Photo by Aleix Ventayol on Unsplash
Sometimes I feel as though I’m living life like preparing a seven-course meal on a four-burner stove. Hey, I’m supposed to be retired. Yet, projects keep falling on my head like the raindrops of the song. And like the song, I’ll never stop the rain from falling by complaining. Instead, I’ll choose to be grateful for the challenges.
I remember those holiday meals, big crowds, and multiple side dishes. No Christmas dinner was complete without green bean casserole, candied yams, cranberry sauce, ham, turkey, creamed-corn casserole, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and gravy … just to name a few. Let’s not forget the lineup of pies, cookies, puddings, bread, and candy.
Somehow I managed to get everything on the table, hot and bubbly, on time. A delicate balancing act of simmering, warming, crockpots, microwave, and patience.
I’m not an organized person, so I cooked by the seat of my pants … but I did have a menu to go by to buzz me when I had to start the next side dish project or take the pie out of the oven or cool the pumpkin pie.
I’m realizing my senior years are like those holiday meals. Some events need to be attacked in slow-motion … a little at a time, each day. Some tasks need to come to a slow boil and then simmer. Others are put in a crockpot or on bake. Timing is everything.
We don’t do the big dinners anymore, but I find my retirement job is more demanding on an addled brain than I could ever realize. And so, I go back to the skills I learned from those family get-togethers.
I make a list … sort of like a menu … and then determine what goes on the burner of my fast to-do list and what can simmer as well as what can be chiseled.
And I’ll keep singing the song as I go along, walking in a writer’s wonderland
Photo by Tapio Haaja on Unsplash
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PRIME OF MY LIFE
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HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF BLUE ZONES?
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IDENTITY CHECK
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EYES FRONT
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THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING'
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ADAPT OR DIE
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CREAMING
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LIFE IS THE ADVENTURE
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MY LIFE AS A BARCODE
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THE AMERICAN DREAM
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FROM GOLDEN YEARS TO GOLDEN BELLS
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THE CHORDS THAT BIND MY MEMORIES
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PRINCE CHARMING, SPIDERS, AND CHEMO
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GRAY IS GRAND
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IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME
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OVERFLOWING WITH BLESSINGS
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GOLDEN GIRL
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WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW
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FOR THOSE OVER FIFTY-FIVE
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NEXT GENERATION
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NEVER TO OLD TO START OVER
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DON’T CALL HER MA’AM
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OUR MCDONALDS
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BORN TOO LATE
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PERSPECTIVE
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IS IT THE BEGINNING OR THE END
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MY TO-DO LIST
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ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
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EAT RIGHT NOW LIVE LONGER LATER
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SHOULD VS WANT
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I'LL BE ALONE FOR CHRISTMAS ... YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
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THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE
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LIVING WITHOUT REGRET
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GROWING UP CAN BE FUN SO IS GETTING OLDER
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SOARING WITH BROKEN WINGS
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NEVER TOO LATE
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