Do you ever stop to think of all the little things that you appreciate? No, really do you? how often? This morning I was thinking about things that I truly appreciate in my life right now and I just thought I would share them with you.
My Family. My Health, My families Health. Blackberries starting to ripen. Fresh Strawberries. The smell of freshly mown grass. Honeysuckle. A new knitting project. Being at home with my precious family after being gone for a few days. Having lunch with my sisters. Baking bread. Walking outside and breathing in the sweet smell of summer. Friends that love you and never leave you. An amazing first cup of coffee, You know what I mean!!! A good book that you can curl up with and read for hours. The first taste of an amazing meal. Confidence. Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Soft rain on a Sunday morning. Fresh green fern growing wild in the woods.
Don’t ever forget to appreciate!!! It’s not really a game it’s life. Love it, live it!!!!
Hello friends, I have been gone most of the week to Luray Virginia for a work trip. This was the first trip I have been on in a year and a half.
The Attraction that I work for belongs to a tourism association and we meet a few times a year. However this was our first in person meeting in over a year. We had conducted all of our previous meeting via Zoom.
I had to leave out on Sunday. I don’t know if you are like I am but I just have to leave my house clean and the laundry done. So on Saturday that is what I spent the day doing.
I was awakened on Saturday morning by the smoke detector in the hallway just outside my bedroom. At approximately 3:30 AM I started hearing that repeated chirp that just makes you want to tear it out of the ceiling and stomp it into a billion pieces. Scruffy’s little ears are especially sensitive. He first tried to climb on my back and then my head to get away from that piercing little chirp.
We got up and of course had no batteries to fit it so we wound up pulling it off the ceiling to stop the chirping. Since I was awake I decided to just stay up. I had a lot to do to get ready for my trip. It had been so long since I traveled I had almost forgotten how to pack. I actually did leave several things behind.
Preparing for a trip gives me anxiety. Add in the fact I have gained weight and had less clothing options really put me in a tailspin. But I was determined that I was going to make the best of it and enjoy my time with a group of wonderful people that I had not seen in a very long time. That is just what I did.
We left out on Sunday and it was about a seven hour drive. I met a couple of other people in Knoxville and we all rode together. It was a long drive and we arrived tired and weary from the road. We stayed at the beautiful Mimslyn Inn.I’ve stayed at the Mimslyn before and it is a beautiful and very old property. It is reputed to be haunted but I have never encountered anything during my stays. Although our meeting didn’t start until Monday at 1:00 PM we went on Sunday because we had such a long drive and didn’t want to take a chance on running into road work or any other issues.
The Mimslyn Inn
I love this beautiful staircase
We ate at this restaurant our first night with our group. They opened just for us and it was amazing!!! They fed us great food and the atmosphere is so welcoming. http://www.Moonshadowsonmain.com
Moonshadows Restaurant is fairly new and is centrally located on Main Street in Downtown Luray, Virginia. The name Moonshadows is supported throughout the restaurant by the use of color and art-every picture has a moon in it. It’s beautiful.
Unbelievably beautiful formations all through this cave. If you haven’t already visited Luray or if it is your third time like me. You have to check it out. There is much more to see at Luray Caverns than just the cave. There is also The Car and Carriage Museum, The Luray Valley Museum and lots of shopping and eating. Plan to spend several hours at Luray.
We also had the pleasure of visiting the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton Virginia. We were so fortunate to have a few of the actors on set and they did a couple of short performances for us. We were also able to visit backstage and check out the areas where all the action happens, making costumes, building scenery for the sets and the area where all the props were kept. So exciting, for just a few minutes, to feel like a part of theatre crowd.
If you have the luxury of visiting the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and just a few of these treasures I have mentioned, you will never forget them. With each turn and twist of the road a beautiful work of art will unfold. It is breathtaking. The people are some of the nicest people you will ever hope to meet. The hospitality is honest and true. I can’t wait to go back.
Have a wonderful rest of your week and always remember,
What does a perfect lunch look like to you? A nice restaurant, friends to eat with, maybe co-workers. Or maybe you just like solitude and a time to breathe and re-group. I say make the best of your break time when you can. Especially if you are working whether it be at home, office or otherwise.
I have gotten into a very bad habit at work and that is eating lunch at my desk. For a few weeks we were so slammed and short handed I had no choice but to grab my lunch out of the break room refrigerator and eat it at my desk while I answered the phones, took and changed reservations put out small fires etc etc. So I didn’t really get much of a break at all. And I could tell the difference. It sort of made me a little cranky. Well maybe a lot cranky.
My work place is a little out of the way and not close to any restaurants. We have a small restaurant on site but because of COVID it has been closed since last year and we’re not really sure about opening it this year. I do go into town occasionally, like on Wednesdays when I go to Sister Lunch or when I have a lunch meeting. My co-workers and I get takeout sometimes and bring it back to work but that still leaves the issue of going to the break room or sitting at my desk. The break room is pretty full right now because we have a lot of workers this time of year.
After a few weeks of craziness, work slowed down a little and we had a little breathing room. I decided one day to go out to my car and eat lunch. It was awesome!!! I know this is not rocket science and I have done it before in the past but it was just so relaxing. No phones to worry about, no one coming in to ask me a question, It was great!!! For just that thirty or forty minutes of down time I was able to regroup and re-energize.
The next day I returned to the car and ate my lunch in the warm sunshine and even had time to take a fifteen minute nap. I felt so rested and ready to head back into work. I started putting a book in the car to read and I brought some knitting. My husband always says I have the ability to build a nest anywhere that I am. I guess he is right.
Whatever you do don’t deny yourself the downtime that you need in the middle of your work day. You need it!!! Take it!!! It will make you much more productive and ready to face the rest of your work day.
