Kickin It Up A Notch

Well, mostly when I ride I just do a trail ride.  There is very little effort on the part of myself or my horse.  We are lazy, both of us.  We just amble, stroll, mosey along.  We just look around and enjoy the scenery, taking life as it goes.
Every now and then I take a look at my sluggish behavior and decide I need to "kick it up a notch".  So that's what I decided in regard to my riding.  Actually both of us will be healthier if we move at a little quicker pace.
So here is the plan, which we started last week.  There are a couple of riding paths that I consistently ride on.  I have an App on my phone called "Runkeeper" that logs your time and distance.  So on 1/18 I set it and off we went.  Two miles is the magic number I came up with.  Mosey (that's the name of my pony) did it pretty easily.  I don't know if he was ready to get to the end of two miles as I was, but we both managed to make it to then end.  He travels between 7:59 and 9:21 miles per hour.  I have decided we will travel at the pace he decides for a while until we build up some endurance.  Then we will either go a little further or move a little faster.  But somehow we will keep "kicking it up a notch", slowly but surely.  It does make my back a little sore, probably his too.  So we'll work into it.
In the meantime I'm considering joining the Y again.  I haven't been walking as much lately either so somehow my body needs to get moving.  I'd like to go watch the three classes (that's all that really interests me) they have at the Y and see what they do.  If they look good, guess I'll join.
So I'll let you know how it goes...stay tuned.

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It's Beginning To Be The End

October 11, 2011, was the final day of chemo for my sister.  We praised God!  "Done, done and done" I wrote on FB.  It was a good day.  We celebrated with dinner at my house, nothing much, just hanging out, me and my sister.  My b-n-l was out of town.  There would be some other treatments, but the poison had run it's course.  Was the poison the miracle?  No, God holds the miracle.  This week was her second reconstructive surgery...long awaited.  The doctors had to stop this process almost as soon as it started last January, as once she was diagnosed and then needed chemo, there could be no more surgeries during that time.  The surgery went well and she is back home, sore, but recuperating.  So it is truly closer to the end of all this and total healing from it all, while complete, just needs a little tweaking!  She's already gone on with life as a healthy woman in retirement as well.  We are now just waiting on our next chapters.  For her and my b-n-l, it includes trips to the Sequoia National Forrest in Nevada and an Alaskan cruise in the next few months.  Kick it up a notch Sissy and enjoy.  I look forward to the next 50 years with you!

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Eeney Meeney Miney Mo

Using white as the base color in a room can make re-decorating much easier.  My walls are a shade of white and several pieces of furniture are as well.  I wanted to change up my living area a little bit and thought a few pillows might do the trick.  This area has Saltillo tile so I thought I'd try that color.  I removed my current pillows and added these.  Here is the initial change.

As of late, I have also added a few accent things in turquoise in this area and also in my kitchen.  At an estate sale recently I found this awesome Club Aluminum dutch oven that I added to the top of my stove.  LOVE it!

Then, while "treasure hunting" with a new friend this week, I found two great things that I thought would fit great in the living area.  The first one, an old step ladder that had been painted and distressed.

The second, an old wooden tray, again painted and distressed.  When I asked the owner of the shop had updated these pieces herself using "Wal-mart" paint in "Josie".  Great color!  She had painted them both, used some splatter painting on the stool and done some distress work on the tray and then put polyurethane on them to protect the paint.  

 I found one more thing that I really love, a horse "paint by number" picture.  It is a similar turquoise shade but has just a tad more green in the paint.  I have not decided on it's placement yet  I just have it hanging randomly in the area for now.  It may even go in a different room.  I'll have to add that photo later.
So I pulled things together and this was how it turned out...for now.  The step ladder is off to the right.  The sun sort of fades it out.  It sits between the living area, dining area and kitchen.

The little lighted tree on top was my mother's.  It adds a special touch, especially at night.   The fun thing about both of these items is again, to change things around, you can add and take away items that sit on them.  I've already done a little change or two since these photos were taken.

Well, I was pretty happy with the new look.  It pulled things together and softened them a bit and definitely gave things an update.  That was just what I was looking for.  In my original pillow shopping trip, I had purchased some outdoor pillows I had hoped would work on my patio chairs.  As it turned out, the colors were off.  When I arrived at the store to return them, the store had received some great lettuce green shade of pillows that I fell in love with.  I found another green pillow with turquoise embroidery to add to them and a solid lighter turquoise seat cushion for my wicker chair.  I had a whole new look to try out.  See what you think.

Pillows, perhaps a little paint or just a new accent color added can be some of the most reasonable ways to update or change a room.  The turquoise items can stick around and for less than $30 I can change the pillows out and have a whole new look.  So instead of choosing between the two, I think I'll keep both!  Go one step further and change the rug (which I'm always on the lookout for) and things will really appear different.  I think that is why I love white...

PS  Pinterest really has my attention.  What i love most is how when you love a photo it links you back to who pinned it first and their blog if they have one.  What great folks I'm finding.  This week I found this gal, Anne and her website.  Check her out if you have time.  She introduced me to "Rose", an elegant and long time designer who is celebrating her birthday soon (so am I).  Knowing her must truly be a treasure!  Happy birthday Rose!
http://fionaandtwig.blogspot.com/2012/01/published-my-romantic-living-feature.html

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Music to My Ears

Slowly but surely the words are coming.  Some of those words are only decipherable by a mom.  You know what I mean, moms and kids they just have that connection, they just communicate.  Anyway, the words are coming along.  They are parts of words, syllables, fragments...you know the kind.  Ok, so over the holidays we, family, heard parts of words, syllables, fragments.  But the best one was him trying to say my name.  It was music to my ears, strings to my heart, and a connection to my soul forever.

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May I See A Raise of Hands

That's what happens when I look down and my 14 month old grandson is raising his arms for me to pick him up.  I'm in love.  The older he gets and the more he does that I know he recognizes me, knows I'm somebody special, the more in love I fall.  The more smitten I become.  When he reaches for me from someone else's arms (preferring to be with me) or cries when I leave the room...my heart just melts.  There is nothing like being a grandmother...nothing.  And it just gets better all the time!

Nothing Quite Like the Sound

Nothing quite like the sound of quiet gentle rain falling on leaves.  Sweet.  Relaxing.  Rare.  An hour of listening.  Slowly the house starts to wake with other sounds, creaking, clanging, jingling dog tags and whispers.  Doors start to open, coffee starts to perk, voices get louder and the baby starts to stir.  The house becomes alive with family.  I love the holidays.  I love my family.  Nothing quite like the sound.

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First Official

Today is the first official day of retirement...retirement effective 10/31/11.  Up not too early, walked 3.2 miles.  Next, horseback riding an hour or two.  Yesterday, first day of geocaching with my friend whose been doing it for years.  She's found over 1800 caches.  Yesterday we found 11.  Started making my morning smoothies smaller, less calories.  Would love to walk off 5-10 pounds before Christmas.  Would love to walk at least 2-3 miles a day average, that's 14-21 miles a week; well really I'd love to walk a lot more than that but hate to commit to something not attainable or doable.  Since my last day at work I've walked 16 miles, only didn't walk 1 day (6 days off walked 5 days=ave 3 miles per day.  We'll see how it goes.  Hate to, but better throw out the rest of that homemade strawberry cake!

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