Daddy Daughter Day

It’s a fruity abundance in Arizona!

The citrus is ripening on the branches, and it is all I can do to keep myself from plucking fruit off of dad’s neighbors' trees, peeling it on the spot and continuing on my way with juice dripping off my chin.

Oranges, both navel and seeded, grapefruits, tangelos and kumquats everywhere you look. It’s an oasis of vitamin C guaranteed to chase away the winter blues.

One of my favorite things to do while visiting Dad is to head out in the morning and walk the trails that weave around several small lakes in the center of the community.

Following the sidewalk wherever it goes, winding from one area to another and stopping to greet other walkers –

Some with dogs in tow, and some without.

Some with golf carts, larger dogs keeping pace beside their owners as they drive.

All stopping to chat and say hello, shoot the breeze, catch up with news -- this is life in a retirement community.

Beautiful abundance!

There is just something about older grandpa types, walking small dogs in sweaters that just makes me giggle.  Big beefy guys wiht soft hearts.  Just too fun. My walk took longer than it should have because I was stopping to greet the 4 legged babies, scratch their ears and receive my share of sniffs and kisses. 

Ducks sunning on the grass!

It was a brisk and sunny 50 degrees with temps on the rise when I headed out.  The water must have been a bit chilly for the native “thin blooded” duck variety!  Not a bird in the water, just sunning on the shore.

More evidence I’m not in Carolina anymore!

This photo was texted home!

Of course I was underhandedly trying to make the home crowd jealous, palm trees, green grass (newly mowed and smelling fresh cut!) water, blue skies and sunshine all in one photo –but it seems like home is “suffering” a warm snap with a high around 60 as well.  Oh well, I tried!

It was an awesome day to take time to visit with dad, catching up on things since the last time we saw each other a year ago, and we headed out around 4pm to catch a matinee. Passengers was a great movie and I really enjoyed it no matter what the critics said.

Of course the company was top notch!

Today is a busy full double duty day, the first of 2017 with the Nimble Thimbles guild in Chandler!

If you are coming for my lecture this evening, we’ve got an interesting situation that was just revealed yesterday – I am not allowed to sell books or merchandise in the facility that the guild has booked for my lecture, which is not their usual site.  The fine print just made known after I had already sent 11 cases of books and merchandise ahead for this venue.

Brain storming occurred yesterday afternoon and since the facility  is next to a school, there will be a “trunk sale” in the school parking lot BEFORE and AFTER the lecture.  So if you are coming, come on over and see me next door before I run over to present my program, and then come back out to the parking lot to visit afterwards! (Bring a flash light! LOL!)

We try to keep things as real and as fun as we can, and this is another situation where I am choosing to act with an alternative instead of react to a bad situation I  have no control over.  We are going to have FUN.  And this leads in to the next thing I want to talk about:

One of the things I’ve not gotten around to doing this year is to post my buzz word, my focus word for 2017.

I had a hard time narrowing down what I really wanted to do, and I came across this quote by George Bernard Shaw that settled it for me:

My word is ACT.

not REACT.

This applies so well to this lecture upheaval situation.

When life throws me whammies it’s easy to get caught up in being defensive, feeling the need to explain myself to set things right, justifying why I did what I did or why I feel a certain way or that something is not fair.  Being defensive often doesn’t help.

When people are unkind, leave insensitive comments, or are quick with a sharp email because they have misunderstood something  or didn’t take the time to learn the full story, both sides– or when others broadcast half truths and twisted facts to make you look bad in front of others, or whatever the case may be, it’s hard to not automatically want to jump in and straighten folks out with ALL the facts and the full story to justify where you’ve been wronged and misrepresented.

But that rarely works. Often times that makes the situation worse, and you are taking on the same behavior as the offender. (Rolling with pigs as the saying goes) The delete button has become my best friend, and I will continue to use it liberally- literally and figuratively in my life.

Instead of feeling provoked to react, I will ACT in other positive ways and maybe WAIT on the knee-jerk react impulse.

‘Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?”
~Lao Tzu

There are things we have control over.  There are things we don’t. We can’t control the actions or reactions of others, but we can control how we choose to act ourselves.

Delete and Breathe.

Start today!

Follow me on Instagram!
Follow my Quiltville Page on Facebook for more fun!
Join our sister group, Quiltville's Open Studio on Facebook, a place to Sew, Share & Grow!!