Life in progress

Tag Archives: life


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One-Liner Wednesday – Well DUH!!

Under the category: you know you haven’t had enough sleep when…

Fred: Hey mom, there’s a big branch laying in the back yard.

Me: Yeah, it fell out of the tree.

Fred: 🙄

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UPDATED

Anyone who would like to try it out, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Make it either funny or inspirational.

Have fun!


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New news

My boss at the newspaper found someone who is willing to take over my route until the snow is gone! Which is wonderful (for me, not for my replacement) since the freezing rain is coming down like a bugger right at the moment. In fact I hope I can get this post finished before the power goes out.

In celebration of the fact that I didn’t have to deliver papers today, I went to the local community center where they have an indoor track for walking and running. It encircles a hockey arena, so the temperature was rather chilly, but it’s a safe environment for walking, albeit pretty boring. I walked for 40 minutes and it felt great! With the lack of interesting things to look at however, I think I may take my headphones tomorrow and listen to music while I walk.

So that’s my news. What’s new with you? How’s the weather?


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Pain is a Great Motivator

I’m truly amazed at what I’ve learned as a response to the pain in my right shoulder. What I’ve accomplished leads me to believe that perhaps pain is responsible for the entire evolution of man.

Okay, maybe not… but just maybe.

For all of the fifty-one years I’ve been on this earth I’ve been right-handed. Apart from holding a fork, and even then only when I have a knife in my right, I’ve never done much with it. Oh, and touch-typing of course. But even then, I can’t manage to hit the space bar with my left thumb without seriously thinking about it. Doing so slows me down considerably, so I’ll stop trying.

But now! now I’m able to do almost everything except write with it. And why? Why do I use my left hand now without even thinking about it? Because for most things, using my right is excruciating. Eating, drinking from a cup, brushing my hair, reaching for things, even wiping my butt; I’ve suddenly become ambidextrous. Pain has taught me how to do all these things at more than half a century old!

So I got to thinking about the evolution of man and how pain might have helped us get to where we are. Think about technology for instance. Imagine how many blisters we’d have and how wrinkled our skin would be if we actually had to walk and then swim to another continent! Not to mention being eaten by fish with numerous rows of teeth! And what about grocery stores. How much hunger would we have to endure if we had to wait for, say, a potato to grow. Or a cow. With the invention of aisles upon aisles of ready-grown food we don’t have to worry about that!

So I conclude that pain must be the greatest motivator in the world. Can you think of one better? I think not!


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SoCS – Sticky Friends

I’ve had very few friends in my life who have stuck with me. Not one to make friends easily in the first place–I make great acquaintances–there have been not many to count on to stick with me anyway.

When I was little I had a couple of friends, then in my teenage years there were three or four of us mostly, maybe six in total. Two of those six I still speak to occasionally – my best friend John who I met when we were 17 and my friend Joe. One thing that’s remained constant in my life – I don’t make friends with women very easily. I imagine I’m not “girly” enough.

As for imaginary friends, I’m not sure if I even did those right. I’ve never had “friends” I was able to talk to… no, my imaginary friends are characters I live vicariously through. Right from childhood up until now I’ve been able to sit and create worlds, populate them with interesting people with fabulous lives, and spend time there sometimes going over and over the same scenes for hours on end. I wonder if all writers of fiction do this.

Now I have John, Joe who I text to once in a while, and my neighbour with whom I have coffee once in a blue moon. (She keeps asking me to go, bless her, even though so often I’m not able.) And I have all of you, my faraway friends on the internet. It would be interesting to meet you all in person, and see if any of you “stick.”

This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2015/02/27/special-edition-friday-prompt-for-socs-february-2815/

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

and Love Is In Da Blog: https://justfoolingaroundwithbee.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/love-is-in-da-blog-february-ping-back-post-rulessuggestions-week-4/

Love Is In Da Blog

Please click the links and join in!


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Tokyo, Japan – Part 2

Since I’ve already written about the day of the amazingly awesome Buck-Tick concert I attended, I’ll skip that day and go straight to the next.

Being Christmas time, and still having to do a fair bit of shopping, I decided to make my final two full days in Tokyo shopping days. I started out going to Shibuya – an absolutely fantastic place to go if you like crowds of people. I can’t stress enough how overwhelming it is just to cross the street there. I found this:

It’s a live camera at Shibuya crossing. (I swear I could watch this video for hours, especially when it’s crowded at lunch time. Is it just me?) On the far left side, outside the shot, is the train station. It is from that side of the street that I took this picture:

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and here are two photos I took

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facing the train station

 

at the end of the crosswalk on the far right of the youtube video screen

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I went from there just a short way up the block to Tower Records

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and bought a CD by, you guessed it, Buck-Tick, as well as a Christmas present for my best friend John – the new AC/DC CD with a bonus poster. He’s now likely the only person in this little town of ours to be in possession of an official AC/DC poster in Japanese.

Its funny, here in North America McDonald’s seems to me to be generally the most garish thing in any cityscape. In a place like Tokyo, the golden arches get all but lost.

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Can you spy the McDonald’s?

amongst the karaoke bars and cartoon characters. But there it doesn’t seem garish. It just all awesome scenery.

From there I went to Akihabara, the area of Tokyo which is famous for anything gadget-like or to have anything to do with anime, to shop for my kids. As always, the store lights are stunning.

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With so little space, a tiny shop is expanded by going up – some of the stores have seven floors of retail area. I would have liked to have gone back to Shibuya to see it all lit up, but by the time I finished having dinner with my friend Kellie (who I’ve known for about seven years through LiveJournal but never met in person before) in Shinjuku, I was too tired to make the extra stop before going back to the hotel. It had been yet another nine hour day of walking around.

To be continued…


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My Beloved Paper Route

It’s been a busy day, starting out with an appointment with Catherine, my occupational therapist. I was happy to go – my tendonitis/rotator cuff injury has been getting steadily more painful. It’s at the point now that I can’t properly wash the hair on the right side of my head without supporting my right arm with my left. Getting dressed and undressed is something I dread, and don’t even ask about the jungle that is my right armpit. (I swear I have a nest of gerbils under there.)

So what does all this have to do with the title of my post? It’s like this: Catherine made a few suggestions concerning the flare-up I’m having in my shoulder (and now my entire arm) that included making sure I’m sitting up as straight as possible when I’m on the computer *sits up straight*, attending some aqua fitness classes in a therapy pool, and taking a temporary leave of absence from my job. Yes, my job. My beloved walk around the block every day.

It’s not that the walking is doing me any harm except that in the snow, with the possibility of slipping and seriously hurting myself, I’m walking hunched over in the attempt to be more careful about my footing. In essence, I’m making my shoulder worse. So I called my boss at the paper and left a message on her machine this afternoon. I’m still waiting for a call back.

The more I think about it though, the more upset I am at the prospect that I may get fired over this. It’s not the monetary loss, nor is it really even the fact that I do it for the exercise. The truth is, this stupid little job actually gets me out to talk to people. It makes me a part of the community in a way nothing else does – because I’m really not a part of it. My work, my family, and my friends are all here in my home. I have one friend on the outside of these walls and that’s it. Without my paper route I’m no longer part of the work force. I have no worth as a citizen. I’m merely raising my children and, without the meagre $20 per week I make off the paper, am completely dependent on the system.

While I await the verdict from my boss I’ll contemplate what I should do. Perhaps I can make a living off my writing… oh no, wait. Catherine also told me to get off the computer. It, too, is hurting my shoulder. Speech to text? Anyone tried it?

I’ll keep you all posted and let you know what’s happening. Now I have to run. I think the gerbils are thirsty.


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One-Liner Wednesday – My New BFF

 

coffee

Best. News. Ever.

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Anyone who would like to try it out, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday, if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Make it either funny or inspirational.

Have fun!


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SoCS – Relatives

I think, sometimes, about the fact that when my mother passes away I will have no relatives here in Canada other than the ones I made – my three kids. When I think about it I feel alone. I realize that should my eldest son ever have children, I will have more relatives. The other two of my boys will likely never have families.

So where will be my legacy? I wonder if maybe that’s why I write… to ensure there will be something left of me, even if it’s not a blood relative. I used to think about this in regards to my father. As an only child, and a girl to boot, the only chance of my father’s name being passed down was if I kept it. But I didn’t, in regards to my children. They have their father’s surname. So at this branch of the family tree, the name Hill will end… or will it? Again, if I publish my novels perhaps it will live on, at least as a concept if not a warm body.

As the generations pass on we are all eventually forgotten in everything but name. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could be somehow remembered though? Words go a long way.

This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2015/02/20/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-february-2115/ Check it out and join in the fun!

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions


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SoCS – Opposing Feelings

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s much easier to lean towards negative emotions when I’m sick than positive ones. Frustration, fed-upness, anger, even depression make themselves known more readily than calm and contentedness. And yet it’s in my nature to be positive. So I’m even more at odds with myself. Balance is lost – tipped in the wrong direction for me – and so everything is “off.”

My eyes seem to be better today. I won’t spend as much time as I usually do online; I’m afraid my eyesight troubles will come back. But I’m finally getting Alex’s cold now. The sore throat… no, not even. Just tickly. I’m trying not to start coughing lest I not be able to stop.

One thing I am happy about – I got tickets to see Rush in concert in Montreal in June. That’ll be fun. Something to look forward to – and I shouldn’t still be sick by then. Maybe even my shoulder will be better.

See what I mean?

I do suppose it makes sense, to concentrate on the negative when you’re sick. If it doesn’t hurt, you don’t think about it. Until I mention it, for instance, you’re probably not thinking about your teeth. So why should it be any different with emotions? In order to realize I’m content, I must think about the fact. If I’m angry, I know it. If I’m ecstatic, I’m probably concentrating more on what is making me so than the actual feeling. It’s all about mindfulness.

How do you feel? And how often do you feel what you feel?

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2015/02/06/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-february-715/

Love Is In Da Blog

And Love Is In Da Blog: https://justfoolingaroundwithbee.wordpress.com/2015/02/01/love-is-in-da-blog-february-ping-back-post-rules-week-1/

Join in both today!


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I give up

Ever feel like if it’s not one thing, it’s another?

With my stomach upset still lingering but steadily going away I figured, great! I’m gonna be okay! Even my shoulder is feeling better – maybe the day I spent just sleeping did it some good after all! So I’m just coasting along with barely a health concern in the world and BOOM! My eyes are gone again.

The doctor couldn’t figure out what might be wrong, the optometrist didn’t have a clue… I thought it might have been lack of hydration, and that seemed to work for a while. Lutein supplements didn’t help – the optometrist told me not to bother so I went off them and saw (literally and figuratively) no difference. So what can it be?

As I type this I’m sitting with my laptop as close to my face as is reasonable, I’m wearing my reading glasses, and I’m still having to squint hard enough to leave permanent dents in my forehead in order not to see double. When I do relax my eyes it feels like there’s air blowing in them. Maybe they’re still dry, even though I’ve drunk about 3 litres of water today. Who knows? I’ve even tried convincing myself that it’s all in my head. My eyes don’t buy it.

So I give up. After I’m finished typing this I’m turning the computer off, the lights off, and the music up. I hate not being able to read and it’s even worse that I’m sitting here, it’s lovely and quiet and it’s the perfect opportunity to edit… but what can I do?

I’ll persevere through the SoCS prompt tomorrow, but if my eyes don’t get better (and sometimes they miraculously do overnight, so again, who knows?) then I might not be around much until they do.

Please wish me luck.