Re-activating the Crone
So, I made this blog back nearly 2 years ago, and then promptly forgot about it. Chalk it up to many things: a crazy work life, family chaos, approaching 50, whatever. Then, a few days ago, I decided I wanted to blog again, and couldn't remember where I had put my old blog, so I started a new blog (CO-GrumpyGranny), and lo, and behold, my old blog showed up! Not exactly where I left it, but close enough. How cool is that. I even had a couple of comments.
So, here it is, January 2007, the year I turn 50. Although, according to various lore, I won't REALLY be a crone until I turn 56, the crone and the lure of the older, wiser woman has always appealed to me. In fact, I've been part of an online "cronethread" e-group for going on 12 years now. I find that pretty amazing. Here are some things I've discovered as I get older:
Things that happen are just not that critical. Drama is not exciting anymore, except on stage or on a movie screen or in a book. If you wait a little while, things usually settle down and get backto "normal" (whatever that is) all by themselves without too much effort. I'm not speaking of medical emergencies, obviously, but what I call "social drama".
I don't care what other people think of me. Truthfully, I never really have thought much of that, thanks to my upbringing by my amazing and recently departed mother. She taught me not to give a shit about what the neighbors think. This has come in handy being one -half of a lesbian couple in a straight neighborhood in a small, blue-collar town in Colorado. We take people as we find them, we are good neighbors, and for the most part, are accepted as same.
I don't need very much to have a really great life. When my mom died this summer, she left my siblings and me a small inheritance. In the greater scheme of things, it's not a whole lot for each of us, but it's more than I've seen in a lump sum in my entire life. I decided to quit my completely unlikeable job and see what it was like not to work full time after 35 years of doing just that. I like it! I am working part time--doing medical transcription work from home, and if I have my way, I'll work from home from now on. I love it.
My wife and I have downsized alot recently. I gave up my car (more about that on the GrumpyGranny blog), we are working at not buying much of anything new this year, going to the library instead of buying books or buying used books, etc. HGTV is great for getting those creative juices flowing! Yes, we did succumb to getting DirecTV after not having cable for 5 years, but only because we were able to "bundle" it into our phone bill at no extra cost. Since I'm working at home now, I have no need of any new clothes, tho I did buy a pair of snow boots recently since we've had the winter of the decade here in Colorado. Trust me, having warm feet all the time is money well spent!
Our house is small, and we like it that way. I don't understand this trend of having 2 people living in a 9,000 square foot house. After we met, got to know each other, and realized we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, we agreed that if we bought a house, the payments would have to be such that either of us could manage alone if we had to. We achieved that with this house we have now. She is disabled from the military, so her health care is covered from now on. I, on the other hand, have no health insurance. We agreed to leave the house in her name (oh, I can hear it now from the lesbian front), because I have the greater potential for having creditors come after me if I do get sick. But, you know, I'm not all that worried. We've done our wills and powers of attorney. We've both gotten life insurance policies that will cover the mortgage if one of us predeceases the other. You can only plan so much, and that's another thing I've discovered--when you LET things happan as opposed to trying to MAKE them happen, the things that DO happen are usually way better!
So, I'm at the end of this long, rambling rant. I've figured out how to get back to my blog, now, and I hope to be coming back on a regular basis. The Crone is now active, and she hopes to stay that way for a long, long time.
Crone on!
JC (juiceycrone)
So, here it is, January 2007, the year I turn 50. Although, according to various lore, I won't REALLY be a crone until I turn 56, the crone and the lure of the older, wiser woman has always appealed to me. In fact, I've been part of an online "cronethread" e-group for going on 12 years now. I find that pretty amazing. Here are some things I've discovered as I get older:
Things that happen are just not that critical. Drama is not exciting anymore, except on stage or on a movie screen or in a book. If you wait a little while, things usually settle down and get backto "normal" (whatever that is) all by themselves without too much effort. I'm not speaking of medical emergencies, obviously, but what I call "social drama".
I don't care what other people think of me. Truthfully, I never really have thought much of that, thanks to my upbringing by my amazing and recently departed mother. She taught me not to give a shit about what the neighbors think. This has come in handy being one -half of a lesbian couple in a straight neighborhood in a small, blue-collar town in Colorado. We take people as we find them, we are good neighbors, and for the most part, are accepted as same.
I don't need very much to have a really great life. When my mom died this summer, she left my siblings and me a small inheritance. In the greater scheme of things, it's not a whole lot for each of us, but it's more than I've seen in a lump sum in my entire life. I decided to quit my completely unlikeable job and see what it was like not to work full time after 35 years of doing just that. I like it! I am working part time--doing medical transcription work from home, and if I have my way, I'll work from home from now on. I love it.
My wife and I have downsized alot recently. I gave up my car (more about that on the GrumpyGranny blog), we are working at not buying much of anything new this year, going to the library instead of buying books or buying used books, etc. HGTV is great for getting those creative juices flowing! Yes, we did succumb to getting DirecTV after not having cable for 5 years, but only because we were able to "bundle" it into our phone bill at no extra cost. Since I'm working at home now, I have no need of any new clothes, tho I did buy a pair of snow boots recently since we've had the winter of the decade here in Colorado. Trust me, having warm feet all the time is money well spent!
Our house is small, and we like it that way. I don't understand this trend of having 2 people living in a 9,000 square foot house. After we met, got to know each other, and realized we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, we agreed that if we bought a house, the payments would have to be such that either of us could manage alone if we had to. We achieved that with this house we have now. She is disabled from the military, so her health care is covered from now on. I, on the other hand, have no health insurance. We agreed to leave the house in her name (oh, I can hear it now from the lesbian front), because I have the greater potential for having creditors come after me if I do get sick. But, you know, I'm not all that worried. We've done our wills and powers of attorney. We've both gotten life insurance policies that will cover the mortgage if one of us predeceases the other. You can only plan so much, and that's another thing I've discovered--when you LET things happan as opposed to trying to MAKE them happen, the things that DO happen are usually way better!
So, I'm at the end of this long, rambling rant. I've figured out how to get back to my blog, now, and I hope to be coming back on a regular basis. The Crone is now active, and she hopes to stay that way for a long, long time.
Crone on!
JC (juiceycrone)
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