Now Would Be the Time for Your Summer Bucket List

So now would be the time. Time for what you ask? Anything and everything, as long as it doesn't hurt someone else. So what is on my list for the summer? Friends and family. Specifically, to get as many of my friends and family as I can to come and visit me at the beach. Why? Life is short, plus I need some one to hang out with and wait on me. See at this moment I need candy and if one of you were here with me, it would be your job to go get me some candy. Justin Shaffer was here one summer and when I asked for candy he went over to the Hershey ice cream and candy store and bought like three pounds of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. That is a good house guest. Now I have to stop this blog and go get my own candy, walk back up stairs and start again. (brief intermission) At this point, if I were you I would want to know what kind of candy I'm eating or snack food. My choice was M&M's and a Rice Krispie Treat. I was actually in the mood for Skittles but I'm out so this treat will have to do. Now is also the time to start working on my summer tan which I am way behind on because winter lasted until May in Preston County, which would be one reason I am not in Preston County any more for the summer. The other reason would be that Freddy, the town cop in Rowlesburg, was kind of sick of listening to me complain, but that is for another blog post. So I am off to a good start with friends coming down. I thought Mary was at the door tonight when I heard a knock but when I answered it, low and behold, it was Karma, Julie and Bailey. Now I have some friends to play with this week. Play is definitely something that it is time for and now. I've had a difficult six months, well actually the last three years have pretty much wiped me out so I'm more than ready for some fun. I need to see people, do things, do nothing, do everything. I spent a large part of today getting things put away and organized. Everyone thinks I'm disorganized but I'm really not. I just have issues with my phone. Tomorrow I am going to make the car beach ready. Beach chair, which David got me for my birthday in the trunk, along with a packed beach bag, beach towels, a tote full of sunscreen, a bag of non-melting snacks. Now is also the time for me to get a new pair of glasses because Addie got a hold of my glasses and used them for a chew toy. Now is the time for me to start walking again, like tomorrow. This will be painful mainly because I will have to get out of bed, but I need to start getting up and taking Addie for a walk before it gets too warm. I also need to renew my gym membership and start going there to get off the pounds I gained when I was pregnant for Justin. OK, Justin is twenty something but I have to blame someone. Now would be the time I need to start eating more fruits and vegetables. I'm not going as far as Julie and doing that caveman diet thing, I think Julie forgets that the life expectancy for cave dwellers was about 30 and they only ate nuts and berries because restaurants hadn't been invented yet and where is Julie tonight out eating seafood and drinking beer. OK, so I had a beer, too. but I'm not claiming to be on the caveman diet. Today was the time to start blogging again. Why? I just knew I had to do it today because time is not waiting for me or anyone else. It just keeps marching on and it and gravity are taking a mighty fine toll on this mind and body. It is time folks to just do it ....... make the difference, climb the hill, get the tan, make the trip, visit the friend, eat dessert, go to the gym, clean out your closet, call your parents, organize the photos, learn an instrument, say I am sorry or make your summer bucket list. Where is that Cabana boy when I need him?

Why Do We Wait?

So why do we wait? Many of us wait to go on the big trip, get that pair of boots, start back to church, tell someone we are sorry, or make that special recipe. Take my advice on this one, don't wait. My life has changed so much in the past two years and lately I find it changing by the week, even the day. Life is not going to wait on you. It is not going to stand still until  you get it together, find the right words or have enough money. Life is so wonderfully strange with so many lessons and not enough time. Two years ago, I chose family over career because I realized time wouldn't wait until I had reached maximum retirement. My parents were aging, they needed help, and their life cycle was not predestined to fit comfortably into my life's plan. So, I put my money where my mouth was and took the pay cut for life and put my parents first. I know that there are not do overs in some facets of life and I didn't want to have regrets about this choice. So in the past two years I've found myself sitting on the front porch with my parents, going for truck rides with my Dad, discussing recipes with my Mom and sorting through a ton of memories in my childhood home. I find it sad that others don't take advantage of spending time with their parents in their last remaining years. What are they waiting for or what is more important? So why do we wait? Do we really think that we are in control? That it will all happen as we planned it? I can tell you that it doesn't. You wake up one morning and everything has suddenly changed. Your world is upside down. Your parents are old. Your child has grown up. Your hair is getting gray, your joints ache and you really wish you had taken better care of yourself. You realize you should have taken that surfing lesson in your twenties, that hiking trip, too. So why did you wait? What was more important at the time? So you turn a page and your Mom is in a nursing home, your brother is really sick, and your Dad has dementia and you think maybe I'd better not wait any longer for anything. Then you hear about a car wreck and you think maybe it is time to stop waiting for the right time because there is no right time for some things, only this time. You turn another page and your discussing bucket lists, funeral plans and where did everyone go? So why do we wait?