03/11/201603/11/2016 DianaK

Appreciations 4.203 – brilliant walks

First-Lake-Walk-March10-2016 first buds 3:11:16

Glorious walks the past couple days! Made my first trek down to the lake this year yesterday…and on my way, saw my first butterfly and my first bud. Brilliant!

I was out at a different time of the day and took completely different routes the past two days, but on both days I was walking past a pair of dogs as they howled with sirens in the distance. In all my years of walking in this neighborhood, that’s never happened before. Now…. two days in a row!

I love how protean the city is. My walk a few days ago was punctuated by quietness. Today’s walk was filled with all the sounds of the city – airplanes, cars, sirens, dogs, people talking, kids playing. So much hustle and bustle.

Thesauri – both the word and the item. I didn’t actually know the word protean before today…and now I do. 😉

03/10/201603/10/2016 DianaK

Appreciations 4.202 – Fun

Waking up after a delightful dream in which Pam and I were shopping at someone’s moving sale (in their house) and finding all sorts hidden treasures in nooks and crannies like beautiful tapestries and clever and funny cat toys and books we’d always wanted to read but had never been able to find. SO much fun in the dream, and so like spending time with Pam – always seeking and finding hidden beauty, fun, and joy!

Qigong. It’s not yet a daily habit, but I’m getting better about remembering to do it and am still astonished by how profoundly even one session improves my sleep. Wowsers.

Fun Looking forward to fun plans this weekend, planning new fun plans, and listening to all the fun new books I just reserved. 😀

03/09/201603/09/2016 DianaK

Appreciations 4.201

Springtime (fine – early pre-springtime!) Luna. She makes a whole new set of sounds this time of year. I wouldn’t know that, except that last year’s appreciation for this day mentions it — and she just started up again a couple days ago. Fascinating!

Heating pads. So helpful after a night during which I’ve slept in a goofy position and when I wake up my back is like, “Dude, WTH?” Yes, my back calls me dude. 😛

Apples and avocados. Not together, necessarily. Just more things that are delicious to eat raw.

03/08/201603/08/2016 DianaK

Appreciations 4.200

Raw asparagus. What a yummy snack!

This afternoon’s wonderful walk. What gorgeous weather. There was a funny moment when all I could hear was the wind in the trees…no airplanes, no cars, no city sounds at all, not even any birds. It only lasted a few seconds, but I was so happy to notice it. My neighbors probably think I’m nuts for all the stopping and closing my eyes I do on my walks, but it’s worth it. 😀

More doodles. Dream, dare, do….odle. 😉

03/07/2016 DianaK

Appreciations 4.199 – snuggles, giggles, and smiles

Luna snuggle Snuggly, purring, beautiful Lunabelle. What a sweet girl!

Nice little chat with Pat today. I learned that I’m his favorite ex-wife. Hahaha! 😀

Picking up my prescription today and witnessing another act of kindness! The woman checking out didn’t have quite enough cash to cover her medication and right away the woman behind her in line pulled out her wallet and handed her the money she needed. I love seeing us being wonderful to each other.

03/06/2016 DianaK

Appreciations 4.196-4.198 – 3 days at once!

Friday
Fabulous meeting with John this morning. 🙂

Having the foresight to make stock ahead of time so I can make a quick, delicious soup by throwing in a few veggies. Mmmm.

Surprise visit from Katie and Cina. What a great start to the weekend! 😀

Saturday
Cuddly cats suddenly sprinting around the room. Hahaha!

Computer miracles – like laptops (2 of them!) coming back to life after being dead for many months.

All the coffee. All the chocolate. All of it. 😉

Sunday (today)
Finishing up tax stuff with plenty of time to celebrate Jeni’s birthday with my family AND go for a walk in the gorgeous weather before needing some rest.

My awesome neighborhood. Every time I go for a walk I find more wonderful and funny things like this awesome face and foot smiley guy and the sunburst in the sidewalk.

sunny-day Everything about today’s walk. The sound of so many birds chattering, the smell of someone cooking outdoors (in March!), the feel of the sun and the wind on my face. Everything about it filled me with a deep sense of happiness.

03/03/2016 DianaK

Appreciations 4.195

It is interesting to me how quickly I adapt to some things and how slowly to others. When we have an unusually warm day amidst a bunch of cold days, I switch to warm weather thinking almost instantly and feel surprised when it’s cold the next day. But for things like having unpredictable energy levels… well, I don’t adapt so quickly! Even though it’s been almost 3 years since the onset of my heart failure, I still wake up every day assuming I’ll be full of energy! 🙂 Some days I am – and some days, not so much. My expectation that I’ll have tons of energy never really seems to change, though. I guess I kinda like that little optimist inside me who keeps thinking that. 😀

Meanwhile, I am incredibly grateful that I have a comfortable bed and a schedule that allows me to do as I did last night — get jammied up by 9 and climb into bed, ready for sleep before 10 — and stay there until 8:30 this morning. Very grateful for that!

I just re-read a bunch of entries from the old Caring Bridge page Pat and I set up (I was trying to remember – has it really been 3 years?!?) and am reminded again of how amazing you all are. When all that craziness happened all at once for us, you showed up with love and food and laughter and hugs and support in every imaginable way. I am so grateful to you all for being the most lovely friends a person could want.

Looking forward to hanging out with Sammy today. It’s so nice to get to play with a dog now and then… but not have the responsibility of taking care of him all the time. 😉

03/02/201603/02/2016 DianaK

Appreciations – 4.194

Benadryl for those times when it’s 1:30 am and I’m dead tired….but somehow still awake!

Waking up to sunny skies. I know my appreciations include sunshine all the time, but it’s only because I appreciate sunshine all the time. 😀

Looking forward to an exciting day of tax prep before my meeting this afternoon. First time I have my ducks in a row before April in at least a decade. So exciting! 😉

Starry doodles for no reason.

03/02/2016 DianaK

Appreciations 4.193 – Caucus day adventures

Wonderful morning with Debb! Time for coffee, a little work, and delicious breakfast at Original Pancake House. Yum! It’s been such a treat getting to see her more often!

We saw the most amazing vans outside the restaurant. Debb laughed and said she knew if I had a car like that, she’d find me outside with my markers, coloring it in. She’s right! Hahaha!

The super sweet clerk at Petco who came to the rescue when I got to the checkout and realized I didn’t have my bank card (and was feeling a bit anxious about where it might be!). He found a coupon and donated 70¢ of his own money to add to my cash so I could buy my cat food. Yes, I’ll be going up there today with a Caribou gift card to say thanks. 😀

The relief of finding my bank card in the pocket of my other coat (one I rarely wear, which is why I was so confused!). So happy I didn’t have to cancel the card and wait for a new one. 🙂

I was pleased to see SO many people (line snaking around the block) out caucusing tonight. It made for a long evening, but I do love it when people feel engaged and interested…including me. Pretty happy I dragged my tired butt out after all. 😉 Also, i just love Minnesota.