Last year I essentially stopped writing blogs. Mostly because I was feeling so lousy and was so preoccupied with my my poor health that I couldn't focus on other things which might be fun to write about.
Well, for now I feel better and want to be upbeat and entertaining. It'll be a challenge but let's start 2011 with my best shot. As you can see I'm writing this in the middle of January. Not quite half way through Winter and everybody's really sick of it already. I have cabin fever like you wouldn't believe even though I go out at least once every day and I have an aide or two come to my home everyday but Saturday. I play Wii a lot and I'm pretty good at some things. Mostly those games which don't require quick reflexes, like golf. My evening aide and I play 5 nights a week and she has become as good as I am. We both enjoy the competitive challenge and the opportunity to cuss like truck drivers. She has been seriously kicking my ass the past few days and I need to get my dignity back, starting tonight.
The light of my life is the young man I'm holding in the picture above. My grandson, Beckett. That picture was taken the day he was born. He's now six months old and twice that size. Check out my profile picture on Facebook for a more current picture. He is pure joy to be around. I know every grandparent is bursting with pride over their grand kids but Beckett is truly amazing. His mom and dad have already done a wonderful job raising him and it's only been six months. Every time I see him I just want to enjoy every second I spend around him. He fascinates me. He must be the most photographed kid in the country and that's great. It just gives me more opportunity to see him and be amazed. Just like I am with my four great children.
Do you know the word antediluvian? It was an answer on Jeopardy last night and I got it correct. For an old fart, I'm pretty good at Jeopardy. By the way the category was Six Syllable Words and the word means before the flood. I had a pompous law school professor who referred to someone's thinking as antediluvian. That's how I knew the word. While I'm on the topic, the answer to Final Jeopardy was caduceus and I got that one too.
What I need to cure this cabin fever is a trip to the South. That has become my habit for each year since the turn of the century. This year I can't come up with a traveling companion and I refuse to go alone (nor should I go alone with my poor health). I have a new friend nearby and I thought about asking her - strictly platonic of course. But some family issues that require her to stay put have come up so that idea is no good. I even considered going with a guy! Me? But there's no apparent candidate there either. If I can't figure that one out, I need another short term goal to get my mind off of being trapped in the cold. I'll come up with something no doubt.
My overarching goal is to find something I have a passion for that will occupy my time and my mind so that I am challenged and have a sense of accomplishment. I have spent a ton of time thinking about this and talking to my therapist about it and I haven't hit pay dirt yet. So indulge me for a couple of minutes will I think out loud. The first obvious question is what have I been passionate about before. Well, there's My Children; Women; My Work; Traveling; Golf; and Movies. All good passions I guess but none meet the criteria of currently occupying my time and mind. I am as passionate as ever about my kids and my grandson, but they are grown and self-sufficient. I love visiting them but that's a few weekends at best. Sure I'm preoccupied as always with women but given my circumstance, dating is not an interest right now. One woman who has proved to be bad for me still occupies my mind a lot, but we've had our 5 or 6 chances. It's over. OK, you might say "What about work?" My answer is that I could do some part time mentoring but frankly I have no passion for it. I'd much rather go into business with someone. Maybe if my health continues to be reasonable, I might find something. I need to push myself out of my comfort zone but within reason. There are many things I simply can't do. Working on a fixed schedule is one. Traveling, golf and movies are terrific interests and consume some time but they're not challenging. Golf is of course, but my golf days are probably over.
So I wonder if there's something else out there that will fire me up. Maybe I can get back into writing and get my damned book published. I'm done with the first draft and first edit, but there's a ton of work left - hard work. Getting published would certainly juice me up though.
Thanks for reading. I'll do better next time.
