More Of The Small Things That Can Make For A Good Week

 I had a plethora of small gestures or activities that absolutely put this past week in the win column.

What put a smile on my face.....let's look at the list and the pictures (yes pictures...lots of pictures...LOL)

1. The wires that had been hanging from a phone jack high up on the wall in the kitchen are no longer visible!!  The connections for my phone, Internet and cell booster have been moved.  Now the only thing I see is one small cord that runs to my window and leaves only a few inches of wire exposed.  And the old phone switch plate....presto....cover by a framed sea themed magnetic board on which I have a few items that were on the front of my fridge.

2.  The wood painting project I completed a few weeks ago is now hanging outside my house.  It looks great !!

3.  The guest room is not longer cooled by an oscillating fan on a dresser. A ceiling fan has been installed!! (we have central air through out the house but I am no where near ready to run that!!)

4.  The light over the dining room table that irritated the heck out of me.....replaced!! And the new light looks so much better and is centered over the table vs the center of the room.  I know that sounds strange but in order for the old light to be over the center of the table, the table would have been halfway out of the dining area.

Before:

After:

5. Jenn painted two small tables (that sit next to some chairs) and an end table white.  They look great!! Next is the coffee table, also in white.  We also discussed the table in my bedroom that holds my TV painted in a shade of blue to match my night tables.

Old table:

Freshly painted table:

6.  My work buddies and daughter have been getting my case about not drinking enough water.  I walked into my office on Monday to 41 bottles of water! I guess I have no more excuses.....

7.  On Wednesday, my manager left me a yellow rose in a really neat container.  I LOVE yellow roses....my favorite flower !!!

8.  The broken brick steps out of the back of my unit are now covered with a new wood platform and a step down to safety. No more worrying about not having a safe exit from the back of the house. (you can still see some of the old broken bricks on the side). And a motion detector was added overhead too!

9.  On Thursday, I was in my driveway at 7:30 !!! WOO HOO!!!

10.  I got my Beaufort Library card and am now learning about the world of "Hoopla"......downloading books to my iPhone for those long car trips.

11. The weather has finally gotten to a point where I am writing this sitting on my porch.  All the windows are open and I am wearing a light sweater but it is still lovely to be outside.

12. I had my lowest electric bill in months......you have to love the times of year when you do not have to use the heat or central air.

13.  Yesterday, I listened to 2 POD CASTS. I probably have listened to only one or two previously.  One was about 5 Guys and the other was about one of my fav's.....the inventor of Spanx.

14.  Jenn found me an oldies station in Beaufort that even runs retro commercials such as an ad for a 1957 Chevy....LOL.

15.  It is getting brighter earlier so I do not have to do as much of the drive to I95 (which takes approx 50-60 minutes) with my high beams on. Now I am able to appreciate some beautiful sunrises over the marshes as I make my way through the back roads.  Each time I drive down Old Sheldon Church Road, I am taken back by the beauty of the trees bending over the road with the Spanish Moss hanging down from them.

16.  Finally, only 240 days until Christmas (239 days until my favorite day of the year....yes, Christmas Eve)......you can laugh at me now but trust me after Memorial Day the rest of the year will go by in a flash......and each night this is the last thing I see as I fall asleep.....

Did any of these things cost a small fortune? No. Some were free...even better!!

A lot to reflect on.......a lot to be grateful for.....all in one week......if this coming week is just half as good, I will feel very lucky and blessed............

See you next week.....

All Of My Lists......

I am a list maker. Call it a genetic flaw.  I am the daughter of a list maker.  I have lists for everything....work.....chores....shopping.....things to do....places to visit.....things to get me through the week.

Each day before I head home from work, I write a list of things to accomplish the next day.  And many days I end up..... just re-writing the list from the day before......often there are not enough hours or days to get the satisfaction of completing am entire list.

There are times when I will write something on the list I have already done.  It might be an errand I didn't plan to run.  I add it so I can have the satisfaction or sense of accomplishment by crossing it out.

I write lists for the meals for the upcoming week, lists to remind me what to pack for lunch.

My notes app on my phone has 24 lists.  They range from my meds to Christmas gift ideas for 2018.

One of my lists is labeled: Blog titles. I will have an idea pop into my head and instead of forgetting it in a nano second I add it to the list.

This week I had a couple of ideas.....one I didn't add to my list.  When I was getting ready to write this entry, I looked at my list.....it wasn't there.  I had neglected to add it.....ugh. I thought and thought and thought......for hours....I mentally retraced each day of the week and what could I have been thinking about that was blog worthy.....it was gone.......

I left my laptop on my table during the next few hours just in case the topic popped by in my head.

I stopped trying to force my memory and hoped it would come back to me.

I decided to take a nap and just as I started to doze....it came back to me.  I grabbed  my phone and jotted it down.

So here was what I wanted to write about today........not an award winning entry but something that made me laugh.

Once a week, I am lucky enough to spend a night at my friend, Mary's house.  Staying there saves 6-7 hours of travel time, a tank of gas and another 300 plus miles on my ever aging SUV.

I have made a few errors for my weekly visits.  Instead of packing shorts to sleep in, I have packed leggings or a pair of slacks.  Those nights I end up sleeping in the pants I wore to work.....not a great option but you do what you have to do. I won't share that after I realize my mistake.....I shower and put the slacks back on sans underwear (no way I am staying in them for 24 plus hours).

I now put my shorts and t shirt in my overnight bag as soon as I take them out of the dryer to avoid making that mistake again.  I pack my bag in the morning since many of the things I take I have to use before I leave the house.

This week as I went down my list, I got the the item Spanx. I opened my dresser drawer and grabbed the black Spanx.  Just a little background, I have purchased these over the last year or two.  I used to have to do laundry every other night since I only had two pairs.  Since they no longer make the style I like, I have had to search for them on eBay. Finally, I have 5 pair (no, I did not pay full price....I am not that crazy). I also had bought another pair in black but it was not the same style. I wear those less often since they are more of a challenge to get on......which is the point of wearing Spanx anyway.

I am sure you can see where this is going......

I pack my bag on Wednesday and off I go.  Thursday morning, I get ready for work.  I grab the black Spanx.  Yes, I packed the wrong ones.  These are the ones that are a tug of war to get on.  So there I am with no option.....the war begins. I get them up my legs and over my butt.....now I have to get them over my stomach.  I start to pull them up....they roll down.....I do this over and over again with no success.  I lay down on the bed....suck in my gutt and after several attempts they are now on and doing their job.....holding things in place and making body parts look flatter and less saggy.

Then it hits me......what am I going to do when I hit the bathroom during the day?? I won't have a bed to lay down on.  I am sure the sounds someone would hear from my stall in the ladies room would make people wonder "what the hell is she doing in there?"

Options....what options do I have? My daughter has only one workable solution.  Not my first choice but really my only choice......

I take the Spanx I wore the day before (yes, the day before), I turn them inside out and spray the hell out of them with something from Bath and Bodyworks. Feeling slightly gross but out of options, I leave for work. The day seemed endless and as soon as I walked in the house, I changed within 30 seconds.

As I did the weeks I forgot my nighttime shorts, I have now put the correct Spanx in my overnight bag a full 6 days before I will actually need them!  My weekly hostess has suggested I just leave somethings at her house on a regular basis vs packing a bag every week.....probably a very good suggestion........

See you next week.......

TGIF.....TGISat.....TGISun......

TGIF.....
By the end of the week.....my brain was fried.  The roll out of the training for the new system at work will be ongoing through the next few months.  My team members started rolling into town on Sunday.  Monday morning, we hit the ground running and by Friday afternoon......we were pretty much into overload.

Before my team arrived in town, I had told them I like the snack size cereal boxes. The kind served at the breakfast bar at the hotel they were residing at for the week.  I like them as a sweet treat, they are great for portion control and not too high in WW points.

It was clear they heard my "suggestion" regarding the cereal......by the end of the week here is what I had accumulated.........

I will be thinking of my underwriters through the next month or so whenever I reach for one of these boxes.

Best parts of the week:
- having my whole team in a room together - since my underwriters work remotely it was so worth them flying in for the week
-a team dinner at Mellow Mushroom
-heading home Friday night !!! LOL

TGISat.....

Waking up Saturday and not having to get in the car......is a slice of heaven !!!! Not having to wait for that first cup of coffee, opening the windows on the porch and showering when I wanted to vs squeezing it in during the first few minutes when I walk in the door at night. All cooking done for the week!

And I finishing my 4 week binge watch of the 6 seasons of Downton Abbey.  I am going to try and stay away from some of these series for a few weeks ......at least. I have binge watched The Crown, Frankie and Gracie and now Downton.....I might have picked up a British accent in the last month.....LOL.


TGISun.......

I was up early.  I had ordered some Capri's online and tried them on....too bad they have to go back.....too big!! I finished my Sunday paperwork, took care of the bills coming due and organized some things.  The best part was I did it all at my own pace!!!!  I think once I finish this entry......it's time for a nap!!

The bottom line:
Monday through Friday can be exhausting.......by the time Saturday rolls around......I can't move.....so tired....worn out.....and energy level on zero......by Sunday.....I can start to move and function and catch up.....energy level maybe 3.....

It's a life of Groundhog Day......Monday through Friday is constant and hectic........Saturday and Sunday is catch up from the week.....

NOT TGIMon......

Tomorrow begins the catch up due to last week's training and practicing on the new system.  Then it's time to cover for another team rolling into training.....running on two systems (old and new).......and of course month end is almost here and in my business that means "a little stress"......"a lot of stress".....

And on I go.........

See you next week.....

The World Does Not Stop Even If You Want It To.......

On the morning my grandfather died, my father headed to his mothers apartment to break the news. He got off the subway (actually the EL) at the Parkchester Station and walked from there to Benedict Avenue.

When he spoke of that morning, the one memory that stood out was the people rushing past him on their way to work.  Here he was during the rush hour, heading against the crowd of commuters and his world had changed in the previous few hours.

I feel like the last few weeks have been the same for me.  Since my last entry, I have wanted to stop the world and get off for a few moments here and there. But life does not really allow us these breaks so on we go.

On the plus side:
-another writers workshop is coming up in May
-my tax returns are done and submitted BEFORE the deadline
-at work, our Manager's Easter Bonnets were a big hit
-I went to a new dentist and liked his office
- my binge watching of Downton Abbey continues....LOL
-I arrived home one night this week at 7:30....what a treat!
-it is wonderful to drive a car with a windshield sans chips and cracks
-Nothing better than arriving at work to a hot cup of coffee (thanks Mary) and a gift (see the sign below) (thanks Crickett)

On the down side:
-I also had to meet with an Oral Surgeon....ugh
-Friday night it took 3 hours and 45 minutes to get home....double ugh
-I still can't say the "D" word easily and haven’t been able to change my status with HR at work
-the weather is still too cool by South Carolina standards in April

I look forward to:
- warmer weather....not hot!!
-being able to keep the porch windows open 24/7
-spending time at the beach
-taking off a day or two at least once a month
-trying out some new healthy recipes
-availing myself of more opportunities that are of interest to me

Starting this week....it's all about training at work.....and maybe some aspirin and pepto-bismol.....LOL

I am working to regain balance in my life......adjusting to the new normal.  Some days it's easy and others not so much. I am sure as time moves on it will become natural and I won't give more than a passing thought to the events of the last few weeks. I am aware I am focusing on the changes in my marital status much more than others........ but then again it's my life.........

See you next week......