A little perspective, courtesy of my television provider

A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains. ~Dutch Proverb

This morning I found myself having to put effort into exercising patience. You see, I have a technician in my house right now, hooking up a new DVR receiver for my satellite. Then he has to go outside and upgrade the dish itself.

Not only do I have to delay my morning run, but I just found out that the 40 hours of old TV shows that I have saved on my old DVR can’t be downloaded off of it, onto the new one. (That’s one of the reasons we’re upgrading.)

Anyhow, anyone would be frustrated. Right?

Yeah, well, honestly, I’m ashamed of myself that I’m feeling anything other than elation that this whole thing is happening.

How did I get to the point that I’m feeling upset that my satellite company is giving me a new receiver for free (and installing it for free, also)?

Why am I not thrilled about this?

It’s such a First World problem. I have a roof over my head, safe drinking water that comes out of the tap, hot or cold, on demand. My electricity works 100% of the time and is affordable. My air conditioner runs cold air at my every whim. I can watch way too many TV channels any hour of the day or night, or watch nearly anything I want on the internet, which I can access from any spot in my house. My refrigerator is filled to capacity with food, as is my pantry. My bank account gets steady infusions of cash, enough to cover the mortgage and utilities and basics of life, and still have some left over. 

Seriously. What the hell do I ever have to complain about?

All that we behold is full of blessings.  ~William Wordsworth

The rest of the day, I’m going to be grateful for all that I have. Then I’m going to be grateful again tomorrow. And the next day.

And I’m going to start right now, by being grateful for the shiny new satellite receiver that’s being installed in my home. Something that I don’t need at all, but will get hours of enjoyment from. And the next time I realize I'm not appreciating the many blessings I have in my life, I'm going to mentally smack myself upside my head.

Thank you, Mr. Satellite Technician, for teaching me a lesson in humility today!

Motivation

It's amazing what you can get done if you have to.

Today I'm battling some sort of bug I picked up over the weekend.  The main symptom is an overwhelming dizziness that makes being vertical rather difficult.  I'm trying to take it easy and drink lots of ginger tea, and trust that it will pass quickly.

But in the meantime, Hurricane Irene has decided she wants to pay a visit to southern Florida in a few days.  Wait...I haven't cleaned yet!

I actually did a bunch of hurricane prep yesterday when the storm first got organized, so I was already ahead of the curve.  Today, I pulled it together with sheer willpower (and ginger tea) and got to the store to pick up the last few essential supplies.  Now I just have to freeze as much ice as possible and twiddle my thumbs until it's time to shutter the windows.  Luckily, hurricanes usually give several days' notice, and if Irene does show up, she won't be here until the end of the week.

And with a little luck, she'll decide to take a cruise out into the middle of the Atlantic before then, and just spin herself out of existence.  I can hope...

4th of July musings

With the holiday, there's not much going on here today.  A few movies, a bit of reading, some general lazing around, and a barbecue, and I call this day a success. 

One thing I wanted to write about today was that I have been in an awful mood, and I've been taking it out on cyber-space.  Back in May I wrote about giving up negativity. It sure seemed like a good idea at the time.  But the idea seemed to get shoved aside in a hurry as soon as I had some stress enter my life.  Funny how that happens...

I still think it's a good idea, however.  So I'm renewing my efforts to drive negativity out of my head.  At least a bit.  So as of now, and for the next month, no more negative posts. Nothing but positive news here.

And bunnies.  Because bunnies are cute. 



Happy 4th!

Where did the time go?

Today I’m fighting off a cold.

Not a raging, wet, drag you down and beat you up cold. More of a piddly, wimpy, just enough to make you uncomfortable cold.

It’s just enough of a cold to either put me in slow motion, or the day in high gear. I’m not sure how it happened, but it’s already late afternoon, and I haven’t gotten anything done!

Okay, not entirely true. I made a quick grocery run, met with a contractor about some work we’re having done on the house, and took a nap (I needed it).

But seriously? It’s 4:30. There’s no way those things took up almost 8 hours. My naps aren’t that long…

However it transpired, the majority of the day is gone. So happy Friday, everyone! Have a great weekend!

Nothing much, you?

Another slow news day here at Simply Nooner.

I did find an interesting article about a tennis player who, after discovering he had a gluten allergy, went gluten free and is having the best year of his career.  I posted about it on Li Loves David, if you are interested.

Otherwise, this is just kind of filler to meet my required post for the day.  I know, not very exciting.

But sometimes, that's all I've got.

One nice thing about the exercise of posting on my blog every day:  I have learned that I really enjoy doing this.  Maybe I don't want to have to come up with an article a day...although, with a little planning, it's possible...but I am definitely capable of posting more often than I have been.

So that's a good thing.

Mea culpa

I officially take back everything bad I said about Blogger in the last few days.  They have performed admirably in reestablishing service and restoring all deleted posts, at least on my blogs.

Sorry, Blogger!

Filler

So I posted on Wednesday, May 11.

Then sometime on Thursday, Blogger at the post.

And I have no backup.

So sad!  It was a nice one, too.

Here is my substitution post.  Maybe the other one will come back.  Probably not.

Random much?

So it's day 9 of the Blogathon, and I've got nothing.

I've been trying all day to think of something to write about, but nothing is coming.

I hate that...

Before I forget, there is something I wanted to share.  I read an article this morning about how writing is the least important thing to do when trying to make a living writing.  I know, I know, but read it, and you'll see.  Here's a link. 

Otherwise...um...

How are you?

Good, good. 

I'm doing okay, thanks.

So, um, anyhow....

Gotta go! 

See you tomorrow.  Be sure to check out Li Loves David in the next couple of days, too.  There may be donuts...

Found: One Inner Child

Remember when you were a little kid, and you were invincible? You could do anything, dream anything, be anything. There was an entire world of possibilities open before you.

What happened to that child?

Mine disappeared long ago. Years of interactions with various well meaning (or otherwise) adults drove that child away. I grew up surrounded by people who were too “sensible” to have dreams, and they wanted me be that way, too. Any time a dream, idea, or fantasy surfaced, they would pounce on it, determined to kill it before it took hold. It was for my own good, they said.

What’s truly unfortunate is that every time someone told me I couldn’t do something because I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, or talented enough, I believed them. I believed them as a child and then as a young adult. And finally I went out on my own in the world, believing that I just shouldn’t even try. What was the use?

Now I’m a well-practiced adult, and I’m having to teach myself about dreams again. I’m telling you, it’s kind of tough. All those years of programming have taken their toll. But I’m working on it.

I’m starting to believe in myself again. I’m embracing the possibilities. And I’m going to be successful, in these and so many other things:

I am a writer. I’m a good writer. Soon I will be a well-paid writer.

I will run a marathon, and I will not die trying. In fact, I’m going to enjoy it!

I am a happy person. (Okay, I’m becoming a happy person…it can’t all happen overnight.)

This can work. Really. Don’t let the negative scripts from your past direct your future.

Lazy day

This is going to be a fluff post.  Pure filler.  Just to meet my quota for the day.

As Jillian Michaels would say, I'm phoning it in today.

Btw, ever done her 30 Day Shred workout?  Awesome!

Back to the regularly scheduled post...

I'm just not feeling it today.  Had a nice run this morning, got back home, and got lazy.  So I'm taking the rest of the day off.  And I'm okay with that.

After all, the Blogathon didn't say anything about 31 meaningful posts during May...

Happy 2011!

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I do - I always have. I don’t always follow them, though. I used to stick with the general ones, like I’m going to lose weight or I’m going to do better in school or at my job. But somehow, those vague ideas would be forgotten by the end of March at the latest. So now I stick with quantifiable goals, which gives me something specific to shoot for. And announcing them publicly seems to keep me on track.

I was going to call this the Big Scary List of 2011, but really, only the first two items on it are big and scary, and I completed them (mostly) in 2010. What’s left is a bunch of fun stuff. So here it is, the Exciting, Exhilarating, and Super Fun list of 2011.

Quit my job. (First Big Scary one.) I did it! I turned in my resignation in December, and am now officially unemployed. Or at least, I will be by the end of January. (I’ve agreed to work part time until they hire a replacement.) Why would I do such a crazy thing, give up perfectly sound paid employment, in an economy like this? You’ll find out below.

Register for and run a half marathon. (Second Big Scary one.) I am already registered for the Miami Half Marathon in January, so now I just have to make it to the race in one piece and finish it.

Now the fun ones!

Read 50 books. I mean, really, how fun will this be? That averages less than one book a week. Even not counting audio books, which I sometimes listen to while running, I predict that I’ll have this one done by the end of September.

Edit my novels, find an agent, and become a published novelist. This one is huge, and is the reason why I quit my job. It has long been my dream to be a published writer, and now I have no more excuses. (Well, I’ll always have excuses, but I can’t say that I don’t have the time!) Currently I have two novels in first draft. I need to work on revisions, and then start the arduous process of trying to get them published. I know it’s a long road, so I’ll be absolutely ecstatic if I can get my novels revised and find an agent before the end of the year.

Write another novel before 2012. This will definitely happen in November, with National Novel Writing Month. Maybe I can even eke out another during June Novel Writing Month, who knows?

Run a half marathon every month. That means running 13.1 miles (or more) at a time, once a month. Seriously, I’m totally addicted to my running now. And I’ve done this in training 3 times so far. I know that I can’t run an official race every month without major travel, which is a little out of the picture right now. (I quit my job, remember?) But I’m counting training runs. This one is definitely doable.

Train for and run a marathon. This is about taking my running to the next level. I love the process of training, and I adore my weekend long runs. I’m just not sure I’ll be strong enough by the end of the year – it’s taken almost a year of steady training to get to the point where I’m comfortable with a half marathon. 26.2 miles is a totally different animal. Luckily there are several marathons held locally at the end of the year, giving me plenty of options. That means I can take my time training, and hopefully avoid injury. And if I don’t make it this year, there’s always the Miami Marathon in 2012!

Travel to South America. Yeah, I know. No job, no money. But David and I really, really want to go to Ecuador. And where there’s a will, there’s a way. I feel good about this one.

Do something creative every week. Okay, this one is a little vague. To be more specific, I’m going to spend more time writing in my blogs, knitting, crocheting, and trying out some of the other crafty-type things I’ve not had time for. No excuses!

Okay, I think that’s enough to start with. Happy New Year, all!

Green Laundry

I celebrated Earth Day by making homemade laundry detergent.  Yes, that's the type of thing I do for fun.  (Don't judge me, lol!)

Anyhow, this was something I've wanted to do for years.  Years!  I've honestly been thinking about this since my first job out of college, which was, um, a long time ago.  Long enough that I could have made many hundreds of batches of laundry detergent between then and now.

But did I?  No.  Can you say procrastination?

So this year was the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and it seemed like a good time to make some detergent. 

First, I had to research.  Liquid or powder?  Powder is easier to make and store, and it's always been my preference among commercial laundry products.  Okay, that was easy.

Next, a recipe.  I found many, but used this one because it was easy to follow and I liked the pictures.

Then, the ingredients.  That's where it got a little harder.  I found borax at the first store I went, but I had a hard time finding washing soda.  I know, I could have ordered it, but I was on a deadline.  April 22 was looming!  And I didn't want to drive all over, wasting gas.  So I hopped on the InterWeb again, back to the helpful Instructibles page.  There was a comment saying you could call the company and find out where it was stocked in your area.  So I called Dwight and Church at 1-800-524-1328 and gave them my zip code, and found out Arm and Hammer Washing soda was sold at a grocery store less than a mile from my house.  Cool!  Okay, now I just needed the soap.  Fels Naptha and Zote, the two recommended brands, are still proving elusive.  If I want to try them, I might have to resort to ordering them.  But in the meantime, I had read enough web sites and blogs to know that just about any bar soap will work, and Ivory is highly recommended.  So I bought a 3 pack of Ivory bars for $1.07, and I was in business.

I won't bore you with the details.  Read the directions on Instructibles, it works just the way it says.  I think it took about 10 minutes from start to finish, and that includes the time it took to play with the soap shavings a little before continuing.  I haven't done the math yet, but I bought all the ingredients, which will make a minimum of 3 batches (1 bar of Ivory per batch), for less than the cost of one box of Tide (my former detergent of choice).  A batch of homemade powder will clean about 32 normal loads, using 1 Tablespoon per load. 

And the million dollar question:  How does it work?  Surprisingly well.  We don't have heavily soiled clothes, but we do have a 15 year old washer and really hard water, and 1 Tbsp of this stuff handled a load of laundry just fine.  In fact, I made sure to wash my gym clothes, using the sniff test both before (ewww!) and after.  Any (ahem) aroma of exercise was gone.  I pretreat stains, so there were no worries there.  The spousal unit did comment on the lack of fragrance.  He feels clothes should have a "clean" smell, I feel they should have no smell.  But I'm willing to play with some essential oils to come up with a fragrance he likes.

All in all, homemade laundry detergent was a success!  And now we are using fewer chemicals, doing less damage to the water system, and are ever so slightly less reliant on big corporations (except for our washing soda and borax), which is a good thing.  Plus, it's kind of fun to make. The next project will be homemade dishwasher detergent...

Choices

After an experience I had at work today, I was going to write about how many people there are out there that deserve to be killed. But that seemed pretty grim. So I thought about it for a while, and I decided to look at the glass as half full instead. So I’m going to write about why I don’t kill people. Much more pleasant, don’t you think?

Why I don’t kill people:

1. Love – the love for my spousal unit and my furry critter keep me in line. They might not love me as much if I started murdering. Well, the cat probably would. Until I went to jail and could no longer provide a lap for her to shnooze upon. Then she’d get over me pretty quickly.

2. Cooking – I love to eat, therefore I love to cook. Food used to poison me. Thankfully, I have figured out what I can and cannot eat, and now food is again a joyous event. I have a blog dedicated to my exploits in the kitchen; you can read more at Li loves David.

3. Laughter – I was blessed with a sense of humor. Don’t roll your eyes; a lot of people are born without the humor gene. I know this to be true; I work with quite a few of them. My sense of humor helps me to see that absurd people should be mocked, not murdered. See more at OMG! I LOL’d.

4. Fiber Artistry – my obsession began with knitting. Then came crochet. Now I’m branching into recycling and upcycling fiber, and trying new techniques. You’ll be seeing a lot of that here in the future. I'm completely addicted. It’s gotten so bad that when I'm surfing the net, my spousal unit knows I'm looking at yarn porn.

5. Writing – oh, my gosh, I love to write. Almost as much as I love to eat. Then why, you ask, don’t I keep my blogs up to date? Why isn’t my novel published already, instead of wallowing in endless revisions? Well, writing takes concentration, and time. A lot of it. And these days, time is a precious commodity. I’m working on organizing and simplifying, and hopefully will free up some time soon. Then I’ll see you all at my book signing.

6. Exercise – yes, you read that correctly. Exercise. I never, ever thought I would become one of those people who live to work out. And yet, I’m becoming one of those people who lives to work out! Seriously! I even get up an hour earlier, just so I have the time to go to the gym. (See? There’s that time thing again.)

Anyhow, the above list is why I don’t kill people. But what does all this have to do with simplifying and conservation? Well, I don’t think jail would simplify my life. Going off to live in a tiny space, with no possessions, a limited wardrobe, nowhere to go, no expectations, nothing to do but exercise and write…

Um, wait a minute, that all sounds pretty simple. But they might not let me cook or have yarn in jail. And there's probably not a lot of humor to be found. I don't want to take that chance. I’ll stick with my non-murdering ways.