Sky Poem

When feeling sad or feeling down

I gaze to the sky to turn it around.

With kids in the yard we flop to the ground

watching skyward as the cloud circus passes our town.

Storms roll in, sun shines down

depositing a beautiful rainbow without a sound.

Endless sky should make me feel small

instead it leaves me feeling part of it all.

Step Fearlessly

(To break the captivating spell of a melancholy mood, sometimes all one needs to do is play!)

Sadness presses hard against my back.

A dark cloud.

A familiar shroud.

Life’s big questions going unanswered.

I stop, stare, see nothing but darkness ahead

peering from the crevices of the unknown.

Nearby shadows mock my mood

whispering and beckoning me forward to more of the same.

As I move ahead, pulled to darkness, a reflection on the wall stops me in my tracks.

The source of light?

Angels wings.

They sing their choral splendor of faith, their voices familiar and safe.

A feeling of grace washes over me.

The cloak becomes weightless, floating away, carried by the beauty of the natural world.

No longer seeing doom in the darkness,

I move forward planting firm foot to ground and step willingly into my life.

Set The Mood

It's Monday morning.

A brand new start to a brand new day in a brand new week.

What mood do you choose?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I had a really crappy day yesterday.

I could not shake my crappy mood.

Overwhelmed, irritated, frustrated.

I tried and tried to shake it but

the ugliness clung to me like a wet coat.

After searching my thick skull for a reason,

the source of the mood was discovered.

I have a 17 year old cat.

We've had him since he was one.

He's a wonderful fella...

when he's not waking me at the ass crack of dawn. 

Every morning the same thing.

Meow meow meow meow meow meow

meow meOW MEOW MEOWWWWW!!!!!

He'll sit on the floor and stare at me in my bed.

MEOW

He'll wander the house and yell MEOW!!!!

In all fairness, the vet has suspicions that he

has the beginning of dementia (poor fella)

and one of the first things I do when I wake

is give him heave duty pain meds for his arthritic

hips and spine (again, poor fella).

You might be thinking, "What a meanie!

Blaming that poor old cat for her fowl mood."

Yeah. I know! That's the conclusion I came to myself.

Except I didn't blame the cat. I blamed me.

My attitude. My perception.

I went to bed wanting nothing more than to sleep in.

I never sleep in.

Four children, one husband, two cats.

One mom. No late mornings for me.

I went to bed at 10 p.m. and was woken at 6 a.m.

Rather than perceiving my night as a full night's sleep,

I was immediately frustrated that I was woken up.

The constant Meoooowwww plucked at my nerves.

All I wanted was to sleep in and wake on my own!!

Is that too much to ask??????

Perception.

I set the mood. I set the impossible expectation.

Seeing my error, last night before bed I lay my head

down with a different mindset. Instead of "I want to sleep in", I thought "I will get enough good sleep and wake

to my faithful old friend who loves me and needs me."

See the difference?

I woke this morning feeling rested.

Faithful Farley was right there waiting for food, medicine and love and I was up and happy and ready to oblige.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Again I say...

It's Monday morning.
A brand new start to a brand new day in a brand new week.
What mood do you choose?

No fancy pictures here, just my faithful old man cat.

He's such a good guy.

I'm thankful for every day we have together.

Poo on You!

Have you ever heard of the superstition that if a bird poops on you, it is good luck and money will follow? If this holds any truth, I am in for good times and a mega windfall! Check out what I woke up to a few weeks ago. This is our bay window.

Can't quite make it out? Step in a little closer!

Ewwwww!!!! Yup. That is all bird poo!

Poo induced or not,

I will take luck (and money) any way I can get it! 

~ ~ ~ ~

In other news, I had a spurt of creative energy during my recent hiatus and have created some new encaustic pieces. They will be listed in my Etsy shop very soon.

Have a brilliant weekend.

New Day, New Mood, New Attitude

Find yourself in a bad mood?

Change your attitude!

The rubber band idea is working.

You might think it a bit barbaric, but it actually works!

Every time I start having negative thoughts

or start feeling yell-y (ready to yell)

(yell-y may not be a real word but my first choice was crotchety so you pick)

I snap my rubber band.

Oy!

Note to self: snap on back of wrist, not inside, to avoid numb fingers

I've been practicing the rubber band method of positivity for a few days now.

The method is a bit hard when those around you are the ones being negative.

I certainly don't want to snap myself for someone else dragging me down

so I am learning to walk away.

This morning, after I woke, I made myself a nice mug of green tea.

I sat down in my favorite chair and journaled. 

The last bit I wrote, was a list of gratitude.

I closed the journal and looked out the window.

This is what I saw...

Fog and Frost.

The perfect ingredients for a grey mood?

I think not!

I checked my attitude and grabbed my camera,

headed out the back door

and had some fun!

A week ago I would be frustrated at my lack of time to play.

I would feel inferior due to my status as a beginner (wishful) photographer wannabe.

I would wish for less shaky hands and time to edit.

Today?

I gleefully grabbed a few minutes in the snow in my slippers.

I am okay with beginning as you have to start somewhere.

I am thankful for my hands. Shake adds character to all that I do. tee hee

Time to edit? I'll get there. Time with my children is my number one.

 

   

Grrr.... Snap!

I've been feeling so gosh darned grumbly the last few days.

I hate feeling frustrated and grumbly.

Sometimes I get so overwhelmed that I slide into a grumble rut.

The cutesy purple rubber band pictured on my wrist

is my attempt at getting rid of the grumblies.

Peaceful Purple

If I start feeling grumbly, I will look at the peaceful purple.

If that doesn't work, 

SNAP!

 Here's hoping it will help me snap out of it!

Anyone else hear Cher's voice in that line?

"Snap out of it!" ~ Cher

Ha!

One of THOSE days

(NaNoWriMo Day 2)

spirit's low

money non-existent

word count lacking

body aching

chaos surrounds

covet others' brilliance addictively

lack action with self

 muse calls

pop pill

must

write

representation of my current state of mind

Exhausted

Been away.

Did you miss me?

Guess where I was?

Vegas Baby!

First time I ever left the family.

I'm exhausted.

Went away for a trade show.

Stayed at a luxury hotel.

Good and bad in the trip.

good

food was amazing!!!!

four girls traveling together = lots of laughter

didn't lose money at the casino

watched an awesome band

flew without freaking out (too bad)

trip re-confirmed my love for my simple life

bad

one noise machine + one snorer + 3am bedtime = NO SLEEP!!!!

the place was freakin' expensive!!!

threw out my back BAD

smoke city in the casino

not my lifestyle (out of element)

missed flight home causing travel nightmare

came home to more BS political news (depressing)

Add exhaustion to pms and you have one moody blogger.

The following picture best represents my post-trip state.

Out of focus, dark, confused. Lots more to it. Let the picture speak.

If you have reached this point in your reading, 

I thank you for taking the time. The support is appreciated.

The Monster is Coming!!!!

The older I get, the worse my PMS has become. Like seriously worse!!!! Today I am literally having trouble being around myself! Aack! That's the worse! Other people think they have it so bad. So they get snapped at, cried at and confused by my mood antics. What the hell do they think it feels like to be me? I get so jumpy inside I want to escape my skin!!! My nerves are frazzled, my hair feels like shit, I can't seem to do anything without dropping something and my Fibro is flaring!!! If the family doesn't like it, they can leave the room. Me? I'm trapped with myself!!!!

Thought I would distract myself with bread making today. Turned out to be a disaster! Tried working on a journal I'm making, broke the blessed needle stitching by hand! Took a shower, accidentally shampooed twice and forgot the cream rinse making my hair a major hay field. Crap! Would love to take a nap but my mind is whirring. Even having trouble forming thoughts for this post!

Not even going to attempt to be creative with a picture. My mood feels like the storm cloud that was looming over my house last week.  Anyone have a holistic approach to dealing with this shit? Would love your responses. Just remember, approach gingerly.  ;)  See? At least I haven't lost my sense of humor!

Say What?!?!

I've been thinking lately,
or at least trying to.
I have fibromyalsia
which often causes me to live in "fibro fog".
I'm also mom to four with "mom brain".
I struggle with organization,
remembering things and focusing.
Do you think I would be diagnosed
as a classic case of ADD?
I was going to look it up
but I keep forgetting to!

Ha ha ha ha! How ironic!

Have a happy and silly Friday!
Life gives us lots to laugh about :)

~ (insert belly laugh here) ~

Random

Woke up with horrid back pain,
chiro doesn't have opening until tomorrow.
Looked out the window to see that four letter word...
S N O W!!!!
Must find energy and umph to clean house as company is coming for the weekend.

Strangely, my mood is not bad at all. ;)

Actually, I'm
feeling pretty random!
(wait a minute... is that a feeling? it is now!)

So here

is

a

random

photo!

Whatever!!!!!

Here's to Randomness in all it's fun and glory.
Go with the flow.
Be spontaneous.
Throw something random out there.
You never know what you'll get back!

What do you have for me?
Give me your best random thoughts :)