My coffee is cold. Time to get a straw. Better make it a bendy one.

Coffee in a pretty yellow cup and saucer.

I have been taking care of a friend’s coffee mug for about three years now.  She has moved out of the country for work.  So I have a few of her things in storage, some of them I have promised to use carefully, and one of them is an extra large coffee mug.  It holds more than 20 oz of coffee.  When I enjoy my coffee out of this mug, I tell people I am having a bucket of coffee.  It really is that big, much bigger than the pretty yellow one in the picture.

I am not the type of person that has to have the coffee piping hot to enjoy a cup.  I like it warm, not too hot, but with some heat left in it is optimal.  So when it gets cold, I have two choices.  Reheat it in the microwave and wait for it to be at that perfect temperature again, or go get a straw.  Today, I choose the straw.

I know, some people that read this will shudder, and think that cold coffee is disgusting.  When I drink coffee, I don’t put anything in it, I drink it black.  I used to dress it up, but I decided to go cold turkey a few years ago, and I convinced myself I would learn to like it.  I now enjoy it this way.

I have tried bulletproof coffee.  Who comes up with this stuff?  Maybe I just don’t know how to make it right, but I did not enjoy my only attempt at this creation.  I will stick to taking my coffee black and sometimes flavoured.  Some of the flavoured coffees work for me, and some don’t.  I like a good variety, and when I decide to splurge on K-cups, I try new flavours whenever I can.

I was talking to someone the other day, and he said I should drink Ethiopian coffee.  He said it will keep me up for nine days; and that I will save money because I won’t be running to Timmy’s all the time.  I live in Canada, Timmy’s is a reference to Tim Hortons Coffee and Donut restaurants.  When I was a child, I thought it was Important Donuts. They are the main Canadian preference for coffee shops, and a place a lot of people like to spend time, cafe style.  If you ask your friends if they want a Timmy’s, you usually get replies that include a double-double in them somewhere.  Now, I’m all for a good cup of coffee, but to me, being awake for 9 days sounds a little extreme.

Why the bendy straw?  Well, the bucket is fairly tall.  I like options, and bendy straws are more fun.  Why not?  I am sitting here getting ready for New Year’s Eve in my mind.  I have a lot on my to-do list for today.  I am invited to a house party, and it is a potluck.  My husband and I have gone to this party for several years now when the weather cooperated.  The forecast is good for tonight, so we plan to attend.  He will be working until I pick him up on my way to the party.  With a big list of things to do and only me here to do them, as much as I would have liked to drink a cup of coffee at that perfect temperature, it wasn’t in the cards today.  So a bendy straw it is.

I am feeling a little nostalgic today.  2016 was a difficult year in many ways.  A lot has happened.  I lost some weight, so that is something I would like to continue in 2017.  Living a healthier lifestyle is one of my resolutions this year.  It will be something I blog about, because it is important to me, and I want to share my successes.  Maybe it will help another person in their struggle, and it will do some good. I started this blogging adventure in November and decided that I need to write those books I have wanted to write my whole life.  So that is going to happen.  Writing the Fantasy Trilogy is another resolution.  I hope that the music world stops in to read my lyrics.  I dream of a collaboration with musicians to make my songs audible for the world, not just to be poetry in a blog.  I have had the pleasure of making new friends online through this project, and I am grateful for those who took the time to help me get this blog from an idea to a reality.  I thought I was only going to make the two resolutions for 2017, but something joined the ranks in the last 24 hours.  I have attempted to complete home cleaning and organization challenges for the last 2 years.  Last night I signed up again, and I am not committing to finishing it in 16 weeks, but I am committing to finishing it this year.  I joined two last year, as one is more for in-depth cleaning (16 weeks) and the other one is for quick organizing (31 days) so I will be working on both challenges in 2017.  My final resolution is to finish them within the year.

Well, I am now making that annoying noise through the bendy straw.  I have finished my coffee.  Time to walk away from the desk for a while, crank the tunes, and tackle my to do list.  However you ring in 2017, I wish you well and hope you accomplish what you need to do in 2017.  Happy New Year!

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A Kind Word Goes A Long Way

Well, here I am, on day one of my staycation.  I know, it’s not a real word; but it is in my world.  I am prepping for my only Christmas Craft Show this year, Christmas In The Dobie; I am going to be working on my blogging and I will be working on this site as well.  I have joined a couple of writing groups, in the hope of fulfilling one of my dreams to write a fantasy trilogy.  I am now trying to get serious about this writing thing.  Having this week off to work on projects that matter to me is going to be very motivational when I have to get back to work in a week’s time.

I have just started here.  I have gotten feedback and help from strangers.  That is something I have to say is great.  I am a pantser which refers to me flying by the seat of my pants, not a plotter that plans things out and works in a structured format.  Both styles are successful, if applied properly.  So I am here, blogging, from the seat of my pants, and hoping to have others come along for the ride.

The feedback was constructive.  I am working with advice from someone in another country, and she is showing me how to make this site more user friendly, and to attract more followers.  In the land of blogging, this is what it’s all about.  More hits, more followers, and more opportunities in the land of the internet and beyond.

The comment was very kind.  Having a stranger take the time to read what I have written and quote a part of it in the comment was really cool.  It gives me the courage to keep going.

It doesn’t only apply to the blog.  I have been working at getting healthier too.  When someone notices, and it is real, by that I mean I am losing weight, it feels wonderful.  When someone says that I look like I am losing weight and I am not,  I don’t feel good about the compliment.  So it depends on me sometimes to be in the frame of mind to accept a compliment in the way it is intended.  It is hard to not feel bad inside when it isn’t a real one, no matter how the intended comment was given.  We have all had them, those compliments that people give because they are trying to say something nice and it backfires because it isn’t true.  Until this year, I have never really felt like I had earned any compliments about losing weight.  Because it wasn’t true, not since I went through Weight Watchers with my mom in grade 11&12.

Here’s the thing, though.  Those comments aren’t being said to hurt me.  They are telling me that I am looking better, whether it is about the weight or not.  Maybe the clothes are fitting better because my body has changed since the last time I wore that outfit.  Maybe I am happy and as an emotional girl, that shows, and that is what the person is seeing.  Whatever is said, it is being said to encourage me to keep trying, and that is what I have to focus on.

It has taken me a LONG time to realize this.  I have never been good at taking compliments to begin with, and I think it is because I don’t always feel like I have earned them.  That boils down to me being way too hard on myself.  It is the way I am.  I don’t know how to be any other way.

So, I am trying to learn.  It is not easy to change how I react to what people say.  Taking the meaning behind the words is how I will be able to grow as a person, and thrive on the positivity.  I have to filter out the feelings and run with the good stuff.  I am getting better at this.  It is something I have to consciously work at, though.  Everybody isn’t out to get me or be mean.  Some people are.  I am going to encounter negative comments and feedback also.  It will happen.  But that is a different struggle.  Those have to be released into a black hole somewhere in outer space,  as far away from my heart as I can get them.  Otherwise they will drag me down, and that isn’t where I want to live my life.

When I do something creative, like design a new pattern for earrings that is mine from concept to finished product, I feel genuinely accomplished.  Proud of what I made, because it is my work, with my own pattern.  When I get on the scale, and I don’t want a hammer because it is showing that my hard work is paying off, I shout out loud for everyone to hear, and then if someone says something nice, it does what it is supposed to.  It makes me feel good.

Words matter.  Choose yours carefully, and make the world a better place because of them.  If you can help someone today by being kind, please do.  It might be the only good thing that person hears all day, or even all week.  It is nice to have something good to remember that tells you to keep going, and that you matter.  We all do.  If your words come from your heart and are meant to be nice, then go for it.  It’s the thought that counts, and for some people, it will mean more than you will ever know.