August 3 – Window
Downtown Houston
Driving home from our camping trip….looking through the window…Hello Houston.
August 2 – Patterns
I thought the leaves make a nice pattern.😃
August 1 – Lunch
I have decided to participate in a photo challenge this month. I forgot to take a picture of my lunch. However, I did take this picture to give you a hint where I ate lunch. It has been a long time since I ate at this establishment….I ate a spicy chicken sandwich, small fries, and a medium – which was very large in my opinion diet Dr. pepper. I’m sure I exceeded my allowed allotment of calories and fat.
Time is Short
Today I traveled to Brooklyn, New York with my daughter E to visit Pratt University. The flight up was an exercise in patience. We thought we allowed plenty of time to check in bags and go through security. However, once we entered the airport my heart sank when I saw the lines. Who would have thought that the entire city of Houston were boarding planes to start their summer vacations. When we checked our bags we were told that our bags probably would not make our flight.
We arrived at the boarding gate just as the doors closed. We were not alone in this situation either. Travelers were getting upset…flight personnel were trying their best to find alternate flights….the plane was still at the gate but once the door closes it cannot be reopened. You could see the frustration radiating from everyone. I don’t know what happened but just as we were making the decision to get on separate flights the doors were opened and we were able to board. Relief was felt by everyone. Getting our bags late seemed like a small thing when you consider the headache of flying standby to New York.
We checked into the Condor Hotel which is located a couple do blocks from the school. The hotel is very nice. The beds were kind of small….a little bigger than a twin and smaller than a full. I also noticed that on the doorpost do all the rooms is a mesuzah. Then I noticed as we walked in the neighborhood that the hotel is in the heart of the Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community. I felt strange walking around…different…like I did not belong.
We ate lunch at White Castle. My first White Castle burger…interesting indeed. The establishment only had 2 tables outside. The unsettling part was placing and receiving your order through holes made in plexiglass. I did not like all the graffiti on the buildings. It seems like a rough place…not the place I want to leave my sweet, baby girl. I know she is an adult….24…and I’m lucky she allows me to make this trip with her, but I still want to keep her close and protected….being a mom is hard.
We finally found the campus, the area improved. The campus looked like it was well secured. Tomorrow we will find out more when we tour the campus. My fears subsided some…
I realized that time is short for me to enjoy the days remaining that E lives with me….that I need take time, to enjoy each moment fully and to listen so E knows and feels my love.
Everyday take time. Everyday take time to feel the sun and the wind and the rain and feel that you are loved — and then let your life overflow with that love so that a thousand others feel that love. Ever day take time to live loved — and live so others feel loved. Every day take time. Time is there for the taking. For the unwrapping ….Give someone the gift of listening… linger and look into their eyes and really listen and this is free and nobody can buy it and what is better than paying attention to someone with all of you fully present?Ann Voskamp
Posted in Family, Reflections, Trips/Leisure
Memorial Day Holiday 2014
Today I am wondering about the expression “Happy Memorial Day”. I heard this several times today and I was wondering, is Memorial Day really suppose to be a “happy” day? I know that I am happy that I get the day off from work with pay but that is not true for everyone. I am happy that I had the opportunity to spend time with my family. I know many look at today as the start of summer vacation and summer time does make me happy. Maybe it is just one of those things we say because it is a holiday and really do not mean anything by it. However, it seems to me that some time on Memorial Day should be spent on reflecting on the sacrifice of the US veterans.
This year Marc and I attended the Friendswood Memorial Day Ceremony. The event was very well attended and I thought the program was great. My favorite part was the medley of patriotic songs played on bagpipes.
Before the ceremony started.
Practicing taking selfies.
The ceremony was closed by playing “Taps”.
It’s Back to Work Today
Well, today will be my first full day back at the office. After thinking about yesterday, I decided to go in for a few hours and see the damage that was in my e-mails and on top of my desk. I wanted to prepare myself so my blood pressure would not go through the roof. I only worked for about 3 hours. This is what I learned…..my chair is as hard as a rock and my bum was killing my after only three hours.
So…..here is my new “best friend”….that is – if an inanimate object can be your best friend. 😜
I have written before how my favorite time of the day is early morning when I read the paper and drink lots of coffee. Of course to do this, I get up early, early….well, the Houston Chronicle had been letting me down for the last several months. The paper was being delivered late….I could not read it before having to get ready for work so I was reading the online edition. While I have been recuperating, it was not a problem because I was not going anywhere. I was paying a lot of money to actually get a real paper that I could turn real pages, spill my coffee on, and tear out articles, and most importantly work the Suduko puzzle. (I always think I will have a mentally sharp day if I can complete the puzzle rather quickly….) So, yesterday I took the step of canceling the real paper and getting the online edition only. I will be saving a lot of money…the online edition is only $2.50 per week, while the subscription I had cost $7.55 per week. Don’t know what I will do about the puzzle.
Since I’m trying to get back to my “regular” routine, I decided to finally step on the scale. I was afraid of what the numbers would be because I think I look about 4-5 months pregnant. Surprise, surprise….I was down 5 pounds. After giving it some thought….that is probably how much my uterus weighed since the doctor said it was the size of a watermelon. 😜
Thanks for listening to my lamenting.
Posted in Diet/Exercise, Interesting Tidbits, Opinions
One More Day….And I’m Complaining
Two weeks off….for my minimal invasive hysterectomy. Okay, I said it – I had a hysterectomy and even though it was minimal invasive the doctors still say I had a major surgery and need to take it easy. I have one more day after today to recoup. I don’t know what I was expecting but it sure was not that I would have to take one of those serious pain pills the doctor gave me with only one day left of my time off.
Well, truth be told, I most likely overdid it yesterday. I took a slow walk around the block, I folded some clothes, cleaned the kitchen and swept some of the floors. I made sure I took breaks between each activity. I meet me friend for lunch and then we sat outside in the gazebo enjoying the breeze and some mint juleps….no I mean water. I felt like we were ladies of luxury without a care in the world. Later, after our visit, I took my daughter to DSW to look at shoes. I know, I know I am not suppose to be buying things because I am trying to simplify my belongings. I caved in…
New Summer Dress Sandals
These are the shoes that Emily wanted….I hope she does not get blisters on the back of her calves at work today. She thinks I think of the stupidest things.
Emily’s New Gladiator Sandals
We then walked around the new grocery store called Fresh Market. I bought some homemade seed bread. I was impressed with the bakery. They had homemade Ezekiel bread but I did not buy any this time because I already had some in the freezer.
I did not realize how much energy all that activity took. When I got home I slept for 2 hours….and paying for it today with the pain pill and lots of rest.
My Feeble Attempts at Minimalism
I have started subscribing to blogs that promote the minimalist life style and I have decided to give it a try. A simple life is the sort of life that I want. The only drawback is that I did not consider how hard it is to actually do….reading about it is fine but it is action that counts. I will admit that it is hard when not everyone is the household is on board with getting rid of stuff.
One of the things I decided to try was to clean and organize the silverware drawer and the cupboard. Over the years, the draw was full of all types of knifes, forks, spoons, and other stuff. It was getting to the point the drawer was hard to open and close. The concept is called “one is enough”. That means that we would only need one fork, spoon, knife, etc. for each member of the household. After much thought and with a family not on board with this idea, I thought that I would pack away and only keep enough for a service of 8 – only 8 forks, 8 knifes, 8 spoons, 8 plates – you get the idea. Amazingly, not really, the drawer was much lighter and easier to open and close. I thought it looked very nice. Now I did this on the weekend when I am home. The dishes were washed and there were enough – plenty of all the things that we use everyday. The problem arose on Monday, when everyone went back to work. Breakfast was eaten and dishes were rinsed but left in the sink. Luckily, hubby and I are able to come home for lunch but really only have about 30 minutes to eat, talk, play with the pups (really dogs) and get back to work. Well, the habit was just to rinse the dishes and deal with them later. Well, supper came along and then we were short on silverware and plates. It was glaringly evident that nobody likes to clean the dishes and we do not clean up after ourselves in the kitchen. The only way this was going to work was for us to start cleaning the kitchen after every meal. It is not perfect by any means but now, after we eat, we do wash up after ourselves.
Now the really big thing I am trying is the 333 project. The idea here is to have 33 items in your wardrobe for 3 months including shoes and accessories. The starting date for this project was going to be April 1. I did try to find time to look up on the internet on how to go about this process and I did find some good resources. However, because I was so busy at work I did not have a good time to go about it as suggested. So, here is what I did….I all the clothes out of my wardrobe. Picked out the clothes that I wear the most and put the rest in a back closet with the idea that I would not get anything out of the back closet. I noted that I did have a lot of clothes. I did whittle my clothing down to 44 pieces of clothing on April 28. I know that the true project is to only have 33 items including shoes and accessories and I will try to pair it down more in July. I ended up with the following items.
- 3 pairs of jeans – on with sparkles on the rear
- 6 pairs of black pants – basically what I wear all week long. Also a little worried that if I did not have 6 pairs that I would not have clean pants to wear to work.
- 1 blue jean trouser pants
- 1 brown pants
- 1 gray sweater
- 1 white sweater
- 1 off white sweater
- 11 shirts – nice T-shirts that I can wear to the office
- 5 – Tunics
- 6 – dresses
- 1 blue jean skirt
- 2 long skirts – one black and one striped
- 1 short sleeve crocheted jacket*
- 2 dress shirts
- 1 white denim jacket
- 1 long maxi dress*
The goal is then not to add to my wardrobe and the pieces would not change until July 1. I did have a moment of weakness this weekend when I went shopping for luggage for my daughter. The plan was to go to Kohl’s, look at the luggage on sale and use my 30% off coupon. The items that have asterisks by them are from my weakness today.
New Maxi dress and crocheted jacket
New Luggage and shoes
Okay…here is my rational for the new purchases. I had surgery and needed a pick me up. I have time to look at the adds in my e-mail and have started to “lust” after a new outfit. I was thinking about ordering a maxi skirt for July 1 but now I don’t have to…Most importantly, I have a 30% coupon that I can not let go to waste. I did feel good that all these things only cost my $137.59. All these are just excuses…. I know I am casting blame elsewhere so I feel better… I must remember it is a process and the point is to keep on trying.
Maybe my next step should be “breaking it off” – unsubscribing to most – maybe all of those advertising e-mails…..
Posted in Minimalism, Pictures
Tagged clothing, minimalism, one is enough, project 333, shopping
What’s Happening……
Well, it has happened once again. Tax season got the best of me and all my good intentions aka as “resolutions” came to a screeching halt as tax season progressed. Also, I had some surgery and now find myself with some extra time on my hands – at least for the next 10 days or so. The surgery was not fun – but because of pain medication the laying around in bed is and has not been too bad either. It felt very nice to have family members cook me dinner and bring me things I needed. And it has been nice to let those household chores that I tend to do when I have free time to go undone for awhile and not feel guilty about it. I have spent time reading, taking naps and sitting outside in our gazebo.
Today I decided to figure out all the passwords that I changed because of Heartbleed and catch up on my not to consistent blog.
Okay…here is a little bit of a recap.
I visited my mom and dad and we had our annual birthday celebration together.
Family Birthday Celebration
I made two trips with my family to Dallas to celebrate my nephews new bride and marriage.
Wedding Shower
Family dinner party – after wedding
My daughter and sister found time in March to participate in the Rock’n the Cure run.
We are ready to run!
I was proud of myself. Ran the whole way with out walking..
We were proud of Emily.
I won a medal!
The best part though was the Gritty Goddess Mud Run and time at the beach. I had so much fun with my family….
Before pictures
After Pictures!
We had to spend some time relaxing in Galveston and no place is better than the beach….however, this time the seaweed was a little out of control. We did manage to catch some rays.
Relaxing on the beach….
All in all it has been a very busy couple of months….the best part was being with family.
Reflections 