Signs

Do you ever pay attention to the signs all around us? I would like to think they are part of Divine Intervention because it seems like whenever you need it a sign will show up. That is, of course, if you can recognize it. Whether it be comforting or inquisitive or just down right silly, try to pay attention to the signs all around you. The other day I was walking back to my car from the grocery store when I noticed a bumper sticker that said "The Ten Commandments are not multiple Choice"...it made me giggle but then I felt like a little kid and very quickly said in my head "Oops sorry Lord!". Today I just saw a very simple sign that read "Be Yourself"! Sounds good to me! Keep your eyes open and Keep Smiling! :)

Giving up the balancing act

I was talking to someone the other day who said "it's just so hard to balance everything". While I agree with that statement, it also made me wonder why we try to balance everything everyday in the first place. After all, not everybody can walk a tightrope or we would be part of the circus. When I think back to the days when my daughter was young, I was so overwhelmed. I was concerned that she was not getting all the food groups each day and that she was not eating a balanced diet. Her pediatrician then asked me "don't look at it in terms of each day, but in the course of what she eats per week, is she getting everything she needs". I began to apply that to my own life and stopped putting so much pressure on myself to get it all done and balanced in a day. Being a Libra who is all about the scales and balance, and a planner this wasn't an easy task. But eventually I got to the point where I could let go of the expections and ideals of society. In doing so I realized that the balance is not with the external stuff but within myself. Giving myself permission to be okay if everything didn't get done or go as planned. I am a much calmer less anxious person as a result and I feel like I am able to deal and cope with things in a better way. Life became more grounded and less restricted. Giving up the balancing act was the best choice I could have made. I will be a spectator at the circus, but no need to be a participant. Keep Smiling! :)

Give yourself the gift of forgiveness

Life is such a strange and wonderful experience. Minute by minute life can change for the good or the bad. The experiences, the emotions and the simple yet intrinsic weaving of it all to create the world in which we live. Life goes by in an instant. The older I get the more I try to deal with the minute by minute instead of the looking back or looking ahead. As difficult as it is to forgive others, it is even more difficult to forgive yourself. I am a work in progress but for today I am trying to be grateful, forgiving and loving. What will you do with your day? Keep Smiling! :)

Color outside the lines and use every crayon in the box

I remember being about five years old sitting on the floor by the coffee table and coloring in my coloring book while my parents would watch television. Being a first born and at the time the only child, I would put such unnecessary pressure on myself to color within the lines. To the point where if I did color outside the lines, I would rip the page out of the coloring book because it wasn't perfect. Fast forward to high school and college when I would take notes in class and later re-write them all over and over again so they would be neat and orderly. Call it OCD or whathaveyou but this is how I remember being until much later in life. Not quite sure when the transition in my thinking happened but I think being a parent certainly helped me to see that life is not perfect, we are not perfect. I gave myself permission to just be me. We are imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. It's okay that we don't have it all, it's okay to make mistakes and it's okay to take chances and fail. So what happens if you color outside the lines? Does the world end? Nope... you end up with a more colorful page. Enjoy everything about life and its experiences and the journey will be more fulfilling than you can ever imagine. Keep Smiling! :)

Song of the day

Don't you just love that every day there is a song that can be deemed the "Song of the Day". When I worked in an office years ago, my co-worker and I would start the day with the question " what is the song of the day?" And of course, we would pick something upbeat and happy and inevitably by the end of the day the "song of the day" would be changed to something like Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train". But it lightened our mood and keep us in giggles through what would normally be another mundane day at work. What is your "song of the day" today? Mine is "Kumbaya"...don't ask...enough said! Keep Smiling! :)

Create Positivity

Life is scary, messy and sometimes inconvenient. The older I get the more I realize it is all about being positive. Who you surround yourself with, eating good food, breathing deeply and even the music you listen to all affect your attitude. Every day when I leave to go to work, I make sure I look up at the sky, hear the sounds of the birds and notice nature. I listen to my favorite music mix in the car which helps any road rage that might creep up on me. I surround myself not with expensive things but things that mean a lot to me. Pretty note paper, colorful pens, stones and seashells from the sea. I make an effort to be positive and ride the waves instead of drowning in bad feelings. I know that for some this is easier said than done, but even a very small step towards changing things in your life is a positive step that will impact you in a good way. The recent happenings in Boston as well as things that happen every day in the world can easily bring your spirit down and fester hate. Try not to let that happen and instead be the positive change. Pay it forward and the world will suddenly not seem like such a bad place to be after all! Keep Smiling! :)

Surreal

There are no words that I can write to describe the horror and tragedy that still continues in my state of Massachusetts except perhaps the word "surreal". What does amaze me is that within just five days we have gone from tragedy to identifying the suspects and in process of capturing the remaining one. Praying for all those affected and hoping that this nightmare only makes us stronger. Hold those you love a little closer and live life fully each day. Keep Smiling! :)

Lucky Number Seven

Today my husband was at the hospital having a procedure to check on the stent in his brain due to an unruptured aneurysm. I dropped him off and told him to say hi to Angie. He said Angie? I said yes Angi O'gram which was the procedure he was having and I tried to make him laugh during a very anxious time for him. He had discovered he had an aneurysm when his mom had three rupture and they recommended all the children and grandchildren get tested. During this testing, he discovered he had an aneurysm or bubble as we refer to it in his brain. After coiling failed, a stent was put in and today was checking to see if the stent was doing it's job and it was. There were no complications and he was given the go ahead to not have to come back for seven years! I cannot tell you in words how this made our family feel as this had been an ongoing concern since 2005. What I have learned through it all is that my husband is an amazing person. I have been with him for almost thirty years. He was my first boyfriend and if I have anything to say about it, he will be my last. You don't realize when you are young and saying the vows before God and family that you truly will live each and every one of them. For better or worse, for sickness or in health...and as we like to add...to be a pain in the butt. My husband says I am excelling in that vow! We have almost been through it all, and I am sure there is much more to go through together and we are just thrilled to have seven years reprieve from worrying about this speed bump on our road of life together. Keep Smiling! :)

Kindness heals all wounds

As we begin to work towards picking ourselves up from the Boston tragedy, I hear more of the kindness that occurred during and afterward that is happily overshadowing the evilness of it all. From the rescue workers to the good samaritans who immediately responded at the scene, to the fact that the Boston hospitals were able to take on the victims who were injured and care for them, to the volunteers who steadily donate blood for those injured I am filled with great hope that this horrific tragedy will bring about something good in the world. Clearly not the intention of the person who wanted to instill fear and harm in all of us. While it will never replace those lost or the physical and emotional trauma of those injured and their families, I am proud and happy to be part of this state of Massachusetts. We are a strong group of people and we take care of our own. While visiting my mother at the rehabilitation hospital, I also noticed the kindness surrounding her healing process. The gentle nurse who assisted to her needs. Another nurse's daughter who not only visits my mother and speaks Polish to her, but brings her treats to eat. My mother's elderly cousin who brings her Polish food and stops by just to hold her hand. I just know that all of this combined with modern medicine is healing my mother's body and her soul. Whether you are experiencing the effects of a public tragedy or a personal struggle, let us continue to bring more kindness into the world. Keep Smiling! :)

Terrorism close to home

The bombing that occurred yesterday during the Boston marathon was a horrific act of terrorism. It brought back all the emotions of the 9-11 attacks. Boston is only 45 minutes away so that made it equally as stressful. I also personally knew of some folks that were running in the marathon. Once New York City and Washington D.C. were put on high alert I thought of our friends who were vacationing in Washington D.C. As I said when I started this blog, I try to find the lesson and the blessing in every situation and the humor. There is no humor in acts of terrorism. All we can do is put out as much goodness as we can in the world to try to counteract it. What does not kill us makes us stronger. We will rise from this and be united. Hold your loved ones close and count your blessings every day because you just never know. Thank you for reading my blog.

The Breakfast Club

While out for breakfast with my husband, we noticed a group of cars in the parking lot. As each one approached and parked, an elderly gentleman got out and greeted the others with a hearty handshake to those already waiting. This group of friends were meeting for breakfast. It got me thinking as to what they must have experienced in their lifetime. Did they grow up in the same neighborhood? Were they hometown boys who met when they were serving our country in the wars? Were they co-workers who after retiring continued to meet up? In any event, it made me smile to see this "breakfast club" and I wondered to myself who I might be having breakfast with in years to come. Keep those relationships going and Keep Smiling! :)

Shaving Cream

While driving home, i was listening to Casey Kasem and the Top 40 on the radio when apparently they were doing the Top 40 oldest records and this one came on...Shaving Cream by Benny Bell. It was definitely interesting to listen to and did make me giggle. I will let the lyrics speak for themselves...Here are the lyrics to "Shaving Cream" I have a sad story to tell you It may hurt your feelings a bit Last night as I walked into my bathroom I stepped in a big pile of ... Shaving cream, be nice and clean Shave every day and you'll always look keen I think I'll break off with my girlfriend Her antics are queer, I'll admit Each time I say, "Darling, I love you" She tells me that I'm full of ... Shaving cream, be nice and clean Shave every day and you'll always look keen Our baby fell out of the window You'd think that her head would be split But good luck was with her that morning She fell in a barrel of ... Shaving cream, be nice and clean Shave every day and you'll always look keen My old lady died in a bathtub She died from a terrible fit In order to fulfill her wishes She was buried in six feet of ... Shaving cream, be nice and clean Shave every day and you'll always look keen When I was in France with the army One day I looked inside my kit I thought i would find me a sandwich But the darn thing was loaded with ... Shaving cream, be nice and clean Shave every day and you'll always look keen And now folks my story is ended I think it is time I should quit And if anyone of you feel offended Push your head in a bucket of ... Shaving cream, be nice and clean Shave every day and you'll always look keen Keep Smiling! :)

What the heck is GORP ?

At my full time job, there are about 25 people in our department and we are always super busy. We take turns bringing snacks and leaving them on the file cabinet by the window. It is always a bright spot of the day when you get the email about a treat at the window. Sometimes it can be healthy snack like veggies with dip or cucumber sandwiches while other times it is pure unadulterated sugar coma time. Then you know when it is deadline time because...dare I say it...that is when the Dunkin Donuts magically appear at the window as well as the pizza lunch. Good thing the walk to and from the parking lot is lengthy so we can work some of the calories off! Today we got an email that simply said "GORP at the window"! Huh? What the heck is GORP? Well not having been a girl scout, I would not have been able to tell you that GORP stands for Granola, Oats, Raisins and Peanuts or in other words a sweet and salty snack. Today it was whatever my manager must have had left over from Easter candy mixed with Chex Mix. But the fact that the majority of our department is women (there are only two men), the sweet and salty snack was well appreciated. So much so that there was actually a line to get the GORP. I told my director that if they ever needed to gather us all together quickly all they would have to do is mention "food at the window" and we all crawl out of our gray cubes and seek the light that leads us to our snack at the window. I guess you definitely learn something new every day, even if it is a silly thing called GORP! Keep Smiling! :)

Birds, Flowers, Rain and Laughter

Today I started my day by being serenaded by the birds in the trees near my home. The combination of that and the somewhat gloomy rainy day made me smile. It may seem weird but I enjoy cloudy gloomy days and could certainly live in gloomy United Kingdom with no problem. I love sunny days too but they usually give me a headache. While I was backing out of my driveway I happened to notice one daffodil in my garden. It made me happy that Spring has finally sprung and gave me hope that we are now on our way to the season of nice weather. Laughter came while listening to my favorite radio station hosts tell a story that had me laughing the whole entire length of my commute to work. Yes I was the woman driving and laughing hysterically to myself. Its a good thing. Keep Smiling! :)

It's all in the details...

I am one of those detail orientated people and sometimes the attention to detail can get quite overwhelming. However, lately I have embraced the fact that I notice the smallest details of everyday life. It is the small moments and details that matter more than the big ones. Like the fact that while visiting my mother in the rehabilitation hospital, I had brought her a pint of rasberries which are her favorite fruit. In that small moment as she savored each rasberry, we both could forget where she was and why she was there. Last night I saw a man that looked just like Santa Claus. Then there was a day when I drove out of my driveway only to see a goat following a woman jogging (I live in a suburban area not rural). Then further down the road I had to wait because there were wild turkeys crossing the road and then one came at me doing some silly turkey dance. Silly but enough to make me giggle. Usually during the course of a busy day, something will catch my eye and make me smile or laugh. Life becomes more manageable and more interesting when you notice the details. Be sure to notice them. Keep Smiling! :)

Drive Safely

There is a soon to be 101 year old woman who resides at the assisted living where I work part time. I love listening to her stories from her life. Can you even imagine what she has seen in her 100 years! I also get a kick out of her witty comebacks. For instance, they do not have salt at the dinner tables they have salt substitute. One day while at the desk I hear her very loudly say "I am 100 years old and if I want salt I will have salt!" Amen sister...at that age everything is icing on the cake and you should be able to have whatever you want. I can only imagine what our generation will be like in the assisted living of our future. Give me my IV of pinot grigio and turn up the music...Aerosmith is on! LOL Every night after dinner, the 100 year old stops at the desk and says "Drive Safely" to which I reply "You too" referring to her and her walker...she smiles and giggles and goes on her way. And I drive home with a smile on my face. Keep Smiling! :)

Vampires don't smile

In a routine doctor's visit today, I had to have some blood drawn. So off to the lab I went to see the lovely lab lady who never has difficulty getting my somewhat difficult veins to contribute to the cause. She is so nice and usually hums a tune while she works. Unfortunately it was not her day to work and the door opened and this very cranky woman came out and said "get in". Sheesh...someone didn't have their bran muffin this morning. So she goes on to be rude and cranky and asks me which arm I want her to use, to which I reply "My right arm...it's my LUCKY arm...haha!" Nothing...not a smirk or a giggle...nothing...Sheesh! So she does her thing and at least to my benefit she was good at what she does so it didn't take long to get the blood and I was on my way. I said "Have a nice day!"...nothing...Oh brother! I checked my cell phone and I had received a voicemail from my husband who said "Sorry to bother you while you were with the vampire..." It made me laugh and then I quickly concluded...Vampires don't smile...maybe she was afraid I would see her pointy teeth! Hmm and we were in a room without windows...so no sunshine could get in...lol! Maybe next time I will bring her some garlic! Keep Smiling! :)

Be in the moment

I work part time at an assisted living facility that has an Alzheimer's wing. One thing that I remember vividly from my training is that folks with Alzheimers and other dementia live in what we refer to as the hippy side of the brain. The other side that normally tells you to not do this or that because of whatever reason no longer exists. As sad as the disease is, the folks who have it live freely without barriers. The best advice I got was to "live in the moment" with them. It isn't up to me to tell them what they are thinking is wrong or to remind them that they asked me twenty times if there was going to be a movie tonight. I am being invited into their world and I am happy to be there. This part-time job has taught me so much. It has taught me patience. It has taught me tolerance. It has taught me forgiveness. To be a kind voice, a helping hand and share a smile and a laugh. The elderly are people just like us who had lives, families and jobs. And through it all, I have been honored and privileged to be part of the end of their journey. Life in all its stages is precious. Keep Smiling! :)

Lessons from the sea

I love the ocean. The moment I am even near it and can smell the sea air I am a different person. Something about the salty water, the air and the sand washing over glass and stones smoothing them with every wave just brings a sense of tranquility to me. I love walking the beach finding treasures of seashells, stones and seaglass. There is something both haunting and healing about the sea. The combination is soothing and reminds me that no matter how difficult a situation may be that with time the edges will be smoothed over and the memory more tolerable. My favorite quote from John F. Kennedy is " We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came." Indeed. Keep Smiling! :)

As long as I have my lipstick, everything is fine!

My mother has been hospitalized with a multitude of complex issues over the last three months. So you can imagine we have all gone through every emotion and level of stress possible. Between the comings and goings of medical staff and whatnot you could not even think there was room for laughter. But there was. My mother in all her suffering and anxiety over being hospitalized and hooked up to machines and IVs had one major request. "Bring me my lipstick!" I had to bust out in laughter because as long as she had her lipstick, everything was going to be fine. So we brought her the lipstick and it had the effect of making a scary situation a little bit easier for her. Who knew lipstick had such power! Keep Smiling! :)

Laughter is good medicine!

Welcome to my blog! Life is crazy, sometimes messy and a roller coaster of a ride. I am hoping that by sharing some of my stories with you that I may bring a smile or hopefully a giggle to your day! I try to find the humor in every situation because as I am sure you would agree, I would much rather spend my time laughing than crying. So please visit often and share your comments with me. Keep Smiling! :)