NO THANK YOU

Things come and things go. Things change. Sometimes I greet the changes with excitement and anticipation; sometimes I greet them with sadness and dread.

Our mall is less than dynamic...lots of changes taking place all of the time. Not exactly a hub of activity. We had a big Taco Bell move in a while back. One of the big corner stores. I seldom ate there...not because I don't like their food (I love it), but because I've decided there is no way to rationalize Taco Bell food into being healthful.

A couple of months ago it closed. Apparently I'm not the only one who was afraid to "indulge." The space was vacant for a while, and then one day not long ago curtains appeared on the windows and the signs of activity began appearing. I would be excited...but...along with the curtains, there is also a big sign on the window saying that the establishment has applied for a license to sell and have liquor consumed on the premises. Alcohol in the mall.

I'll be honest with you, I pretty much hate drinking. Not the drinking in the privacy of one's own home...unless one gets abusive...but the drinking which occurs at a site where the drinker has to get in the vehicle to return home, or to wherever. I'm concerned, too, about the impact alcohol will have on the mall. There is already a problem with some of the groups that have chosen to "hang out" at the mall. And, while the members of these groups won't be old enough to purchase alcohol, it will introduce an element which has the potential for creating a confrontational tendency in persons who HAVE been old enough to purchase and consume the alcohol.

Perhaps nothing will ever happen...never a single incident. Perhaps no one who consumes the alcohol will get behind a wheel. Perhaps even the lunch crowd will have designated drivers. Perhaps. I, though, will not be giving the new establishment my business.

SAY WHAT???

It has seemed to me all during 2008 that I was playing "catch up." I never had my act together. I was never on top of things. I could never get all of my ducks in a row (not even in the same room most of the time).

Occasionally I wondered if maybe I was in better shape than I realized and that the "day late and a dollar short" feeling was erroneous. It wasn't!

For two days at the start of this new year, our local news did a clip which was a tribute to those who died during 2008. I sat and watched...with both sadness at the loss of so many "icons" and astonishment that there were so many top names who had died and I was clueless that they were no longer with us.

I am thinking perhaps I had my head in the sand a good part of the year. This year, if you pass by me and notice my head is buried in the sand, would you please pull it out, dust it off, and point me in the appropriate direction to catch up with life as it passes by!

Many thanks!

AND YOU?

Directions: Put an asterisk next to the things you have done in your life, and then feel free to pass it on in your blog! Also feel free to add a couple at the end, if you like.
(Cathye's additions are ! ... and her comments are in ( ).
!*1. Started your own blog
!*2. Slept under the stars
*3. Played in a band (does an orchestra count?...or maybe the fact that I was a bandaid (band aide) my senior year in high school?)
!4. Visited Hawaii
!5. Watched a meteor shower
*6. Given more than you can afford to charity
*7. Been to Disneyland (or Disney World)
*8. Climbed a mountain (how about riding a snowmobile up a mountain?)
!9. Held a praying mantis
!*10. Sang a solo (sadly, yes)(cathye: it doesn't say "sang a solo well"...just sang one)
11. Bungee jumped (perhaps in my next lifetime)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
!*14. Taught yourself an art from scratch(let's see...there was decoupage and macrame and pottery and ceramics and cross stitch and counted cross stitch and needlepoint and crewel and making rugs...don't remember the term for it...ackkkk...well, you get the idea)
*15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
!17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (and Sherry and I walked down from the top of the Washington monument)
!*18. Grown your own vegetables (the tomatoes grew until December in Washington...best I've ever tasted)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
!*21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
!*23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (MENTAL health day!!!)
*24. Built a snow fort
!*25. Held a lamb
*26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
!*29. Seen a total eclipse
!*30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
!*37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
!45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (in Hawaii !!!)
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
*52. Kissed in the rain
!*53. Played in the mud (I was the neighborhood gourmet chef of mudpies!)
!*54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
!*57. Started a business
!58. Taken a martial arts class (self-defense class at the Police station...does that count?)
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
!*61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (and bought about a million boxes)
62. Gone whale watching
*63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
!*67. Bounced a check
*68. Flown in a helicopter
!*69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
!70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
*71. Eaten Caviar
*72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
!*75. Been fired/laid off from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London (no, but saw the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London)(cathye: no comment)
77. Broken a bone
!78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
*79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
*80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
!*82. Bought a brand new car (1972 (approx.) metallic blue Cutlas "S")
83. Walked in Jerusalem
!*84. Had your picture in the newspaper
*85. Read the entire Bible
!86. Visited the White House (outside only)(cathye: no comment)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
!*88. Had chickenpox (sixth grade...right after Christmas break because we visited my cousin during Christmas and she had chicken pox)
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
*91. Met someone famous
!*92. Joined a book club
!*93. Lost a loved one
!*94. Had a baby
!95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
*97. Been involved in a law suit
!*98. Owned a cell phone
!*99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
!*101. Learned to play an instrument
102. Kissed the Blarney Stone
103. Ridden a camel
104. Walked on the Columbian Icefields in Canada
*105. Traveled the Oregon trail in an RV