Simple Things

Christina at Soul Aperture has invited us to celebrate Simple Things today. Thank you Christina for opening that little door for me - the little door that led to a small, quiet spot in my head for this contemplation.




good hair days, a big glass of iced tea with the perfect amount of lemon and sweetener, coffee when my husband makes it, a slab of romaine lettuce with a drizzle of blue cheese dressing, #2 yellow pencils, ceiling fans, butterflies floating through the backyard, rocks, cereal for supper, swinging on the glider on my back patio, getting my feet wet with the hose while watering the flowers out back, freshly cut grass, a clean pillowcase, a bath, the smell of an onion field when it goes to seed, washing breakfast dishes by hand, canning jars, Old Navy flip flops

I hope you are enjoying the simple things today.

Things To Do/Did Today

Things To Do/Did Today:

• Day 2 of meditation practice instead of computer/internet time before work. I'm on a roll now!


• Received 2 more postcards from Postcrossing! These from Great Britain and Taiwan.



• Received my Student Packet for Art Unraveled in the mail. (Yay! I'm really going! Only one class but I can't wait.)
• Had salad for dinner (so cool and refreshing!)
• Received a PILE of catalogs in the mail (Viva Terra, Acacia, JJill, et al) but haven't read them yet
• Getting my clothes laid out for tomorrow and getting my lunch together for tomorrow (also something new I'm doing as opposed to doing it all in the morning)

And I promise (myself!) I'm going to be in bed before 10! (that's in 75 minutes). Haven't commented on all your wonderfulness and creativity as much as I'd like to so far this week, but I have been visiting! Will catch up with comments on Friday.

Who Loves Ya Baby!

If you are reading this, I have an assignment for you.


It's not difficult. It won't take long. In fact, I'll even do it right along with you.


Take your hands off your keyboard. Wrap your arms around yourself and say, "(Your name), I love you! You are a beautiful person! And Janet loves you too!"


Have a great week!

Big Girl Panties?

The weekend is progressing nicely. Although it's ridiculously hot outside. But that's why we have air conditioning - and lots of books and magazines, and a comfy chair in front of the computer for blogging, and a very light throw at the foot of the bed for keeping the draft from the air conditioning off one's legs while napping, and a rotisserie chicken in the fridge for dinner so I don't have to cook, and several different kinds of ice cream in the freezer. Ah . . . summertime!

Now, I have done the required laundry today, and I did clean the kitchen pretty thoroughly this morning, and even wiped down the windowsills in the kitchen and the dining room. I dusted in the dining room and my bedroom (still have a little bit left to do in there), and I have cleaned and organized my hobby room (aka the library, the office, the craft room). I managed to get outside to deep water the plants and tend to the birdcages, and I had to bandage up the bougainvilla that blew down off the arbor a few nights ago when it got very windy.

While I was outside watering, I gathered up some seed pods and skeleton leaves and things - even some moth wings - for a page in my WTJ (multitasking!) And I did take the time to glue and tape them into the journal because I didn't want to lose them once I brought them all into the house.

I've had coffee and iced tea, cut up kiwi fruit and strawberries and honeydew melon, a little cheese to go with the fruit, several bites of shrimp cocktail leftover from last night, half of a hamburger (shared with my husband), a handful of tortilla chips with guacamole, some chicken and rice, and (here's where it gets ugly) several "bites" of brownie, and i-don't-know-how-many powdered sugar donut holes that I bought for my Full Moon Dreamboard Circle tomorrow because they looked like little full moons.

And I feel horrible.

I am miserable.

In fact, I'm sitting here now in a pair of eleastic waist shorts (had my fave cargo shorts on earlier in the day but all those pockets and snaps and buttons make for uncomfortable napping), and my stomach feels so awful that the elastic is pulled way up underneath my rib cage to get it off my stomach. It's not pretty.

What has happened to me? I never used to be like this. I was always active - go, go, go; run, run, run; clean, clean, clean. Hustle and bustle! And I would never have even considered bringing powdered sugar donuts home, or if I did for some sort of occasion, they wouldn't have even been opened until just before the guests arrived. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

But I know what has happened to me. It's this. It's blogging. And Twitter. And Facebook (though not so much). And e-mail. And everything else that is a byproduct of one of the above, e.g., WTJ, collage art, links to interesting websites, etc. All such wonderful things! I'm not blaming them, however. You can't blame the pusher for an addict's addiction; you can't blame the pub for the alcoholic's fall from the wagon.

I have everything I need to right the situation. I have a trash can into which the donuts can go (actually I have the strength to just keep my hands off! The brownies too!). I have a yoga mat and yoga and pilates DVD's. I have an elliptical trainer and an iPod with some kick-ass tunes. So I figure I have options. I can:

• quit blogging altogether (yeah right)
• quit eating and only drink coffee and blog (hmmm . . .)
• hire a maid and a cook and buy more elastic waist shorts
• figure out a way to get my favorite bloggers to record themselves reading their blogs so I can listen while I work out (this might be my favorite)
• get a mini voice recorder and write/dictate my blog while on the eliptical trainer for posting later (if possible to understand with all the huffing and puffing and groaning)
• exercise for 30 minutes, blog for an hour; read (a book!) for an hour, blog for an hour;
• 15 minutes of meditation first, then 15 minutes of computer before work in the morning (in that order only!)

The key is really - though it sounds a bit (a lot) cliché - everything in moderation. And I can handle it. After all, I am a big girl - with big girl (elastic waisted) panties!

Happy weekend!

Wreck This Journal - Week 5

I played a little more this week and had great fun!


the page that got washed - this was a surprise. I expected it to hold up a little bit better!

this was great! it gave me a perfect reason to sort through my pile of markers and toss old ones.

have I mentioned that I love post-it notes, especially the little page marker flags?

There is so much more going on! Go to The Next Chapter - Wreck This Journal (hosted by Jamie at Starshyne Productions ) and be wowed by all the creative destruction!

And the Morning Coffee Award Goes To . . .

Some weeks back, Liz at The Fragrant Muse honored me with The Morning Coffee Award. It was my first award and meant a lot to me because I hadn't been blogging very long at all at the time. I thought I was all that and a bag of beans! (coffee beans of course!)

I have been remiss in not passing this token on to another. But I'm actually glad I waited, because in that time I've encountered a vivacious and authentic soul, who, with her verve, could almost replace my coffee in the morning. I get that much of a lift from her writing. I am very pleased to present The Morning Coffee Award to Holly at Your Mother Knows But Won't Tell You.

for blogs that go well with morning coffee

Holly, I hope you will accept this award from little ol' me, I mean, since you are the Queen of the Universe and everything! Thank you for sharing your spark with me, and please keep on writing!

Cheers!

Wishcasting Wednesday

What Do You Wish To Nurture?

Because I'm located on the west coast, I'm often one of the last to post on any given Wednesday for Wednesday Wishcasting. And I often sit and read and offer up wishes on everyone else's posts before actually writing mine. But I did something different today. I did not want to be influenced by any other's wishes. I wanted to contemplate the question and write my own wish first. I guess I wanted to take it a bit more seriously than usual.

This week, Jamie asks, "What do you wish to nurture?" I wish to nurture my inner yogi. I love yoga, and I love some of the associated/similar habits and practices, like meditation. I just don't manage very often to actually stop everything else I'm doing and spend my time practicing. I know the benefits of yoga and meditation - I've experienced them!

Lately, I've had too frequent periods where I almost can't draw in a deep breath, or my breath catches, and I have to consciously make myself breathe slowly and deeply. And there have been too many days where I have had to stop and tell myself to lower my shoulders because they've been hunched up around my ears for too long. And I know how to fix it, but . . .

So I implore you, Universe, I come to you on bended knee (or maybe two bended knees in child's pose) I wish to nurture my inner yogi. Namaste!