Step Away From the Cake

 A couple of days ago I stumbled upon a walk for peace on Facebook. A group of monks are walking from Texas to Washington D.C. for peace.  I've fallen down the rabbit hole and have read most of their posts, watched their reels and their lives. For some reason, that I can't quite explain, it just really touches my heart. Oh, they also have a dog walking with them, Aloka - a Sanskrit word meaning light, brightness, or illumination.  I love that little dog and I've never even met him. I love these monks and I've never even met them. If I lived where they were walking through, I would absolutely go and meet them. Entire towns are turning out  to meet them. Entire towns are sitting and praying with them. It is so freaking awesome to see. I think seeing people come together in this time where everything, mostly our politicians, are driving us apart, it just so heartwarming. And the little dog too. I think with all that is going on in this country, I, and many others, are j...

 So it begins. Christmas is over and now the wind down/build up to the new year begins. I find it amazing how much money is spent on Christmas advertising. There are commercials that are made just for these few weeks. Granted some of them are recycled for years and years. There is one I saw this year that has to be 20-25 years old. It's a cabin on the beach with a palm tree that is decorated, it's for Corona beer. I remember it only because when it came out we lived at Kualoa Ranch and I wanted to go to Chinamen's Hat and decorate the one lone coconut tree on that. I thought we could bring a generator and light it up at night. Never happened. But we lived at Kualoa from 1991 - 2002 - something like that. So that commercial is at least 20 years old. Anyway, a lot of  money is spent on Christmas advertising. Okay, I completely lost my train of thought, let's try again.  We begin the wind down to the new year. It's going to be 2026 - amazing. We weren't supposed to...

 It's Christmas morning. Specifically it's 7:00 am on Christmas morning. And I just got up. At 7am. I had a terrible start to the night but it got better as the night progressed. There is way TMI ahead. I have not been able to poop for about 3 days. I was feeling it. I tried everything I could think of, but nothing. We went over to some friends last night and had some spicy spaghetti sauce - thought that might help - and kind of ate a lot - thought that might help too.  Well, when I got home I had to go. Yay, I thought!!! Not so fast. After sitting for like 30 minutes, nothing happened. UGH!!! Eventually I went to bed and fell asleep. Around 10:30pm I woke up and really felt like I had to go. I got up, went pee, and sat for a bit but nothing happened. So I went back to bed. But I could not relax since I had this pressure in my lower abdomen and the distinct feeling that I was going to go any second no matter where I was. So after a bit, I got up with the idea of just staying u...

 The holidays are just not as exciting since the kids are gone. It's just not the same without kids around. We've been alone for Christmas/Christmas Eve for over 20 years now. We rarely put up a tree. We rarely get each other presents anymore. We have reached that point in life where if we want something we buy it. I'm not going to spend hours looking for something unique and different that he might like. And I don't expect him to do that either.  We are going over to some friends today. We've kind of made it a tradition. We'll hang out, play some games, and eat dinner. Then head home kind of early and settle in for the night. It will be quiet. We'll be in bed at our normal time and get up  to a quiet day tomorrow. I can see how some people might think that's sad or lonely but it's not. We did our time with the big family and the 2-3 days of gatherings and the games and the loudness. Now is the time for quiet.  I do miss our younger years. We always ...

 I would like to take a few minutes and talk about goals. Specifically what are my goals for this coming new year? I like having goals, not resolutions. In my mind, resolutions are things you are going to change about yourself; quit smoking, lose weight, etc. But goals are things you are going to work towards. You can have a goal of losing weight, but there is a clear path you are going to follow to get there, not something that you are just changing - boom. If that makes sense, it does to me. Anyway, I love the new year. It's like the ultimate fresh start. There is a whole year laid out before you just waiting to be written. I love that idea so much.  I was just looking through posts from the beginning of this year and I can't seem to find my goals post. I think I made one. I know I made a vision board which usually goes with a goals post. Hmmmm....guess I didn't. Which would explain some of the posts earlier in the year. I wasn't getting anything done. I had a to-do l...

 So I threw my prompt sheet away. They were pretty good, but I generally do better on my own. I can go deeper when I write about what I want to write about. So here I am, winging it.  And of course my mind goes blank..... I want to use today to set the routine that I want to follow for the next two weeks. I let myself have the weekend to just do whatever, but I want to set a routine that I can follow and stick to for the duration of  break. So I got up around 4:30am. I'm doing this. Then I plan to work out. I have not worked out in at least 3 weeks and I have not worked out consistently in at least a month. Time to change that. Then I need to shower and walk the dog. After that I have a phone call with the retirement company or should I say the company that will hire me when I 'retire'. I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row with them, so I have a phone call with them at 9am. Then I have an eye doctor appointment at 10am. And that's it. That's all my appoi...

 I've been following these journal prompts all month so far and they are okay. Some of them just don't hit right. While I am a journaling fiend, I guess I have to talk about what what I want to talk about. Today is a day for reflection and I think I will do that.  Over the years, I've worked my way out of rumination and overthinking pretty much. I can think about something deeply and then put it out of my mind. But still yet, every once in a while, something will rear it's head and I'm not sure why. I had that last night. I kept thinking about a conversation I had with a coworker. I'm not ashamed of what I said, I spoke the truth. But yet, it was running around my head last night. Weird. Might it have upset her? Yes. But honestly, she needs to know there are people out there like me. I'm not alone. Anyway, it was kind of strange that came up last night.  I've taken these first 3 days of break to do what I want. I've been working in the garage mostly,...