Friday!

Sometimes I have to ask myself what happened to the week.

Well this one was filled with dental cleanings for me and the teens. I was at the dentist office 3 days in a row! Yesterday Miss Sunshine had her final orthodontic evaluation. Baby teeth gone and molds taken. Braces go on in two weeks! It made me feel like my baby is growing up. My last one in braces…and only months away from being 14.

I also rode with Mr. D on the Interstate. He’s in the learner’s permit phase and less than two weeks from being 16! It was a mild interstate in the scheme of interstates. It starts at one end of Roanoke so it didn’t require him merging onto the interstate. The speed limit is also only 55 mph, much less intense than those 65 or 70 mph roads. He opted for the slow lane instead of the middle so we were able to work on deciding whether you need to speed up or slow down as people merge into your lane.

Next week is Big Mr’s appointment for Senior photos and all my teens gets their class schedules.

But on to some more of my faves for the week.

Did you know that August 3rd was National Watermelon Day?

Usually I’m behind in knowing these things, but I was on top of my game this week! I even though about writing a post, but I had promised the photo tour of The Cloisters at University of Glasgow. And then I remember I shared about how to pick the perfect watermelon in this post.

Did you celebrate National Watermelon Day by eating any of the sweet treat?

What is this thing!? #goldendoodlesofinstagram #puppiesofinstagram #doodledoglovers #doodlelove #dogsofinstagram #neverstopexploring #lifeofadventure #livefolk #thehappynow #fromwhereistand

A post shared by Maverick (@maverickthegoldendood) on Jul 31, 2017 at 6:14am PDT

Our puppy, Maverick, keeps us busy as usual.

Since Miss Sunshine maintains his Instagram, sometimes I’m just as surprised as everyone else by his antics.

This was one that made me laugh out loud when I discovered it on his page.

This was my recent read.

It caught my eye on the front racks of the library. I didn’t have it for a whole 30 days so I perused and took what value I found to apply.

I’ve read that it takes 21 days for a new habit to become like second nature so I figured I’d just implement whatever habits I found intriguing.

I read 3 pieces of advice that were my favorites.

• FIFO | The pg version of this is “figure it the frick out”. But the gist is about self-motivation for knowledge in situations that need a solution. I have some areas in my blogging where I’m trying to learn the things that are my weaknesses…such as getting my words in front of more people.
• Layering in habits.  | I’ve decided to work on some detoxing of my body as I move toward the season of my birth. I think it goes well with my decluttering / minimalism process, which is also a detox of sorts. I mentioned in last week’s faves that I’ve started going to the steam room to attempt to sweat out toxins. I also decided to go 4 weeks without alcohol. I’ve almost finished week 2. Where layering came into play was that in week 2, I added cutting out gluten. I haven’t fully decided if I will maintain that long term, if I will add no dairy, or if I’ll just move to no processed food. I liked that layering cuts down on being overwhelmed and quitting because you’ve started too many habit changes at once.
• Rock your victories. | Celebrate along the way about staying on track with the habit that you are changing. I’m not very good about pampering myself with any self-care so those will be the rewards that I am putting into place during my formation of new habits.

Miss Sunshine is finishing up her summer reading. She decided that it would be nice to put up a hammock in the back yard as a place to read.  Big Mr’s hammock needed some repairs so she ordered her own.

I took full advantage of lounging in it when she was off doing other things!

My self-care pampering this week (technically I’m almost due for a 2nd self-care moment, but as I mentioned it’s not something I’m good at prioritizing) is to take a long soak in my tub. I have a jetted tub that I have used about 3 or 4 times over the past 3 1/2 years. It’s not that I don’t love a good soak, it’s just there is always something else taking precedence.

I saw an article about a salt bath with essential oils that sounded nice. When I tried to find the article again, I ended up finding an aura cleansing one. It was very similar to the original one that I read with a little more ritual involved. Either way, for me the goal is to find some moments of mindfulness and relaxation. I was looking at Lavender essential oil, but opted for this Peace & Harmony calming blend because it smelled so nice. It’s ingredients are Peppermint Oil, Patchouli Oil, Orange Oil, Lavender Oil, and Basil Oil.

If you are interested in the process, it’s to clean the tub and take a head-to-toes cleansing shower completely prior to the bath. To the tub water, you add 2-3 handfuls of unrefined sea salt or himalayan salt (I think mine is unrefined, but I’m not going to stress over that) and the the 2-3 drops of essential oil are optional. You can pray or set intentions releasing negativity while you relax. The recommendation is to not towel dry afterward, but to just put on a robe or whatever. I’ve picked up some candles and am debating some classical music reminiscent of my bath soaking pregnancy days.

I’ve already put the word out that I’m not to be interrupted. Keep your fingers crossed for me that they can handle my hour of alone time.

I’m thinking pedicure and massage may be some of my future weekly self-care rewards.

What kinds of things do you do regularly for self-care?

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. -William S. Burroughs

Last week, I had a song pop into my mind. It took me a while to remember the name, but once I did, it took me on a happy trip down memory lane.

When we first moved to Stuart, Florida in 2010, we rented a home. Even though they called it a 3 bedroom, it was technically two and a den (in Florida, the law is it can be called a bedroom if it has a closet). Big Mr. and Mr. D. shared a bedroom and Miss Sunshine had the room off the living room with pocket door that never closed properly. But we were living near the beach and the rental came with a boat dock at the end of our road.

Since we didn’t know how long we’d be there, we opted to forgo cable.  Our TV was on a lot less during those days. We opted to go for evening boat rides or walks around the neighborhood. It was here that Mr. D would show us his feat of learning how to do a kip up and a planche. That didn’t mean life wasn’t chaotic. I was raising a 7, 9, and 10 year old. Our nephew came to live with us (3 boys in one room) so that I could tutor him, mostly in math, before he took the ASVAB. There would be quite a passage of time before he would eventually ship out for the Marines.

At some point we added Netflix. Some evenings we would find family movies to watch. One happened to be the movie Bandslam. This song is played in the movie. After we watched it, we hunted it down and all practiced the whistling part of the tune.

I had almost forgotten that I found it last week, when last night the hubby was watching Limitless and I heard the song playing from the other room.

Synchronicity?!

It takes me back to a simpler (not less chaotic, just simpler) time in my life. It reminds me of what I’m hoping to achieve by seeking a minimalistic approach to materialism.

I hope that you all have an amazing weekend and a wonderful week ahead of you.

Inhale the future. Exhale the past.

And be fully present in the pause in between.

Let your light shine!

Amy