You Reach A Place

Its June 6, 2009 and the weather here in Golden Shores is livable thanks to the storm that bumped California and bled over to us. It reached a place well received as it took the 103 degree weather and replaced it with 83 degrees. That made me think of things I don't want to do anymore. I don't do yard work, windows or cook. I've reached a place where paying to have it done is a heck of a lot better than all the energy I would have to lay out to get it taken care of. There was a time I would crawl up on the roof and scrape the pine needles from the gutter, painting the walls was easier than trying to clean them, and I had too many windows at my old house to clean them all so one day I realized Id reached a place of compromise, and I just didn't want to do that anymore. Thirty bucks and it all gets taken care of and I can go play Freecell.

I used to be a clothes-horse thanks to my Mom who made everything I wore which fit and looked wonderful until my kid came along, she quit sewing for me and lavished all her talent and efforts on the kid. She reached a place where she found something new and different to do. I began buying my clothes then and enjoyed them except for Saturdays when I would have on my favorite jeans and baggy shirt, riding boots or just plain tennis and a skull cap pulled over my red hair. The kids were afraid to bring home anyone that didn't know me as I looked very sloppy and unkept, but I had reached a place where 6 days of dressing up was enough. Now every day is Saturday here in Arizona just slopping around with the other retirees. If we see a woman in a dress and heels or a man whose ass crack doesn't show, we wonder where they are from, because we all reached a place where comfort took over glamor in a big way.

As you get older and older you discover, all the really important things you religiously adhered to, have a lot less luster than they used to. You look at your nails and one is peeling, you just quit looking. You reach a place where a relationship is ok if you don't have to pick up behind it. You go to bed when you want and go to sleep without an excuse, you love your kids and miss them but you don't have to have them right under you or instantly available anymore. You had a ball with your grand kids but by the time they have kids you know you can't handle little people running in the house, meddling in your things, crying, screaming and asking another question every time you answer one. Lord knows one more cartoon or episode of Star Trek and you'll scream. You have reached that place where all you love is peace and quiet while you watch TV and eat a big bowl of ice cream.

There may be times you wish there was someone to hold your hand and talk to, but you have reached that place where just having the toilet seat down is worth all the hand holding in the world, so you pet your animal and have popcorn for dinner.