Paul Simon is probably my favorite musician of all time. I know...I know what you're thinking. Over the Beatles??? Over Elvis??? Over Kate Smith??? Okay, maybe you're NOT thinking Kate Smith!! *G* But, I digress...The Beatles - as a group - is probably my favorite,well...group! Elvis - he was before my time, when he started out and, while I learned to enjoy some of his music, I just never got 'into' the whole Elvis fan frenzy. But Paul Simon...that man KNOWS how to make music!!!!
Was just doing a search to find out if Paul Simon is on Twitter, with a Verified Account. Came up empty-handed, but I did stumble upon a video link to one of my all time favorite Paul Simon songs: You Can Call Me Al. It's such a lighthearted, upbeat song and the craziness of Chevy Chase in the video just adds to the fun, for me. Just wanted to share this here, in my very own space, for all time. :^)
So, back to my search, which is the reason for this post in the first place. If you find a Verified Account on Twitter for Paul Simon, please, by all means, point me in the right direction. I will be eternally in your debt.
WELL!!!!! Imagine my surprise when I clicked on the link and found the following:
"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by WMG." How sad for me; how sad for everyone. It's not like I don't already have the music on tape and DVD in my home. I just wanted to have the video on my blog because I admire Paul Simon so much and have enjoyed his music since I was a young girl. *sigh* :^(
Sooooo....things aren't ALL bad! I found a different video on the same site (Paul Simon's OFFICIAL site, I might add), which, coincidentally turned out to be the 1992 version of the title of my blog post today. Ladies and Gents...herewith, I present Still Crazy After All These Years!! Please...ENJOY! :^)
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
The easiest Easter eggs EVER!!
I just had to blog this to share this little tidbit of information I found. It is truly the easiest way to "dye" Easter eggs with no muss and no fuss! I'm crediting Martha Stewart because that's who was credited on the link I'm posting, but I don't know if the idea originated with her or not. Suffice it to say, it's a GREAT idea and I wish I had known about this when my daughter was small. Unfortunately, it's too late to use this idea for this Easter (this being Easter Sunday), but next Easter, this is the way I'm going!
This method calls for "dyeing" the eggs with squares cut from silk ties or blouses or scarves that you can buy at a flea market or yard sale on the cheap. You may also have some old ties of dad's lying around which will be replaced with new ties on Father's Day, upcoming. LOL
Enjoy!
Silk tie dyed easter eggs
This method calls for "dyeing" the eggs with squares cut from silk ties or blouses or scarves that you can buy at a flea market or yard sale on the cheap. You may also have some old ties of dad's lying around which will be replaced with new ties on Father's Day, upcoming. LOL
Enjoy!
Silk tie dyed easter eggs
Saturday, April 4, 2009
On Being a "Juggler"...You'll See
Well, it's been over two months since I made my first (and only) post on this blog, so I figured it was time I sat myself down and made myself write something. It isn't that I haven't had plenty of things to write about. I'm just the word's worst (or maybe that should be BEST) procrastinator. If something can be put off forever - I'll do it! I've considered many times in these last two plus months coming back here and making a post about the mundane things in my life that are taking place on any given day. But something always stops me - or makes me change my mind. LOL That's just how I am. I procrastinate.
The last time I was here, it was the day before my 58th birthday...a day which passed fairly uneventfully which, I suppose, is a good thing. Considering the things that COULD have happened at my age, I'm happy to be able to say that. *G*
Since that time, I have had MAJOR eye surgery to remove the macula in my right eye (to be explained another time) and my husband has had gastric bypass surgery (at the beginning of March - also to be discussed another time) and we're both recuperating from those surgeries.
Also, since that time, I have become much busier with the work I do. I am a work-from-home medical transcriptionist and my job is very interesting - although can be VERY stressful, at times. The work tends to be seasonally sporadic. In the summertime, things tend to slow waaaaaay down and since my paycheck depends on the amount of work I get done in any two-week period of time, summers tend to be a bit more difficult to get through monetarily. Things, historically, have picked back up in the fall and winter (due to the docs taking fewer vacations during that time, I suppose) and finances turn around, for the most part.
And then there is the economic downturn of 2008/2009!!!!!!
We're all feeling the crunch in these tough economic times and I'm no exception. Things have gotten much busier for me, but it's almost to the point of me not being able to keep up with all the work I have to do...and that's not such a good thing either. If we don't get the work back to the client on time, the client can take advantage of a contractual clause that allows them to discount their payment to the company. Hence, the stress increases many times over when we're busier than normal. *ugh*
I do my best to keep up with the workload, but it's not always possible. Sometimes you just have to say - ENOUGH! I reached my zenith this past week and finally turned down work that was offered to me (24 Discharge Summaries from a local hospital which they couldn't get typed in the usual amount of time). This is the first time I have ever turned down work that was offered me. *frown* I hate the way it makes me feel - like I'm not good enough. :^(
Which brings me to the next thought in my head. I tend to be a perfectionist. Have been all my life. Not sure when it started...or why...it's just always been a part of me. And, unfortunately, I think I passed that trait on to my darling, perfect daughter. *sigh* She's the light of my life and I couldn't love her more than I do. I just wish I hadn't influenced so many things in her life. Some of it's genetic and I had no control over it - our fingernails grow up instead of down - we both have fair skin and terminal freckles - we're both prone to put on weight too easily and be rounder through the middle (the so-called apple shape, which is likely to cause more heart attacks), and we both look like my mother. Those are all things over which I had no control. They came with the gene package when she was conceived.
The perfectionism, however, is a learned trait and I guess the whole time I was busy being "Miss Perfect", my daughter was busy modeling my behavior. It makes for a much more stressful existence. I'm sure there are plenty of you Type A's out there who understand what I'm talking about. You are your own worst enemy, too. Nothing (read "I") is ever good enough! Can't do enough! Can't do it well enough! Can't ever be good enough!
Don't get me wrong. There are some good things about striving to be perfect...it makes you work hard while you're in school; it gives you motivation to achieve your goals. Other people like you because you are so accommodating and helpful and giving and...well, you probably get the picture. You strive to be everything to everyone.
The downside of that is (and I can't stress this enough) - YOU CAN'T BE EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE!! You wear yourself out always trying to please other people. This kind of behavior actually ended up with me having a mini "breakdown" of sorts when I turned 30. That was a very bad time in my life. I was a young wife and mom, working to make ends meet from paycheck to paycheck, and not doing a very good job of it. I was FAILING to be perfect!!!! I was already stressing about giving up my 20s and turning the "BIG 3-0", when we got the news that my mom had died suddenly and unexpectedly. That sent me into a funk that took me months to get out of. Many people were telling me I had to pull myself out of it. That didn't help. I KNEW I was letting everyone down...because I wasn't the perfect person they expected me to be anymore. I just couldn't turn myself around. I was tired...tired of trying so hard...tired of working so hard to be what I thought others expected me to be. I had had enough! So, I withdrew inside myself for quite a while.
Suffice it to say, I eventually did come out the other side of that depression and "breakdown" and things got better - but it took me a long, long time to realize I didn't need to try to be perfect - because it just could NEVER happen. Nobody's perfect, no matter how hard they try to be...and I certainly wasn't going to be an exception to that rule.
The funny thing is...ever since I accepted that fact, life became a little easier for me to live. *smile* I still have my "moments" when I'm just not good enough, but they are fewer and farther between now and I don't stress out over them quite as much as I used to. *smile* It is what it is! Life goes on, and so do I. *smile*
Somebody said something to me a long, long time ago at a time in my life when I was at a very low point...feeling suicidal...and I just wanted to give up my life.
"Let go and let God."
Those words have echoed in my head so many times in the decades since that simple statement was spoken to me. Now, when I find myself feeling very low and very helpless or wanting to give in to self pity, that thought will come into my head and I KNOW it's there to help me. I find it is so much easier to turn things around when I give my stress up to God.
Around the same time that friend said that to me, I first saw the poem "Footprints In The Sand" by Mary Stevenson, and it touched my heart. If you have a higher power in your life, rely on your higher power to guide you through all the darkest times in your life. If you believe in God and in Jesus Christ, then maybe this poem will have meaning in your life, too. Herewith, the poem that has left an indelible mark on my heart and soul:
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
have you not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you." [Mary Stevenson 1936]
Y'know...when I sit down at this keyboard to type on this blog...it never turns out to be what I sat down to type! LOL I had no intention of putting any of these thoughts out here today. it's odd...how things just...happen. :^)
One final thought for today...
If you have perfectionists in your life...or if you ARE one...be kind to them. They are working VERY hard to keep all the balls in the air and the slightest distraction can pull their focus away from that task...and all the balls will come crashing down on them!!! I know...I've been there, done that...and I wouldn't wish that on anybody..not even my worst enemy.
The last time I was here, it was the day before my 58th birthday...a day which passed fairly uneventfully which, I suppose, is a good thing. Considering the things that COULD have happened at my age, I'm happy to be able to say that. *G*
Since that time, I have had MAJOR eye surgery to remove the macula in my right eye (to be explained another time) and my husband has had gastric bypass surgery (at the beginning of March - also to be discussed another time) and we're both recuperating from those surgeries.
Also, since that time, I have become much busier with the work I do. I am a work-from-home medical transcriptionist and my job is very interesting - although can be VERY stressful, at times. The work tends to be seasonally sporadic. In the summertime, things tend to slow waaaaaay down and since my paycheck depends on the amount of work I get done in any two-week period of time, summers tend to be a bit more difficult to get through monetarily. Things, historically, have picked back up in the fall and winter (due to the docs taking fewer vacations during that time, I suppose) and finances turn around, for the most part.
And then there is the economic downturn of 2008/2009!!!!!!
We're all feeling the crunch in these tough economic times and I'm no exception. Things have gotten much busier for me, but it's almost to the point of me not being able to keep up with all the work I have to do...and that's not such a good thing either. If we don't get the work back to the client on time, the client can take advantage of a contractual clause that allows them to discount their payment to the company. Hence, the stress increases many times over when we're busier than normal. *ugh*
I do my best to keep up with the workload, but it's not always possible. Sometimes you just have to say - ENOUGH! I reached my zenith this past week and finally turned down work that was offered to me (24 Discharge Summaries from a local hospital which they couldn't get typed in the usual amount of time). This is the first time I have ever turned down work that was offered me. *frown* I hate the way it makes me feel - like I'm not good enough. :^(
Which brings me to the next thought in my head. I tend to be a perfectionist. Have been all my life. Not sure when it started...or why...it's just always been a part of me. And, unfortunately, I think I passed that trait on to my darling, perfect daughter. *sigh* She's the light of my life and I couldn't love her more than I do. I just wish I hadn't influenced so many things in her life. Some of it's genetic and I had no control over it - our fingernails grow up instead of down - we both have fair skin and terminal freckles - we're both prone to put on weight too easily and be rounder through the middle (the so-called apple shape, which is likely to cause more heart attacks), and we both look like my mother. Those are all things over which I had no control. They came with the gene package when she was conceived.
The perfectionism, however, is a learned trait and I guess the whole time I was busy being "Miss Perfect", my daughter was busy modeling my behavior. It makes for a much more stressful existence. I'm sure there are plenty of you Type A's out there who understand what I'm talking about. You are your own worst enemy, too. Nothing (read "I") is ever good enough! Can't do enough! Can't do it well enough! Can't ever be good enough!
Don't get me wrong. There are some good things about striving to be perfect...it makes you work hard while you're in school; it gives you motivation to achieve your goals. Other people like you because you are so accommodating and helpful and giving and...well, you probably get the picture. You strive to be everything to everyone.
The downside of that is (and I can't stress this enough) - YOU CAN'T BE EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE!! You wear yourself out always trying to please other people. This kind of behavior actually ended up with me having a mini "breakdown" of sorts when I turned 30. That was a very bad time in my life. I was a young wife and mom, working to make ends meet from paycheck to paycheck, and not doing a very good job of it. I was FAILING to be perfect!!!! I was already stressing about giving up my 20s and turning the "BIG 3-0", when we got the news that my mom had died suddenly and unexpectedly. That sent me into a funk that took me months to get out of. Many people were telling me I had to pull myself out of it. That didn't help. I KNEW I was letting everyone down...because I wasn't the perfect person they expected me to be anymore. I just couldn't turn myself around. I was tired...tired of trying so hard...tired of working so hard to be what I thought others expected me to be. I had had enough! So, I withdrew inside myself for quite a while.
Suffice it to say, I eventually did come out the other side of that depression and "breakdown" and things got better - but it took me a long, long time to realize I didn't need to try to be perfect - because it just could NEVER happen. Nobody's perfect, no matter how hard they try to be...and I certainly wasn't going to be an exception to that rule.
The funny thing is...ever since I accepted that fact, life became a little easier for me to live. *smile* I still have my "moments" when I'm just not good enough, but they are fewer and farther between now and I don't stress out over them quite as much as I used to. *smile* It is what it is! Life goes on, and so do I. *smile*
Somebody said something to me a long, long time ago at a time in my life when I was at a very low point...feeling suicidal...and I just wanted to give up my life.
"Let go and let God."
Those words have echoed in my head so many times in the decades since that simple statement was spoken to me. Now, when I find myself feeling very low and very helpless or wanting to give in to self pity, that thought will come into my head and I KNOW it's there to help me. I find it is so much easier to turn things around when I give my stress up to God.
Around the same time that friend said that to me, I first saw the poem "Footprints In The Sand" by Mary Stevenson, and it touched my heart. If you have a higher power in your life, rely on your higher power to guide you through all the darkest times in your life. If you believe in God and in Jesus Christ, then maybe this poem will have meaning in your life, too. Herewith, the poem that has left an indelible mark on my heart and soul:
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
have you not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you." [Mary Stevenson 1936]
Y'know...when I sit down at this keyboard to type on this blog...it never turns out to be what I sat down to type! LOL I had no intention of putting any of these thoughts out here today. it's odd...how things just...happen. :^)
One final thought for today...
If you have perfectionists in your life...or if you ARE one...be kind to them. They are working VERY hard to keep all the balls in the air and the slightest distraction can pull their focus away from that task...and all the balls will come crashing down on them!!! I know...I've been there, done that...and I wouldn't wish that on anybody..not even my worst enemy.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A New Endeavor
A new endeavor for me, putting myself "out there" in the blogosphere. It can be a scary thing to have total strangers read your most intimate and private thoughts; but then the other side of that coin is reveling in the anonymity of the 'net and not really having to care who knows how I'm feeling on any given day. So, I plan to free my soul on this blog.
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose, And nothin' don't mean nothin', hon, if it ain't free... (Me and Bobby McGee/Janis Joplin version, of course)
*****
Journaling is very cathartic and so, to my way of thinking, blogging should be cathartic, as well. I chose the name for my blog (Young at Heart) from a favorite old song/movie from the 50s. Frank Sinatra sang the version I recall most fondly; in fact, there was a movie made (a remake of a 1938 film called Four Daughters) starring Doris Day, Frank Sinatra and Ethel Barrymore (yes, Drew's great aunt). The 1950s version is a weepy soap opera with a happy ending. The 1930s version was a weepy soap opera, too, but the ending not so happy. Frankly, I'm glad they changed the ending for the 50s version, but I'd love to see the 30s version so I could compare the two. I'm masochistic, like that. *G*
To me, to be young at heart means that no matter how chronologically old you become, you always feel the inner child in your soul. That's how I always hope to feel. I love playing video games with my grandkids and I'm a sucker for puzzles and games of all kinds. I still enjoy carnivals and the circus (though I haven't been to a circus for many years). I love the phrase, "...and dance like no one is watching" because that it the embodiment of what it means to be a child. Children don't care what they look like when they dance. They are free and feel alive at all times! Oh, to become adults and feel that kind of freedom in the choices we make. *smile*
Tomorrow is my birthday; I'll be 58. I guess this is as good a time as any for me to free my soul, eh? LOL
So, there you have it.
*****
Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you,
If you're young at heart.
For it's hard, you will find, to be narrow of mind
If you're young at heart.
You can go to extremes with impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams
And life gets more exciting with each passing day
And love is either in your heart or on its way
Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth
To be young at heart.
For as rich as you are it's much better by far
To be young at heart.
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you'll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part
You have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart
Good philosophy, huh?
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose, And nothin' don't mean nothin', hon, if it ain't free... (Me and Bobby McGee/Janis Joplin version, of course)
*****
Journaling is very cathartic and so, to my way of thinking, blogging should be cathartic, as well. I chose the name for my blog (Young at Heart) from a favorite old song/movie from the 50s. Frank Sinatra sang the version I recall most fondly; in fact, there was a movie made (a remake of a 1938 film called Four Daughters) starring Doris Day, Frank Sinatra and Ethel Barrymore (yes, Drew's great aunt). The 1950s version is a weepy soap opera with a happy ending. The 1930s version was a weepy soap opera, too, but the ending not so happy. Frankly, I'm glad they changed the ending for the 50s version, but I'd love to see the 30s version so I could compare the two. I'm masochistic, like that. *G*
To me, to be young at heart means that no matter how chronologically old you become, you always feel the inner child in your soul. That's how I always hope to feel. I love playing video games with my grandkids and I'm a sucker for puzzles and games of all kinds. I still enjoy carnivals and the circus (though I haven't been to a circus for many years). I love the phrase, "...and dance like no one is watching" because that it the embodiment of what it means to be a child. Children don't care what they look like when they dance. They are free and feel alive at all times! Oh, to become adults and feel that kind of freedom in the choices we make. *smile*
Tomorrow is my birthday; I'll be 58. I guess this is as good a time as any for me to free my soul, eh? LOL
So, there you have it.
*****
Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you,
If you're young at heart.
For it's hard, you will find, to be narrow of mind
If you're young at heart.
You can go to extremes with impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams
And life gets more exciting with each passing day
And love is either in your heart or on its way
Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth
To be young at heart.
For as rich as you are it's much better by far
To be young at heart.
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you'll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part
You have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart
Good philosophy, huh?
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