Saturday, August 01, 2020

SUNDAY STEALING

Upstream

1. Name 5 people you admire and why:
 
a) Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. She was smart, classy and courageous. No one has ever made steel look so feminine.


#44 on your scorecard, #1 in our hearts
b) Anthony Rizzo. The Cubs Gold Glove first baseman is a tireless advocate for children with cancer and, during these dark days of Covid19, first responders. At 30, he's already done more to raise money and awareness than some do over a lifetime. He's a role model with unconquerable joie de vivre. 

c) My former boss. He built a successful agency from the ground up. At its height, he employed more than 500, and we called ourselves The Fortunate 500. He was tough, honest and kind. 

d) Nora Ephron. Funny, talented, uncompromising. She made mistakes in life but she owned them. She's the big sister I wish I'd had.

e) Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That little lady has the strength and heart of a lion. May she go on eternally!

2. When was the last time you did something adventurous?
Saturday I roadtripped through three states to get to my niece's bridal shower in Holland, MI. That is literally the farthest I've travelled this year, and I was surrounded by people I've never met. Fortunately we all behaved like adults and wore masks when we were indoors, only taking them off to eat on the patio. Hopefully two weeks from today I'll still feel as good about the adventure as I do right now.

3. I felt I got older when I went through menopause.

4. What one thing that could happen today would make you extremely happy?
These two unfailingly do something that touches my heart, each and every day.
Connie is looking at the camera, Reynaldo is fast asleep
5. An experience you don’t want to go through again. Worry about a suspicious lump, in my breast or anywhere else.

6. One decision you made that changed your life completely.
Not going on a third date with Bill with the mustache. He was a lovely guy, but I really didn't give him a chance. I was too crazy about someone else. That "someone else" turned out to be a narcissist who took a decade of my life. There's a fine line between working hard on a relationship and martyring yourself, and I crossed it. Oh, Bill! Sometimes I wonder how that third date would have turned out.
7. How do you participate in saving the earth? I recycle. I contribute to organizations that protect endangered species. I'm ridin' with Biden.
 
8. A gift you would like to get on your next birthday?
A safe, effective vaccine against the corona virus.

9. Things you miss about your childhood?
My mom, my favorite grandparents, my uncle, Adam West as Batman.

10. The greatest invention?
Air conditioning.




11. Your favorite super hero. See #9

12. Your views about veganism.
I don't actually care.


13. If you could be anything else in the world, what would you be?
I would be downtown, in the City of Chicago as it was before the virus.


14. How did you parents meet?
My dad was newly home from the Korean War and just started a new job at a garage. He was working on this lady's car and she said she thought he would like her daughter. He told the lady he was having a party that evening and his daughter should stop by.


15. Your morning routine
. It's really not that interesting, now that I work from home and my commute is from the bedroom to the dining room table.




August Happiness Challenge -- Day 1

Today's happiness -- Tears of joy. I went to my niece's bridal shower today. It was a long drive up to Holland, MI, and a long drive home. It's the farthest away from home I've been since Covid19. It was stressful to be in the bosom of my family. But I'm glad I did it. Because it meant a great deal to my niece.

In fact, my gift was the one that made her cry.

I got her gift cards to Target and Amazon, where she's registered. And a jigsaw puzzle. I know that, during these stay-at-home times, my niece and her fiance been enjoying puzzles together. I chose Sleeping Beauty by Thomas Kinkaide. When my niece was little, we used to play Disney Princesses together and Thomas Kinkaide was a favorite of my late mother (her beloved grandmother). I slipped in a note saying this was my way of bringing Grandma to her bridal shower.

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.