#SoCS ~6/3/23

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “left alone.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Well folks, I’m on Washington time. So I’m posting later than usual. In fact, I have no idea what day it is.

I’m traveling alone not that I want to be left alone. I’m meeting some family members for the very first time. Some might say maybe I should’ve left well enough alone. But if I had done that, I wouldn’t have had this extraordinary experience. And when I say extraordinary, I mean life changing. And y’all know me, I am the queen, drama. But here I am not exaggerating. And it is only day 3, with so much more to come.

Happy Saturday folks!!

HERE are the rules and ping back.

Friday Feels ~ 6/2/23

Chelan Washington, the motherland … sort of, kind of, not really.

Beautiful here but will not post anything else trip related until I’m done. All part of ‘Be Here Now’. In the moment, peaceful, accepting, loving life.

As always, more to come.

Better Reading Top 100 Books of 2023

Reblog so I can find this list again. Thanks to Jennifer for sharing it.

Jennifer's Best Bookish Blog

Better Reading is a Facebook page that I follow. I always enjoy their discussions about books and authors. A few weeks ago, they listed their list of Top 100 Books for 2023. I do love a book list and the best books of 2023 immediately called to me. The 100 books on this list were voted for by readers.

Image: betterreading.com.au

Following is a list of the 100 books on the list. Those in bold, are the books from this list that I’ve read. When I look at the list and think about all those 100 stories, I am amazed at how many different stories writers are able to come up with. I am in awe of writers and am grateful for the joy their books bring to my life.

Honey Bee by Craig Silvey
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
To…

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Friday Feels ~ 5/26/23

I’ve re-watched our Memorial Day Ceremony three times now. In my 39 years at USAA, never have I ever witnessed a more moving presentation. As a coworker said, it was the wake up call many of us needed to reset & get back to basics – our mission.

All the worry of late, Return to Office, restructuring, & layoffs, sort of sidetracked the core purpose of our reason for being. I can’t change what still might happen but I can adjust my attitude while I’m still here. Be the tried and true loyal employee I’m capable of being.

As always more to come.

SA Botanical Gardens: Imaginary Worlds ~ Once Upon A Time ~ Mosaiculture

On Saturday, May 20, 2023, Lulu & I went to the SA Botanical Gardens to see the exhibition mentioned in the title. My featured image is how the show begins… Once Upon A Time. We took a self-guided tour deep into imaginary worlds & came out cleansed.

Yep, y’all know I’m the queen comma drama but damn this experience was healing if I do say so myself. At first I said, no pictures, be in the moment, inhale the surroundings. But then, I changed course.

We will go back multiple times before the October closing & on one of the next trips, I will wander around aimlessly & camera free. What’s so cool about these living mosaicultures is every time we return, the plant installations will be changed even if every so slightly. Constant attention by staff & volunteers are called for to upkeep these works of art.

There were six giants of the plant kingdom: Storybooks, Pegasus, Dragon, Rip Van Winkle, Mermaid, & Peacock. What follows are five galleries showcasing a giant in each. Mermaid will be saved for my Thursday Thoughts. I’ll also toss in a miscellaneous gallery – the forever rose garden & other assorted plants. I couldn’t figure out how to make my videos work here but I’ll keep trying for a subsequent post. Neither pictures or videos do justice, this is truly something that must be seen but even if you feel a fraction of what we did, you’ll be better for it!!

Storybooks

Only these 3 pictures, the rest was video.

Pegasus

Isn’t he adorable …

Dragon

Dragon was the star of the show. All these images look similar but there are subtle differences. You be the judge. I have some dragon videos as well, that I’ll post once I figure out how.

Rip Van Winkle

Peacock

I loved the variety in the peacock plumes, especially the succulents along the wing & on the tail.

The Forever Rose Garden & Other Assorted Plants

As always, more to come.

Friday Feels ~ 5/19/23

Winding down after a busy stressful week. After a bit of reflection, I’m going to be okay. Ultimately “it is what it is” and all any of us can do is just breathe. Whew 😥

Tuesday 5/16/23 was the day everything happened though when I wrote my thoughts Thursday 5/18/23, I didn’t realize that. I assumed we were in for another wave 🌊. We still might be but not immediately. This means I will disconnect completely during my trip.

Areas Impacted: In January, home mortgage/Bank. In March, I/T and product support. In May, Actuary/Underwriting and my own backyard. There are many who believe July will be the final in this series to stabilize. Though we’ll never be done as unbeknownst to the front line, staffing is reviewed constantly. I knew this but somehow forgot. Outcome to date in 2023 ~ 900-1000 out of 37,000.

On a positive note, seeing my teammates in person was good for the soul. I’m fortunate to be here or there or anywhere. “Hey, hey, hey now. Don’t be mean. We don’t have to be mean cuz remember no matter where you go, there you are” ~ Buckaroo Banzai

As always more to come.

Friday Feels ~ 5/12/23

Howdy, I think I figured out why my consecutive days in a row count got off track. Somehow my Monday haiku went into local changes & when I re-posted two days later, it erased the original date, showing a lapse. My three day streak is Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday, making today #4.

Boo Hiss

It is #4 plus 1751 or something like that. My notifications do not go back far enough to see where I was on Sunday 5/7/23 but if I knew, I could manually track this sH!t because to me it matters. No it doesn’t! Or shouldn’t matter because ya know, so many other things are more important. But as Charles tells me often, “don’t do that to yourself Jill. What matters to you MATTERS!” I think I sometimes believe this & I’m making head way in my therapy.

On other matters, my trip to the motherland is fast approaching. Ugh, why didn’t I pick July or August?!? Such a significance with 6/5, that I had to be there on that day. I’ve made some decisions that can be unmade again but I’m going in to protect my fragile heart. I’m doing this for me which brings up once again, my current favorite quote.

Love is never wasted, for its value does not rest on reciprocity,

C.S. Lewis

I’m mailing records to my found family which might duplicate what I shared with just one sister all with no expectation for response. I had myself convinced that another non-response would end me but I’m tougher than that. Snail mail slows the pace & I will never know if the non-response is simply, he didn’t get the post or he got it & threw it away before opening, or he got it & read it but doesn’t care, or he cares but cannot respond for other reasons. So many possibilities that I can rationalize away any hurt feelings. It’s not personal, or at least that is what I will tell myself. But damn it is, cuts to my core. Which is why I continue on with therapy to get to acceptance.

I’ll end with my dream from last night. First backstory, since I booked the trip, I’ve had reoccurring dreams (3 so far) that I meet & their dogs growl at me & they say “well see, we knew she was bad, dogs can always tell”. In my awake life I believe that with my whole heart. Dogs are awesome creatures. Last night I dreamt we met & the dog was wagging his tail like crazy, runs up to me like Buddy & Spot do, licking my face. I woke up as I was petting this dog I will never meet. I felt light & happy & that feeling persists.

As always, more to come.

Almost Heaven ~ 5/7/23

I feel a novela coming on & lately those ramblings have gone on the blog. Today I’m staying local by way of WP. The ban was lifted so I will share to FB after all the silliness is complete. This post might even float over to Instagram if I did this right.

Today we got plates to go from the church picnic/annual fundraiser. We had a banner day, “smoke up Johnny!” Nod to my Breakfast Club roots. Some may not get that line and explaining it would take too long so moving on.

These would be the same folks who ask me why I named my lizard(s) Jim Morrison. Because I’m a weirdo who owns my strangeness. Jim was the Lizard King doncha know. I wanna break on through to the other side.

So many thoughts are popping like popcorn kernels in hot oil, the old school way, in a skillet with a lid. I really don’t know where to being. I’ve been bursting out in spontaneous song all day long. In particular, John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads. Right there in the middle of the Auto Zone. Just know, I’m the most right when I’m the most wrong.

Pony “Is that song about Pennsylvania?”

Me “No, it’s about Colorado, Rocky Mountains”

Pony as he is looking it up on his phone “Naw pretty sure it’s about Pennsylvania”

Me “John DENVER man, definitely Colorado”

Pony singing to me in the middle of Auto Zone “Almost heaven, West Virginia”

Doh! The place is in the first line of the song. He sang to me & he has a good voice. That’s my momma’s side coming out. I have at least two cousins, maybe three who are also musically inclined. Pony told Lulu, one day you too will sing spontaneously, like me & mom.

I haven’t laughed this much in a very long time. The brain trust was cooking all day today. I learned zoomer slang. “Let her cook” and “No cap”. Google it. LOL.

As always, more to come.

April Blogging from A to Z Reflections 2023

I enjoyed the graphics this year, particularly this one attached above. I’m not sure why so many didn’t and made the anti-badge. Oh well, everyone has a right to their opinions. I wrote most of my posts in advance & did not travel / hop as much as I would have liked. I can only imagine if I would have been able to finish without the prep. Not likely as April was a banner month & not in a good way. But day by day, minute by minute, I will survive ala Gloria Gaynor.

Until next time folks.

As always, more to come.

#1linerWeds. 4/27/23

I say leave the cobweb for authenticity 😂

My one liner is well known & good common sense. Fitting of this time in my life. I need to stop being all willy nilly.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Age old proverb

HERE are the rules and ping back.

As always more to come.