Getting started again…

I seem to have put my painting on hiatus for the last few weeks.  I haven’t looked at the painting course online and if I’ve bothered to go upstairs to try to paint I only stay there about 30 mniutes and leave again.  I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing.  The online course is free and it appears to be valuable information so why haven’t I logged on there for so long?  I want to do something creative and I do enjoy painting but when I’m doing that my mind wanders to other creative things I would like to do such as song writing or crochet or singing.  And as you may have guessed when I’m doing one of those things my mind wonders too…what the heck is wrong with me?  Why can’t I just focus on what I’m doing while I’m doing it?  Sorry to be asking so many questions but I guess I’m hoping someone will have the answers…or maybe they will magically come to me if I put them ‘out there’. Ha!

So it’s just about bed time for me…maybe the answers will come to me as I sleep – I can only hope.  ttfn

To Facebook or not to Facebook

I find myself battling this question several times a day.  As I tell myself that I’m not going to log on to FB today I know that I will anyway.  Could this be an addiction?  Is that what Zuckerburg planned – we would all get addicted to FB?  I enjoy reading all my friend’s updates and try to think of something clever to post on my page.  I also enjoy looking through everyone’s pictures but what I find I spend the most time doing is following links from the pages I have ‘Like’d.  I could get lost for hours just clicking around and most often do.  I find this frustrating once I shake myself from the trance, how could I have wasted so much time?  Maybe I should start a 12 step program to kick FB…would anyone join?

Facebook isn’t all bad, it allows me to stay connected with friends and family that I wouldn’t otherwise talk to or keep in touch with; so for that I really like it.  But that gets outweighed by all the wasted time.  So once again tomorrow I will ask myself: To Facebook or not to Facebook and see where it takes me.   ttfn

What’s your idea for a perfect Sunday?

Ah, the perfect Sunday…gee that really depends on the weather.  If it’s warm outside then I would want to spend the day outdoors; picnicing or taking a hike.  If it’s cold outside then that means its football season and I would definitely want to be watching my favorite team win.

No matter the weather I would want to be with my best friend and husband, Andy, and our dog Sammie.  It’s not like we don’t spend a lot of time together now but if its a perfect day then they’re both there. 

I would also like to go to a show or a movie in the evening to cap off the perfect day…and if I could throw in a little karaoke then the day would be complete.  I’m a simple girl, I don’t really need a lot to make me happy.

On another note: I did go up and spend some time painting last week.  I’ve got two started and now they’re just calling out to me to finish.  I may go up there tomorrow and do some more work.  I haven’t logged onto the painting course I found online in quite a while – par for the course for me, I’m good at starting things but not so good a finishing.  Now if it was something for someone else I have no problem finishing…I always seem to put my stuff off.  I’m sure a shrink would be able to tell me why; it’s pretty frustrating that I do that to myself so much and as much as I say I’m going to finish what I start, here I go again.

Enough complaining…ttfn

Home sweet home

We’re back home from our trip to Maryland and I’m so glad. We stopped at our favorite mexican restaurant for dinner and next we’ll go pickup or dog from the neighbors. Just knowing we’re back home feels great, almost calming.

I’m off work through tomorrow so I’ll make a longer post tomorrow…ttfn

On the road again…

Heading back to Maryland today to visit with my mother who will be celebrating her 70th birthday on Monday.  She doesn’t want any big deal made so we’re taking her out to dinner at the restaurant of her choice and I got her a few small presents I thought she’d enjoy. 

So with that I’ll probably miss a few days posting here…ttfn

Weight Watchers

I’m currently in Lifetime mode for WW but I’ve kind of fallen off the wagon over the holidays.  My weigh-in is tonight and I know I’m going to be at least 3lbs over my goal.  That’s not so bad, I know I can lose it I just need to start being active again.  I signed up for a 5K run in March so that will motivate me to get going again.  It’s been so darn cold here over the last month that I just don’t feel like exercising…although I know that’s when I need it the most.

I’ll update this post after my weigh-in so I can be accountable for the weight I’ve gained and work towards getting back on track…ttfn

**Update: as I suspected I was over my goal weight by 2.6lbs.  I’ve got four weeks until my next weigh in to lose it or I’ll have to pay another fee to weigh-in.**

Daily Post idea…

Describe the wackiest but most useful advice you’ve ever received.

I’m going to modify this a bit and write about the most useful advice I’ve received: “Stop worrying about what other people think”.  I can’t remember who I got it from – probably because it’s come from a number of different sources.  You see I’m one of those people who care way too much what other people think or I worry about what they might think if I do or say something.  So instead of doing things I would like to do I either defer to someone else’s wishes or I just don’t do anything.  I’ve become very aware of this tendancy lately, I’ve actually caught myself in the act.  Maybe that’s a good thing, because I’ve been able to ‘throw caution to the wind’ and make my ideas or wishes known and what do you know…nobody thought poorly of me.

My husband is the exact opposite; he makes his wishes known all the time and he doesn’t care what anybody thinks about it.  He goes a little bit too far in the opposite direction which may be why I’ve struggled with this…I don’t want to go that far.  I also think I may be trying to compensate for him; since he’s way out there, I’m ultra conservative.  Crazy! 

So I’m going to make a committment to communicate my ideas, wants and dreams more often and try not to let my fear of what others will think stop me.   ttfn

Daily Topic

If you had a time machine that only let you spend one hour in a different time, what date would you go to?

When I first read this topic I thought “this is gonna take me a while to figure out”, but right then the answer popped into my head: I’d go back to the last time I saw my father and ask him why he wasn’t going to be in my life anymore.  From what I’ve been told, the last time I saw him I was about 6 months old so it’s not like I have all these fond memories of times we spent together; and maybe that’s what bothers me.  I’m very disappointed that I don’t have any memories at all. 

I’ve tried to locate him over the years (half-hearted attempts at best) and I think I actually found him last year.  I wrote a nice introductory letter explaining I have no ill will towards him, that I would just like to meet him and talk to him; however I got no response.  Just another disappointment.  So I’ve given up hope of meeting him at this point, time is probably running out because IF he’s even still alive he’s about 72/73 years old.  I’ve seen shows about finding lost family members and actually played with the idea of sending in a letter but I really don’t want our first meeting being plastered all over TV.

Ok, enough gut-spilling for one day…ttfn

Dad’s birthday

It was my father-in-law’s birthday today, he turned 79…I call him Dad.  For the most part it was just another day, worked all day and then we took him out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  We haven’t been there for months and I really missed their steaks.  It was a nice dinner except for how cranky Dad can be; I think it might his poor attempt at humor but it really doesn’t come out that way.  The server was a little intimidated and didn’t come by the table very much because of it.  We made it through dinner and then came back home.

I went upstairs to fiddle with my painting but didn’t get too much done because one of my favorite shows aired tonight…off schedule…Human Target.  So watched that two hour special and then jumped on the internet…and here I am.  I’m finishing up this post and I’ll call it a night.  ttfn

Daily Posts

I’m still trying to get the hang of this ‘blog’ thing.  This is my first blog and I started out with the intentions of writing about my journey to become a better painter but I find that I don’t paint everyday and if I want to post everyday I’m going to have to write about other topics.

Today I spent some time playing with the theme or background of my blog page – I’m still not sure I’ve settled on ‘the’ one so it could continue to change.  I also spent some time rearranging the items on my desk to get a more cohesive feel, again not sure I’ve got it down.  There seems to be a recurring theme of ‘not being sure’ of what I’m doing…I’ve felt that way a lot lately.  Maybe it’s menopause or maybe I’ve just lost my ‘mojo’.  Either way I’m tired of it so I need to force myself to just do something and if it’s wrong I can just do something else. :-p

Thanks for letting me rattle on…