Over the Rainbow - Eva Cassidy

 This morning, I have been looking for a song that has a message of hope in it.  I chose this one because it is one of the first songs I ever learned to sing thanks to The Wizard of Oz. Because of sentiment, Judy's version will always be my favorite, but this one is so powerful by Eva Cassidy. Her voice was such a beautiful instrument and if you aren't familiar with her, you should be.  Gone too soon and I can only imagine what else she may have done in her career.  I hope you enjoy it. 

Daily Challenges for 2026

 Last year, I enjoyed the daily challenges that I set up for myself. I will say that it was mildly successful and I am happy with what I did.  This year, I want to do better with those challenges.  One of the things that I really want to work on this year is maintaining those challenges each month. I want to continue each challenge into the next month and sustain them throughout the year.  I did not do that too much last year because I would be focused on the current month's challenge.  It can seem overwhelming at times with trying to do up to 12 specific things every day and I realistically know that is not going to happen.  I could, but chances are it will not.  Still, I want to focus on incorporating these challenges into my routine so that they are a natural part of my day.  

This month, I am going back to aerobic exercise of some kind each day.  I have been getting out and walking some each day the last few days and I definitely feel better when I do that.  It is not only about exercise, which is definitely good for me, but it is also about mental health.  I don't look at my phone while I am out walking.  I just focus on my surroundings and spend time thinking about different things.  It's time that I'm not doom scrolling or worrying about things I have no control over.  That is good for me.  And yes, the exercise is good too.  I know that this year I will probably face some health changes that need to be made.  I will let you know more after I see my doctor next week.  But I want to go ahead and build a foundation of aerobic exercise that I can build upon.  We shall see!

Breakfast

 For the majority of my life I have not been much of a breakfast eater.  That is not to say that I have anything against breakfast. In fact, I love breakfast food.  Just about anything that is prepared for breakfast I will eat!  That is where my dilemma arises:  preparing breakfast.  I have never really been the kind of person to get up and make breakfast for myself.  It is simply not in my daily routine, and it never has been.  Growing up, we ate breakfast each day of some kind.  Mostly it would be something easy like toast or cereal. While I do enjoy cereal, I do not like milk.  I have tried but to no avail.  Hence, my cereal was always eaten dry.  That's not the healthiest way to eat it because as a child I would gravitate to the sweeter cereals because they tasted good to me without milk.  Occasionally, Mom would cook a hot breakfast on the weekends.  Not very often but it did happen. If I spent the night with Grandmother, which was often, there would always be a hot breakfast of some kind.  I ate it up every single time. 

As an adult, not so much.  I think I have become used to not eating breakfast, so I just do not really make any attempt to do it.  Sometimes I will make myself some toast, usually with peanut butter, or put some pop tarts in the toaster for convenience.  Or if I have baked a cake, I will have a piece (or two) of that for breakfast.  I can rationalize that thanks to "Bill Cosby, Himself" because everything for a nutritious breakfast is pretty much in a cake LOL Anyway, there is always a great sense of accomplishment and of being an adult when I get up and cook breakfast for myself.  And each time I do it I say to myself this isn't that difficult.  Why am I not doing it more often? I am always amazed at how full it makes me, and it really curbs my morning snacking.  I can usually go until lunch and not feel hungry, which is a good thing. 

Today, I decided to cook myself breakfast.  Sausage patties, scrambled eggs and a croissant.  It was nothing fancy.  The sausage just had to be reheated in the microwave, and the croissant was left over from Sunday's dinner. All I had to do was crack and scramble two eggs.  That was easy enough.  I sat at my kitchen table and had breakfast while reading my daily devotions.  It was a great way to start my day. Maybe if I start doing that more often, more days will start off with this sense of accomplishment. We shall see how that goes but for today, I am feeling good.  So ends today's installment of "Escapades in Adulting". That is all. 

Television Commercials

 I have been thinking about renewing my subscription to Netflix as there are several shows on there that I enjoy watching that I cannot see anywhere else like Stranger Things and Sweet Magnolias.  When I went to look up the prices they had three different plans:  Standard with ads, Standard, and Premium.  The last two cost way more than the standard with ads. So to me, that is a no brainer.  I grew up in the 70's and 80's.  Commercials were a part of the television watching experience.  Many times, the ads were much better than the actual program.  In this world of pause and restart, most people have no idea what it is like to know that you have approximately 2 minutes during the commercial break to get done whatever you need to.  And that commercial break is not going to stop for you for any reason.  

Commercials from years ago had so much thought put into them.  They reached millions of viewers to sell their products.  Who can forget "Where's the beef?"  That became an instant classic.  Of the Hallmark commercials that were only shown during the Hallmark specials.  Back in the day, Hallmark put out 2 to 3 movies per year.  Good movies and the commercial breaks were filled with their ads.  Not so much today now that they have their own channel with movies containing the same basic plot stream 24 hours a day. And the previews for upcoming episodes of your favorite shows....you don't see that today in commercials. 

I miss good commercials.  I do believe that there are some out these days that would have exploded in the 80's.  The ads for Progressive insurance featuring the character Flo are very clever and I enjoy those. The Bounty paper towel commercials are still going strong.  The Limu Emu & Doug commercials are pretty funny at times.  These are memorable to me like the old days.  Most commercials aren't anymore.  And that is sad but that is the world I live in.  Many streaming services offer upgrades to get rid of ads.  That is why I always choose the free version. Besides, these ads are someone's livelihood, and I feel like should take the time to watch them. So, when I go to renew Netflix, I'll be doing the standard with ads.  They don't scare me off.  A few minutes of my life taken up by advertisements is not much compared to saving money these days!

Some Financial Goals for 26

 I have several financial goals that I have set for myself this year.  I know that we all have those kinds of goals and I worked towards mine last year.  While I did not achieve them, I am happy to say that I did make progress and am in no worse a financial place than I was last year.  I am able to pay my bills on time still which is a big deal for me.  I was not always able to do that.  Not because I did not have the means to but I did not have the discipline to do it.  Now, I have that discipline and it feels good not to worry about that.

One of the things I want to do this year is build up my savings.  This is going to take some work for me.  While I am able to pay bills, I also like to shop and that makes my accounts take some hits.  What I have to work on is not making excuses for shopping, which is SO easy.  I will rationalize a purchase by telling myself that I deserve a treat or that I cannot take my money with me when I die so why not go ahead and do what I want?  I do that all of the time.  I have always heard that a person should have money saved that is equivalent to at least 6 months' worth of bills in case of emergency.  Admittedly I am nowhere near that so that gives me a goal to work towards.  

I also want to start really paying down my credit card.  And I only have one these days but I still want to work on that.  I am much better with my card than I was with credit cards 20 years ago.  But shopping therapy has definitely played a part in my credit card spending.  I am trying to use it now very sparingly and only on necessities such as gas or groceries.  I would absolutely love to go months without using it at all, so we shall see how that goes.

2026 is going to be a good year for me as far as money goes.  I am determined to do this and if I set my mind to it, I know that I can.  I have that confidence in myself now.  I will keep you posted.

Quote of the Week

 Coming off of the Christmas season, I feel like this quote from It's a Wonderful Life is more than appropriate for going into the new year. I hope you agree! 

Things To Do for Fun in 2026

 Last year, I came up with a list of 50 things to do during the year of my 50th birthday.  Many things on that list did not get done.  However, I am far from disappointed with that.  I made some efforts and did manage to check off several things.  I decided that I am going to keep my list going this year and see what I can do.  I have renamed it "Things To Do for Fun" because the items on my list are things that I will enjoy doing. 

On New Year's Eve, I sat at home alone.  That is not a bad thing, those were simply my circumstances this year.  And like many people, I thought about the things I wanted to accomplish this coming year. I came up with several goals for the next year. None of them are financial or physical even though those kinds of goals are definitely on my mind and on my To Do list actually. These are goals that my To Do list will help me to achieve.  

Enjoy my own company

I don't want this to sound as if I do not like myself.  Quite the contrary.  What I am talking about here is to allow myself to enjoy the time I spend alone.  I spend a good deal of time by myself and while I am hoping to change that to a degree, I still want to have time to myself.  And I want to enjoy my time to myself.  Finding joy in things that I do on my own.  You know how much I enjoy my domestic duties but sometimes I need to tell myself to stop and do something else.  Put down the laundry and pick up a book to read for an hour.  Have a cup of tea and listen to a record.  Watch reruns of Antiques Roadshow.  Just sit and be by myself and have a good time. I want more of that in my daily life. 

Connections Old and New

Now onto the other end of that spectrum, I want to connect with more people this year.  I met some new people last year and had a wonderful time in that.  And I have been reconnecting with people from my past and that has done wonders for me.  What I find difficult is keeping those connections going.  I know that we all have different lives to lead, but I want to make more time to be with the people I love and with those whose company I enjoy.  I want to build up my social circle, not in quantity but in quality.  Several of my college classmates and I have had wonderful times together over the past few years and seeing them always makes me feel blessed.  And it's nice to have friends to do things with.

Traditions

I blogged recently about Christmas traditions I want to work on next year.  But there are other traditions I want to start.  And these do not necessarily need to revolve around a holiday or a particular time.  I am talking more of sharing meals with friends.  You all know I love to cook and set my table, so why not include others in that?  I am never going to get through my social anxiety unless I start doing some things like that. I love my Sunday lunches and would love to have someone else at the table with me.  I would love to take monthly antiques shopping days with friends.  Just those kinds of things that give me something to look forward to.  I'm very much open to suggestions - a book club? game nights?  etc.

Anyway, I am hoping that my "Things To Do for Fun" list will help me work towards these goals over the next year.  If anyone wants to get together and help out, just let me know!  Here's to a great 2026!