September 11, 2025 (a day to remember/and summer still lingers)
This and that. MORE of this and that … which seems to be my life. Snippets collect in my brain and then pour out – today is a pouring-out kind of day.
It was 92° here yesterday … um, Mom Nature … it’s SEPTEMBER. Cool it. Literally. I’m to the point with my garden where I’m just about to tell all my plants they’ll have to fend for themselves. More watering? Sorry babies … I’m done. Dig deep for moisture underground (fat chance/it’s hot/it’s Colorado/there is no underground water)! I have enjoyed the 1000 cheery cherry tomatoes (even though I’m sensitive, I ate them! Mac loved them, too) but it’s time. It looks like we’ll have another few upper 80s days … and then we’ll slide into low 80s/high 70s, and I am so FINE with that. I am beyond ready. Come on Sweater Weather!
It is 911 – for those of us who lived through it, it is a terrible anniversary. That was an indescribable day … beyond horrific, beyond awful, beyond comprehension. I was subbing that morning, and the first plane hit the North Tower before I left home. I ran to school with my portable TV in tow. We watched the news unfold while in the teacher’s lounge, and I had it on in my classroom once school began. I never IMAGINED the tower would collapse. I had the TV on in the back of the room (sound off), and that’s when the collapse happened. How many little kids did I traumatize that day? Too many. That haunts me to this day … 24 years ago. How has it been that many years – how is that even possible? Those kids from that room are now in their mid-30s. I wonder what they remember? Was that their JFK moment? I know no one who was lost in that attack, but I know plenty whose lives were altered from those who were … or just the trauma of it all – including those kids.
And last night there was another school shooting. Another Colorado shooting. A friend asked me when this will stop. I don’t think it will. There are too many people in this country who think the Second Amendment includes allowing anyone (including 13-year-olds) to own AK-15 rifles (an assault rifle used by the special operations units of the Russian military) and others (even 3D-made!). This will never stop. It didn’t after Columbine. It didn’t after Stoneman Douglas. It didn’t stop when 6-year-olds were blown apart so that only their shoes made them recognizable. Other countries have shut down gun ownership, oh but not us … the cowboys, vigilantes, militia of the modern world – don’t mess with their right to bear arms! It’s beyond disgusting. A proverbial someone can change this. But I don’t think (extremely sadly) that that will happen in my lifetime.
I am a creature of habit and routine. I’m better. More productive. Happier – when I have a routine/a list/a plan. And if I don’t have 20 things on my to-do list on any given day, it seems I go down the rabbit hole of whatever is in front of my face and … poof! My day is gone. I usually stop and feed the dog, but that’s about it!
I’m trying to be better with what is in my routine … so that it all becomes second nature. So that I don’t have to think of it as something to do … I just DO it. I usually get up, let the dog out, make my bed, feed said dog, boil water for my decaf coffee (that I’ll let cool and make into iced coffee later – not a hot coffee gal). When the tea pot is singing, I’ll turn off the burner and give myself a little steam facial (this is a new thing) as well as hydrate my lazy vocal cords (yes, still having issues/a year later!). I’ll take my supplements (sometimes I forget – need to work on this!) … and make a cup of hot water with lemon as well as a tall glass of iced tea while I read emails before I get into the shower. I want to say I regularly exercise (or even stretch) after that (or before), but I don’t. Perhaps that is why I have the body that resembles the Pillsbury Doughboy. Sigh. Also need to work on that. And then my day starts with breakfast/lunch and my never-ending to-do list. I think I need to fit a little fun into my day cuz lately that has been absent. Fun is always good!
I am finally finished with my grief journal … Surviving Grief: Do as I Say ~ NOT as I Did … is finally complete and available on Amazon.com. Paperback only. It’s a guide and workbook so that is why it’s only in paper version. It feels SO good to have that off my plate, list, back … as it has been far too long in coming and I am free to go forward in so many ways. Yay.
I am old school. I love my computer … oh, yes, I do. But give me paper and pen (or a pencil) and I’m practically quaking with delight! What gives with that? Yesterday I was using my favorite pen (if someone can have a favorite pen) … and no, it wasn’t anything nice like a gold or silver Cross pen … or a Montblanc (heavens! I’d lose that thing the first day! And, for grins – I looked them up … omg. OMG! The Meisterstück Around the World in 80 Days Solitaire LeGrand Rollerball sells for a measly … $1,955.00. I’m sorry person with more money than brains – WTF! Go donate your moolah to a food bank!) … anyway, there I was in the midst of writing yesterday and my fav, trusty, plastic BIC stick (10/$1), non-bleeding/non-smudging, very black ink pen … ran out. DRATS and RATS and all that!
So, when I was out and about yesterday, I stopped at the Dollar Store (now the $1.50 store!) and picked up another pack of pens … which I apparently need like a hole in the head. Why? Because I have a whole pen, marker, tape, scissor, etc drawer in the laundry room that has OODLES of pens … and in a weak moment, I succumbed in the office/school aisle and picked up another package. Egad. I’m pathetic.
And what is it with those aisles … the siren song of pens, sticky notes, animal erasers, and crayons beckons me to purchase – every time! Do I need glitter crayons? You bet I do! Do I need more sticky notes – these in the shapes of peaches and bananas? Yes, indeedy! Do I need more tape or another (as in another) tiny stapler? Probably not – but the purple one found its way into my basket! I’m a sucker for all things school/office supplies. What can I say? It’s a weakness! Is it some basic animal instinct at only this time of year – to stock up? Is it a primal urge to get new pencils with cute designs on them (and DO NOT get me started on pencils … LOVE them!). I don’t know what it is, but I’ve got it bad … as is apparent from said drawer in the laundry room.
One day, I was at a friend’s and needed a pen for something – she said to look in the top drawer. And if Martha Stewart had been there, she would not have been any prouder than if she had opened her own supply drawer. Fastidious organization … everything in it’s perfectly sized cubby for whatever was in it … a few paper clips (cuz who needs the 1000 that come in those small boxes?), one pile of sticky notes, ONE scissor (I must have 5 of various sizes), a glue stick (in its own cubby), one pencil, and two pens. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Back home, I looked into my drawer and yes, while pseudo-organized (each item does have its own cubby – so to speak) … markers are separated by size into two areas. The scissors are between the cubbies, tape is in its own box, and pens and pencils are randomly thrown together in another.
I’ve moved three times in the last thirteen years … meaning that I’ve sorted, donated, purged til my eyes were crossed before leaving whatever house, and when I landed at my new one, I did it all over again. And STILL … I have 100 pens and pencils! HOW? Well, that’s an easy guess … cuz I go to the stores and walk down those aisles of addiction and come home with more stuff. And I know that I don’t need some of that stuff now … but who knows when I’ll need scented or skin colored crayons or a set of colored gel pens or 20 (count ’em) Ticonderoga #2 pencils! Who knows when someone will arrive at my home and demand I take an Iowa Test, and I’ll have to fill in 1000 ovals with said pencils? I’ll be ready!
In any case, I got home from the store and more drats, rats, etc … because the pens I bought were not the hard plastic, faceted BIC sticks I liked … these were stick pens but with a smooth, almost rubbery feel. And the ink is not black but more on the verge of charcoal. I’m very discerning with my details! So, I dumped them into the pen container in the drawer with a sigh, and just when I was about to close the drawer – a twinkle caught my eye … another plastic, faceted BIC stick pen! Thank you, angels of the drawer! I grabbed it and went on my merry way.
And so it goes … more ponderings and musings of this and that! Have a good one. And if you need crayons, glue sticks, pencils, or pens … I’m your gal.