Happy Wednesday! I am joining Joyce for a quick hodgepodge of questions. It’s been a while since I’ve joined in and these five questions are going to be fun. Let’s get to it!
1. What gives you energy? What takes it away? I am an extrovert and I get energy from being around people. A list inspires me and rarely makes me feel overwhelmed or unenergized. I find that the more active I am, the more energy I have. Even though I am an extrovert and get energy from people, I do feel like my energy is sucked away when I am around people who complain a lot or generally see the negative in a situation.
2. How often do you shop for clothes? What accessory do you always wear? I am always shopping for clothes – eek! I am not a big trend follower, but I know what I like and when I see it on sale or in the right color I buy it. I always wear my permanent gold bracelets on my left wrist. I usually wear pearl earrings. I also tend to wear a bracelet or two on my right wrist and a necklace.
3. What’s something free that you feel grateful for? I am grateful for time with people I want to spend my time with. It is free to spend time with family and friends and I am grateful for all of the moments we get together. I love one-on-one time in the car, walks, sitting poolside and chatting, and catching up over a bite or drink. And because this blog is called Sunshine and Books I can’t forget to mention feeling the sun on my face and libraries!
4. Breakfast, lunch, dinner…which meal of the day do you enjoy most? What’s your go-to comfort food? Lunch is my favorite. I love going out to lunch and enjoying a big meal. Eating the bigger meal in the middle of the day gives me time digest and feel great before the evening. I am not sure I have a go-to comfort food. I gravitate towards easy foods like pizza when I am tired.
5. This week the world remembers the tragic events of 9/11. Do you mark the day in any way? How do historical events shape your perspective on your personal challenges? Gosh, 9/11 was quite an awakening for me. I was a senior in college and it was the first major world event that I fully paid attention to. I loved how it brought our country together in a way we have not seen since. I try to mark 9/11 by wearing something patriotic and being extra nice to everyone, especially strangers, like we did in 2001. I also try to touch base with my college roommates on 9/11 because we were all together for it. Historical events like 9/11 help me remember to appreciate the life I/we have built and that tomorrow is a fresh start.
6. Insert your own random thought here. I am trying to remember the advice I gave kindergarten parents each year – you need to give your kids and yourself until the end of September to fully get into the routine. My kids are not kindergarteners, but they are adjusting to a new school, new class schedule, new morning routines, new afternoon routines/schedules, and all new people. My work is the same as last year but I am trying to adjust to their new stuff, too. I feel like we should be in the groove by the second week for me and third week for them, but if you think about it we were still poolside 9 days ago. I am giving all of us some grace and remembering that advice Kindergarten Teacher Sarah gave all the parents. Don’t get me wrong, we are doing well! It is just a lot of new and every day seems to have little differences that make it not the same as the day before.
That was fun! I can’t wait to see what everyone else answered! Have a great day full of sunshine and books!
Good morning! What a lovely blog you have! I love that you were spending patriotic on September 11th each year. I might actually borrow a page from your book on this. Have a great day!
Love the advice of giving yourself until the end of September to get into the groove- Amen! Going to listen to this 🙂
Pizza is a great comfort food. I forgot to even mention that one! Have a good day as y’all continue to get in the rhythm of the new school year.
Your advice is great for any new situation or frustration. It’s called giving yourself (and others if necessary) a period of grace to adjust./accept/move on. Enjoyed meeting you today and am impressed that you were the first to sign in this morning. You go girl!
That is good advice about school. I like what you wrote about 911. How the country came together. I enjoy sun too, but now I have skin cancer on my face and have to have surgery.
I like the idea of purposely extending extra kindness on 9/11 and will do that in some way tomorrow. Yes to all the new things requiring extra time and patience to get used to changes and people and routines. By October I’m sure everyone will be rolling right along. Hope you’re having some of the fabulous sunshiny weather we’re having here!
Oh yes lists! Those a great motivator for me.. in fact I just started my to do list for tomorrow. Re-entry into real life after vacation always finds me with a huge to do list.
Re-entry does create a big list, but I find it is the best way to keep myself on track. Welcome home!
YES to #1!! ALL of it. I never go to the library anymore and know I’m missing out. I’m not currently in a season of life that this “fits”. And we lined up on the “lunch” answer :). Your advice, giving your family time to adjust, is the BEST advice I have heard in a long time. Thank you for that. I saw something recently saying that a new graduate is like a toddler – they are in a new phase of life learning everything for the “first” time, to give grace and give them a few years and it has helped me with my mindset with my 20-somethings. . .that they are only 2-5 years into true “adulting” whereas my husband and I have been doing it for decades. I am starting to give that same advice to friends to are retiring from teaching – for the most part, it was our “life” for a long, long time – it’s hard to figure out “what is next”. . .I wish someone would have told me to give it some time to figure next steps out and enjoy just “being” for awhile. Sounds like you all have a full and busy year – thanks for sharing your wisdom with us!
Last week was our 5th week of school, and I finally felt like we were in a routine. Hang in there!