Friends

pexels

We’ve been having a truly wonderful time lately, entertaining friends who we either haven’t seen in a long time or friends who want to come and say, “Hi” to our son while he’s home from Thailand.

Our home is so full of love its bursting at the seams and I couldn’t love it more.

We’re exchanging Christmas presents, in some cases – in others, just enjoying some coffee or a bit of food. In all cases, we’re enjoying hugs, laughs, and good conversation.

SUCH a special time for us. Can you see me grinning?

Leave a comment

Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays

I’m Dancing!

Becky Brovia via Lisa Bearnes Richey

Leave a comment

Filed under Attitude, empowerment, Encouragement

Santa is Coming to Town!

We put up this mailbox decorations this morning.

As far as we’re concerned, Santa came to our home December 10th, when we picked up our son at the airport to stay with us for three weeks.  We really don’t need anything more – just seeing our good friends. We are super lucky this year, having our son for his birthday AND Christmas before he leaves.  Right now he’s in the dining area, working on his computer. Just knowing I can get up and get a wonderful hug makes me smile.

 

I hope Santa is good to YOU this year, too.

Leave a comment

Filed under Family, holidays, Lewis Art, Lewis Mailbox Decorations, metal art

Housekeeping Style

Rebel Circus via Doreen Adamson-Liber

Leave a comment

Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, Housekeeping - Maintenance, I'm a slob

We Love Horses

Joseph Zbukvic via Graeme Stevenson OAM – LinkedIn

 

R.J. B. – LinkedIn

 

Catherine Lee – LinkedIn

 

Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Catherine O – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Amazing Animals, Catherine Lee, Jeff Jett Photography, Oil Paintings I Love, Watercolors I Love

Pip

“Pip” – Niki Firmin Pet Portraits

Leave a comment

Filed under Niki Firmin - Pet Portraits

Mountains

“In the Mountains” – Paul Militaru Photography

 

“Mountain Stream” – Paul Militaru Photography

Leave a comment

Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography, Mother Nature, Paul Militaru Photography

Hahahahaahahah!

Fastweb

Our son got the Wii Fit Plus to work again. (It quit quite awhile back, but I was too dumb to get it to work and my husband had no interest.) We figured out which part of the TV settings to use, put fresh batteries in the board and the remotes and confirmed it worked.

This morning I finally decided ‘today is the day’ and tried it.

Its software remembered me and produced my gray-haired avatar (or I think they call it a Mii). They said it had been some almost 5,000 days since I had been on it. They did welcome me back, and they did notice I’m some 40 lbs lighter that the last time I tried to use it.  They said I needed to lose another 28 lbs to be in the right weight range for my height. (I’ve been trying to get taller so I don’t need to lose as much, but that isn’t working).

I did the body test and it said I was ‘unbalanced’ ( big shock)

I then went through all the balance games. It decided I was pathetic. It didn’t actually insult me this time, but my avatar hung her head in defeat after I tried each activity. I left it on, and will go back later and do all the balance activities again.

What I’m trying to do, since I am NOT an exercise person, is vary what I’m doing each day to try to get my body’s attention. I’ve already been doing yoga and abdominal exercises one day, 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer the next. Now I’ll do the Wii Fit Plus another day, (varying which type of things I’m working on) and a walking video the next. I’ll see how that works. I want a regimen I can stick with, don’t dread, and actually helps me.

The balance games show that I really need to do them on a regular basis. Since old ladies like me are prone to getting brittle and frail, losing strength over time, and losing their balance and falling, I’m trying to do all I can to avoid that for as long as possible.

So – now that I’ve actually gotten on the Wii again and survived, I’ll do it again in a few minutes!

Leave a comment

Filed under exercise, taking care of yourself

“Make the Ordinary Come Alive”

Waldorf Today via Desiree Angelique Hackett

Leave a comment

Filed under empowerment, Encouragement, Family

Philosophy of Management

Oleg Vishnepolsky – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Attitude, Favorite Quotes, Important Ideas to Consider

Wonderful Waterfalls

Nature via Cathy Ruggiero

Leave a comment

Filed under Favorite Pictures, Waterfall gifs

Becky Smith Model Making

Mr. Snickelway – Rebecca Smith – Becky Smith Model Making – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under sculpture

Cats’ Eyes

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, Jeff Jett Photography

Hugs

The Happyologist

I’ve been smiling all over since Monday afternoon when we picked up our son at the airport. He’s been gone for over three years, living and working in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Most of the time we can ‘forget’ that he’s half a world away. He’s made sure to tell us that if we need him, he’ll be here. We communicate on an almost daily basis via a secure chat program he set up plus a conference call program where we can see his face and talk to him real time. We’re closer than a lot of people are who live in the same city. Every once in a while, though, my hugs bucket gets really low and I miss him so much I hurt.

He’s home with us now. For his birthday, which we celebrated yesterday, and for Christmas, and a bit after that. Just knowing that he’s on his computer in the dining area right now and that I can go in and hug his neck makes me smile. And then he’ll show up in the office, pull me up, and hug me.

I can’t say enough about his hugs. They’re so good they make me tear up.  And he’s super generous with them.

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Family, giving

Getting the Lard Off Progress Report 12/13/2018

BBC

I MAY be making some progress again, after hitting a plateau and going back and forth above and below the 30-pounds-off mark. I’ve also lost about 30 inches, though that hasn’t changed in a bit.

I’m going to add the Wii Fit Plus to my regimen starting tomorrow. Yesterday I did yoga and abdominal exercises. Today I did 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer. The Wii tomorrow and the “Annoying Leslie Walking Video” will round out my routine for the next several days and I’ll see how I feel about things after that.  I’m determined to use my good tools, even though the person on the Wii insults my efforts, and Leslie Sansone is really annoying, telling me how GOOD what she’s doing feels and being truly annoyingly perky.

I AM feeling looser. More flexible. A bit stronger. I want to feel secure in my footing and I would like to feel more energy.

I’ll try this for a week and will report the results next Thursday. Wish me luck?

2 Comments

Filed under Challenges, exercise, getting the lard off, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Birthday Celebration

Betty Crocker

Our son is home for his birthday for the first time in what seems like forever. We took him out to lunch at one of our favorite places in Greenwood, Arkansas now, The Dari, using one of my Christmas presents from Lynn, my massage therapist, a gift card. We enjoyed good food and good conversation – a quiet celebration of a happy family.

I am in awe of the man our son is. He is seriously into meditation and it is really helping him calm his mind and rethink how he is reacting to the world around him. I don’t know where he got it, but he is so kind and generous! When I’m teed off with someone, he remarks that it’s sad that person is suffering and scared. He makes ME rethink. I learn so much from him.

We’re using every opportunity to really talk during his visit, and I love it.  I’m also using every opportunity to get another of his fabulous hugs. He even volunteers more of them, and it makes me tear up just thinking about it.

Parenting is such a difficult thing. Each of us does the best we can at the time and hope that it’s the right thing to do. Even if everyone around you thinks you’re doing it right  (a very rare thing) it can blow up in your face. You can only try to help or keep your child from going down the wrong path.

We are supremely lucky that with all the mistakes we probably made, our son is such a good person it amazes us. He actually enjoys being with us, is patient with our foibles, and shows in so many ways he loves us. Life just doesn’t get better than this.

Leave a comment

Filed under Family

My Massage Therapist is Psychic, Too!

Clark’s Inn and Restaurant

 

I had a glorious massage this morning and my whole body is smiling.

My therapist’s name is Lynn Moody. If you’re in the Greenwood, AR area (including Fort Smith and surrounding towns) you will thank yourself a million times if you call Lynn and schedule a massage. Her location for massages is 320 South Coker, Greenwood AR 72936. Her phone number is 479-629-7601. Her email address is lynnmoody42@yahoo.com

I feel very close to Lynn. We exchange news about our families, what’s happening in our worlds, etc. each time I have a massage. I trust her as a friend – something rare and precious to find these days.

Today I told her that my husband and I were planning to take our son to a local restaurant, The Dari, for lunch to celebrate his birthday. When we exchanged Christmas gifts after my massage, I found a gift card for The Dari!!!!

Not ONLY does she give massages to die for, she’s psychic!

How LUCKY I am to have found her.

Leave a comment

Filed under giving, Great Companies Who Deserve Your Business, quality of life, taking care of yourself

A “Frog Strangler?”

Almaz UK via Flickr

Our wonderful guy who helps us keep our driveway drive-able came this morning. The last rain we had was super heavy and caused deep ruts to form. Then UPS and other good delivery people had trouble negotiating the steep 650 foot+ driveway and made deep holes where their tires spun. We were in a mess.

Eric brought his tractor and got to work without saying a word to us – just started making magic. Within 20 minutes our driveway was smooth and beautiful again. He said, “This should hold you a while, unless we get a frog strangler tomorrow.” I had never heard this term before, even having lived in Arkansas for over 30 years now, but I take it from the context to mean another super-heavy, washing rain.

A nice lady in a four-wheeler came up soon after Eric finished. She needed to put a circular metal tag on the electrical pole for some reason. She did, and left, but she was the first one to try out the freshly un-screwed driveway. We went down next to do a bunch of errands, and it was WONDERFUL going down without bouncing around in the truck.

It was still beautiful when we returned an hour or so later, and drove right up without a bounce. AHHHHHHH!

Fingers crossed now for no ‘frog stranglers’ tomorrow…..

By the way, if you live in the Arkansas area and need someone to do dirt work for you, call Eric Sandifer, 479-650-6804 or write him at P.O. Box 273, Greenwood AR 72936. You can depend on him to do good work at a fair price.

Leave a comment

Filed under Great Companies Who Deserve Your Business, Housekeeping - Maintenance

Snow People – Take 36

“Impaled on Tree” – Scibol.com

 

 

“Letterbox Disguise” – Scribol.com

 

 

“Shark Attack” – Scribol.com

Leave a comment

Filed under Childlike Fun, Creativity, Seasons, snow people

Tentative Truce

YouTube

Today was yoga-and-exercises day.

WiiFitPlus

I finished those a while ago, and our son was quite the cheerleader about my efforts. I then asked if he could put getting the Wii to work again on his list of things to try to heal while he was here. He looked at it immediately. My husband worked with him and together they figured out which setting we needed to be using on the TV devices, and then we changed the batteries in the part you stand on and the two hand-held remotes that go with it.

I’ve decided to call a tentative truce in the war between the Wii and me. I tried to use it before, setting up my avatar and really trying hard to get on it on a regular basis. I finally quit because I got hostile at the Wii insulting me. Instead of supporting your efforts and cheering you on that you were better today than you were in the past, it says things like,”This isn’t really your strong suit, is it?” or “Do you find yourself falling over a lot?”

Now that I’m regularly doing 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer one day and a good yoga session plus abdominal exercises the next, I think I can handle an insulting exercise system because I would really like to concentrate on my reflexes and my balance. I’ll just get ugly back at it – and if I concentrate on it – maybe I can get it to back down… :0)

 

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Attitude, Challenges, exercise, taking care of yourself

Things are Getting Fixed!

depositphotos.com

Things have been shaping up around here since our son came home. My husband can fix almost anything, but sometimes things are so frustrating they just get put aside. Our son has been tackling one gadget after another, getting them to work!

  • First of all, he fixed my pedometer so it is much more accurate. My husband had measured my ‘stride’ as 22 inches long. It seems to be that since my stride isn’t really that long, it doesn’t count ANY of my steps that are less than that. So I was walking around all day doing my normal stuff, and since I rarely took a stride that long, a LOT of my steps didn’t count.
  • He is in the last stages of getting the Internet to work in our shop again. This wireless system has really been complicated, but he seems to have worked his will on it.
  • He got our car dash cam to quit turning itself off and on randomly and to work the way we intended for it to again.
  • He got my computer and Microsoft on speaking terms again so we were able to finally add several Windows 10 updates that had been waiting. (This was done out of intense love for his mama, since he HATES Microsoft, Windows 10, and PCs.)

While he’s been working his magic, we took our smaller Dyson vacuum cleaner to be repaired this morning. It had power, but we couldn’t get the rotor to work in the head so that it would actually vacuum. My husband had it apart twice, The first time we cleaned it thoroughly – something I should have been better about. The second time he was suspicious that the switch you push to turn on the rotor wasn’t getting power. He checked that out and couldn’t find any problems. Hence the search for someone who could repair a Dyson.

We found a guy, but he was in Barling – about an hour away from us. I put the address into our GPS and it took us on a new road we’ve never traveled before, cutting the trip by about 2/3 and taking us right to the place. The man took the vacuum into the back and then brought it back 30 seconds later, saying, “It’s fixed.” It turns out that there is a RESET switch on one end of the head that we had inadvertently hit at some time or other and it was in the ‘on strike’ mode or something. He wouldn’t take any money for looking at it and we’re fixed. If you live in west-central Arkansas, the company is Fort Smith Vacuum, 1108 Fort Street, Barling AR  479-452-3770. Closed Mondays. $30 bench fee if you have to leave it with him to be fixed. This is a first class company and I highly recommend him.

My husband was also teed off that he would put his phone in the wireless mode and it would switch back on its own after several seconds. We took it to AT&T. A guy named Adan pushed a million buttons on the phone, and then turned it off and turned it on again (rebooting it.) Problem solved. I wish I could do that with my BRAIN….

Our home phone has been causing us problems. For several reasons we can’t just get rid of what essentially is a land line, but on a cellphone base. My husband wrote a program that screened our calls, virtually eliminating all robocalls, crank calls, and wrong numbers. It would answer the phone without our hearing any ringing. If the person was on the accepted list, the call came right through. If it was someone not on the list, a voice would tell them, “If you are a real person and aren’t selling anything, press 1”  THEN we would hear the phone ring and answer it. The trouble was, it was very temperamental and would treat people that we WANTED to hear from badly.  Or someone would press one and then it said, “Goodbye” and hung up on them. We disconnected the system and soon started getting SEVERAL calls each day with no one on the other end, robocalls, etc. Our son has helped us find a new system that will replace our existing phones in the office, plus add a phone in the kitchen and one in our bedroom – all for a one-time charge. My husband is checking out reviews now before we jump on it.

We are feeling huge tension loads lifted as my husband, my son, both working together, or other experts are solving problems that have been plaguing us for quite a while now. HOORAY!

 

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Challenges, Changes, Family, Great Companies Who Deserve Your Business

“Beyond the Trees”

“Beyond the Trees” – Paul Militaru Photography

Leave a comment

Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography, Paul Militaru Photography

Groaner

sayingimages.com

Leave a comment

Filed under Funny Signs - Humor

Holding Hands

Gilda Silva – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography

Grover

“Grover” – Niki Firmin – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Niki Firmin - Pet Portraits

Happiness

SayingImages.com

Can you see me grinning? Can you feel the happiness spilling out of me all over the floor?

Our son came home from Thailand yesterday for the first time in over 3 years. After he had a chance to catch up a bit on sleep, we shared beef stew, pets, and good conversation until about 11:30 last night.

There are no words for how full I’m feeling. I have everything right in my home. Right now.

Our elderly cocker spaniel/schnauzer cross, Molly, not only remembered him, crying with excitement and joy, she insisted on spending much of the evening in his lap, only moving to push her face closer to him. We were all touched by how happy she was to welcome him home again. Amber was her usual boisterous self, blissfully unaware of how huge she is and how much destruction she can cause in a short amount of time. She, too, calmed down, though, after a while, and was content to come over and demand he love her every once in a while.

It doesn’t matter what we do while he’s here. I’m going to try to get some pictures, and I’m trying NOT to smother him, though he’s telling me I’m ‘worrying too much’ about whether he’s comfortable or not, has everything he needs, can find things, remembers about our weird hot water system, etc. There is no way a mother quits worrying until she is gone.

I’ll collect as many hugs as he’ll allow while he’s here and just enjoy the time spent with him, whatever we’re doing. I love to talk with him. Last night we started talking about meditation. He is really into the practice and it’s helping him calm his mind and deal with whatever happens. I’m really happy he has found something that is so rewarding.

He just came into the office after eating his breakfast and before going up to shower. He loved Amber until she calmed down and then came over and gave me the best hug in the world. Now I’m adding tears to the joy.

So, you’ll probably get sick of happiness exuding all over the place from me over the next three weeks. I have to tell you I can’t help it and I’ll be happy enough for you and me BOTH!

2 Comments

Filed under Family, Favorite People, holidays

Glorious Watercolor

Ana Loreta Baicu – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Watercolors I Love

And He’s Home!

Pinterest

My face is split ear to ear with a huge, goofy grin.

Our son is HOME.

I’ve received three good hugs so far – one at the airport and two when we got home.

He took the ‘short’ flight from Chiang Mai here – 28 hours all told – (8 hours waiting between flights). He flew from Chiang Mai to Incheon, South Korea, waited 4 hours and then flew from Incheon to the DFW airport. Waited another 4 hours and then flew from Dallas to Fort Smith, Arkansas.

He said the OTHER option was one which would take 58 hours.

He was in shorts, sandals, a tee shirt and a hoodie. He said when he left Chiang Mai, it was in the high 80s – night time, and he was sweating the minute he left the house. He never has to wear a hoodie, much less long pants, heavier shirt, full shoes and socks, and maybe even a coat, hat and gloves…. It woke him up to have to walk with us to the car in short-term parking.

We tried to prepare him for Amber, our 94 pound yellow lab PUPPY, but the reality of Amber is a ‘whole-nuther-thing.’ She finally calmed down enough for me to get her to go to her place and THEN Brian could get to know her a bit. Molly remembered him, even though it has been years since he ‘disappeared.’ I thought she would wag her little stubby tail off. She cried, trying to get closer and closer to him. (I know how she feels.)

I’m smiling all over knowing that he’s upstairs sleeping now.  We’ll plan to eat some beef stew together tonight, talk a bit, relax, and then regroup for tomorrow. We need to get supplies for the smoothies he wants to make and other food, plus get his driver’s license renewed before it expires on his birthday. (He needs one when he’s here, but not in Chiang Mai.)

We’ll play the next three weeks by ear, open to whatever he would like to do. I’m hoping we can talk a lot.  And I’ll sneak in as many hugs as he’ll allow…

4 Comments

Filed under Cause for Celebration, Family

Fred Michel Art

Fred Michel – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Creativity, playing with your food?

Really Listening

Deidre’ Wallace – LinkedIn

This is an ongoing challenge for me. I recognized that my mother was challenged, too, but it was SO much easier to recognize it in someone else.

I used to make excuses for myself – that if I didn’t blurt out what I was thinking at the first breath the other person took, I would forget what it was I wanted to say. Now I realize that if I can’t remember it, it wasn’t that important to share in the first place. Besides that, it’s rude, and that really has NEVER been my intention.

My goal now is to leave knowing a LOT more about what’s happening with the other person, and what they think about things. If they want to know something, they’ll ASK.

I really want the other person to know that I care – that I want to be with them – HEAR them. An ongoing challenge, but I think a very worthy one.

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Attitude, Blog Repost - Wonderful Posts, Encouragement

Wonderful Lions

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, Jeff Jett Photography