Can't Stop Now

4132 miles is how far I have walked in just over 2 years according to FitBit. That has earned me the Nile Badge because 4132 miles is the length of the world's longest river.

My little wristband has become an important part of my quest to enter old age healthy and strong. I am so grateful that my daughter gave me my first FitBit and got me started. Now a day without 10000 steps just feels wrong and a day that starts with those steps goes better.

Do you think that may have something to do with endorphins from the activity? Whatever it is I can't and won't stop now.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Worry

Two weeks ago I was at my Mother's house for a week long visit. I left saddened and a bit worried. I was saddened by the anger she showed when watching the news. Understand that Fox is her favorite news station and for me that cable channel could disappear and I would be filled with joy. She would change to other news channels and spend time yelling at the television.

She and I are so very far apart in our views on politics and life in general. She actually said that nice people are weaklings who never win anything. She also believes that my attempts to find something good about everyone I meet is naive and silly. Not responding to her disdain, taunts and criticism is so hard but would be futile so I do my best. I would love to be able to enjoy being with her but that is a very rare thing when we are together.

My worry is about her confused memories. I have a couple things that happened in my life, what they are does not matter. What does matter is that when they happened she was not with me. She is now telling my stories as if she was there and a part of these events when they occurred. She has internalized my moments as her own and who knows how much else in her mind is false and taken from others.

It was another short night. I talked a bit about that yesterday. I'll need a nap today I am sure. Besides that I will be retweeting those who have shown me some attention on Twitter. I also hope to get some pictures taken for new listings. If I manage that I should be blogging about those new listings tomorrow. We'll see.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Irritated With Myself

 Yes I am irritated. I try to keep regular sleep times and usually I go to bed around 9 pm and wake up without an alarm about 5 am. For the last few days getting to sleep is not the problem but staying asleep is. I have been waking up around 3:30.

Wide awake, useless to try and roll over and close my eyes for another hour, I get up and start the day in the dark by reading news and exercising. I need about 7 hours of sleep to do well so I have been napping for about an hour each day but I don't want this to be a long term habit.

Hopefully this trend won't last long.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Wordless Wednesday

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

Did you ever pick up and read a book that made you wonder why you didn't discover it much sooner? The Bridge of Sighs has a copyright of 2007. That was a time when I was going to the library very often and trying to keep up with current bestsellers and I missed reading this one. On the back cover of my copy is a review from The Washington Post Book World and it says exactly what I felt while getting lost in the depths of this novel.

"A story of constantly evolving complexity and depth....[Bridge of Sighs is] Russo's most intricate, multifaceted novel....Enormous and enormously moving."

If you are in the mood to read a great American story the ad below will take you right to it. You could also check libraries. I actually got my copy at a thrift store here in town and now that I finished it my copy will go back there for them to sell it again.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Hurricane Florence

Eyes on the news this morning. Watching the news of the storm and looking up some information online. One place to go is The Weather Channel's information page for this latest storm. From there you can find links to evacuation news and to the Red Cross.

One thing that always confuses me is those who in the face of all the pleas to evacuate choose to stay behind. What makes them think they are more special than all those who left? What makes them think that it is too much trouble to have a few days or even weeks of discomfort vs dying? What makes them think it is okay to increase the workload of first responders and put their lives at risk to rescue you or verify your death? You can't keep the trees from falling or the water from rising by staying behind. If you need help you can use the Get Help page on the Red Cross website.

For all those in the path of winds, rain and flood I wish you well. I hope all of you are in a safe place.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Amazon Prime Reading

In our house we have an Amazon Prime subscription and enjoy the benefits. My husband has become a shopper and packages show up often for things like his favorite Trader Joe's mints and coffee since we don't have a store in Jackson. He has also found boat parts and other hard to find locally items.

I, on the other hand, am not a big shopper. I feel like I am coming to the time in my life where it makes sense to move toward living more minimally. However I do enjoy a couple of Prime benefits, namely Prime Video and Prime Reading.

With Prime Reading you can have 10 books at a time out on your account. When you finish one you return it and get another. With about 1300 books available for Prime Reading I have plenty to choose from and I am sure the selections change over time so I am not afraid of running out of enjoyable reading. Being able to have 10 at a time means I can download onto my tablet and have vacation reading on that slim device and not have to pack heavier books. Having 10 at a time means also that if I download one that I really don't like, which for me is very rare but happens, I am not left with nothing to read. I love this!

The last two that I read and returned are The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and The Physician by Noah Gordan. The former was okay but I admit to just skimming parts of it when I felt the author went too deep into the most minor details of his thoughts. As for whether you believe in God or not I leave that up to you. The Physician was a wonderful book. It was historical fiction about a boy driven by a desire to be a doctor that takes him from being an orphan in England to studying in the Middle East and back again during the Middle Ages. I don't want to put spoilers for books in my posts. Let's just say this one was a great read!

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

The ads below are affiliate links. Clicking on them to shop on Amazon will not cost you anything but could add a few pennies to my yarn fund. Thanks in advance for clicking and shopping!