Month: August 2019

Life

School locker move in day

Mary C

 

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Last year was the first time I participated in a school locker move in of any sort. Maybe I should rewind a bit. From first through third grade, Liam was at a boy’s only school (pre-k and kindergarten were co-ed). His classes were small and the teaching and development was geared toward boys, keeping in mind their need to take a break from school work every couple of hours to burn off some energy outside. This worked well, but enrollment was too low and before he entered fourth grade, the school became co-ed. It was a matter of finances and solvency for the school which had an excellent reputation for preparing boys for High School and beyond.

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Life

September and new beginnings

Mary C

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Summer is waning. I’m sorry if I’m the one to break it to you but the days are getting shorter and the air has a soft bite to it in the morning now. At least here in the Northeastern USA. I’m not completely sad about this because I’m ready to reset my routines and create some new goals for myself. The summer of loafing for my pre-teen is nearly ending, the routines of the school days are calling and they are going to be busy. Seventh grade. New school. New activities. New friends to make. I hear him on the phone in the evenings with his friends from his previous school and I wonder if they will fall by the wayside as the months go on or if the foundation is there to carry some of them through into his future. It’s bittersweet. Leaving the old for the new.

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Life

Help wanted: Dream job

Mary C

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I have been dipping my toes in the waters of a job search for a few months now and scouring the listings of LinkedIn and Indeed have left me feeling a bit empty.  At this point in my life, I know more about what I don’t want than what I do which is something, I guess. On Thursdays I go to a job club which is an amalgamation of mid to late career adults who have also lost their jobs, and we are swimming the seas of unemployment together. Some are barely bobbing their heads above water and how longer tenured job seekers are describing their journey doesn’t fill the heart with hope.

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Life

Decluttering other people’s stuff

Mary C
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The things to keep pile

I feel like my writing has been all over the place these last couple of weeks. That is just the way life is, at least for me. I don’t have anything anchoring me down other than life as a wife and mom so my days are a bit at my whim, especially since Liam has been away at camp this week. There’s the ever-present tidying. Keeping an eye on Murphy who seems to be doing better – I honestly thought we were going to lose him this week. Trying to tweak my vision board which led me to Barnes and Noble yesterday, poring over the amazing variety of magazines they offer. I am so grateful I have time for things like this.

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Musings

10 Minute Blog: Magazines

Mary C

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The other day I decided to make another go at a new vision board and after looking through the small pile at home, realized I needed to pick more up on my next trip to Target later in the day. I puttered around the store for a while and finally made it to the rear where the books are found. Side note: how come Target keeps rearranging their stores so we can’t find anything? I wheeled the cart around the book and electronics area a few times but couldn’t find the magazines. It seems they no longer have a large selection like I remembered.

I finished my shopping and finally found a couple magazines near the checkout but for a vision board, you need a bit more variety than was offered there. Later in the day I was at my neighborhood drugstore for a couple items Target didn’t carry. Again, I looped around the school supplies and greeting card area where they are usually found. The magazine section was gone aside from a paltry few offerings by the prescription checkout. The young woman behind the counter gave me a quizzical look when I asked where all the magazines were.

When did this happen? And when did individual issues start costing 5, 6 and 15! dollars? I remember when a subscription for a year was $12 and to buy them in the store was generally under $2. I guess I am deeply out of touch with the magazine industry although it really shouldn’t surprise me since the newspaper industry (which I spent 20 years in) has gone the same way.

My last hope is Barnes and Noble. I generally browse the magazine section there and last I checked they had a pretty robust offering. The question is will it break the bank!

Do you still read magazines?

MC

Life

Losing a (wo)man’s best friend

Mary C

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Born on September 11, 2008, Murphy came into our lives eight weeks later, a small bundle of golden fur. It was just a few weeks before my son Liam was turning two and winter would soon be upon us. I couldn’t think of a worse time to bring a puppy into our household but my husband was certain every boy needs a dog. He surprised us on a crisp fall day by dropping by a farm to take a look at a new litter of Golden Retrievers and my heart was won over.

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Life

It’s Tuesday!

Mary C

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Yesterday was a lost day for me which is too bad because I had planned to get sooooo much cleaning and decluttering done. I found a new minimalist vlogger on YouTube and I binged her videos over the weekend (this is like the non-cook compulsively watching cooking shows!) and was ready to go. But then I realized our internet wasn’t working. Of course you don’t really need internet to clean, do you now? But I have a streak going on daily meditation and I use Headspace which says they need internet to proceed…

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Life

10 Minute Blog: Meditation

Mary C

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3, 2, 1 Go! I don’t have much time but I do have 10 minutes before I have to leave for Job Club so I thought I’d put some thoughts together before I lose out on the opportunity to write altogether. You know how it goes, once the day gets into full swing, it’s hard to carve out a few minutes to write which is something I want to do every day.

One of the best things about my week away at the yoga retreat (which I have yet to fully blog about) was the 30 minutes we spent each morning journaling and meditating. I have tried many times to meditate but it’s hard to make it a daily habit. Coming home I thought it would be easy just to carry on what I had been doing but once I was home I was uninspired by my meditation surroundings (where was the beautiful scenery and Aegean Sea?!) and couldn’t find a place to get comfortable. I ordered a meditation pillow and decided to just get started.

There are a couple of Apps to help guide meditation and I need guidance (at least to begin). Right now I am trying out Headspace and have found the few meditations I’ve done to be really good. Today’s meditation was “quiet mind” and as in many other meditations you must focus on the breathe. In and out. In and out. I learned at the retreat that I’m not actually breathing properly so now I have that on my list of things to do: learn to breathe.

After you do a few deep breathes and close your eyes, you focus on how your body is feeling. And then there is the quiet mind. Gentle, regular breathing. Simply count them. One on the in breath and two on the out. Keep counting like this to 10 and restart. It reminds you to return your focus to counting your breaths if your mind wanders. And my mind wanders!

Today during meditation I thought about many things:

  • Should I return a call from a wrong number who thought they were reaching someone to talk about veganism? They left a message they got my name on a board about sustainable veganism and wanted to hear about my experience. Not me but should I call them?
  • I should call and make an appointment for a massage next week.
  • I wonder if I really should have applied to that job I just sent a resume to.
  • How much time is left in this meditation?
  • What should I make for dinner tonight?
  • Oh, God. Breathing. Breathing.

Do you meditate?

MC

 

Life

Showing up

Mary C

Over the weekend I was honored to partake in two celebrations: one of a new life and one of a death. Our nephew and his girlfriend (who I hadn’t met yet) are having a baby and this past weekend was a perfect time for everyone to get together to celebrate the new baby girl to come. I used to have all sorts of anxiety over attending showers (too long, too boring, too many crazy games!) but several years ago I had a mind shift about them and saw them for what they were: an important moment in a person’s life as we honor a transition to a beautiful new life stage. Whenever I am invited now, I think of it as an honor bestowed.

It’s also an opportunity to reconnect with people we haven’t seen in a while. To put away our phones and our Facebook timelines to make new (in real life) memories. There are always new people to meet too and the nephew’s girlfriend (and her parents) are wonderful and a balm to the family they are joining with. My nephew lost his twin brother in 2016, to addiction, and it has been a heartbreaking journey for them. To witness this happiness in their lives is a joy. And yes, there were games, and I came away with a prize or two.

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Writing

Just keep writing

Mary C

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For a moment I got sucked into the vortex of blog stats. How many people are reading this? How many visitors did I have last month? This year? Look at how many more I had last year. Gosh. Why did I even look at these stats? Why do I care? How can people read what I’m not writing? Write for yourself whispers my soul.

I’m not going to lie. It isn’t easy to stick to writing, especially when the inspiration isn’t there. I see how much I wrote last year, particularly February when I committed to blogging every day for that month. I had stats! I had likes and follows. I’m not going to lie. It felt easy and good. This year I’ve been adrift and honestly (why do I think I have to keep prefacing myself about honesty!) when I lost my job, I lost my mojo, even though it had been steadily seeping away for some time.

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