Another Auld Lang Syne

This morning, I looked at my list of what I hoped to accomplish during 2018.

The items that I did:
-cars hold up
-mini-family reunion in June
-increase savings
-work on work/life balance
-get published
-continue to explore Beaufort
-meet more people- writing groups
- make commute more tolerable-more reading with hoopla (audio-books)
-time with friends
-pray more

The misses for the year:
- time at the gym
-work from home more
-all my siblings together
-shop for new appliances (mine are from 1989)
-refocus and redouble efforts at WW
-see the scale move down a lot

I guess in retrospect considering the kind of year it was the lists are not too bad.

Here I am, the next to the last day of the year.

Or should I say 2 days until the new year?

Some of the items on the list from 2018 will transfer to 2019.

- once Jenn's student loans are paid off in July, YES JUST 7 MORE MONTHS !!! Time for us to car shop.  That also means praying our cars can last another 7 months!!
- get to the gym at least on weekends and more time at the outdoor pool in the good weather
-back into WW mode and gets some more pounds off !!
-plan healthy meals for ALL meals (even breakfast and lunch at work)
-get a new stove, microwave and dish washer (a 30 year upgrade)
-work from home more
-see all of my siblings (even if not at the same time)
- work more on my book (as finances allow)
- have other work published
-appreciate each day I am given
-write 5 good things about each day
-do not take those in our lives for granted 
-continue to find time to pray
-work on stressing less

And as far as midnight, if I make it, I looked up this info:

One of my favorite quotes that goes with the song sung at midnight:

Harry: [about Auld Lang Syne] What does this song mean? My whole life, I don't know what this song means. I mean, 'Should old acquaintance be forgot'? Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot?
Sally: Well, maybe it just means that we should remember that we forgot them or something. Anyway, it's about old friends

What "For Auld Lang Syne" Means

The phrase "for auld lang syne" loosely translates as "for old times' sake." The speaker of the poem is hoping to preserve the oldest, most important relationships in their life. To that extent, it works well with the way we traditionally use the changing of the year to reflect on the past. 

In the US, it's sung just after midnight. But the song is sung all over the world with slight variations on the execution. In Scotland, it's sung just before midnight with a tradition of holding hands and running to the center of the group during the final verse. 

What Are the Words to "Auld Lang Syne"?

Here are the words to the original Burns poem, per Poets.org.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
     And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
     And auld lang syne!

     Chorus:
     For auld lang syne, my dear,
     For auld lang syne.
     We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
     For auld lang syne.

See you next week.

Pushing Through

Twas the 23rd of December.

Back on August 7th, I wrote a blog entry called "There Will Be Another Christmas".  I wrote about how fast the rest of the year would go.

And here we are the day before Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve has ALWAYS been my favorite day of the year.

Due to some expected and unexpected life events, 2018 turned out to be a more difficult a year than I expected when the New Year rolled around.

Divorce. A very challenging new operating system at work. The long commute. And the passing of a best friend/trusted advisor all were on the down side of the ledger.

Loving the feeling heading over the bridge to Beaufort. Seeing some of my Ohana. Getting my first byline. And finally, working on my first book.  All on the plus side of the ledger.

It is so easy to focus on the negatives.

Since June, I have tried hard to focus on the small and at times, unnoticed blessing we encounter each day.

I have not been perfect in my attempts and at times had to have someone pull me out of a funk.

In the past few weeks, I did find that people listened to me.  The gifts I have been given so far have been spot on for me.

A beautiful leather bound journal, a Kohl's gift card, a special pillow that will help me sleep (and maybe even back in my bed for a change), a crystal bracelet in my new favorite jewelry color (blue) and a unique map that shows where I live.

People gave these gifts a great deal of thought.  There were other gifts that were a true reflection of me.

I know it's not supposed to be about the gifts.  What happened this year was more unusual that other years.  It was clear people took the time and who thought "this is Donna" as they shopped.

And we haven't even gotten to the 25th yet.

I also tried to put more thought into what I purchased for others too.

For me, the tree lights and house lights seem a little dimmer this year.

Then you have those moments like yesterday, my friend, Kathy, brought two of her grandchildren over to decorate cookies with Jenn and me. It was two hours of pure fun and laughter.  To watch them add icing in a variety of colors to cookies along with sprinkles sufficient to cover a 10 tier wedding cake was so entertaining.

It was one of those small moments of which I am trying to be more aware.

After today, just 8 more days and we turn the page to a new year.  I will be glad to say farewell to 2018.

There will be other rough spots ahead.  I am hoping I have learned how to push through the tears, the pain and the sorrow.

Yes, there will be another spring, summer, fall and winter.

And yes, another Christmas.  Different from the past but there will be some bright spots in the future too.

A view of yesterday's creativity.

 And some of the special gifts I mentioned:

Merry Christmas!!

See you next week.

Have You Ever Done Something Really Stupid ?

I am trying to head into the final two weeks of the year with a positive mindset. Like many of you there are so many things that can drag us down.

This just happened and I can't believe I am going to share this story but if it makes you laugh as you read it I guess it is worth my embarrassment.  You will definitively be shaking your head.

The local landfill closes at 7:00 each day (except Wednesday when it is closed). Jenn and I usually make a mad dash right before closing time on Sunday evening.  Then we can start the week trash free. We also do the laundry late in order to make certain there is no dirty laundry to start the week. Today, I got in my nightshirt at 4:00 and started my laundry.

We finished baking our last batches of cookies (yes again).

A quick trip through the house to make sure all the trash baskets were empty, the shredder was cleaned out and a scan of the refrigerator to make sure nothing should go out.

At 6:30, we were off to the landfill. I drove, we took Jeter for the ride.  Jenn would be in and out of the car in less than two minutes to get rid of our trash.

Now remember, I said I had gotten into my night shirt (only a nightshirt).  I thought "what the hell, its just a 5-6 mile drive to the landfill."  I got in the car wearing my nightshirt and my jacket.  Cell phone and wallet in my pocket.

We are about 2 miles from the house and the check engine light goes on.  Really????? I turn off the radio and the heat thinking that might help.

Now, I am in a quandary. Do I drive back to the house or continue on with our trash to the landfill. 

I opt to keep driving.

I am thinking to myself who do I call that will not think I am insane for leaving the house like this? Island security, no.  The police, no.  A neighbor, no. Uber, no. Then I figure it out, we can call any of those people and they can take Jenn back to the house for her car.  I will sit in the broken down car with the dog until she gets back.  OK at least I now have a plan.

I was trying to stay calm as every crazy scenario popped into my head.The car breaks down, I get pulled over for speeding or a traffic check.  All in my nightshirt. I will never question the outfits I see on Live PD ever again.  I am sure I would have been quite a sight if an officer had pulled me over and told me to step out of the car.

Fortunately, I made it to the landfill and back without issue.

I doubt I will ever do anything that foolish again. Note, I said I doubt it, not that I am 100% sure I won't make a stupid decision like that once more.

See you next week.

Surprising results to a prayer

Last week, I could feel stress returning as I was anticipating returning to work after a week off.

It was only Saturday and there it was the feeling of dread.

Sadness, heart racing, unable to sleep and more.

I decided to pray about it. My prayer was simple, please let me handle whatever came my way.

No crying or anger or any of the other negative feelings was my hope.

I also prayed I would not wake up angry on Monday, even though I hate waking up at 5:00AM. I made sure I was settled in on Sunday night by 10:00PM. I woke up and felt ok which is an improvement over how I normally feel that early.

Monday, I got through the day letting things roll off my shoulders versus internalizing them. YEAH !

Tuesday was when I felt like I was starting to be tested. About 40 miles outside of Columbia, Jenn's car started to act up. Normally, this is when the stress would start to kick in.  Instead I called Hertz and arranged a car rental.  I called Goodyear and let them know we would be dropping the car off.  Then I prayed we would would chug along to our 40 mile destination.

We made it.

PLEASE NOTE: When you are driving either a 12 or 17 year old car, you are way behind the changes  made in the automotive industry.  No key to start the car, a back up screen and Sirius radio. We had read the owners manual to see how to put gas in the car.

Wednesday and Thursday, were not bad,  I fought off anything that might cause the "S" word to appear.

I was feeling good enough by myself.

Then Friday arrived.

On the way to work, once again the car started acting up this time 50 miles from Columbia.  There was a slight difference , it was my car this time.  I drove on the shoulder of the road as my car died.  I made it into the rest stop and the car went kaput.

Once again, the new fighting stress Donna did not lose it.  Jenn called AAA while I called Hertz in Columbia. Hertz had no cars available.  Jenn had finished the call to AAA.  Jenn suggested we look for car rentals in Orangeburg, SC.  Hertz, no one answered the phone.  Then we tried Enterprise and lucked out. They not only had a car but they would come to where we were on the highway and bring us back to the office to sign the necessary papers.  Meanwhile AAA was another issue.  We called them at 8:00, Jenn called them back at 9:15 for an ETA.  Magically, an email appeared telling us a tow truck would be there by 10:40.  Really??? 2 1/2 hours????  Then we received another call that someone would be there in less than 30 minutes which was very accurate.

We finally had the second rental car of the week and my car on it's way to Columbia for repairs.

I did post on FB about what had transpired and that I had had it, I was done.  But then something great happened, people started responding to my post.  Their responses were the thing I needed in order to accept what had happened and not throw in the towel.  Thank you all for reminding me we all get tested and that I am not a quitter.

Here were the pluses of this week:
I never felt stressed (the power of prayer).
Each person we dealt with was extremely kind.
Jenn's car is up and running.
My car will be back on the road Monday.
Jenn saw a blue Ford Ranger sitting on the side of the road as we chugged along on Tuesday. (We think it was our friend, Dan, keeping an eye on us and giving us a sign we would not break down before we hit our destination).
The security guard at my office must think I own a used car lot since I showed up in 5 different cars, one for each day of the week.
When I posted on FB that we were broken down on the highway, my next door called to let me know she was heading to Columbia and could she help out.
I didn't get upset over the large dollar amount for two cars to be repaired (one alternator, one fuel coil, one PCV hose, a spark plug, two tires and 4 days of car rentals (you can just guess how much money I am talking about can't you).

I got through it all and can say without tears, cursing, yelling or getting depressed (ok maybe a little depressed today when I figured out how to pay for the unexpected expenses).

Who needs a vacation/cookie jar account anyway?

I know most of you are thinking, just break down an buy a new or newer car already !!  We just have seven more months and Jenn's student loans will be paid off (WOO HOO), then we can look for newer transportation.  Until then it's duct tape and paper clips holding the cars together.

I was told once by my good friend that worry does not do any good and neither does stress.

Maybe this week was a test to see how sincere I was about wanting to work on handling stress better.

I will continue to pray about it.  It was clear this week my prayers were answered.

All the issues that came up this week were unplanned but isn't that a big part of life? Unplanned events.

Two quotes this week:

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. - John Lennon

You are braver than you believe and stronger and smarter than you think.- Winnie the Pooh (I am really becoming a big fan of the wisdom of  Winnie the Pooh)

See you next week.