Does your sleep pattern change often? Mine drives me crazy sometimes!
I know it’s the weekend because I will sleep through the night and wake up at 6am. But as soon as Sunday night rolls around I wake up at 1am, 3am, and 5am! My alarm goes off at 5:45 and I’m always tempted to get up when I wake up from a doze around 5:30. But I stick it out and wait for the alarm.
I try to figure out if it’s related to something I eat, or don’t eat, at dinner or afterwards. Is the room warm or cool? But there’s no clear answer.
I must get enough sleep because I’m not tired during the day or nodding off in front of the television!
I try to be chill but once we turn the corner from Thanksgiving, I feel like a train is rushing down the track. Am I on it? Or is it heading towards me? I haven’t quite decided.
I have hosted our family Christmas Party for 10 or 15 years always the second or third Saturday in December. Throw in a work party we host on the first Saturday and a trip to New York to shop in whatever week doesn’t contain a party at the end and there’s December, done and dusted.
Gift-giving has slowed down, which is a good thing. My husband and I shop for ourselves in New York, and our son and daughter-in-law usually receive something large during the year. Now it’s gifts for our great niece and nephew and something for the grab bag at the party.
This year’s election has f*cked it up a bit as some people don’t want to be around other people and it’s enough that I try to make everyone feel welcome regularly to now have to worry about who’s ignoring whom and what will they mutter under their breath.
I will be sure I do my daily meditation, get enough sleep and exercise, select my menu, and buy a big bottle of wine for myself and hide it away!
I like to be warm and cozy as we head into the COLD time of year. Right now I find myself wearing my Lands End down vest in the house and under a jacket when I’m outside. It’s handy at work too!
At home, I have my favorite pair of pajamas and they are so comfortable the only time I don’t wear them is in the dead of summer! They were from Victoria’s Secret many years ago and look like long underwear! On weekday mornings I’m in my workout clothes but, on the weekends, I like to wear these pajamas.
I had a story thought in my head and came to my computer to spend a(n) half hour writing. Instead, I went to the computer, saw my email account was up, thought I’d check those emails, and then remembered I wanted to order a couple of new bras, so I went to the email I received the other day, browsed through the site, and ordered a couple. Remembered the printer was out of paper so I had to ‘rassle the ream of paper from its illogical location and fill the tray. While waiting for the pages to print, I remembered my original intention was to write about my thoughts from my walk this afternoon.
Thursday afternoon, I watched an author talk with Javier Zamora, author of Solito. He is El Salvadoran and it is a memoir of his excursion from El Salvador to the United States when he was nine years old. Via a “coyote”. I haven’t read the book yet, but as I was listening to his story, I ordered the book through Barnes and Noble and picked it up the next day.
This was an enjoyable way to spend time on the computer. Something productive, something I didn’t have to talk in or answer any questions, and something that was NOT doomscrolling.
For months, my brain and emotions have been overloaded with this election season. Now that it’s over and the real fun begins, I’m not sure how much more I can take. I feel like the social media sites no longer serve their purpose of feeding me flowers, dogs, and friends and are now filled with the political sites I subscribed to over this time.
I’m trying to share fun things to stories along with items that might make you go “hmmmm”, and maybe if I do a little less hearting Instagram posts, my feed might get a little more fun.
Today is Hump Day and today I’m posting a picture of something I see on my Monday through Friday travels from my house to my garage workout room.
Some days it’s easy to get there and some days it’s tough. Today I wasn’t excited about it! I went to bed early (fell asleep reading my book!), and I woke up at 1:30 and what felt like every hour after that. Of course I woke up groggy when the alarm went off at 5:30 and I thought about staying in bed. But my brain told me I had Day 2 of Rebecca Kennedy’s 3-Day Split waiting for me and I couldn’t give up on my leg workout. So off I went!
When I round the corner and see this sight, I feel energized. This time of year, it’s chilly in the morning but not chilly enough that I don’t want to linger to take in the view. My phone probably has 100+ photos of this same view throughout the year because every one is different. It’s what keeps me going.
Today’s Hump Day photo comes from the first week long motorcycle trip we took in 2013. We traveled with another couple and 2 single guys from Connecticut, down the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park, and along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Cherokee North Carolina and back.
Brendan, Chris, and Mark Harley Davidson Factory York PA
This picture was taken in the parking lot of the Harley Davidson factory in York Pennsylvania. It was on the last day of our trip. Because of a rain delay the day before we were running behind. We stayed overnight in York, but I think there either was no Saturday tour or we couldn’t swing the time because we were still a good 6 hours away from home.
About the trip –
We took off in early June and it was cold and rainy. The views were amazing on the Skyline Drive but for much of the ride on the parkway it was cold and foggy! Lesson learned #1 – we need to travel in the summer!
There was one other rider, who is still a good friend. He led the way and the focus was getting in a lot of hours on the bike. Amy, the other female, and I wanted to see sights! Lesson Learned #2 – plan the trip!
We rode on the Tail of the Dragon in Deals Gap, NC and went nice and slow! We went to the top of Chimney Rock and could see Lake Lure where they filmed Dirty Dancing. We stayed in Floyd Virginia and absolutely fell in love with it! We got caught in a monstrous rain storm on the highway and stopped for the day and overnight in Natural Bridge Virginia at this little motel where we pulled the bikes under the overhang and walked to the nearby diner for our meals.
After this trip, we continued to go on day trips, weekend trips, and week long trips with Brendan and Amy and Chris. We all got along so well and enjoyed some really great trips.
This picture reflects the start of those wonderful friendships.
Is there anything worse on vacation than opening the Friday on a pill case? I can’t think of one!
Our last day at Lake Winnipesauke was spent on the boat with my sister and her husband who drove over from their home in Maine. We tried to dock in Wolfesboro for lunch again but everyone had the same idea so we headed over to Weirs Beach instead. We’ve been there many times by motorcycle for Laconia Bike Week in June so this was a whole different view! We saw buildings usually blocked by big white vendor tents and the arcades were in full swing. We had lunch at Dox and headed back out to drift on the lake.
It was a great week of boating, hiking, and shopping! The early part of the week was sunny but by Wednesday the smoke from the Canadian fires made its way to us and it was hazy sun. We knew rain was coming on Thursday so we headed to Conway for shopping – but we didn’t think to bring our umbrellas so ended up buying new ones!
Packing up on Saturday and saying goodbye to our little home was sad as I was finally sleeping past 6am but it was time to go. I’m hoping to rent for 10 days next year at the same location.
Our one bedroom cottage among 4 rentals on the property
Today it’s rainy in Connecticut which is perfect weather to get laundry done, open the mail, and get ready for our family’s Fantasy Football draft tonight!
Mark and I are spending the week at a cute little cottage in Alton New Hampshire. We brought our boat up and it is docked here on Lake Winnipesauke.
After trading comments back and forth last night with a former classmate on one post and some stranger on another, I decided it’s time to take a break from social media. Personal Facebook and Instagram accounts specifically.
Today my phone was tucked away in my backpack, only brought out to use Apple Maps on the water (it’s easier to see what the islands are!) and I felt free!
I had a cat for 14 years. We adopted a dog 2 months after the cat passed away; he has been part of our family for 12 years. I didn’t grow up with either so both were new to me!
Chuckie Finster Benson, our cat, came into our home from his barn birth when he was a few months old in 1998. He had the most beautiful coloring and since he was orange, and our son was a fan of RugRats, it made sense to name him after the orange-haired boy Chuckie.
Maybe because he had barn cat in his blood, he preferred to spend his summers outside. He spent his nights in the winter in the basement, otherwise, I would find him on my head trying to wake me up at 3 am.
We would find him in the strangest locations over the years, always someplace warm like behind the couch on the radiator cover, inside the dryer on some freshly dried clothes, and always in the basket of blankets in the living room.
He wasn’t a cuddly cat but became one as he got older. He loved to sit right right next to me in my chair. I guess it was just another place to be warm!
When he died in 2012, we were all very sad.
So I started looking at rescue dog advertisements and found Wally.
I mean really, how could you resist that face? He put on a good show at the Humane Society, letting us all crowd around and pet him. As soon as we got home, he latched onto my husband and that was it. Wally will fight you to the death to protect his man!
Wally was left at the shelter so he was likely 2 or 3 years old when we took him home. It’s been 12 years and he has slowed down. He still loves his lunchtime walks down to the corner and back and walking out to the edge of our yard to sniff all his favorite spots. He comes bounding back from his trip like he’s two years old again because he knows there is a treat at the end of his run!
Chuckie was easier because he could be left to roam. We could go away for the weekend and our neighbor would keep her eye on him and check that he had food in the house. Very easy.
Wally is a prickly pear so you want him to love you. So many people have been fooled by his wagging tail that they don’t notice the lip quiver that signals a snarl and snap coming!
I’m glad I’ve had one of each to experience having a pet but my answer would be Cats.
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 