Things to do when stressed out

Fun and calming things learned from children

Build a sand castle
Play with a yo-yo
Play with puppies and kittens
Jump rope
Do some jumping jacks
Try hula-hoops
Color with brand new crayons
Play peek-a-boo
Read fairy tales
Scream in your pillow
Say no more often
Ride a bike
Giggle
Roll down a hill
Spin around in a circle until you get dizzy
Try a temper tantrum by throwing yourself on the ground and kicking your feet over and over until you feel better
Take long bubble baths
Dance and don’t care who is watching
Sing any song whether you are good at it or not
Watch cartoons more often
Take naps whenever you are tired
Hug a teddy bear
And have a favorite blankie.

Another Late Night Post

Well it is officially the last day of 2008. All in all it has been a good year for me and my family. We didn't have any huge family "dramas" so I am very grateful for that. Things were pretty calm. So that is a lot to be grateful for. Look forward to the new year and I have hope it will be another good year. Happy New Year 2009 to everyone. Hope it is a good one for all of you.

My Night Owl Post

Hi all who stumble upon my blog. I am up late and I see it will be 2009 very soon. I heard we are adjusting the time by a second. You will have to wait one second longer at midnight on New Years Eve for it to be officially 2009. You can read about it at this link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28392450/

What else am I thinking of at this hour? I am happy I can sleep in, yay! I am glad I got my grocery shopping done for a few days as I take the bus or ride my bike and it has been rainy. Luckily I got out there between raindrops. :-) I have had a pretty relaxing day. I just lounged on the couch this evening and watched a show called "Intervention" and I was so glad I am not having a problem with drugs/alcohol after watching that show. It is sad what the families go through that have loved ones addicted to drugs/alcohol.

Well, I went shopping the other day. I got the most ugly clothes come to find out. I thought at first they were nice, but when I looked again, I really don't like them at all. Looks like they will go in a bag for the thrift store (well, that is where I bought them, LOL, so no great loss. Plus I bought them on half-off day to boot. Good thing as I really am disappointed. I looked at the clothes today and said to myself "What was I thinking?")

Other than those thoughts, my last thought of the evening is taking down all the Christmas decorations. That will be a big job. I hope to take them down carefully though and pack them away nicely for next year. I do love the cheeriness of the decorations. I have collected lots of them over the years. So I will miss them.

I did see some Christmas clearance items today at Safeway. And right by them were Valentine's Day things including Valentines Day Barbies. The holidays just keep rolling right along don't they? Well, Happy New Year 2009 to all. Now I must get some sleep. :-)

Puppies and Dogs

Today I saw these really cute puppies in a yard. They were so adorable. I think they were lab puppies. There was four of them running around all floppy and excited. It was fun seeing them today. The mother of them was real sweet and just wagged her tail when she saw me and didn't bark. I love nice dogs like that.

There are some dogs in town that are not so pleasant. I don't like seeing them at all. But they don't outweigh all the friendly dogs I see. I am a cat owner and often miss owning a dog, but I just try to enjoy other peoples dogs when I see them like those cute puppies I saw today.

Christmas Cactus Blooming - Yay!

Lots of times this Christmas cactus bloomed way after Christmas, but now it is right on schedule.

Here is a link with info. on the Christmas Cactus:
http://www.denverplants.com/ezine/11_03.htm

The One Problem This Christmas - poem by me

The One Problem This Christmas

The presents look lovely
The egg nog looks great
The gingerbread men look like they could dance
I got a great man to date
But there’s no toilet paper in the bathroom.

The china is grand
Boy does the silver shine
Love those Christmas phone calls
The decorations of red and green divine
But there’s no toilet paper in the bathroom.

The stockings so lovely
The mantel with greens
The smell of the pine boughs
The best scent ever it seems
But there’s no toilet paper in the bathroom
And I don’t know what to do
But Merry Christmas everyone
Just hope you don’t have to poo.

Caroler's Here Tonight

Well, tonight I actually had Christmas Caroler's singing "Walking In The Winter Wonderland" at my door tonight. It was fun hearing them sing. :-)

More Christmas Photos From Around Town

Mistletoe poem by me

Inspire Me Thursdays creative prompt was mistletoe and here is what I wrote - although somewhat weird, I had fun writing this.

Mistletoe

I am going to carry mistletoe
Wherever I go.
When I discover
Who my true love is
I am going to take it out
Tack it up high
Right near where he is
Then wait.

I will stalk the mistletoe
Like a cat stalks a mouse.
When I see my true love about to go under it
I will pounce on him
And he will have no chance to escape
My lips grasping his
Like a cats claws grasp a mouse and don’t let go.

More Fort Bragg Christmas

Happy Holidays

Great Christmas Spirit Going On In This Video

It was fun looking at this house tonight so I had to make a little 30 second movie.

Clouds To Imagine By

One thing I love about Fort Bragg, California is all the great clouds they have. It is fun to imagine different shapes of things in the clouds. That was one of the first things my kids and I did when they were little when we moved here. We would see what kinds of shapes the clouds were making like a dragon, a princess, or other shape. Those are good memories of simple times.

Robin Enjoying Berries

This robin was enjoying berries today on this bush. :-)

Tiz The Season Drawing

The prompt to create something was the word "dress" at "Inspire Me Thursday" website. And this is what I thought of. I used a costume Christmas Santa Gal as the basis for this little drawing. :-)

Moon Tonight in Fort Bragg

Great moon going on tonight. :-)

Little Christmas Duck Found Today

Well, I was looking around at the thrift store today and found this little duck with a hat and scarf for only $1.00. I then added the candy canes and some red and green ribbon and he looks nice on my Christmas table. I love bargains.

Holiday Time

Well, I wasn't going to write about this subject, but what the heck. I have mixed feelings about the holidays. I love all the lights and glitter and the music, but the part I don't like is the whole tv commercialism part of it. All those commercials about showing your love for someone by the most expensive gift you can buy them. Well, this year, as in Christmas times in the past, I have to limit my money that I spend. So I just try to do my best. I hunt out bargains here and there. I try to think of things that would actually be practical for a person and that they could use. And I do wish I could buy things for all the people that I like, but that is just not in the cards. So I am going to be just accepting my situation as it is, hand out Christmas cards to people I like/love and I will do what I can for my kids and I will have to call it a job well done. Because I am sure that if any one of my friends or relatives knew that I spent money and made myself and family go without, well, I don't think they would like it. I certainly wouldn't want anyone to spend money on me and my kids and have them go without. Well, the main thing we can give people is the gift of our time and be there for them when they need us or want us to hang out with them. I think that is what is the best gift ever. Take care all and hope you can all be realistic this holiday season and do what you can do and just let go of the rest. Bye for now.

Christmas Swedish Ivy Gift

The first photo is the little gift I made. I got the container from a little church baazar. Then I took some clippings of my huge swedish ivy and planted them in a little plastic pot. Then put it in that red and green container. Tied on a red and green bow and now I have a present made. Thanks to "Inspire Me Thursdays" websites prompt to do a handmade gift this week. Well, I didn't make the container, but I did search it out at a sale. I guess the handmade part of this was the replanting from my big plant that you see in the second photo by the stuffed old time Avon bear. Looks like I actually could make lots of gifts from this huge plant of mine. Any of you with huge plants and need a gift idea, maybe you could copy this idea here. Take care all.

Nice Landscaping Work

It was a little dreary out today, but the sun was out in the early morning and I got this photo then. These plants just looked great with the sun shining on them so wanted to share this on my blog. This is across the street from the Emerald Dolphin Inn.

View From Behind McDonald's in Fort Bragg, California

This is just a great view so I had to share it. And I am a vegetarian, so needless to say I didn't dine at McDonald's, was just in this area today. :-)

30 Second Video Going Over Noyo Bridge By Bus in Fort Bragg, California

I rode the bus today and made this little 30 second video on my way to go over the bridge in Fort Bragg. The ocean was along the right side of me behind the fence that you see and a little beyond the hotel you see. At the very end you can see the green colored bridge railing and there is a boat going out of the harbor to sea, but might be hard to see. Just thought I would give you another view of Fort Bragg. (I used the word see quite a bit in that paragraph, didn't I? Guess it is time for sleep!)

Today's View Overlooking Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg, California

You can click on the photo to enlarge it and see the pretty trees in the background, too. This was the view as I looked over the Noyo bridge. I used to be very scared of walking over bridges. But I found out that I just watched too many scary movies growing up and I was scared of those scary scenes of people going over the railings of bridges. I still don't want to be standing too close to the rail for any length of time, but at least I could for this photo. :-)