Enjoying LIfe

Today Melinda coerced (bullied? she didn't have to work hard at it) me into going to a Mexican restaurant for our favorite spinach enchiladas, and I of course cannot resist the refried beans, though it's easy for me to pass on the rice. Still that wasn't exactly a Weight Watcheers meal, but I enjoyed every bite of it, just as I did the Greek salad and crab claws last night. Coincidentally a dear friend sent me one of those messages that circulates on the internet about enjoying life as a senior citizen: things like (and I'm not quoting exactly) I will stay up until two if I want and sleep to noon; if I want the second cookie I'll eat it. It has dawned on me that I've really been stressing about losing that last five lbs. but as long as I don't become obese, at my age who really cares if I'm five lbs. overweight? People keep telling me how good I look. And I've been denying myself some foods that I really really like--crab claws and spinach enchiladas for starters. So I'm turning over a new leaf. Maybe I can think myself thin, but I'm through obsessing about points. Last week I stayed way under my limit on points and racked up a lot of exercise points--and I still gained. I have the sinking feeling that I've made this resolution before, but . . . .It may just be that, in combination with some medications I take, the good Lord intends me to weigh a bit more as I move further into my seventies.
I'm making the same resoluition about writing. I read all the posts on Agent Quest, from members of Sisters in Crime who are mostly unpublished and seeking agents, and I marvel at how much effort they dedicate to their writing, their query letters, their research of agents. And most of them are not spring chickens. But at 71 I've had a good career, so if I don't publish again, it isn't the end of the world. Don't get me wrong--I really really want to see my mysteries in print and to move on with the one I'm working on. But facing a weekend of good times, many with Jacob, I'm not going to try to squeeze in writing nor the one chore I have to do for the office. I'm going to enjoy family and friends, cooking, partying, and having a good time. And if I have a spare minute? I'll probably pick up that mystry I'm reading.
Good resolutions, and I hope I can keep them. I'm having a good time, and life seems good to me, so I'm not going to ruin it with compulsion and obsessions. Wish me luck.

The Joys of Being Compulsive

I'm laughing at myself today. Yesterday and Friday were both sort of busy days, and I promised myself that Sunday would be a lazy day, no "have to," no schedule. I'd sleep late, read the paper with coffee, fix a good breakfast, and do what I wanted. Of course as I contemplated this, I began to think of things I'd do--laundry, clean the back yard, pot the dill plant I bought Saturday and work with the porch plants, water and tend the house plants, season some antipasto vegetables (a new recipe I found that sits in the fridge for a week). I do this to myself all the time--schedule so many things that I want to do in free time that I end up feeling pressured. And, yep, this morning, when I could sleep late, I popped out of bed at 7:15. Still, it was fun. I wasn't rushed, and some of the things on my list didn't have to be done and I knew it. About 11:30 I had a bit of lunch and tried to finish Eat, Pray, Love--close but it was this evening before I finished it. After lunch, had a good nap and was ready to go visit Christian's parents when Jordan arrived. We had a delicious meal--fajitas and trimmings--and watched Jacob's antics.
I've been having weird dreams lately, but the funny thing is I can trace most of the stuff to something that happened in my life. In one I was entertaining the people I actually did entertain last night, but they were freezing cold and I had to turn off the a/c and turn on the heat (translate: it was the first day warm enough to force me to turn on the a/c). Then I discovered I was keeping the Hunter and Alex from next door and needed to feed them (translate: their mom has been looking for a summer nanny, and I posted some neighborhood notices for her). In another I was suddenly charged with planning a seminar on writing mysteries--not question there! I've been immersed in those Sisters in crime emails, and learning to write mysteries is on my mind. Somehwere in Eat, Pray, Love I read something about that higher consciousness we all aspire to and actually experience when we dream--we just don't know it. I wish I'd figured out how to bookmark before I read that book, because a lot of passages, like that one, deserve savoring. I may read it again--something I never do with books.
All in all, it was a nice Mother's Day. I talked to all my children (and a couple of grandchildren), went to a nice family gathering, got flowers from Jordan and from my friend Charles, and even got Mother's Day wishes from one of our authors.
Now it's almost ten, and I'm thinking how I'd love a snack. But I'm also thinking that I know snacking late at night does more damage than eating during the day and I'm being tough. I'll distract myself by starting The Red Leather Diary and watching for pictures of "the" wedding on the news--yeah, I'm interested.