It was destiny

The other day in the newsroom, we were talking about how journalism is "in the blood" of many of us. When we started talking, I recalled how, after a bout of wanting to be a ballet dancer, I always wanted to be a writer when I grew up. For as far back as I can remember. But as for newspaper work, I couldn't remember specifically wanting to do that.
Then, it hit me. When I was little, definitely in elementary school but I have no idea what age I was, I actually made my own newspaper. I was over at a neighbor's house, and we sat one afternoon drawing out newspaper pages and stapling them together. We probably made eight-10 copies of our newspaper, and then we walked down the street putting them in people's mailboxes.
Thinking back on it, I can just imagine how hilarious it must have been for those people to find a little kid's handmade newspaper stuffed in their mailbox.
Once we told our parents what we'd done — we were so proud — someone, I can't recall who, told us it was illegal to put things in people's mailboxes. I started to panic. Would the mail police find me?
What a funny memory, and one I hadn't remembered for years until we had that conversation at work. Turns out I wasn't the only one who "played newspaper" when I was little. Our sports editor said he used to write sports stories off games he'd watch on TV. Another sports reporter said he'd keep stats for his electric football game players.
Clearly, there is passion for journalism among those of us who do it. It's just too bad that the industry can't support our passion, especially in this day and age.

The sound of home

Although this may not be the greatest photo, it shows a windchime/suncatcher that's special to me. Way back when, in my single days, I ordered a windchime just like this and it followed me from apartment to apartment, city to city for years.
One especially fond memory is when I lived on Louisa Boulevard in Lafayette in an old house that had been turned into three one-bedroom apartments. Mine was set up shotgun-style, and I loved it dearly. Plus, the rent was ridiculously cheap — $415 a month, I believe. I hung the windchime by my back door and could hear it tinkling as I washed dishes (there was no dishwasher) and looked out on the backyard, where my neighbor, a chef, had built a wagonwheel herb garden. Boy, was life simple then. Although, of course, it didn't feel that way at the time.
Anyway, after all those years, my favorite windchime had been bleached out by the sun and I left it to Carolyn after I got married and moved north. I never did find another windchime I liked as much.
Imagine my surprise a week ago when Mom surprised me with a brand new one. I hung it by the front door today, and its gentle chimes have brought back memories and made this place feel a little more like home.

Cold turkey hurts!

So two days ago, I took the advice of the Skinny Bitches and decided to give up coffee. After reading their extensive list of how bad caffeine is for you, you might, too. Since I drink two cups every morning and a cup or two in the afternoon every once in a while, I figured it would be no big deal to simply cut coffee out of my routine.
Boy, was I wrong.
I started this experiment yesterday (Sunday) and have suffered with a nagging headache ever since. This afternoon at work, I finally broke down and had a Diet Coke, which has less caffeine but which the Bitches also disapprove of.
But I was clearly in desperate need of some caffeine, because after about half a can, the headache was gone. So I was headache-free and actually productive for the final two hours of work today. Oh well, it's Monday.
Not one to be daunted, I still plan to eliminate caffeine from my diet, but I've realized I'll have to ease myself into it.
I always knew caffeine was addictive, but I guess I thought I wasn't addicted. Go figure.
So now I'm off to the store to get some half-caf to get me through the rest of the week. Baby steps, right?

Vacation recap

I've got a double case of the Sunday blues tonight, because I'm down to the final hours of my precious vacation. Reality sets in again bright and early tomorrow morning, but tonight I'm reminiscing about my wonderful week of freedom.
Because I'm so Type A, I thought I'd make a list of things I accomplished on my vacation:

1. Rest — I slept when I wanted and blobbed out on the couch when the mood struck. Resting was the No. 1 goal of my vacation, and I'm happy to say I did it!
2. Cleaning — A week off work gave me the time to do the deep cleaning that I just can't make myself do on weekends or after work. Although cleaning is never fun, at least I could do it in bits and spurts throughout the week, rather than wasting an entire weekend doing it.
3. Decorating — Never mind that we've been in the new house for three months now, I finally got around to unpacking the last few boxes (although I will admit, one box remains, but I'm OK with that) and hanging a few things on the walls. It's hard to stay motivated to unwrap knick-knacks and decorate when you move as often as we do, but it does make the place feel homier.
4. Sewing — I finished a project and started another! No photos yet, but I'll post some soon.
5. Trip to Lafayette — Although it was cut short by several factors, we did make it down south and visited family and friends. We even shopped a little! Alas, no king cake. But, my hips are thanking me. We did eat well — very well — while we were there, though.
6. Problem solved — A problem with extremely red and irritated eyes threw a little bit of a kink in my vacation bliss, but happily, by the end of my week, we'd solved the problem. Even though it means forfeiting my contacts (after more than 10 years!) and going back to glasses, I'm OK with it. It was time for me to get a "new look" anyway.

So even though vacations aren't meant for "accomplishing things," I cannot, by nature, allow myself to bum out completely unless I'm on the beach. All things considered, my vacation was a smashing success. The only bad thing is it had to end. Oh, and it wasn't on the beach. Maybe next year. But this time, a stay-at-home vacation wasn't so bad.