Remembering

 Strolling through stages of time together

Walking along the pages of the past

Younger versions

Stirring melodious memories of moments gone by

Time trickling away too soon

Pictures portraying the past

Images of joy

Evoking emotions that spill down my face

Every time I retrace the steps in this journey

A mother's love

Some Checks off of the List

I find it lucky that my birthday comes in July.  It makes the new year a great time to reassess my goals and take a look at how far I've come on my 50th journey around the sun. 

My 50 Before 50 list, accomplishments checked off:  

Reading is my favorite hobby.  I usually set a goal to read 52 books a year, but I wanted to challenge myself to 50 more books, adding to my #50Before50.  This year, in books:

There were several that I could count as favorites this year. I started to recommend some, but I couldn't narrow it down enough for this blog post.  I'm usually a "fiction" girl, but I like to read from multiple genres (as you can see below).

Another of my favorite things is wine.  I usually stick to the same red every time I drink.  However, I thought it might be fun to try some different vineyards, years, labels, and types of vino.  I'm not quite at "50 different wines"

…yet...

Here's what I've tried so far.  My favorite has been "Tall, Dark Stranger!"  It has a rich, full flavor--I'm not really a wine connoisseur, so wine descriptions are very amateur.

Education and furthering myself is important to me.  It is my belief that one should never stop learning. I decided to refresh my knowledge of Spanish, which I took in high school, but let's be real.  It was high school.  I also got signed up for Master Classes by one of my good friends.  Thus far, I've taken a writing class taught by Margaret Atwood and started a poetry class led by Billy Collins.

There are (as you can see) a lot of things on my list that I've checked off, yet not included my post...and many more still to be completed. One last thing to include here...I made a last minute list of 50+ Holiday/Christmas movies to watch this past season.  I know there are so many more, but here's what I completed:

Here's to a new year

with new and continued goals!

Halfway There

 Halfway to 50

25 or 49 and one half

Six months

And #50before50

is moving along

It’s been a year of

Unmotivated laziness

Anxiety about moving forward

Fear

Doubt

Uncertainty

Insecurity

Distracted by

Social Media

News

Covid

Political arguments

Netflix

Lesson planning

Kindergarten in a pandemic

A growing to-do list that gets longer and longer

causing anxiety

Cycling back and forth

To immobility

And here. I press forward

Day by day

Moment by moment

Finding joy in small things

Getting by the best that I can

Parenting in unknown territory

Grown kids living under the same roof

Wanting them to spread their wings

Knowing times are hard and wanting them to stay little

Conflicting emotions of

Needing them to move

and

Wanting them to stay

Wanting to protect and mother them

Needing to let them

Figure things out on their own

Knowing they are experiencing

2020

In their own ways

And also living one day, one moment

At a time

Teaching in an

“Unprecedented Time”

Desk shields

Face masks

Hand sanitizer

Social distancing

Technology, desperately needed and consistently unreliable

Perpetual changes

Quarantine

Virtual, in-person, hybrid

Nothing is how it should be

Unstable, uncertain, unsettled

ambiguous

And also

Unquestionably, unmistakably, unequivocally

nowhere else I would rather be

“Living the Dream”

Love

at this age

Nearing retirement

Doubting I’ll be able to

When the time comes

Wrestling with

Needing my space and not wanting to be alone

Frustration fighting against contentment

Complacency Struggling with dissatisfaction

Thankfulness twisted together with disappointment

Peace cohabitating with agitation

Side by side

Each of us

Needing, depending on, wanting, loving

each other

also eager for

Solitude, breathing room

This is 50.

Or. Almost 50.

This is halfway there.

25 down

25 to go

49.5

6 months

2020 over

2021 on the way

It’s these little things

The minor goals

Lists of things to do

That bring me small pleasures

Moments of accomplishment

Personal satisfaction

Keeps my mind

My thinking

My contemplation

Positive-leaning

And on the days

That I feel

Adverse

Conflicting

Noxious

Emotions

I can look at my

#50before50 List

And feel a sort of

Grounding

Security

Something to look forward to

Hope for

Halfway there

The Countdown Begins #365

Hoy es un dia regular.
Es verdad.
Me levante temprano y leo el Biblia.
Yo bebo el cafe con leche y azucar.

Es mi dia normal.

El tiempo "was rainy."
Voy a Starbucks y tengo desayuno gratis.
Enseno la escuela verano en el computador.
Solamente uno estudiante pero esta bien.
Yo practico espanol porque es en mi lista de cincuenta.

Feliz cumpleanos a mi.
Esta es cuarenta y nueve.

Hoy es un dia regular.

((Snapchat filters))

Why Not?

Blog: n. (short for Weblog) 

-- a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style; a personal, online journal.

Blogger: n. --One who blogs

Blogging: v. -- adding new material to or regularly update a blog.

Source: Google

I started my

...online journal...

about

...10 years ago...

My

...blog...

 was

all about

my

picture of the day

which usually

centered around

...my kids...

and our daily lives

(If you're interested

in reading

my older stuff...

the links are

along the side

and

at the bottom

of this post)

After my youngest graduated,

I put the blog away

...for awhile...

but

I've decided to

...resurrect it...

in order to

document my

...Countdown to 50...

If you were around

10 years ago

then you know

when I turned

...40...

I made a big deal of it

by creating a 

40 before 40

list

(found here: 40 Before 40 )

It made that

...milestone birthday...

fun for me

so

I decided to do it again.

I've been adding to my list

and also

subtracting from it

for a year or so

...but...

the whole

...pandemic

and

quarantine...

caused me to

really focus on

wanting to set new goals

have fun in life

make memories

and

better myself

so

I really worked on

getting this list written out

because when

Forty - Nine

gets here

...in a few short days...

I want to be ready!

Last night

some of my people

helped me

ring in my

next year

by creating

vision boards

which was

 ...something...

I'd heard of

...people creating them...

to set goals

and

mindsets

for themselves

for a set amount of time

and

I had it on my

50 before 50

list

so what better way to

kick off

a

"Countdown to 50"

than to have a

vision - board - making - party

Here is the

completely

editable

revisable

fluid

and

soon to be

...infamous...

50 Before 50

list

...

Well, there you have it.

I've already started on

a few of these

...and...

as you can see

there aren't many

...big ticket items...

but

a lot of

easily

accomplish-able

things

You are

...welcome...

to join me

either by

following along in my blogging

...or...

accompanying me

in some of my

...quests...

I would love to have you

either way!

Here's to

the big

FIVE-O!

#365/365--Another Year in the Books

I have been doing

this

Photo-a-Day Blog

for

...9 years...

It used to be

fun

to keep up with

finding

my picture of the day

posting it

blogging about it

or

letting the picture speak for itself

but

...like all good things...

this, too, must find its end

I think

the time has come

for me

to lay it to rest

(at least in the format of

"a pic a day")

2019

has other things in store for me

...although...

I'm not quite sure yet

what those

"things"

are

I may try to blog

occasionally

since

writing

is something

I truly find enjoyment in

If you have consistently

kept up with

my

ranting

raving

repetitive

raucous

ramblings

about

my

kids

pets

friends

family

clouds

sunrise

sunset

life

then

I want to thank you for hanging in there

and encouraging

the writer in me

to keep it up

If you've ever thought about

journaling

be it in

written form

or

photographic form

I highly recommend doing it

...you will not regret it...

it is

...at times...

difficult

but

always

cathartic

and

leaves you feeling

thankful

gratified

accomplished

...in addition...

you've documented your life

in some way

Looking back

over the last 9 years

of

my photoblog

I see

hard times

good times

laughter

tears

memories

change

growth

love

Happy New Year, Everyone!

May you all be blessed

with

good health

prosperity

and

lots of laughter

May you be surrounded by

family

friends

and

make many memories!

***You can find the links to
past posts
to the right of this post
(Blog Archives)
and also
by
scrolling down to the bottom
and clicking one of the two links
under
"My Older Stuff"

#364/365--Bowling

...with my mom

and brother

and nephew...

and then

more games

later on