People Who (Don't) Need People

Saturday is usually a work day for me. If I'm not in town with Cece, then I'm at home cleaning, creating, and soon I'll be back to yard work and gardening. It is not a day where I run errands, and today was a big reminder why not! 

The Brown Eyed Man belongs to the hall of fame committee for the local dirt racing track, and he had a 2pm meeting today. I wasn't on schedule for Cierra, so I thought I'd go to town too and we'd make an afternoon of it. It's not actually something we do often. Work schedules usually don't match up, and when we're home for the weekend, we're home. All errands in town accomplished beforehand. 

There's a car show today at the bowling alley where his meeting is taking place, and since I've never been to one I thought, why not? Well, ice was literally falling from the sky when we drove up, so that's why not! I dropped him off and headed my merry way down the road to the Walmart. The only choice in town for any kind of home goods. 

I was looking forward to some leisurely shopping, browsing the aisles for things I didn't know I needed, and then off to Aldi, which is my favorite, for the rest. Holy hell. I forgot why I stopped shopping on the weekend! You can't lollygag when the aisles are full. I didn't like groups of people BEFORE covid. I'm certainly not thrilled by them now. 

So I finished up too soon, and now I'm sitting in the parking lot waiting for the meeting to end, because the lot is full and I would rather my own company than the crush and noise of going inside! 

The sky is partly cloudy now, so maybe we'll walk around and see the cars when he's done. We're for sure going to Shamrock for pizza, no matter how "peopley" it is!  

Peace

I've been saving things that mean something to me in a little pile for blog posts, hoping that the muse will wake up and have something to say when I go through them. I saw this one on the internet today, and it worked. Probably because I'm at peace at the moment. 

I'm striving hard for a life of peace, which isn't easy, it's hard enough managing my own mindset, but the minute you include other people, negativity can take over in a heartbeat. Over the last several years I've made big changes in my professional life to make it much more flexible, which has made a huge difference. The flexible schedule that I now have has also helped remove a large amount of stress from my personal life. 

Even though I had  already downsized to working part time, Covid forced me to cut the final tie with teaching the littles, a profession that I love.  Seriously though, there are few jobs with more stress than a childcare teacher in a large center. Add a lack of pay, and little or no benefits to that, and you'll understand why they can't keep staff.  

Hanging out, being a Personal Care Assistant for my niece Cierra, who is 16, has been a Godsend in many ways. I think it has been about four years now since her parents said they were going to look for some summer help. I was at my whits end at the daycare, and needed to make a move, so I offered to do it. For a couple years I had Cece in the summer, and then childcare and Cece during the school year, but with very reduced hours on the childcare side. I was working M-F 10-2 when Covid hit. Then a choice had to be made, to keep Cece safe. 

Leaving the kids so abruptly hurt my heart, and I was definitely depressed last fall when I knew I could not return, even part time, but I settled into my role as Ceces homeschool teacher. Virtual learning with a special needs child is...... so many things. It did, however, help all of us to see just how smart Cierra really is, making us better advocates for her now that she has returned to school. 

With Cece in school, I was able to return to the center, although now I only work a few days a week, and I tell them the week prior what my availability is. So I work when I want, and if I want,

and I love it. I can help the young teachers, play with new friends, and there is no stress at all! 

I never realized how much anxiety controlled my life until I started stepping back. These days it's pretty much go with the flow, and I'm enjoying my days so much more. If I start obsessing or worrying I just tell myself, "That's anxiety, and we don't do that here. "  Works for me! I also concentrate on what I'm doing today, and today only.  Life is good my friends, life is GOOD! 

Frost on the Pumpkin

I'm enjoying a cup of cinnamon coffee (ran out of pumpkin spice) while I look out at the first frost of the season. I am going to have to do some research, but it's the latest first frost in my memory, at least since I have had any kind of a garden. Feels like a full month late to me.

I still have gorgeous roses, geranium, and marigold outside, and I didn't cover them. I thought about the geranium, because I've never grown one so beautiful, but honestly, it's time to move on to the next season. It's almost snow time in these parts, and while I think we're in for a mild winter, there's a little voice in my head that says it's past time to get the yard cleaned up and ready for a foot of snow. 

We had some rain and wind earlier in the week that took down the majority of the  leaves in our yard, but the drive to work is still unbelievably gorgeous. When I come off Cty Hwy B and drive past Pattison Park, the view of the water and the trees is breathtaking, then around the bend and I'm at the top of the hill, and can see everything, all the way to Duluth. It is an explosion of color, that boggles the mind! I took a different route to town yesterday, and the view coming down the hill on Cty A was something to behold. It's a little more open than the narrow view on CtyB so it was an explosion of color as far as the eye could see, in all directions. If I hadn't been on a time crunch I would have pulled over and just breathed it in for a few minutes. 

I asked for a fire bowl for my birthday, more for use in the winter time, because we can't always access the bigger bonfire area down in the valley by the creek. We'll set it up for the winter on the south side of the house, where the views aren't as spectacular, but it's protected from the North East winds we get around here. Right now through, it's perfect in the west facing back yard, I'm loving watching the fall sunsets with a little fire!  In the summer we can not really see the sun set here. Too many thick, lush, greens in the way. 

In the summer I also can't see what Loki is up to when he runs off after a squirrel, or a scent that he's picked up, and the teacher of Littles within me can't have that! Now I'm able to see him, and hear where he is in the crunchy leaves!  

There's a crisp to the air now, that we've been lacking, and I have been missing. Fall has finally arrived!

Gales of Life

Today I turn 52! It's going to be a fabulous year, because I choose that it will be. You can do that, you know, choose happiness. The gales of life blow hard sometimes, and I've learned to adjust my sails accordingly. 

A dear Mom from the neighborhood I grew up in sent me a birthday greeting telling me how much she loved my Facebook posts, and that I should write a book. It reminded me that I did write, all of the time, right here! It seems like I only remember to do so on big days, or my birthday now. However I found the ap and am directly connected by my phone, so that might be just the thing to get me motivated. 

The world we live in is so different from where it was when I first started writing this blog, but it is still a beautiful place, and there is so much to be grateful for. I truly embrace getting older with open arms. I'm settling firmly into who I am, and I love it! 

Now to see if I can connect this to post on fb without the teenagers directing me...... which is really the only time I feel old.

😉 

Sister Mary Gregory and Covid 19

(Signing in today to write something else I found this little gem that I didn't publish. Enjoy, wear your mask, and practice social distancing. )

First of all, I hope this finds you all well. 

This rant started out as a Facebook post, then I realized, "Hey, I have a better platform for rants! There is a blog out there in the interwebs that could use some dusting off.

A phrase that I've been hearing one version or another of lately is,"I'm not afraid, God will protect me." This is usually stated by someone not wearing a mask, or practicing social distancing. Sister Mary Gregory (Better known as my Mother. Yes, my Mother.... No, she had been out of the convent for quite awhile...) would have had a field day with you.

First, let me stare at you like you've lost your mind and find my best Ruthie tone. If I come click clacking across a hard wood floor in my high heels, that will set the scene perfectly. 

(Fill in your first and middle name here) have you heard that the Lord helps those who help themselves? Put on your mask and follow the guidelines. Say your prayers, quit whining about staying home, and offer it up for the poor souls in purgatory. You ARE your brother's keeper.

I think that about covers it. 

She may also have asked why you thought you were more important/special to God than the thousands of people who have died. 

Or maybe that's my question, but i think my Mom is there too. She, in her own way, which was much more polite than mine,(if you weren't family) did not suffer fools lightly. In that respect, I am my Mother's daughter.