A New Year, A New Word

Hello Hello how have you been? This is my first post for the new year. Happy New Year!!!! I have to say being back at work last week for a whole week, yes I had to work New Year’s Eve and Day, kind of kicked my butt. I had taken quite a bit of vacation time before Christmas so having to work all week kind of did me in. By Friday evening I was dragging. So I didn’t do much this weekend but take some wonderful walks with Scruffy, knit like crazy, and cook. The temps here have been upper fifties and lower sixties. Is this really January? I have also been binge watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I am now on season 2. I love this it is so funny. Mark has recently started working some different hours so we are adjusting to that as well.

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just ignore these last two if you are cutting carbs

We had a very low key New Years. Mark doesn’t even attempt to stay awake until midnight. I do but I have to set the alarm on my phone to wake me up just before midnight. There is just something about watching the ball drop in Times Square that just seems right and a fitting way to start the new year.

2018 was quite a year. A year of good things. Lots of travel and seeing new places. Our vacation to Maine was amazing you can catch up to it here Mainly In Maine But also unbelievably hard because we lost my sweet brother Allen. We got Scruffy and Kitty Kitty and worked with all the adjustments of having them. Scruffy came to us blind because of terrible cataracts and we had the cataracts removed and now he can see!!!! My 85 year old mother in law fell and broke her hip and had to have several surgeries. She is now living in an Assisted Living Center and adjusting quite well to it. So lots of things going on and having to deal with but that’s life isn’t it?

I have been easing into the New Year. I am not one to make a lot of New Year’s resolutions. I am too old for that. I know what I am capable of and what I’m not. I decided to set some goals for the month of January and I will share them with you. Maybe you can help me be accountable.

I do pick a word every year to focus on throughout the year. I have been doing this for several years. My word for this year is “Try” very simple but yet very challenging in itself. What is the harm in trying. If you don’t try you definitely won’t succeed. If you don’t try you may never know what could have been. If you don’t try then you don’t know what you might be capable of. And if it doesn’t work out the first time try, try, try again. So that is my word for this year. I may have to embroider it somewhere on something or maybe get it tattooed somewhere on me.

My goals for January:
1.Help someone everyday (I know this sounds sort of broad but when you think about it, it can be done in one way or another if you focus on doing it.)
2.Lose 5 pounds
3.Work out 4 days a week (At least get in my 10,000 steps a day)
4.Try a new recipe
5.Visit with a friend I have not seen in awhile
6.Try doing something new
7.Be present everyday. (another broad one but stop and enjoy the little things)
8.Not to buy any new clothes or accessories
9.TRY
10. Do a daily devotional

I hope your New Year is starting off to be wonderful. Have you set any new goals?

Love your day your way

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How Much Stuff Do You Need?

When I was growing up we lived in a very small house. I had six brothers and sisters and we didn’t have a lot of stuff. When I say stuff I mean extra things like a lot of extra clothes, shoes, toys, etc. We lived a very simple life with simple pleasures and those were some of my best most fun memories ever.

Flash forward to today. My house is bursting at the seams with “stuff” most of it things I don’t even use anymore. I am ashamed to say that I have found clothes in my closet with tags still on them. I had bought them and put them in my closet and forgot about them. What a waste.

I am blessed to have what I need and then some but do you ever find that the more you have the more stressful it becomes. Clutter is something I hate. Too many decisions can cause extra stress. I have heard that 80% of women only wear 20% of their clothes and jewelry. I really believe this is true.

Throughout the year I have tried to reduce the clutter in my house and life. See my post about clearing the clutter part 1. I have tried to be more selective about what I bring into my house. If you saw the things in my basement you might doubt this is true. But I have been clearing, organizing, donating, and getting rid of things I don’t need or haven’t used. It really frees my mind. My husband is the worlds worst pack rat. He doesn’t want to get rid of anything. I found an old Linda Ronstadt T shirt in his closet that he has had since high school. He refused to give it up because he says its a collectors item. He has lots of things like that. Right now some of you might be saying “Linda who?”

I often push clothes that I don’t wear or can’t wear to the back of my closet. After a certain amount of time if I haven’t worn them I take them out and get rid of them. Hmmm yes I admit sometimes it might be a few years. What???? Someone could be using those things.

I am starting with clothes and accessories and books. I have already donated things to a local organization several times this year and hope to do this at least once a week until some of this is out of my house and mind.

Here are some things I have found helpful to ask yourself when trying to decide if you should hang onto those clothes or other items

1 Does it fit? If I outgrow something I really love, I put it in a tub and store it in my basement. I will give it a time frame of 6 months or a year or maybe until the next season. If I still can’t wear it then, I give it up.

2. Is this in style? I am not one to go for a lot of trendy items but if you are, look at those items and if it is not something you can make work then give it up.

3. Do I look good in it? If you don’t like how you look in something then you’re not going to feel good wearing it.

4. How long has it been since I wore this? If it has been more than a year then chances are you don’t like this item enough to keep it in your closet.

5. Would I buy this again today? Maybe your taste in that particular type of clothing has changed. Maybe you don’t feel good in a particular color that you used to like. So if you pick something up and say “why did I buy this?” You probably won’t wear it again.

6. Is it stained or damaged? If it is and you can’t fix it you’re probably not going to wear it. I had a pair of Sperrys, I dropped some oil on one of them. It made a huge spot. I couldn’t get it off and I couldn’t bear to give them up, I had only worn them twice. They sat in a box in my closet for about 2 years. I finally gave them up last week.

7. How many of this item do you have? I have a type of shirt I love. I tend to look for that particular type when I shop. Right down to the same color. How many of one type of shirt do I need? How many pairs of black pants? You see where I’m going with this.

8. Could someone else benefit from this more than I can? If you are holding on to it and you know you’re probably not going to wear it think of how it might benefit someone else.

These are just some of the questions I ask myself when I am trying to declutter. It works on other items as well.

I guess one reason I hang onto these things is because I didn’t have a lot of extra things growing up and maybe it gives me security. But I know now that “stuff and things” can’t give you security. It’s just “stuff”

So how much “stuff” do you need?

Love your day your way!!!

Rainy Days and Mondays

Good Monday friends. First of all Happy Veterans Day to all of our Vererans past and present. Thank you for your service.

How have you been? I know I say this every month but how can it possibly be November already? this year has flown by. It is raining this Monday morning, again. We are getting a new deck built onto the house and the materials have been in our yard for about two weeks. Every time the workers try to get started it is raining!!!!

Last weekend, actually it was weekend before last, I drove back to the Amish Farm market and finally bought one of the braided rugs I have been looking at. There are different ones brought in every week and I fell in love with the colors on this one. It is fairly small and I have it in my entryway and I will probably leave it there.

I also drove up to Bald River Falls a beautiful waterfall in the Cherokee National Forest. I knew the colors would be at peak and that it would be a great time to go. I was not disappointed. My sister and my nephew and his wife went with me and we had a great time!!

On the way back through Tellico Plains we stopped at a little antique shop, Stone Cottage, I hadn’t been in this shop for years even though it is a favorite of mine. The owner dries flowers from her garden and makes amazing wreaths and arrangements. I bought this dried arrangement of Nigella, or Love In a Mist it is also called. I love that name. When they are blooming they are a beautiful purplish blue color. These are full of seeds that I can plant now or in the spring. Let me know if you would like some of these pods.

The last couple of weeks have been very busy for me. I had to be gone earlier this week for a couple of days for a Gift Show in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge area. This is about seventy miles from me so I always spend the night. I am not actually the buyer for my work but I like to go when I can and check out any possible new merchandise. The drive up to Gatlinburg is beautiful this time of year and I always have to stop and get a few pictures.

We discovered a great restaurant in Sevierville that has only been open for about two months. It is called Five Oaks Farm Kitchen. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and we ate there for breakfast. I highly recommend the Belgian Waffles. Check it out if you get a chance. www.fiveoaksfarmkitchen.com I also got to spend time with some of my caving buddies who were at the show. And in typical “me” fashion I realized when we were getting ready for dinner Monday night I had left my jeans on the bed at home and hadn’t packed them. Soooo at 10:00 that night we had to make a run to Ross Clothing, the only thing open that time of the night in Sevierville, and get me a pair of jeans. I hate shopping for jeans. There is nothing that can make you feel worse about your body than trying on jeans, except maybe trying on bathing suites hmmmm. But I went into Ross with only thirty minutes to spare and gathered six pairs of jeans and took them to the dressing room. Ross is the kind of store you usually have to dig for what you want. It is an overstock type of store so you can find some good deals if you really look. I got a pair of Jones New York jeans and I love them!!!! Go figure it takes me hours normally to pick out a pair of jeans and I run in at 10:00, after having a big meal and a full tummy, and find jeans I love. Go figure.

We stayed in Sevierville where one of the shows was taking place and I got this early morning sunrise pic the morning I left.

Anyway I was gone for a couple of days and then drove straight back to work on Wednesday morning because we were doing a Teacher Appreciation night for our local teachers. It went very well and we are having another one on Wednesday night. We did tours and food and door prizes and our teachers loved it. We are so thankful for them.

We celebrated my husband’s Birthday on Friday so I took an extra day off from work. I was in Gatlinburg on his Birthday and felt bad for it but he also had to work. So we celebrated on Friday. On Saturday I went to visit my mother in law in the assisted living center where she is staying and took her out for a ride. I try to do that every week so that she has an outing to look forward to. I also went to a house-warming party of a co-worker and saw some friends there I hadn’t seen in a while so that was very nice. I finished up the day with my sisters watching the Tennessee game and had pizza and beer. If you know me you know I am not a football fan I actually could care less about it. But being with my sisters is always a good time, and I took a cowl neck scarf I have been working on and actually finished it before the end of the game.

With the traveling and eating out and not having time to work out I have felt a bit sluggish. I try to remind myself that I have to make time to work out and eat better anyway. I can’t use the excuse of special lunches, dinners and being gone. I am doing those things all the time. A day at a time progress I suppose. It’s back to the gym for me today. No more excuses!!!!!

What have you been up to?

Love your day your way!!!

Juggle the Struggle

By Lisa McClung

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Got this shot of the moon Tuesday night from my deck.

Hey ya’ll I hope your week has been wonderful and you are ready for a great weekend. I do have some fun plans for Sunday I will share later with lots of pics.

I will have to say I have been on the struggle bus this week. Going back to work after being off for two weeks left me with a lot of catching up with work and co-workers. I always love getting back and hearing what everyone has been up to. We have a couple of things coming up at work that we are preparing for. We also have a gift show coming up in a couple of weeks and that will involve a quick overnight trip to the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge area.

Kitty Kitty had to spend the night at the vet clinic on Tuesday night. She was spayed and came home the next day very quiet and unlike herself. I couldn’t wait to hear her romping through the house again. After a few days she is starting to get back to her old self.

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Tuesday night I went to see my mother in law at the assisted living center and we decided to get a hamburger. She has a really hard time getting in my car so as we were struggling to get her in the car I put my car keys on top of the car. You know where I am going with this, right? My car has keyless entry so we took off through town to Sonic. We like to get hamburgers at Sonic because we can sit in the car and eat. As we were waiting for our food I noticed a strange red blinking light on my dash. It was shaped like a car key. I thought well that’s odd my key is right here. I reached down and no keys, it hit me like a ton of bricks I had put my keys on top of the car. I jumped out of the car in a panic and ran around to the passenger side and believe it or not, my keys were there. I couldn’t believe it. I have a rack thing on top of my car and I had put them on the inside of the rack. Whew.

On Wednesday I stopped by the gym where I work out so I could pay my fees. The owner is a body builder and very strict about his eating and working out. He told me he hadn’t seen me in a while and I told him I had been gone most of the month. I told him I had really been slacking on working out and had been eating terribly. He ask what I had eaten that day and I just couldn’t bring myself to tell him about the meatball sub and fries I had just had for lunch. He said you can’t use traveling and eating out as an excuse to not eat right. Only you can take care of you. It all comes down to you. Wow, words of wisdom I really needed to hear. We talked for awhile and he worked out a routine for me to do 4-5 times a week. It is a bit grueling and about an hour each time. We are going to concentrate on cardio for awhile before I move into the weights. He helped me plan a diet that will give me a lot of protein and cut carbs. I am really excited to have someone to be accountable to.

Sooo on Thursday morning I got up at 4:00 a.m. I like to work out early and get it out of the way. I had to charge my iwatch so I could keep track of my steps and calories etc. I could not find my earbuds anywhere so I decided to stop by Walmart on my way to the gym to get some. I headed out about 5:00 a.m, it’s a 15 minute drive into town, 20 if it’s foggy and it was.

Walmart at 5:20 in the morning is a bit interesting, just saying. Found some ear buds that I thought would work. As I was walking through the store I noticed I had a strange thing going on with my underwear, I know TMI but I’m just trying to explain the struggle. With every step my underwear was slipping down and if I hadn’t had my pants on I guess I would have dropped them right there in Walmart. That probably wouldn’t be the first time that had happened to someone there Ha!!!! I think it was just the combination of the type I was wearing combined with the slick leggings. Too bad I hadn’t noticed this before I left the house. Anyway I got to the car and pulled those things up practically to my chin to stop that from happening. Luckily there’s not many cars in the Walmart parking lot at that time of the morning. I couldn’t get the ear buds package open. I had to get a tool out of the back of my car to open it. As I was trying to get the package open it flipped out of my hands and landed somewhere in the back of the car. After searching for a few minutes I found it. I got the package opened and they were not the right ones for my phone. At this point I almost went back home and blew off working out. But I didn’t. I did my workout and was soaking wet with sweat at the end and it was awesome. Totally worth all of the trouble.

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This morning I had to take everything out of the garbage can, and it was full, to look for my iwatch that had been missing since Thursday night. Me and Mark had looked everywhere for it. I found it about 10 minutes after I emptied the garbage can. I found it upstairs, not in the garbage can.

Some really awesome things happened this week too. My sisters and I met up for lunch on Wednesday with some cousins we rarely get to see, two of them from Texas. That’s when I ate the meatball sub shhhhhhhh. Got caught up with all my coworkers, snuggled with my fur babies and started a new workout program. Also got a great picture of the full moon Tuesday night. I found my iWatch, I didn’t lose my keys.

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One of my favorite places to be.

I tell you all of this because I like to keep it real and say that even with these struggles it’s nothing compared to what some people are going through in their lives. Just keep going!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Love your day your way!!!!

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