Not Every Day I Get to Be a Monster

This week, as a representative for SOAR Regional Arts, I attended a women's networking meeting. I had no idea what to expect and felt a bit anxious. What if they required me to introduce myself and talk about SOAR? Even though I've been keeping up with SOAR since we moved to Saint Michael, I was afraid they would want to know more than I knew.

It turned out my worries were groundless, which was a relief. There were seven other women in attendance, and two were also attending for the first time. The group appears to be very fluid. Women come as their schedules allow. I had a terrific time and found each person to be gracious and kind during the time we spent together.

It was a terrific first outing as a representative of SOAR. Next week I am attending two more meetings. One is a networking luncheon, and the second is a community foundation meeting on philanthropy.

I work five hours a week with SOAR business, which allows me plenty of time for family and friends. Today I spent about an hour and a half with Megan and Oliver. When he saw me, he ran to me to be picked up, which touched my heart. We played with new small board books he has added to his toy collection. Our idea of play is not reading. It is instead unzipping the soft plastic container they are stored in and tipping all of the books out onto the floor. I stack the books on each other, and Oliver gleefully knocks them down. We also played putting the books into the bag and dumping them out again. Over and over.

We also played "monster eats the baby," a game his loving, sweet, kind Grandma made up on the spur of the moment. Oliver stands across the room by his large playpen. The playpen has stretchable webbed fabric. He sticks his head in the webbing and looks at me. I say, "Hi Oliver, I see you!" in a gruff, monstery voice. He smiles. I say, "I am going to get you!" He runs into my arms, and I pretend I am eating him up. We did this five or six times and both had lots of fun. Not every day I get to be a monster.

Not that I advocate eating babies. It is just a pretend game full of love and smiles. God knows what I am teaching this sweet little boy. Maybe it is as simple as it is okay to be silly no matter how old one is.

Joe is getting the hang of retirement. I was a bit concerned for him at first. He is learning, though, that it is okay to relax a bit. Yesterday he moved some artwork for me. By now he knows when I want to move a piece, it usually means three or four other pieces will follow. He was incredibly patient when it meant getting a tall ladder from the garage to hang a photo on the landing above the main level half bath. A job he thought would take five minutes easily turned into 45 minutes.

While he was moving and rehanging pieces in the entryway, it dawned on me that since moving into our home in April 2024, I have not repositioned any furniture. At our age, it is probably better that it is only artwork I am wanting to move around. Though I have been playing with a new idea for the living room layout...

Maybe that is what I am learning in this season of life. It is okay to walk into new rooms even when I feel unsure. It is okay to be a little silly, to make space for joy, and to change things up now and then, even if it starts with something as simple as moving a picture on the wall. Little moments, small risks, and a willingness to laugh seem to be more than enough for a pretty good day.

Small Joys in a Noisy World

Not sure how often I will be writing as I seem to get wrapped up in other areas of this life. Today we made time in our schedule to have lunch with Megan, Jeremy, and Oliver. It may sound silly to say that one of the joys in my life is watching Oliver eat his meals. Most of the photos in my phone are of Oliver eating over the past seven months. The other day they were eating sushi and Oliver was stuffing a whole piece into his mouth. He loved his sushi! Today we ate Mexican food - Oliver likes his beans. He also likes to eat salsa directly from a spoon. Who needs a chip?

Life isn’t all chips and salsa, though.

In my last update I forgot to mention that Joe attended the No Kings protest in Saint Paul last weekend, as did another friend. They both sent pictures to me. Joe was impressed with the crowd size, and as any media that’s reported on the 8 million-plus people participating around the country (the number is higher if you include international protests), the crowds are made up of people of all ages and political leanings. Despite the White House and current administration’s remarks that protesters are paid, radical left-wing Antifa agitators, it seems that the majority are regular folks like you and me who do not support someone who thinks the Constitution is inconvenient and merely a suggestion. I am hoping that by the time the next major protest rolls around I am able to walk and stand for a three-hour stretch. Meanwhile, I’ll keep speaking out and making calls and writing letters to representatives.

We were supposed to have a big snowstorm today, but it ended up just being flurries off and on. As of 7:30 pm, the snow was still melting as it hit the ground. Joe took the snow tires off the Subaru today, so I won’t be surprised if it snows all night and we wake up to inches on the ground in the morning. Our regular tires are all-weather, so it will be okay. Joe and I prefer snow tires for most of the winter as we think they handle snow and ice better than all-weather.

I love my new hearing aids! I can hear almost everything (some people still mumble or talk fast, so I have to pay attention). These hearing aids are not so fancy that they pair with my laptop, television, or phone, and that is one of the reasons I love them. Several times I would have my hearing aids sitting nearby and be watching a video on my phone, and suddenly the sound would go dead as they decided to pair. They are also mini-sized and fit inside my ear, not over it, which is another reason I love them. My last pair, the piece that fit over the ear, would get caught in my hair. Taking my glasses off and on with the over-the-ear variety was also problematic. So now I am not nearly as irritable as when I tried to wear the old pair. Hearing is important. Kudos to my daughter for telling me I needed to do something about it, as it was making it harder for everyone else, too. Megan may need to work at the White House - someone has to tell forty-seven the things he does not want to hear.

As we head into Easter weekend, I’m wishing a gentle, hopeful holiday to those who celebrate. Whether it’s time with family, a good meal, or simply a quiet moment to yourself, I hope you find a little bit of peace and something that makes you smile.

Updates from the Land of “Maybe It’s Spring”

Joe took this photo of our front porch yesterday (it was raining). 

The step up to the porch feels like  pole vault would be handy for my short legs.

Good morning from Minnesota. April 3, 2026, and we have a weather advisory calling for snow, sleet, and or rain over the next twenty four to thirty six hours. I had kind of hoped we were done with winter and could begin enjoying spring, but Minnesota seems to have other plans.

Yes, I have been away for a while, and it turns out I needed that time to recharge. So what is new in the Coehlo household?

Joe retired as of Tuesday this week from ICA. This now gives him plenty of time for what he calls “a few small projects,” which of course means leveling out another area of the yard and building yet another retaining wall. The plan for that space is still up in the air. Maybe a couple of pear trees. Maybe an herb and flower garden with some native grasses mixed in. Possibly a grape arbor, just because.

He also needs to build a brick step up to the front porch. Our home was custom built, and while the original couple may not have been tall, they must have had very long legs because that first step is a doozy for this short legged chick. I am voting this becomes project number one when the weather warms up.

In the meantime, he has plans to have the garage shop floor refinished in mid May. Apparently this requires at least thirty days of very serious organizing so he can “comfortably” move everything to one side while the floor gets leveled and coated. I am staying out of that one.

I started a new part time position as Director of Development for SOAR Regional Arts on April 1. If you are wondering what that means, it mostly involves meeting new people, building relationships, and inviting both businesses and individuals to support the arts. It is a good fit for me. If you are curious, you can take a look at what they are doing at soararts.org. I will keep you posted on how I manage to fit in at least five hours a week of fun SOAR activity.

Eight Friday morning neighborhood coffees have come and gone since I last posted. It has been such a delight getting to know the women in our neighborhood better. Actually, that should be seven morning coffees and one Friday evening happy hour. For the five of us who made the happy hour, we decided it might need to become a regular thing.

Mary Lee, who is more of a night owl, was able to join us that evening. Our neighbor Kim has also taken me under her wing to help me learn everything Minnesotan. I am not sure I am the best student. I have been known to rely on AI to help me craft the occasional text to our neighborhood group in “their” language. The funny thing is, I have always understood everyone just fine and did not realize Minnesotan was its own language. Now that I have been reading the book Kim loaned me, I really do hear the differences between Minnesotan, Ohioan, and Californian lingo. Turns out I am multilingual after all.

I also have new eyeglasses, hearing aids, and a new haircut. Getting old is not for sissies, as they say. I do like the Mark Twain version better: “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” For the record, the glasses are light purple and the hearing aids are the tiny kind that tuck right inside the ear.

Our three grandchildren are all doing well. Growing and healthy, which is exactly what we want.

Speaking of healthy, I am still working with Coach Becky on nutrition and activity. So far I am down forty three pounds and forty inches, which still surprises me a little when I say it out loud.

I think that just about catches us up to today.