7-21-08
\nI vegged most of the day, took a nap, worked some on a writing project I am doing on contract for a friend\/client, washed my hair, went to Friendly’s and had some chicken noodle soup and a side salad,\u00a0worked on a newsletter I do for a friend who has a lawncare business.\u00a0 I am excited about doing my own lawn.\u00a0 I\u00a0had fun yesterday using my hedge trimmers,\u00a0 rrrrrroooooom, rrrrrrooooom!\u00a0 And I liked how it looked today.\u00a0 And instead of thinking of sheesh now I have to clean up the yard clippings, I\u00a0think of how much good exercise it will be for me.\u00a0 I even have fun vacumming now with my new Magic Blue vac!\u00a0 I am vacumming every few days, it takes maybe 20 minutes to do the whole house!\u00a0 But my furniture is easy to move around to vac under.<\/p>\n
I just sent the mag in to the printer, and it will be delivered Friday.\u00a0 I have emailed my crew and the wheels are in motion!<\/p>\n
I picked up my new Toro 20065 lawnmower Saturday, and also the Homelite UT44120 22″ Electric Hedge Trimmer (the larger one of the two I looked at).\u00a0 Actually I bought both hedge trimmers and meditated on which to open, and I’ll return the smaller one today.<\/p>\n
I tried it out on the back eleagnus bushes surrounding the back porch and it works great.\u00a0 It says the cut capacity is 1\/2 ” and that’s about right. \u00a0Some of the branches were the size of my finger, which is just more than 1\/2 inch, but I could cut them pretty easily if I had a sweeping motion going.\u00a0 I tried cutting the top several ways, so\u00a0I don’t have to do it from a ladder.<\/p>\n
I have some good ladders though.\u00a0 Today I want to top the ficus hedge along the driveway, and will need a ladder for this first cut.\u00a0 And I might want ahead of time to prune out the bigger stalks, since they are probably more like 1″ around…<\/p>\n
I forgot that trimming the bushes means yard trash, and our Waste Pickup guys have all these rules about how big to cut branches, etc. and they have to be in refuse cans.\u00a0 I learned that when Francis across the street told me the reason the\u00a0trash truck always bypassed my ever growing pile of branches\u00a0the past 6 months was that they were not cut to size.\u00a0 \u00a0So today I will go buy a big 50 gallon bin on wheels maybe, and toss the branches in there.\u00a0 He and I cut up my pile and it took a hour\u00a0and it filled his 4 trash bins plus more left siding alongside stacked nicely.\u00a0 They picked it right up.\u00a0 He’s a real\u00a0worker, always tending to his yard.<\/p>\n
I will set up my lawn mower today, Francis said he will help me.\u00a0 It’s just like his.\u00a0 It will be good to do my own yard.\u00a0 Between the mowing and the hedge trimming, these arms will strengthen right up.\u00a0 I am trying to keep to a\u00a0nightly routine working my arms out with my little 8 lb weights.\u00a0 I can tell each month if I’ve been keeping at it by how easy or hard it is for me to lift my two 5 gallon water bottles when I get them refilled each month.\u00a0 Sometimes I can grab by both handles and get them inside at one time.\u00a0 Other times one feels a little heavy to carry by the handle so I carry it like a baby and it’s not heavy at all.\u00a0 Directly related to how many hours at the keyboard and steering wheel compared to how many hours working out and using my arms.<\/p>\n
A friend emailed me:
\n\u201cI almost feel like I need to start out basic and breathing and meditation… not spend alot of time on it as most people know about it but you never know when a new comer might not even understand meditation and how important it is… not only for relaxing the mind and body and releasing stress but also to connect and communicate with our guides and spirits….\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c<\/p>\n
I replied: \u201cYes you are right.\u00a0I find that most people are insecure about the way they meditate anyway, even those who have done it for years.\u00a0 And I always mention that, so no one feels stupid for having attended meditations for years and still aren’t sure what they are supposed to be thinking about while their eyes are closed, and after the guided part is over and they are in the silence.\u00a0 Meditation is like sex, everyone talks about it but few actually experience it as often as they say they do.<\/p>\n
I like the old “breathe in for 4 slow counts, hold for 4 slow counts, release for 4 slow counts, hold for 4 slow counts.”\u00a0 That way I am not getting caught up in my mind keeping track of the counts.\u00a0 If I’m busy counting a complex sequence, I’m not meditating.\u00a0 Keep me posted.\u201d<\/p>\n