I'm getting old.  It takes me longer to do things, and it is much harder to lift heavy suitcases.  The older I get, the more I feel I need to pack.  Comfort is very important to old people.  We like our stuff.

I travel a lot.  I'm on the road anywhere from 30% to 40% of the time.  And by "road", I mean going from one airport to another, not driving to a neighboring county.

When you see me struggling with my heavy suitcases, briefcase, and whatever bag of goodies I might be bringing home to the kids, please help me out.  Don't think that just because it looks like I'm balancing the bags on my own  it isn't taking every ounce of strength I have now, and borrowing from future strength as well.  Be nice.  Be chivalrous.   What if it was your own mother out there schlepping from the airport to the rental car van to the parking van?

I am not of the generation that gets offended by an offer of help.  You may rest assured that I will not only allow you to open the door for me, I will thank you profusely.  Good manners do not go out of style.  Parents just do not teach them the way they should, and people get in too big a hurry to exercise them.

On behalf of all the Geritol crowd, I thank you for your time and consideration.  You, too will get old.  And I hope you will be treated in the same way as you treat others now.

Currently Listening Leaving on a Jet Plane see related

It was after a long, stressful day.  My son's team had barely won the basketball game.  Rain was coming down in sheets.  My daughter, who was to have stayed with my son that night, decided she needed to take her boyfriend somewhere, and said she'd just take her brother with her.  It added more stress, because coming from west Texas, when it storms, you look for tornadoes to fall from the sky at any moment.

We were attending a fundraiser, and since there would be dinner, dancing and drinking, we had booked a room at the hotel.  Before we left the house, I remember saying "I'm too mad to drink tonight.  Whatever mood you're in when you have a drink just gets magnified."

We arrived at the hotel.  As he unlocked the door, I noticed that the floor was covered in rose petals.  There were candles everywhere, and music was playing.  I had a senior moment when I wondered if all of the event attendees were treated that way.  And then I heard the music.

Nat King Cole, "Unforgettable".  That was our song 15 years ago.

He shuffled me through the door, leaving our luggage in the hallway.  Before I could say anything except "Oh my gosh!!!", he dropped to his knees.  The ring appeared from nowhere.  He asked me if I would make him the luckiest man in the world by giving him a second chance.

Everyone had known about this for weeks.  My kids had decorated the room, while they were supposedly out taking the boyfriend somewhere.  They escaped just seconds before we pulled into the parking lot.  Our friends who were also attending the fundraiser had asked us to meet them in the bar before the auction.  They all knew, and were waiting to toast us, and to see the ring and find out my reaction.

My children and my friends are accomplished liars. 

And that is how my ex-husband/fiance' became that movie guy, sweeping me completely off my feet and making me feel like THE most special lady in the whole world.

The ring is a trio, signifying past, present and future.  Say it with me.  "Aww"

Currently Listening The Unforgettable Nat King Cole By Nat "King" Cole see related

I, I'm so in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is all right with me
'Cause you make me feel so brand new
And I want to spend my life with you

They say since, since we've been together
Loving you forever
Is what I need
Let me be the one you come running to
I'll never be untrue

Let's, let's stay together
Lovin' you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad

Why, why some people break up
Then turn around and make up
I just can't see
You'd never do that to me (would you, baby)
Staying around you is all I see
(Here's what I want us to do)

Let's, we oughta stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad

Currently Listening Definitive Greatest Hits By Al Green see related

Charlotte, North Carolina.
A lawyer purchased a box of two dozen very rare and expensive cigars and then insured them against, among other things, fire. Shockingly enough, within a month, they had gone up in smoke! The lawyer smoked the entire lot before even having made his first premium payment on the policy. He then filed a claim with the insurance company. In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost “in a series of small fires.”

The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason - the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion! The crafty lawyer then filed a lawsuit, and based on the language in the policy, he WON!

Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was truly frivolous, but stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held an insurance policy from the company that warranted the cigars were insured and also guaranteed that it would insure them against loss by fire, “without defining what is considered to be unacceptable fire” and was therefore obligated to pay the claim!

Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars lost in the series of small “fires.”

JUST DESSERTS!

Once the lawyer cashed the check, his insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON. Using his own insurance claim, with testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his own insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.

Currently Listening White Trash with Money By Toby Keith see related

Why do women get their hopes up for a really romantic valentine's day, only to have them shattered year after year?  Why do we expect so much, knowing that it will amount to nothing but frustration?  Why, on this ONE DAY OF THE YEAR, can't we pretend to both be from Venus or something, rather than having different planetary hometowns? 

Is it all hype?  Probably.  But for ONE DAY, let us believe that you are that romantic guy who wanted to get us alone in the dark, and who wooed us and wowed us and made us think you were that guy who would welcome romance, not shun it.   For ONE DAY don't scratch yourself, or arrange yourself in public.  Don't make jokes about bodily functions.  Be that movie guy who sweeps us off our feet and makes us think we're the most special women in the world.  Remind us of who we were before we had stretch marks, bags under our eyes and dishpan hands.   Remind us of who you were before the beer belly, the missing hair and the penchant for turning everything you ingest into a gaseous substance.

GIVE US THIS DAY, DAMN IT.  LIVE UP TO THE HYPE AND THE EXPECTATIONS.  DO IT RIGHT, AND MAYBE IT WILL GET YOU OFF THE HOOK FOR ANOTHER YEAR.

Currently Listening My Funny Valentine By Various Artists see related