I don't need to be constantly connected

 I will say that, overall, my mental health is pretty good.  I have been through periods in my life where my mental health has not been good, so I have become pretty astute at recognizing when I'm in a bad place. But there is always room for improvement.  Even when I'm in a good place, it can always get better.  One of the ways I want to improve my mental health is taking some time each day to disconnect from technology.  I don't mean to disconnect from people but from technology.  It has become such an invasive part of all of our lives.  We're either on our phones or on the computer or watching some streaming service that many of us never take the time to just be present in the moment.

When I log onto my personal computer and get on the internet, it goes to a home page that I cannot change.  I have tried to change it but it never works.  It's a news page.  Well, a "news" page.  Its stories are full of violence and sadness, and this is what I see each morning.  I try my best to quickly go somewhere else, but it is so easy to get sucked into some of these horrible stories.   And then websites like Facebook are not much better.  So many stories of the atrocities in our world and in our country especially.  While I do understand the need to know about things going on in society, it can definitely overload one's brain and cause mental anxiety.  That is no way to live.

Streaming can be the same way and that is unfortunate.  How sad it is that one cannot watch television without these horrible political ads thrown in at quite a high rate.  And these are ads on both sides of the political aisle.  They are just depressing.  I only pay for one streaming service and that payment is the very basic plan.  I am not going to upgrade and pay more just to avoid commercials.  I'm a child of the 80s.  Commercial breaks do not frighten me away.  It's just the content of them these days.  I am constantly watching tv with my finger on the mute button when these horrible ads come on.  The free streaming services I use are just as bad.  So, I have been limiting what I watch and how much. Thank goodness that I have an abundance of DVDs that I can pop in when I just want to relax and have a peaceful watching experience.

So, my goal is to make a conscious effort to limit my exposure to these kinds of things.  I thought a lot about this yesterday at work.  When I got into work, I was told about a problem with our internet that had started the night before.  While there were obvious problems that were caused by the lack of internet with our med techs and our check in systems, many people were freaking out because they could not get on their phones or on their computers.  I found myself to be pretty calm over the situation and enjoyed, for the most part, just doing what I needed to and connect with the residents.  I liked that feeling and want to have more of that in my day.  That is the goal.  Put down the phone, get off of the computer and just be present for a little while each day.  I can do that. 

Quote of the Week

 

The Round Silver Tray

 I do enjoy a nice piece of silver, and I have collected some really beautiful pieces over the years.  And I am not afraid of good silverplate pieces.  Most people gravitate towards sterling because it's more valuable but if I really like a piece, I don't care if it's plated or sterling.  I have also inherited some lovely pieces of silver as well. This round tray is one of the pieces that I got from Mom.  Technically, it belonged to Mom and Dad, but Dad doesn't really care about such things, so I always consider it to be Mom's.

This is a serving tray.  A round serving tray that is about 12 inches in diameter.  It has a lovely border on it that is about 1 inch deep all the way around with intricate gingerbread work.  It is not anything extremely fine, but it is something that is extremely special.  My parents met in 1966 when they both were teaching at Bethel High School.  Dad taught physical education and Mom taught English.  They both graduated from East Carolina University but were four years apart and so their paths did not cross until Bethel. 

They were married on July 28, 1968.  This tray was a wedding gift to them.  It was presented to them by the senior class at Bethel High School.  They had it engraved so that Mom and Dad would always remember them.  I think that's so special that the students came together to do something like that for two of their favorite teachers.  The tray sat in a cabinet for most of my childhood and like so many other pieces in that cabinet it was only for display.  I don't recall Mom ever using it.  You know me, though, I love to bring it out and use it when I entertain.  And even though polishing it is kind of a pain because of the gingerbread work, it's still beautiful to me.  

I think the next time I have people over, I need to use this tray.  Come on over and see! 

Recipe of the week - Cranberry Meatballs

 This is an easy recipe using frozen meatballs.  You could serve it as an appetizer or as a main dish.  I have used it as my main dish and served it with potatoes or rice.  I hope you will give this one a try!

Cranberry Meatballs

1 bag frozen meatballs

1 14oz can of whole cranberry sauce

1/4 cup Ketchup

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp frank's hot sauce

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 Tbsp brown sugar

Place meatballs in your crock pot.  Mix all other ingredients together and pour over meatballs.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Enjoy!!

Life without a list simply did not work for me.

 

Recently, I have spent several weeks listless.  As an adult, I have always been a list person.  It helps me organize and be productive.  Lots of people use lists to get things done.  But for some reason, I decided to not use a list to get through my week.  I thought that would make my life more carefree and spontaneous if I was not bogged down by my own to-do list.  I was wrong LOL In some ways, yes, it was nice to come home and not feel boxed in by a list of things to get accomplished.  But then I realized that I really was not getting anything done at all.  I just sat around like a sloth.  I felt far from carefree and spontaneous.

So, I am going back to my list system.  It works for me and I actually get things done.  I kept thinking that, as an adult, I should be able to remember all of the things that I need to do without writing them down.  That was so wrong.  I am so far behind on so many things that I may need to double the length of my daily list just in order to catch up. And you know what?  I'm so excited about it.  That is how my adult life goes.  I am excited about my to-do lists LOL  Ah, well. I have a daily planner that I use that really helps.  Each month has its own calendar and then daily pages because, you know, that's how daily planners work LOL I have certain things that I do each day of the week and it's so easy to transpose those chores from week to week when I'm writing them down.  I also don't overload my daily to-do list if I'm keeping track of it.  Makes me more productive.

As exciting as this is to all you know, and I know that it is, I am going to end this little insight into my life.  I am off from work today and so I need to go and check my list to see what needs to be done!  Ah, these crazy escapades in adulting.  

For All We Know - The Carpenters

 I've been thinking a lot about my friend Lorraine.  One week ago, her husband left this world.  They had 28 wonderful years together.  I was privileged to be in their wedding.  Theirs was a beautiful love story and my heart goes out to her.  We should all be so lucky in love. 

Sorting into piles

 

When I am going through things in each drawer, each cabinet and on each surface, I divide them into categories.  Keep, trash, donate, sell.  Obviously, the keep pile is the biggest.  I just can't help myself there, but I am getting better.  It's smaller than it was!  And if you know me, that is a pretty big deal. My sell pile is also really a form of the keep pile right now.  In the back of my mind, I still think I may have some kind of antiques/collectibles business sometime down the road, so I want to keep an inventory of some kind ready. But these are also items that I will give to any of my friends if they see something they like.  I keep a picture album on Facebook of such things.  No one's taken me up on that one yet but oh well!

The trash and donate piles can be tricky for me though.  Sometimes I wonder if I should donate items that are not perfect and need repair.  Or should I just trash them.  I watch a show on tv called Money For Nothing.  It's a British show where this woman goes to the dump and finds items being thrown out and repurposes them.  It's a pretty entertaining show and some of the things she and her artisans come up with are outstanding.  So, when I am looking at something that I think I need to just throw out, I will often stop myself and wonder if someone could do something with it. I keep hearing that little voice in my head saying one man's trash is another man's treasure.  Sometimes I want to mute that voice because it makes me think too hard LOL  And I end up donating because for one, it's true that someone may be able to do something with it.  And also, it won't end up in the landfill because I saw little value in it.  Oh, well.

Right now, I'm still in the kitchen working so most everything is in pretty good shape to put into piles.  I'll keep going and once I get a good donation pile going, I will take it to the appropriate place and let it go.  Every pile has its value and forcing myself to make decisions like this is a good thing.  It's not as easy as you see on all of those home improvement shows, but it can be done!