lifefullyinhabited

Is It Just Me?

Is it just me, or does this happen to you?  Every time I re-commit myself to a regular exercise routine, I get one or two good workouts under my belt, and then WHAM, I come down with a nasty head cold.

The only exercise possible then reaching for the tissue box, bicep curls with a mug of hot tea, and triceps pulling the covers back over my head.

By the time I feel better, the only workout I can do is all the work around the house that didn’t get done while I was sick.

The kitchen floor is sticky, the laundry is piled up, the dishes have their own zip code, and the refrigerator is almost empty.

Who needs a circuit of exercise machines?  I have it all right here called “clean the house”.

The trouble is, it doesn’t assuage the guilt like a good workout does.  Cleaning the house doesn’t make you feel like an athlete.  It doesn’t leave you with an endorphin high.  Washing someone else’s dirty clothes doesn’t give you the warm fuzzy good feeling, “yes, I’ve finally taken good care of myself ”  that comes from a good workout.

Workout for an hour, check it off the list and move on.

Cleaning the house never seems to end.

And after a miserable head cold, I am not sure I have the energy yet to do both.

Maybe I should just go back to bed!

    The summer is winding down.  Children are back in school.  My friends who work jobs in the real world can’t come out and play anymore.  Change is in the air.  This morning my porch thermometer is hovering near 45 degrees.  If you look carefully, many trees are already turning colors.  The corn stalks are dry, the flowers are wilting, the tomatos and beans are in their final glory.

    After a hot and steamy summer, the change in seasons is welcome.  Today will be a good day to plant some small magnolia trees that I bought on clearance a few weeks ago.  The cooler air will help them adjust and grow some roots before frost. 

     I always used to love everything about this change from summer to fall.  The crisp air, the cooler nights, the changing leaves.  This year, I have some mixed feelings.  I feel like life is moving on fast forward and I’m stuck on pause. 

     I never want to get stuck in a self-pity mode, so I’ll just call it a pause. 

     Some seasons of life have themes.  This summer, my theme was “acceptance”.   This fall, maybe my theme is “pause”.    Maybe if I call it something, I can turn it from self-pity to self-inspection.   Allow me to take a moment to pause.  To think.  To reflect.  To evaluate. 

     Today I will pause to consider the following:  even though I have not found a job in the real world (okay so I really haven’t even begun looking!) I have a “to do” list longer than my arm.  That’s quite enough evaluating for one day!

     Autumn can be a busy time for everyone, so I hope that no matter how busy or how empty your days may be that you can find time for a pause.  Take a moment to reflect. 

Black licorice is the dividing line between people.  It is one of those confections that either you love it or you dont’.  There really is no gray area.

If you love black licorice and you find someone else who loves it too and that person happens to be a friend or a family member, or remarkably your significant other, you have something GREAT to be truly thankful for.

A fellow black licorice appreciator will understand when you are shopping together and you see bags of licorice all-sorts that only used to be available when you were kids and you haven’t had any in such a long time, that you grab two huge bags off the shelf, wheezing out :OMG! OMG!

Your safe community where you can talk about black licorice will understand when you show up in a sugar coma and the horrible aftertaste in your mouth from over-dosing on the “wormwood”.  Goes down like honey, but tastes like bitter gall later.

The little time bombs of disaster don’t really give you warning that the crash is coming.  You just keep eating it because it tastes so good and reminds you of summer when you were seven and running through the sprinkler and also consuming pixie sticks and koolaid and popsicles.  You never saw the sugar coma crash coming.  And it is also the first thing you completely forget about.

All that stays in the warm fuzzy part of your brain that stores memories of the “good old days”  is the wonderful rich licorice chewing memories.

Its a set up for disaster.

How do you know when you’ve eaten too much licorice.  Its’ always two handfuls shoved down that you should have said no thanks to when you still wanted some more.

Is there a reasonable number of little black jelly beans a person can eat and then just stop.  Stop cold, before the fog and bile rises up and you realize too late that you’ve eaten too much.

At that point, there is no antidote.  There is no antivenom.  Nothing can undue the damage except time.

You can try brushing your teeth, but there is no toothpast that tastes good after a black licorice overdose.

You can drink cold water, or something salty.  But that will likely lead to other bad stomach problems.

All we can do is look out for one another and offer gentle reminders: quit before you’ve reached the point of no return.

We smile politely at each other and we just know we’ll do it again.

Except for the power and grace we invite into the situation from the Almighty God.

Blessings, I wish you the joy of moderation in licorice.

Found some old window frames a few years ago at a yard sale.  Painted one red.  Let it sit for a few years.  Finally decided it would make a great picture gallery frame.

So, I had prints made from Mother’s Day with my family and taped them to the window panes.

It hangs in my kitchen over the kitchen table.  So everyday, one of the windows I look out on, I have a view of my beautiful family.

I have been busy for a month of gardening, cleaning, and creating.  In the next few days I will post some pictures of some of the things I’ve been working on.  Today I’ve got some pictures of recent purchases from rummage sale and thrift stores.  Enjoy!

Rhubarb bread, here we come

Two nice baskets for $1.25!

beautiful ceramic vase for 99 cents. Looks hand-thrown

beautiful basket! High price, but worth it: $4.99

Japanese made ceramic teapot. Similar to Otigari teapots I spotted online. Found this one for $2.99

A stack of movies for less than $10.00

“Creativity enhancers”

The dog is entertained by the “creativity enhancers”

I used up a whole pen.  It took many months.

I write in a spiral notebook every day.  I use a Pentel black fine point pen.

Nothing fancy.

But that pen finally gave out today.

I took a few moments to be grateful.

The ink that spilled out for me.

Onto the page, faithfully, day after day, the ink helped me to move forward in my life.

One letter at a time, one word at a time.

One day, one moment at a time.

The ink spilled out and so did my heart.

My thoughts, my words.

My hopes and dreams.

Plans, lists, complaints.

The pen and ink worked to help heal me.  Writing dependably every day.

My praise, my worship, my prayers.

The pen and ink never complained if they formed lovely words

or words of bitter anger that had to be voiced somewhere.

The pen and ink and page keep their silence and their secrets

so that I could scream into the notebook if I had to.

How wonderfully grateful I am.

Time to look for a new pen.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 New International Version (NIV)

8 We do not want you to be uninformed,(A) brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced(B) in the province of Asia.(C) We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.

9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God,(D) who raises the dead.(E)

Sometimes the hardships we face do not feel like the pathway to peace (as we pray in the serenity prayer).

Sometimes it just feels like the pathway to misery.

There are days  when all we can do is rely on God.

Easier said than done.

Reach out to a safe friend to pray for you.  Make a list of small, doable tasks.  Do them one at a time.  Check them off the list.

Listen to uplifting music.  Find someone who is in need of your prayers and pray for them.

These are things that are easy and can be done.  This is how I rely on God to get me through a tough day.

And, as all women know, sometimes you just need a good cry.

So grab a box of tissues

and sob away. 

Better days are coming.  Hang in there.

I don’t have the kind of charmed life that makes people jeolous.

I don’t have fame, fortune, or even a job.

But . . .

I do have this:

Suddenly, everyone wants one!  Everyone wants to be me!  Everyone wants to know my secrets!

I didn’t steal it.

But it sure is a sweet ride.

And with no job, this just might be my retirement vehicle.

When the “bleep” hits the fan, I can wander the streets with my stuff all neatly piled up in here.  

After all, I am getting a bit too old to haul around my survival gear in a back pack.

still life

I don’t know much about photography.

But I know that with most art forms, capturing the light makes for interesting art.

So, I just happened to capture the light on the day I took this picture with my sanyo digital.

It’s probably not professional quality

I think it makes an interesting photo.

No big lessons here, just try to look for little things

like the light.

Blessings, Vicki