DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FOUR OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day 284.  I am so happy.  I got my haircut.  Finally!  It has been weeks and weeks since I got my haircut.  It is so long and I don't like it.  It is unruly and wavy.  It gets in my eyes.  It doesn't dry by towel drying.

Now it is nice and short and easy to handle.  I can dry it with a towel.  I can just brush it and go.  I love it.

Today my new shoes arrived.  My new red shoes.  I love them.  I have a pair of blue pants and a pair of grey capris and the red shoes will look great.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-THREE OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day 283.  I think it is an epidemic.  Today I fell while walking.  A week ago my brother-in-law fell while he was walking.  A month ago a clients employee fell while walking.  The funny thing is none of us were talking on the phone or texting. 

Here's what happened: I was crossing the street on the way to the bus when someone brushed past me.  I reached down for my bag and found it unzipped.  I sort of panicked that I had been pick-pocketed.  I was trying to zipper my bag shut while checking to make sure my wallet was inside. At the same time I was stepping up the curb and I didn't step up far enough.  Wham!  I splayed out on the curb.  It was ugly looking.  Two tourists came over to see if I was okay and the bus driver was quite animated from inside the bus asking if I was okay. 

I jumped up and said I was okay.  My knee hurt but my jeans were not torn so I was very happy.  I got on the bus.  All of a sudden I saw blood on my hand.  My finger was bleeding and I had a gash on my hand.  I guess I hurt myself more than I thought.  I was hoping I was not bleeding from my knee.  I used some tissues to stop the bleeding.

I stopped at Walgreen's and bought some band-aids.  I checked my knee and it was not bleeding.  When I got to my final destination, I was able to wash the injuries and apply fresh bandages. 

My knee is quite swollen and black and blue but nothing is broken.  I may have popped my finger out of the socket but it will heal.  I was lucky that I didn't get badly injured. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-TWO OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day 282.  Today I wish I had taken a photo of Lucky playing fetch.  I took two tennis balls out in the backyard and had both dogs come outside.  This is the first time I brought out dog toys with both dogs in years.  Last time it was ugly.  The dogs got in a fight when they both decided to covet the same toy.  Then the toys went bye-bye into a box.

Today I felt both Lucky and Happi have been getting along very well for a long time and it was time to give them another try.  We went downstairs and I threw a ball.  Lucky went running with her tail wagging.  She was in seventh heaven.  I think she even had a big smile on her face but she was running away so I really could not be sure. 

Then I threw the other ball and Happi half-heartedly ran in the direction of the ball.  It went under some trees, she stood by the trees and looked at me.  She just stood there.  Then she wandered back to where I was standing.  She stood there for a while then she went inside.  She was done.  Happi was never one to mindlessly run after a ball.  She always thought I should run after the ball.

Luckily Lucky went and sniffed out Happi's ball and brought it back to me.  Lucky can play fetch for hours.  Today I found out one thing Lucky doesn't like: when the ball gets dirty.  She is such a diva.  Once the ball gets dirty, she doesn't want to put it in her mouth anymore.  I guess I can't blame her.

I found that playing fetch is a bit zen.  The whole process.  Throw it, find it, drop it, pick it up, throw it again.  I have a small backyard to Lucky can't go very far but to her it is loads of fun.  Way more fun than running after the ball inside.

Her smile is worth it.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-ONE OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day 281.  Today was election day.  I went down and put my voter envelope in the bin.  For years now I vote at home and put the envelope in the bin at the polling place.  This way I can take my time voting and still vote on election day.  I always forget to mail it in.

I started getting the mail in option years ago when I almost missed voting because I was going to be away.  Now I just get the mail in election voter envelope that way I am always ready.  I always feel happy voting.  Doing my civic duty.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day 280.  I am now taking 7 mg of Prednisone.  I have been decreasing down from the original 20 mg I was taking.  I went from 20 to 15 mg a long time ago.  Then a number of years ago I went from 15 to 10 mg.  I have been on 10 mg for about 15 years. Too long.  About a year or so ago I went from 10 mg to 9 mg.  Then I got sick and had to stop decreasing.  Then life became complicated and for one reason or another it just wasn't the right time.  Who wants to decrease their medication right before vacation?

About two months ago I agreed to start decreasing from 9 mg to 5 mg.  I was going to power through.  I have been taking this medication at too high of dose for too long.  It is not good for me or my bones.

Last night I decreased to 7 mg.  I have some side effects.  I am way too tired.  Fatigued.  Falling asleep in the afternoon.  My fingers are swollen in the morning when I wake up and I would not think of taking my rings off.  I am creaky.  I had that pain in my breast bone that was a little scary.  My bones ache.  The normal side effects of decreasing a drug that keeps inflammation at bay.  I imagine it will only get worse as I decrease more.  But I am determined to get down to 5 mg.

At this rate it will take me 2 more months to get to 5 mg. if all goes well.  But it is necessary and a good thing for my bones.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-NINE OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day 279.  Today I had to take Sunny the bird to get his wings clipped and his beak and nails trimmed.  He is not happy after this occurs.  Poor thing.  He is happy afterward but at the time, he is miserable.

Then I decided to use my new product Goo Gone for Patio Furniture.  What a great product!  My chairs and table look like new.  After two years of a drought and not being able to clean them off and no rain, they looked horrible.  I wish I had taken a before and after photo!

Then while I was on a roll I cleaned the table and chairs that are on my lower deck.  They have not been cleaned properly in years!  I tried to clean the table a few years ago and could never get it clean.  Well, Goo Gone is the product!  It looks like new.  The top of the table was literally black with dirt, mildew and the junk that comes from trees.  Now look at it:

This picture makes it look a bit black but I think that is a reflection of the water on the top because the top looks white now.  The chairs are so clean too.  I am so happy!

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-EIGHT OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day 278.  I am really into getting the backyard cleaned up and ready to use before the summer is over.  I want to spend a lot of time out back this year.  I have such a wonderful backyard and historically I have hardly used it.  Not this year.

I also want to use my deck more too.  I bought the cute little table to put my drink on and now I bought another throw pillow.  I like to lay down on my bench and I needed another pillow. The blue pillow with the bird on it is the new one.  I guess I have a bird theme going.

I can't wait to have iced tea and lunch on my improved deck!  What a great place to curl up and read a book.

My Meyer Lemon tree is going crazy!  I have so many lemons I think I am going to have give some away!  The past two years there were hardly any lemons due to the drought.  This year, when I emptied the pond, all those nutrients went into the earth and now I have LEMONS!

I picked 8 lemons today and there are so many green lemons on the tree and hundreds of buds ready to make lemons.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SEVEN OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day 277.  The hottest day of the year so far.  It was so hot today that when I got home it was 98 degrees in my house.  Ugh! Poor little Lucky hates the heat.  She will lie on the floor for 2 minutes and then hop up and move to another spot and lie down again.  Then up and down.  All day long.

It was hard to get work done with it being so hot.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day 276. Cleaned out more of the backyard.  It is almost complete.  It looks so good and relaxing.   Just a perfect place to sit and read a book.

I think I have come to a decision about the pond.  I am probably going to fill it in for now.  For various reasons I don't want to fit with Mother Nature anymore right now.  There were two raccoons the other night in the backyard at 4 am.  It is dangerous and at some point they are going to come face-to-face with a dog.

 Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day 275.  Tonight I went to see X-Men: Apocalypse. It was great!  I won't ruin it for you but if you like the X-Men movies, go see it! 

It was fun hanging out with friends.

Today is also the first day of June which means it is time to recap May. Try Mindfulness.

"Your mind is a powerful thing.  When you fill it with positive thoughts your life will start to change."

• Remember what Matters to You - I spent a lot of this month figuring out what matters to me and that is having a family.
• Turn Complaints into Thankfulness - this is an area of growth for me. 
• Smile More!  I am trying to smile a lot more and think I was successful at this.
• Learn and Do Mindfulness Meditation - I didn't follow through with this.  I think it would be good for me to learn.
• Use Positive Not Negative Words - I have been trying very hard to use a positive word not a negative word.
•  Be Kind to Yourself - I always need to work on this since I am too hard on myself.
• Put a Positive Word on My Cup Each Day - I started this and then forgot.  I will continue this.
• Be Positive! - Working on it!!

Overall, I think I tried as best as I could to be positive in a very difficult month.  I find it hard to be positive when I am anxious about something.  I have second thoughts and spend too much time rethinking things.  I think I did well considering.

June's Resolution: It's The Simple Life For Me

"If you can learn from the worst times of your life, you'll be ready to go into the best times of your life."

• Sit in the Backyard and Listen
• Walk the Dogs and Be Present
• Take a Bath Without TV
• Get Enough Sleep
• Practice Meditating
• Act the Way I Want To Feel
• Have a Cup of Tea and Read a Book
• Take Time for the Simple Things

This is the month of Calm.  Taking a moment.  It is the perfect time of the year to have this month.  My backyard is almost finished and I can sit and read a book.

Until tomorrow...