Slow, Steady Progress

I’m trying to use each day to dig out from my almost-a-month of being essentially useless because of really bad back spasms and pain. Thankfully, I’m back to being ‘mean as a snake’ as my husband describes me, so progress is being made, albeit slowly – kind of like a government project…

Today I’m trying to accomplish two things:

THING ONE:  finish the clean up of our master bedroom and bath. I need to finish scrubbing our shower stall and our whirlpool tub and then I’ll declare that area ‘healed’ for now. (subprojects: cleaning out my bookshelf, going through my jewelry)

THING TWO:  We have what we call ‘the go-out table’ in the dining area that adjoins the utility room and garage. We put things we need to take with us on errands, (purse, errand list, associated paperwork) etc.  Since I haven’t been monitoring it, the ‘etc’ has exploded to the point we’re fearing avalanche.

I started by taking everything off the table and out of the associated cabinet. I actually DID have some avalanches as our dining table didn’t want to hold it all.

I’m resting for a bit because I found myself starting to ‘stash’ things, rather than either purging/putting away/donating/reorganizing. Time for Phase Two…

 

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Thought for the Day

imagesoffunny.com

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“Want To” vs “Doing”

Translating intention to action to results is difficult. If I could bottle it, I would be a gazillionaire and could stop entering PCH and MegaMillions.

Trying to get myself to actually DO the things day after day that will get the results I want seems like a pipe dream at times. When I’m eating right, doing yoga and my elliptical trainer, and concentrating on moving more, I feel better – physically, mentally, and emotionally. So why am I still having to MAKE myself do these things, lapsing for a day or two, losing my motivation, failing to take each day at a time?

I am again talking to myself – pretty harshly – since I think I may be like our lab puppy, Amber, and need a shock collar to take things seriously, rather than blowing things off.

THIS TIME – I have my ducks more in a row (if you’ll pardon the pun on the pic above.)

  • I’ve been missing bread a LOT. I’ve now found Bob’s Red Mill Low Carb Bread Mix that is a net 5 carbs per slice. I wrapped it around a hot dog yesterday and bit in with gusto. (I’m still going to try my new weird screaming green silicone bread maker thingie, but I’m finding other priorities at the moment.)
  • Thanks to my son, I found a new nutrition counter and log called “Cronometer” to replace MyFitnessPal, which is good, but the people don’t maintain the website well. The front page hasn’t come up for months. I haven’t tried to add a recipe new to the website yet, but, so far, entering what I eat and logging in my exercise daily is quick and easy.
  • Since my back finally quit hurting (still no clue what I did to cause the situation) – I am able to do careful stretching in prep for getting back to my “Gentle Yoga” DVDs with Cat Kabira.
  • Also, since my back quit hurting, I am able to start catching up with all the house cleaning that was ignored while I vegged out in my recliner on my heat pad on muscle relaxers, ointments, pain patches, etc. Feeling that I’m doing something significant each day to purge/clean/reorganize is making me feel more together and in control of things. (Today’s project is finishing up scrubbing the master bathroom)
  • We’re supposed to get rain today/tonight and a very welcome cool front, lowering the temperatures and humidity that have it feeling like over 100 degrees F. for the past month. We are more than ready, and I’m itching to get back out to my square foot garden and see what’s what. :0)

Tonight we’re having spaghetti and salad, with a bit of bread. (Newman’s Own Marina sauce is low-carb. My husband prefers small elbow macaroni to spaghetti, so I’ll fix that for him. I’ll have spaghetti squash as an alternative to spaghetti, and a piece of my low-carb bread I made.)

SO – desire to be healthier, get the lard off, increase my flexibility and overall health merge with good intention, motivation, means, and attitude to give me a good start. One day at a time.

 

TaoLife.com

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Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Attitude, Challenges, Cooking/Recipes/Low Carb Lifestyle, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off

“Solitary in the Sky”

“Solitary in the Sky” – Paul Militaru Photography

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Cork Art – Take 3

blog.lightopiaonline.com

I’ve always loved corks. I’m not sure, really, what their appeal is, but I used to save the few I came across. I never would have thought of trying to create things like this, though. I love what people think to do with everyday things, making them into something super special and unique.

 

descriptionebooks.com

 

 

diycraftsfood.trulyhandpicked.com

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Disenfranchised…

As you get older, it doesn’t take much to make you feel disenfranchised, lost, with the emotional rug pulled out from under you. We’ve had two such occurrences lately, so I’m trying to be proactive so we can feel support under us again as soon as possible.

I’ve already told you in other posts that our dear dental hygienist and her husband died in a plane crash in August. The hole in our hearts will remain a long time, freshly opened every six months when we go for exams and cleaning. We went for our regularly scheduled appointment this month. As I expected, Dr. Moore found a winner for the position. She had worked there part-time and everyone there liked her, including Shannon. I had my exam and cleaning first. When my husband went in for his, Dr. Moore came out to visit with me, ask me what I thought of Alisha, and hug my neck for the card and letter I sent. Thanks to Dr. Moore for choosing someone who would fit in well with the rest of the kind, caring folks in his office.  We remain in good hands.

The next blow came when my friend Kay asked us at Lunch Bunch a couple of weeks ago, “What do you think of Dr. Jackson leaving?” She knew, by the way our mouths hung open like gutted fish, that we didn’t know. After checking with the clinic and doing some research, we have found that our wonderful Dr. Jackson has relocated to Russellville, about an hour and a half away from us. His new situation is definitely good for him and his future. We’re happy for him and sad for us. We wrote a letter thanking him for his good care of us.

We researched the physician who will take Dr. Jackson’s place. She seems very qualified. When I read the part that listed her hobbies – one of them being ‘hunting,’ my husband was sold. He immediately said, “We’ll go to her.”

My husband is running out of samples of a drug that is really working for him. We didn’t get a prescription yet, so this is a bit of a problem. I kept calling to try to get an appointment with the new doc, but was told to try back in a week or so – they weren’t okayed to make appointments with her yet. Finally, last Friday I called and got both of us an appointment with her on her first day at the clinic, October 2nd.

To this end, I thought it would help her if we could give a short description of who we are and what we need. That’s more difficult than it sounds. I’m making a list for each of us of our prescriptions, dosages, times we take them per day, and what for, and then the supplements we take. I’m also going to scan our quarterly blood tests from last month. This way, in two pages, she can see each of us in a nutshell without our taking an undue amount of her time.

Maybe we’ll feel the ground settle a bit after we’ve seen her, get the prescriptions we need, and set up for our first quarterly appointment. Changes aren’t fun. They’re disconcerting. But, happily, in our case so far, the changes are doable.

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Project of the Day

funnyfreeanimalspictures.blogspot.com

Since it’s still too hot for me to do much outside, I’m trying to do one significant thing inside each day.

Today’s project is the master bedroom and master bathroom.

I’ve just spent an hour upstairs and haven’t really made a dent in the project. I DID move a bunch more books out of my bookshelf in the master bedroom into the guest room and gathered up a bunch of jewelry I want to go through and put it in the art room where I have a big drafting table on which I can spread things out.

My husband has three floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and I have one. All of these are crying for some really serious dusting. The amoire, dresser and bookcase headboard we built are sobbing, too. If I can do those this afternoon, I might have time for the scrubbing of the bathroom and then the vacuuming. Otherwise I’ll do the rest tomorrow.

From time to time I think about having a housekeeper. Then I laugh. I can just see someone coming and trying to decide how much to charge me – starting with a bulldozer and several of those humongous construction bags they advertise on TV that the big truck with an overhead crane lift up and haul away.

I’ll just continue to peck away at it….  

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“The House Under the Rainbow”

Two days ago in the afternoon, my husband said, “You’ve got to go outside. Walk halfway out to the shop and then turn around and look.”

The temperature had suddenly dropped by about 20 degrees. There was a fabulous breeze and this gorgeous rainbow over the house, though no rain.  I just stood, drinking in the breeze and the beautiful rainbow for several minutes before coming back in. My husband caught this pic while he was out. Neither the rainbow nor the rainbow lasted more than a few minutes, but what glorious minutes they were!

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Hot Dog

hot Amber

With the temp and humidity today, this afternoon will FEEL like 106 degrees F.  UGH. Our forecasters are saying that tomorrow we’ll finally get our first rain in over a month and a bit of a cool down. Hooray! Meanwhile, we turn on fans, A/C, drink lots of cold drinks, and pant a lot.

hot Molly

The cats and the fish are taking things in stride.

 

Abby

 

Smoke

 

 

“The Guys”

So, until about noon, we’ll all just sit under the ceiling fan with the doors and windows open, then be really thankful for the a/c until this evening. Some of us hang our tongues out straight, some out the side.

If we get the forecasted rain tomorrow, we’ll all go out (except maybe the cats and the fish) and dance in the rain while my husband can finally burn some trash….

 

Happy Tuesday everyone!

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For Jane – City of Joy

My friend Jane Daniells sent me this exquisite picture from Medellin, Colombia of a several story shopping mall with a stunning peacock made of flowers and surrounding garden area. It really blew my mind, as she knew it would. :0)

I’m returning the favor by posting two pictures of Kolkata, The City of Joy, posted by Mukesh Sharma on LinkedIn.

 

Lake Road in #Kolkata being hand-painted by locals before the arrival of Goddess Durga.

 

Durga Puja is the greatest festival of the Bengalis and is dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga.

I love what creative people can do when they work together.

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Sometimes

Purple Clover via Rebecca Kanner Kelman

This made me laugh out loud.

While I don’t think the answer to everything is money, having a surplus is always welcome.

My son, even though he doesn’t have much surplus at all, is giving all he can to help kids get surgeries they need. I would love to be able to help truly good, honest organizations help others. I would love to give friends and family a boost so they never have to worry. I would love to be able to give encouragement to more people daring to start businesses on their own. I would love to give locally to our community so it can continue doing good things and expand.

I have the important things.

  • I’m lucky that I don’t have to choose between whether to eat or take my medicine.
  • I have family, pets, and friends.
  • I have dreams and things around me that bring me joy.
  • I have reasons to laugh every day.

So, money isn’t the answer – but I love the suggestion.

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Cork Art – Take 2

HeathersLouWho-pinterest.com

 

 

http://www.lilblueboo.com (close up of giraffe below)

 

 

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“Seagulls”

“Seagulls” – Paul Militaru Photography

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New Counter

My son told me about Cronometer.com  this morning. I checked it out, signed up for a free membership, entered my information and will see how it goes.

Cronometer.com

I was able to set up a profile, add my goals, list the food I’ll eat today – plus the exercise I’ll be doing – all within about 10 minutes. No muss, no fuss. It told me how much more I needed to burn than I ate in order to reach my desired lard loss each week, and it was easy to see how many calories I was eating, how many carbs, etc. They actually gave me more information on nutrients than I need to know (I think), but it wasn’t distracting or annoying.

If you’re looking for a good way to monitor your progress, check this out.  (I just checked MyFitnessPal.com again after several days. They’re free, but they still haven’t fixed the main page, so I’m looking around. I’m hopeful that Cronometer.com will be my new home.)

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Slob Cycles

This is ‘my’ corner of the garage. As you can see, we put up some good, sturdy, shelves, a peg board on the wall, and some really nice counter top. There is a good amount of storage space under the counter top.

 

The problem is that this space is used for a LOT of different things –

  • a holding area for no sugar drinks, no sugar tea, beer, wine, water bottles
  • my elliptical trainer
  • my new roll-around scooter for gardening
  • all of my gardening supplies
  • gourds ready to be prepped and painted
  • wreaths
  • cat carriers
  • sprayers
  • a ladder
  • etc., etc., etc. – (I always think fondly of Yul Brenner and “The King and I” when I say or type this. :0) )

 

The other problem is general laziness. I come in from working in the yard, too spent to put things away properly. My husband sees the empty counter and uses it as a staging area for a project, place for things that don’t have a home yet, etc. All too soon it’s completely covered. From the amount of junk, it’s obvious that ‘something’ is holding it all up, but you can’t walk without real care, you can’t find anything without moving a bunch of ‘stuff,’ etc. The price we pay for being slobs.

We had let a bunch take over the area. Then I did whatever mysterious thing I did to my back and a month was lost. Yesterday I decided that it was the day to clean it off again. I told my husband I had a big laundry basket of stuff that needed to go out to the greenhouse. My husband, who doesn’t notice much, came in telling me how WONDERFUL my area looked.

And the cycle begins again…

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Low-Carb Bread Trials – Take 2

“Take 1” –

This is the bit that Amber left on the counter.  When it had cooled, it sliced well.

 

The main part of the loaf went with her to her bed in the living room. She said it was delicious – quite unhappy when I took it from her, saying, “Bad Dog!”

__________________

It was a gluten-free, low-carb recipe that only had 4 ingredients: eggs, whey protein, baking powder, and almond butter.  I feel kind of like the kid who said, “The dog ate my homework,” but that’s what happened. Amber showed us that she can now reach anything left on a counter in the kitchen, teaching us yet another lesson. We did get to taste a BIT of the bread, though. My husband said it tasted to him like rye bread. It tasted nutty to me (imagine that with the almond butter :0) ) and it was pretty nice, but it wasn’t what I was looking for in terms of taste as bread for a sandwich, hamburger bun, hot dog bun, or roll. I’ll probably make it again, but I’ll put it in a different category in my mind.

 

“Take 2” – I had a package of Bob’s Red Mill Low Carb Bread Mix in the pantry, so after going to the store for some whipping cream, I tried it. This is low-carb, but not gluten-free. I wasn’t sure it was going to work, even though it did say you could put the mix in a bread machine.  I was careful to use the general guidelines of my bread machine, putting dry ingredients in first, then wet, and finally, the yeast.

Before I could even get a picture, my husband grabbed a knife and cut off the whole top of it, then cut it into two pieces, slapped some butter on them, and we tried it. He pronounced it ‘good,’ particularly for toast.

This is the bottom of the loaf, where the stirrer of the breadmaker works.  (I have to tell you my husband is a Wonder Bread kid in his childhood and still prefers bread with no texture, no ‘bite,’ soft, etc.  I agree that this would be good for toast, but I also think this would be good for a sandwich, or any other time one would enjoy a piece of bread. The fact that it’s only 5 carbs per slice is great, too.

 

The loaf after my husband whacked the top off.

 

It’s a nice sized loaf. I wrapped it up and put it in the fridge, but I think I’ll go ahead and slice about half of it, and put the rest in the freezer.

“Take 3” – will be a low carb recipe done in the weird new silicone breadmaker thinger I got online.

 

I got a neat bread recipe book to go with it, so I’ll see what I can find and get back to you.

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Dimensions

Ralph Waldo Emerson via The Secrets of the Sea via Cathy Ruggiero

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Garden Update

I planted some seeds recently because I was unable to get the plants I wanted for my fall garden locally. I used a plant starter tray with a transparent lid using peat pellets. I planted Bibb Lettuce, Simpson Lettuce, and Spinach. I put the planter on our dining area table where it would get some sun.

They have sprouted, looking less than impressive, but are still alive at this point. I’ll turn the planter around so that the sprouts will straighten up in their pointing in the direction of the sunlight, and hope for the best.

 

This is the latest from the tomato plants. I still have a few green ones on the vines. I planted two tomato plants a few weeks ago, and one of them has a blossom. I have no idea if they’ll have time to produce tomatoes before frost. If the weather starts looking iffy,  I plan to dig them up carefully, put them in large pots and put them in the greenhouse to continue the experiment.

I planted more celery in the garden recently, plus radishes, plus lettuce, spinach, and carrots. When I’ve had a chance to get out there and weed, I’ll try to take pics for you.

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Spark

Robin Williams via http://www.great-quotes.com via Cathy Ruggiero

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Our Beautiful World

“Mountain Landscape” – Paul Militaru Photography

 

 

“Valley” – Paul Militaru Photography

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Pea Soup and Chew Toys

AcidCow.com

We just got back from grocery shopping. We had to turn on the a/c at the house first thing because it was so muggy. 97% humidity this morning. You walk outside and the sweat starts running off your head. I wash my hair every morning, but I refuse to wash it more than twice a day. The heat/humidity slap you in the face and draw all the energy out of you before you can get to the car in the garage. UGH.

The weather forecasters are saying we’ll get cooler temps and humidity starting Tuesday, I think, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Poor Amber goes out with one of us, running like a wild thing back and forth across the yard, taking care of business and then is ready to come back in, slurp a bunch of water (getting SOME of it in her mouth), plop down on the carpet and pant for the next half hour or so.

Today we brought her a new chew toy. We had to throw away one that she had completely demolished over the past few weeks. It started out really cute – a stuffed frog or something similar. It was really colorful with large eyes and had TWO squeakies inside in addition to the stuffing that squeaked in a kind of harmony. She loved it. She went around squeaking it relentlessly, making it a character-building exercise for us to try NOT to listen to. We would take as much as possible. One of us would cave and trade that toy for another, quieter one. She pulled out the stuffing, then one squeaky, and then the other, and STILL loved it. Eventually she tore it in half and started leaving strings of all colors all over the place, and eating way too much of it. Today we finally quietly threw it away, presenting her with what seems to be an armadillo. It’s squeak is different, so is a rest for our ears. She may tear it apart by the end of the day, but right now, she’s in heaven.

I’m looking forward to the cool down, when I can plan to catch up outside. I have a list as long as my arm of things I would like to do, but the direct sunlight, 90+ degree temperatures, with incredibly high humidity is more than I can handle. Fingers crossed the weather guys are right and I can play outside mid week.

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Amber Votes, “YES!”

I received the ingredients I needed to try the new gluten-free, low-carb bread today, so a couple of hours ago, I tried the recipe.

I found it a bit vague (for someone of my in-expertise on bread making) because many of the directions were “mix it until it’s creamy.” Well, I ask, “Is this creamy enough?”

Anyway, I got it into the oven, baked it for an hour, then took it out to cool. I made lunch for my husband and me, then took the loaf out of the pan and was pleased that it had risen, though not as much as other breads I’ve made. I sliced into it, cut that piece into four bites. I gave one to Amber, then one to Molly, I ate one and took the last in to my husband in the office.

I grabbed my camera on my way back to the kitchen so I could take pics for the blog. When I went into the kitchen, I found only the small piece of bread on the counter.

 

I went into the living room to find Amber with the rest of the loaf on her bed, happily eating it. I yelled, ran and grabbed it from her, yelling, ‘bad dog!’ while she looked at me with her innocent face, totally clueless. Apparently she just waited until I left the kitchen to stand up, grab the bread from the counter and take it into the living room.  Since it’s gluten-free, I guess I’ll break it up and let the doggies eat the rest of the huge hunk Amber stole.

This is the big hunk Amber stole.

I have a very small bit left. Not even enough for a sandwich. I’m not even sure if I like it or not at this point, and it’s not fair to the creator of the recipe to remark on it.

I’ve  just learned another lesson from Amber – she’s now big enough to reach anything on the counters in the kitchen. We’ll have to change our habits in there, too, and learn to watch her like a hawk.

So – the jury is still out on the gluten-free, low-carb bread, except for a really enthusiastic “YES!” from Amber….

 

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Good People in the World

Dr. Singer and Ella

This is our vet, Dr. Singer, helping his labradoodle, Ella, celebrate her 12th birthday this week.

The following is one example of what Dr. Singer and the Greenwood Veterinary Clinic in Greenwood do for the community –

 

Posted on Facebook by the people at the clinic –

“On Wednesday night, this sweet little boy was brought in after hours by animal control. He had been hit by a car and has a serious break to his hind right leg. He is in need of surgery. We do believe we can save the leg from amputation and use pins to help heal it. He has a long journey ahead. One gentlemen who watched him get hit by the car, saw him running after a car and believes he possibly could have been dumped and was following that car trying to get back to his owners. He is about a year old and does seem to be potty trained as he has not had a single accident in his kennel. Our staff is so taken by him, we couldn’t let him not have a name so we had been calling him Copper.

Our groomer Matt breeds beautiful, sweet labradoodles and has donated one of his puppies for auction. The proceeds in full will go to Copper’s surgery and recovery costs.

This is a black multigenerational male labradoodle. He is 10 weeks old, born 7-12-17. He is available to go to his new home anytime. He has had his first two distemper/parvo vaccines and has been wormed.”  (See  The Greenwood Vet for auction details.)

Update –

“A HUGE thank you to Keith Glass Motors in Greenwood for donating $50 towards Copper’s surgery. Another thank you to Keith and Dori Glass for personally donating an additional $50 AND Duke Roberds, the sales manager at Keith Glass for ANOTHER $50 donation. We are so grateful!!!!”

Update –

“Copper did amazing overnight. He didn’t have any accidents in his kennel. He is walking and getting around well this morning, non-weight bearing on his leg which is to be expected after surgery. He is as happy and sweet as can be. Stay tuned for more updates and pictures as he recovers. We are still accepting donations and will continue the auction in the doodle puppy until Friday, September 29th.”

________________

The Greenwood Veterinary Clinic works with the community and animal control to give animals a chance to be adopted. We personally adopted our sweet Smoke, who was in a cat play cage in the lobby when we went in to buy dog food. I saw her, talked to her, and couldn’t get her out of my mind. We really didn’t ‘need’ another cat, but we’re so glad the clinic gave us a chance to find her.

All of the people in the clinic truly love animals. Matt, the kind man who is donating one of his labradoodles for the auction, is a very good groomer. His close attention to detail for our Molly allows her to run free on top of our ridge line without coming back covered in little bitty burrs.

It renews my faith that there are good people in the world when I read about yet another animal helped by people who took the time to respond when they saw an animal in need and get him to people who could help. The donations will pay for the surgery and care Copper is receiving. The generosity of Matt will give someone a beautiful member of the family at much less than the dogs usually cost. And hopefully Copper will find a forever home. Kind people all around.

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Cork Art – Take 1

livelovelarson.blogspot.com

 

 

pinterest.com

 

 

pinterest.com

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Do You Ever…

Zen to Zany

I told you recently that my husband and I ‘cut the cord’ and cancelled our association with Dish TV. (We had previously cut our Internet service with Dish because we discovered that WOW (World of Wireless in Fort Smith) could give us better service via a tower on the ridge line behind us.)

With this newest change, many of our TV viewing habits had to change. We used to keep the TV on Fox News most of the day. We also recorded a bunch of TV shows we liked via our DVR and would watch in the evenings. We didn’t even know what night or network provided the shows we watched. They were just there when we wanted.

Although these two things were nice, we were paying almost $100/month for mostly channels we never watched. We even researched a new ‘skinny bundle,’ but by the time we got HD, DVR, Fox News, and HBO (Game of Thrones), we were back up where we started. Our bill now for everything is $36.00.  We can get many networks over the air with an antenna. We also have Roku, Hulu, and some others. We have to strain our brains a bit to figure out how to get what we would like, but it’s good for us.

One thing I really didn’t expect was a lifting of a weight from my shoulders. I really hadn’t realized how listening to the same news stories over and over all day, with a bit of a different spin depending on who the talking heads were, was wearing me down, making me depressed. I want to know what’s going on; but, since I can’t DO anything about most of it – other than send donations right now – I just want to be told what is happening without any obvious spin, left or right.

Now we watch Reuters each evening. They ask you how much time you have. You select up to 30 minutes, and then they show you however much they can get into the time frame you’ve chosen. No commercials. No bias that we can detect yet. The news still isn’t ‘happy,’ but I don’t feel weighted down, wanting to crawl into a hole and escape.

We’re making a list of the TV shows we used to DVR and trying to make sure we can get that network. We’ve discovered networks and programs we didn’t know about before and are loving it. It’s a work in progress, and a wonderfully fresh outlook on things. :0)

 

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Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, Encouragement

Fun with Fingerpaint – Take 4

 

 

Iris Scott-www.designstack.com

 

 

 

Chuck Close-www.mymodernnet.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“It Came Again in Autumn…”

“It Came Again in Autumn with its Wonderful Flowers” – Paul Militaru Photography

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A First

I started through the living room and just happened to look toward the entertainment center this afternoon to find this!  This is the first time Molly and Amber have gotten on the dog bed together. They didn’t last long, once I went quickly back to the office to grab the camera, but I got two pictures.

 

I knew that they would eventually tolerate one another, but I was really surprised to see this. I’m still grinning. :0)

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Creating Beauty

Medellin, Colombia – art, craft, and architecture – via Jane Daniells

 

My friend Jane posted this on Facebook, tagging me because she knew I would absolutely LOVE it. I went nuts over it immediately, and then my mind boggled when I realized how LARGE it is. Those are PEOPLE around the edges, and STORES. Where most malls would use the space for a food court or something, these people created real beauty for all to enjoy. What a lot of talent went into this! If you look carefully, you can see 5 men laying in more glorious purple flowers on the right of the picture. Just beautiful.

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Friday Lunch Bunch

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Friday Lunch Bunch is a longstanding, cherished tradition. We meet at the Pizza Barn in Greenwood. The place opens at 11:00, but somehow, my friend Kay gets them to open at 10:30. (She gets up at 5am and is ready to eat the wall by 10:00.) My husband and I refuse to get there that early, feeling that we’re pressuring the people there to accommodate us, so we start from home at 10:30, arriving at about 10:45, splitting the difference.

The core group is Linda, Kay and me. My husband is an honorary inclusion, as is Kay’s husband, when he’s not working.  Then the weekly group varies all over the place. We used to have Ann, a delightful lady who moved back to Texas and remarried. We’re happy for her, but we miss her like crazy.  A new member of Lunch Bunch is Dee, a very nice lady I like more each time I see her. Today Alice joined us. She lives out of town and only comes when she has other business. (Today it was picking up her husband’s boat which was in for repair.) Whatever the reason, we love it when she comes. She’s full of life, has wonderful stories to tell, and it’s fun talking with her.

We did errands before Lunch Bunch and errands after Lunch Bunch, and are home again. I came in the house smiling. When I realized it, it again occurred to me how lucky I am to know these people. Over the years we’ve shared a lot of things, helped each other through some rough patches, and cheered together at the victories. A group like this is priceless – and I’m grateful to be a part of it.

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“All Sorts of Old Things”

“All Sorts of Old Things” – Paul Militaru Photography

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