Month: June 2019

Go Save the World

It is officially summer! Yeah! One of my yard work customers is 96 and yesterday she informed me that she was going to be outside working in her yard at 10 PM on the longest day of the year. I didn’t check in on her but I have no doubt that she met her goal! She makes me crack up laughing every time we talk; I am grateful for her.

I have been incredibly busy between yard work and my work at the nursing home. I have been working six days per week and really love my Sundays off. The funny thing is when I work at my yard work gigs, it barely feels like work. I am out in all kinds of weather, rain, sun, wind, hot, and cold. I do laundry pretty much every other day because I get so dirty. Good thing we have a washer and dryer in the basement! I am grateful for my yard work and for my washer machine!

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

One of my goals for 2019 was to start a gratitude journal and I am happy to report I have been writing in it pretty consistently. It sits on the nightstand next to my bed and every night when I crawl under the covers I jot down 3 things I am grateful for. I have noticed that the more I write in my journal the easier it is to identify 3 things to be grateful for.

I now find it easy to truly express gratitude for things that once would have been simply irritating. I am getting better and seeing the positive side of every day events. This is a skill that will help me for the rest of my life! Here are a few things I am grateful for today!

Image by Steve Howard from Pixabay

I am grateful I didn’t break my pinky finger when I slammed it in the folding table. I am grateful that the tree that fell into the lake didn’t hit the neighbors boat (it was really close). I am grateful that the cottage didn’t flood and Child #7 and Mother Fran didn’t need to evacuate in the storm. I am grateful my honey made it safely to Connecticut and is on her way home. I am grateful for my health, for my wealth (what there is of it) and for my happiness.

I believe gratitude has the ability to grow like compound interest! But in order to do that, it must be shared, it must be expressed. Let’s fill each others buckets by expressing our gratitude to our loved ones. It is one way to help save the world! When we quarantine gratitude it can not grow, it can not multiply. That is like the opposite of saving the world.

Go save the world by expressing some gratitude today! Happy Summer.

Lake Girl

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Is Fun Worth the Work?

I have learned that I need to schedule fun activities in order to ensure I do the things I say love to do. If I don’t literally get it on my calendar, I don’t find the time to go biking, hiking or kayaking. I get caught up in work, chores and the day to day tasks of running my life and the weeks slip by one after another. I have to literally schedule date night with my honey and overnights at the cottage with Mother Fran or these incredibly important things don’t happen. One of my rules for living my life is to spend time with people I love doing activities we both enjoy. In order to make this happen, it needs to get on the schedule. I also need to be willing to do the work that is involved with having fun.

My honey and I just spent 27 hours away from home for a biking adventure with my cousin. 27 hours sounds inconsequential. It sounds like nothing. All we had to do was get the bike rack on the car, the bikes down from the garage ceiling, the tires pumped up. We had to pack the car, arrange for Fenway care and get the day off from work. Making this biking trip happen involved work AND it was well worth it!

Isn’t she a beauty?

Getting away from home, even for a 27 hour period of time can feel like a vacation. It doesn’t have to be expensive, it doesn’t have to be far, it doesn’t have to be loaded with activities. For us, just getting to a new environment and spending quality time together is wonderful. It gets the oxytocin activated – you know the feel good cuddle hormone! Yes it involves a bit of effort AND it is worth it!

One of my Happiness Goals for 2019 is to go on to two bike/kayak/hike weekends away from home. The trip to my cousins counts as one so one more to go! It has taken a long time but we finally purchased 2 sets of JBars for the kayaks and a load assist device to help us get them on top of the Rav4. It is time for me to do some planning and get a kayaking weekend on the calendar! Now we have to figure out how to assemble everything and make sure we know how to secure them on the roof! Sometimes fun sounds like work AND it is worth it!

A good cuddle goes a long way! Image by MikeCamel from Pixabay

The 2 hour drive to my cousins house was a breeze. Making this happen was easy but only because I got it on our joint calendar. We use the Google Calendar – we each have our own calendar and we have a joint one. We can both see all three of them at the same time (color coded) or can easily turn one off to make it look less daunting. I don’t know how I kept track of my life in my 30’s and 40’s but I know I didn’t use any phone Apps or even a paper calendar. All I know is this process works well for us!

When I feel overwhelmed, I tend to shut down and disengage a bit. That makes planning fun activities more difficult. I don’t know about you but I intend to have a wonderful summer and that means it is time do the work so I can have some fun! My honey and I are also talking about a return trip to Florida this winter and a drive cross country in 2020. It is time to start some planning to make these both happen!

I’ve always wanted to drive cross country! Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay

Go do some work AND have some fun!

Lake Gir

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Tune in to the Birds

This time of year, I spent most of my time outdoors. On a daily basis, I am outside walking my dog and gardening. In my free time I love to be out at the lake, soaking up the sun, kayaking, hiking and biking. My honey and I did a beautiful hike last weekend at one of the local State Parks. It was a good loop with views of waterfalls and flowing water. Next weekend we plan on biking with my cousin on the Erie Canalway. I believe time spent in nature is time well spent.

I feel like the more time I am outside, enjoying all that Mother Nature has to offer, the more tuned in I am to the sites and sounds. I get to see more of what is out there, not because I am outside more but because I have increased my awareness. Does that make sense? I miss a lot too, especially when I am playing on my iPhone or tuned into the chattering going on inside of my head instead of the beauty that surrounds me. We have to keep our heads up to enjoy Mother Nature!

We saw this beauty! Image by bapreston from Pixabay
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