Life is like a bowl of cherries.  But those pits!!  My goal has been to stay positive. I was thinking I could do it, close to 100%. Ok... now that I have gotten realistic, the goal is 50-75%.

I am setting here, the sun must be up there behind all of those grey, dreary clouds dropping wet stuff... and it is cold. Leg warmers came out, double shirts, heavier jeans. The heat doesn't come on until I think in October. I know it goes off normally in the spring... and after it always gets cold again. But once off or on, it stays that way until the next switch is turned.

How much of life is like that for us? We do what we are doing until we are aware we must make the switch. Routines seem to make the hours/days/months go by and suddenly something changes the routine, another switch is activated. Another routine. But have you noticed that the switch can either make us realize we are in a rut and we take the time to stop and look around us with joy, or, irritate us because our routine has been broken.

Here in France a lot of emphasis is put on food. We see notices about the current foods that are in season and recipes to make good use of them. Decorating the table for the meals. Emphasis on family time at meals. A dinner with friends in the evening is never less than 2 hours. You can spend that much time easily at a lunch  out and at the end of the meal, no one is pushing a bill at you to pay and leave. They wait for you to say, "l'addition SVP".  You could set there until they close and they are not aggravated. Meal time is the time you don't just shovel it in and leave the table. You talk, eat in courses, savor what you are eating and enjoy those around you. Things are produced so when you serve them, they are not only very tasty, but pretty. You can buy little bundles of green beans wrapped, ready to cook and serve...tied together. Tasty, pretty. Lovely little bite size items for appetizers. Bites of cheese with toppings, colorful and varied crips and nuts. Sliced assorted sausage trays, small containers of olives stuffed with different things. That is just to start the meal... food is meant to be enjoyed both visually and on the tongue. Small, wonderfully rich flavorful portions of great food, satisfying... delicious.  Speaking of food,  I will go and get a 2nd cup of coffee, break off another chunk of that still warm baguette from the bakery I picked up this morning fresh from their ovens and watch the grey clouds slide by, continuing to spit rain at us and relax. Have a great day everyone!

Ohhhh... first week back at work. It is really hard to go back after 2 months off. It will be a while before the muscles decide they are in agreement with all this.

I have been actually looking at other scrap stores, trying to get my motivation back while spending lots of time at the sewing machine getting ready for the craft fairs in November. Motivation is a really difficult thing to get back when it is gone. At least for me. The motivation for me is the challenge to see if I can actually do it. Once I figure out I can, it looses something. I guess I need to push myself. I used to do the same thing at work also. Trouble is I don't know for sure which area I want to push myself next.

It may be 11:30 a.m. here but I am still at least half asleep. It feels that way anyway. Just dull today. Sun is shining, sky is a clear beautiful blue with the exception of the jets taking off and landing at Charles de Gaul airport leaving their trails across the sky. You don't hear anything, but I can seem them descending and climbing. Soon it will look like a tic tac toe board!

I promised myself I would try and blog regularly... makes it really hard when nothing exciting happens to blog about. The page, Smoothing Ragged Edges hit a new milestone, 1,500 likes. Next one is at 1,750. I hope it is doing those that need it some good. I really need another admin to help me. I have a handful set up, but one disappeared, one is busy, one is hubby and he is just on there to help when I can't get on to do anything... and one is around but doesn't do much. I seem to be the only one I have put on that (LOL) actually cares about the page. Maybe it is time to make changes. I made several others this morning. Went through and deleted 30+ people off my list. Blocked a couple. Deleted some applications. Moving forward in changes as I see they need to be made.  I preach that in a way on Smoothing. Do things you need to do. I realize it is very hard to do, so I pushed myself to actually do some I had been thinking about. It was difficult, but, in the long run will give me more time for other things. Slowly other app's will go... more sorting and cleaning in the house. It is like trying to clear your head when you clear around you. A healing process.  If you have not checked out smoothing, you should. Smoothing Ragged Edges  If it is not something you need, maybe you have a friend who does? Either way, it is just a positive page to check out. Have a great weekend. "I will be back!"