#FridayThoughts: Put it on pause

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It’s super sunny and probably more like winter today. Which sounds like a contradiction but not here. Here the sun often shines in the winter, but with questionable warmth.

Well, its warmth probably never changes, but it’s further away from us.

Same result.

It’s been a week, as weeks are, and I’m well into a revamped fitness routine. I like it, I think, and we’ll see how it goes over the next few weeks. I’ve put Daily Burn on pause.

That’s something you can do, you know. Not just with Daily Burn but other things as well. You don’t have to make a change drastic.

Or permanent.

If you’re not sure about it. You can try it out. Do it for a little while.

See how it goes.

Much less scary that way. You can always go back.

And with that, I wish you a happy Friday and a spectacular weekend.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

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#ThursdayThoughts ten word photo prompt: Creepy

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Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

It’s Thursday! And that means a #ThursdayTen!

And this week the picture is extra creepy for reasons I can’t explain. I just had to use it.

It’s so creepy.

And an homage to Stephen King, I’d imagine, so there’s that.

Anyway, using it as a prompt, write a ten word story.

EXACTLY ten words.

Ready? Here’s mine:

Nature’s rarest sight: creepy woods releasing a mature creepy clown.

#WednesdayWisdom: Angry flying dogs.

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It’s a drizzly, gray day. Yesterday was packed with “have tos,” and I still have a few more to go.

Fun.

I’m trying to get my head in the game and by the game I mean this blog. Today my attention is fleeting, zipping here and there, distracted by notifications and by random noises.

I’m basically a high-strung Pomeranian. Probably just as snappy too.

But I’m going to give myself permission to be flighty. A flighty Pomeranian, which honestly I think I’m on to something. Talk about a cross, I’m sure you could make a dog/bird hybrid. This is what you call groundbreaking. And hopefully housebroken.

See what I mean?

But also let’s not do that, because the end results would be terrifying. Little furry flying dive-bombing yappers.

Hello science, I officially retract that idea.

Anyway, we went somewhere weird today because I let my mind do what it wanted. It didn’t work out that well (let’s be glad this didn’t happen under Aunty Ida’s purview because she could make it so) but you never know when it will.

We don’t have to keep our minds on a tight leash. Eventually they’ll rebel.

With angry flying dogs.

That’s it for me today. Have a great Wednesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#TuesdayThoughts: Even small things.

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First things first, since it’s Tuesday, here’s a Mom Update. It’s like a ritual now.

It’s a gray Tuesday, and this morning for the first time in a long time, I had cereal for breakfast. That’s exciting, I know.

It feels like an everything old is new again kind of thing. It may last.

It may not.

But sometimes it’s good to do things just a little bit differently. Even small things.

Shake it up, even if it’s a very delicate shake. A little novelty can be good.

And with that, I’m off. Have a great Tuesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#MondayThoughts: Forward

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It’s a sunny blue day, chilly but not too cold. It’s two weeks post-booster and I’m fully vaccinated.

So that’s good.

I’ve been edgy lately, probably the ongoing stress from the situation with my mom, and everything seems more difficult than usual. I suppose that’s to be expected.

Meditation has helped but it can’t change what’s happening, so you’ve got to do the best you can with what there is, I guess. Up and down.

So it goes.

And that’s all I have today. I hope you have a lovely Monday and perfect start to your week.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#FridayThoughts: Spending the same money to get less.

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It’s another one of those days when I can’t really tell what it’s doing outside. I guess I’ll know when it gets there.

I’ve changed up my fitness routine after realizing Daily Burn is on week 3 of “encore” workouts, and by that they mean recycled material. The biggest appeal for me was the fresh content five days a week, but that’s happening less frequently. And given the fast approach of Christmas, I can only assume the encores will continue into the new year.

During the pandemic, it was all recycled for a long time, until they figured out a way to make new 365 workouts with the constraints. And not only did people stick with them (including me), the streamer grew.

In a large part to people (including me) touting them as a gym alternative.

And now it feels like they learned the wrong lesson from that. Not that people will stay loyal and try to help your company through hard times, but that you can provide people less content for the same money and they’ll hang in anyway.

I put my account on pause, and I didn’t even get an auto email over it. I’ve been with Daily Burn for years. Though I don’t participate in the facebook group bc it’s on facebook, I’ve still retweeted the main account and encouraged people to try it.

Perhaps they figure I’m not a heavy user because streaming the workouts on a TV app rarely leads to them being recorded by the site. Perhaps they have grown enough that customer retention isn’t necessary.

I think my pause is going to turn into a permanent quit. There are so many other options now, again, partially because of the pandemic, I don’t see the point of spending the same money to get less.

And that’s me for this Friday. Have a great day and a fantabulous weekend.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#ThursdayThoughts ten word photo prompt: Chilly

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Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com

It’s #ThursdayTen time! It’s also getting pretty wintry.

Using the above image as a prompt, write a ten word story.

EXACTLY ten words.

Who am I telling? You know the drill.

Ready? Here’s mine:

Mittens full of snow starter, Winter set the blizzard free.

#WednesdayWisdom: Brain exercise

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You probably think I mean those puzzles and games or whatever, and those are great. I’m a big fan of all kinds of puzzles, including the ones you have to actually put together with your hands.

But active is never a problem for me. It’s stillness that’s difficult to come by.

I’ve gone back to trying to incorporate a regular meditation practice in my day, typically at the end of the day. Guided meditation.

For now.

If you’re new to meditation, I think guided is the way to go, it helps to train you to be in that space where your thoughts don’t dominate how you feel. Like any exercise, you have to work up to the harder stuff.

I think.

If you’re interested, there are tons of free guided meditations on Youtube. There are apps. You can even meditate in virtual reality. Now that’s transcendant.

This post is starting to sound like a plug. It isn’t, at least as far as getting paid to say so, but like working out, I am starting to feel the benefits.

So if it works for you, give it a shot. Or if you don’t know if it works for you, give it a shot. And if it doesn’t work for you, that’s also awesome because you know that.

Regardless, have a wonderful Wednesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#TuesdayThoughts: Chilly.

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Since it’s Tuesday, let’s start with the link to my Mom Update, in case you are interested. No worries if you haven’t kept up, they’re all stand alone.

I thought it was sunny today, but now I think it’s cloudy. And it’s cold, really cold. Apparently 19 F cold.

That’s cold.

Time to break out the warmer sweaters. Which is a yay.

I mean why live in a cold climate if you don’t love sweaters? That’s basically the whole reason for living in one. The winter gear.

Here we have a whole coat wardrobe, from rain to slightly chilly and dry weather, slightly chilly and wet weather cold weather and colder weather and if you’re going to have to be outside you might was well wear a down comforter weather.

How else do you justify hot cocoa?

And though it gets dark so very, very early, the lights are up everywhere and it looks cozy and charming. So there are some perks.

Anyway, that’s it for today. Have a great Tuesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#MondayThoughts: Anything joyful is welcome.

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Well it’s Monday. You probably knew that already. If you didn’t, sorry to be the one to break it to you.

It’s one of those days with swathes of blue among heavy clouds tinged with gray, and I’m not sure what the weather has in mind. Then again, I rarely do.

I’ve gotten some new throw cushion covers and a new throw blanket for my sofa and I can’t tell you the difference it makes. Neither the set of covers nor the blanket were expensive, either.

I find myself attracted to bright patterns lately, mixing them at random and at will. It started a while ago with my comforter and sheets, the paisley of the sheets seemingly unrelated to the medallions of the bedcover, and I enjoy it so much, I’ve added more pattern.

Maybe it’s all a visual cacophony to everyone else, but to me, there is an intricate harmony bits of color and shape weaving together into something bright and joyful. After all that’s happened these last two years, anything joyful is welcome.

Anyway, that’s it for me. Have a wonderful Monday and a great start to your week.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.