Author: Lake Girl

A Labor of Love – CCW

I am not a homeowner, nor do I own any property. My one attempt at owning my own home ended in disaster and although it took a long time, I have finally stopped beating myself up for that really BIG mistake! I thought I would never buy again and that renting was the way to go. Owning your own home is a lot of work that as a renter I don’t need to worry about. I don’t need to mow the lawn, trim the trees, or edge the sidewalk. I am not responsible for fixing the appliances, deciding what project to tackle next, or hiring the contractor. I don’t have to pay the property taxes, school taxes or to fix whatever needs fixing.

All of that is true, so WHY do I enjoy looking at houses for sale online? I enjoy looking at the pictures, reading the descriptions and calculating if it is affordable. I like doing drive bye’s, checking out the view and popping in on Open Houses. It is a bit of a time waster for me AND I really enjoy it!

Image by Gino Crescoli from Pixabay
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Snack Attack

I have been eating pretty healthy for a while now and have hit a 40 day streak tracking my food intake on My Fitness Pal. I was reviewing my data today and realized I eat about the same amount of calories in snacks as I do for each meal! I wasn’t sure if I should be horrified but decided to just take it in stride. My overall caloric intake is fine and I am happy thrilled with my current weight! I have been using the My Fitness Pal App on and off for a few years but have never been so consistent with it.  In addition to getting a glimpse at my calories, protein, carbohydrate, fat, fiber and sugar intake, I find it helps me to see how the food I eat affects my body. There is a section at the end of each day for notes and I use that to jot down any symptoms I feel during the day; allowing me to recognize patterns of eating and how I feel. 

Eating healthy takes a bit of planning but it can be fun and oh so good for you. When I work less than 6 hours at the Nursing Home, I don’t bring lunch but I always bring a couple of snacks. In the refrigerator at work, they put in leftover employee lunches all individually wrapped and free for the taking. It isn’t usually good or food I would typically eat. When I forget to bring my snacks, I start foraging for something to eat and end up wolfing down something I would not have even considered putting in my mouth if I had just brought something decent from home!

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Caught in the Act

Spring has sprung here in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. People are slowly shedding their winter coats, hats, boots and gloves for t-shirts, flip flops and hoodies! In my world this means yard work and lake time! I am sitting right now, happily typing away at the cottage. Never mind that I am wearing heavy sweats, a fleece shirt, and wool socks. I am also wrapped up tight in a heated blanket. But trust me, spring is here!

This is my second overnight this month at the lake and I am looking forward to Cottage Clean Up Weekend with Child #3 and her honey in another couple of weeks. Being at the lake puts me squarely in my happy place. I caught myself speaking out loud this afternoon the word “blessed”. That is all, just “blessed”. At the time, I was standing in the kitchen, looking out the window at the lake and the hillside. After dinner, I took a quick 15 minute kayak ride and caught myself whispering “grateful”.

It makes me go AHHH! Image by Maciej Ostasz from Pixabay

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Not an Obligation but a Celebration!

Are you a dog owner? If you are than you know that taking at least 2 walks a day is the standard of care. Dog owners are more consistent than the Post Office Deliver guys and gals. We walk in the rain, sun, snow, sleet, and fog. We walk in the blizzard, hurricane winds and blistery heat. I don’t always look forward to my daily walks but I always feel good when I return. I just got home from my morning walk with Fenway and she is passed out on her bed. I am reflecting on the emotions raised by this simple morning walk that often feels like an obligation I need to complete before I get on to the important tasks of the day.

This morning while out for a walk, I got to see what Mother Nature had to share with me in the wild suburbs I call home. The calendar may say it is April and the season is spring but it is flurrying and the temperature is in the 30’s! Ah, life in the Finger Lakes of Central, New York!

The Wild Suburbs!                            Image by Ian Wilson from Pixabay

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Why Get Out of Bed at 91?

In an earlier post, I talked about the Health Puzzle and what each of its pieces looks like. That post stressed that in order to live a truly healthy life, it is critical that we address each area! One important pieces of this puzzle is “Engaging in Meaningful Activities”. I can’t imagine what life would look and feel like if the only activity I enjoyed was watching the boob tube. Don’t get me wrong, I have my favorite shows but there is nothing that I watch that I would seriously miss if my television mysteriously blew up!

The activities that are meaningful for me are unique to me and the activities that are meaningful to you are unique to you. What I find meaningful, you may find frivolous or unimaginative. What is meaningful for you, I might not value or see as silly. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, it matters what you think. What activities bring you joy? What activities make you feel alive. What tasks do you find fully engaging?

Eating and Sleeping is not enough!                     Image by suju from Pixabay

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Nudge the Happy Needle

On a scale of 1-10 how happy are you? What would it take to move that number to the right 1 or 2 digits? Seriously what would it take? Would you need to win the lottery? Would a vacation to a beach resort do it? How about coming home to a clean house and dinner on the table?

These all seem like they would help, however in reality, I am willing to bet they don’t move the needle in the right direction for more than a hot minute. Winning the lottery is out of my control and as I rarely even bother to buy a ticket it, is not likely to happen. Vacationing in a beach resort sounds great but is not in my budget and although the needle would move, the minute I returned home, I bet it would fall back to its starting point. Coming home to a clean house and dinner on the table – yup that would help. That would even help even if I did all of the work!

Would this help? Image by ardoramanda from Pixabay

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Spring Has Sprung

If you have been reading my recent posts, you know I got away from winter for the entire month of February but March came in like a lion and left like a lion. We had lots of snowy days with minimal accumulation in March. It would look ferocious outside but when I left to drive home at the end of my shift there would be nothing to brush off my car much less to shovel! I guess if we have to deal with winter, this isn’t half bad!

On April 7, my honey and I drove to the cottage for the first time this year. I always approach this day with an odd mix of excitement and dread. Mostly excitement but still a healthy dose of fear! I never know if the driveway will be passable and if there will be damage to the house or to my beloved “condo”. Luckily, there were no real issues this year and we had time for a little bit of raking, lunch on the deck and a quick kayak ride. We wrapped up the day our first visit of 2019 to a favorite ice cream stand. My honey got a chocolate peanut butter cone and I got my soft-serve chocolate with chocolate sprinkles (jimmies to my New England friends).

Sprinkles please! Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

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5 Minutes is Easy!

A few months ago, I wrote about the idea that developing good habits will lead to success. I talked about purchasing an APP called “Productive” that I wanted to use to help me develop better habits. I decided to follow-up on that post to help me stay on track toward reaching some of my 2019 goals!

This year, I have a goal to post an average of 5 blog posts per month. The reason this is important to me is that I find that writing on this blog is one of the tools I use to keep sane! Writing is a form of therapy for me and reaching this goal will help me nurture my mental health.

Can you believe this keeps me sane? Image by Werner Moser from Pixabay

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25 Years is a Long Time

On April 19 2014 I moved back to the Finger Lakes after 25 years in Massachusetts. Trust me, 25 years is a long time. Long enough to live in at least 12 different houses with many different roommates. Long enough to have a 20 year career and supervise too many people to count. Long enough to fall in and out of love a few times. Long enough to make wonderful friends that will last a lifetime, despite living 350 miles away.

Living closer to family and the lake is what drew me back to the Finger Lakes five years ago. I can’t believe it has been five years already! Five years is a long time too. Long enough to have a couple of jobs, move in with my honey, start my yard-work side-gig. Five years is long enough to have put down new roots and make more friends.

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

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My Mini-Retirements Keep Me On Top!

Have you ever had the opportunity to take an extended period of time away from work? Away from your life? Away from Debbie Downer and Ned the Nosy Neighbor? Away from your cluttered home and messy yard? Away from your daily responsibilities? If you have never had such an opportunity, I highly recommend you do some thinking, introspection, detective work etc to figure out how you could make it happen. It can change your life!

Extended time away from life is refreshing, invigorating and good for the soul! If done well, it can provide greater insight into difficulties you are facing leading to better thought processes and better decisions. Time away can recharge your batteries giving you more energy for activities that have become a struggle. I know when I get into stressed out mode, I don’t have the mental or physical energy to do more than the basics of self-care and work much. When in that mode, there is little oomph for tending to all of the pieces of the health puzzle!

This is how I want to spend my retirement! Image by MonikaDesigns from Pixabay

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