I have a new mantra for the rest of my life---"If Not Now,---When". This saying has been rolling around in my head for a couple of years. I don't remember where I first heard it, but I remember thinking, "that's it----that's how I feel and how I want to live the rest of my life"
Sometimes people get so caught up in working, loving, taking care of others that they loose sight of their own lives. I can testify to this first hand. By nature I am a caregiver, a lover and a fighter for the underdog. However, life goes by so fast. One day you are giving birth to a precious baby and almost in the blink of an eye, that baby is grown and going off on his own. And that is a good thing. It is the way life works.
Most people try to find jobs that they enjoy, coupled with the fact that this career choice will have retirement benefits to help them continue to live in the style they have become accustomed to living. We draw up wills, so the people we love are cared for after we are gone.
After all this is taken care of, comes the "Ah Ha" moment when we realize that we have done our part---now it is our time to live and do all the things we put on hold while we were being responsible adults. Tommy and I had a long talk about this a few months ago. Then we had another talk after his doctors appointment and the news we received wasn't what we were expecting. We decided to live by this slogan "If Not Now ---When?"....and to live it to the fullest.
We are no longer joined at the hip. We realize that there are certain things that each of us enjoy doing that the other one really has no interest in doing. Nothing wrong with this. It is just being an individual---pursuing a life worth living.
When my youngest daughter called and asked if I could house sit for her, I jumped at the chance. I asked Tommy if he wanted to go to Kansas City for a few days and he said "NO, but you can---I'm going fishing". I then called Carol and asked her if she wanted to get away for a few days. Before I could get the whole plan out she had already said "YES!!!"
We were so excited, when the day finally arrived we had enough "stuff" packed to last a month, we were only going for 5 days.....but this is Missouri and it is better to err on the side of too much as opposed to not enough.
When Carol and I travel, I do all the driving. When Tommy and I travel, he does all the driving. I don't care how tired he gets---I don't get the wheel.
Considering I was born in a small town in Kentucky and for the last 32 years have lived in the country, I am amazed that I love to drive in the city. We lived in Atlanta, Georgia for about 4 years and I hated driving there. To drive in Atlanta at that time was to take your life in your own hands and hope that the other people were in the same mindset as you were. There was always one idiot that wasn't!!! It is the same in all cities, it just doesn't bother me anymore.
Carol and I didn't make any concrete plans. We decided to do what we wanted to ---when we wanted to and leave it at that. We both like antique shops and oddball out of the way stores. When we passed the The Brass Armadillo Store, we knew we were coming back to that store for sure.
The only problem was that somewhere between the sign on the road and Melodi's townhouse, we forgot the name of the place. I was sure it was called the "The Green Artichoke". We asked for directions every place we went, and to our surprise no one knew where is was. I described it to everyone and they just shook their heads. After much ado about nothing, we found the place.
From the interstate there is no exit. To get there, we had to drive to a little town, go the back road and turn into the back side of the place. Weird as heck!!!! But so worth it. The parking lot was full---good sign.
As soon as we entered we knew were going to have fun. I guess we stayed about 2-3 hours the first day and only covered 1/4 of the store. We went back the next day and covered about the same amount. Carol looks for precious stones and old jewelry. I look for postcards, the older the better and for newspapers of years gone by
I bought some great cards, 2 newspapers from WW11 . They are amazing, and 3 quartz rocks with the most unusual shapes I have ever seen. I have a fairly good collection of rocks and seashells. Carol found all sorts of jewelry that she wanted, so our haul we made in 2 days, was worth all the looking and walking.
The next day we went to the Mall and to Barnes and Noble. I could live in that store!!! We had made plans to go to the 11 a.m. movie "Like Water for Elephants". We were anxious to see how Robert Pattinson did in his lead role. We were very impressed, not once did I think of him as "Edward" from the Twilight series. It was a good easy going morning.
Everything went according to plan at Melodi's except for the security alarm. We had to call her once about that. It wouldn't quit beeping and I just knew the cops were going to show up any minute. I have a feeling we slept with the alarm off the whole time we were there.
We had a wonderful time and we get to do it all again in June!!!! This time we are going to the zoo----I want to ride a camel!!!! Carol said if I do, she will play like she doesn't know me!!! I will so embarrass her!!
The return trip was without any trouble. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, Tommy hollered, "Hey baby, glad you are home!!!! Come help me put up this tent!!!!" The last thing I wanted to do was put up a tent---but we did, as I told him about our trip. The only thing that interested him was the newspapers----those he liked. I also bought him a knife and a sign that says "Fisherman's Cove". I am pretty sure that is going up in the den somewhere. I probably should have rethought that sign. Too late now!!!
Thank you. and thank you for sharing my crazy journey
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