These wonderful mugs were created by Brooke Knippa of AP Curiosities Studio. The article showcasing her work was by Robertas Lisickis of BoredPanda.com
Monthly Archives: January 2021
Hope 6
Dog Waits 8 Months To Find A Home, Gets Adopted By Caretaker On Christmas
Meet Hiccup, We’ve Given Him A Home For Christmas
These signs of hope were provided by Inga Korolkovaite of BoredPanda.com
Back in the Saddle
“I’m back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again” ~ sung by Gene Autry
I earned 2 stars yesterday for exercise, so I’m feeling ‘back in the saddle again of daily exercise :0) When I finish getting some blog posts up, I’ll head for the garage and my elliptical trainer. I’m hoping that both the scales and my tape measure will show some progress by the end of the month. One can hope!
Speaking of that, I’m really trying to find good things lately in an effort to not be buried in gloom. My husband was doing a bit of the ‘whine and cheese’ bit last night, and I gave him a pep talk about concentrating on the GOOD in our lives, rather than the bad. He saw my point, particularly when I was able to give him several examples that were personal to us. I really think this is important for our sanity and general health.
One hopeful thing is that we might be able to get the COVID vaccine eventually. I read a thing online saying that people 70+ could start getting it Jan. 18th at one pharmacy locally. I called, discovering that they weren’t taking names to add to their list right now, since the list was several hundred people long. She suggested that I call back the 1st of Feb. to see if they had opened the list again. The fact that we MIGHT be able to be added to a list in the next month or so is good news.
Yesterday I took a bunch of new products to the shop where I share a booth with a good friend. I rearranged everything and am hopeful that someone will take a look, like what they see, and take something home with them. :0)
I hope that you are having a good Thursday.
Stay safe and well.
Filed under Attitude, exercise, hope, taking care of yourself, Thoughts on a ________
Punny
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, punny
Hope 5
13 Years Ago Today We Found Her Hiding Under A Christmas Tree At Lowe’s. We Decided To Take Her Home “Just For The Night” To Feed And Warm Her
She’s been lying about not being fed ever since.
This Is Cyrus, My Girlfriend And I Adopted Her Today. She Was Surrendered The Day After Christmas For Being “Too Much Dog”
We took our new pup to a park for 30 minutes and played some tug-of-war, and she’s been like this for over an hour. Guess she’s the right amount of dog for us.
I Don’t Have Room In My Place For A Christmas Tree, So My Mom Made Me This Wreath With Built-In Lights And All The Ornaments From When I Was A Kid
Neighborhood Kids Were Using This Lady’s Yard For Sledding Without Asking. She Responded By Blasting Xmas Music Out Her Window, Putting On A Santa Hat With A Beard And Joining Them
Thanks to Inga Korolkovaite of BoredPanda.com for these examples of why we can still hope.
Old
One of my favorite quotes is, “To me – old age is 15 years older than I am.” ~ Bernard M. Baruch
Filed under aging, Favorite Quotes
Mug Magic 3
These super creative mugs were created by Brooke Knippa of AP Curiosities Studios. Thanks to Robertas Lisickis of BoredPanda.com for sharing them with us.
Diet Woes
I learned yesterdaythat, without a doubt. I am an emotional eater. When I’m upset, I can’t seem to stuff in the food fast enough. I’m much too old for this kind of reaction. We didn’t even have anything really upsetting happen – I was just thrown off my new diet and exercise regimen – and I went the other direction with a vengeance.
So – no stars yesterday for exercise and the scales were laughing at me this morning.
I have a nice start to the day. I will do better.
Filed under Attitude, DIET!, exercise, motivators
Best Laid Plans…
I was going to get a big list done today, but my plans went awry.
I was getting ready to go out to the garage to put in my 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer. My husband wanted us to go to Walmart and get some glue, so I switched gears, grabbed our Walmart list and we headed for town. We DID manage to leave our trash at the bottom of the driveway and get our mail on the way. We got what we needed at Walmart, even though my husband was in the mood to wander around. Since we get very little entertainment these days, I tried to be patient.
By the time we got home, it was time to fix lunch, so I did that. Then I started getting ready to go to Rags & Roses to change out my products and rearrange the booth. My husband got a reminder on his computer that he was supposed to check the oil in the generator, so he went out to do that. Just as I was getting ready to go out the door, he came in, saying that we needed to get another battery for the generator. He insisted we go back to Walmart.
We took the old battery in and left it in a receptacle at the customer service desk where indicated, found a replacement battery and brought it home. We had a bit of trouble getting the new one in, but finally managed to get it hooked up and tested. Then we ran a quick test on the generator and it was good.
My husband went to put a tool back in the well house and decided he wanted to start the propane-powered gas heater in the well house to keep our pipes from freezing. (We have a small electric heater that turns itself on when it gets too cold in there, and it was on. ) He had a bit of trouble getting the pilot light lit and the heater on, but we finally prevailed.
On the way back to the house, we saw that the new pvc pipe we use on our irrigation system on one of the planters was broken in two. We thought about tackling replacing that, but we were just too tired at that point to care much.
Both of us fell asleep in our chairs.
Now it’s too late to go to the booth in town, too late to do my elliptical trainer in the garage, and too late to do my yoga practice.
SO –
I will write this day off as far as trying to get my list done and hope for more success tomorrow.
Hope 4
Didn’t Get Any Gifts For Christmas Except From My Landlord. Has No Idea I’ve Been Struggling Lately
I Planned A Christmas Surprise For My Parents, It Went Better Than I Could Have Hoped
My Daughter Was Hospitalized Over Christmas Three Years Ago. Since Then, Every Year She Collects Toy Donations For Kids Who Won’t Be Home For Christmas
Thoughts on a Tuesday 1-12-2021
Happy Tuesday!
Happy Birthday, Laufrain!!!!! Have a wonderful day celebrating YOU!
I will go to town twice today. TRIP ONE: drive trash down to the bottom of the driveway, get the mail and run errands. TRIP TWO: drive to Rags & Roses Collective in Greenwood, taking the things I want to put in to the booth I share with Carla, reorganizing the booth, and bringing some things home.
I have 2 stars on my desk calendar for my exercising yesterday and hope to earn 2 more today.
I’m planning to spend time in my art room making more magnets, plus clean up a bit so I can decide what I’ll try next. I’ve been having a lot of fun experimenting, trying new forms of art, playing with techniques, seeing what happens.
We’re having a gorgeous day with sunshine and a high of 53 degrees F. today – can’t beat that for the middle of January. :0)
I hope that you will make this a good day, too.
Filed under DIET!, exercise, Friendship, playing in my art room, Thoughts on a ________
Hand-Painted Wooden Magnets
Filed under Lewis Art
Hope 3
The Story Of How A Mysterious “Prowler” Saved His Family’s Christmas Nearly 40 Years Ago
We Spent All Our Christmas Tree Money On Adopting This Guy Instead
These examples of why there is still hope were gathered by Inga Karolkovaite of BoredPanda.com
Mug Magic 2
These magic mugs are made by Brooke Knippa, AP Curiosities Studio. An article promoting her work was written by Robertas Lisickis of BoredPanda.com
Determination
I have gotten past the stage where the most difficult part of my yoga practice is getting back up off the floor. Enough time has passed that I have devised ‘methods’ for this and don’t have to hire man with a crane. Still, this sweet, fat kitty resonates…
Last week was a good week. I am almost to my first 5-pound-off goal! (I am still re-losing weight gained during the pandemic and holidays, so it’ll be awhile before I break new territory, but progress is progress. I am down 4.4 pounds since the beginning of our ‘get-serious’ decision. I will measure at the end of the month and see where I am on lardage.
I have admitted before that I have never grown up and am STILL motivated by the idea of the gold stars I used to try to earn from my teachers for good work in school. Last week I earned 6 gold stars for exercising – doing my elliptical trainer in the garage and yoga stretches in the afternoon. This week I will try to earn 14.
I am moving more, too, as documented by the small, cheap pedometer I keep in my pocket. I’m a bit teed off that the steps on the elliptical don’t show on the pedometer, but that’s life. I’m afraid I’ll never be a walker, unless I can solve the problem of my hips yelling at me after I walk a short distance. (Oddly, if I sit down for just a moment, my system ‘resets’ and I can walk again without pain.) Unless I carry a chair, or there are places I can sit along the walkway, I’ll just try to keep walking around my yard when the weather permits.
As soon as I hopefully build the habit of elliptical in the morning and yoga in the afternoon, I’m thinking of trying to add back my ‘Annoying Leslie’ walking video a couple of times a week. She really grates on my nerves (I hate people who are bubbling over with joy at exercising), but she really knows her stuff.
I have a good start now and hope to be able to report that I’m keeping it going. For now, I have a gold star to earn – as soon as I finish my coffee. :0)
Filed under .gifs I Love, DIET!, exercise
Newest Pieces
Mug Magic
These wonderful, creative mugs were all made by Brooke Knippa, AP Curiosities Studio. The photos are from an article by Robertas Lisickis of BoredPanda.com
I’m in awe of this woman’s talent. Each of the MUGS is different in style, shape, color, and then the whole idea of the ‘nook’ for the wonderful animal not only is outside the box, it burns the whole box down. :0)
I LOVE these! I want them ALL!
Hope 2
“I’m Really Crying Right Now. I Thought I Was Calling My Mom. But I Had The Wrong Number And – ”
“My Father Has Alzheimer’s. I Brought My New Dog Home For Christmas, And He Said, “I Know I’m Going To Forget A Lot, But I’m Going To Remember This Dog For A Long Time”
“This Is What I Woke Up To On Christmas After I Broke Down & Told My Brother That I Couldn’t Afford To Buy Big Presents This Year Since I Could Barely Feed Myself”
Under Height
I’m doing well so far with getting serious again about eating right and exercising. My scales are starting to take notice and do something besides smirk. I’m doing my elliptical trainer in the morning and my yoga stretches in the afternoon and trying to concentrate on moving in-between. I felt bad Friday afternoon, but other than that have done well. :0)
Instead of a commercial weight loss program as we’ve tried before, we are enjoying frozen meals for dinner from Real Food and Stu’s Clean Cookin’ – both new to Greenwood, interspersed with my own cooking, the leftovers from which are stored in individual servings in the freezer with the other meals. This encourages paying attention to what a ‘serving’ is. Sometimes I fix an extra veggie or salad on the side, but most of the time, it’s just the meal.
For lunch we’re having homemade tuna fish salad – made from one small can packed in water for the two of us – sugar free jello, plus I have olives and my husband has sweet pickles. We are trying not to snack in-between meals or before bed.
I’m trying to drink lots of water.
I’m hoping to be able to report a good amount of poundage loss by the end of the month, but it will take as long as it takes. As long as the scales are showing a downward trajectory and my measuring tape is showing a bit of progress, I will be satisfied.
I will be delighted if I feel stronger, more flexible, have more energy, and feel fewer balance problems as I continue to exercise daily. I smile when I see the gold stars on my desk calendar. I will have earned 6 stars this week – and will have a chance to earn 14 next week. :0)
With so many things happening in the world over which I have NO control, I take comfort that THIS is something I CAN control.
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, DIET!, exercise, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself
Hope
Inga Korolkovaite – Bored Panda
Filed under hope
Playing in My Art Room
I have been having a blast playing in my art room, experimenting with my new ‘bleeding tissue paper.’ I’ve tried to do something a bit different with each picture, and I think I’m starting to get a feel for it.
One big lesson – ‘bleeding tissue paper’ is, indeed, different from regular tissue paper. I don’t know how it’s different, I just know that regular tissue paper doesn’t work. I have ordered some different shapes online, and have gotten distracted by trying to find the SHAPES and gotten some UNbleeding tissue paper in really nice shapes…. :0( I ordered correctly enough times, though, to have a reasonable supply to work with. I also am delighted that my sister-in-law encouraged me by sending an assortment of sheets of bleeding tissue paper so I can cut out whatever shapes I want, as well.
The tissue paper works a bit like watercolor. You wet the canvas, paper, or whatever you’re working on. (I use a tiny spray bottle). Then you choose one piece of tissue paper, place it where you want, and then use a paint brush (or the spray again) to wet it down in place. When you have done enough, you let it dry, remove the tissue paper, and see what you have. You can keep adding and enriching until you get the colors you like.
Today I’m starting one where I’ll use rectangular shapes, and then overlay some circular shapes to see what happens. The main part of the pic is a kitty. As soon as I finish my elliptical trainer time, I’ll head upstairs to play. :0)
Amazing Glass Art 2
Filed under Gorgeous Glass
Me on a Diet…
I love this picture. Sweets – even chocolate – are not my downfall, though. My personal problems are salty things, breads, and pastas, starches.
So far, we’re doing well on our ‘get-back-on-the-diet-horse’ effort. I’m losing weight even with Lunch Bunch yesterday. For some unknown reason, I felt bad yesterday afternoon – so no exercise stars – but got over it in a few hours, so am finer than frog fur today. I’ll go do my time on the elliptical trainer as soon as I finish here.
As far as goals, I’m officially doing this in 5-pound increments to manage the overwhelming thoughts that might sabotage my efforts. ‘5 pounds’ is doable. Each time I attain a goal, I’ll do a happy dance around the house and then set my goal to the NEXT 5 pounds.
First, I’m trying to re-lose the lardage I gained over the holidays and that has been creeping up during the pandemic. Since I do my exercising at home, I have no excuse for being a slug.
I’m also going to be trying for 2 stars each day – for my elliptical trainer practice and my yoga stretches – with my goal being better balance, more flexibility, less pain, and gained strength.
My overall goal remains –
Filed under DIET!, exercise, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself
Sing It!
We’re having a good day. It’s cold outside (35 degrees F., cloudy and gray, with a bit of spitting rain.)
We just got back from Lunch Bunch. One of our good friends and her husband was there. The other friend and her daughter weren’t. (My friend wasn’t feeling well, so maybe we can see each other and catch up next Friday.)
We hadn’t seen each other since the Friday before Christmas, so it was GREAT to be able to share a meal and catch up. We came straight home afterwards so that we could try what will be the last attempt at a ‘fix’ for our broken microwave.
We bought it in 2004, so we can’t complain that we haven’t gotten our money’s worth, but it would be wonderful if we could fix it. The mechanism that goes between the rotary turntable motor in the bottom to the part the plate sits on inside the microwave is the problem. We have mixed up some really good, apoxy-type glue to see if we can bridge the gap and make the parts work together again. (The plastic parts are not replaceable and we cannot remove them because one part is under a metal plate that is welded in.) So, this is a last-ditch effort before we either live with a microwave where the plate doesn’t rotate or we buy a new microwave. We have it glued now, and will look at it again tomorrow.
I will head out as soon as I finish a cup of coffee to the garage to do my elliptical trainer exercise for today. I’m looking forward to playing in my art room this afternoon. I have another piece started and am eager to see how it turns out. I am planning to take the bleeding tissue paper artwork I’ve done recently to Rags & Roses (the local shop in town where a friend and I share a booth ) either tomorrow or Tuesday. I will do my yoga practice when I finish in the art room. Today is DAY TWO of getting serious about our diet and exercise plan.
My husband is working on an addition to our house security system. He has the physical part done now, and is waiting for help on a password before he can finish up.
I’m in the middle of re-reading #32 in J.D. Robb’s (Nora Roberts’) In Death series. I’m re-reading the series in preparation for the latest to come out in paperback (# 51 Shadows in Death) that I received recently.
It’s a good day to have a warm, dry house and too many interesting things to do for the time I have.
Amazing Glass Art
Filed under glass etching
Day 2
Hahahahaha. I just love the look on his face. :0)
We are in Day Two today. We ate healthy yesterday. My husband ate a last “French Toast Fritter” for breakfast, but neither of us ate anything between meals or before bed. I gave myself 2 stars for the day – one for 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer and another for more than 30 minutes doing slow, careful yoga stretches. We are back in the saddle now.
Today we have Lunch Bunch. I will try to eat half and bring half home.
I wandered around yesterday feeling hungry, but have now devised a TEST to see if I’m really hungry or just in the slightly anxious/depressed state that results in stress eating for me. I have some low sodium bone broth now. If I’m hungry enough to fix that, I will do it. If not, it’s stress/boredom/general ornery-ness rather than true hunger. Yesterday afternoon I did chew on a piece of sugarless gum for a bit. I’m trying to concentrate on drinking more water.
I’m setting small interim goals for my weight loss, rather than looking at the enormity of all I would like to lose as a whole. I am concentrating on the progress I’ve made in the last couple of years and using that as motivation to continue.
Decision
For my husband and I today is DAY ONE.
This morning we started an honest effort to get ‘back on the horse’ of our healthy diet – and for ME – daily exercise – in a real effort to continue our efforts to get the lard off, get and stay healthier. Our ‘diet’ has no time limit. We are trying to make a lifestyle change. This is not to say we won’t celebrate occasionally, or indulge in a favorite goodie when we reach our goals. This IS to say we will eat mindfully, trying to eat fresh, clean, REAL food.
I made tuna fish salad for our lunch. We had sugar free jello, and I had some black olives.
I read today that drinking broth is a good way to solve any hunger problems. I have some here at home, but will try to find a bone or chicken broth with the lowest sodium I can find. I will plan to make a cup for a mid afternoon snack.
I have earned one gold star so far today for doing 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer. It’s in our garage, so I got a little cold, but I consider this a character-building – as well as physical – exercise. :0) I will try for a second gold star this afternoon, when I plan to do about half an hour of yoga stretches. I will also make note of my steps, although this is more of a monitoring effort right now, just to make me pay a bit more attention to it and motivate me to move a bit more.
Filed under Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise, taking care of yourself
Andrea Bocelli – Hallelujah
This filled my heart to overflowing this morning. I hope this link works for you. If not, please try https://biggeekdad.com/2020/12/andrea-bocelli-hallelujah/
Filed under music
creativeartworksblog 