This and that…

Posted on by
4

First, let me say thank you to all of you who sent kind thoughts my way over the loss of Emma (our cat, in case you missed my last post). We miss her, but life does go on.

I am leaving today to visit the Parker County Quilt Guild in Weatherford, TX. It’s close enough to drive which is nice. Before leaving I thought I ‘d leave you with this. I ran across it on facebook the other day and it made me laugh out loud. It’s not a new video so you may have seen it before. Either way, it is definitely grin-inducing…

And now there are two…

Posted on by
14

Our eldest cat, Emma, went to heaven this morning. At least, I expect that she did. She was, after all, a meek and mild cat, hardly ever mean.

Emma is in the middle between Belle (front) and Dave (back).

Emma is in the middle between Belle (front) and Dave (back).

I think I’ve written before that Belle (in front) showed up starving and sweet-tempered. As she got stronger, she changed and ended up chasing the other cats out of the house.

Emma decided to live the back yard. Truthfully, the space has a pool with growies around it, rather than being a ‘yard’, but Emma had a very nice set-up in the shed. She loved lying in the pool chairs, moving with the sun. I think she enjoyed her 1 1/2 years of being the primary owner of the space.

About 2 weeks ago I noticed that she was very thin. We took her to the vet who ran tests but at the $400 mark the best he could say was she probably had cancer and it was a toss-up as to what he could do from there. I didn’t think that Emma was up for extensive cancer treatments so we took her home with extra-special food and did what we could to make her happy. Since Emma ‘happy’ looks like Emma napping, it was not hard to do. She was still a little perky then, looking happy to be alive.

I got home Sunday from California and Emma had lost more weight, she had not been eating at all, and she no longer looked perky. So, this morning, Steve and I took her in to have her… put to sleep? euthanized? killed? The words are tricky.

I’m not one for dressing up words for death. We all die, and that’s the word I usually use. It is to be hoped that we end up in a happy place, but that happens after we do the dying part. However, with that thought in mind, the phrase ‘passed on’ makes more sense. I’ve never particularly liked it, but that sums up what happened with Emma today. She passed on from this existence to the next.

We got a little teary-eyed but Dr. Locke assured us that we did the right thing. A mass had grown on her back in the space of a week and he said that whatever she had, he would not have been able to stop it. She never seemed to be in pain and the process went very smoothly. She seemed happy—or at least not unhappy. There are so many worse ways to go.

Emma is now planted in the front yard near Spike and Walter. I miss seeing her at the back door but she will live on in our memories.

Now it’s Dave’s who has a problem. It’s not a lethal problem, but he’s losing the hair on his face. Dr. Locke thinks it’s an allergic dermatitis. If Dave could see himself, he’d be very unhappy—but he can’t see himself! There are times when it’s nice to be blissfully unaware of circumstances you cannot change, don’t you think?

Piece O’ NYC: An afternoon in Brooklyn and Resources!

Posted on by
1

Jeff and I spent a little time in Brooklyn last Saturday. I had an event with iMentor (which I highly recommend you join or share with your friends to join) and met with Jeff afterwards to kill a little of the afternoon at the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

an afternoon in Brooklyn 1

Click on all the pictures for greater detail (and quality!).

an afternoon in Brooklyn 2

an afternoon in Brooklyn 3

This is the face of a man who did not want his picture taken :P.

an afternoon in Brooklyn 4

an afternoon in Brooklyn

If you’re traveling with kids, take them to Jane’s Carousel.

Jeff and I rarely visit Brooklyn. I generally only venture out that far for meetings and this really ended up being the second time for me to explore this borough. The last time we were there though, we visited Smorgasburg...which if you’re a foodie you must go to too! Definitely the easier way to get to the park is to take the A/C to High Street. Once you get out of the station, walk towards the bridge – it’s really that simple. While we were walking around, Jeff and I were honestly stunned. Brooklyn is like a different planet! The sidewalks are wide, the restaurants are much bigger than those here in Manhattan, and even the people are friendlier. We walked around feeling weird and oddly foreign. The weather was amazing though. It was windy enough sail boats got great wind and the kids with their families were roaming around. There was also a neat water art exhibit on display at the park, Jeff had a really great time with it ;p. If you’re in town and you want to catch a site of the bridge and East River, go to the Brooklyn Bridge Park!

an afternoon in Brooklyn 5

an afternoon in Brooklyn 6

The park is also a great location to catch a glimpse of this lady!

an afternoon in Brooklyn 7

This is the face of ‘mischief.’

Also, I mentioned resources in this post’s title. Many people reach out to me to ask how to do this or that in the city. And below are some resources I usually share. I hope they help you too and encourage you to visit the city soon!!!

  • A Google map that Jeff and I constantly add things to. We’ve been to a lot of the restaurants pinned on it and it has helpful information about airports.
  • I’ve found this NYC Guide to be both cute and informative about different neighborhoods.
  • Each neighborhood seems to have their own blogs or sites with relevant news and information. I follow the West Side Rag since I live in the UWS. It has good information about the Thanksgiving Parade too.
  • Bicycle rental! Rent one and ride along one of the many bike paths in Central Park!
  • Also, I really encourage the use of Uber or Lyft when you’re in a transportation bind. It’s more costly, but at least it’s often a quick fix.
  • If you know you’re going to take subways or buses while you’re visiting, be sure to look at the maps and schedules on the MTA website. The fares for a metrocard is also listed on it so you know how much to charge your card. The weekend schedules are different than the weekday and holidays usually operate on a Sunday schedule.

About those 10,000 steps…

Posted on by
7

beckygoldsmith-GaffsPoint

Did you see the article in the New York Magazine this weekend entitled How Many Steps A Day Should You Walk?

The article in question says pretty much what I always thought: that 10,000 step goal is both arbitrary and not always the most important thing. And guess who they quote saying that very thing? Our youngest son, Jeff, that’s who! You should absolutely read this article all the way down to the 9th paragraph!

I wear a fitbit, and have worn it for over a year now. However, I don’t pay any attention to the number of steps I walk—I’m all about the miles. My goal is 4 miles a day and I often hit it. When I don’t, I that’s OK, but I find it’s nice to have a goal. That said, I know that my 4 miles is an arbitrary number that I chose because it’s attainable, but not easily attainable. I have to exert myself to hit my goal, but not that much :-).

If you don’t have a fitness routine, and if it just seems too hard, you might want to consider something like a fitbit. When you keep tabs on your activity, you see how much you move doing the things you always do, which is nice. And it turns reaching a daily goal almost into a game. That’s what I’ll tell myself tomorrow when I take my morning walk in the airport terminal.

 

Where does the time go?!

Posted on by
6

I have come to the realization that I have become a miserable ‘To Do’ list maker. I used to be so good at it! I had lists, I used them, and I got more done. However, as I used the computer more, I moved away from paper to lists kept on the computer.

I have two good friends who are time management pros and both of them focus on list-making and prioritizing. I’ve gotten worse at prioritizing as well. I spend way too much time on fluff and not nearly enough on the things that I sincerely want to get done.

It’s taken me way longer than it should have to figure out that lists only work for me if I can see them, on my desk, every day. I’m writing about this now because I think I’m not alone and yesterday Julie Herman (Jaybird Quilts) posted a link to the Get To Work Book. I decided to give it a look-see and it looks like a really good tool. This workbook/calendar/list-making book is printed in January and July. Each book is good for a year which means that if you want to try it too, now is the time. I’m attaching the video that sold me on it below.

https://vimeo.com/129266276

I hope this helps at least some of you because we all seem to be too busy these days. It is my hope that I can re-learn how to better manage my time and that my stress level goes down. Sounds like a good plan, doesn’t it :-).