Posts Tagged With: grateful

Daylight, off buttons, & Time-out chairs

It’s Sunday, I’ve been up for hours, the coffee’s hot ~ here are 5 randoms from my world.

1 ) Daylight is lingering longer .. anyone else notice it? We live in the western-most part of the Eastern time zone, and our state participates in that stupid “daylight savings time,” ugh. Lately, 5pm has arrived and it’s no longer as dark as a coal chute. Bonus – January’s bitter cold brought us more sunshine than “normal,” I’ll take it!

2 ) I’ve continued my daily reading habit that started during our multi-year C-vid lockdowns (when I turned off the news and dove into books. For the record, I am up-to-date and well-informed, but via reading, not pundits, ahh!) Anyways .. Christmas Amazon e-gifts were immediately cashed in for a host of Kindle e-books. Of the 10 books devoured in January, these are two I still think about: “The lies they told,” by Ellen Marie Wiseman and “Carnegie’s Maid” by Marie Benedict.

3 ) I’m enrolled in a year-long writing/self-discovery class. Once a month a group of women, including me, meet virtually where our facilitator leads us through prompts, discussions, follow-ups and assignments. In addition to morning prayer/journaling, I’ve added in this juicy-joy-filled creative/freestyle writing, and I’m loving it! Some questions or prompts are more enjoyable and sometimes more difficult than others, and that’s entirely the point. I love to push my boundaries, challenge my habits, and learn new things.

4 ) Drifting snow & freezing rain for weeks at a time have me daydreaming of beach days, swimming in an oceanfront pool, savoring fresh seafood caught in the Gulf, and going to bed sun-kissed and happy. I aim to plan another getaway with my sister this Spring. While our trips together are always enjoyable, we’ve agreed that our Florida beach trip last year was one of our most relaxing and delightful. Adult time-out chair, STAT!

5 ) I go back to this over & over: Turn it off. Read. Get outside. Volunteer. Learn a new skill. Life is SO much better without a constant negative narrative blaring at me! Want to learn or do something new but not sure where to start? Try this – https://www.eventbrite.com/ <– you can find classes, events, conferences, outings, and AND many are free 🙂 – you’re welcome.

How about you? Need an adult time-out chair? What habit do you find particularly restorative?

Categories: Attitude, Books, Confidence at any age, Family, Fun, Growth, Joy, News, Opinion, Personal, Self Discovery, Thoughts, Travel, Women, Writing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Let gratitude be the pillow

The door is closing on 2020 ~ we’ll soon be packing up Christmas décor. What a year this has been! There will be “2020 in review” shows on TV shortly, but I’m not watching. I’d rather reflect on my own ~ my year in review involves one word: gratitude. I’m not tone-deaf to the struggles others have/are facing in the pandemic, rather sharing that I chose to be grateful where-ever possible.

  • I’m grateful to be well employed in year of chaos and uncertainty and that my employer allowed for and supports working from home.
  • I’m grateful our boys, girls & grands are healthy, happy, and employed.
  • I’m grateful that what started as daily walks for stress relief morphed into a habit I look forward to & enjoy.
  • I’m grateful I can cook; Hubbs and I have enjoyed more home-made goodness than ever, and his oohs and ahhs sustain me. We’re still working our way through his “pandemic groceries.”
  • I’m grateful I can read: my regular reading habit relaxes and comforts me.
  • I’m grateful I found Intermittent Fasting ~ the health plan with a side effect of weight loss. The clarity, energy and peace I enjoy is indescribable. And it’s free, even better.
  • I’m grateful to have enough – I can, and do, help others.
  • I’m grateful that last New Year’s Day, when I declared, “If you want to take the island, burn the boats” that the Island is now mine. I’ve found gifts while being home ~ using the time to improve my health, mind, spiritual journey, body, sleep and work product.

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” ~ Maya Angelou

This weekend, I’ll create my 2021 vision board & hang it where I can see it. I’m enjoying thinking about themes and ideas to explore. I’m mixing it up.

Your turn: What does your year in review say? Do you set intentions for the coming year?

  • Here’s to 2021!

Categories: Attitude, Confidence at any age, Faith, Growth, Home, Life, Life Lessons, Personal, Thoughts, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Random 5 Friday ~ Soup, Social Distancing & Life Lessons

It’s Friday, the first Friday of our “stay-at-home” COVID-19 order.  I hope this finds you all safe & well ~ Here are my random 5 for today~

1 )  Being home is fine with me & Hubbs ~ we are both more introverted than not and home is our happy place. He’s wandering around, suffering from sports-withdrawal and is our resident news hawk.  Reading is my escape.  When it all gets too much, and it does, I turn off the 24/7 coverage and jump head-first into a book.

Lesson: both of us being home full-time has been a good practice run for retirement.

2 )  It’s been a week since I got sick, and 10 days for Hubbs.  We’re still coughing and appetites are slowly returning.  We’ve noshed on soups and omelettes, fruit and coffee.  Beef noodle vegetable was on the lunch menu yesterday and, because I come from a family of 7, I made enough for us, neighbors + some to freeze.  🙂

Lesson:  Yeah I could pare it back but neighbors are happy and the freezer is stocked.  All good.

3 )   I feel for the parents, home now full-time with kids, while worrying about safety, finances, job security, etc.    I say build a fort, play a board game, draw pictures, and cook together.  Let them get bored, it’s OK.   Kids don’t need to learn a new language or master advanced math right now, they just need you.

Lesson:  Do what you need to do & keep a sense of humor – for the best parent tweets about Social Distancing click here .

4 )  Benefits of staying home:

  • It takes me no time at all to get ready for work 🙂
    • I’m working longer hours and on back-to-back calls
      • Cough cough
  • No need to pack a lunch, I’m only 15 steps from the kitchen and the cook’s pretty good 🙂
    • Trying to avoid the “Quarantine 15”
  • Lesson ~
    • I love being home, I still enjoy working, and I miss being able to go out when I want
      • The lesson for me is that there’s always a lesson in there (Thanks Mom)

5 )  It’s a crazy, scary surreal time.  We’ll get through it.  After all, many of us grew up using this:

Lesson  – we are a (mostly) hearty bunch and a strong nation ~It might take a while but we’ll come back from this.

 

So how are you holding up? 

Categories: Attitude, Blogging, Confidence at any age, Determination, Faith, Family, Food, Growth, Home, Humor, Life, Life Lessons, News, Opinion, Personal, Random observations, Relationships, Thoughts | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Making time for the pauses

Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve and I am this excited about it: excited

For Christmas, of course, but because tomorrow afternoon the Grands arrive.  We’ll have a full house: our boys, me and Hubbs and the two littlest ones  – we’ll enjoy “fun” foods, play games and look for red noses out the window.  We’ll call the Santa Tracker to estimate the big guy’s arrival and we will surely ring Papa’s Sleigh Bell.  Here are the two of them last Christmas Eve:

the grands readying for bed; Christmas Eve, 2013

the grands readying for bed; Christmas Eve, 2013 – An Emjayandthem(C) photo

I’m working today, with only a few tasks left on off my list, and I like it that way. I have time to enjoy the pauses.  Pauses that allow me to be grateful that the sickness I’m getting over is on its way out not in, pauses to think about friends and family going through challenging times, and, of course, pauses to consider the gift given to all in a little stable far, far away.

Last night, I finished wrapping and now, just two presents remain: per wee MJ’s request could I save some wrapping for her to do? There are two left – one for Daddy and one for Mommy.  Yes their parents are divorced and don’t always along but doesn’t mean little ones don’t need to learn the joy of giving.   So after they arrive and coats and boots are off I’ll scurry them away with much ado about secrecy and “don’t peek here Daddy” and I’ll be giggling and thankful for little fingers and tape and ribbons and bows and three and a half feet of wrapping paper for a 10″ box.  That’s just how it goes when you have the chance to spread the magic that is Christmas.    I can’t wait.

But first – here’s a gem of a clip that I hope you take time to watch ~ it’s stirring and wonderful and takes me right home to my little prairie church.

 * * * Merry Christmas! * * *

 

 

 

Categories: Beauty, Faith, Gratitude, Growth, Holidays, Home, Life Lessons, Mom, music, Personal, Products I love | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

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