4 Day Weekends ROCK!!!

In anticipation of the Presidents Day Holiday I took Friday off allowing me to have a 4 day weekend. I did this last month on Martin Luther King Jr's birthday as well. It was nice although I don't really remember getting much done.

This weekend though was packed with stuff to do and enjoy!

First day did NOTHING and actually felt guilty about it- but I got over it quickly!

Second day did some house cleaning and my niece came over and we went to the Gym for me the first time in a long time. I had not been going actually mostly because I didn't want to over-workout which I have done more times than I can recount, but I do and I have. I get very fired up about getting active and in shape and I’ll go to the Gym with a vengeance and feel good walking out the door only to not be able to get out of bed the next day- or have pulled a muscle or be so cramped up that I am walking around like an old lady.....and having had a back episode over the Holiday I just was scared frankly that I was headed for more pain- which is frustrating to me- I HATE being immobile.

Well- went and survived my first work out. Actually found out I’m 8 pounds lighter than I thought I was - Wahooooooo!!

Next day we went to get a manicure & pedicure- which I LOVE- It's truly a treat! I go to this place where they give the best hand and foot massages as a part of the treatment. They bring out steaming hot towels and wrap your legs and arms in them and begin to massage the palms of your hands and feet. It's AMAZING and I love it!

On Sunday spent some time with family and went to Mass and we had a BBQ afterward. My lentinal sacrifice is not eating out. I do it way to much in my regular life. I literally spent more money last year on eating out then I spent on most anything else. So I decided that would be a good thing to give up. I'd save money, calories and I’d begin to set a habit of cooking for myself. It's not hard, I know how to cook and yet I don't do it. Its laziness really- so I’m proud to give it away for Lent and hopefully continue it long afterward. My family is honoring my not eating out and we are enjoying home made meals together instead of going out to eat after church- its nice!

Yesterday I went to visit my Mom and Brothers at the Cemetery. I had been looking into the best way to clear the grass and mud and how to clean their headstones - one is granite and the other is bronze so I bought some new stuff to try out and it turned out really nice looking! My niece and God-daughter went with me- it was a group effort and we were all really happy with how it turned out.

Afterward we picked up my other niece and drove to a local mountain range. Living in Southern California affords us the ability to be at the beach in the morning- in the mountains in the afternoon and in the Desert that evening. It's a GREAT place to live even if I spend most days not remembering that it is a GREAT place- the trick is to remember and take advantage.

I am hoping to do more of that!

We played in a patch of snow we found which is still left over from the winter snows and then went for a hike I had never been on which lead down to what we thought was stream, but turned out to be more of a trickle.

LOL :)

We experienced beautiful sky lines and nature in its glory. We even saw what I’m pretty sure was a mountain lion track on the way back from our hike which was kind of unsettling. My 9 year old God-daughter has never been on a hike before so it wouldn't be very good if we encountered a dangerous wild animal her first time out. I'm glad God spared us that. Afterward she told me I was the best and she loved me very much even though she did misstep on a rock and skinned her knee.

:) It was a good weekend!

A New Day- Thankfully!

Yesterday was an emotionally horrible day for me- after an upsetting dream involving my mother- I could not shake off images all day & finally went home after literal hours of crying at work. A Black cloud day for sure. I could not shake the thoughts from my mind so I wallowed in them against my own will.

It's was a trying day!

My niece and I have been on a spiritual journey it seems somewhat together. She is beginning a relationship with God- and i'm renewing mine. It seems as if i've been renewing it for quite some time now so maybe I shouldn't say "renewing"?? But it feels right to me. I was astray for more than 1/2 my life so I think I may always think of my relatinoship with my creator as being newly rekindled. Well she and I have been buying and reading and sharing thoughts from books and experiences mostly relating to our spirituality. It's like a class in college you really LOVE and can't get enough of, but some how we went away for Christmas break and never got back to studying. We both realized this recently as the air seemed stagnet and non-productive.

I have been thinking about which book I would start next. I have purchased more than i've had time to read. So in a quick scroll of my favorite blogs I see that one person referred to the only C.S. Lewis book i've purchased and quoted it as it was on his mind.

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

That's Beautiful- I think i've decided to start here.