An Invitation To Challenge Myself

In 2020 I became a member of the AARP Ethel group (named for Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, founder of the American Association of Retired Persons).  Each week the group sends out an email newsletter.

In the last issue I read about their five-week Spring Forward Challenge, which focuses on motivating women to "try new things, step out of their comfort zones, and pursue personal growth". Since this year I'm trying to focus on doing a wider variety of activities, signing up for the challenge seemed to be a great way to accomplish that.

Today I received an email with the challenges for the first week. I am to try a new type of tea, coffee, or snack I haven't tasted before and reach out to a friend I haven't heard from in months. There was also a bonus challenge to begin a gratitude journal. At the bottom of the message was an additional invitation to join a dedicated Facebook group for the challenge.

I am looking forward to seeing where this challenge takes me and what I learn about myself. 

Five years ago today: Today Is When It Started Getting Real

I Love A Song With A Good Surprise Ending

And this is one of the best. Happy Easter!

Five years ago: Jerusalem Tomorrow

Controlling The Clutter

Now that the weather is getting nicer I'm feeling the call to do some spring cleaning and purging.

Some time ago I was introduced to the "Ten Basic Laws of Stuff", which explain why clutter accumulates and how you can manage it. The list was published in a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organizing Your Life by Georgene Lockwood, which was published in 1999. Her list made complete sense to me, and I thought it might to you, too.

Ten Basic Laws of Stuff

• Stuff can't buy happiness.
• The more you have, the more you need.
• Useless stuff crowds out the good stuff.
• Dirt and bugs love stuff.
• Stuff stays where you put it.
• Stuff multiplies to fill the spaces you have.
• Over time you don't see your stuff.
• When you have a lot of stuff you have to pay over and over for it.
• Stuff affects your mental health.
• Stuff is valuable only if you use it.

(Even though I'm making progress in the messiest areas of the condo, fortunately even when I started the job they were way less cluttered than the one in this photo 😇.)

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Five years ago: Can You Call It Medical Tourism If You Only Drive 40 Miles?

How Can It Be Five Years?

Five years ago, on March 31 2021 Hubby Tony walked into the office to turn in his things and walked out a retiree.

I wanted to do something to commemorate the milestone. Searching for 'fifth year retirement presents' gave me lots of links for wedding anniversary presents but not much else. Eventually I decided to use those ideas as my inspiration. The traditional fifth wedding anniversary gift is wood. The modern gift is silverware.

I figured Tony didn't want any more tchotchkes, so instead of a gift made out of wood I made a donation to Forest ReLeaf of Missouri which will plant a tree in his honor.

We also went to the Botanical Garden and walked around the tree-lined paths to see what was newly blooming.

As for silverware, the diner I took him to for breakfast had some darn good food....and utensils 😀.

Five years ago: So Close He Can Almost Taste It

It Might Be Easy, But No Thank You

This weekend Hubby Tony and I attended a fellowship business meeting in Springfield, Missouri.

When we arrived in the room I saw a sign on the wall next to the thermostat touting a QR code tipping service.

I was not inclined to give my charge card information to a random, unknown entity. However, I was curious how the system worked so I scanned the code which took me to the website. This is what I saw:

No matter how easy the hotel tried to make it I still was not inclined to use their service.

Five years ago today: Free labor

If You Use Your Air Conditioner And Furnace In The Same Day…

You might be in Missouri.

Yesterday felt like summer. Although Hubby Tony and I knew a cold front was coming through overnight to knock the temperatures back down to normal we ultimately broke down, closed the windows, and turned the air conditioner on.

Said cold front did indeed come through overnight. When I woke up my weather app said it was 39 degrees. I switched the thermostat from air conditioning to heating.

Dreamstime

Five years ago today: Reaction Response

A Hot Day For A Good Game

St. Louis is a baseball loving town, and Opening Day for the Cardinals is an unofficial a holiday. That unofficial holiday was today.

The game against the Tampa Bay Rays didn't start until mid-afternoon, but when Hubby Tony and I left the house to walk after breakfast we were both wearing team logo t-shirts. Many of the people we saw were doing the same, and later when I ran errands there were a lot more.

Some Opening Days are cold. Some are rainy. Some are balmy. This year it felt more like July than March. The temperature when the game began was 93 degrees, which set a record for both the day (87 degrees, set in 1991) and the entire month of March (92 degrees, set on March 24, 1929).

Before the game starts there are a whole slew of events that take place. First a wagon pulled by a team of Budweiser Clydesdales circles the warning track. Then the the team owners and management are introduced. Next are motorcades of the Cardinals Hall of Famers (riding in Mustang convertibles) and current players (in a Ford pickup truck). Then comes the National Anthem, and finally a ceremonial first pitch.

The Cardinals scored in the third inning, and Tampa in the fifth. I stepped out of the room to put some laundry away. When I came back Tampa was ahead 5-1, and by the time the their half of the sixth inning ended the score was 6-1. I am a pretty fair weather fan, and that was enough for me. Tony left for an evening event, and although I left the TV on for background noise I didn't pay much attention to it.

However, when I heard the fans in the stadium cheering I decided to take a look. Much to my surprise the Cardinals had scored three more runs. Before their half of the sixth inning ended they had scored eight runs, which made the score 9-7. That was the final score.

The Power Of Positivity

Current events are so negative. Today I am choosing to focus on the positive. Do you want to join me?

Five years ago today: It Will Be Here Before We Know It

Under Pressure

The average early Spring high temperature here is 54°F. However, for the past week those temperatures have been all over the place. Two weeks ago there was a hard freeze. Last Friday (88°F), Saturday (88°F), and Sunday (89°F) all set high temperature records. Those days the air in the condo was still and sticky. The only reason Hubby Tony and I didn't turn on the air conditioning was that it cooled off overnight and we knew that a cold front was forecast to come through late Sunday afternoon.

The front arrived on time and quickly cooled things off. At bedtime it was in the low 50s, which should have been great sleeping weather, but because my joints hurt I couldn't find a comfortable position. I tossed and turned for more than 90 minutes before finally drifting off. Even after I fell asleep I woke up several times to use the bathroom. It was a far from restful night.

Needpix

This morning I was tired and irritable, and had trouble putting together a coherent thought. I wondered if the barometric pressure fluctuation due to the weather shift could have had anything to do with my issues. The internet told me that in fact it could!

According to Bernoulli's principle, liquids and gases flow from areas of higher pressure to areas of lower pressure to equalize pressure differences. Barometric pressure exerts force against the body. When the pressure drops, there is a difference between the pressure outside and inside the body and the body tissues expand and press against the bone and joints, causing pain and discomfort.

It made me feel better to know that there was a scientific reason for my nighttime woes, but it doesn't make me feel great to know I get to test out the theory again soon. According to the forecast Thursday is supposed to be in the 90s°F, and Friday the high 50s°F.

Five years ago today: Confusion Leads To Custard

Caffeine Me

I can't remember how many times Hubby Tony and I have participated in the Maplewood Coffee Crawl, but today was our day to caffeinate.

There were two tours. Back when we bought the tickets we chose the "Early Riser" one. That turned out to be a good thing, because the local St. Louis University Billikens men's basketball team's game in the NCAA March Madness tournament tipped off at 11:10, and we both wanted to be home by then. (Unfortunately, their opponent was the tournament's number one seed Michigan. The score was close at half time, but ultimately they lost by 23 points.)

The crawl ticket included eight stops. Six of them were giving out coffee or tea samples. Two of them offered coffee-infused treats. The Passport also listed ten businesses that would stamp the document. A completed passport could be turned in for a gift card drawing.

Five years ago: 90 Percent Is Almost There