How Extra Time Makes You Happier + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

I've always felt that my time is the most precious possession I own, not things, and sometimes I'm very jealous and protective of it. Think of what you can do with time. You can use it to perfect yourself, create something of value, use it for service to others, or you can squander it. Now, my belief has been verified by a study that just came out in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences! It says that "when people spend money on time-saving services such as a house cleaner, lawn care or grocery delivery, it can make them feel a little happier. By comparison, money spent on material purchases---aka things---does not boost positive emotions the way we might expect."   

Image - Ben Milner

I can apply the time saving idea in another way. For 7 years I worked at what used to be my local high school. But for 4 of those 7 years I had to commute because we moved to a city 33 miles away. This school year is different. I actually took a significant pay cut to start at the bottom pay level because, sadly, my years of service in one school district make no difference to another school district. But at least I won't have to commute 66 miles per day! I've only been at work for 4 days and I can already feel the difference! It is amazing what that commute took out of me. In essence, I bought a shorter work week and for me it's worth everything! When I come home after work I'm not feeling like all I want to do is take a nap and recover from not only the work day, but the commute itself! 

I guess what I get from this study is a reaffirmation that Americans could be doing more to make themselves happy. We are lured into the notion that having more material things will make us happier, when it actually could entrap us into an endless cycle of playing catch-up! Instead of throwing down $100 at the local favorite place to shop or friendly internet site, think about paying to have someone mow the yard, pick up your groceries, clean the bathroom or kitchen, or simply give up something that sucks time and energy from your life. Then with that saved time, think of the most enjoyable, productive thing that you can do with it. It may be getting a good nap, reading a great book, or going on a hike somewhere. It may be watching a movie, talking to a friend you haven't seen in awhile, or volunteering for your favorite charity. It's a sure thing that your happiness quotient will go up! I know that I will try to do that more because I have experienced the feeling firsthand when I gave up my commute. Read about the study here!

 Today is "My Post Monday!" It's all about original content from bloggers who care to share what is on their minds--from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! (Affiliate links welcome!)  

Just Sue Me + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

 We've heard about it so many times before! Businesses suing other businesses for stealing their logos, designs, trade secrets, etc. One recent & crazy example is how Khloe Kardashian and her sister, Kylie Jenner, have been accused by more than one designer of lifting exclusive designs straight off the designer table and onto their own label. The designers say the sisters did it by e-mailing them, and asking for samples of clothing. The sisters supposedly then took the complimentary samples and made almost exact copies of them and then stuck their own labels on them. Of course, their names on the label would sell a lot of clothing! We'll see how it all plays out in court. 

Beauty That Still Remains + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

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I really should be writing a patriotic post, seeing that tomorrow is July 4th and all, and it's one of my favorite holidays, but I think I wrote one last year. Oops, no I didn't I was really into the Summer Olympics about that time! But I did write a post about one of our founding fathers recently, John Adams! So I think we'll let that suffice! As for today's post.....

Being There + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

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Are you in touch with your friends and family? I mean, really in touch? Yes, we have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, texts in addition to phone calls to instantaneously get into the loop. But if someone on your Friends list needed someone and you knew it, would you be there for them? Let's go a little further. If you knew that someone wasn't really into life and wanted to actually end it all, would you be there for them, at the risk of ending that friendship? 

We've heard a lot lately about people who are more than happy to help someone else end their own life, to the point of encouraging them to do it, providing instruments of death to do the deed, or just not acting on it when they had information. Now there is debate as to whether or not these individuals should or shouldn't be charged with manslaughter.  I don't want to get into that debate other than sharing a recent story of someone who made it his business to save a friend's life, even though he didn't stand to gain personally from it and who risked his own personal success in something he enjoyed in order to do so. 

Unwelcome And Uninvited Guests + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

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This morning my ears started ringing and it was so uncomfortable. It stopped me dead in my tracks and I couldn't focus on anything until, thankfully, it finally went away. I can only surmise why it started. Was someone talking about me? You never know! But more likely is that we went to the movies earlier and I think that whenever we go, my ears suffer because the volume is always so loud. Then it hit me that my husband has a constant ringing in his ears 24/7! He has tinnitus. Ugh! It stemmed from his Sony Walkman days as a teenager, with the sound as loud as he could possibly get it. He used to complain about it a lot when the ringing first started. But now, he has learned to live with the never-ending tone and it has faded into the background. Except when it gets angry and loud. Then it is torture all over again.

It made me think about other painful constants that people have in their lives. How do they live with them? Does it eventually just become normal, so that they just expect the company and walk with it throughout life, good or bad? 

The Source From Whence It Came + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

I got off work early the other day. As I was walking toward the main doors to the parking lot, I had a lot of things going through my head. I had a list of things I needed to do that day and I was excited to get to it. 
But then I saw Midy, one of our school trackers. I knew her from some interactions we had concerning a certain student and so we had talked briefly before. She struck me as someone who was very firm with the students, letting them know she was in charge and that they needed to respect her, even though she is petite and non-dramatic in her appearance. And I noticed that it worked! She has a lot of power in that school, to make sure that students are wearing the proper attire, not abusing electronics in the classroom, being respectful to each other and to their teachers. She is a force to be reckoned with, if you don't comply immediately with her respectful but firm request. She can take your phone away and confiscate it until your parents come pick it up, she can have you removed from campus if you are in violation of any school rules.  But she is just as quick to lend a helping hand to any student who appears sad, lonely, or depressed. The students really love her! As she walked toward me that day, she seemed relaxed and happy, with no pressing duties at hand. I said hello and asked her how her day was going. She responded positively and then I asked her what she does outside of her job.

I learned a lot in the few minutes of conversation we had! I learned that she has her parents living with her and that she takes care of them. That struck a chord with me, since that is what I do as well. My dad lives with us and we help him enjoy his elderly years, rather than have him live in a nursing home. Her parents are culturally rich--her dad is from Haiti and her mother is from Paris. They both speak fluent French! That explained why she speaks with an accent. I couldn't quite place where it was from before, but now it was evident.

She is married and has a very bright little girl in kindergarten, who school administrators wanted to put into 2nd grade because she is so far advanced in her reading and math. Midy declined the offer because she wants her daughter to have the social experience of kindergarten, getting along with kids her own age. 

She likes to cook both ethnic and exotic foods, which I'm sure she does amazingly well, since she has such a rich cultural heritage with both her parents. 

She talked about her parents quite a bit, revealing that her mother spanked her when she got a B in a college class and she didn't apologize for it because she wanted her to do the best of her ability and not squander the opportunity she had for education here. She also says that she believes in children doing hard work and learning how to be independent and not being spoiled with many things. Midy has taught her daughter to do many chores at home and to be very independent. 

Her dad is very happy and when he has a birthday wants cake, even though he can't have cake because he has diabetes. They make him the cake and then he simply looks at it, takes a small bite and then enjoys everyone else eating it and celebrating his birthday. He is very grateful to be living here in America. Midy says that one of his favorite quotes is "When you drink the water, don't forget where it came from." 

And the last thing that Midy told me is that she loves to stop and help others when they are in need of help on the road. It is a college town and so there are lots of chances to give people rides. She knows that in today's world that could be a bit creepy, but she assures them that she is only there to help and has actually helped quite a few students get to where they need to go, rather than walk. 

I imagine, though she didn't actually tell me, that the words of her father really did sink in. I imagine that helping where she can, even though she is very busy with her own pressing duties, is one small way that she can give back, to show she hasn't forgotten from whence her own opportunities come.

 Today is "My Post Monday!" It's all about original content from bloggers who care to share what is on their minds--from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! (Affiliate links welcome!)  

To Step Away + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

 I'm a little late to the party, but I recently viewed the series 'John Adams'. This is a must-see series if you want to be entertained while getting to know a bit more under what conditions the U.S. was founded and what this lesser known 2nd president sacrificed in terms of family, hardship, and prestige. He was uncompromisingly true to his beliefs, even to the point that he probably sacrificed a 2nd term for the presidency because of it. 

His wife, Abigail, was one of the most intelligent women of that century, and was regarded as her husband's equal in terms of intelligence and judgement. He listened to her and treasured her opinions. Their relationship is regarded as one of the moving love stories of American History. Even Thomas Jefferson looked to her as an equal, one of the only women he deigned to regard as such.

The movie was produced by Tom Hanks, among others. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney both did a superb job playing, respectively, John and Abigail Adams. 

Why I Loved It

I loved the portrayal of early American life. It was accurate and even showed how dental care was almost non-existent. Both George Washington and John Adams had horrible teeth when they were older men. Even Abigail had tooth problems, as I'm sure most society did in the absence of dental care! I'm sure glad that we have access to that today!

Smallpox ran rampant in those times and Abigail was one of the first to make sure her children got vaccinations so that the dreaded disease would pass by their front door. There were certainly risks to doing it, and the way it was portrayed in the movie was very graphic, although I'm sure accurate!

There were many other depictions of early American life and for me it was fascinating to think of how far civilization has come in some ways and yet seems to have devolved in other ways. 

John Adams was honest to the point of receiving ridicule from the social circles he was sent to move in, in order to bridge diplomatic relations between the infant Republic and the  French and English monarchies. He was such an independent thinker and was able to articulate his reasoning in front of a skeptical public. In some instances he was successful and in others not so much.

Image - Ryan Schantzenbach

 Because of his unpopular stance of neutrality when much of the country was clamoring for war, he avoided a very expensive and unnecessary war which, at the time, might have broken the country financially before it even got off the ground. 

He was able to step away from the crowd, think logically about his beliefs and get his footing before coming back and becoming a strong and persuasive force for the good of the infant country. He was indeed a strong individual and was willing to sacrifice much for his beliefs. 

I relearned that it's OK to take a moment, step back and get your head together. Before one rushes to do what everyone else is doing, it's wise to take a second and make sure it is consistent with who you are and what you really believe inside!
Today is "My Post Monday!" It's all about original content from bloggers who care to share what is on their minds--from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! (Affiliate links welcome!)  

Forced Perspective + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

I take a photo editing class along with my class of Spec Ed students at the high school where I work. I need to monitor things like behavior while I try to learn the material so I can "assist" them. Thankfully, they were born at the turn of the century and they can pick up the various tasks on Photo Shop surprisingly easily. Not so myself, I sometimes struggle!
One thing that I caught onto pretty quickly, however, was the concept of 'Forced Perspective', using the camera to trick the mind to see something differently than what is really happening.Oh yeah, I'm an expert on forced perspective--considering I get it everywhere, and have for years now. Consider the following:

Camouflage--Animals are experts at using the art of camouflage to protect themselves from the dangerous eyes of predators.  I am amazed at chameleons and the octopus. They are wonders of nature at blending into their environment! Celebrities do the same thing! You can be sure that at San Diego Comic Comic Con there are celebrities everywhere going incognito via disguise. Unless you make a study at recognizing a certain celebrity or animal, you'll be forced into a false perspective!!!

News - I thought news was supposed to be impartial and based on fact. But, apparently, that is so pre-Vietnam War. So much of what is going on today is based on inflamatory rhetoric and intentional fact distortion. To get an accurate picture, one is now forced to rely on multiple news sources and experts. If you rely on just one source, your perspective is sure to be skewed and inaccurate!

Peoples' Lives - So many times my perspective at what I thought was the truth about someone has been shattered. I've learned long ago, for instance, to never expect any kind of permanency in Hollywood marriages! They will break up 90% of the time. When I was a teenager, I babysat for a couple, Mike and Jan, with 3 beautiful little boys. I idolized them because I thought that they had it together so much more than my own family. I felt like they were so classy, neat, clean, and beautiful. When she filed for divorce a few years later, it really shocked me. Apparently Mike was flirting around with girls as young as me and she finally had enough. It forced me to realize that things, no matter how perfect they look, often aren't what they seem.

Pinterest and Instagram Accounts - Oh those picture perfect lives! They inspire me and discourage me at the same time! I can immerse myself for inordinate amounts of time, in awe of the creativity, beauty, and picture perfect settings. Sometimes I am forced to turn off my phone and leave it so I can get something else done! Little did anyone realize, when both start-ups officially began 7 years ago, how they would explode into a collective mass public obsession! It changed the public's perspective of  how they look at potential purchases and where they look!

Fashion/Makeup/Cosmetic Surgery It is the job of the beauty industry to create looks that are designed to deceive the eye into believing someone is thinner, younger, more aesthetically pleasing than they could ever be on their own. They aren't doing their job if  the following discussion isn't forced--"was she was born with it or wasn't she"? It is amazing, to the point that just because you were born a certain gender doesn't mean that you can't be transformed to look like the opposite gender. These days, just because you were born with it, doesn't mean you can't get rid of it! The sky is the limit and it's a perspective that many welcome, while confusing and frustrating to just as many.

As for myself, I realize that I am a product of my environment and I happily go along with some views and reject others. I feel like I have wised up and developed a good sense of what is real and what is fake. But I always want to be able to step away, hit the re-set button and try to see things in a different perspective! What other examples of forced perspective can you think of?

Image - Caroline Stone

Today is "My Post Monday!" It's all about original content from bloggers who care to share what is on their minds--from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! (Affiliate links welcome!)  
Image Credits - Mashable  imgur

Storms They Have Been Through #MyPostMonday + The Week's Best Original Content

I occasionally do accompaniment work on the organ or piano. This past Saturday I played organ for a funeral. It was for some friends of ours, whose mom had passed away. I had never met their mother, but by the end of the funeral I felt that I knew her personally. 

I had heard a few things here and there just because of our associations with our friends. Before the funeral I had heard in passing that their mother, Jackie, wasn't in good health, that sometimes she wasn't the most pleasant person to be around, that sometimes she upset her children, that her husband had it rough because she was hard to manage with her poor health. That was about it.

Then Jackie died rather unexpectedly after some surgery. During the service I learned a little bit more about her life. Apparently she had been healthy until the last 20 years of her life, when she was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. For one reason or another, this disease really did a number on her. She was constantly in pain, and her extremities started to slowly die. Her feet especially gave her lots of trouble and she ended up losing one of her big toes. Because of that, she wasn't very mobile and spent a lot of time indoors or bedridden. 

But what I learned as well is that Jackie was passionate about her hobby of making dolls--and these dolls were special! (They were displayed at the funeral) Every one of them was individually made and had so much character. They really were little works of art! If she had been healthier, she could have had quite a business, either on Etsy, partnering up with retail chains, or something of that nature. She had given many of her friends the dolls and so there were many memories told about them. 

Jackie also loved her family very much, as was revealed. Her only son remembered that she defended him with vigor, even when, as he admitted, he may have not have always deserved it. But she was also very vigilant about making sure her children were honorable and learned valuable lessons. As her daughter recalled, once the kids were out in the local horse park and started a small fire, which was prohibited. She somehow saw the smoke and went out to investigate. When she saw that the incident involved her children and their friends, she came out to the park and after a severe reprimand, took them all to the fire department so they could learn the full impact of starting a fire in a field next to homes.

Her husband told of the time they went up to the State Park in the mountains, where he had proposed to her. She had been totally taken by surprise and apparently always remembered it with fondness. She had a best friend whom she had known for years. At the funeral this friend learned why Jackie always loved to go up to this State Park on outings with her. It was the place where she had been proposed to! She had never suspected, until then, that was why Jackie always wanted to go there any chance she could. She was a closet romantic and loved her husband dearly.

We also found out that she loved beauty around her, tried to keep her home beautiful, loved spiritual things, and loved Jesus Christ and taught her children to do the same. Her youngest daughter talked about her last association with her the week that she died. She was in bed and her daughter was leaving. Jackie insisted on getting out of bed and walking her to the door when she left. She slowly and painstakingly walked each step with her, told her she loved her and that she was going to try and walk more and more. Unfortunately, that was the last time her daughter ever saw her alive.

I'm sure there were a lot of people who didn't know her before she got ill, before she suffered with all her health problems. To others, she may have seemed "out of it", "lethargic", "bedridden", "grouchy", "temperamental", or even "lazy".  But when you put together the whole of her life, and understood just what she had gone through and who she was before her illness, you start to realize that she was a beautiful and strong individual, who endured many years of pain, probably just to be with those she loved a little longer.

It makes sense to withhold judgement just a little longer than usual next time we are tempted to make a swift character assessment, because everyone has a story and just because we may see one part of that story, doesn't mean we can interpret the whole of it! 

 Today is "My Post Monday!" It's all about original content from bloggers who care to share what is on their minds--from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! (Affiliate links welcome!)  

The Risk Of Confiding + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

Image - Shawn Heiner

 I sometimes wait out the rush hour traffic if I happen to be running late. I'll stop off at a local bakery or the library and read or catch up on e-mails. Somehow last Friday I ended up reading a short story autobiography-type narrative and it sucked me in! 
It was about a woman telling about her life, starting when she was in college, rooming with a bunch of girls weaving in and out of each others' lives, and especially one particular friend. She described her as a Russian girl, sometimes very animated and other times very sullen and withdrawn. Through the course of their association, they became better friends than just roommates.  They ended up appreciating each other enough to do good things for each other, knowing more about one another than the normal chat-it-up at lunch things. Yet as the years rolled by, there were some things neither of them ever divulged to the other.  The narrator had been abused by her boyfriend and never chose to tell her friend because of an opinion her friend had voiced about abused wives and girlfriends being weak and co-dependent. They lost touch for a few years and by the time the narrator found where her Russian friend lived, the husband informed her she had died. When she asked how her friend had died, he vaguely said she had been sick. Finally, after some research, she found out that she had died of cancer and had fought it for some time. Her friend had never told her that she was ill and suffering. 
 How much deeper friendship might they have shared if they had chosen to share their secret trials? I suppose it had risks to it. Either one of them might have exposed themselves, only to find themselves rejected. It's always a risk.
We choose what to curate about our lives and how we reveal who we are to the world. Some of us are blatantly authentic, choosing to risk rejection for revelation. Some choose carefully and are very veiled about what they reveal about themselves. And understandably so.
I actually have a story of my own--of friendship lost! But it is because of confiding, rather than hiding. In high school I was best friends with a girl from another country, let's call her Flo. She came as an exchange student and we hung out a lot together. We had so many great talks and fun times. It's like we found so many similarities despite being from different countries and cultures! We were like soul sisters!
But we lost touch over the years. She went back to her country, got married, and ended up back in the States with her husband. But some years later, we connected, met up, talked and laughed again. During that time, she divulged something that happened to her when she was a girl. It was pretty heavy. because it was about abuse of some form. It was hard for me to deal with at the time because I hadn't walked in her shoes. Right after that, something really hard happened to me. It was tragic and hard. I told her, and I know it was hard for her to deal with. She hadn't walked in my shoes. I told her that she wasn't helping me. She responded back in kind. We lost the friendship. Too much pain to deal with. We discovered that those innocent times in high school had become more complicated and that there were things beneath the surface that were too hard to deal with. It's been 20 years since we last connected.

 After reading that story in the library, I am realizing that I don't want to let such a real friendship go, even though the things we both went through were hard and hard for each other to understand. The thing is, we did confide and reveal our hidden selves. And no, we weren't able to deal with the revelations. But time is a wonderful healer and a teacher. I think that I'm ready. I'm ready to go back and pick up where I left off with Flo. I think I'll be ready to be the friend that she had hoped I would be!

 Today is "My Post Monday!" It's all about original content from bloggers who care to share what is on their minds--from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs or vlogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! (Affiliate links welcome!)

My Snowman + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

I've almost recovered from Thanksgiving! This Thanksgiving was particularly wonderful for me, and sad at the same time. My son will be leaving to serve an LDS mission in LA this January, so the Thanksgiving Table will be missing a son for a couple of years. You awesome folks in California, be nice to him, he's just a big lovable guy, with plenty of faults, but he wants to share a message about Jesus Christ and he's trying really hard to represent Him correctly. I've seen him improve himself so much! It's just what he has chosen to do, and I support him wholeheartedly! It's actually kind of a miracle he has even chosen to do this. Maybe I'll share more later!
In other news, we have been having an unseasonably warm November and the outdoor sporting industry was really getting worried, since ideally, snow should have been plentiful in the mountains in October! But we've been having some pretty high temperatures for this time of year, until Thanksgiving Day! The snow came floating down, covering everything! Nothing like a white Thanksgiving! 

Image: Michael Wiercinski

This snowman reminds me of a poem my grandmother wrote and included in a compilation of her poems. She was a high school English teacher and had a gift with words. The poem talks about a snowman that she built that is so funny, quaint, and imperfect. But she likes him anyway because it is hers. She is the one that made him what he is. Anyway, you get the feeling that she is talking about something else when you read it! I love my friends and family because they are the ones who have ended up with me and I know them well, because I had a part in creating a bit of who they are! 
                                The Snowman 
I kicked in the new fallen moist white snow. 
I thought I would make a man, 
And just like the man I should like to wed
I will mold him if I can.

So I picked out the cleanest, whitest snow 
And rolled up a round big ball
Then plastered and patted and stuck on more
For he was to be right tall!

His shoulders would have a dignified, gallent air
And a proud high brow--
I'd make him long fingers and thin pressed lips.
If only I knew just how.

At last I'd finished--but down his cheek
Was a deep wrinkle of soot
He held up a cane in a thick pudgy hand
And had a big clumsy foot.

He looked at me through his wide black eyes,
And perked a humourous grin.
I said to myself as I walked back in,
"He's fat instead of thin."

I looked at him often through the door 
And I'd wonder how long he'd stay,
He wasn't at all the man I'd planned.
But I liked him anyway!   --Helen M. Livingston

Today is "My Post Monday!" It's all about original content from bloggers who care to share what is on their minds--from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! (Affiliate links welcome!)

Loved And Lost (Mostly Loved) + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

This week my heart hurts a little more for those who won't be with their loved ones. Everyday people die, that's just how it goes. But during the holidays it seems a bit more tragic. I know my mom died just 2 days before Thanksgiving. It was hard, but at the same time, it turned out pretty nice because it made it easier for our working family members to come in and be with us during that hard time. We were able to come together and reminisce about times with our mother. It would have made her so happy to see us all together like that on Thanksgiving!

Today a school bus carrying 35 children in Chattanooga crashed and 6 of them were killed--So tragic for so many people. My heart goes out to the families who have to endure this loss and try to make sense of it in their own minds. Although I don't know any of these children or their parents, I do know how it feels to lose someone who is your world and when they are gone, your world goes with them. There is a time when you feel as though you don't want to go on, that you'd rather just lay down and not try. It hurts so badly. But even in that sadness and grief, you might say that you were one of the lucky ones--who knew, loved, lost, but mostly loved.

Image - Mark Smith

Today is "My Post Monday!" It's all about original content from bloggers who care to share what is on their minds--from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! (Affiliate links welcome!)