My Attitude

So, I am having a HORRIBLE day!! And if it wasn't for that adorable Cindy calling me up today (THANKS, CINDY!) I swear I would have my bags packed and be moving back to Sonora today!

Of course, being that moving back is impossible, I have to come up with some way to get past this horrible day, so I remembered this quote I saw on one of the blogs I frequent....

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. we cannot change the inevitable. the only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. - Charles Swindoll

So here I am today, choosing to push forward and try to make this place I live in MY HOME.

I truly hope you are having a better day....

Back to Work

Last week Mark went with me to my classroom to help rearrange the furniture. Overall, my room was functional and looked good, but there were a couple of things that I just felt needed to be changed. So, I wheedled and begged until finally I got a little muscle to help me out. We got most of the larger shelves into spots where I liked them by the time Mark was fed up, so I was happy with our effort.

Yesterday I went back alone to do a little more tweaking...... and ended up moving some very large shelves alone. It wasn't too bad... mostly I kept worrying about scraping the newly waxed floor (and there are a few scrapes which I took the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to without much result). At one point when I was holding up one end of a 6 foot long shelf and turning it around while the other end rested safely on the carpet, my back made a weird cracking noise I have never experienced before. It didn't hurt, but just made an odd sound. I was somewhat apprehensive that I might wake up this morning and not be able to move! Obviously, that was not the case and I am as spry and healthy as ever!

With the "Back to Work" mode in full swing, last night I kicked Mason out of my scrapbook room and created 3 "Center" signs. You know, labels for different areas of the room...Block Area... Library.... Math Manipulatives...etc. They are hand cut pieces with a couple of stickers or punches used. Not a style I use in my scrapbooking, but somewhat Kindergarten friendly. In the above sample I am thinking of adding arms to the poor little red head boy and maybe have him holding a magnifying glass up to his eye. All three of the ones I made feel somewhat incomplete to me, but it just felt good to get out my scissors and gluesticks and paper scraps and make a mess!

Here's to another day of work!! Hope yours is great! Love, Nancy

Struggle

And the day came when

the risk it took to remain

tight inside the bud

was more painful than the

risk it took to blossom.

Anais Nin

I feel the weekend stretching out before me full of promise. The week has been a struggle where nothing felt quite right. I was uneasy, restless, lethargic, tearful. Now I am starting to feel more comfortable in my skin. Maybe today I will find my creative spirit. Maybe today I will enjoy feeling my body growing stronger through exercise. Maybe today I will connect with a friend I haven't spoken to in a while. Maybe today I will feel sexy for the first time in months. Maybe today I will embrace life.

Or maybe today I will just do all the things I need to do without feeling really alive. Nah, I don't think that will happen today...

Today I have hope.

Being Thankful

This is one of those days that start out in a regular manner and then by the end (here I am at the end at 7:15) I am ready to burst into tears, so instead of having a little pity party, I am going to make a list of things I am thankful for.

1. Mark, who promised on the second day I met him that he would be my rock, and who has never gone back on that promise
2. Kyla, who has such insight into people's hearts
3. Mason, who told me he loved me today when I dropped him off
4. My friend Barb, who is always so kind
5. Pepper, who is sitting on my lap keeping me warm
6. My Michelle who is off in New York having a great vacation (I miss you!)
7. Taking time to have dinner with my family each night
8. That I have stuck to my training regimen and my body is feeling more fit and healthy every day
9. The promise of a new group of Kinders coming to meet me in about a month
10. Having the courage to say what I think and stand up for what I believe in so much more often than I ever have before
11. The tips from "The generous wife" that are helping me get back to knowing what's really important
12. Time for thanksgiving and prayer
13. Kyla finally letting me read a "Harry Potter" book to her
14. All of my friends, who are honest and genuine and caring and supportive ...If you are reading this, I could use a call! :)
15. The hope of a sunny day... because even if I haven't seen one in a while, I still remember how it feels to sit and listen to the chirping swallows and feel the warmth spread over my skin.

I need...

SOME INSPIRATION!!

I seem (once again) to have lost my scrapbooking MOJO. I really have no desire to create anything. I find my days somewhat empty and I fill them with exercise, chores (OHHH! I have to remember to do a load of laundry today!), reading, doing Sudoku, watching TV, etc.

If I happen to wander into "my" scrap room and find that it does not have any children in it (this rarely every happens), I am very likely to sit at the computer and buzz around the internet or answer my email or play spider solitaire.

Today I did pick up the roughly 100 ish pictures from our trip to Australia last year and put them into a "sleeve" type of photo album. The problem is I forgot what order we did things in, and I can't find any written notes about the trip anywhere. I know I must have written stuff down while we were there, but I didn't put it with the photos, and now it is LOST! So, where do I go from here? I can't really fill the album in just from memory.... So for now, that project will sit on my "half finished" shelf.... Unfortunately, the "half finished" shelf is FULL! And, after rifling through the stuff on it, I am even less likely to feel creative...

So, what should I do?

I guess I'll go print out my Sudoku puzzle for today, and wait for Mark to get home!

Hoping you are feeling great!

Nancy

Book 7

I had seriously considered going to Borders last night at midnight to pick up my reserved copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but all of the ridicule from my family kept me at home. So, today I arrived home from my weekly grocery shopping trip with "the book" in hand. That was at 11:50 am. At promptly 1:44 am I read the last page of the 759 page book! I guess you could say I couldn't put it down! Also, I was extremely paranoid that some tidbit of info off the internet or TV would reveal too much info before I got to finish the story the old fashioned way! Next week, I'll probably sit down and reread the whole thing again.... you know, savor it!

Hope you are having a great weekend, too!

Love, Nancy

Cabo (not so) Wabo

1. the view from the 3rd floor of the lovely mall out to the marina
2. A little "nook" near the wine and cigar bar at our condo
3. Mark on the golf course
4. The only picture of me from the whole trip

We'll be going back every year from now on, so if you'd like to tag along, please let us know.

Adios, N

Zombie

So, on our vacation in Cabo, Mark (Hi honey!) accused me of not being able to relax. I think his exact words to my floppy, sighing, complaining of boredom self were "Your problem is that you just don't know how to relax!"

So here is a sample of the last 3 days of my life to disprove his theory....

1. I have basically not left the comfort of my home in 3 days.
2. Okay, on Sat, I did drive K to a friend's house, but I was the not showered, wearing my sweats, hair in a sloppy pony, sunglasses not covering nearly enough of my splochy face, preworkout me.
3. I have not gotten out of bed before 9 am.
4. I have not taken a shower before 1 pm.
5. I have not worn a stitch of makeup for 2 straight days.
6. I have not done more than pull my hair back into a pony for 2 straight days.
7. I have not called anyone or made any contact with the outside world (other than through the internet).
8. Today (at 11:45) I am still not showered, but I have made an important phone call to the insurance co of the man who rear ended me and Danette on our way home from our visit to see Michelle. This was 1 of the 2 items on my to do list for today. The other is to go to Costco and get the pictures from Cabo developed. I feel positively productive!

So, I think you will agree that I CAN relax.... I just don't choose to do it on vacation!

Hope you are having a great and productive day too!

Love, Nancy

We're back!!

Had a really nice week in Mexico with Mark. It was different from our earlier travels to Cabo in that usually our trip motto is "we have more time than money, so we do not want to go to your time share presentation, thank you, but we would rather pay full price."

This trip our motto was "sure! we'd be happy to go to see your presentation, what will you give us for free?"

We went on a sunset cruise on a pirate ship called the Buccaneer Queen.
We got $200 off our car rental.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner where we indulged in everything from appetizers to drinks to dessert (a 97.70 dollar value) for $20.
We were given passes for a day at an all inclusive resort (which we didn't get around to using).
We received 20% off of all purchases made at our resort.
And we were treated to 3 free breakfasts.... one of which included mimosas... yum!

Too bad we couldn't get deals like that in Eureka.... Sure, I'll go to your presentation..... will you give me a free breakfast and a gift certificate to buy groceries?

Keep on praying for that Sugar Pine house to sell......

Until the pictures are developed....

Sigh, Nancy

Independence Day

There is a place where truth prevails
and justice stands, where courage is more
than a word and peace is more than
a feeling...
There is a place we call America.


I am off to Cabo until the 12th.

Hasta Luego!

Love, Nancy

The Boys...

The essence of CUTE...

I had such a great weekend in OR visiting with two of my dearest friends and getting to know these sweet little boys! It was so amazing to me how taking care of their needs fills up your day so completely it's 3 pm and you haven't even remembered to eat lunch yet! I am in awe of their mom and how she's adjusted so wonderfully to being a mom after so many years of waiting. Cuddling babies and feeding babies and laughing with babies has to be one of my most favorite activities EVER!

Now, I'm off to Redding for the day with Mark, but I might check in tomorrow before I go to Mexico!

Love, Nancy