Post Vacation Life List

Looking Out My Window This week the numbers are 62, 60, 59, 51, and 45. Freezing temps every morning. Hello winter. The leaves are beautiful right now and the only reason I'm not complaining.

 

Weekend Review We headed home from the beach on Sunday after a week-long vacation that tops just about any vacation. My step-daughter and her sister-in-law along with our granddaughter and her boyfriend joined us at the beach Friday and Saturday night. Good times.

 

What I'm Learning I can still drive 6 straight hours and be ready to drive 6 more. The road truly is my middle name. I drove this entire trip and was no worse for the wear.

 

What I'm Creating While on vacation, I bought 10 pair of jeans and work slacks so I'll be creating some space for those on the weekend. I need to rid myself of clothes that don't fit any longer. I might even rearrange the furniture.

 

What I'm Reading I'm very excited about Julia Cameron's new book It's Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond. She has written this book from her experiences and as an encouragement to those of us who are trying to tap into our creativity late in life. She maps out her 12-week course in creativity tasks. Very excited to finally read this one.

 

What I'm Watching Last weekend we watched Bad Moms with the kids. It was hilarious.

 

What's On My Camera Beach photos!

Quote I Want to Share

 

It is solved by walking. ~ Saint Augustine

 

A Peek Into My Week So far I have nothing on my calendar but I have a feeling my rescue peeps are going to have something for me to shoot. I'm dog sitting for friends this weekend and will also be taking photos for a dog friend and our neighbors. The leaves won't last much longer so I'm excited to get out.

 

A Final Thought Indictments handed down this week feel hopeful in untangling the mess our current leader is in the middle of. Grabbing my popcorn and hunkering down to watch it unfold. I close my eyes and imagine what it must be like to work in Mueller's office. Oh, what I would give!

 

love, susan

Bosses Day Life List: Mid October 2017

Leonbergers!

 Looking Out My Window 6:45am and the sun is barely coming up. Our numbers this week are 72, 69, 69, 68, and 62. You may wonder why I list the temps here. Sometimes this is the only time I have a chance to look at the weather report.

 



My favorite senior!

Weekend Review It was a very busy weekend. I sat at the library gardens and waited for people to show up for mini shoots. Thank goodness I have some friends willing to brave the cold wind. Three couples arrived and we had great shoots, walking around the garden and finding great backgrounds. Yesterday, I had a wonderful session with a friend's daughter for her senior photos. I loved this shoot because she was so easy to please and we had a super nice visit. Her grandma died about 10 days ago and they laid her to rest on Saturday. I could really see the influence her grandmother has had on her and it made me smile. We're really going to miss Sharon. In other news, we bought a used leather couch/loveseat/chair and ottoman ensemble. Our friend Tabby was kind enough to bring her truck over and move it for us. I couldn't believe she got all 3 pieces in the bed of her Dodge. The dogs have already claimed their places on each piece. Hubby and I haven't sat together on a couch in many years as we've had chairs only.

 

This couple is celebrating their
Golden Anniversary on this day!

What I'm Learning Build it and they will come. I was not disappointed in the small turnout for photos on Saturday. If the weather had been slightly warmer, I may have had more people than I could handle. We collected $125 for the animal rescue and I feel it was worth my time. I had a super nice visit with two other women who are in the rescue group. I call that a two-for-one day.

 

What I'm Creating I had some photos printed up from my girlfriend week at the beach along with some flower photos my Montana friend had up on her FB page. I'm making cards for her and will get those in the mail to her today.

 

What I'm Reading I'm happy to write that I am back in the habit of reading in the mornings. Right now I am 54% through The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.  Fascinating study of habits and a bit about how the advertising business uses the data.

 

What I'm Watching Shameless on Netflix. In our conversations yesterday, my young friend and I were talking about what we're watching on Netflix and when I told her I am watching Shameless, she admitted she is too! Hey, there's no shame in watching Shameless.  It is the story of a most dysfunctional family who don't know they're dysfunctional. The characters have a lot of heart!

 



Abbie claims her real estate!

What's On My Camera I was out a lot this weekend. Fun times! I love the colors this time of year. I could live without the cold temps.

 

A Quote I Want to Share Build it and they will come. ~ from movie Field of Dreams

 

A Peek Into My Week I'm taking photos of a litter of 4 kitties tonight after work. I've got special company arriving on Thursday. Nothing else on my calendar yet.

 

I think he likes the new (used) furniture!

A Final Thought A couple of weeks ago, I dropped by to visit Sharon (mentioned above) to say hello. Her husband had died 4 weeks prior. She was having a difficult time adjusting and my friends said my visit would give her something to talk about. I talked a little bit generically about some of the weird things that happen at my office and it made her laugh. I had no way of knowing it would be the last time I saw her. She died about 10 days later, with failing kidneys and liver. We had no idea. She never complained of pain but she just wasn't quite right the last couple of days before she died. I will never forget sitting next to her on the couch and her putting my hand between hers and telling me thank you for the meal I had brought when her husband died. I'm glad I didn't blow off going over to visit. It is a great example of suiting up and showing up when I say I'm going to. Today, I am a person of my word. If I say I'm going to be there, I'll be there. Are you?


P.S.  It's Bosses Day!

 

love, susan

 



The 5 Minute Life List - October 2017

Looking Out the Window  Blue skies, bit chilly. Numbers this week: 68, 68, 61, 60, and 57

Weekend Review Shot a rehearsal and wedding. Met some really cool people. Got to eat at a local Italian restaurant I've never been to before. Talked with two young photographers and met lots of people with great blue eyes and beautiful smiles.

What I'm Watching Hubby and I watched Gerald's Game last week. Just as gory as the book. A bit too visual for me. Watched a couple episodes of Ozark. Whew ... what an intense series.

 

What I'm Reading Didn't read much last week. There are not enough hours in the day. I did download Julia Cameron's new book, It's Never Too Late to Begin Again. I now need to carve out some morning time to finish up one book I'm reading before I start this one.

What I'm Creating I'm working on a blog post about a topic that's been on my mind for a long time. I want to let it sit for a bit and polish it up before I post it. The topic is So You Think Eating Healthy is More Expensive Than Consuming Junk Food. For reals.

 

What's On My Camera I snapped 1,007 times at the rehearsal and wedding this weekend. I do not have permission to post any of those photos but I did do a dog shoot last night so there's that.

 

A Quote I Want to Share “Photography is a love affair with life.” ~ Burk Uzzle ~

 

A Peek Into My Week Quick dog shoot last night. I have nothing on my schedule this week. Weird.

 

A Final Thought I fired up my Twitter account over the weekend. I've never been one to use it but at the urging of a friend, I decided it might be helpful to have a newsfeed that is one of my making, one that I can filter better than FB. Although it may appear on the outside that I'm apathetic to what's happening in the U.S., that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm just about ready to get into action now that summer has passed and I have some time to devote. Whatever your bent is, don't sit on the sidelines. Action is needed. Kind action. Now.

 

love, susan

October Already? ~ A Life List

Looking Out the Window Blue skies and sunshine. The numbers this week are 65, 67, 68, 70, and 76.

Weekend Review Well, I was on vacation last week and arrived home late Friday afternoon. My friend Kathy from Juneau stayed with me over the weekend and we visited the state fair in Yakima and then saw a little bit of the dog show at the park yesterday, shopped, and hit a movie. We spent the entire week at Lincoln City, Oregon with another friend we went to high school with. I wish I had written a post while I was there but it was the furthest thing from my mind. It feels too late to write about it now but I'll post my three favorite photos here.

What I'm Learning It is totally possible to go on vacation and not eat like a pig. Between my girlfriends and I, we have lost 95 lbs. since our reunion a year ago. We were all in losing mode so this made it easy to not have crappy food in the fridge or while out to lunch. I also learned that it takes a while for the mind to catch up to the body in that I needed help buying new britches. My pants have been pretty saggy and when I went to buy new ones, I still had a fat mindset. Girlfriends tell the truth and I even got a couple of photos of what my baggy backside looked like. Who knew? Thanks to my friends, I'm in right-sized pants today.

What I'm Creating Hmm. Oh, I started writing in my new journal that my lovely step-daughter gave me the last time we visited in August. I love starting a fresh, new diary, don't you?

What I'm Reading I dragged a book all the way to the beach but never opened it. Hoping to get back on schedule this week and finish A Man Called Ove.

What I'm Watching I didn't watch anything this last week except CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. Did you see that hot, new soccer star they featured last night? His name is Christian Pulisic and you can watch the 13 minute segment here.  Moms, you are gonna want to pinch his cute cheeks, trust me on this!

What's On My Camera  Well, I've never done this before but I'm going to place a link here to my FB photo album of my beach trip if you care to look at it.  Otherwise, here are my favorite 3 images.

A Quote I Want to Share

A bad day at the beach trumps a good day at work. ~ Susan Arthur

A Peek Into My Week Dog pics on Wednesday, wedding rehearsal and dinner Saturday, wedding shoot on Sunday.

A Final Thought I'm not going to write about the tragic news from Las Vegas last night. I'm not. But, what the hell? I work in a business where horrible things happen to people every day. Long ago I quit trying to understand what's in the hearts and minds of other people. I only have control over mine. I'm choosing to not focus on the negative but events like this make it a challenge. Call me Pollyanna.  love, susan