Hello November!

What a beautiful day it was in the Coachella Valley today! Crisp air, breathtaking blue skies, stunning white clouds that were gradually pushed along by dark, rain soaked grey ones.  The perfect day would have brought with it steady showers; perhaps tomorrow.

This month goals and challenges will test my resolve.  October 29, 2012 was the beginning of our family's period of restoration, where we still find ourselves today.  It's a process, and time will tell when this reality gives way to healing, then peace.  Everyday for the past two years  acceptance has been my focus; perseverance my intent, with gratitude guiding me along.  It's a challenge, one that I gladly accept.

Meeting goals that I've set for myself has not been an easy task, but I do make an effort, especially if these goals bring much needed diversion and contentment.  Reinventing my life will take some courage, and I'll have to dig deep to recover my sense of adventure that saw me through my younger years.  This I also gladly welcome.

Establishing some semblance of normalcy again will be tricky as children each decide when the perfect right time to venture out on their own comes.  One daughter has already mentioned her intent to remain in area of the country where she is currently enrolled in college.  Hopeful this will not be too arduous when our eldest and youngest prepare to break away, and that my husband and I can gracefully accept that this is simply a part of life

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

November Program:

• Participate in NaBloPoMo by committing to write a daily blog post.
• Make concerted effort to sort out The Place in preparation for holidays.
• Commit to keep up with daily fitness plan.
• Enjoy this season of gratitude and togetherness, and make best effort to spend more time with loved ones.

That's November 2014 in a nutshell.  Hope you will check in often.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Below is my tiny effort to reverse effect stemming from my contribution made into the disappearance of all the mixed candy bags that I brought home leading up to Halloween.  None of which lasted anywhere near October 31st.

This Is Fifty With Lil Fitness Challenge
Ain't No Turkey Progress:  
Day  1:  11:58 pm; 30 second wall sits!  Whoa.
Day  2:  10:30 pm; 30 second wall sits.  Ouch.
Day  3:  11:53 pm; 46 seconds - wall sits.  Whew.
Day  4:  5 hours standing at Britannias red carpet event.
Day  5:  11:15 pm; 30 second wall sits. Wow!
Day  6:  11:57 pm; 30 second wall sits... long day.
Day  7:

Click here to view enlarged chart.

One of my favorite online catalogs is Title Nine, and I found out on Twitter that Ain’t No Turkey 30 Day Strength Challenge is underway, and I'm doing it... in the beginner category, of course.  Here's a little more information from Time Out With Title Nine blog:

• For a PDF of the above chart, please click here.
• Hashtag your progress using #AintNoTurkey, and share your story and photos on their blog.

Fun, right?  Let's do this.  Two minutes... here I go!

14,440

BOO!

OoooOOOO... OoooOooOooo... 

How's that for scaaaarrrry?

Another Halloween has come, and with it, another opportunity for me to skip dressing up.  I've only dressed up once as an adult.  In order to encourage my youngest child to join in on family candy-collecting fun, my seven year-old son was zombie patient, and I was creepy Nurse Helga to my daughter's Dr. Fun Stuff.  To break-up what we feared might be our five year-old's scheme of dressing up as a ballerina - forever - we somehow managed to convince her to let us smudge some "creepy" make-up on her face... you know, to keep with the theme.  It was work, but she did it.  Ugh, five year-old prima donnas!?

Here's a photo from that year after wet wipes were brought out to tackle make-up removal from little faces. I am conveniently cropped out of it.  CANDY TIME!

NaBloPoMo prompt for October 30, asks, "If you had unlimited resources and artistic skills, what would you want to be for Halloween?"  I'd just want to skip it all and get right to the candy-eating part.  *sigh*

*****

Below is my tiny effort to reverse effect stemming from my contribution made into the disappearance of all the mixed candy bags that I brought home leading up to Halloween.  None of which lasted anywhere near October 31st.

#ThisIsFiftyWithLil

My Progress:  
Day  1:  11:58 pm; 30 second wall sits!  Whoa.
Day  2:  10:30 pm; 30 second wall sits.  Ouch.
Day  3:  11:53 pm; 46 seconds - wall sits.  Whew.
Day  4:  5 hours standing at Britannias red carpet event.
Day  5:  
Day  6:
Day  7:

Click here to view enlarged chart.

One of my favorite online catalogs is Title Nine, and I found out on Twitter that Ain’t No Turkey 30 Day Strength Challenge is underway, and I'm doing it... in the beginner category, of course.  Here's a little more information from Time Out With Title Nine blog:

• For a PDF of the above chart, please click here.
• Hashtag your progress using #AintNoTurkey, and share your story and photos on their blog.

Fun, right?  Let's do this.  Two minutes... here I go!

How To Not Stand Out On Halloween

If you're a little kid, simple, wear a costume.

As a kid, every Halloween (or Friday if it fell on the,weekend), my school planned a parade.  Every kid was supposed to dress in their favorite costume to show off during the big parade that went around the playground.  I don't remember candy being handed out during these parades, but there were awards for best creations: scariest, funniest, homemade, creative.  I won twice!  I did not want to win.  I did not want to wear a costume.  I didn't want anyone to see me.

I did not like costumes... unless they came in a cardboard box with transparent lid that revealed a fantastic plastic face mask with tiny eye, nostril, and mouth holes cut into them, and a thin stretchy band to hold the mask in place, along with a coordinating highly flammable cape, or gown, or cover-alls, all nicely folded beneath each mask.  Yeah, that's the only kind of costume I'd wear.  But we were poor, so no store bought, boxed, toxic paint fumes smothered mask and highly flammable woven fiber material costumes for me.  The only thing I understood was that my mom was mean for not buying me one of those boxes.  Every store had stacks of those boxes... one for every kid in the U.S.A.  This is how you win a best costume ribbon at the school Halloween parade, right?

I have only two memories of those school Halloween parades.  Third grade, my mom made me a princess costume.  She brought out my first holy communion dress and shoes, and made me a wand out of a stick wrapped with tin foil.  I hated dresses.  I had bad memories from the only other day that I wore this dress... I had an "accident" mid-way through that special First Eucharist EVER mass.  Amen... sigh.  Anyway I walked the parade circle in a white dress carrying a stick.  Big deal, it could have been any old day, you know, if I liked wearing dresses. So the rest of the school day, we sat and watched all the other classes have their turns.  I don't remember a judging committee, but apparently there was one because I won in the "prettiest costume" category... and everybody was looking at me.

My other memory was from the fifth grade.  But first, an explanation:  I grew up in East Los Angeles. I had the scariest (in my opinion) walk to and from school.  The neighborhood where we lived seemed to be where a few gang territory boundaries were drawn.  Police helicopters and ambulance sirens alerting arrivals at the very-close-by hospital emergency room entrance were the norm.  Scary gang members and impressionable youngsters "in training" were everywhere - males were referred to as cholos; females, cholas.  All this was very frightening to me.  Now, back to Halloween and school parades.

In fifth grade, mom insisted that I dress up as a mummy.  She bought extra rolls of toilet paper, made me stand still and cooperate as she wrapped my arms, legs, torso and head with the very delicate, easily ripped apart strands of butt wiping tissue; red food coloring took care of bloody gore effect.  I remember it was warm that day, and by the time we headed out late for school I was done with Halloween.  Mom and I reached the bottom of the hill, a quarter of the way from school and I was pretty much "paperless."  I still had to walk the playground parade circle - in green shorts, white tank top, and sandals (the style popular with girl gang members).  Oh, I also had random red splotches all over me.  I won again.  I have no clue in which category... probably the one most scary for me.  Everybody thought I went dressed as a chola.  My name was called, ribbon pinned... while the entire school watched... sigh.

So, tips on how to not stand out on Halloween:

• Just give in and wear a costume; nothing dazzling.  Or...
• Fake sick close to school parade time; or at home first thing in the morning.
• Remember, in the end there is candy. Got it... CANDY! If you do it right, loads of candy.
• Lastly, if you hated Halloween as a kid, you're gonna love it when you have your own kids.  I sure do.

Do you have your costume ready?

*****

Click here to view enlarged chart.

One of my favorite online catalogs is Title Nine, and I found out on Twitter that Ain’t No Turkey 30 Day Strength Challenge is underway, and I'm doing it... in the beginner category, of course.  Here's a little more information from Time Out With Title Nine blog:

• For a PDF of the above chart, please click here.
• Hashtag your progress using #AintNoTurkey, and share your story and photos on their blog.

Fun, right?  Let's do this.  Two minutes... here I go!

Day  1:  11:58 pm; 30 seconds - wall sits!  Whoa.
Day  2:  10:30 pm; 30 seconds - wall sits.  Ouch.
Day  3:  11:53 pm; 46 seconds - wall sits.  Whew.
Day  4:
Day  5:
Day  6:
Day  7:

She

She is...

She is there...
     She is near...
          She is perfect...
               She has peace
                    She knows love...

She is there. She is near. She is perfect. She has peace.

She knows love.

Do we?

OH, The Horror! Or 50 Minutes... ONLY FIFTY MINUTES!

Movies?  Books?  Uh, no.  I absolutely do not enjoy watching horror flicks.  I'll pass on the thriller genre section of the library, too.  Nor will I purchase a scary book at a bookstore.  So, I'm sure you've guessed, I'm not a fan of scary stuff.  It's just not my thing.

So, that answers today's NaBloPoMo prompt:  Do you enjoy being scared such as watching horror movies or reading scary books?

*****

Something pretty great happened today and I look forward to sharing more about it on Friday.  Here's a hint for now.

Image by L. Carilo

Yum.

*****

Now, about there being "only fifty minutes" left on the clock until midnight.  One of my favorite online catalogs is Title Nine, and I found out on Twitter that Ain’t No Turkey 30 Day Strength Challenge starts today, and I'm planning to do it... in the beginner category, of course.

Here's a little more information from Time Out With Title Nine blog:

• For a PDF of the above chart, please click here.
• Hashtag your progress using #AintNoTurkey, and share your story and photos on their blog.

Fun, right?  Let's do this.  Two minutes... here I go!

I just did 30 second wall sits... whoa.

Sunday, 26 October OR The Day Judd Nelson Did Not Die

UPDATED:  Monday, October 27

For weekend of October 26, 2014 in Entertainment News our collective memory may go like this:

"Hey, remember that weekend when Jim Carrey hosted SNL? Nude body suit? Dancing? Blond wig!  McKinnon... come on, even Lorne Michaels showed up on screen. You know, that time you laughed longer than you've done since forever at an SNL skit... that weekend.  No? Me neither.  Because, Oh God! Judd Nelson died?!? "

Noooooo...

Of course Judd Nelson didn't die over the weekend.  Here he is reading the L.A. Times, Sunday edition.

Image by Gregg Klein

Wow, I guess people do still read newspapers. Huh?  Live and learn.  Also, damn, he's still cute as ever, that Judd Nelson.  Go on, Google search images.  I'll wait.

Now, if you are reading this blog you may be asking, "Who is Judd Nelson?"  To that I say, "Don't make me come over there."  Judd Nelson is the only reason to watch The Breakfast Club movie. Okay, one of eight reasons, and yes, I am including the high school library.  Oh my god, such a great movie!

Wait, what?! You say you know nothing of this "Breakfast Club" movie. It's okay, my kids haven't watched it either... putting me in the "worse mother ever" running.  I need to fix that.  Anyway, all I can say to you in regard to your life having been deprived of the wonder that is this movie is, stop what you are doing and go watch it.  I'll wait.

Also, Judd Nelson was the sole reason why I'd watch Suddenly Susan reruns at the crack of midnight in Texas.  Okay, it had a pretty great cast too.  And that's all I'll say about Judd Nelson.

*****

So my Life Reimagined progress has been further interrupted... week two.  Life, right?  It was a good day.  Found time to get out, visit with my sister while out running some spur-of-the-moment errands for mom, and picked up roast chicken dinner to bring home for everybody.  I'm still super behind getting the kitchen - and rest of The Place, for that matter - in order, so that come November, I'll be ready to cook my little heart out on a daily basis.  Oh, well.  Right now, I'm just tired.  My neck is a bit sore, and flare-ups at broken molar site come and go.

So here's me keeping it real, a photo from 10:46 PM tonight.

I told you I was tired.  Says so right there on my face.

See, tired, but happy.  Fingers crossed that next Sunday's post will actually include  what I have been planning to share these past two weekends. It's a little project I've been looking forward to starting, so I should get going on it.  It's going to be good.

I hope you had a very nice weekend.  Let's try our best to make it a great week.

*****

Fun should begin at 50, right? Well, I'm fifty, but I don't think I'm doing it right.  I don't think I was ready for age 50, but what I am willing to explore is the possibility of reinventing myself.  And what do you know, AARP has this really nifty website, Life Reimagined, designed to assist and guide you through obstacles that might be keeping you from confidently approaching what should be a purposeful, fulfilling chapter in your life at age 50 and beyond.  And that is exactly what you'll find me doing and sharing on my blog each Sunday.   So, come back. comment, visit my YouTube channel THIS IS FIFTY WITH LIL.  Let's talk and compare notes.

Please click here for more information.

I signed up for Life Reimagined beginning of October and find it is already helping me see the possibilities that lay ahead.  This makes me happy.  If you know of anyone in the AARP stage of life who is feeling a bit stuck, please consider sharing this website with them.*


*This is not a paid endorsement.

For more information go to:

• www.aarp.org
• lifereimagined.aarp.org

Sources:

• mashable.com/2014/10/26/jim-carrey-nude-bodysuit-snl/
• latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-judd-nelson-not-dead-20141026-story.html
• nbc.com/saturday-night-live