Back to Nebraska

  I’m back in Nebraska for about six weeks. Everything is so green here! I must say I miss the palm trees, saguaro cactus, and mountains of Phoenix though.

My work is cut out for me. I’ll be having a huge garage sale–trying to get the neighbors interested in going for a neighborhood one. I’ll also be selling furniture on Craig’s List. We have so many things accumulated over 25 years in this house, and many of them are not what I’d want to pay to move down to Phoenix.

Anybody want to buy anything? I’ve got it all–and at reasonable prices!

Hooray for Tea Parties!

  Thousands participated in Tea Parties across the nation today to protest the runaway government spending going on. I’m glad for this show of solidarity, and I agree with them 100%.

Obama, Pelosi, Geithner, and the other liberals are spending us into oblivion. As they raise taxes to cover it, it’s going to hurt, hurt, hurt. As they print money to finance their giveaways, the savings that Americans have worked for will lose its value. We, our children, and our grandchildren will have a very tough time going forward.

And enough with the bailouts! Our nation was founded on individualism and everyone’s chance to do the best he can–not on Big Brother’s socialist handouts and subsidizing those who can’t make it.

Just my opinion, but I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way. I just hope Obama is listening (but I think there’s very little chance of that). Here’s hoping the Tea Parties today are not a one-time thing, but the beginning of a movement that goes on into the elections of 2010.

No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

   Lately, I’ve been watching The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. This HBO series and the books that spawned it have been enormously popular. I know I “should” like it, and I do enjoy the colorful scenery and the lilting language. But it makes me feel “icky.” Whenever I watch it or think about it, I feel uneasy. Slightly queasy and nauseous in the pit of my stomach. Slightly impatient and frustrated. Yuck!

Why do I feel this way? Because the whole premise reeks of codependency, the very thing I’ve been battling. The main character is Precious Ramotswe, and “precious” she is. She is supposed to be so wonderful and lovable because her goals are the unselfish ones of helping solve other peoples’ problems and improving her beloved Botswana. She takes responsibility for everyone else, but she doesn’t take care of herself. She makes no money with her detective agency, so she doesn’t take care of her finances. She is obese, so she doesn’t take care of her health. She lives alone, grieving over the abuse she received at the hands of her ex-husband, so she often thinks of herself as a victim. Meanwhile, her beloved Botswana is idealized, and it is never mentioned that the country is inundated with HIV/AIDS. 

All this is a sure recipe for codependency–the act of taking responsibility for other people while neglecting responsibility for oneself. Maybe I’m overly sensitive because I see this in myself too much.  But I wish this popular series did not represent codependency as something good, idealistic, and admirable. Yuck.

Rosson House

   1895. It was a momentous year. Among other events, Oscar Wilde had his downfall that year and went to jail in England. And Dr. Rosson built his house in Phoenix, AZ. A beautiful Victorian mansion it is.

I went today to Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix, where the town first began. (Actually where it “rose like a phoenix” from the ashes of the disappeared Hohokam Indian settlement.) The Square is Phoenix’s answer to Colonial Williamsburg although, of course, on a much smaller scale. And you know what a sucker I am for historic houses! Back then, the Rosson mansion was one of the most prominent homes in Phoenix and cost $7,525 to build. 

Within walking distance are the ASU campus, the Arizona Science Center with a planetarium that shows “billions of stars,” and the Phoenix Museum of History. Also a British pub, The Rose and Crown, to have Scotch Egg, bangers and mash, fish and chips, and shepherd’s pie.

I couldn’t begin to do it all today, so will have to go back–many times since the area is a lovely one. So much to do in Phoenix! I’m making lists so I’ll know where to take visitors when they start coming down.

Life List

  Job hunting has to be one of the most frustrating things a person has to do. I’ve been applying for jobs in Phoenix, but haven’t gotten one so far. I went on two interviews with the same company, but still didn’t get the job. OK, so it wasn’t the ideal job for me anyway, but you can’t help feeling a little, well … rejected.  

Instead of wallowing in pessimism, I’m reading a book, The Aladdin Factor, which is all about continuing to ask. Ask for an interview, ask God, ask the universe. You have to ask, ask, ask before you can receive. But first, you have to ask YOURSELF! Did I really want that job that I interviewed for twice? Not really. It just came up on the radar.  If I were to ask myself what I really want to do with the rest of my life, it wouldn’t be that job.

Here’s where it gets exciting. The book says we should make a Bucket List of 101 specific wishes. What fun! We don’t have to limit ourselves or even wonder if something is possible. It’s a way to find out where we should be directing our energies.

Want to be exhilarated? Explore possibilities for your life? Quit limiting yourself? Form a plan? Check out a web site called eLifeList.com. You can make your own Bucket List, get ideas from others’ lists, hopefully check off things as accomplished, make friends, and get excited about life again. For ideas, see What’s On Your Bucket List? in my links to Favorite Sites.

Happy wishing!