Shoes

Dear Diary,

These are the shoes that I live in.  OK, maybe not the cute black ones in the middle.  I do, however own a pair of knee high boots that I totally love.  Meanwhile, I have (from left to right) work shoes, walking shoes, trail shoes, running shoes and mountain bike shoes.  I don't need anymore than that.  I ran my first, ever, 5K race today.  Well, it was more a walk five minutes, run one kind of deal.  Everyone has to start somewhere, right?  My sport of choice is really mountain biking.  So this is my mountain biker's take on my first 5K.  Before:  This will get me in better shape for mountain biking.  It won't be so bad.  I have been swimming for a month now.  No worries.  During:  OMG!  We are running in mud.  I didn't read this on the route description.  My new running shoes are getting dirty.  I should have worn my trail shoes.  How deep is that puddle?  Where did all these hills come from?  I swear I can walk faster than I run.  After:  The beer is free but the mimosa's aren't?  I hate beer.  It costs $11 for a mimosa?  Forget it. . .give me my finisher's medallion.  I'm going home to make my own mimosa!  Oh, and to change my shoes.

Reading

Dear Diary,

I don't think I have enough books.  There is still room on my shelves.  I read a lot.  Today, I finished a book that I started yesterday and read another one too.  I am now starting my third book.  It may be a big day of procrastination for me.  Yep, I'm feeling quite lazy.  OR I can call it research.  Yes, I am searching out that magic formula for writing a good book.  I am stumbling through dialog.  I think I may be overthinking it.  What would a typical conversation be like?  Would character A really say it that way?  What about character B?  How do these authors keep me reading through pages and pages of dialog?  I laugh and fret right along with the people in the books I read.  How do I do this in my book?  Ugh!  All these thoughts run through my brain and my pages are filled with notes like, "add dialog here" and "look up subject of. . ."  Who knew I would get into this so much?  At this point, I have a scattering of scenarios none of which seem organized and make me chuckle as I am truly an obsessive person when it comes to organizing.  I need to invite my writer friend to the house for brunch.  I need book advice.  Meanwhile, I'll keep on reading.

Something Blue

Dear Diary,

Today, I am tired and sluggish.  All I want to do is eat chips and ice cream.  My face itches from poison oak and I'm afraid to scratch it. I don't think I'll ever finish painting my daughter's room.  The rain is dumping and dumping and dumping.  In the news, I heard there was a tornado nearby in Prunedale.  What's up with that?  Californians don't have basements.  We have earthquake safe homes, not tornado safe homes.  I have many memories of tornadoes as a kid in Minnesota. . .hunkering down at my auntie's.  We didn't have a basement then, either.  So we would drive across town and hunker down in this hole in the kitchen floor that had a hot water heater in it.  Us kids would play Barbies while the adults stayed above ground and listened to the radio for weather updates.  Those were some great times.  I had no idea what a tornado really was.  For me, it was an opportunity to play with my cousins.  I've decided to let my daughter drag me shopping - one of my less favorite activities.  I think I'll look for something blue for my kitchen.

Leaves

Dear Diary,

The people that owned my home before me did some very strange stuff to the inside, but I can not fault them for the garden they left behind for me on the outside.  I have apples, pears, lemons, and figs.  I have since killed off the onions and asparagus plants they left behind.  I did plant my own artichokes, and am on my fourth year with the same plants - they seem to get bigger each year.  I have failed at tomatoes, beans, peas, and carrots. Then there are all those flowers.  I have no clue what they are, but they've grown on their own with no help from me.  I try hard to have a green thumb, but I've learned that the only kind of green that I do well with is the green that grows in spite of me.  I toy with the idea of building a greenhouse.  I'm sure my plants would do better if I could prevent all those darn snails from taking over.  I manage to keep them at bay for a few weeks and then miss a de-snailing ceremony once, and they annihilate my plants overnight.  They are evil creatures and I fail to see their purpose in my world.  What eats snails?  My cat and dogs sure don't.  They just bring them in the house and spread that slimy grossness across my floors.  I can have a leafy green plant one day, and a devastated stick left the next.  I am declaring war on those snails, this year.  This year, I will get my green peppers before they do.  Even if I have to plant copper piping in every inch of my yard, I will find a way to defeat those leaf eaters.  It's time for me to take control of the great garden that was left for me and make it even greater.

Circle

Dear Diary,

Today I started a new workout program with my daughter.  She's there to help keep me accountable.  The great part . . . this program is about doing as many reps, in sixty seconds, as possible . . . so it isn't a case of one gets worked hard and the other barely at all.  For starters, I can tell you my body hated it.  I can barely walk - my hamstrings are too tight.  It's only been one day!  This stretching stuff stinks big.  Who comes up with this stuff?  If it weren't dumping rain, I could be out doing something physical and calling that my workout.  The hubby and I even joined a gym.  Uck!  Hanging out with other stinky people!  Thankfully, I love swimming and am spending my gym time in the pool.  It's my surrogate beach until the weather clears.  I'm thinking it might be a while since the weatherman claims it's an el niño year.  I'm pretty sure it's been raining for weeks.  I miss my big, round, happy, warm sunshine!  I think I'll cut out a big, yellow circle and hang it on the wall.  Yes!  I'll paste it right next the heat vent so I can fell warm air while staring at my home made ball of sunshine.  I could even light a candle and roast a marshmallow or two.

Water

Dear Diary,

Nothing calms me more than sitting at the beach and watching the waves.  Today, there were some big, messy ones due to the storm system that's rolling in.  Twice, I had to bail from my photo taking spot before I was hit by water.  This same beach had around twenty surfers at it, yesterday.  My thought then (not counting why I didn't have my camera with me) was that they must all be from Moss Landing - the next beach over.  A great, white shark was spotted at that beach so all the surfers relocated here.  I wouldn't have gone in the water.  I'm thinking that shark swims from that beach to this in a matter of minutes.  With that many surfers in the water, I guess they had better odds at being ignored by that shark.  OR the shark had too many choices and was overwhelmed.  Since nobody was eaten that day, I'm guessing the surfers' diversion tactics worked.  No shark sightings, today, either.  I guess he was hanging in the deeper water to avoid all that churning.  Happy hunting, Mr. Shark!

What I Did Today

Dear Diary,

I joke about being obsessed with numbers, but few people know how obsessive I really am over them.  I count the clothes pins as I hang my clothes on the line, in sets of ten.  When I swim, I count the strokes it takes me to get across the pool.  At the same time, I count the kicks per stroke and strive hard to keep it at four.  When I bike, I count how many pedal rotations get me up a hill.  If nobody is talking to me, I count my steps as I walk.  I pretend it's because I want to make sure my Fitbit is accurate but I counted them long before I got a Fitbit.  Did you know I walk an average of 6,000 steps by 2 pm each day?  If I realize I am not getting close to that 6,000 by two, I go for a walk because it would throw off my pattern of averages.  So what did I do today?  I took off my Fitbit.  Time to add some chaos to my life.  Baby steps.  I plan on doing some painting and I'm even gonna let myself get paint on me when I do it.  To keep myself from counting the paint strokes, I plan to throw on some loud music.  I threw away the numbers . . . that is what I did today.

Black & White

Dear Diary,

Goal setting is always a big deal at the start of each year.  I fail miserably at it, yet I make an attempt each year to push new habits upon myself.  Hopefully, the kind of habits that make me a better person.  I deal with everything best if logic is involved.  It would be so simple if my world was black and white.  But maybe that's why I always fail.  I set the bar too high for myself.  As I start the new year, I have a few basic goals.  Organize my house and get fit.  I'm taking a goal from an old friend and plan to run a 5K or 10K each month this year.  Then I have the biggy . . . write.  I started writing a few weeks ago and I learned a couple things.  One, it calms me.  On the tougher days, I write to vent (those writings I don't plan to share).  And two, I learned writing isn't about my logical blacks and whites.  It's all about the grays.  Somehow, at a half century, I am figuring out about the middle ground.  To me it's the reason for certain actions.  If you create a character in a book, they could be a villain or that damsel in distress (though never in my book), but there is something in all of them that is dark and another part that is hope.  The question is . . . can I write a book that defies my logic and creates a great story?  Will my characters still be loved in spite of their bad parts?  Because isn't that what we all want?  To be loved in spite of our oddities.  I'm learning the grays may not be so bad and I hope I actually succeed at this book writing goal for 2016.