Gratitude Monday

Fritz

I'm grateful we finally found a day to go the Missouri State Fair that wasn't 100 degrees and worked with our schedule.  It's been something I've wanted to do with my family for several years now.  I'm also grateful I found a new groomer for our miniature schnauzer.  He was starting to look like the Tramp from Lady and the Tramp, but now his Sean Connery look is back with a slightly shorter beard.  On a different note,  I'm thankful for my friends and the different perspective they give me.  I've been needing a little jump start to help get me motivated to work on some goals lately.  It's nice to be able to bounce ideas off of friends and get a fresh perspective.  I'm also grateful for bloggers who share what they've learned through years of experience.  I've never been a very good student of trial and error.  I want everything to be perfect on the first try.  I'm going to do my best to muster up an attitude of gratitude even for imperfections.  There is knowledge to be gained when making mistakes and beauty even in the imperfect. Have an imperfectly great week!

 

Back to School

First Day of School

It's back to school time! I can remember the excitement and fear of embarking on a new school year. As my children enter 8th and 11th grade they too are filled with mixed emotions. They wish for a few more weeks of unstructured lazy days staying up late and sleeping until noon. The freedom to plan their own day for the most and part and not have to stick to a schedule.  In my opinion we all need those kinds of days, children and adults.  We also need to have some structure in our life.  I find I get more accomplished when I stick to a schedule, and I have a deadline. Structure helps me to focus on the task at hand.  However, the creative side of me balks at structure and doesn't like to be confined to a set time period.  I like to have the freedom to follow wherever the wind is blowing that day.  Most days it is blowing toward the website pinterest.  I realize I sound like a bit of a hippie.  My kids refer to me as an uptight hippie.

As my children set their goals for the new school year,  I too am setting goals for this Fall.  I want to improve my writing and blog.  I'm setting a set time first thing in the morning four days a week to write.  I will consider anything over that a bonus, but I will commit to that time frame at a minimum.  As a stay at home mom, I need the structure to accomplish certain tasks without getting distracted. Self discipline has never been my forte.  I just serendipitously came across an article on goal setting. The advice was to picture yourself doing what it takes to achieve your goal, and you will find yourself believing you can. Instead of viewing writing as another to do, I'm looking at it from the perspective as a commitment to myself that will help me to grow.  It's a lot like exercise.  I don't always enjoy doing it, but it's good for my overall health.  Please feel free to share any set schedules you've found helpful, unless that is you're my brother. 

Goldstar

Greenwich Village (Sex and The City was filmed here)

Lady Liberty at Sunset

I love to share new things I discover whether it be a store, book, recipe or in this case a website.  My friend came across it when we were looking for some ideas of different things to do in New York City. The website is www.goldstar.com It offers half price tickets on shows and attractions in certain major cities.  We did a New York City Water Taxi tour at Sunset and The Greenwich Village Sampler guided walking tour.  The site was easy to use.  We just printed our confirmations and the rest was smooth sailing.  

Rob Lowe

Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography

I recently finished reading actor Rob Lowe's autobiography Stories I Only Tell My Friends.  I had been wanting to read it ever since I saw his interview with Oprah.  Call me crazy, but I personally enjoyed it more than Fifty Shades of Grey which the whole world has either read or seems to be currently reading.  Lowe doesn't go into graphic details about his past wild ways, but provides just enough information to give you a clear picture.  His many past romances include Melissa Gilbert and Princess Stephanie, who I didn't remember hearing about in the tabloids.  It was interesting to learn about his experiences on movies sets such as The Outsiders and St Elmo's Fire.  They were two of my favorite films and popular movies of the 80's generation.  He also talks about his friendships with other actors and how the brat pack got their name.  For someone with his striking good looks it was shocking to learn that he felt like an outcast for much of his youth.  Lowe is a good story teller and gives a thorough picture of his life from a young boy to manhood.  It is the story of a boy achieving his dreams and getting more in life than  he ever imagined through the love of his wife and sons.  He gives the reader an insiders view of not just Rob Lowe the celebrity, but Rob Lowe the man.  

Gratitude Monday

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Due to a week of traveling, it has been awhile since I've posted anything on my blog.  I'm grateful that my family and I returned home safely from our travels.  I love to travel, but the means of getting from point A to point B can make me a little anxious:  missing a connecting flight in Atlanta and having to wait 7 hours for the next flight, riding in taxi cabs in New York City, bicycling in the busy streets of New York City to get to Central Park, and public transportation in general.  These are all things that happened on my travels this past week, but the positive side is I enjoyed them and it's good for me to get out of my comfort zone every so often. Actually, I enjoyed all of the them with the exception of the 7 hour wait in Atlanta's airport.  A life worth living comes with some risk.  I am grateful my friend understands how New York's subway system works which helped reduce my risk factor.

I'm grateful for the Fall like weather we are having today even if it is just a tease.  Fall is around the corner and it is my favorite time of year.  We also had some Fall weather this past weekend while visiting family in Arkansas.  I'm grateful I had the opportunity to visit the new Crystal Bridges Art Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas.  The architecture and the grounds are beautiful.  I'm thankful there are people who are much more talented at drawing and sculpting than I am and who have the vision to create beautiful works of art.

Last but not least, I'm grateful my computer automatically saved this post because I accidentally hit the delete button and my writing temporarily disappeared.

Olympic Fever

London 2012

We are all capable of so much more than we think we are.  I love watching the Olympics even though I've never been much of an athlete, and I don't typically love watching sports.   The Olympics brings together people from different countries (many of which I never even knew existed) who share their remarkable athletic abilities with the world. Talents that they've worked hard to perfect through a lot of blood, sweat and tears.  These athletes had the determination to stick with their passion and on some occasions do things that seem inhumanly possible.  The athletes aren't just a testament to what the human body can do, but more importantly what the mind can create when we believe in ourselves. 

After seeing Dorthy Hamil in the 1976 Winter Olympics, I aspired to be a professional ice skater.  I had the Dorothy Hamil haircut and the muscular thighs, but that was the extent of our similarities.  I enjoyed ice skating, but did I have the desire to dedicate half my day to it?  The answer is not so much.   There is a small percentage of people who can say they are Olympians, but the rest of us have been given other talents.  Do you know what yours is and will you believe in it?

Little Box of Sunshine

I'm a big fan of the website pinterest with so many ideas and too little time. This is one of the ideas I pinned that I knew I just had to do.  The original idea is from  http://happymoneysaver.com/send-a-box-of-sunshine-to-brighten-someones-day/  I thought it was very cute and knew just the person that could use some good cheer.  I have a friend who has had a few rough years battling breast cancer and is now going through radiation treatments after giving birth to her third child.  She also just moved out of state and is trying to get settled into a new home.  She always puts on a happy face, but I'm sure there are days when it's tough to be cheerful.   This is my version of the little box of sunshine based on things I thought she would like.  It includes the following:

• Burt's Bees lemon cuticle cream
• Burt's Beels lemon & Vitamin E bath and body oil
• Lemonade sticks
• yellow nail polish
• JR Watkins lemon cream lotion
• Burt's Bees radiance lip shimmer

Is there someone you can think of that could use a little box of sunshine?