365 ~ DAY 286 (a day late)

Sorry this one is late, but I plan to do 2 today. :)


Just wanted to get something in here for Day 286. It was a challenging day. The first of the month always is; there are bills to pay, accounts to balance, transfers to initiate, and of course, some shopping to do.


This month we added helping my X to get his first haircut since May when he was rushed into life-saving surgery, battling a flesh-eating bacteria, and came out of it only losing his right leg (instead of his life). He's still adjusting to that loss. Plus, there are so many other aspects to his daily living situation that are big adjustments for him - and by extension, for us, particularly, my kids.


Two of those kids helped out in what was needed to help him yesterday. By the time the 3 of us returned home very late last night the mood was somber. WE are used to the challenges faced with disability issues, in particular with mobility issues that he is just beginning to realize. It was sad to watch him struggle and really notice that there are some things he will no longer be able to do, at least not in the way he's grown accustomed to over the years.


I think back to all the years he avoided knowing about the various "special needs" of our kids, all the time he wasted really getting to know them because he didn't want to face their realities: neuro-motor issues, strokes, heart defects, stuff that affected how they learned, how they walked, how they talked, and ultimately how they each grew up taking on challenges that the majority of their peers would never have to face - doing so with grace, dignity, and determination. X certainly missed a lot.


Is it "karma" or "fate" or "some divine providence" that is now subjecting him to the many of the very same challenges his kids faced early on in their lives? While none of them actually lost a limb, some did have huge issues getting those limbs to work; and the brain issues... while not caused by the same thing the challenge of making weak or non-working areas of the brain either work or find an area to pick up the slack was still present.


It's interesting to contemplate - is it "payback" time for X in all the ways he treated us? Will helping him be like 'heaping hot coals' upon him when he realizes that the very ones he hurt so deeply are the only ones helping him out now? Will it make a difference? Will he have a change of heart - a real, true, change that results in him being a nicer, more compassionate person in the long run? 

365 ~ DAY 285

So can I keep this going?

Today I was reminded of something I felt was quite profound at the time; is it still?

A well known man once said, "Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life." I think he has a valid point! How often do we do something because of someone else? Our time IS limited! It doesn't matter who we are we all have the same amount of time in a day. As much as many of us might wish we had another hour or two at the end of our day, nothing we do is ever really going to give us 25 hours in a day. 

When we are very young we often take our direction in life from our parents. Right or wrong. Good or bad. With or without purpose. Be they doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, bricklayers, business leaders, sales-persons, technicians, store clerks, criminals, deadbeats, writers, artists ... well, you get the idea ... the list is endless. But the fact remains that our parents are usually the first people to influence what we plan to do with our lives. Very often we end up in our given profession because in some way it makes them happy. We love them so want to please them. 

What happens when it doesn't work that way?

When you find that you aren't really happy doing that? Or maybe you finally realize that you just are not very good at doing that? Do you keep doing it now because it's all you know? It's what they want? Is that right? How long can someone go on in life not feeling like what they do matters? If you feel like that then what's the point? Where's the value?

So I get what this man is saying... we each only have so much time - in a day - in a week - a year - a lifetime. We each need to not waste it living only for someone else's goals and desires!

Some of you may know I've been trying to build my own business from home. I've been wondering why it's been so hard for me. It's worked well, and quite fast even, for many before me. Something has been 'blocking' me in some way. It occurred to me recently that I am my own worst enemy! For my business to go where I want it to go, I need to get out of my own way! I need to let go of all those 'voices in my head' from all those people I have believed I needed to make happy and stop being so concerned about their opinions of what I'm doing, or want to do!

Interesting fact: I've spent a lot of time 'trying' to please my parents, my husband, even others and still success there eludes me! 
Clearly it is time to change!!!

365 ~ DAY 284

Changing your life is not an easy thing! I've had decades of practice! What about you?

Even simple changes can be tough. Right now I'm working on changing how I access this blog. Last week my power cord for the laptop I've depended upon for close to 3 years died, quit working, stopped charging the battery; eventually the battery died and thus the end of said laptop! :-( So, thanks to the generosity of my daughters, I'm making use of "tiny tablets" which are about half or less the size of my laptop screen. The keyboard changes are irritating too. And don't even get me started on pictures! I have 5 gigs of pics stuck on that laptop!

BUT...

I DO NOT GIVE UP!!! As much as there is a part of me that WANTS to just give up... I'm tired of things going wrong in my life!

Just take a look at this blog! HA! I totally planned on writing every single day for 365 days! I've done, what? 5 days? 6? LOL

Will things be any different now? Will I continue blogging daily?
Time will tell, I guess. :-)

BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME...

After more than two years I am returning to BLOGGER! 

Today, Sunday, October 20, 2013 I am beginning a new plan. All I can really say about it is that it takes just TEN MINUTES A DAY!

My plan involves being consistent with this 10-minutes every single day for 365 days. 
My hope is that I will also stop in here and write something about it each day.

But enough of that... 2 years is a long, long time in the life of a blogger. There's not room enough, nor time enough to fill you in on everything that's happened in the last 2 years.  It wasn't what I wanted (most). It wasn't what I planned (at all). It was exciting (lots of times). It was full of life-changing events (quite often). It is now in the past (thank goodness)!!! 

Sometimes, many times, we can learn from our past. Yes, I did learn a few things. Will I share my new-found knowledge with you, dear readers?  Only time will tell. ;-)

Since I'm more or less starting over and I expect new readers to stop by I will share a little of myself in this post.  The biggest part of my life is taken up being a MOM... of six grown children now ranging in age from almost 22 years old up to 31 years old. Five girls, one boy; none married yet, no grandkids yet, 2 seem to have possibly found their "one true love" and 4 are or have been to college.  Not bad for a mom who's done it solo almost all of their lives (but that's for another time to tell). :)

For now, so long, see you tomorrow!

andee365

Picking Up the Pace

Picking Up The Pace!

but first a few picks from January's visit to the Milwaukee area :)

Lake Michigan on a cold winter's day!

Breaking waves on snowy shores.

Ice "on the Rocks" lol

On the rocks, taking a closer look at the waves

Frozen surf!

This makes me miss the west coast so much!

Now, that's a lot of ice!

Looks like there's a storm brewing too!

Water is so amazing!

I love it!

Calming

Soothing

Cleansing

Definitely something I need more of! ;-)

This is THE WEEK that we get my sister moved out of her apartment and back in with us!

Today we're setting up a loft bed in one room; a twin over full futon bunk bed in another room; and decluttering another room to add in a weight bench.  Once those are all in place we return to our work on the office/craft/sewing area ~ which is getting a major overhaul to accommodate many changes so I can use it daily in my business.

One big difference my new business is bringing for me is greater mobility.  It's not yet anywhere close to full mobility again; but it is beginning to reverse and thus I'm seeing an increase in mobility. That is allowing me to sit at a desk more often now so instead of working from my bed I'm going to be working from a desk again!

There is definitely something good about absorbing more and better nutrition and removing as much toxins from the body and from the environment around you... and it's beginning to show a difference in my life that we all hope will make even better differences in the coming months!!!

:) :) :)

039 ~ ICE

Saturday, November 27, 2010

(see day 037 if you want to know why it's late)

;-)

Sunset on the partially frozen lake.

Slightly different angle, still sunset on the lake.
(still need to change the time on the camera!)

Frozen ring - outside ring there's ice on the water,
inside the ring it's not frozen yet.

Looking north - icy glaze on lake.

Rocks near shore - iced over from waves washing upon them.

Closer look at Ring separating frozen & unfrozen.

More Ice Rings

More icy rocks on the shore

The ice looks thicker here,
both on the water,
and on the rocks. 

Varying degrees of ice

 Lake Tomah is beginning to freeze over!

We took these pics on Friday near sunset.

Our vantage point was the Lake Tomah Clinic Parking Lot.

In a few weeks it will all be frozen.

In another month the ice will be thick enough to walk on, 

maybe even drive on and people will begin

to go ice fishing on the frozen lake.

That is, IF it's ok to fish yet.

Not sure if it is because I don't go fishing, 

but since the DNR drained down the lake this past year

and did a fish kill to get rid of unwanted species that had "taken over"

and have only just begun to restock the lake with better fish, 

I know there was to be a set time to pass before

people could fish again.  So we might not see any 

ice fishing this year on Lake Tomah.

Something else to keep in mind related to ice,

and cell phones...

ICE stands for In Case of Emergency

My kids and I are using this code to enter the phone numbers

of people we each want contacted if something happens to us.  

By using ICE we aren't naming names, or giving away relationships,

which apparently some not-so-nice-people will use to steal private info

when they take someone's cell phone too.

You might want to do the same!

Getting back to ice related to this time of year...

I love winter for the freshly fallen snows before any steps or tracks are made.

I love the beauty of the sun glistening on snow crystals everywhere.

I love looking out the window of a warm and cozy room, 

sipping on hot chocolate or hot tea and breathing in it's soothing aroma.

I love how it's a time for all things in nature to take a rest.

It seems to say, "We've had a good & busy year; life has been great;

now it's time to relax, to rejuvenate, to rest until spring."

But for us humans, there is no rest.  Life goes on... and on.  We must keep doing

whatever it is we do each day.  We were not designed to hibernate.

Our time for rest comes each evening, or nighttime.

This is when we rest, rejuvenate, and relax until morning.

Although today's lifestyles often say otherwise, I believe mankind was designed to be up and active from sunup to sundown and then it's time to sleep and allow our body's physiological processes to rejuvenate us, to repair where needed, to replenish microscopic resources so that we may rise the next morning and feel refreshed and ready to work again.

I think when we do not follow this pattern set forth for us since creation that we set ourselves up for various problems.  They may not manifest themselves right away.  It might even take years for these things to become manifest.  Still, more and more I find that if I can spend my time like this my health improves.  The more I follow this, the better I feel, day after day.  But in my case, it's not possible to follow this all the time and as soon as I stop going by this I feel worse.  My pain levels increase, my mobility decreases, my energy decreases, it's harder to find a positive mood even.  I don't like living this way but in today's world there is nothing to do about it!

Ecclesiastes tells us there is a reason for everything under the sun.  There is a reason we have nighttime.  There is a reason we have daytime.  If it didn't matter to us in some way there would be no reason to make the distinction - it could just be daytime all the time or nighttime all the time and it would never make any difference whatsoever to anyone!  THERE IS A REASON! For some of us - we need to respect that reason in order to be our best.

Oh, how I'd love to have the wisdom of Solomon (in his best years)!

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-22) . . .

For everything there is an appointed time, even a time for every affair under the heavens: 2 a time for birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what was planted; 3 a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build; 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to wail and a time to skip about; 5 a time to throw stones away and a time to bring stones together; a time to embrace and a time to keep away from embracing; 6 a time to seek and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away; 7 a time to rip apart and a time to sew together; a time to keep quiet and a time to speak; 8 a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What advantage is there for the doer in what he is working hard at? 

10 I have seen the occupation that God has given to the sons of mankind in which to be occupied. 11 Everything he has made pretty in its time. Even time indefinite he has put in their heart, that mankind may never find out the work that the [true] God has made from the start to the finish. 12 I have come to know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good during one’s life; 13 and also that every man should eat and indeed drink and see good for all his hard work. It is the gift of God. 

14 I have come to know that everything that the [true] God makes, it will prove to be to time indefinite. To it there is nothing to add and from it there is nothing to subtract; but the [true] God himself has made it, that people may be afraid on account of him. 

15 What has happened to be, it had already been, and what is to come to be has already proved to be; and the [true] God himself keeps seeking that which is pursued. 16 And I have further seen under the sun the place of justice where there was wickedness and the place of righteousness where wickedness was. 17 I myself have said in my heart: “The [true] God will judge both the righteous one and the wicked one, for there is a time for every affair and concerning every work there.” 

18 I, even I, have said in my heart with regard to the sons of mankind that the [true] God is going to select them, that they may see that they themselves are beasts. 19 For there is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit, so that there is no superiority of the man over the beast, for everything is vanity. 20 All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust. 21 Who is there knowing the spirit of the sons of mankind, whether it is ascending upward; and the spirit of the beast, whether it is descending downward to the earth? 22 And I have seen that there is nothing better than that the man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion; because who will bring him in to look on what is going to be after him?

024 ~ Hearts & Flowers

Hearts and Flowers are today's pic.  :)  Last night I had to search my button jar for replacements on one of my favorite winter tops.  The original buttons have been falling off; and I really should have just reinforced all of them as soon as the first one fell.  The most recent washing cost me two buttons, only one of which I have found.  Thus the search for replacements.  This was my favorite!  It's a metal heart, sort of an old tarnished gold.  The design within the heart is flowers with leaves and stems intertwining.  With these shining buttons my favorite thermal top seems all new! 


Funny how such a small change can make such a big difference!


Have you ever thought about that?


One little change... how much power it holds... amazing!!!


I am making small, little changes in my life these days... little by little they are affecting bigger differences. :) :) :)