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PROGRAMMING NOTE from the Author and Archivist


So obviously I just stopped blogging on this platform. I'll get back to it eventually. Or not. I'm taking a break from all social media. It seemed necessary for my mental health.

The last few years have been busy and … challenging:

- 2015 Happened.
- 2016 Let's call it The Lost Year. (Obviously words failed me.)
- 2017 about broke me. Literally. Mentally.
- 2018 was ridiculous, proving 2017 was just a warm up. (Good thing I was already broken so it couldn't hurt as much.#2018TrashCanFire I thought things were going okay, but maybe not?)

- 2019 was such a blur. I know there were highlights, but then stuff happened and carried into the next year...

- And then in March#2020 really took a turn. Who can even categorize 2020? Do we dare?


I kinda want a do-over of some of the last few years. But life doesn’t work that way.


So for now, I'm hunkering down. Regrouping. Trying to stay safe and sort some stuff out.


Stay safe everyone. Stay well.

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

How to de-stress while on vacation, Part 4

Hang out with your nieces. Aren't they cute? How can you be stressed when confronted by the sheer adorableness of these two?

It doesn't take much to amuse them. Being outside is fun. Take a zen lesson from the nieces: Go outside in the sun and look at all the beauty of nature. Look for fun things to play with. Sticks, branches ....
or large rocks. Didn't you know? Climbing "mountains" is fun. It's also fun to use your aunt later to climb on, just like you did this huge boulder. Aunties = jungle gyms, don't you know? [Only with prior parental approval though.]Who knows what is going on in Ms. Elle's head as she looks at this leaf or flower? Perhaps she's trying to articulate the cure to cancer that's she's discovered. That girl has wonders going on in her head that the rest of us only wish we could know. How to de-stress: be comfortable with your own thoughts.Elle also has a wicked sense of humor, adventure, and fearlessness that we should all emulate. Lesson from Elle: Discover new things with all of your senses and don't care what you end up looking like. (What's yellow and red and a mess all over? Elle after a meal.)Ms. Amber is also usually quite active. Being active is a way to de-stress. (How did I manage to catch this glimpse of momentarily stillness? Oh, wait! She's not moving, but she is talking a mile a minute!)Another way to de-stress is cuddles -- cuddles with aunties; cuddles with mama; and/or cuddles with grandmas. Grandmas are fun to climb on too. Silly grandmas. Other things the nieces taught me? Princesses don't have stress. They are the rulers and are free of such silly things. Act like a Princess all the time and you won't have stress.When that doesn't work, try some deep reflection upon your inner self. (Silly Elle, I knew about Glass Meditation from my bosom friend Anne Shirley and Anne of Green Gables. I can't wait to share that book with you.)If that still doesn't work, the girls say that exercise is key. Try running and chasing your sister and cousin, and then running some more.

See! No stress.

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