Dabbling with PSP!

I’ve been dabbling with creating animations since my husband passed away because I found it firstly, therapeutic and then it became fascinating and I was curious and inquisitive which allowed me to continue digging further to uncover most of the tutorials and I haven’t even touched the surface in the past 12 years in PSP!  So, that explains how intense and complicated the program is.  It surely is a work in progress all the time for me.

I’ve been blessed with having so many online graphic ladies helping me along the way.  They are a great group of ladies and part of my online family of friends!

Creating animations involves so much reading, so much practicing, and now attending online classes which makes things a little easier when an instructor is showing you the tools and the tips needed.  Cool, I like it a lot.  Did I mention the best part is that the online classes are free!

I have to continue searching for valuable possibilities to keep my mind occupied, as the best surely will not jump out and shout an announcement themselves.  Widowhood really sucks!  And, we all need an outlet.

Jewelry making is a lot of fun and I love creating great and unusual pieces but how much jewelry do I really need and I’m not interested in selling.

Three days a week of Silver Sneakers Classes are great to help stay healthy and also meet a new group of friends.

In life’s joys, in the problems, in the pleasures and in the disappointments, there are the seeds.  Seeds that we plant along the way of our life’s journey provide innovation and progress. Creating animations was the outlet I needed to fill the void of my lonely evenings.  It gave me the time to look and to wonder, and see value that’s waiting to be created. I search for things to create that my classmates of “62” may get a kick out of for the blog and that I created just for them and also my very first blog, Roses Are Read that encouraged me the most.

It makes me feel good that my friends that I have known all of my life are enjoying that I keep our classmates together after all these years.  We are a special bunch since grade school and all through high school and now we are all approaching near 69-70, we still have each other.  We are all scattered about throughout the United States but close because of the blog because they tell me so.

For me, it is great gratification that a classmate will email me or leave a comment that the blog makes them so happy that we are all still connected!  I'm not sure they are all aware of all the hours I spend doing this for them but I do know they love it and that is enough for me.

Both of my Blogs keep me busy, as I also love to read the blogs of my blogger friends!  Great people out there like my favorite couple, Sherry and Jack and so many more to name but the list would get very long.  Yes, Jimmy from Miami, thanks for the weekly chuckles!

Now, I know where I am but I really need to find an effective pathway to where I really want to go and that is home.  Things are not as easy as it seems.  I’m working on it.  The pathway may look different now, yet it is indeed still there.

Laughter is the best medicine!

Oh, it’s so true that laughter is the best medicine.  I was watching old reruns of the Golden Girls the other night and nearly fell of the couch laughing until my stomach hurt.  And, just last night, Joan Rivers had me in stitches laughing watching “Fashion Police”!

If laughter seems like a distant memory, then it’s time for the child inside to come out to play.  In reality, you have so much more to enjoy than the child you used to be – and so many more reasons to laugh. You have that library of memories to be brought out and explored – years of joy, happiness and smiles.

We all have mistakes filed away – all good reason for laughter. There’s the accumulation of friendship – full of hugs, love and good times. There’s that treasure chest of experience to be dipped into – and so much more meant to bring a chuckle!

Laughter is said to be the best medicine and there’s lots of evidence that laughter does lots of good things for us.  It reduces pain and allows us to tolerate discomfort.

The role laughter plays in intimate relationships is hugely underestimated and it really is the glue of good marriages and relationships. 

It also synchronizes the brains of speaker and listener so that they are emotionally attuned.

Never overlook the secret of excitement, wonder, enthusiasm in all the good times yet to come.

So keep on laughing everyone!

The Lost Art

I was so surprised and very much disappointed that 36 states have eliminated cursive writing in their public schools.

I remember as a young girl practicing my penmanship, so it would look so pretty and legible.  I have memories of some received love letters, banners above elementary school chalkboards.  Do you remember desks with inkwells? 

I am aware that the computer keyboards and smartphones are increasingly taking place of cursive writing.  But it should not be a lost art.  I find it very upsetting that the younger generation does not know how to write their name in cursive or write a letter in cursive.

When I was in high school, if your book report was typewritten, you got some extra points on your grade only because it was easier for the teacher to read because of some children had poor penmanship and the same held true for college reports.

I still like receiving handwritten thank you notes and I like to send them as well.  Yes, I’m guilty of sending greetings online but it is because I feel that my added animations will bring a smile to the face of the recipient.  It also saves on postage stamps!

While printing might be legible, the less complex the handwriting, the easier it is to forge.

Like it or not, your handwriting can divulge a lot about you.  Here is what your penmanship reveals about your personality:

Large: You are outgoing with a big personality..many celebrities have large handwriting.

Small: You are focused and tend to be introspective.

Closed Loops: You are tense and tend to restrict yourself.

Full Loops: You are spontaneous and expressive.

Slanted: You are governed by your emotions instead of logic.

My handwriting is a combination of Large/Slanted/ and with Broken loops.

What’s yours?

You are your own best judge!

I used to judge myself by looking through the eyes of my parents, husband, friends, neighbors and my bosses in the legal field.  I then realized I was only running around doing more and more in an effort to gain their approval.  It surely does not take long before you end up feeling exhausted, resentful and ready to give up.

I learned that trying to live your life by the expectations of others disconnects you from your own desires. It leaves you feeling sort of empty. The gratification that comes from fulfilling the expectations of others is very little and short-lived most times.

It’s so easy to be resentful about your responsibilities and commitments, and to see them as burdens. Fighting against yourself, and your own obligations, is never in your best interest.

Don't get me wrong, you must do your absolute best in your job as that is rewarding in itself.  Be proud to put your name on everything you do.  I, do get annoyed when I come across incompetent people that just don't care about their jobs and provide poor service.

My recent experience at the dealership for an oil change took a toll on my nerves!  Wow, what a day...........too long of a story to go into but it surely was unpleasant.  A twenty minute procedure took over three hours due to people just not doing their job.  They were all busy playing with their Smart Phones! Poor Customer Service!  Arrrrrrrrrrrg!

I love to write Kudo letters but that day, I hated to write a letter of complaint but it was necessary.

I learned to reclaim the oomph and happiness that is rightfully mine!  You have to be your own judge and live by your own expectations. As you reclaim yourself, you will feel like a new person, because you are accomplishing things that are important to you.  Who is more important than you?

Get your Oomph back………………start today!