Microblog Monday - Let It Snow!

It snowed last night. The timing was perfect. We just put our tree up and put the lights in the windows. Waking up this morning it felt like the holidays. The smell of the tree was the first thing I noticed when I went downstairs.

Working from home has its benefits on a day like today in New England. If it stayed like this I'd be happy. The more snow we get the harder it is to get around and the bottom line is even when you have the choice of working from home getting out to see people is necessary. How is the holiday season going for you so far?

View from my office window.

Microblog Monday - I Am Not Ready

Changing over to Christmas happens earlier and earlier each year. The turkey is barely digested from the Thanksgiving dinner and people are out the door shopping for Christmas.

I will be ready soon. I am just not ready yet. December 1st is Thursday and that day, to me, is the day to start getting in the Christmas spirit.

How about you? What holidays do you celebrate in the upcoming month and are you preparing already?

Microblog Monday

"Hit it out of the park." This saying describes the best possible outcome in a situation where a task is being performed. It's when you kill it.

Why is it that some can succeed at hitting homeruns and others cannot? The key in my mind is understanding that the homerun is not an isolated event or occurrence. That homerun is the culmination of many hours of practice, lots of swings and hard work. And high energy.

Some environments will sap your energy. Others will add to and enhance your energy. When in an environment that is an energy drain there are things you can do to change it. Music and activity enhance energy. Want things to be more upbeat? Put on some music and do something!

I am looking for, and think I have found, an environment that will motivate and inspire me. I'm on the hunt for that homerun!

Photo by Kai Oberhauser - Unsplash

My blog theme this month is change. Are you making any changes these days?
I'd love to hear about it.

Stay tuned for more from My Middleton Chronicles.

Wendy

Microblog Monday - Holiday Dessert

Looks so good!

November is moving quickly and it is time to really give some thought to the Turkey Day menu. Pinterest has some great ideas and I've been pinning away on my board titled 'Holiday Stuff' for a while now.

Apple Pie is a staple at my house and a couple of us in the family also like a nice slice of Pumpkin Pie. I am thinking about getting a French Press to step up my coffee game. Is it worth it? If you have one please let me know your thoughts.

Most years I buy cookies from a local business to dress up the table and to have a little something extra around. That's what Thanksgiving is all about. It's that day to be thankful, to spend time with family and friends and to have a great feast to celebrate it all.

What's on your holiday dessert menu?

Stay tuned for more from My Middleton Chronicles.
Wendy

Last years table 

Microblog Monday - The 3 Reasons I Blog

Why do I blog?

I've started a couple of streaks - Microblog Monday and Wordless Wednesday. I am also doing a blogging challenge this month which is to post each day in the month of November. My own rules for this are that I am only posting on the weekdays.

Why do I do it? What are my goals?

1. Writing down my thoughts, feelings and observations is cathartic and perhaps there are readers out there who can relate to me.

2.  I find the idea of being a writer fascinating and for sure have a romanticized view of what a writers life would be like.  If you've ever seen the movie 'Love Actually' the character Jamie writes on an actual typewriter at his retreat on an idylic pond somewhere in England.

3.  Finding my writing voice has been a goal of mine for quite a while and if I keep writing I am hoping that I find it.  Is the great American novel inside of me? Would anyone read my memoir? Who knows but I am going to keep trying just in case.

Stay tuned for more from My Middleton Chronicles and if you have any advice, constructive criticism or an idea for the direction of my blog I'd love to hear about it.
Have a great Monday!

Wendy

Halloween Microblog Monday

The social media sites can be a tough place to be these days. Election talk seems to dominate and I know many friends who have taken social media breaks to get away from the polarizing conversations. The tough part about that is there is good stuff there in between the rants that could be missed.

Too much of anything is not good. Too much sunshine and roses? Gag me. Too much ranting? Gag me again. Real life is somewhere in between.

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year on social media. I LOVE seeing all the costumes and all the kids and friends having fun.

Here's a photo from my facebook news feed several years ago. This costume was for a Halloween dance my daughter went to in elementary school and we really threw it together very last minute. She had a blast and the costume was very cute. (she is the one on the left)

So I guess my thought today it that I don't want to let all the bad stuff that is going on out there in the world totally overshadow the fun, good stuff that happens in every day life.

Enjoy your Monday and enjoy Halloween everyone!

Stay tuned for more from My Middleton Chronicles.

Wendy

Microblog Monday - What A Difference A Year Makes

I love the feature on Facebook that shows your posts from years past. The photo on the left popped up the other day and the photo on the right was taken recently. I keep a diary of my weight loss attempts that dates back to 2013.

After reading through my entries one day I realized that over and over I was getting started with losing weight but never getting lasting results. Not due to will power, not due to lack of effort but due to things that were out of my control.

Help, help was what I needed. Not help from the leaders and counselors at Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and the like that I of course had tried, often more than once. I needed serious help.

I have not quite lost all that I want to lose. The other challenge is I do not want to gain back what I have lost.

I'll talk more about my weight loss journey here so stay tuned to My Middleton Chronicles.

My best, Wendy

Microblog Monday - Hot Topic. What Would You Do?

Microblog Monday - If you were in this situation what would you do? 

This past Sunday a Facebook thread caught my eye. It was like a train wreck and I could not look away. I hesitate to take a side because I have no personal knowledge of the situation. I'll give you my guess, what my gut is telling me,  at the end of this post.

Here is the original post on Medium that got the discussion started https://medium.com/@nikkibeauchamp/no-more-whispers

I was riveted to the Facebook thread that has since been removed. I have since removed myself from the Facebook group that the gents in the article run. There were more articles, videos and lots of commentary. Some of it sage, some of it combative. People were jumping on one bandwagon or the other. Team Angelina and Team Aniston but with more bite.

Social media, the internet and a mob mentality can truly take on a life of its own. The election certainly is taking that same track and this situation felt very similar to the election stuff that is going on.

So what it my guess? What does my gut tell me? I think this woman is speaking the truth. Two of the guys on the bus with her, who she did not name, came out with videos shortly after the article was published admitting they were, in fact, on the bus. They said that they were having a conversation but that the conversation was nothing like what was described. Though protest too much. Because the thread was removed it would take me time I do not care to spend to find the videos. 

Hopefully this incident will be investigated and validated. If it is proven that it did not happen I assume there would be a retraction.

Here's an article that spells out all the gory details:
therealdaily.com/real-estate-brokers/lab-coat-agents-founders-accused-violent-sexist-comments-inman-sf/

The train wreck is over. The dust is settling. For me I hope my daughters never have to experience what was described on the bus and that my son never sits by while a guy he's with speaks they way the guy in the back of the bus was speaking about women and to women. I know for sure he'd never be the speaker himself. He was raised better than that.

If you were in the situation that the woman on the bus was in what would you have done?

She has been criticized for her blog post. What do you think of it?

Microblog Monday - I've Heard Writing Things Down Works

Photo by Mpho Mojapelo- unsplash.com

"Think of your mind as a juggler and the thoughts that occupy your mind as balls." -AT

Or for some people thoughts are like a game of foosball. Quick moving and sometimes hard to follow.

Either way there can be strain on the brain and a tendency to become overwhelmed and drop everything.

After putting down the balls or taking control of the game by writing down your thoughts, to-do list, goals anxieties, etc on paper there is a feeling of putting the ball down if you're juggling or running the game if you're in that foosball game mode. 

Once things are down on paper you can choose what you want to focus on. 

You also have everything in one place so when you want to revisit that thought, goal, to-do you know right where they are.

Are you one to write things down or do you wing it? I read some compelling info on why writing things down works and have switched from an electronic only calendar and to-do list to a combination of electronic and good old paper and pencil.

How do you juggle all the balls? Take control of the frenetic foosball game like life?

Does your method work? I'd love to hear from you!

Wendy

Miracle Morning and Microblog Monday - That's a Mouthful!

"If I'd known then what I know now ..." Do you ever think about that and how things would have been different?

For me I think I could have avoided tons of anxiety had I known back during certain points in my life what I know now.  Hindsight tells me that things truly have a way of working themselves out. Maybe that's a charmed way of thinking and a big rude awakening is on it's way, I hope not.

One of the great things about the Miracle Morning is that it gets me in the right mindset to take on the day. My playlist for the exercise portion of the morning is the 'Happy' channel on Pandora. It's great for working out, cleaning and anytime you want something up beat on to keep you going.

As the Miracle Morning attempts continued this past week I found their Facebook group.
It's a huge group and it's inspiring to see that so many people are working on the same thing I am.

Stay tuned for more of My Middleton Chronicles and keep me honest in my challenge attempts. I'm in the home stretch with this one.

Wendy

4 M's - The Miracle Morning and Microblog Monday

The Miracle Morning continues!

"Be grateful for all that you have, accepting of all that you don't, and actively create all that you want."

You can read about the start of The Miracle Morning here:  mymiddletonchronicles.blogspot.com/my-attempt-at-miracle-morning

MicroblogMonday Oh The Places You'll Go

I have so many favorite books from when my kids were little and I would read to them. One of my all time favorites is the classic by Dr Suess - Oh The Places You'll Go

The possibilities in life are endless and the message in the book is fun and inspiring.

I asked my kids what their favs were from growing up and here's what they said:
#1 Child - The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstien
#2 Child - Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Suess
#3 Child - Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

What are your favorite children's books?

MicroblogMonday - My post did not resonate. I thought it was good!

Capturing vacation on my camera.

On this MicroblogMonday I am going to share a little twinge I felt last week. My blog post did not seem to resonate with people or generate much interest. Oh well. I thought it was good! No comments and just a few likes. We really do let our feelings hinge on online comments and likes. My April social media diet has curbed some of that in me but it still stung a little that it did not seem like many people noticed or read my recent post on Blogher. I posted it on all my social sites and it still did not get much traction. I was even worried that some of the content might offend. Nothing to worry about there. It would have to be read to offend.

The good thing is, I learned a lot from the research I did to write the post. That in itself is the reward. I am much more in tune to the pressures kids are facing these days and how social media plays in to those pressures. It's still scary but I am more educated.

Check the post in question out if you'd like to, here's the link -

sheknows.com//my-teen-said-i-was-on-social-media-too-much

#MicroblogMonday - What a difference a week makes

Schedules, diets and challenges. New week new challenges.

The snow is gone and although it's not super warm at least the sun is out and the snow is pretty much gone. Last week at this time it felt more like February than April. My daughters softball season starts at long last tomorrow and we are getting ready for a much needed vacation.  They say when you need something done ask a busy person. The same goes for the week or day before a vacation. Getting super organized and getting everything done is a must. Efficiency is at an all time high. Motivation for getting things done is at an all time high.

The schedule is planned, the meals are planned, a little shopping is still needed as is a lot of packing. How happy am I to be shopping for sunscreen? VERY HAPPY. How happy am I that my dog care is all lined up? VERY HAPPY. Vacation can't come soon enough.

My April Challenge is cruising along. This weeks challenge is no take out or eating out. Easy peasy. We'll be eating out more than usual while on vacation so eating at home and making lunches each day would probably have been my plan anyway for this week.

As far as my social media diet I have really noticed how much more concentration I have now that the apps for my social media accounts are off of my phone. A total break from social media is not possible since some of what I do is for work but limiting it to when I am on my computer or ipad has made a big difference in how I spend my time.

Signing off for now and hoping you all have a great week! Wendy

#MicroblogMonday - Late Snow Brings Challenges

Snow makes the April Challenge more challenging for 2nd year in a row.

The April Challenge is happening, I am off to a good start. I have the best chance at winning one of the weeks in the first week so I'm giving it my all. Each week has a bonus challenge that goes along with it and this weeks was to walk or run a 5k.

April 3rd 2016

Easy enough on a usual day but don't you know it snow has been falling yesterday and today.
Thankfully the YMCA has an indoor track.  I recall last year going to a walking trail near me to complete the 5k with a friend and our daughters brought bikes. They had to stop when the snow on the trail made it impossible to bike further. Gotta love New England!

I've got 3 different books I am listening to and spent the time on the track listening to one of them - The Heavy by Dara-Lynn Weiss. I started listening and then as I often do I googled the author to see a photo of her. My search turned up some articles from when the book came out and the controversy that surrounded the story it told. It details the author's attempts to address her 8 year old daughters obesity at the request of the pediatrician.
My thoughts go to the future and what this little girl will be like as a tween, teen and adult. Will she thank her mom? Will she be mortified by the book?

It is so hard to be the mom of a daughter and be the one who will be a big part of forming her relationship with food. The mom from the book was brave to put it out there.

Will I stick to the April Challenge? I'd like to make this my best one yet. Stay tuned!

All my best, Wendy

#Microblog Monday April Challenge - No Social Media

Microblog Monday - The April Challenge is a Social Experiment

I am going off the social grid for the month of April. You will find me here on my blog, by text, phone and email but not on social media.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin ...

What will I miss? Will there be more found time in my life?

Proclaiming this now instead of on April 1st ensures that people (who I don't know, but you know people) will not think it's an April Fools day prank.

My blogs facebook page and my twitter page will basically become an RSS feed for these posts. Any comments and messages on social media will not be seen until May 1st when I return. Is a blog considered social? Only if there is 2 way interaction would be my guess. Comment away here, I'd love to chat with you!

Has anyone else taken a social media break for an extended period of time? How did it go? Was it hard?

I find that I love social media on a day like yesterday. It was Easter and there were so many great posts from everyone's Easter Sunday festivities. Even those who were not celebrating Easter chimed in with posts about what they were doing on a sunny Sunday in March.

I've got a few days to go before this full fledged hiatus. Wish me luck!

All my best, Wendy

4/04/16 Update - Blogging and a month long social media hiatus just do not go hand in hand. Taking facebook, Twitter and Instagram off of my phone is the best I can do and it's been great. My email inboxes got cleaned up and I am pretty much keeping then that way. There were for sure things that I found I needed after I deleted the vast # of emails but found that I could easily get the information I needed other ways. Looking in my sent mail, calling the person who sent me what I needed in the first place and in a few cases just letting go. 

#Microblog Monday

It's a new day, a new week and soon it will be daylight savings time and spring. What diamonds am I close to? I don't know but I have several things I'm working on. I am going to make this a week that I do a little extra with each of them.

#MicroblogMonday - 4 pics that make me proud to be a mom

I was given a 4 photo challenge. Callenge
was to post 4 photos that make me proud
to be a mom. These are the tip of the
iceberg!

Summer fun

Brother sandwich

Celebrate

Days gone by ...

#Microblog Monday

#Microblog Monday - Winters Indoor Sports

Remember that desk I mentioned a few posts back? mymiddletonchronicles.blogspot.com/2016challengescontinue
I picked it up yesterday and made a trip to the store for supplies to clean it up and restore it. My plan is to use black chaulk paint from the top down and do a natural Cherry top and get a piece of glass for the top. This beauty needs new hardware, which will be fun to select. It really is a nice, solid piece and the back is finished, meaning it could sit in the middle of a room and still look great.
I landed this gem for 40 bucks. It will take some man hours and materials to get it looking great but I think I'll have an awesome desk on my hands when it's done.

It's freezing here in New England so inside pursuits are the way to go. Yesterday was -5 degrees Fahrenheit with the wind chill. Today is a balmy 28 degrees Fahrenheit.
The cold water line to my washing machine froze overnight 2 nights ago, that's how cold it is!

5 feet across!

Dove tail drawers

Detail!

Back view - 'skirt'