Seven Reason to get Out of Bed on Tuesday Morning

1. Medication: I can't take my thyroid medication if I stay in bed because I don't keep it on a stand next to my bed. I keep the pillbox containing the thyroid tablets on a desk that is located in the living room.

2. Coffee: I can't brew coffee while I'm still in bed because I don't have one of those fancy coffeemakers that I can set a timer on at night to have the coffee brewed in the morning. Even if I did have one of the fancy coffeemakers, I wouldn't use the timer. I enjoy making my own coffee in the morning right after I take my thyroid pill.

3. Sunshine: If I stay in bed I can't stand at my front door and watch the morning sun cast palm tree shadows across Sunrise Avenue.

4. Breakfast: I can't serve myself breakfast in bed. If I could figure out a way to do it then I might do it, which wouldn't be a good thing because I would probably spill my cereal and coconut milk in the bed. That would mean changing the bedsheets more then once a week.

5. Exercise: I can't exercise in bed. It's difficult to remain in bed and walk into the living room or kitchen at the same time. I have to go into the living room to take my pills and then into the kitchen to brew coffee. My morning exercise consists of walking through my house.

6. Blogging: I don't have a laptop, therefore I have to get out of bed, walk into the living room (where the computer is located) and turn the computer on before I can make a blog entry.

7. Trash: I can't lug the sacks of trash to the dumpster in the alley if I remain in bed on Tuesday morning.

Sunday Speculations: Speculations on the past and the future

Another sip of coffee,
another whispered prayer,
can't you feel the excitement
wafting through the morning air.

Something good is bound to happen
before this week ends,
so open you mind to the possibilities
this positive feeling portents.

Happy Last Sunday in June 2015!

The year is about half over, it is time to review my accomplishments and resolutions. First I did not make resolutions on January 1, 2015, instead I wrote a 2015 To Do List. I have accomplished a few of the items on the list, but not everything. It really does not matter how much I accomplish as long as I accomplish something. I still have six months left to accomplish the important stuff on the list.

What is the important stuff on the list? For me prayer, meditation, writing, and a positive attitude is important. I have managed to write something everyday for the past six months. I have prayed and meditated everyday for the past six months. Everyday for the past six months I have struggled to maintain a positive attitude and fight off depression. Sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes I have failed. I will have to wait to see how I do with these goals in the next six months.

Friday Feels Like Monday

It's Friday,
but it feels like Monday
with the shadows of depression
stalking me.

It isn't Funny Friday,
because I can't see the humor
in triple digit temperatures
and sever weather warning.

It's Friday,
I have to pick up a prescription
and go to the bank,
but they both open at 9:00 am
when the temperature raises
to 100 degrees.

It's Friday,
I can't see the laughter
in four 45 air conditioning because
that's what I have
in my car.

It's Friday,
I have to get out in the heat carrying
a bottle of ice water
and driving a car
with all the windows rolled down;
I want a car with real
air conditioning.

Volvo Trucks: Reality Road Ejpisode 8 - 'That's a Wrap' feat with Mapei

 Click on the the video below to watch Mapei and crew in Episode 8 of Reality Road. This is the end of the trip, so watch the party to celebrate the end of the trip.

Thursday Thoughts: A Beautiful Triple Digit Day in Las Vegas

Summer in Las Vegas is hot. Today the predicted high is 111 degrees. Since we hit this temperature last week there are no extreme heat warnings this week. That is all right with me because I plan to remain inside. I have too much work to do around here to get out and spend half the day running around Las Vegas.

A beautiful day
triple digit temperatures
reason to stay home.

I do not have cool air in my car so remaining home is nice. The only time will leave the house today is to check the mail this afternoon. I have not decided if I am taking the trash to the alley today. It is a little after 9:00 am now and I usually take the trash out between 6:30 and 7:30 because the temperatures are pleasant. This morning I had lower back and knee pain because I had to unpack and install a new printer. As a result I took a pain bill and then a nap. The pain is gone, but I am still groggy from the pain pill. If I am still groggy when the postman comes about 11:00 then I will just check the mailbox and wait until Friday morning to take the trash out.

A beautiful day
to remain inside and write
poetry or short stories.

Volvo Trucks: Reality Road Episode 7 - 'Vaulting in Verona' feat with Mapei

Click on the video to watch the crew in Verona, Italy. In this episode Mapei drives the truck and then in Verona she encounters horses. Watch Mapei's adventures in Verona, Italy.

Wednesday Word: Dreams

I've had some really weird dreams lately. I know I've written about my weird dreams before, but I'm not sure which blog I posted them to. I have a dream journal on writing.com that I use to put my dreams in. I also have a pen and paper dream journal so that I can write them down when I first wake up. For the past week or two my dreams have been fragmented. I will dream, wake up, go back to sleep, and then dream again.

The other day, during an afternoon nap, I dreamed about a black widow spider crawling across green grass. The spider had a huge shiny black abdomen without the characteristic red hour glass shape on her back. The spider was crawling across the brightest green grass I've ever seen. She was crawling across the top of the green grass.

I dream in color. I have dreamed in color all my life. I like dreaming in color because it helps me remember the dreams. I don't know how many other people dream in color but I know there are a lot of them.

Monday Motivation: Looking for Motivation

I am looking for motivation. I am seeking motivation to write and to do housework. I into this apartment on June 9, so there is not much housework to do. I have a lot of unpacking and rearranging the kitchen. I have furniture in the living room, but one in eithr bedroom. My sister is supposed to move in with me sometime between now and July 1.

I suspect I am depressed because depression always kicks my motivation out the window. I am not sure why I am depressed. Am I depressed because of the move? Am I depressed because I need to get thing organized, but have no place to put anything? Why am I depressed?

I could be depressed because I am not eating a well balanced diet. It is possible I am not getting enough sleep. I am still sleeping on the loveseat. I am tired of sleeping on it. Laying down causes lower back pain, which I have medication for. The medication dulls the pain, but it makes me groggy the next day. I think my biggest problem is that I am just tired of living alone. I will be happy when my sister moves in so that I do not have to talk to myself or my pet rocks.

Moving depressing
the half empty apartment
waits for furniture.

 

Happy Father's Day Memories

Memories return
of Father and Grandfather:
Happy Father's Day.

I remember my father as a tall, handsome man. I remember he liked his coffee with milk, but I don't know if he put sugar in it. I remember his hands, strong as they held my small hand. I remember Daddy putting apple jelly on his hotcakes. I remember Daddy reading me the Sunday Comics.

Memories return
my father was a tall man
who like coffee and hotcakes.

I remember my Grandfather's friends called him Pete. I remember watching Grandpa roll his own cigarettes. I sit at the kitchen table watching Grandpa roll cigarettes and sip black coffee.

Memories return
my Grandfather's bald head
was framed in gray hair.

Success Saturday: Successes for the Week of June 13 to June 19

01. I organized my bathroom.

02. I accomplished my review goal on writing.com everyday.

03. I wrote a poem everyday.

04. I seasoned one-third of my new cookware set.

05. I made at least one blog entry everyday. I made the entries either in my writing.com blog or one of my blogger blogs.

06. I restarted entries in my pen and paper journal.

07. I carried trash to the dumpster in the alley everyday.

08. I made a fresh carafe of coffee everyday.

09. I updated my Facebook status at least once everyday,

10. I took my medication everyday.

Volvo Trucks: Reality Road Episode 6 - 'Swiss Alp Spin-out' feat with Mapei

In episode 6 of Reality Road, Mapie and crew drive through the Swiss Alps. Click on the video below to see the beautiful scenery the truck passes through as they ascend the Swiss Alps. Then watch as the truck, with the help of its driver, dances on the ice.

Thursday Morning in Las Vegas: A Poem

I looked out my window,
I saw two pigeons
sitting on the sidewalk
waiting...

waiting for what
the temperature to rise
into the triple digits.

I heard
a dog bark;
what was she barking at?

Was she barking at the pigeons
or asking to go in
out of the excessive heat?

Volvo Trucks: Reality Road Episode 5 - 'Parisain Mosh Pit' feat with Mapei

In episode 5 of Reality Road Mapei, the Volvo Truck, and the crew go to Paris. Three trucks spot light the mosh pit as Mapei sings. Click on the video below and watch the fun the crew is having in Paris.

Thursday Thoughts: Severe Weather Alert!

Las Vegas is under a severe weather alert because the temperature is predicted to reach 110 degrees today. This is not a day to be outside for a long time. Even going outside for a short time one needs to carry a bottle of water and put on sunscreen. I cannot find my sunscreen, which means its either packed in a box or nonexistent. I will get a bottle or a tub when I go the the store again, but for now I will remain inside as much as possible. I will purchase the store brand because I think all sunscreens work equally well to protect me from the UV rays.

Severe heat warning
Las Vegas temperatures rise
Another hot day.

 

Volvo Trucks: Reality Road Episode 4 - The Mechanics of Music feat with Mapei

Click on the video below to watch Reality Road Episode 4: 'The Mechanics of Music". In this episode the Volvo Truck receives an alignment while Mapei writes a song. Then Mapei dances and sings to the music of the shop where the truck is receiving an alignment.

Wednesday Word: Values

The writing.com weekly newsletters hit my in-box last night. The title of the spiritual newsletter is "What Are Your Values?" At this point in human history, this is a question every individual needs to ask and answer. The editor of this week's newsletter made it clear that goals and values are different. A goal is something you set out to accomplish while a value is an intrinsic belief that goals are built upon.

I think values are spiritual beliefs that are a part of the human soul. I also think values are something that changes as one matures because I know the values I have today are different from those I held as a child. I also know that my values are different from the values my parents and grandparents attempted to instill in me. My values are different, not because the values of my parents were wrong but, because I have matured and found that the world today is different from the world of my parents or grandparents.

One of the values I learned from my grandparents is prayer and faith. I have changed religions, but the underlying values of faith and prayer have remained. This is the way maturity and spiritual evolution works. As an individual matures she holds onto the values that help in her physical and spiritual survival in a changing world while letting go of those that are detrimental.

Monday Motivation: Triple Digit Temperatures and Motivation

Today the temperature in Las Vegas reach 107^oF, which is about 8 or 9 degrees above average. Tomorrow the temperature will rise to 109, after that it get higher and higher. By Sunday, June 21, the first day of summer the temperature is supposed to be 111. These temperature motivate me to remain indoors with the cool air turned on.

Right now I have the indoor temperature sit at 78 degrees and the air conditioner on ECONO mode, which is supposed to turn the unit off when it reaches the proper indoor temperature. I doubt that it will reach that temperature before midnight. Fortunately, the only time I have to have the unite on is when I am working at the computer. Normally I do not turn the cool air one when I am doing housework, all thought this summer I may reconsider that. I will have to see once I get into the real work of sweeping and mopping floors.

I just moved into this apartment so I am not planning on doing any "real" housework until I get the boxes unpacked and the sheet put away. The only problem I foresee right now are the trips to the laundromat, drugstore, and supermarket. I have enough food to eat for a while, even thought do no look forward to cooking in hot weather. I may have to have the air on while I fix me something to eat.

Triple digit temperatures
unmotivating
after they reach 102.

 

Sunday Speculations: Can I bake a cherry pie?

Can I bake a cherry pie? I don't know but I am going to try. On Friday, when I went to the grocer y store I purchased a frozen cherry pie because I wanted to try out the oven in this apartment. I have not baked a pie in a long time, which is why I got the frozen pie. The pie gives the baking directions on the back of the box, so all I have to do is set the oven temperature and time. After I try out the oven then I am going to use the top of the stove to fix either bacon or rather sausage and eggs. Perhaps I will warm over the chicken I have in the fridge with some sort of canned vegetable.

This experience aught to give me some ideas for stories or poems. I noticed that I have a tendency to use my surroundings and experiences in some of my stories. I noticed this when I reread a romance story I wrote last month. I used the apartment I lived in as the home of the main character. I am now living in a two bedroom apartment with a real kitchen in a separate room which will become the setting in some of my stories.

Volvo Trucks: Reality Road Episode 3 - 'Truck Battle in Berlin' feat with Mapei

In episode 3 what the crew shoot the music video in Berlin. Click on the video below to see what difficulties the crew encounter in Berlin. Enjoy  the ride.

Success Saturday: Further Adventures in Moving

Late Wednesday afternoon, I found out the refrigerator was not working properly. I called the leasing agent with the information and then I called a neighbor to put my frozen meat in her freezer until the agency could get someone out to repair it. On Thursday afternoon, the refrigerator technician (repairman) arrived looked at the refrigerator. Since he could not repair it here he replaced it. I removed the stuff from the nonworking refrigerator and then put in in the working fridge. After the refrigerator repairman left the internet technician came to connect my computer, house phone, and television to the cable and internet.

On Friday I went grocery shopping for some items I needed to test the stove and the oven. I plan to work with that on Sunday and then after I make sure the stove is working I can get down to planning the coming week. I am going to be unpacking boxes for the next two or three weeks.

Volvo Trucks: Reality Road Episode 2 - 'Wheels in Warsaw' feat with Mapei

Click on the video below and watch Mapei get Warsaw to dancing. In Episode 2, the crew has a bit of difficulty getting the video off the ground at first. Watch the video to see how the problem is solved and see who is dancing with Mapei in this episode.

Success Saturday: I Successfully Moved to a New Apartment

I successfully moved from apartment two to apartment three this week. The moving adventure included losing the pill box that contained my thyroid medication. On Tuesday evening the pill box was packed in a box, then the box was moved into apartment thre, and another box was placed in front of it. The problems was that I did not see which moving container the med-box was placed in; therefore, I could not find it. I was unable to take the medication on Wednesday morning because I did not find the pill until Wednesday afternoon. This taught me a lesson about packing my medication myself.

It is difficult, but not impossible to write while moving. I wrote several short poem on the evening of Tuesday, June 9. Here is one of them.

Walking difficult:
Is it the weight I carry
or osteoarthritis?

Volvo Trucks: Reality Road Episode 1 - 'Let's get Europe Dancing' feat with Mapei

Click on the video below Reality Road Episode 1 'Let's get Europe Dancing'. Watch Mapei get Europe Dancing while making a  music video. Watch the video to see what happens in  Episode 1.

Form Friday: Free Verse Poem - Friday at Last

Friday
the least stressful day
of the week.

Friday in a new apartment,
with an active
Internet connections
and a working television
in an easy to see location.

In this free verse poem, I used rhyme to emphasize my emotions. After two and one-half days without an active internet connection, I am back on line. In the studio, AKA one bedroom, apartment the television faced west while the desks holding the computers faced east. As a results it was difficult to watch television and work on line simultaneously. Also the television did not respond to the channel changer, I am still not sure what caused that problem.

On Wednesday, I moved furniture around until I found the perfect location for everything (I think it is the perfect location). There are some minor technical issues to work out or get used to. Now the stand holding my coffee and/or other beverage is on my left side instead of my right, but since I am ambidextrous when drinking coffee that is not a problem. It will take a little time to get used to this new furniture arrangement. In the meantime, I will just have to deal with the weird feeling I get when sitting at the computer or anywhere in the living room.

Friday at last,
no more moving stress.

Success Saturday: The End of the First Week in June 2015

June 1 to June 6, 2015 was an interesting and successful week. I finished one short story, two poems, several blog entries, and numerous reviews. I could go back to count the blog entries and review for this week, but I am not going to take the time to do that. I still have a lot of writing to do plus housework.

Today I put one box of give away stuff out for the truck from Big Brothers and Big Sister to pick up. That is gone, so I have to consider filling another box for next month. I also fixed the straps in my summer negligee so I can wear it this summer. I put the sowing box where I can find it if I need it again. While I was sowing the straps on the nightgown, I realized I needed a thimble. I will have to get one sometime this summer.

I need a thimble
I can hand stitch without one
With difficulty

 

Thursday Thoughts: Summer Reading

The list gets longer
as I think about the books
I would like to read.

Summer is shorter
then the ever growing list
instead of a nap
I will take a reading break.

Setting on the couch
with a bottle of water
or a glass of juice
because if I make coffee
I get involved in the book
my coffee gets cold.

A reading break instead of a nap break will shorten my summer reading list. I will also put the book in my purse when I go to the doctor tomorrow. I usually have to wait a few minutes before the doctor or the nurse practitioner can see me. Even when I go into the exam room it is a while before one of them comes in to examine me.

Tuesday's Tip: Open the Blinds and let the Sunshine in

On hot days when you have to close the door because you are using the air conditioner, open the curtains and let the sunshine in. I know it is supposed to raise your power bill, but sometimes a little bit of sunshine is the difference between a accomplishing your daily writing goal and a wasted day.

On a windy day
when I look out my window
I see the Stars and Strips waving in the wind.

The apartment building across the street has a palm tree and an American flag in front of it. The flag poll holding the flag is taller then the palm tree. The first thing I see when I open my blinds is the flag waving in the wind. The second thing I see are the palm fronds moving as the wind blows through them. This brightens my day and makes me smile. It also gives me something to write about when I cannot think of anything else to write.

A wasted day
is a day without writing
a single line of poetry or prose.