You're a nice guy but...

 

After 5ish years of being single again, I am finally starting to embrace what I call my spinster status.  And I am not saying that as a dig on myself.  Granted, this word has such negative connotations in our society, and I used to be someone who agreed with that stereotype.  But not anymore. I look at it as something to aspire to.  What being a spinster means to me is someone who is completely comfortable in his/her own skin.  Someone who enjoys their own company.  Someone who does not rely on anyone else for happiness.  That is not to say that I believe it should be someone who lives life without others.  Quite the contrary.  It's someone who's relationships with others are enhanced by that person being feeling whole and not dependent on others to feel complete. That's what I want to be like as a spinster. 

I think back to some of the people in my life that would be considered spinsters and realize now how much I look up to them even though they are no longer with us.  They lived their own lives and did what they wanted to on their own terms.  They had successful lives that were filled with people and rich experiences.  They made and followed their own paths from an early age.  Of course, this is where I differ from them in that I am coming into this late in life.  But I think it's never too late to start something new LOL I only wish that I had soaked up more from them while they were still here. 

I never thought that at this age I would be single but after two failed relationships in the last 25 years, that seems to be the hand that I have been dealt.  I have been thinking about that a lot lately and I found myself to be surprisingly fine with it. That's a very freeing feeling to have. I have started taking myself out on dates and going out and doing things on my own.  I have absolutely loved that!  It's not that I would not enjoy someone's company for dinner or for seeing a show or for going antiquing.  It's that I can do these things alone and be perfectly fine.  I'm doing the things that I want to do.  I have learned that the key to my success is learning to enjoy my own company and that's not as hard as I expected it to be.  I'm a nice guy so why not have a good time by myself and not wait on others to join in?

You're a nice guy but...that phrase comes from the speech that I have heard over and over throughout my life. If I had a dollar for every time some guy has said it to me, I could not retire but I could treat myself to a fancy dinner LOL And I know that the words were not said with malicious intentions over the years. I'm not everyone's cup of tea as far as dating goes and that is ok. So, I am taking those words and turning them into a positive in my life. Basically, I am looking to enjoy myself on my own terms after years of making sure others were happy first.  While that is not necessarily a bad thing and I still love doing things for others, it no longer defines who I am.

That is all. 

Daily challenge for August

 It has always been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  This is not something that I have adhered to in my life.  Do not get me wrong, I love breakfast foods.  Always have.  But I have never been a big breakfast eater.  As a child, I would eat my bowl of dry cereal every day.  Not a fan of milk here even with cereal LOL But as I got older, eating breakfast every day became less and less frequent.  A hot breakfast was always welcomed but it was not a constant.  If I spent the night at Grandmother's there was always breakfast of some kind that I would eat.  If family was visiting, there was guaranteed to be at least one big family breakfast.  And on Christmas morning, Mom always cooked a big breakfast for everyone.  But that really has been the extent of my breakfast habits.

Breakfast out at Miam's

As an adult, eating breakfast daily was definitely not on my radar.  If I was on vacation, I would go out for breakfast but really that was about it.  Part of it was the fact that for a long time, I would wake up about 30 minutes before I needed to be at work.  Time enough to throw on some clothes and get to work.  Of course, that was back in my younger adult days when my nights were spent out.  Those were some good times, but I definitely do not miss that existence.  Now that I have become a morning person, I need to include breakfast in my daily routine.  And not just something small.  I need to have a good, balanced full breakfast to get me through the day. 

Scrambled eggs topped with Mexican street corn and salsa.  Yum!

I have started going out on Saturday mornings and treating myself to a good breakfast.  What I am learning from this is that when I eat a nice breakfast like that, I am pretty full for the rest of the day.  Last Saturday I had a great breakfast out and then didn't eat again until dinner time.  And even then, I only had a small salad. That was all I needed.  Breakfast allows me to not eat again until I am actually hungry and not just on an eating schedule. That is good for me.  Also, it's nice to treat myself every week.  I think I deserve that LOL  So, this month, my goal is to eat breakfast every day.  Here we are on day 5 of August and I'm on a roll.  Let's hope that continues!

Magazines....still a part of my life

 I often wonder if I am one of the few people in my life that still have magazines all around the house.  Hmmmmm.  It definitely goes with my "Grandmother's house" vibe, even though Grandmother didn't have that many laying around her house.  Some, but not like me haha!  I need to read them more simply because I have them and I, or others through gifts, have paid for them. Growing up, there were always magazines around.  Anytime you went to a doctor's office or the beauty parlor, there were magazines available for you to thumb through.  They were often very old magazines, but it still made the time waiting go by quicker. Of course, this was back in the day before everyone had phones and there were televisions in every waiting room.  Reading a magazine today while you wait is pretty unheard of these days.  That's kind of sad but oh well.

Like I said, Grandmother did have some magazines on her coffee table.  Southern Living and Ideals were the ones she mostly had.  Ideals isn't really a magazine but it's close enough that I am including it here.  Also, I will pick up issues of Ideals whenever I'm out doing my antiques shopping LOL  I remember that Aunt Sara had magazines in her den.  She put them on an old towel rack.  I have that rack, btw, with quilts on it now.  But she would hang the magazines on the rack for display and you could easily pick and choose which one you wanted to peruse.  In our home, we had magazines fanned out on the coffee table and on a rack in the bathroom.  Better Homes & Gardens, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated.  

When Bill and I were younger, we would get the latest copies of Mad Magazine when they came out.  We didn't subscribe to it but would pick it up at a local store.  That was always a fun one to look at. I think it's still in operation. Then when I was in high school, Mom got me a subscription to Playbill magazine.  How I loved that one.  It was a great way to keep up with Broadway before the internet.  They still have a website now but it's not nearly as fun as the magazine used to be. Still, each month I loved reading up on the latest Broadway news.  I maintained my subscription until they stopped producing paper issues. 

Now, as an adult, I still get magazines each month.  I used to subscribe to Taste of Home and Reminisce Magazine.  Sadly, Reminisce went out of business.  That was a huge bummer to me.  I stopped Taste of Home because their recipes went from simple things from the past to overly complicated recipes with 30+ ingredients.  Oh, well. Now I get Our State, Guideposts, Reader's Digest and Remind. I still get excited when I see one of them stuffed into my mailbox.  I find it so much better to have the magazine in my hand than reading them online.  Just my personal preference.  I just hope there never comes a day when electronic magazines are my only option.  My old lady soul will be crushed!

Today's Moment of Mindfulness

Wear a piece of jewelry or place stickers on your cell phone that have significance to you.  Whenever you notice them, pause to take in what's happening in your mind and body and be guided towards peace. 

 

Prayer for hope

 

Recipe of the week - Hamburger Gravy

 I watch a lot of YouTube videos during down time at work and mostly it is going to be about cooking.  As you know, I love to cook and am always looking for new recipes to try.  I watched a video about budget meals from the 1970s and this was one of the ones that they mentioned.  I had never had hamburger gravy before.  Some people refer to it as SOS but that's a little vulgar for me LOL  Especially since I would be more than happy to serve this to people.  I found a recipe online that I liked and I tried it. Absolutely delicious and easy! I am definitely adding this one to my meal canon.  If you haven't ever made it before, it's tasty and easy.  It will not be the prettiest thing you ever cook, but I highly recommend it!

Hamburger Gravy

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Worcestershire

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

3 Tbsp flour

1.5 cups beef broth

1 tsp better than bouillon

1/2 cup half & half

Brown beef on med-high heat.  Add onions and garlic halfway through.  Once browned, add Worcestershire, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and flour.  Stir to combine and cook 1-2 minutes until you no longer smell the flour.  Add broth a little at a time.  Repeat with half & half.  Stir in bouillon.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.

Serve over potatoes or rice

Insurance

 

It feels like every time I turn around, I am needing insurance for something.  Car, renter's, home, life, travel, flood, dental, eyes, medical, pet.  There seems to be insurance for everything. While I do have some of these insurances, I do not have them all.  I do not need them all, at least at this point in my life.  I have car and renter's insurance.  I have all of the health insurances covered through my job as well as a small life insurance policy.  But I need to change some things up and look for more bang for my buck.

I want to change up my car insurance.  I know that there are better deals out there I just need to do the research.  And I want to find an insurance company that has both car and renter's insurance.  That would make things very convenient.  The last time I actually looked, the company I was interested in did not offer renter's insurance in North Carolina.  I believe that has now changed so I need to take another look at them.  But this is one area where social media and the internet completely suck.  If I inquire to these companies about plans and prices, everything in my feeds will be about that insurance company, whether or not I use them.  And my email will become inundated with emails from them as well. I once went to the Mayo Clinic website to get some ideas about health and diet and now I get about 7 emails a day from them.  I don't want that from an insurance company that I am not using!

Also, the older that I get, I am realizing that I need to invest in more life insurance.  This is for several reasons.  I can borrow against a life insurance policy if needed later in life.  I want to have some security for my estate.  I have debts that I am working on the repay and if I die before they're repaid, I want my life insurance to take care of that and not something that my family would need to worry about. I would also like to be able to leave my family a little something financially and chances are my career will not provide that, so life insurance is definitely in my future.  I just need to shop around.

The older I get, the more I think about things like this.  I do not consider it morbid, but someone may.  It's just a part of becoming a responsible adult.