Monday, May 21, 2018 by Lisa

last week was a very long and exhausting week. Our server went down at work and we were without computers for several days. Even now with the system back up and running there are still several issues to work out.  All I wanted to do last week was shove chocolate in my mouth and curl up in a fetal position in my closet as soon as I got home from work.

At times like this I try to back away from the situation and say to myself this will work itself out and all will be fine eventually.

Change and problems are going to happen. Things have to be dealt with and that is something I have to remind myself of everyday.

So I took the weekend off and started Saturday morning watching the Royal Wedding and it was beautiful and I almost felt like I was right there. I loved the entire ceremony.  I baked scones and drank from my London mug.

This picture turned out a little weird but I thought it added to the romantic atmosphere.

I also went  with my friend Lorie to an awesome estate sale where I purchased several crocks. I love them and when I find different ones I just can’t help myself.

We also went to see the new Melissa McCarthy movie, Life of the Party. It was pretty good. A little silly at times even for Melissa.

I took the entire day on Sunday and did nothing but regenerate for the upcoming week.

Tell me how do you handle stressful work situations such as computer issues, employee problems etc. are you able to leave the problems at work?

Love your day your way

Tuesday, May 15,  2018  by Lisa

 

 These irises are from my mother’s yard I transplanted then several years ago to my yard and have also shared them with my nieces so we all have something my mother loved.  

Mother’s Day as many of you know is not always a happy time.  It could be because you have no children and you have always wanted to be a mother. It could be because your mother is no longer living and you miss her terribly. It could be because you have lost a child.  It could be because your mother is living but for whatever reason you are estranged from her.

Whatever the reason Mother’s Day can be a sad day for many people. I do not have children of my own. I didn’t intentionally not have children and I didn’t intentionally try not to have them. It just didn’t happen for me and most of the time I am ok with that except for days like Mother’s Day. Years ago I stopped going to church on Mother’s Day because it became very painful when they gave out that rose or pin or whatever to all the moms.  When they came to me I usually just took the gift anyway feeling like I was a fraud.

I am also sad for the loss of my own mother who happened to be the BEST mother in the world. She had the patience of Job and though she never worked outside the home she was quite worldly because of all the reading she did. She always made sure our family and all of my brothers and sisters ( there was seven of us) were always taken care of.  This woman was a powerhouse and could fix just about any electrical appliance there was. She cooked like no one else and could grow anything and made up games to play with all of us.   I have learned so much from her. But more than that she was my best friend  I could tell her anything and she would always be there for me.  Shortly after we got married my husband heard me on the phone with my mother.  He said “how many times a day do you call your mom”? I replied “ as many times as I need to.

I also know a few people who, though they are not estranged and still see their mother regularly, just don’t get along with them.  Maybe they were mistreated by them, maybe they can’t live up to their standards but whatever they feel like they’re being dishonest by showering them with gifts on Mother’s Day.

I have known wonderful mothers in my life.  My sisters, nieces, cousins, aunts, good friends, co-workers, all wonderful mothers whom I admire so much.

Anway, I hope that all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day. My day was awesome in spite of everything because of my fur babies. Scruffy, Kitty Kitty and Molly but then they make everyday awesome!!!!

Love your day your way.

Saturday May 12th, 2018       by Lisa McClung

Happy Saturday everyone. I can’t believe we are in the second week of  May. With work, a new kitty, keeping my sister’s fur kid while she is on vacation, and again work, work, work, life continues to be a bit crazy over here.

You know I constantly struggle with procrastination. A couple of weeks ago I was reading one of my favorite blogs Pearls and Twirls and Katie was also talking about procrastination and a book called  Eat That Frog.  You can get this on Amazon so I ordered it and I love it!!!!

The book is by Brian Tracy.  He believes if you get your most dreaded thing out of the way first then everything else will get easier.   He calls it eating a frog.  He believes if you start your day by eating a frog then the rest of it has to be better.  And if you have two frogs to eat then eat the biggest and ugliest one first.  When you do this everything else seems easier to do.   I tried this last week.  Lord knows when I dread doing something I put it off as much as I can.  Well last week I plunged right in and worked on my most dreaded things first.  It is true when I did this and felt this accomplishment I wanted to tackle other things.  Try it and let me know If it works for you.  Brian has many more helpful insights so check it out.  Also check out Katie’s blog Pearls and Twirls you will love it.

Its Saturday so I have a million things to do. I have a lot ( that’s an understatement) of laundry to to. I have had to be pretty creative with my clothing this week pulling things out of the closet I haven’t seen in awhile. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing. I am getting ready to purge a lot of clothes from my closets. I’m thinking of putting them on Poshmark it’s a great way to buy and sell clothes.  Check it out.

The temperatures here in the south have been a bit unpredictable. We had one of the coldest April’s in recorded history and yesterday it was 90 degrees.  We skipped straight from winter to summer.  What happened to the spring?  I just love the month of May especially in the mornings. The air seems so soft at that time of day.  Have a wonderful day.

Love your day your way

Thursday May 3, 2018  by  Lisa McClung

It is so wonderful to be home again.  I was actually only gone three days but man what an action packed three days it was.  So grab a coffee, diet coke, glass of wine or whatever because this is kind of a longy.

I spent the last three days in Charlotte North Carolina and let me tell you first thing that Charlotte is a beautiful city.  I met with several attraction owners and Managers from twenty different attractions throughout the south from Georgia up to Luray Virginia. This organization is called Southern Highlands Attractions. http://www.southernhighlands.org. It is always great to get together and share ideas and visit other attractions and hear how they do their daily operations.

I arrived Sunday evening and stayed at the Hyatt Place Charlotte Downtown.  This hotel is a great place to stay, and located close to everything and the service was outstanding.
This was the view from my room day and night. Sorry for the wonky pictures of the city I took them through the window of my room with my cell phone.

The first night I arrived I joined our group for a visit to Top Golf.  I have never been a golfer, unless you count putt putt, so I was a little intimidated especially since some of the people  in our group were avid golfers.

But no worries Top Golf is for everyone.  There are several different levels and several bays located on each level. Eight people can fit  in each bay, six people can play per game.  Points are calculated sort of like in bowling. It was sooooooo much fun  I loved it. http://www.topgolf.com/us/Charlotte/

The next morning after about 3 hours of meetings, and a quick lunch at the hotel, we went by shuttle to the US National Whitewater Center.  The Whitewater Center is a locally owned and operated non profit organization. Situated on 1300 acres of woodlands making this a wonderful place for people to come and have fun. They offer a variety of adventure activities including kayaking, zip lining, rock climbing walls and lots more.

https://usnwc.org

Later that night we attended a minor league baseball game The Charlotte Knights against the Gwinnett Stripers at the BB&T Ballpark. The stadium staff really treated us well they gave us a behind the scenes tour of the stadium and took us onto the field. They sat us in their executive lounge for dinner and drinks and gave us the option to watch the game from there.  Whenever our Attractions group visits Attractions in other cities they are always the perfect hosts.

The next morning we toured The Bank of America Stadium Home of the Carolina Panthers. Several of the players were in the weight room working out but they wouldn’t let us near that area. Dang it!!!  We did get to go onto the field and tour all the behind the scenes rooms where the reporters and commentators stay.  A beautiful stadium.   It was awesome!!!

 

http://www.panthers.com/stadium/index.html

Next on our tour we visited the Billy Graham Library.  This is such a wonderful and special place.  Billy and Ruth Graham had such an unshakable connection with each other. They were married 62 years.  I hadn’t thought too much about it before but while Billy was touring world wide preaching the gospel Ruth was at home raising their children.  Billy always gave her the credit when someone would tell them how wonderful their children were.  They were a very special couple. And so unique in their own ways.

 

The childhood home place of Billy Graham and the Library, the gravesite of both Billy and Ruth Graham,  one of the pulpits used by Billy,  and  Ruth’s wedding dress.

Home

The day ended with a trip to the NASCAR HALL OF FAME MUSEUM. Even though I am not a huge NASCAR fan I found this to be extremely interesting.

 

http://www.nascarhall.com

I highly recommend a trip to Charlotte NC

Love your day your way