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Spring Cleaning and Decluttering Tips
I don’t limit my spring cleaning to spring, but it’s always a good time to clean and declutter, especially now that we can open the doors and windows! Below are some tips from Nationwide. You can read all 22 of them at their site. Some you’ve probably heard before, some were new to me (socks as dusting mitts?).
Spring has arrived – which means it’s time to get your home in tip-top shape. A good, deep spring clean-up is a tradition that not only promotes wellness by keeping your environment clean and organized, it also helps carry the fresh-start feeling brought on by a new year well into the summer.
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month
From the National Alliance on Mental Illness
“Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental illness. During May, NAMI joins the national movement to raise awareness about mental health. Each year we fight stigma, provide support, educate the public and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.
You Are Not Alone
For 2021’s Mental Health Awareness Month NAMI will continue to amplify the message of “You Are Not Alone.” We will use this time to focus on the healing value of connecting in safe ways, prioritizing mental health and acknowledging that it’s okay to not be okay through NAMI’s blog, personal stories, videos, digital toolkits, social media engagements and national events.
Together, we can realize our shared vision of a nation where anyone affected by mental illness can get the appropriate support and quality of care to live healthy, fulfilling lives — a nation where no one feels alone in their struggle.
Help us spread the word through awareness, support and advocacy activities. Share awareness information, images and graphics for #MHAM throughout May.”
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On Dreamshaping: Nowhere to Hide
Mark McNease
Wherever I go, there I am!
It’s an old adage, meant to be humorous but with a grain of truth to it. The one thing I cannot escape is also the one thing I spend so much time attempting to flee: myself. My repetitive thoughts, my obsessions, my fixations, all playing out in loops that sometimes remind me of spools of yarn that have become entangled. Do I do this today? Do I do that? If I don’t to this, will I feel freer? What will bring me the simple relief I crave?
Another common analogy is that nearly all of us possess – or are possessed by – a monkey mind. This one is self-explanatory: what is something monkeys are known for? Jumping! Limb to limb, restless, never ceasing to move. That is a good description of our minds. It certainly captures what I experience almost every day. And the more I attempt to stop jumping, to settle on one fragile limb and stay there, the more another limb grabs my attention and within an instant I’ve jumped to that one. On and on, hour after hour, day after day.
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Book Review: Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore, by Patric Richardson with Karin B. Miller
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez
“Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore” by Patric Richardson with Karin B. Miller
c.2021, Flatiron Books 25.99 / $34.99 Canada 185 pagesTomorrow’s outfit is on a chair over there.
That’s where it’s been since you last washed it. What you wore today came from a basket and off a hanger, the shirt needed ironing, there was a tiny stain on the pants but who noticed? and you just bought new socks, so there’s that. Time to do the wash? Yeah, but get a load of this: “Laundry Love” by Patric Richardson (with Karin B. Miller).
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The Savvy Senior: How Seniors Can Learn New Technology Skills Online
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
Can you recommend some good technology classes or online learning resources for inexperienced seniors? I have a computer and a smartphone, but my knowledge and skills are pretty limited.
Tech Challenged Senior
Dear Senior,
There are many different technology teaching tools available to older adults that can help you learn new tech skills so you can better utilize your devices. Here are some good options to consider.
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Restaurant Review: The Golden Pheasant Inn, 5 Emphatic Yums
By Mark McNease
Restaurant reviews are based on a 5 Yum scale, 5 meaning put it on your must list, 1 meaning avoid at all costs.The Golden Pheasant Inn
763 River Road (Route 32)
Erwinna, PA 18920
(610) 294 9595
Website: goldenpheasant.com
Spend Meter: $$$$+
Service: Excellent
Another Sunday, another outstanding meal. I don’t expect them all to be this good, but when you go to the Golden Pheasant Inn you can count on the standards being high. Located in Erwina, PA, just about twenty minutes from our home in rural New Jersey, the Golden Pheasant is a nearby taste of excellence. My husband Frank and I rode there with our friends and neighbors Phil and Jim. We were going out with them regularly before the pandemic put a stop to life as we knew it. Now that restrictions are being lifted, spring has arrived, and we’re all vaccinated, it was time for another delightful dinner out, this time indoors.
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Dave Hughes of Retire Fabulously: Is Downsizing the Right Choice for You?
Dave Hughes This article first appeared at RetireFabulously.com. Reprinted with permission.
By Dave Hughes
RetireFabulously.com
Is Downsizing the Right Choice for You?
As you contemplate your options for where you’ll live after you retire, you may be considering moving to a smaller dwelling.
Downsizing might make sense for both financial and logistical reasons, but it might not be an advantageous choice in every situation. There are many factors you should consider in order to decide whether downsizing is right for you.
Here are some of the pros and cons of moving to a smaller home.
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Q Audiobooks: Conflict of Interest (Portland Police Bureau Series, Book 1), by Jae, Narrated by Abby Craden
This week’s Q Audiobooks pick sticks with one of my favorite genres. Written by prolific lesbian romance author Jae, it features a workaholic detective (is there any other kind?) who falls for a psychologist. Will circumstances keep them apart, or can they overcome the obstacles, including crime? Fasten your headphones and find out for yourself in Conflict of Interest.
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LGBTSr Celebrates 10 Years with a Comeback!
Yes, it’s been a decade. I was a mere 52, contemplating whatever years immediately precede the golden ones, when I decided to launch a website dedicated to the over-50 LGBTQ audience. Not only have I left my 50s behind, but we officially added the ‘Q’ as our umbrella gets bigger and more inclusive.
With a couple of extended vacations from LGBTSr.com, I’ve been doing this site for a decade. I’m collecting Social Security now. I’m a year from retiring from full time work (I will almost certainly work part time after that, but not in my current position). And I’ve written and published 10 novels of the mystery and thriller varieties
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One Thing or Another Podcast: Author Garrett Hutson Returns to the Show
Join me as I welcome author Garrett Hutson back to the podcast. His newest historical spy thriller, The Swiss Conspiracy, just became available in March, continuing his Martin Schuller series with a third installment. We get caught up on his life, writing, and plans for the future. Fasten your headphones settle in for my chat with this prolific author and fellow Hoosier.
Listen to my previous conversation with the author HERE.
About Garrett Hutson
Garrett Hutson writes upmarket historical mysteries and spy fiction, driven by awed characters who are moving and unforgettable. He writes about ordinary people in different times and places who struggle with faith, family dysfunction, and all of the moral gray areas of life. He writes realistic fiction, so his work is always diverse and LGBT-inclusive.
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On Dreamshaping: Groove Is In the Mind
Mark McNease
On Dreamshaping is a weekly blog about shaping the dreams we live.
Remember that song by Deee-Lite, Groove Is In the Heart? It popped into my head when I was thinking about this blog post. The difference is that the song is very upbeat and infectious, but what I’m writing about is the opposite – or it’s infectious in a bad way.
I’m talking about the grooves we create, deepen, and tread in our minds. The mental repetitions that make up much of our daily thinking. So much that it’s hard to really call it thinking. When I’m walking around half-conscious, repeating the same threads of conversation to myself, the same angers, frustrations, and stuckness, can it be said that I’m thinking at all? This is a trap, a series of grooves, that my mind sinks into with alarming frequency.
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One Thing or Another: Are We There Yet?
By Mark McNease
It’s always One Thing or Another… a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.
“Who was that masked man?”
– The Lone Ranger
I’ve learned the past year that it’s possible to forget what someone looks like without a mask, as well as to marvel at the face of someone I’ve never seen without one. In the grocery store where I work four days a week, masks have been omnipresent for over a year now, especially among those of use who work there, euphemistically called ‘associates.’
I wear a mask because I’m required to, and because I care about my community, my family, and bringing this all to some kind of end. But I don’t like it. In this case, ‘hate’ is not too strong a work. My glasses fog up. I breathe my own spittle. And I often wonder, as we enter the post-vaccination stage, how long we’ll have to keep wearing them, and how much of it is requirement and how much is conditioning. I imagine we’ll find out as states begin to eliminate mask mandates and companies follow suit. I will add, with emphasis, that not getting the flu last year was a big plus. Masks are uncomfortable and often annoying, but they have helped us minimize our contagious disease transmission to an amazing level.