Another Tool

Here's another tool for learning about the candidates (and a few who aren't candidates so I'm not sure why they are listed).  http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm  I found out about this website from a newsletter type email I get at work.  In other words, fair warning that this is a website recommended by our friends in DC, so I take what's on it with a grain of salt.  Don't know how biased or unbiased they may be.

Carly

For some reason I've become quite interested in the candidates this go around.  I've been (rather avidly) watching the news shows, watching the debates, and now I've really doubled down on the nerdiness and am poking around online watching videos and reading the websites, etc.

So far I find myself most impressed by Carly Fiorina and more and more less impressed with others.  I wish Nebraska played a more important role in the primaries.  If our primary was held this week, I'm pretty sure I'd vote for Carly.  And it's not because she's a female.  I have been watching videos on her website and the more I watch the ones about education and foreign policy, the more I like her.  I think she could spell bad news for my job security, but in a strange way I think I'm okay with that.

Curious like me?  Go to https://carlyforpresident.com/answers/ and check out the videos.

The To Do List

I like lists.  They help me pack for trips, remember what to pick up at the store, and not forget to do things that are important.  But I have a list of things I want to do that seldom gets anything crossed off.  It is the list of things to do that are at the bottom of every list priority wise.  These are the projects that have no immediate impact on my home's functionality.  The accomplishment or not of these things likely will not have a significant affect on my daily life.  However, the long term affect on ones sanity of accumulating projects that don't get done...I didn't go into it with plans to be a case study, but probably could be now.

So what's stopping me from crossing those things off that list?  Good question.  Part of me says logically there's no excuse.  Then I spend a week like this one forcing myself to keep going when every fiber of my being said "go lay down," feeling like crap, working long hours, and spending the whole morning so tired it took me all morning to wake up enough to function.  (Seriously, like after noon before I could see straight.  It was really pathetic.)  Some would say "take a day to relax...it's fine...you deserve/need to rest."  I tend to not allow myself that.  And that's really very likely the reason I was so tired this morning.

But now the day is mostly gone and I'm kinda' sad I've chosen to miss another chance to cross off anything from that list.  The FM has been kicking my fanny a bit the last couple weeks and so I took today to cave to the tired and lack of motivation.  But I did pick the carrots and onions from my garden, take a nice long walk with the dog and now the football game is starting.  Tomorrow I will do my thing at church, go to Bible study, go to the office and have choir rehearsal, so nothing if not a busy day tomorrow.  Maybe tomorrow momentum will keep me going through more than just what is already planned.

I sometimes think that if I were not busy at work or with work plus church I might get more done from that list.  Since church keeps me grounded and work keeps me fed, I can't really walk away from either.  Choir meets a need too.  So what's a girl to do?  Manage?  Certainly, it would be easier to look at those random projects if I wasn't trying to do everything myself.  (Silly doggie just isn't much help with things like yard work and house chores.)  But as assistance physically or financially is not exactly a plan on which to fall back, I guess I'll just be putting off the random stuff and plugging away at the usual "have to" stuff.

Some day I will get to mat my choir posters, complete my sewing projects, sort and file the ridiculous amount of music stacking up on and around my keyboard, so on, so forth, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.  It might be a while before I get to do the random things like those and many others.  I doubt I will get to not be tired very often if ever again, but I do need to do a better job of mitigating that.

Oh well.  Maybe next weekend.

Book Review: "7: How Many Days of the Week Can Be Extraordinary?"

Just finished a book titled 7: How many days of the week can be extraordinary?.  It's basically about living in the moment, making every day count - that sort of thing.

It's a pretty fast, easy read.  If you are motivated by quotes from famous and/or somehow important people, this book is full of them - plenty of contenders for copying, printing, and posting somewhere to remind you of your goals, ambitions, and positive choices, et cetera and so on.

Some folks may find this one inspirational or at least reinforcing of some very positive personal philosophies.  The more cerebral types, I think, will find it a bit simplistic or boring and the truly cynical or "realists" will likely either find it depressing or just too peppy and subsequently a waste of energy.

Overall, full of good ideas, good quotes, and good philosophy.  It's easy to read and you may like it...unless you are a cranky old curmudgeon like me.  Then it will only feed the crankiness...Maybe I would read it again when I'm feeling a little less cranky and a little more interested in inspirational quotes.

Thoughts on a Sunday Morning

Went and did my thing at church and then came home.  There is a whole list in my head of things to do (have tos, shoulds, so on and so forth).  It kind of looks or sounds like this.

I should do laundry...A nap sounds great...It's nice out.  I should take the dog for a walk...A nap sounds good...It's almost lunch time...I could read...Maybe I'll watch a movie...I should log into work and see if I have access yet to what I need...I need to change the bedding...Maybe I should bake something...There are dishes to put away...I should write on my blog...I'll let Samson check his Facebook...Maybe I should vacuum...I could work on my sewing projects...I would really like to take a nap...I should change the sheets in the butterfly room...I really need to sort and put away that music...Maybe I should be doing yard work since it's so nice out...It's probably too wet to mow...These bug bites are so annoying and I don't even know where they came from...There are so many little projects I don't know where to start...I really want to take a nap...Samson wants a tummy rub.  That's so cute...I should eat something...Or I could clean something...

And it keeps going and going and going inside my head.  And nothing really gets done.  Usually after church I feel refreshed, have some more energy, am a little more motivated.  Today not so much.  Part of it is lack of sleep.  Part of it was the theme not really hitting the right chords with or for me.

Samson is very vocally telling me what he thinks we should do...I maybe should change clothes first.  So he got to check his Facebook and now he'll get to go for a walk.  Maybe when we get back I will feel a little more motivated or awake or focused or something.

At the Fair

A couple weekends ago Justin, Nikki and Ivy, and I went to the Lancaster County Fair.  It was hot, but we had fun seeing all the animals, watching a few shows, and checking out some other activities.  Here's a bit of a taste of all the excitement.

First stop: pony rides!

Probably one of the most fun things we did - the "Krazy Maze."

You check this way and I'll check that way.

A blurry picture by Nikki, but it proves I was there.

Acrobats!

The "Wacky Worm" roller coaster for the pint-sized...and some parents.

Waiting to ride the carousel.

Aww!

Checking out a tiny model train.

Pausing for a moment on a playground set shaped like a tractor.

Arts and Crafts

Last Stop: dock diving doggie - anything for a frisbee!

Book Review: "And the Good News Is..."

If you don't watch Fox News Channel, you might not know who Dana Perino is.  She's on Fox News now, but before that, she was George W. Bush's press secretary and the first Republican female press secretary at that.  I just finished reading her book And the Good News Is...Lessons and Advice from the Bright Side.

I would recommend this book to any young lady who's just getting ready to go into college or finish college and join the "adult" world.  It's full of simple advice for success.  And, Dana's personal stories of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are inspirational.

And that's where I'd recommend the book to really anyone.  Her story is fascinating - even unbelievable at times - and it does offer a bit of hope (that "good news" the title talks about I suppose).  It's kind of nice to see someone with a moral center and healthy values actually succeeding - proof that good sometimes does win after all in a world full of cynicism and selfishness.

It's an easy read, not too long, not too short, with very conversational language.  Not sure it's a book the guys will really get excited about (stories of her love life maybe a bit too sugary for the particularly macho), but ladies, I bet you would enjoy it.