Day 151 Memorial Day

Rainy Day as it is most Memorial Day weekends. Michael had to work.

I am spending most of the day at home, doing laundry and chores. Might make some jewelry.

I started a second blog:

http://milinbusinessadventure.blogspot.com

The adventures of starting a business. Follow the fun...

Day 150

Geocaching was alot of fun today. We attempted 4 and found 2. One was close to home and the other was out in the valley. We went to Fort Wright's military cementary, I am trying to upload pictures from my phone and post them here, so you can see the ones we took of the river. It was gorgeous. Today was the only good 'weather-wise' day of our 3 days weekend. They are saying rain for tommorow.

Day 149

Saturday Wanderings.

Got a late start this morning. It is cold with rain here and there. Travelled up to South Hill looking for Art Aporos which I found is now out of business. It is now a shipping type store. Back north I stopped at Spokane Art Supply on Monroe. They have a little bit of everything in that store. The people were friendly and I was not rushed, just wandered around and looked at everything. They had some clay that looked interesting, but, the instructions were in Italian. But they did have some cool background stamps for clay. I may go back and get those.

Onto walmart for hot tub chemicals, envelopes and solar powered outdoor garden lights. From there to Eggers Meats for our peperoni bits for tomorrow's adventure.

I still need to go to Super Supplements, but, that may not happen until tomorrow or Monday.

Now chores and jewelry making.

Day 148

Happy beginning to a 3 day weekend to all that are lucky enough to look forward to that.

My fascination with bees continues...

Here are the lyrics of one of my favorite Judy Collins' song.

Muffin warm and basket brown

Smiling faces gathered round our dinner table

Close together, hand in hand

I always cook with honey To sweeten up the night

We always cook with honey Tell me, hows your appetite

For some sweet love

Find in favor with your neighbor

Well, it can be so fine

Its easier than pie to be kind

Weve been searching for so long

Now our house has turned into a home

Well, our door is always open

And theres surely room for more

Cooking where theres good love Is never any chore

Some come to get to know us

There will be a place set just for you

Sweet wine before dinner

That is surely bound to soothe

And here's a recipe to cook with honey:

Spicy Honey BBQ Chicken

Ingredients
1 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onions
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons sriracha (hot red pepper chili paste)
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
2 tablespoons chopped fresh gingerroot
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons sesame oil
12 skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 1/2 pounds), or drummettes

Directions
In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, onions, rice wine vinegar, honey, cilantro, sriracha, sesame seeds, ginger, garlic and sesame oil, and stir well to combine. Place the chicken in a large plastic bag or baking dish and cover with the marinade. Toss to combine and place in the refrigerator, turning frequently, to marinate at least 6 hours.

Preheat the grill to medium and the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Pat the chicken dry, and grill the chicken, skin-side up, until browned, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place the leftover marinade in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer until slightly thick, about 10 minutes.

Turn the chicken, and grill until the skin is browned and crispy, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken skin-side up to a roasting pan and roast, basting with the marinade occasionally, until cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes more.

Arrange the chicken on a platter, and spoon the reduced marinade on top.

Day 147

100% chance of rain, they are saying, so, I guess it really is going to rain. It Thursday - almost Friday - almost payday- almost get out of work at 3:30 and almost the 3 day weekend.

I love bees. After reading the book The Secret Life of Bees I have become even a bigger fan.

Honey bees communicate with one another by "dancing".

When a worker bee who has found a good source of nectar returns to the hive, she executes a 'dance' on the vertical surface of the comb. The dance takes the form of a flattened figure 8. The angle between the vertical and the flattened, central part of the figure 8 represents the angle between the hive, the sun and the nectar source. If the dancing bee waggles her abdomen during this section of the dance it indicates that the nectar source is some distance away. In the darkness of the hive, the workers follow the dancing bee round and learn the direction and distance of the food source. The dancing bee also regurgitates some of the nectar to offer the followers who, therefore, learn the taste of it. The scent from the flower might also help identify its source.

More about the dance of the bees:

Waggle dance is a term used in beekeeping and ethology for a particular figure-eight dance of the honey bee. By performing this dance, successful foragers can share with their hive mates information about the direction and distance to patches of flowers yielding nectar and pollen, to water sources, or to new housing locations. Thus the waggle dance is a mechanism whereby successful foragers can recruit other bees in their colony to good locations for collecting various resources. It was once thought that bees had two distinct recruitment dances — round dances and waggle dances — the former for indicating nearby targets and the latter for indicating distant targets, but it is now known that a round dance is simply a waggle dance with a very short waggle run. Austrian ethologist and Nobel laureate Karl von Frisch was one of the first who translated the meaning of the waggle dance.

The more I learn about them the more I am amazed.

Day 146

Michael left early this morning to catch a flight to Bellevue for a leadership thingamajig. It's funny how empty the house felt.

It's been a gray damp day. Tomorrow does not look much better.

Maybe I will work on some jewelry before he gets home later tonight. I am definitely looking forward to the 3 day weekend.

Day 145

Last night we went and bought the newest and bestest or latest and greatest Magellen handheld GPS made just for Geocaching. I cannot wait for this weekend when we can get out and really use it. And its a 3 day weekend for me. Little bit of rain expected, but, that's okay. Urban explorer that's ME!

Day 144

Day 143

Geocaching today! Will let you know if we are successful.

Day 142

Saturday Wanderings.

I had to make a stop at Rings and Things so they could make a copy of my Reseller Permit. I saw my friend Kameron who was working. Thanks for all your help Kameron!

Then off to Walmart for a few things. I heard someone calling and found my father-in-law Chris also picking up a few things.

Then to Wally Eggers Meat Market. I had to pick up some pepperoni bits for our outing tomorrow. I did find some Tule Lake Wasabi Horseradish sauce. Yum. Also for our pork roast for tomorrow some Sticky Fingers Memphis Style BBQ sauce.

Took Michael some lunch and now I'm home with many chores to accomplish.

Day 141

I am totally ready for it to be Friday. A slow week at work makes it a long week.

Tomorrow I plan lots of jewelry making with a visit to Clay Connection to find out about making my own pendants.

Sunday we are planning on getting out and doing some geocaching.

Day 140

I awoke to the disease again. No matter the amount of temper tantrum - it is still here. I must face it and fight it. Everyday till it is gone. I know I will fail in this fight from time to time, but, I must brush myself off and start the fight all over again.

Day 139

Day 138

Day 137

Day 136

I am on the long road to healthy, again.

Yesterday because we had it planned in advance we took Mom-in-law out for pedicures at Top Nails and lunch at Chilis. It was a nice day and a fun outing.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing. We watched the movie Blindside. Like everyone has said, it is a wonderful movie and she truly deserved that Oscar.

Wishing you a peaceful Sunday.

Day 135

Day 134

I haven't felt well the last few days as you can tell by lack of postings. Diabetes is a crappy disease that I wish upon no one. I am seeing a new doctor today and pray he is not a quack like all the former doctors I have seen.

Day 133

Day 132

Day 131

Let all those who guide me support me in peeling away

whatever it is that keeps me blind to what's possible,

that keeps me hidden from my greatness,

that keeps me separate from my loved ones

today I ask you to lighten my heart, to lift my burdens,

my worries, my fears, my anxieties, my grief,

so that I may know and cherish all that I am

I see it, I feel it, I acknowledge it right now

and so I know that it is

Day 130

Thank you Mohamad Zaki for the 4 Proven Steps To Become A Calmer Person.

We all get so caught up in drama and injustice that sometimes you want to stand on your desk and shake my fists and scream. I know it won't change things and probably just make me madder. So I just need to calm down. Really! Take a breath, take a moment and have a time out. Here are those steps by Mr. Zaki:

1) Forget Things You Can’t Fix Now

I work as an engineer in a mill. And being an old mill, there are a lot of problems need to be solved. Some of them are quite critical and challenging, and I often cannot stop thinking about them even at home. This is not good, as I don’t want to bring work back home. So I established the rule that anything I can’t fix now, I will forget about it until tomorrow.
What’s the point of thinking about a machine that is in the mill when you are at home? My family deserves better attention from me. Some will say that by thinking about the problem at home, I may stumble upon the solution and it will make work tomorrow so much easier. Personally, I think nothing is worth sacrificing your family time. The machine will still be there even after 10 years, but can I say the same about family members. The children will grow up fast before my eyes and there’s nothing I can do to gain back the time I missed.

2) Live In the Now

This is by far one of the most important technique to achieve Zen Master-like calmness. A clear example of how to apply this is just like when I woke up last weekend. I don’t need to think about anything else besides enjoying my lying awake in bed. The same goes for everything else you do.
If you are typing your next blog post, stop Digging / Stumbling interesting articles. You can do this later when you have the time. For some, this may look like a waste of time, since we can do so much with our multitasking-capable minds. I agree, but we have to retrain our mind sometimes to just focus on one thing. Nothing else. Believe me, miraculous things can and will happen when you focus.
Once you started doing this, you will become more focus in everything you do. After a while, you will see that you are no longer worrying about what future will hold for you. As long as you stick to your plan, you will be doing great. You do have a plan, don’t you?

3) Learn To Let Go

Not all problems in your life need to be fixed. Some are meant for someone else, like curing cancer and so on. Others are not meant to be solved at all. An example is the boss who bullies. You do what you can to fix this. You send letters to the top management
, even to the Labour Department, but still he doesn’t change. All you can do is to let it go. Either quit your job or just bear it all. Either way he will still be the bully he is.
In the end, you can’t have everything. So let it go, stop trying to fix it. Minimize the damage and go on with your life. A rock falling will hurt you less if you catch it with your hand moving down. It will hurt more if you catch it with your hand moving up.

4) Set A Limit Switch To All The Three Techniques

This is the most important techniques of all three. Take a piece of paper and a pen and write the three techniques down. Then write down, what are the cases when the three techniques are no longer valid.
For example, technique number 1 states that you must forget things you can’t fix now. Set up a few cases that will void this technique. Maybe if the problem may make you lose your job if not handled promptly. Or if it is a family problem. Write them all down for your reference and repeat for all the remaining two techniques.
Being calm is important. But not to the extent of losing your job, or your family. Certain things require urgency and that is why we need these guidelines to refer to.
Being calm doesn’t mean you have to slow down your life. You still can be aggressively active in your life, rush to work, meet tight deadlines, etc. But if you keep all four techniques in mind, you will remain calm even though the whole world is in chaos.

Day 129

Day 128

It's a typical Saturday for me. Dogs to The Yuppy Puppy for beautification and stopped for coffee at Wutz Brewin.

I stopped at the next antique/junk store on my list, Area 58 on Monroe. Nice clean store with lots of great stuff. He didn't have much in old jewelry, which is what I was looking for, but, he sure had some great dishes. But I resisted.

I went to Michaels and bought a few beads that were on sale. Plus I had a 40% off coupon from dealcatcher.com.

Also made a stop at Hastings. The nicest guy helped me find the box set of the old tv series Briscoe County Jr to send to DK. It was on sale from $80 marked down to $24.00. Nice deal.

Picked up and returned some things to the library, then headed for home.

It is one of those days where the sun comes out behind clouds and just makes the weather perfect. Cool enough where you're not hot, but warm enough to open the sun roof and window.

This after noon I am working on making jewelry. Working with wood, silver and black beads. I want to complete some sets, so Ed will have something to take pictures of on Monday. Then I can post here on my blog, before setting up the Facebook business page.

Hope everyone is having a fun Saturday. I picked this picture because I noticed the first dandelions in my flower patch yesterday. I will need to pick them and blow on them and make a wish. That reminds me - must buy Powerball ticket for tonight's drawing.

Day 127

Looking forward to a fun weekend. Sunday I am taking my husband on a date. It's my turn to plan the date. So far I've decided pedicures in the morning, IMAX is see the movie Hubble and then for a nice lunch. Where I have not decided yet.

This morning the sun is shining bright and the sky is nice and blue. We had a little frost over night, so, it is still not time to plan on planting any flowers. There is an old saying here, "Do not plant until the snow is off Mica Peak". And I'm sure this is correct.

Tomorrow I plan on getting the chores done that I normally due on Sunday. I do plan on getting out and hitting the next antique store on my list.

Today at lunch I am going to go and update my wholesale license with the state. It expired last January. I have set up the books for my little business so that is the last part of the paperwork to get it rolling again. Now I just need to make time and start making jewelry again. I have taken a break for awhile. Seems the episode I had with my health last Christmas really stunted my creativity. But little by little it's coming back. I think once I commit and sit down and start, I won't be able to stop. At least I hope so.

I am sending wishes to all for a splendid weekend. Go out and commit a random act of kindness and/or beauty. Sing, Laugh and Make Merry!!

Day 126

Happy Thursday! One of my New Year's resolutions was to just shut up and listen. I try everyday,but, I think I need more help.

Here is an article by Annette Richmond that will give 4 steps to become a better listener.

Stay in the moment.

Have you ever tried to carry on a conversation with someone who keeps gazing out the window, glancing at her watch, paying attention to everything but you? Think about how that made you feel. Not very important I'll bet.
When you're having a conversation it's important to keep your focus on the person you're talking with. Naturally, you'll want to avert your gaze from time to time to avoid staring. But try not to become distracted by your surroundings. .
Don't think it's OK to multitask when you're talking on the phone. It's easy to tell, and annoying as heck, when the person on the other end of the line is checking her email. Next time you begin a conversation commit to giving the other person your undivided attention.

Quiet your inner voice.

When you want to pay attention, you'll need to quiet your inner voice. You know, the one inside your head that's saying things like "How does my new suit look?" "Does this person find me interesting?" "I wonder where she got those shoes?"
Your inner voice can be hazardous to conversations. You run the risk of missing half of what the other person is saying when you're listening to yourself. Well, now's the time to shut that nuisance down.
When you begin a conversation, mentally click off your inner voice. Try to stay focused on the other person. Listen to what they're saying.

Stop rehearsing.

Recently, I came across an interesting quote by Ed Howe, "No man would listen to you talk if he didn't know it was his turn next." While I don't believe this entirely, there is probably a degree of truth to it.
This becomes a problem when people begin planning their response while the other person is still talking. How can you be listening to someone else if you are busy preparing a snappy reply? If you're honest with yourself, you know you can't.
Don't feel the need to fill up every moment of silence with words. Learn to gather your thoughts after the other person has finished speaking.

Listen to the music.

Language is musical. It's filled with rhythms and rhymes and beats. Notice as you read this article; you hear the sound of the words in your head. But, that's not what I'm talking about here.
When someone speaks to you listen to the music, the tone of his or her voice. Do the words and tone agree? It's similar to looking at a fake smile. When someone really smiles her eyes sparkle and her face lights up. When the smile is fake only the corners of her mouth turn up. Big difference.
The next time you're having a conversation pay attention to the music. If the words and tone do not agree, he may be sending you a mixed message. Ask questions to find out what he means.
To paraphrase an old saying, "Nature gave us two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak." That's good advice when it comes to communication.
At least half of the communication equation is listening. But, listening is more than being there while someone else is talking. Good listening means understanding what is said.

***

I'm going to try these ideas today. Really! I will see how it works.

Day 125

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I took the time last night and this morning to make Pico de Gallo and Jalapeno Poppers for today's potluck at work.

Special Cinco de Mayo Greetings to my friend, Connie, who taught me how to Salsa dance and to my friend, Maria, who hired me when I wanted to leave where I was so bad.

I was reading an article by Will Edwards on Ezine Articles that I wanted to share. I have a tendency to sabotage my success.

How to Defeat Your Sabotage Mechanism and Overcome the 7 Obstacles to Success (The first 3 Obstacles)

1. No Clear Direction

The first obstacle to achieving outstanding success is a lack of Clear Direction. Without taking consistent, focussed action that's linked to a clear vision, sense of what is important and what we wish to accomplish, we are guaranteed get absolutely nowhere. So the importance of arriving at a sense of what is important to you and what you are here on the planet to achieve simply cannot be overstated.

To overcome this obstacle, you need to develop a strong sense of Life-Purpose, Vision and Mission before you even begin to contemplate your goals. You might call it: being concerned with 'doing the right things, before doing things right'. This is a vital key ingredient of success that is often completely missing from discussions on goal-setting; and why, for many people, they never seem to really manage to achieve the deep satisfaction and fulfilment in life that they are seeking.

2. Inability to Control Thinking

If success were easy, everybody would be doing it - right? When we have embarked on a course of action that requires us to solve problems in order to reach our goals, we need to take proper control of our ability to think. Once we have our major objective in mind, we can begin to engage in the kind of sustained thinking that produces the inspiration for our course of action provided we can train our mind to produce the kind of insights we need to succeed.

Until comparatively recently, training the mind to overcome this obstacle could take years of practice in order to become reasonably proficient in mental disciplines that stimulate creativity such as creative visualisation, contemplation and meditation. With recent developments in Binaural Beat technology, it has become possible to induce highly creative brain activity simply by listening to specially prepared music.

3. No Blueprint for Success

To achieve exceptional success, we need to employ the very same success strategies that have been proven to be correct, time and again, by the most successful people. By adopting what is known to work already, we can significantly reduce our own learning time - this principle is known as 'modelling', of course. But many people just do not know how to gain access to the strategies of the most successful people - this represents a third obstacle to success for many people.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this difficulty because we can have access to the very same success philosophy used by some of the most successful people ever to have lived. And, by the application of the law of cause and effect, we can produce the same results too, because like causes always produce like effects. The way to overcome this obstacle, therefore, is to adopt the success strategies of those who are already successful.

Lots here for me to figure out.

Day 124

One of my biggest faults is that I am a procrastinator. Always have been. I don't want to be, but, I am. Even my son is a procrastinator. He either learned this behavior from me or it's in my genes. I know no one in my family that is a procrastinator, so, I guess it begins with me. So I need to take steps to tackle and conquer this fault.

Christine Kane in an article titled "Creating A Better Life" wrote:

9 Simple Solutions for Procrastinators

1. When you get an idea, do some little thing to begin.

Most people get an idea. Then they sit there. They wonder if it’s a good idea. Then, they wonder if it’s a good idea some more.
Got an idea? Begin it now!

2. All hail small chunks of time!

Lots of us complain about having no time. My guess is that we all have lots of time. It just doesn’t happen to be all at once.
Are you waiting for many hours of spare time to begin your idea, your project, or your taxes? Stop waiting! Learn to use the spare half hour that comes up here and there.

3. Agree to do it badly.

Set a goal to do it badly. Set a goal to show up. Let go of doing it ALL, or doing it WELL.
Some of my coaching clients’ biggest victories have a lot more to do with getting over perfectionism and fear, than they do about getting it all done perfectly.

4. Commit aloud.

Call a friend and say something like this: “I’m going to spend the next half hour working cleaning my hall closet." Then go do it.

Call the friend after the half hour and make her congratulate you. Repeat daily.

5. Define quantities.

Nebulous goals make for nebulous results. “I’m gonna get my office organized” is a lot like saying, “We oughtta do something about Global Warming.”
Most procrastinators have a hard time defining quantities. We think everything needs to be done NOW.
When are you going to do it? For how long? Which part of your office? The file cabinet? Or your desk?

Define the goal and acknowledge its completion.

6. Install this System Upgrade into your Mental Hard Drive: Less is More.

Have fewer goals. Have no more than three priorities for a week.
Why?
Because you’re not lazy. You’re just trying to do too much.

Find out what it feels like to accomplish one thing instead of not quite getting to everything. Wow – what a difference this makes!

7. Do it first.

My first coach made me write songs first thing in the morning. He told me to schedule the 2-hour chunk as my first activity upon waking.

Why?

“Because you’re telling the universe that this is your priority. And then the universe lines up everything to align with your priority.”

Action grounds your priorities. It makes them real. It also makes your day easier because you’re not wasting energy thinking about this thing you’re supposed to be doing.

8. Avoid nose-bleed activities.

Email, voicemail, web stats – any activity that bleeds itself into your whole day becomes a non-activity. It becomes a nose-bleed. When you do it all the time, you never complete it. You just let it slowly drain the very life force from you. Define times for these activities. Then, turn off your email, your cell phone, your web stats, until that time comes.

9. Don’t ask how you “feel” about doing the activity.

Have you ever committed to getting fit? And then when the alarm goes off, you lie in bed thinking, “Do I really feel like going to the gym?” (Like you even have to ask!)

Change this pattern. Make your decision the night before. Commit to getting up and going right to the gym, the computer, the blank canvas. Don’t have coffee and sigh and think, “I’ll probably feel more like it at lunch time.” You won’t!

If it’s a priority, don’t waste time asking yourself how you feel about doing it. Feelings are an easy out.

*****

Number 8 will be a big challenge for me. But I'm willing to give these solutions a try. How about you?

Day 123

I have always said, "Life is full of choices". Our lives evolve and suffer from the choices we make. Some big, some small but choices we make that we have to live with. I've been reading a book by Debbie Ford titled "The Right Questions". She lists 10 questions you must ask yourself before making a choice. I would like to share them here.

* Will this choice propel me toward an inspiring future or will it keep me stuck in the past?

* Will this choice bring me long-term fulfillment or will it bring me short-term gratification?

* Am I standing in my power or am I trying to please another?

*Am I looking for what's right or I am looking for what's wrong?

* Will this choice add to my life force or will it rob me of my energy?

* Will I use this situation as a catalyst to grow and evolve or will I use it to beat myself up?

* Does this choice empower me or does it disempower me?

* Is this an act of self-love or is it an act of self sabotage?

* Is this an act of faith or is it an act of fear?

* Am I choosing from my divinity or am I choosing from my humanity?

Quality questions create a quality life. Tony Robbins

Day 122

Quiet, lazy Sunday. Just catching up on laundry and watching recorded television shows.

Day 121

It's the 136th Running of the Kentucky Derby! Here is the lineup:

Lookin At Lucky 3-1

Ice Box 10-1

Noble's Promise 12-1

Super Saver 15-1

Line of David 30-1

Stately Victor 30-1

American Lion 30-1

Dean's Kitten 50-1

Make Music For Me 50-1

Paddy O'Prado 20-1

Devil May Care 10-1

Conveyance 12-1

Jackson Bend 15-1

Mission Impazible 20-1

Discretely Mine 30-1

Awesome Act 10-1

Dublin 12-1

Backtalk 50-1

Homeboykris 50-1

Sidney's Candy 5-1

So my bets will be:

$10.00 Lookin At Lucky

$20.oo Devil May Care

$2.00 Dublin

$5.00 Sidney's Candy

I cannot wait to see the movie Secretariat that will be released by Disney in October. Back in 1973 I was really into horses, owning a few. I went to the races at Bay Meadows all the time and was hooked on the sport. I saw the big red horse run and he took my breath away and I have been a fan ever since. I think back of old the great horse legends Old Dan Patch, Man O War, Citation, Seabiscuit and so many others, especially Secretariat that took our minds off the country's woes. We need a horse today to help us make it through these tough times and give us something to root for and be proud of. If only.

Happy Saturday everyone. I hope all of you have fantastic plans.