Author Archive: Nancy
Two Lessons A Year
Another Year. Another Birthday. A year ago I was sitting here writing about all the stuff I wanted to learn in the twenty years I figured I had left in my life. If I was right, and I’m always right (in my mind, anyway), I now have nineteen years left. Did I learn enough this …
Not Scary
A few nights ago, I drove by a building I used to know. I’ve been by that building hundreds of times, but not at night. The darkness made all the difference. I worked there. At night. It was my first job after college. I guess it was a terrible job, but it took me six …
Complaint Department
Yesterday, still in bed, I resolved to have a full day without a complaint. I lasted until 11:00 AM. When the telemarketer called. I complain. You complain. My dog complains. Everyone complains. I bet the Dalai Lama complains that the place is too damn quiet. It’s only natural. I mean, there’s so much out there …
Ranking
I am a ranker. I love to put things in order. Not in my home… that is often order-free. In my mind. I rank objects by how much I like them. What is my favorite color? How about my next-favorite? We have a set of coffee mugs – 6 mugs, each a different color – …
Merry Christmas & Merry Every Holiday!
Happy Holidays – all of them – from the gang at Not Quite Old The Kitties – (Left to Right) Athena, Thor, Niko, and Lillian The Doggies – Henry and Theo And Moonlight, the Horse And of course, from Nancy & Tom: May your days be merry and bright!
I'm Still Here!
A few folks have written wondering about my disappearance. Thank you, everyone, for worrying about me. I’m fine. I’m not giving up the blog. I have just had a temporary career (perhaps ‘hobby’ is a better word) switch. As I have shared with you before, I’ve been painting watercolor pet portraits for a year or …
We Are Different
A few months ago, I wrote about my upcoming 50th high school reunion (Using And Losing Time). I was anticipating the event with both pleasure and anxiety. I was looking forward to seeing old friends again. But I worried that I had not been as ‘successful’ as I would have wished. That I wasted too …
Choosy
Having high expectations can be a very good thing. Mostly, because I have found that when you expect the best from people, they usually give it. This is my best example. Our foyer. The carpenter who laid this floor had never done anything like this before. We showed him a photograph from a lovely mansion-turned-bed-and-breakfast …
What If You Fail?
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? This saying was popularized back in the 70s and is mainly attributed to Robert Schuller, a televanglist I didn’t much like. But I did like this axiom. And it came into prominence again in this decade as the result of a terrific …
Not Quite A Friend
There’s a woman who belongs to the same circle of friends as I do. I don’t particularly like this woman. I don’t like her politics. I don’t like most of her opinions. We don’t enjoy the same hobbies. We have little in common. But she lost someone close to her and yesterday was the sad …
