Trials

I generally try to be positive on my blog, so it's been hard for me to write a post recently. Below are some ramblings to explain why. Sort of a stream of consciousness.

I am weary. But just not because of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Life keeps marching on and it's not giving me much time to rest. My mother had a fall which resulted in some broken bones. This has brought a whole new set of difficult issues about her care. And while that was going on, we found out that a close family member's cancer has returned.  Add the continual intensive care of a declining cat, and as I said, I am weary.

Christmas can be a fun, joyous time, but for many it's a time of mixed emotions. It's often a time that bittersweet memories of the past are the most intense. Whether it's the first or 30th time of celebrating the holidays without a loved one, it's a difficult time. Thoughts of Ward's sister, who passed away in May, are ever present in the family's mind with both sadness and a determination to Ethool (Enjoy The Heck Out Of Life) as she so wonderfully did despite the adversities she was facing.

Okay, I'm really depressing myself. Time to switch gears. Yes, life goes on and there are ups and downs to it. We have to accept what we can't change and celebrate the gifts we are given each day. For example, the weather has been warm, and I finished one of the gifts I was making and got it in the mail. I had a great holiday party at work where I saw a coworker who has been too ill to come to work for a few months. She's getting better. Our tree is decorated and lights are beautiful at night. I have enough money to pay all of my bills, and I saw a cardinal yesterday. The list is endless when I take time to focus on the positive.

I hope if you are weary this holiday season, it's because you stayed up too late wrapping presents and you're worrying about when you're going to have time to bake the cookies for the neighbors. But if you're weary because life is difficult right now, I hope you are able to rest a little so you can remember some of the things that are a blessing.

Thankful Sunday--December 13, 2015

I am thankful for warm weather.

The woods were brown and a little muddy during our hike.

Yesterday, it was in the 60's! In December! And it was wonderful. Ward and I took a hike in the morning and then pretended like it was cold outside and decorated our Christmas tree in the afternoon. Wally and Theo came and we had a big pot of chili with cornbread to complete the illusion of winter. However, it was still warm outside and that got us talking about when we lived in Houston where it was usually warm at Christmastime. This evolved into a fun trip down memory lane of Christmases past.

Christmas comes whether or not it looks like a Christmas card outside and for that I am thankful. But I'm especially thankful that I didn't need a jacket yesterday.

Communication

Paper Christmas Cards--a dying breed

While working on our annual Christmas letter recently, I started to think about how the way we communicate has changed.  The number of people who send Christmas cards and letters is definitely decreasing. Even though I send out the same number every year, I am receiving fewer and fewer. I think part of this is because people just don't snail mail things much any more, and there's no need for an annual catch up because people keep in touch throughout the year with Facebook and other social media venues. And although there's a lot more to be explored in this area, this is not really what has gotten me thinking recently.

I was dropping off my car at the shop and John (the mechanic) was taking down numbers where we could be reached. As I gave several numbers between Ward and me, depending on the time of the day and who was where, John related this information. He said if his customer is younger, what he has to do is call them, let it ring once, and then hang up. They answer texts or will check who called and maybe call them back. However, rarely do they answer a ringing phone. He said when the customer gets along about 35 or 40 or older, he can talk to them directly first try. I was surprised by this. Granted, I am far behind in the smart device/phone world, but I would have never dreamed that this was common operating procedure. I, of course, use caller ID, but I do expect to answer some calls.

I not sure what all of this means in the grand scheme of the way communication is evolving, but I do know one thing for sure. That yes, indeed, I am well over 35 years old. I will answer a call from my mechanic.

A Second Look--December 9, 2015

Frost now greets me every morning, but no snow yet. Yeah! There will be plenty of time for that in January and February. The landscape is filled with mostly browns and grays with occasional splashes of color from the pansies that are still blooming. That's one reason I like them so much. Here it is December with frequent frosts and they're still blooming.

The squirrels are very active with a lot of scampering about often with a walnut in their mouth. I saw a squirrel burying a nut one day, but when I checked later it was gone. I'm not sure if he decided that wasn't a good spot or someone watching in the wings had a good snack.

Mushrooms and other kinds of fungus popping up here and there. That probably has something to do with the abundant rain we've been having recently.

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Wellness Challenges

Last week, I described a wellness program I am participating in at work and how it is motivating me. As part of the program, we can challenge our friends to do something that will contribute to overall well being. Sometimes the challenge lasts a month and sometimes only a week. They don't always last long enough to establish a habit, but they do keep things interesting and bring certain behaviors (or lack thereof) to the forefront. Here are the present challenges, I'm working on if you want to play along.

Smile at least once a day. Extra points if you make someone laugh.
This one is pretty easy, because I hope most of us smile at least once a day. However, I can't mark this one off yet this morning because mornings for me are just not a smile time. I'll smile extra after I get awake.

Use reusable shopping bags.
This one is pretty much a habit for me, but being in the challenge got me to go back out in the cold to the car one day where we had forgotten the bags. Seeing as how I don't like cold, I'm not sure I would have done that without the challenge.

Do ten minutes of stretching and strengthening exercises a day. 
This challenge was from me because I have gotten very lax in this area. Even though, it's only for ten minutes, I'm still having a problem doing this. I need to work this into part of my routine and just not when I remember to do them.

Pay someone a genuine compliment every day.
Fortunately, this is one I don't have to work on.

Stay away from the candy jar at work.
So far, so good. But it's hard because it sits on my desk. I'm the one who originated the candy jar--mostly to have a peppermint for a dry throat or a little sugar pick me up until I could eat. Overtime, everyone has become part of it and as of late, has been bringing in good candy--meaning chocolate. One more day to go on this one and I think I can do it.

For dinner (supper), don't go out or bring in take out.
As you can guess, this is a difficult one for me because we are not a family who likes to spend time in the kitchen.  But I've been working hard on it and we are doing well so far. As everyone knows, the key to this is planning. And except for fresh salad fixings, our meals have all come from ingredients in the freezer, so I do plan sometimes. It's the follow through that's the problem.


Challenges are coming and going all of the time, and I'm going to update them for you time to time if you want to play along.