vintage by {h}art: ...techie!

...because when you're under the influence of 3 cups of really good coffee, the only hope is randomness. so what's going on?

it's the second day of the new year!

and a nice saturday morning at home in jammies, listening to Pandora, the make-your-own free online radio station. i've made a Steve Tyrell station. this online music service will put a station together of artists with similar qualities of the person you choose. quite nice. although, one song by Diana Krall was making me blush so i gave it the thumbs down. Popsicle Toes. Gosh! get a room! but i've got Dean-O, Sinatra, etc. crooning to me. ooohhh, Michael Buble now... all behaving well.

kitty lounging on the ironing board next to the window near me. hubby calls it the glorified cat stand. just because there's a blanket there for her and some toys. and she spends all of her time perched there keeping track of the valley outside. it's a very sunny spot for the morning, and i'd do it too if i could fit.

learning a new iMac. a lot to learn but loving it so far. we went shopping and got a really good deal on a floor model...

so i can't even upload any photos yet. soon, though.

i have piles all around me. papers. stuff. all good and important. just need dealt with. i really dislike clutter. but i'm the one who made all of the piles. so much to do.

i'm especially happy (ok, elated) about the surgery i had (two days short of 6 weeks ago) and the recovery/healing. one day after my 4 -week check-up with the surgeon, i was able to start back to Pilates... carefully. this past week i was able to do more and more. yesterday i was actually doing roll-ups and teaser, etc... it was blowing my mind as i did it. i kept saying to myself that i couldn't believe i was able to do this!!! it didn't hurt at all, but i was really sore by evening. i slathered on some emu oil. who cares if you smell like chicken grease? (it was recommended in an article for healing after surgery. 'heals everything.' i'm convinced that it helped my incision heal so well... so fast...) it's also for sore, achy muscles. no achy this morning!!! (what's that funny smell?)

my girls and i have also gotten back to our several times a week brisk walking routine. i thought it would be too miserable in winter... but we often end up in a cozy little coffee shop warming up and the feeling of such happy energy (aka. endorphines) makes it all so worth it! the surgery 'site' feels rock solid during the walks. i am soooooo thankful. it's hard to express.

{mmm... Tony Bennett now... have you tried Pandora.com?}

i feel like i have a new life. girlfriends who had also had hysterectomies told me i would feel this way. 'free.' still planning a post about that whole decision/experience. the unknown... the hardest part. over.

today the plan is to pack up Christmas. i put the tree, etc. up in mid-November knowing i wouldn't be able to after Thanksgiving, which is when i usually do it. surgery was Nov. 23. it was so nice to have it all done -and so cheerful to come home to! i absolutely love our sparkly tree with all white lights and my collection of ornaments from the past 27 years! strange that i can have been collecting that long, since i only feel 26...

i just want to sew (corn bags now) and scrapbook, learn Mac, play with new Christmas and Birthday stuff... but duty calls... ( i shall get pictures to post... when the fun continues.)

{now John Pizzarelli... all my favorites! 'be careful... it's my heart.'}

what else? laundry. clean sheets. stack attacks. (paper stacks, mail, etc.) dishes, something everywhere. kind of overwhelming. better get started. i paid my daughter and daughter-in-law to clean our house this past week. they did an amazing job. what a luxury. i hadn't been doing much of that these past 6 weeks...

the Loft (vacation rental downtown) was rented over the holiday, so need to clean that and have it ready for the next guest.

really need to study and practice Pilates. (instructing.) back to it this week! i lay awake at night going through it in my head... a mat class, or equipment routine... so much to know, to learn. and i need to write an article on breathing. are you breathing? really?

dinner out with friends tonight. fun.

the Holidays were fun! a Joy! i feel so overwhelmingly blessed.

a friend gave me a book called A Walk with Jane Austen by Lori Smith, '...a journey into Adventure, Love & Faith' ...it's fun. the author actually went to England to trace Austen's footsteps, so to speak, through life, love and spirituality. it's a sort of journal, as she is sorting out the same things in her life as she goes. i'm halfway through, and it's fun... the thing i like most is that she is being so honest, witty and even sarcastic -as a Christian!!! yep. that's what i like most. but i really like it all. she has a blog that i haven't looked at yet. i'd like to right now, but i think i'd better hang it out there in front like a carrot/reward- and get some chores done first!

oh look, i found a picture to post!

this was the girls and i yesterday after our walk. we stopped by the bridge to see what was happening at the river...

jk... it's a Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 'A Coign of Vantage' 1895... i'm imagining this means something about a really good vantage point from which to watch the rowing teams... (or to be watched by the rowing teams...).

ok, off to conquer the mountain! more coffee too. this took it all out of me...

jpb

ps- my new years resolution? not to make any. who keeps them anyway? why set one's self up for failure?

pps- {disclaimer} probably not very well edited after this much coffee...