Saturday, January 28, 2012

A Peaceful Saturday Morning

I am an early riser by nature; even without an alarm clock set I normally wake up around 5:15 each morning. This, of course, serves me well on workdays. I can ease into my morning without the blaring racket of an alarm shocking me awake.

On Saturdays, however, this leaves me with a small issue (not a BAD issue, mind you, but an issue).  I'm an apartment dweller, and I try to be a considerate neighbor.  This means I don't want to do laundry or run the vacuum or do anything particularly noisy very early in the morning because I'm sure that either the neighbors below me or above me could be disturbed by this.  (Holy cow, how many words ARE there in that last sentence?  *LOL*)

So, I usually find myself in my recliner with a cup of coffee, the netbook, and some knitting in the early hours on Saturday.  Today is a particularly peaceful morning for me because I chose not to turn on the television set as yet.  I have my beloved Zune hanging around my neck in its little handknit pouch listening to James Horner tunes (currently playing is "Coming Home" from "The Perfect Storm"). I adore James Horner. You might think you don't know who I'm talking about, but if you've seen "The Perfect Storm", "Legends of the Fall", "Braveheart", "Field of Dreams", "Glory", "Apollo 13", "Titanic", or one of several other high-grossing films, you've heard his brilliant work.

I have many things to accomplish today and will be starting what I not-so-lovingly refer to as "household drudgery" very soon.  But for the moment I'm listening to "The Ludlows" from "Legends of the Fall", sipping French roast coffee, and finishing this blog post with a slight contended smile on my face.

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Monday, January 09, 2012

Difficult Times

We've lost a member of the family.  My first cousin Tim had fought a valiant battle against esophageal cancer, but lost his battle last Thursday afternoon.  Everyone who knew him remarked that he was one of the kindest people they'd ever known.

Tim was two years younger than me and was the first family member in my generation to pass away.  I'm very sad that he wasn't able to beat the cancer, but very glad that he's no longer in pain.

I have to say, difficult times like these really make you rethink what's important in life.  Hug someone you love.  You never know how many opportunities you might have to let them know how you feel.