Lose Your Dreams And You Will Lose Your Mind: SOCS

As I say every Sunday, and I’m in love with Sundays by the way, I enjoy feeling free to write for five minutes and have somewhere to put it like Jana’s Thinking Place. Where stream of conscious writing is standard Sunday fare.

Write for five minutes, don’t edit, then stop which is hard for me!

This week’s (optional) prompt: Wouldn’t it be awesome if… ?

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Wouldn’t it be awesome if I learned to manage my time better? I’ve had the entire weekend to my self. Yeaaaa meeee! But I don’t have much to show for except a list of movies I’ve watched On Demand and a couple hundred pages read in my book.

What I do when I have too much time on my hands is flitter away an entire day. Flittering never bores me. But then I must bust my tail the next day to pack in all the stuff I said I’d do or committed to do. That’s the place I’m in right now on Sunday morning at 11:33a.m.

Thank goodness for Saturday Mass!

I did accomplish the Swallow Cliff Stairs today and I’ve worked back up to my usual 16 sets I was doing pre-injury. Good thing because in 20 days I will have to do 3X that.

But that’s the only thing I’ve done.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if I could continue wasting time on YouTube and iTunes? And someone would shower for me, do my hair and makeup. Then hit the mall for my mom’s birthday present, remembering a card and paper too, wrap it all and drive me to her house 25 minutes away, all within the next 2 hours. 

Man…..I’m really feeling lazy.

Wouldn’t it be awesome to just lie on the couch, watch more movies and read a few hundred more pages? But then I'd disappoint my mom and I don't want that!

Times up. Gotta go do all the stuff I haven't done...

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There's no time to lose, I heard her say


Catch your dreams before they slip away


Dying all the time


Lose your dreams


And you will lose your mind.


Ain’t life unkind?

Ruby Tuesday, The Rolling Stones

Let's Be Friends, RV Travel, Name That Tune, Hands Out Of My Pocket!

Can’t believe it’s Tuesday. Again. And so quickly that happened.

The thing I like about Tuesdays is the opportunity to participate in Stacy’s Random Tuesday Thoughts and it provides just enough of an excuse for all this blah, blah, blah!

I’m not on Face Book much but I got a friend request (who knows when?) from a guy that messaged me first saying, “Hey, Gina. We went to college together. Do you remember me? Let’s be friends.” I looked at his picture. Didn’t ring any bells or jog any memories although his name is kind of familiar. He knows someone I know (mutual yet distant friend) but that’s just not enough on my end. Do you ignore the request? Obviously they know you are ignoring them when you don’t accept. But do I care that he knows? No, because I don’t know him. I knew I’d eventually answer my own question.

I love to drive and I could do it, by myself, for hours. And as I was driving home this morning from Indiana I had the opportunity to think about and do a few things.

(1)         I’d love to buy an RV (think “Lost In America”). One like the rock stars have but it doesn't have to be that pimped out. It can be basic but along these lines. I saw tons of them today. Ahhhhh! The freedom to travel. I have several specific uses in mind for MY  RV. I would take it to concerts all over the country. I’d see every band or artist that I ever wanted to see and I would enjoy both mapping out my trip and spontaneously seeing anyone of interest while also taking in our National Parks. This sounds perfect for me.

(2)         I like to drive by myself because my "in vehicle" music habits would drive the most insane person completely wacky. I don’t use an iPod or listen to CDs. I cruise the stations. NON-STOP!!! My finger is fixed to the station changer or tuner and I just roll with it. Sometimes I even play “Name That Tune” with myself and only leave a song on for a few notes, guess, then go back to the station to see if I was correct. Yes, I’m annoying but I am by myself so I can do what I want. Additionally, I have no problem singing at the top of my lungs and don’t care if people see me belting it out. I heard a lot of great songs this morning.

(3)         Part of any drive, I like to reserve for pure thinking time. I let my mind wander off without so much as a thought to reining it in. Stories formulate that way.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire but me thinks I will take a break before reading Mockingjay. This must be influenced by hearing that it wasn’t as good as the other two, not sure, but my wandering and curious mind is already off in a new direction (Mockingjay will have to wait).

I’m starting a book called What The Psychic Told The Pilgrim by Jane Christmas. Have you heard of it? I hadn’t but it was given to me by my neighbor, the one with whom I went off to Spain, and it’s a must read for me. We will be walking Spain’s Camino de Santiago de Compostela for 30 days beginning towards the end of May with the culmination being June 27^th. If you’ve ever walked La Camino, please feel free to give advice or pointers. We will need them.

It lasted 13 days. I’m actually surprised it took them that long to ask about money. The kids, I mean. I usually get “hit up” sooner and more frequently. However, I did offer to pay for any date nights they had with each other…just the two of them since they attend the same school and live a mere four doors down from each other. You see…they don’t get along. AT ALL! One says “black” and the other simultaneously says “white”. ALWAYS! I want them to bond, to like each other and if it’s over sushi (their only shared love), then I’m willing to pay for it. I owe someone $30.

They sent a picture from that night, after dinner, and those smiles look real. I don't have many like that...one is always faking it! Plus it's confirmation they are ALIVE!

I need to get to the stairs. Remember "Storm The Stadium"? That stupid thing I said I'd do (6000 stairs in Soldier Field); the stupid goal I set for September 22nd. Thinking about them right now makes me want to puke.

Oh, and lastly, I would like to look like Jillian Michaels on the cover of September's Shape Magazine. 

I only have 6 inches, 20 lbs. and 12 years on her but...maybe? She looks great. Healthy. Strong. Fit. Just the right look to me!!!

Thanks again, Stacy, for hosting!!!

Pondering Promises

I like to run outside. Preferably through a beautiful forest preserve. Somewhere I won’t likely run into people I know which is just about everywhere in this tiny place I live.

I don’t listen to music while I run (unless I’m sorely lacking motivation) because, to me, it’s thinking time. My mind is quiet for a change.

I drove to one of my favorite places this morning, Swallow Cliff (Home to the infamous “Stairs” I talk about). I needed this today. It was a gorgeous morning; peaceful and quiet and perfect to ponder “a promise” prompt courtesy of Mama Kat's Writing Challenge.

Not one to follow rules precisely, I decided to twist this and thought about my feelings about promises in general.

How do I feel about promises? What kind of promises do I make? Should I, or anyone, promise anything? You know, stuff along those lines.

I thought about the kind of promises I made to people when I was younger. “I promise we’ll always be together” (probably not a good thing to do at age 21), “I promise I won’t tell.”, “I promise to go with you to….” They were simple, small and easy to keep with the exception of the one I should never have made. Lessons….

“Promise only what you can deliver. Then deliver more than you promise.” 

- Author Unknown

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve promised less. And it’s not for fear of falling short and I don’t believe I’m copping out either. It just hasn’t been required. People know they can count on me. I’ve demonstrated the “reliability factor”. I don’t often let people down but I have on occasion.

There is actually one thing that I will promise and I do so often. I’ll always hold someone’s confidence in a securely locked spot deep within me. Consider it a vault made of steel…NOTHING is coming out…not tomorrow, not next week or next year. Not ever.

Promises get broken and that saddens me because I know it hurts. I’ve felt it but I don’t spend time worrying that someone will disappoint me. We all make mistakes, and I’m a frequent offender. I also don’t believe those close to me would ever intentionally disappoint me either, but sometimes they do. I’m a big girl and I can deal with disappointment.

What weighs on me the most is the possibility that I might disappoint someone else. That’s tough for me.  I don’t want my promises to be empty and unreliable. So, I don't frequently make them.


Is it a bad thing that I don’t make promises often? I’m not sure how to answer my own question but I don’t think so.

I like this promise...It's sweet and easy, and these days, I'm loving sweet and easy!

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