Friday Five

Each Friday, my friend and CP Paty Jager blogs about five things. Maybe five things she’s grateful for or happy about, or five things that happened that week. I like to check her blog each Friday and see what she comes up with. And starting today, I thought I’d steal her great idea, LOL. If nothing else, at least it gives me one blog a week I can come up with. Given my mood the past few days, I considered blogging about five things that annoyed me this week – but I had way more than five . So I decided to see if I couldn’t come up with five things that helped me shake the crankies.

1. My dog. Knowing that a long, brisk walk each day is essential to his physical and mental well being really motivates me to get out there and move each day. (For some reason the fact that it’s also good for my physical and mental well being isn’t as much motivation.) But there’s something about the way his ears pop up when he sees me walk toward the closet where I keep his leash, the happy look in those chocolate-syrup brown eyes when we round the corner toward home at the end of our walk that makes it all worth it. And let’s face it; a walk in the sunshine doesn’t hurt me in the least, absorbing some vitamin D and natural light and maybe breaking a little sweat helps cure the blahs – and it’s great for the ol’ thighs besides! (BTW that’s a puppy picture of Tanner from last year. He’s about three times that size now.)
   

2. Friends. The best kind – the ones that stand by you even when you’re crabby and cranky. And even when you tell them you’re so darn cranky you hate “everyone and everything” they know you don’t mean them. Your kids, your husband, your job -- life in general. But not your friends.
   

3. SpongeBob Squarepants. Seriously! Not only is it one show my kids will still sit down and watch when I need a mental health break but, I defy you to listen to SB sing about the fool who ripped his pants, or my fave, “The Best Day Ever” and not feel your bad mood lighten just a tad. That little yellow guy always puts a smile on my face.

4. FLY lady. Are you living in CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome)? Grumbling that you need a bigger house because your current one just doesn’t hold enough stuff? Are you buying still more stuff and wondering where you’ll ever put it? Ever got up to check on your kids at night and tore the tendons in your little toe because you tripped over something? (No? Ooookay, so that one’s just me… never mind). But then I found FLY lady. I’ve only been FLYing for about two and a half months but I’ve already seen the difference. And knowing that no matter how bad my house looks right now, if I just get off my “FRanny” and set my timer for 15 minutes – I can make a real difference. Swishing and swiping each morning. Getting dressed to the shoes. Shining my sink. Five minute room rescues, 15 minute declutters, hot spot fire drills and those 27 fling boogies have all changed my life. Best of all, FLY lady gave me the strength to admit that you can’t organize clutter, you can only get rid of it. (Now if only I could convince my husband of this!) Still don’t know what I’m talking about? Visit her at www.flylady.net. She’ll change your life, too.

5. Writing. Even though I didn’t accomplish as much of it as I set out to this week, I’m still grateful that it’s what I do. Ever wonder what non-writing people think about when they’re driving? Or waiting to fall asleep? Or when they’re brushing their teeth? And gosh, what do they beat themselves up for not doing at the end of the day? How boring their lives must be! So yes, I’m grateful to be a writer – angst-ridden, soul sensitive, with a mind that’s always a million miles – and a couple hundred years—away. I wouldn’t change a thing.