On A Somewhat Positive Note

A friend recently texted to ask if I was OK because I haven't posted here in the last week.  I am as OK as anyone is who is sad and angry about what is happening in this country right now.  I have not written because all I had to write about were things that I didn't want to write about.  Lol!  More words about discrimination, families being torn apart, innocent people being treated like criminals, power and money prevailing over wisdom and service are not needed.   I have chosen to keep quiet.  I remember learning that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.  I don't always adhere to that teaching, but I have in the last week.

And now I have some more uplifting things to share...

The first month of 2017 in pictures.  Its hard to believe that we are 31 days into the new year already.

And, today's post from Sifted Together.

Looking for Inspiration

I am kind of in a creative slump right now, but I keep on keeping on, trying to work myself out of it. One thing that always helps is seeing this sweet little face...even when this face is up in my face at 3am because it needs to go outside.  No matter what she does, it is impossible to get upset with Piper because she is such a happy and lovable little girl.

Today's Capture Your 365 prompt was open.  You know you are still in the slump when you take a photo of an outhouse as a daily photo.  Lol!  But, as the quote says, you never know where you will find inspiration.

I will also share here the link to my Tuesday in Texas post on Sifted Together.

The Nature of Things

There is so much going on in this world right now that is not pretty that for the last few days, I have tried to stay away from the media, searching elsewhere for alternate truths. :-)  It hasn't been easy, but even in the midst of winter, the natural world is still full of beauty; it and my camera provided just the diversion that I needed!

Seeing the movie Lion on Friday evening and the musical 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on Saturday night rounded out the weekend's retreat from reality.

Oh, and a trip to the Lego Store!

Tomorrow it's back to the real world.

One Down, Fifteen To Go

Week one of the Spring 2017 semester is over.  Let me just say that re-entry was tough!  Though I never really slept late over the holiday break, I was not up any day at 5:30 like I have been every day this week.  This adjustment to my morning alarm would have been much more tolerable if I had made a similar adjustment to my bedtime, if it also had moved three hours earlier.  I missed that step.  The result?  Three hours less sleep every night followed by a full day of work.  This definitely was not a good combination!!!  On the bright side...I have a great group of students.  Except for one...

Why is there always one person in every situation that upsets the chi?  One person who doesn't want to play by the rules.  One person who has to be in the spotlight all of the time.  One person who spends all of their energy trying to figure out how to beat the system rather than how to succeed within it.  Right now, my tolerance for such behavior is bordering on non-existent.  This may be because in almost every circumstance in which I find myself these days, not just at school, "this" person exists.  Perhaps it is all just some cruel learning experience that the universe is foisting upon me.

Dear Universe,  

I am too tired for this lesson right now!  Can we please wait until I am getting more than four or five hours of sleep at night to start this?  I will be a much better student then.  Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely, 

Me

In all seriousness,  I really do have a great deal of patience with those who are sincere, genuine, humble, compassionate, humorous,  a hard worker and responsible.  Conversely, I have zero tolerance for insincere, fake, arrogant, hurtful, mean, lazy, and irresponsible people.  Yes, I know we all have moments where we are not our best selves; however, for most of us, such instances are infrequent.  My rant here is directed toward those whose normal modus operandi is to consistently put themselves first, never considering how their actions and attitudes affect those around them.  Sadly, there are more people like this than I wish there were.  And right now, they all seem to be too close for comfort.

The best I can do when my final nerve has been stepped on is to put myself in time-out.  Some alone time with my camera, or a book, or my knitting will usually calm me down and help me to gain perspective and patience.  But not always...

This afternoon, I had camera time and knitting time.  This time to chill out made me fit to spend time in public having dinner with some close friends,  people who are good and thus are capable of restoring my faith in humanity.

A good ending to my day.

NO ALARM TOMORROW!

Body - 1: Mind - 0

I made healthy food choices today, which my body greatly appreciated, but it is not at all happy  with the "sleep diet" that has been imposed now that I am back in school.  Though my mind would like to tackle a few things on my need/want to-do list tonight, the body said, "NOOOOO!!!!"  For once, I am paying attention.  No mind over matter.

Goodnight!

Double Dipping

I am double dipping today...

It is Tuesday In Texas  post day on  Sifted Together, the blog I co-write with my friend Tracey.  We started blogging together two years ago and have just recently reworked and renamed that venture.  We just launched Sifted Together  on January 9th so you've only missed a few posts.  To see what's going on in my world today, as well as what was going on Monday In Michigan from Tracey's perspective,  hop on over to www.siftedtogether.com.  You'll also find some great biscuit recipes in last week's Food Friday post.  

Thanks for stopping by!

January 8-16: Cleaning, Friends, and Tornado Sirens

Only sixteen days into the new year and so many good things have already happened!  Yes, I have taken a week long hiatus from writing here; though that was not exactly what I had planned, it is a good thing.  Last weekend, while on retreat, I felt compelled to write even though I was not supposed to be.  And this week, I have been at home with access to my computer, but other things were more important.

I returned home from last weekend's retreat tired, but ready to take on some tasks that I had been putting off for way too long.  Our guest room has been a storage unit rather than usable space in our home since I brought things back from my parents house over a year ago.  I have had lots of reasons excuses for not going through all of the boxes, but it was now time.  I needed a "good" reason to get started and get it done.  I finally had it!  My friend, Joni, wanted to come visit from Wisconsin for a few days.  Asking her to sleep either on the couch with the dogs or on an air mattress on the floor did not seem very hospitable; I had the impetus I needed to attack the guest room chaos and get it done!

It is hard work going through several generations of family papers trying to decide what to keep and what to toss.  I had lots of photos of people that I could not identify in places that I could not identify.  I finally had to tell myself that if the photos did not have meaning to me, they weren't going to have meaning to anyone else.  With this realization, I was able to part with a lot of them.

Then there was all of my dad's Navy stuff...his sword, medals, uniforms... It's funny.  I know that my dad was career Navy and I am proud of his service, but that is not how I knew him.  To me, he was not a Navy Captain, he was my dad...the guy who gave me piggy back rides, taught me to garden, talked to me about Carl Sagan books, educated me about investing, tried to convert me from a Coke drinker to a Pepsi drinker,  did not share my political views, called me Peanut, and shared my love of Sudoku puzzles.  And this is how I want to remember him.

I hung his sword on the wall in our library, sorted and packed the medals in a box, and safely stored them in the back of a closet.  This is not a permanent solution, but it is progress.  It is the best I could do right now.

We did the same sorting and thinning of boxes of stuff that Weber had.  Again, we are not done but now have labeled boxes. The most difficult part of this whole process is now done.  Our hands have touched every piece of paper and we know what is in each box.  We also sent items to other family members, various historical societies, and other agencies.  Our goal is to make sure that the things that we have that we are choosing to part with go to people who will appreciate them.  When Weber and I got married and combined our belongings,  our test for whether something stayed or went was, "Is it useful, beautiful, or joyful?"  If the answer was "no," then away it went.  We did have to think a little harder before answering this question during our latest round of purging.

Thanks to our friend Paul, who helped us rearrange some furniture, hang some pictures, and built us shelves in a closet, the house was in the best shape it has been in a long time when our friend Joni arrived.  Perhaps even more importantly,  I felt good emotionally about all that we had accomplished.  I was exactly where I needed to be to fully enjoy our visit.

I keep coming back to the importance of friendship.  I was touched and honored that someone wanted to spend their vacation time with us.  Of all the places to go on a vacation...Dallas...to spend time with us?  My heart knows that when push comes to shove, it is the who that is most important, not the where or the what.  My head, however, has a hard time really embracing that notion, especially when I am the who.

Thankfully, the frigid temperatures from the previous weekend gave way to springlike weather.  We were able to have a meal from the grill and also walk around downtown Dallas and visit the Sixth Floor Museum, the old Texas Book Depository, the building from which Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal shots at JFK.

(Ignore Snorri.  He thought it was still 17 degrees outside.)

Joni and I also spent a lot of time knitting together.  I am doing well with 2017 goals!  More knitting and a clean guest room!

I did have to start my Temperature Blanket over twice; the first time because an animal accidentally pulled my first few rows off of the needles and a second time because apparently my knitting skills are rusty and I made some stupid mistakes.  I am happy to report that now I am caught up on my blanket and I'm planning to roll smoothly through the rest of the year one row at a time!

On Saturday, Joni and I met up at the mall with another one of our pale pals.  We behaved fairly well while we were out unsupervised! :-)

On Sunday (yesterday), Joni got a taste of ugly Texas weather!  We had a terrible thunderstorm with high winds and the threat of tornadoes.  The tornado sirens did go off and we spent a few minutes huddled in the "safe room" with all of the animals.  Isn't that how everyone wants to spend their vacation?

I truly enjoyed my time with Joni.  I did take time out of each day to take my daily picture, but I did not want to lose any more time, so I chose not to write here.  I am happy about that.  The memories that I have of cursing knitting mistakes, making (and eating) cookies, downing a six-pack (of Diet Coke) every night, and getting to know each other a little better are far more meaningful than any words that I would have written here.

For that, I am thankful...

Friends are the siblings God never gave us. Mencius

True story...

Friday evening we went to a production by our local community theater.  Joni and I were in the restroom at intermission.  An older woman asked, "Are you girls twins?"  We both answered, "No."  She then said, "Oh.  Just sisters."  Again we both said, "No."  At which point she headed into a stall a bit confused.