There is an older gentleman that strolls by my house. He uses a cane, or walking stick, and just strolls down the road. One morning he noticed me in the yard, and stopped to chat for a bit.
He told me about all the weight he has lost. He felt better since he began walking but he walks at a slower pace now because he doesn’t want to lose anymore weight. He must walk less frequently as well because I haven’t seen him recently.
♥ ♥ ♥
In Julia Cameron’s books, she recommends walking twice a week. She doesn’t indicate for exercise, she suggests it to clear the mind and become inspired.
I’ve began to stroll my neighborhood.
When you think of it as a stroll instead of exercise, it takes away all excuses. I don’t need fancy running pants, or shoes. When the mood strikes, I grab a jacket or scarf and walk out the front door.
My daughter smiled at me for walking out with my reading glasses still resting on top of my head.
♥ ♥ ♥
As I was typing this, I saw a reflection move across the laptop screen. It was that gentleman walking by.
My daughter and I have this thing going on with the box of Bounce dryer sheets. Every time I reach in the cabinet to retrieve the box, the lid of the box is mashed in. It makes me smile when I see it.
It shows me my daughter has her own way of doing things. When I use the bounce box, I ‘tuck’ the lid in, but she just mashes it. I’ve never showed her how to properly close the box, so she adapted her own way.
She’s growing up, and doesn’t ask very often how to do things anymore. I’m glad. I’m not the type of Mother that believes it has to be done a certain way.
I want her to find her own way.
Maybe I will find her way better and mash the lid down too! If I was the last person to use it, she sees that it’s tucked, so she can choose to tuck it instead.
I’m not going to ask her to conform.
We have our own way of doing things, but at least they get done. You just keep doing you darling because it makes me smile. Just like my boss told me, “It’s only Pizza!“, this is only the bounce box!
As you see in A Doggo’s Life, our doggo’s are sharing a dog bed. I wanted our new puppo to have her own bed, so went in search of the perfect dog bed. In my mind I pictured exactly what it should look like, but 4 stores later didn’t result in that bed.
That was my mind, but what did my heart say?
Step One.
Back before Thanksgiving, my daughter and I were in a store where everything is pretty, but reasonably priced. I saw a rug that made my heart smile. My daughter saw my face light up, but she also knew we were setting aside all extra money for England.
Guess what? She’s in England and I still have money. Glory to God!
Yesterday, I went back to that store see if the rug was still there. It had been months, so what were the odds? Would it be on sale after Christmas?
It was in the rug bin along with one other rug.
It wasn’t on sale, but I had a price in mind that I was willing to pay. I found a sales lady, and inquired about the price of the rug. Full price was too much, but I’d walk out of there with it if she took $50 off.
Step Two.
The sales lady found an online coupon she could apply to meet my price! Then it became confusing.
She asked, “Is that the color you want? We have another one in the back that’s grey.”
The rug standing in the bin is a light color, which I gravitate toward, and it has pale gold shimmers running through it, but my daughter loves grey!
They grey one was equally pretty, and I knew my daughter would love it. What did I do? Like any good Mother, I loaded the grey one in my truck.
Score one for the mind.
Step Three.
I sat in front of the store staring at the rug laying across the backseat. The sales lady told me if it wasn’t right, to bring it back and get the other one, but I wanted to know in my heart what to do.
I found myself walking back into the store swapping the grey for the one I wanted. I followed my heart all the way through. My daughter will be happy.
Looks like we found the perfect dog bed after all.
My daughter is still in England, but will be on her way to Paris to celebrate New Years.
I’m home making changes to the house.
I read a Blog where one Mom has a stack of shower curtains. She changes them out seasonally, which I thought was a sweet idea. My daughter and I don’t have room to store things plus, I love my shower curtain, but could see room for improvement.
Our shower curtain hooks are plastic.
We’ve had them a long time, and they’re beginning to break. I spotted these on Etsy and fell in love.
My daughter’s nickname is “Queen B.’
The choices we make snowball over time.
Three years ago, my daughter would not be in England for three weeks. I wasn’t sure it was possible a year ago, because when she told me her plan, I saw dollar signs floating through the air.
By the grace of God, she’s on a trip of a lifetime.
I could have bought a new shower curtain, but opted for bee rings. It’s the small choices over a period of time that add up to a beautiful life.
SC Lourie designed Christmas cards this year. I saw them online after Thanksgiving and fell in love. I was so excited about the cards I overlooked the shipping method and she sent them regular mail.
They arrived last weekend from the UK.
SC Lourie Christmas cards.
I have fond memories of Christmas cards as a child. Mama would tape them around doorways.
They have become a lost art so I’m grateful for the creative souls who are bringing them back to life.
I realized this year I missed them. You give what you wish to receive. The last one was mailed today.
Years ago, my then husband and I had cards printed and engraved with our family’s names and mailed by a mail house right after Thanksgiving.
I don’t know if I’m bending the rules to the point of nonexistence, or if they just broke when my marriage did. It didn’t bother me one bit to mail these cards the week before Christmas.
