Tag Archives: thoughts on a Monday

May 18, 2020 · 3:13 pm

Thoughts on a Monday 5-18-2020

Marabou Stork-photographer unknown via Penny Yaffe Krakow

 

If I come back to the world as something else one day, I either want to be this Marabou stork (above) or a shoebill stork (below.)

San Diego Zoo Animals and Plants

I love both of these birds. They are ugly – and they look like they have a sense of humor – like they’ll say something to make you laugh any minute. A great combination!

The sun is finally shining here!!!!  We have had an entire week of rain, storms, gusty winds, gray days.  It was SO nice to have to put on my sunglasses when we ran a couple of errands earlier today!

I fixed a big salad this morning. I will offer to share it with my husband, but he has some things he really likes, instead. I will eat part for lunch and the rest as part of my dinner. It’s wonderful to be able to use spinach and lettuce from our own garden in it! :0)

My husband is going to try to mow the yard later today, if it will dry up more. We are actually watching the grass grow now that the sun has come out.

I’m going to play in my art room this afternoon, trying to finish up a new idea I had.

Have a fun day!

 

 

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March 16, 2020 · 2:16 pm

Thoughts on a Monday 3-16-2020

Photo via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

We enjoyed watching what could be a relative of this cute little fellow leap from a hanging bird feeder on the deck to the shovel bird feeder, and then around via the railing to the gallon glass bottle and wood feeder we have attached to the grill on the outside of the dining area window. He kept flipping his tail. I’m not sure what that signifies, but he sure was a busy little critter, checking everything out.

We went for a quick shot at the doctor’s office to quick stops at two groceries to replenish supplies and are now home for the day. Even with the schools closed, starting today, there wasn’t much traffic on the road.

A new thing greeted us at the clinic – a nurse was there to take our temperature outside before we were admitted inside. Then, they had rearranged the seating so that there were two chairs together, but they were far apart from another couple of chairs, all around the room, giving people plenty of space. I was glad to see these precautions.

 

 

I am thinking about ordering one of these on the net so that I can quit touching my face. I seem to be obsessive about touching my face, and I never realized it before! I’m constantly, scratching, touching, rubbing my eyes, pulling on my nose….. It’s either a funnel like this or I may start wearing mittens….

We are in the ‘high risk group’ for the virus. My husband continues to deny that he is included in the group, but he still thinks he can do what he did when he was a teenager, paying the price later, with lots of sore muscles. He also denies he is a Type II diabetic, only admitting he has a ‘sugar problem.’  We are trying to limit our exposure as much as seems reasonable, hoping the experts get a handle on the testing soon.

It is certainly getting more spring-like here, with lots and lots of rain this week. We are due to get up to 3 inches by the end of the day Thursday. It’s a really good thing the veggie planting boxes we built have good drainage or the plants would need to learn to swim!

I hope that you are somewhere safe, practicing social distancing, washing your hands, NOT touching your face, and spending your time in a pleasant manner.

 

 

 

 

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March 2, 2020 · 11:24 am

Thoughts on a Monday 3-2-2020

Via J. Robert Bennett – LinkedIn

So far, today is a waiting day.

We are supposed to receive a call from the techs at CenturyLink today (between 9 and 5) before they come to the house to install equipment that will give us faster Internet. Since we live in the sticks and have to be grateful for whatever we can get, we are hopeful that this might be a good bridge between what we have now and the fiber optic service that is supposed to be offered sometime at the end of this year or the beginning of next.  I don’t know anything about technology, but my husband will ask several pertinent questions before we allow them to begin. Our son has described our Internet as ‘swimming through peanut butter,’ so fingers are crossed that we are actually able to get better service.

123RF.com

Our weather is fabulous today – sunshine-y and a high of 64 this afternoon!  I’m going to go out and visit my veggie plants and encourage them to do well. We have a lot of weeds in our yard now, making it look like we ought to be mowing. We tried a bag of weed killer granules last year that seemed to make a big difference, so we’ll get more this year as soon as we can leave the house and spread it as soon as possible.

 

I’m sad to tell you that I lost my smallest goldfish a couple of days ago. He had an equilibrium problem, and would often float, looking like he was gone, then ‘come back to life’ when I tapped on the glass and start swimming again. This time he didn’t. So now there are two – one goldfish that has increased in size from about one inch long when I bought him to about 4 inches long now, and the other is a white goldfish with a spot on his ‘head.’ I cleaned out their tank again a couple of days ago, when the smaller goldfish died. So far, they seem happy with the clean tank with different decorations. Fingers crossed all is good for them.

My big ‘plan’ for the day is to clean our master bath today. It was on my list for yesterday, but my time and energy were snafued. I’m going to see what I can do on it as soon as I finish writing to you.

Such an exciting day – MAYBE faster Internet – MAYBE a clean bathroom upstairs – and MAYBE bowling with friends tonight.

I hope that YOUR Monday is a fun one.

 

 

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December 2, 2019 · 3:12 pm

Thoughts on a Monday – Dec. 2, 2019

We woke up to super low water pressure this morning.  Since we live up on top of a ridge line (the water meter is 650+ feet down the hill to the north of the house) we have a booster pump and motor in the well house. This also controls the flow to the irrigation system.  My husband finally decided that the pump and/or the motor had failed. It took us a long time to get it unhooked and off the wall (getting soaked in the process.) I found the name of a guy in Fort Smith and called him, confirming that he would look at what we have and see if he can fix it.  My husband fixed things so we have water in the house, even though the pressure is down. We drove to Fort Smith, left the stuff with the man, and now we wait. Hopefully, he will be able to fix it. If not, he will call with prices for replacement pump and/or motor.

We ate at our favorite restaurant on the way home, The Dari in Greenwood. We had a hamburger steak and veggies. YUM! It made up for not eating anything until about 2 pm today, plus having to deal with difficult things first thing in the morning.

I am now trying to decide the way forward on listing my artwork for sale. Right now I have things listed on ArtFire and two shops on Etsy.  Every time I mention ArtFire, no one has heard of it. I’m wondering about opening more shops on Etsy and dropping ArtFire.  I’ll consider pros and cons and then make a decision after the holidays.

It’s mid afternoon and I have done anything yet – with the exception of helping with the water pump and motor.

I’m going to have a cup of coffee and see if I can regroup.

Hope YOUR day is going better than ours!

 

 

 

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November 18, 2019 · 10:46 am

Thoughts on a Monday 11-18-2019

Penny Yaffe Krakow – pic by Mary Madeline Botz

I finished the mulching yesterday and got things cleaned up. My poor body is really protesting, so I’ll take it easy for a couple of days before doing anything more out there. It’s amazing to me that I can get a bit tired by the end of several sessions, but don’t actual ‘feel’ it until that evening or the next morning. I plan to do my elliptical trainer and a session of yoga today, to help stretch things out.

I sang to my husband this morning – hence the cute picture of the doggie above. (I wasn’t nearly as cute, and my husband looked pained that I was singing. My husband, who is still being a curmudgeon about becoming a year older, grinned from ear to ear when he saw what I was doing this morning. The pineapple upside-down cake is in the oven as I type. Hopefully, I can make him smile several times today.

I’m waiting to hear from our friends on whether we are going bowling tonight and then for ice cream or not.

Since I was so ‘good’ working in the yard the past two days, I’m going to reward myself with time in my art room this afternoon.

Birthday – Bowling – Art Room – Pineapple Upside-Down Cake – Not bad for a Monday!

 

 

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November 4, 2019 · 11:32 am

Thoughts on a Monday 11-4-2019

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

We are having a lovely fall day today!  Sunshine-y, 61 degrees, no rain. Can’t ask for more. :0)

I’ve told you about Tri-Hill Pest Control in Fort Smith AR before. Aldopho, their man, is outside now spraying around the house where he couldn’t because of rain when he was here recently. In addition to that, I received a bill from them I didn’t expect. I pay for the year, and had already sent in my payment for NEXT year, so this was unexpected. I called and talked to Jerry. He looked us up and told me that their new computer system had issued the invoice when it SHOULD have issued a CREDIT. Can’t get a better answer than that!

I also had made a note to call City Hall today regarding the Angel Tree they put up every year for Christmas. I just wanted to get a feel for when it would be up so that we could plan to go in, get an angel from the tree, and shop for goodies for a sweet child in our community. The lady I talked to was putting the tree up as she was talking to me! We’ll stop by tomorrow and choose a child. We alternate between a boy and and a girl each year. This time, I think we’ll choose a girl.

My scales continued to smirk this morning, showing another .2 lbs of lard gone. Infinitesimal – but “I” noticed. :0)  I’m hoping to break into another 5-pound territory by the end of the week. 

 

 

 

We leave for the dentist soon for the 2nd step in my husband’s implant. I’m a bit concerned about the fact that he’s on blood thinners, but everyone at our dentist’s office Wes Moore, DDS, in Fort Smith, is competent, so he is in good hands.  We’ll run errands and eat out on the way home.

I’m having great fun making flat wooden Christmas ornaments using the Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze. Here is one of them –

 

I’m going to personalize these with a name and the year. I’ve done 8 different ornaments so far, and will start the second group of 8 this afternoon, unless I run out of time.

We’re going bowling this evening with good, long-time friends. I always look forward to catching up with them. You would think that we would be getting reasonably good at the game by now, but NOOOOO! Each of us has a good night from time to time, but we’re pretty pathetic otherwise. We either celebrate or commiserate afterwards by getting ice cream at Braums. :0)  With my elliptical trainer, yoga, and bowling, this old lady will have a GOOD amount of exercise today.

I hope YOUR Monday is  pleasant – if not ENJOYABLE.

 

 

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October 14, 2019 · 12:10 pm

Thoughts on a Monday – 10-14-2019

We Love Earth

 

“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue…” –  Other than the history of our country, this ‘holiday’ means to US that we have no mail and the banks are not open today. I’m sad that has become yet another controversial subject.

I’m feeling spoiled that Mother Nature is smiling on us again today, giving us another beautiful, cool, sunshine-y day. I just took advantage of it a bit, pruning the roses I started to do several days ago and doing some general clean up of a flower bed or two.

I’ll do my elliptical trainer and my yoga practice today. Did I tell you that I’m FINALLY feeling a difference in my energy level and the way I MOVE since I’ve been doing both of these daily? Another week or two, and I’ll consider adding something else to the mix.

I’ll watch more YouTube demos on Unicorn Spit and then I’m PLANNING to get up to my art room this afternoon to start experimenting!

 

I hope Mother Nature is smiling on YOU, too, and that you have a wonderful day.

 

 

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October 7, 2019 · 3:51 pm

Thoughts on a Monday – 10-7-2019

Jeff Jett

Our weather is perfect today – sun shining and 73 degrees F.  Just gorgeous!

We went shopping this morning. Ever since then I’ve been working to get my second Etsy shop opened. It isn’t completely finished yet. I’m back to the drawing board on banners. I don’t like the way any of the ones I made looked. But if you’d like to see it without the banner, the shop is called, Totably Yours.

Last week was a 12-Gold-Star week  (7 for yoga practice and 5 for elliptical.)  I’m now doing a new exercise regimen I started yesterday, doing 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer every morning and yoga practice for 35 minutes every afternoon. I’m thinking about adding either Annoying Leslie’s Walking Video or a Dance Video in the middle several days, but we’ll see. The cooler weather is making me want to move more, so I’m looking forward to a good week. :0)

I’m heading upstairs to work on a new banner now.

I hope that the weather is such where you are that YOU feel more energetic these days, too!

 

 

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September 16, 2019 · 1:41 pm

Thoughts on a Monday 9-16-2019

Amber

I’m late in blog posting today. Amber went out to the veggie garden with me and helped clean up the remaining planter boxes. I encountered fire ants twice, but had gone in ARMED with EIGHT bug killer in a 2-gallon sprayer and hosed them down. I didn’t get stung, thank goodness! I’ll take pics later of the cleaned up garden, but I was simply too hot when I finished to go back with the camera. (The heat index is 106 or more right now). Once I’m SURE we’ve killed all the ants in the boxes, I’ll try Robin’s suggestion of putting Vaseline around each support leg.

I was actually able to gather quite a few small tomatoes yesterday from the converted brick planters on the other side of the house. I didn’t have a basket with me, so simply used the bottom of my shirt as a carrier. :0)  We’re about to the end of the season now. The plants look pretty sad, but we’re still getting small ripe tomatoes, so we’re happy.

The main water line from the well house to the irrigation system had a blowout last night. Our son was able to cobble it back together, but it’s obvious we need a longer hose length of super sturdy stuff to handle the pressure. We got two lengths of hose cut at the hardware store today in two different diameters, thinking one of them will fit. I’m not sure if we’ll get to the replacement today.

My husband started thinking about our truck battery this morning. He keeps a log of our important purchases on his computer so that we can look things up quickly. We discovered that we bought the battery for the truck in 2014!  Since our battieries usually die suddenly with change of season, we bought a replacement battery while we were in town today. We’ll change it out later today and take the old one back to the store tomorrow for credit.

Our long time good friends will go bowling with us tonight! Our son is still home with us (a thing for which we are thankful every day) and so we’ll have a lot of fun this evening bowling terribly and then commiserating with ice cream at Braum’s afterwards.

When I finish cooling off and glugging water, we’ll have lunch and then I’ll do my first session of yoga for the week.

I hope your Monday is off to a good start.

 

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September 9, 2019 · 12:12 pm

Thoughts on a Monday 9-9-2019

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

Good morning! (barely)

I’m getting a really late start again today because our Internet service is super wonky again today. I’m looking at this problem as another of life’s character-building exercises. I get halfway through a post, email, or reading an article, and everything goes dead. The sun is shining. This seems to be a case of being attacked by gremlins.

It occurs to me that when you retire, many things get turned upside-down.

One big example is a change in perspective – how we feel about Mondays.

We have worked most of our lives. Mondays were something that happened with great regularity – like clockwork – and meant an end to most free time and lots of hard work for the coming week. We lived for the weekends, getting to sleep in (until we had kids) and then rushing around to get all the errands done while the stores were open that we couldn’t make time for during the week. We made a point of playing hard, wringing every ounce of fun out of our time off, only to return to yet another Monday.  The week would C-R-A-W-L past (even though I liked most of my jobs a lot).

Since we retired, we have the opposite situation. We like to have all the stores open, deliveries being made, mail being delivered, banks open, etc. We stay super busy, not able to figure out how we EVER found time to work full time. Our lives are full of interesting and fun things to do. Many of these things come to a screeching halt when it’s the weekend or a holiday.  We start to do something and the bank is closed, or the stores are closed, or….

I’m not REALLY complaining. I’m just trying to explain the change in perspective now that we’re as old as dirt.  :0)

 

 

 

 

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