This past weekend, I celebrated my birthday looking out over the Pacific Ocean as a Peregrine Falcon spots a tasty morsel of food and flies with absolute precision to nab it. The best part was that this bird landed on my gloved fist so I could take a good close look at its beauty. Fortunately, … Continue reading ‘Rapt’ Up in the Experience
Meals and Memories
For as long as I can remember, my dad talked about his favorite restaurant. A local Mexican restaurant he discovered when he was still a bachelor. Once he got married and moved out the neighborhood, we didn't go there very often. But whenever we did go back to this place called El Cholo, he'd ask … Continue reading Meals and Memories
Fall Semester, with a Life Lesson
Registered, check! Paid, check! Books, almost. Excited to be attending actual classroom time, check and double check! Almost all of my books! Still waiting for two more to arrive. Class has begun, and for this fall it's scheduled zoom classes. Which means I'll actually get to interact with my classmates this year. I was a … Continue reading Fall Semester, with a Life Lesson
Cast Your Worries
Life has very difficult moments, and reactions to these moments can be feelings of sadness, anger, regret, depression, etc. Then there's the worrying. Worrying about what will happen next. Will things get better or worse? I'm guilty of doing more than my fair share of worrying over such things. For this Self-Care Sunday, I would … Continue reading Cast Your Worries
Immersed in Van Gogh’s Paintings
If anyone needed a Self-Care Sunday, it was Vincent Van Gogh. Not only is he famous for his expressive and colorful paintings, he is also known for his mental health challenges. Many have speculated about why he behaved so erratically, and then committed suicide at the age of 37. I'm not here to speculate those … Continue reading Immersed in Van Gogh’s Paintings
SCS: Catalina Island
This Self-Care Sunday (SCS) is dedicated to the day trip. A quick little adventure to reset and refresh both physically and mentally. Our recent day trip was to Catalina Island, which is about a one and a half hour boat trip off the coast of California. The boat trip there was an easy ride, and … Continue reading SCS: Catalina Island
SCS: My Favorite Skin Care Products
Over the years, I’ve incorporated countless different skin care products into my routine, and now I’ve reached the age where I have both acne and wrinkles (not fair!). So on this Self-Care Sunday (SCS), I decided to blog about my favorite products in case anyone who reads this would find it helpful. Full disclosure, no … Continue reading SCS: My Favorite Skin Care Products
SCS: Let Your Light Shine
Thinking about self-care Sunday (SCS) had lead me to thinking of how our minds can go to some dark places. I suppose any number of factors can contribute to this, both circumstantial and biological. Maybe the worst moments for us come when we allow other people to define who we are, instead of fully embracing … Continue reading SCS: Let Your Light Shine
SCS: A Berry Good Day
Blueberry pie, blueberry cobbler, blueberry compote, blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes. This Self-Care Sunday, I'm thinking of the different recipes for the delicious blueberries we are going to pick. Every year around Mother’s Day, we drive for over an hour to the Temecula Berry Company to harvest at least a couple pies worth of blueberries. First, … Continue reading SCS: A Berry Good Day
SCS: Celebrating Mother’s Day
For this Self-Care Sunday (SCS) I’m celebrating Mother’s Day by taking the day off and reposting an excerpt from an old blog I posted back in 2017. At the time, my daughter was 15 and I was adjusting to life with a high school student. Now I’m the mother of a college student, while I’m … Continue reading SCS: Celebrating Mother’s Day