Day 338
Prompt 338
“How like a winter hath my absence been. From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen, What old December's bareness everywhere!"
-William Shakespeare

Oh how I hate these dark, cold days and nights of winter and yearn for the summer warmth already!

Day 337

Prompt 337

“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”- Dr. Seuss

[The end of the year is nigh, our 365 journey is coming to an end, what has changed since June till now?]

Well it has to be ME who has changed in the last 6 months

My foot has mended having broken 5 small bones on June 5th

I am now a size 16 instead of a size 20

I am fitter

BUT more important I am happier and feel more confident and having fun again

Other changes since June

the weather! - it is very cold today with a frost on the car this morning!

the grandchildren Tom is a teenager and he and Amie are now in yr 8.

Matt is in yr 6 and Lewis in yr 5 and Zac in Foundation yr (reception)

made and met new friends especially 365ers

haven't scrapped as much as I would have liked

My how time flies though and each year as I get older the year goes even quicker! There is never enough time in each day!!

DLO for a CJ - Household Planner

I chose the month of July

Day 336
Prompt 336
Embarrassment
Embarrassment is an emotional state experienced upon having a socially or professionally unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others

Today I am embarrassed because I missed a long awaited dentist appointment so I am having to phone up and explain.

This is a series of embarrassing moments at the moment, the worst being last week when I went to the hospital and saw Margaret's DIL who I knew was having a lump removed. She looked so different reddish long straight hair that didn't suit, her in fact I wouldn't have recognised her if she hadn't been with Margaret. I kept saying how different she looked and how her hair was so different straight and a diff colour [she was dark and curly last time I saw her and thinner faced!! ] Oh boy was I embarrassed when I realised she had had chemo before this op and has lost all her hair and was wearing a pretty awful hair style!! I had to find her and apologise but she was thrilled I hadn't realised it was a wig!!

Day 335
Prompt 335
Love, loving
Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong effection

The obvious photo today was DH who I love dearly but I have chosen 2 photos of me with my grandchildren Matt and Tom. The photo was taken yesterday when they visited. It isn't often I get photos of them. Tom is our first born grandchild and became a teenager 2 weeks ago! Now he is taller then me!! Matt is 10 1/2yrs old

I like to think I am a loving person and of all emotions I would always chose LOVE - "for if I do not have love, I gain nothing" [ 1 Cor v3]. As a Christian I am called to love my neighbour as myself . It is sometimes hard for us to love ourselves but I think I owe it to my Father God who I believe created me in his image to make the best of myself and strive to improve in my Christian walk on this earth, to care and to think about others less fortunate than myself and of course to love God before anyone else.

Day 334
Prompt 334
Cry/crying
The term crying most commonly refers to the act of shedding tears as a response to an emotional state in humans

Interesting thoughts here:

We are all animals but only human animals cry!

Babies cry a lot until they can express themselves in other ways

Some people cry more than others.

Some are brought up to think crying in public is wrong (like my DH)

Memories can make us cry

We cry when sad, when happy, when elated

Today we went to the Crematorium to take some flowers in memory of Peter's late wife who died 25yrs ago and my Father who died 33yrs ago. There were no tears just happy thoughts.

On coming home DIL arrived with this poster to put in our car. This brought tears to my eyes but I didn't cry just felt sad

I am not one to cry often but cry mostly when watching an emotional film! and sometimes during singing worship music in a church service.

Day 333
Prompt 333
Anger, angry
Anger is an emotional state that may range from minor irritation to intense rage

In my job as a SENCO I trained teachers and ran courses for children on anger management.

I learnt that anger is an OK emotion when you can control anger and never hurt anyone else!!

I personally try very hard not to get angry and most of my angers are minor irritations. yes and usually I get angry mostly with myself.

I found doing an angry face totally against my personality and didn't really like doing it either lol!! Interesting how most of us have added the colour red to our photos today!! RED for DANGER!!

Day 332
Prompt 332
Laughter/laughing
Laughter is an audible expression, or appearance of merriment or happiness, or an inward feeling of joy and pleasure

Thanks Shirley for this photo you took of Kathy and I!

Didn't we laugh a lot that weekend? BRILLIANT!! [haven't laughed so much for years]

Day 331
Prompt 331
Sad/Sadness
Sadness is an emotion characterized by feelings of disadvantage, loss, and helplessness. When sad, people often become quiet, less energetic, and withdrawn. Sadness is considered to be the opposite of happiness

This is very apt today as the news of my friend margaret's op isn't good. The operation had to remove more bowel than anticipated and she is very poorly and having no visitors. I will be pleased on Friday when her husband Richard comes for an evening meal.

I am also sad with how my DIL has been over the babysitting tomorrow and would love to resolve it.

I have had a lot of unhappiness in my life through loss of parents, a husband who walked out of our marriage for someone else, a son with an illness which will be a disability to him for life. I feel sad for the world and today for the bombings that have occured in India killing so many people.

Day 330
We are on the home stretch now, with only a few weeks left, before our year long project is completed.
This week we are going to look at our emotions.
Prompt 330

Happiness/Happy
- Happiness is an emotion associated with feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense joy

I had to put this photo on my blog today taken by Anna Bowkis during our 365 weekend.

I am very happy with myself, how I am beginning to look and the new found confidence which has come with my weight loss.

I have known happiness throughout my life in relationships, two marriages, the births of my children and dear grandchildren, with various achievements with them and myself and on various holidays with my dear DH.

I also remember the joy in first knowing Jesus Christ and becoming a born again Christian

My presents beautifully wrapped and labelled

Day 329
Prompt 329

"If you woke up this morning, it's time to celebrate!"
-Joe Takash
What are you going to celebrate today?

Little did I know when I woke this morning that Advent Santa's 25 presents would arrive from the North pole!!

I am so excited and like a young child. DH thinks I am raving bonkers!!!

Day 328
Prompt 328
"A mind is a fire to be kindled, not a vessel to be filled.”
- Plutarch (46-137), historian, biographer, essayist
Whats filling your mind today?

Well my mind is thinking about my friend Margaret who has bowel cancer diagnosed the week before we went to Italy at the beginning of October. She and her husband Richard (pictured here) have been very brave and positive but it has been a long few weeks waiting for a date for her operation. She goes in tomorrow Monday and has her operation on Tuesday.

This is what is filling my mind today, prayers for them both for peace of mind and positive thoughts

Day 327
Prompt 327
"Baby it's cold outside"
- Dean Martin
Its freezing cold here in the UK, whats the weather doing where you are today?

It is cold outside but we have had blue skies and sunshine all day.

Well here I am at 3.15pm still in my dressing gown and warm slipper socks, DH is in London at football and I am having a 'ME' time at home!

I am all warm and cosy indoors and I have cropped, cooked and tidied up in a muddled order, a bit of this and a bit of that with my butterfly mind.

I am just going to shower and cook the meal for tonight before Come Dancing. Peter will be home about 6.45pm

Day 326

Prompt 326

"There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. ‘Tis good to give a stranger a meal, or a night’s lodging. ‘Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light. ”—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82), philosopher, poet, essayist

This quote brought back memories of my father who died 33 years ago next week aged 60.

He treated everyone with same courtesy, respect and time of day, whether they were the down and out in the street or the mayor of the town!! I have always remembered this and even before I became a Christian I tried to be like this too......hard at times because none of us are or will be perfect but a wonderful philosophy to have in life!

Live your life from your heart. Share from your heart. And your story will touch and heal people's souls."
—Melody Beattie; author, journalist

Oh to tell you my life would bore you!!

All I would say that 13 yrs after a very happy marriage and 2 lovely children my heart was broken by my first husband who was my best friend telling me he loved me but also had met and loved someone else.

I was determined not to be bitter about this though I was heart broken and I felt totally demoralised. I had 2 lovely boys to bring up and a career to follow.

6 yrs later I met and married a wonderful man who had lost his wife with cancer and he has made life worth living and made me feel very special again.

How blessed I have been to know and love Peter

Prompt 324
"Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.”
-Henry Clay (1777-1852), politician and orator

Well this little boy is the most courteous child I have known for a long time. His "please" and "thank you's" and "excuse me" are always there, spontaneous and used at the right time.

Refeshing in this day and age where standing up and giving up your seat for elderly and opening doors for others seems to have siappeared in society.

Look what happened to me today!!

Last week at Slimming World the group had to write down a name to vote for Miss Slinky.

Three of us were nominated and again today the group had to vote for one of us and I was voted as Miss Slinky!! I am holding a lovely trophy a pen in a star which says 'Miss Slinky'

Here we are. Emma has lost 1st 9lbs on the left, Dawn her friend has lost 2st 4lbs - we all started 30th April 2008 and I lost another 2lbs this week

Wish I was slinky but I am getting there and wearing more fitted clothes these days feeling good and more important DH is sooooooooooooo proud of me!

365 Days
November 18, 2008
Day 323
Prompt 323
"Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses."
Ann Landers (1918-2002); advice columnist

Well that certainly sums up Peter and I!

We are like 'chalk and cheese' opposites who have attracted each other and compliment each other in everyday life. I am blessed to have had a second chance at a perfect partnership in marriage.

Day 322
Prompt 322
"Where are You?"
Theme tune from MoonRaker

Well here I am at Eastbourne Marina on a boat on a very cold and windy morning in November having just got back from a wonderful hot week in Italy!

I am in a much better 'place' mentally than I was last year. I have lost 4st in weight since last Dec, I am happy with myself, much healthier and I have a discovered a wonderful new lot of scrapping friends on UKS and enjoying life most of the time

Day 321
Prompt 321
"Casino Royale"
- Daniel Craig 2006
Are you a gambler, or do you play safe

Well I am definitely not a gambler, I have never bought a lottery ticket, do not like buying raffle tickets and do not bet on horses. I have never done the football pools or even bought premium bonds either!!

When I talked to DH about the prompt today he told me had a lottery ticket from Saturday, this amazed me because he never buys them either, but he did on Sat and after the photo shoot I went to throw the ticket away BUT he hasn't checked it and doesn't know how to either LOL!! Fingers crossed it has won!