Selective memories of the changing seasons

I think the secret to a happy life is a selective memory.  Remember what you are most grateful for and quickly forget what you’re not. – Richard Paul Evans

As I sit her writing the Monday Motivational/Madness blog today, it is 21 degrees outside and Mother Nature is attempting to produce snow.  Yesterday morning at this time it was 61 degrees.  Forty degree decrease in temperature makes a huge difference in my motivation for exiting the house today.  Yesterday I mentioned I didn't know if I was ready for the snow.  Seeing it and feeling the chill of the morning confirms my suspicion!  Tomorrow the forecast is for warmer weather, so this is a short lived burst of cold.  There will come the time later this month or in December when I'll be welcoming the snow and the cooler air.  That is after all the cool part of life in Wisconsin.  I wouldn't trade all my selective memories of the changing seasons.  Winter in Wisconsin can be very beautiful!  

Enjoy your Monday!  Bundle up or Cuddle Up and Keep Warm!

I can't wait to take this picture again this year with
the snow setting on my camera!

Guess it's time to cuddle up and keep warm!

Maybe just a little sad about the Glads

If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It's a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it's time to reflect on what's come before. - Mitchell Burgess - From TV series Northern Exposure, Thanksgiving, 1992

Late yesterday afternoon, I walked around the yard and looked at the flower beds Copper and I enjoyed visiting throughout the summer.  Now they are all dried up and ready for their winter's nap.  While I'm looking forward to getting to see what the "snow setting" on my camera does, I'm not quite ready for winter.

The flowers that I can reclaim the seeds from like the Morning Glories and Marigolds are the annuals that I understand and know what to do with.  I think I like the perennials I planted that can just stay right where they were and go dormant.  That's what I'm assuming anyhow, as no one has given me any reason to believe otherwise.  That includes the write up on the little cards that come with them explaining where to plant them.

In our flower bed by the flag pole I had planted 3 different kinds of perennials.  I really enjoyed watching them actually sprout and blossom over the summer.  The last ones to grow came up too late to even bloom, so I don't even know what they look like.  I think they are now finally ready for winter storage.  I've had iris and tiger lilly plants for years, I've never had to dig them up or do anything with them. They are hardy and they come up every year.  When I found out that all the gladiolus bulbs had to be dug up and stored, I started to second guess my decision to plant them in the first place.  They are a lot of work.  I just watched a couple of YouTube videos, read a few links, and it appears there are lots of different thoughts on how to store, what to do with them and when to do it.  For an "amateur gardener", I'm feeling a bit confused.  So, I'm going to just wing it, store them in a paper bag, and if they grow next year, great, if not, there are always the marigolds.  Saving their seeds year to year is VERY easy and VERY fool proof.

If you have any storage suggestions, please let me know.  Otherwise, stop back in the spring when I'm planting the stored plants.  Bye the bye, at least I'll have something to blog about in the spring.  I'm sure Copper will enjoy the adventure too!

Since these came up so late, I moved
them from the Flagpole garden to the
front door step to let them grow
just a bit longer after the frosty mornings
started.

Never got to bloom, but now they are dried up and ready
to go into storage.

My father in law tells me that when the
bud faces downward, they are ready
to pick and store for next year.  

After watching videos and reading more, I think
I've got some more work to do...I can't store them
like this, gotta remove some stuff...oh dear, more
work.

Here's the last plant to bloom and now
it is all dried up from the frost.  We'll
see if the bunnies eat it during the
winter.

This little tree, was a strange sprout that
I just stuck in the ground.  It grew tall
and strong, so hopefully it will survive
the winter too.

The rest of the perennial flowers.  I even moved
some of the tiger lillies to this bed.  I have
no idea if they'll grow next year.  It was an
experiment to move them to a new location.

Copper is always ready for an adventure!

A beautiful fall sunset...a great way to reflect
on the past summer, and get ready for the winter.

Clear out with tenacity - no more paper tigers!

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.  -Amelia Earhart

Silly Saturday #7 - As I sit here looking at the boxes and bags I've filled with the items I'm no longer keeping, I'm starting to feel a bit claustrophobic because I haven't moved them out of here yet.  I'm guessing it is a little like how a hoarder must feel.  There's very little motivation when there's no open space to think and breathe!  The messy stage of clearing out stuff definitely takes tenacity.  Not only am I working on this clearing out project at home, the company that I work for is closing at the end of the year.  After working there 10 years, there's a lot of "once needed" files and paper work to clear out there as well.  Once there is no need to refer back or work forward on anything, it's easy to clear out the stuff.  Very cathartic too!  I've enjoyed the paper clearing there.  At home, I feel like I can take time, put off a Saturday or two, move the boxes to a new location and deal with it later.  When there is a finite amount of time such as a closing date, there's no putting things off.  But I remember, I did indicate that I have a finite amount of time for this SILLY Saturday project, so there's only 5 weeks left.  Tenacity is definitely required here and at work.  I think I'll enlist the help of some "muscle", aka, my husband, to help move the boxes and join me on the donation road trip.  Oh Honey...I've got plans for our Saturday!  (If I hadn't given him a head's up yesterday, I might just be in trouble).

Here's a little pep talk to get motivated again.  How about a count down to the end of the year to remind us of how much time is really left in this project.

31 working days until the end of the year (I deducted 5 days off for holidays)

7 weeks until the end of the year

5 weeks left of the project

4 more paychecks to the end of the year (if you're bi-weekly on my same schedule)

45 shopping days until Christmas

Count "up" of what's been accomplished (i.e., encouraging moment):

So far I've shed this many pounds:

30 #'s of paper at home

100#'s of paper at work

25#'s of stuff in boxes at home

250#'s of stuff at work

4 areas of the home office have been organized

3 office areas at work are in the progress of clearing out

I'm feeling FREEDOM and LIGHTER already!!!!

Copper - faithfully keeping me
company in the middle of the path.
Oh dear...what a depressing mess!
Road trip time!!

He can sleep anywhere!  Isn't he cute...??

Time to arrange for ShredAway!!!
15#'s on average per bag!
Each ream of paper weighs 5.07#'s
Wouldn't it be nice if you could shed
weight that easy?? 

Growing through life - 100th post

Don’t go through life, grow through life. – Eric Butterworth

Good morning!  I just realized this is my 100th post.  Wow - that means for 100 mornings in a row, I've gotten up, determined to devote time to reflect on something I've discovered in life and to appreciate the things that I've learned.  It has been very rewarding to me and I hope in some small way I've touched your life too or made you wonder something.  Maybe it is why in the world does she do this silly blog?  Or maybe you stop by just for a little break in your day?

Thank you for stopping by when you had the chance.  Thank you for humoring me!  Thank you for sharing my discoveries.  I've enjoyed the time!  Life is a journey of growth - enjoy every moment!  I'm off to hit the treadmill and dream about a new adventure!

The roses I woke up to - no particular reason, just 'cuz!

My favorite poster and saying -
Challenges are what makes life interesting - Overcoming
them is what makes life meaningful -
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Another favorite poster - this is what I look at from
my treadmill every morning -
Destiny is no matter of chance.
It is a matter of choice.
W. J. Bryan

Listening to learn and earn

"You learn when you listen. You earn when you listen—not just money, but respect." - Harvey Mackay

 Sometimes unexpected money arrives in the mail.  Last week sorting through the campaign ads and all the other "junk" mail I opened an envelope from Arbitron.  There was a crisp new dollar bill in the envelope.  That same night the call came in from them asking if we received the dollar bill.  We agreed to doing the survey, on radio listening, for a 5 day period.  We have three people living in the house so they said they would send three journals and a small token of appreciation in the envelopes.  So this week, just for "listening" we're earning $6.00.  Score, right???   It didn't even have to figure out how to save money today, it came in the mail!  Oh...but with treasure comes temptation.  The same day we got the journals, the Kohl's ad came too - 30% off - double score right??  Will you still respect my motivation to save money knowing the Kohl's ad drew me to the store last night???   But, I saved money.....

Happy Thrifty Thursday!  Listening is really the best way to learn and earn respect!  Enjoy your opportunities to do both!

Yeah, $2.00 for me...

Oh dear, temptation 30% off!!!

Make room for the positive

Every time you subtract negative from your life, you make room for more positive. - Unknown

There will always be some kind of approaching storm in your life, that's just the way it goes.  It's how you look at it that counts.  When you look for the positives in life, you can see the sunshine and the hope in every situation.  Avoid hanging with negative people, they will bring you down.  Drop off hanging with those who criticize something you enjoy.  Seek out those who enjoy life and the new opportunities that are around the corner.  Looking for possibilities can't hurt can it???

Wishing you a day of looking for the positives!  Be thankful, life is too short to dwell on the negatives!

Election Day - It's your right, VOTE!

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Happy Election Day 2012