Month: May 2024

Tuesday’s Tidbits

It’s fascinating to me how the focus in our lives change, even if the circumstances don’t change that much. Something in our life grabs our attention like a project, or a trip, or a goal, or a crisis, or a pain, or a sickness, etc. and that situation takes the spotlight, even though everything else is happening pretty much like it would every other day. Right now, my focus is on my stuffed up head, and so everything else that was either bothering me or interesting me, has gone into the background. But soon this annoying sinus infection will pass, and I will be on to new irritations and intrigues. Such is the way of life. This is what is meant by, “This too shall pass . . .”

Here are some gems that I found in some of my inspiration notebooks that I thought that I would pass on for today (None of these are my own. I’m sorry for those quotes which are lacking credit. I’ve kept these notebooks for years, namely for myself, and shamefully, I was often lapse about writing down the source.):

+ “This is your permission to stop looking to be liked by people who don’t even like themselves.” – Nicole LaPera

+ “The shortest answer to your question: What would someone who loved him or herself do?” – Alan Cohen

+ “What comes at you, comes from you.” – Bert Winn

+ “A toxic situation is more likely to change you than you are to change it. Get out.”

+ “Honesty without kindness is cruelty. But kindness without honesty is manipulation.”

+ “You don’t get to pick the consequences of your actions.”

+ “Sometimes when you are invited, you’re still not welcomed. Know the difference.” – Wise Connector, X

+ “There are four natural sanctuaries: silence, solitude, stillness and simplicity.” – Brianna Wiest

+ “The light heart lives long.”

+ “Not what we have, but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance.” – Jean Antoine Petit-Senn

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

2220. Which foreign language did you have to learn at school?

Monday – Funday

Wow. There is nothing else that makes you appreciate your own health and vitality, than when it is taken away from you. I guess that’s the same for anything good in your life that is so dependable. It is easily taken for granted. I don’t know what current strains of viruses are going around right now, but this one around here decided to “take me to the party.” I still can’t hear out of my right ear, all that well, but I am feeling decidedly around the bend. Thank goodness.

Last night I had the most intense dream. (Based on the medical cocktail I’m on right now for my infections, this is probably not unusual.) In my dream, I was visiting this unusual place on a tall, dark black, steep cliff where I had the sense that I had been there previously. I looked up to see, far up on one side of the cliff, that there was an intriguing looking entrance with bright lights and a fire and what looked to be some sort of store or restaurant. It had a very over-the-top, Disney-ish, “assault to the senses” kind of look to it, and yet it was appealing and I had the feeling I had seen it before. It had a name over the entrance. The name was “Umbruch”. I don’t remember much more of the rest of the dream, but “Umbruch” stuck with me. I looked it up before writing the blog . It turns out that “Umbruch” is a German word for “to be in a state of flux, to be undergoing radical change, to be going through a period of upheaval.” (Langenscheidt dictionary)

This empty nest experience, for my husband and I, has definitely had its interruptions, fits and starts. The pandemic brought three of our kids home to live and to study, for a lot of 2020. In 2021, our son who has epilepsy was going through a tough year of regulating his medications, so he spent a lot of time home with us then. Our youngest child, our daughter, left for school in late summer of 2022, but in the meantime my mother-in-law was enduring a long, slow illness that ended in her death in December of 2022, so that was a major part of our focus. In 2023, our daughter came home from college for the summer and she lived with us. This 2024 summer is the first summer, that we have no children living with us since I was 25 years old, as our daughter is studying abroad. This is the first real taste of the “true empty nest.” We definitely have been experiencing “umbruch” for a while now, and I think my subconscious wanted to bring that to my attention. The exciting thing though, is that I did not feel frightened or worried, in my dream. I felt a mix of excitement, curiosity, and anticipation. I was on a steep cliff, yet I had a sense of reassurance that I had been to this place before and that it had ended up to be a great experience. I was excited to climb up to the entrance.

Forgive my indulgence in relaying my dream. I keep this blog mostly as a thought catalog for myself (although I am so grateful that it resonates with my readers!). I read something recently that every major stage in life can be painted as a sad, bitter end, or an exciting, intriguing new beginning. The fact is that every ending is also a new beginning. Umbruch sounds like a scary, challenging place to be, but it also sounds mysterious, energizing and eye-opening. I think that I am excited to explore what it has to offer.

And what I do know for sure is that it is great to be back to writing the blog! See you tomorrow.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

1072. What is your favorite game beginning with the letter N? 

I’m Okay

Hi readers and friends. Judging from concerned texts which I have been receiving from some of my inner circle who are also Adulting-Second Half faithfuls, I felt the need to come to let you know that I am fine, and I hope to be back to my regular daily blogging by Monday, at the latest. Unfortunately, I came down with a doozy of a virus on Monday night and it has knocked me off of my feet. Throughout this past week, I have been miserable, fatigued, bummed, annoyed and mostly, extremely listless. I finally succumbed to going to the doctor on Friday who confirmed that my virus had turned into a mess of two ear infections and a sinus infection, and she swiftly put me on antibiotics and steroids. The medications are starting to kick in. I still don’t have a lot of energy, but I have pain relief and thankfully, my head no longer feels like it is going to explode.

My daughter left for her summer study abroad studies in London earlier this week, and so I suppose, in missing her and feeling the need to channel her, with my utter lack of energy, I firmly sat on my little brown couch, with little brown dog, and I mostly binge watched most of The Crown, all week long. (I may be one of the few women left on Earth, who has never seen The Crown before this week.) In doing so, my curiosity lead me to reading this book: Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner. It is the true story of a member of the British aristocracy who served as a lady-in-waiting for Princess Margaret for 30 years, and she also was one of Queen Elizabeth’s attendants when the queen was coronated in 1953. It is an honest, candid, highly readable book which was written in 2020, when the author was in her eighties (The author is still writing books, now at the age of 91). I could not put the book down. I expected to be disgusted and off-put by her accounts, but instead I found her biography intriguing, fascinating and oddly, sometimes even relatable. No matter what our station in life is, we women all juggle what it means to be women in service not only to ourselves but also to our husbands/partners, families and communities, all while being strongly influenced, and sometimes limited, by societal expectations.

Coming here to the blog, for the first time since Tuesday morning, despite being utterly played out, has made me realize how much I’ve missed writing it, and feeling a connection with you, my readers. I missed you! Thank you for the well wishes and concern. I pride myself on my robust immune system and I am not used to being “kept down” this long, but I believe that the body has a wisdom of its own and I am willing to succumb to this wisdom and healing that only true rest and surrender has to offer.

Good night, friends. I am headed to bed. I will be back “in form” by Monday. <3

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

1217. Are you being true to yourself?

Sick Day

Credit: The Healthy

I woke up last night with raging sore throat and feverish dreams that made me wonder if I actually slept or if I physically appeared and enacted in my own dreams. When I get sick, I just get really perturbed. I pride myself on a robust immune system. I start barking about who to blame for my sickness. I need to go back to bed. I may be back to blogging tomorrow, but I’m not making any promises.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

2372. Have you ever had a dream about being abducted by aliens?

Monday – Funday

Happy Monday. Happy New Week. Wear sunscreen. I have my annual check-up at my dermatologist today and unfortunately, I wasn’t great about my sunscreen usage yesterday. I am preparing myself for a well-deserved lecture.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

2829. Who would you want to sing a song you’ve written?

Soul Sunday

Happy Mother’s Day! I know a lot of my readers are mothers, and truly wonderful mothers. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And to my own beautiful four children, you make me so proud. I love you with all of my heart. It is my greatest joy and privilege to be your mother. Last night, my husband and I attended a wedding and as I looked around at everyone and mingled with people I’ve known for several years, it occurred to me that every stage of mother was in that room. There were pregnant women, women with their first babies, and a young woman talking about being at her child’s little league game, late into the night, on her own birthday (and every one of us mothers, whom she was telling the story to, were nodding in knowing recognition and understanding). There were the proud, excited middle-aged mothers of the bride and the groom, and there was a table of older women, presumably grandmothers and maybe even great-grandmothers. Maybe the reason why weddings have such beautiful energy and an aura of hopefulness like no other event, is because they are filled with strong women who deeply understand what it is like to be a willing, unending, unbreakable channel of the Universe’s greatest Love.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

733. What was your last big achievement?

The Most Beautiful Skies

Credit: Louise McIntosh Artist, X – photo taken in Ireland last night

Oh wow! So many lucky people got a beautiful light show from space last night. There were many people posting pictures from England, France, Canada, Seattle, even in South Carolina, of the beautiful Northern Lights, all caused by a large magnitude solar storm that was visible on Earth. If we ever need proof that beauty can come from storms, there are pictures and pictures and pictures to prove it, from just one stormy night. Did any of my wonderful readers get to see it?

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

1284. Who is your favorite comedian?

Read, It’s Friday

credit: Pinterest

Good morning! Welcome to the best day of the week. On my favorite day of the week, I discuss the favorite things, websites, experiences, etc. that make life so interesting to live. Today’s favorite for “Favorite Things Friday” on the blog, is a book that was recommended by two different friends, both who have excellent literary tastes. I read this novel all in one day. I could not put it down. My father and my (now deceased) father-in-law are both Vietnam Veterans, so I had heard many stories from the male veteran point of view, but this book goes into what female veterans (mostly medical people, as women weren’t in combat at that time) experienced both in Vietnam, but also the aftermath which they experienced when they got home from the war. The Women by Kristin Hannah is a must-read!

Have a great weekend, friends. See you tomorrow!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

2059. What’s the simplest way you have fun?

Popcorn

We are going to be visiting with relatives in England later this summer, when we go to visit with our daughter, who will be studying there. I asked if there was anything that we should bring from America that they would like for us to bring. My aunt wanted some “4th of July” napkins (these, obviously, won’t be easily found over there), and her grandchildren wanted some specific American candy. My aunt said, “They want some ‘Jolly Ranchers’, but I guess they mean ‘Jolly Rogers?!?’,” she said in her email.

“No, they were right, it is ‘Jolly Ranchers’ and we can accomodate,” I said with a smile on my face, tasting an imaginary tart red cherry Jolly Rancher on my tongue, as I replied to her. Interestingly, her one little grandchild wanted a big bag of buttered popcorn. At first this puzzled me. I thought to myself, “I’ll have to purchase that when we get there,” but then it occurred to me that corn isn’t as common in Europe as it is here. Popcorn was first found in Peru, and the Aztecs are said to have eaten quite a bit of it in ancient Mexico. Popcorn is clearly much more of an “Americas” thing. The Europeans have “banged grains” as it is often called in the UK, but it isn’t nearly as plentiful and available in so many varieties as we have here in the United States.

No doubt, I will find some room in my luggage for the biggest, most delicious bag of popcorn I can find, (and probably a few microwave versions, to boot.) It will be cushioned between big bags of Jolly Ranchers. In my mind, this will be the most priceless stuff in my luggage, and I can’t wait to be a kid again with kids who know just how great and fulfilling an American snack of salty, buttered popcorn and Jolly Ranchers can make! It’s the “little things.” This I know.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

1430. What profession do you respect? (I was going to write something snarky, but I am working on my “emotional reacting, versus healthfully responding” skills.)

Intro/Extro

I have an extroverted weekend coming up that I am already starting to dread. People often don’t believe me when I say that I am an introvert. I present like an extrovert when I am out in public, but it takes a lot of energy for me to psych myself up for big parties, events, gatherings, etc. I usually have a wonderful time at these functions. I am usually pleasantly surprised about how nice of time I have had, but typically, I am mostly more pleased to have the function (and the dread leading up to it) completed, and checked off, and no longer on my anticipating mind.

wcraider responded to this tweet with this:

“It’s like a light switch that has to be turned off so I can decompress and recharge.”

Anyone can present like an extrovert. The difference is that an extrovert gets their energy recharged being with people, while an introvert gets their energy recharged in solitude. Even still, I think it is important for both extroverts and introverts to get a mix of both social time and solitude. It’s good to get out of our comfort zones sometimes.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

558. If you could read minds, whose would you read first?