Most corrupt, most disloyal, most unethical PERSON ever. (not just president)

I would need a couple beers before I would do so! Kids are so uninhibited and free.

I have noticed that the accents are all over the place. Steven Robertson is from Shetland, so his is probably accurate. I read that it's mostly not filmed in Shetland, which is a shame, but probably not practical. Many shows that are supposed to be set in Seattle are actually in British Columbia, where it's much cheaper to film. (but the buildings and streets are all wrong for those of us who know Seattle) John is a very nice man--such a great addition to my life!

There will be rainbows, but there will also be rain. The way of the world. I'm constantly fighting for perspective, and in that battle, I grow a lot, sometimes painfully. :)

I know, but I do have some country that I like. Johnny Cash for example. Willie Nelson. I adore bluegrass too!

Love the photos, and Nate's sense of humor! It was such a great time at lunch; I enjoy finding out all the unbloggable stuff and sharing mine as well. I've been in a reading funk too. I have several good books to read, but no motivation. I was not as huge a fan of Crawdads as the rest of my book club.

I'm coming to appreciate spring more and more as I look around at everything blooming. After looking at photos, I think Pam is correct. It's what is also called a star magnolia.

I get very absorbed in these Brit series, but boy do I need the subtitles! I also use them all the time. My flight does require a change of planes, according to American. Bah, humbug. Although stresses are a normal part of life, I get tired of dealing with them. :(

Oh, I do have lots of natural curl and wave in my hair. I dry it with a round brush to restrain it, but it comes back if I'm out in damp weather. I loved catching up over lunch--much more important than the food!!

I like lunch too or an early dinner. I thought we were going to the 2 pm movie, then a 4 pm dinner, which would have been fine on a Saturday night. 6 pm=not so fine! John had to finalize his taxes though (he owes $3,600) so I didn't want to add any more stress to his life. ;)

I'm feeling that! I don't mind having a cold, but they usually get better with lots of Vitamin C and zinc. This one is going into a nasty cough. I don't want to fly with this junk! Hope you can stay healthy!!

That's funny about the hair! :) I prefer my bangs more controlled, but I do have a lot of natural wave in my hair which creates some crazy styles. I'm not enjoying this cold at all; it's been a long time since I last had one. The cough is particularly annoying.

It takes risk, and work and effort to maintain friendships, and it isn't always easy. Some of my friends are still working, so scheduling an outing can be tricky. I bet your friends with kids would enjoy an evening out! (but it's still hard to ask, even if you do it casually, like it would be great to get dinner at x restaurant together) I love to walk! I didn't think I would, but it's very therapeutic.

I'm very glad to hear that! I don't have much time between flights, so I'm hoping that I can make it. JFK is always a mess, so I doubt that that flight will leave on time. I can't control any of it, so I'll just have to deal with whatever occurs. It's good to hear your positives about O'Hare! I needed that.

We are definitely our own worst enemies at times, aren't we? I wonder if it's a symptom of perfectionism. I've shaken most of mine, but it still crops up from time to time. I also like to imagine how people are feeling toward me or what they think of me when really I have no idea. Most people are spending 0 time thinking about me at all! They are probably fixated on their own concerns. :)

It's hard for me to ignore a series of stressful events; usually I'm OK with one or two, but yesterday I felt the weight of too many small concerns. Although it adds at least 2 hours to my travel time, I think I'm on the same plane and in the same aisle seat coming from JFK, and that it just stops in Chicago to pick up more people. (probably Boeing executives coming to deal with more issues with the 737 MAX)

I always enjoy reading this sort of post down the road. Even today, I have much better perspective on my feelings. It's the whole "1,000 cuts" thing; if only a couple of these were happening, it would be no problem, but a bunch of small things can be overwhelming. I look at each item and realize that I have no control over it or if I do, I'm choosing to wallow or worry. Sometimes I need to fret for a while before I let go and rediscover my usual equanimity. In writing about it all, I process a lot of it, and feel better. I'm going with my mom's theory which is that I recently vacuumed which is more of a twisting motion. However, I didn't run today, just in case. I wonder, do most of us carry our stress in our shoulders? I know I do! I'm a constant shoulder huncher. Thanks for your support and virtual hugs!

Now that I'm looking at the arrangements, I think it's just a stop(same plane, same seat) so that relieves my mind a bit, although it adds two hours to my travel time. I've flown out of JFK quite a bit, and never known a plane to leave on time. :) I'm thankful I'm not going through Atlanta though! Knees are tricky things; they are really the weak spot of the body. And we depend on them so much!

I went through one of those travel services and there was nothing they could do. I checked Alaska's website and found no flight that I could take or was non-stop. The problem is that I have to leave later in the day because I have to get from Poughkeepsie to NYC via train, then taxi to the airport. Most flights are early morning and all but one were one stops. Discouraging. But it really is a small thing and I'll deal with it.

And at O'Hare! I'm not familiar with the airport, it's huge, and has an awful reputation. Since I can't control any of it, I have to go with the situation, and hope for the best.

Yes, exactly how I felt when I saw the photos of the trees! I'm sure I was distracted too.It also made me wonder how much else I've been ignoring or not seeing, up into the present moment. I think I've made a lot of progress over the past six years, focusing more on the small beauties and joys. When my world went sideways, I had to find ways to cheer myself up and sometimes that was just buying and planting 70+ tulips from Holland, then excitedly waiting for them to come up the next spring.

I'm still sad at times, but mostly I'm ready for more adventures as the weather gets warmer and nicer. John likes to be active and do things/go places, so that suits me very well! I would really like to know what that daisy tree is! Maybe my parents will know if I show them the picture.

I've taken the trees and the beauties of spring mostly for granted. I've missed out on too much by not looking closely enough around me! Something about pictures of the UW cherry trees kicked my mind into gear. I love it when unexpected things provide mini-revelations.

I'm definitely a work in progress, and I'm way older than you are. It's too easy to obsess on the big things, and that can obscure the vision. Or perhaps direct the focus away from what we can appreciate!

I've been overthinking(surprise, surprise) and have had tunnel vision with the big things, so I'm making the effort to focus on the small beauties around me. It really does help.