“Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.” ~ Vladimir Nabokov
Clouds, drizzle, rain, gusty wind, hail, flooding, flying hair balls – all on tap for us today, overnight, and into the day tomorrow if the weather forecasters have it right. UGH.
We live on top of a ridge line, so we don’t have a large concern about flooding around our house, but we DO have some concern about lightning and hail, plus gusty winds. In the past several months we have had several more serious storms- resulting in several trees breaking and falling down on either side of the driveway. Happily, they fell AWAY from the driveway, rather than into it or across it, so we are simply ignoring it for right now.
This is a wonderful day to enjoy a warm, dry house.
PandaLifeHacks
“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
I’ve been talking to myself again; sometimes it’s the most intelligent conversation I have all day! :0)
One of the things I’m talking to myself about is NOT stuffing something into my face. I’ve been doing better on that lately, even though I’m a stress eater. I also could eat the entire house when I’m up in the middle of the night, not able to sleep.
The last several days I’ve been slogging my way through tax prep. (I’m hoping to essentially finish that up today). When my brain goes glassy, I get up and move around. I get some water. If the weather is reasonable, I put on a jacket and walk around the yard a bit. If not, I do a few minutes on my elliptical trainer in the garage. In the afternoon my ‘break’ takes the form of stretching yoga.
It is my hope that all of this will come together – resulting in
less lard
less pain
feeling good
In the meantime, I tell myself to take it one day at a time and
I laughed when I saw this. I have to admit that I do identify with it.
In our world today, tensions remain high. Emotions live at the surface. It’s hard to know whether to keep up with the news of the day or avoid it and cover up your head. Communication can be strained. Attitudes are like yo-yos or roller coasters. You’re not sure whether to smile and put your hands in the air or crawl down into the bottom of the ride car and hope the ride will end soon. It’s hard to plan when we don’t have the first clue what’s happening or what may be in the future.
I have found that I like to feel in control. I like to plan my day – know what’s going to happen – get things ready. Very little of that is possible now, so I’m a bit at loose ends.
But then – as I’ve had some time to think about it – I have never really had control over much of anything. That’s all just been an illusion. I DO have control over how I REACT to whatever is happening, though, so THAT’S where I will put my concentration and efforts.
All we really have is NOW. The PRESENT. I will try to remember that and make each NOW count. Make each NOW the best I can make it. Make each NOW productive, enjoyable, or at least as pleasant as possible. And make the people sharing my NOW know how very much they mean to me.
Today through Monday is the perfect weather here for tax prep – cold, raw, rainy, gray. I don’t mean to offend tax people – in fact, our CPA is one of our favorite people. I just dread MY part in it each year.
I’ve come up with a system that causes the least pain now, though. I built spreadsheets for each category of itemization and strive to add information to them monthly so that I’m not faced with a truly awful amount of time trying to go through things to make sense of them. I finish December’s input, total the spreadsheets, print them, etc.
Our CPA provides a booklet through which I trudge, filling in information, adding spreadsheets and documentation. The booklet makes sure I don’t miss anything. I’m doing it this weekend, trying to finish tomorrow.
Then I just wait for the tax documents I need to arrive in the mail or be available for download and printing online, bag it all up and dump it on our CPA.
Since our weather is dreary and yucky, I’m not distracted by wanting to be outside. Hopefully, I can keep my head down and get this done.
I lost half a pound yesterday, so I’m happier today. I also earned a gold star for my desk calendar for doing almost 45 minutes of slow, easy stretches. I’ll try to do that again today, plus add back my elliptical trainer this afternoon.
We go to Lunch Bunch today, so it’ll be great to catch up with my good friends. We were finally altogether last week for the first time since before Christmas. I’m reminded over and over of how rich I am in friends.
I’m still up to my eyeballs in bookkeeping from 2020, tax prep for the CPA, and opening spreadsheets for 2021. My goal is to have that zipped up and ready to take as soon as a few more forms are available.
My husband and I are ‘OLD,’ and so qualify for the Covid-19 vaccine. Sadly, there is only one place doing vaccinations in Greenwood, Arkansas, and they have a waiting list hundreds long and won’t take any more names. They told me to call back in February.
We are having glorious weather for this time of year. Right now it’s surreal outside with lots of fog. This afternoon it’s supposed to get into the 50’s with sunshine. I will try to get out a bit and enjoy it. Tomorrow, Sunday AND Monday are forecast to be rainy.
One of my favorite ‘memes’ – or things by which I try to live is, “Today I will not stress over things I can’t control.” I have it printed and up with magnets on the file cabinet near my computer so that I am reminded.
We are submerged right now in all kinds of things we can’t control and it’s easy to become depressed and frightened. There is a lot of fear, hate, and hurtful labels flying around that only compound our negative emotions.
I am reminding myself to breathe a lot. Just one breath at a time, slow and deep. (Yeah. I’m nuts. I talk to myself a lot in an effort to retain SOME portion of sanity. :0) ) I’m doing my yoga stretches in the afternoons – again – s l o w l y – trying to end up relaxed and looser. If I get sleepy, I’m OLD – so I can give myself permission to take a nap, whether to cover up my head and get away from what’s bothering me, or a power nap just to recharge for whatever comes next.
I go to my art room. Sometimes I’m actually productive, but other times I just sit there, clean things up a bit (or a lot), consider possibilities, dream… I listen to music on my MP3 player or on my computer. That always transports me, lifting my spirits. When the weather gets better, I look forward to working in my flowers and my garden. (Now I am plotting and planning which plants will go in which squares in my raised bed, square foot planter veggie garden in the spring. I’m going to TRY to get some plants going on my counter in the garage starting mid Feb or early Mar)
I hope that you have things that help you cope, too. The world is a scary place now and SO much of is made up of things over which you have no control. My suggestion is that you control what you can in your everyday living to insulate and isolate yourself from things while you protect yourself physically and emotionally.
Things will get better eventually. One day at a time. Stay safe and well.
My INTENTIONS are good, but aren’t matching reality lately. My newest excuse for eating the wrong things (and too much) is doing bookkeeping and taxes. I hate them so much that I ‘reward’ myself when I get some of it done. Yes, I could be ADULT and MATURE about it and reward myself with something other than food, but I’M the one who gives myself a gold star on my calendar when I exercise….
I had a really good day on the bookkeeping yesterday, so ‘rewards’ were higher than I deserved. I’ll try to actually finish up for 2020, print spreadsheets and gather things for tax prep today so we can dump them on our CPA soon. :0)
It’s yucky and rainy today, so it’s a great day to have a warm, dry home. I’m still re-reading J.D. Robb’s (Nora Roberts’) In Death series in preparation for reading the newest paperback in the series, so I have a nice session of curling up under my throw in my recliner, heat pad under my back on warm, coffee on my warmer on the chair-side table, and book in hand this afternoon. I’m on #41 in the series. (The newest one is #51. )
We just returned from doing errands. My husband insisted on getting cherry fritters from the grocery store. I got some turkey to eat for any snacks and some salad to go with our dinner. (I AM trying…)
I hope that if you are trying to lose some lard, you’re having an easier time of it than I am right now. Better days are ahead. I’m concentrating on one meal at a time…
My diet and exercise effort have been sporadic this past week. Until I can get my act together, I won’t see any progress. At this point, I’m just trying not to fall off completely. I feel stressed, and that brings on ‘stuff-my-mouth’ behavior. There are many things over which I have no control. I will try to concentrate on the things I CAN.
I feel happy this morning because I got to chat with our son before he went to bed. There is a 12-hour time difference between Arkansas and Thailand, so it’s a bit of a challenge to have both of us up at the same time. He sounded happy, and that’s all that matters.
Yesterday I stopped by the booth my friend Carla and I share in Rags & Roses Collective in Greenwood to take a few new things and visit with the owner a bit. She showed me a couple of videos of her son doing all kinds of gymnastics with the cheerleaders for a basketball game at school. WONDERFUL! We sold some things yesterday, covering half our rent. Hopefully, this will continue!
I got a haircut yesterday, and two of my best friends in the world thought it looked good!
Brooke Knippa of AP Curiosities Studio created these wonderful, creative mugs. Robertas Lisickis of BoredPanda.com discovered her and shared her work with us.
Doing one concrete thing on my to-do list for the day.
Finding something hopeful to share on the blog.
Playing in my art room.
Reading
Listening to music – I have an MP3 player, plus I listen to my favorites list on YouTube
Learning something new on YouTube, such as a demonstration of an art technique
Singing (I do this outside while I’m walking around our yard. I used to play the guitar a bit, enough to accompany myself back in the dark ages of folk music. I gave my guitar to our son years ago. I only croak to myself now.)
Playing with Amber (our 95 pound yellow lab) – I’m trying to teach her ‘throw and bring back.’ She prefers ‘tug-o-war’ and run around the yard in a victory lap, shaking the toy.
Feeling good about doing my exercises and putting a gold star on my desk calendar when I’ve finished my elliptical trainer and my yoga stretches for the day.
Consciously mentally listing good things in my life
Life these days is challenging on a whole lot of different levels. If we really try, we can help each other find the joy.
I finally took the time needed to clean out the aquarium yesterday afternoon, providing a huge sigh of relief for my fish. I was a couple of days late this time and their water and tank really needed my attention.
When I got everything back together – all squeaky clean – the fish checked everything out avidly, noting the differences in decorations, but mainly looking to see if I gave them extra food. They got in the corner, blowing bubbles at me and wriggling their bodies, and I caved, as usual, and gave them a bit extra.
I have decided that the AquaClear system is the best filter system for my 5 gallon tank. I use the ’20’ size. I’ve tried all kinds of things, since I was having to clean out the tank and provide fresh water WAAAAAY too often – my research baldly stated that gold fish take pride in being champion poopers and messing up whatever container they are in.
The AquaClear system is a 3-piece system with the large part of the filter hanging outside the tank, giving the fish more room to swim around unimpeded. There is a block of foam, a charcoal filter bag, and finally a ‘bio bag’ that fit together to filter the water. I think I average once a month now on cleaning out the tank – a MUCH better thing than once a week!
I smile every time I go past the tank, with the happy fish and sparkling clean water…
creativeartworksblog 