Playing Words With Friends

I do this.
Sometimes I think I do this just to make sure my friends know I'm still alive. After all, when  you start a game you more than likely have to keep it going until someone wins. Ergo, one must at the very least, make one play a day, right? And, if after several days pass & there are no new plays by me, perhaps it would make them wonder a little at my whereabouts. It might very well take several days, but they may eventually get around to emailing or calling.
It seems phone use is somewhat going the way of U.S. mail and actual letters written. No one does it much these days.

I miss those days of personal contact, how about you? When you anxiously awaited for the mail man to deliver some bit of news from a friend or relative far away? When you could hardly wait to hear something from that person/persons that you cared so much for.

Computers have brought about so many good things. But some very bad as well. And one that can not ever be replaced again in our life times, intimacy shared in a close and caring relationship.
I love my computer, don't get me wrong, but... it has us becoming a bit more cold and impersonal.

I remember the family and friend "get togethers' I experienced as a child before my mom died. They'd come over in the droves, play music, play cards, laugh, share and it was face to face, up close and personal. If someone struggling in the group needed a hug, they got it! Instant bolstering that you could feel!
So many 'good old day' scenarios, now just a memory.
Kids, and grandkids today won't even have a clue what it is to sit down and hand write a letter to someone. They'll all come to believe it was something just as 'far out' as our thinking about letters being delivered by pony express was.

Yep! We've come a long way, baby! But somewhere along the journey, we may have lost a bit of our personhood. And the way we can communicate. Oh, it's faster...probably less costly in the long range, and more efficient. It's instant.  But some days, it's just nice to hear a voice, hear a laugh, or see eyes that actually light up.

Communication is a lost art. One that was pushed full throttle into the 21st century & landed upon a little lit up screen on a desk.

If you get a break sometime and want to hear someone actually speak one of these days...hey, let me know! Pick up a phone, if you still have one...and say "hey!" I'd be glad to be at the receiving end of your call.
Until next time, why not try to call a friend you haven't talked to in awhile. Invite them over for a cup of something & play some cards! Might be a little fun, especially if you haven't done that in awhile.

In the meantime,  I'll go check out the Words With Friends board and see if I'm winning or losing.
Have a good week end folks!

Outlook

I may be...

...the only short, fat, bald, old white lady that watched Whitney Houston's 'Going Home' all the way through today, but then...I sort of doubt it.
One may rant all the day long about this being covered in the news media, flags ordered at half staff, the whole unanswered questions surrounding her death, but one thing is true through it all - she was a talent to be reckoned with. She also was beloved by many many people, and will be missed.

To her family, I express my sincere condolences. There just are no words. And although her physical presence will no longer grace this earth, her beautiful one of a kind voice will forever grace the hearts of everyone who ever heard it.

Today was Whitney Day. Her services were moving and expressive. I watched 'The Bodyguard' tonight. It had been a very long time since I had watched it. And it just served to remind me, once again...why we are all a sad lot today. She was a talented and lovely woman that no one can ever replace, for there is no one else like her.
It also reminded me that God is intrinsically interested in each and every person and that knowing Him, is one of the most important claims we can ever make in life.
I feel that indeed, Whitney, without a doubt, cut the tethers that bound her here and left it all behind to be with Him. Her life struggles are done. And for so many of her loved ones left behind...new struggles that come from her being gone, are just beginning.

My hope is that Bobbi Christine will lean on those in her life that will keep her solid. She will need all the help she can get from those who really care. I was but a month into being fifteen years old when my mother died...I KNOW how decimated it makes the human heart.

However you feel or don't, about this today, I would only hope that if you are a praying person, you would keep her and the family in your prayers. The world at large has lost a special person. And no, it's not a soldier, or a Pulitzer Prize winner, or dignitary... no hero in some people's eyes, but just a simple girl who had a talent which she freely shared with everyone. If she made you smile, laugh, or brought tears to your eyes, she spent her life entertaining YOU! And she deserves recognition for her efforts.

May God give you peace and rest, Whitney. You will be missed.

of birds and beasts...

There is nothing that bears more truth than this. In reading about and seeing poor precious animals being rescued from labs across the nation, my heart just breaks knowing that they have been experimented upon, put through hell in their short little life spans. Many, born and bred specifically for the purpose of experimentation, and never seeing the sun or touching a paw to grass. 

Those who would keep doing such things would, in my book, be equally as insensitive to an innocent child, an elderly person...or any one other who may be considered the "lesser" of them.

And "for the good of mankind" should not EVER include the neglect of or abuse of any innocent being!  And...unless the world as we know it ends tomorrow & we have to begin foraging for our scraps of food...I will never believe that hunters are a good lot! I don't like them...I don't like what they do.

As long as the corner grocery store still has food to sell - there is NO EXCUSE ever...for hunting and killing a beautiful animal. Until clothiers no longer sell coats to keep you warm, or hardware stores no longer sell utensils...there is no reason for any of it. I loathe those who think hanging the heads of dead animals on the wall is something noble and to be proud of. It most certainly is not. As one of my sons always says... "give the hunter nothing more than a sling shot and let him go up against the adversary...and then lets see how they do." 

Sorry folks. Just had to gripe a bit about this as it has weighed heavily of late.

Maybe I'm a bit grumpier too, from not having been able to keep to my schedule. Off the treadmill for the third day AGAIN! And not eating right. Just plain disgusted with things right now.

Do you ever get that way?

Well... do ya?

I got my 2¢ worth in anyway & I promise not to be so grumpy next time.

Day 5...

...on ye olde' treadmill!!! It's getting harder...not easier!! But then, I'm soon going to be sixty-three (good Godfrey!!!!!! how did I get here????) and the added aches & pains associated with that fact can slow one down. But I keep getting back on the thing as long as I can.

Now, the eating thing is going better too. Not perfect by a long shot, but better. I still struggle w/eating the wrong things. All the lovely recipes I find on Pinterest do not help much! If anyone has a fool proof way of disciplining their eating and curbing the desire for sweets...(other than telling myself that the bad stuff is actually poison, which only works once in awhile) let me know!

If you're a young person reading this...I will tell you what I was always told when I was  your age, "your day is coming!" and it will come before you know it! It is TRUE!!!! I can't emphasize that enough today.
Because my mind keeps telling me I'm thirty every day, but I've looked in the mirror and wondered "who is looking back" as my huge dose of reality stares back at me! What the ....happened?? I went to bed young and able and woke up the next day a doddering old fool! And whether you think that day is far off or not, it is going to happen to you. I never thought it would, but I look back all those years and wonder if it was someone else's life that was lived? Sooooo long ago, but really only a blink!

Anyway, take care of yourself when you're young, it will help immensely when you are into your sixties! And for those of you in my age group and beyond...it is never too late to get up and move!! So, make up your mind to travel inches a day. An inch in the right direction will get you years of mileage... even when you look like your grandma, you'll still be able to keep up with part of the thirty year old thoughts floating around in your gray matter! 

Have a great day everyone!

I am the third day in...

...on the treadmill again! I keep pushing and hoping that this time I can stick for awhile.
One thing I haven't got a handle on quite yet is the whole "not eating sweets thing."  And I NEED to!
Diabetes looms ever near and I have to start taking things seriously at some point. I have a few good leads on helpful websites for those with or on the brink of diabetes & when I have an extra minute, I will surely post them here for anyone that might find them helpful.

I want to feel better and I would like to help everyone else feel better along with me. So, let's put our best foot forward and give it a try anyway. I try to better my time, speed, and distance on the TM every day, as well as stretching exercises each time. Nothing too fantastic, but enough that I feel it later when I go to bed! Let's make this the year that we do what we can to feel the at peak of our health! And if I slip... I hope somebody out there will catch me when I fall. Good Lindt/Lindor Chocolate is my downfall folks. Do you have anything that nags at you to consume it against your better judgement? Peanut Butter & Chocolate will 'do me in' every time!

  =)

About loneliness...

I saw this on FBk today and thought I'd post it here:

“People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.”―Unknown

* Check out the attached blog on tips for dealing with loneliness.

 

6 Steps From Lonlely To Lovely [BLOG]

 

Linda Carlson Sometimes walls are built to insulate from further harm. Each new hurt produces yet another brick. Brick by brick...the walls are built. It takes someone like Jesus, who will stand on the other side ... patiently, lovingly, waiting for the one behind the wall to provide them an entry in. Walls are usually only built as a 'keep safe' by most people.

a few seconds ago 

I wrote this in February of 2009 and thought it appropriate:

Treadmill

Well, today was the day to climb back on & give it a go! I checked back and it had been NOVEMBER of this last year since I'd been walking! WoW!  Between the bone spurs on the bottom of my feet, the CFS, Myofascial Pain Disorder, and Arthritis...coupled with a very nasty virus around that time that lasted a good two & a half months, that's quite a stretch!

Plus the fact that since I've hit the sixties...it is just not all that easy anymore, but I keep trying. And I will as long as I can move.

I went all of 20 some minutes and didn't feel I accomplished much, but...it's a start.  I am inspired by a young lady in town who has been getting on her treadmill and walking of late. I admire her efforts and felt maybe I'd better start myself. I used to walk every day & over a mile. It felt good and I felt better. But it is getting more difficult with all the things working against me.  =[ 

I don't do it to lose weight (although that would be nice) ... but to try to be at my best level of health possible. I have a good 'shakes like a bowl full of jelly...belly' going that needs me to walk too!
I guess it all comes down to those three C's mentioned in my last post.  The first one involves taking that first step. I only hope I can continue. It seems I can go a couple of days and then some darn fool thing will flare up and stop me.


I would always use the time on the TM to pray too. Otherwise, I am not a very disciplined pray-er and can sort of just go at it willy-nilly. I have missed the solid prayer times. So...despite the fact I swore off sweets (I stuffed a huge brownie in my mouth today)...and failed, I will keep going on the machine as often as possible and T R Y not to eat the sugary stuff (my downfall is chocolate!) Guess I should add that as a fourth C in the equation! Just gotta have it! But...will do my best to choose the right stuff to help better my health. I won't give up and that must count for something!

Change

Well, here it is February and this many days past the start of the New Year and here I am still stuck where I was back in 2011, or so it seems!  I have found that time truly passes by too quickly in my dottering years. But then, I hear 'young folk' say the same thing. I often think that our life patterns can lodge in a rut that leads absolutely nowhere. And, that staying in that rut will have us found at the end of our days, shaking our heads and completely befuddled as to how we got there!

I found this saying the other day and felt it appropriate along this line of thought. So often it's just a matter of FINALLY making up your mind to choose to do things differently. That's the first step. Whether it's to start that new exercise program, mount the treadmill every day (like you used to...but got lazy) or trying to beat a destructive habit. Telling yourself that "it's TIME to do things differently" is a good beginning. The second 'C' about taking chances is something that may need a little more work.

Trying to convince yourself that the risk is worth the chance you take.

If you want to quit smoking but are afraid you'll get fat (a common misnomer associated with that act), you will never know if you can quit and keep your girly - or hunky physique, if you just don't try. If you convince yourself in your mind that it's going to happen and you are too fearful to put yourself out there, you have already defeated yourself before you begin.

If you stop eating the bad stuff that makes you feel good 'temporarily' what's going to eventually happen? It may feel great the moment you eat that small indulgence, but that  spur of the moment choice will eventually wear your body down and make it more susceptible to illness and disorder. Making a choice to not eat it says "I am in control, nothing out there controls me." 

Enough of the right choices in our lives leads to the inevitable third 'C'... that of change. How many times I personally have said, "I wish things could change" in a certain area of my life, only to ignore the obvious...change starts with choices that I make. I have more power over some of these things than I give myself credit for.

So, wherever you are in your personal journey into the new year, I hope you'll wrap your mind around the "3 C's" line of thought and begin to implement their truth. And, I hope you'll all keep me accountable for the choices I seem to make contrary to my own best interests.

It starts with one step in the right direction...I want to take that step.

How about you?