A Good Day

What constitutes a good day for you? While I was running this afternoon, I thought about this question. Feeling happy to be outside, running six miles, I felt like I could say it was a good day. Isn't it funny how one, little thing can make or break your day? Rushing out the door later than you wanted to, can set a bad tone for the whole day. Someone you encounter in the day may say something unkind and it sticks with you, definitely souring your mood and the day. You spill your venti latte on your blouse and it leaves a stain. Now, none of these things are big; they are merely annoyances. Some we are able to shake off easily and some we don't.
Tomorrow, December 1st, is "Pay It Forward" Day. All it means is to do something kind for someone you encounter. A simple, random act of kindness can make all the difference in turning some one's day from bad to good. You may not know it changes their day, but who cares? Do it anyways. Now and then, I pay for the coffee of the person who is behind me in the Starbucks drive-thru. I love driving away knowing that in a few seconds they will find out that some stranger bought their coffee today. I smile for a long time afterwards thinking about it. Whether I made their day good or not, I sure made mine good. So simple and easy and yet so effective...for both of us.

The Hunt

The words Black Friday get a reaction from most people. Either you want nothing to do with it and think people who venture out are crazy or you wake up Thanksgiving morning racing for the paper to peruse all the ads and map out your plan for shopping. My daughter and I have been Black Fridaying it for about five years. Each year has its own crazy stories and fun. This year, we left the house at 7pm and shopped the stores that were open on Thanksgiving while waiting for the midnight, 3am and 4am openings of others. We drove around a lot and had more laughs than I can count.

Those of you who tell me you can do all your Black Friday shopping online, while still in your jammies, are missing the point. I have a masters degree in online shopping with a minor in free shipping and discount coupons. You are only looking at the finish line, not the race itself. We decided it is not really the prices that draw us out among the masses, but the hunt itself. Amber will tell the story of how Kohl's didn't get in the supply of Barbies that were in the ad. There were only two in the entire store and we got both of them! Score! Yes, they were $17.99 originally and we only paid $5.99 each, unarguably a great price. However, in reality, we could afford to pay $17.99 if we had to, but somehow, that Barbie looks SO much more awesome knowing we got the only two for such a deal. See? It's the hunt.
I risked life and limb to get a couple of crock pots at Walmart for $2.97 each. Everywhere had crock pots in their ads and they were all around $8.00. Could I afford to pay that price? Yes, and it's probably a good deal at $8.00, but waiting until a minute before midnight and watching people racing to grab them off the shelf just as they ripped the black shrink wrap off of the pile is a memory I will have for many Christmases to come. It's the hunt.
I have a lot of admiration for the people who are after the electronics, TVs, computers, etc. These are usually offered in very limited quantities, but at fantastic savings. As I watch people leaving the store with their great electronics find, I always hope they are putting it to good use and not turning around and selling it on Ebay for a profit. I want to believe they are donating the computer to a child that otherwise wouldn't have one. I hope they have had the same TV for 15 years and are so excited to bring home that flat screen for their family to enjoy. Amber says Black Friday electronics are the "Holy Grail" of scores. As much as I enjoy the Black Friday craziness, I don't think I want anything enough to wait outside in a line in the cold for two days.

Whether you think we are crazy or not, the one thing I can say is that sitting in front of your computer shopping couldn't possibly be as memorable as driving around with your daughter in the middle of the night plotting our next score! It's the hunt.

Counting Sheep

There was a song I heard on the radio today that said, "When I can't sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep." It seems only fitting that it has stuck in my head all day when it is almost Thanksgiving ~ a day of counting blessings.
Funny thing about counting your blessings, while you are doing it, there is no room for worry or anxiousness. Why is it so hard to keep that at the forefront of our mind? The negative tapes play so much louder and automatically. We beat ourselves up for what we are not, rather than pat ourselves on the back for what we are. Complimenting others is easy. Complimenting ourselves seems almost outrageous! Well, here goes...I am organized, dependable and generous. Whew! That felt funny! You should try it. It might feel better the more we do it. Let your light shine, not only to others, but to yourself as well.
When we count our blessings, let's count ourselves as one.
Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Holiday Project

A while back, my girlfriend said she saw these cool garlands at a boutique. They were made from a strand of lights and fabric. I never saw it, but from her description, I decided to try and create one. It was difficult to get a good photo depicting how it turned out. Hopefully, you get the idea. I started with a 9 foot strand of lites that I bought from Lowe's for $1.88! I then bought 1/3 of a yard of 4 different fabrics, all on sale at Joann's. You could make this any way you wanted with either patterned or solid color fabrics. I cut a tiny bit of fabric about 1" in width then ripped it from that point as I wanted a "shabby chic" look to the garland. There are probably many ways to tie or knot the fabric around the lite stand. You should experiment with what you like best. I was worried that I would run out of fabric and it came close. After experimenting, I found that you make 7 or 8 fabric ties between each light. You can figure out from there how much fabric you will need. The light strands come in many different lengths. Again, you can pick what will work best for where you plan to display it.

These can be made for any holiday or even, just to match some one's decor. I told a friend about it and she decided to make one for a baby shower as she thought it would act as a night light in the room as well as a decoration.

It was the perfect project for a cold, windy, rainy afternoon. It didn't take very long and it was easy and fun.

P.S. These sold for $25 - $30 at the boutique and my total cost was about $8!!

Imperfectly Perfect

As we are about to embark on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have been thinking about what makes the holidays so magical. People spend a lot of time, energy and money trying to achieve the "perfect" holiday. We work hard to buy the "perfect" gift for someone we love. We spend countless hours preparing the "perfect" meal. We run around attending or hosting the "perfect" party that will, hopefully, be talked about for months to come. I am here to report to you, the point of all of it isn't perfection at all! This is a hard statement from a person who considers herself a die hard perfectionist.
When asked about their fondest holiday memories, people don't recall the matching paper on all the presents under the tree. They remember the year the tree fell over! They don't recall the year the meal was perfect and the table looked like a Norman Rockwell painting. They recall the year that the sweet potatoes were over laden with chipotle peppers and no one could eat more than one bite! The don't remember the darling family Christmas cards you pain stakingly made and sent out to 100+ friends each year. They recall the year they had to hold lit candles in the photo and almost set some one's hair on fire!
Truth be told, the point of the holidays is not perfection at all. Food gets eaten, cards get tossed in the trash and presents, once desired, become too small or outdated. All these are fleeting joys at best. Lasting joys are the magical, imperfect moments that stay with us in our memory long after the day itself. Recalling these moments, with a smile on our face, is perfection!
I am grateful for imperfect holidays.

1 in 5

A study was revealed today that 1 in 5 Americans are mentally ill. They define mental illness as from severely depressed to suicide attempts. We live in a pressure cooker society more than ever, what with the current state of the economy, etc, but 1 in 5?? This means when you go out for dinner with two other couples, someone at the table falls within this category of mental illness. I know I am using a silly analogy, but I still cannot believe it is so high. Are most of us that good at masking how we really feel? Can we fake it in front of people around us so that they would never guess how truly anguished we feel? Am I not noticing someone I care about who is suffering in silence with this heavy burden? I can't stop thinking about this study and its implications. I know I have been depressed at times in my life, not completely hopeless, but definitely not want to get out of bed depressed. Was I mentally ill at that moment? How did I snap out of it? Can you help someone else snap out of it or can they only do it for themselves? Telling someone, "It's not that bad. It'll get better. Buck up.", really doesn't do any good. I have found that when people are sad, listening is the most powerful medicine. You don't need to have an answer for their problems, because, in reality, you probably don't have the answer. Just listen. It could make all the difference.
I am grateful for only being a little crazy!

Humor

"Every survival kit should include a sense of humor."
In this journey down the road of life, it seems to me, having a sense of humor is not only important, it is vital to your survival. We all know life can be challenging and difficult. Situations present themselves daily that can be so frustrating, you can almost cry...or you can laugh. Laughing is a salve for almost anything. Not that it fixes the problem, but it helps you get through the initial sting. I love to make people laugh and I am drawn to people who make me laugh. I don't mean joke tellers; that can be annoying. I mean people who can come up with the snappy one-liner that instantly turns your mood around. Finding the humor in situations, much like finding the good, can help us see it's not so bad. Or, it is bad, but it could be worse! Try a little humor on ~ one size fits all.
I am thankful for humor.