I need to exercise more, more steps in my day, more use of muscles that are or have turned to jello, like those on the underside of my upper arm. I know I need all this and yet, year after year, birthday after birthday...I haven't changed my habits much. Scheesh!
Over time I have made concessions with myself that have made me feel a little better about things. Where possible, I do take the stairs over the elevator. Of course, there aren't either in my day-to-day world, so that one is kinda wimpy...
I do walk...while I talk on the phone. I have a path I walk inside my house that traverses the entire length of my house. To change it up some, I walk circles around the coffee table and/or kitchen island a few times every so often. Just to have an idea of how much walking I was getting in, I kept a written record on random days. It ranged from 30 minutes on a slow day to nearly 2 1/2 hrs another. That's a good average! And this is not some ambling stroll I'm talking about here, oh no! I walk at a clip, doesn't really help much if I don't. I can look my cardiologist in the eye and say in all honesty..."Yes, sir, I walk every day!"
Being at the computer for long stretches at a time has taken it's toll on most of my body. I find I need to stretch more often, especially my shoulders and back. Sometimes I take 'computer breaks' and get in some 'walking time'...wink, wink...to catch up with my friends. Still, I've noticed that is no longer taking care of the needs of either working out or resting my shoulders. I realized I was pulling my arms behind my back or stretching them up and down behind my head with my hands clasped.
One day while washing up in the bathroom room I stood in the mirror and stretched like that and I decided I needed to add some weight in my hands for a more effective stretch. Looking around, I grabbed the large & almost full bottle of mouthwash and held it behind my head as I did the up & down thing with my arms. It was wonderful. It helped and was free!!! I'm not going to pay good money to buy some marketed gadget I probably wouldn't use much anyway, but the mouthwash bottle is just enough extra weight to be helpful and always handy. I made a game of it for my inner child and now I take the time to do 25 repetitions every time I go the to bathroom! On a hunch, I looked under the sink in the 'other' bathroom and sure enough, there was an almost empty bottle the same size. I filled it with water and 'presto' my exercise equipment was ready to go!
Living a Simple Life is all about getting back to the basics and freeing up our time and money. Recycling and re-purposing the mouthwash bottle keeps the plastic out of the landfill, too...a bonus! The shape of this bottle is just right for my small hands to wrap around without strain, so you might think about that next time you're buying mouthwash and your underarm jiggles as you reach up to the top shelf. LOL
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Beautiful Morning
I am thrilled to report this post is the first ever written on the picnic table on the front deck where my view includes the silhouetted hills of Bandera, the rising of a pinkish gold sun and I am being serenaded by the dueling crows of roosters in stereo. The wind is from the north east and is blowing enough to sing through the trees and move my hair into my face but not so much to drive me back inside. This is the second day in a row I've been able to once again enjoy breakfast on the deck, one of my favorite things to do! It is a morning full of promise and blessings. God dances on the wind and covers my home and life completely!
Most of the time the blog posts are written in the wee hours of darkness, making an outdoor writing experience difficult. It is later than my usual writing time and I am taking full advantage of this glorious morning. My deck is not covered and, for the most part, sadly unusable during the summer months that end up rolling into fall. This makes this time even more special. So I want to share it with you when I can.
The vast number of birds songs gracing my ears is amazing! The cooing of several types of doves and the gobbles from a neighbor's turkeys carry on the wind from near and far. The playful sounds of the three pups next door makes me smile. The buzzing of something large flying behind my head is not cause for concern because I've decided it must be a dragonfly.....no, no, do not try to tell me differently, it is a dragonfly. That's my story and I'm sticking with it!
The feral cats were fed before I brought out my food in self-defense. They are a hungry lot and think each time the front door is opened it surely must be time to be fed. I want them to depend more on their hunting skills and less on my dispensing of food, so they are only fed in the mornings now. I see evidence of their skills, so I know it must be working. While still not friendly pets, they clamor at the front door when they hear the lock turn each morning and make walking to the food bowl tricky but I prefer that to the instantaneous scattering like fearful babes they used to be. At this moment, they are spread out all over the deck, some perched on a bench, the others taking their favorite lofty spots to watch life pass below us. Our treetop perspective gives a feeling of being above it all.
Being in the country during dove season, there is the occasional gunshot, not a sound I relish but my hope is that any dove falling to the sound will make its way onto someone's table. God did give us dominion over the animals for food, even if we don't like the path they have to take to get there.
As the sun gets higher in the sky and the pink fades to a more brilliant gold, the gunshots are coming more frequently. Fly, little doves, fly!!
I have new neighbors in the village. A family moved in across the street to that pretty rock house. I haven't met them yet but I have enjoyed the sound of their young children playing. Yesterday they were imitating the roosters. Apparently said roosters can't tell time and crow randomly throughout the day.
This time of day, 7:32, usually finds me in my office working on some literary masterpiece....(picture me laughing hysterically)...but this morning is so beautiful and pleasant (and it is holiday after all), I just cannot bring myself to go back inside. The long months of unbearable heat have left me longing for such a time as this. Early morning sun is the only kind I can be in anyway, so I am making the most of it.
Life is starting to make its presence known in the village now. Cars revving up, the golf cart puttering down the street bearing the man that reads our water meters and dogs communication on the canine hotline compete with the birds for the airwaves. I'll drink down the last sip of my now cold coffee, gather up my computer and head inside to face whatever this day brings. Having been restored in the masterpiece of God's morning, I am more able to cope with the unknown to come. His mercies are new everyday!
Thanks for stopping in and sharing my morning!
Most of the time the blog posts are written in the wee hours of darkness, making an outdoor writing experience difficult. It is later than my usual writing time and I am taking full advantage of this glorious morning. My deck is not covered and, for the most part, sadly unusable during the summer months that end up rolling into fall. This makes this time even more special. So I want to share it with you when I can.
The vast number of birds songs gracing my ears is amazing! The cooing of several types of doves and the gobbles from a neighbor's turkeys carry on the wind from near and far. The playful sounds of the three pups next door makes me smile. The buzzing of something large flying behind my head is not cause for concern because I've decided it must be a dragonfly.....no, no, do not try to tell me differently, it is a dragonfly. That's my story and I'm sticking with it!
The feral cats were fed before I brought out my food in self-defense. They are a hungry lot and think each time the front door is opened it surely must be time to be fed. I want them to depend more on their hunting skills and less on my dispensing of food, so they are only fed in the mornings now. I see evidence of their skills, so I know it must be working. While still not friendly pets, they clamor at the front door when they hear the lock turn each morning and make walking to the food bowl tricky but I prefer that to the instantaneous scattering like fearful babes they used to be. At this moment, they are spread out all over the deck, some perched on a bench, the others taking their favorite lofty spots to watch life pass below us. Our treetop perspective gives a feeling of being above it all.
Being in the country during dove season, there is the occasional gunshot, not a sound I relish but my hope is that any dove falling to the sound will make its way onto someone's table. God did give us dominion over the animals for food, even if we don't like the path they have to take to get there.
As the sun gets higher in the sky and the pink fades to a more brilliant gold, the gunshots are coming more frequently. Fly, little doves, fly!!
I have new neighbors in the village. A family moved in across the street to that pretty rock house. I haven't met them yet but I have enjoyed the sound of their young children playing. Yesterday they were imitating the roosters. Apparently said roosters can't tell time and crow randomly throughout the day.
This time of day, 7:32, usually finds me in my office working on some literary masterpiece....(picture me laughing hysterically)...but this morning is so beautiful and pleasant (and it is holiday after all), I just cannot bring myself to go back inside. The long months of unbearable heat have left me longing for such a time as this. Early morning sun is the only kind I can be in anyway, so I am making the most of it.
Life is starting to make its presence known in the village now. Cars revving up, the golf cart puttering down the street bearing the man that reads our water meters and dogs communication on the canine hotline compete with the birds for the airwaves. I'll drink down the last sip of my now cold coffee, gather up my computer and head inside to face whatever this day brings. Having been restored in the masterpiece of God's morning, I am more able to cope with the unknown to come. His mercies are new everyday!
Thanks for stopping in and sharing my morning!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Redirecting Your View
Simple Life on Hacienda Hill is not so simple right now. The practical issues of composting, hanging the clothes out to dry, re-purposing items and choosing to live a lifestyle that is more harmonious with the earth is all still in place. It's the 'life' stuff that clouds my sunny horizon.
Sometimes the winds of reality are referred to as the cold hard facts, about now they seem more like the hot breath of hell. Added to the scorching heat of this record breaking summer, relief is hard to come by. There just isn't enough A/C in the world.....
But, my new friend, Terry, said something that touched me when I had to let her know how disappointed I was I had to cancel the mission trip next June. She said, "There is no reason for sadness, because He has a better plan." I'm still walking in the valley where the shadows block out the sunlight, but I hang on to Terry's words and made them my mantra because I know the day will come when I walk in sunshine again. Thank you, Terry.
As God often does, He places what you need to see right in front of you. The first written word I saw this morning was on a blog I read and it was titled 'When real Life Gets in the Way of Your Dreams'. I smiled, I knew it was Him. As I prepared to read the blog, I decided to open the curtains to let in natural light (simple life habit!). The window in my office gets blasted by the hot, west afternoon sun, so I have heavy drapes inside the outer light weight curtains to help keep the heat out. I drew the heavy drape to the left and saw that my view would be of the ugly storage shed, the burn pile we haven't been able to burn in over three years because of the ban and all the pile of junk in the 'To Be Hauled Away Someday' area. Not a pretty picture. I quickly reversed the drape to the right. It hid the ugliness and outlined the garden bed, albeit dried up. It also highlighted the life and new growth of my precious fig tree. My only thought was, "I have a choice; I can choose the ugly and worthless or I can choose that which makes my heart feel good." Talk about a No Brainer!
I shared this little story this morning to say this...even in the worse of times, we have choices. We may not be able to control circumstances that rain down upon us like piercing sleet but we can choose how we conduct ourselves in the face of adversity and the view we decide to take. Dwelling on ugliness does not take away the ugliness. Shifting your view to that which is good doesn't take away the ugliness either, but it gives you a chance to focus on the good that exists beyond the ugliness, a chance to breathe in fresh air of hope and to remember that, as Terry said, He has a better plan.
This coming week my new granddaughter, Lily, will make her entrance into this world. The very thought of her inspires hope in my spirit. It is God's way of reminding me that I will get through the valley to the sunshine and life, as He orchestrated it, goes on.
I pray you find hope and peace in your own simple life today!
Sometimes the winds of reality are referred to as the cold hard facts, about now they seem more like the hot breath of hell. Added to the scorching heat of this record breaking summer, relief is hard to come by. There just isn't enough A/C in the world.....
But, my new friend, Terry, said something that touched me when I had to let her know how disappointed I was I had to cancel the mission trip next June. She said, "There is no reason for sadness, because He has a better plan." I'm still walking in the valley where the shadows block out the sunlight, but I hang on to Terry's words and made them my mantra because I know the day will come when I walk in sunshine again. Thank you, Terry.
As God often does, He places what you need to see right in front of you. The first written word I saw this morning was on a blog I read and it was titled 'When real Life Gets in the Way of Your Dreams'. I smiled, I knew it was Him. As I prepared to read the blog, I decided to open the curtains to let in natural light (simple life habit!). The window in my office gets blasted by the hot, west afternoon sun, so I have heavy drapes inside the outer light weight curtains to help keep the heat out. I drew the heavy drape to the left and saw that my view would be of the ugly storage shed, the burn pile we haven't been able to burn in over three years because of the ban and all the pile of junk in the 'To Be Hauled Away Someday' area. Not a pretty picture. I quickly reversed the drape to the right. It hid the ugliness and outlined the garden bed, albeit dried up. It also highlighted the life and new growth of my precious fig tree. My only thought was, "I have a choice; I can choose the ugly and worthless or I can choose that which makes my heart feel good." Talk about a No Brainer!
I shared this little story this morning to say this...even in the worse of times, we have choices. We may not be able to control circumstances that rain down upon us like piercing sleet but we can choose how we conduct ourselves in the face of adversity and the view we decide to take. Dwelling on ugliness does not take away the ugliness. Shifting your view to that which is good doesn't take away the ugliness either, but it gives you a chance to focus on the good that exists beyond the ugliness, a chance to breathe in fresh air of hope and to remember that, as Terry said, He has a better plan.
This coming week my new granddaughter, Lily, will make her entrance into this world. The very thought of her inspires hope in my spirit. It is God's way of reminding me that I will get through the valley to the sunshine and life, as He orchestrated it, goes on.
I pray you find hope and peace in your own simple life today!
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