lunch break

i truly enjoy having an hour lunch break. today i was thinking how an hour and a half would be so nice. but i guess if i had that, i would want two hours.

earlier, before it was hot for months, i would take my hour to walk along the rive to the clinton center. this takes about 20 minutes each way. i have a favorite bench behind the building. it faces the river, and is underneath a huge, inviting tree with the greenest leaves. i like to lie down and stretch out on the bench and close my eyes. my favorite is when a small glimmer of sunlight slithers through those leaves down to my warm body. i smile inside, and rest for five minutes before continuing back. soon it will be cool enough to do this again. (for a reminder of a super cool sighting, see http://youwhohavealwaysthought.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html (halfway down the page, picture of darling critters.)

today i went to another favorite spot, the other direction, also near the river. i sat in a patch of sun on the prickly grass and bathed in the hot sun. i ate my small lunch, and drank a delicious (tres cher!) sparking water from boulevard. i closed my eyes. i talked to my dragonfly. i listened to the nearby fountain and the chirping birds. i did some yoga stretches in the grass. i may have looked tres folle, but it felt so good. i had visions of someone leading a lunchtime yoga in that very spot.

if i could have squeezed in a small nap, it would have been perfect. it was close enough :)

libellule



credit: http://stevecreek.com/arkansas-river-dragonfly/

today on my break i had a visit from a bright blue dragonfly. he was so pretty and i was delighted to see him. he seemed tame and even landed on my arm and "smelled" me. i love dragonflies.

when cade and i were married outside, dragonflies flew all around us. in different cultures, they symbolize different things. i take from the chinese to mean prosperity, and our native americans to illustrate happiness. i and others thought this was extra special on our wedding day.

the ones who visited that day were green, i believe. they seem so content flitting around.  :)



http://lyce1.free.fr/cours/chap1_svt.php (credit)



furrowed brow to smiley eyes

after having a tough time at my second job first thing this morning, i am now smiling.

i have permission to take a day off tomorrow, and i am going to get some things done that i have, literally, been needing to do for years. i am not trying to recall if there is anything i am forgetting from this list...
 
eye doctor/new lenses/contacts
i don't have vision insurance (not a good one offered at work) so it will cost a bit...but i can't see out of these scratched lenses! and...i wouldn't have had to go without contacts for so long if i would have bought some while i still had a prescription...well, i'll take care of that! maybe i will even get a cheap second pair of glasses, or some prescription sunglasses! (notice the excitement expressed by the exclamation points...)

passport name change
and the passport bit is depressing...i renewed my passport shortly before we were married. so, if i would have notified them of my name change within the year, it would have been virtually no cost to renew. now it's over $100. oh well...it will be finally finished! that way if we should be able to take a quick trip down to mexico, i'm not holding us back.

other name changes
there really isn't an excuse for this. my car note, for one...laziness, but also annoyed that this is such an ordeal to change, unlike, say, my credit card name change procedure... but it will be done!! i will finish them all.

years, people, years. and i will finally get it done! i will feel so good.

 (i think i will also use some time to clean out the music area of our house. i am trying to be sneaky about my day off and that way can surprise the husband with some organizing!)

also, please see WISHLIST on http://youwhohavealwaysthought.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

since we know have a king-size bed, the first three desires on the list will be fulfilled!
really hoping for a new job for cade (waiting to hear about a few options) and i am s-l-o-w-l-y on my way to being slim and fit.  and the bank accounts goal is slowly getting there... i wouldn't have imagined all this could happen :) maybe it helped to write them out and share them with someone.  thanks  ;)

maybe my life isn't as rough as i think it is  :)

***EDIT POST*** just called for an estimate on appt/lenses...looking at at least $300 here. yeah, i might want to opt in for that vision insurance...oh well, hopefully the passport bit will work out...

so angry

i just found out that my stepson is in cancun, for a visit, with his mother (reminder: aka kidnapper.)  the way we found out this information is from her telling someone else on facebook. if she would have told the boy's father that this was happening, we could have gone to cancun for way cheap, and even a long weekend. it takes so long and so much money to travel to where he normally lives. we can't afford the time or money. (the mother left him and moved to cancun.)

thanks, it feels better to release it. hope my husband doesn't mind me sharing.

so what, part II

*read post below first.*

i try not to do this, for it is rough on readers (if i created the blog, i would have it go in order oldest to newest...and if you have to scroll down a few pages to read the newest, so what! it's like filing. put the new stuff in the back of the folder. i want it in order.)

wait, this post is supposed to be positive.

i am thankful for my blog. there. that's better.


i will buy a hot tea, and enjoy a white orange spice instead of my lady grey.

i will think more of my love for my husband every time my thumb tries to touch my invisible ring.

write what i can from memory, make new lists! (next larger purchase: l'occitane eyecream. i have monstrous wrinkles. that isn't being negative, just honest.)
list #1: buy detergent!
chore #1 this pm: throw in a load of laundry. in one hour, repeat.

i am thankful for my extra sleep, and will probably have a better workout tonight. even if i have to wait for a treadmill or a lane in the pool.

i have 2 good, mostly easy, somewhat well-paying jobs, both with excellent benefits. i enjoy waking up early (well, 4 am wouldn't be my first pick) and will turn off the light by 9 or 9:30 each night.

we will make loads of money housesitting, have pool access, and have a three-day weekend, even if it's not in our own bed.
better?

so what

so i don't have a tea bag to brew my morning tea.

and i left my wedding ring at home and feel naked without it.
(my thumb will nudge at nothing all day.)

and my pile of lists are by the printer (at home.) no organizing today. no satisfying cross-offs.

and i didn't get that next load of laundry in the wash. i might not even have enough detergent for it, anyway.

and i slept in instead of tackling my workout.

and my work week is looking extra tough (three early morning shifts t,w,th) at the second job. 4 am wake-ups, 12 hour days. three in a row.

and we have to housesit, in a double bed, with four dogs.

(i just planned to list the first three, i'll stop there.)

what.

this is one of the cutest things i have ever seen



did i even know what tiny bunnies look like?

from http://www.edibleselby.com/