preparing for vacation & keeping the focus on myself

Today is the last day of day camp for my daughter this summer. We will spend the next 10 days together until school starts on August 28th. I need to remind myself of my Al-Anon right now.

1. Keep it simple
2. Let go of expectations
3. Keep the focus on myself!  This is especially true when dealing with my husband. I keep thinking of HIS to-do lists and I need to focus on MY OWN!!
4. Worrying is a waste of energy.

And truly if I focus on myself then I am happier. My mother has cancer again. My mother is upset that we are not coming to see her during this vacation time. These are my mother's problems, not mine. If I don't think about her problems I will be happier.

My husband has been sick. He has an infection and isn't cured yet. He is going to the doctor's office, taking his medication, etc. etc. He is taking care of himself. I should not waste my energy worrying. If I do not waste my energy worrying I am happier.

Today is payday. Today I will leave work early. Today I will try to find time to relax. Today I saw 2 herons and 2 deer on my way to work this morning at sunrise. Today I am happy.

One moment at a time. Right now I am happy, excited, maybe even manic. Keeping my focus on me is a good thing.

I need to do that in the next 10 days, and not let other people weigh me down.

Fall is coming. The cool mornings are already here. I am going to go and have a GREAT vacation before it gets cold again.

Be well my friends.

Coming out of my shell

Lots going on but how much of it matters? A cousin with cancer, a new kitchen appliance in our house, and my mother's cat died. Well, she had it put to sleep actually. Lots of things I could say about that I suppose. Last night I opened up my Al-Anon books for a while and meditated. Then I read a whole book of short stories. Who needs sleep, right? Too hot for sleep anyway. I refocused, came up with a new plan to try to get myself to the weekend with my sanity in tact. We'll see how it goes. "One Day at a Time" and "Keep it Simple Stupid". I feel more detached from my mother's loss than I feel I should be. That cat had been around for a long, long time. Still, it's probably for the best and I need to focus on myself, not on her. "Admitted that we were powerless..." and I'm reaching for the higher power of "my understanding". What if that higher power isn't the same as my husband's higher power? What do I do about that? How do I teach my child about a higher power when even my husband and I don't agree? Sigh. Let it Go. She'll figure it out too. We all do. In the meantime it's about 90 degrees outside so enjoy the sunshine.

Just stuff...

So we made it through the weekend without any major dramas or trips to the E.R. or anything. I am very grateful for that.

We are possibly planning a long weekend in March. I say "possibly" because we're still looking at hotel rates and seeing if my husband can get the time off. He reminded me that it will be fun as long as we KEEP IT SIMPLE! No big itineraries or anything. That KISS slogan will really have to be my mantra for the trip if it happens.

Syd posted something a couple of days ago about something that Enchanted Oak posted. I think I'm too late for this now, but I'll do it anyway. The instructions are to write something simple that you enjoy I think, and of course include a link to Enchanted Oak.

SO here goes--
Simple things- snuggling with my daughter at bedtime, holding her in my lap to read a story every morning, and a good cup of coffee anytime. I also enjoy holding my husband's hand while one of us drives. Those are some simple things I enjoy. Somewhere I have a beautiful poem that I wrote many years ago about the simple things I love. The poem begins "Sunrise, Sunset, the raccoon who ate the cheese..." and goes from there, but I can't recite it anymore. I used to be able to do it, but it's been too many years.

As to the links, many thanks to Syd and Chris--
http://fine-anon.blogspot.com/2010/02/simple-things-today.html
http://chrisalba-enchantedoak.blogspot.com/

And there ya go... that's all I've got for today.

Keep It Simple Stupid - KISS

I'm short on time today because I overcommitted to something for tonight. I need to remember to Keep It Simple Stupid or I am going to end up over my head!

So KISS is my slogan for today.