If the Boot Fits

Tis the day to say

"Good bye" to 2016.

A whole new year

means a new beginning

for many

and lots of resolutions!

Are you the type to make

resolutions for new years?

And do you keep it?





It is always with good intentions that they're made, IMO,

but even me, I don't keep them long.  Probably because I

make unrealistic resolutions -- "this year I'll lose 50 pounds"

Maybe a resolution should be less goal oriented and more happiness oriented.

I saw one person who's resolution is very simply to "Smile More".

Maybe that's the key -- a little resolution that makes us happier!


In the meantime, I heard a song on the radio and thought to make

a sort of pic out of the lyrics:

Diamonds in the sky lighting up those eyes 

You're the kind of fine that I can't deny

It gets me high

Cross my heart, hope to die

Pick a star make a wish

Yeah, you can be my all night

Dancing in the headlights

Fairytale good as it gets

If the boot fits

Happy New Year!
                         ~~Gal

Merry Holidays!

Merry Christmas, my friend!

It was a typical day for me - I spend this day alone,

and I have every year for more than 10 years.  

Hazards of the occupation, I always say.

But it's more than that.  I am not happy being

a compulsory consumer.  The only ones who win

are big corps.  The rest of us eat too much, drink

too much, indulge too much.  And we're forced to

spend months paying it off.  That's not for me!

I watched a Netflix documentary on The Minimalists

and enjoyed it very much.  So much marketing and

expectations around the holiday season to indulge

when the best things in life are free.  Time spent with

family is the best thing of all.  I don't do that during the

holiday season, because I'm the only one who isn't into

the whole 'christmas' thing.  And that's ok - to each their own.

I spent the holiday weekend repainting my bedroom.

I went from girly lavender to an elegant "silvery moonlight"

and I am totally loving it!  As I reconstruct my room and put

things to rights, I am getting rid of things that are no longer

of any value to me.  I'm not going extreme minimalist, but

who needs nighties I wore back in the day when I was married?

I've been single for 12 years.  lol  They're OLD!   Out, out I say!

And it feels good!

I hope your holidays were everything you wanted them to be - and more!

Merry Holidays, y'all!

Express It!

Greetings, my friend!

Yes, it's been a while

because there are things happening

that I have no control over,

no matter how much I might want to have it.  

So, today's thought as I was reading:

It doesn't matter if you're

20, 40, 60, 80 or 100,

Embrace your sexy-ass self and express it!

Irritated

 

Yeah, that was my day
Gotta love a weekend word day
during the Holi-daze!

Flash Back Friday

Dug in the archives again

for a FlashBack Friday post ....

just don't have it in me to make

a new photo this week. 

My sis had a biopsy today - 

and now we wait for the news.....

the holiday rush in retail has been

overly busy this year - and i'm not 

sure if folks are actually buying or

just doing a lot of shopping.  In my 

store "shopping" means they're 

opening packages and destroying 

things as they're looking at them.

and the returns!  So many TVs and 

appliances coming back -- are they

buying things and not even waiting 

for Christmas for the gift-giving?

As I get older and further away from

the traditions I grew up with, I find

that I do not enjoy the holidays any 

longer.  I enjoy the "pre-season" part

much more than the month of December.

Is it January yet?

Tangled

No matter 

how tangled 

things get, 

there is always 

a lesson 

to be learned 

in the untangling 

of those things.” 

― Bethany Brookbank

Life can be funny sometimes - not haha - 

although there are those moments too,

but a weird kind of funny.  

I took this photo and was thinking all 

Christmas-y, and yet here I am, 

these lights and string of beads all tangled up. 

And it seemed a metaphor for what life's become.

With so many things pushing at us, pulling at us,

needing this, wanting that, there doesn't seem to be

an end of the things that direct or demand our attention.

When we have too many things going on, 

life can feel like a tangled mess. 

Lately, I've been sorting things out, and declaring "war"

on the tangled mess of things around me.

Every day off, I've been minimizing my :::stuff:::

Let's face it, I'm not getting any younger, 

and life needs to be simpler now!

Untangle the mess!

Got Lights?

Who's ready for some lights???
















Black Friday has ended, which for my BigBox store

means it started at 6pm on Thursday.  I'm always so

disappointed in the direction Americans have taken.

There is no longer a traditional Thanksgiving.

I know I'm showing my age when I long for a

"simpler time in the past" but it's difficult watching

people's family traditions die off because of corporate

commercialism.  But it is what it is.

Now that it's over, it's time to get back to some of the joy --

which always starts with Christmas lights.  As Sadie and I

took our evening walk, several of our neighbors were starting

the task of hanging lights on the outside.  Can't wait to try

my hand at taking a few photos of them!

For myself, I'll have a small string of lights in my front

window, I'm thinking.  Although that's a bay window and

has become Sadie's favorite spot to wait for me to come home

each day, so we'll have to see if she tolerates the intrusion!

hehehehe

With Trans Siberian Orchestra's "The Lost Christmas Eve"

playing in the background, I'm smiling -- and almost wishing

for a little bit of snow!  (*smh*  ok, maybe not!)

I Choose ...

I choose ...

to live by choice, not by chance;

to make changes, not excuses;

to be motivated, not manipulated;

to be useful, not used;

to excel, not to compete.

I choose self-esteem, not pity.

I choose to listen to my inner voice,

not the random opinion of others."                

-Isabel Bauche            

What do you choose?

I found this quote by random, and it really struck a chord.

How often do we choose the lesser path?

How easy is it to give in to the negative, rather than the positive?

I have had issues in my life and looking back, I can see where

the choices I made didn't reflect this list of choices very well.

As I gain years, and hopefully wisdom too, I choose these things

above the alternatives.  It is my goal for 2017 to live a better life,

doing more and worrying less what others think.

Now's the time to ponder and evaluate the past 12 months,

and to focus on a new me in the next 12 months!


And oh yes, fall is finally here -- time to break out some sleeves!

Throwbacks

A throwback from Nov 2012...  

(because I can't post without a pic!)

Another Monday, and I'm tuckered as all get out.

I took off Thursday morning for a long drive to 

Calif to see my mom.  A wrong turn, a roadside fire,

an accident, smelly cows ..... What's normally an

11 hour drive took 13.5 hours! 

Always SO good to see family - even though it was

too short a visit.  I turned around and headed home

on Sunday ....  A major sporting event let out right as

I was cruising into town, add three separate accidents

and numerous extra bathroom stops (ugh - eating 

foods that are different from the norm really get to me

now that I'm in my "golden years"...)  14 hours to get home.

It took a huge effort to haul my butt back into the car

to head to work this morning - where I found that not 

much of my work that needs doing every day was done.

Which meant I was super busy all day.  Thank goodness,

or it would have been easy to fall into a nap  :) 

Who's ready for the Holidays?  

Seems like once one BigBox store stayed open on

Thanksgiving, now everyone is open as well. 

Not only open, but starting their special deals for Friday

on that Thursday as well.  Lucky me, I'll be working

the 3-midnight shift.  Wonder how that will work, 

considering my normal hours for sleep are 8-4am.

Hmmmm.

Be Yourself

Beauty begins

the moment you decide

to be yourself.

-CoCo Chanel

Bloomin'

“Life doesn’t get easier

or more forgiving,

we get stronger

and more resilient.”

― Steve Maraboli,











A Yucca is known for

being strong and resilient.

Like me.

I've faced challenges,

and know that I'll face

even more for that's life.

But I never give up.



The state flower of

New Mexico, mine is blooming!

The flowers are also known as

"Lamps of the Lord"

And I'm a simple gal - thrilled when

one of my 'ugly' cactus plants bloom!!

Skin Wars

The art of body painting is fascinating,

alluring, and I'm addicted to a new show

on Netflix called Skin Wars, which is a body

painting reality competition hosted by

Rebecca Romijn.  When I first discovered it,

I sat and binged the entire season 1 in one day!

Wish I could say it's sparking my creativity,

but with all the other pressures of work and

a couple of other issues, by the end of my day

I'm just too tired to think of doing anything

but eat dinner, walk Sadie, and crash in bed.

So I experimented with some photoshop

and "body painted" this one image.

Not near the creativity of the body paint artists!

Yes, I'm chuckling at myself!

Quietude

An empath will go stir-crazy

if they don’t get quiet time

and the more time goes on, the

more prevalent that feeling is for me.

after a day of really busy work and the

constant interruptions of people -- by the

time I get home, all I want to do is my own

thing.  No cleaning, no chores, I just need

quiet and space.  Of course, Sadie doesn't

agree with me!  

I bring this up because I can see that I'm

back at the black and white photos, and some

of them are dark again.  A reflection of what's

going on inside?   Perhaps.   This just might be

some keen insight, as I've been feeling caught

like a leaf in the fall, still attached to the tree,

but being blown around with every hint of a breeze.

Perhaps that just me being a little overly mystical

and it's just a reflection of the upcoming season.

In my BigBox store, we've had Christmas Trees

on display since the end of September.  UGH.

Time to find some kind of balance and quietude.

Maybe I should light the fire pit this weekend ......

roast a hot dog or two, sizzle up a couple of s'mores!

Be YOU

You just can't apologize for being you 

nor for your emotional self, 

nor for your intellectual self, 

nor for spiritual self, 

nor for your physical self. 

It's all a part of who you are.

Hello readers!

October's been quite the month for this Gal

A trip home to see Mom

and things at work have escalated --

retail is getting ready for the Holi-daze!!

Not my fav time of year, to be sure. 

Now that the heat has (mostly) dissipated

I'm trying to get out more, 

walks with Sadie each evening.

I've also been following some of the less

mainstream shows on Netflix.  

My two favs right now:  Skin Wars

and Texas Move and Flip.

The art of body paint speaks to my 

creative side - and while I don't have the

body the folks do on this show, they DID 

paint on some sumo wrestlers in one episode

and then drag queens in another episode. 

A whole lotta fun and creativity flowing.

The Texas show I love because I really really

envy them being able to home renovate things.

My dream for years was to fix up an old house.

It didn't happen for me, but I'm working on the

fixer-uppers I can do in my own little house! 

Snapped this while in California - 

Mom just had to have a walk in the Redwoods! 

Waking Up

The best part of waking up ...........

bet you sang that right along with me!

and at my age, the best part of waking up... is waking up!

Happy weekend

Good Morning!

Good morning, world!

Fall has arrived and it's a cool

68 degrees this morning.....


Life has been busy here.

Preparing for a trip, my

aunt and I are traveling

to visit my mom.

Always nice to get away --

even better to come back home!

Selfies

Shootin' a few photos over the

weekend.  This will be a weird

work week for me.

My company has "invented"

or maybe it's created, this new

"Academy" thing.  They're sending

people through all this to learn how

to be better ... workers.   Technically,

mine is for supervisors.  And frankly,

I don't want to go.  I don't feel the

need to learn to be a better supervisor.

After 8 years in the same position, my

supervisory functions have changed

in every direction.  Every thought or

idea presented to bosses about how to

work better/smarter/more efficient

has always been shot down.

I laugh now and tell them I'm at the bottom of the pile -

that shit rolls downhill -  and I'm a mushroom.

So why spend two full days in a classroom learning things that will never apply to me?

I've done all the "supervising" I want in this life.  I've raised six kids, three husbands, and

a few dozen workers who were under my command.  I don't care to command or supervise

anyone  any longer.   The one person that I *am* in charge of gives me the "willies" -

and I've been supervising him for five years.  Mistakes that are noted are taken to management

but over the years, because of other issues, they have not pursued any avenues to correct or

"encourage him" to do his job better.  After a while, I just felt like a babysitter, I still do,

and I'm tired.  Every new manager who comes through, I mention this, say that I've had no

management support in my efforts with this worker, and I always get the same "well, I'm here

now...." line.  And that's where it ends.  This person steals time, and only half listens to my

direction.  It gets old.  Correction.  It got old years ago.  Maybe that's a sign that it's time

to move on.  Something to ponder.

Blowing Kisses

Blowing kisses in the wind

Waiting, waiting, waiting

Waiting for you is

Like blowing, blowing kisses

Boots

"Nothin' but cowboy boots

sets your spirit free

It ain't proper, it ain't cool

but folks remember what you do

in nothin' but cowboy boots"

-Lyrics "Nothin' but Cowboy Boots"

There's something freeing puttin' on yer boots

and heading outdoors - 

leave the cares, the worries, and 

for me, my job that's been crappy lately,

and thinkin'  'bout nothing but sun and

warm breezes ... in yer boots, of course!

Just Me

“Body acceptance means, as much as possible,

approving of and loving your body, despite its

“imperfections”, real or perceived.

That means accepting that your body is fatter

than some others, or thinner than some others,

that your eyes are a little crooked, that you have

a disability that makes walking difficult,

that you have health concerns that you have to

deal with — but all of that doesn’t mean

you need to be ashamed of your body or

try to change it.  Body acceptance allows

for the fact that there is a diversity of bodies

in the world, and that there’s

no wrong way to have one.”

― Golda Poretsky

Being Shy

I'm not open to many people.

I'm usually quiet and

I don't really like attention.

So if I like you enough

to show you the real me ....

you must be very special!

“Deep rivers run quiet.” 

― Haruki Murakami

Another Monday

OK, Monday .....

let's do this! 

When you work retail, Monday could be any day

of the week.  For me, a "Monday" at work is the

first day back after being off  for a day.

Today was a true Monday on a Monday.

But because of scheduling issues, I worked on the

weekend, so today I was very busy, cramming

8 hours of work into a six hour work day.  

Really nice to be home from work by 1pm though :)

Wish I could say I'd done something constructive

to share ..... but because I love to write, I've taken

on the challenge of writing a family history.

Genealogy research has been a passion of mine for

many years; finding ancestors and relatives you

didn't know you had before is fun!  Adding family

stories and photos to the facts just makes it that

much more interesting to me.  Grandfather put his

wife in a mental hospital - no one knows the real reason.

Grandma wouldn't talk about her family history much,

she often said she thought she and her husband were

related.  My Great Aunt married her first cousin.

And large farming families were common, yet they

didn't get together on many occasions!

Just imagine how many stories have gone untold

for reasons we'll never know.....

When did it all start??

When did it all start?













Someone asked me that, so I thought I'd answer here.

It's complicated and simple at the same time.

I took this photo in Vegas in 1996/97

(My memory is foggy that far back!)

I was in the middle of a divorce, I was in Vegas,

and I had discovered chatting on the internet.

I took this photo and after seeing the result,

realized that the person in the picture doesn't

look like the girl I see when I look in a mirror.  

Realizing that is probably what made me keep taking photos.

I've been doing  this ever since!

( The second photo was to prove a point to my ex.  lol )

Why do I keep taking them?  I've always been a picture taker.

From the moment I got my first camera at age 11

I've been snapping them.  As I got older, I realized

that I'm not IN any photos, because I've always taken them.

That probably has a lot to do with taking photos now as well.

As for continuing with my photos - several years ago in a chat

channel, someone asked for a photo, and I had several choices

This person asked for all of them, and I shared.  He said

"You have so many photos, you should do a calendar."

After that, I thought "Why not?"  I'll just take a series of photos

every month, something new to share.  I was able to pick and

choose who got to see what photos on an individual basis.

But it became a chore to DCC photos to people who asked.

I started putting them on a photo site with a password,

making things a whole lot easier.

Moody Days

I've noticed that when I'm feeling

a bit moody I gravitate toward

taking photos with darkness around.

And they never turn out as I expect.

(Obviously something I need to work on!)



It was one of those days that started

with a walk - Sadie and I headed to the

local park, had breakfast at home and

for some reason she was in a mood,

and would only be content if she was

laying down -- as long as I was laying

with her.  So we crawled back into bed

for a nap -- a short nap, because I wanted

to get things done today.  And I warned her

in a stern voice that if she didn't straighten up

I was going to go shopping - without her!

*laughs*  ok, so yes, I talk to my dog.  Often.

Happy weekend!

Wonderful

"Today,

and every day,

take as your

personal mantra:

I am what I am,

and what I am

is wonderful."

~Sarah Ban Breathnach





Sometimes I find waking up with a positive thought

- before I let the day's worries creep in -

changes my attitude about things

before my day gets started.

It worked today, it was a much better

day than the past three have been.

And that's always a good thing!

Happy with Me!

Crowds.

Noise.

People.

These are the stresses, the triggers,

that drain me by the end of the day.

Go Shopping?  Go to a party?

Those aren't things that bring me a lot

of joy or happiness.  Sure, I've done my

share of both,   But knowing now that I'm

a sensitive person, in an empath sort of way,


that looking back at the hours I would spend

at the mall - I was never in the center of things.

Parties?   You'd have labeled me a wallflower

back in the day.  And even just wall-sitting, I'd

go home exhausted, without knowing why.

It was easier not to go at all.

Thankfully as I get older, I don't go to parties,

or hang out at the mall, just to please a friend.

I go when I need to, or want to.  And the rest

of the time, I don't care if people label me "odd"

(or any other adjective) -- I'm happy being myself!

Grounded!

"There is only one

true love affair;

the one with yourself.

All others are

expressions of it."

- Hemal Radia



Get grounded!

"The surface of the Earth holds subtle health-boosting energy.

All we have to do is touch it and become truly alive.  

Simply by getting outside, barefoot, touching the Earth,

and allowing the excess charge in your body to discharge

into the Earth, you can alleviate some of the stress

continually put on your system."

None of this is new to me, but today I just had to put it

in practice.  Stress levels at work seem to be rising --

of course, that could be all the stuff for Holiday rolling in --

and I haven't been sleeping well, either.

So I took myself outside after the sun had set (it was 107 today)

and now that the ground was cool enough, I set myself down

and took deep breaths, breathing in clean air, and letting go

of all the "dirty stuff" of the day.

Here's hoping for a better night's sleep!!

Monday, Monday

“So. 

Monday. 

We meet again."

Some days after a

typical Monday,

all you want to do

is find a corner

to sit and watch

the world go by.

Sparklers

“Life isn't always about fireworks. 

Your fireworks will come, Sarah. And they'll fizzle out just as fast. 

Life's an experience, not a destination. 

All of us have the same destination, 

but not one of us has an identical experience. 

You'll find someone who will be there 

when the fireworks fizzle out and the sky turns black and love you just the same. 

That’s the one to hold onto.” 

― Marilyn Grey, Bloom

Burning the Candle

Lately it feels like

I'm burning the candle

at both ends.

Changes at my job

has meant an increase

in responsibilities while

still having to deal with

a co-worker who is .....

not up to the task of

his job requirements.

And being his direct

supervisor means

that I must deal with auditing his work,

correcting his errors, and then

reporting it to management.

Which sometimes feels like a

full  time job in itself.  

Frankly, I'm of the mindset that sometimes it's easier to just

do it right myself the first time rather than delegate it to someone

who ... doesn't.   It would be one thing if he was a "newbie" but he's

been doing the same job for 5 years now and still makes the same errors.

In any job, it happens.   However, my position deals with a lot of

what we term "compliance issues" -  rules to be followed as set up

by the DOT, or state and local authorities.  For example,

when shipping aerosol cans, the box has special markings,

and the actuator must be covered by a protective cap.

That's not a company policy, it's Dept of Transportation.

When we don't follow the rules, my company

opens itself up to liabilities, be it in the form

of fines, or, God forbid, an accident waiting to happen.

Which means lately, weekends have become my sacred time,

down time, to do nothing but walk the dog, read a good book,

watch some TV .... anything that isn't going top speed for

9 hours straight!     Happy Saturday!

Post Photo Editing

Sometimes you just have to mess around

with the photo editing programs

I'm a hands-on kinda Gal, that's how I learn! 

Stormin'

“It’s not a bad lesson to learn in the

bleaker months: how you view a storm

is a question of perspective; provided

you find the right rock to watch it from,

it could be the most incredible thing

you’ll ever witness.”

― Dan Stevens







My house sits a half mile from

a freeway that runs east/west

and when something is going down,

it's the freeway that the local helicopters -

news media and police/rescue -

follow to get across the Valley.

Every once in a while, one goes

screaming across the sky

when I'm in the backyard

taking photos..... oopsie!

*giggles*