Tag: takeaways

Friday’s 5 Takeaways – 5/24/19

Since last we met here, I have taken the plunge into believing that, although we never really had a spring season, summer is definitely on its way!

#1 – Now that I’m ready to believe that, I finally put away all of my cool weather coats and jackets this week. I’d put away my really heavy winter coat back in early April, but only in this past week or so am I willing to believe I no longer need the jackets as well.

#2 – In celebration of the approaching summer, I spent several hours cleaning all of my porch furniture, hanging plants on hooks and sweeping away the debris of late fall and winter. I’ve been able to enjoy a cup of coffee (usually some or all of my 3rd cup) on the porch, once full daylight has just settled in, and just vegetate while watching traffic and people starting off their day. Mine is the only one of six apartments that has this outdoor space, and because of it, I chose this apartment over another available apartment that had a kitchen at least twice as big as mine.

#3 – Living alone, my place doesn’t really get dirty, except for dust and road dirt coming in that I can’t control. Nonetheless, just like I did last month in the days before visiting my brother a month ago, I cleaned the entire place. There is this idea in my head that, if something should happen to me while I’m away, I don’t want whomever has to enter here on my behalf (even though it would most likely be my brother or my bestie) should find things looking sloppy.

#4 – I could write oodles about the success of my visit with my brother this week. It was, as always, an awesome time filled with hours of conversation. As a fellow blogger (also my inspiration and mentor when it comes to my blog), we’d be chatting and often, one or the other of us would stop and say, “Oh, that could be a future blog post!” It’s fun to have that in common together! Of course, now if he writes about any of them (he jotted down a few of the topics), I’ll get to take credit in the comments of helping spark the idea!

#5 – I had a planned opportunity this week to “pay it forward” and it was successful. Along with it, however, I had an unplanned opportunity to “pay it forward” to someone else, which was also successful. There is so much joy in giving!

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day, everyone! To those of you who served to protect this country and its freedoms, thank you! You are the reason we celebrate!

Friday’s 5 Takeaways – 5/17/19

So, another week has gone by and it’s time to review the exciting – and not-so-exciting – events of this week.

  1. My bestie and I got together as planned for lunch and a movie. We’d decided to see “Poms”. The reviews were mixed, more negative than positive. From them, as well as the trailers I’d seen, I was expecting a cute, quirky – at times, perhaps even dorky – light-hearted movie. It was all that, but much more. I won’t spoil it in case you plan to see it, but I will tell you that I will never look at a single firework’s eruption against a blue-black sky in the same way again.
  2. I’m starting to get really excited that I’m going to be spending some time with my brother next week! We only live 2 hours apart, but we don’t see each other that often. There are two things I especially like about visiting him: I like to cook and he likes to eat, so I always get to spoil him with homemade goodies for his freezer, and, we talk for hours – about anything and everything – and we never seem to run out of things to talk about. No fancy hotel, no special attractions to be seen, but a wonderful stay-cation for sure!
  3. I was listening to a short podcast this week and there was a “AHA” sentence that made me scurry for paper and pen to jot it down. The sentence was, “Spending today complaining about yesterday won’t make tomorrow any better.” I quickly read what I wrote and came up with this sentence to follow: “And worrying about tomorrow won’t make today any better, either.” I’m guilty of both, though to a much lesser degree than I used to be. I’m going to type it up and give copies to people I know need it as well. One copy will be for me, to put in a conspicuous place so I keep re-reading it. I LOVE light-bulb moments like that!
  4. Although I know my readers will find it difficult to believe that I’m opinionated (hey, no snickering, please!), I got my first $25 gift card for points awarded from taking on-line surveys. I offer my opinions on three different sites, and while I often don’t “qualify” for surveys based on any number of things, I still enjoy giving my opinions about products, and it’s nice to be rewarded!
  5. I’m headed out shortly for my mani/pedi. For those who don’t know this about me, I was an avid nail-biter until my early 40s (my mom used to say I didn’t suck my thumb, I just waited until I had teeth and started biting my nails!). When acrylics became a thing, I wore them for about 2 years, which finally helped me break that habit for good. My reward is to keep my nails professionally done now, without acrylics. I’m planning a patriotic theme this time, to coincide with the upcoming holiday.

So that’s where this week stands. I have no doubt that, after sharing our adventures (misadventures?) next week with the visit to my brother, there will be more posts fueled and fed by our conversations.!