2018 - Time to Set a New Goal

Resolutions be damned.  Instead of just a resolution, set a new goal. Aim high and grab that brass ring!

I'm ready to get the hell out of Dodge and start anew  (Okay, those last two sentence might be something a millennial might not understand. Who got it?)

I chose a goal, a big life changing goal that just about scares the pants off of me. I go forward with moments of absolute terror to a swan dive into bliss. Any big life change is scary, but sometimes I think we just have to take that leap and make it happen.

If you don't do anything different, nothing will change....  And I want change.

Darren Hardy says to be the exception. Don't let fear of success stop you. (He's a great inspiration- sign up for his Darren Daily emails. That's how I start my day!)

But it is scary.

So, I decided to go for it. Jump into the quagmire of that confusion path to success and make it happen.

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Did Einstein know he was Einstein?  Did all those Nobel Peace prize winners think when they started they would take the prize? Or did they just...MAKE IT HAPPEN?

So to everyone... go forth and create the life you WANT as opposed to the life you're just paddling around in. Better is out there. Success is out there. The life you want, is out there.

Suddenly Sixty

Funny, I don't feel sixty.
Except at work where I'm surrounded by coworkers the same ages as my kids. Yeeek!  The weird thing is, sometimes they talk to me as a coworker, sometimes as a mom. Yes, they want their cuts looked at and advice for how to handle that snarky so called friend, then they talk business with me. It's a very strange land I live in now.
Suddenly Sixty.

My kids moved 900 miles away and it broke my heart. I'm happy that they moved to a less expensive state and are doing great in their jobs, but they're 900 miles away. :(
Last week my dog went to Heaven. Another heartbreak. I cry every day now. I look to her spot on the couch and where she naps under the table as if I expect to see her. It was sudden. Wednesday fine, Thursday sick and rushed to the dog hospital, Friday gone. I can't stop crying.
I washed her beds and blankets intending to donate them to a rescue. They're still in my car. I can't let them go yet.


On top of all this, work sucks. Changes are being made and it's not what I signed up for. I told them I didn't want to travel. I never had a job where I had to travel and I don't like driving. Done.

List the house, move to Florida. Wish me luck.
Listing a house is like an opening night 24/7. Always be ready for the house to be "on" and ready to show. Its exhausting. Couple that with the fact we had to de-personalize the house, it doesn't even feel like our home anymore. None of my art is around the house, I don't have a workshop anymore (now it's a bedroom.) Boring beige bland house.

And I'm itching to paint something. Anything. Before I used to paint all the time. Now all my stuff is put away. Hidden in a box in storage. Blah.

I can't wait to move! Get me into my own home again with an art studio and family photos on the wall.


Sell this house and bring me to my new home in Florida! I will it to happen soon!  Please send positive vibes this way! Sell the house! Sell the house! Sell the house!

Young Bosses

As we move through life, sooner or later there comes a time when we out age our bosses. Mine is almost 20 years younger. Although there is a broad range of ages in my work place, half the people I work with could be my kids and sometimes its hard not to protect them as if they were my own. I see bright and energetic young women who are working hard to succeed.

Then I see some managers who treat these young women like teenagers and I want to scream. They want to mother them and, hey! Nobody wants their mommy at work. How do I say this without coming across like a mother myself?

I want to see everyone succeed. That's my curse. I believe that when people take a job, they want to do their best. They need to be given tools and encouragement. That the way you speak to someone will go a long way in helping them succeed. What you give out, you get back. This goes for every word and action from the manager.

Tell them they're appreciated and you get someone who wants to work.
Tell them they're not going to make it and you get someone who gives up and fails.

Tell them you know they can take on this project and succeed, and they'll find success.
Tell them you doubt their talent, and you'll find someone who doesn't want to try.

Problem? When you see a manager who doesn't know how to set a team up for success and you'll watch a department fall apart. What do you do then?

Sometimes I wonder if my age shapes my view on all this and think maybe I should keep my opinions to myself. What do you think? Leave it to the young? Or speak up?

Crazy Dog Week!

RESCUE DAY! 

Lexie arrived! Due to unexpected traffic delays, I got her home 20 minutes before my daughter arrived from Florida with her 3 month old dog, Gwen. Let the chaos begin! Two crazy puppies who had been locked up in crates for hours, finally hit the house and the yard at 90 miles per hour. These two pups ran circles around the house and yard for an hour as they used up all that pent up energy!

I looked at Lexie's paperwork and although she was listed as an 8 month old Feist from the shelter, the paperwork from the vet said 2 or 3 months old.  And to me she looks more like a Chihuahua- Dachshund mix. She's got that apple head and a long-ish body. She's loving and sweet and, although she needs to work on her housebreaking skills,  she listens when you tell her no.

My daughter fell in love with her and really wanted to adopt her. However, her dog looks like it's going to be 50 or 60 lbs and I hesitate to adopt a very small dog to a home with a dog that will be that big. Although, Lexie was quite bossy with Gwen, and proved to be the alpha dog in this relationship, she was maybe 8 lbs compared to Gwen's 22 lbs. Probably not a good idea for Lexie's safety. They played like crazy running, tug-of-war, wrestling, fetching toys, but sometimes the bigger dog didn't know her own strength. We had to watch them carefully and slow them down at times just to be sure Lexie stayed safe. Lexie is fearless.

All tuckered out, Lexie and her new best friend nap

Today Gwen headed back to Florida and Lexie will have to entertain herself. My dog, Gracie is older and really not into running around like a crazy puppy. We'll see how it goes. I'm working on photos for the rescue website so we can find Lexie a good furever home. She's a great dog and deserves a great home.

Dogs!

Today my new foster dog arrives. I'll leave in a few minutes to go pick her up from the transport meet-up. The rescue I work with is bringing in the 8 month old feist mix that I'll be fostering along with a few other dogs including a litter of Lab-mix puppies.

For the past week or so, the rescue has been reaching out to the group for available fosters.  However many people step up, is the number of dogs we can rescue. If we don't have the fosters, we can't take the dogs. :(

I haven't fostered in a few years because my last foster never left. She was a nervous-nellie and it took a long time to get her to relax and learn how to be a dog. (You can read that story here.)  It's time to get back into it and help rescue all those dogs who languish and die in shelters.

This new foster is 8 months old so (hopefull!) she won't have many issues. The younger dogs usually get adopted fast, too.

I'll be back with more on Lexie the Foster soon!

Making of a Badass...

When did I start trying to please everyone? Was I born this way? Accumulate this weird need to make sure everyone is happy?

Sometimes I wonder if this is what held me back.

A psychic once told me when I was older I'd be famous....
WELL HELLO! How old do I have to get to find the fame? Not that I crave fame. Mostly I crave happiness. Sure money will help, but it's not that important. I grew up fairly poor and we were happy. In fact, I didn't realize how poor we were until I was much older. I looked back at the things we didn't have and realized that others had so much more. I never knew. When you're happy and surrounded by love, why would you care about other stuff? I remember looking into the refrigerator with my brother Mike. It must have been summer because it was mid day and we had just come in from playing. There was a loaf of Wonder White bread on the counter. We opened the door and all it held was a few condiments, a bottle of Kero syrup, a half a gallon of milk and not  much else. Mike grabbed the ketchup, I took the mayo. We made scant sandwiches. He had ketchup, me; mayo. We ate our condiment sandwiches and watched some TV, then headed back out to see what was going on in our neighborhood.  It was a normal day, hanging out in the neighborhood, playing handball in the street, a warm and sunny day. We had no clue we were poor. Didn't everyone eat mayo sandwiches? Cold cuts? What were they?

My kids are 1000 miles away. Living in Florida. I want to move closer to them. It kills me to be so far from them. They are bright, young adults and I am so proud so of them. And I miss them terribly.

I'm listening to  a book; You the Bad-ass. Basically its a kick in the pants telling you to make it happen. If you want it in your life, go for it. Stop being a wus and do it, take the leap. We all have a superpower. It's not that we don't have it, it's that we don't recognize it in ourselves.

We all have the ability to change our destiny. We are the bad-ass of our own life. We can create an alternate destiny and move toward our goals.

So now I'm planning...

Style at Sixty? Pinterest can Help!

I remember my mother at sixty. She had gained weight over the years and dressed comfortably. Stretch pants, blousey tops, comfortable shoes.  Things matched, but there wasn't a big stretch to style it up. Back then, she dressed like all the other sixty year olds.

So now as I approach 60, (5 months to go!) I've turned to Pinterest to see what's styling at sixty. What I found were a bunch of extremely stylish women rockin' the 50's and 60's. It's so inspiring and I'm getting GREAT ideas (and compliments!) on what to wear and how to wear it.

I have to admit, I'm addicted to Pinterest. In our house we always say, "You can find anything on Pinterest." We use it for recipes, home decorating ideas, and advice on almost anything. Of course, like anything else found on the internet, you have to be choosy on which advice you take, but overall, Pinterest is a fountain of information.

Things I searched on Pinterest in my quest for style?
1. Style at 60
2. How to wear scarves
3. Work outfits for women
4. Blazer ideas for work
5. Style at 50 years old
6. Pants outfits for 60 year olds
7. Accessories for work
8. Casual outfits for older women
9. Casual style for work
10. Work outfits with scarves

The list goes on... When I see an accessory like a scarf or broach or necklace, I get over to Pinterest and see what the world has come up with for style.
>Sigh<
I think I'll head over and look for some Spring Style for Work....

See you on Pinterest!

Bathroom Decor Rules?

Most traditional bathrooms are shades of pastels and white.
eh...
I love color so its time to pick something bold. :)~
We had a clogged drain. In snaking it out, the snake came up through the drain from the other side and cracked the toilet in the half bath. Darn it! Now I have to get a new toilet and while we're at it, maybe a new vanity.
So now with the new toilet and vanity, we need to paint the room.
Yay!
I say purple! My hubby says, "Are you kidding?" I say step outside of the box. This ain't your mama's house. Then  he does the scrunch up his nose thing, like my idea smells bad. He thinks it will sway me, but I see a challenge...

But it could be fun, right? So it's ether this purple or maybe coral.

It's going to depend on what the vanity looks like. I've seen gray done with purple and that looks good, too. Right now the vanity is white which oges great with purple.

Will keep you updated.

Weight Loss in the 50's...Chasing 60!

Before hitting 50, losing a little weight wasn't that big a deal. Wanna fit into that dress, skip a few meals. Need to lose the muffin top? Hit the cardio.

After 50 it's like all the old tricks no longer work, so I need a new plan. Happy New Year/Happy New Body! Isn't that always our time to peel off some pounds? Now I'm thinking about the Eat Clean plan. Basically, it's eating real food and nothing processed. Always a bit of a challenge for someone who doesn't like to cook. I know some people love making food and are absolute artists in the kitchen, but I'm not one of them. I'm the person who cleans up after my husband creates great meals. Wow, can that man cook!

So, new year, new life. Oatmeal, Salads, and good, unprocessed foods, here I come! Goodbye wine and chocolate! (for now)

Then comes exercise....
The Tibetan Five seem to be great exercises but the spinning at the start makes me tooo dizzy. It takes like a half hour for my head to calm down and I still don't feel so good after. That makes me wonder if the spinning is really necessary and how the heck anyone does it 21 times.

I think I'll stick to the treadmill and then some weights.