Pumpkin Sunrise

This is not my dog!  However, he is at the babysitting job and I do love him so and he loves me.  Whenever I arrive, he whines for me to let him out of his cage (which I do!).  I give him time to 'get his wiggles out' as he runs about looking for mischief. He is a Papillon and is a lap dog.  I definitely could be a lap dog in a previous life I think, sit and get petted, sounds great. The terrible twos seem to be giving way to wonderful threes (in April).  There are some temper tantrums but I give her lots of sympathy----'I know you are angry but let's think of something else instead'.  It works most of the time.  My little toddler girl that I babysit now has emerging imagination play and I'm all for that.  Our toy cows fly through the air and make friends with the toy pigs who fly as well.  We sing 'cockledoodledo' as long as we can and giggle over the tandem voices.  She dances and sings.  She also is funny.  I drank all of my hot tea and said it

Hello!  Goodness was this week a busy  week.  I'm trying to get used to my seven hour babysitting days.  I work Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  In a few weeks the hours might be less, fingers crossed.  The Toddler is amusing, we play 'muddy puddles' which is a Peppa Pig themed story of jumping in muddy puddles.  We just have shallow un-muddy puddles but they are coined 'muddy puddles' and she delights in repeating it over and over while running from one to the other. Her dad asked her why her shoes were wet.  She said "Miss Karen told me to run in muddy puddles".  Um....no....Peppa was the one with the original idea, I just thought it was a fun idea. I delight in her happiness in the simplest of things. golden retriever at work who LOVES me So my anxiety is resolved and now I'm ready to give you the story:  Three weeks ago, I was called back for another mammogram and after that magnified mammogram they found micro calcifications and recommende

Hello!  This was my first week back to babysitting and while I was excited to get back into my schedule, the newness of the schedule along with my anxiety exhausted me.  I am glad to be back to work.  The Toddler Girl and her family moved further away so my drive has changed.  Look at the view above outside the living room - what brilliance!  She is exercising her terrible two-ness, I do not miss that developmental age at all. The Toddler Girl calls me Miss Karen (unless she's mad then it's just Karen).  Her non-stop talking is delightful and most of the times I understand what she is talking about, other times I just pretend to know what she is talking about.  She was afraid of the grasshopper (I don't blame her) so I snapped a photo for her to look at closely without being close.  She likes to ride her tricycle and collect sticks.  She doesn't know what she wants when she is tired. On my drive to work, I pass a gorgeous sunflower field.  So much beaut

searing pink is delightful Hello! How was your weekend?  Mine was pretty good.  Thank you all for the well wishes you sent my way.  Just knowing there is a community out there thinking of me makes me feel better.  I am a feeling a tad bit better. yarn glorious yarn! One of the tricks I use for when I'm obsessing over a worry that I am not in control of is to create a contest of sorts.  So today, I dug through the yarn stash and have decided that many of my family and friends will receive a hand-knitted cowl for Christmas.  I have a lot of cowls to knit! I'm excited to be casting on something new.  I'm excited to be productive while I worry.  At least I'll get something done. this is a good book Besides knitting and reading, I've been back at solving sudokus (I always do crossword puzzles).  I only to the hard ones and my they take my full concentration and I relax.  I do love that. the only chickens I'll ever own Friday we went out

As I mentioned in the last post, I have been taking care of a pulled back muscle since Monday.  Yep, same place that I pulled in October 2017 that led me to join the gym.  I can easily fall down the negative thinking spiral of 'why again' or 'gee the gym is supposed to prevent this'.  However, let me tell you a secret.  I did something quite stupid that caused the back strain.  You see, I bent over and lifted a container of cat litter ALL the wrong ways.  I was taught better and yet I fell back to old habits.  This was last Friday, I felt a little something in my back but nothing else happened.  I felt invincible and lucky. Then I moved a piece of paper on Monday morning - wham-o! This is the part of aging that bugs me.  In my youth, I could twist and turn and abuse my body in all sorts of contortions imaginable.  The nuns at my high school would reprimand my sitting habits.  I would sit on a foot with my leg crossed, like a compact pretzel.  I still will

How is your Friday morning?  I'm sitting at the kitchen table, listening to a bird welcome the start of the day.  Mornings are when I am at my best self.  I write out a list, I reflect and write in my journals and most of my blog writing occurs in the mornings.  My gram was a morning person as well as my dad.  Can being a morning person be genetic?  I'd like to believe so.  Each day is unblemished and ready for anything I am opened to do.

Every day this week, I focused on knitting and finding the perfect position to sit to do it with my back issues.  The experts believe the pain is muscular and not related to a herniate disc.  I am lucky!  Ever so slowly, I've seen progress.  Did you know I am impatient?  I want everything now (or yesterday).  Waiting has never been one of my strengths.  So daily I wake up, tenderly assessing my progress.  My initial reaction is disappointment, but when I flip to listing the positives, I see significant progress. Last night I did not wake up to a 'back' alarm to take Tylenol.  This is huge!  I feel completely rested.  I have a long way to go and I will be in physical therapy at least a month.  After that, I need to create a ritual of supporting my health on a regular basis. So when I'm impatient, I stop and reflect.  I assess my progress and celebrate the journey. I was keeping a bullet journal of sorts for many months with daily repeating tasks that I would

Yesterday Frodo and I did a walk about in the yard.  These days go by so quickly that I forget to take photos.  Since Autumn is one of my favorite seasons (WINTER!) I wanted to make sure I take notice.  The cooler temperatures arrived two days ago.  There was collective sigh of relief heard by all who were tired of the heat and humidity.  I pulled out my fleece coat and if it drops a few more degrees, perhaps the woolens will be worn.  A knitter can hope. My daughter and son in law left on Monday morning.  After I finished babysitting, I cleaned the house and enjoyed the empty coffee table.  They are happy in their townhouse and we hope to see them soon. I've been struggling with back pain, so I saw my RA doctor yesterday.  I started physical therapy today and had some x-rays done to see if I did something really crazy.  No news yet.  I would do anything to sleep the whole night through and to not be thinking of my back. My knitting is on the back burner for now.

started all over again! I'm still adjusting to the fact that Lent started.  Doesn't it seem like we tucked away the Christmas decorations?  Oh the passage of time goes faster and faster.  I grew up Catholic (and still am) and historically for Lent I would give up something, usually candy and would fail before Easter.   I remember my mother taking Lent seriously.  Very seriously.  She once gave up smoking and lasted about five days.  Those five days were stressful for us kids!  I'm sure those five days were pure agony for her as well.  She switched her intention after five or so days.  I admired her for those five LONG days and she did quit smoking later in life successfully. I guess I could give up something.  The first thought was my "complaining".    I focus on being positive and present in my journal writing daily and here on my blog, but in person I can go on and on about complaints.  So much so that I don't like the way I sound.  Compla