Seas The Day!

Life is a crazy thing! It's totally unpredictable and defies definition. What is "a normal life" to one person, can mean something far and away different to another. It's like the old "E Ticket" rides at Disney; the most thrilling, daring ones, not meant for the faint of heart.  It's an incredible adventure highlighted with ups and downs, and even sideways and spins! Mine is no exception, especially since Jim's passing. What was once every day is now so foreign. What I've often referred to as "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride", another Disney feature, is now running at an even more hectic pace. I never know if that door I'm running full speed towards is going to fly open at the last minute, or stay closed, impeding my progress and giving me one heck of a head ache! Life is wonderful, and it's also exhausting. 

This gives us all reason to recharge; to find our happy place and rejuvenate our bodies and souls. For me, that location has always been the beach, which is the main reason we moved here in December of 2015. Listening to the waves, taking in the salty aroma, admiring the ocean's beauty and taking time to slow down and participate in life are all very healing. 

Our weather has warmed back up, so recently my daughter, Shannon, and I dropped the kids off at school and took one of our dogs, Chloe, to the beach. 

We are so fortunate that the shore is less than five minutes from our house, with access points all along Ocean Blvd. My mobility is somewhat limited due to major spine issues, but I have a walker with big wheels made to traverse the sand. I'm still far away from the miles of beach and boardwalk walking I used to do, but it works. I positioned myself right at the water's edge while Shannon and Chloe went for a walk. 

It was quite foggy, lending a soft look to my photos - some almost look black and white! I was happily filming a little video for my Facebook page, when the waves came up beyond my feet! I moved back, they followed. I scooted back some more, and again they charged. What do you know? Low Tide! By the time Shannon got back, I was quite a distance from where I'd started, and so was the water!

What a beautiful morning it was, despite the fog! We collected several of the shells scattered along the sand, got our feet wet (the water was unexpectedly warm), drank our coffee and just took it all in. Big, relaxed, contented sighs.

It didn't release us from our troubles, but it cleared our heads and provided us with a reminder that there are many wonderful, precious parts of the circus we call life and we need to make a point to enjoy them. While it's tempting at times to curl up into a ball and hide, with a bit of effort, we can take ourselves to our happy, healthy and therapeutic place and not just exist, but relearn how to live!

I hope you're doing well. I hope that you have a place that nourishes your mind, heart, soul and body. Take yourself there. You deserve it!

Valentine's Day! We Made It Fun!

Hi and Happy Sunday! I'm so glad that you've stopped by!

As you may know, my darling husband, Jim, passed away July 5, 2017. Since then, I've been trying to figure out how to live this new life, with the assistance of my very helpful youngest daughter and two sweet grand children. One of the things that we decided to do was embrace the holidays! I normally don't decorate for much, other than Christmas and Halloween, but am finding that celebrating other special days in a similar fashion, gives us something to look forward to, something to do, and it's just plain fun!

We recently did a bit of shopping at Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree and some thrift stores and I wanted to share some of what we bought........

I bought two of these sweet rose hearts. Guess who ate one? PUNKIN!

This is how we decorated with our finds - on our front porch.........

This is actually two pieces - a sign from Hobby Lobby hooked to a wreath from Dollar Tree

LOVE this tin banner from Hobby Lobby! 

Pink and White roses along with red hearts on sticks from Dollar Tree bring new life to empty flower pots!

 

Springy hanging hearts blowing in the wind

As a Beverage/Snack Bar in the kitchen..............

Yummy cookies in an old silver-plated, heart-shaped dish I found at the Salvation Army

Hot chocolate pods in a ceramic berry basket from Hobby Lobby

Dove chocolate hearts and love birds, along with peppermint sticks, occupy a pink filigree bucket from Target

Dollar Tree mailbox holds tea bags; dish towel from Target

Coffee pods are kept in white canisters that belonged to my mom

Mug from our honeymoon - how romantic can you get?

On Valentine's Day, Shannon and the kids gave me an adorable and cuddly sloth, a little vase of the sweetest baby roses and a big heart-shaped box of chocolates! I gave them gifts too.........

My great gifties!

Jar candle I made with glittery red and white pom poms and hand-written chalkboard tag; Jamison's pink elephant; Shannon's owl soap pump

Abigail's pink unicorn, candy and a sign I bought at a thrift store (there were a few other things I failed to get pics of)

As if that all wasn't enough, we had heart-shaped pizza for dinner, heart-shaped cake for dessert and chocolate-covered strawberries!

Heart Pizza!

Heart Cake and Chocolate Strawberries!

I think that we did the holiday justice! LOL! We had a good time and although I had some really difficult moments during the day, overall it was joyous and filled with love! I also like to think that all of the love and celebration goes up to Jim to enjoy too!

So that was our Valentine's Day! We had some red lights for the porch, but they burnt out. Thats ok. We plan to hang green ones now for St Patty's Day and Purple ones for Easter!

Thank you again for being here! Hope all is well with you and yours! Hugs!

Shannon aka Crazy Queen of Hearts LOL!

A Bad Day For Coffee!

If you know me, or have seen pictures of me, you know that I love my Dunkin Donuts decaf iced coffee with cream! No, I don't love it, I ADORE it! I crave it! I must have it! If I don't have one in my hand or my car, rest assured that my plans for the very near future include hitting the drive-thru for some. SOME, that implies plural. I always get two. One is usually inhaled, sorry, enjoyed after dinner and the other is saved for early morning. It's always a good day when I have my iced coffee. Today, however, was not a good day for coffee!

It started out innocently enough. We were all headed to the car to go pick up Abigail's new eye glasses and run a few errands after the kids got home. I took the dogs out and sat down in one of the chairs we have on the patio. I placed my coffee at my feet - big mistake! Jamison came out with a basketball and began to shoot hoops, which always makes Chloe go nuts because she is obsessed with balls! No matter how big or small, the dog must play with it! Actually, she destroys most balls, but not intentionally. One will get caught behind a bush and by the time she finishes barking at it, biting and pawing at it, it's flat. She gets the saddest look on her face too, poor thing.  Anyway, she started chasing the ball around and barking and going for the rebounds and ran over my coffee cup, sending it's precious contents hither and yon! I was like "ACK!" Another good reason for decaf - crazy puppies who drink coffee off the brick patio!

Yes, you're pretty,  but you're nuts!

Our sweet Chloe

So, needless to say, we had to add picking up coffee to our errand list. We did and I was happily taking a sip when Shannon ran over a big bump in the road and I spit it all over my shirt! Argh!  Then, to add insult to injury, while carrying one cup in the crook of my arm on they way to the house, coffee came pouring out of the straw hole and all down my arm and side! What's up with that? I have no idea! Coffee Curse? Thank goodness I was able to drink it into submission before anyone was hurt! Let's hope things are a little calmer today!

Yes she looks so innocent while sleeping!

Have a great Thursday!
Hugs!