2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 8

Today's happiness: An afternoon nap. The office closed today at 12:30 for the company picnic. I slipped away and came home instead. I'm desperately in need of some alone time. My oldest friend will be in this weekend and we're going to be together 24/7 from Saturday through Monday.

So I got my alone time and I sprawled out on the sofa and napped. And I luxuriated in it.

Can't help it. I'm ANNOYED!

Four of us share a space, and I hate it, hate it, hate it. Because one of my coworkers seems to go out of her way to get on my nerves, and when we're sitting on top of each other it's impossible to ignore her.

The week started when we revisited a project we did six months ago, last February. Our client had approved a piece of creative and wanted the content -- just the content -- in a word file. She had the creative and so I asked her if she would make it a word doc.

Oh, my! You would have thought I'd asked her for an internal organ!

"But it started out as a manuscript. Why don't you just send them your manuscript?"

I explained that the manuscript went through internal changes from our account team, then changes from the client, then revisions from the client's legal department, and so it was no longer an accurate reflection of the final, approved creative.

"But can't you just update it?"

Mind you, in the time it's taken us to have this conversation, she could have just done as requested. It would have taken her less than 5 minutes to copy the creative file and convert it to a word doc.

"No," I said, trying to patient. I explained that when legal revisions and fine print are involved, it's better to not try to reproduce it. It's safer to convert it. She was still resistant.

"Just give me your creative file. I'll do it," I finally said. And I did.

Monday we had to retrieve the project and she said she had no recollection of it. I reminded her that it was the one where I made the word doc's because she wouldn't.

"Why wouldn't I? It would only take 5 minutes. That doesn't sound like me!" She actually insisted that she wasn't the lazy slug she was.

Then yesterday, I was fiddling around with LinkedIn, checking on a coworker's rumored promotion. I saw that my high school friend Judy tried to contact me through this networking site, and mentioned her sister's illness. I said, "Oh, no, I don't feel like dealing with this right now." It was more to myself than to anyone else but because we sit on top of one another ...

Annoying Coworker said, "So just call her."

"It's complicated," I said. "And just seeing her message leaves me feeling really sad and guilty." (Actually, "responsible" would have been a better word than "guilty.")

Annoying Coworkers snapped, "Well, that's your problem."

"She's telling me her sister had a massive heart attack and almost died. That kinda thing always bothers me," I snapped back. And haven't spoken to her since.

2013 August Happiness Challenge: Day 7

Today's happiness: my iPod. I've been carrying this old thing -- an old school iPod classic -- for so long that I take it for granted. But it really is a worthy companion. Lately I've been immersing myself in audiobooks I'd forgotten about. Elizabeth by J. Randy Taraborelli is the one that's currently got my interest. The book itself is not so great, but Taylor's life (6 marriages to 5 husbands, countless illnesses and surgeries, and a pair of Oscars) can't NOT be interesting.


Because I loaded up the iPod myself, any content I land on is going to make me happy. It truly is an awesome invention. Thank you, Steve Jobs.

Looking good!

I've seen Lana twice at the health club this week, and am pleased to report she looks wonderful.

Lana is a coworker of mine -- a woman I liked and respected -- who was let go last February. Her journey has been an interesting one. When she was first laid off, she was philosophical, even enthusiastic. She didn't take the company-sponsored outplacement counseling because she was sure she wouldn't need it. She had an interview set up right away and there were promises of more. Besides, she wanted to finish some redecorating projects she'd begun on her apartment.

Then her prospects dried up. She started freaking out and wanted to come back to us -- the agency that had laid her off -- as a freelancer. I did what I could, even though I was certain that was a dead end. After all, they didn't let her go, just to bring her back and pay her out of a different pot of money.

Just as she began to totally panic because the wolf was too close to the door, a freelance job at another agency -- as prestigious as ours, maybe even more so -- opened up. I found out by talking to her that the gigs been extended: "through the summer" now seems to be "through the end of the year." She's hoping that they will hire her for real, benefits and everything, after the holidays.

She's also begun working out at my health club but with great success because she has a personal trainer. I saw her on the rowing machine and she looked so happy.

So it looks like Lana is moving forward. After seeing her, I felt sorry for me, not her, because the guy we replaced her with is an annoying putz and I miss her.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 6

Today's happiness: Joey. How I love this cat! So much so that today his visage replaces Augie's.

We met in the mid-1990s. His previous owners had unceremoniously dumped him at the local animal shelter -- in a sealed box, on a cold December morning -- because they could no longer afford him. A dangerous, irresponsible act, but a desperate one, too. Because Joey's heart is so open and loving that it's obvious that he's never known anything but affection from humans. So the people who cared for him during his first three years clearly did care for him.

Joey is a cat's cat. He liked play fighting and chasing. I have enjoyed watching him build relationships with the other cats in the household. First he took the role of junior partner to my late Billy. Now, with Reynaldo, he's the elder statesman. The problem is Charlotte, our resident diva. She simply hates Joey. Always has. Hated him on first sight and sees no reason to change her assessment. Every day, Joey begins a new, approaching her in friendship. And every day she hits him on the head. It's been going on like this since the Clinton Administration. Considering the difference in their sizes -- Joey is enormous and Charlotte is petite -- he could annihilate her, but he never would. Joey is inexhaustibly gentle.

Joey is my purr box. It's a deep, low rumble. All I have to do is touch him and he turns it on. He loves to lay on his back, turning his tummy to the sun. (When my mom stayed with me for a few days, she noted that his soft, white, furry tummy looks like clouds.) He follows the sun from room to room. He loves hearing his name, and his favorite sentence is "Joey Joey Joey Joe." Except for thunder and going to the vet, he fears nothing. He views every person he encounters as a friend he hasn't met yet and a head-rub waiting to happen.

He's sitting with me as I compose this. He brings the happy, every day. His tender, trusting nature is a blessing.

Color me confused

As I have written many a time, I am worried about my job stability. Between reorganization at my client's offices, which will change their needs, and a merger between the agency network I work for and our arch rival, the ground beneath my feet feels anything but solid. We have gone months without enough work to really support the three creative teams we have assigned to the account.

I figured that if there were to be lay-offs, they would happen on or around August 15. Middle of the quarter, that's when the corporation likes to do it. For some reason it makes it easier for their bookkeeping.

Now, as August 15 approaches, we have been preparing for a major new project. Tuesday we devoted 90 days to a pre-meeting, discussing timing and resources. I suppose under other circumstances the scope might sound daunting, but I have been so eager to show how much I can do, and how well, that I am nothing but enthusiastic.

EXCEPT ... my friend Tom had meetings scheduled for that entire day back in February (middle of the quarter), when he was let go.

So I want to relax, but I'm afraid to.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 5

Today's happiness: My Aunt Jo. She's my Godmother, my dad's baby sister. She and my mother had a difficult relationship, and my father had a difficult relationship with everyone, so my household wasn't very close to her. When she moved to Florida, back in the 1980s, we all kinda lost track of her, except for the occasional Christmas card. Then, in the summer of 2010, she started reaching out to me. We correspond regularly on FB and at least once a week by email.

I appreciate this so much. she reminds me of when I was a little girl and so loved by my grandpa ("You were so the favorite in our house"). She is very supportive of the me I am today and thinks I'm bright and talented. When my mother died, she flew out and stood by me at the funeral, even though her relationship with my mother wasn't great.

And today I found a book from her in the mail. It's Patricia Cornwell's biography of Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham. I've always meant to read it, but never got around to it. We're both Cornwell fans, and when Jo was done with her copy, she dropped it in the mail to me. How thoughtful!

There's a symmetry to this, too. There's a book on my bedroom floor, a mystery I finished recently, that I've been meaning to send her.

I blame it on Charleton Heston

I dearly do love TCM Summer Under the Stars, but tonight is Charleton Heston night (all Chuck, nothing but Chuck) and he really leaves me cold. So tonight after work, I laid down on the sofa for just a moment ... and woke up FIVE HOURS LATER.

God, I hate it when that happens!

The times, they are a-changing

I am blessed to live in a community that values public transportation. We have many bus lines and are bordered on two sides by three different train lines. Yet, due to my own laziness, the only part of town I frequent is the east side, where I live.

Well, Saturday I went to my southside vet's office, but without a cat. Since I didn't have an appointment and was only there to pick up prescription pet food, I was able to travel at a leisurely pace. When I was done at the vet, I stopped by an independently-owned grocery store to pick up some essentials (specifically paper towels, canned tuna and, for the food pantry, a box of pasta -- they always need pasta).

This store has been family owned for decades. Now that it's run by grandson, there's been some rumbling that the quality isn't there at the meat counter. I wasn't shopping for that, so I can't comment, but I did notice a distinctly different vibe than Trader Joe's, where I usually grocery shop.

First of all, there are wood shelves and the lighting isn't as blindingly bright. The shoppers I encountered don't peruse the aisles -- they know what they want and they grab it and go. Everyone seemed like me, there to just pick up a thing or two or three -- no full carts at the checkouts, no one even took one of the red plastic baskets by the door.

And on the way out, I was sad to see empty white wire shelves where the tabloids used to be. No People or Us or Vanity Fair. Also no Enquirer, Globe or Star. It made me sad because I could imagine Liz and Dick headlines screaming from those racks. I guess the Internet makes magazine displays like these obsolete.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 4

Going to the movies. I love everything about seeing a film on the big screen, and yet this summer, I've only been once before. Part of it is that my weekend afternoons have been so full -- with friends, with trips to the salon or the dentist, most of all, with Reynaldo at the vet. Part of it is that there haven't been any big blockbusters I've wanted to see. So many (Superman, Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger) seemed aimed at teenaged boys.

That all changed this afternoon. I got my most pressing chores (laundry and grocery shopping) done early and there's been a Sundance hit at my local theater, just waiting for me.

The Way, Way Back is so charming! It's about a 14-year-old boy spending a troubled summer with his mother, her new boyfriend and that man's daughter at a lake house called The Riptide. He reminds me of me at that age (except I was a girl and the cabin was called Smokey Pines). The grownups all behave badly ("It's like spring break for parents") and there's plenty of tension inside the newly pasted together "family." Fortunately for our hero, he finds a surrogate family at Water Wizz, the rather rundown water park that's more popular with townies than the resort crowd. My favorite character was Owen, played by Sam Rockwell. He's very reminiscent of Bill Murray in Meatballs, but that's OK, but I ended up a little in love with Bill Murray in Meatballs, too. I wonder how different I'd be if instead of feeling like a hostage at Smokey Pines every summer, I had a "friend who drives" like Owen to look forward to.

Sunday Stealing

Massive Alphabet Meme, part two

The Letter N 
Do you have a nickname?  Yes
What is your favorite number? 7
Do you prefer night or day? Not really.

The Letter O
What is your one wish? Contentment
Are you an only child? No, but I often wish I was
Do you wish this year was over? No

The Letter P 
What is one fear that you are most paranoid about? I like this question; "most paranoid" implying that there are many things that haunt my neurotic imagination. I suppose I'm "most paranoid" about the powers that be at work discussing my fate.
What personality trait would you look for in someone you wanted to date? Independence

The Letter Q 
Are you quick to judge people? I try not to be, but I'm not sure I'm completely successful

The Letter R
Do you think you are always right? About some things
Do you watch reality T.V.? Not very often
What is a good reason to cry? Despair and helplessness

The Letter S 
Do you prefer sun or rain? Sun
Do you like snow? Yes! I much prefer it to rain
What is your favorite season? Autumn

The Letter T 
What time is it? 8:00 AM
What time did you wake up? 7:00 AM
When was the last time you slept in a tent? Oh, it was DECADES ago!

The Letter U
Are you wearing underwear? Yes
Do you open your eyes when under water?   Yes

The Letter V 
What is the worst veggie? Tomatoes. Their consistency gives me the willies.

Where do you want to go on vacation? Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica. Great spa, beautiful ocean views and an old friend nearby. Hope I can afford it next year!

What was your last family vacation together?  A cottage on a tiny lake in Wisconsin. It was hell. All we did was fight. I've never been back. Though my younger sister (only 9 at the time) was either oblivious or inured to all the hostility and remembers it all fondly, returning there every year with her own family.

The Letter W 
What is your worst habit?  Sloth

Where do you live?  Chicago, the greatest city ever!

The Letter X 
Have you ever had an X-ray?  Yes, and so should you.
Have you ever seen the X-Games?  No.
Do you own or have you ever played a xylophone?  As a child, I had one decorated with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

The Letter Y
Do you like the color yellow?  Yes. After blue, it's my favorite color.
What year were you born in? 1957
What do you yearn for most? Contentment

The Letter Z
What is your Zodiac Sign? I'm on the cusp. Whether I'm Sag or Scorp depends on which astrological resource you're looking at.
Do you believe in the Zodiac? Not much.

What is your favorite zoo animal? The okapi. They are pretty rare, because man has decimated their natural habitat. Without zoos, these docile and graceful and shy animals might actually become extinct, which would be a tragedy.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 3

Today's happiness: State Farm. A very official-looking envelope came from State Farm yesterday and I immediately set it aside. I have two policies with them -- long-term care and homeowner's -- and I just didn't feel like dealing with an unexpected bill this month, when I'm running short.

Well, this morning I opened and found a refund for $260. YEA! It seems I overpaid my homeowner's premium. I checked my Quicken and didn't immediately find it. But yes, I used my State Farm Dollars (a reward for using my State Farm Bank Visa) to pay, and then cut a check. They caught it immediately and sent me a refund.

I'm grateful that they're honest because I never would have caught it. And I'm happy, happy, happy that it came NOW, when I'm having a hard time making ends meet.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: I'm a Believer

1) This song is about a guy who fell in love when he saw her face. Do you believe in love at first sight? No. I believe in electricity, a spark. I've felt it myself! But not love.

 

2) "I'm a Believer" is the best-selling Monkees song. Can you name another one? "Cheer up, Sleepy Jean ..." Daydream Believer.

 
3) On their TV show, the boys competed for the same girl. Have you and a friend ever been romantic rivals? Yes, back when I was in my 20s. She and I laughed about it. In fact, she used to mark every page of her dayplanner with one of our initials and would joke, "I get him today! Calendar says so." He ended up with another girl entirely. They have been married forever and have four (count 'em, 4!) kids. So I'd say the story has a happy ending.

4) In another episode, the Monkees visited the circus. If you were confident there was a good strong net beneath you, would you walk across the high wire? I think it would be a blast! (Even though I'm sure I'd land on that good strong net pretty early on.)

5) The Monkees show originally aired on Monday nights. Do you have a favorite day of the week? Friday. There's so much excitement in the air, with everyone planning for the weekend.

 
6) Davy Jones guest starred on an episode of The Brady Bunch. The plot revolved around Marcia's efforts to get him to perform at the prom. Share one of your memories from a school dance. I only went to one formal, and I remember the dress so vividly. Floor-length, bright yellow. Mutton-chop sleeves with long tight cuffs and covered buttons. In retrospect, it was hideous. But at the time, I thought I was happening.

 
  

7) At the height of their popularity, the Monkees' faces and logo appeared on a lot of merchandise, including lunch boxes. Which would you rather have for lunch -- chicken salad, tuna salad or egg salad? I like them all, but direct from the refrigerator. Not in a lunch box. I'd be worried about them going bad. BTW, every morning I pass Au Bon Pain and they are promoting a lobster salad sandwich that looks delicious.

 

8) You have an afternoon all to yourself. Would you rather spend it at the mall, checking out what's new in the stores and people watching, or walking through the forest, observing the birds and trees and leaves? Depends on the weather. If it's really hot, I'll go to the mall. But if it's 80º or under, I'd enjoy the forest.

 
9) Do you have a good memory for names? No. I wish I did.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day Two

Today's happiness: The Village Book Fair. I'm so glad that I live in a village of book lovers, where the library has three branches, and the annual fundraiser is an event.

It always offers such great values, too. This year my find was Killing the Blues, the continuation of the late Robert Parker's Jesse Stone series as taken over by a new author, Michael Brandman. I've been curious about Brandman. So I got a like-new hardcover for $2 -- and it was a charitable contribution, too!

I also got a biography of Bruce Springsteen and a handful of Agatha Christie paperbacks (50¢ each!)  to send to the troops in Afghanistan. According to Operation Shoebox, our soldiers really appreciate light reading.

Another thing I enjoy about the book fair is seeing which book is so over. There's one every year -- the book my neighbors bought in big numbers and then decided, seemingly at all once, to discard.

In 2006, it was The Corrections.
In 2007, The Nanny Diaries.
In 2008, The Da Vinci Code.
In 2009, My Life by Bill Clinton.
In 2010, Scarlett, the Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with The Wind.
In 2011, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
In 2012, Sixkill by Robert B. Parker (a Spenser mystery)

In 2013, it's The Da Vinci Code all over again. I wonder how Dan Brown would feel about this dubious honor.

Trifextra

This week's challenge: 33 words inspired by this photo --

33 of your own words inspired by the following photo. - See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.XRHWr1ko.dpuf

Author [ changó ] / photo on flickr

"Oh, I dunno. They cut my hours, so I started living on my credit cards. Then I got sick and couldn’t work. Then I missed my rent a couple times. How about you?"

 

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 1

Today's happiness: My job. Yeah, I know I complain about it. A lot. And there's much about it that isn't perfect. BUT, as I sit here, preparing to shut down the computer and head home, it occurs to me that it offers me much to be grateful for:

•  The location. The view from my desk is breathtaking. I can see sailboats on Lake Michigan from here.

•  My client. I really respect them. That's a blessing. I have had clients in the past that got off on making their agency jump through small, fiery hoops. My client's corporate culture is open and honest and collaborative -- a rarity!

•  It's a good fit. There are times that I realize that the assignments we get match up well with my skillset and that I am good at this job.

How about you? What's made you happy this fine August day?

Introducing Augie and The August Happiness Challenge 2013

Meet Augie, The August Happiness Challenge Cat

The Challenge is really very simple: "Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world."

Since this year I long for contentment, I have chosen this charming gent as my Happiness icon. I love that look of satisfaction on his face. I call him Augie. I discovered him while clicking through the Life Magazine photo archives looking for something else, and fell in love.

Anyway, if you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for Augie. Every day I will try to have a post with the headling: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

Of course you're encouraged to visit the other Happiness participants, but it's not mandatory. And if I miss a day because I'm away from the computer (which I may be at least one weekend), feel free to post on your own and visit other bloggers without me.

Augie and I aren't much for rules. The motivation behind the August Happiness Challenge is simply to give us each a moment to reflect on the positive things in our lives.

So simply think of it as a pleasant little blogging prompt, not a challenge to be conquered. That's the way I've been doing it every year -- without agita -- since 2007. And that's the way I'm going to continue. Because it makes me happy.

It's that time again!

TCM Summer Under the Stars kicked off this morning with a full day of Bogart!

I love how TCM chooses 31 great performers and highlights them, one by one, all day. And I love the TCM Summer Under the Stars Blogathon hosted by Scribehard on Film and Sittin' on a Backyard Fence. They have collected a great group of cinema-loving bloggers, and the posts are always such fun to read. I recommend you check them out.

And I'm participating this year -- at least once -- with my thoughts on one of the most spectacular casts ever assembled (Taylor, Hepburn and Clift!) in one of the weirdest, most fascinating big budget movies ever made, Suddenly, Last Summer. Come back on Friday, August 23. That's the day La Liz is featured by TCM, and the eccentric Suddenly, Last Summer will be featured here.

"Let it go, Gal. Just let it go."

"But it was small minded and elitist."

"And it was just one paragraph of a six page booklet."

"Exactly! It was just one paragraph of a six page booklet! That's why he should have let me keep it!"

So goes the internal dialog I have been having with myself for two days.

The project we're working on is about handling money for young adults. My boss, whose son is in

college on the five-year plan (the kid has had health problems), had me take out any references to budgeting for child care, long-term savings for a mortgage/a child's tuition/retirement, and the bullet point in the paragraph about emergency funds that referenced paying for groceries or utilities if you lose your job.

He says that "no one under 25 cares about that stuff."

I ride the el with young women (and occasionally young men) who are under 25 and have small children. Where are they going? I've always assumed that there is an affordable child care facility nestled somewhere within the skyscrapers where they work and Harold Washington College where they go to school. Apparently these women do not exist.

Likewise, the administrative assistants in our own agency, or the mail room staff. Under 25. Working 40 hour weeks. I suppose that we would advise them NOT to have the automatic deductions made for life insurance or retirement? Or maybe we wouldn't bother, because in his world, they don't exist.

He said that the line about paying for groceries if you lose your job should go because kids would just say, "Dad, I lost my job at Jimmy John's. Send me money." So I guess my niece, a college student who would be lost without her job because her parents are financially strapped, doesn't exist.

Bottom line -- he's my boss. He made the cuts and they are gone.

The elitism pisses me off. It's not only small minded, it's bad for business. Our client is not Charles Schwab. The people who would turn to our client for financial advice are not upper middle class or better.

And I hate it it when some of us deem others of us invisible.

But I have to let it go. I think it's taken a toll on my complexion! (See post below.)

Photo credit: Image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Really? REALLY?

I have the most painful, red and angry little zit on my lip. The tenacious little bastard has been hanging on since Friday.

I'm 55 years old and embarrassed by a zit.

This particular hell is never going to end, is it?

It was the strangest thing

As I was walking into the coffee room of our newly renovated office space, preparing to fill my mug with ice water, it dawned on me, "I want to call my mother."

I know my mom is dead. She's been gone nearly a year. I think about her -- and her passing -- every day. As we approach the anniversary, I think to myself, "It was a year ago today that she saw this/that for the last time."

Sometimes when I think of my mom I'm mad at her. I can't believe she put me in charge of her messed up final affairs when she was very aware of what a bitch her oldest child can be. I feel like a pawn in the final disagreement between the two of them and I really resent it.

Sometimes when I think of her I'm sad, because I know how much she loved her grandchildren and tending her yard. I wish she could enjoy being outdoors with my nephew these unusually mild summer afternoons.

But today is the first time I have ever had the impulse to pick up the phone and call her.

I wonder when, or if, I'll ever get used to her being gone.

Well, it won't be today

Today is payday, and it's the middle of the third quarter, so I was more than a little afraid that today would be the day the axe fell. Here it is, mid-afternoon, and so far no calls from HR, no rumors flying down the halls. So I guess I have a two-week reprieve … until the next payday.

This is a rough month for me, financially. And wouldn't you know what project I'm working on is "Money Management 101," a brochure to help young people be more fiscally responsible.

"Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful?"

The Stevie Wonder song began running through my head when I learned I was given the "One Lovely Blog Award" by Kellee at "Outspoken and Freckled." Kellee writes so very well about movies and TV, especially strong women characters. Scroll down her blog today and you'll see posts about Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were) and Mary Richards (MTM's landmark show) and Nora Charles (Myrna Loy in The Thin Man series). So getting this award from her is especially "lovely."


How this "One Lovely Blog Award" works:

1. Add the “One Lovely Blog Award” image to your post

2. Share seven things about you

3. Pass the award on to seven nominees

4. Thank the person who nominated you and add a short blurb about them.

5. Inform the nominees by posting on their blogs

Seven things about me

1) I start every weekday watching Morning Joe on MSNBC. I like how they devote longer segments to important topics, I enjoy hearing diverse points of view (even though I invariably disagree with their civil and smart Republican guests, it's a good learning experience and makes me feel better about our future as a country) and Joe and Mika often make me laugh.

2) I am hooked on Farmville 2. I spent an embarrassing amount of time yesterday constructing a new pen for my hooved animals.

3) I love baseball. I love how fair it is, how traditional it is. I am so fascinated by all the stats, even though I don't often recall them after I hear them.

4) It makes me sad when I flip through US magazine and no longer recognize many of the celebs. (Dianna Agron? Marisa Miller?)

5) I love ribeye steak. 

6) My greatest failing: No self discipline

7) I wish I was more successful at living in the moment.

My seven nominees

1) Boss Nurse. She's a very mature, level-headed, grown up blogger and I enjoy reading her.

2) Endomental. She's a mom and a photographer and a fellow movie lover.

3) Book Mama. She's a big reader (obviously) and a loving mom and a good writer.

4) Kwizgiver. She throws herself into everything she does -- teaching, reading, knitting, napping ...

5) J's Thoughts and Musings. She's back! And I hope this award will be the gentle nudge she needs to post more often.

6) Snarky Pants. She specializes in all the major food groups: Snark, Pants and Cookies.

7) Kathy W. Because she cracks me up.

Inspired

My niece's college, The Culinary Institute of Michigan, put this on their Facebook page this morning and I love it.

Today I took #2 to heart. I not only worked up a sweat at the health club over lunch, I took a walk after dinner, enjoying the midsummer evening as I dropped some books off at the highschool for this weekend's charity book fair. It does feel good. Why don't I do it more often?