Category Archives: Challenges

November 5, 2025 · 1:27 am

Destination?

Pngtree

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“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.” – C. Joybell C.

    My husband and I were living in the house we built on top of a ridge line and lived in with our pets for almost 40 years, trying to keep up with all the house and yard work needed to keep everything afloat. It wasn’t easy, but we were managing. Then we both got Flu A at the same time. My husband also had pneumonia. I also had bronchitis and low blood oxygen. I ended up in the hospital receiving an emergency pacemaker after my heart stopped twice in the ER. We contacted my son and he said he would come to help us, flying 24 hours from Thailand to Arkansas.

    A month later, we each packed a suitcase and a backpack, found wonderful, caring homes for our dog and cat, sold everything we owned and flew to Thailand to retire where we could be close to our son. Then my husband fell two weeks later, spent a month in the hospital and ended up in a nursing home.

    Feeling a bit like “Stranger in a Strange Land,” – Robert A. Heinlein, we’re making sure my husband is getting the best care possible and I’m living in a condo in the same building as our son. I’m working slowly on learning Thai phrases, am learning how to honor the culture and traditions here, and am fascinated by all I’m seeing and experiencing.

    I’m determined to embrace my new life. I was given a second chance at life by the hospital staff in February, and I won’t waste a minute. I am lucky that I am truly able to retire here. I never thought I would be able to say that. With careful juggling, I am enjoying perks here I never could afford in the States, such as a weekly housekeeper who scrubs my place until it shines; a weekly massage that takes out all the kinks and allows me to truly relax; my first-ever mani/pedi I get every 6 weeks or so; a haircut at the same interval; and recently, taking my clothes to the laundry to have them returned clean and nicely folded the following day.

    My son and I spend a good amount of time together. We share meals twice a day, we go visit my husband three times each week, we go places together to run errands or just have fun exploring. We go to the gym every morning so that I can walk a mile on the treadmill, trying to retrain my brain to fix my balance issues, lose my extra weight. I’m doing yoga stretches, Internet balance exercises, and dance to fun music with water bottles doing exercises for my arms.

    I plan my day around writing posts for my blog – an activity I truly love. I really enjoy finding things I find wonderful and sharing them with my readers. I have met some wonderful people I now feel close to through the blog, something I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.

    I am learning to draw a bit better, sketching things I find on the net and painting them in an art alcove in my place. I read great books on my Kindle. I watch new and old movies on my TV, and love watching YouTube music videos. Music, new and old, is one of the treasures of my life.

    I have time to reach out to old friends and new now. I’m so lucky to have good friends in my life. Most of my family is gone now, but my friends are all around me, just a text away.

    So, I feel a bit suspended in mid air in a new country, with a different language, different customs, fascinating stores and food, learning new things each time I go out.

    I embrace not knowing any of the answers. I am learning to go with the flow, just enjoying all the differences and trying to fit in as best I can. The people are so nice here, so welcoming, so forgiving of my bumbling efforts to say a few things.

    As I learn, my wings are unfolding – I am learning and growing – grateful for the chance to build a whole new life – close to my husband and son.

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    September 9, 2025 · 11:38 pm

    Puzzle Pervert

    I’ve decided I am a puzzle pervert, in that I just love the way the finished puzzle feels lying on the table now. I keep finding myself at the table, just pressing my hands down to FEEL the pieces. I know – will you still accept me even though I’m weird? 🤭

    Brian was mentioning that he thought that Khun Nong, my wonderful housekeeper, would get a kick out of seeing the finished puzzle on the table Friday. I hope she does!

    I was talking to him about wanting to preserve the puzzle somehow. He came up with what I think is a wonderful idea.

    This is a technique where experts save your image into glass. This is a personality painting that my dad did of me when I was about 6 or so and I had at our home in Arkansas. When Brian saw I was sad to leave it, he took a picture of it and had this done. It now sits on my shelf in my living area and I feel like my dad is here with me.

    He is suggesting we do the same thing with the finished puzzle image. This way I can display it on the shelf, hopefully along with others! I’ll take a picture of it if we actually get this accomplished🙂.

    My next puzzle has been ordered and is on the way. My owls will remain on the table until I get the next one. Even if the new puzzle comes today, I will leave the owls for Khun Nong to see.

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    September 9, 2025 · 2:09 am

    I DID IT!!!!!!

    I did it! I FINALLY finished the owls jigsaw puzzle yesterday! To the last piece, it was quite a challenge. I had to shift whole parts of the puzzle to the left, move the bottom down, remove part of the left side to get it right, but things finally came together. I’ve never had such a difficult puzzle where pieces looked like they fit, but they didn’t. ARRRRGH!

    I showed Brian when we returned from visiting my husband at the nursing home. He looked it over carefully, compared it to the picture I have on the wall, and declared, “I guess I believe it.” He said he didn’t think I would finish it. I think that started the ball rolling on my determination to do it. 😃

    Brian declared that the owl above is glaring at me because it took me so long to finish the puzzle.

    This guy Brian thought was merely staring at me.

    The ones on the right were chattering about me in amazement that this was so difficult for me.

    My housekeeper, Khun Nong, showed an interest in the puzzle last Friday. I told Brian I would keep the puzzle on the table at least until she got to see the finished piece. I will also keep it until I get the new puzzle that Brian ordered me today!

    I LOVE, love, LOVE being able to leave my puzzle out right in the living area of my place not worrying about it being in anyone’s way, causing any problems, making demands on how quickly it comes together. It used to drive my husband nuts when I would have one out, even in my art studio upstairs, so I just stopped trying to do them for quite a while. I’m SO enjoying playing with them now.

    I rediscovered how good a puzzle FEELS when the pieces are together. I’m now enjoying stopping each time I pass it and running my hands over it, or just placing my hands on top of it and enjoying how it feels. 🤗

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    March 4, 2025 · 8:23 am

    Big News

    Caroline – Pinterest

    I’m still feeling pleased that I FINALLY reached my 50-pounds-down goal this past week. I am now into my 5-more-off-goal and have managed to get one more pound off. A large part of the credit goes to our son, who is doing all the cooking for us while my husband and I continue to try to recover from his flu and pneumonia, and my flu, bronchitis and follow up ER stay and pacemaker installation.

    I have some big news in regard to our future. We are going to move to Thailand to be close to our son and to make the rest of our lives as comfortable as possible. I look forward to sharing our new lives with you here on the blog.

    We have applied for expedited passports, and will basically leave as soon as we have those in hand and our tickets. There will be a block of time between our arrival there and the setup of a laptop where I can write to you again, but I hope that time will be short. I hope you will bear with me during the change.

    I am looking forward to a new life as we handle many, many details of leaving here. I hope that you are celebrating changes that bring YOU joy in your lives, too.

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    February 28, 2025 · 11:09 am

    Priorities

    Jamie Hart-Pinterest

    I went without my oxygen this morning for a while, paid a bill online, and am now writing this as if I were a regular person! This is a big step for me. It still doesn’t take much to knock me flat, but I’m gaining on things.

    What I wanted to stress today was how important you are. Yes. YOU.

    I have always valued you, and spent quite a while each day collecting things that I think are wonderful to share with you. But I wanted you know know that since my husband and I got sick in February and our world was turned on its ear, the ‘valuing’ has become much more personal.

    I thank you for the comments and messages. The welcome-backs. The honest concern. For checking on me. These are all priceless.

    I hope that I will be able to write TWO posts tomorrow, and soon be back to holding myself to 4 blog posts a day one day soon. :0)

    Take good care.

    Linda

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    February 4, 2025 · 8:37 pm

    Health? Update

    Orange Dots-Bandcamp

    We are still a mess. We spent most of the day coughing, trying to sleep, coughing…. I also had waves of a cough, then getting really short of breath. We dug out some Theraflu, since we seem to be past the sore throat stage now and into the just coughing one. We managed to make and eat some soup this afternoon, and that was it for the day. Hopefully, the antibiotics will bring us back to life a little at a time. Meanwhile, we’ve made a pact that we won’t ever both be sick at the same time.

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    February 3, 2025 · 1:46 pm

    Quick Update

    We’re home from the doc. I have Flu A plus bronchitis. My husband has Flu A plus pneumonia. He will have another chest x-ray in two weeks. We are both on antibiotics now. We feel awful and will sleep as much as we can until further notice. I’m rescheduling things as much as possible. Will be back when I can.

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    January 30, 2025 · 9:00 am

    Triumph and Relief

    Tina Ann

    I have told you that our son lives across the world from us. We communicate daily via a chat program he set up for us, plus a conference call program. This allows me the illusion that he is NOT across the world from us, but only a message away. We chat daily – sometimes several times a day.

    We’re setting up my new computer and I wanted to get the chat program on it. I had a real problem, though, in that my current computer gave me a message that the chat program wanted to “verify it’s you.” To do that, I was supposed to give it my username and password. I did, and it tried to send a confirmation email to the address – but that address is no longer active. I tried to change it, but it wouldn’t let me. AAAAAAACK!

    I left a message for our son about the problem. Thankfully, he sent an email inviting me to sign up using the new computer. I used the new computer to follow the directions and finally got it working.

    Our son helped me change the user name and password. He wanted me to display a picture with my account. We haven’t been able to move my pictures to the new computer yet, so I looked at what was available so far. In an old picture group, there was a picture of my husband and me, sharing a chair in my parent’s home back in the 60s when we were dating. I used that. Our son LOVED the pic. Apparently, he hadn’t seen that one before. He sent a smiling emoji and said he thought “we ought to go steady.” I replied, “we did, and over 55 years later….” It was a fun memory.

    I then was able to move the program to the browser I use for that, so we’re all set. (We will tackle what we need to do to enable the conference calls later. We need to enable camera and microphone, and who knows how we do that.)

    I am feeling triumphant that we were able to get this done this morning. Things are looking up.

    I got a call a while ago from the tech, saying he was on his way… Fingers crossed about the ice maker.

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    January 29, 2025 · 7:29 am

    Wednesday 1-29-2025

    TAMMY-Pinterest

    Feeling a bit overwhelmed, a bit exhausted, but hopeful that things will be getting better reasonably soon.

    We’ve had an avalanche of ‘things’ to deal with – trying to get my new computer set up, having to buy a new bed due to the failure of my side of our air bed, and worry about the possibility of having to buy a new fridge. Money has been flying in all directions and things are a bit stressful.

    BUT –

    The set up of my computer is progressing, inch by painful inch, thanks to the relentless work of my husband who keeps at things and finally figures something out, rather than tossing the whole computer out the window – at least figuratively – if I were dealing with this by myself. I stay and work with my husband as long as my nerves can take it, and then I excuse myself to go do something else for awhile, over and over during the day.

    We drove to Fort Smith yesterday morning so we were at the Sleep Number Bed place when they first opened. 45 minutes later we had ordered a bed. That’s the good part. The poorer part is that the soonest they can deliver it, set it up, and take the old one away is February 26th. So I slept in my recliner part of the night and on the sofa the rest of the night last night. I feel lucky that I have a choice of doing that or sleeping in the guest room until we get the new bed.

    Tomorrow the appliance tech comes to see if our ice maker in our fridge can be fixed. Since my husband is very opinionated on the subject, I have asked HIM to handle the service call. I will simply write the service call check and we’ll decide what we need to do. I really hope we don’t have to buy another fridge.

    SO – computer/bed/fridge and the money flies. We are having to scramble a bit to handle all this, but thankfully, we will be able to.

    Creating Art at the Children’s Museum

    I used one of my ‘step-aways’ from work on the computer yesterday to listen to some music and work on the raccoon in my art room. He may be almost finished. I’ll decide today. It’s been fun to concentrate on trying-to- make-him-look-like-a-raccoon instead of all the REAL WORLD stuff around here. :0)

    Getty Images-Catherine Falls Commercial-BBC Science Focus Magazine

    I need to get some exercise in, too. I haven’t done any since we started trying to set up the computer. My regular routine has gotten lost in the demands of everything else.

    I hope that your days have been filled with fun and interesting things.

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    January 20, 2025 · 10:25 am

    My Wish For You

    Free Spirited – Pinterest

    Here is a quote I live by – “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” ~ Marcus Aurelius.

    I really think, in spite of much of what happens in life, you can choose to see the good, can choose to see the humor in situation, can choose to see things in the most positive light.

    You can also choose to surround yourself with people who bring you joy. Choosing to find common ground, cherishing what you love about each person, rather than focusing on disagreement areas can calm your mind and spirit.

    Choosing to spend time each day doing things you love brings an automatic smile to your face and happiness to your heart. We need to make the time, even if it’s just a little bit each day, to find joy.

    “May your day begin and end with a smile.”

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    January 18, 2025 · 10:22 am

    Different Measurement

    TikTok

    I’ve told you that I’m trying to lose the lard and get as healthy as possible as I age.

    On the eating front, I’m fasting from dinner the night before until lunch the following day, eating a low-carb diet using MyFitnessPal.com to log what I’m eating and drinking each day. My scales, though, better, are still laughing at me and GRUDGINGLY giving me good news from time to time.

    On the exercise front, I do exercises with 3-pound weights in-between writing blog posts, several repetitions of many different moves before writing another post, then doing some chair exercises that are supposed to strengthen my abdomen (core.) In the afternoon, I’m doing half an hour to 45 minutes of yoga stretches. I’m consciously trying to move more, taking on projects like standing on my head (figuratively) in my closet upstairs, cleaning it out, trying on clothes, and bagging up stuff to donate to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith the next time we go. I’m trying to choose things – or they choose me – that involve a lot of pulling and hauling, going up and down stairs, in and out to the garage, or something similar. I measure at the end of every month to see if I’ve made any progress.

    In cleaning out my closet, I’ve found another standard of measurement in my efforts – jeans.

    When I started trying to lose the lard, and until I started going through my closet this past week, I was delighted to discover that I could do away with my fattest jeans. (The ones that had elastic at the waist, rather than a zipper.) As I tried on more things, I discovered that the next jeans size down was ALSO too big! HOOORAAAAAY! I’m now wearing jeans that are 3 sizes down from my worst. Now THAT is motivation to try to keep my mouth shut and continue my efforts. They AREN’T in vain. I AM making progress!

    There is one jean and shorts size smaller than I now have stacked on the top shelf in my closet. It will probably be some time before I can wear those, but again, they are motivation. Fingers crossed.

    I will weigh and measure at the end of the month, as usual, and report to you as I have promised, but I was grinning as I showed my husband. :0)

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    January 13, 2025 · 1:18 pm

    Steamed

    Vine Pair

    As much as I love my husband, from time to time I have to threaten him with calling our tractor guy on speed dial to ask him to dig a huge hole I can throw my husband in.

    Today is a prime example. I’ve told you that we are snowed in. The schools are open, though there is limited bus service. Our long steep driveway on the north side of our property still looks like a ski slope.

    All of a sudden this morning my husband put on his jacket and announced he was taking a walk. He refused to wear a hat, though it was on the shelf right above his jacket. He had on tennis shoes and we still have about 8 inches of snow on the ground. Out he went.

    I went to check on him 5 minutes later and the truck was gone out of the garage! He had driven down to get the cable that was delivered to the bottom of the driveway yesterday.

    I was gathering trash, telling him that we should leave it in the garage to put down for pickup next week. He refused that, too, saying we should go ahead and drive it down. He wouldn’t wait for me to get boots and a hat. I had regular shoes on, too. He was out in the garage.

    We made it almost down to the road. He stopped for me to get out and drag the trash can down to the road. I inched my way down, the snow falling into my shoes immediately. I almost went down a couple of times, but finally turned the can on its side so I could inch it down using my grip on the can for balance. I made it to the road, we filled it up, got our mail and drove carefully down the street to turn around. We made it back up the driveway, but it was really scary a couple of times.

    When we had both calmed down a bit, he admitted that he shouldn’t have driven down the driveway today. Once a hard-headed Marine, always one, no matter what the cost… GRRRRR!

    I’m seriously considering having the hole in the back dug…

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    January 1, 2025 · 5:43 pm

    My Wish for You in 2025

    “My Wish for you in 2025:

    May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts.

    May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills.

    May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!

    May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires.

    May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.

    May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words …….

    May 2025 be the best year of your life!!!”

    _____________

    “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.” ~ Neil Gaiman, British author

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    January 1, 2025 · 9:14 am

    Resolutions

    Muckle Up

    I used to make all the ‘normal’ resolutions – losing weight, exercising, being a better person, keeping my house clean, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

    Since I’m older than dirt, I have changed the idea of resolutions for myself. I don’t know if it’s an ‘improvement’ or not, but it works for me.

    My new resolutions –

    • I will live in the moment, trying to make every day as joyful as I can.
    • I will try to tell and show people how much I love them, how much they mean to me in every way I possible.
    • I will take more time to do things that give me joy – hopefully at least once a day.
    • I will be more forgiving of myself, because even though I fall short, I AM trying
    • AND I’ll be more forgiving of others, trying to be less judgmental. I’ve been noticing ‘judgmental’ in my husband more and more as we age. I’ve got to realize it’s probably inside ME, too, and I’d like to work on getting rid of it.
    • I resolve to laugh more -not just a smirk, smile, or grin – but full belly laughs.
    • I also resolve to cry when I need to, trying to let go of the reasons behind them – but to get it out, not shove it down inside.

    Do you make New Year’s resolutions?

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    December 30, 2024 · 1:19 pm

    Be Decisive

    2nd Nature By Hand – Etsy

    My mom used to say, “It’s better to do any reasonable quickly than to reach hesitantly for the ideal.” This was a more lofty manner of trying to get me off my duff and moving, instead of telling me to do just that.

    I’ve finally learned that jumping into something I’m interested in is a good thing for me, whether it’s trying to change – or build – a habit, trying to improve myself, trying to learn a new style of art, or whatever. Whatever the subject is, the biggest hurdle is getting started. I can always adjust later.

    I really don’t want to become a flat squirrel…

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    December 29, 2024 · 10:22 am

    Intentions to Action

    2nd Nature by Hand – Etsy

    I display awards in my home for my procrastination skills. Well, not really, but I SHOULD have them. I am a master-class procrastinator and have honed my skills to a fine art.

    I’m am trying to improve this, though, by tackling things that are difficult or downright intimidating at times. I think of this as a character-building exercise, and I can always use more of that.

    I love the plaque above. (This Etsy site has all kinds of good signs you might like.) This one particular sign resonates with me, as I always have an excuse (or a whole list!) as to WHY I haven’t started things I would like to do or SHOULD do. The “Begin Anywhere” message says to me, start wherever you are and DO something toward the goal. No excuses. Just BEGIN. Today.

    One of the things I ‘began’ on is trying to lose my lard and exercise to get healthier. I don’t remember now exactly when I started, but I’m finally making steady (though excruciatingly slow) progress toward my goal. I’ll be posting an accountability report for December on the 31st).

    Another thing was to quit putting myself last. I would work like a nut daily trying to accomplish my hugely long and never-ending to-do list before I would give myself ‘permission’ to go upstairs and play in my art room. I would try to accomplish a certain amount before I allowed myself to write a blog post, something I truly love. I decided I didn’t need my ‘permission,’ and didn’t need to have accomplished a certain amount before allowing myself joy. Now I do the joyful FIRST, working in as many of the have-to’s and should-do’s from my list as I have time and energy for each day. Works for me…

    I hope that you will embrace the idea of ‘beginning anywhere’ and make your own list. I think you will feel better as a person, be happier, and feel more in control of your life. :0)

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    December 22, 2024 · 10:28 am

    The Way to Live

    2ndNaturebyHand– Etsy

    One of the things I’m learning, since I’m older than dirt, is to try to live each day to the fullest, wringing every drop of joy out of it.

    I’m learning that as important as my ‘to-do’ list is – and sometimes it doesn’t just ‘call,’ it YELLS at me – that doing good things for myself is just as important, if not more.

    I now take time to go play in my art room whenever I can make the time. I read every day. I listen to music every day. I TRY to take the time to exercise every day.

    The housework overload may be embarrassing at times, but it pales in comparison to my husband’s and my health.

    I do what is absolutely mandatory each day and then make sure I take the time to write my blog posts and look for other things I find wonderful to share with you. I take time to relax – if it’s just a change in the room I’m in, or a change of activity, or something fun.

    I feel I’m just getting started on so many things I want to learn. I want to continue meeting and talking with new people, dive into a new activity, enjoy new places vicariously, and more.

    “Don’t just fly… SOAR!”

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    December 8, 2024 · 10:30 am

    A Good Day’s Work

    Getty Images-Coursera

    I did medical transcription and bookkeeping for 8 years at a clinic with 8 busy general surgeons. I had my hands full, not knowing medical terminology and never having done online bookkeeping, but I did it. After about 9 months, I was working 12 to 14 hours daily trying to keep up with the workload.

    I asked for a raise and for them to hire a person to help ease my workload. My supervisor said they would discuss it. I was returning charts to the nurses’ area and overheard them saying, “Well, all she has to do is type what we say.”

    I grinned and did just that for the rest of that day and the following. Here are some samples –

    “She certainly is not just a typical internal hemorrhoid.”

    “This gentleman recently was remarried and has no significant complaints to his rectum.”

    “She will return in a week, next Tuesday, and she won’t be a week until this Friday, which is the day after tomorrow, no, three days from now, before the lesions on her chest could be, sutures on her chest could be removed.

    “I don’t have any trouble with that, but I really believe that this, perhaps, doesn’t state something that I think is an undercurrent that we need to understand.”

    At the end of this, my docs called me in, begging me to PLEASE stop typing what they said; wanting me to type what they SHOULD have said, or MEANT to say as I had been doing.

    I got my raise, and I got an assistant to ease the workload.

    When I resigned after 8 years, I gave each doc a copy of the ‘bloopers’ I had gathered – with what was dictated and who said each. My last day was spent joyfully listening to the laughing up and down the halls from the docs’ offices as they read. :0)

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    December 7, 2024 · 9:34 am

    Goal

    SayingImages.com

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    December 2, 2024 · 11:13 am

    Dr. Seuss Wisdom

    I love my life.

    Sure, there are challenges – I have to remind my husband that I have the tractor guy on ‘speed dial,’ ready to dig a hole for me to throw him in when he is being particularly ornery, for example, but mostly all is good.

    I usually spend the morning writing posts for this blog and doing exercises with weights in-between posts. This way I don’t have to have a particular time designated for working out with the weights, and it doesn’t seem so bad when I can then enjoy writing another post.

    I truly love spending time finding things I find wonderful to share with you. I’ve become friends with some of the readers of this blog – a thing I wouldn’t have had the opportunity for, otherwise. What a gift that is!

    I escape from my ‘challenges’ by –

    • writing the posts or finding wonderful things to include later
    • listening to music – either upstairs in my art room, or finding new wonderful talent on YouTube
    • reading – I just can’t get enough of diving into an ‘old friend’ or discovering a new author, learning something new, and more.
    • playing in my art room – playing at being an ‘artist,’ trying new techniques, using new tools, or old tools in a new way, being inspired by things I see on Pinterest, Etsy, or other places that get my juices flowing.
    • gardening – spring is my favorite season, with perennials blooming from my efforts in the past, new things to plant, veggie gardens to plan, hacking down all the stuff that tries to recapture the wildness that was here before we came, and more. There are good things to do in ALL the seasons, though, and I love to spend time outside, pruners in my gloved hands, walking around.

    My husband and I are reasonably healthy at this point, even though we’re older than dirt. He is still grumbling about turning 81 last month. “80 had panache” he said, but 81 is ‘just old.’ I’m trying to watch what he’s eating, though he thwarts my efforts when he can. He refuses to exercise, but that’s just him being ornery. He’s excited about his new welding table, but doesn’t have a new project yet.

    He did say he was proud of me recently about my efforts to lose the lard and make what is left stronger. I’m still happy about his compliment.

    So, I’m a happy, spoiled lady, and I love my life now. I’m hoping that Dr. Seuss’ words are true for a good, long time.

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    November 30, 2024 · 9:39 am

    Accountability

    Prompt Base

    It’s the end of November – time for accountability as to my efforts to lose the lard and get stronger.

    As of today, I’ve lost 44.6 pounds since my heaviest. I’ve lose 43.7 inches since my bulkiest.

    Still trying to meet my interim goal. Maybe by next week. Then I can set another. :0)

    Meanwhile, I’m strong in my new lifestyle of eating low carb and trying to exercise daily.

    123RF

    I’ll report again the end of December.

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    November 14, 2024 · 9:32 am

    The Case for Splurging

    Mickey Bach-getwords.com

    When you’re trying to build a habit, change your lifestyle, I think it’s really important to splurge every once in a while. Others will call it ‘cheating,’ or think you ought to feel guilty. I disagree. I think it’s not only understandable, I think it is necessary.

    Mindset – you’ve done your research, your mind is filled with ‘shoulds’ and you’re trying your best to stay the course. Then, life gets in the way, you’re offered a chance to do something that day that causes you to detour from what you’re trying to build into a routine. You feel guilty. You’ve failed.

    I’m saying that you should BUILD IN detours. You should take the detour as a chance to REALIZE that you’re making a choice, that’s it’s OKAY not to follow your perfect plans every day. That you actually NEED to see that you can detour and then go back to the routine the next meal, the next day – the NEXT. It doesn’t have to kill you. It doesn’t have to derail your efforts. You splurge – you enjoy every minute of it – and then you go back to the lifestyle you’ve carefully chosen.

    It’s what you do 99% of the time that counts. Your mindset is strong. You’re changing your LIFESTYLE. You’re stronger because of the detours because you CHOOSE to resume the good habits you’re building.

    Detour – example – yesterday I was really happy to find some KETO bread at the store. This enabled my husband and I to have hot dogs for dinner last night. I didn’t have to eat what amounts to a ‘wrap,’ using a 0-net-carb tortilla as my bun. I actually got to use a hot dog bun! First time in a year! Whoopee! It was wonderful. I enjoyed every bite, loading mine with mustard and onion.

    Instead of just throwing my hands in the air and hoping I was finally going to meet my interim weight loss goal this morning, we splurged, eating some no-added-sugar vanilla ice cream and some fresh blueberries. I KNEW it was a no-no. I didn’t realize until AFTER I had eaten it that the dish of ice cream used up ALL of my carb limit for the day and then some – not counting what I ate the rest of the day. The whole day was blown.

    In the past, I would have then gotten out some potato chips or something, thinking, the day is blown, I might as well enjoy it, wallowing in guilt as I stuffed my face. This time I enjoyed every bite, REALIZING I was splurging, and redoubling my mindset that I wouldn’t feel guilty, and that my new LIFESTYLE would resume without pause in the morning.

    Splurging – cheating – falling off the wagon – whatever you want to call it is an important part of building a new habit or lifestyle. You are only accountable to yourself. You choose to renew your commitment, now even stronger because you allowed yourself to be a real person, and your lifestyle change becomes a bigger and bigger part of you.

    For ME the changes are losing the lard and getting stronger with more regular exercise. I don’t have to be perfect. I CAN splurge from time to time. It’s wonderful to know that. It increases my motivation to try to do good things for myself.

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    November 9, 2024 · 9:53 am

    Compassion

    Kimi Record-Pinterest

    We are living in very difficult times. The people in the United States are deeply divided about the path our country should take in the future. We’ve just been through a really tense election, as we were in 2020. AGAIN, half the country is feeling disenfranchised, angry, and scared.

    It is really important that we try to tone down the rhetoric. Free speech is one of our basic rights and should be defended at all costs. Violence and destruction should not have any part in that. Restraint is needed on both sides.

    Soul searching and trying to find common ground is more important than ever. We all want our country to be strong and its people able to prosper. We all want everyone treated with respect and dignity.

    In the coming days we need to be mindful. We need to appreciate the fact that we all hold strong beliefs and that feelings are raw on both sides at the moment. Try to understand, try to give everyone the benefit of any doubt, try to come together in our efforts to make the world a better place.

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    November 7, 2024 · 11:16 am

    One Trip, Two Trips…

    I’m back.

    There weren’t many people at the tire shop when I got there, so my truck got almost immediate attention! I was really happy until they guys were obviously talking, then getting the owner/manager, then coming in to talk to me.

    The owner told me that the lug nuts I brought for the snow tires didn’t fit. I went out and looked at the bag my husband had put in the truck and let out a huge sigh. The bag clearly said, “Jeep Lug nuts.” We don’t even HAVE the Jeep and haven’t had it for YEARS now. I don’t even know why we still HAD these.

    The guys put things back together so that I could drive back home and get the bag of lug nuts we SHOULD have brought in the first place. My husband came out to the shop when I was still out there, and I showed him the bag he had put in the truck. He was embarrassed. He redeemed himself, however, because he turned the truck around for me, something that I have NEVER been good at, and have only gotten worse at over time.

    I drove back to the tire store. This time things went well. Before I left, I made sure I had the bag of lug nuts and the special lug nut that is necessary to either put on or take off our regular Honda tires. (The snow tires don’t need that.) I found it, but not the shiny socket wrench part I was looking for.) I checked again in the store, but they confirmed all they had was in the bag.

    I drove home again. I took the bag of lug nuts and showed my husband where they live, right above the tires. I asked him what he had done with the bag of Jeep lug nuts. He had squirreled it into the back part of a shelf. I got it out and found the shiny socket wrench part I was looking for. I told him we should throw the Jeep lug nuts away. He was adamant we keep them. (A fight for another day.)

    We got the tires back into place in the shop, the bag of lug nuts where they belonged, and I put the special lug nut and the shiny socket wrench into the bag in the glove compartment.

    My husband again turned the truck around and we went to the house. We won’t have to do this again until spring (about mid-March), and now we have a way we might be able to negotiate our driveway and the roads in bad winter weather in an emergency. We agreed (and I HOPE this is still in effect) that barring emergencies, when our driveway is ice or snow covered, we will simply stay home until it melts and things are safe. One broken collarbone falling on the ice and trip to the ER is enough. My husband was telling me that I was overreacting to the danger when he fell. 10 weeks of healing changed his mind, at least then…

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    November 6, 2024 · 8:55 am

    Pet Protest

    Amber
    Monster Cat – aka Jet

    Our animals staged a definite protest last evening. They are both having real trouble adjusting to the end of Daylight Savings Time. They were ready for dinner a full hour ahead of time and kept trying to roust us. Every time we said anything, got up, or moved, BOTH of them were up, trying to lead us to their feeding places.

    I knew that they seemed to be hungrier than usual lately, but I hadn’t connected it to the time change until yesterday. They must think my husband and I are really stubborn and lazy. They actually looked frustrated and disgusted, even when I TRIED to explain the time change and that they needed to wait an hour.

    Finally, I caved about half way through the hour, with Monster Cat herding me toward her bathroom and Amber following us.

    I thought my husband and I were having a tough time adjusting to the time change. I think our sweet family member pets are having a worse time than we are.

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    November 3, 2024 · 9:21 am

    Adulthood

    Ribbon Chix Boutique – El Arroyo – Austin TX

    I’m of several minds about getting older. It may be ‘multiple personalities,’ or dementia, or a combination of both, but I’m split mentally and emotionally so many ways I feel I’m in a ‘sliced-and-diced’ commercial for fancy knives.

    One big part of me – the part I’m encouraging – is embracing life, living life to the fullest, finding joy, taking my time to enjoy things, choosing to do things that bring me happiness and peace, learning new things, trying to develop new skills, trying to be as healthy as possible so that my life is the best quality possible.

    Another part of me – one I’m kind of hiding from – is having to step up in areas where I feel totally inept, such as figuring out what is wrong with something and trying to fix it, programming new technical things, handling things my husband has always done, but needs help with or total takeover from now. I’m having to really PUSH myself since this is becoming the new normal – that I am an adult and supposedly able to handle much more than I ever have. My main goal at this point is to try to remain calm in each situation that comes up, figure out what I need to do, how to try to work with my husband, how to keep priorities straight, figure out who to call if things go south, etc. I want to cover up my head, escape, ignore – but that’s not possible.

    SO – how to deal with my getting older, having changing needs, and helping my husband deal with HIS changing body, abilities, personality, and ego – how to go forward?

    • My dad told me something that he lived by and has helped me a lot – to try to stand back and see the humor in a given situation. Many times you have to work really hard to see it, but usually, it’s there. That helps in keeping your cool, keeping priorities straight, and taking things one step at a time.
    • Take a deep breath. And another one. Maybe take a walk around the yard, do a session of yoga stretches, use weights to bop around with some nice music and exercise videos.
    • Stay busy. Don’t let things overwhelm you. Have projects that will change your focus for a while, using your energies on something you can look at afterwards that makes you feel more in control.
    • Do things that bring you joy. For me, that’s spending time in my art room, listening to music, reading, writing this blog, searching for good things that make you smile, walking outside, getting a massage, visiting with a friend.
    • Try to be a good communicator. Letting others who care about you know how you feel and really listening to what they are saying, as well as to the person/people who may be a challenge.

    We will all face this kind of thing at some point. What do YOU do to handle it?

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    October 30, 2024 · 10:27 am

    Message

    Indian Hills Signs – Vince, the Sign Guy

    I gripe a lot. You reply, “Oh, Yeah?” with a snarky tone and feigned shock on your face. I KNOW. And I’m afraid I’m too old to change that, even though I would LIKE to.

    Today, however, I read something on the local news that stopped me in my tracks and made me do some serious re-assessing.

    There was a house fire overnight, around midnight. The house is apparently south and east of us. They didn’t give the address, just that it was on East Hickory Street in Greenwood.

    Three people in a family died and a fourth was hospitalized. Two of the three dead were Greenwood students. They didn’t give the names, and this is all the information I have.

    It’s enough for me to ask myself, “What in the WORLD are YOU griping about, when your family is safe, your home intact?” My gripes are merely annoyances. And yet I build them up in my mind to be so much bigger and more important than they are.

    Our son is safe – as safe as anyone can be nowadays. So he hasn’t been home so I can hug him for several years. HE’S. SAFE. And we can talk to each other every day.

    My husband is safe. Half the time I’m ready to toss him into the hole in the back yard. There is no one that makes me angry or hurts my feelings as much or as easily as he does, and yet HE’S. HERE. HE’S SAFE. HE. IS. MY. OTHER. HALF.

    Only two examples, but you get my meaning. Priorities can get so skewed. We really need to seriously take stock and realize that, however annoying things may be at a given moment, things could be so much worse. REALLY.

    TerriAnn van Gosliga – Cookies & Clogs

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    October 26, 2024 · 9:45 am

    My Personal Way of Life

    sarcasticme.com

    I am finally accepting that the time when ‘all my stuff is done’ is NEVER. I have a super power of building to-do lists from Hell. They are all-inclusive, never-ending, generating even more as I mark something off.

    I used to think if I just worked harder, used my time better, I would be able to cross the LAST thing off the list for once. Over the years, though, I am able to do less in a day. I get tired a lot faster, hurt for a day or so after I overdo, and just think of things I really need to tackle next. :0)

    One of the changes I’m making as intelligence wins over stamina and enthusiasm, is changing the NAME of my list from ‘To-Do’ to ‘INTENTIONS’ list. That’s more honest.

    I can even add boxes before each list item for marking the priority of getting it accomplished so that I do all the ‘1’s’ first. (A ‘1’ would mean I would be embarrassed for some reason if someone else saw it UNdone – such as cleaning the center shelves in our entertainment center when the DirecTV installer was due to install our new system, so he wouldn’t see all the dog hair and dust behind everything. (As it turned out, this one was actually a much lower priority, since no one but my husband and I actually saw all the mess behind all our stuff. We were sent a palm-sized device we plugged in to the back of the TV and then got the system to work ourselves.)

    Another reason for a ‘1’ priority designation would be if we were going to run out of something that I really needed for something specific – like an ingredient in a recipe I was making that evening, or food for our animals. If I finished the number ‘1’ designated things on the list, the most important stuff would be accomplished.

    The problem with this is that some things with the least priority would probably NEVER get done. AND, if they have such a low priority, why are they on the list in the first place? Maybe I should ONLY list “priority 1” items and forget the rest?

    You may be seeing one big reason why I’m always so behind on my whatever-we’re-going-to-call-it list —- I get hung up on the actual CREATING of the list and get to what’s ON the list too rarely to make a dent in it.

    Maybe I should just order the mug above for myself and forget about the list until tomorrow…

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    October 23, 2024 · 10:04 am

    Raccoons Are Cute – When Not In Our Yard

    haresandhollows

    I love raccoons – in an abstract way – not in our yard. They tend to swarm our place each spring, summer, and fall – not only eating some bird seed, but eating ALL the bird seed and destroying the feeders!

    Kathleen Howsare

    They are not good neighbors or sharers – and so we have to use our humane trap to catch them and drive them far out away from us to ‘relocate’ them to hopefully a better place for them.

    (Sorry. Don’t know who the artist is, but found this through Sue Cockrell-Pinterest)

    I don’t know why, but this season we’ve only had to relocate two – the lowest number I can remember. Whatever the reason is, I’m happy. I love to look at them, see artwork featuring raccoons, but they are a real pest around here.

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    October 21, 2024 · 3:26 pm

    “We’ve Been Lied To…”

    Freepik

    “It’s not true. Tell me I’ve been lied to…” ~ ‘I Love you’ by Billie Eilish

    Well, long story shorter, the DirecTV install is not happening today.

    We waited through most of the morning. Shortly before lunch, my husband got an email saying, “Your parts have been shipped,” or something to that effect. Either the guy lied to my husband, or my husband didn’t listen carefully enough, or SOMETHING – but we can now track the DirecTV system parts which will be delivered to us sometime. The label had been created, but there wasn’t any more information about the tracking than that.

    The email then added, “When the parts have been delivered, you’ll receive a call for us to schedule installation.” Oh, yeah? Then what was supposed to have happened today?

    SO – since we weren’t going to get the new system installed today, we regrouped. We just got back from gathering the trash and driving it down to the bottom of the driveway, getting our mail, and then going grocery shopping at two stores. We have everything put away now.

    The doors are open to a really nice breeze. The temperature is 83, but it doesn’t feel muggy. Wonderful!

    I’m trying to concentrate on my walking and a session of yoga today to try to stretch out all the muscles that I worked so hard yesterday trying to get the shelves clean in the entertainment center for the ‘installation.’ If I had known they were lying about when the installation would happen, I could have spaced the work over several days, rather than killing myself trying to do it all in one day.

    Of course, if I’m being completely honest, if I had known – I probably would have let it to the last minute, being a slob by nature, and just had the marathon cleaning session then instead of it being done.

    I resting regarding cleaning today and will tackle one of the floor-to-ceiling shelves on one side of the entertainment center section tomorrow, after we get back from early voting. So far, our errands counted for the first walking session.


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    October 20, 2024 · 2:50 pm

    Almost Finished

    Pixabay

    I’m trying to rehydrate after another session trying to get the center section of our entertainment center clean.

    I freaked out when we moved one end of our 48 inch TV out to try to set up to install the YouTubeTV and finally admitted defeat. The sight was appalling to say the least.

    There are at least a gazillion wires running all over the entertainment center. If I could REACH to clean behind the TV, I would be afraid the process of cleaning and vacuuming would unhook something or mess it up. (This morning while I was cleaning I barely touched the clock and it turned off.) There are no words to describe how much dog hair had accumulated, as well as the dust that blows through up here on top of our ridge line.

    I’ve been working since I finished my post to you this morning. I’ve rested for 10 minutes in between sessions, except for a longer one when we ate lunch; but, otherwise, I’ve been moving things and cleaning under and behind, first with the whisk broom, then the vacuum, and finally Swiffer Dust & Shine spray and cloths. I just finished vacuuming the carpeted areas on the first floor (our office, the foyer, and the living room) and will do one more session to vacuum the tiled areas ( two half baths, the dining area, the kitchen, the pantry and the utility room.)

    I’ve logged 2511 steps so far today, even though MOST of what I’ve been doing involves being up on a ladder, stretching as far as I can to get to the very back of the shelf, moving stuff from one side to the other, etc, as I clean, and then getting down on hands and knees for the three bottom shelves of the center section of the entertainment center. The center covers the whole wall of the living room. I only tackled the center section today. The other two sections will have to wait until another day.

    The work has involved ALL my muscles, made me strain to get up and down the ladder, made me almost laugh as I strained to get down on my hands and knees and then up again – followed by vacuuming the whole first floor -a good, thorough workout for this old lady. I will try to do at least a short yoga stretches session this afternoon to try to stretch out and relax as much as possible.

    Okay. One more session…

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