Notlukewarm: 7 Quick Takes

1. For the last two weeks I have had this vague feeling of wanting to be doing something else, be somewhere else. Why? Because this time last year I was in Australia. One year ago today I was on the Harbor Bridge in Sydney. More than once, as I walked across it and then rode across it on the train that same day.

View from the bridge

2. This past Monday would have been my grandfather's 100th birthday. He died 21 years ago and I still miss him. Both of my children remember him and I can still see him, his great-grandchildren on his lap. Whenever I complained he was spoiling them he would agree with a shrug and tell me that he could because he was the great-grandfather, not the parent.

3. My husband is a bit of a perfectionist in some areas. Sometimes when he reads my blog he cringes at my mistakes. I make typos, leave out little words, punctuation; it's not the most polished, especially for a former English teacher. So I have decided to be more careful and pay better attention to all of that in my posts, so you have an easier time reading.
4. I need to defend myself in regard to #3. I never learned how to touch type or type properly. Because of my mother. Honest. In high school we could choose electives as juniors and seniors. I wanted to take a semester of typing. My mother said that was ridiculousness since I was not going to become a secretary. (totally not PC, but there you have it) Why would I need to type? Well, for one thing, I did have papers to type, yes type, as in on a typewriter - my mother's manual from when she went to college, which she was able to use with ease because she took typing in high school! It's so ironic when I think about how much time I spend on a keyboard still looking at the keys as I type. At one point I tried to learn to type properly, but my bad skills were totally ingrained and I could not unlearn them.
5. I am going on retreat this weekend, starting today. But I'm not leaving my house. I will be using this great book, Consoling the Heart of Jesus by Michael E. Gaitley, MIC. Here is a review if you are interested in hearing more about the book. I have been looking forward to this and planning it since I read the book. My husband will be at seminary so it's the perfect time. Which was the plan, of course.
6. I set a goal to read 100 books this year over on Goodreads. Not sure what possessed me to do that, but we'll see what happens. I also agreed, in a head cold induced fog on New Year's Eve to run a 5K with a friend of mine. And I haven't even thought about my own goals for this year, except the two above, which upon reflection seem a bit insane. Of course, all will be made clear to me as I go through my retreat.
7. I can't write another take, I have to go back and review the six above for editing. Here' a picture from Australia of me and my fav flowers.