Isn't It Funny....?

...how warm and fuzzy Christmas lights can make you feel while you are putting them up in December?

By nuttakit/freedigitalphotos.net

By feelart/freedigitalphotos.net

By feelart/freedigitalphotos.net

And then how gosh darned absolutely annoying they can be when you're taking them down in January???

Man, I wish those lights would just take themselves down!

Bullets In The Moment

Sometimes it seems like it's easier to blog when there's not so much that I could blog about, you know what I mean?

There's quite a bit going on around here.

It's not so much that I feel overwhelmed.  It's just that I'm not sure how to break it down into digestible pieces, rather than yammer on in a not so interesting way.

For today, let's go with the bullet points...

o  I have discovered that there is yet another layer of stuff that I am ready to have out of my life that is still currently residing in my house.  I am in the process of purging more things again, even though I am probably the least pack-rattish of any of my friends. 

o  I have spent many hours with my little chihuahua doing more kinds of training than I have ever done with any other dog that I've ever had.  It turns out that although he is still quite typically 'toy dog' shy with strangers and we can't seem to change that about him, he has an extreme ability to learn tricks very quickly.  Although I wish that more than just our closest friends could see what a happy go lucky little guy we have, I have decided that it is not any more likely that I will ever truly change my dogs personality than changing my own innate self, so we are going to concentrate on his strengths.  Since he loves attention when he is 'performing' and almost completely forgets his shyness, we will soon start agility training!

o   On the way back from our July 4th trip to Yellowstone, my suv's A/C went out as we were traveling over 100 miles of eastern Oregon desert and it was 100 degrees out.  Now a month after having it repaired for $900, it is out again.  Did I mention that we are leaving on Friday to go back down to Palm Springs?  Yeah, another desert.  If this car is not careful, it will find itself in the pile of things that I don't need in my life anymore!

o  Here in Seattle, this summer has honestly been the nicest, warmest, sunniest summer of my life.  I wish it would never end.  I am trimming back all of my trees and shrubs as much as I can to maximize the light later on this Fall.

o  I have become very interested in the idea of people deciding to live where they like to vacation.  Why do so many of us spend so much time convincing ourselves that we couldn't do that? 

o  I love that my husband is easily the most easy-going person that I have ever known.  I used to find this a tad annoying and now I don't even know why I was ever annoyed by that!

What about you?  What's up in your life these days?  
Sometimes the fun is in the details!

Sharpie Marker Mystery

Why is it that when I use a black Sharpie to hide a tiny bleach spot on a pair of black cotton pants, I have to reapply the marker after every washing because the Sharpie marker always washes out? 

'Black Marker Pen' by Stuart Miles, found at freedigitalphotos.net

But then when I get a tiny little bit of black Sharpie marker on my pink cotton t-shirt it won't come out no matter how many times or how many ways I wash it?!?!

Every Day, Do Something That Scares You

I finally did it.
I threw caution to the wind and did something that I have been wanting to do for years now.

I cut back on work.

Not tried to hold back a little.
Not even worked out my schedule so that things would be more even.
I actually, truly, cut back.

This involved telling someone that I could not take on their friend as a new client.
It also involved letting long time clients know that my time is now limited.

It wasn't easy.
And I felt pretty lousy guilty for a few days.
So much so that I was even tempted to take it back.

But then I remembered why I had always wanted to do this.

I love a well oiled smoothly running household that is a pleasure to live in.
I love being better equipped to handle the annoyances that life will throw at all/any of us.
I love being home to greet my husband with dinner,
And having the time to do the little extras that make life more pleasant.

I kept telling myself that when we moved to Texas I would be able to afford to do this- lower cost of living and all.  The northwest is truly one of the most expensive places a person can live in.

Then I realized that I could always have an excuse to keep waiting to live the life I really want to.
The excuses list goes a little something like this:  1) With no kids in the house, then I don't really have the right to cut back on work.  2) My husband & I both grew up poor and both worry about ever being poor again so I should do whatever I can to sock away cash so we won't have to worry.  3) I'm good at what I do and people need me.  4) My husband works so hard, so I should too.  And on and on....

Guess what?  1) I don't really care what people think about me not having kids.  I can do whatever I want for whatever reason I want to, as long as I'm not hurting or relying on others to take care of my household.  2) We're not poor anymore.  And frankly we've both done everything we can to make sure that will never be the case again.  If it ever is, we both have plenty of experience in dealing with that situation.  3) Yup, I'm very good at what I do and it's nice to be needed.  I also need to do what makes me truly happy and fulfilled as a human being.  4) Yup, my husband works damn hard and he loves having me available to take care of life's little annoyances and to welcome him home at the end of the day.  It makes his life better.

So there you have it.  If you have something that you've been meaning to do and you know it's true to your soul to do it, then don't hesitate anymore.  Even if it's scary.  Stop making excuses and live!

Onward And Upward

No worries here. 
Annoyed and irritated with this whole endeavour of getting to Texas, but never defeated.

I think back to our other life adventures and heck this trying to move to Texas thing is simply going peachy, in comparison.  So, whatever... I'm over it- for now.

The big news around here is that I'm getting a new mattress delivered on Wednesday.  Yay!  I've been putting this off for about 2 years- thinking that if I was planning to move, then I didn't need one.  But my back and my hips are saying it's time.  So if the worst that happens is that I end up leaving behind a 'practically brand new mattress', well hell there's worse things that can happen.

Like putting your life on hold. 

Really people, we shouldn't ever be doing that. 

'Cuz it's more annoying than an HR department that doesn't read resumes and it can lead to a real pain in the ass. 

Literally.

"Doctor Does Injection To Patient" by renjith krishnan

Found at: freedigitalphotos.net

Not A Procrastinator, Unless.....

It's true.  Don't hate me because I am not a procrastinator.  I've just always been one of those 'jump in there and do it' kind of people.  Even if I kind of don't like what needs to be done.  I'd much rather get it over with, whatever it is, and then move on to thinking about and focusing my energy on other things. 

BUT.... there is one time that I will seriously get caught in the procrastination wheel and end up going:
                                                               
                                                                 Round...

                                              and round...             and round...

                                                               and round...

That time is when I have done the one thing that I can't stand about my personality and I am still working very hard to change.  That is when I have agreed to do something that I absolutely do not want to do, would rather scrub the bottom of my shoes than do and will never agree to do again.  But somehow I do agree to it- just this one time, because you are such a good friend, or I really need the money this month.  Or whatever can get me to accept the idea that I will do this thing that I detest and know darn good and well that I will have to do way too many times to make sure it turns out well and spend so much time on it that I will resent the project and possibly the person who asked me to do it before it is all said and done.  Whew!

What it really boils down to is that I procrastinate when I know that the thing I am about to attempt doing will require me to tell someone that "No, I am not willing to make you another one."  Or "No, it was not worth my time at all."  Or even, "No, this project was not fun and I won't be willing to do it again."

I just don't like to say no.  And it's annoying.  Cuz' I could save myself a whole lot of trouble if I'd just get more comfortable with that word: NO.

Now pardon me while I practice remembering how to say NO, as I head off to do some stuff that I can't stand and then get up the gumption to say NO next time.

Helping A Friend Is Good For The Heart And Maybe Lucky For Small Destructive Critters

Last Friday I spent the day helping to clean out and pack up my good friends husbands house.  This was the house of my friend Donna who died one year ago today.  Now her husband is having to add insult to injury as he has lost the house to foreclosure after having no job for two years and not being able to refinance even though he was promised many times that he would be able to, under the it-turns-out-not-so-wonderful-new-government-refinance-program.  (Don't even get me started.)

The poor guy didn't even know where to begin.  He is still grieving (naturally) and he hadn't even touched many things that had belonged to his wife, such as her sewing stuff and personal collections, as he just couldn't bring himself to do it.  Several members of our shared dance club were helping out and he kept saying that he just didn't deserve all this help.  He kept reminding of us of what a gruff guy he had been for so many years while his Donna had been alive.  I know that he was always good to her, if not the most social guy in the room.  And I told him not any one of us is any better than any other and that we all loved him.  He openly cried several times.  I personally felt emotionally exhausted after only 5 hours of working, so I can't imagine how he felt.

As luck would have it, the rest of the weekend turned out to be more than a little irksome for me:  My sister is back in the clink- charges in 3 counties, including a parole violation.  Some evil intolerant person put a virus on the web pages that have information for write in republican candidates for our local election.  And a nasty little mole is wreaking havoc on my front yard. 

But I got to enjoy one of the most beautiful warm Seafair Sundays ever.

Credit: Flickriver.com

And I get to continue helping to make my friends husbands life a little easier by setting up an estate sale for him this week.  Which is much more productive than how much I would love to go all Caddyshack on that damn mole...

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