A Happier Friday!

Something as simple as the day of the week can make me happy.

I didn't even work five days this week because Washington, DC got so much snow on Monday that the federal government shutdown, the buses weren't running and I had the day off.

 

Still, today is Friday and that feels great.  The grind of this week is almost over and the weekend is within sight.

 

 

Friday evening is one of the best feelings in the world, don't you think? You've just finished working through one work week and now the whole incredible weekend is in front of you.  Have you ever noticed how happy everyone is on Friday evening when they are leaving their offices?

It's as though the principal rang the bell at school and announced "Recess!" I swear if I could bottle that Friday evening feeling I would make a ton of money. 
 

So embrace your fabulous Friday feeling and, better still, keep it going as long as possible.  Maybe you have plans to do something today you wouldn't do on any other day of the week!  Lighten up and spend some time playing.

Friday.  As Pharrell Williams sings in his infectious hit song, "Happy," I feel like a room without a roof. . . .

Ew! It's Funny Friday

What a whirl of a week this had been.  Deadlines. Pressure.  Meltdowns.  Not me.  Others.

 

You're familiar with this kind of dynamic aren't you?  I know you must be because there is no way that this kind of stuff only happens to me.

 

How do I deal?  (Did I hear someone say booze?)

 

No my friends I don't drink but I do make a lot of jokes about being in really awful situations because humor helps me cope.  I constantly make jokes about myself -- and believe me there's a lot of material there -- and I also make jokes about the perceived dysfunction and frustration and sometimes the plain silliness of daily situations that life happens to oh so innocently send our way.

Comedian Jimmy Fallon
Photo Courtesy New York Daily News

 



Instead of making jokes I guess another option would be to steel myself through the rough times, white knuckling my chair and holding my breath until it's over, but that wouldn't be any fun!  No, in fact that attitude would just suck the joy out of most situations. 

So meet "Stacy" and "Sara" and get ready to laugh as they hang out with First Lady Michelle Obama and "the girls" talk about different ways to stay active and eat right:

 

Hunk A Hunk A Birthday Fun

Today is a special day.  It's my birthday and it's also Elvis Presley's birthday.

 

Uh, Thank you. Uh, Thank you very much!

 

I'm not wearing a tight white jumpsuit today or gold wired sunglasses and I'm not wearing my hair slicked back.  And I'm not suggesting that I can sing or act but I do find it  a lot of fun that Elvis and I share a birthday because as I was growing up it would always be in the news that Elvis was having a birthday on my birthday and of course his was always a bigger celebration!

 

Elvis in 1972

 

Today I am so happy to be having a birthday because there was a time when I was much younger when I burned the candle at both ends (kind of like Elvis) and did some reckless things that today make me close my eyes and thank my guardian angel for watching over me.

 

So I am here today, pretty much all in one piece, counting my lucky stars and thanking the Lord above for all of the many, many blessings that I have in my precious life.  I have no idea what the future holds for me but I am enthusiastic about jumping into each new day and continuing to embrace my wondrous journey.

 

Me in Kindergarten

 

Exiting The Control Lane

It is Friday and I am one big burnt piece of toast!

It has been a week of going to the hospital (hopefully my Dad will be discharged today), car maintenance (way too expensive) and early starts at work (hate the alarm).  But I am truly looking forward to the end of today because that is when my well-deserved vacation begins!!!!!!

As hard as I try to maneuver around the built-in stress of the above situations, I am just a human being like anyone else and I do get sucked into worrying about all of these things instead of having faith that they will eventually get solved or will eventually be handled.

This where managing my expectations comes in.  For some reason, after all these years, I still think that if I treat a person nicely that they will treat me nicely.  NOT!  I really have to work on cutting loose my expectations of a situation and just let the situation happen.  Not to say that I should just lay down and let life roll over me but I need to tell myself that there is a difference between trying to control a situation and going into a situation with an open mind.

Photo Courtesy of Associated Press

The Elite Daily has come up with a list of the 20 things we need to let go of in order to be happy and I think it's a good solid list for all of us to consider.  I would say that #20 is an area I need to definitely focus on a lot; like every day; like all the time.  I do unfairly disappoint myself because I set my expectations higher than I should and then come away wondering why something happened the way it did. 

Instead, I should learn to sit back and let things develop.

Check out the list for yourself and see what you think.  If there is an area that you think you need to focus on in your life, please share below.  So without further discussion, away we go!

Here's the list from the Elite Daily:

http://elitedaily.com/life/20s-things-you-need-to-let-go-to-live-happy-life/

Life's Garden of Loved Ones

Two tropical storms have moved through the Washington, DC area recently and we are getting more than our usual dose of rain.  Not complaining because I like the rain.  It's good for our gardens and everything feels clean after a good downpour.

 

This summer I am trying to pay more attention to the plants in my yard which I guess I think of as my garden even though they are not all planted in one contained space.  I planted some lettuce, rosemary and basil along with geraniums and marigolds.  Watching things grow is hopeful!

 

As you wake-up and embrace today's events, here's a good thought about life's garden of loved ones:

Photo Courtesy of French Essence

"Let us be grateful to

people who make us happy;

they are the charming

gardeners who make our

souls blossom."

 

          ~ Marcel Proust, French Author

 

 

Weekends Go Too Fast

I hope your weekend was a good one and that you had a chance to relax and renew yourself.

 

My weekends always seem to fly by and just when I'm feeling as though I have totally brought myself down from the workweek, it's time to begin a new one.

 

It's okay though; I selfishly wring every minute of down time out of the weekend that I can.  Even if I am grocery shopping or running other errands, I try to enjoy the outdoors and reduce the pressure to get everything done in record time!

  

 

I try to unplug myself, even briefly from my electronic gadgets because I think they make me less patient.  More and more is supposed to happen in an instant today and life doesn't always follow our wants.  We become frustrated when phones are busy, computers freeze up, ATM machines run slowly or the checkout lines are long.

 

Waiting for something to work is an opportunity.  It is.  Come on, you know it is.  This is what I tell myself because no matter how much I want something to work faster, it never does.

It's an opportunity to pump the brakes and slow myself down.  I may feel like I am trying to beat the clock when I set out to do my errands but I really don't need to accomplish all my wants in one day. 

 

So when I miss a green light or have to reboot my computer and open all my programs up again, I try really hard to use that time to take a couple of deep breaths and remind myself that whatever I am trying to do will get done. . .eventually.
 

Happy New 2013!!

Happy New Year to you and yours!

I hope you are not feeling too hung over today from the fun you had last night and may your first day of the new year be a harmonious one.

My New Year's Eve last night was a low key one for me: an early dinner with family and then home to try and stay awake to watch the ball drop in New York's Times Square.  I ended up falling asleep on the family room couch way before midnight (no surprise there) but then woke up at midnight because the neighbors were setting off fireworks and yelling, "Happy New Year" out in the street.

 

I looked out the window and watched them and smiled.  I loved the spontaneity and the celebration!

 

A new year had started.  A new year spread before us, fresh with expectations and wishes and time that it is unwritten.

 

I took a deep breath and said a prayer that this would be a year of good health and healing.

 

For those of you who lost a spouse, a child, a relative, a partner, a friend or an acquaintance in 2012, may you move forward into the new year with a sense of resilience and may you bring your memories of your loved one with you.

 

Use those memories to give you strength and let them restore your broken heart.

 

Use those memories as a touchstone and let them remind you that your loved one would want you to return to living your life.  You will never ever forget them, just as I will never forget my husband who died.  Weep for them when you feel sad, but also laugh for them when you remember a funny thing they did or said. 

 

Talk about your loved one and reach out to others.  You may feel alone in your thoughts but you are not.  There is always someone who cares enough about you to sit quietly and listen as you seek to recover and restore your outlook on life.

 

It can be scary, for this healing process is exposing you to a different life, a life with new people, places and possibilities.  But remember you will always have your loved on with you and that person will always be in heart and in your memory.

 

To you my fantastic readers, I wish all of you good health, happiness, love and laughter in the new year and as 2013 unfolds, take your time to find new meaning and new purposes in your wonderful life.

 

Peace Always & Happy New Year!!!!!

 

May 2013 be all that you wish it be!!!

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is a day Americans set aside to gather with family, friends or both, bow our heads and give thanks for the blessings God has given us.

 

It is wonderful to have the day off from work and I am busy this morning making my part of the Thanksgiving dinner: homemade mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.  Because these two dishes are so important to the classic Thanksgiving dinner, I take a lot of care in preparing them and enjoy watching people gobble them up.

 

I started making homemade cranberry sauce years ago after I was served this particular cranberry sauce (recipe below) at someone else's house.  It's delicious and easy to make and gets better the longer it sits.  I loved it right away because I was brought up on canned cranberry sauce.  We were a family of eight and we usually had at least three or four other relatives join us for Thanskgiving dinner so we went for what was quick and easy.  The cranberry sauce I knew jiggled on our plates.

 

We would open the cans of cranberry sauce and then it would come out in the same round shape like the can including the indentations on the side.  Next we would cut it the cranberry jelly into slices and then take a slice and lay it on a plate and push a cookie cutter in the middle of it to make a holiday shape such as a turkey or a star.

Those were the days!

My son and I will be with part of my family today and I am very blessed with a loving family, great friends, good health and a solid job.  I am also blessed to have the best readers who follow my blog and always keep me moving forward towards a healing place.

Who could ask for more?  Well, I could ask for more, but I won't. 

May your Thanksgiving Day be full of family, friends, food and fortune!  Happy Thanksgiving!


Cranberry Orange Sauce

1 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries
1 orange
Sugar to taste

Wash the cranberries, then put them into the food processor until they are chopped up to the size you like.  Put the chopped cranberries into a bowl.  Next cut the orange into relatively small pieces.  Remove the seeds.  Then put the oranges, rind and all, into the food processor until it is the consistency you like.  Pour that into the cranberries and mix together.  Next I usually add a half cup of sugar and then mix everything together.  Let it sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Friday Tunes -- "What's Going On"

It's been an emotional week with Election Day happening on Tuesday and all of its rollercoaster effects still going on.  I know I am getting older because I stayed up until 2 am on Tuesday night to watch the election results and most of the candidate speeches and I am still recovering from it.  It's sad but true!

How are you fairing?

So I thought it would be fun to end the week with some soulful music because listening to tunes always feeds the soul and heals the heart.

This is an oldie, a flash from the past as they say, but a song that I never, ever get tired of hearing.  Close your eyes, listen to marvelous Marvin Gaye's mellow voice and relax:

Being Positive

My son came home from college for a brief Easter break and happily it caused a shift in my outlook.

For me, the take away message of his visit is all about the importance of having a positive attitude.  Maybe it's young energy or maybe it's because he has a smaller plate of responsibilities than I do but my son has a wonderful tendency to find happiness in many things.  Just by being around him, I was reminded that being positive makes living a lot easier. 

You think that sounds obvious?  If being positive is so obvious then why am I not surrounded, enveloped and overwhelmed by it?  I wish being positive was obvious and pervasive and something that came naturally to everyone.

I am not a negative person but I am a realistic person.  I can also be an incredibly silly person; sometimes in situations when I shouldn't be.  When I am practicing my realism, it may sound as if I am purposely looking on the lesser side of a situation but that's not my goal.  I am usually drawing from my years of experience and that is hard to ignore.

But this past weekend, I let my son lead the way in some family situations and even though I didn't really want to do some of the things he suggested, I did them.  And I found out that by doing them it got me out of my usual way of looking at things and changed the way I divide my time.

I also found that if you look for the best, sometimes you find it!  Sometimes when you know you have to attend a gathering of some sort, you think you know what's going to happen.  But that's not always the case.  Being positive that it will turn out okay helps you going in to the event and can actually help you handle it in a lighter manner.

It was refreshing and I'm glad that it happened.  It's wonderful when you learn something from your child!

Sandy Gingras

This quote from author/artist Sandy Gingras

         makes me happy ...........



"At the beach, life is different.  A day moves not from hour to hour but leaps from mood to moment.  We go with the currents, plan around the tides, follow the sun."

I hope it makes you happy too because it's sooooo true!