Wandering Thoughts

Time Change:  I don't really care one way or the other about this whole time change thing, but oh boy does my husband have an opinion about it! lol  Not only does he have an opinion about it but he feels he must constantly remind me that it's not really 5:30 or bedtime etc.  And it doesn't matter whether we've sprung forward or fallen back in time, he still must tell me what the real time is...  John's very biggest gripe is that it will be dark when he leaves home each day and dark when he returns.  He says that six months of the year he never sees our house at all, because it's too dark to see it, lol.  That is a bit of an exaggeration, as he can see it perfectly well on his off weeks as he comes and goes.  And even if his work hours weren't so long it would still be dark at the same times each day but that argument means nothing whatsoever to him. 

 

Personally I'd be okay if they just left the time alone altogether, because I've never really understood where the time 'saved' was 'saved' to.

Interestingly enough, not everyone in the US participates in daylight savings time.  We had a guest last January come to perform one evening for our synagogue.  Poor man realized when he hit Alabama that he'd failed to plan for Georgia's daylight savings time and was now an hour LATE.  Fortunately we're a chatty bunch and managed to eat up the time in talk, but I'm afraid our performer was put out with himself.

This is what I know: this time of year, I want dinner between 12 and 1pm.  I am extremely hungry at 5pm.  And I am beyond ready for bed at 9pm but force myself to sit up until 10p which my husband tells me is the earliest any adult goes to bed.  Every now and then I remind him that he calls me his child bride and I toddle off to bed before 10pm anyway.

Resolutions:  I begin to work on my personal resolutions in November each year.  I review the goals I set the previous year and then look back over the year to see how well I did or didn't meet those goals, what I wish I had or hadn't done etc.  I do this task in November because I find that about the week before Thanksgiving the end of the year goes into a headlong rush of holidays, shopping, decorating, special events etc.  I don't like to sit down on New Year's Eve and make plans for the year ahead.  I don't like to go into a year with no sort of plans at all, because life is random enough without bobbing about like a stick in a stream with no direction or purpose.

This year for the first time, I've realized that I can and should plan to do the things I've dreamed of doing for years...Like quilting, making fudge and caramels, or experimenting with fussy sorts of recipes now that there are not a hungry half dozen at my elbow asking how much longer until dinner...This is the time to pursue studies and creative tasks and all the things I've always said I'd do if I ever had time.  So if you happen to stop by and find me at an easel, or keyboard, or hear me speaking Hebrew...well you'll know I'm just busy pursuing dreams.

Moving:  This year more people I know have moved, so many more that I daresay I don't think as many have moved in all the years I've been an adult.  Samuel is gearing up for a move.  A contemporary from a homemaking group is currently moving, another moved earlier this summer.  A fellow blogger moved over the summer, and a friend moved this fall.  V moved to a base in Texas to make a home for B and that's just a few of the many I know who have moved.  I kind of envy them all because moving does involve a certain 'new' perspective doesn't it?

But just to keep me grounded this past month I was reading in one of the old testament books and every place the children of G-d camped in their years in the desert was named.  For some reason I counted these camps and discovered they'd moved camp 40 times.  I thought of all the packing and trekking and unpacking and setting up and doing it all again and again.

Then I remembered how onerous it was to pack and move here.  We wanted to save money moving, so each night I packed my SUV as full as we could, went to work, drove here to unload it, then drove home and packed boxes and loaded the SUV all over again...I did this for a solid month and I was so weary by the end of the month!  Bless those  who are moving.  I think I'll just go back to my resolve 15 years ago and stay put right here.

If I had a Million Dollars...:  Every now and then we have these discussions in our house where in we dream of what we'd do if we discovered we had a rich relation, winning lottery ticket (haven't figured out how that will happen at all since we don't buy them, lol), etc.  Sunday dinner this week we began the conversation and I think we were all surprised at ourselves.  Every one of us agreed that we loved our homes, were happy with the things we own, didn't want more things, wouldn't spend recklessly or foolishly.  What we all craved was the security of having money in the bank to see us through needs of family members, to cover home repairs, to travel to see long distance family members.

Somehow that revelation made watching the budget a lot easier over the week.  And why not?  I'd already stated that I had all I needed.  And that was on the same budget I had a week ago as well as the budget I have this week.

On the other hand:

Hollywood Dreams:  Couldn't help but think long and hard about a movie that I saw advertised this past week.  The premise is a repeat of another film, which I can't think of the name of at present, but a teen gets a job as a designer, making $32,000 a year.  She's blown away by 'all that money' and shows up at high school in a sports car, then gets a high rise apartment...EXCUSE ME?  ON $32,000 year?  I don't think so!  That's before tax dollars and we're talking a good $8000 less after taxes, withholdings etc. 

Then I realized that this isn't just a Hollywood thing, though they do perpetuate it.  A lot of people think this is a lot of money...and it is.  You can raise a family on it, tough though it can be, take it from someone who knows.  You can buy a house and you can buy a car.  But you can't have high fashion dresses, lots of bling, a sports car and a high rise apartment.  There's a big gap between those items and that income.  Just don't believe everything Hollywood movies appear to tell you..

I still think the Cosby Show in which Mr. Huxtable taught his son about money one of the best ones around.  By the time he'd deducted rent/food/car/school loans etc the kid realized he'd be blessed to live at home for a few more years, lol. 

Or in the words of my youngest daughter last year about this time, "Gee Mama, the bills keep coming around every month."  Yep they do...