I Woke Up Happy Today

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I avoid exercise DVDs where the people are SO pert, SO excited, exuding the joys of moving – telling you how GOOD it all feels. They make me hostile. Likewise, I greet cloyingly sweet pictures and people with at least a silent snarl.

SO – you may react that way to ME this morning, because I woke up happy.

Though things are far from perfect, I have a pretty great life. I fell in love with my husband almost 60 years ago. We’ll celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary in June. AND we don’t just love, we’re addicted to each other. That doesn’t mean – by ANY means – that I don’t want to punch him in the face on a regular basis, but we chose to share our lives and it was definitely a good choice. We lost a daughter when she was 2 months old to SIDS – but we made a son who makes us proud of the generous, caring man he’s become, who loves us, reaches out on an almost daily basis from halfway across the world, just to check in and make sure we’re okay. And we might spend Christmas together this year!

We have two dogs, Molly (a sweet, elderly cocker spaniel/schnauzer cross) and Amber (a 95 pound yellow lab PUPPY) who drives us nuts and makes us laugh every day; two cats (Abby (a tortoiseshell fat cat) and Smoke (a sleek grey hunter); plus 4 goldfish who have tripled in size since we added them to our family.

We have a home we built over 30 years ago on top of a ridge line in Arkansas and we still love it. Since the initial building, we added a shop, then later doubled its size, plus built a greenhouse that so far hasn’t succumbed to wind and rain. We’re reasonably close to town, yet enjoy complete privacy up here, a really nice combination. We have a view of several ridge lines – and since we can see them, seeing the seasons change – we can pretend we own it all. :0)

Our health is improving as we get some of our lard off and are trying to exercise. I’m mainly doing my elliptical trainer and yoga stretching for old folks. My husband is doing better and better trying to do sit ups. We are consciously trying to move more.

We are retired, so many days we can do what we want – or don’t want to do. I can try to be productive or enjoy curling up in my chair with a good book.  I can choose to check things off my to-do list or play in my art room. We have good friends who make our lives rich.

I woke up happy today. I hope you did, too.

What Day Is It?

A. A. Milne via Lisa Bearnes Richey

Just So You Know…

Bored Panda

I just bought tickets for Power Ball, Mega Millions, and I’ve been entering the PCH Sweepstakes daily for the prize coming up soon.

My husband and I have all sorts of great ideas for what we would do with the money. We haven’t actually made a LIST yet, but we’ll have plenty of time for that after we win.

We already won the lottery on family – even with our doggies providing me with such a day of ‘fun’ yesterday.  Since we have everything else with each other, our improving health, our son, our pets, our lifestyle – we figure winning these three things would definitely be icing on an already-delicious cake.

BRING IT ON!!!!!!

Beautiful Morning

rubemalves_oficial via cathy ruggiero

This morning almost couldn’t be better – unless we won the lottery or the PCH sweepstakes.

The weather has cooled off, at least for the morning. Three of the five iceberg head lettuce plants in the greenhouse are still alive. I was really expecting them to be gone when I checked this morning. Using a greenhouse wisely in Arkansas is proving to be much more difficult than I thought it would be. I have the exhaust fan on, a second fan running, and the door on the opposite end of the greenhouse open to encourage air flow. (All summer the thermometer in there has shown a steady 120 F. + no matter what I’ve done.) I’m hoping to find more lettuce plants tomorrow, and I’ll check in the planters for tomato suckers I can try in there.

My husband and I are almost well from the cold I brought home from my trip. We both wince if we have to cough, but that is more and more rare now.  His blood sugar this morning was 99!!!!!!!! And “I” lost another half a pound. :0)

My back has finally forgiven me for working it too hard recently with 3 hour-long sessions in the yard. I’ve found that a combination of yoga, Advil, Muscle Therapy with Arnica Gel, and a heat pad bring me back to normal. Of course, the best thing would be not to aggravate it so badly in the first place…

I connected with a relative I hadn’t seen in probably over 30 years, and he and I have written back and forth a couple of times now.

Life is good.

Good Things

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We had a challenging, but good day yesterday.

Our driveway detector was our alarm clock yesterday morning, telling us we were not alone. We had signed up for a CenturyLink/DirecTV bundle the day before, and it was the DirecTV installation guy. Soon after he left, the CenturyLink guy came and installed a new router/modem. We spent the rest of the day hooking up our stuff to the router/modem and then trying to figure out how to get the DirecTV system going and customized to us.

Just after we finished the preliminary basics for DirecTV we had a brief, but pretty fierce storm. The sky had gone night black and the winds picked up really suddenly, making our tree tops dance energetically. We had a heavy rain, and then the sky lightened and we saw a really beautiful rainbow! I didn’t get a picture of it, but I called my husband to come see so he wouldn’t miss it. It was one of the prettiest I’ve seen.

Today we’ll spend doing two things primarily:  Brunch Bunch and then calling or getting online to cancel all the stuff we don’t need anymore because of the new bundle. We’ll be getting faster Internet at half the price we’ve been paying, and the price will stay the same until we cancel. I was really missing not being able to record TV that was not on our over-the-air channels, so I’m happy that we can now record anything on the channels we get, and several at once.  The price for the TV package we’re getting is half as much as we paid DirecTV when we had them before. Hooray!

Life is filled with good things – being able to take advantage of good deals, and being treated to a gorgeous sight by Mother Nature!

Thoughts on a Friday

My husband and I are learning every day – and from surprising sources: our son and our pets.

 

Amber has taught us to remain flexible, stay as active as possible, and be aware of a 92-pound ‘puppy’s’ needs. We have learned to stay alert and vigilant in our efforts to stay on our feet around here, test our wills on who will do what, when – and continue working on adapting to each other. We’re really glad that we adopted Amber when we did. We were jolted out of our complacency, pulled out of our grief in having had to put our wonderful pit, Bambi, down. Amber opened our hearts to a new way of life and new challenges. We have to be careful when the love erupts, but Amber enriches our lives, making us laugh every day.

 

Molly has had longer to teach us. She brought laughter to the house, cheering up our too-serious pit bull, Bambi, and provided me with love I could actually embrace in my lap. As a senior citizen now (she is over 13 years old) she is teaching us to protect her from getting completely run over by Amber, but also to allow her to play “Fierce Doggie” with Amber, as well.  We watch her for times when she needs to rest, and delight when she’s growling, barking, jumping around, and saying, “Watch out for ME, world!” She is teaching us to treasure each day ’cause none of us lasts forever.

 

This is our son, Brian. He lives across the world from us, but has arranged that we can type at each other several times each day on a secure chat program, and sometimes actually SEE each other (when we’re all awake at the same time) with a conference call program.  He’s smarter than both my husband and me together.  He used to be nervous about traveling, but now handles tickets, reservations, passports, visas, transportation, housing, etc. with ease. He is teaching us that we can learn to face new challenges with more confidence, that we can figure things out if we want to.

The biggest thing he’s teaching us is kindness. I don’t know where he got it, but it simply oozes from every pore. If the two of us are walking along and we see a man sitting on the side of it, obviously poor and hungry, I feel bad for him, but would probably pass him. Our son sees the man, walks into town, buys a sandwich, some fruit, and a bottled drink and walks back, giving it to the man. When I get frustrated and angry at someone, mentioning it to him, our son responds that it’s sad that THEY are hurting and that maybe I should consider reaching out to them to see if I can help. He contributes much of the money he makes to causes he has researched carefully. He heard about a girls school where he lives that was in danger of closing do to finances. They were having a fundraiser. He walked to town and gave them money. The paper reported an ‘anonymous American’ contributing more than half of what they had received during the fundraiser.  He is meditating to ‘learn to control his thoughts and emotions better.’ I’m proud and grateful to know him.

Opening yourself to learning from whatever sources are around you contributes to your quality of life. Trying to become a better person each day, thinking of others rather than yourself, allows you to continue growing.

How to be Happy?

polyvore.com

 

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” –  Marcel Proust

“Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy.” ~ Gretta Brooker Palmer

 

 

Leo Tolstoy -sayingimages.com

 

Happiness

Bernard Meltzer – SayingImages.com

My To-Do List Reminder

http://www.christianliteratureandliving.com

 

SayingImages.com

Priceless

Me Amore 5 on Flickr

 

“In terms of days and moments lived, you’ll never again be as young as you are right now, so spend this day, the youth of your future, in a way that deflects regret. Invest in yourself. Have some fun. Do something important. Love somebody extra. In one sense, you’re just a kid, but a kid with enough years on her to know that every day is priceless.” ~ Victoria Moran, Younger by the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and Revitalize Your Spirit

Thoughts on Getting Older

The Motivated Type on Etsy

 

“I’ve enjoyed every age I’ve been and each has had its own individual merit. Every laugh line, every scar, is a badge I wear to show I’ve been present, the inner rings of my personal tree trunk that I display proudly for all to see. Nowadays, I don’t want a “perfect” face and body; I want to wear the life I’ve lived.” ~ Pat Benatar

Good Morning!

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We’re having a quiet, wet, cool morning here in Arkansas.

It’s 50 degrees, and there is either a ‘heavy mist’ or a ‘light drizzle,’ making it feel a bit raw if you’re out walking the dog.

Speaking of the dog,

Amber is 8 months old today. Last night she was doing her “lap dog” trick, climbing up onto my husband while he’s in his recliner.( This is pretty impressive because she weighs around 70 lbs now. )  I looked over at them and said, “Oh, you look like a happy girl!” and suddenly she JUMPED from my husband’s chair to MINE! Her paws or toenails grazed my arm as she landed; so, not only was I sitting, completely squashed by a dog desperately trying to lick my face, but I was yelling for my husband to bring band-aids! I wasn’t hurt badly, and I’m used to wearing band-aids as a fashion statement, although it doesn’t happen often anymore.  Needless to say, we will discourage this ‘trick’ in the future.

In a couple of hours we’ll meet our good friend, Carla, for lunch in Greenwood at the new restaurant that just opened, called, “Shipwrecked.” They specialize in fish and chicken. I’m excited to visit the new place!

This afternoon I’ll be up in my art room, working on making Christmas presents for friends.

NICE day. I hope yours is fun, too.

 

Working Outside Again Today

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I LOVE this sign! Maybe I’ll steal the idea and paint one similar this winter to put up on the driveway this spring…

We’re supposed to have good chances of rain Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday next week, with highs in the 50s and 60s, but no freezes. Right now it’s 80 and is supposed to get to 83 this afternoon, so I’m planing to try to finish my spraying for weeds. It might not be the perfect day for it, but it’s the best one I’ll get until the winter is over, probably.

We remembered about changing our clocks for Daylight Savings Time, but our dogs were still on ‘regular time.’ They woke us up, saying they were going to pop if we didn’t get them outside. We did that, but then waited until almost the regular time to feed them. Hopefully, this will be the only time they roust us.

We just got back for the weekly shopping for groceries. I notice that, even in a small town like Greenwood, Arkansas, as more and more states adopt higher and higher minimum wages, the companies are opting for more and more automation, in effect saying, “Yes, we’ll pay $15.00 an hour minimum wage, but we’ll hire a lot fewer employees.

Example – The local McDonald’s was torn down and replaced with a brand new model, even tearing out the concrete around it and replacing it. They used to have at least 3 or 4 people at the front counter to take your orders, make change, etc.  The new one here has several ordering kiosks and only ONE employee in the front. There are a few tables where one can eat there, but clearly, the majority of the customers order to carry out or go through the drive-through. I guess there is one employee handling the drive-through traffic. All the rest of the employees are in the cooking or prep section that is closed off from the regular public part.

The local Wal-Mart closed down at least half of the check-out counters, replacing them with check-yourself-out machines. There is one person there who can help you or answer questions. It wouldn’t surprise me if they close down more check-out lanes in another 6 months.

I hope that you’re having great weather where you are today, and that you’ll either do something fun with the rest of your day, something productive, or both.

Happy Sunday!

 

 

Good Thursday Morning

http://www.health.harvard.edu

Once a month I have a wonderful massage. I look forward to the next one just as soon as the one I’ve had is finished. My massage therapist is the best. Lynn Moody has the Town Square Day Spa in Greenwood, Arkansas. If you’re in the area, the spa address is 320 South Coker Street in Greenwood. Her phone number is 479-629-7601 and her email is lynnmoody42@yahoo.com.  If you’re not in the area, I’m sorry. You’re missing a really class act.  She listens, she cares, she is an expert at helping you when you hurt, and makes you feel absolutely relaxed and good if you’re just needing a good massage. She is worth her weight in gold.

I used to feel massage was an expensive luxury. If the bottom fell out of the world, I would have to give it up, but otherwise, it’s high on my list of wonderful things to do for myself. I feel good. My attitude is so much better. It definitely keeps me healthier. If you’re wavering about the whole idea of massage, my suggestion is to dive in and prepare to love it.

 

http://www.tallervirtual.com

When I came home, my husband was in the ‘check-off-stuff-on-the-get-ready-for-winter list’ mood.  We decided to change the tires on the truck – from the regular tires to our snow tires. We do this ourselves in the shop. When we bought the Honda Ridgeline truck in 2006, we bought 4 extra wheels and 4 snow tires. We had the tires mounted on the wheels and stored them in the garage. Today we did the change in about 45 minutes from start to finish. We both get a lot of exercise, and we save money not having to pay someone else to do the tire change. We’ll change back to the regular tires in mid-March.  About half of the time was moving stuff in the shop so that we could drive the truck inside, and then putting things back to rights when the tires were on and the truck was outside again. We did about the best we’ve ever done. No yelling, no injuries, no tears, no problems with equipment not working, no surprises. YES!

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This afternoon we have our geothermal guy coming out to check our equipment to make sure all is good for the fall and winter. We had a geothermal heat and air system installed retroactively in 2010 and signed a contract with Air-Pro Heating & Air Conditioning Incorporated to come out in the spring and then again in the fall to be sure things are working as they should.  This is a great company. The men are knowledgeable, know exactly what to check for, and are very nice, as an added bonus. If you need anyone to come and help with problems, their phone number is 479-646-9699, and their address is 9109 Zero St., For Smith AR 72903.  They can fix any problems they find and you feel safe after they finish looking at things.

A great morning and a good day. Great weather, too!

I’m planning to make us some lunch and then see if I can do any good with our push-around weed whacker this afternoon. My husband has running that out of gas for the winter on his to-do list, too…

Have a wonderful day!

Love

its always about love-inspiration corner

My husband suggested we go to town to get KFC last night because I was hurting. On the way home, I told him I knew I was really spoiled and that I loved it. He said, “It’s because I’m spoiled and I love it, too. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.” Definitely a keeper.

Good News and Bad News

The Bad News is that we didn’t win the Powerball Lottery last night. It’s the first one we’ve both tickets for in a long time. It was up to $437 million, so we bought 5 tickets.

The Good News is that no one ELSE won the lottery last night, either. It’s gone up to $650 million now, and the drawing will be Wednesday night. Guess who will buy 5 more tickets!

• I have a whole list of people I would like to give a boost.
• I’m making a list of charities who actually help people, with most of the money they collect going to the people, not admin and heads of the groups.
• I would like to give a boost to hard-working people who can’t seem to catch a break.

The odds of me winning are something like 1 in 292 million, but one can hope…

Good Morning!

Mary Frey

It was really foggy when I went out to walk Amber – our maniac puppy – this morning. The spiders had been busy making webs anywhere they could find. The light caught them just right, making them sparkle. Even if I had had my camera with me, the morning walk with Amber is much too intense for her to allow me a moment to try to capture the beauty of nature.

The ground was super wet, and special spiders had gone to work there, too, with white irregularly-shaped webs in the grass. Amber had no respect for their artistry, though, crashing through them in her quest to chase the new smell or sight.

Today would be a good day to try to put the film on the greenhouse, except we have an appointment in Fort Smith this morning. We’ll lose too much time while the temperature isn’t set to roast whoever is dumb enough to be out in it this afternoon. It looks like tomorrow will be a good day to tackle a project that – once started – there aren’t many good places to stop and take a rest.

Today we’ll probably put up the last of the framework on the greenhouse and then get set up to put the film on. The other day I cut a bunch of pieces of 1×2’s so that we can wrap the edge of the film around each and then screw the combination to the foundation boards. At least, that’s the plan.

We bowled last night – for the first time in a LONG time, due to our mens’ surgeries – and we had a blast. We didn’t set any records with our scores, but we caught up with what’s been happening to each of us, PLUS had ice cream at Braums afterwards. :0)

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Please remember to take a few moments to honor the veterans of D Day today. Without their sacrifice, our world would be a much different place today.

 

Beautiful Day – This and That

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We’re having a stellar day here in Greenwood, Arkansas today. It’s 55 degrees and sunshiny right now. We were just out to run errands, and I find it hard to believe it’s January.

We mailed my order of stationery and note cards today. I cleaned up my art room (surprise, surprise!) and it’s now set up for me to play with my ideas for Christmas cards and wooden ornaments. I’m excited about FINALLY getting the ideas rattling around in my brain down on paper and wood!

I’m planning to try Practice # 4 on my new “Gentle Yoga Flows” DVD from Sixty & Me this afternoon, plus we’re going bowling with friends tonight. It’s hard to think of a nicer way to spend a beautiful day.

By the way, we discovered a TV show that’s new to us, called, “Outsiders.” We found it is starting Season 2 tomorrow night. We were able to DVR a marathon showing of the whole Season 1. We – like idiots – stayed up ’til all hours for two nights (3 a.m. this morning) watching the episodes. For us, it’s reminiscent of “Sons of Anarchy” with strong characters and lots of action. I’m impressed with the acting. We look forward to starting Season 2 tomorrow. You might want to check it out.

Have a wonderful day!

Getting on in Age – Take 1

http://www.facebook.com/SpicedHumour via Email from Marsha Koenig

Making a Difference – Take 1

This barber gives haircuts and shaves to the homeless – price? A single hug.

 

Thanks to Bill Lites for his email.

People going out of their way to do something for others brings tears to my eyes. Each kindness is different. Sometimes it’s giving of your talents at no charge. Sometimes it’s spending your time and money to say ‘thank you’ to others. These people are making a difference – making their part of the world better. This kind of generosity should motivate US to think about what WE can do in OUR part of the world.

Think Life Differently – Take 4

Jane Austen via Higher Perspective via Bill Lites

 

 

Jimi Hendrix via Higher Perspective via Bill Lites

Think Life Differently – Take 3

 

 

Higher Perspective via Bill Lites

Good Thoughts – Take 5

 

 

 

 

Thanks to http://www.yesemails.com via Marsha Koenig

Good Thoughts – Take 3

This seems, to me, to be a good goal, though I’m far from it now.

 

 

As my husband and I age, I feel this more and more.

 

Source: http://www.yesemails.com via an email from Marsha Koenig

Good Thoughts – Take 2

 

 

 

 

Thanks to http://www.yesemails.com via Marsha Koenig’s email.

Good Thoughts – Take 1

Diane Grant via rawforbeauty.com via http://www.yesemals.com

 

 

http://www.yesemails.com

 

 

http://www.yesemails.com

 

 

http://www.yesemails.com

Thanks to an email from Marsha Koenig