Bring on the Vacay!

I'll be leaving in a few hours for my week+ vacay in the always lovely Pacific Northwest! I'm sooo looking forward to this, and it's much in need! Will try to pop in occasionally, but I'm uncertain of the Internet availability - so if I don't see you here for the remainder of July, have a great time and enjoy every moment!

Tuesdays Transformations

Last week I posted about this, and received the most touching, loving and encouraging responses by all of you – thank you, thank you! I am truly touched and amazed at the support!

So today, as I promised last week, I will start my Transformational Journal. There are SO many areas I need to change. I am easily overwhelmed, but have learned that baby steps (micro movements) are the way to go. Being that as of Friday I will be in Washington and Oregon for vacation for a week, the easiest change would be exercise (also being that I will be out of my normal elements, schedule, etc.).

I have not exercised since my little mishap with my toe on the 4th of July. It has healed up nicely now, so it will be easy-peasy to keep up with on my vacation. So excited, will be at a family reunion with oodles of lovely relatives on a lovely lake on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington! There will be lots of walks, swimming, water skiing (if I dare-it’s been 20+ years since I’ve tried!)(Eeekk!), tennis, bike rides, laughing (yes, laughing counts as abdominal w/o-don’t you agree?). I know that exercise will help elevate my mood, get me into better shape, thus improving my self image, and clear out the mental cobwebs to make room for steps 2, 3, 4, etc….

I’m hoping to venture onto step 2 of my journey as well. There will be oodles of little ones at the reunion. I’m envisioning lots of bubble blowing, arts and crafts with nature and nature treasure hunts. Sounds wonderful, I can’t wait!

Tonight I’m looking forward to a girl’s night in with my bf Deborah. My guys have already headed up north; I’ll be flying in on Friday – so currently my home is testosterone free, yippee! Okay, I’ll admit that I miss them dearly, but it’s so freeing to be able to come home and flip the TV onto any channel I choose without their moans of horror. (Yes, Food Network sends them running – away!) LOL! So tonight we will be watching “Only You” with Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr., Deb gives it 2 thumbs up – a romantic comedy, count me in!

Be yourself

"Be yourself ~ everyone else is already taken" ~ Oscar Wilde

Came across this quote to day and thought it was brilliant enough to share!

Laughter and Love

"Laugh as much as you breath and love as long as you live." Anonymous

Photo Credit: ladybugdiscovery

The Authentic Me

Yesterday I started pondering as to why I’ve been in such a funk the past few years. Sure, it does seem like a mid-life crisis…but I don’t believe in that mumbo-jumbo.

So, my kids are ALMOST grown up (16 & 18), my job is mindless and dull (not that I'm really complaining but...), my relationship with hubby is comfy & strong (20 years this October). My conclusion, I have not been honoring my “self”, my ideas, my beliefs, my values.

Do you see that little bit about me over there to the left (under that picky of me)? That is the self that I desire. The truth? I’m far from it. I haven’t been actively pursuing any of my dreams and goals.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I want to live within my true identity and my most authentic self. I can still put little sparks of my authentic self out in the world each day. I think of my co-worker, an Accountant. You may think, “Blah, an Accountant can’t sparkle”. But she does. She loves color and displays it in her choice of clothing, her cheerful demeanor, and her rainbow of colored pens, markers and highlighters she works with daily.

I want to ooze spunk. I want to be a quirky old lady that has lived a glorious life. Right now I’d be a boring, grumpy old lady that wouldn’t have much of a story to tell.

That’s going to change my friends. For too long I’ve suppressed the Authentic me and taken the easy road. You know the one, with as little confrontation, bending the rules and discomfort as possible.

That Authentic me is Creative, Healthy, full of Fun, Spirit, and Love.

Perhaps Tuesdays can be my weekly muse on the journey to the Authentic Me.

Photo Credit: mark sebastian

A Few of my Favorite Things - Summer Version

With the weekend coming up, I got to thinking of my favorite things of the summer. Following is my current list, in no particular order:

1) Flip Flops

2) Sand between my toes

3) Cool evening breezes on sun kissed skin

4) The sound of the waves crashing on the beach

5) The coo of the Morning Doves

6) The smell of sun tan lotion

7) The warmth of the sun on my skin

8) A fresh Greek Salad

What are some of your favorite "summer" things?

Photo Credit: GINDERBELL

Disturbed, Perturbed and generally irked

I thought I’d run by you lovelies something that has been bothering me. I am open minded and understand that I have a “Monkey Mind” that takes off on its own direction. Therefore, when something is bothering me, I need to be defused quickly before my mind is in the outer stratosphere. I thought I could bounce an issue off of you, and you let me know if I’m off base, and perhaps how to gracefully address this issue.

This past Saturday (yes, the one that included my tangle with some bikes, which I’m still finding new bruises from) my hubby and I had an altercation with some relatives. Nothing huge, just a parenting issue that we brought to their attention. They address the child who in turn, tearfully apologized and we forgave and moved on, or so we thought. Then the mother comes to us and blames us that we were unclear on the boundaries of what is correct behavior –vs- incorrect behavior with this child. Meaning that we were inconsistent with this child. I then stated that this issue is not ours, but the parents place to set these boundaries. Her response was “how dare we instruct her on how to raise her son”…blah, blah, blah...I then decided to bite my tongue, realizing that this was going to go nowhere quickly, and was going to turn ugly. We stated that this is water under the bridge, we were resolved and we left.

Apparently they are still holding a grudge. My husband ran into them the following day and was met with snide, personal comments and the like. And truthfully I’m perplexed. I don’t know what to make of it, nor do I know how to take the next step.

I am always looking for input on how to better myself, my relationships, my parenting. You can tell me ANYTHING…I will thank you for it, mull it over a bit, and glean from it what I deem is true to me. How do I deal with someone who feels that they must be right and responds with spite and ugliness? These are our closest relatives and spend several days a month with them. Honestly, I feel like I’m back in High school! I don’t do well with drama!

Weekend in Review

Sorry I've been MIA the past few days....had a fun and eventful weekend followed by the sickies - yuck! But I'm back! Yay!

I was thankful to have been able to have a 3-day weekend, starting on Friday. Hubby and I took the bikes down to the beach, laid out in the sun and enjoyed an Ahi Cesar Salad at our favorite place on Main Street. We then Celebrated our friends birthday with a bar-b-que and a lot of laughs!

Saturday we crawled out of bed to join in the 4th of July festivities on Main Street, including riding our bikes along the parade route, hanging with friends, fooz ball, more biking, some margaritas, and unfortunately - several bruises, a banged up toe w/split toenail...because apparently me + margaritas = inability to ride a bike -:(! All is well though, we did have a good time.

Sunday we headed once again to the beach for some more sun - then it was my make-up day of housework and chores - sigh!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday!

Photo Credit: Sagebrush7