The Present Day

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why it is called the 'present.'"  ~Eleanor Roosevelt

I had planned to blog on a different subject today, but seeing this on someone else's Facebook status today made me think of something a bit more timely.

We had a "little" incident at our house last night. A shocking one, to say the least. Some things came to light -- quite by accident -- that had been hidden for the past year.

All I can say is: WOW!

Sometimes you find out you don't know someone as well as you thought you did and...it hurts.

Badly.

It was amazing, really. The fact that it happened; the fact that it happened without our knowing it; and the fact that one of us had a hint that something was amiss, while the other was completely bamboozled. Completely.

Sigh.

So we know now. It's out in the open, and I think (hope!) all the various layers of the "onion" have been peeled back so that we're at the center with tons of onion pieces around us, causing our eyes to smart with tears.

And there are tears...many, many tears.

Sigh.

But where to go from here?

I think the collective thoughts are that trust has been shaken and respect has been lessened. Time will most certainly heal all the wounds...and trust and respect can be re-earned.

We all just need some time...

Sigh.

But when exactly does that start?

There's no time like the present. After all, today is a gift.

Changes, Changes Everywhere

Ugh.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I abhor detest despise dislike change.

Okay. That's putting it a bit mildly, but you get the point.

So enter the technological world for which everyone seems to have to defend or prove he/she deserves his/her particular job by creating not one, not two, but hundreds of changes to the design, the look, the features, the app. Whatever. You name it, and they seem to be changing it. From user friendly to...user fiendly.

I caved on Facebook and Twitter. While I don't use the latter very often, they gave up on my changing voluntarily to the new design, and in my absence they just changed me over. I visit every now and again so I'll learn the new stuff, I suppose.  Facebook made some big changes from "profile" to "timeline," and I was digging my heels in against changing because I honestly think the new design is stupid, er, um, stinky. It looks clumsy and haphazard. But, again, I ended up changing over...before they decided what my timeline page should look like.

And now when I came back to Blogger...

I've enjoyed using Blogger for the past 7 years. There have been some changes here and there, but nothing I couldn't seem to master in an afternoon. As I remained on the old templates, too afraid of losing data to switch to a new one, I noticed that there were some pretty cool features that I was missing out on.

Then I noticed a little notice on the "dashboard" about big changes (!!) coming in April.

That's this month...

So: voila!  Enter the new and improved (?) "Writer's Block."

Hmm...I'm not so sure about the improved part yet.

But if you'll pardon the "dust," I'll do my best to get back into the blog world. It's been awhile...so I may have to do a little extra "dusting" in my head, as well.

Winds of Change...and an Apology

So once again, the time has gotten ahead of me, and I'm behind on my blogging, and I'm so sorry.

Originally, I intended to keep this blog to clear my mind of random thoughts and record memories to share with my kids.

Five years on and how's it going? Hmm...

My last post was from August 10th. It's now September 22nd.  Need I say more?

To say that I've been busy would address most of the problem. To say that I just haven't made the time would fit in there, too.

Sigh.

So I'll fill in some of the fun events we've experienced between my last post and now...but I won't backdate them. I'll just reflect on them. Sound good?  That way I won't get further behind trying to catch myself up. You with me? Phew. Glad someone is.

Changes and changes and changes.

I don't do well with change.

I'm not sure if I just ODed on it when I was younger since we seemed to move every few years...or if it's just in my nature...or both....

But yesterday proved a bit stressful for me.  (I'll get over it quickly. I promise. *wink-grin*) Both Facebook and my email provider changed the format on their programs.

While I adapt fairly quickly to new things, I felt frustrated by these changes. I think the world around us is continually changing so it's nice for some things to stay steady. It's not much to ask...really.

Still, I know that I'll get used to both changes...in time for them to change again.

Oh, well. In my next life (if I believed in such things), I'll be a chameleon. It'll be so much easier.

Re-Habit-ating

Okay, okay. So I'm a creature of habit? And I abhor don't like change very much....

But I finally gave in and decided to switch over to the New ("Improved") Blogger. I figured I do it before I was forced to by some blogging world Eminent Domain, or something equally sinister. Plus, I didn't want to be the "last man standing," so to speak, as I was on AOL when they stopped supporting DOS.

So far, so good. I can't see any differences apart from the editing section and a few graphics here and there. And having to sign up for a Google account...instead of my Blogger account.

Otherwise, it's business as usual.

Let me know if you see anything different....lurking in the shadows 'round the corner....

Oh, sorry... I mean, on here, of course.

I Don't Wanna Grow Up

"I don't wanna grow up...I'm a Toys R Us kid...."

I've been humming, whistling, singing this song for the past few days, and I'm not really sure why.

So I decided to look for a vintage commercial using it...and, behold! the magic of the Internet...okay, just YouTube.

Nonetheless, enjoy this memorable commercial from 1986 for Toys R Us. It certainly brought back some memories for me....not that at 16 I was into toys anymore by that year...but wasn't that the point of the commercial's jingle?

On Aging...

So I had to revisit an earlier blog entry to see when I last dyed my hair....the silver highlights were becoming more noticable, and I wondered if it was getting to be time. And I guess it was....

I bought another two boxes of hair dye (my hair is getting too long for one box), but I was loathe to try it because it always takes so long....and I'd chosen a lighter shade this time. I was concerned...Will I appear to have the soft, subtle "dark ash blonde" of the model on the box...or will my hair end up red? Always a quandry.

See, guys don't have this problem. They go gray and deal with it. They think, "Am I getting older? Oh, well." Women...we just want to preserve some of our youthfulness by keeping our original haircolor. I've seen women in their 80s with sagging faces and baggy eyes, but hair the color they were born with.

In a recent chat with another blogger (see Had It All), we both concluded that even though we're only in our mid-thirties...we're still looked on as being "older," or or even (eek!) "aging." Now, if a child of under-10 said that, I'd understand. Anyone above 15 is old to them. But she was told by her own doctor that "at her age" she could expect.... What??!?

Anyway, I decided to "take the plunge," so to speak, and I dyed my hair before our trip to New York City last Saturday. (I know, I know....risky. But I figured I could always re-dye it if necessary. I had to do that last year when I made an orange patchwork quilt in my hair from trying to add blonde streaks...) It worked out in the end and actually looked fairly good...until we sat in traffic for 1.5 hours and then had to wait another 2.5 hours for the movie. (I'd used my spiral curling iron to make lots of long curls and had it down -- pulled back by my sunglasses -- which is a rarity for me since it usually drives me crazy within seconds. But by the time we met Kiefer Sutherland, I'd reached "crazy" and pulled it up. Oh, well. So much for glamorous!)

At least I'm "highlight-free"...for now.

Changing Tastes

My mind is all about the show 24 at the moment. The 2-hour season finale happened on last Monday evening and left us all on a....cliff hanger (something the creators/producers at one time promised not to do...). Now we have to hang on for the next seven months while Jack -- a political prisoner -- is flat-out/beaten up on the bottom of a ship bound for China. Egads! As if it isn't enough to wait a week for each new episode.... Oh, well. In the meantime, we'll appease our 24 appetites by watching the previous 4 seasons on DVD and Season 5 as repeats.

It's funny how this show became a favourite. There was a time when I couldn't watch it without worrying about the various occurrences on it. At one point, I was nearly in tears, sick with worry, as I headed out to the post office. The president's plane had been shot down. I was so worried about him....the president on 24, that is. A little too real, perhaps?