SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com: March 2021

5 star hike in livermore (del valle!) #IWA #delvalle #livermore @writeousmom

I speak mosaic. (me!) ~tops

and so i said to my sexy, i said with a smile "thank you for letting me have my way with your bricks!"

***

and, it is all love; all love:

i love the brick fireplace as an empty canvas to decorate.

i love paper

i loved selecting, tearing, xyroning, and so specifically placing....

and i love the result

and, i love how my sexy, after i was all done -he helped me mod podge to seal it.

wonderful... i am his assistant in the kitchen; he is my assistant in art endeavors

and i can see how he has evolved creatively over the past three years.. and Lord knows you can see how i have evolved when it comes to cooking

over and over, silently to Jesus.. "is this MY life? i love my life now Jesus! "Thank You!"

amen.

EASTER FOTS BLISS 2021 april yard art by (sexy! & tops!) #bliss @writeousmom

every now and again, when we are in our front yard, -sun shinin', music pumpin' and we are just decorating.. designing...

essentially playing in the front yard together

visiting with neighbor passersby

i'm like, silently to Jesus... "is this MY life? i love my life now -- thank you very much!"

***

now, i don't know whether you can see it from the picture above, but we have written/typed out a different Fruit Of The Spirit on each of 9 different eggs

and instead of a poem this month, i simply posted the above pre-made flyer

-love the design/font styles and layout

and as i've already written plenty about FOTS, i will only briefly repeat here

FOTS pretty much encompass my entire spiritual walk.

i love them for many reasons, but way up there, is the fact

that FOTS belong to ALL of HUMANITY

-no faith system, religion, -no one has the monopoly on fruits of the spirit

they are both infinite and universal

now, let me speak briefly about the fruit of the spirit... one of the hardest ones to manifest and master:

SELF CONTROL.

two things to consider: 1. -which part of you is your 'self' 2. the concept of control

and we can see people controlled by addictions, by approval, by obsessions, by vanity, by mass media.. by anger, by hate, by their emotions and feelings...

and then we can see people who use their 'self' to control counterproductive appetites, emotions, moods, unhealthy desires, destructive tantrums...

and i like that it does not read "God control"

it reads, 'self control'

I AM in control of my attitude, my thoughts, my emotions, my moods, my responses

alcohol is not in control of... mass media in not in control of.... addition is not in control of...

I AM IN CONTROL of these things.

and well,

i have a breakthrough to report! -because, as far as i'm concerned, pinwheels are the greatest store bought cookies on the shelf anywhere in the world

and, i treat myself occasionally...

and usually, when i treat myself to pinwheels, i eat, say... 2 or 3 or 5 in one day.

but,

i did a kind of self-imposed self-control fruit of the spirit exercise recently

and restricted myself to just 1

ONLY ONE

1 pinwheel a day.

and guess what?!?

i succeeded! i am enormously proud of myself.

and, so

for a few minutes i thought i might just celebrate my accomplishment by eating 3 in a row, but..

i didn't.

so,

'self control' report card remains Amen+

***

also, inspired to share: during one of our neighborhood passersby conversations, -we received a compliment for posting Fruits of the Spirit. -and then we talked more about being Christians, and then, -he shared that while living in Arizona, he attended church only on Sundays, which is a pretty common practice,

but when he moved to California, at his new church, he learned to start each day with God.. not just Sundays, and he shared that making that change generated much better results in his life, and now he is in that practice every day for the rest of his life.

-us too.

we keep God first every. single. day. "God first forever!" -that's our mantra.

and the blessings, favor, anointing we are currently enjoying...

-all the evidence we need.

hallelujah & amen!

Public "Thank You!" to our neighborhood friend (carl! and his good friend, mike!) -Predators Archery

this goes in our way awesome pleasant surprise files... getting archery lessons from our neighborhood friend, and his good friend, -who both compete at the world championship level in archery in countries all around the globe

"thank you!" both so, so much!! we loved every minute of the experience.

my sexy.. he was a natural of course. -he just has so much natural athletic ability, and it doesnt seem to matter what the sport is...

i was a little slower on the take, but! -having never held a bow, or shot an arrow, like, ever -in my 55+ years..

well, they told me i ended up doing 'pretty darn good' for a first timer

and on a personal level... "i loved it!" -there are new things i try, and i kind of have this internal knowing, that even with 50 classes and the best teachers, i'm just not going to improve or reach any level worth devoting my time and energy toward

but with archery... my internal knowing was "i could get better at this with practice.. and! how utterly gratifying it is to shoot and get anywhere near a target!"

so, we are in the very early stages of discussing the purchase of some recreational bow/arrows, and including archery as a new activity...

what a great community of people!

amen.

i spy my lucky #!

if i could and did take a picture every time i saw my lucky #, or every time i saw a heart shape made without human intention... i would not have blog enough to contain them... but very fun to capture and share a few here, and a few there. amen.

"Hand feeding the hummingbirds!" (maria!)

only days before my last day at alden lane, i noticed in the garden gift store, these 'dots' i think they were called. little individual circle flowers that allow you to hand-feed hummingbirds. i never did make the purchase, but just read a little..

from memory: you first stand near your current hummingbird feeders holding the circle up, and allow the hummingbirds to get used to you being there..

short cut: over time, once comfortable, they will come straight to your hand!

and now, my beautiful artist friend maria "SHE DID IT!"

pretty awesome experience

***

"moment of nature" -this is how cbs sunday morning show closes each program weekly, with a 'moment in nature' i love these segments! but we tease as of late, because it is hardly a whole moment... more like 15 seconds

anyway, whenever we are watching the hummingbirds on our two feeders, or the birds dining on our seed bells, or the squirrels.. during all of our walks and hikes.. we have so many of our own, live and write now, moments of nature to enjoy

and my favorite as of late.. "cutest couple award goes to..." our neighborhood ducks. and they honor us with a visit now and then.. and we feed them the duck food from an-jans

and next thing you know.. they are watching us from our rooftop..

hanging out in our backyard..

they came write up to our garage and let us just about hand feed them..

so beautiful and charming.. i delight in all of it!

***

and you know how the Bible has that passage; that scripture about

loving God with your whole heart, your whole mind, your whole soul

/something like that..

well, when i am loving nature and wild life, the plants, flowers, trees

animals.. the way i do

i consider it the exact same thing as loving God

hallelujah & amen

"Happy Saint Patrick's Day!" from (sexy! & tops!)

"Happy Saint Patricks Day!"

extra "thank you!" here to carole for the tea bag holder heart seen pix -awesome!

and,

residence unknown, but had to take a picture of the house with circle celebration entryway

they change it, like we do our yard art, with every season/occasion

write on! to that spirit

***

and "thank you!" to my squidmann & spike for these way cool heart seen contributions

-and, even the man-made one.. brings big smiles

love is all around us

irish luck and blessings to one and all

amen

Feast of Saint Patrick w/(sexy! tops! & friends)

our hearts were in the write place

but,

we may have over done the whole hospitality thing just a we bit

starting with pretzels, three different mustards, cheese sauce

jameson jello shots

jameson shots

irish buck cocktails

four different beers for tasting...

cabbage w/cheese sauce, corned beef, mick's amazing irish soda bread n' butter

long live the irish green salad, garlic/butter mash potatoes

irish coffees

delicious cake for dessert...

and so,

at the end of the evening

well,

we had a few requests for tums

and, the next morning my sexy wrote this humorous poem

and, we have already decided that next year

we will skip the appetizers, reduce the spirits, decrease portions, so we can all actually and thoroughly enjoy the main course

... a toast... "to saint patrick, next year, more friends eat less -we learned from our indulgence, yes"

"slainte!"

amen

5 star hike in san jose to (alum rock! & beyond)

exactly because it rained only days before, in advance, we chose to do a street hike and avoid muddy trails. -up suncrest, around a few corners.. and a back entrance into alum rock park. -gorgeous!

our advanced hiker friends -advanced deeper and higher into alum rock

sexy and i took the familiar eagle rock route to exit the park, head toward, and along penitencia creek, through the perc pond area and home. -had food and spirits ready when our friends arrived.

God i love days just like these! the best -amen & amen.

Q: What do silver bullets make you think of? overheard by (me!) sandra, tvgp

well, this is quite timely isn't it. i had my temporary crown removed, and permanent crown put in place on march 11th, 2021. -this completing the last of the 'major' dental work i needed to get done, after a 15+ year

hiatus,

from any dentist office.

***

my sexy.. he will often watch tv at night to help him fall asleep. i usually have my eyes closed, but still listen some, as i fade into my own slumber. and because i'm not watching with him; he will use this time at night to watch movies he knows i don't mind missing

i.e., scary movies

and

just last night, he was watching... and i had my eyes closed, but i so distinctly heard one character say to another.. "hey.. what do silver bullets make you think of?"

and i popped up, smiling at the irony.. and i said to my sexy with a smile, i said,

"i'm going to need that for a blog post.. mark the time of this scene... let's get a picture"

***

this morning, we re-visited the scene, and i gathered the details:

movie: Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf

genre: Horror, Action, Drama

Dark Sky Films & Glass Eye Pix

...about 55 minutes into the movie you can catch this dialogue:

the blind veteran/ambrose: "Hey, what do silver bullets make you think of?"

westmark: "Me? Lone Ranger. You ever see that? Vigilante, fighting for justice and all that. He used silver bullets. -something about how the precious metal stood for the preciousness of life.

****

but my answer to the question: write here.

***

wow! to how awesome it is to have the silver removed from my teeth (again)!! giant "thank you!" here to Doug Takeuchi DDS, his amazing team; and to my sexy, for pickin' up the tab.

***

i recently had a discussion with my mom and daughter about flossing. -they were each saying they wished they were better, more consistent with it

i shared that i have become a 'flossin' queen!' -because there is no way i could let my sexy pick up the bill, and then not take extra good care of the teeth i've been blessed to have restored.

***

rescued & restored on the inside, "thank you Jesus!" and now on the outside too...

hallelujah & amen.

"Return to the scene of great times!" (sexy! tops! pete! & janis!)

encore! -and there is always a new burger to enjoy at JJ's.. a new beer and/or wine to taste at 18th barrel... a new sight to see, history to read/learn, store to shop at.. in san juan batista. we all just love it there

and can't wait to go back when the garden is in full bloom at jardines!

and "cheers!" again from pour decisions in hollister -great visit; great flight! -great times

amen.

Friendly Reminder. photo by (me!) sandra, tvgp

A Friendship Coffee Visit "with hugs!" for/from (me!) sandra, tvgp

and during 2020, when we did meet for a friendship visit, rather than meeting at the local coffee shop, we met at the greenbelt, -veterans park. we did not hug, we wore our masks, we each brought our own chairs and sat way away from each other. -better than nothing; but not the same

-there were two, if i remember correctly, zoom visits

carla was a wonderful facilitator! catherine was a natural! and i was the weak link..

our first zoom visit, i pretty much settled for looking at foreheads, and the second time, just felt so awkward -distracted by seeing myself while talking to others.. not quite sure how to take turns talking. our in-person conversations have such a natural flow

there's just no substitute as far as im concerned

and the other thing there is no substitute for:

"hugs!"

internally i was hearing the timberlake song, 'i'm bringing sexy back...' but my mind changed the lyrics to, 'i'm bringing hugging back... yeah'

and carla shared how when her and her mom hugged recently; for the first time in forever it seemed. it brought tears to both their eyes

so carla and i hugged twice before we sat down to visit, just because we could, and it had been too long.

catherine still had some misgivings -but we did get a very quick goodbye hug in as we parted ways, after a 'just like ole times' wonderful in-person, sitting next to each other again, at a coffee house, visit.

Glory be to God!

-these two women, mom friends of mine... treasures! of the highest kind. such quality human beings, and.. it's the blessing part of growing older; having friendships deepen and appreciate with time.

i love you two! until next time, -amen.

"I am ahead of my time!" (me!) her----> sandra, tvgp

SHEsaysWithASmile.blogspot.com

5 star hike in sunol! to ( little yosemite! & beyond..) #IWA #sunol #little yosemite @writeousmom

our views:

advanced hikers view:

it was a 5 star hike for this reason: we took canyon view to little yosemite, and that turned out to be a pretty good fit for our level, and sight seeing, picture taking, visiting, snacking pace -the views were just beautiful.. and then you can loop back to the parking lot on a road, vs. trail, and cuts the return time and effort in half

our advanced hiker friends who like challenge and speed, and actual exercise... they took off for the top! and what we agreed on before we started, -just meet back at the car in 3 hours

-so something for everyone, on a blessed blue sky, sunshine, green grass, dry trails day

and grateful we have both a heart seen, and some indigenous word art for the memory journal

amen.

Irish Bliss 2021 march yard art by (sexy! & tops!) #bliss @writeousmom

GREEN SEVENTEEN poem

Return to the scene of great times! (sexy! tops! & the sugar~bears!)

new fun trifecta day trip: san juan batista, hollister/pour decisions; casa de fruta

"cheers all that!" amen

Pillow Talk -between (sexy! & tops!)

and so, we get our coffee, and snuggle back in bed, turn on our recordings of Joyce Meyer, but, i mean to tell you,

-one word trigger, and we hit 'pause', and next thing you know we are talking about everything from what to get at the grocery store, to Easter Dinner planning, to local politics, to...

"amazon!"

And my sexy, and many others.. many others! they are all upset over the size, scope.. the monopoly Amazon seems to be as corporation.. the billionare.. gazillionaire Jeff Bezos has become... on and on, etc., etc.,

but i'm always like, "the same vision keeps popping in my head sexy.. the same vision.. and, what i see, is people

-and it was not too long ago! no that long ago.. people on covered wagons, working so hard for survival, no air-conditioning/heating, local 24/7 grocery stores, -the struggle, the daily struggle to take care of themselves and their children.. this whole vision of real hard times,

and then i fast forward, and as if one of them, from back then, is hovering over our shoulders,

watching us, in all our glory and comfort... sit down all comfortable at 'a computer!' and go to Amazon.com

'type in!' virtually anything we want, from a mattress to a soda-making machine; press a couple buttons,

and with 'free shipping!' -next thing you know, someone is 'delivering to our door!' the very item all we had to do was press a few buttons to get..

and, the person over our shoulder; the memory of that person.. they are like,

"i'm sorry, are you still finding things to complain about!?!"

****

and, i keep marveling at Amazon's success... and, truth be told, i can't comprehend it all.. the size, the scope, the number of people it takes..

all i know, is their track record with us, is like, 100%

that is; 100% of the time we order something, that something shows up, on time, and is exactly what we ordered.

all by itself, that is AMAZING! and it is a better track record than any other place I've ordered online.

-when I consider what that takes.. and how many people are ordering, and how many different products..

having only my home-based business experience, and the variety of retail jobs I've held over the years

-that is no small feat! that is, in fact.. AMAZING!

color me grateful

***

but, what happens.. what seems to happen, is that we want what we want.. we want it correct, on time, etc.

but..

we don't just want one company to do a stellar job? -because, -they take away from mom n' pops being able to do a stellar, -or average, job..

-that's what i'm hearing.. my understanding of what i'm hearing. All this upset over Amazon becoming a monopoly -Bezos being a gazillionaire

and, because they have succeeded; are succeeding -they can afford to pay their employees a higher minimum..

which further shuts down the small businesses who can't compete...

and we do want our small businesses to succeed to...

/and i will spare myself, the minimum wage soap box..

but anyway, here is some GREAT NEWS! -because, there we were, chit-chatting while Joyce Meyer was on pause,

and, talkin' 'bout Amazon.. and my sexy reminds me, how Amazon actually started out as an online book store! -and we trying to figure out when/where/how...

and so he looks up on his phone, and the computer voice reads to us,

"..... the first book sold on Amazon.com was Douglas Hofstadter's Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies..."

and

oh my gosh! CH! Cerebral Hyperlink... !!

and said with a smile to my sexy, i said, "I have an autographed copy of one of Hofstadter's books!"

and that's pretty cool all by itself, but

THE REALLY COOL PART!

-the really cool part, is that I could go directly to where my books are, and go write to it! Pull it out, and go show my sexy "See!"

and, it flashes in my mind, how many times I've said to my children,

-one day, I'm going to know where everything is... /of my stuff... my own stuff.

and, then I had to say "Thank You!" again,

because the only reason I could go write to my autographed copy of Hofstadter's book, is because

* my books are no longer in storage

* I have personally arranged my books

and being able to do that..

WOW!

****

and i will close here, with one of my favorite customer quotes while i was working at alden lane nursery, paraphrase

wife to husband: "Don't we already have one of those at home?"

husband to wife: "Just because we have one, doesn't mean we'll be able to find it"

***

hallelujah & amen

SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

Saturday, March 27, 2021

5 star hike in livermore (del valle!) #IWA #delvalle #livermore @writeousmom

Thursday, March 25, 2021

I speak mosaic. (me!) ~tops

EASTER FOTS BLISS 2021 april yard art by (sexy! & tops!) #bliss @writeousmom

Public "Thank You!" to our neighborhood friend (carl! and his good friend, mike!) -Predators Archery

i spy my lucky #!

"Hand feeding the hummingbirds!" (maria!)

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

"Happy Saint Patrick's Day!" from (sexy! & tops!)

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Feast of Saint Patrick w/(sexy! tops! & friends)

Saturday, March 13, 2021

5 star hike in san jose to (alum rock! & beyond)

Q: What do silver bullets make you think of? overheard by (me!) sandra, tvgp

Monday, March 08, 2021

"Return to the scene of great times!" (sexy! tops! pete! & janis!)

Friendly Reminder. photo by (me!) sandra, tvgp

A Friendship Coffee Visit "with hugs!" for/from (me!) sandra, tvgp

Sunday, March 07, 2021

"I am ahead of my time!" (me!) her----> sandra, tvgp

5 star hike in sunol! to ( little yosemite! & beyond..) #IWA #sunol #little yosemite @writeousmom

Tuesday, March 02, 2021

Irish Bliss 2021 march yard art by (sexy! & tops!) #bliss @writeousmom

Return to the scene of great times! (sexy! tops! & the sugar~bears!)

Pillow Talk -between (sexy! & tops!)

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