The Path to a Simpler Way of Life - And more of CuzzyA's Visit

This journey that I am on in a complicated one...it has become somewhat popular to "Simplify", and with all things popular there is always propaganda. Take for instance, the Magazine Real Simple, which to me is basically a Living Magazine printed on what feels like Recycled Paper..is that the simple part or is is that sometimes Martha's Mag has photos of HER homes and Real Simple has REAL peoples homes...doing the same types of things.  I am on a Mag tangent because I have decided in my quest to Simplify my life that I will purge my 20 years of collection...Martha's included.  Of course, this takes time and discipline...I plan to have zero Mags left and just a collection of clippings...that I will label "Please throw away when the aliens come and get me  because they are not that important".  Simplify....does that mean organize your things or purge your things and make them someone else's junk or quit your job,  start a dream career,  focus on my health and worry about money, cook things from scratch, clip coupons, plant a garden and raise chickens, see...propaganda. Maybe the difference is that doing those things will get my old body back, find me more involved with our money, connect with the family more and connect with mother nature, maybe the difference is in the payoff, I'm certainly hoping. Clearly I am confused about my path today...I am dusting, vacuuming, purging the nest because day by day its becoming...something...not an empty nest per say just a little vacant at times.  CuzzyA left this morning for Ohio (her company will be missed), BabyGirl is at work along with PC and Bubba is fast asleep from working the third shift, so I was left alone with my thoughts and this is what you get...well maybe I'll include some pics also...

Hollywood, CA  June 26, 2010

First stop on this little trip, my Fav Fast Food joint! Gotta fuel up!

Pumpkin is a fan too, but mostly of the wet naps.

Yep, even the Veggie loves Chick-fil-A...

because they have THE BEST WAFFLE FRIES!

Already being silly - ready to make the loooong walk down both sides of Hollywood Blvd.

Pay no attention to the giant Patron bottle behind me...

Besides Hollywood Blvd, Vine St is the only other one with the Stars.

And here on Vine St. is James Dean - the Girls LOVE him!

One of my Favs... "Play it again Sam"

Great Halloween Resource! They wouldn't let me take pics but you can check out their website

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Did I mention is a an animal LOVER!

She thinks Will Smith is pretty cool too!

My Rugrat - isn't she beautiful!

Weirdest shoe store...cute but weird.

They have been awarding stars for 50 years...huh, didn't know that.

Drag Queens! It wouldn't be Hollywood without them!

Cutest "little" rock-a-billy shop - those are all clerks!

And this is one of the CUTEST dresses I have seen in a long time!

Still going strong!

She LOVES Godzilla - GRRRR!

We made it!

Guess?  Yep, Marilyn & Jane.

I am a closet Trekkie!

A fav....

One of the more "tame" street performers.

I really love when you look down an alley and see the unexpected.

Of all the stars out there - he has not been nominated for a Star on the Walk of Fame...weird.  BTW It's Clint Eastwood at the Wax Museum.  

That is not the end of day, but I need to go do some P90X, as the day has slipped away, I got a lot done but the pics took forever to load today. I am sill at a loss for the way to a simple life... guess I have t take it one step at a time on this path...I prefer to know what the destination is but perhaps that is my lesson; the path or "journey" is more important...sounds so cliche`, but I think it might be true. I hope you enjoyed the Hollywood tour, tomorrow LA INK & The Sign!  Off to work out! Tata for now!

I Should Have Bought the Extended Warranty

"Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday."
- Khalil Gibran
This is when empty nest sucks, when you have yet another epiphany that it's all over. Today's epiphany came as I was wondering the streets of Sacramento and stumbled into a used bookstore. There a young mother was wiping her son's nose while her Goldielocks of a princess was trying to get her attention. "Mommy, Mommy, MOOOMMMY - looook it's seeping booty read me seeping booty mommy". That word - mommy - will never be uttered to me like that ever again, it has been replaced with mom (usually with an annoyed inflection). Is it that big of a deal? It's just a pet name.
Yes, it pokes at me today, needles even. I use to be mommy and now I'm not - they might as well call me DeAnna.
How pathetic..................................................
Its times like this that I question everything...I regret everything....I feel like s**t because I want my babies back.
The poem is so true, but did I raise them that way?? Why didn't I stumble across that little gem twenty years ago?
This is not an apology for feeling abandoned or even a plea for sympathy or regret from those who may read it, it is simply a statement of the fact that I get it...my babies have not abandoned me because they don't love me, they are just doing what we all do, they are becoming. They were never mine.......I love them.....but no longer get to wipe a nose or read seeping booty.
......................................................empty nest is realizing that you were just a household appliance in the most literal sense and now your warranty is up.