YAD SDRAWKCAB...

Nottingham Flea Market - London, England

You say you can't read the title of my blog post? Ummmm. Today is BACKWARDS DAY. Check out THIS LINK to learn more...

Yes, a day that is more appreciated by elementary school students. A chance to wear your clothes BACKWARDS, or eat dessert before your dinner, or write cryptic notes to friends.

Not sure what I plan to do? but here are a couple of pictures from my archives... the first showing our last name spelled BACKWARDS.

Of course, it's BACKWARDS for Americans to look to the left before crossing the street. Fortunately, England helps us by painting a reminder on major street crossings... LOOK to the Left.

Enjoy spending your day doing things in reverse or BACKWARDS... 

see you tomorrow... BTW, Monday is National FREEDOM Day! Did you know that?

ON THIS DAY.... JANUARY 28th!

Being an "overachiever" and NOW a "procrastinator" I tend to avoid posting pictures on my blog if they aren't new or what I consider "blog-worthy"... I've been spending a chunk of time each day editing my photo library. It's gotten unmanage-able (over 42,500 photos)... and many of them need to be trashed. Of course, that prevents me from wanting to add more photos until I take care of this problem.

So... to SIMPLIFY life... I dug back into my archives for some notable happenings on this day... specifically, 2013 and 2011... Here's what I found. Also, I borrowed photos I hadn't posted to illustrate this post.

January 28, 2013

We took visitors to see the ELEPHANT SEALS on 1/28/13. An easy drive... it's always exciting being outside in the brisk, winter breezes along the coast of California. AND, who wouldn't like seeing the elephant seals... 

Actually, I enjoy seeing the expressions on people's faces while they watch the nuances of ELEPHANT SEAL life. This photo happens to be from February 2014, but I love the look on Matthew's face.

January 28, 2011

Then there was this LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE IN 2011. 

I had broken a bone in my left foot. I had written about the emotions that I was feeling as the result of being on crutches. Little did I know that I would use crutches until mid-July. AND, then have physical therapy for several months to regain my balance. 

JPE & I had already booked flights to see SLE & MB in Washington DC. So, off we went... You can see "da boot" that was "oh so glamorous!" We are laughing at MB, who was taking our picture! He's taken some of the best pictures --- and he's blind. Of course, we had all sorts of comments to help him snap this photo. 

Well... hope you enjoyed "On THIS DAY" (in 2013 & 2011)... perhaps I'll have to make this a regular feature here!

See you soon! 

EASILY DISTRACTED...

taken 1.26.16

As Scarlett O'Hara said,

"I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy.

I'll think about that tomorrow."

(from the book, Gone with the Wind)

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V.4 (2016)

Not just GOOD, but GREAT...
we had four days of rain
(off & on, but still much appreciated).

A RANDOM act...

JPE made turkey noodle soup with leftovers from last Thanksgiving... YUM!

Adorable decorations @ Lewis & Clark!!

Saturday, JPE & I went to Santa Barbara to "window shop"

(Ummm. I confess, actually, I spent a gift card)...

visited my favorite three stores - all located on State Street

Anthropologie, Paper Source and Lewis & Clark.

three FUN shops!

posting with Tamar at Random-osity

IT'S A NEW DAY...

taken 1.24.16

Every morning... we get a clean slate to start our day...

ME? Moi?

I'm going to finish reading Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin

for Book Club tomorrow evening.

Start a new puzzle.

Go to the movies with JPE.

Get my calendar brought up-to-date.

Tidy my desk.

Call my mom & girls.

Who knows what else will happen?

what about you? what are you planning today?

THE POWER... IN READING!

quote by Lynn Payne, American artist

Retirement has allowed me to become "friends" with my local library again! When my girls were young we visited the library every Wednesday for Story Hour, and brought home a stack of books to read. Both my daughters love to read... although they fell in LOVE at different times in their lives.

Now, as a primary school teacher, Allison's classroom library is the "envy" of her colleagues. Need books to support a lesson on APPLES? she'll loan you Johnny Appleseed, Apples and Pumpkins or How Do Apples Grow? from her stack of primary books. She shares the MAGIC of books with her 5 year olds every day!

via amazon

When Stephanie wasn't at the dance studio, she had her nose in a book... my fondest memory is the summer we drove to Colorado to visit family. She was reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor... she went to that MAGICAL place where you aren't aware of your surroundings... tears rolled down her face as she was turning the final pages of her book. She was silent for an hour, processing what she had read, glancing back through the book to re-read passages that captured her emotions.

via amazon

When we returned home, she checked out Let the Circle Be Unbroken and Song of the Trees... also authored by Mildred Taylor... I believe this was her introduction to African American literature.

With a book in hand... you can experience different periods of history, explore new countries, learn about other cultures... the POWER of READING is MAGICAL. 

How has reading changed your life?

COLORFUL EMOTIONS...

quote by William P. Young
(An American author, best known for his Christian novel, The Shack)

Do you associate your emotions with a COLOR?

Does a GRAY, cloudy sky mean a "depressing" day is on the horizon?

How about a BLUE Monday?

going back to work can make you feel sad, or BLUE?

or consider this - 

what about people who work on the weekends?

do they have BLUE Saturdays?

How about GREEN with envy?

I generally think of GREEN as being associated with

money or nature,

but not an emotion.

On the other hand, I DO associate PINK with happiness!

How about YOU?

(for those who are curious...
today is GRAY with a light rain & I'm HAPPY) 

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V.3 (2016)

It's a GOOD time to begin blogging again! After all, it's a new year (BTW, I love even numbered years... 2016 is even... divisible by 2... I know, that's weird huh?) and I'm beginning to settle into RETIREMENT! It's been more than 6 months, BUT I'm still trying to find my "routine."

I'm thinking that for so-o-o-o many years, a woman gets used to a routine and then when it adjusts (due to having children, illness, or even vacation), we THINK we will start doing all those tasks we "dream of" when we are in a parenting-working routine.

I'll let you in on a secret... it's been hard getting used to being RETIRED! I LOVE it, but I still flounder around for most of the day trying to figure out which "productive task" I need to complete before my head hits the pillow at night. 

Before you think I have NOTHING to occupy my time... well, you only need to look at my "stuff" to know crafts, books, photography, and sewing projects are all at the "tip of my finger." It's a matter of "turning off" my work-mindset and being OKAY with creating my path each morning over coffee.

A RANDOM thought... JPE & I haven't been to the Big Bear Cabin in the WINTER for several years. I'm missing the beauty of the lake... the cool-frosty mornings... sipping a "cuppa" while I watch the birds "swoop & skim" the glassy surface of the lake... Ahh! maybe we need to calendar a trip??

My second favorite holiday (besides Christmas) is VALENTINE'S DAY!! It's not quite as much FUN cutting, pasting, and creating messages of LOVE without other crafters. Does anyone want to come over and join me? 

Thanks, TAMAR for continuing to host this Monday meme! 

Her birthday is coming soon... Check out her "blazing candle display" 

as she begins the "count-down" to her BIRTH-day.