A Day in My Life, Day 13. #RRBC #weekendcoffeeshare

Jan. 14th–Welcome to my #WeekendCoffeeShare and Day 13 of the daily blogging challenge. I’m having a chai latte to welcome the cool morning.

The weather really cooled yesterday after a rainy night, so we had a warm, relaxing fire going last night. I think my dog Bixby even enjoys sitting by the fire.

A peaceful sight and sound!

Today is a day to take a breath and catch up. Of course, I’ll get my 30 minute cardio. I’ve already walked the dog. Some laundry needs to be done, ( that’s part of the catching up).

I had an interesting dream last night that took me back to my childhood home here in Jacksonville. We lived there 5 years, age 8 to 13. It was the longest time I’d lived anywhere in my youth. The start of my dream was chaotic, I was touring the house, and it was full of ants, the bathroom mirror was covered, I had a memory of being betrayed by a friend and letdown by someone else. But I think the mirror means “leave it in the past.”

As I continued the walk-through, I saw adult friends of recent years, told them I was selling the house, and to come view it with me. It really was a nice house in real life (we moved to an apartment when my parents divorced). I kept finding new, cozy, beautiful rooms (that weren’t there in my youth) and heard my adult friends squealing in delight behind me.

The best I can make of this dream, which totally changed tone halfway through, is: I no longer live in fear, chaos, and self-loathing. Thinking I’m never good enough…that’s no longer me. I NOW LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE, BEAUTY, AND COMMUNITY. I see new beauty everywhere. A Day may start rough for me, but it can change, I can feel gratitude, and I can enjoy my life.

So now, I must get ready for my gym cardio, and later get ready to see my boyfriend, a constant source of laughter, and tomorrow, I’ll see my dad who is visiting from up North. I’ll have some time today to work on a lesson that intrigues me, and yes, catch up on laundry. Life is good!

Have a great weekend, everyone. Thanks for visiting my corner of the blogosphere!

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A Day in My Life…day 1. #RRBC #Blogchallenge

January 2, 2023: Good morning, blogosphere! Get ready to hear from me more in January! The writer’s/reader’s book club I belong to, Rave Reviews Book Club, has issued a challenge: to blog about our life everyday in January. I have accepted! One of my goals is to keep writing semi-regularly, and the blog helps me do that with its accessibility to a phone app where I can use speech to text, with much editing of course!

Today, the last day of my teacher’s winter break, I woke up to give my mom a hug before she left for her cruise, and I did a little transferring of some written poems about teaching life into a draft using speech to text. I’ve been writing them and compiling them over a few years of my ongoing career as a middle school English teacher. I am considering putting all of them into a book and publishing it, maybe this year?

I began the transfer process about 3 days ago. I haven’t done much writing for my Ellie manuscript over this break, perhaps she is on a needed sabbatical? The arthritis pain in my hand keeps me from sitting and typing for too long lately. My attention span has also been different since the pandemic. Maybe it keeps me moving and not still for too long, something I am vowing to keep doing, as it helps with stiffness and lessens the occasions I’ll suffer from sciatica.

If you don’t know me well yet, then you are just now catching on that I am no spring chicken, ( though I can act and dress much younger…notice my raptor t-shirt below), and I have a number of body pains. I read on the subject a lot and am very interested in the mind/body connection when it comes to chronic or recurring pain. Calming the brain is a constant goal of mine, as I sometimes get anxiety. Today, like almost every day, I listened to Dan Bruglio’s vlog on YouTube called Pain Free You as I ate breakfast. I’m sure there are lots of other vlogs and podcasts on the topic, but this is one I happened upon and I kind of like. It has become part of my routine and my life.

I also took my car in for service today. Not exciting, I know. After dropping it off, my son (who is off work today) and I walked home, as it is located maybe a mile away, and I like to keep active. It’s a foggy, cool day, though the humidity is quite apparent. It certainly shows up on my hair!

You can almost see the humidity in the air!

The rest of my day will consist of taking down the Christmas tree, hopefully not paying too much money for my car brake service, and possibly getting more walking exercise. I think I’ll read my current fiction book, which I’ll give more details on later in the week. Have a great day!

Weekend Coffee Share, A Year in Pictures

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share! It’s a chai latte day, with mild temps here in North Florida. Pull up a chair and your favorite morning beverage. I’d like to share some highlights of my year!

January brought Literacy week at school and the Tartan service at church. I’m 7% Scottish and a big fan of bagpipes!

In February, Chris took me to Guys and Dolls at the Alhambra.

He also sent me roses at work for Valentine’s day.

Things were going well this year in my family!

Bixby would concur!

Our family enjoyed an Easter meal and celebration.

Chris and I attended Easter service at my mom’s church.

Chris took me to the Jacksonville Zoo. I hadn’t been there in years! He is a member of the Zoo, now I am too!

I have to mention this fantastic birthday gift he gave, commemorating my Detours in Time book!

The cruise to Cozumel was a real high point!

Chichinitza tour, MX. I may have misspelled that…

We celebrated another young birthday for my mother, with our friend, Bonnie.

We visited Cummer Art museum and Gardens.

I started a new school year with new curriculum and text, and I’m thriving!

In September, Bonnie took my mom and I to the Van Gogh immersive exhibit.

My dad visited for the first time in a few years. I took him to the Riverside Arts market.

My friend, Emily, started a gals’ brunch club once every 4-6 weeks, and I love it!

Chris and I did Painting with penguins at the Jacksonville Zoo.

Awww!

I received a Tax Slayer Bowl Most Valuable Teacher Award!

I celebrated Christmas with those I love!

Lakewood Presbyterian Church Service.

I got tickets for the Tax Slayer Gator Bowl with my MVT teacher package. We attended yesterday!

MVT teachers were honored at the game!

When I focus on the positives, what a great year it has been! Now, I look forward to the upcoming year!

This morning, I helped my mother in hemming a dress she is going to wear on her upcoming Cruise next week!

To think, I didn’t mention my frozen shoulder once, or what my pain may have stopped me from doing. I will not let it define me! Perhaps that will factor into my new year’s resolutions!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a blessed, Happy New Year! How was your 2022?

Weekend Coffee Share, Tough as Nails?

Good morning, and welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie at https://natalietheexplorer.home.blog/2022/11/11/bay-of-fundy-5-historic-sites/ My beverage of choice today was a blend of chocolate -flavored mushroom coffee called Mojo. I got a free sample pack online.

So, yeah, I tried something new for my health. Low on caffeine and high on an adaptogenic herbal blend but tasting like chocolate, this is supposed to be the answer. Well, I can’t say much for it’s effects on my energy level. Of course, this is the first time trying it. :)I will admit, it produces less jitters than real coffee.

Need..more.. sunlight!

This past week, we had a level 1 hurricane come through Florida to the west of us. Bixby was not happy with the wind and rain. He did, however, bravely walk out in the rain once to relieve himself. We didn’t really have a rough time, but Bixby didn’t like the loud, howling wind. Nor did I! It kept me up one night as it battered against the back gate, like a monster trying to get in.

Photo by MESSALA CIULLA on Pexels.com

The next night, the wind was much more quiet. However, I woke in the middle of the night to a strange sound. Was it an alien? I saw that Bixby was on the bed. Was he choking? Was he about to throw up? The dog hadn’t moved. He was breathing steadily. I heard it again! He was sleeping so soundly, I thought he might have let out some gas, but there was no smell. (Dogs do that, you know). He kept sleeping unbothered.

I realized it was his stomach grumbling. Poor fellow hadn’t gone outside that day except the one time to pee in the rain. He also had not eaten all day, either because he was so spooked by the wind or he was determined to avoid a potty break in the rain again. That tummy of his was complaining chaotically! Bixby slept through it, unfazed.

That stubborn dog is, at once, tough as nails and frightened by the rain. At least he can sleep through the tummy rumbles! Sadly, though, he probably had to do that often when he was a stray.

Such was the worst the storm held for us here in my house. There was flooding in our downtown area. They had cancelled the Veterans day parade days before for the sake of safety. The storm is now gone. I caught up on my sleep last night, and Bixby heartily enjoyed his dinner last night, even after I’d given him bits of my apple!

I followed the extra day off and the storm watch with a massage yesterday and another night of peaceful sleep! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Weekend Coffee Share, This Week I…

Spent a lot of time with my dog. I was home from Wednesday on, preparing for a hurricane.

Made it through the wind and rain unscathed. Only my neighbor’s mango tree was struck down, but they revived it and tied it in place securely.

Celebrated my son at One Night Taco Stand with some excellent pork tacos and a skinny margarita during hurricane prep day. He completed orientation for a new job last week and seems to love it!

Started up PT again for my shoulder. I went back to the location by my job, and I’m feeling optimistic about it.

Walked my dog in the wind and rain several times. I got pretty bored, and he had to do his thing, so hey, we both got some exercise too!

Shaking off the rain!

Suffered pain in my arm and hand. The shoulder bugs me at certain times, but today, the hand and arm were constant. I DON’T KNOW WHY. I’m getting tired of tests, x-rays, MRIs. Ice distracts me from the sensation, so there’s that.

Sat in the sun during breakfast this morning, and later in the afternoon. It felt so GOOD after days of just gray skies. My drink this morning was chai tea with almond milk. I do hope you’re having a great weekend, and I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the chat during coffee hour this morning. Thanks for stopping by!

Weekend Coffee Share, a Gen X-er Re-purposing

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I’m sure you could share a more exciting life, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, so let’s share!

I’m with the dog on the back porch with my Zen green tea, taking in sun on my legs but not the face. You see, I’m suffering from eye strain and sensitivity today, whether from computer blue light effects or the sunlight. My eyes are sensitive to the sun, for sure. It’s ironic, how we pine away for some sunshine on the gray days, and then must protect ourselves from it when it shows its full glory for days in a row.

Full glory certainly describes the sunshine here in Northeast Florida. These last few days have been so beautiful, with temperatures that didn’t cross the 80 degree barrier! Maybe I’m feeling effects of too much laptop/ phone time, because I wake up with itchy, dry eyes. Allergies don’t help. I spent my cereal time ordering a Lutein supplement.

No worries, I now have 3 sun hats for my summer cruise vacation; two are sort of hippified*, and the other is safari style. Sunhats are a must at my age! I’m ready for everything. I’m also supposed to go to a baseball ⚾ game with my boyfriend tonight. So, a nap is in order. Must rest those eyes!

*Hippified: evidently I have just coined this term, though I thought I’d heard it before.. It means they seem to be a throwback to hippie styles. Vintage is always in, right?

Flashback to my Bahamas cruise in 2006. I supported local business by saying yes to getting some braids on the beach.

I seem to be avoiding writing a lot lately due to the requirement of sitting at a chair and staring at a screen for so much time. The ideas are coming though, here and there, and I write them down a few words at a time in good faith that I will later elaborate on them and sketch them out. I mean, so much can happen in a diner; people from all walks of life cross paths, and futuristic time travelers are bound to meet up with some very objectionable technology at first sight. See, part of writing is the zinger of an idea that pops into your head.

The other half of good writing is the self-discipline and organizational skill to sit down and flesh those ideas out, organize them, tame them, make them make sense, rewrite them into a harness; harness those wild mustangs….or they’ll be gone forever. It’s all changing for me, but I’m glad I wrote a lot when I first started, as I learned a lot too. Maybe my purpose is changing a little?

I’ll keep you posted!

How has your week been? What’s knocking around in your head? I really can’t wait to have some travel to write about!

Weekend Coffee Share, Home and Tradition

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. It’s a warm day, and Zen green tea is my wakeup beverage of choice. What’s yours?

Bixby was really anxious for a walk this morning. I had let him out back earlier,but he kept following me around. It was a little after ten when we went (I had slept late), and it must be in the eighties here in Northeast Florida already, because I worked up a sweat!

Bixby was sure happy though, and who could blame him. The sun is shining, flowers are blooming, and the smells of Spring are freely available to all who wander out.

Our back porch.

It’s Easter weekend in my faith tradition. I dislike the Easter bunny and candy rituals. The Easter story is a spiritual tradition. I went to church on Palm Sunday but stayed home and watched the Maundy Thursday service. I’ll be going to church with my mother tomorrow and my boyfriend. Hopefully, my son will go as well.

In whatever faith tradition you practice, I wish you a blessed weekend. I think I’m a fairly secular person in my writing, but I’d like to think I convey a sense of spirituality. Ramadan and Passover are also going on in April. I have many students participating in Ramadan. It’s wonderful when we can all love and respect one another’s differences.

My search for a Bible verse of the day yielded the following, which I will share in a screenshot:

It is truly a verse that means and says a lot. It brings to mind the Russian war against Ukraine. If only things were different. I pray for them. In daily life, I work to treat others like I’d want to be treated but then pause to find a balance with personal boundaries. Hopefully, this all gets better with age. 🙂

I am so longing to travel but am in a phase of finishing out the school year, while planning some summer travel. Today, I’m on the home front, helping tidy up the house for tomorrow. There is a time for everything, yes?

Have a great weekend, whatever that entails for you and yours!

Weekend Coffee Share, Spring Forward

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Green Tazo tea with ginger is my wakeup elixir for this morning. How about you?

Bixby and I are on the porch in mild temperatures. However, the wind is quite gusty, and I read that it’s going to usher in some quite cooler temperatures. They say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. It was raining throughout the day yesterday. Thus started my Spring Break.

I will say this, the rain certainly inspires our greenery to be even greener!

Muddy grass won’t stop Bixby! 🐾

I wasn’t bothered by the weather, though. I left work yesterday and headed to the mall, where I bought some super comfortable shoes. They are also cute, though you can’t tell they have zippers on the sides.

I’d wear sneakers every day, if I could.

They are sort of a sneaker style, but the material kind of dresses them up. Work wear, in my opinion.

After the mall, I went to meet my boyfriend. We spent some time together and had excellent barbecue for dinner! We also watched Curb Your Enthusiasm and laughed out heads off. We are both Seinfeld fans and have an odd sense of humor. 😆

So, I get to rest and blow off steam for a week. I really need that. I’m not sure what’s up today, but I’m sure I’ll have some family time. I hope to get some writing done for Ellie’s story in the upcoming days. Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be going with my boyfriend and some friends to the Celtic Fest, my favorite activity to ring in the spring!

Never mind that I’ll have to be layered up for Celtic Fest. It was cancelled two years in a row due to COVID-19. I’m so excited to go again. I’ll soak up the laughter and great music. Who says there can’t be a Springtime of the soul in the midst of chilly, gray weather?

Wearing the green 🍏

Have a great weekend all, and a happy week to follow!

*Currently rereading Wuthering Heights

*Currently writing Ellie, the Time Traveler

*Currently loving the music of Albannach and playing Wordle or Blokudoko

Weekend Coffee Share, January Exiting

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. It is not quite 40 degrees yet here, with last night in the 30s and a wind chill in the 20s. We’ve had unusually cold weather here in Northeast Florida lately. Since I had hot coffee yesterday, I’m drinking green tea with ginger today.

If you follow my blog, you know that I don’t drink coffee everyday, and I’m a believer in health benefits of green tea. Today’s tea is Tazo green tea and does have a caffeine content, something I prefer in the morning. 🙂 What is your morning drink of choice?

With this recent cold weather, I’ve felt like being in semi-hibernation mode. Rarely is it this cold for so long in my area. My sinuses have been a pain, but I never have a fever. Being an allergy sufferer, I chalk it up to that and just add Mucinex to my routine.

My dog Bixby is in need of a haircut or trim, but I’m letting him keep his fluff through this cold weather. He is a cutie and a great companion during the cold spells. I just have to let him out to the backyard and try to walk him at least once a day.

Every morning with my dog is a little bit like Christmas. Once he’s ready to get up, I’ll say “Wanna go outside?” He responds by jumping off the bed and trotting to the back door. I let him out with the door slightly closed with a sliver of air; once done, he comes barreling through and trots back in. He always seems to leave the door open. He’s so fun to watch! He’s overdue for a dog park visit….as soon as it warms up again, hopefully in February!

January is over soon, and I’m fine with that. February is short, and then March brings Spring Break for me and milder weather at some point. Work keeps me really busy, as always, so it’ll pass quickly, I’m sure.

In January, I read two books: one was The Curse of Lochness, obviously about the Loch Ness monster, imbued with all sorts of local lore and myth. Quite interesting, but chilling. I found the book through an Amazon search of books about Bigfoot, which cross-referenced with other books of folklore and monsters, a subject of interest. The other was a novella introduction to a series called The One Chosen: the Diadodz Short Story, which I’d found in a Christmas online event for the Rave Reviews Book Club, of which I am a member.

I’ve also been re-reading Wuthering Heights since December. It’s a classic that always stuck with me for the characterization of Heathcliff and Catherine. There is so much exposition, that I cannot read too much of it at once, so it’ll take a while, but I’ll continue. In the meantime, I’ve started an espionage story that hopefully is fast-paced. I’ll tell you more later!

My Netflix habit is quite active, what with the semi-hibernation mode I seem to be in. My son and I enjoy watching Blacklist; James Spader is a dynamic actor! Mom and I like to watch Grey’s Anatomy, and Seinfield is a lifelong love of mine that will keep perpetuating itself! I am almost done with the whole series that I started shortly after it became available on Netflix.

That’s my life for now. I hope you all are well, and please keep warm! I’m pleased to see we do have some sunshine today, at least. We haven’t had much of that for about a week. Good day!

Weekend Coffee Share. Where I am

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Today was a green tea day for me, and very much a rest and restore day. Yesterday after work, I got a cold tea at Starbucks and sat outside, since the air was breezy and nice for a change. Their inside seating was closed off anyway, thanks to COVID.

Time to rest and restore. I deserve it. I got my exercise this morning and walked the dog for a while. The fresh air was great once again.

A post came up in my Facebook memories feed that I’d like to share. I’m sort of in a peaceful place with life and acceptance right now, but I realize I need to stop expecting something bad to crop up, and I certainly need to disengage from COVID news or mask controversy! Maybe more gratitude is what I need.

I wrote the following post when thinking of the lotus and all it represents: “Be the lotus flower and rise out of the muck. Don’t be ashamed of your low beginnings or that you were underwater last week. Be all that you can be the minute you feel the sun on your face; embrace your beginnings or your dark yesterdays, for they brought you to where you are right now.”

Yes, this is where I am today. Gratitude. I think I should ponder on that again.

Have a great weekend, everyone!