Weather and A Winner

Time is rushing by on me this morning. I'm going to make today's post short and sweet.

I loved the depth and texture of the clouds in the western skies
last night. It looked as if I took a graver to a sheet of metal. So kewl! 

First, take a look at the storm clouds over Minneapolis last night as I was driving home from work. They were just so amazingly textural, I had to stop and snap a quick pic to share with DH and with all of you. Pretty cool, isn't it? I think we dodged a bullet with this one. If the weather had been hotter, we might have been looking at severe storms and tornadoes from these clouds.

SPOILER ALERT BELOW

Congratulations to Alisan Porter, the winner of Season 10 of
The Voice. It was a very talented field of musicians and
a hard fought battle to the end. 

Congratulations go out to Alisan Porter, the winner of Season 10 of "The Voice". I had been watching her carefully from the beginning and she never failed to disappoint. She's Christina Aguilera's first winning contestant, so cheers to girl power. It was a really entertaining final show. I'm torn about watching Season 11 since both Christina Aguilera and Pherrell Williams will be replaced - one with Alicia Keys and one with Miley Cyrus. I like Alicia Keys, but I can't stand Miley Cyrus. That alone might be enough to keep me from watching.

Here's hoping you have a great Wednesday. I've got a long list of things to accomplish today, and I suspect I'll be dodging rain all day as well. Have a good one!

Delete and Redo - Selective Editing in Life

I've really been enjoying the new season of "The Voice" which started last week. So far two people who had been turned down in earlier seasons tried out again and this time they were accepted and now move on in the competition. It's a good reminder to me that sometimes things don't work out on first run, but to revamp, renew, and try again.

The judges for this season (Season 10) of The Voice are
Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Pharrell Williams and
Adam Levine. Here they are turned away from the singer, ready
to hear an audition. 

I knew singers auditioned for the show, but one of the young ladies accepted last night had auditioned seven times before finally moving on far enough to try her song in front of the judges for the blinds. Yet one more example of perseverance. And yes, she got at least one chair turned and got to choose a coach. For those who don't or can't watch the program, "The Voice" is a televised vocal competition that begins with blind 90-second vocal auditions. If the singer can get at least one of the judges to push their button and turn around for them (thus, no longer being 'blind'), they will have a coach and can continue to the next round.

This is what the singers want to see - turned chairs and white lights
indicating that a judge wants the opportunity to coach that singer.
Here, Christina and Blake are ready to fight it out. Who will win
the singer for their team? 

Isn't life like that - a lot? I think of how many times I revise my writings. It's no wonder the big things - the novels - are still languishing on my hard drive. I often put hours of work into simple 100-word and 300-word stories/chapters. Stories I've written with hundreds of thousands of words are an editing nightmare. Sometimes we need a re-do or a good editing for life as well. Is something becoming too difficult to do? Has the enjoyment gone out of a project or event? Maybe it's time to edit that out of your life and focus on those things that are fun or that allow you to progress to the next day with a smile on your face. If it's a project, just finish it and get it out of your life. Maybe you can trade with someone else - they paint the trim while you corral the two-year-olds or something. Make it work!

You can't escape everything, but you can make everything count. You'll
still have to do things you don't want to sometimes, but selective
editing will make the whole much more palatable. 

This does NOT mean you get to escape all of the not-fun items in life. You still have to go to the dentist, you still have to exercise and watch what you eat. You will still have bad days as well as good. But it does mean that when you look back over a week, it will be with a smile and the color that stands over it in your mind's eye will be one that you like, not one that depresses you. Choose wisely, young Padawan. Time marches on and there are NEVER enough hours in a day. Have a fun Wednesday - I'm getting my garbage and recycling to the curb and then I'm off to the pool. Oh happy Guppy Day!

Two Wednesdays Left!

OMG! OMG! OMG!!!! Only two Wednesdays left before Christmas and so much to do! The cards are done and mailed, I have a few extra in case something crops up, but basically that project is complete. I have a few small gifts for DH, but really need to get his stocking stuffers and other miscellaneous gifts together. It doesn't help that his birthday is around that time as well - double the gifts, but also double the pressure and money. Still, I'll manage, I always do.

Only two shopping days left for me! ACK!!!!

The funds from the sale of the small house finally cleared in DH's account, and he'll be giving me a monthly stipend from the funds that will help me out a LOT. He also gave me a very generous amount to pay down my Discover Card bill. Actually, it's just in time for my next major purchase which is ...

Even though I would love to do Jeff Fulkerson's Inlay Cuff
class, it's a two-day class and costs a BUNDLE. I can't imagine
the technique would be much different than last year's inlay
ring which I had a blast doing, so I'll probably take two
one-day classes instead. 

Bead & Button classes!. The catalog just arrived two days ago and the on-line catalog just went live yesterday. There are a lot of metals courses I'm interested in playing with, and I really have to narrow them down a bit - I'm over the top right now. I have lots of pages marked - some to look at the projects more carefully, others to put on my "I want this class" list. That reduced credit card will be jumping right back up again as soon as I register in early January *sigh*.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Jordan Smith's victory wins another season for Adam Levine.
Next season Christine Auguilera returns to the judges. She's
always fun to have on the show. Congrats to Jordan for a great season. 

Finally, even though I couldn't stay up to watch the final hour of "The Voice", my favorite contestant, Jordan Smith, won. So very happy for him. He caught me with his initial blind audition and never let go, giving one of the strongest runs in the nine-season history of the show. I know he'll go far. Hew won't be singing front man for a heavy-metal band, so I probably won't hear his music very often, but he'll chart through the popular music genre. Congratulations to him and the other three finalists. Great season!

Have a wonderful Wednesday, I'm off to the pool and the start of a busy day while avoiding freezing rain and possible snow *sigh*.

Sleep and Draperies

Finally got some sleep last night. I wanted to stay up for the announcement of the winner of this season's "The Voice," but with only 2-3 hours of sleep the night before, that was a no-go. I checked the results this morning and the singers placed in the order I thought they would, so I was right and I had supported the right person from the beginning. Call me happy :-)

So with the new drapery pricing we can get, we'll have
everything ordered and ready to go when I get back from
my vacation in a couple of weeks. My house will have
never looked so good! 

I remember mentioning that DH and I had fallen in love with a drape fabric at JC Penney's, but that it was VERY expensive. Our sales associate had said there were sales on all the time, so just to be patient. Apparently one of those sales is happening this weekend and if we get in no later than Sunday, we can knock more than 1/3 off the price, bringing that huge drapery into our price range. I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with Autumn yesterday making sure that I could double-check my measurements and bring her the precise numbers needed to place the order. We'll be there when their doors open on Sunday morning and put in the order. The living room is coming into focus now. I'm very happy.

I'll be making a wall of book boxes, similar to this but with boxes
instead of open shelving, in Sharon's Room. That will give me two
months to get the new carpeting and finish cataloging the books
before I'll have to move the boxes to a different location so that we can start
culling our lists of what books to keep and replacing them onto the
library shelves. It's a lot of work and a lot of hauling, but it has to be done. 

I'll continue cleaning and putting things away today. I expect I'll be doing a lot of physical labor - up and down stairs, packing and moving. The clock is ticking and the installers will be coming. The rooms have to be ready for them. DH is already disagreeing about where I was going to put book boxes that are complete, but I'm really not giving him a lot of say now. If it had been left up to him, we'd still be looking at "future" not at "the week of June 18th". *sigh* When you want something done, ask a busy woman, right? LOL

Most of us can do with a spring and fall cleaning every year. DH keeps
physical things because memories are tied up with them. This has turned
into a problem now that we're dealing with so many years of memories. 

I have swimming today, and I'm pretty happy. Last week I spent the entire week swimming instead of working on the machines because I had injured my ribs. I don't lose weight when I'm swimming, just keep my cardio up and stretch out my muscles. But I didn't gain weight either, so I just stayed static for a week and that's OK. Busy day today, though, so I have to get going. Have a great Wednesday, enjoy the spring/autumn of your part of the world. Do a kindness for someone today and let's pass along some ripples of positives throughout the lands.

Trying Something New

I've been pretty happy with my cardio training over the past two+ months. My stamina has gotten much better, my reps-per-minute have grown, I've developed a routine on the machines and in the pool that's working for me, and thus, it's time to change things up a bit before boredom and complacency settle in. So today I'm adding a class.

Time to shake things up again and try a class. 

I tend to work self-directed most of the time, but sometimes having that extra push of someone egging me on can make the difference between success and failure. And I also know that I haven't been working on strength or core work, only cardio and different muscle groups. Tuesday mornings from 6:00 am - 7:00 am, my YMCA holds BodyPump classes and I think I'm going to start trying these once a week. (They also have a class on Fridays, but that's a Drowning Guppy day and I'm unwilling to give up my swimming pool time.)

One of the major selling points of this class is that it's excellent for
bone density. With osteoporosis, I'm always on the lookout for
something to help improve that aspect of my health. This may be something
that will work for me. I'll give it a couple of months and then see if I want
to continue having it as part of my weekly routine. 

I've heard from several people that BodyPump was very successful and fun for them. It's basically working with reps and barbells to strengthen muscles and improve body tone. That's what I need, so I'm pumped to BodyPump (oh, that sounds so cliche, doesn't it?). I checked the program out on-line last night while watching "The Voice" and I think I'll have a good time, but I'll also be the new person in the class and totally clueless about routine. Hopefully the others and the teacher will be understanding with all my newbie mistakes.

This is key to success. I find others at the gym to be inspirational and
I love knowing that what they are doing gives me a good goal to strive for.
But any achievements I manage must be put side-by-side with where I started.
It's why I keep records, minimal as they are. 

But things are working for me. I started going to the gym at the beginning of January and I've lost eleven pounds since then, can swim for 45 minutes non-stop, and my machine work has gotten intense. I'm not focusing on losing weight as much as getting into better physical condition, but it's a nice side benefit.

It's a pretty little machine. Now if I can
just figure out exactly how to use it during
the day and how to batch out my sales
at night, I'll be a very happy camper. 

On a side note, I should finally be receiving my new credit card terminal this afternoon. That means I'll install it on Thursday morning because I won't be around to hand-hold on Wednesday. That gives me a day to read through all of the directions and thoroughly understand the machine before I plug it in. All thanks to Derek at Chase Payment Tech for finally managing to push this through. Getting this will be one of my major headaches gone.

I love "The Voice" and the Battle Rounds are an exciting
part of the program This is where the coaching finally starts.
Ferrell brought in Lionel Richie to help mentor his singers.
That's pretty cool! 

Have a great Tuesday, everyone. I'll be glued to the TV again tonight for the next installment in the Battle round of "The Voice", and maybe I'll even manage to get some writing done. Maybe....

Yikes! Running Late!

Those of you who love Jordan Castillo Price's books as much as I do will be pleased to know that the third (and final) book in her 'Mnevermind' series is now available through the usual sources (Amazon, B&N and others). I quickly hopped over to B&N and got my digital copy.

This is romance with a twist, but it is M/M romance, so
be aware. This is NOT erotica, however, but a wonderful
exploration into characters who have flaws and serious
personality issues. She handles them beautifully, as I
would expect her to. Wonderful author. 

And "The Voice" is back on and better than ever! Last night's blind auditions had me glued to the screen while contestant tried to get one or more chairs to turn. Tonight is the second night of blind auditions and so far Adam Levine doesn't have a single person working with him. If you're interested in listening to auditions you might have missed, you can catch performances here. So far I like Sara Potenza, Sawyer Fredericks (only 15 and what a voice) and Cody Wickline. This season Christine Aguilera returns along with Pharrell Williams, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. I don't like "American Idol," but I love "The Voice".

The Voice Season 8 judges: Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Christina
Aguilera and Pharrell Williams. 

Now I've got to make this quick so I can get to the gym on time, so have a great Tuesday, enjoy yourself, and do one kind thing for a stranger today. We need some kindness in our world.