In Defense of Paper

I know, I know, it's the digital age, but oh how I will miss paper in the future. Having spent the better part of two days this week cleaning out a closet, going through old photographs, letters, and assorted paper, I've been in a sea of nostalgia.

My beautiful family back in 1984....

Bruce had a conference to attend in Naples, and me and the boys tagged along. Jon boy was only a baby, not even walking yet, while Billy and David must have been 5, and Matt probably 8 years old. Of course Jonathan did not walk until he was 17, or 18 months old, so it would still be awhile yet. Today's parents, or so it seems from my recent beach outings, would freak out that no one was wearing a shirt, let alone sun screen. Oh my...those were the days before the "fear culture" took over!

It all began with a search for Bruce's birth certificate, and from there it snowballed. Most of the boy's report cards, various papers they had written, including one written by Jonathan in 1996 wherein he predicted that by 2007, the computer industry would be bigger than any other, as well as a real job killer. Smart boy that Jonathan. Furthermore, there was quite a stash of letters I'd written to my parents during the year we lived in California; long and newsy, mostly about our first born son who both refused to walk, or talk, until long after all the other kids his age. Well, we all know how much that mattered in the long run.

What to throw away is always the question while doing such a task. Did I mention I found the receipt for the St. Augustine hotel where we stayed on our two day honeymoon? $20/night! Wedding rings--$478!! Of course when you are making $3.25/hr (me) and about $7 for Bruce, that was still plenty of money to us, AND, of course cash was king in those days.

Back to the here and now.....

Saturday was a long and stress-filled day for Bill, Bruce, and Herbert. Me, I finally went swimming in the pool that required my attention for all those months!

Bruce was adding the bottom cabinet molding, a very detailed job, while Herbert was installing the range hood. To say that both of these activities required concentration, a bit of luck, and hard work, is putting it mildly. Herbert cut a hole through the roof for the vent, connected the electrical, filled the hole he had to cut to make room for the pipes, and filled the sky light, seen to the right with a drywall patch.

Aside from swimming, I watched college football until, get this--after 9 PM!!! Fallon, attending to a family emergency in Ocala, returned around 6:30 to keep me company while the "boys" worked. UCF lost to Penn State in the closing seconds, whereas Florida State won, but they sure did not make watching the game easy. Oh my, they had to work for it, unlike last season where it was mostly a rout every game. I'd gotten out of the habit of being a nervous wreck throughout the broadcast, and I would, undoubtedly, like to keep it that way.

During the week Bruce worked on new frames. I can't tell you how excited I am by some of the new finishes we are creating with him being the actual person to MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Returning to the topic of nostalgia, the picture of me, hanging inside one of Bruce's garage cabinets, was taken by my good friend Karen Howard during my Jonathan pregnancy. Back then, it was not the couple who was pregnant, it was actually the woman carrying the child. But, I digress. I remember she was taking a photography class, and asked me if I would agree to a photograph. Am I ever happy I did. One of the few times in my adult life that my hair was very short. Then too, one of the things I do love about looking at, not to mention, holding, old photographs of me is that I then remember making the clothes I'm wearing, including the one pictured. I was pretty good in those days. :)

All kinds of excitement going on! The foreground one is my first canvas in black and white, and I'm quite pleased with it. In addition, really the part that is super exciting, is that they are selling! In fact, I did a little analysis Sunday night, checking the statistics. Beginning in May, when Bruce began making the frames, 24 have sold! Putting that into perspective, during the same period I've sold 20 unframed canvases. I just knew that with such a quality upgrade the buyers would come!

For the last month or so we've been trying to visit the Olive Garden in Winter Park to see the new renovation having a test run in that location. Pretty much, new everything, including the sign.

Does it ever look wonderful inside! As well, there is a test menu that I took advantage of with a shrimp dish, and roasted asparagus drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Lot of yummy lemon taste going on with the shrimp! By the look of Bruce's bowl you can tell how much he liked his as well. That said, it put my darling in a little bit of a blue mood for missing out on the exciting, upcoming renovations. Nothing to be done about that--everyone needs time to grieve, and after so many years that is exactly what you might expect. He'll bounce back soon.

Taking a chance, we pulled into the new Trader Joe's parking lot, and of all things, we were one of the lucky ones, snagging a parking spot immediately. If you live in our area, you know of what I speak. Ridiculously small lot for two very popular destinations.

Returning to the car following shopping, a woman was parked in the middle of this drive area waiting for someone to leave! The crowds were enough to make me not want to return, or at least during the afternoon. According to our check-out guy, an artist we knew from FAVO, the best time to come is when they first open in the morning. Thanks Rodney for the tip!

If you've driven around the Orlando area you can't have helped noticing the gazillion new WaWas, either built, or in the process. As far as I'm concerned, that is a good thing; specifically the one that has yet to open near our house.

This photo serves two purposes, one to show you the place, but the most important reason I'm posting it is because I'm so wondering why gas prices always ends in 9/10 of a cent! Are there any clever readers amongst you that can answer that challenging question? I can think of no other product with similar pricing, can you? If only gas were 9/10th of a cent, right?

Finally, and perhaps this is the most important part of this post--my hair is falling out!! My wounds are healed, or mostly so, but by golly, if I find one more hair on my desk, the table, the floor, and even our Water Pik, I'm going to scream! What is going on, pray tell? I'm posting this is mostly so that in a few years, when I'm mostly bald, I can return to this and know when it all began.

Let's hope for better than that, shall we?

p.s. I found the front section of the newspaper on the day the Berlin Wall fell! Plus one from January 1, 2000. Remember all the doomsday predicted--Y2K, for that date? Keep your papers--you'll be glad you did!