Life

Random 5 Friday ~ Soup, Social Distancing & Life Lessons

Posted on March 27, 2020 by emjayandthem

It’s Friday, the first Friday of our “stay-at-home” COVID-19 order. I hope this finds you all safe & well ~ Here are my random 5 for today~

1 ) Being home is fine with me & Hubbs ~ we are both more introverted than not and home is our happy place. He’s wandering around, suffering from sports-withdrawal and is our resident news hawk. Reading is my escape. When it all gets too much, and it does, I turn off the 24/7 coverage and jump head-first into a book.

Lesson: both of us being home full-time has been a good practice run for retirement.

2 ) It’s been a week since I got sick, and 10 days for Hubbs. We’re still coughing and appetites are slowly returning. We’ve noshed on soups and omelettes, fruit and coffee. Beef noodle vegetable was on the lunch menu yesterday and, because I come from a family of 7, I made enough for us, neighbors + some to freeze. 🙂

Lesson: Yeah I could pare it back but neighbors are happy and the freezer is stocked. All good.

3 ) I feel for the parents, home now full-time with kids, while worrying about safety, finances, job security, etc. I say build a fort, play a board game, draw pictures, and cook together. Let them get bored, it’s OK. Kids don’t need to learn a new language or master advanced math right now, they just need you.

Lesson: Do what you need to do & keep a sense of humor – for the best parent tweets about Social Distancing click here .

4 ) Benefits of staying home:

It takes me no time at all to get ready for work 🙂
- I’m working longer hours and on back-to-back calls
  - Cough cough
No need to pack a lunch, I’m only 15 steps from the kitchen and the cook’s pretty good 🙂
- Trying to avoid the “Quarantine 15”
Lesson ~
- I love being home, I still enjoy working, and I miss being able to go out when I want
  - The lesson for me is that there’s always a lesson in there (Thanks Mom)

5 ) It’s a crazy, scary surreal time. We’ll get through it. After all, many of us grew up using this:

Lesson – we are a (mostly) hearty bunch and a strong nation ~It might take a while but we’ll come back from this.

So how are you holding up?

Categories: Attitude, Blogging, Confidence at any age, Determination, Faith, Family, Food, Growth, Home, Humor, Life, Life Lessons, News, Opinion, Personal, Random observations, Relationships, Thoughts | Tags: Books, comfort, COVID-19, food, grateful, humor, lessons, news, pandemic, random 5, rest, retirement, self-care, shelter-in-place, soup | 17 Comments

Control your controllable(s)

Posted on March 22, 2020 by emjayandthem

Crazy times we’re in ~ and that’s the understatement of the year! New buzz words pepper our vocabulary ~

Quarantine
Self-isolate
Mitigate spread
Prepare, prepare , prepare

COVID-19. Pandemic. Confusion. Fear.

We are tucked in, with Hubbs battling a viral bug and me not far behind. We’re on the mend and thankful for a stocked pantry with enough paper products for a while ~ no hoarding here.

Self-care is foremost including:

Hand-washing and cleaning
Fluids and plenty of rest
- Slept 11 hours Friday and took a 2 hour nap Saturday
  - As Mom would say, “You must have needed it”
Reading, reading and reading
Turning off news after a while, usually in evenings.
- It’s hard to sleep after all that.
- Updates bring more anxiety
Moving around and stretching
Laundry, washing jammies and sweatpants and blankies, because that’s what we’re using most
Cooking a little, enjoying eggs, fruit, tea and toast

Sending good thoughts to all ~ We’re thankful our boys & their girls and all of our littles are well and at home.

Yep, we’re doing our best to “control our controllables” – and praying for patience for all ~

So ~ how are you doing? Be safe and please stay home!

Categories: Attitude, Faith, Family, fear, Home, Life, Love, News, Opinion, Personal, Thoughts, Uncategorized | Tags: anxiety, being home, coping, COVID-19, home, pandemic, quarantine, Reading, self-care, stress | 4 Comments

Random 5 Saturday ~ Birthdays, Rinks and COVID19

Posted on March 7, 2020 by emjayandthem

It’s Saturday, the sun is shining and it’s time for 5 randoms from my world. Ready? Set? Go!

1 ) Celebrating oldest boy’s birthday later today ~ which called for some home-made baking straight out of Mommacita’s kitchen. My blueberry-loving boy gets a blueberry/peach cobbler and the rest will enjoy a Triple Chocolate “Rink” Cake (good enough to take to the rink, a nod to the winter home of my childhood). That sheen on the cake? That’s from butter in the homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. Margarine is never gonna give you that sheen ~ Love baked in every bite!

Blueberry Peach Cobbler

Triple Chocolate “Rink” Cake

Indeed it is

2 ) Speaking of the Rink .. it remains the H E A R T of my prairie home. Talking with my sister last night she filled me in on the “Spa Spiel” happening this weekend – a 3 day curling bonspiel, with 16 teams, ages ranging from grade school to seniors. (** Winning team gets a trip to the local hot springs Spa**) The rink kitchen will be humming with volunteers frying onions for “rink burgers,” serving up homemade pie, homemade soup and homemade buns, all donated from area residents. Those not curling will be visiting, skating, playing cards, eating pie and enjoying what’s likely to be the last winter “hurrah” for the real ice of that small-town prairie rink. Spring will come and the ice will go – it’s just the way it’s always been.

I remember coming in to warm up, after skating for hours, and finding enough change for an ice cold-coke or Sprite out of this cooler. We’d pull our drink out of the frosty water, wipe it off with the rag that’d been there forever, and enjoy, our cheeks burning as they warmed. It is not possible to craft a better childhood and I’m so glad to hear those prairie traditions continue!

the old Coca-Cola chest …

3 ) Signs of Spring are everywhere – but March came in like a Lamb. We all know what that means!

Roar !

4 ) Woke up to emails from airlines that I have upcoming business trip tickets with ~ and assurances about clean air and cabin cleaning…. No CoVid19 around here yet but the FLU (which kills thousands every year) has been rampant, with many schools having to close for a week at a time. NoroVirus, Influenza A and H1N1 are all in play – blah. Between us, I’ve got a feeling my corporate conferences are about to be scrapped. And that’s OK by me.

5 ) My new indulgence – Cuban coffee ~ oh Mylanta, so good!

What’s new in your world?

Categories: Attitude, Beauty, Faith, Family, Food, Home, Joy, Life, Thoughts, Wisdom, Women, Work, Writing | Tags: airlines, birthdays, blueberry, Cafe Bustelo, cake, coffee, common sense, coronavirus, COVID19, Cuban Coffee, flu, H1N1, health, influenza, Lamb, Lion, March, Rink, safety, travel, wash your hands | 6 Comments

Can’t say no

Posted on February 22, 2020 by emjayandthem

Grand-dog Sully

Grand-dog Sully is here for the weekend. He’s like having an 70lb toddler around, in/out, up/down, squeaky toy, wrestling toy, chew toy then knocked out-sleep. I’m his favorite (I’m the cook & he’s no dummy) and while he likes hubbs he follows me ..and believes that he is a lap dog.

We were up & outside at 530, completed a yard inspection by 7:15 … at 25F. He barked at songbirds trilling – they know it’s warming up, but he missed the memo.

I’m still recovering from dental hell but laughing at him has been good therapy.

And with that, I gotta go. I promised my little pal I’d peruse the yard with him again after this last cup of coffee … and even though he is big and grown, when I look in his eyes I still see this:

baby Sullivan

What are you up to today?

Categories: Animals, Attitude, Family, Home, Humor, Joy, Life, Personal | Tags: dogs, grand-dog, Saturday smiles, Sully, therapy | 10 Comments

More of my old friend

Posted on January 29, 2020 by emjayandthem

It’s the New Year and I’ve been (mostly) absent from this blog. I’ve read yours (thank you for continuing to post while I’ve been away). You see, I’ve reconnected with an old friend ~ my books.

I’ve read, and read, and read some more. Yes I’ve also cooked, cleaned, socialized, worked, and worked out .. yes, all that. But I’ve mostly leaned in and cozied up through this cold, dark January ~ So far Grand Rapids has had zero sunny days, 10 days with a little sun and 17 entirely cloudy days. Until I read that article I hadn’t noticed! You see between this little gadget shown below (used every morning) and all my delicious reading, I’m too content to care 🙂

https://verilux.com/pages/light-therapy

I am relaxed and happier – all from doing what I love – with no guilt. Reading, learning, growing, and more. So much more.

Does your reading activity go up in winter?
Is it sunny where you are?

“Never forget that once upon a time, in an unguarded moment, you recognized yourself as a friend.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert

(and this friend READS )

Categories: Attitude, Blogging, Faith, Fun, Growth, Home, Joy, Life, Love, Personal, Self Discovery, Share | Tags: attitude, Books, content, growing, Happiness, Happy Light, happy place, leaning in, learning, my happy place, no sunshine, Reading, Weather, winter | 8 Comments

Fri-yay 3 ~ Milestones, Storms and Thieves

Posted on January 10, 2020 by emjayandthem

It’s Friday of the first full work week of 2020 ~ here are my 3 Random Thoughts for Fri-yay.

Ready? let’s go!

1 ) Milestones – Attended a retirement party recently for the woman who hired me 18+ years ago. How did we get old enough to retire already? Ironically one of her parting gifts was a beautiful clock. Maybe it’s me but I found it funny that others assume someone who’s not going to be “on the clock” anymore wants … a clock? We had a good visit and lots of laughs and she whispered joyfully, “5 more alarms to go…” #IsntItIronic

2 ) Winter Storm Watch – the Midwest is bracing for a wild weather weekend. TV forecasters are salivating, their eyes wild with excitement as they breathlessly provide hour-by-hour updates. Stores are stocked, aisles are jammed, and folks are getting ready. It’s 45F right now but expected to drop with rain then ice then snow then .. trees down, ice and snow, etc. Regardless what happens .. we’ll be as ready as we can be. #WinterinMI

3 ) Thieves – over the Christmas break I had my credit card number skimmed at a local (chain) retail store. Thankfully I have alerts set up and received a message, via text, about suspicious activity. (The text also looked suspicious, to be honest). I didn’t respond to the text but instead called the credit card company, verified my identity, and confirmed I was home in my jammies and not trying to book a Hotel in Delaware! After that whole mess I set up additional alerts to the account – transactions > a certain amount, change in security, debit charges, withdrawals, etc. Make technology work for you! If you have a credit card, I suggest you set up similar stop-gaps. Thieves have no problem helping themselves to your good credit and assets. #StillAngry

P.S. ~

After the “skimming” incident I called the store where I’m certain the thievery happened and asked to speak to the manager. What sounded like a 12 year old came to the phone. *SIGH* After explaining my dilemma and urging her to check their security/IT network she countered that, “Oh no, that couldn’t have happened here ’cause we.. like … check our machines.. like … all the time.” When I offered that there is a current problem (since I hadn’t otherwise used the card in nearly a month anywhere else OR online and the attempted charges happened 2 hours after I shopped at their store) she responded with, “Well OK then … no worries, Thanks for the call ….” It was obvious, by her dismissive response that I wasn’t getting anywhere with Mandi with an i and ended the call.

#PutAlertsonYourCredit #CantFixStupid

What’s new in your world?

Any milestones happening around you?
Storms a-coming?
Tech tips or other thoughts to share?

Categories: Animals, Attitude, Blogging, Determination, Growth, Home, Humor, Life, Life Lessons, Technology | Tags: alarms, bad customer service, cant fix stupid, clocks, credit alerts, credit card hack, credit skim, milestones, preparedness, retirement, storms, winter | 6 Comments

That feeling ~ New Year’s 2019

Posted on December 31, 2019 by emjayandthem

December 31, 2019 ~ I woke to a darkened house, blanketed in quiet from the snow swirling down. It’s New Year’s Eve ~ and here we are on the cusp of a new month, a new year, a new decade.

Just like that.

When asked my resolutions for 2020 and I answered quickly – it’s simple, really. All I have to do is look back at the past 11 days off, and therein lives my answer.

In 2020 I’ll try my best to recreate that ~

That feeling, as winter winds roar outside the windows and you lift your head up from reading for 4 hours straight, plowing through magazines and books without a care or a distraction, a deadline or a phone call.
That feeling, stretching and waking gently, without the glaring jolt of an alarm.
That feeling, when you listen to your body and move it a little more, haul the boxes and work up a sweat taking down and packing up and catch yourself smiling because it’s only 9:30 a.m. and you’ve been up for 3 hours already.
That feeling, between two major holidays, when you’re not sure which day it is – is it a work day? is it a week day? And you have to consult the calendar to confirm. And laugh about it.
That feeling when your sustenance consists of coffee, bacon, eggs, cheese, pickles and clementines.

Nope, no New Year/New You for me. Not this year. I’m gonna focus on finding more of that feeling denoted above.

Your turn:

How are you ringing in the new year?
Do you resolve to do things differently?
Do you want more of what you already have?

“When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. When life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” —Shauna Niequist

Happy * New * Year *

Categories: Attitude, Blogging, Confidence at any age, Determination, Food, Growth, Holidays, Home, Humor, Joy, Life, News, Opinion, Personal, Self Discovery, Snarky, Thoughts | Tags: being home, Books, celebrations, contentment, cozy, holiday, home, meme, new year, New Year New Me, quotes, resolutions, Shauna Niequist, state of mind, thoughts, vacation, When life is sweet say thank you and celebrate. when life is bitter say thank you and grow, winter | 6 Comments

Happy Boxing Day!

Posted on December 26, 2019 by emjayandthem

Happy Boxing Day!

Growing up in Canada, our holidays were chock-full of British influence; Canada is a jewel in the Commonwealth’s crown, after all. Mom used to tease us that Boxing Day was a day to clean up and box up (a ploy she cleverly used to get us to tidy the house).

As a child, Boxing Day was a full day of fun –a day of sledding & skating with cousins, adults playing cards, with everyone still full from feasting the day before. As we got older Boxing Day brought dances and Curling socials, a time to visit all who’d come home for the Christmas holiday.

google.images.com

Now it’s more commercialized with stores open for gift returns and clearance sale prices.

But for me, it’s still a day to visit and we will be doing just that ~ And with temps approaching 60F here in West MI (not a snowflake in sight) we have the perfect weather to do so!

– To learn more about Boxing Day visit https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/26/world/boxing-day-facts-trnd/index.htm

So … what are you up to today?

Categories: Blogging, Family, Fun, Holidays, Home, Joy, Life, Personal, Uncategorized | Tags: Boxing Day, Canada, fun, Holidays, traditions, visiting | Leave a comment

It’s only fitting

Posted on December 1, 2019 by emjayandthem

It’s only fitting that, on my very last day of 9 glorious days off, I’d wake to this:

12.1.19 First snow an Emjayandthem(C) photo

It was, by far, the best sleep of my entire week off … the house calm, dark and quiet.

A heavy quiet that only fresh snow can insulate us from a hurry-up / busy world. Cocooning from the noise around Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Leftovers, Holiday Travel, deadlines, to-Do lists. Z-z-z-z-z-z

Planning to go out I re-planned and stayed in.

Coffee up. Decorations out. Christmas is-a-coming.

Fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la!

I’m always intrigued by what I end up doing when I’m “off.” Intentions are good but sometimes one should just lean in and “be.”

Example:

I went to bed when tired (10:30, 12:30, 1:30) and got up when I wasn’t (6:30, 7:30, 8:30.. ) ~ it depends and every day differed.

Worked out twice, but still clocked 10K steps daily **in the house**. One day? 13K 🙂 and that was while cleaning!

Cleaned, scrubbed, sorted and donated.

Read, read, and read some more.

Watched a movie. One. Meant to watch more, but visiting got in the way.

Subsided on take-out, leftovers and charcuterie.

And it was wonderful.

Your turn:

When’s the last time you surprised yourself?
What have you learned by setting plans aside and embracing what life brings you?

Categories: Attitude, Beauty, Blogging, Faith, Family, Growth, Home, Joy, Life, Seasons, Self Discovery, Thoughts | Tags: charcuterie, Christmas, cleaning, holiday, leftovers, no stress, relaxation, rest, sleep, snowfall, steps, time off, vacation, winter, winter delights | 11 Comments

Random 5 Friday – Opening day, extra days and Adulting

Posted on November 15, 2019 by emjayandthem

It’s Friday and time again for Five Randoms from my world. Ready? Let’s go!

1 – November 15th – the “high Holiday”- it’s opening day of firearm/rifle season in Michigan. Several years ago I traveled across the state on a beautiful Fall morning, completely oblivious that it was “opening day.” About an hour into my two-hour trip my attention turned from my tunes to the abundance of men in Orange jackets and pickup trucks off-road. Startled deer burst out of the woods and across the highway. I’ve never made that mistake again- nope, no more opening day road trips for me!

High-tail it Martha!

2 – This made me laugh out loud because it’s a little too true and don’t you dare touch my red spatula!

3 – Last week my team & I put together our Holiday time-off schedule – it wasn’t until I did so that I realized I have an extra WEEK of vacation days to use before year-end. My face when I realized the mistake in my favor:

swirling, twirling dance of JOY!

4 – As a result -I’ve taken the WHOLE week of Thanksgiving off + time at Christmas AND New Year’s- I have a new verb for what I’ll be doing: Hallmarking! I plan to sleep till I wake, read till I can’t, watch sappy movies, decorate, cook, clean, work out, putz around and mostly lean in hard to my highly-savored time OFF!

5 – Even with the holidays off I still have days to spare – I’m saving those for our new grand-baby’s December arrival. I plan to cuddle and rock our little one, take care of Mom & Dad, cook, clean and fuss over them all. ❤

When’s the last time a mistake worked in YOUR favor?

Categories: Attitude, Confidence at any age, Family, Gratitude, Holidays, Home, Joy, Life, Love, Personal, Women | Tags: adulting, babies, babies grow up, days off, Elf, Grandma hold me a little longer, grandparents, Hallmark Christmas movies, happy, Holidays, Nana, rock me a little more, rocking my baby and babies don't keep, settle down cobwebs dust go to sleep, Thanksgiving, vacation | 4 Comments

Love in a rocking chair

Posted on November 10, 2019 by emjayandthem

Going through family photos last year, I snapped cell photos of the ones I wanted and this one takes me right back to our farm Kitchen, the heart of our home.

and Emjayandthem (C) photo

– The morning sun streaming in through sheer curtains trimmed in cheery yellow.

– The metal pail to the right, filled with garden tools and produce.

– A can of coffee and a tin of Raleigh salve atop the fridge.

– …. and our family rocking chair.

It’s where she sat restless kids or misbehavers, those who needed “time to think.”

It’s where she put us as she laced up shoes & boots, tied scarves and matched up mittens.

It’s where she placed items before heading to town – a baby gift, a dessert to drop at the rink, a bill to be paid.

It’s where she read to us – and where we learned that, reading to children, even before they can understand words, teaches them to associate books with love and affection.

She taught us there was always time for stories, for love and affection.

No wonder I love books – and her – so much.

+ + +

What does this photo say to you?

Categories: Beauty, Blogging, Family, Growth, Home, Joy, Life, Mom, Opinion, Personal, Quotes, Thoughts, Wisdom, Women | Tags: affection, coffee, family, life, love, love of books, love of reading, memories, Mom, old photos, parenting, Raleigh salve, Reading, reading to children teaches them to associate books with love and affection, rocking chair, simple pleasures | 12 Comments

October Random 5 ~ Prayers, Waylon & the smell of home

Posted on October 12, 2019 by emjayandthem

Here we are on the weekend of Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving ~ we’re smack dab in the middle of my favorite season: FaLL, glorious Fall! Crisp apples, sunshiney days, something simmering in the oven. Cozy blankets, good sleeps, wonderful drives and cool breezes.

Here are 5 Randoms from my October world:

1 ) I don’t watch a lot of TV but I binge-watched this series and doing so took me right back to my parents kitchen, soup simmering, AM radio on, and a Hank Williams or Waylon Jennings song on the radio … so good!

Excellent!! For more visit https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/country-music/

2 ) Speaking of, I remember Willie & Waylon from their “Outlaw” Days, partying hard and having fun. But here’s a little some-something I discovered while watching that series … who knew, that before the greasy hair and cowboy hats, that Waylon Jennings was that good looking? Day-umn! **Might have rewound the show, not telling. 😉

A young Waylon Jennings

3 ) A year ago I visited the Billy Graham library in Charlotte, N.C. What an amazing and humbling experience that was, especially when, at the end of the tour, a volunteer asked if she could pray for me. I accepted, and that experience, and her gentle words of faith, remains deeply touching to me. I’ve recently discovered Podcasts and enjoy listening to them while driving to and from my many meetings. This week, the Billy Graham Ministries Podcast appeared in my “suggested” queue ~ random? Not so much.

The Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C.

4 ) Cooking last night for a family baby shower this weekend, our kitchen windows steamed up from the heat ~ On the stove simmered Sloppy Joe’s, in the oven roasted Cheesy harvest potatoes and a from-scratch pizza for the hubbs. He may have visited the kitchen several hundred times … I heard the screech of his slipper brakes as the pizza came out of the oven, bubbling and wonderful. We sampled and enjoyed and felt the coziness that comes from a contented life together. And when we got up this morning our house still smelled of all I’d cooked the night before. Say what you will, there’s not a candle made that can match the smell of “home.”

5 ) Fall leads to Winter and you know what that means to me? Books, books and more books! I’ve assembled quite a stack over the summer, some new and some new-to-me … They’re waiting for me like good friends at the ready. Waiting for a perfectly cozy Fall day with sunshine streaming in, a cozy blanket and no particular place to be. Ahh.

So what’s new in your October world?

Categories: Beauty, Blogging, Confidence at any age, Faith, Food, Fun, Gratitude, Home, Joy, Life, News, Opinion, Personal, Seasons, Uncategorized | Tags: apples, Billy Graham, Books, Confidence, country, faith, Fall, Grace in your Space, Johnny Cash, joy, Ken Burns, music, PBS, podcasts, things I love, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson | 6 Comments

Life

Random 5 Friday ~ Soup, Social Distancing & Life Lessons

Control your controllable(s)

Random 5 Saturday ~ Birthdays, Rinks and COVID19

Can’t say no

Fri-yay 3 ~ Milestones, Storms and Thieves

That feeling ~ New Year’s 2019

Happy * New * Year *

Happy Boxing Day!

Happy Boxing Day!

It’s only fitting

Random 5 Friday – Opening day, extra days and Adulting

Love in a rocking chair

October Random 5 ~ Prayers, Waylon & the smell of home

Peeps Poppin' in

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