What I’ve learned

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imageThere was a time when I lived in tiny, down-trodden little houses, because they were all I could afford. Little houses, right downtown, that someone else owned and I rented. It was my son and me for 20 years, with me fixing them up to meet my artistic sensibilities and to have working lights, sinks without rust running from faucet to drain, doors that closed and locked, and heavy drapes to stave off the cold and hold in the meager heat generated by the gas heaters in the winter. I wished for a bigger house, with central air & heat, a big kitchen and a swimming pool – someday.

I have finally lived in THAT house, having bought it to fix-and-flip…and after 10 years of fixing it up we are ready to sell. A clever friend called it, “a long, slow flip.”  Has a sexy ring to it, doesn’t it? For ten years we have been taking care of everything. Absolutely everything. And now we both look forward to down-sizing and renting!

And we are thinking carefully about what we want in the future. Which brought me to the thought today that I am glad that I’ve never been a big consumer. The more you have, the more you have to care for. The more you own, the more it owns you!

We are inundated with ads everywhere we look encouraging us to buy, buy, buy. Spend, spend, spend! Resist, if you can. Buy less. Buy quality. Focus on what’s most important – be it family, friends, learning, or freedom.

What I have learned is that rather than wishing for a big house, with a pool, and a boat, and a vacation home…wish for good friends with those things, in wonderful locales – and go visit them!

imageAnd, always be the perfect guest – so you will get invited back.

How to be a perfect guest?

  1. Always bring your hosts an elegant gift that you know they’d enjoy.
  2. Never complain. About anything.
  3. Always help with the dishes.
  4. Don’t stay too long. (My dear Mom always said, “Company, even good company, is like garbage. After 3 days it starts to stink.”)
  5. Ask if you can strip the bed on the day you are leaving. (Some hosts don’t want to deal with a pile of sheets and towels right then.)
  6. Always send a sincere thank-you note as soon as possible.

So, I am putting you all on notice: as soon as our house sells and we buy our RV, we can come visit you. You know we have learned the art of being good guests…

XO Donna

My Liebster Award

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image

What a sweet surprise! Sexy Past 60 was nominated for a Liebster Award by Lora Tucker Kaasch, a woman I am honored to call a friend.  Although she lives with RA, she is one of the most active women I know, and a continual inspiration to everyone she meets. Since I thought I recognized it as a German word, I looked it up and it means:  “liked very much, darling, sweetheart.”  I’ll take it, thank you, Lora!

What I was asked:

  1. What was a profound turning point in your life?  Having the conviction to write my first play and enter it in a competition in 3rd grade. Although I lost to Randy Dayton’s play about Martians, I knew that I wanted to be a writer!
  2. Hot, sun and sand…or cold snow and mountains?  Give me turquoise water and Bain de Soleil, any day!
  3. Number 1 on your bucket list?  Since having a “bucket list” implies that I’m thinking about kicking it, I just have a treasure map of images I’d like to experience; quiet beaches, solitary pools of water, romantic waterfalls.
  4. What’s your favorite libation?  A very, very Dirty Tito’s Martini.
  5. What do you do to unwind from a long day?  Sit down, put my feet up and indulge in #4.
  6. Who is one person who changed your life for the better?  Zan Ray
  7. Kindle/iPad/ or an “old fashioned” book?  I love my iPad for convenience and night reading…but love the weight, feel and smell of books!
  8. Where did you go on your last vacation? We rode a Harley down the coast of northern CA with another couple. Going to do it again next month with even more friends this time.
  9. What’s your specialty meal? Thanksgiving: turkey, sourdough stuffing with artichokes, Chipotle mashed sweet potatoes, home-made cranberry sauce.
  10. If you could do anything in the world, what would it be? To publish a book that would be a fun read, and help women feel great, and great about themselves…and let me meet Ina Garten and Ellen DeGeneres.
  11. What’s your favorite thing about blogging? That I get to sit down when I’m doing it!

11 facts about myself: I was born in St. Louis. My Mom used to take us from NY to St. Louis to San Antonio then back home to NY, on the train each summer in the 1950’s. Karen VF and I used to lie to our mothers about where we were sleeping, and slept on the beach in the Hamptons. I played drums in school. I studied Spanish all through high school because I had a crush on the (only) Spanish teacher. I wanted to convert to Judiasm when I was 15. (My father said “no.”) I wanted to be a hairstylist when I was 16. (My father said “no daughter of mine…”)  I wanted to be a Pan Am stewardess upon graduation at 17. (Dad = Absolutely not!)  My son Jason Austin was born in 1971. I became a hairstylist in 1976. And I moved to Austin in 1978.

I want to acknowledge these 11 Bloggers/Writers/Sources of Inspiration for me:

  1. Lora Tucker Kaasch – Rheumatoid Arthritis: Hope Courage Inspiration.com
  2. Joseph Rosenfeld Personal Brand and Style Strategist
  3. Melissa Johnson Lombard – MelissaLombard.com
  4. Carla Crownover – Austin Urban Gardens on WordPress
  5. Nina and Paul – WheelingIt.com
  6. Gina Waterfield – Gina Marie Life
  7. Susan Tolles – The Flourishing Life.com
  8. Ari Seth Cohen – Advanced Style on WordPress
  9. Ilene Haddad – IleenieWeenie.com
  10. Tara Mohr – TaraMohr.com
  11. Danielle La Porte – DanielleLaPorte.com

Check them out, you’ll find lots of great reading, I’m sure.  And, if anyone is making Dirty Martinis – call me!

XO Donna

 

 

Patience, my ass….

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imageI’m gonna kill something!

When I first saw this cartoon in the 1970’s there were vultures sitting on top of Saguaro cactus in the middle of the desert. The sentiment is spot-on for my state of mind.

We are THIS CLOSE to being able to list the house…but every time I think the end is in sight, the finish line moves a few feet further away…like a mirage, shimmering in the distance.

It’s all important little details, to be sure. What buyer wouldn’t love a house where all of the trim is freshly touched up, the cabinets are clean and crumb-free, all the corners are dust-bunny free?  We are going over this house with an inspector’s eye, and we hope all our work will translate into a quick sale, and make any buyer thrilled to call this house their own!

A couple of nights ago we hurried out front, as excited as children, to see the beautiful orange Super Moon. It’s always been one of our pleasures, sitting on our front porch and admiring the full moon each month ( and we’ve had many, many moons in this house;  about one hundred and twenty-six of them). imageWhile I will always remember “our porch” I know there will be full moons where-ever we go.  And we have next year’s Super Moon to look forward to…I wonder where we will be when we get to see that one?

I’m noticing a bit of melancholy and frustration as I clean and pack, and I think perhaps staying too busy is my way of avoiding the impending feeling of loss. But I remind myself that even the moon must wane in order to become full and luminous again.  There she will be, back in the sky every month.

We must have endings in order to have new beginnings.

So, as much as I chomp at the bit and want to hurry up and get on with it, I struggle to stay present in each moment and deal with what’s right in front of me, right now, and to celebrate and allow the unfolding of this experience.

Which reminds me of another poster: “God, I ask that you grant me patience. Right now!”

XO Donna