Darlene Myers

Well here we are, over halfway through the 2nd month of 2012.  And I have been browsing through some of my past blogs, and came across the one I wrote on December 31st on ‘What Will The New Year Bring.”  I realize Resolutions can put a lot of pressure on people, but I don’t think that’s why we should make them.  We all need something to work toward, and I decided a long time ago to look at Resolutions as goals and inspiration, that can be worked on year after year, rather than insane pressure cookers, that make us feel like failures if we slide at all during the year.  Thus the title of the blog.

Two weeks in to the year I wrote a blog asking people how the year was going to date.  Two weeks into Resolution Time is when they start to slide and I was proud that I was doing pretty good.

So I looked back at what my 2012 will bring and where I wanted the journey to take me.  I have done very well with the smoking, even though I fell off the band-wagon once over the holidays.  Let me re-phrase that, I didn’t fall off the band-wagon, I dove off it, head first, with a crash helmet on.  I have since re-grouped.

I also wanted to shed those unwanted ‘stopped smoking’ pounds and so far have managed to take off 10 pounds, eating more plant based food and less animal fat.  (Another one of my goals).  I wanted to educate myself more and to date I have read 2 business books and now I’m reading ‘My Week With Marilyn’ by Colin Clark, a guilty pleasure of a book that I’m reading just for fun.

One of my other goals was to improve my public speaking.  I have had one opportunity to give a speech so far this year, and to be honest, I haven’t been pushing this one hard.  I have to get past the fear, and Just Do It!  (As the t-shirt says)   There have been a few other struggles to date in 2012, but I try to work through them with a smile on my face and not hear the voices of the toxic negative people that are in my head sometimes and other times behind my back.

All in all, I am proud of how my 2012 is going.  Feeling a bit at a crossroads right now, but hey, I’m ready to embrace change if it comes my way.

How is your 2012 coming along?

Darlene

As I was getting ready to leave work yesterday, all everyone could talk about was the impending blizzard today.   And I couldn’t help but smile as I heard many of my colleagues talk about what they were going to do on their snow day.  And I realized, not since we were kids, have we looked forward to a snow day as much.  Unless you’re a teenager, or in your early 20′s, when its near catastrophic to have a snow storm on a Saturday and heaven forbid be stuck inside the house, I realize as we get older it’s a day in heaven!

What a treat to hear parents talk about the fun snow day they were going to have with their kids.  A pajama day that involved movies, popcorn and laughter.  Or those of us with no kids, a day still involving pajamas, but books, movies and maybe a glass of wine.

You see as adults, if there is a snow storm on a weekday, most of us still have to go to work.  And for those with children, when schools and daycare are closed, it involves finding someone to take care of the children.  Let’s face it, a snowstorm on a weekday, can mean an extra headache to a parent.  But a snowstorm on a weekend, can mean a fun-filled day with your family.

And although the ‘blizzard’ was a little disappointing, not a lot of snow, just  a lot of wind.  For those of you that stocked up like the Apocalypse was coming, I hope you enjoy your snow day anyway.  I am still in my pajamas wondering what wonderful concoction I am going to cook up for supper.  Probably something that goes well with wine.

Enjoy

Darlene

I was so moved by this photograph by Mark Stucker, that I had to write a blog on it.  I changed the title many times.  I started with ‘Are We Doing Enough to Feed the Homeless?”  Then I changed it to “Are You Lonely in a Crowded World?”  And then I decided to call it the True Meaning of Companionship.

We recently surpassed  7 Billion people on this planet, and yet, is it possible that more people are lonelier than ever before?   Have you ever watched people speed by each other in the mall or on the street and do you notice few people make eye contact anymore.  If our total communication depends entirely on the Internet (as I sit here writing a blog), is it any wonder so many people are lonely.  I have been blessed with many wonderful friends and a great family, and I encourage everyone to take time with their friends and/or family for some real face to face time.  Talk to each other if you can.  You’ll be making memories, believe me.

And although we have surpassed 7 billion people, study after study show us that there is enough food to feed everyone on the plant.  The World Health Organization says that we produce enough food to feed everyone. World agriculture produces 17 percent more calories per person today than it did 30 years ago.  That’s approximately 2700 calories per person.    The main problem is that many people in the world do not have sufficient land to grow, or income to purchase, enough food.

Back to the photograph.  In my New Year’s blog I wrote that ‘If you want to feel rich, count all the gifts you have that money can’t buy.”   The man in this photograph probably has less money in the bank than you or I, but in so many ways he is richer than most of the people I passed in the mall this afternoon.  Embrace your friends, your family or even your pet and experience the joy of true companionship.

Thank you Mark Stucker for a photograph that I hope, in some small way, will change someone’s world.

Darlene

I was sitting here, about to write a new blog, when bam!  The power went out.  You don’t fully realize how much we depend on this invention.    The first thing that pops into your mind is ‘What to do now’?  So I comprised this list of things you can do during a power outage.   The list is much longer if the power goes out during the day.  The first is the ‘daytime power outage list’.  Hope you get some ideas!

1. Dive head first in a tub of ice-cream.  That’s right, the power is off.  You can’t let the ice cream go to waste.

2.  Clean – It’s not like your house can’t use it.

3.  Go for a Walk – burn calories before you put your butt on the couch in front of the television… again!

4.  Take a nap

5.  Go shopping in an area of town the power is on

6.  Play a Board Game – FYI – this sucks if you live alone.  And the cat just keeps batting the pieces under the couch.

7.  Look for that flashlight you’ve been meaning to look for

8.  Discover just how crappy those emergency candles are

9.  Read – a great time to catch up on that book or magazine that you can never find the time to do.   Chances are you may learn something new

10.  BBQ – all the meat is thawing out anyway

During the night – it gets a little more challenging

1.  Figure out how you’re going to re-arrange the furniture once the power comes back on, because you keep walking into the coffee table.

2.  Go to bed – after all the crappy emergency candles are just little burning stubs and you never did find that flash light.  On the bright side, you’ll get a great night’s sleep.

Darlene

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I once read something that said ‘if you want to go to heaven – go to church, if you want to go to hell – go to a beauty salon.   I guarentee you its more entertaining than television.

I just had the pleasure of sitting in a beauty salon for 2 hours while a very patient lady took the grey out of my hair.  Oh my!  The perils of getting older.

However, it was a chance to sit between two twenty-somethings and get a different, quite refreshing outlook on life.  Ladies, for all of us, getting older dealing with aches and pains and dreaming of the days when we were 20-something, I say to you – Be Grateful.

First of all, did you know you can pay to have feathers put in your hair! (I am not making this up)  It costs $12.   And apparently this is quite a dilemma.  The good news is the feathers can be straightened, curled and cleaned.  Hmmm, I have dustballs in my home I can do that to, for free.  Can you imagine showing up for work with feathers in your hair?  My co-workers would have a field day.

Plus, did you know that the worst thing that can happen to you when you are twenty-something is not have plans on a Friday night.   Having to stay home with nothing to do but sip on a quiet glass of wine is dastardly – I call that heaven, but then again, I’m not hip!

And then there’s man trouble!  Whew, you learn some pretty new break-up lines in a beauty salon.  ‘We can’t move in together, because my mom won’t approve’!  If that doesn’t have the romance head south faster than a Canadian during a rough winter, I don’t know what will.  Or ‘I will continue to act this way until you break up with me’… Nice guy.

Ladies, there are advantages to being older.  In a hostage situation, you’ll probably be released first and your joints are probably more accurate than the weatherman   But you know what, we tend to discard toxic people and surround ourselves with loving caring friends, and that’s not a bad thing.  We have figured out what’s truly important and are better people for it.

I am proud to be turning 50 this year… yay

Darlene