Routines

Up early again this morning - it's now just after 5 and I've already been up for an hour. The garbage trucks have just barreled through our neighborhood. The yard waste trucks won't be far behind.

I am starting to enjoy these quiet morning moments to myself. I make a latte, power up my laptop. Check my emails. Download our bank info into our MS Money program. Make sure we're still solvent. Make sure our balances online match what my file says. Log onto to our bank and make sure our money is still where it should be and that no odd transactions have hit our accounts.

I try to be very quiet when I'm up this early so I don't wake up the dogs. When/if they hear me, Dani will start barking like she's going to attack any moment - so I have to be careful and shush her quickly or she'll wake up the entire house. That would be bad - the men in my life don't like getting up this early unless it's to go snowboarding.

The other part of my morning routine is checking on my villagers. Yes, you read that right. I play a computer game called Virtual Villagers - and currently have a village in the VV2 game. The object of the game - once you keep your initial villagers alive, solve 16 puzzles and teach them skills they need to survive long term - is to keep your village thriving. It's a fun game and my tending to my virtual village is a nice way to start the day. There's always something to teach them or something to work on. The fire went out - have to build a new fire. There's a bunch of young villagers who are 'untrained'. Have to teach them to fish or farm. Young villagers play tag, listen to stories, go to school, etc. So every morning, I check on the status and keep the village going.

Sadly, my first VV game (VV1 version) lost all of it's tribe members. I didn't check on them enough and they died out. I feel sort of bad about that - I had 'played' that particular game - with that particular village - for a long time and it was sad to realize they are 'done'. But I have my new village to tend to and keep going and that's a challenge. Silly, I know - but hey, it's fun for me and everyone needs a bit of fun.

I also check my Insaniquarium virtual fish tank every morning - feed them, sell some to buy different fish, etc. Another silly 'virtual' game that I enjoy.

I'm about to head to the Southwest airlines site to acquire a ticket for my wonderful Aunt M. to come visit us this summer from Boston. I can't wait!! When I was in the throes of teenage angst - my mother doesn't understand me, my sister is making me crazy, etc. - I would head to Oklahoma and visit my aunt. I went pretty much every summer during high school. One summer, my mom said I couldn't go. I said (and even now, I'm shocked because back then, I rarely spoke up about anything and never disagreed with my mom) 'I have a car and a job that provides the money to buy a ticket. Exactly how will you stop me from getting into my car and driving to the airport? I'm going'. And I went. She was not pleased - but I didn't care. My aunt's home was my refuge - it's where I thought through and worked out a lot of 'teenage' stuff. It was the perfect place to be and those memories are still in my mind like it was yesterday. I loved going there. She was (and still is) one of the coolest people I know. Reminds me of something H. says about me now and then: 'you're young, you're hip, you're fresh'. That's exactly how I feel about M.. (and when H. says that to me [usually in response to me making a comment about how I'm aging, or something], it's just such a great feeling. I think he really thinks that - at least a bit - though I know I'm his mom and by definition, I grieve him frequently - but I do think he likes me....and that feels good. And he knows when he says that to me, I love it - and a huge smile appears on my face and the day seems instantly brighter. And that's the same effect my Aunt M. has on me. Always has and always will. The ticket is a gift to her for her birthday (in a few days) - and a gift to me for my birthday (in a month). Can't think of any better gift than a family visit!!

The last time I saw her was at my Great Uncle Milt's memorial service - and we've made a promise to get together for something other than someone dying. And we're doing our best to stick to that plan. I can't wait to see her.

Have a terrific day!