Slaying My Dragons

Some time back I was referred to a blog which had a post titled "Slaying Your Dragons Before Breakfast" or something like that. I don't remember much about the content of the post, but I think it was related to time management and getting started on your day by dealing with the tough things first, getting them out of the way and then moving on. Something like that.

Anyway, today is one of those days when I definitely need help in the time management area. Lots of dragons to be slain today. After a couple of days away with Al, I've come home to discover that nobody did the laundry or dealt with the dust bunnies or took care of the mail or prepared the Bible Study lesson......etc, etc. Probably because nobody was here - LOL!! In any event, there are lots of tasks and projects to be dealt with today, and I'm having a hard time prioritizing them. So far today, I more like a hummingbird or a butterfly (flitting from one thing to the next) than like a dragon slayer!

Maybe I need to sit down with another cup of coffee (always a good idea, if you ask me!) and make a list of everything that needs doing today. Then I can prioritize the list. That seems like a good strategy for slaying a dragon or two.

I'm Excited!

I'm excited! Tomorrow I'm going on a road trip.....to Charleston, West Virginia. What's so exciting about Charleston, West Virginia, you may be asking. Well, I don't know. Maybe a lot. Maybe nothing. I've never been there, so I don't have a definitive answer to the question.

What I am excited about is a six hour road trip. Yes, six hours in the car with my sweet husband. He's going to be working in Charleston, teaching a class there on Wednesday. So we're driving up tomorrow. And so......I'm excited. He's away from home so often that any time we spend together is a special treat. Even a six hour road trip, and the six hour road trip home on Wednesday. Yes, I confess that after almost 37 years of marriage, I still love spending time with him!! So, I'm excited!

As to whether or not there's anything really exciting about Charleston, West Virginia......well, I'll have to let you know when we get back.

The Sisterhood of the Pink Bubble

Almost 13 years ago I took the plunge and became an Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay Cosmetics. I had been using Mary Kay products for many years but had never given any thought to selling them until I was faced with the empty-nest as my youngest was going off to college. Even then, I wasn't looking to be a businesswoman as much as I was looking for something to fill my time, since I would no longer be a home-schooling mom. It's not as if I didn't have plenty to do.....I was teaching a full load of piano students as well as serving my church as Music Minister and teaching Precept Upon Precept Bible Studies in our church. But on June 12, 1996 I began a new career as an Independent Beauty Consultant.

I have loved my Mary Kay years, as a consultant and later as an Independent Sales Director. I've enjoyed the money I made, and I made a good income! I enjoyed the prizes I earned and the prestige of being a Star Consultant and of qualifying for my first car (I took cash compensation instead of the car.) But most of all I have loved the friendships I have made and the camraderie that exists between the women in Mary Kay. There is a real sisterhood in Mary Kay that is unlike any I ever experienced in any other job/career I ever had. It really is the sisterhood of the "pink bubble", and something not really understood by those outside the bubble.

When we moved to the mountains a few years ago and began life in this very isolated area, I put my MK career on hold and then chose to "retire" myself. But oh how I have missed it! I've continued to maintain my consultant status with the company and have continued using MK products - I wouldn't think of using anything else!! But I've been out of the bubble.....away from meetings and skin care parties and seminar and missing my MK girls!! Missing them a lot!! So much, in fact, that I'm coming out of retirement!! Certainly the current economic climate makes going back "to work" a good idea......some additional income will be helpful! But more than the money, I miss the sisterhood!! I miss the pink bubble!!

Whether or not I work my business on as big a scale as I once did remains to be seen......will I become a Sales Director or a car qualifier again? I don't know. What I do know is that I'm taking the first step......I've made the decision. And I am so excited!!!

So check me out at www.marykay.com/sfeaster. Leave me a note and tell me you were there. And if you don't have a personal beauty consultant, I'd love to provide that service for you.

Priorities

Today is such a beautiful day! It's a little cool for this time of year, but the sun is shining and everything is so green from all the rain we've had lately. There was actually a frost advisory last night! Good grief! It's the middle of May and we're still having to think about frost??!! What's up with that? So, like the good gardener I am (and that is a real exaggeration, I assure you), I went out last night and covered our squash and cucumbers and tomatoes with sheets to protect them from the frost.......the frost that didn't come, by the way! Thankfully the wind didn't blow my sheets down the side of the mountain!!

So, on this beautiful day when my to-do list is really quite long, what have I been doing? Well, I've wasted some time on Facebook, mostly playing Word Hunt, my new favorite game. I've watched the birds......lots of goldfinches at the feeders today, and I've been keeping my eye on the phoebe who built a nest in the roof of our carport. She's taking good care of her new babies. A wild turkey strolled through the carport a little while ago (in case that doesn't make sense, the carport is actually open on 3 sides.....it's a drive-through carport!). There are squirrels and chipmunks chasing each other across the bank behind our house. I think they are fighting over the acorns and hickory nuts. There's really no need to fight.....there's more than enough for all the critters to share!

I should be emptying and reloading the dishwasher and catching up with the ironing and straightening the clutter and maybe even trying to make some more progress on the basement clean-up project. That would be the basement clean-up project which seems to be getting worse instead of better! I should be finishing up preparations for tonight's Bible Study. That seems like the priority. So, now that I've finished my lunch, finished this post and wasted entirely too much time this morning, I think it's about time I got my priorities in order!!

I'm Not a Morning Person

I think this whole "morning person" thing is vastly overrated. What's so great about forcing yourself to get up before dawn even shows its face just so you can rush around frantically trying to convince yourself that you are getting lots more done? At least that's how it would be for me. Getting up early is not something that comes naturally to me. I hate alarm clocks. I hate being forced to be up and about before I want to be. I like to sleep until my body decides it has had enough (meaning.....has slept enough) and then to get out of bed. And I think I am a lot more productive when I can get up on my own timetable!!

I like to enter the day gradually. I'm not one of those people who hits the ground running.....who bounds joyfully into the day. I don't want anybody to talk to me until I've had a cup (make that several cups!) of coffee. Fortunately, even though I am married to a "morning person", he figured out a long time ago that I am not one of those and has adjusted admirably!!

Keep Smiling!

I was recently reading an account of Corrie ten Boom's life.....about how much she enjoyed her life, how enthusiastic she was about every task. When you think about all she and her family (and others) endured during the Holocaust, her joy and enthusiasm for life is a real testimony of her faith but also an example for all of us who have endured much less hardship yet never fail to find opportunities to whine about something! It was said of Corrie that she had an amazing sense of humor and that she spent a lot of time laughing, that even in her eighties she was very young in spirit. I admire that, and I aspire to that.

I can remember my grandmother often saying that age is a state of mind......you're only as old as you feel. And I don't ever want to feel old!! Getting older doesn't bother me, but I don't want to grow old in my thinking, in my attitude toward life. I hope never to lose my sense of humor about things. Yes, life has its ups and downs, its potholes in the road, its aches and pains. But dealing with all of that is really only an attitude, isn't it??

Proverbs 15:15......"He who is of a merry heart has a continual feast." I'm sure that's true for "she" of a merry heart as well!

Corrie said "The future is glorious. The best is yet to be." That's something to think about, something to look forward to. Certainly it's a reason to keep smiling!! And keep looking up!

A Tribute to My Mother

Certain sounds and smells always trigger memories. Listerine, Kleenex and Jergen's lotion always make me think of my grandmother. Jello always makes me think of my mother! It may be because she ate a LOT of Jello in my lifetime, partly because stomach ulcers were something she lived with for as long as I can remember. Salads made with Jello always trigger memories as well......I think this was more an economic than a health issue for her. Certain combinations......grape Jello with bananas, lime Jello with pears stuffed with cream cheese, lime Jello with pineapple and carrots.....those bring back memories for sure!

I have other memories as well......that she almost always had on a sweater, even in the warmest weather.......that she almost always had a tissue stuffed into the sleeve of that sweater, just in case! I remember the fruitcake cookies she always made at Christmas. It should be noted that I have always hated fruit cake, but I loved those cookies! I remember the "cranberry tip-tops" (a frozen concoction of cranberries, Jello, nuts, whipped cream) she made, only for Christmas.

I remember all the times as a child I got "the look" when my behavior didn't quite meet her standards. My sons may remember "the look" being directed at them......I think I learned that lesson well! And I have such wonderful memories of the times we laughed together as adult women, the shopping sprees and chocolate covered peanuts we shared, and the special moments of deep conversation. How I miss those!

There were so many things I admired about my mother. She was kind and loving, stern when necessary, had a great sense of humor. She loved Christmas and birthdays. She was a woman of great faith, a very disciplined woman, and one who did "all things as unto the Lord."

Even in the last years of her life after multiple strokes had affected her speech and her memory, she retained her sense of humor. She never complained, often laughing when she couldn't quite express herself....."oh, I can't say it!" she would say, and somehow we would figure out what she meant.

One of the most powerful memories of those last years is the Bible on her bed. She read that Bible every day, even when her brain would no longer let her exactly understand what she was reading. The Word of God was her constant companion. What an inspiration she was....and is...to me. And oh, how I miss her!

Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day weekend. And for the first time I can ever remember, I am spending it alone. Al left this morning for a week long business trip. He'll be back on Friday night and will leave again next Saturday morning and return the following Saturday. It's going to be a very long two weeks. Weekends when he is out of town are the worst. Somehow I get through the "work week" OK, even if he's gone all week. But the weekends are really tough, even after all these years of this lifestyle. I guess it's because there's the expectation that a working person would actually get a weekend to spend with his wife/family. Oh well......

And, also for the first time I can ever remember, I will not see either of my sons or my grandsons on this Mother's Day weekend. Since they have been grown, it is rare to have spent time with both sons on Mother's Day, but I've had some time with one or the other every year. Not this year. No sons. No grandsons. No husband. I'm really trying not to have a pity party! I'm trying to stay busy. I have lots of projects "in process", including sorting years and years of photos, so I'll be busy traveling down memory lane this weekend! Missing my husband, missing my boys, missing my grandsons, and missing my mother. But enjoying the wonderful memories we have made together.

Nobody Rains on My Parade!

One of the lessons I have learned over the years is the power of "self-talk".......the things we say to ourselves, the thoughts we think about ourselves have powerful effect on our attitudes and our behaviors. This has been true through all the years of my life in the "pink bubble" of Mary Kay. It is a truth that is emphasized in our Weight Watchers meetings. For many of my years as a beauty consultant I practiced this in the form of what we pink ladies refer to as positive affirmations. One of the things I said to myself over and over is "I will let nobody rain on my parade, I will let nobody push my buttons."

But......reality check.....over the last several years I have let people rain on my parade. I have let people push my buttons. I have let circumstances and other people control my attitude. I have gotten bogged down in what other people think. And I am here to say.......NO MORE!!!

Now, lest the two of you who may be reading this get the wrong impression, I am not referring to anyone in my family or to whom I am related either by blood or by marriage!

So let me be clear. I will not give control of my life, my thoughts, my emotions, my career choices to the "negative nellies" around me. Nobody will rain on my parade! Nobody will push my buttons. I will go over, under, around or through ANY obstacle that gets in my way because I am a woman on a mission with a vision and a passion for excellence. And my blood runs PINK!

Need More Coffee!!

What is it about rainy days that have me craving coffee?? Maybe it's a combination of the sound of rain on the tin roof, the various shades of gray I see as I look out the windows (the clouds have settled in on our mountaintop) and a lack of sleep.......I stayed up too late catching up on my DVRed TV shows. So I'm on my second pot of coffee......and yes, I know that is too much caffiene and no, I don't care!!! I love my coffee! And since it's my turn to teach at Bible Study tonight I need to be awake and alert to finish preparing the lesson, and then to teach it. So.....more coffee is in order! Not that I mind at all. I really do love coffee!!!

Not everything is gray and gloomy today. The trees in front of our house are getting their leaves. And the bird feeders are full today.......lots of finches and doves and hummers!! And more good news......I have an appointment for a hair color "fix" on Thursday. Life is good!

Change

This is a week for some changes. Of course, we are in the process here in the mountains of changing from winter to spring, and that's a good thing. You can almost watch leaves appearing on the trees. There are more birds at the feeders. The hummers are back, along with lots of finches. We planted our "garden" on Saturday.......lots of tomatoes, some in those upside-down planters, along with some squash and cucumbers. The "garden" is actually a series of pots. Living on the side of a mountain, literally, as we do, there are not a lot of good garden spots, and if we plant very far from the house, then everything we plant will be eaten by the deer and other critters.

We also put some flowers in the beds and porch planters. It's amazing how much the color boosts our mood!!

There will be other changes this week. My hair color for one. I had new highlights put in a couple of weeks ago. The more I look at myself in the mirror, the less satisfied I am with how it turned out. I know.......vanity, vanity, thy name is Susan!! My husband is not happy with the new color either.......he said it made me look old. That was all it took!!! Change is coming!

There are changes coming on the inside as well. I've been in a serious state of blah for a while now. So, I need a major attitude adjustment and I have determined that starts today. Time to get rid of the "stinkin' thinkin'", as one of my mentors used to say. In spite of some less than ideal circumstances, I CHOOSE to think positively, to view the glass as half full rather than half empty. I CHOOSE to look forward, not backward. I CHOOSE to determine my own attitude rather than letting circumstances determine it for me. I CHOOSE to be enthusiastic! I CHOOSE to keep my eye on the goal. I CHOOSE not to let other people's attitudes and judgments about my choices drag me down. I CHOOSE to run the race set before me.

So, look out world! I'm back!!

Futility

I accomplished a lot yesterday in my basement clean-up project. I began in the office, which I determined to be the area where it most matters if it's clean and organized. At the end of the day, I was tired but had a sense of satisfaction that I had made significant progress toward my goal. Of course, it still doesn't look like I've made any progress, but I know that I have.

I was reading this morning in the book of Ecclesiastes. The writer uses the word "futility" a lot. I think maybe he has seen my basement!