Thursday

I'm finding it a little disconcerting that weeks seem to be flying by. It seems like one minute it's Monday and the next minute it's Thursday. Considering the opportunity for me to die young has passed, I like to think of every day as a bonus and I hate to waste them or not take full notice. Hard to do when they are flipping by so fast.

I'm on a hunt for a new pool. It costs me nothing to swim in the Ballard LA Fitness pool (it's included in my health insurance) but, it's too far, Saturdays are a problem and it came be too crowded. I was willing to pay for a membership in the new gym until I discovered that it was totally inadequate.

But, as long as I've crossed the pay barrier mentally, I can now broaden my pool options. There are 3 decent pool options in addition to the current one. The other three require paid membership. And offer trials. I've applied for a visitor pass at two of them. I'm going to evaluate all three and compare to current. Spreadsheet style. Let the best pool win!



Yesterday, the guy who took us on the tour - the project lead for the building company - said that 13 Coins (the restaurant) will not open until probably February. Today, the local business journal and the local foodie blog say January 13!! Which, happily, will be when my brother and his wife are here. That's just fun.

Today I have sewing to do. Or rather unsewing. I want to get that other long seam ripped out so I can move forward on this coat! I have all those sewing books I picked up at the library to peruse. And laundry.

But, hair cut is getting more and more critical. So... who knows, really, what today will be like. The joy of retirement.

(no subject)

• 16:38: I got to go inside the new hotel/office tower complex they are building in my neighborhood. The view from the top …… https://t.co/JrQmw9VIXz
• 09:47: Well, this is intriguing... https://t.co/d5s38ogjON https://t.co/qnyscbUI3K

So Susan, How Important Is Keeping a Clean House?

Pretty important, actually. But only for the last decade.

After I was out of college, I rode with my Mom from North Carolina to Oklahoma and back to transport my father's mother who needed to move but refused to fly.

The trip game my Mom and me an opportunity to talk about things we had never before discussed. We got on the topic of how she raised us (me). I noted that the two things she harped on my whole life that made me nearly suicidal were "Stand up straight" and "Clean up your room". She laughed hysterically and finally was able to sputter that those were exactly the two things she thought she had never said enough!

When I was still at home, she did harp. Constantly. Looking back from today's perspective I totally get it. I would have been far harder on me than she was. My room was always a mess and I didn't care. I knew what was on/under every pile. And I was busy growing up. No time for tidy!

She tried various tricks over the years. She'd go through my room and put everything in a box (or several boxes) and I'd have to buy my stuff back with my allowance. We had a house cleaner who was amazing. I loved when she cleaned my room. BUT, for a while, Mom would not let her in there unless I had put everything away first. (One time Lilly, (the house cleaner) grabbed me the minute I got home from school and whispered 'keep your door closed. your momma told me not to clean your room but i did anyway. do not tell on me!' She was wonderful.

From the time I left home until 2005 my homes always looked like these two shots of my living room 'before' - only I tidied this room up for the photographs. Really it was awful. Messes everywhere. Always.





I was always at least an hour away from being able to have someone come over. And then it was shoving shit under and behind stuff. It was a terrible way to live.

In 2005, I gutted the place and got rid of most everything. (It was a boom year for Goodwill.) I hired a designer to create the home I have today and she did a wonderful job. From that time on, my house is tidy. Always. Anyone can pop in any time, no problem. And I would find it really stressful to live any other way.

Clean and tidy are two separate things in my book. Tidy means everything is in its place and surfaces are uncluttered. Clean means no dust, no spots, no grime, no dust bunnies. Clean carpet, clean surfaces, sparkle and shine. My house cleaner does that. And it is as important as tidy to me. She only comes every other week which, it turns out, gives me enough dirty to really really appreciate the clean when she finishes!

My Mom always had a thing about needlepoint. She thought it was boring and the result of all that hard work was boring.  And... yet... about a decade after that road trip, for my birthday, I got this:



I hung it over the toilet.  When she came to visit one time, after she left, I discovered it had gained a post it note:

Music To My Ears

"We don't have many people in here at 5 am so you'll pretty much have the pool to yourself." Said Nate, the guy at West Seattle Health Club.

And they open at 7 on weekends (better than 8!) AND no classes ever until 9 so 7 days a week I get my full swim in no matter what. AND 5 lap lanes.

They are actually a tiny bit closer and a little easier to get to than the West Seattle LA Fitness that I used to go to. (Way easier and quicker than the Ballard pool I'm going to now.) I still have to cross a bridge that freezes easily. But, parking is easy and free.

They have a 5 day free pass to check it out. OR $21 for 21 days. I'm going with that one, I think.

Tomorrow, I'll go over and check it out and sign up and then give it a swim on Saturday.