My kids are acting tired and whining a lot too. I thought it was due to exhaustion from going to State for gymnastics this weekend, but now I’m wondering if we really aren’t getting sick here. I guess I’ll find out soon enough, huh?
Speaking of State…I am soooo proud of my girls!! The oldest got 2nd Place on Beam, 2nd Place on Floor, 3rd Place on Vault and 6th Place on Bars (we gotta work on that one! LOL). Her All Around for her age group was 3rd! The youngest got 1st Place on Beam, 1st Place on Floor, 2nd Place on Vault and 4th on Bars. Her All Around was either 2nd or 3rd…I kinda go soo excited I totally missed what number they said she was. Her coach has details, I’ll get them at the next practice.
They are also practicing Level 3 routines now…they are just so ecstatic! Of course, that means more practice time each week…but you know what? I don’t mind one second of driving them 40 minutes to practice when I see them accomplish something like this. They saw what practice was for this weekend.
Oh yeah, did I mention that we have officially decided to sell the house. There will be relief and sadness once it does sell…but the relief will be longer lasting, I am sure of that. We just have to get the foreclosure slowed down enough to get this thing sold. It’s going to be hard, but I gotta have faith that it will happen.
We have a few options we are working on for where to go after it sells and if it doesn’t sell. We’ll be staying in the area, but my goal is to start heading towards more open land, I need horses. Horses might not be an option in this move, but maybe the next one… we’ll see.
Some jackass is blowing his boat horn. It’s after midnight! I might have to go kill someone if he wakes up the kids.
>:(
Now I’m annoyed. I think I better get going to go work on some projects so I can get to bed sometime before the sun comes up. See you all later!
:)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
How to Be Happier - 7 Steps to Contentment
(This isn’t mine…I just found it on a site I frequently visit, the Good News Network, and wanted to share it with you)
If happiness is the currency of life — the true measure of success, how hefty is your happiness account? How abundant is your contentment? How much happiness can you afford to give? Do you hoard or hide your true desires? Do you resent others for their happiness and curse their rose-colored glasses? Here are seven ways to boost your levels of happiness, and therefore, your success.
1) It’s Not the Goal that Matters
The purpose of naming long-term goals is to facilitate the enjoyment of the process. The journey on our way to the goal is made happier when we’ve envisioned our destination clearly in mind. Goals keep us from feeling aimless. But achieving the goal does not necessarily provide the happiness. Enjoy the journey — including the struggles. Become WHO you want to be along the way so that the achievement of the goal isn’t the most important effort, and doesn’t leaving you feeling empty once the goals are in the past.
2) Happiness is the measure of success, but struggle is essential, too, as a catalyst for our growth. Give yourself a license to be human.
Fighting against the Law of Gravity does us no good. It’s an immutable natural law. Likewise, we will only create unnecessary frustration for ourselves if we don’t accept that struggle is a fact of life. Make a decision to change your life and the lives of your entire family by accepting your own painful emotions as human. Emotions come and go, like disappointment, anger, and sadness. Give yourself and others the permission to be human and experience these emotions as an important part of life, rather than resisting them with a fight.
3) When you feel a touch of depression coming on, the first step is to accept it.
Most often it is appropriate, after accepting the feeling, to try to turn our focus to the positive. What is going well in your life or in the world? What is easy for you to do right now that can calm you or cheer you. Maybe tidying up a corner of the house for ten minutes will make you feel the positive sense of accomplishment. Maybe the memory of an accomplishment from earlier in the week can bring a sense of fulfillment — when you cleverly helped your child to overcome frustration, when you made that healthy choice to walk instead of taking the elevator, when you genuinely felt happy about anything.
4) Simplifying your life can bring more satisfaction to your day.
Can you think of a way to simplify your life and quiet the cacophony of modern life, which often distracts from the simple things that could otherwise bring happiness (like making a tent out of blankets with your kids)? After you identify the most important things in your life, try to find ways to eliminate the others — through delegation, hiring help, or cutting down on outside activities or volunteer work.
5) Does it take a terminal illness to begin to appreciate life? For many people, it does.
Pretend you were just told that you had six months to live. Close your eyes and name three things in your world right now that you can be really grateful for. (Go ahead and name them right now, and feel how grateful you are.) Plan on feeling more thankful for these three things in the coming days, while remembering that life doesn’t last forever.
6) Try Happiness Boosters
Making changes is sometimes hard, even if our goal is to become more joyful. For instance, when we are unhappy in our work and want to change careers, but are fearful of drastic steps. We could instead take small steps that could provide measured happiness in the meantime. Try a part-time position as a tutor instead of switching to teaching; volunteer or take up a hobby that gives a similar “boost” in happiness, before making drastic changes. If you want to make a big change in your life, try to identify 2 ideas that you could implement in the meantime to boost your happiness levels for an hour or two each week:
7) How to Deal With Negative Situations
With as little as three deep breaths we can reverse a stressful situation* (see resource below to learn how). Consider reminding yourself to take three deep breaths whenever you reach a red light or whenever you arrive at your desk or pull your car into your driveway at night. Deep breaths can instantly relax and reduce your stress. Additionally, keeping a gratitude journal can help diffuse the day’s stress. Record in the journal a list of five things (no matter how big or how small) that you are thankful for every night. And, finally, remember to choose to focus on the positive each day. Positive people look not only at the trouble but also look at the positive in each situation. Identifying the strengths and opportunities in the world, coupled with an acceptance of the hardship and negativity, produces a more balanced view of life that can serve us well.
Remember, the world today gives wider publicity to the negative and so it becomes more important for us to be diligent to train our focus regularly on the positive. Listening to the news or reading the news in the morning, if it is filled with terrorism, fraud, and murder, can potentially start us on a downward spiral. It wires our brains in a certain way. Whereas, if we start the day reading uplifting and inspiring news stories, like those in the Good News Network website, we can launch a positive upward spiral that will impact the rest of our day and help us to stay happier and more contented.
Written by Tal Ben-Shahar and Geri Weis-Corbley
If happiness is the currency of life — the true measure of success, how hefty is your happiness account? How abundant is your contentment? How much happiness can you afford to give? Do you hoard or hide your true desires? Do you resent others for their happiness and curse their rose-colored glasses? Here are seven ways to boost your levels of happiness, and therefore, your success.
1) It’s Not the Goal that Matters
The purpose of naming long-term goals is to facilitate the enjoyment of the process. The journey on our way to the goal is made happier when we’ve envisioned our destination clearly in mind. Goals keep us from feeling aimless. But achieving the goal does not necessarily provide the happiness. Enjoy the journey — including the struggles. Become WHO you want to be along the way so that the achievement of the goal isn’t the most important effort, and doesn’t leaving you feeling empty once the goals are in the past.
2) Happiness is the measure of success, but struggle is essential, too, as a catalyst for our growth. Give yourself a license to be human.
Fighting against the Law of Gravity does us no good. It’s an immutable natural law. Likewise, we will only create unnecessary frustration for ourselves if we don’t accept that struggle is a fact of life. Make a decision to change your life and the lives of your entire family by accepting your own painful emotions as human. Emotions come and go, like disappointment, anger, and sadness. Give yourself and others the permission to be human and experience these emotions as an important part of life, rather than resisting them with a fight.
3) When you feel a touch of depression coming on, the first step is to accept it.
Most often it is appropriate, after accepting the feeling, to try to turn our focus to the positive. What is going well in your life or in the world? What is easy for you to do right now that can calm you or cheer you. Maybe tidying up a corner of the house for ten minutes will make you feel the positive sense of accomplishment. Maybe the memory of an accomplishment from earlier in the week can bring a sense of fulfillment — when you cleverly helped your child to overcome frustration, when you made that healthy choice to walk instead of taking the elevator, when you genuinely felt happy about anything.
4) Simplifying your life can bring more satisfaction to your day.
Can you think of a way to simplify your life and quiet the cacophony of modern life, which often distracts from the simple things that could otherwise bring happiness (like making a tent out of blankets with your kids)? After you identify the most important things in your life, try to find ways to eliminate the others — through delegation, hiring help, or cutting down on outside activities or volunteer work.
5) Does it take a terminal illness to begin to appreciate life? For many people, it does.
Pretend you were just told that you had six months to live. Close your eyes and name three things in your world right now that you can be really grateful for. (Go ahead and name them right now, and feel how grateful you are.) Plan on feeling more thankful for these three things in the coming days, while remembering that life doesn’t last forever.
6) Try Happiness Boosters
Making changes is sometimes hard, even if our goal is to become more joyful. For instance, when we are unhappy in our work and want to change careers, but are fearful of drastic steps. We could instead take small steps that could provide measured happiness in the meantime. Try a part-time position as a tutor instead of switching to teaching; volunteer or take up a hobby that gives a similar “boost” in happiness, before making drastic changes. If you want to make a big change in your life, try to identify 2 ideas that you could implement in the meantime to boost your happiness levels for an hour or two each week:
7) How to Deal With Negative Situations
With as little as three deep breaths we can reverse a stressful situation* (see resource below to learn how). Consider reminding yourself to take three deep breaths whenever you reach a red light or whenever you arrive at your desk or pull your car into your driveway at night. Deep breaths can instantly relax and reduce your stress. Additionally, keeping a gratitude journal can help diffuse the day’s stress. Record in the journal a list of five things (no matter how big or how small) that you are thankful for every night. And, finally, remember to choose to focus on the positive each day. Positive people look not only at the trouble but also look at the positive in each situation. Identifying the strengths and opportunities in the world, coupled with an acceptance of the hardship and negativity, produces a more balanced view of life that can serve us well.
Remember, the world today gives wider publicity to the negative and so it becomes more important for us to be diligent to train our focus regularly on the positive. Listening to the news or reading the news in the morning, if it is filled with terrorism, fraud, and murder, can potentially start us on a downward spiral. It wires our brains in a certain way. Whereas, if we start the day reading uplifting and inspiring news stories, like those in the Good News Network website, we can launch a positive upward spiral that will impact the rest of our day and help us to stay happier and more contented.
Written by Tal Ben-Shahar and Geri Weis-Corbley
My Alzheimer’s Post…not to be outdone by Meg…
We now have our own Alzheimer’s experiences. And this is really nothing compared to Meg’s experiences…so she is still the Queen of Patience and Understanding…
Yesterday our neighbor banged our door. He said he wasn’t feeling well. He’s in his 70’s or 80’s so we assumed he was out for a walk and started feeling ill. We brought him in, put up his feet, gave him some water and then my husband sat there chatting with him. He seemed really disoriented. Hubby kept asking if we should call his wife and let her know where he was. He kept saying no. Then hubby asked if his wife was ok? Did we need to check on her. He just said “she’s not ok”. Then he started having problems finishing sentences.
So, I put the kids in my office, got then set up on Webkinz and ran over to the neighbors house. She was just driving in and was frantic. I told her he was at our house and she had to run in her house and call her daughter to tell her that he was ok. They also had to call the police to let them know they found him. Apparently there were LOTS of police looking for him. This is when I learned he has Alzheimer’s. I called hubby real quick to tell him since he was patiently at home trying to follow the conversation with the man.
His wife and I got back over here, and he was adamant about not going home. There were too many people in the house. I was just in the house…there is no one but her and him. She said he’s been doing this the last few days. She said he suddenly just got so much worse, can’t remember common words, etc. And he runs off when she does things like take a shower (that was when he left and ended up here yesterday). She seriously having a hard time. I can’t even imagine having to keep an eye on him 24/7 and then some. The police showed up to verify that he was ok. The sheriff said there were literally 20 cars out looking for him. Since our neighborhood is all waterfront, they took the fact that he was gone very seriously. He actually has an ankle bracelet on that has a transmitter on it. But they kept saying it hasn’t gone anywhere…well, he was 100 ft from the house so maybe it wasn’t far enough to pick up any change? Or maybe they thought he was in the canal? OR they thought he’d managed to get it off… The sheriff was very patient and wonderful about it all. He kept making sure everyone was fine with the situation and then he chatted a few minutes to calm down the neighbor…it was very nice to see someone so patient and compassionate working for the Police department, it gives you a new perspective compared to the crap you see on the news (so thanks Officer/Deputy/Sheriff Cain!!)
So, this morning…who is knocking on our door again? The neighbor. This time he wants to talk to my Dad (I’m guessing he means hubby) and I go tell hubby his new best friend is here to see him. Today he’s brought hubby some pictures from the war for “safe keeping”. I motion to hubby to just take them (I’ll get them back to his wife in an hour or so when he’s forgotten he even came over). And then he walks him home.
An hour later…he’s back. He got in trouble for bringing the pictures. But now he’s got booze. Hubby takes him home again.
I’m wondering how often we should be expecting our new friend. And I’m wondering how long his wife is going to be able to deal with this new habit of his. She looks to be at her wits end.
This really is such an ugly disease. I feel so bad for everyone who has to live with it.
:(
Yesterday our neighbor banged our door. He said he wasn’t feeling well. He’s in his 70’s or 80’s so we assumed he was out for a walk and started feeling ill. We brought him in, put up his feet, gave him some water and then my husband sat there chatting with him. He seemed really disoriented. Hubby kept asking if we should call his wife and let her know where he was. He kept saying no. Then hubby asked if his wife was ok? Did we need to check on her. He just said “she’s not ok”. Then he started having problems finishing sentences.
So, I put the kids in my office, got then set up on Webkinz and ran over to the neighbors house. She was just driving in and was frantic. I told her he was at our house and she had to run in her house and call her daughter to tell her that he was ok. They also had to call the police to let them know they found him. Apparently there were LOTS of police looking for him. This is when I learned he has Alzheimer’s. I called hubby real quick to tell him since he was patiently at home trying to follow the conversation with the man.
His wife and I got back over here, and he was adamant about not going home. There were too many people in the house. I was just in the house…there is no one but her and him. She said he’s been doing this the last few days. She said he suddenly just got so much worse, can’t remember common words, etc. And he runs off when she does things like take a shower (that was when he left and ended up here yesterday). She seriously having a hard time. I can’t even imagine having to keep an eye on him 24/7 and then some. The police showed up to verify that he was ok. The sheriff said there were literally 20 cars out looking for him. Since our neighborhood is all waterfront, they took the fact that he was gone very seriously. He actually has an ankle bracelet on that has a transmitter on it. But they kept saying it hasn’t gone anywhere…well, he was 100 ft from the house so maybe it wasn’t far enough to pick up any change? Or maybe they thought he was in the canal? OR they thought he’d managed to get it off… The sheriff was very patient and wonderful about it all. He kept making sure everyone was fine with the situation and then he chatted a few minutes to calm down the neighbor…it was very nice to see someone so patient and compassionate working for the Police department, it gives you a new perspective compared to the crap you see on the news (so thanks Officer/Deputy/Sheriff Cain!!)
So, this morning…who is knocking on our door again? The neighbor. This time he wants to talk to my Dad (I’m guessing he means hubby) and I go tell hubby his new best friend is here to see him. Today he’s brought hubby some pictures from the war for “safe keeping”. I motion to hubby to just take them (I’ll get them back to his wife in an hour or so when he’s forgotten he even came over). And then he walks him home.
An hour later…he’s back. He got in trouble for bringing the pictures. But now he’s got booze. Hubby takes him home again.
I’m wondering how often we should be expecting our new friend. And I’m wondering how long his wife is going to be able to deal with this new habit of his. She looks to be at her wits end.
This really is such an ugly disease. I feel so bad for everyone who has to live with it.
:(
Monday, April 07, 2008
Freedom, Jeff and some inspiration for all
If I’m going to get better…I need to be inspired. We all do.
My mom often sends me blurbs and emails about things that she thinks will inspire me. For the most part they do.
I’m going to start sharing them here with you.
This is one that I guess she saw on snopes.com (since I turn everyone onto that site who sends me forwarded emails) and it is pretty damned awesome.
Here is a direct link to the story: http://www.sarveywildlife.org/Story.aspx?id=7
I’ve always teared up while watching Bald Eagles fly over the house…not sure what it is, it’s sort of like there is a enormous amount of awe inside me and the only way I can release it is to shed a few tears. I’m not sure that’s exactly it, but it’s close enough for now. We do have a few Bald Eagle families living near us. They hunt across the street from us and they will spend a few hours a week in a large tree that gives us a great view.
If you enjoy reading about Freedom and Jeff…there is at least one other story on the site about Freedom (Birthday Bash) and then more stories about other people and animal “guests” that are there. Enjoy!!
I’m off to work now…have a great day everyone!
:)
My mom often sends me blurbs and emails about things that she thinks will inspire me. For the most part they do.
I’m going to start sharing them here with you.
This is one that I guess she saw on snopes.com (since I turn everyone onto that site who sends me forwarded emails) and it is pretty damned awesome.
Here is a direct link to the story: http://www.sarveywildlife.org/Story.aspx?id=7
I’ve always teared up while watching Bald Eagles fly over the house…not sure what it is, it’s sort of like there is a enormous amount of awe inside me and the only way I can release it is to shed a few tears. I’m not sure that’s exactly it, but it’s close enough for now. We do have a few Bald Eagle families living near us. They hunt across the street from us and they will spend a few hours a week in a large tree that gives us a great view.
If you enjoy reading about Freedom and Jeff…there is at least one other story on the site about Freedom (Birthday Bash) and then more stories about other people and animal “guests” that are there. Enjoy!!
I’m off to work now…have a great day everyone!
:)
Thursday, April 03, 2008
There are ducks in my pool!!!
That might be a sign that it’s time to clean it out. What do you think? We just let it go because it’s too expensive to keep going during the winter when no one can use it anyway…but now I can’t really afford to start it up so it’s been getting greener and greener…and now there is a pair of ducks swimming in there. I keep trying to take a picture but they are crafty little buggers…when I come out, they go around to the side of the pool that I can’t see from the lanai. I’ll keep trying.
Wow! I am so totally and completely depressed right now
I woke up with this unshakable misery stuck to me today.
My kid is off in Harrisburg, PA getting sworn into the Army this morning and I could not avoid the article about the 23 year old who lives in my town that got killed a week before coming home from Iraq to get married. So now his family is planning his funeral instead of his wedding. That was disturbing but I kept shutting it out. Maybe it got back in while I was sleeping?
I also woke up to hubby storming around huffing and puffing about how miserable he is. Well, that could have rubbed off on me.
He also made the most hideous pot of coffee ever this morning so I’ve not had coffee. He just left so I may dump it and make my own. Or I’ll just drink Red Bull.
He’s back to running on pure emotion and it’s bad. This is where things go terribly wrong. Like we got a letter from the power company a few days ago. He didn’t bother to open it. It’s a shut off notice. For today. So if I disappear, you know where I went.
He does this though, and now I’m also stuck here with no food because he’s so absorbed in his misery that he’s failed to notice that I said we were out of vitals a few dozen times. So the girls are eating Ramen and dry cereal.
We also have to go to the dentist and the vet today. I have NO money. I was working all freaking day yesterday on quotes for people but no one ever wants to commit. People don’t get it. A quote takes time. That is non-billable time if they don’t want the job. But they keep asking for more and more things, then sit on it for weeks. I don’t mind them doing their research, shopping around, but it’s frustrating when they never intended to spend money in the first place. I get, “Oh! I wasn’t going to spend THAT much!” alot. I have a price list online…why are they shocked when I give them a quote?? And my prices are very reasonable. I should be charging twice what I do. Maybe I just need to stop giving quotes and send them to the price page of my site and tell them to add it up themselves. And anything extra that is not listed…well, I’ll figure that out after I get a deposit.
It’s really not my clients faults that I’m broke. I’m just being bitchy today. I should be charging twice what I do. That is my own fault.
Ok, gotta get the kid to dentist. See you all later!
My kid is off in Harrisburg, PA getting sworn into the Army this morning and I could not avoid the article about the 23 year old who lives in my town that got killed a week before coming home from Iraq to get married. So now his family is planning his funeral instead of his wedding. That was disturbing but I kept shutting it out. Maybe it got back in while I was sleeping?
I also woke up to hubby storming around huffing and puffing about how miserable he is. Well, that could have rubbed off on me.
He also made the most hideous pot of coffee ever this morning so I’ve not had coffee. He just left so I may dump it and make my own. Or I’ll just drink Red Bull.
He’s back to running on pure emotion and it’s bad. This is where things go terribly wrong. Like we got a letter from the power company a few days ago. He didn’t bother to open it. It’s a shut off notice. For today. So if I disappear, you know where I went.
He does this though, and now I’m also stuck here with no food because he’s so absorbed in his misery that he’s failed to notice that I said we were out of vitals a few dozen times. So the girls are eating Ramen and dry cereal.We also have to go to the dentist and the vet today. I have NO money. I was working all freaking day yesterday on quotes for people but no one ever wants to commit. People don’t get it. A quote takes time. That is non-billable time if they don’t want the job. But they keep asking for more and more things, then sit on it for weeks. I don’t mind them doing their research, shopping around, but it’s frustrating when they never intended to spend money in the first place. I get, “Oh! I wasn’t going to spend THAT much!” alot. I have a price list online…why are they shocked when I give them a quote?? And my prices are very reasonable. I should be charging twice what I do. Maybe I just need to stop giving quotes and send them to the price page of my site and tell them to add it up themselves. And anything extra that is not listed…well, I’ll figure that out after I get a deposit.
It’s really not my clients faults that I’m broke. I’m just being bitchy today. I should be charging twice what I do. That is my own fault.
Ok, gotta get the kid to dentist. See you all later!
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
the funk is sort of gone
I sat down this morning around 8am and started working…and I’m only just now realizing that my behind is hurting from sitting here so long. I think it’s time to go finish reading Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus so I can get on to his next book. I’m learning so much from this! I’m very happy with it.
See you guys tomorrow…gonna go read and relax for the night!
:)
See you guys tomorrow…gonna go read and relax for the night!
:)
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
I just can’t kick this funk
Things are going better between hubby and I. My kid is finally on his way to fulfilling his dream he’s had since he was like 9. My girls are happier with the home life situation.
There are things that could be better. We are in foreclosure. The taxes are now officially late. My truck is supposed to get repo’d. My server might be turned off at any time.
And normally…that shit just doesn’t phase me. No one is dying, so it’s all ok. But today I’m just realizing…I’ve been in a wicked funk for weeks and just can not shake it.
Being sick for a few weeks was the source of my funk til now. Or so I thought. But I think I was wrong.
I’m gonna go paint and hopefully that will help me. That’s all I really want to do lately. Paint and create art for my gallery. Too bad it’s not something that pays the bills.
There are things that could be better. We are in foreclosure. The taxes are now officially late. My truck is supposed to get repo’d. My server might be turned off at any time.
And normally…that shit just doesn’t phase me. No one is dying, so it’s all ok. But today I’m just realizing…I’ve been in a wicked funk for weeks and just can not shake it.
Being sick for a few weeks was the source of my funk til now. Or so I thought. But I think I was wrong.
I’m gonna go paint and hopefully that will help me. That’s all I really want to do lately. Paint and create art for my gallery. Too bad it’s not something that pays the bills.
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