DAY 170

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Today is DAY 170 of my trying to make doing a session of yoga daily a HABIT. Since it’s a definite part of my afternoon now, I’ll TRY not to bore you with how many days it has been anymore. We’ll just call it a ‘determined effort’ and leave it at that.

To this I’ve added warm-up and weights videos on one day and a session on the elliptical the next throughout the week. I’ll never be old enough that sparkly stars on my desk calendar aren’t motivating, so I’ll continue that. :0)

My meals are such that MyFitnessPal usually says, “It looks like you’re not eating enough.” when I tally what I’m eating. Right now that seems to be a mental ‘go-ahead-and-stuff-your-face’ light, resulting in my scales being even more snarky than usual.

What I need here is a transformation to “exercise nut” who has to REMIND herself to eat, and then prefers nutritious, low-calorie foods that only build muscle and encourage the fat to fade away, never to be seen again. If wishes were fishes….

The only New Year’s Resolution I’m going to make for 2023 is to take ONE DAY AT A TIME. That will be my meme, my mantra. To spend each day well, as fully in the moment as possible, enjoying all the good stuff around me, handling whatever happens as best I can. BREATHING a lot. Taking the time to look around and SMILE. And try to give that smile to others.

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The Amazing Isabella Clever 2

Isabella Clever – 13 years old

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The Art of Faramarz Mokhtarpour

“Excitement on the Beach”

“Rocky Beach”

“Playing of Seabirds and Waves”

Faramarz Mokhtarpour

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A Wonderful Christmas Card

“Favorite Toy” Shane Dimmick – PumpernickelPress.com for Evergreen

This is a favorite Christmas card I received this year. I absolutely love it. The painting by Shane Dimmick is gorgeous. I wish I could hand you this card right now so you can see and FEEL how special it is. The whole front is “3-D” or “embossed.” The dog stands out from the background. His face stands out even farther. The nose is out more. The stuffed animal snowman stands out from that. You can FEEL his fur. And then the background, mostly white on white, with the dog in really faint beige and the snow man’s arms, hat, and scarf have faint color. The trees and snowflakes, snowman, hills of snow, and dog are all standing out from the background, too. I just can’t say enough, except that I’ll keep the card and put it up on the cork board that hangs on the wall behind my monitors so I can see it all the time.

The artist is Shane Dimmick. I’ll do another post about her and her work other than the Christmas cards. The card company is PumpernickelPress Here are some more of Shane’s Christmas cards –

I haven’t had a chance to check out all the other artists whose work is included in Pumpernickel Press’s offerings, but I’ve bookmarked the site for later. You might be interested in checking it out, too.

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New Year’s Day Thoughts 2023

Best Animation Gifs

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” ~ Bill Vaughan

“One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.” ~ John Burroughs

“Resolve to make at least one person happy every day” ~ Sydney Smith

“My wishes for you, Great start for Jan, Love for Feb, Peace for March, No worries for April, Fun for May, Joy for June to Nov, Happiness for Dec, Have a lucky and wonderful 2023.” ~ Anonymous

Gfycat

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1st Star of the Day 12-31-2022

vgajic- Getty Images -Fit & Well

I’m patting myself – and my husband – on our heads right now. THAT -while typing this – is quite a feat! :0)

Because my husband found a new MP3 player and loaded some of my favorite music on it for me last night, allowing me to charge it overnight and have it ready for my elliptical trainer session today, I just finished 30 minutes of good exercise.

It had been quite awhile since I had been on the elliptical regularly, and the last two sessions I had to do it in complete silence, except for a squeak on my machine, making it just awful time. It seemed as if I had been on there forever, and it had only been a few minutes when I gave up each time. Just too boring and tedious. This old broad doesn’t need many excuses not to exercise…

So today, listening to songs I hadn’t heard for quite awhile playing on my MP3 player I had clipped to my shirt, was truly a pleasure. Doing my elliptical practice with my eyes shut, keeping time to the music, felt good almost all the way to the end. (Remember, I’m NOT an exercise nut and it had been quite awhile since I had done any real time on the machine.) I started peaking at the timer between the last three songs and then breathed a sigh of relief when I finished.

I thanked my husband again and put a sparkly gold star on my desk calendar. I giving myself one for the ellliptical trainer session or the warm-up and weights videos I’m doing in the mornings on alternate days, and a second star, this one silver sparkly, for my yoga session in the afternoons. Any other exercise I manage will be gravy.

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Ronnie Gould Ceramic Dogs 2

Ronnie Gould Ceramic Animals

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Luxury!

Vector Stock

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I’ve been alternating between a warm-up video and weights exercise video one morning and a session on my elliptical trainer on the next. The sessions on the elliptical have been a character-building exercise, to say the least, because they’ve been done in silence.

My MP 3 player was ‘lost,’ then found – only to discover it was ’empty,’ having dumped all the music recorded on it into the ozone. My husband tried to fix it, but finally pronounced it ‘toast.’ I was going to try to find another one on the net.

We went to Lunch Bunch yesterday, and Patty told me about Pandora – that it was free to use on my phone. I downloaded that when we got home, but the only earbuds I have are too large and hurt my ears. I ordered a cheap, but compatible pair that I should receive soon.

Meanwhile, my husband found another MP3 player on one of the high shelves in the office! Apparently, years ago when we ordered the one I’ve been using, we ordered TWO. It was still sitting there, ready to be used, except the black fabric-like covering on the earbuds was crumbling off. I cleaned up the earbuds while he figured out how to load music onto the player. He actually found a list of some of the songs I like on HIS computer and downloaded them for me!

SO –

  • I switched the earphones I had been using on the old MP3 player to my computer, so now I won’t have to wear the huge, clunky ones that fall off my head when I’m trying to do the online exercise videos.
  • I put the new MP3 player on the charger so it will be ready for me to use later this morning.
  • I will receive the new earbuds I ordered for my phone, on which I now have a Pandora account and access to lots of music when I’m out

Woo HOOOOOOOOOO!

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The Amazing Isabella Clever

First, it’s hard to believe this is “art,” rather than simply wonderful photographs. Then, you have to understand that Isabella Clever is 13 years old, living in New Zealand. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.

Isabella Clever

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My Wish for You in 2023!

“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 2023 be the best year of your life!!!”

Source Unknown

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“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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Truth?

Birthday Wishes Expert

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More Whendi’s Bears

Whendi’s Bears

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Tatiana Barakova Wool Felted Animals 2

Tatiana Barakova Wool Felted Animals

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Ronnie Gould Ceramic Dogs

Ronnie Gould Ceramics

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Friends on Friday 12-30-2022

Lunch Bunch – I think I’m the one in the middle. (Final Fantasy XIV)

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On the way to Lunch Bunch this morning, we’ll change the decoration on our mailbox.

Here’s hoping that 2023 will be a better year than this one has been.

I MAY be able to get outside this afternoon and lop or saw down a few weed trees. Fingers crossed.

On the two other challenges that we’ve faced lately – the fact that the clothes washer died mid load and wouldn’t restart and that my MP3 player had been misplaced have shown some progress!

After finally arranging for a tech to come about the clothes washer on Tuesday of next week, we tried a bunch of things to get the machine to reset. I found a blurb online about a ‘child lock’ and the icon looked like what we were seeing. We tried the two solutions given and one of them WORKED! Everything is working again! I rewashed the half-washed comforter and it worked perfectly. HOOORAAAAAY! We saved the at least $150 we would have paid for the guy to come out and look at it.

Speaking of that, the company we dealt with was Pro-Tech. The tech’s name was Jonathan. The lady I texted back and forth with at the company was truly wonderful, though I didn’t get her name. After we got the washer running again, I texted her, asking her to cancel the Tuesday appointment. She got right back to me, confirming that she had cancelled it. I highly recommend Pro-Tech because of the good communication we had when I had no luck with the many others I called or contacted trying to fix this problem. Their phone number is 479-462-7787. I think they serve the Ft. Smith AR and surrounding areas, like us in Greenwood.

I FOUND the MP3 player. I went out to the elliptical yesterday and turned it on. It said it had NO music recorded on it! None. Nada. I finally found an FM radio and listened to a rock station that played 3/4 commercials and 1/4 music, but it was better than nothing. Talk about desperation! My husband is trying now to record some of HIS favorite songs on it. I told him I would be very grateful to have SOMEONE’S favorite songs on it when I do the elliptical again tomorrow.

Today is “warm-up” and “weights” videos online and then yoga. (DAY 168).

Have a wonderful Friday.

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Mirror, Mirror…

Source Unknown

Can you say, “yo yo” three times fast?

All the goodies are finally gone. My scales are not only smirking – they are guffawing.

guf·faw

/ɡəˈfô/

Learn to pronounce

noun

noun: guffaw; plural noun: guffaws

  1. a loud and boisterous laugh. :0(

123RF

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This generates hostility and frustration, obviously. Since we’re not planning any more holiday stuff, I can hopefully get back on track. (I know. You’ve heard this before. Whine.)

SO –

today is a new day. I have not eaten breakfast yet, since I’ve been trying to reach a tech to work on our dishwasher. I also haven’t gotten out in the garage to do my elliptical trainer session for the day.

I’ll go do both NOW.

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I Still Love David Zinn Street Art

“Carpe Quies”

David Zinn – StreetArtUtopia.com

“Franz Never Met a Place That Didn’t Need Singing In”

“Friends in Rocky Places”

“Frog and Butterfly”

“Nadine and the Emerging Perch”

David Zinn Street Art

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Ronnie Gould Sculpture

Ronnie Gould – Arctic Animals Sculpture

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Mother Nature is Getting Senile 12-29-2022

BBC

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I think Mother Nature may be joining me as a “senior” – maybe getting a bit confused. As you know, this past week almost the whole of the USA was treated to a front from Canada, putting us all in the deep-freeze, threatening to burst our water pipes, bringing havoc during the holidays, even causing tragedy. Now, while people are either STILL trying to get to their family to at least say, “Hi,” and or just simply get home, Mother Nature has decided to bring a touch of spring to Arkansas.

Yesterday was beautiful, with a high in the 60s. Today it’s supposed to be in the 70s! It’s really windy, though, so I’m not sure I want to work outside for very long. I was just dumping the cat box and felt like the wind was trying to lift me AND the box up in the air! Who knows what to expect next, but –

“Winter is coming….”

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Mixed Bag

Deagreez-Pexels-GettyImages-iStockphoto

IN THE WIN COLUMN – I FOUND my MP3 Player! :0) I wanted to use it while I was on the elliptical trainer on Tuesday and it wasn’t in its usual place. I looked all around, but came up with no clue. I exercised in silence in the garage, each minute seeming like 5 or 10.

Later, I looked at the table again where the player should have been. I realized the charger wasn’t there, either, and that made me think in another direction. I found the player on the charger behind my left-hand computer monitor in the office. I don’t remember why I moved it now, but I’m happy I found it, since today is elliptical trainer morning, with yoga this afternoon.

IN THE LOSE COLUMN – The third load of laundry yesterday was our comforter. I’ve washed it several times before, but this time when I checked on it, the washer had stopped and “15” (I think) was flashing. I tried to get it going again, to no avail. Then it showed ‘locked’ with a key, that would flash and then go off. The door WASN’T locked, though. I could open it. The washer had water, soap, and the comforter and I couldn’t get it to work. My husband found the circuit breaker for the utility room. We tried turning that off and back on again after waiting, hoping that would get the washer to reset. No change. The basket finally drained and we took the comforter out, putting it in a laundry basket, where it waits. I need to get it rinsed, somehow, and I’ll think about how best to do that.

I started trying to find someone to come look at it. Of COURSE our stuff breaks down during holiday week, when everyone is closed or can’t get someone here until much, much later. I have a text in now to another tech or may or may not call me back. ARRRRRGH!

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Whendi’s Bears

Whendi’s Bears

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Tatiana Barakova Wool Felted Animals

Tatiana Barakova

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Love for a Wednesday 12-28-2022

Bright Side

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Woodturner Eric Lofstrom

Woodturner Eric Lofstrom – fvwg.ca

Eric Lofstrom

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Do That

I’m finally doing this more. I try to make sure that I have a bit of time for myself each day, where I ignore all the ‘shoulds’ and just do something that makes me smile – or at least, calm down – in that life is sometimes a challenge, isn’t it.

I have a mental list of what makes me smile – (in random order, as I think of them) –

  • Playing in my art room – trying a new technique – playing with color and texture
  • Listening to music
  • Reading
  • Being outside, working in the yard
  • Watching a favorite movie
  • Spending time with a good friend
  • Shutting my eyes and dreaming
  • Talking with our son
  • Spending quality time with my husband
  • Finding creative people on the Internet
  • Writing my blog

My goal is to spend more and more time smiling. What makes YOUR soul happy?

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Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, Cherishing the Quiet Day

You OK Today?

Healthline

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My altered exercise plan is doing well so far. One day I’m doing a warm-up video and another with weights in the morning and then yoga in the afternoon. The following day I’m doing minutes on my elliptical trainer in the garage and then yoga. I did the elliptical for the first time in a LONG time yesterday. I can’t find my MP3 player yet, so I had to do the minutes in silence, making it seem like a really long time. :0( I’ll scour the house for it today so that hopefully, I’ll have it for tomorrow.) My arms and legs are slightly sore, meaning that my sweet old body is noticing that I’m doing something different – a really good thing.

With the weather finally warming up to ‘regular winter’ in Arkansas, I MAY be able to lop or saw more weed trees across our back yard soon.

VectorKIF-Getty Images-iStockphoto

Since we don’t have any plans today, I’ll see what I can get accomplished on running the bulldozer through the house. So far, I’ve changed our sheets and started the laundry. Amber has shed at least a dog’s worth of hair in the past couple of days, so I’ll vacuum the tiled areas and see what I can do about scrubbing the kitchen some.

I hope you’re doing okay, too, and that you have a really nice Wednesday.

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Rita Kirkman Pastels 2

Krissy

Lily

Lorikeet II

Mimzy

Smoky Bun

Rita Kirkman Pastels

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Parallelograms

Sent to me by Carol Jansons

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Open Up!

SayingImages.com

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I Love the Sculpture of Anne-Laure Peres

Sculpture of Children by Anne-Laure Peres

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It’s Tuesday 12-27-2022

Cute Animals Rule – Twitter

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I hope you’re doing well – feeling sassy – today. The sun is shining (at least I THINK that’s what I’m seeing in the sky), it’s 17 degrees F. right now, but it’s supposed to warm up to 46 today and be even warmer tomorrow! We may be able to stop dripping water today to keep the pipes from freezing.

Walmart

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I’ve learned another thing since this cold snap – that we should get more proactive on storing bottled water than we have been. The water companies had problems, asking for conservation, cutting off service to some surrounding areas for a time in order not to run out – all I had been actively thinking about was not having our pipes freeze. I should have been thinking that if everyone drips water, there could be a resulting problem. We’ll buy some more today to put in the pantry.

Get Healthy U

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Yesterday I did the warm-up – then the weights exercises videos online for the first time in a long time. I then did my usual yoga in the afternoon. (DAY 164). Today after lunch (due to errands this morning) I’ll do a session on the elliptical in the garage and then my yoga. I’m hoping that these additions will be a good variation in my efforts to get stronger and more flexible, plus alleviate pain.

I’m HOPING that our weather will warm up enough tomorrow that I can try to get more weed trees down across the back yard. I’m now armed with loppers and a reciprocating saw, so I should be able to make some noticeable progress. Here’s to warmer weather!

Enjoy your Tuesday.

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