Midweek Musings, My Top 10 Birthday Realizations

In honor of yet another birthday that makes me older, I am grateful for people who love me and want to make me feel special. The event was last weekend. My mom cooked for me and got an awesome cake, my boyfriend gave me multiple gifts and a wonderful day, and my son gave me the gift I picked out.

With all my years, I must be especially wise now, right? So, for anyone still reading, here are some things I’ve learned:

1. I heard somewhere that bangs are a poor woman’s Botox. I find this to be true. Sure, they’ll grow out and you’ll have to adjust, but it’s worth it. Try it!

2. Wearing more makeup as you age doesn’t make you look younger. It makes you look fake. With a lot of eye makeup comes the removal process. Rubbing off eye shadow with cotton balls always makes my under- eye bags much worse the next day. That’s not the Smoky eye I want!

3. Find a cheap gym where you’ll see young and old alike. The young men are great to look at, and the old men will make you feel like you’re young and gorgeous!

4. Eyelashes are much less prominent with passing year. I always use clear mascara except for special occasions. I want an eyelash growth serum that doesn’t break the bank or cause irritation. Any suggestions?

5. A good eyebrow pencil is a must!

6. I tried the strategy of dying my hair darker and loved the look, but my hair looked thinner when the roots grew out. Never again. Highlights and lowlights for me!

7. Hobbies are a must, even when working towards retirement. I’m trying, but it’s not always easy. We’re in a world where employers are constantly asking for more from us. I have to say no sometimes.

8. I find I use concealer more and more each year. It is my friend.

9. The best makeup look is a well-rested face. Fight against the pull of the rat-race!

10. Find yourself a friend, partner, date, etc who is constantly willing to try new places and activities with you. I believe that novelty can still create wonder. Nonchalance and believing you have seen it all or even know it all really makes a person seem old.

Well, I’ve put off the rat-race long enough. It’s time to take my morning vitamins and slap on the industrial-strength concealer in preparation for my workday. I hope you all have a good one!

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Weekend Coffee Share, a Season

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. It’s a sunny morning, and I’m indoors with a hot chai latte with honey in it. This should be good for my lingering sinus issue, minor as it is.

It’s end-of-the-year at school , so that means a busy time for me as the yearbook advisor. My yearbook staff and I have been working since Wednesday afternoon to deliver yearbooks to the classrooms of students who ordered them, and to sell the books for cash to students whose book was not preordered. We had 169 sold online and around 90 to sell. Monday I’ll sell the remaining 40.

Wednesday we had a field trip, and I went as a chaperone. Such fun! It’s nice to get out of the brick and mortar, to take a drive and just have time to really chat with other teachers and let the kids have fun. It took place at Main Event, which has a mix of arcade, bowling, and laser tag as well as an eatery.

Yes, I just had to take a selfie on the school bus!

Today I’ll be cleaning out my car, as I plan to start looking for a new one. Who knows, I may find the right one right away and I want my old one to be ready. This car is twelve years old. It has served me well, but the repairs on it these days are a little too much. Of course I’ll get another Corolla!

Maybe you can tell Bixby got a haircut. He got snippy with the groomer, and he may need grooming by the vet next time. We had meatballs a few nights ago, and my mom gave him one. He pranced around with it as if playing a game, before finally eating it. He’s such a nut!

That’s actually a meatball!

That’s all I have for today. Have a great weekend!

Weekend Coffee Share, on the Upswing

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer at Natalie…Blog Home where she shares about many travels and visits. I’m drinking chai tea with honey, on the end of a sinus afflicted week full of popular culture fodder to stave off boredom.

Yes, I had a banner week of doing nothing, allowing myself to rest and get over this bug. It ran it’s course, but my head was hurting most days. I had very sensitive eyes one day, and the next they were watering constantly with runny nose. Yuck! Temperatures were between 99 and 100.7, so I can’t complain too much there. I also had a cough, but it got better with each day.

On Tuesday, my boyfriend had this floral arrangement delivered on a day I felt horrible. As we both love dogs, it’s adorable and perfect! Can you see that bandaid on the flower in front that would ostensibly be his leg? Yes, so cute. It really brightened my day. ☺️ He’s a keeper!

The window in my bedroom really lets light in, so I didn’t sleep enough during the day. I slept alright at night, since my energy was so low. I tried to read, but that didn’t last long due to my tired and pressured eyes. So, I started a book on Audible titled Verity, and it captured my attention. It’s definitely an adult book, but the plot swept me up with deceit, murder, psychosis, and a plot twist. I highly recommend for adults only.

Needing to alternate between phone time and other activities, I subscribed to HBO MAX and watched Curb Your Enthusiasm with Larry David, creator of Seinfeld. Sometimes I got tired of his bad attitude and sorry luck, other times I found it hilarious. Then, there was the Twitter news of our president and FL governor, pop culture news of which celebrities are miserable in their marriage or were abusers or had addiction troubles. Yeah, I could’ve done without that.

Through all this, I re-discovered a taste for audiobooks; I can close my eyes and picture the story while someone else reads it. It’s great for when my eyes are tired. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still enjoy reading through Kindle while on a bike at the gym.

My son has been kind and ordered dinner in for us one night. He seems to be sick now that I am getting better. It’s hard to stops these things, as he frequently would walk in the kitchen while I was there. He’s a young, hearty twenty -something, so I think he’ll be better soon.

Bixby wants me to throw the ball!

Today, I am welcoming the sunlight through the blinds and feeling much better. I have a pretty dry cough that just sounds like a response to springtime allergens. No problem. I’ve got this!

Have a great weekend, everyone, and a Happy Mother’s day!

Weekend Coffee Share, Ironies

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie at Natalie the Explorer Blog. My coffee share usually is accompanied by chai tea, but today it is green tea with honey. The rules don’t forbid it, and if they did, I’d break that one. 🙂

A quiet, gray morning lets me sleep in late. Yes, I needed that. My plans were to go to the zoo today with my boyfriend. However, today is the day I discover that the headache I had all week was the sign of a cold. I feel it in my throat today. There was one year I caught a stomach bug on the day before Spring Break started. So, I guess it could be worse.

My mom has been out of town and will return Sunday afternoon, so Bixby has been lonely during the day. He has survived, though, and he’s so happy when my son or I get home from work.

Flashback photo: Bixby, protector of the house.

Last night was couch and relaxation time for me and Bixby, and my son put on the movie Us by Jordan Peele. It is mesmerizing, with so many unexpected moments and great acting. Yes, even though I’ve seen it before, it’s still mesmerizing. Lots of Ironies abound in that movie 🍿.

So, I have no pampering appointments today, and my free-to-do-whatever day is probably going to be a napping and resting day, out of necessity. Such is life.

Have a great weekend, and some relaxation, friends, writers, and readers!

Weekend Coffee Share, Don’t Just Survive

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. A cold chai latte with cinnamon sprinkled in top is sponsoring my energy this morning. I slept in, thank goodness! Grab your favorite wake up beverage for a chat!

Lana del Rey is coming through the speakers, and Bixby is enjoying the morning as well, looking pretty contemplative. Work has been way too hectic, so I just won’t think about it today. I got a flat tire last night in my neighborhood as I was almost home from work, so I put that off until today, but I’m not in a hurry.

This is my weekend, after all. I try to avoid committing to much of anything except self-care on my weekends. I work quite hard during the week, I’ve raised a son, and I pay my bills. I believe I deserve down time. My health is a priority. I just need to reduce my Amazon purchasing. 🙂 It’s a goal!

Last night,I revelled in Netflix and sleep. I didn’t make any calls to find out anything about tires. I ordered dinner delivery for myself and my son (another costly habit to reduce). It’s what I needed, and it was tasty! I took time this morning for a full, healthy breakfast. It’s a beautiful morning to enjoy!

My son’s cast-iron plants, a gift that has been part of our family since he was first-born , are finally coming back. Spring is in full-force! Their rejuvenation is quite reassuring and is a much better thing to ponder than discipline at school or a flat tire that happened out of nowhere.

Yes, I’m practicing self-care with reckless abandon, whether in my mindset or my weekend activities. Earlier this week, I went back for Zen acupuncture again. It really helped my stress level on Thursday. I shared photos and a post about it here: Mid-week Mellow Out

That’s all for me. Today is what matters now. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Weekend Coffee Share , a Haiku Kind of Day

With Miles turned up high

A chai latte in my hands,

I greet the sunshine.- (c) 2023

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer and shared by various authors around the globe. It’s a bright, sunny day, so my latte is chilled. The aforementioned music is The Greatest Hits of Miles Davis, lively yet relaxing.

It was another hectic, fast-paced week at school. I put my feet up when I got home Thursday night and relaxed until my boyfriend came to get me for dinner at a barbecue restaurant. The meal was good, and there was lots of venting about our jobs, and also plenty of things we laughed about together. Laughter is the best thing for stress!

Friday brought appointments. I had a thyroid ultrasound, which went well despite the long wait. Then, I went to the chiropractor and asked him for a “gentle” adjustment. When I’d gone two weeks ago, my back was still sore for about two days after the adjustment. I think my nervous system is in stress overdrive with spring frenzy and test season. Stress is bad for our health, but I felt good after this adjustment as he really listened to my comments and self-assessment of my reaction to two weeks ago.

Ah yes, test season. I’ve been teaching compare/contrast writing and assigned an essay for them to write. I have a new student that asked for a lot of help but really got going, and I could see a light in her eyes as she kept getting ideas. That is the joy of my job. Some don’t let me help them, though. I’ll just remember the good points, I guess.

Before yesterday was over, I got online results of my thyroid scan, and all is well. Today, I have nowhere I have to go. Of course, I’ll do my Saturday cardio….when I decide to. I plan to go to church for Easter service tomorrow, which is always beautiful.

A happy Easter to those who celebrate, and have a great weekend, everyone!

Weekend Coffee Share, Spring Crunch

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer . It has been a warm weekend, and my Saturday morning blog ritual is a Sunday brunch post for this week. I have a nice, cold mocha to match this warm weather. How about you?

This past week was a busy one, even though Monday was a planning day. I had to catch up on some online training in the morning on planning day, and had signed up for some training for that afternoon, so most of that day consisted of me sitting at the computer, and responding to things brought up in training. I’m glad to say I completed all of it!

Tuesday and Wednesday morning we had testing of students in their home room. This involves actively monitoring the students and maintaining a calm, quiet environment as well as filling out certain required paperwork. My habit of wearing sneakers almost daily is paying off, I must say, because to truly actively monitor, I must be moving around a lot.

Thursday afternoon, I went to the chiropractor. I like his holistic approach, which is different than the last chiropractor. This one manually adjusts my back, neck, and leg/ hip area (which he helps me stretch first). It’s such a relief after I feel that little crack in my back, and I get sooo relaxed. My back was sore the next day, though.

Testing season is stressful on a teacher as well as the students, so my extra stress may have added to that back pain, and my shoulder pain was acting up again. I haven’t been back for more acupuncture yet, but I’m glancing at my calendar now and planning to do so. Speaking of stress, one of the things that helps me de-stress is my dog, Bixby. This week, we celebrated National Puppy Day. I don’t remember what day it was, but I posted this cute throwback photo of Bixby:

Graduation from PetSmart Dog obedience training at age 7! (Still a puppy) 🙂

Friday night was time to relax and sleep after a healthy Thai dinner. I had appointments for my taxes and to get my hair done Saturday morning. I am happy with the results of both. Last night, Chris and I went out to eat with my son, who will be 27 soon. It blows my mind! We enjoyed ourselves at a seafood restaurant. My son let me try his aviator frames.

Trying to be a cool kid!

We went back home and Chris watched an old movie with us called The Game. Chris left early, having worked Saturday. I slept pretty well knowing I did not have to wake up at a certain time this morning, so I did sleep in and then watch the church service online. Easter is coming soon. Time is flying back. I’m getting along, though. I have a little bit of grading to do today, but perhaps I’ll paint a little as well. Another de-stresser!

Have a great weekend and a great week to follow. Take some time to do something just for you!

Time Change Drudgery or Satiating Sunshine? Midweek Musings

I was listening to a podcast this morning by Nichole Sachs, and this quote stood out: “We don’t have to attach to things as good or bad.” She was speaking on healing from things like pain or migraines. There is a similar quote by Shakespeare that I heard long ago, and found it interesting.

This applies very well to the time change. My son was telling me how he hates the time change, and I agree, when it comes to following a clock. When you have to be in bed by a certain time and know you have to be up in the morning by a certain time, the sudden change of daylight is confusing. Although it is the same every year, we’ve been in a certain routine for months, and it is shaken up. However, I love having more sunshine in my life!

After a morning of gray cloudy skies yesterday leaving me sluggish, an appointment for me, and driving my son to his appointment, I just wanted a nap. We got back home and I had an energy green tea. Then, we went to the gym for 30 minutes of cardio. I came back, and so did the sunshine, invigorating me along with my combination of energy green tea and a little cardio.

I wanted to paint a flower, change my sheets, and download educational videos all at one time. Well, I somehow got it all done. 🙂 At one point, I had just had what I thought was an early dinner, when I realized it was 7:00 p.m. That’s not early dinner for me, but it’s not too late either. It was still bright, so I read a paperback book for a little while by the window. I got tired and relaxed at about 9:00 p.m. and was in bed at 10:00. Much better than the night before!

There are probably a lot of us who wish it never mattered what time the clock tells us it is. I have one clock in the kitchen up high and it hasn’t been changed yet; it’s throwing me off. Trying to adhere to the clock can be stressful, yet we still do it. We have responsibilities to a job, a team, a hobby, or showing up for each other. I suppose it gives our lives purpose. See, it is a matter of thinking to tell ourselves, “Okay, it’s not so bad.”

So, the time change means, if we fix our clocks and then disregard them, I can read a paperback by the window later in the afternoon, take a nice walk after dinner, and paint in my garage with daylight shining on me. I also suppose, in time, it will get easier to wake up early again. That is the hope!

Weekend Coffee Share, February 25th

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I had peach mango V8 with breakfast and now I’m enjoying a chai latte on a sunny morning. I think it’ll be in the 80s again today, much like it has been all of last week.

This week was a short work week, as I prefer! Students are getting a little hyped up as we get closer to Spring Break, though. It gets a little tiring. I’d love to be excited about Spring Break too, but having to tell kids repeatedly not to do things they should know not to do can wear a person down. Don’t get me wrong, I do have some very bright and responsible students, and I enjoy my job overall.

Since we were off Monday, I had a doctor’s appointment. Afterward, I came home for lunch and painted for a while. It’s my new hobby to help destress and an outlet for creativity. It also doesn’t bother my hand or shoulder like writing/typing stories, which I still do, though at a very slow pace lately!

A desert sunset. I’ll get better with time…

On Thursday, I went back to the new chiropractor, and I’ll be getting acupuncture next Wednesday! I’m so excited. I look forward to new avenues that can lead me to pain and stress relief. This chiropractor does manual, hands-on adjustments. I was shocked the first time he quickly turned my neck and got it to crack. Immediately, I felt the tension melt away, though! Similarly, he got my back to make that crack. It felt better; I can’t argue with the results!

Friday night I went home and relaxed. I watched Netflix, read a little, and sat around with my feet up. Bixby enjoyed laying on the back of the couch, as you can see!

Toe beans!

Yeah, maybe my dog is a little spoiled. 🙂 So, now I’m contemplating exercise. My plan was to go to the gym, but I currently have my feet up again, and I’m thinking yoga is what I need. I promise, I will do one of the two options for at least 30 minutes! I’ll just give myself the option of choosing which is best.

There’s still no resolution to the law on books in the classroom, which was worded as openness in curriculum and based on a section referring to legal consequences if a teacher makes a book with pornography available to a student. So, no reading choices are available on my bookshelf. The list that has been made available to me as a teacher only has the reading material that is in our curriculum, which is online. Very limited, if you ask me. This is my own opinion, not that of my employer… you know the drill.

That’s all for now. I’m still contemplating exercise. I hope you all have a happy, healthy weekend!

Weekend Coffee Share, Balance for Self-Respect

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. This morning had me longing for green Tazo tea, and after brewing it, I added my chocolate ashwagandha powder, which makes it even more tasty, and supposedly has great health benefits.

No, it’s not easy being a princess! 😉

Note the cup. I think my mom gave it to me. After I had a surgery 10 years ago, as I recovered I would ask for things. She said, yes, the precious needs some water, here you go. I think sometimes she said princess, but I jumped on the precious comment and mimicked gollum from The Lord of the rings: “Precioussss!” She would just look at me strange. My boyfriend Chris sometimes refers to me as a princess. It’s his fault, as he often treats me like one, LOL!

Is it any wonder I had a former boyfriend who said I was “The princess and the pea?” Look up the story if you’re not familiar. I believe it’s a fable. Anyhow, I think it’s because I’ve had pain sensitivity for a number of years; I can’t sit in a hardback kitchen chair for too long, can’t walk too far in high heels, etc. I mentioned the story to Chris and said,” That just serves to show, I am a real princess!”

From my Louise Hay affirmation journal.

Interestingly, today’s prompt from my Louise Hay journal is about feeling good getting older and being at peace with one’s body. In many ways, I have more confidence in how I look, and I do honor and respect my body more as I get older. Some of it is realizing I didn’t always have a healthy attitude about it: I felt it wasn’t as good as others’, thought it didn’t look good enough, didn’t feed it right. I’m constantly seeking to keep it healthy now and to strike a balance between body and mind.

I’ve had to work harder on this because I’ve had chronic pain of one kind or another for a few years. Google defines chronic pain as “persistent pain that lasts weeks to years.” So, some things can aggravate me worse than they do others. Some days, it’s really hard to drag myself out of bed, put some pep in my step, and be ready for what I may need to face is the world of middle school education. But, I do it. I don’t wake extra early to go to committee meetings anymore. I think I have the right to decide if something is to much for me.

This is how I can be at peace with my body. Again, there has to be a balance between body and mind. This is why writing these days is slow-going for me. I won’t force myself to play out a plotline idea by sitting at the computer munching chips and typing for hours on end, my back screaming at me for being in a chair too long, (no matter how comfortable that chair is), a crick in my neck aching me from looking at the computer screen so long, basically, my body screaming for my mind to just slow down. Hmmm, yes, I try for balance now.

Bixby and his winter ‘hairdo.’ 🙂

My dog, Bixby also prefers I don’t spend hours glued to the computer screen. In the long run, when one seeks to find balance and be kinder with oneself, isn’t a dog a valuable source of sage wisdom?

This ends my coffee share on a high note. Trust the wisdom of the dog: enjoy loved ones, show them you care for them, when it’s time to play, do so with reckless abandon, and when it’s time to rest, rest as much as you need!

Have a great weekend!