laughteristhebestmed-litbm1
I actually have to check my watch to see what day it is. THEN I check a calendar to see if anything is written there. THEN I see what the weather is doing and the forecast. THEN I check my ‘to do’ list. THEN I check with my husband. This last is the deciding factor.
Filed under Challenges, Changes, Cherishing the Quiet Day, Funny Signs - Humor
I’m finally doing this more. I try to make sure that I have a bit of time for myself each day, where I ignore all the ‘shoulds’ and just do something that makes me smile – or at least, calm down – in that life is sometimes a challenge, isn’t it.
I have a mental list of what makes me smile – (in random order, as I think of them) –
My goal is to spend more and more time smiling. What makes YOUR soul happy?
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, Cherishing the Quiet Day
We went to Yeagers/ACE this afternoon armed with our 20% off coupon good today or tomorrow. As you can see above, I have a new lease on life with new clippers in two sizes, a trowel, and gardening gloves (I bought 2 pairs.) We also bought fifteen 40-pound bags of potting soil. AND – the coupon was good, WAS for 20% off the entire purchase. Woo HOOO!
I suggested that we distribute the bags of potting soil around the yard where they would be used, rather than piling them up and then having to wheelbarrow the bags around. We put 9 bags in front of the trio of brick planters I just finished weeding. 3 more went in front of the elephant ear planter. And the final 3 were distributed when we drove around through the back yard and around to the side where the two tomato planters and new iris planter are – one bag to each. I’ll start putting the soil into the planters tomorrow.
There were two men in front of Yeagers handing out poppies that we can wear to honor veterans. That was nice.
We stopped to buy lottery tickets while we were out, since we have lots of great ideas about what we could do with the $1.4 BILLION or so it’s worth now. Our winning number will be announced tonight. :0)
Kay’s daughter sent us some tea to try from when she was in the area and stopped at a store they like. I’m drinking a cup right now. It’s very pleasant and comforting, even though I’m a coffee-holic. It’ll be particularly nice to enjoy on cold winter evenings when I’m curled up under my throw in my recliner. NICE of her to think of me and send it to me.
So we have had a good day today. When I finish my tea, I’ll do my yoga practice for the day. (DAY 113)
DON’T FORGET TO SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK ONE HOUR TONIGHT. Do you think our lawmakers will EVER realize how much their constituents HATE Daylight Savings Time?
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day
Okay. We came home from Lunch Bunch and, instead of messing around, I went upstairs and FINISHED going through the books on my shelves in our bedroom, cleaned the shelves and reorganized the books. So that mini-project is finished.
I also, while I was up there, put away the laundry I did yesterday.
I came down with a load of books from the project above, listed them on my donation sheet and put them in one of the bags going to the library soon.
SO –
my dilemma is –
do I dive into another project, since I’m finished with the other stuff early, or
do I reward myself and read my book for awhile, and maybe even take a short nap?
Ponder. Ponder.
Right. I’m going to go read now. :0)
Hope you’re enjoying your day.
I hope you’re feeling energetic and sassy today.
It’s Friday, so it’s Lunch Bunch in a bit followed by a couple of errands. I’m mailing the Christmas cards my friend asked me to paint so she can send them to her friends this year.
I haven’t decided what I’ll tackle when we get home. I’m still working on trying to rearrange the part of my book collection that lives upstairs. I’ll probably continue working on that this afternoon. No other big plans yet.
Isn’t he a sweetie? My heart melted when I found him. I think we should definitely play with him, or at least take him for a walk.
We’re set for a joyfully quiet week where I’ll try to catch up on some stuff, play in my art room, continue reading my book, listen to music, play with our animals, find things for the blog, do my yoga, plus do some have-to’s that have been piling up around the house. I’ll sandwich in a have-to between lots of want-to’s.
I hope your Monday is a happy one.
Yesterday I called my friend, Linda, to sing “Happy Birthday” to her on the phone. (We celebrated her birthday formally last Friday at Lunch Bunch, the last Friday before her birthday) but I wanted her to know I was thinking of her on her special day. She probably looked much like this as I sang – but she laughed – which was what I wanted her to do. She is such a special lady and I love her.
There is nothing on our ‘have-to’ list today. HOORAAY! I cherish each and every one of these ‘quiet days,’ soaking up the calm. I don’t know if that is actually possible – but I’m trying, since I NEED the extra on the more challenging days around here.
I will make a new system disc and new data backup disc today, now that we got Password Safe working again. I think that all is good now, as far as I know, so I want to make copies of both the operating system as it is now, plus new copy of my data, as backup in case anything bad happens. Since technology and I are usually at odds, I try to be careful to be able to restore things, if needed.
I need to do mundane stuff, like making a new wipe off calendar in the kitchen, do bookkeeping on the computer for June, filing, etc. (Be still, my heart.) :0)
I AM thinking about getting started with the Christmas presents I’m making for my friends. If I can make headway on everything else, maybe I’ll treat myself to some time up in my art room.
I hope that you have something exciting and fun to do today.
While we were getting groceries, we decided to splurge and have fish dinners from the deli. THEN we decided to throw caution to the winds and cook outside on the deck tonight. We got hamburger meat and some big seeded buns, plus strawberries to enjoy with some ice cream tonight.
Our thermostat under the deck top says 100+ degrees right now, so it’s too hot to do anything outside until much later anyway. Hopefully, we can start thinking about starting a fire in the cooker about 7, even though the sun will still be up. The worst of the heat should be past by then.
I’m really looking forward to this evening. We haven’t cooked out in a long time. We’ll have Amber, our yellow lab, and Abby, our cat, out there with us. Hopefully, we’ll be joined by some birds enjoying the feeders being full and some hummingbirds diving around. Sometimes we see some rabbits, roadrunners, or even deer in the distance for a bit.
We have some multi-colored LED lights strung around the inside top of the deck cover, and we’ll turn those on for a festive note. We’ll put our feet up, relax, enjoy a drink and some good conversation.
Ahhhhhhh!
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day
As I type this, we’re about to get a downpour. Our skies are very dark – like night – but it’s just supposed to be heavy rain, nothing severe. For that I am grateful.
I’m also thankful that, after MUCH searching lately, we finally found the zero sugar Mtn Dew Spark raspberry-lemonade drink my husband wanted. We couldn’t find it locally. Our local grocery was the place my husband found it, but the grocery changed hands and the new owner doesn’t stock it, at least not ‘yet.’ We lucked out at Target in Ft. Smith yesterday afternoon. We stocked up, and he should be in good shape for a good while now. He is Type II diabetic and it’s really important he stick with zero sugar things as much as humanly possible.
I’m grateful I don’t have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking today. (I replenished our supply of hard-boiled eggs a couple of days ago. I made a double batch of low carb biscuits. Two days ago I made a pot roast.) My husband was really happy with it and asked if we could have more tonight. I ‘graciously’ said, “Sure!” So all I need to do is heat things up, cook a veggie, toss a salad, and dinner is ready. :0)
I’m grateful for what should be a quiet day. Since it’s about to rain, work outside isn’t possible. The first thing I’ll do today (after writing some blog posts) is package the meat and chicken we bought recently for the freezer. Then I’ll start the project I was planning to start yesterday – reorganizing our pantry. I’m starting with our medicines.
I’m grateful that I can do the exercise I want to do in the comfort of my own home, regardless of the weather, without having to plan it around a lot of other people’s schedules. I do my exercise videos right here at my computer. I just put on my headphones, grab my weights, and start. My elliptical trainer is in our garage. Unless the temperature is really high or really low, I’m good to go there. I now have my new MP3 player so I can listen to some tunes while I use it. Then, I unroll my yoga mat in the living room, take off my shoes, put the two pillows on the floor, and I can stretch myself in all directions – sometimes with the help of our cat, Abby, and our dog, Amber.
MUCH gratitude on this last day of April.
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day
Good morning! I just have time to say a quick, “Hi” before I leave. I’m doing exciting stuff, like take the trash down to the bottom of the driveway, get the mail, and go get a haircut. Wow. I hope my heart can take it. :0)
Actually, I’m very grateful for quiet, calm days without a big schedule these days. Since my husband had a couple of strokes last year, I don’t make many plans. I take things one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time, and – on rare occasions – one MOMENT at a time, dealing with the changes and some new challenges. He is still ‘in there,’ but sometimes he’s hard to find.
So, quiet, calm, low-pressure days are more than welcome.
Each of us deals with poor health, challenges, fears differently. Respecting our differences, and taking as much time as possible to meet our own needs is key. Love is at the base of it all, and will ever be.
Today is bright and sunny. Our weather will be stellar. I’ll take our wonderful hair stylist a big bag of home grown lettuce as an extra thank you for being there for us.
I’m hoping I can spend some time outside this afternoon, working on the planter I started cleaning out a couple of days ago, checking on the tomatoes.
I hope that YOUR Tuesday is a happy one.
Today is a quiet day for us, and I’m really enjoying it.
I’m going out later to our shop. I’ll try to repair the pot I made for my friend, Kay. One of the stones fell off the mosaic design. I should be able to fix it. I really want to because she really seemed to enjoy the gift and I want it to last a long time for her.
Yesterday we rushed around doing lots of errands and tying up loose ends before Christmas, so it’s doubly good to be able to simply enjoy the pretty day. My husband and I had a celebrational lunch yesterday, eating French fries for the first time in a year. Absolutely DELICIOUS, and I’m already looking forward to eating them again NEXT year. :0)
My emotions have been a bit like a roller-coaster lately, so I’ve been looking for things that bring my spirits up.
One thing that helps is a walk around our yard. We have some ‘things worth seeing’, such as flowers-
I hope seeing these brought up YOUR spirits, too. Have a wonderful day!
Filed under Attitude, Cherishing the Quiet Day, Favorite Things, Gardening
This sweetie says it all for me today.
Skies are overcast and it looks like rain could start any minute. It’s cool. (57 degrees F.) A GREAT day to snuggle under my throw in my recliner and read or watch TV until I get sleepy and take a nap.
Even though I’m not feeling motivated to accomplish much, I AM getting in the mood to play in my art room.
Ideas are starting to rattle around in my head. I may go up and play and see what comes out of it.
Since today is a comfort food day, I’ll get some spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker for us to enjoy tonight.
I hope that you are somewhere warm and dry, and that you will find fun in your day.
Since Mother Nature is giving us a cool-for-the-season, WET day, I will get the makings of chili in the slow cooker when we get home from Lunch Bunch. When whatever we decide to do is done for the day, a nice warm comfort-food-type dinner will be ready.
Stay warm and dry and have a wonderful day!
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day
Freepik
Stress (forwarded by my sister-in-law)
Management for Women!
A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience with a raised glass of water. Everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, ‘half empty or half full?’ She fooled them all. “How heavy is this glass of water?” she inquired with a smile. Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.
She replied , “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm.  If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” She continued, “and that’s the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.”
“As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden – holding stress longer and better each time practiced. So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night.
1 * Accept the fact that some days you’re the pigeon and some days you’re the statue!
2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet just in case you have to eat them.
3 * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
4 * Drive carefully… It’s not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.
5 * If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
8 * Never buy a car you can’t push.
9 * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.
10 * Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
11 * Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.
13 * When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
15 * Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
16 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
17 * A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
18 * Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
19 * Save the earth. It’s the only planet with chocolate!
Today someone asked me if I liked you. I laughed and said, “Ha! That’s funny! I absolutely LOVE that woman! She’s funny, caring, crazy as heck, sweet, beautiful, she’s reading this e-mail right now and I love her!”
Send this to ladies you love!  Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says “Oh crap, she’s up!”
—Eleanor T. Cicerchi
via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
It is really pretty outside right now. We will have to close our doors and turn on the a/c soon, but right now we have a nice breeze with ceiling fans.
We will meet our friends for Lunch Bunch in about an hour. We wear face masks, and there is a limit on capacity inside the restaurant. It’s wonderful to be able to see our friends, catch up on what’s been happening, and laugh together.
I’m hoping for a quiet day today. I will clean out the aquarium and hopefully work on some new earrings upstairs in my art room.
I hope that YOU have a good day, too.
Everett Ruess via Lisa Bearnes Richey
My personal situation has forced me to live one day at at a time – sometimes one HOUR at a time. With this change in focus, I’m actually finding some good coming from it. Though things are tense here many times, being forced to ‘stay-in-the-moment’ is freeing.
Instead of worrying about my ‘to do’ list, all the other stuff I might – or even SHOULD be doing – slips WAAAAY down in priority. As I’m learning to focus on the most important, wringing out every moment of joy possible, my mind is less burdened. If I do anything else during the day, that’s good, but it is no longer NECESSARY.
I am being given the chance to keep my head on straight. I have people who are very, very important to me. I have animals who continue to give me unconditional love. Enjoying whatever time I have with them is paramount.
Making every day count – “while I am alive, I intend to live.”
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, Cherishing the Quiet Day
Tail and Fur
“It’s raining, it’s pouring;
The old man is snoring.
He went to bed and he
Bumped his head
And he couldn’t get up in the morning.”  ~ Nursery Rhyme
We’ve already reached and broken the record here in Arkansas for rain in August, and it’s raining again. We may get another 2 inches today to add to the over 11 for the month.
My husband has been gritching all summer because USUALLY we get to a point where it’s so hot with no rain that our lawn becomes ‘brown and crunchy’ (his favorite) and doesn’t need mowing. No luck for him this year. Happily, we have a nice used riding mower to make the job as easy as it gets.
I did a good job on weed whacking yesterday, going all the way around our garden, the propane tank for our shop, and behind the shop, plus the front yard, plus the area between the front yard and the driveway pad. I was planning to work on the back – and around the greenhouse today – but it looks like an inside day for us.
We’re getting ready to enjoy eating with our long-time Lunch Bunch friends. I think we decided recently we had been meeting every Friday for at least 17 years. I’m thankful to have such good, long-time friends. We’ve shared laughter and tears through the years, celebrating, or helping each other through hard times. Today our son plans to come with us!
After errands, we’ll settle in, enjoying a dry home, family, and pets.
I hope that you are enjoying your Friday.
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day, Family, Friendship, Mother Nature
Jeff Jett – Linkedin
Good morning!
I hope today finds you healthy and happy, enjoying a great Sunday.
Our main feeling here is thankful –
We’re hoping that Mother Nature will cooperate with us tonight, allowing us to cook celebration steaks outside on the grill.
I hope your Sunday is filled with wonderful things, too.
Filed under Cause for Celebration, Cherishing the Quiet Day, Family, Friendship
That Guy Steve
The second load of laundry is in, the groceries are put away. We’re going to devote ourselves to CHILLIN’ today.
Hope YOUR day is wonderful, too.
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day, Family, taking care of yourself
Brightside
We are enjoying a nice, quiet Saturday. Our most stressful thing today has been trying to program our thermostats upstairs and downstairs. :0) We THINK we have it done now.
We don’t have anywhere we have to be, so we can do a clean-up of details. I’m going to try to do a quick session or two of weeding flower planters and pruning roses, plus checking on the garden. I’ll keep the sessions short and drink lots of water in-between.
It’s good to be able to enjoy the calm today. Our son is with us. All is good.
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day, Family, taking care of yourself
Brightside
We’re enjoying a quiet day here. Days like this have been few and far between lately, so we’re concentrating on being very thankful. We’ve been out, errands have been run, no big plans for the day. Mother Nature is trying to boil us in oil outside, with a heat index this afternoon of 110-115 degrees F., so we’re content to enjoy our cool home and maybe even catch a nap this afternoon.
I’m going to try to make some time to play in my art room today. I have a couple of ideas rattling around that I’d like to try. I’ll play my MP3 player, shut out the world, and enjoy! Ahhhh.
Happy Sunday to you, too! :0)
Monty Winters
My son and I spent a fascinating time together today.
He asked me if I wanted to see him write in the Thai language. We sat side by side on the couch. He had a lap board, paper, and pen. He wrote words, showing how the characters worked together to make the characters ‘high class’ or ‘low class,” and how the vowels were usually a combination of several characters in a pattern that told him whether the pronunciation should have his voice going up or going down.
He wrote out several whole sentences for me, and I loved watching how carefully he wrote the characters, but he clearly didn’t have to think much about it, having practiced for hours and hours to get it right.
Being technologically challenged, we discussed answers to my questions regarding his phone and his computer. He had to get a SIM card to put into his phone in order to use it here in the United States. There is another place in the side of his phone that allows him to store the SIM card he uses in Thailand, so he can change it back when he goes home.
He also showed me how he can change keyboards on his phone from English, to Mandarin Chinese, to Thai and back again with just a click. He participates in a program where people text questions, such as, ‘How do I ask someone if they want to go eat in English?” He answers, after reading the question in Thai or Mandarin, then switches to his English keyboard and writes the answer. He can read Mandarin and answer a question in Thai or in English. I’m so proud of his hard work and determination to become as fluent as possible in each of the languages, plus help other people, too. He says it’s showing respect to learn the language of the country you’re living in.
He’s decided that when he replaces his computer next time, he’s going to buy one in Thailand so it has Thai characters on the keyboard, rather than having to use the stick-on characters that get grungy after a time.
I took Spanish in high school and went to Mexico City one summer. I was able to make myself understood a reasonable amount of the time, but certainly not in anything more than BABY Spanish, ungrammatical, with a lot of acting thrown in. I’m not SURE I would say I’m really FLUENT in English, either, as I feel out of my depth very quickly with people whose vocabulary is much richer than mine.
We had a wonderful time this afternoon, and I saw yet another side of our son. We know we’re biased, but we think we understate what an amazing man he is!
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day, Family
Trendzified
Good morning!
I’m feeling happy and grateful this morning.
We’re having a nice weekend weather-wise here in Greenwood, Arkansas. The highs will be in the 70’s and no rain until tomorrow evening (although it LOOKS like it could rain today). Because rain is forecast for every day from Sunday evening through Thursday next week, I’m trying to get as much accomplished in the yard as possible. Yesterday I planted tomato plants in one of the brick planters beside the house. The wind was gusting so hard I began to wonder if I was going to be able to plant! I did finish, though, and will check on the plants again this morning.
_______________________
Things got busy around here, so an hour or so has passed.
The doggies demanded I take them out, so we walked all over the yard. We saw the veggie garden with its automatic watering –
we checked on the new tomato plants –
we took pictures, and played a bit while enjoying the really nice morning.
Just a few minutes ago my husband suggested we drive down to see if the mail had been delivered. We also took the “Rabbit and Easter Egg” mailbox decoration when we went, exchanging it for the leprechaun for St. Pat’s Day.
We drove down to the church at the end of the street to turn the truck around and met our good friend Carla, who was walking her two doggies, Nikki and Rubie. Thank goodness I still had a couple of dog treats in my pocket so we could greet them properly. (Carla said she didn’t care for one.) :0)
Today’s big project is filling the wheelbarrow with top soil and trying to fill up all the holes (or as many as I can find) that the moles, voles, and other ‘ole’s’ underneath the surface caused our doggies to dig to try to get them. We only actually saw one ‘victory’ so far. We’re not sure WHO got the ‘critter’ we found, but SOMEONE had given it a very hard time. Anyway, between the underworld critters and ours, the yard almost looks like something from a bad horror movie. I’ll try to get them filled so that the rain can make the soil sink down and stay put, and then maybe we can mow without falling into a hole or twisting an ankle.
I hope your morning has been a fun one!
“Catching Bubbles” – Jabbok Dawn
We missed the Blood Moon and the eclipse this morning. Abby, one of our cats who is supposed to go out at night, jumped up on our bed this morning (at 0-dark-thirty – but AFTER the eclipse) meowing to go out. I’ve hugged both Molly and Amber first thing this morning, so my clean tee is now covered in dog hair, and I feel good – that this day is ripe with possibilities.
Our son is in Thailand, living and working with some good friends also from the states. He is in the process of applying for a ‘wider’ passport which has more pages and more space for stamps. He is moving into a new rental HOUSE in Chiang Mai tomorrow, where he is far enough away from his neighbors that he can play his electric guitar, drums, and other music makers without bothering anyone. The longer walk to meet with his friends is a small price to pay to be able to fully enjoy creating. (I’ll post some pics of the house when he moves in.) He is taking classes in both Mandarin and Thai. He is living life in a beautiful place where he can work hard for clients they choose, play hard, meditate, and enjoy life. We couldn’t be happier for him. We communicate with him on an almost daily basis via a chat program, and sometimes on a program called appear.in which, like Skype, allows us to see each other as we visit.
We have an absolutely free schedule today. The day is wide open, waiting for us to decide how we will spend it. I love days where we don’t have a bunch of ‘have-to’s, appointments, pressing things that MUST be done today. My spirits soar on a day like this. :0)
I think I’ll fill this day with things I’ve been putting off with my emphasis lately on cleaning out and purging around here. Today I’ll –
Such is “Life-in-the-Fast-Lane” at the Lewises in Arkansas. Can you see us grinning?
Enjoy your day!
Filed under Arkansas, Attitude, Cherishing the Quiet Day, Dreams, Family
PROJECT 1 – FOOD –
I –
PROJECT 2 – CLEANING UP AND ORGANIZING –
I cleaned up the table beside my chair in the living room
Before –
After –
PROJECT 3 – PAYING BILLS –
I’m doing that as soon as I finish this post –
AND THEN
I’ll tackle cleaning up my desk in the office. There is so much ‘stuff’ on it I may not finish it today, but if I do – I’ll post pics.
cottonwoodclinic.ca
We’re having a cool start to the day, but it’s supposed to warm up nicely by the afternoon. Taking the doggies out this morning was a brisk experience, to say the least. :0)
We’re having a quiet day, with Lunch Bunch and a few errands. I’m going to spread my afternoon between –
and HOPEFULLY, making some time to play in my artroom.
I LOVE a day when there isn’t a lot of drama. No huge list of things to accomplish – not a lot of ‘have-to’s – the day not whizzing past my head in a blur.
I hope you’re having a quiet day, too.
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day
creativeartworksblog 