Each year, I set up New Years Goals. This year I did something different. I get a leaf every time I do something to work on my goals. Here is my tree so far. I’m on my way to being happier, healthier and more whole as a person.
The Bed Bugs that Came to Sunday Dinner
It started off like any other family dinner. We talked about life, everybody’s health, the status of the world and politics. Then my sister asked, “So, what did you learn at Church today?” I was thinking I would hear a report on prayer or the importance of service. Nope, Mom and Dad began talking about bed bugs. My head started to itch. Apparently, the US is experiencing an increase in bed bug infestations so my parent’s congregation held a special meeting for the adults to talk about how to recognize bed bugs, prevent them and how to get rid of them should one of the pesky hitchhikers end up at your house.
My skin kept itching as I learned bed bugs are in restaurants, movie theaters, library books, buses, hotel bedding and maybe even in your house right now. By the time my folks were done educating us, my brother and sister were laughing at me. I was itching my arms, legs and head. My head continued to itch until I could get home and check my mattress. I was relieved to see nothing but a tag that says not to remove it.
In case you should find yourself needing this information, here is the government’s web site about bed bugs. You might get itchy reading it though!
Wonder Women: Meet Jenny
Today’s Wonder Women is my funny, talented sister. Meet Jenny. Jenny loves sports, helping others, planning parties, finding homes for stray cats and spending time with the love of her life Jesse. When she isn’t saving the world as a social worker, Jenny enjoys dance and aerobic classes.
Jenny is a Wonder Women. Despite the challenge of young married life with work,school and establishing a home, she cultivates the beauty of her soul with activities that build her.
Remember every woman’s success can be my success if I let it.
Baking
The Accountant loves to cook. He is always trying new recipes and adding secret ingredients like broccoli or flax seed to his creations. I’m terrible at guessing so I just say kale, because kale can go in anything. This week he made a chocolate souffle cake. I told him he needs to enter one of those cooking contests,and win us some money. Then we could hire a maid to do all the dishes from his cooking.
Broken Cookie
There are times when ordinary events produce beautiful thoughts. I made cookies and I dropped one. I was struck by the way the cookie broke so I took a picture and then I wrote a little poem.
Dear Lord,
I made my friend cookies today.
She needs some extra love.
I don’t know what to say.
May be cookies will ease the pain.
I dropped the plate
I tried. I tried. I tried
To put the pieces back together.
I can’t.
Dear Lord,
I gave my friend a shattered cookie today
And a story about my failed attempt
To ease her pain.
She is hurting in a way
Only You can heal.
Be Nice to Amee Day
Holidays are happy days so I invented a new one. It’s called “Be Nice to Amee Day”. What? You’ve never heard of it. Oh, you’ve been missing out. Let me tell you more about this important holiday. Let’s pretend I was born on July 9th. I would celebrate Be Nice to Amee Day on August 9th, September 9th, October 9th etc. On Be Nice to Amee Day, I am nice to myself. If I want a present, I buy it. I ask for things I want , and I pay extra attention on looking and feeling my best. I look forward to it every month as a happy tradition.
I’ve had a lot of fun with Be Nice to Amee Day over the years. I’ve also had some embarrassing moments. This is the embarrassing kind, but it had a happy ending. There was a handsome boy in my college class. I stared at him whenever the teacher got boring. I knew that if we could just talk he would discover our souls were meant to be together. Finally, I could bear it no longer. He wasn’t talking to me, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I sat close by him. I smiled at him. He smiled back. I told him about my monthly tradition and invited him to take me to the movies on Friday to celebrate Be Nice to Amee Day. He seemed a bit surprised and then politely told me that he was planning to ask his girlfriend to marry him this Friday.
My 19-year-old heart broke and I blurted out, “That’s a terrible way to spend Be Nice to Amee Day.” I spent the rest of the class frantically taking notes to avoid looking at the boy. The one time I did look up, I caught another guy staring at me with a silly grin on his face. After class, he asked me to dinner so we could celebrate Be Nice to Amee Day. We went to Olive Garden.
I told you holidays are happy days.
Wonder Women: Meet Alice
Quilt Blocks like years in my life
Are stitched together by loving friends
Whose tender hands help make the leap
From block to block and year to year
A little easier.
Today’s Wonder Women is an intelligent, kind soul who has done countless acts of service for others. Meet Alice. She leaves sunshine bags on people’s doorsteps when she knows they are having a hard day. Alice is changing the world by being involved in social causes that are important to her. She teaches her children to respect themselves and others, and then she gives them the freedom to soar on their own. Alice enjoys theater and is building a business helping people organize their homes.
Alice is a Wonder Women. Despite the challenge of homeschooling her children, she cultivates the beauty of her soul with activities that build her.
Remember every woman’s success can be my success if I let it.
Ants
Ants love to bite me. Most folks have been bitten by ants while doing yard work. That is understandable, because we are invading their natural home. I get bit by ants doing yard work too, but I also get bit while sitting in my bathroom, walking around national monuments, reading a book at the library and a bunch of other places that should not be ant friendly.
Today, I was bitten by another type of Ant. I got bit by the type that attacks your thoughts. A.n.t is an acronym that stands for Automatic Negative Thoughts. The idea comes from a great book called Feeling Good. I was having a bad day and A.N.T.S were running all over my head with the accompanying feelings of anxiety and inadequacy. Here is the funny part. I was trying to remember what I read from the book about how to replace my negative thoughts with a realistic positive statement when a real ant came and bit my foot. I just started laughing. My A.N.T was interrupted by an ant.
I’m pretty excited. This is my 100th blog post.
Wonder Women: Meet Holly
They are all around us
And we unaware let them
Smile, serve and soar without fanfare
But sometimes the hero needs a friend.
I’ve started a new thing for this blog. We are going to meet super, awesome, amazing women. They are all around us everywhere. We just have to look.When we hear about them, we should share their success. Every woman’s success can be my success if I let it.
Meet Holly. Holly and I met in 8th grade. We became friends. Unfortunately, we went separate ways for high school so I didn’t see her again till registration day at the community college. I was walking across the dead grass with my stack of books and there was Holly. We were so excited to see each other again, because we are both Elfish, magical creatures that stop to examine the beauty of the flower growing in between the sidewalk crack. When she is not raising her six kids, Holly works with her Mom to design and sell jewelry on the internet. She also still writes poems and takes photographs. Here is her work.
I put my hope in a drawer.
I put my dreams in a box.
I’ll take them out one day,
And see what still is good.
Holly is a Wonder Women. Despite the challenge of being a single mom, she cultivates the beauty of her soul with activities that build her.
Are you a Wonder Women? I’d love to spotlight you.
Challenge Update: Create More
My challenge has been to create more stuff. I decided to make an all-organic homemade face smoothie as part of my adventures this week. The recipe said it would make all acne go away. The idea of beautiful, porcelain skin filled my imagination with such glee that I happily mashed up all the strawberries, oatmeal, creme and honey. It smelled good, and I knew that after 20 minutes my acne would just melt away.
The Accountant was laughing about my latest adventure. His laughter made me laugh which made it hard to keep the stuff on my face.
After several attempts, I was able to cover my entire face with my homemade strawberry-oatmeal face smoothie.
I sat very still for 20 minutes and waited for my acne to melt away. It didn’t. It just made a big mess in the kitchen.
I’m going to be taking a break from the internet for a few days. It is good to unplug every once in a while and spend time with your own thoughts and feelings. I hope to use this technology fast to be creative. If the world happens to fall apart during that time (and I’m stuck not being able to read about it on CNN), I am confident that someone will call me with the details. Wish me luck! I don’t know if I can really go a whole week without using the Internet, but I’m going to try it and see what creative adventures I can create. Let the great unplugging begin.
my 13 day challenge 