Be

Leo Tolstoy via SayingImages.com

 

“Happiness is not in our circumstance but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are.”  John B. Sheerin

 

funnyfact.com

 

“Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.” Epictetus

 

 

images.designntrend.com

 

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”  Marcel Proust

 

 

 

“Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy.” ~Gretta Brooker Palmer

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Mother Nature was Smiling This Morning

The picture above gives you an idea of the LOVELY glistening grass with the sun shining on it we saw as we drove to town early this morning. It was almost as if it were “jeweled” – with glints reflecting as we passed!  I was thinking about how beautiful it was and my husband said, “Isn’t the grass beautiful this morning?” :0)  Mother Nature was definitely smiling at us!

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Be Yourself

Oscar Wilde via sayingimages.com

Now that I’m older than dirt, many things are becoming clearer.

I would prefer that people like me. I love it when people enjoy my blog or some of my art work. I’m delighted when someone wants to spend time with me.

But more and more I’m self-contained. I have so many things I want or like to do that I’m never bored. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by materials I can use to make things. I have wonderful books and magazines to read, plans to make on my greenhouse and raised bed square foot garden, new low carb, low sugar recipes I want to try, animals to love, a husband who annoys me only part of the time, (;0)  – life is good and I’m so lucky.

I could stay up here on top of my ridge line for days at a time, only coming down for supplies of various kinds. I’m able to reach out to people via social media, my blog, chat programs, phone and letter. It just doesn’t get better than this.

I still would like to improve, but I no longer want to be like others. I’m content within my own skin. I would like to lose some lard and feel stronger and more flexible. I would like to continue to learn things. I would love to have more time and energy to play in my art room.

I hope that many people live to look around and realize that their lot in life is pretty good. Things are never perfect, but they sure could be a lot worse.

Be content being yourself. Find things that make your spirit soar. Surround yourself with people you cherish. Live every day – embracing it, wringing every bit of joy out of it that is possible.  “Be yourself….”

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Art from Found Things – Take 4

tripadvisor.com

 

 

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Snow People – Take 25

acidcow.com

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Watercolors I Love – Take 28

“Flying Dove”-www.etsy.com

 

 

Joe Cartwright-www.pinterest.com

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Birds and Ice

“Flying Over the Frozen Lake” – Paul Militaru Photography

 

 

“Eating on Ice” – Paul Militaru Photography

 

 

“Ducks on Ice” – Paul Militaru Photography

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Snow People – Take 24

curiousphotos.blogspot.com

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Watercolors I Love – Take 27

“Watercolor Eagle” Alison Fennell-fineartamerica.com.

 

 

homesthetics.net

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Art from Found Things – Take 3

dishfunctionaldesigns.blogspot.ca

 

 

Peter McFarlane-www.pinterest.com

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Success!

We only had a few errands to run this morning so we asked Amber, “Do you want to go in the CAR?” She grinned and said, “WOOOF!” and started herding us to the door.

She is getting her ‘car legs’ now, crashing into the backs of our seats and falling down less and less. We put the windows down half way on either side of the back seat and she spends her time going from one side to stick her face out to the other. When we get close to town, she vocalizes more, whining as she smells more people, places, and animals.

She waited for us at Yeager’s, and then got to get out of the car with the no-pull collar and leash, at the vet’s. We said we were going to ‘weigh her,’ which we did. (91 lbs), but what we were really doing was seeing if our walking her every day at home was bearing fruit. She did NOT pull on the leash much as we went into the vet’s. (Last time, she almost pulled my husband down at least three times – really scaring us.) This time we went in and told her to ‘sit’ on the scales. She did! She waited patiently for us to say, “Good Dog!”  We took her over to say “Hi” to the receptionist. She just wagged her tail happily and licked her, (NOT rushing around like a mad thing and trying to jump.)  She met a young dachshund (I think) who was in her owner’s arms in a blanket. They were sitting on the bench as we went in. She politely sniffed the dog, wagged her tail, and we left. SUCCESS!

We went a couple more places where Amber waited for us in the car. She seemed to have a really good time.

We’ll continue to walk her on the leash daily, and we’ll put the no-pull collar on her whenever we have Carla and her doggies over for a play date or we go out in public, but there is night and day difference between the way she acted a couple of weeks ago and today!

___________________

Not all problems have been solved, however. After playing “pick-up-sticks” with the collection she had gathered in the yard this morning, I found two plastic bins plus a lid that she had discovered in the garage and decided to bring out to the front yard to chew on. She chewed one of the handles off, but the chewed bins are still usable, I guess. :0(

 

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A New Friendship

C. S. Lewis via SayingImages.com

A friendship born like this is rare and is magical. I’m amazed when you can be introduced and soon you feel you’ve known each other for years. This kind of friendship endures, not depending on how long it has been since you’ve seen or talked to this person. There is a kinship and caring that lasts longer than either of you. If you’re lucky enough to experience this, treasure these wonderful people.

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On the Right Track Again – Finally

funnyimagegallery.blogspot.com

 

My husband and I have had a hard time for the past 6 months or so on our efforts to get the lard off and get healthier by moving more. We simply drifted off the track, endlessly seeing yet another excuse for splurging or ignoring our guidelines. Excuses, lies, and blather followed.

We’ve been trying various things over the past month or so – some successful to a certain extent, but not really being serious on a long-term basis in our heads. Last Monday we came up with a combination that seems to be working for us! There are certain things that are important that we keep – such as my husband’s fruit and cereal in the morning and our orange dream bars at night – but everything else is on the table for discussion.

My husband likes to eat out at lunch. This has been one large problem because we tend to choose the wrong things at the deli, as an example. I have decided to be prepared to fix us a large salad for lunch each day. If my husband decides suddenly that ‘we’ should stop at CV’s and he wants to get lunch at  the deli, he can do that. If he does, I have a go-to meal I can throw together at home, some combination of raw veggies and dip, hard boiled egg, a bit of meat – things like that. For dinner we’re staying low carb. Last night we had a roast from the crock pot and some steamed mixed veggies. My husband is a big boy and can make decisions about whether he REALLY wants to eat half a bag of potato chips while he’s reading in the afternoon… We also chose carefully and stockpiled our pantry freezer with low carb, low sugar frozen dinners, so we’re not derailed if I’m “too tired to cook.” I’m concentrating on drinking more water during the day, as well.

Since last Monday I’ve lost 5 lbs. (18.2 total from my highest weight.)  I’m down 13″ from my starting point so far.

I’m hoping that I’ve finally turned the corner again, taking responsibility for what I put in my own mouth, rather than grabbing excuses out of the air and pointing fingers elsewhere.  I’ve told myself that I won’t be upset if the scales or the tape measure don’t show any improvement from one week to the next. I just want them NOT to INCREASE!

I have not been doing my exercising, again using lame excuses. :0(    We have a 91 pound lab ‘puppy’ who tends to come in and run over me on the floor on my yoga mat, knock me over, or lick me to death. There ARE ways around this problem.  It has been REALLLLLLY cold for Arkansas this month. My elliptical trainer lives in the garage, so I’ve been using the excuse that it was too cold to do that. (The fact that I have walking DVDs in the house has been ignored.) I have also piously excused myself because I have been tackling an area most days to DEEP clean, including taking everything out, going through it all, deciding what to keep, what to donate, and what to throw away before cleaning the area and all things in it and reorganizing. This is a good thing to do – and LONG overdue – but NOT a valid excuse for not doing regular exercise.

I’m giving myself a bit of slack, though, because I HAVE been eating much healthier and taking responsibility, so I’m honoring my promise to

taolife.com

but I need to put this together with an honest effort to at least do some yoga stretching each day. I’ll concentrate on that this week.

Wish me luck?

 

 

 

 

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Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating

Quote of the Day – Thank You for Noticing…

“If you have noticed this notice you will have noticed that this notice is not worth noticing.”

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Church Bulletins – Church Ladies with Typewriters

mediad.publicbroadcasting.net

These were in an email sent to me by my good friend, Marsha Koenig. “These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced at church services:”

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
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Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
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The sermon this morning: ‘Jesus Walks on the Water.’ The sermon tonight: ‘Searching for Jesus.’
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Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
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Don’t let worry kill you off. Let the Church help.
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Miss Charlene Mason sang ‘I will not pass this way again,’ giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
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For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
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Next Thursday there will be try-outs for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
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Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
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At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be ‘What Is Hell?’ Come early and listen to our choir practice.
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Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
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Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
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The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
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Pot-luck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM – prayer and medication to follow.
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The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
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This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
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The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
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Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
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The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
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Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
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And this one just about sums them all up

The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new campaign slogan last Sunday: ‘I Upped My Pledge-–Up Yours.’

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“Victoria and Abdul”

I’m probably the last person on the planet to see “Victoria & Abdul.”

We rent and stream a lot of movies, most of them being action movies with lots of violence, things blowing up, etc. that are favorites of my husband. I try to watch them, and – I have to admit – sometimes I actually like them – but every once in a while, sandwiched between all the action – I like something with a plot, real acting, with people I care about.

Last night it was my turn again. We eat dinner in front of the TV most nights, and my husband eased out of the room once he had finished his and taken our plates to the kitchen.

I loved this movie. I like almost anything with Judi Dench. She usually plays strong women with character, and it was no exception here. I had never seen the lead man, Ali Fazal, who played Abdul. He was excellent, and I found it a joy to watch them together. I was very pleased to see another of my favorite actors, Michael Gambon, who played Lord Salisbury. (I recognized him from his role of Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter movies.)  A hallmark of a great movie is when you feel richer for having met the characters and shared a bit of their lives.

If you haven’t seen this movie, I highly recommend it. I know I’ll want to watch it again soon.

 

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Watercolors I Love – Take 26

D. Haggman Watercolors-www.pinterest.com

Olga Shvartsur-fineartamerica

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“Bridge in Arcade”

“Bridge in Arcade” – Paul Militaru Photography

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Sun Through Clouds

This isn’t that great a photograph, but when I was taking the doggies out this morning, I was really struck by the beauty of the sun streaming through the clouds. This only lasted long enough for me to go back inside and grab my phone. It’s now overcast and we’re supposed to have rain the rest of the day and evening – a wonderful thing to help with the bad drought in our area.

I think it was Irene who suggested that I try emailing the photo to myself to get it off the phone. It worked! THANK YOU, Irene!

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Decluttering my MAC

animal-animal-animal.blogspot.com

I have spent the morning trying to go through all the ‘stuff’ on my MAC computer in preparation for trying to change over to the new PC my husband is building for me. To be honest, I’m in a bit of a panic about this, afraid I’ll lose things, afraid I won’t be able to remember – or it’ll take a LONG time for me to relearn – how to use Microsoft. I’m certainly no expert on the MAC, but I was determined to get ‘functional’ before our son left to go back to Thailand over two years ago.

I have a place on the MAC called “Notes” that I’m not at ALL sure can be transferred from the MAC to the PC. It’s become kind of a catch all for things I want to keep track of – recipes, how-to’s, URLs, quotes, greenhouse articles, etc. I had a gazillion things on it in no particular order. I made a run through this morning, printing things I wanted to keep and deleting the rest. I’ll need to make a couple more passes before I’m ready to give it up when I change computers, but I made a good start today.

I’ll just try to do a bit each day and hope for the best.

I LOVE computers – except when they’re not being cooperative or when they go on strike. I basically consider them ‘magic.’  It’s a good thing my husband is a computer analyst. I LOVE the Internet – a great place to learn a ton of things. I HATE trying to make sense of what files I have, where they are, how to move them. I hope we don’t lose a lot of valuable ‘stuff’…

 

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Snow People – Take 23

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“The Colors of Sea in the Morning”

“The Colors of Sea in the Morning” – Paul Militaru Photography

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Art from Found Things – Take 2

Brian Marshall-www.flickr.com

 

 

ckudja-www.etsy.com

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In This Year to Come…

“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

It’s late to post this – on the 20th of January – but I think it’s important. Expanding your horizons, moving out of your comfort zone, is a way to keep your juices flowing.  I hate it when people I care about start ‘closing down.’  I want them to be overflowing with enthusiasm about SOMETHING, whether it’s a new author they’ve found, a new idea for their home, a new exercise they’re trying, a new picture puzzle they’ve started, a new hobby….

My husband and I are so busy all the time we don’t know how we EVER found time to work full time – as we did for most of our lives. The day begins and it’s over. We cram as much as we can into each one, but always make time to relax and take a nap to replenish energy, if needed. The days go so fast our hair blows! We have too many good things to do for each day.

Right now we have two main things we’re focusing on: I’m trying to clean/declutter/reorganize our ‘stuff’ one area at a time and my husband is building a new computer for me.

Yesterday I

  • finished getting things together for taxes for our CPA. We’re waiting for one more thing and then we can go dump it all on him. :0)
  • I also cleaned out the fridges in the kitchen and the pantry.
  • We received a BUNCH of boxes via UPS yesterday afternoon. We unpacked several computer components, plus the case they’ll all go in. We spent the rest of the afternoon and much of the evening putting the components we received into the new case. Now we’re waiting for a CPU and the main memory, and then I think my husband will start installing the operating system.

Meanwhile, my husband found a DVD via YouTube on TIG welding. He has done this for years, but really would like to do better. The DVD is wonderful, with an expert who makes it look easy. My husband is happy-as-a-pig-in-s_ _ t” watching the videos, ordering things he didn’t know existed to make his welding go more easily, plus downloaded a project to make a part for his metal lathe.

Also, meanwhile, I’m trying to get my greenhouse organized and functional, hoping to get a jump on the upcoming spring planting season. I’m researching, making notes, starting to spend a bit of time in my greenhouse as our weather is warming up a bit, listing plants I want to start, and figuring out how to get set up, at least initially, to start seeds.

Not to mention the newest member of our family, a yellow lab ‘puppy’ who is now 10 months old and 91 pounds, who is definitely giving us a run for our money.

The point is that we’re trying to branch out, do things that are a bit intimidating, trying to get healthier. Our interests are broadening and we’re loving our lives. We’re ‘Doing Something”

I hope you’re pushing yourself to ‘do something,” too.

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Art From Found Things – Take 1

“Dutch” ~ Original found object art created by Laurie Schnurer in 2014

 

blog.energyearth.com

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Friday’s Project

This year I ALMOST set a personal record to getting our tax stuff organized. Since I closed my website, Creative Artworks, in June, I MADE myself do the year’s accounting records in December, wrapping up the end of my business – happy that it’s the LAST time I have to fight with it.  I LOVED running the website, working with the other artists who displayed their work on it, making things to list, selling things, working with customers, and more, but I HATED the bookkeeping.  The fact that I no longer have to do that part is freeing.

I was trying to get the rest of our stuff ready for the CPA before we got the booklet he sends each year. Because our scanner bit the dust and we had to get a new one, I missed that goal. I totaled the different categories, and was plugging them into the booklet when I hit a brick wall not being able to make copies of anything.

We got our scanner yesterday. My husband fought with it, finally getting it to work.

No more excuses. FRIDAY’S PROJECT is to go through the awful pile on my desk made when I needed to find stuff and had to move the careful staged stacks as I went through the booklet.

By the end of the afternoon I plan to have all the totals entered into the booklet with the receipts in the proper place tied into a bow and put into the big envelope – waiting only from the paperwork from our broker to be able to take the envelope to Fort Smith and dump everything on our wonderful CPA.

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Steering

coolfunnyquotes.com

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We’ve Definitely Created a Monster…

This photo shows where the doggies usually are – under my computer area or beside my computer chair. They do go over and bug my husband, but he is mostly able to ignore them and they come back to me.  (Amber is on the left and Sweet Molly is on the dog bed on the right.)

 

We’ve been working on teaching Amber to bark when she wants to go out, and again, when she wants to come in. It took several weeks to get this across to her. When she realized what we wanted her to do, she would ‘bite the air’ silently, over and over, looking at us. It seems weird that we would have to TEACH a dog to bark, but that’s exactly what we were doing.

We finally have achieved our goal and Amber loves it. I’m concentrating on the computer and she comes and sits beside me. I may absently pet her, or ignore her, trying to do something that requires my attention on the screen. Suddenly, there is a sharp, LOUD “WOOOOF!” With me jumping straight up in the air, saying a ripe word or two on the way down, Amber is already halfway to the door. She LOVES being outside, so as soon as she comes in, she barks to go back out again.  She is also barking at ‘something,’ while out on the front porch. She is facing away from the door when we get up and look out the peephole in the door, so it’s obviously not an asking to come in. We refuse to let her sit outside and bark continuously, so after we get up a few times, we insist she come in…

How do you explain to a puppy that the “new trick” is not a license to drive us nuts?

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Birds and Water

“Birds” – Paul Militaru Photography

 

“The Calm Before the Storm” – Paul Militaru Photography

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Watercolors I Love – Take 25

Bear-portrait-signedsweet.com

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Snow People – Take 22

majesticgoldenrose.weebly.com

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