Feeling One's Age

I seldom think of myself as middle aged; in fact, I don't often consider my age at all. I have finally learned not to jump from heights (the shock absorbers don't work like they used to), do cartwheels (the wrist joints are more fragile than they used to be), climb trees, etc.

For the most part, I feel like a young woman, full of energy and capable of almost anything (my son still teases me because when Cecil Fielder was with the Tigers, I swore I could run faster than he could). But after the reality of yesterday, I am feeling a bit slower and more aged today.

I picked up my daughter and her two young girls around 9 am yesterday. Nothing is simple when dealing with one's family. We planned this day trip a week ahead of time so that things would go smoothly (NOT). First the top of the baby's bathing suit could not be found. Then we had to stop at Toys 'R Us because she no longer had "floaties" for the girls; she was also out of sunscreen.

By 10 we were finally on the road for the two hour ride. At about 10:20, the two year old decides she has to use the potty. I finally find a place to stop and while her Mom takes her to the potty, I fill up with gas and then take the 7 year old into the gas station/store. I tell her she can choose a small bag of Skittles for herself and one for her little sister. Those little bags that would have cost 10 cents when I was her age (oh, boy here I go again) were 99 cents each!!!!!!!

We arrived at my sister's around noon and spent three hours. The girls loved the pool and had a lovely time. Anne's husband cooked the brats and hot dogs we'd brought along on the grill and I put a plate of tortilla chips with shredded cheese on top into the microwave, and we had a lovely lunch. I so enjoy visiting my sister, but usually we have more time to talk, walk the garden and play games. But today was more for the girls than for me. (No, I didn't transport the brats and hot dogs on the grill! Is this called a dangling participle? Whatever! I hope you can follow this paragraph even though it is not gramatically correct. Am I being graded on this???)

We hit the road around 3 and the baby was asleep before we even got out of Stevensville. The trip home was uneventful except for the endless line of trucks and the heavy traffic. I hate driving on I-94!!!!

I finally got back to my house around 5 pm to find that a friend had called to see if the hubster and I wanted to meet for dinner. I was tempted to say no, until I talked with her and discovered that she and her husband wanted to meet at the golf course bar/restaurant only about 2 miles away. I was all for no cooking and no dishes.

We had a nice visit with our friends and ate a meal and then headed home to watch the Tigers play the dreaded Minnesota Twins. The Tigers were in the lead and I watched until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I don't know what time it was when I went to bed, but I am pretty sure it was way earlier than I usually do.

 I sure hope the Tigers won.

Needless to say, I didn't get any art time yesterday, but hope to work on my mixed media canvas with the leaves and birds today. I do have a couple photos for my "photo a day" post:

This is a windmill the hubster built that sits at one end of a small berm in the north yard. And here is one of a small thing that is part of my irrational fear (we all have at least one of those don't we?):

I am quite frightened of stinging insects (bees, wasps, hornets...). The hubster was quite impressed that I had actually gotten this close until I reminded him that I had a long lens and was probably 15 feet away from this dangerous creature.

I fully intend to get some work done on my birds in trees piece today. I am going to try to add farmers' fields, a barn and some kind of separation of earth from sky. Hopefully I won't totally mess it up!

I promise to share tomorrow. Until then, thank you for visiting; you make my day!

xoxo