flying a kite

My Confirmation students have their last retreat this weekend. They will be working on their stoles.

Stoles that need to be measured and cut.

Guess what I did today?

While I measured and cut the material, I watched "Mary Poppins". I haven't watched it for a long time and I've been wanting to after seeing, "Saving Mr. Banks".

It was definitely a good choice to have on in the background. I know the story so I didn't have to pay close attention, and I know the words so I could sing along.

I may have even danced around the house at the end when the family comes back together and goes to the park to fly a kite.

Danced, pranced, sang at the top of my lungs… you know, typical behavior that occurs when one really gets into the song/movie.

I'm thankful for the musicians and writers that gave new life to the story (reading the books are on my list of things to do this summer).

Best day ever

At least according to my Nike Fuel Band.

If you move (your arm) for five minutes every hour, you win the hour. You hit a perfect day when you reach sixteen hours.

It's not as easy as you think. You have to have a swinging motion like when you walk. Sometimes I have to stand around swinging my arm. Some people say that's cheating. I say it isn't because I think of all the times I walk around with my hands full and my arm can't swing. I'm making up for those times.

Pushing the grocery cart? My arm doesn't swing. And if it did, I'm pretty sure someone would call the men in white coats. Have you ever tried pushing a grocery cart while swinging one arm? You look like you're having a seizure. Trust me, I tried swinging my arm once.

Carrying my work bag, purse and lunch bag to the car, into the office, back to the car, and into the house? My arm isn't swinging, it's loaded with bags.

Raking leaves? Not as much as you think. Again, you have to have a large swinging motion.

Shoveling snow? Same as raking. Only when I was shoveling snow up over high piles, did I get enough swing action to make it count on my Fuel Band.

Doing dishes? Absolutely not. Not unless I try ballet or yoga moves and that results in a broken dish, or two. (I did break a glass tonight, but not because I was trying to move my arm. It was slippery from the soap and I dropped it.)

Needless to say, reaching sixteen hours in one day requires focus. You have to actually remember to get up and move once an hour.

I've now accomplished this twice. I've won eight hours in a day, twenty eight times. That is much easier to do.

I've also earned 7200 fuel points today, and counting. I'm hoping to hit 7500 by the time I go to bed in a few minutes. The highest fuel points I've ever had before today was 6800.

I've reached my best month ever and I'm only a few thousand points away from 500,000!

This is really exciting for me. It's been a good, active day.

Fun with characters

☀
These won't come through the same, but I've been using keyboard characters in my texts. 📱
I don't even have to use words.
I am amusing myself.
Bill may not be so amused.

This is the best thing I have to be thankful for today. It's the small things...

spring cleaning

Our church started accepting donations for the Second Best Sale. We took a few items in that we had set aside before Labor Day. It feels so good to clear stuff out of the house.

We still have our first tv though.

Have you noticed how much tv's have changed? Okay, overall there's been a drastic change. But just in the last ten years, they've gotten so much lighter. This is why we still have that tv. It's in the basement. It's a good thing we still have it though, there were two others just like at the church sale. Sure, someone will want them. Maybe we'll be strong enough to carry it out next year.

Here's to spring cleaning!

soundtrack of our lives

It now involves a ukulele.

That was the birthday present I gave to Bill. Well, since we were in Las Vegas (technically Henderson) visiting his parents, I couldn't exactly pack a ukulele. Plus I wanted him to be able to pick out the one he wanted.

I gave him a hand-painted watercolor of a ukulele. It was extra special because I was the painter.

Somewhere there's a picture of it.

In the meantime, Bill started looking online at actual ukulele's. Our friend Sami suggested we go to Guitar Center so Bill could hold one and try playing a couple of them.

Good suggestion! I had no idea there was more than one type of ukulele. Of course there's soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. Bill thought he wanted a tenor. Turns out, he liked the concert best.

He's learning chords and technique from the internet.

This morning, we were out cleaning up the yard. We rented a power rake. Then Bill edged the sidewalk. He had his earbuds in the entire time. At one point he was singing along. Our neighbor was also out working in her yard. When Bill started to sing, she asked what he was listening to. I replied, "the soundtrack to his life".

As I type this, I have the sweet sounds of a ukulele playing in the background. It's the soundtrack of our lives. And I like it.