You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?
I don’t care how old I am, my dream has always been to do a long-distance bike ride. Cross-country? Sure!
I’ve always loved riding my bike. I love being outside and riding a bike is faster than walking!
Sign me up!
How would you rate your confidence level?
I would rate my confidence at 9 to 9.5. I would never declare myself perfect!
After 23 years, I’m very comfortable with my knowledge of my occupation and I think people trust me when I talk about a project. People in my professional group appreciate the information I share with them, which boosts my confidence in myself and my work even more.
What activities do you lose yourself in?
It was love at first sight when I saw my first computer in 1984. I was assigned to the new IBM word processor and in the same room was an IBM computer. Black screen, and green characters, and it was so much fun to put in the code and create things. I didn’t really understand they worked though!
As the years went by I had my own. The first was put together by “a computer guy”, another was a Gateway (remember them?), and my final desktop was a Mac bought in 2008! Unable to update to the latest operating system, but still kicking!
Not only is it the hardware, but the programs and information available to me, keep me connected. I love to work on my Ancestry account, sorting pictures, and working on my posts. Time just flies by while I’m creating or researching.
What are three objects you couldn’t live without?
First and most important would be my husband! He has been my Ride or Die for 35 years and is the Ying to my Yang. Sometimes I’m the Ying to his Yang. One always brings the other up when it’s needed or gives them a smackdown when that’s needed too. I don’t mind when he goes away for a weekend and I’m sure he feels the same but I couldn’t bear any more time without him.
The second would be my Peloton Bike+. I have never loved riding a bike so much in my life and the number of workouts available to me is amazing! I’m learning so much about my strengths in so many forms using my bike.
The third would be my Mac laptop that I bought after longing for one for a few years. It has everything I need and I’m finally learning where everything is and how to access things from all my devices and my work computer! It just puts everything I need at my fingertips!
Love to my son and daughter-in-law and family – I’d be lost without ALL of you!
I need things organized and tidy and set right in front of me before I can move on.
All that leads to is spending my weekend organizing and tidying up papers and books and magazines and doing the laundry and cleaning and weekday meal prep and workout before I move on to something that I think of doing during the week.
Write a post about a family member on my other site? Oh no, I need to organize their pictures (and where is that favorite picture? Oh here! Oh, and here’s one for that other person, let me organize all my pictures first!) and research the dates and find other nuggets before I can move on to write.
By Sunday night, I develop that same pit in my stomach and ache in my throat that I get on Friday afternoons at work when I think of “all the things I DIDN’T get done during the week”.
I don’t know how to turn that off……
I say every week I’m not going to let it happen – I even went grocery shopping on Thursday after work in order to have all day Saturday to myself and yet, here I am. Frustrated with me.
What a double edge sword! One half needs the organizing and the other half is like “Girl! Take care of yourself!”
Ok – off to finish the laundry.
“I say, the end of a year should be filled with congratulation, for all we survived.” – by Donna Ashworth
In 2022, Between August 1st and November 15th – I spend a week in Maine with family on the beach, I spent a week in California visiting my father in law dying of lung cancer, I spent a long weekend in Fort Collins, Colorado helping my niece select her wedding dress, I spent 10 days cruising down the Seine River from Paris to Normandy and back again, I spent another week in California after my father in law died cleaning out his house. I learned to go with the flow and enjoy the journey(ies).
In 2022, I did some form of workout for 262 days. It started out with Hasfit and morphed into a Schwinn spin bike which lasted about a month before I bought a Peloton Bike+. It has changed my game! I can bike, lift weights, follow month-long programs, meditate, do yoga, and stretching, and follow outdoor walking and running workouts. I’ve always enjoyed working out on my own but with Peloton, I feel really connected to other people.
In 2022, I learned to take care of myself. To put my oxygen mask on first in order to help others. I had spiritual reading in March and a Tarot card reading in June. Both have helped guide me in my work and personal life. I’m still a work in progress!
In 2022, I had some health issues. I had 2 tears (rips) in my left retina that needed to be lasered closed. If you ever see flashing silver and floaters, don’t wait – call your eye doctor! They are no joke. I had some heart palpitations that turned out to be nothing, but I did go on Crestor to help keep that plaque flowing and not sticking to my arteries. The important thing is – I took care of them.
In 2022, I worked in our office but managed to hand off some of my workload to the two people in our office who are going to keep moving us forward. It helped me focus more on the other two jobs I have there! This year I’m hoping to relinquish the client portion completely and tighten up the “behind the scenes” responsibilities.
In 2022, I felt myself laughing a little more and dancing around the room if I felt like it – with or without music.
Here’s to 2023!
Almost every morning begins with my workout. These last few weeks suffering from a head/chest cold and coming off three weeks of hosting parties it’s been hit or miss.
One of my favorite parts of my workout is going to it, or leaving because I get to see the moon and fading stars (or planets) and the start of the sunrise. The sight energizes me!
If I breathe out kindness, will I inhale kindness?
If I speak kind words to others (do I?), I need to be sure I do the same for myself.
I have been part of this view for over 60 years. Since we bought it from my father, technically it’s only had two owners. This tree was a peanut to the queen that stood where the red building is now. I sit here now and wonder why I don’t spend more time out here.
blank pages
My best ideas come to me when I’m in the shower. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way. I think they are so amazing and I cannot wait to get them out of my head and on to paper. But when I get to that paper with pen in hand – I question why ANYONE would be interested in what I have to say.
I have notebook upon notebook of ancestral information. Names, dates, and places of people I have been researching and discovering for over 20 years – not too easy when paternal grandparents have been dead since 1927 and 1935 – all ready to be written about. Yet I spend weekend organizing instead of writing.
I do what I do in every situation, I spend more time reading about something than doing it! It’s time to just put one foot in front of the other and see what comes out.
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 