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~ Finding growth in unexpected places.

Wild Chin Hair

Monthly Archives: December 2017

Happy New Year 2018

31 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by Cindi Pete in The Weekend

≈ Comments Off on Happy New Year 2018

Tags

college football, happy new year, New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, Sierra Club calendar

I wish you all a wonderful 2018 filled with special moments, great experiences, and precious times with those who matter most to you. I’m taking the week off from writing a blog post. I’ll see you next week. I hope you have a fun New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day! And if you are a college football fan, I hope your team wins, unless of course your team is playing my team!

Stay charming in 2018, friends.

January 2018 Calendar Photo

A new start! January in my Sierra Club calendar

Merry Christmas 2017

24 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by Cindi Pete in A Good Life

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Christmas, cookies, decorating, Disneyland, Hallmark Movie Channel, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Lindsay & Letters, lonely, Simply Irresistible, small Christmas tree, The Holiday

Merry Christmas, friends!

Our Christmas Mantle - Dec. 2017

Our 24″ tree this year, to keep it simple.

Just a quick greeting to say I’ll be away from the blog for a few weeks to slow down and enjoy the holidays. At our home, we celebrate Advent and Christmas. Today is Christmas Eve. I have spent time throughout recent days like you probably did. Decorating, spending time with friends, seeing Christmas lights in neighborhoods, participating in holiday events, eating favorite foods and cookies, enjoying cooler temperatures, and watching movies on the Hallmark Channel and annual favorites of mine, including The Holiday. We’ve also volunteered at our church and visited with family locally and by phone. I have indulged in a long nap or two, as well. We keep it simple over here, and that takes away the stress, leaving the fun and meaning. And I have a week off from work, which is a luxury.

We wish those of you who celebrate Christmas a very merry one.

Nativity Snowflake Ornament

To my dear friends who celebrated Hanukkah, I hope it was a special and meaningful time.

If you honor African culture and traditions through your coming Kwanzaa celebration, I hope it is a time of deep connection to matters of the heart.

If you are feeling lonely at this time, or have a heavy heart due to difficult circumstances or a sense of loss, my heart goes out to you, too. May you find moments of peace, a sense of all you have enjoyed in other times of life, and a closeness in spirit with love in your life from friends and family past and present.

Landing Tree by Lindsay - Dec. 2017

Our upstairs housemates decorated a cheery tree on the landing of the stairway.

Icy Trees Entry Table - Dec. 2017

Wintry trees light the entry table.

 

Festival of Carols Program - Dec. 2017

The program from a Los Angeles Master Chorale Christmas event we enjoyed.

Christmas Cookies - Simply Irresistable 2017

Wonderful cookies, a shortbread and a gingerbread, from a local bakery, Simply Irresistible

Disneyland Main Street Tree - Dec 2017

Main Street, Disneyland

Snow Day Cocoa & Mug - Dec. 2017

My “Snow Day” hot chocolate; mug by Lindsay & Letters

Merry Christmas from Great Niece Abby & I - Dec. 2017

Merry Christmas from my great-niece, Abby (9 months) & I!

Stay charming and merry Christmas, my friends! And to all a good night.

Sick Day Slows Life Down

11 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by Cindi Pete in Health

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Tags

Advil, Bigelow Tea, cold, CVS Health, december, gratitude, Kleenex Ultra Soft, Saline Nasal Spray, sick, sick days, slow down, Starbucks at Home, Starbucks Classic Cocoa K-Cup, teachers, tissues, Wilton snowflake

Colds are never welcome, no matter when they show up. Colds never arrive at a good time. But slowing down is always a good idea. I stayed home from work today recovering from a bad cold, an uninvited holiday guest that came to visit on Saturday. When I was a classroom teacher, I often got a cold once Winter Break began. Teachers have their theories on why that seems to happen. Today, since I’m no longer teaching, I am so glad I don’t have to prep substitute teacher plans , in addition to feeling lousy.

Posting a Blog 2017-12-11

My cold battle tool kit includes: naps, lots to drink (and a nearby bathroom), a small paper bag that moves around the house with me for used tissues, tea, tea, tea, Advil, chicken noodle soup, a box of soft tissues, and hot showers. I also use these additional items when home sick with a cold: good movies to watch, a book to read, possibly some magazines, a place to put up my feet, and “Breathe,” a doTERRA essential oil blend, often used in the bedroom with a diffuser. I haven’t used other over-the-counter cold products for years.

Cold Supplies 2017-12-11
Tea Time for a Cold 2017-12-11

Bigelow Tea for the win! With a side of saline nasal spray.

On the bright side, I am grateful it is just a cold, and not the flu or worse. If I manage it well and don’t push myself, it will simply pass over time and not complicate. Colds are annoying, but not a tragic health situation for most people. I am definitely thankful for that. As we get older, we need to be more cautious in caring for ourselves. I could take life full speed ahead with a cold when I was younger. Now I have more respect for the healing process and the need for rest, in order to avoid complications.

Also from a perspective of gratitude, I am grateful my job provides sick days. My heart goes out to those who lose pay when they have to call in sick. As a side note, it was always sad when sick students came to school, because parents could not skip work to care for them at home.

Thirdly, in this positive spin on a cold, I am always grateful to courteous co-workers who stay home when they are really sick. It helps protect the rest of us from catching the cold or flu. When ailing co-workers show up at the office, it puts the rest of us at risk. So use your sick days for the sake of the others. And, again, I wish all workers had the luxury of sick day benefits.

So, this week’s blog post is rather dull. Never the less, I hope we each remember to carve some essential time into your December to slow down, enjoy a cup of your favorite winter beverage, and pause to be present in the moment at some point each day. Always more enjoyable without a cold, but I’m reminded again of the value of slowing down.

Hot Cocoa Close Up 2017-12

Hot cocoa, with marshmallows, whip cream, holiday sprinkles, and a snowflake

Let me end with a bit of humor. Perhaps there is perceived truth to this quote below. I have not given birth, but I have experienced a husband with a cold.

Man with Cold

Stay charming and healthy, my friends!

Going Through Luminescence

04 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by Cindi Pete in A Good Life

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

adolescence, adult, aging, gray hair, luminescence, silver, women

I’ve decided to coin a term for my senior years. A positive one to counter the negative reputation our society places on aging. A word that would make me smile. I started to think back on how I survived adolescence in my teen years, just like everyone else. On the front end of life, we all experience adolescence. On the flip side of life, what should we call the experience? Adolescence was filled with adjustments, body changes, and learning to “adult,” as the recent saying goes.

Now I also find myself experiencing adjustments, body changes, and still learning to “adult.” It’s not adolescence. Been there done that. It’s something else. Let’s call this stage of life “luminescence.”

Wikipedia defines luminescence as “emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat.” Don’t you love that idea? We, as women growing older, can emit light to those around us. We can be positive and encouraging. We can look for good in life and in others. My hair is going gray. But let’s just say gray is the new silver, and silver shines.

So this age, this stage, can be an opportunity for emitting light around us, not resulting from heat, even though we may be having hot flashes along the way. Let’s be light in a challenging time, a challenging world. Luminescence. Now that sounds awesome!

Bioluminescence - National Aquarium

This is bio luminescence lighting up the dark water. Photo: National Aquarium

Stay charming and be light, my friends!

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