Continued Confessions

as another Thursday rolls around

Today is the actual birthday of darling grandson, and I received a lovely picture of him out for a morning walk with Mum and Dad—well, he was in his stroller, but very soon he will be tearing around. As everyone says, they do grow up fast!

Now, back to ordinary life, and I do indeed have a confession to make today. I am finding this political season quite exciting, and that plays into my nature which abhors boredom. Now one person’s idea of boredom may differ, of course. I find it exciting to sit and read all day long, so I don’t need company or other entertainment. But I have to admit that the daily updates about who is calling whom nasty names has a certain delicious frisson. A dear friend is getting quite upset by the whole charade, but after all, the entire culture revolves around one-upsmanship doesn’t it? As an aside, I read in today’s paper about a robbery where a thief stole a watch from a man’s wrist—and the watch is worth over a million dollars. I have been living at a very different price point most of my life, and quite frankly had no idea that material goods could reach such astronomical figures.

Speaking of money, though, I wanted to pass on another pennysaving tip I learned by chance. Some of you may remember that a while ago I was unable to find the decaf tea that I like, so I got the same brand in regular instead and have been using the tip I learned from Mr. Harney to turn it into decaf. Well, come to find out that all these years I have not been getting my money’s worth from my teabags. I find now that even after tossing the initial 5-minute brew, I have plenty of beverage left in the bag. So much so, that I still haven’t had to shop for replacement tea. In fact, I now get about four cups of tea to a bag; and I’m not talking weak stuff either. I like a pretty strong cuppa, and I am amazed at how reusable these teabags are. A penny saved is a penny earned.

I am also becoming more and more appreciative of my everyday pleasures as I try very hard to truly adopt the habit of living one day at a time. As we all experience different medical issues, my friends and I are approaching the various diagnoses with aplomb. Some of us do our own research and anticipate how to traverse whatever is in store; others wait for experts to guide them through their next phase. But basically we share our journeys with as lighthearted an approach as possible. Others may find comfort in regaling people with all their aches and pains and gaining more sympathy. My circle prefers to stick to the facts, then laugh at life’s interesting twists.

I’ll end with the political scene again, I did not watch the “interview” with the candidate for president by the man who has more money than most of us put together. Frankly, I’m not surprised that there were glitches in the presentation. Our collective energy to find joy can create miracles, don’t you think? I’m very glad to read about so many rational Republicans talking about the disaster that has overtaken their Party. Let’s hope that they will turn that ship around once the Democratic Party wins the election on November 5th. Then we can continue to have differing views on any number of topics, but we can discuss them in a civil manner and continue to pass bi-partisan legislation to address many issues. The idea that the consensus border package was derailed by a few nut jobs really shows how far from the mainstream they have drifted. We will not join the cult, thank you very much.