sweet home Alabama

The Mid-Week Hustle

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to the midweek hustle!

If you’re reading this, you’re still breathing so be happy!

You may be going through a rough patch, hell, it may be a rough month/year but you are still on this planet breathing in and out, so be grateful.

So many have not made it this far.

I know personally it has been a challenging week for me.

I have been blessed to have wonderful humans in my life to help drag me from the brink and take care of me. Even when I think “I’m fine” and I am being stubborn they seem to keep sticking around.

I spent part of my weekend with my girls in Atlanta and oh how I needed it!

We didn’t “do” much, we did have a birthday party for a dear friend, but as far as getting out and doing things, no that didn’t happen other than dinner one night.

I didn’t go to sleep before 3:00 AM either night I was there!

I wish I could say I was up dancing and partying, however since I was up late 2 nights, anyone that knows me knows that isn’t possible!

I did, however, enjoy awesome, silly conversations with my friends, covering every topic we could think up! From our fashion faux pas, relationship, politics to what were are planning to eat, we discussed it all. We laughed until we cried and kept going. Let’s just say I was not an early riser those days!

I spent the rest of my child free time working, cleaning and with my someone special. We will see where it leads but I have a lot of hope this time around!

The best part of today is my boy comes home!

I have missed that little booger!

He’s went for his final week with his dad and grandparents and I know he had fun as I got updates, but golly gee do I miss him when he is gone.

Also today will be crazy hustle as early scheduling for work and then karate with my boy, then we again go to our happy place at the beach. Another fun family vacation! I wish I had my cousins and brother, sister-in-law and nephew going too as it is a lot of fun with so many helping hands, but we will have fun no matter what.

So I wish to end this on a happy, full of hope kind of note.

Always remember to Keep Hope Alive!

Stay fabulous my graceless friends!

Lady Maos

Marvelous, manic but it’s still Monday

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ 7 Comments

its_ok_monday

Well, well, well Monday we meet again.

I say we should try this being friendly thing. I mean why not?

Why should we dread you this way?

All you ever did was get the name after we decided to count the time by the rotation of the sun. Months don’t get this bad rap the way Monday’s do.

So we should all try to be a little nicer to Monday’s. Try to have a better attitude.

In fact, try having a better attitude every Monday and see what happens!

I mean just have a little hope people… Keep Hope Alive!

Keeping it short and sweet yet full of hope for y’all my fabulous graceless friends!

Happiness and hope,

Lady Maos

 

warn_others

It is a fabulous Friday!

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ 1 Comment

It truly is a fabulous Friday!

It seems that on my “new” computer hard drive, the one that gave the me black screen of death, that the contents are “recoverable”. Photos, videos, writings, things precious and dear to me are not lost!

Ohmergod! This is miraculous news to me!

I was seriously thinking of titling this post “Held Hostage by Technology” because it has been a truly challenging few weeks for this tech-me-not chic!

My main “new” computer gave me the black screen of death, however my “old” computer was brought back to life, albeit a bit slower but still Alive!

Then we started having issues with the internet in our home.

Thinking it was the router, we purchased a new router, well mom did, and I thought “no problem I can just install this, write and be on my merry way.” WRONG! I did learn the one of the reasons was due to our internet carrier and the modem. I thought I could plug in a few cords and make it work, easy peasy. Unless that jerk Murphy is involved and then I have the urge to break all the technology into tiny pieces and run over it back and forth and toss it out on I-85…but I digress!

I spent nearly 4 hours going back and forth trying to repair it, with help of course because this went well beyond my knowledge and technical abilities. A huge shout out to my friend who rode to my virtual rescue and will be going by the house to fix that for us! Along with the recovery of both the new and old computers… You, sir, rock!

Yes, that means that I could not make it work!

If I have no computer, no internet I cannot write for FabulousGracelessness nor do any other writing for that matter.

I have no problem writing with pen and paper and do so often, but mama needs money and has deadlines to meet so I needed both computer and internet.

I am able to use my iPhone as a hot spot, and I feel so cool saying I know how to do that ‘cause it wasn’t as simple as I thought at first. Now it is second nature if I don’t have internet service. I cannot go without my computer for my writing.

I cannot see me writing articles from my iPhone and iPad. I am too OCD and just no. I don’t even need to go there in the madness of my mind!

So I am now working on my old laptop, with internet and sending out this crazed article which is why I can truly say it is a Fabulous Friday!

Because I am still connected and not held hostage by the damn technology I have become so reliant on!

I think I need to stock up on my articles for a minute so I can unplug!

Oh such pretty little words that seem so simple yet will call another panic in my mind for deadlines. The joys of life!

This is such a part of my life, my writing this blog. It helps me release all the thoughts in my head and shakes the cobwebs from my soul.

I have found sometimes I have to write things but I can’t, for personal reason, just put it out there on the internet to share with everyone.

Usually that comes out in my handwritten journals, but lately I’ve found myself unloading apparent hostility I had held in and it’s flowing out in volumes onto my keyboard.

Those are kept under lock and key in the “private” section of my writings!

As I am growing I am branching out in how I “get it out” of my system. I am just happy I have encouraged and allowed myself to write it on a computer.

I don’t trust technology if you didn’t catch that above! However, it is so much easier on my hands, at times, to type rather that to write. It’s cool and frustrating to me.

But now I have this terabyte thingy that can’t get sick, and I can save all my musings, photos and anything else there. It’s got tons of space that they say even I can’t fill up! We will see about that!

So as I end this fabulous Friday ramble I wish you all the happiness and hope for a Fabulously Graceless weekend!

 

 

Have you ever had these problems with technology? The rage of feeling you were bettered by a device made with plastic, nickel and metal and a few other things?! The urge to destroy them?!

Let me know how you handled it!

It’s Thursday!!!!

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ 3 Comments

One day closer to the weekend.

Thursday is just kind of hanging out there.

Not too much is said unless you get a long weekend and it starts on Thursday!

Although it seems to usually be a pretty decent day when I think about it.

For example, tomorrow I just have to do a bit of work, drive to the country, write and enjoy life!

At least I am trying to put the positive spin on it.

The boy leaves for his camping trip today.

I did get to see him last night at karate though. He got his green belt. I’m both proud and impressed as he is a handful and most of the time he does what he’s told and follows direction. Of course not ALL the time. He’s almost 5 and is constantly on the move and in conversation!

I told him I would come and he would go home with daddy or his other grandmother and he was fine with it. I told him when he came back from his week vacation with them that we would go to the beach and he ran yelling though the house, “We’re going to the beachhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Yes, just a touch excited and loving the beach like his mama!

But then he cried and said he didn’t want me to go home without him.

Even though I KNOW he is going through this phase of turning on the tears to get what he wants, it kills me a little inside to not be able to say, “Ok kiddo, let’s go with me.” It isn’t how it works with this scenario and he knows it too. And not that he gets away with it around me, I invented the “turn on the tears” to try and get what I wanted when I was his age!

So I sat in the car and shed a few tears, then went and got my mama and we had a lovely dinner at the Olive Garden,

The boy is camping with his other family, probably being like lord of the flies and eating the filling out of the Oreos and putting them back in the package and having a blast.

I am working and writing and trying to find a bit of peace in my mind.

I hope you are able to find a bit of peace and/or sanity today as well.

Or if you’re starting your weekend early, please have 2 for me!

We are almost to the end of this crazy week!

Never forget to Keep Hope Alive!

Have a fabulous Thursday and stay graceless my friends!

 

It’s a Marvelous Monday!

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ Leave a comment

Ah Monday we meet again!

The beginning of another work week, the start of a brand new week…. What do you have in store for me?!

I know I get to work, knit and clean, but what other jewel will you offer up to me?!

For you see, I have decided to have a Marvelous Monday.

I’ve had enough of manic Mondays. There will always be manic Mondays because that is a part of life.

I thought I would find the positive and go with the good flow, happiness and memories to carry me through the day, if not the week.

I am trying another perspective on the Monday thing.

A more positive spin if you will.

I was blessed to spend the weekend with some absolutely fabulous humans and I want to carry their awesomeness with me through this week.

Their outlooks on life shared with me, and they were all from all walks of life, and these wonderful humans also shared their time and space with me.

We ate, talked, danced and even shared comfortable silence together.

Just humans being.

Too often we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life and forget to take in those jewels of life. We get caught up in the routines and schedules, yes they are needed, but we also need to remember to breathe and reflect for just a moment when we are running through life. I found that’s when those jewels are discovered.

So I challenge you to try and have a Fabulous Marvelous Monday.

Or even a Terrific Tuesday if you are all about skipping Monday. There is nothing wrong with that!

But try to try and find a way to catch that needed jewel in your life, whatever it may be.

I know I am sending out the hope!

Keep Hope Alive and have a fabulous and fantastic Marvelous Monday my Fabulously Graceless Friends!

*me channeling my Loretta Lynn “do”!

k as ll blk white

Wishin’ on my kinda stars

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ 4 Comments

Surrounded by the dark I smile.

Night has fallen and I am currently alone waiting for the meteor shower to begin.

I can’t help but recall a night oh so many years ago when my friend and I woke up around 2:00 AM to watch the meteors in her yard.

Wrapped up in sleeping bags and all available blankets, we set up camp in her front yard.

Everyone thought we were a bit nuts, no one disputes that, but I know that we laughed, talked and watched the meteors for what seemed like hours.

The only thing better would be to be laying on the beach or in the grass at Hoppe Valley PA.

Places close to my soul.

But here in the country I also feel like I am “home”.

I love the quiet and the darkness.

I love just hearing the animals of the night and seeing the Milky Way.

The cicadas and crickets are like a lullaby.

I close my eyes and drift away as I wait.

Suddenly I see a streak in the sky.

It has begun.

The Perseid meteor shower is giving a spectacular showing.

I know they aren’t stars, but I always make a wish!

 

 

When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are

Anything you heart desires

Will come to you

If your heart is in your dreams

No request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star

As dreamers do

Fate is kind

She brings to those to love

The sweet fulfillment of

Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue

Fate steps in and sees you through

When you wish upon a star

Your dreams come true

*written by Leigh Harline & Ned Washington for Walt Disney’s 1939 adaptation of Pinocchio

 

TGIF?! Don’t Panic!

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ Leave a comment

It’s here! It’s here! Friday is finally here!

I hope you find a bit of happiness no matter what your week was like.

We all go through tough weeks and tough times.

We have to remember to keep hope alive!

Take for instance the fact that I am trying to not completely freak out over my main computer showing me the black screen of death… that I can’t get to my files and photos nearly sends me over the edge, but I have been assured it can be “recovered” therefore I will believe.

I mean I am writing on my old, old computer that was finally restored and I thought I would never be able to use again! That is proof in and of itself miracles can happen! (And to never let your child around electronics with milk!)

So I will squeak through my writing this weekend with my old school laptops and with hopes and prayers my newer model can be repaired and all the data retrieved.

Last Friday I was so removed from technology (and had a fabulous photo to go with this post but alas it is living in the black death for now with all my photos on my other computer) and I couldn’t be happier.

I do miss it though. Both the gathering of friends in the valley and the technology!

I am also finding a balance between having a life and being tied to electronic devices!

I hope you can get out and soak up a bit of vitamin D, if it isn’t 7th ring hot and you can breathe, and enjoy the day!

I hope you can find some fun and maybe a spot of peace if needed.

I am never giving up hope!

I hope you all have a fabulous and wonderful Friday!

 

Manic Monday in 3D!

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ Leave a comment

Today we have Manic Monday in 3D!

manic monday horse

This gal is on her way back home from the great northern adventures and visiting with friends and family!

I am sure there will be things that do not go according to plan, Mr. Murphy please take those laws and go!

We’ve no time for all that!

For we are going down the highway of life and living it to the fullest!

on the road

There’s no need for the dramas and the trials today!

Nor for any other!

So yes we have frantic, manic, even sometimes panic Mondays!

That does not mean we do not face them head on and break on through to the other side! Thank you Mr. Jim Morrison!

I urge you to Never Lose Hope!

Never give up!

Always Keep Hope Alive!

keep hope alive

Especially on manic Mondays!

Have a great one Y’all!

Stay Fabulous!

 

The Moon

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ Leave a comment

my heart moon

The other night I was taking pictures of the moon.

My little smarter-than-me phone doesn’t have the high quality of a “real” camera but I was trying.

I got some decent shots but I realized I was trying to capture something I could not get on film.

If I was being honest with myself I was trying to capture not only images my phone camera couldn’t capture, but also of the way the night felt. Maybe even how I felt.

I was able to capture an image of something I cannot explain.

It was not visible to the naked eye, but as soon as I trained my camera on the area that I wanted it would appear.

my moon face

Trust me I took several photos just to see if it was on my lens, I cleaned it, it was not.

not alone moon2

I do not know if what I saw was a “trick of the light” a “reflection of the moon” or “something else” but I know I was the only human on the porch and I did not feel alone.

I felt like someone was there with me but it was comforting.

not alone mooon 1

The big moon in the sky with light so bright it felt like everyone, everything, every being was exposed and in harmony.

I wanted to run in the field light up so bright it felt magical.

As it was I danced in the light to tunes in my head.

Knowing I was not alone and knowing how peaceful I felt.

Yes, the man in the moon is smiling, smiling on a girl in the world.

I can SEE!!!!!

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ 1 Comment

“I was blind but now I see.”

I am not singing Amazing Grace here today but I can now see!

I did not realize how poor my vision is!

Wow!

This fabulously graceless chic is now a member, there probably is such a thing, of the trifocal club! Yes my left eye, it seems, is blinder than the right. It also has stigmata… I mean stigmatism!

Geez, I follow an amazing writer, Aging Gracefully My Ass, and her name fits my mood!

I guess this is where I should say I am thankful I can still rock my contacts for at least another year before staying in my glasses full time. I am, however, I am not thrilled to know that my eyeballs have to be re-evaluated again next year to see if I can keep them!

I cannot wear glasses all the time! It isn’t a fashion thing, it’s a safety and a graceless thing!

I am getting used to wearing a stronger contact in the left eye than my right. Supposedly it will be easier and that seems to be true but they make my eyeballs kind of tired. I am sure it will pass. I hope!

I love my new glasses, they are quite cool in my opinion.

I am also having to get used to those too.

I wanted to use my old glasses but it seems when you go into the trifocal club you have to have larger lenses.

I so suck at picking things out like that!

I am grateful to the fabulous ladies my local eyeball fixer upper palace for helping me chose a pair, they said, looked good on me.

I’ve gotten a lot of compliments so maybe it’s not just everyone being nice!

I have had to get used to making sure I look “with my nose” because otherwise it feels like the floor is somewhat tilting and I have grabbed out more than once to make sure I wasn’t falling.

It IS a common occurrence in my world!

Like I need one more thing that messes with me!

I was cleaning the tiled kitchen floor the other day and wondered why it had a dip in it. There was no dip other than me. I was not looking at the spot head on!

In case you didn’t know, dear reader, when you get prescription lenses, you have 3 choices.

Choice A you get the center of the lens only for your prescription. It cost a bit but you have to see.

Choice B you get over half of the lens, but you pay way more than choice A.

Choice C you get most of the lens covered but you need a small loan to cover the cost of just seeing out of the entire lens.

It’s a conspiracy I tell you!

Of course I choose A!

I did not have this issue before becoming a member of this detestable trifocal club!

I know I should shut up and be happy I could afford at all to get contacts and glasses, but I just had to rant a little.

But boy howdy how sparkly and sharp are things again!

I forgot how clearly I can see when I have the right prescription!

That part is awesome!

I can see, I can see! Who the hell’s in the mirror? Oh my god it’s me!

new glasses