Through The Tulips Words of 'Wiz'dom

June 16, 2009

The Best Things In Life Are….

Filed under: Life — gardener @ 11:33 am

Yep, you guessed it- some of the very best things in life are F-R-E-E, or at least pretty close to it.

With summer a few days away, I thought it would be a great time to talk about some of my favorite affordable pleasures.   You know the ones-  those little things that we love, ohhh soooo muchhh that don’t break the bank to enjoy.

Ten of my own personal favorites are:

  • Reading-  You don’t have to buy a book to enjoy it-  Head over to your local library and borrow one, or check out some of the book swapping sites online.
  • Bike Riding-  The bike I currently own was given to me by one of my best friends when she bought a new one, and it sat in the storage shed for close to a year before I ever decided to venture out.   Now that I have, I LOVE it and would bike every single day if the weather permitted.
  • Museums- I’ve recently discovered that many of our local museums are either free or admission is very inexpensive.  On those rainy days- it’s the perfect place to spend your time.
  • Letter Writing- Forget e-mail- grab your favorite pen, a piece of paper and scribble out a few words to some of your favorite people.   Give it to them the next time you see them, or add a postage stamp and send it the old fashioned way- through the mail.   Not only is it fun- knowing that you made someones day is a wonderful feeling.  Trust me, more people want to hear from you than you think.
  • Walk in the park- There is usually a park to be found somewhere in most neighborhoods, so put on your walking shoes and walk, walk, walk.  You never know what you’ll run into while you’re out walking.  Take the time to enjoy your surroundings.
  • Go to the beach- If you live near the beach- pack yourself a bottle of water, a sandwich and head off to the beach.   Spread out a blanket, enjoy the sound of the waves, and relax.  It’s one of my very favorite things ever- and if I’m feeling weary, stressed or even frustrated- my troubles magically melt away.
  • Window Shopping- I live in a place where the stores close fairly early, and one of my favorite things to do is to visit a nearby city and walk along the store fronts window shopping. 
  • Music- Turn on the radio and listen to some music.  I love music, and nothing can bring me out of a slump like a good song on the radio.
  • Photography- With the age of digital cameras being so affordable,  almost everyone can grab a digital camera and go on their own personal photo shoot.   The great thing is- no expense of processing photos you don’t want-  just click and choose the ones you’d really love to keep.
  • Painting- Technically speaking you could paint with mud if you wanted to, but I prefer acrylics and water colors.  Not that I’m very good mind you, but it’s fun, and fairly inexpensive. 

Your turn!   Please share some of your affordable pleasures with us.    Who knows, it may become one of mine as well.

June 14, 2009

Counting Down

Filed under: Gratitude,Life — gardener @ 6:48 am

It’s hard for me to believe that the days are flying by at the rate of speed that they are, and that tomorrow is the 15th of the month of JUNE.  JUNE!   Where have the days gone?   I know this isn’t the first time that I’ve mentioned how fast the time seems to be flying, and trust me- it probably won’t be the last. 

Over the next few months, I have so much to look forward to.  Granted- I look forward to each and every day, as it always brings something new, and usually something unexpected.  I also usually learn something each and every day, useful tidbits of information that I can pack in my suitcase of knowledge and carry with me on this continued journey called life.

Marcel and I are still undecided about a vacation this year.  We have a few ideas, but with the new car and other expenses, I’m just not sure we want to fork out the cash- but we’ll see what happens as the days and weeks unfold.

In less than three weeks one of my oldest, and dearest friends will arrive for 11 days of fun!  I’ve already begun the countdown and been planning things that we can do on her arrival day, and the subsequent days that follow.   She’ll turn 40 while she’s here, and I’ll turn 42.  It will be great to celebrate my birthday with someone from home for a change, and we plan to do it in style, with lots of photographs to follow.

Next Sunday, I have the opportunity to meet up with someone I went to high school with.  He and a team of five others are flying to Rwanda on a missionary trip and have an almost 12 hour layover here in Neverland.   I’ve offered to spend most of the day with them, show them around, and give them a little feel of the city.  It will be fun, plus I’m really excited about seeing Chris again after more than 20 years.  

There is also the possiblity of meeting up with another friend that I know from online in October, because she may also have a layover here.  She’s a wonderful person, and I hope we’ll have the opportunity to finally meet after all these years of knowing each other online. 

Also in October, a friend of my brothers is going to be in the area.  He and his wife are possibly going to add A’dam to their list of travels, and if they d0, Marcel and I will spend some time showing them around, plus getting to know them.  I’m looking forward to it, and hope that the opportunity presents itself.   I’m always excited when I get to spend time with people from home.

Right now, I’m going to pour myself a cup of java- head outside and spend some time in the sunshine.   I need to vacuum, and I may do that before I go, but the rest of the day is mine- and I plan to enjoy every second of it.

My Gratitude List for June 14, 2009

Today I’m Grateful for:

  • My dear friend Maggie, who is celebrating her birthday today.
  • All the little things in life worth celebrating.
  • Factory rebates on both my camera AND Marcel’s TomTom. Yeah!!
  • Finally getting my updated budget done, which has been on my ‘to do’ list for a long time..
  • Downward movement of the scale.

June 12, 2009

So Much- So Little Time

Filed under: Gratitude,Life — gardener @ 11:28 am

I have so much to tell, but so little time the last few days. Wonderful things have been happening to people that I love- with my parents celebrating their 44th anniversary yesterday, to my friends Maggie and Kimmie celebrating their birthday’s tomorrow. It’s times like these- those wonderful celebration moments, that I wish I could zap myself from one place to another, to share in these special moments with these people who mean such a great deal to me.

I have also been splurging a little the past couple of days- buying a ‘fold-up’ hammock for myself, a new camera, and a Tom-Tom Navigation system for Marcel. I figured since he has the car, he needs to make sure he doesn’t get lost along the way.

I hope to have more time this weekend to spend on the computer, but right now, my coffee awaits.

My Gratitude List for June 12, 2009.

Today I’m Grateful For:

  • Sleeping late, and the cut in my mouth finally healing a little.
  • My new camera, which takes awesome photos- and will be great to carry with me everywhere I go.
  • Friendship.
  • Birthday’s and anniversaries of people I love.
  • Ice Cold Green Tea.

June 9, 2009

Family Ties

Filed under: Life — gardener @ 8:12 am

There was a time when I never considered where I came from.  I knew that I was a child born to mom and diddy, and knew who my grandparents were, and that was always enough for me.   I have friends who are very much into finding out their ancestry and I always wondered if they did it for fun, or just out of curiosity of their ancestry dna.

Several years ago, Marcel and I had the opportunity to visit Scotland with my parents. It had been a dream of my diddy’s for many years- as his ancestors came over to the U.S. from Scotland- the Isle of Skye to be exact. To see him realize that dream was one of the most memorable moments of my life, and I can imagine it always will be. I remember standing behind he and mom as they walked towards the entrance of our ancestrial castle and having tears in my eyes at the magnitude of that particular moment.

It was then that I believe I also became curious as to what other mysteries lie in our families past, and what stories they could tell. When you think about it- it’s fascinating, and now I have a much better understanding as to why people spend years researching their family history.

What about you? Do you know where your family history lies?

June 8, 2009

Visits and Visitors

Filed under: Gratitude,Life — gardener @ 2:58 pm

I’m home alone this evening- the second of two while Marcel is off working.  I had big plans of how I was going to spend my time, but somewhere I lost track and two hours have passed and I’m not sure where they went.  

Well, I shouldn’t say that I’m not sure where they went, because I’ve been trying to play ‘catch-up’  because I haven’t spent that much time online lately, and while I’ve made some progress, I’m still not fully caught up with emails- but there’s tomorrow.  

 I did make tenative plans to meet up with an old friend from High School who will be in the area for a layover while headed with a group of six for a missions trip.  I’m excited about meeting up with them and showing them around a little.  I’ll find out more details later this week.

I also made plans to meet up with my friend Vivi who lives several hours away.  We’ve been talking about getting together for a while, but our schedules haven’t allowed- but we’ve finally been able to work something out.  I’m looking forward to it.  Even though we’ve only met once,  I really like her and I know we’ll have a blast.  

Since I’m talking about travels- and friends-  I’m on the countdown until Samantha arrives for her trip.  Just a little over three weeks and she’ll be headed this way. I can’t wait!!   I’ve been planning and plotting, and I hope to make this trip not only special but memorable for her.  I love visitors from home!!

Since it’s getting late, I guess I should drink a glass of milk and go curl up on the couch and watch a little television.  That shouldn’t take long to lull me into sleep.  

Tomorrow, I’ve promised to make some of Marcel’s favorites for dinner.   Homemade fried chicken breast strips, italian seasoned breaded zucchini, and potatoes.   I know- it isn’t exactly what I’d call ‘healthy’  but he’s been asking for a while, and I decided that tomorrow I’d make it for him.  The moment I told him, his face lit up with excitement- and that makes it all worth the effort of cooking two meals.    I’ll stick to baked chicken with fresh zucchini, mushrooms, peppers and grape tomatoes.  YUM!

My Gratitude List for June 8, 2009.

Today I’m Grateful For:

  • Making plans to spend the day with my friend Vivi.
  • Notes on menapause from my friend Maggie. (Thank you!)
  • Sleeping late this morning, and Marcel getting enough rest after working all night.
  • One of my favorite shows starting a new season next week!
  • The circus coming to town-  I’m going visit the animals!

June 4, 2009

Love, Love, Love

Filed under: Gratitude,Life — gardener @ 11:28 am

Even though I’ve been extremely busy as of late, the one thing that has been equally as busy is the gray matter. I’ve been doing alot of thinking (what else is new?), and the more problems I see arise in the world, the more hate, the more discontent, the more wars, the fighting, the INSANITY-

…..The more I’m convinced that the world needs more LOVE.  Not Hollywood, feel-good-ooey-gooey-unrealistic-love, but real, true love.

I don’t care who you are, we ALL need love.

My Gratitude List for June 4, 2009.

Today I’m Grateful For:

  • People who notice, and by doing so inspire and encourage.
  • An afternoon spent shopping with Desere.
  • Unexpected blessings, both large and small.
  • Homemade chicken soup
  • New life- Sheila’s baby was born yesterday.

June 3, 2009

Start to the Day

Filed under: Life — gardener @ 1:24 am

Finally, this morning I have a few moments to relax before I have to get started with the busyness of the day. The temps are slightly cooler than yesterday, the winds a little higher, but the sun’s shining and that’s what matters to me.

I should be having breakfast, but instead I’m sitting here, hoping to catch up on a few things. I’m boiling some eggs, that will later become part of the beet salad that I’m making for tonights dinner. I’ll finish it in a little while, and keep it in the fridge all day to combine the flavors from the ingredients.

Somewhere along the way, I need to get a work out in, a bath, and attempt to do something with this new hair style. I think she cut it a little shorter than usual, and hopefully it will look better when styled, right now it’s a mess- but then I haven’t been out of the bed that long, so it’s to be expected.

This afternoon, Marcel and I are headed to a nearby town to continue our quest for a new car. I’m hoping that the visit will prove fruitful, but time will be the only true tale.

Marcel also wants to look at gps systems. A couple of my friends have been doing ‘geo caching’ and I think it would be fun to have one for that, plus it always makes navigation easier- provided my dear husband actually listens to it. He tends to not listen to the ‘voice’ when he thinks he knows better. I have to wonder if that’s similar to the men not asking for directions thing.

Guess I’d better go run some cold water on the eggs. I would hate to overcook them.

How are you spending your day?

May 27, 2009

Smiles

Filed under: Life — gardener @ 1:00 pm

There are some things in life that make me smile-  the photo below is one of them.

9days

There have even been times when I’ve had similar thoughts- but right now I know that every single day that I’m staying within my calorie ranges, that something great is happening within my body, and that’s something worth celebrating.

My Gratitude List for May 27, 2009.

Today I’m Grateful For:

  • Marcel being able to visit the cemetary today without too much struggle.
  • Making it through my work out even though I wanted to stop before I ever reached the half way point.
  • Being appreciated for the simple things- such as cooking dinner.
  • The internet working- which has been having problems for the last few hours.
  • The beautiful card I received today from Desere, and the letter from Doris.

May 18, 2009

Great Start to the Week

Filed under: Gratitude,Life — gardener @ 10:37 am

There are some Mondays that you find yourself wanting to crawl back in bed, cover your head and hide from the world.   In my day, I’ve actually had plenty of those, but the start of this week was NOT one of those days.

Marcel and I decided that we’d get up and at it early this morning so that we could get all the grocery shopping done, plus catch up on a few things around here before the day flew past.   He’s working tonight, so that leaves me ‘home alone’, and I usually have an easy day in the kitchen on Monday’s during the winter and spring months, because his mom makes soup for the family on the weekend, and sends us all home with a huge container. 

Today, I decided to make something different, and we’ll have the soup tomorrow.   We had chicken today, and chicken soup tomorrow- so it looks like the theme this week is starting out with chicken- ‘cluck-cluck’.

The sun is shining today and the skies clear, and aside from the 40 mph winds, it’s a perfect day for a bike ride.    I knew Marcel didn’t really want to ride, but he did anyway, because he knew I really wanted the exercise.  To say that it was difficult with the winds would be an understatement, but one thing is for sure- it definitely got the heart rate up.

We stopped in at my favorite cafe in the town center, and I had the same thing I always have when I go there- chocolate cappuccino.    It always makes me smile when we come in and sit down, and they ask us if we want the chococcino and the cappuccino.  I like it that they remember.  Little things like that mean a great deal to me.

Afterwards we biked for another half hour, and along the way I took a turn too quickly and wiped out by hitting the curb.  I could see it coming, so when I hit the curb I jumped instead of falling with my bike, but it shook me up for about thirty seconds and then I was back on the bike and continuing on the journey.

Once we arrived at home, I was feeling pretty energetic, so I decided to go for a run on the elliptical, and while I did that, Marcel not only vacuumed the entire place, but when I finished, I walked into the kitchen and he was doing the dishes as well.    He’s always great about helping when I’m busy, but I didn’t expect that, but again – it’s one of those little things that mean a great deal.

Now, Marcel is napping- Mister M. is napping, and the only sound I hear is the birds singing outside and the tap-tap-tapping of the keyboard.   It’s going to be a great week.

How is your week shaping up?

My Gratitude List for May 18, 2009.

Today I’m Grateful For:

  • Marcel doing both the vacuuming and the dishes.
  • That I didn’t get hurt today on my bike ‘wipe-out’.
  • Great prices for fresh fruits and  vegetables at the grocery store.
  • Having a ‘home alone’ night.
  • The flowers I planted, which are starting to bloom.

May 12, 2009

Gonna’ Be a Bright- Sunshiney Day

Filed under: Life — gardener @ 1:26 am

Remember that song from the hmm 70’s maybe? “I can see clearly now?” For some reason, I’ve always loved it, and today reminds me of that song- the skies are blue- the sun is shining and life is good.

I always appreciate the sun, but I tend to appreciate it a little more when I find that the weatherman hidden inside my iPhone is wrong about cloudy skies and rain, and the sunshine comes as a beautiful surprise when I open my eyes in the mornings. Two days in a row that’s happened, and I’m thrilled. I think I’ll fire the iPhone weather guy- aka known as weatherchannel.com- where the application gets its 411 or (information).

My favorite guy is off yet again today, and we’re off to a local garden shop to pick out some flowers. Its a perfect day for planting, and if the winds die down, I may actually get to go for a bike ride sometime today as well.

Look all around, there’s nothing but blueeee skiesssss…..It’s gonna be a bright- bright sunshiney dayyyyyyyyyy

« Newer PostsOlder Posts »

Powered by WordPress