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I Had It All Worked Out…

Man plans. God laughs.

While I’ve always somewhat dismissed the above saying–I don’t believe God laughs and it’s a bit offensive to my faith–I do get the point. For the last couple of years I’ve been making plans to retire. Now it seems those plans may not come about as quickly as I’d hoped.

It was difficult for me to get up this morning, the Monday after daylight saving time started. It’s always a challenge to get out of bed on Mondays, in part because I let myself sleep in on the weekend against all expert advice, and in part because I just don’t want to go to work. In the past I’ve been able to say, okay, just x number of months left before you can retire. Now the time has stretched out considerably longer than a mere count of months.

I’m also concerned because I can no longer afford to visit my mom in Minneapolis. She’s getting older and I know I could lose her at any time. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not in failing health per se, but it is a struggle for her to walk very far. Plus, her memory is spotty. My plans after retirement include moving to Minneapolis myself, but of course that’s looking like it will take a little longer than expected as well.

However, I refuse to give in to the frustration of dashed hopes. I can be stubborn and I’ll put that quality to good use in this situation. Perhaps there is a strong reason things aren’t rolling out as I’d hoped. I guess I may never know about that for sure, but I do believe God is in control. My faith is getting stronger. That’s due in part to a renewed commitment to pray and read the Bible (don’t worry, I’m not going to preach) as well as a priest at my Episcopalian church who speaks to our relationship with God and his nature. It’s uplifting, something I haven’t experienced in church as often as I’d like.

So, I’m going to keep on planning, adjusting my ideas to each new factor that affects my decision. Until I hit my target, this woman plans, and no one laughs.

Image Credits: Target (header) © alexdndz–stock.adobe.com; Stubborn Fox © Jean–stock.adobe.com

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Walter is Resting

We went to the vet recently for a routine checkup, and fortunately, Walter is healthy. However, the ride over, the wait in the lobby, and the shots were all traumatic for him, despite the treats and loving care from the vet. So now he’s taking a nap to regroup.

Image Credits: Cesar Cat © Belinda O; Paws in Heart © Bigstock; Sleeping Cat Illustration © PhotoArtHub–stock.adobe.com

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Happy Happy Birthday, Beth

I hope you’re doing well and you’re able to celebrate your day in a special way. I think about you often. Take care of yourself and remember there are people–including me–who love you and want the best for you.

Image Credit: Happy Birthday © Hulinska Yevheniia–stock.adobe.com

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Getting to Know You–One Way or the Other

Daily writing prompt
In what ways do you communicate online?
View all responses

I have to admit, I haven’t really gotten into too much online communication other than this blog. Okay, I’m on Facebook, but I rarely post. WhatsApp is something I’d like to explore since my uncle, who now lives in Portugal, uses that. But Instagram, Tik Tok, all the rest hold no interest for me.

I work with a woman who uses Tik Tok excessively. She gets all her news from that app, and it’s often wrong. I’ve told her she should find her news from reputable sources, but she just shrugs. While I’m sure some of what she reads is accurate, I know a lot of it is not.

What’s interesting to me is she wasn’t aware of the looming Tik Tok ban. It’s possible, although no one is quite certain about this, that the app could go dark after January 19. I’m not sure what my colleague would do after that, given her reliance on Tik Tok for news, entertainment, makeup tips, and a dozen other things I don’t remember right now.

I hate the thought of relying so much on social media, although I’ll be the first to admit it’s the only way I stay in contact with many of my friends from college. I’ve found it interesting to see how much some of us have changed our world views from one end of the spectrum to the other. We bond together and support each other through Facebook (as I’ve said before, I rarely post, but I keep up with other’s posts). I also get really good book suggestions from my friend Sue.

I still favor more personal communication, such as meeting in person with my friends or phone calls. Okay, I rarely use the phone, but I do text. The one-on-one conversations are much more satisfying to me than anything I can get on social media.

Still, I’ve made some friends through this blog, and I care about all of them. I want to know what’s next in their lives. Through our posts I’ve gotten to know about how they relate to the world around them and some details that delight me, for example, a love of cats. If something happened to one of them, I would grieve.

Will my relationship with social media change? Who knows. My life is bound to be different in the next couple of years, so perhaps my dependence on social media will be, too.

Image Credits: Wooden Figurines © Valerii Evlakhov–stock.adobe.com; New View © muhammad–stock.adobe.com; Cat © Yana–stock.adobe.com

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Mimi Has A New Toy!

Last week my friend Deb (“Aunt Deb” to Mimi and Walter) graced Mimi with a new toy. It’s actually a dog toy, but Mimi LOVES it. She tosses it so high it lands on the armrests of the wicker chairs, where I have to retrieve it so she can start her play again. You can see there are other toys surrounding her, but none is as popular as The Beav right now.

Three chubby cats jumping up ecstatically in play
If we keep playing like this, maybe we’ll lose some weight!

Image Credits: Cesar Cat © Belinda O; Paws in Heart © Bigstock Photo; Cats Playing © fishyo-stock.adobe.com