Summer is now on the downslide…

Hello friends!  I know it has been a while since I have updated this blog, but I have a good reason:  I’ve been OUT THERE ENJOYING SUMMER!

Meals with friends…seeing new places…enjoying the weather…it’s all been wonderful.  I am completely recovered from my surgery, and I proudly mowed the lawn on Sunday!  It looks so neat and clean, and I love that I am the one who made it look like that.  I missed mowing the lawn the most.

Here’s a list of what I’ve been up to over the past 3 weeks…quite different from summers past when I just sat around…

• I have enjoyed breakfast/lunches with friends and family members at Shore Points BBQ, Frankie’s, The Wharfside, Turning Point, Four Seasons Diner, Five Guys, Brick Diner, The Committed Pig, and Mariner’s Cove.
• I visited Cattus Island County Park for the first time and walked around with a friend while taking photographs.
• I went to Six Flags Great Adventure with my 10-year-old nephew and we had a blast!  We went on Skull Mountain 16 times and the Mine Train 7 times, among other rides such as Congo River Rapids (and I got completely drenched, which he loved), Dark Knight Coaster, Safari, Log Flume, Skyride, Jolly Roger Train, Scrambler and more.  The best question he asked was, “Where are the 6 Flags?”  We couldn’t find them…
• I joined work friends for a day of adventures at the Atlantic City Aquarium, Absecon Lighthouse, and Lucy the Elephant.  I had never been to any of these locations before, and I’ve wanted to see Lucy for 4 summers now…and I finally did.  I also climbed to the top of the lighthouse with my friend, and we took a lot of breaks on the landings.  I almost gave up, but I made it the whole way and am glad I persisted on.  It was awesome to view the area from the top.  It was a great day!

• I have laughed and played with my niece and nephews several times, and enjoyed every minute of it.  I wrote a blog about one of my interactions with my nephew H on my other site.  You can read that here.
• In the past few days alone I have watched the sunrise, cleaned up our yard, cataloged photographs, gone shopping with my sister in law, and updated my planner/written in my journals.
• I updated my “Living 44” Goal List and am confident that I will accomplish most, if not all, of the things I want to do while I am 44.
• I’ve been participating in Susannah Conway’s photo challenge for August called The August Break 2015.  You can see my daily photographs on my instagram account, which is here.
  • If you would like more information about the challenge visit http://www.susannahconway.com/the-august-break-2015/

Every year, I keep an ear tuned to the first time I hear the mid-afternoon hum of the insects…I don’t know how else to describe it.  When I hear it for the first time, I know I must cherish each and every day left in summer.  With a bit of dismay, I heard it for the first time on Friday, 7/31.  The summer is now on the downslide, and September is closer with every passing day.

I am finding my DIRECTION, which is one of my other goals for 2015.  One of the results of finding my direction is my other blog that I started in July called SoulSEAker.  Please head on over there and follow my blog and my SoulSEAker social media accounts. 

I’m finding my direction, a little bit more every day!

I am LIVING this summer, and LOVING all of the memories I am making.

What are some of your favorite memories from this summer?  Share if you’d like in the comments section!

First Goal: Completed!

Hello friends!  Again, I must apologize for being missing in action.  My “witching hour” that I wrote about in my post titled “A Spring Break Break” has been arriving earlier and earlier, and finding time to write amid so much going on, Lupus flares/exhaustion and other minor health concerns has been an ongoing challenge.  Luckily, the “to do” list is starting to get a bit shorter, so I hope to use the lessons I am learning in Susannah Conway’s “Blogging from the Heart” course to good use and write more.

Anyway, today I would like to focus on my list of things I want to do in my 44th year, which you can read by clicking here.  #6 is to see a baseball game at Yankee Stadium, something I’ve never done even though it is so close.  Please keep in mind that I’m not a crazy Yankees fan, who curses the Red Sox and all that.  Rather, since I have always watched the Yankees, I wanted to see where it all happens.

I am so happy to say that I have crossed that off my list.  I went to the May 9, 2015 game versus the Orioles with 2 of my excellent friends, and another who met us at the stadium.  We caught the 7:21 train and after arriving at Penn Station, we hopped onto the D train at Herald Square.  After about a 20 minute subway ride, we walked out of the train, into the 161st Street Station, up the stairs, and were standing in front of Yankee Stadium by 10:30 am.  The gates opened at 11 am, and it was free key chain day:  I did get my key chain!  We walked immediately over to Monument Park, and it was so amazing to see the legacies and stories of past Yankee greats with my own eyes.

Our seats were 4 rows from the top row in the highest section, but I was happy that I could see the entire field with no problem, even with people sitting in front of me.  We had a roof over us which helped keep us warmer than if we had been sitting in the open; it was a very foggy and cool day, and even if it was sunny, the roof would have protected us from sunburn.  We enjoyed a pre-game typical lunch of hot dogs, and I purchased some postcards and pins for my collection before the game started.  Hearing the “Star Spangled Banner,” Bleacher Creatures, walk up songs for the Yankee players and “God Bless America” with my own ears, versus through a television speaker, was just awesome.  I was able to get some good photos of the stadium, the game, and my favorite Yankee, Brett Gardner.  The pitchers definitely threw faster than it looks on television, too. Even though the Yankees lost the game, I didn’t mind.  It was simply wonderful to be there in person.  Many times I just sat there, looking around and taking it all in.  We made it home safely on a packed train, and I was home about 13 hours after I had left for my adventure.

I was telling one of the friends who went to the game with me about how I was so mad at myself for never making the effort to get to a game to see Derek Jeter play; he is my favorite player ever, and it’s not because I am a female.  I admire his character, drive and demeanor very much.  She said that I shouldn’t have regrets about the past, but that I should be happy that I went on May 9.

And she’s right.  I know I cannot relive the past (because if I could I would definitely do so many things differently), but I can embrace the present and plan for the future.  I venture to predict that the May 8, 2015 game will be the first of many more trips to Yankee Stadium.

#6 of my 10 Things I Will Do While 44 is officially completed and crossed off.

The 3 pins I bought for my collection.

We made it!

Mariano Rivera’s retired 42. He is another one of my all-time favorites.

The Babe

Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and Chris Young right before the “Star Spangled Banner.”

“God Bless America”

To see all of my photos from the day (taken with my Canon G17 and iPhone 5s), please click here.

10 Things I Will Do While 44

There are a lot of great ideas and things to do during my 44th year, as suggested by friends, family, students and colleagues.  I will be compiling a master list of all the ideas, but for now, this is a list of 10 things I WILL DO this year.

*** Please note that due to health/medical issues and scheduling conflicts, I modified my original list.

1.  Go to Central Park and see Strawberry Fields. COMPLETED on 12/7/15.

2. Go to the State of Liberty and look out of the crown. COMPLETED on 8/12/15.

3.  Do 3 things I never did before.  COMPLETED! 1:  Meditation (March).  2: Yoga (June).  3:  Hear an author lecture (February-Deepak Chopra).

4.  Sit at the Inlet for a day and photograph all of the boats that come in and out.  COMPLETED on July 10, 2015!

5.  Get my passport stamped at least once, or have travel plans that will have it stamped in 2016.  This one, so far, did not happen and I’m okay with it, since my husband and I went to Disney together in November, which was a surprise and time just for us.  Our trip meant more to me than seeing someplace needing a passport.  But wait…we DID have a passport for Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival.  SO I DID ACCOMPLISH THIS GOAL!  🙂

6.  Go to a Yankees game:  COMPLETED on May 9, 2015!

7.  Go to Grounds for Sculpture.  This one will not happen, and I’m okay with it.  I have seen so many other new places this year in place of Grounds for Sculpture that I’m happy.  Perhaps I’ll make it there during my 45th year.

8.  Watch the fireworks on July 4th.    It’s been a long time since I have done this. COMPLETED on July 4, 2015!

9.  Watch a sunrise during each of the 4 seasons: COMPLETED!  Spring:  Completed on April 6, 2015.  Summer: Completed on August 2, 2015.  Autumn:  Completed on November 27, 2015.  Winter: Completed on January 26, 2016.

10.  See 3 new places a month.  95% COMPLETED!  UPDATE:  New places for March: Ron Jon’s in LBI, Surf City 5 and 10, St. Stephen’s Publik House in Spring Lake.  New places for April:  Flatiron District in NYC, Strand Bookstore in NYC, Heritage Park in Allentown, NJ.  New Places for May:  The Record store in Howell, NJ, Yankee Stadium, D-Train Subway in NYC.  New Places for June:  Due to medical appointments, surgery, and recovery, I was unable to attain this goal for June; however, I did go to Six Flags Great Adventure on a school trip, and Jenkinson’s Aquarium and the rides with my nephew (awesome places, just not new places).  New Places for July: Turning Point, Shore Points BBQ, Lava Java, Cattus Island County Park, Atlantic City Aquarium, Absecon Lighthouse, Lucy the Elephant, Panda Express. New Places for August: Monmouth Battlefield, NJ Vietnam Memorial & Museum, Smithville, Topanemus Burying Ground, Middletown Church.  New Places for September:  Surf Taco (Manasquan), Winward Tavern, Crown & Anchor Tattoo.  New Places for October: Seaside Park Beach at 4 Street, Frightfest, Chowderfest.  New Places for November: Stroudsburg PA, Hot Dog Johnny’s, Chef Mickey’s.  New Places for December: Asbury Festhaus and Biergarten, Tom’s Restaurant, Central Park, Book Culture.  New Places for January: Marquee Cinemas, Monmouth University Polling Institute, RWJ Hospital, Plastic Surgery Center in Shrewsbury (last 2 are due to husband’s surgery..lame, yes, but nonetheless are new places). February: Count Basie Theater, the Dublin House.

What else would you recommend me do, see, or try (keeping in mind that finances are limited and I have Lupus/Fibromyalgia)?  Let me know!

Until then time, in the words of George Costanza, Upward and Onward!