Of Flowers, Critters, and Blessings ...

Scroll down for Camera Critters & Pet Pride

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."
Cherokee Indian Proverb

1. Every day my garden looks lovelier. The most of the pansies I planted in February are doing well ... only a few look like this:

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and for others participating in
Today's Flowers and Mellow Yellow Monday

2. Molly & Layla watch each other over the fence like this often.

Click to embiggen for better viewing ...
(you'll see both Molly & Layla in the middle image)
and for others participating in Pet Pride

3. After spending several hours on the phone with Dell's Tech Support on Thursday afternoon, things are looking up. If you missed them & care to fill in the blanks, I shared the details at the end of Friday's post at Small Reflections. The Inspiron 1720 hasn't crashed to the Blue Screen of Death in two days ... hooray!

4. The promised 'replacement keyboard' arrived in Friday's mail (talk about quick) and typing is smooth once again with no sticky keys. Amazing what a relief this is. I'll drop off the old one at FedEx later today or on Monday.

5. As promised, 'Vinnie' from Dell Tech Support called me to follow up ... unfortunately before I'd had a chance to use the laptop much because his Sunday is my Saturday. He'll call again NEXT Friday which should give me time to check things out, get the D-Link router working (or replace it with a LinkSys router) and have Time Warner Cable 'reset' their modem for the 'wireless' connection rather than the 'direct' connection I've been using for a week or so.

6. We've had lots of 'moody skies' and occasional rain over the past week ... but no heavy rains so that's a relief for those living in the areas burned by wildfires last Fall. I enjoyed watching crows gather twigs in the tree across the street as I photographed the changing skies to share in yesterday's Sky Watch and a few more today.

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and for others participating in
Camera Critters , Looking at the Sky and Mosaic Monday
(I shared 'goose photos' yesterday at Small Reflections)

7. I enjoyed Friday's 'Windows Movie Maker' class at Adult School. We used the instructor's 'train' images and sounds to create our first one together but we're supposed to bring our own photos to use next Friday so I'll be gathering images together this week. If time permits, I'll play with the first one to see if I can upload it to one of my blogs as an experiment. I hope to use what I've learned to create my own 'inspirational videos' to share in the future.

8. Amazingly (after receiving another 'denial letter' on Wednesday) ... Friday's mail contained an acceptance letter & payment coupon book from United Health Care for my Plan D 'prescription' coverage, so all I need to do now is set up auto pay for it (and my Anthem Blue Cross Senior supplemental plan for Medicare) then contact my former employer for a 'refund' for February's health coverage. Guess it's a good thing I didn't have time to call about this when the denial arrived Wednesday ;-)

See my Daily Gratitude List
in the sidebar at Small Reflections
and the lists I've transferred to Happily Retired Gal

What are some blessings in YOUR life currently?

For others who 'Blog Their Blessings'

go to My Blog Rolls and/or click on the
Blog Your Blessings logo
above Really Good Things.

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

Blessed Be ... and so it is!

Thought for Today
"Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back." Chinese Proverb

the hurrieder i go, the behinder i get ...

Yes, I know it is
Saturday ... but I started
this post on Friday

running out of time
with computer 'issues' I'll
write about later

but for now I am
finishing this morning 'cuz
it seems 'right' somehow

Scroll down for Haiku Sky Watch,
Friday's Five Faves and BYBS

beautiful and yet
threatening, the skies above
always fascinate




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and for others participating in Finding Beauty,
Haiku Friday and Sky Watch


Belated ...

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Friday Fave Five

1. Although we didn't get to celebrate my friend's birthday at Duke's yesterday after all (because she wasn't feeling well) ... and despite a mishap causing significant pain in my sister's toe that I'll share another time ... we spent a pleasant afternoon together. We started with lunch at Matsu, my favorite local Japanese restaurant.

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2. After lunch my sister was looking for some shorts so we headed to REI where I discovered that the kewl Keen boots I purchased there at full price on February 7th were 'on sale' ... so I asked about their policy, learned they'd honor the sale price so I received a refund of $49. I loved the boots before, but I really love them now. I'm grateful she decided to shop REI yesterday because otherwise I wouldn't have known to ask ;-)

Guess this is an early birthday present for me!

3. The rain waited until we returned home ... falling overnight. The ground was wet this morning when I awakened, but the sun is out already so it looks like another nice day. Apparently more storms are off the coast headed our way, but hopefully they'll be mild like this first one.

4. Next Tuesday is my 65th birthday ... and as I type this I'm reminded I need to call about my Part D supplemental drug coverage to see if they've resolved the issues I shared previously.
My sister & I plan to celebrate at Duke's in Huntington Beach with lunch followed by Hula Pie ... the place I've celebrated with friends for years ;-)

5. I'm grateful my Dell Inspiron 1720 (running Vista) allowed me to create this post today because yesterday morning it kept crashing again when I tried to visit blogs. My older Dell Inspiron 9100 seems to have self-destructed. When I awakened yesterday, the old laptop had somehow turned itself on overnight and crashed to the Blue Screen of Death. No matter what I've tried, I can't get it to boot ... so I guess I'll take it to someone to see what can be done with it, but I suspect I might be in the market for a new computer since the new Dell has proven unreliable throughout the 19 months I've owned it. It seems Gilda Radner was correct ... it's always something, right?

Since I'm late with Friday stuph
(and there's no guarantee what today will bring)
I've decided to do 'double duty' early for Sunday ... just because.

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."
Cherokee Indian Proverb

See my Daily Gratitude List
in the sidebar at Small Reflections
and the lists I've transferred to Happily Retired Gal

What are some blessings in YOUR life currently?

For others who 'Blog Their Blessings'

go to My Blog Rolls and/or click on the
Blog Your Blessings logo
above Really Good Things.

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

Blessed Be ... and so it is!

Thought for Today
"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say 'thank you'?" William A. Ward

Of Blogging Transitions and Blessings

Scroll down for Mosaic Monday,
Mellow Yellow, Blue Monday and Blessings

While checking comments this morning and responding in email to Sheila of the Quinessential Magpie, it occurred to me that it might be time to share my current thinking about blogging in general ... so that's what I've set out to do this morning since a number of my readers have inquired about my intentions recently.

1. If I wasn't such a private person, I'd just use my real name like most bloggers do ... but being 'A Nonny Mouse' (with apologies to Jack Prelutsky) provides me the 'comfort' to blog at all. As my early readers know, I've been a 'closet writer' all my life. Newer readers might enjoy 'Why I Blog' and/or 101 Things About Me to fill in the blanks when time permits ... or not.

2. Sharing what I write with others has long been challenging (if not impossible) for me, but it's through the 'process of writing' that I discover what I think and/or know for sure and blogging has helped me get over myself gradually. Even so, until it's on the page, much of what's in my mind is a total mystery to me ... probably because I was told by my mother throughout my childhood (whenever I shared my thinking) that I was being 'silly' and I didn't REALLY think the thoughts I shared. I know it sounds crazy ... I suspect it was and perhaps I'll share more about that one day, but not today.

3. Attending the Taos Writer's Retreat in the summer of 2007 and connecting with women who write is what got me started blogging in the first place. They encouraged me through emails and phone calls after the fact ... suspecting that once they got the proverbial ball rolling I wouldn't be able to stop. Methinks they were right. I've learned a great deal about myself, writing, and the more 'technical' aspects of blogging in the past two and a half years. I'm grateful to those who helped me along the way and more than happy to pass along what I've learned ... so if you have questions, feel free to ask in email and I'll share what I know on just about any topic.

4. My friends and family know I'm 'out here' in the Blogosphere, but don't read or visit ... so my blogs are 'extensions' of (not replacements for) my private journals. The 'real writing' I do remains 'hidden' for the most part ... revealed most often here at Sacred Ruminations, but gets 'lost' easily amidst the more 'trivial or mundane' writings here unless one really searches my archives and/or pays close attention. It's my own little 'pretense' to keep me moving forward.

5. I suspect I'll continue to devote essentially equal time to each of my blogs, but instead of having TWO 'personas' in this virtual world ... I'll have just one (as a Happily Retired Gal) ... at least until I actually begin to spend enough time with words to tell stories again. Methinks that switching from the 'granny avatar' I've used as 'storyteller' to the 'real shadow image of me with my camera' as Happily Retired Gal is a step in the right direction ... (thank you Karen for your comment about 'revealing myself' a bit more when I shared that Shadow Shot last week) ... though it may not matter to anyone other than myself (and my 'writer friends' from Taos who keep encouraging me to step into the light for real). Note to self: remember to create a new 'Morning Musings' logo with my HRG 'shadow shot' of myself and 'dump' the storyteller logo above.

6. I've considered 'sorting things out a bit' with my blogging for a while now ... using the HRG WordPress site mainly for sharing photos ... the Small Reflections blog for my 'musings' or 'personal reflections' (perhaps telling stories) ... and Sacred Ruminations for 'gratitude' and more mindful topics (as was my original intention). Doing so might make it simpler for 'readers' to find what they're looking for ... something I've tried to do by adding 'links' at the top of (and in my sidebars) to serve as 'pointers' ... but I don't know how useful they are to anyone other than myself.

7. So ... that about sums up where I am at the moment in regards to publishing. In terms of following others, that's in transition as well. One of the unexpected consequences of setting up a new Blogger account is that my Google Reader (for storyteller) won't let Happily Retired Gal visit ... so I'm creating a new 'reader' account as I make this transition, but it's slow work because I can't have both readers open simultaneously. Hmmm ... note to self: Perhaps if I use both computers I could log in as storyteller on one and HRG on the other? It's certainly worth checking out!

8. The 'challenge' for ME (in keeping up with others in this 'virtual' world) is that I have so MANY blogs in my reader that getting around to everyone in a timely manner (especially when my sister is around) is next to impossible ... yet 'culling the list' to a more reasonable size is hard to do because I enjoy visiting a wide variety of blogs when time permits ... and don't want to lose track of anyone. If I wasn't 'happily retired' with lots of 'discretionary time' I doubt I'd be able to manage at all.

On to other matters ...

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."
Cherokee Indian Proverb

Although I continue to keep a Daily Gratitude List in my sidebar at Small Reflections, I do like to Blog my Blessings on Sundays here, so here goes: I'm grateful ...

1. the weather permitted me to spend Thursday with my sister out in the world. We went to Kabuki in Bella Terra where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of Edamami, Miso Soup, California Roll, Spicy Albacore Roll, and our favorite sashimi ... Unagi.

2. After lunch we walked around the Bella Terra center ... stopped at Pinkberry's for a free sample of their new flavor and Peet's for coffee. Next we went to REI where I purchased a 'kewl' pair of Keen boots (we HAVE had LOTS of rain here in So Cal lately & the only footwear I own are sandals). My sister bought a couple of fleece jackets on sale. We visited a number of other places without making any purchases ... then stopped on the way home to pick up a pizza at Munchies to take home to her husband (who was feeling frustrated earlier in the day when we opted to forgo breakfast at the Harbor House for lunch at Kabuki ... he doesn't like sushi but usually joins us when we meet for breakfast).

3. My heart goes out to the continuing plight of the people in Haiti along with all those affected by snowstorms on the east coast and the mudslides here in Southern California ... hard to fathom the challenges of such devastation from 'natural' disaster & weather-related events. The small leak in my living room ceiling (under the front deck off my bedroom) seems minor in the scheme of things, though I will need to have roofers out to fix the problem ... hopefully sooner than later.

4. I had a wonderful 'catch up' phone call with my Taos Retreat writing buddy just now ... so it's considerably later than when I started this post and Molly's impatient for her walk now that the sun is shining. Methinks I'll let '4' be the magic number and close here ... after wishing you ALL a delightful day.

Click images to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in
Blue Monday
Mosaic Monday
Mellow Yellow Monday

See my Daily Gratitude List
in the sidebar at Small Reflections
and the lists I've transferred to Happily Retired Gal

What are some blessings in YOUR life currently?

For others who 'Blog Their Blessings'

go to My Blog Rolls and/or click on the
Blog Your Blessings logo
above Really Good Things.

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

Blessed Be ... and so it is!

Thought for Today
"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say 'thank you'?" William A. Ward

Gratitude for the Simple Things in Life

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."
Cherokee Indian Proverb

Although I continue to keep a Daily Gratitude List in my sidebar at Small Reflections, I do like to Blog my Blessings on Sundays here, so here goes: I'm grateful ...

1. for excellent competitive Australian Open tennis matches to watch this past week. I'm glad the Williams sisters won the Women's Doubles Championship and the Bryan Brothers took the Men's Doubles Trophy ... that Serena pulled out the win against Justine Henin to win in Australia for the second year running ... and that Roger regained the Australian Open title after losing there the last two years (in addition to the US Open last September) ... re-establishing himself as #1 at the age of 28½ by defeating Andy Murray in straight sets.

2. to spend Friday and Saturday with my sister ... after getting my Medicare, supplemental & drug plan 'ducks in a row' on Thursday. We enjoyed sharing a breakfast at the Harbor House in Sunset Beach Friday morning then drove to Balboa Island to walk around taking photos, after which we headed for Fashion Island ... happily buying nothing other than a latte at Starbucks in the afternoon. We did stop by Ritz Camera there to check on camera classes and signed up for two classes on Saturday.

3. My sister took these photos as we drove along Pacific Coast Highway on our way south to Balboa & Newport Beach. The weather over the weekend was beautiful but more rainstorms are headed our way and it's supposed to be wet all week long.

Click any image to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shots,
Blue Monday and Mosaic Monday

4. in addition to the photography classes, my sister & I shared a tasty lunch of Mushu Pork at PF Chang's and a 'mini' yogurt at Pinkberry's before heading for home in the late afternoon.

5. I picked up Polarized filters for both my lenses and got a 3rd filter free. Now I need to figure out how they work ;-)

6. that my laptop & Blogger have allowed me to create and publish this post without crashing. I'm hoping to be able to catch up on blog visits this afternoon.

See my Daily Gratitude List
in the sidebar at Small Reflections
and the lists I've transferred to Happily Retired Gal

What are some blessings in YOUR life currently?

For others who 'Blog Their Blessings'

go to My Blog Rolls and/or click on the
Blog Your Blessings logo
above Really Good Things.

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

Blessed Be ... and so it is!

Thought for Today
"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say 'thank you'?" William A. Ward