The Loves of My Life

I've never been a regular viewer of the Oprah show, but I do admire the way she so generously invests her money in improving/enhancing the lives of others. I also like the fact that she makes no bones about being wealthy. She is not a pretentios person. Neither does she sugarcoat her personal history or her character flaws. She seems honest and humble, two worthy qualities that are too rare.

I did catch one show years back when she walked out on stage wearing a long skirt and the oddest ... things... on her feet I'd ever seen. "Ugs," she explained to the audience, and I assumed that was short for ugly. "Incredibly comfortable," she went on. "Totally dreamy." Sales of the boots, of course, exploded. (Dare I say I now own a pair? And LOVE them!)

Trust me, I'm no Oprah. But there are some things other than my ugs that I LOVE, and who knows, you may want to give one or two of these a try:

I LOVE lavender-scented epsom salt. My tub has spa jets so I can't use anything bubbly, but epsom salt is an awesome addition to my bath water. This is the year I turn 70 and I'm pretty active for an almost-70-year-old, so I'm no stranger to aches and pains. After a soak I feel ten years younger. No kidding. And the entire house smells like lavender, which is relaxing in itself.

I LOVE watching little kids perform in front of an audience. If you don't have a child, grandchild, niece, nephew, friend or neighbor's kid inviting you to a show they're in, invite yourself. Sure, parking usually sucks and some audience members take doting over their darlings to a crazy height, but that's part of the fun! If some of them have toddlers with runny noses squaking during the performance, so be it! These are budding young stars just waiting in the wings for their own time to shine. Smile, smile, smile, until your cheeks hurt. THAT's what it's all about!

I LOVE heavy whipping cream, unwhipped. I manage my weight by ljmiting my carbs rather than counting calories. (It works for me.) And as it happens heavy whipping cream has zero carbs. If I catch myself feeling hungry or craving something sweet (both of which are unusual), I have a cup of decaf coffee with heavy cream and Splenda. It's filling and delicious and a harmless self-indulgence that's great served hot or over ice. Mmm...mm.

I LOVE the little 3-1/2 x 4 inch tablet my daughter gave me lat year. It's cover is brown metal, with a silhouette of a horse in white. It is held closed by a small silver pen. I keep it on my coffee table, and use it every morning to list the things I want to do on a given day, lining through each item as I complete it. Yes, I have a desktop computer, a laptop, and a Blackberry. I know they each have a place to list tasks and a program to organize them. Not my style. The little tablet looks cute in its place, feels good in my hand, (I call it my palm pilot) and reminds me of my daughter every time I use it.

I LOVE to hear my cell phone ring. I adore John Denver, I adore Jennifer Lind (http://www.jenniferlind.net/ ), but I couldn't use any of their songs as my "ring" because the intros were all too long before arriving at voices. So I found a track on my Horses of the Wind CD that begins with the sound of wind blowing through a canyon, then the sound of an eagel's call, then, best of all, the sound of a wild horse neighing. Sometimes I phone myself, just to hear those sounds. Sigh...

I LOVE heroes. Not the sandwiches, but the individuals in my life that have inspired me, and allowed me to worship them from afar. Hero worship doesn't work well up close because everyone has flaws and some of them are best left unnoticed from a distance. I can pick anyone apart and put anyone down, but doing so takes me down as well. Placing someone on a pedestal means looking up to them. Hero worship (healthyy hero worship) is... uplifiting.

I LOVE the musical Les Mis. The lyrics are... well, they defy description. They are amazing, on more levels than can be named. I have seen the production three times on the stage, and have enjoyed outtakes from it on our DVD periodically over many years. I never tire of it. It tugs at my heartstrings every time. There will never, can never be a another musical to equal it. Like the tiny bubble in beautiful blown glass, it does have a tiny glitch though (in my opinion). There are two women in love with the male lead, and it has always bothered me that his true love is the weakling, while the strong, gutsy one perishes with only his passing appreciation directed her way. Just as well, I suppose. He's a bit of a wimp himself.

I LOVE really good wine. It spoils you for the just okay stuff. Enough said?