Time To Fancy Up This Blog

I have been taking a little time today....not cleaning the house....to read through my old blog posts. I just really think I need to fancy up this blog big time! I see many blogspot bloggers who have very nice blogs with great visuals. The visuals really help the reader enjoy the blog and I know I need alot more. Considering I have trouble placing photos within my blog posts, I could be in big trouble. It also helps to get some other interesting information into the blog....links to other blogs I like, books I am reading, recipes I am trying, yoga wisdom and other good stuff that like minded people may enjoy. I think its time to treat this blog like a job; a job I love and really want to enjoy!

Just Another Day...On The Couch

This picture could be taken any day of the week around 4pm. Like clockwork, Chris, Jack and Ricky find their way to naptime on or around the comfy couch. Well, I don't think that this couch is really that comfy but I guess it is the perfect thing for the boys. Naptime is a sacred time around here and things like the phone, doorbell, or stove timer are completely ignored during this solemn time of male bonding. Jack and Ricky prepared for this ritual well before Chris comes home around 3:30. Early in the afternoon the canine pair take up residence on either side of the couch and listen intently. At each sound of a car or a voice they rush to the back door, barking wildly, ready to greet Chris and tell him of the day's events. Their little hearts look broken when they realize that it was just a false alarm. As a matter of fact, Ricky has learned to let Jack do the running and barking while he waits to make sure its the real thing. They are a comical team.

When Chris does finally get in the door and settles into his afternoon routine. Jack and Ricky wait patiently for him to get into "couch mode". This does not take long! If both dogs are on the couch, rather than telling them to move, Chris walks into the kitchen because he knows they will follow him and then comes back into the den and promptly rearranges the couch for naptime. The boys find their favorite spots; Ricky is usually at the end of the couch on the arm and Jack cuddles into the white blanket kind of spooning with Chris. Within five minutes, Chris is oblivious to all this and in dreamland....Tough life for all!

Happy New Year

Back to writing....back to self. A year of hope.....for what is to come, for my ability to embrace the changes in the new year, for the ability to enjoy whatever is to come. A sense of change feels around me. I know that I can deal with change in lots of ways; I hope I chose healthy ways to deal with what will happen whether I am ready or not.
I have so much to be in gratitude. Keep my focus on being grateful and allow things to enfold as they do. Keep my eyes wide open to the opportunities around me and enjoy what is there. Sounds so easy but in my busy-ness I can miss so much. For the new year.....so many things to remember, but most of all there is love.
Buckle up and get ready....time to enjoy the trip into 2011!

Changing Things Up

Today we are getting a new bed. Sounds so simple and basically it is except for all the rearranging we needed to do. I am so excited to finally be able to sleep in a big comfortable bed without the loud creaky and small space of our old bed. I loved knowing that the old bed was basically handed down from my Aunt Annis but in the end, comfort rules out. The old bed was not only very hard to sleep in, it was really noisy. Every time one of us turned over (and that in itself is tricky in a full size bed) the sounds of the creaky bed seemed magnified.
Enough about the old bed....in with the new. A BIG king-size bed with a pillow top...I am going to be in bed heaven! I can't wait to sleep in it. Decisions to need to be made. I need to think about a comforter and blankets for this new addition to our furniture.
It's not just the bed I am excited about...the other great outcome in this big purchase was cleaning out the bedroom and not putting all the stuff back it. Having a bedroom that feels clean (especially for Chris and his difficulties with sinus/ migrane issues), airy and calm will be so wonderful. It surprised me that I really am so happy about spending lots of money on a bed. There is also this nagging part that says....this could have been a vacation. My middle-aged voice is responding by saying, "Now, every night will feel like a vacation." I hate to say this but I think I am getting sensible in my "old age".

Balance...

The reoccuring lesson in my life...being in balance. Between work and play, social time and alone time, exercise and being a couch potato, proteins and carbs....balance on so many levels. Yoga has really helped me to notice balance (and/or the lack of balance) in my life and for that, I am grateful. Winter is a wonderful time to get still and get refocused. I do see how easily I let the balance equilibrium let go. Makes me wonder if I am just more used to be out of balance than I am to being in balance.

I also realize that it takes work to keep myself in balance. I need to put certain things as a priority to maintain my balance. Having the time to exercise and cook healthy meals is a pretty basic step. Usually that is something I can struggle with when I am off track. But what are the other things I need to do so that I stay in balance?

Creating space in my day for quiet, staying clear of toxic people or thoughts, accomplishing the goals I set out to do......all lead to that wonderful sense of fullness.

What can I do to stay in balance or bring myself to balance everyday? All suggestions are welcomed!

There is something about rain in the fall that triggers the coming of winter. The sky and the trees seem muted, not showing their best colors. I know that the rain is a good thing for the lawn, especially since we put the last of the fall seed down this week. And I also know that it is much better than the 10 inches of snow that blanketed some parts of Pennsylvania this past week. I am just tired and the rhythm of the rain and the grayness of the day add to list of reasons for napping. I don't have time to nap......there are so many projects that I want to attack around the house. The list is endless; or at least to me, the list feels endless.

I am so lucky today. I have ordered our groceries online so I don't have to get soaked running out to the Shaw's to get our weekly supply of food. I have a turkey defrosted and ready to put in the oven so the kitchen will be nice and toastly most of the afternoon. A stack of great books that I requested from the library are sitting on the coffee table just waiting to be cracked open. The phone is not ringing; there are no crisis that I know of that could take me away from this wonderful afternoon. And yet....I feel unsettled. I should be scrapping and washing the white paint on the porch so that I can give it a quick coat of paint before the winter. I need to get those unruly weeds handled and while I am at it, the perennials need to be trimmed back for winter also. Not to mention the trips to the mall and the card shop for birthday gifts for Katie and Justin that should happen today. My head is filled with so much stuff of what I should be doing, that I could in fact, ruin this wonderful day of rest.

I know I need to breathe....take in this moment. Savor this calm and peacefulness......let it be.

The list can wait...at least for a little while.

Tuesdays........

I consider Tuesdays a busy day because it begins busy. I need to realize that it doesn't stay that way. I really have plenty of time in a Tuesday for things that are good for me: writing, exercise, reading a good book, or cleaning the house. What I tend to do it let the busy time in the morning become the feeling of the day.



Most Tuesday I get up early to get ready for the day. Driving to a school about 20 minutes away to tutor for an hour. I get home and have about 45 minutes to then get ready for my yoga class....this is the one I teach. After yoga, I usually grab a tea and lunch with friends. In years past, I had another tutoring student to drive to but now I have some time to either stick in work from another job that I can do at home or I can actually read. Today when I get home, I think I will cut the lawn. It feels so good to see the yard neat ...or neater than it is now! After that, I have an early evening yoga class that I enjoy as a student.



So I realize that Tuesday is actually a very nice day with a wonderful degree of balance in it for me. Recognizing when things are going well is a practice and one that I need to remind myself to visit more often.