How is it December 15th and I have a bloom on my African Violet and nary a bud on my Christmas Cactus? Can someone help me out with that? It just doesn't make sense to me...
December 15, 2010
What's Wrong With These Pictures?
How is it December 15th and I have a bloom on my African Violet and nary a bud on my Christmas Cactus? Can someone help me out with that? It just doesn't make sense to me...
December 12, 2010
Hunter... an update
As a family, we decided we wanted to get the surgery for Hunter, to remove his cancer. If you missed my previous post, you can read about him and how we found out about the cancer here. He went in last Thursday. The surgeon called after it was over to let us know he had done well and that the mass in his lymph node was much larger than he'd expected after seeing the x-ray (or whatever they'd done before). Thursday night, Hunter collapsed when they were taking him outside to go to the bathroom. He was bleeding internally, but the emergency vet got him fixed back up.
Because of that, though, he had to stay at the hospital for much longer than we anticipated.
Thankfully, he's home as of this afternoon. He's not a pretty puppy... shaved in places that aren't nice places to be shaved... especially since we've gotten several inches of snow today. Poor puppy. And when we can't watch him, he has to wear one of those silly inverted lampshades on his head. Poor puppy. We've got two weeks of recovery now... medicines and massages and hot compresses and cleaning and neosporin-ing...
But he's home.
That's what matters right now.
December 11, 2010
Fourteen
Fourteen.
As in, fourteen more days until Christmas.
The pressure is on!
My list of things to get done is ever-growing. We will be decorating the house today, as well as picking up a Christmas tree and getting that up. That also means, in order to get the tree, that at least a part of my house has to be cleaned and furniture rearranged to fit the monster into the house. Cleaning that room will lead me to the laundry and the dishes that also need to be done which also leads me to my "clean sweep" project which stalled back in October and has my bedroom looking like a complete disaster area.
But I digress... then there is still the shopping to be done for gifts. The returns (already) for exchanges. The cookies and treats to be made. The cards to be sent (!) how behind on those am I?? What else can I pile onto my list? Oh... I desperately need a hair cut. Like, I'm ready to put my hair in a pony tail and lop it off.
Perhaps, that is just the frustration of the growing list speaking. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a good idea to cut my hair off at the crown.
*breathe*
So, for those of you out there celebrating Christmas, how does that fourteen sound to you?
As in, fourteen more days until Christmas.
The pressure is on!
My list of things to get done is ever-growing. We will be decorating the house today, as well as picking up a Christmas tree and getting that up. That also means, in order to get the tree, that at least a part of my house has to be cleaned and furniture rearranged to fit the monster into the house. Cleaning that room will lead me to the laundry and the dishes that also need to be done which also leads me to my "clean sweep" project which stalled back in October and has my bedroom looking like a complete disaster area.
But I digress... then there is still the shopping to be done for gifts. The returns (already) for exchanges. The cookies and treats to be made. The cards to be sent (!) how behind on those am I?? What else can I pile onto my list? Oh... I desperately need a hair cut. Like, I'm ready to put my hair in a pony tail and lop it off.
Perhaps, that is just the frustration of the growing list speaking. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a good idea to cut my hair off at the crown.
*breathe*
So, for those of you out there celebrating Christmas, how does that fourteen sound to you?
December 9, 2010
Crafty Bits...
Time is so fleeting... I talk about it often. We so often are bombarded with all the things we have to do. We forget that to achieve balance in our lives, we also have to make the time - not just wait to find the time - to do the things we like to do.
Last night, even though I was over-tired, stressed and generally distracted, even though I worked until 10pm... I made the time to sit down and "play" a little.
Isn't it a cute little ornament? It's my official "partridge" for this season.
Making the time is not a priority. But it should be. Because even though this is little (less than 4 inches tall), and it took me brief bits of time (compared to a scrapbook layout), it was honest and truly, absolutely, positively, oh-so SATISFYING.
Are you making time to do those things you like to do? If you aren't, please do. It's really awesome.
Last night, even though I was over-tired, stressed and generally distracted, even though I worked until 10pm... I made the time to sit down and "play" a little.
Isn't it a cute little ornament? It's my official "partridge" for this season.
Making the time is not a priority. But it should be. Because even though this is little (less than 4 inches tall), and it took me brief bits of time (compared to a scrapbook layout), it was honest and truly, absolutely, positively, oh-so SATISFYING.
Are you making time to do those things you like to do? If you aren't, please do. It's really awesome.
December 8, 2010
I Just Don't Want to Hate
It’s all in your perspective.
I don’t consider myself to be an optimist or a pessimist, although I have had various people tell me I see things on the negative side. I have honest and truly sat back and listened to them. At times in my life, I was very negative. But I don't believe all of the time.
I really believe I’m closer to a "realist". Some bad things just do happen, and why should I ignore it or pretend it isn’t there just to be “positive”. I don’t find acceptance of the negative things in the world a negative action. On the flip side, I don’t believe I go looking for, and giving power to, the negative in things.
However, as I’ve grown older, I have shifted my perspective to find the positive in more things. That doesn’t make me an optimist, still, in my opinion. I still feel I’m firmly in the stance of being a realist. But it does change my emotions and attitude when seeking out the silver lining, even while still acknowledging the cloud.
I can remember what I perceive to be the first time I ever “did” this. It was during a time when my mom was still alive but fighting her cancer, and it was winter. I was visiting home and they had gotten a LOT of snow before I arrived, and it was still snowing during my visit. My mom was visibly uncomfortable with the weather, and was actually pacing a little. She’d look out the window and she looked so depressed. I asked her what was wrong. She said something to the effect that it was “gloomy” out or that it was cold and miserable out. I looked out the window and then back to her, and all I wanted to do was make her happy. I asked her, “Are you cold?” She said she wasn’t but that it looked so cold outside. I asked her again, “Are you cold?” She again said, “No,” and looked at me like I was going to get ornery with her or something. I said something like, “well, you’re inside and not out there, so why are you upset about it being cold? You’re not cold, so what does it matter if it’s cold outside? You’re not planning on going out any time soon. So why don’t you just enjoy the weather? You’re warm and look. It’s so pretty. The white of the snow looks so clean and it’s sparkly. And everything looks soft. Isn’t it pretty?”
She paused for a bit of time, while looking out the window. Then she said, “You’re right. It’s very pretty outside. I’ll enjoy that.” And I just thought, that was so much better than her being upset that it was cold out when the cold wasn’t even directly affecting her at the time.
I marveled that those few words from me would help someone change their perspective to something a little more positive or at least peaceful. I’ve done it a lot, specifically with winter, and it changes my whole attitude about the cold as well. People grumble all throughout winter… it’s cold, the snow makes driving hard, etc. etc. etc. I just smile and say, “but isn’t it pretty?”
I just don’t want to hate three to four months out of every year. I don’t want to feel miserable because “it’s cold”. I don’t want to spend another month dreading that “it’s coming”. Actually, I’m not a summer person. I don’t like being hot. I don’t like to sweat. So for me, I had to turn that perspective of “I hate summer” into something else. Summer is awesome. The sunshine is great – longer days. I love being able to sit outside in the night and hear the crickets and see the stars. I like the smell and sound of a warm summer rain. And if I’m hot, I’ll go inside to where there is air conditioning. I don’t need to be hot. I have options. So why should I dread how hot it is outside if I’m just going to walk from my air conditioned house to my air conditioned car and drive to my air conditioned office?
It sure makes my heart and soul just that much more at peace and happy to not feel those “bitches and moans” welling up inside of me. That just makes for a happier life.
**edit** This post isn't particularly about winter, or summer, it was just an example I had floating around in my head. I just wanted to share that negativity abounds, and recently I've heard more and more of it specifically about winter. But there are a lot of things I try to change my perspective on: cranky holiday shoppers, cashiers who look oh-so hateful, someone else's tension & negativity over a looming deadline, those "toxic" personalities who can't say one good thing at the office. I always try to find something to point out in each of these situations to help change the perspective to a brigher note. I'm not always successful. **end edit**
What about you? Do you gravitate toward the negative? Or the positive? Have you ever mindfully altered your perspective? How did that feel?
I don’t consider myself to be an optimist or a pessimist, although I have had various people tell me I see things on the negative side. I have honest and truly sat back and listened to them. At times in my life, I was very negative. But I don't believe all of the time.
I really believe I’m closer to a "realist". Some bad things just do happen, and why should I ignore it or pretend it isn’t there just to be “positive”. I don’t find acceptance of the negative things in the world a negative action. On the flip side, I don’t believe I go looking for, and giving power to, the negative in things.
However, as I’ve grown older, I have shifted my perspective to find the positive in more things. That doesn’t make me an optimist, still, in my opinion. I still feel I’m firmly in the stance of being a realist. But it does change my emotions and attitude when seeking out the silver lining, even while still acknowledging the cloud.
I can remember what I perceive to be the first time I ever “did” this. It was during a time when my mom was still alive but fighting her cancer, and it was winter. I was visiting home and they had gotten a LOT of snow before I arrived, and it was still snowing during my visit. My mom was visibly uncomfortable with the weather, and was actually pacing a little. She’d look out the window and she looked so depressed. I asked her what was wrong. She said something to the effect that it was “gloomy” out or that it was cold and miserable out. I looked out the window and then back to her, and all I wanted to do was make her happy. I asked her, “Are you cold?” She said she wasn’t but that it looked so cold outside. I asked her again, “Are you cold?” She again said, “No,” and looked at me like I was going to get ornery with her or something. I said something like, “well, you’re inside and not out there, so why are you upset about it being cold? You’re not cold, so what does it matter if it’s cold outside? You’re not planning on going out any time soon. So why don’t you just enjoy the weather? You’re warm and look. It’s so pretty. The white of the snow looks so clean and it’s sparkly. And everything looks soft. Isn’t it pretty?”
She paused for a bit of time, while looking out the window. Then she said, “You’re right. It’s very pretty outside. I’ll enjoy that.” And I just thought, that was so much better than her being upset that it was cold out when the cold wasn’t even directly affecting her at the time.
I marveled that those few words from me would help someone change their perspective to something a little more positive or at least peaceful. I’ve done it a lot, specifically with winter, and it changes my whole attitude about the cold as well. People grumble all throughout winter… it’s cold, the snow makes driving hard, etc. etc. etc. I just smile and say, “but isn’t it pretty?”
I just don’t want to hate three to four months out of every year. I don’t want to feel miserable because “it’s cold”. I don’t want to spend another month dreading that “it’s coming”. Actually, I’m not a summer person. I don’t like being hot. I don’t like to sweat. So for me, I had to turn that perspective of “I hate summer” into something else. Summer is awesome. The sunshine is great – longer days. I love being able to sit outside in the night and hear the crickets and see the stars. I like the smell and sound of a warm summer rain. And if I’m hot, I’ll go inside to where there is air conditioning. I don’t need to be hot. I have options. So why should I dread how hot it is outside if I’m just going to walk from my air conditioned house to my air conditioned car and drive to my air conditioned office?
It sure makes my heart and soul just that much more at peace and happy to not feel those “bitches and moans” welling up inside of me. That just makes for a happier life.
**edit** This post isn't particularly about winter, or summer, it was just an example I had floating around in my head. I just wanted to share that negativity abounds, and recently I've heard more and more of it specifically about winter. But there are a lot of things I try to change my perspective on: cranky holiday shoppers, cashiers who look oh-so hateful, someone else's tension & negativity over a looming deadline, those "toxic" personalities who can't say one good thing at the office. I always try to find something to point out in each of these situations to help change the perspective to a brigher note. I'm not always successful. **end edit**
What about you? Do you gravitate toward the negative? Or the positive? Have you ever mindfully altered your perspective? How did that feel?
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