Category Writing

Missing Outdoors -> Bring camping to the backyard

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Kids idea of camping.
My idea of camping.

What a great idea! Being in quarantine is bringing back memories from my childhood. As kids we would “beg” our parents to let us set up a tent and sleep in the backyard. Of course, they would say, “No!”

Well, they saw a bunch of kids in the backyard making noise, coming in and out of house all night – it got them NUTTY just thinking about it. However, we would beg and beg and FINALLY they would relent.

I’ve gotta tell you, I have NEVER liked camping in a tent, but I don’t mind a cabin. WHY, well, my first camping experience was with Girl Scouts. We camped in someone’s backyard, two girls to a tent. We put up our tent and it kept collapsing, which got me claustrophobic, because the zipper was closed to keep the mosquitos out. Needless to say, I could not wait until morning to go back home!

I like the “idea” of camping and being in the outdoors, I’ve upgraded my sites though. Look at this British camper. NOW, I smiled. I can definitely see myself camped out on one of those beds, cozy with a blanket and a good book. The windows are charming, I would just need someone to bring me some hot tea in a “tea cup.”

Ah… the beauty of dreaming….

COVID-19 –> Praying, donating… What can you do to help?

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PrayingWe are in uncertain times. If you believe in God, prayers are needed.

For Easter, I spoke with friends who are in need of prayers for different reasons.

Let’s spread a message of HOPE and DETERMINATION to BEAT THIS!

I wish the media would understand that sharing POSITIVE messages instead of NEGATIVE ones constantly would bring us together, rather than divide us.

A SAD SITUATION TURNED POSITIVE  –> There is a company that makes caps/gowns for University students. So, sad, because students will not be wearing caps/gowns for graduation this year. On positive side, this company is making face masks for hospitals.

If we have a little more right now, we can donate or offer to help others in some way.

I challenge ALL of us to think about this today. What can WE DO to help?

AN EXAMPLE: Our small bookstores, trying to stay in business. I will order a book and donate this book to children in the hospital.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE: The other day, I received a message from my hairdresser. She said their team was doing fine, they understood that some of us might be sad, alone, fearful. They left their phone number, saying we were not alone, if we needed to talk… CALL.

There is ALWAYS something we can do!

Good Friday during COVID-19 —> The Easter Bunny is “essential…”

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2ED43B58-B6AC-40A9-8804-90DD294CB7CF

For those of you who celebrate Easter, I wish you a safe and prayerful Good Friday.

If you believe in God, it’s an important time to pray for our World.

I apologize to this news source, as I do not have the proper writer/publication information to give credit to this article. Hopefully, the writer forgives me for sharing, so that parents with children know they can celebrate Easter, even in quarantine. I believe in America the message is the same.

HAPPY EASTER!

Quarantined? Try a good movie…

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As most of us are quarantined, we’re trying to find things to do. The news this morning was dismal for the next two weeks. Stay home or be prepared to get sick and maybe die.

So… if that is the case, and we MUST stay home, WHY NOT watch a good movie. Change our mood, lift our spirits up, start singing – ANYTHING but doom and gloom.

Sharing with you a few favorites, older movies, but still GREAT!

I’m sure you have some of your own — comedy, drama, horror (sorry, don’t watch those), adventure, documentaries, etc.

If you’ve watched something recently — SHARE IT!

Oh — Amazon Prime: Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan!  Edge of your seat!

You’ll FORGET the virus for a few hours – GUARANTEED!

Travel to distance places… PLAY the Memory Game.

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Memory GameThis weekend was a real test of emotions. Being quarantined for three weeks does that. One day happy, one day melancholy, one day energetic – EVERY day is different.

I needed to change this around, so I started looking through my closet. That put me in a grumpy mood. Going through a closet is B-O-R-I-N-G unless we find some “old gems,” we had forgotten about.

SURPRISE – Way on the back shelf was the Travel Memory Game!

What a great find. It brought back memories from when my daughters were young. We loved to play this game. So, then, I thought of Canasta. A few years ago, I went on a Nile Cruise with my family. Every day we played Canasta. As we didn’t have playing cards, we bought some Egyptian ones.

HEY — Where are those Egyptian playing cards??? Checkers… they’ve got to be here.

Oh and the mini series, “Horatio Hornblower.” LOVE that show! Gotta find that!

Suddenly, I was on a roll!

What have you found in YOUR closet?

Photography – Beautiful SUNRISE

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86130B87-3145-449C-9224-4BAFFFAE0332I went walking this morning, looked up, RUSHED to get a photo.

Beautiful sunrise!

The sun is shinning.

It makes all the difference in our mood, UNTIL we listen to the news reports, which are grim.

Still the warmth of the sun gives us HOPE.

Wishing you all a special day!

So, sorry — MR. OWL, MR. PIGEON, it wasn’t you…

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Every morning, I heard this sound.

An Owl… a Pigeon… I didn’t know.

Turns out it was a Dove outside my window.

In Italy, my grandmother fed birds on her balcony every morning.

Don’t they say,

THINK of a LOVED ONE who has PASSED;

They VISIT YOU in the FORM OF AN ANIMAL?

While we are house bound, loving memories fill us with HOPE!

Unfortunately, by accident, I scared away the dove, by opening my window too fast. So, no more dove sounds every morning.

Remote work -> New way of business

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Past, Present & Future – Reminds me of the movie “A Christmas Carol.” Here we are quarantined, looking at the past, reviewing the present, in order to create a new future.

For years, companies have resisted remote workers. Absolutely NOT, they would say. No matter the reason, the answer was, “NO.”

Suddenly a virus strikes, and the Government says employees MUST work from home.

So… we rush to work from home; however, our desk area is not set up properly. For example, last week, I needed a large monitor. Guess what — ALL stores were sold out of big monitors. YES, every other NEW remote worker needed a large monitor.

One week later, now in official quarantine, we were told retail stores were CLOSED.

Welcome to the NEW way of doing business. Not all retail stores are closed, they are still running, but now you can pick up.

The handshake coming through the computer is the NEW way of business.

Yesterday, I went online to buy a monitor from Best Buy. Finally, monitors were back in stock. Checking out, I was given the option to PICK UP in ONE HOUR!

WHAT…

Can you believe that? No shipping charge, no waiting for a week for delivery. Just PICK UP myself in ONE HOUR. I was told to sit in my car, park in a designated PICK UP spot, the sales person would come to my car, open trunk and put monitor in!

WOW — This was SO EASY!

Why would I want to go back to “normal – in store” shopping? I hate shopping!

While our world is in a sad situation, a crisis like this shows we are resilient. To stay in business — bosses, employees & customers work together to make a purchase happen! AND BOY, am I happy to have my large monitor!

Spin class… the Do’s and Don’ts

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4055CEDC-3ACF-4128-B897-7C8B702568B3I’ve always wanted to take a spin class, but it is very intimidating. Take a look at the photo, that’s how spin class looks.

If you are a beginner like me, it looks like everyone is a major athlete.

I mean… I know how to ride a bike, but this is different. This is hard core, it’s not like Dorothy riding her bike with Toto in a flower basket.

This weekend though, I went to my daughter’s spin class. Since she is the instructor, she told me to come early. She’d set me up.

Set me up she did. She adjusted my seat for me, gave me some water, explained the gears and got me one of those wrist bands that tracks how you’re doing. YOU KNOW, the dreaded wrist band that shows your name up on the TV screen, so everyone can see how you/they are doing. I tried to resist putting it on, but my daughter held it out — she gave me a look of “just put the darn thing on.”

Actually, it wasn’t too bad. During our training session, I wasn’t always the slowest ranking biker. We did a lot of hills, my knees and thighs were burning.

After class, she told me that I wasn’t doing Position 2 properly. I guess I was supposed to be straighter with my legs, not have them bent. That explains why my knees were hurting. Perfect form is critical.

Overall it was good. Do I want to do that again?

Hum… I think I prefer dance class.

Dating, not having luck… Send your daughter to Japan

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5B5B8AAF-17D2-4999-B095-4D1623605C6EOk, the title is misleading. I know, you’re probably thinking… “WHAT, send your daughter to Japan to find a boyfriend?” No, let me explain.

What I mean is…  when we are trying to find someone, we need special prayers. If it’s not working on our own, we need to dig a little deeper with our  prayers. So, why not go around the world, best way to reach God, right!

My daughter was in Japan recently. I mentioned to her, that if she was by one of the Shinto Shrines, I’d like her to buy a prayer plaque for me. As a Catholic, we go to church, we light candles and we pray to certain Saints for assistance. St. Anthony ALWAYS helps me find a lost item.

So, she brought back this prayer pouch, saying it was “specific” for finding a boyfriend.

Now, BEFORE I pray to this, I NEED to know what it says.

What if by accident she got me a prayer pouch for flying to the moon OR finding a cat… WHO knows?

Can anyone help?