Missing My Grandma on Her Birthday

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! Today is a sad day for me and my family. Today, would have been my grandma’s 93rd birthday. In fact, when I got up this morning, I tried calling her on her cellphone. It breaks my heart when I do this and wish it wasn’t so hard especially since it has been almost five years since she passed away. Sadly, my grandma passed away from complications due to Parkinson’s Disease.

I am honoring my grandma today by spending it with my grandpa and dad as well as my uncles. Another way I am honoring her on her birthday is going through pictures of her. I also bought some cupcakes and I will light a birthday candle on a cupcake to sing happy birthday after dinner tonight. I’m sure she would be appreciative of it.

I do not have much more to say in this blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. I greatly appreciate you the reader, reading my blog. If it was not for you the reader reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Getting Back in the Groove of Blogging

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! As I mentioned in my first blog of this year (2023) one of my goals is to blog an average of three times a week. One of those ways is to write my Weekly Plans every Sunday morning. Another way I plan on accomplishing this goal is to write a Weekly Check In every Saturday evening.

There is another way that I plan to get back in the groove of blogging more frequently. The way I plan to do that is to start doing free courses through WordPress’s Blogging University. The first course I plan on taking is Finding Everyday Inspiration which is twenty days. The second course I plan on taking is Developing Your Eye I and is seven days. The third course I plan on taking is Intro to Poetry and it is also seven days. The fourth course I am taking is Developing Your Eye II and it is also seven days. That equals forty-one days straight of blogging.

In all honesty, I hope I can stick to this plan especially since I am working full time once again. I am planning on starting this on Sunday, January 22nd, 2023. I am waiting to do this so I can put it into my calendar as I am working on time management as part of my New Years goals as well as making sure I get more into the swing of things at my new job.

I do not have much more to say or discuss in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness Meditation on the Calm App
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Read
  • Art (Paint by number and color)
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie

Monday

  • Mindfulness Meditation on the Calm App
  • Work
  • Read
  • Art (paint by number)
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness Meditation on the Calm App
  • Work
  • Read
  • Art (color)
  • Spend time cuddling my cat, Billie

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness Meditation on the Calm App
  • Work
  • Read
  • Art (paint by number)
  • Spend time cuddling my cat Billie

Thursday

  • Mindfulness Meditation on the Calm App
  • Work
  • Read
  • Art (color)
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie

Friday

  • Mindfulness Meditation on the Calm App
  • Work
  • Read
  • Art (Paint by number)
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie

Saturday

  • Mindfulness Meditation on the Calm App
  • Clean apartment
  • Read
  • Art (Paint by number and color)
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! This week has been quite a week. This week started out with starting a New Year, so Happy 2023 everyone. I didn’t do much on New Years Day. I did watch the fireworks shooting off the Space Needle on television. They were okay but I’ve seen better.

On that note this has been quite busy. Mainly, due to starting a new job as a peer specialist (counselor) at a former employer this past Wednesday. I am happy to back at this employ. I am even more thrilled to be on a team that reaches out to the most vulnerable of the vulnerable in my community. My supervisor is awesome and very helpful. I really do think I am going enjoy my new job most days.

As for today, I volunteered at PAWS Cat City late this afternoon into early evening. I really enjoyed it. We only had two cats who are a bonded pair. So mainly my shift consisted of cleaning which I don’t mind doing. I also got to play with the kitties. In fact today is exactly three years since I did my first shift at PAWS Cat City which is why I signed up for a shift today. I do my regular shift tomorrow morning.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I would like to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciative from my end of thing that you do read my blog. If it wasn’t for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

New Years Goals for 2023

Posted on by Gertie

Happy New Years, World!!! I realize it has been a while since I last wrote on my blog. I apologize for not keeping you all up to date on things. It is surprising how fast 2022 flew by and how well my mental health did last year especially with how challenging some things were for me. I started last year with having Covid-19 which sucked. I also got laid off from a job I loved which also sucked. The suckiest part of last year was finding out that my mom has stage-3 lung cancer. On that note, I also had some successes. Successes so very small but added up to make 2023 an overall good year.

A good year that was helped by making New Years goals. Goals that get re-evaluated every two to three months. When I also re-evaluate goals I also add goals if I have completed. In fact, I am going to share with you my goals for this year. My goals for this year are

  1. Clean apartment and keep it clean.
  2. Read six books.
  3. Color six pictures and one poster.
  4. Paint two paint by numbers paintings.
  5. Start and complete two workbooks regarding my mental health recovery.
  6. Continue volunteering at PAWS Cat City.
  7. Blog an average of three times a week.

I have more goals than listed but some are a little bit personal to share on the internet. I am grateful to have goals and to work on myself and recovery.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I would like to thank you for reading my blog. If it wasn’t for you reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you for reading my blog. Peace Out and Happy New Years, World!!!

The Holidays are Upon Us

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate Hanukkah. To those who may not be aware, this evening (December 18th) starts the first night of Hanukkah. No, I am not Jewish but I do celebrate it with friends who ask me to. This year I am spending four nights celebrating with friends who have asked me to help with their tradition. The evening of today, December 18th starts Hanukkah and ends the evening of Monday, December 26th.

The Yule are celebrated by Pagans with very many types of traditions. I am not Pagan but this is the holiday I personally prefer to celebrate in my own way. This year Yule starts December 21st and ends January 1st.

The next holiday to be celebrated is Christmas Day which is December 25th. Some in the Christian faith also celebrate it the evening of December 24th. Yes, this is the Christian holiday.

The cool thing I am finding is all three religions will be celebrating the same day which is December 25th. Don’t you all think it is pretty awesome. I know I do. This has me curious so the next time this happens will be in 2024. In the year 2024 I plan to celebrate all three holidays with friends, family and myself.

As far as New Year’s I celebrate that as my own holiday. I spend it with my cat Billie, watching movies and sleeping all day.

I do not have much more to say except I hope there is no snow in Seattle I will tell you more in a later post. Peace Out, World and go celebrate your faith.

Everyday Inspiration, Day 7; Let Social Media Inspire You

Posted on by Gertie

When thinking about how social media inspires me, I have mixed emotions about it. I have mixed emotions because not only can social media be inspiring in can be frustrating as well.

Let’s not discuss the frustrating parts of social media and talk about the inspiring parts of it. To me cat stories on social media inspire me. It inspires me to continue to volunteer at PAWS Cat City. It also inspires me to love my cat, Billie more everyday and to make sure he is happy.

Another way social media inspires me is seeing people’s recovery story with whatever they struggle with. I love seeing how people make progress with their recovery. It encourages me to continue on my on recovery path. So, I guess social media can be inspiring.

Everyday Inspiration, Day 6; The Space to Write

Posted on by Gertie

Finding the right space to write in Seattle can be a bit challenging. I say it is challenging because it all depends on the the time of year. When it comes to late autumn, most if not all of winter and early spring I tend to write inside especially when it comes to blogging. That means my awesome cat, Billie sits by my side or on my lap when I am writing my blog. Occasionally, I do go to the library to blog. During the not so good weather months or what I call the yucky weather months, I tend to do most of my blogging at home so I can get some inspiration especially from my cat, Billie. Occasionally, I also go to a coffee shop to have a London Fog as I people watch as I write my blog. So, during the yucky weather months the blogging part of my writing is done inside especially since I live in Seattle.

Now when it comes to the nice late spring months as well as most of the summer months I tend to blog outside. I tend to go to both Cowen and Ravenna Parks since they not only connected but feels like you are in the middle of nature. It feels like the middle of nature despite being in a middle of a major city of Seattle. Cowen and Ravenna Parks feel like you are in a small forest which is why it feels like you are in the middle of nature. I personally prefer writing outside in nice weather, weather it is blogging or other types of writing.

As you can tell, my writing is dependent on the weather and sometimes my mood if my mental health symptoms are acting up. Mainly it is weather dependent. I love being inspired by writing in different places.

Everyday Inspiration: Day 5; Hook ‘Em With a Quote

Posted on by Gertie

The following quote is by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

The reason why this is one of my favorite quotes is because I never believed in myself nor my dreams. It wasn’t till I made an active choice to become in active recovery with my mental health challenges that this particular quote hit home for me. I have a future and my future has beauty even when I have some dark days. I love the fact I have dreams and a future ahead of me even when I have some dark days like everyone else. I am glad my dark days are far and few between the good days.

Everyday Inspiration, Day 4; A Story in a Single Image

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! Topic is a story in a single image. Sadly, the four images WordPress gave us to be “inspired” by didn’t really inspire me. So, I chose my teddy bear to be inspired by. I have had this teddy bear since the day I was born and I am forty-three years old. I still sleep with Teddy as I call him. He is a priceless heirloom to me and I love him dearly. He has had to be sewed up on several occasions but what do you expect for a teddy bear being forty-three years old.