Blogging

Dear Blogland Friends,

Updating of my blogs has not taken place lately because I have been busy working on a volunteer job at church, enjoyed a week with out-of-town guests, and have been flitting about in my social butterfly world. Also, I have been too lazy to take pictures and record what I’m doing. I have been working on quilting projects and cross stitch projects. I have been reading books. Along with my out-of-town guests I went to see WICKED and we took a travel day to Lake Geneva Wisconsin.

Every day I write Morning Pages (per Julia Cameron of The Artist’s Way fame) and keep a small journal. Blogging therefore becomes a third process of recording my daily happenings and gets put at the bottom of the list.

I really enjoy reading a few blogs that are written every day and wish that I were not so lazy and could get in the habit of posting more frequently.

However, I can happily report that my life overflows with wonderful things to do, places to go, and people to see.

I’m off now to a luncheon engagement………..

Good for me......

Wow - doesn't this bowl of apples make a nice picture? I bought a bag of apples because it is September (Fall to me), they are a healthy snack, and on Weight Watchers they are only 1 point. Unfortunately apples are not my favorite food. On my list of favorite foods, apples might be close to the bottom. Now apple pie, apple cobbler and apple slices are a whole different matter.



When I got appendicitis (back in my 20's), the last thing I had eaten was an apple. For years after that, I could not face eating an apple. Then, during one of my dieting phases, I went to Diet Center where an apple a day is recommended, so I ate tons of apples. If Diet Center recommended a bag of potato chips every day, would I be sick of them? (NO)



Will I actually eat these apples? Some creative thinking needs to take place to make them palatable - like baking them with Splenda, or dipping them in yogurt, or adding diced pieces to my green salad. I keep telling myself, Apples are good for me, Apples are good for me......



Years ago I read Julia Cameron's book, THE ARTIST'S WAY. In the book she discusses Morning Pages - an exercise of writing (by hand, not on the computer) each morning using the stream-of-consciousness method. I have practiced doing Morning Pages many times over the years. For some reason, doing Morning Pages seems to give me energy for the day. I use this writing time to plan out my day, to record what happened the day before, and to write out my gratitudes and prayers to God. I write three pages each day. About half way through, I usually feel like I have nothing more to say, but per Julia, I keep writing. Sometimes it is nonsense, but soon I am back on track and by the time I get to the end of the third page, I wish I could write more.


Now you may be asking, if Morning Pages is so great, why does she stop doing it? Good question! Company comes and my routine is interrupted - I go away for a vacation - I have an early morning appointment - I don't feel well. Excuses, excuses.



Food management and Morning Pages - it is time to consume those apples and lift that pen. Good for me!

Storm

A big rain storm went through my area yesterday, flooding the street in front of my house, downing trees everywhere, and knocking out electricity in lots of places. I'm one of the fortunate ones that did not lose electricity.



I had to go out this morning for a fast errand and as I drove down a street in my neighborhood, I noticed cables going across the street in quite a few places. At first I thought they must be for a survey counting cars, or maybe even to check the car speeds. But then I noticed that these cables went all the way from one doorway to the doorway across the street. It finally dawned on me that one side of the street had electricity and the other side did not. The cables were from one neighbor to another, sharing electricity undoubtedly to run sump pumps or to keep refrigerators going. "Love thy neighbor........" took on a whole new look for me today.

Office clean-up

The other day I spent the entire day cleaning up my office - organizing, re-arranging and purging. Now everything has a place and everything is in it's place. Is it perfect? Oh my, NO. The most glaring imperfection cannot be seen from the doorway, but when you sit in the chair and look to your right, there on the floor are all the wires and cables. What a mishmash! Attached to my computer are speakers, a keyboard, a mouse, a USB hub, a label maker, a docking station for my camera, a docking station for my PDA, a laser printer, and a color printer/fax/copier. Then there are the Cable cables - from the cable box to the computer, from the cable box to the cable connection and from the cable box to the surge protector outlet.

Do you think I will live long enough to see a completely wireless system???????

Gifts

Right before I retired, my friend Brenda gave me this Vera Bradley lunch bag. Little did she know that I would use this lunch bag all the time even though I eat lunch at home every day. The bag is perfect to carry in the car to keep my Diet Coke cold. Even on the hottest days, I put my pop between the ice packs in the bag and it stays deliciously cold in spite of the fact that the car is an oven. It is so nice to go shopping, return to the car, quickly turn on the A/C, and reach for my perfectly chilled can of DC.

Thanks again, Brenda!

Sizzling Hot Summer Days

It is a hot humid day. The air is still, without a hint of a breeze. It is the kind of weather that drains my energy, smothers my joy, and can very easily get me depressed. Maybe depressed is too strong of a word. Perhaps a better word would be "blue", or as my Mom used to call it, "down in the dumps."

Instead of wallowing in my mood, I decided to find a few things in my house that reminded me of happy times.

This watercolor painting is made by my brother (now deceased) Ralph - or as he always signed his paintings, Ralf. I love this picture and the feel of Spring it invokes. It hangs at the end of my hallway where I see it all the time. I'm so thankful that I have this picture and I'm more thankful for all the happy memories of my brother. Thinking about times we spent together always cheers me up.




The Iowa piggybank is a souvenir from a boat ride on the Mississippi that I took quite a while back with my sister, brother-in-law, and his mother. It was a delightful trip and my memory of that day is of fresh air, sunshine, cool water breezes, laughter, good food, and a completely relaxing time. Now wait a minute......did I get it on the boat ride? Or did I get this little piggybank on the trip my sister and I made to Garner Iowa to visit the quilt shop, Country Threads? Well, no matter, both trips were great and left me with wonderful memories.

Remembering good times and finding things for which to be thankful always helps to lift my spirits.

Today's Gratitude List -
1. Air-conditioning!!!!!!
2. Good memories
3. Plenty of things to do and books to read

Oh Happy Day

This picture was taken in February 2002. It was a Happy Day for me. I had two huge poorly maintained evergreen trees in the front yard of the house I had purchased the previous year. It was one of the only things I did not like about the house. Those trees were close to the front window, blocked light and prevented grass from growing. My realtor had told me that it would cost about $2,000.00 to have the trees removed. I saved that amount but had not made the calls to get estimates.

Enter my cousin. She came for a visit In February 2002. I was still working at the time - as an accountant for a CPA firm and it was Tax Season. My cousin came to give me a break at home by preparing my meals and running errands for me. I asked her if she would mind making calls to get estimates on removing those ugly trees.

That day I got a frantic call from my cousin telling me that a tree removal company was in the neighborhood and would remove the trees for $400.00. WHAT? $400.00????? Well, it seems that they had no more jobs to fill their day and if they could let the trees fall on the neighbors yard, it would be an easy job. "Do they have insurance?" I asked.

Everything worked out. The trees (two big ones and one small scrawny one) were removed and the stumps were also removed. The neighbor lady was not home and never knew that the trees fell on her front yard as it was snowing and all the imprints were filled in by fresh snow. My cousin had a digital camera and took pictures during the whole process, E-mailing them to me at my office.

Since I saved almost $1,600.00, I was able to purchase a much needed new computer. That was 2002. It is now 2007 and I need new gutters, downspouts and windows - and I would love a new computer. Maybe I'll invite my cousin for a visit..............