Posted in 2024, Goals, life, thoughts

Balance in the Coming Year

It’s the end of my Birthday Month and my march towards 65. I don’t mean that in a bad way, more of a contemplative one.

My husband has retired and I can now find him most days out in his garden preparing for the season.

The garden area

I’m looking for balance in my work and home life. My three office responsibilities have been pared down to two thanks to our incredible Client Manager who has successfully taken over those reins (and it is sometimes like trying to rein in wild horses).

I have projects at home to work on – organizing 35,000 pictures on my devices, family stories or family history research.

Honestly, I enjoy what I do in the office. I feel like now I can organize and set up the business in the best way possible moving forward – and get that Succession Plan, aka “If Something Happens To Me” plan in place.

My goal is to consider Wednesdays and Fridays each week and schedule something, whether full day, half day, by myself, with my husband, or with a friend.

I see the possibility now whereas a year ago, I don’t think I saw it.

A little bit of this contemplation comes from the fact that my mother died the day before her 65th birthday. If you’ve been over to It’s All About Family you’ll know her story. It was 9 weeks sudden, but sudden enough so she never got to experience that retirement.

I think about what her and my dad’s life might have been like if she didn’t get sick and it makes me want to honor and appreciate each day.

An early morning on the Seine river 2022
Posted in 2024, life, thoughts, Writing

Noises in the Night

I started wearing ear plugs one summer when the sound of the air conditioner started me crazy. I kept it up in the winter and it’s a hard habit to break.

It makes me feel like I’m underwater because any sounds are muted and since I burrow under the covers (until I fling them off in a sweaty mess) it’s like I’m in a world of my own. There in lies the problem.

What if something happens and I don’t hear it? My phone gets an emergency call? My husband stumbles on the way to the bathroom? The smoke alarm goes off??

I’m debating giving them up and and hoping I get used to the night sounds again.

Do you wear ear plugs at night? Tell me if there are other options!

Posted in 2024, life, thoughts

Revenge Bedtime Procrastinator

Do you see the clock creeping towards your bedtime and you think, no, no I just want to stay here for a few more minutes, that turn into 30.

That’s pretty much me in a nutshell and a Real Simple article this month has a name for it – Revenge Bedtime Procrastinator. I delay sleep to carve out time for myself.

Now, I’m not so bad that I “blow off bedtime, then wake up exhausted” – well, not enough that I hit the snooze button – but I do creep upstairs a little later than I should and then get cranky because I still have to brush my teeth and wash my face when all I want to do is get into bed and read.

Anyone else feel like a Revenge Bedtime Procrastinator?

Posted in 2024, life, thoughts, Writing

I’m Just Too Honest

Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?

As I was putting my groceries in my car in the Walmart parking lot, I found a makeup item that was stuck at the bottom of my cart. Oh no! I accidentally shop lifted something!

I believe in Karma so after getting everything in the car, I went back into Walmart, explained the situation to the front person and went to the self-checkout and checked the item out.

If I didn’t, every time I used it, I’d feel haunted.

What about you?

Posted in 2024, life, thoughts, Writing

Guess What Just Happened!!

You get some great, amazingly fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do?

For any good news, the first thing I would do would be to find my husband and tell him the great, amazingly fantastic news!

The second thing I would do, even though it’s not part of the question, is I would find my son and tell him the great news too!

Posted in 2024, life, thoughts, Writing

Keep the Good – Reverse the Bad

If you could un-invent something, what would it be?

There are so many Good/Bad inventions created since the beginning of time but the number one “invention” that should crawl back into the hole it came from is –

SOCIAL MEDIA

MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok – maybe they were created for socialization but they took a right turn into online bullying, scams, hacking, and keyboard assassinations. There are many other sites for socializing, some I know of, some I’d probably be shocked to learn about, but I’m only talking of the ones I really know.

It was probably “ok” and “manageable” prior to the 2016 election, but after that, all bets were off. I allowed myself to get caught up in Facebook arguments with friends who became non-friends. Funny, after 2020, they came back again. I’m afraid to see what this 2024 election will bring.

Do I use them? Yes, FaceBook and Instagram both personally and for my business. I have X and TikTok accounts but have posted only minimally on X.

I guess we can’t stop progress but I can dream!

Posted in 2024, life, thoughts, Writing

Puzzles = Learning to Focus

While in California in November, Aunt Mindy was working on a jigsaw puzzle. She has a nice set up at her recliner with a light and puzzle table with drawers for sorting. I’d done a few puzzle in the past and always enjoyed the hunt and thrill when you find the right pieces early on.

I bought this puzzle and the roll up pad for myself LAST CHRISTMAS but honestly was afraid to start because I didn’t know how long it would take….would I get bored?……would someone in my house be annoyed it was taking me so long? They were tucked away on the bottom shelf of our bookcase along with my adult coloring book and pencils, my French lesson card deck, my knitting books…you get the picture right?

When I opened the 1000 piece puzzle box and thought “oh my God this is going to take me a lifetime to put together”, I thought it was all about patience to complete it. As I progressed, I realized it was more about focusing on one task at a time.

Started during Christmas week; Progress on January 5th

Of course I started with the edges, praying that the size would fit on the table! Thankfully I had a 1/2 inch on either side to work with! The pad is felt-like and held everything in place. I put a mark 8” in on the pad in case I needed to roll it up.

Nearly every night after dinner I would turn on the overhead lights and start examining pieces and comparing them to parts of the puzzle and the picture. Some parts stood out but of course, it’s a puzzle, it’s not meant to be easy! At first I was putting pieces in the area I thought they belonged to, but it just got to crowded so I put them all back in the box and would pick a house or section and sort for that. What a thrill it was the first time I connected a section to the sides!

So close to the edge!

Altogether it took me about three weeks to complete. I didn’t work every evening, but when I did it was about an hour at a time. No one complained about it taking up space (I think that issue is all in my head). I didn’t lose any pieces although when I couldn’t find the last edge piece, I thought one was! I think what I enjoyed most was there was an end in sight right from the beginning.

A Day in Paris – Done!

I looked at it lovingly for a day and then took it apart. Today I bought another 1000 piece puzzle and found a pack of 7 trays for sorting that stack together! I’m going to spend a little time on my other hobbies but now that I know I can focus on it and have the patience to see it through, I’m looking forward to it!

How do you feel about puzzles? Are you a master puzzler or prefer to pass them by?

Posted in 2024, thoughts, Writing

No Man is an Island, but sometimes…

If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?

This quote is one of my favorites, but I can’t say I’ve always followed it! I have no problem with the “love many”, but sometimes for certain reasons, I didn’t listen to my instincts (or was persuaded otherwise) on the “trust few”!

What do you think about this quote and how it applies to you?

Posted in 2024, life, thoughts

Leisure Time = Play Time For Me

Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?

For various reasons, I’m pretty tightly wound. But lately, I feel the corkscrew loosening as my job duties at our business change.

For me, playtime is doing those things I enjoy – playing the piano, reading, working in my She Shed organizing pictures and writing, and even working on the jigsaw puzzle while watching television. It is hiking with my husband or even when I go out on my own.

Playtime is anything not related to business and household chores!

Wouldn’t it be fun to play like that again?