LIFE MONTRA

 

Coco Chanel ~ Champions ageless beauty and inner confidence.

“You can be gorgeous at thirty, charming at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life.”

HAMMOCK TIME

Everything is blooming and growing in my yard. The tree above my hammock is covered in tiny pink flowers.

What you don’t see are the hundreds of bees. Their buzz is a beautiful hum. 

I FELL IN LOVE…AGAIN

 

She is dreaming about her first word being GiGi!

PICK A PATH

 

Your path is at your feet whether you realize it or not. 

Let’s go!!!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD

 

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

​SJ

My dear friend Mr Lopez said that looking back shows you how your path intersected with others. If you look carefully, you will see lots of intersections. All leading you to where you are. 

Trust the process, it’s planned by someone far more skilled than you.

ALLOW YOURSELF

 “One day, I woke up and realized 

I’d spent my entire adult life executing someone else’s dreams,” 

“I’d forgotten I was allowed to have my own.”

KB

HOPE

 

“Hope is an action verb. It requires us to envision a better future, have the will [to] pursue it, and chart a path from where we are to where we want to be.”

​

– J.Z.

SKILLS

 Skills

Commercial driving Assembly Moving Quality control Frying Casual dining experience Meal preparation Heavy lifting Food safety Mowing Supervising experience Hand hygiene Boiling cooking technique Inventory management Managing hospitality teams Serving Attention to detail Mechanical knowledge Organizational skills Manufacturing Cooking Sawing Driving Baking Processing cash transactions Dietary department experience RF scanner Time management Sanitizing surfaces Pan frying Cash register Hand tools Cash handling Outdoor work Food service Tape measure proficiency Packaging Customer communication Computer skills Distribution center Dishwashing Temperature control Food preparation Irrigation Basic knife skills Warehouse Experience Grilling Computer operation Deep frying Catering Food service workstation cleanliness Microsoft Office POS systems Team motivation (leadership skill) Cross-contamination prevention Power tools Landscaping Food handling Fast food restaurant experience Shipping & Receiving Vehicle maintenance Knife skills Delivery driver experience Fine dining experience Culinary experience Packing Kitchen experience Customer service Food date marking Proper food storage Materials Handling Pallet jack Sales Order picking Cleaning Leadership Lawn care Order placement Typing Boxtruck Management Communication skills Overseeing training Restaurant experience Cafeteria experience

This was on someone’s application. I found all of it funny, but my favorite was the Tape measure proficiency!!!

BEAUTIFUL PLACES

 

The Picos de Europa, a Spanish mountain range, named the Worlds most beautiful place.  By Time Out

I haven’t been there, but in my lifetime I have seen a lot of beautiful places. I plan on seeing lots more!

https://www.timeout.com/travel/worlds-most-beautiful-places

A DAY

 It’s Monday. And it felt like a Monday. 

The work day started of at a running pace, and it never slowed down. It wasn’t a bad day, it was just a day. But by the end of the work day I was grumpy. 

So I decided I needed some diversion.

I texted my guy “I’m in need of retail therapy, I’m heading to hobby lobby. I do not have plans for dinner nor do I think I am capable of making them tonight.”

I spent over an hour wandering through the craft store. As I was getting some fabric cut, the older woman waiting her turn started chatting with me. I told her that I missed JoannFabrics. She said she did too. I told her that it feels like I lost a life long friend. She agreed. 

On my way home, the road was closed for construction, so I had to go a different way. There was a truck in the lane next to me, when out of a side road a lady pulled out right in front of the truck. He slowed down. But when she tried to get in my lane, as we were now beside each other, I honked at her. At the stop light, she rolled her window down and was saying something to me… delightfully I’m sure. 

My window was up, and the light was still red, so after looking at her as she spoke at me for a good long minute, I just smiled at her. 

She stopped talking and nodded at me. The light changed color and I left. 

I came home and sat on the floor looking at the therapeutic treasures I bought. 

John made me get up off the floor to go stand outside, where it’s cold and windy. He had me listen to a charming bird in the tree and look at our new blossoms and budding plants.

And I think maybe I was hangry and needed a hug. 

He grilled me a burger and gave me a hug. 

I’m going to be okay. 

Thanks for listening. 

DEMOLITION

 

RAMPAGE

 

Rampage are the 

Champions of the 

Luck of Irish Tournament. 

Dereck Riley lead the way with 4 goals 

& 3 assist in 4 games.

MENTAL HEALTH

 

Do you remember this little guy from Saturday Morning Cartoons? He always swept up at the end.

  I was watching something on social today about retraining your brain with positive working thoughts. The Doctor said you just have to ask your inner Google what’s working positively in your life. When you think of the good things …a good meal you had, that your car is working well, that you have an abundance of laundry soap so you won’t run out… what ever it is. Think about it then take a deep breath. Your inner Google is going to find more positive good things that are working in your favor. You just reprogramed your brain! 

Now let’s get back to the little guy at the top. Since I was a kid, whenever I had a bad thought, I would imagine this little guy in my head sweeping out the bad thought. He sweeps it right out of my ear. (I’m not crazy, I’m just working on mental health here.) Anyway, it works for me. 

The other night I woke up from a very bad dream. It was a horror show in my dream. Blood and all kinds of bad stuff, and I was the villain in my nightmare. When I woke up, I was appalled… and super grossed out. So I had my little friend sleep it up and out. And I went back to sleep. 

Today I remembered that I had a bad dream…but my little guy had done such a great job sweeping the trash up, that I don’t remember anything about it. 

Mental health, you are in charge of keeping yours positive and in a happy state!

STELLIANS

I sure wanted this one, but I passed it up!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Am512oVEJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

FRIDAY NIGHT DATE

A 50 mile sunset ride and dinner at the new Mongolian spot! A great Friday Night!

WORLD QUILTING DAY

I was 18 and a Dental Assistant when I met the sweet older couple at Dr. Parl Larson’s office. She brought me this pieced quilt top and exposed me to the love affair of quilting.

There is something so magical and reverent about selecting just the right fabrics. Planing the design. Piecing the squares and assembling all the bit and pieces to create a work of art (all hidden in the form of a cozy blanket).

My collection of future quilt fabric is lovely. But I always feel the need for more.

I have pieced and hand stitched several quilts, tied several more. 

My children grew up with handmade quilts on their beds. Now my grandchildren do too.

I loved sitting around the quilt frame with family, generations of women, sharing techniques, stitches and stories. 

I have been gifted quilling frame with gears. It’s so very fancy compared to the hardware store clamps and two by twos I learned on. 

Definitely an art worth keeping alive!

Happy National Quilting Day

HAPPY SPRING

 

THIS WORKS

Two quick breaths in through your nose….

One exhale from your mouth.

In…In………Out

Repeat 8 to 10 times, in succession. 

When you finish you will feel all your tension is gone!

It’s amazing and wonderful!

LITTLE WINTERS

 

SEASONS

 I truly love all the seasons here in the Midwest. And before Spring arrives tomorrow, I just wanted to say a-dieu to Winter. 

This was my first winter with snow that lingered. It hung around for weeks. I never thought I would tire of the frozen white stuff, but I was sure sick of seeing it after so long. 

But all in all, it has been a very nice winter. I have worn all my sweaters and boots. I think I even used scarves I hadn’t used before. And I’m now a true believer in wearing two pair of socks at a time. 

So as Winter comes to a close, and we delight in seeing Spring bloom all around us, I once more marvel at the beauty of the seasons.

I truly love where I live!

DARKNESS

 In my lifetime I have lived through darkness. 

Early childhood, filled with abuse and neglect. A youth navigating an adult world. A young adult forging forward alone, with no support and little ones to guide. 

But a positive belief in a happy life always lit the end of my dark tunnel. 

And here on the other side of my mountain, the sun shines even when it’s poring rain!

“However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.”

​

– STANLEY KUBRICK

TELL THEM

I’m convinced the ‘Tell Them Theory’

would make the world a better place.

 

Think the waiter was friendly? Tell them.

Your friend looked good today? Tell them.

Someone’s work inspired you? Tell them.

 

The world is loud with criticism and quiet with appreciation.

Be the exception. It could make someone’s day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is something I have made a habit of doing often. It works! 

And my life is happier because of it! 

DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE

 Shout out to BRITTANY!!! 

With yummy THANKS for thinking of me! 

This tasty drink makes you feel like 

it should be summer!

https://www.owensborotimes.com/features/2025/12/owensboro-nutrition-celebrates-first-anniversary-offers-healthy-drink-options-and-free-delivery/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQfvo1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeI3H9tfl5-LRqU0pVSQOy2j1WLqpLrJw03_qgDBtFegNvCMMc_u-XqC7IQTw_aem_Jd-K6hni_ccpeD2Tdjtyeg

RIDING A BIKE

"Life is like riding a bicycle. 

To keep your balance, 

you just keep moving."

Albert Einstein

DO

 Do what you feel in your heart to be right.

ER

MUSIC

 Last night I put my earphones on and listed to a couple play lists I hadn’t listened to in years. With my eyes shut I let the music find me. How nice it was to rekindle all the emotion that each old tune invoked.

I learned a few things as I let the songs take me back.

1. Music gives me stupid crazy energy and I might want to plug in earlier in the day next time.

2. Listening to the songs you loved through all the chapters of your life helps you feel like your old self. Like the songs remind you who you are. 

3. I remember almost all the words! It’s magic! 

I highly recommend spending some time with your old playlists. It’s so very nice!

MOVING EASTWARD

 

Tornado Alley is moving Eastward and I don’t like this one bit!

BURGER WEEK

 

RAIN

 So much precipitation!

 

CHALLENGE

 “The point is not to pay back kindness 

but to pass it on.”

We were challenged to do 

three random acts of  kindness daily, 

for the 21 days.

Game On!

MY MARCH HOROSCOPE

 

Sagittarius (November 22–December 21)

Finances improve on the 10th. Sell or buy property on the 18th.

Home is where your heart is this month. Mercury retrograde makes this the ideal month to finally tackle those renovation projects. Mars adds muscle when it sidles up next to the Sun on the 2nd. Progress kicks up a million notches, allowing you to quickly reach every finish line. A career boost occurs around the 3rd’s Full Moon. This could mark the moment when you bust through obstacles and rise to the next level. Love comes calling when Venus shimmies into your true love sector on the 6th. Put your heart on the line—and let love rule your actions. Your ruling planet, Jupiter, stations direct on the 10th. If your finances felt tight for the past few months, this cosmic happening turns the fiscal faucet back on. Over the next few weeks, opportunities to increase your security will emerge. Looking for new real estate? Want to sell your current nest? The New Moon on the 18th is your best bet for buying, selling, or moving. Romantic possibilities increase when the Sun flounces into passionate Aries on the 20th. That same day, Mercury stations direct, freeing you up for fun. Workplace harmony ends the month on a positive note due to Venus changing signs on the 30th

HISTORY REMEMBERED

HISTORY at its FINEST

Found in the Library of Congress 

MARCH 2026

 

CHEERE CAMP

 

Mayberry at kindergarten cheer camp… here we go!!!

REGRETS

 The only regrets in life are the chances you didn’t take. 

I have none!

RED LETTER DAY

I got a hug from Gretta today!

It may sound like a small thing, 

but for me it is HUGE! 

It is a red letter day!!!

START TO LIVE

 I read the post below and in so many ways I had been there. I went through this in my 40s but it was the same feelings and change in perspective. 

I started living at age 58.

Until then, I never thought life could be any different—without the fixed routine of housework, shopping, laundry, meals to prepare, and silences to endure.

Since childhood, I had been taught that the most important thing for a woman was to settle down, marry, have children, and stay with the family.

Do not contradict. Do not argue. Do not complain.

And if you dream—do it quietly, because dreaming is useless.

I married young and had two children.

I was a mother, a wife, a housewife. I washed, ironed, cooked, and ran all day.

My husband worked. He came home tired, ate in silence, and sat in front of the TV. Then he began to criticize: that I was boring, that he had left me alone too long, that I had nothing left to say.

He told me that with women like me, you don’t live—you survive.

And what did I do?

I kept quiet.

Because “family is sacred.”

Because “you have to be patient.”

Because my mother always said, “Be patient. You’re a wife, you’re a mother.”

And so I was patient.

I waited for the day my children would be grown, independent, and then—maybe—my life could begin.

Then one day, he left.

No scenes, no explanations.

He packed a suitcase and never came back.

I was alone.

And strangely, the first thing I felt wasn’t pain.

It was silence.

A true silence, deep and unfamiliar—yet in that silence, for the first time, I heard myself.

At first, I was lost.

I no longer knew who I was.

I couldn’t remember what I liked or what I wanted.

I walked around my own house like a guest.

I asked myself when I had last laughed freely, or woken up without rushing to the kitchen to make coffee for everyone.

One morning, I woke up—and didn’t make the bed.

I brewed coffee just for myself and sat on the balcony.

I noticed the sunlight slipping between the curtains.

A tiny, simple thing… yet I watched in amazement.

Because it was mine.

Something shifted in me that day.

I enrolled in an English course—simply because I wanted to.

I learned to use my smartphone to buy a train ticket.

I took a trip. Alone. For the first time in my life.

Then I went even further.

I saw the sea in winter—the real sea, not the one in photos.

It smelled of salt, sharp and alive. That day, I understood freedom.

I took off my shoes, sat on the wet sand, and thought:

“Why did I wait so long?”

A neighbor asked me, “Are you out of your mind? Traveling alone at almost sixty?”

I smiled.

Because maybe, at last, I wasn’t lost anymore. I had found myself.

Now, I live alone.

Not because no one loves me—

But because, for the first time, I love myself.

I have no schedules, only choices.

I don’t spend my days in the kitchen anymore.

Instead, I spend hours in museums, on regional trains, in bookstores, or curled beneath a blanket with a novel I left untouched for years because “I never had time.”

Sometimes I look in the mirror. The wrinkles are still there.

But my eyes are different.

There is a new light in them.

Because at 58, I stopped surviving.

And I started to live.

LOST AND FOUND

My husband gave me the most lovely tennis bracelet for Christmas. 

This weekend, I lost it.

I struggle with the clasp. I couldn’t understand how it could have just come off. 

We searched the house and the yard. We called our friends and they searched their car. John even sent a message to the restaurant we visited. 

I felt so awful. So totally awful. 

Tonight, as we were preparing dinner, I opened the freezer, and there on the ice maker was my bracelet. 

I was so surprised, so happy! 

Ice Cold Bling!

TAKE

 

FRIENDSHIP

 Love is the greatest form of friendship 

What makes most relationships fail is not the lack of love, it’s the lack of friendship 

OPENLIBRARY

 Go to Google

Type in OPENLIBRARY

Tap VISIT

You are welcome!

KALI

 

🩷🧡💜

OPTION OR PRIORITY

 “Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.”

— Maya Angelou

FEBRUARY TWENTY FIRST

 Maybe it’s not odd that this date sticks out to me. I have known several people who share this date as their birthday. 

Funny how, in retrospect, you see your past so much clearer than you saw it at the time. How you see what others added to who you are. 

Maybe that’s why today stands out for me. Those people who share this birthdate have touched my life profoundly. They helped to shape my youth and the person I am.

They have left their fingerprints on my life. Some positive, loving and uplifting, some negative and devastating. 

The good and bad all helped me become me. Lessons learned. 

Here is to another February Twenty First. 

CONQUER

 “If one day you have to choose between the world and love, remember this: If you choose the world you’ll be left without love, but if you choose love, with it you will conquer the world.”

— Albert Einstein

GOOD PEOPLE

 

FIRE HORSE

 I was born in the year of the Fire
Horse. This year I turn 60 and it is also the year of the Fire Horse.