Amazon purchases.

 I've done a little shopping on Amazon lately. Nothing big. Just little things to make my life easier. The first thing was a cane. Because of the hip pain I decided that a cane might be a good thing to have. I meant to get a picture but never did.

The cane came and it is a great help. Vanity has kept me from using it anywhere except for at home and work but last Saturday I did take it to Walmart with me to get from the car into the store where I could grab a cart. I did find out that the one I purchased was too tall for me. The ad said it was for 5'0" up to I think 5'9". Turns out it was about 3" too high for me. I purchased another one at Walmart that was the right height.

The other purchase was a little rechargeable desktop fan that I took to work with me.

It gets a little hot sometimes especially on really sunny days since I sit right next to the window. This little thing does a great job even at the very lowest setting. 

Life was better when it was simpler.

I look at how young adults live today, and I keep hearing the same thing: “I’m too busy.” Too busy to cook, too busy to clean, too busy to run errands, too busy to make time for family. Everything has to be delivered, automated, or outsourced because life feels overwhelming.

But I don’t think life is harder now. I think it’s just noisier.

When life was simpler, people still worked full‑time, raised kids, kept a house running, and handled their responsibilities. Yet somehow, there was still room for family. You sat down for dinner. You spent weekends together. You didn’t have to “schedule” time with the people you lived with. You just did it.

Today, people have more conveniences than ever, yet less time for the people who matter. They’re not buried under chores — they’re buried under screens. Notifications, social media, constant comparison, constant pressure. Their attention is pulled in a hundred directions, and family ends up squeezed into whatever minutes are left over.

The pace of life didn’t change. The priorities did.

Back then, you didn’t need an app to remind you to call your mother. You didn’t need a “family night” blocked out on a calendar. You simply showed up. You were present. You weren’t distracted by a phone buzzing through every conversation.

Life was better when it was quieter. When you could hear yourself think. When your time wasn’t eaten up by digital noise. When family wasn’t treated like an optional extra.

Simpler wasn’t worse. Simpler was better.

What do you think — is life actually busier now, or just more cluttered?

Drawings year 3 week 3

 

Beauty and the beast

 I love those Facebook things that you pick a picture and it will put your face in them. Since my profile picture is one that was done with AI it makes me look young and wrinkle free so it works good with these.

I did this one recently. Not only did I like the way this one turned out but I loved that it had me sitting on a front porch drinking coffee. That is exactly where I would love to be spending my time.

Last weekend I was in Walmart doing my weekly shopping. As I was walking towards the grocery section I spotted another customer who looked familiar. She shopped at the store where I used to work and we always referred to her as the beast. She was the meanest most unpleasant woman I have ever encountered. I snapped a picture of her and sent it in a text to one of the girls I used to work with. She said it sure looked like her and she was happy to say that she no longer shops there.

Men at work

 And sometimes women too. Lately there has been roadwork all over the place. Two mornings in a row I got stopped just before I got on the highway as I was headed to work.

They resurfaced parr of this road a couple weeks prior. I'm not exactly sure what they were doing that day but they had it down to one lane.

While I sat there I took a picture off to the side. Why? Because seeing green just makes me happy.

July happy mail

 I found the graphic for this one on Facebook and printed it out to use for this card. I loved the looks of it.

With most of my cards I go to AI to find a sentiment for the inside.

Random desk shots.

 When you are at work and things are slow, you'll do just about anything to pass the time. I get tired of playing games on my phone or reading on my kindle all the time. One day I took random pictures of the things around me.

When the temps are high a scrunchie is essential. This one sits atop the tablet with all the notes I scribble all day long while on the phone. 

The phone is a big part of my day. Well at least it is when it rings. I do make a lot of calls too.

And how about a close up of the pencil holder I have sitting next to my computer.

Ditch lilies.

 Every year I've posted pictures of my day lilies

These are so common around here and mostly you see them growing wild in ditches along the side of the road. Hence, many people refer to them as ditch lilies.

I was recently stopped in a work zone and thought I would grab some pictures of them.

You can't really see the up-close of the flowers that well but they are the same ones I have in my yard.

I think that I shall never see

 A poem as lovely as a tree.

One day after work I snapped pictures of trees on the drive. I was stopped in traffic when I took these. Sorry about how blurry the first one is.

It's like night and day

 Just a small comparison between the job I have now and the one I could have had if I had waited for the grocery store I used to work for to reopen.

On July 1st I received an email saying that everyone across all divisions was being paid a $250 bonus for the 4th of July. Normally this would be a paid holiday but this year it fell on a Saturday so it wasn

When I worked at the grocery store the only day we ever closed was Christmas day. Now, they are closed for all holidays. According to their Facebook posts it's so their employees can spend the day with their families. According to employees that I used to work with, it's because he doesn't want to pay time and a half. I asked if they at least get holiday pay and I was told no. They no longer get paid for any holiday.

I really feel like I dodged a bullet by not going back there. It's nice to work for a company that cares about their employees

Just a small update. The other girl who I was working with in the office found another job and last Friday was her last day. Now I will be alone 3 out of 5 days and my manager will be coming twice a week from out of town. When I inquired about days that I already had scheduled off or one that I need to leave early I was told that I shouldn't worry about any time off at all and they would work something out even if it meant closing the office early so I could leave for an appointment. They really have gone above and beyond. 

The cost of having it handled

I went to AI to help me put into words what I was feeling about being proud of being independent but struggling with it at the same time. This is an edited version of what AI composed. 

We wear independence like a badge of honor. "I’ve got it," is our mantra. And it’s a great survival strategy—until it isn’t.

There is a quiet, exhausting downside to being fiercely self-reliant. Eventually, your strength transforms from a choice into a cage.

When you are consistently dependable, you inadvertently teach the world that you don't need tending to. People mistake your competence for immunity to exhaustion. Because you aren’t projecting a crisis, they assume you're perfectly fine. Your needs become invisible simply because you are too good at hiding the weight.

For the fiercely independent, actually asking for help is an excruciating exercise in vulnerability. You have to swallow your pride and override the internal voice telling you that needing help means failing.

But the real heartbreak happens after you finally ask: 

People say, "Let me know if you need anything," but because you look so sturdy, they forget to follow through.

When someone agrees to help and then simply forgets, it feels devastating. It reinforces the exact narrative that made you hyper-independent in the first place: “If I want it done right, I have to do it myself.” 

Real strength isn’t about carrying an impossible load until your back breaks. It’s about having the courage to say, "I am drowning right now, and I need a hand."

You shouldn't have to prove you are completely broken before the people in your life offer you a hand. Consider this your permission slip to let the shield drop, even if just for a moment.

Now if only I could follow this advice and let that shield drop. Instead I'll more than likely continue to let it break me. 

Archive dive

 I have nothing to use for a blog post today. I decided to do a little archive dive and see what I could find. This is just a random selection of pictures I found.

Happy Independence day

 The 4th of July marks the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776, setting the foundation for the freedoms and ideals that shape the United States. It’s a moment to look back at the courage it took to break away, and to appreciate the rights and opportunities we have because of it.

Wishing you a safe, joyful, and meaningful Independence Day — however you choose to celebrate it.

Drawings year 3 week 2

 

Outback

 No that should be out back. That's as far as I traveled for these pictures. 

I had shown you last year the progress they made when they put in the pharmacy next to the doctors office. By the way, that still has not opened. Apparently some issue with licensing. 

Any way, the big draining system they put in. For whatever reason they are letting the weeds grow all around it. Maybe they are just letting it go because the grass is still too new. I'm not sure.

I took a stroll back there and snapped a few pictures. I'm looking forward to when these grow and create a wall across my back yard.

Tried to snap a picture of the weeds but it wouldn't focus on them.

This one was better

One more try and I still couldn't get it to focus on what I wanted it to

Welcome to July

 Holy smokes how did we get here already? 

In order to get through this post you must read the pictures as you go along.

First let me say

this blog post unless you are prepared for my silliness.

I pretty much did a

picture taking session before work one day. I did this so that I could bring you a 

blog post, and I'm not just whistling

If nothing else I hope I entertained you for a few minutes. 

Holding on to the light: Life lately

 Life lately feels like walking a long road with no map — just a stubborn determination to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I wake up each day trying to stay positive, trying to remind myself that there is still beauty in the world, still reasons to keep going, still moments worth noticing. And yet, beneath that effort, there’s a quiet ache I can’t always ignore.

It’s the loneliness that settles in during the in‑between moments. The sense that the world keeps spinning while I’m standing still. People get busy, lives move on, and sometimes it feels like I’ve slipped out of focus — like I’m becoming a background character in my own story. I know it’s not intentional. I know people care. But knowing and feeling are two very different things.

Then there’s the body — this unpredictable companion that doesn’t always cooperate the way it used to. Pain shows up uninvited, lingering longer than it should. Aging feels less like a number and more like a slow unraveling, a fear that one day something important will give out and I won’t be able to stitch it back together. I try to laugh it off, to stay strong, to pretend I’m not worried. But the truth is, it scares me. Not just the pain itself, but what it represents: change, vulnerability, the loss of control.

Still, in the middle of all of this, I’m learning something important. I’m learning that staying positive doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine. It means acknowledging the hard parts without letting them swallow me. It means letting myself feel lonely without believing I’m forgotten. It means accepting that aging is real, but so is the strength I’ve built over a lifetime.

Some days I’m steady. Some days I’m fragile. Most days I’m somewhere in between. But I’m here — still trying, still hoping, still finding small sparks of light in unexpected places. And maybe that’s enough for now.