Fireplace - part one continued

Just in case any of you were wondering - there has been nothing to report on the fireplace. My house remains a glorious site - with a double layer of plastic sheeting covering what was once a useful, romantic fireplace.

It seems they cannot start the project until the weather is consistently above 35 degrees.

I am choosing to look at the bright side - all of our existing firewood will be sufficiently "seasoned" for next year!!

I'm so blue...

I can't seem to shake the "blues". Kind friends have offered the Winter Season, the on-going construction, and even my age(!#!$@) as a possible source. I can't see the connection with any of the above.

I have a good life, a great husband, and a strong marriage. My kids are all healthy, independent, motivated , intelligent and loving. My grandchildren are a total joy in my life - like an unexpected blessing. I have a great home (that will be complete in time for us to sell and move off to a retirement village) - and a wonderful job. I have strong, loyal friendships (old and new) from every walk of life.

I was hoping that writing all this down would help me focus on the wonderful things in my life and help me shake the terrible blues that have haunted me for a couple weeks now. I am not suicidal - I am just BLAH, and I can hide it in a minute, if I have to - so I guess it is not clinical.

I am making a promise to myself - with you all as my witnesses - to take better care of myself physically. I need to eat healthier and start doing SOME form of exercise - I think that may help me climb out of this solitutde of bleakness. I will take baby steps - but I will make the effort to do a little each day...

Hey, thanks for listening... I am now accountable.

One More Round

Well, Mr Wonderful is at it again. The contractors have been to the house - the work begins shortly. Our livingroom has (had) one whole wall (that contained our fireplace) that was brick from side to side, floor to ceiling. Personally, I thought it was nice - Mr. Wonderful disagreed.

They are ripping down the entire wall of brick - rebuilding the firebox, building a new fireplace, AND replacing the chimney THAT WAS NEVER "TIED IN" TO THE HOUSE. - So much for my fancy engineers who checked out the house prior to us purchasing it.

Can you even imagine the mess??? Mr. W. keeps telling me it will all be worth it - I'll let you know.

He realized how upset I was with this whole mess pending so, as a surprise, he had the hideous brass and glass railings and banisters replaced with beautiful oak railings with while spindles. I must admit, that made me smile - for a while anyway. I remember when jewelry used to make me smile....

I am choosing not to deal with this project (although we did agree on the new stone face for the fireplace) - it is all HIS baby. I will keep you posted.

Natural Highs

Natural Highs
Think about them one at a time before going on to the next one.
1.Falling in love.
2.Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3.A hot shower.
4.No lines at the supermarket.
5.A special glance.
6.Getting mail.
7.Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8.Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
9.Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
10.Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11.Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry ).
12.A bubble bath.
13.Giggling.
14.A good conversation.
15.The beach.
16.Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17.Laughing at yourself.
18.Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you
19.Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
20.Running through sprinklers.
21.Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22.Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23.Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS
24.Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
25.Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
26.Your first kiss (the very first).
27.Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
28.Playing with a new puppy.
29.Having someone play with your hair.
30.Sweet dreams.
31.Hot chocolate.
32.Road trips with friends.
33.Swinging on swings.
34.Making eye contact with a cute stranger.
35.Making chocolate chip cookies.
36.Having your friends send you homemade cookies.
37.Holding hands with someone you care about.
38.Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.
39.Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.
40.Watching the sunrise.
41.Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.
42.Knowing that somebody misses you.
43.Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
44.Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think.

The Bright Side

This has been an incredibly cold week - temperatures have been nearly 10 below with the wind chill factor. Normally I would complain and think that this is unbearable - HOWEVER - there has been no snow storm, hail storm, or ice storm. You can always put on more clothes, make another fire, or have an excuse to make another pot of homemade soup. Spring is less than 6 weeks away - we got off virtually unscathed this winter.

Personally, the cold weather has not been an annoyance to me and now that I am getting a little older I have come to realize that, like fine wine, I "keep" better in the cold. I haven't aged a bit in a week!

Unconditional Love

I am religious - not holy-roller religious, but I believe in God and I go to Church. I am the product of 12 years of Catholic School. There are things I believe and things I disagree with - I have a free will. This will not be a heated discussion.

Someone sent me an email this morning about God. It was quite long, but I took the time to read the whole thing. There was one powerful line that will stay with me for a long time and I thought it was too good not to share...

"I am thanking you, Father, for you haven't given up on me."

Kinda says it all, don't you think?