I was hugging my son, and we were eating candy and talking before the rest of the family arrived. He was feeling better, and we discussed his upcoming birthday! 20 - Wow! He is getting old! He is my baby! I cannot wait for Monday!
So after such an exciting day, I figured it would be an early evening, t.v., and bed after some computer. I figured wrong. Decided to make some buckwheat noodles, as I have not indulged in more than a week of my favorite noodles. Everything was going fine, when the sesame seeds jumped off the counter and smashed on the floor, leaving me with a pile of sesame seeds to clean up when the phone rings.
My friend Mike, fresh out of work, trying to entice me to go out and hear some music, instead, detouring over to my house via the store, saving me a walk in the cold February night, before he headed out to hear some local musicians perform. My friend Sunday also arrived, and the three of us hung out, and I beat Sunday for a change in the WII Tennis Three out of five. She has been killing me for a few weeks and we are both very competitive with all things. So I rule!
They left and I decided to jump on the computer, looking at stuff, and then writing this installment. I really have enjoyed it, the whole day, but now my achy muscles are screaming at me and it is time to put my head to my pillow!
Pleasant dreams to you all!
~ your words are like a breath of fresh air ~
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