26 July 2023 No Travel Plans

July 26, 2023July 26, 2023 by saymber, posted in animals, history, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What are your future travel plans?

Hello to you today. How are you? I woke up really early this morning with anxiety. It’s probably because I know my Aunt is having her shoulder surgery today. I am hoping everything goes well. I suggested to her to ask the doctor and nurses to pray with her beforehand – sometimes they do that.

Todays prompt makes me think of the good old days when I used to travel when I was in the military stationed overseas. We used the base MWR (Morale Welfare Recreation) services and got to see and do a lot that way. They chartered buses and that’s how we got around much of Europe – and trains. We weren’t saddled down with pets yet. When we were overseas the only pet we had was a cockatiel named Cheeky. She didn’t need to be boarded. Once we got back to the states I got May and Amber my cats and that put a damper on travel. We still did it but not for great lengths of time. Having cats and dogs and boarding them costs about as much as the trip without them! It’s expensive to travel having pets – there are extra fees to hotel rooms. Just traveling from Texas to Idaho with Link wasn’t cheap.

Someday when I don’t have a pet, which I don’t know if that will be ever, (lol) I wouldn’t mind taking another cruise to Europe and seeing parts I didn’t see when I was over there like Ireland and may be Norway and Scotland. May be I’ll have a traveling buddy by then?! It would be nice to share an experience like that.

This psalm is beautiful for all kinds of travel – thinking of my Aunt:

Psalm 121New International Version

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

¹I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
²My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
⁸the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

21 July 2023 Quality vs Quantity

July 21, 2023 by saymber, posted in animals, Bipolar life, history, Home, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you. How’s your week been? It’s Friday morning as I write to you and already hot – 89 degrees! I went and got groceries at Ridleys here in town after I got up. Their ice cream section was completely empty! Their freezer must be still broken. I didn’t need to buy ice cream anyways lol! Just tastes good when it’s hot.

Today my thoughts turn to life in terms of quality versus quantity – the number of days we live versus how we live the number of days we are given to live. I feel so blessed to have made it to 55 years old! It hasn’t always been easy to get to this point but despite all the things I’ve been through I’m grateful for my life and the bumps in the road along the way. It’s like my body with its knicks and dents – all the imperfections showing the character of the life I’ve lived. Each flaw and scar tells a story about me and my journey. It’s important to live in a space of gratitude for the time we are given however long or short that time may be.

A little yellow rose – made me think of my mom and dad.

Our animals that we share our life with teach us these lessons. For every day we live is a week in their time. No day is wasted. I can be gone for just a few minutes and when I come back Link expresses his joy and gratitude at my return. Each morning there is a wagging tail to show how glad he is to wake up next to me. Dogs, cats and birds are the epitome of making each day count!

Romans 8:18New International Version

Present Suffering and Future Glory

¹⁸I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

20 July 2023 Dogs or Cats

July 20, 2023 by saymber, posted in animals, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion

Dogs or cats?

Hello to you. It’s a smoky hot day already. I walked over to our prayer meeting at Grace House and back – got my 10 minutes plus in for today. I’ll probably still go later this evening. I spoke with a recreation therapist yesterday from the VA and we established a goal of walking at least 10 minutes each day.

As for todays prompt I have had the honor of sharing my life with both species. I would say of the two, cats are the lowest maintenance but I love each equally. There are pros and cons to sharing life with each of them. Dogs can’t be left alone for more than a day whereas cats can. I don’t miss cleaning up cat litter but I still have to pick up dog poop! It’s more convenient to just scoop it out of one place. Both species can be very affectionate and love to play. May, my Russian Blue, loved to play ball with me. I would toss a small fuzz ball to her and she would hit it with her paws like a bat. So cute! Link loves to cuddle and sometimes we play with his toys. He hides his favorite fur babies and challenges me to find them. Sometimes he acts like a Dat – a little bit dog and a little bit cat. Amber and May were his first cat family. So as you can see, I can’t settle on whether I favor dogs or cats- they are pretty much even in my books!

These flowers make me think of an exotic location like Hawaii or something

Proverbs 3:3-13New International Version

³Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
    bind them around your neck,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴Then you will win favor and a good name
    in the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.^[a]

⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
⁸This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

⁹Honor the Lord with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
¹⁰then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.

¹¹My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
¹²because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.^[b]

¹³Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,

19 July 2023 Time

July 19, 2023 by saymber, posted in animals, Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, drawing, Mental Health, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Which activities make you lose track of time?

Hello to you. How is your week thus far! My week is going ok. I’m sitting on the front porch with Link as I write to you. Its still pretty nice out. I wish it would rain so my car would get rinsed off! Its pretty dirty! I know as soon as I wash it pollen and dust will cover it again.

Todays prompt makes me think of when I was being creative and crafting. When I made jewelry, did drawing in chalks on the back porch and also when I used to be play video games. When I get in the flow, the zone where I’m focused on something so completely I am not operating in time and a place. When I’m doing something I love to do it’s such a good feeling. It’s been a couple years since I had this feeling. I can remember when I used to draw portraits of people I would sit for hours and be totally focused but that was mainly when I was younger.

Psalm 145:9New International Version

⁹The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.

13 July 2023 Bedtime

July 13, 2023 by saymber, posted in animals, Health, Home, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?

Hello to you. I’m just back from Grace House where we have a prayer meeting each Thursday at 9:30 am. Today it was Lois, Brie and me. We are hoping that may be this fall our group will grow some. I walked over and back. My lower back wasn’t happy but the prayers helped. I have been having some vertigo/swaying spells the past couple of days. I hope this isn’t a side effect of the new medication I’m on! We prayed for my Aunt and Dad too. Just found out my Aunt is having shoulder surgery later this month.

So bedtime and getting up are something I’ve been having to work on. I try to start going to bed at 9 pm and I usually wake up around 8-9 am. It takes me a long time to fall asleep and I don’t like getting out of bed right away. I think the reason I have trouble falling asleep has to do with being on screens before bed time. Last night I didn’t have anything on after lights out and I don’t remember falling asleep! Just takes good practice and consistency I think.

Today was good because I needed to be up early to go to the prayer meeting. It’s good to have a reason to get up and have something to look forward to.

Psalm 4:8New International Version

⁸In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.

7 July 2023 Afternoon Light

July 7, 2023 by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, Home, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you. How are you? The past couple days I’ve been having a lot of fullness in my ears and with that has come anxiety. I don’t know if it’s the new medication or what.

Have you ever noticed how things look during different phases of sunlight? I can remember reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau and his talking about taking objects from inside his house outside when he cleaned and how different they looked in the sunlight. I can remember when I was really into photography with my first husband Ken how important light was to taking pictures. Early morning and dusk were the ideal times for pictures – the most color saturation:

This is an example of a picture taken at dusk – really saturated color

The cameras we used, like a Nikon, had light meters and everything wasn’t automatic like it is today . Who could of imagined cell phone cameras! They can take still photos and videos like devices we used to use that were much more complicated.

John 9:5New International Version

⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 July 2023 Romantic

July 6, 2023 by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, history, Home, Movies, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What’s your definition of romantic?

Hello to you. I’m just back from meeting with our little prayer group at Grace House. We had a nice turn out! There were four of us. The walk over was nice yet tiring. I push myself even though I feel like a Weeble Wobble! Do you remember those toys?

Some roses still blooming despite the heat

Now to the prompt – what do I feel is the definition of romantic. I know this will seem weird but when I think of romance a couple movies come to mind and they both have to do with never ending love – Somewhere In Time and Brahms Stokers Dracula. There is something so romantic to me about love that transcends time and space. I can’t watch Somewhere in Time without being a mess afterwards! Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour did such a great job. The dinner date with absinthe and turning tears into diamonds in Dracula is just so romantic! Love the music for both films.

I can remember having an experience like this during one of my hospital stays. There was a young woman named Yamila I met and she seemed so familiar. I asked her if we had ever met before and she said “perhaps in another life.” Such an odd thing to say and it really stuck me. She reminded me of a girl I supervised in the military. Yamila walked, talked and did other gestures just as if I was with Eveline again! Eveline was Dutch and just such a sweet girl – my first troop!

1 Corinthians 13:8-13New International Version

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹²For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

5 July 2023 Expressing Gratitude

July 5, 2023 by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, Home, Mental Health, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

How do you express your gratitude?

Hello there. We survived another 4th of July! The people firing off fireworks last night weren’t as intense as last year. I’m thankful for that! I just had a walk around the block and no loose dogs or cats which is a blessing. We had a wonderful visit with my Aunt, Uncle, cousin and his wife yesterday. Lots of good food – huge hot dogs! They brought the bike over but I couldn’t ride it without feeling like it was going to tip over. My balance just wasn’t there! So we are leaving the bike with them. So another “can’t” on the books. I’m not sure if it’s just because it had three wheels or just me not being able to balance. Everybody else was able to ride it. When they had a two wheel bike I had no problem riding it but that was before I had the swaying issues in my head.

Todays prompt makes me think of my family and friends. So much to be thankful for and the way I have expressed my gratitude has mostly been words these past couple of years. When I was a child, my Mom taught me to write thank you notes when I received gifts for birthdays and Christmas. I haven’t written a thank you note in a long time! Ever since this whatever I’ve got going on in my head, writing with a pen and paper has become more difficult. I’m thankful I can still type and text!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

3 July 2023 Teacher

July 3, 2023July 3, 2023 by saymber, posted in animals, history, Nature, photography, trust, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What makes a teacher great?

Hello to you. How are you doing today? It’s already 81 degrees here today. I didn’t take my phone on the walk last night so no walk pictures. Everything is drying out or there are weeds. One of my neighbors yards is almost completely overrun with weeds. They are waist high! I don’t know if the city has a code enforcement to tell them to cut their yard.

Link is so good at posing for pictures. He is a teacher in my life – especially patience and unconditional love

Todays prompt reminds me of a special teacher I had when attending grade school. The teacher in grade school was Mrs. Maxwell. She encouraged me to write and even gave me a certificate saying I was the most likely to be an author some day. She genuinely cared about me on a personal level as well. She could see how difficult a classroom setting was for me and tried to help. I can remember one day she helped me work through a crisis. I thought my dog Pita had eaten a rabbits foot and was going to die. Mrs. Maxwell reassured me the whole day that Pita would be alright. Thankfully she was. I don’t remember finding the rabbits foot!

I don’t think teachers are compensated nearly enough for what they do for our children!

Teachers are not limited to human beings. All my animals I have shared my life with have taught me patience and non-verbal communication. My dogs and cats taught me about nonverbal communication and patience. I have learned things from insects and other non- humans. I’ll never forget what a couple different species of wasps taught me. One dragged the body of a spider in right in front of me. It was like it was saying “see what I can do?!” The spider was two to three sizes bigger than the wasp. Another discharged its stinger as I was looking at it – like someone putting down their weapon. Another got trapped in the house and I caught it and let it outside where its fellows were waiting like they knew what I would do! The other insect I learned from was flies. I put tuna on a plate and they would go to the tuna and I could get them outside. Most of the behavior that annoys about flies is stuff they do while freaking out at being where they don’t belong- they freak out just like we would if we were trapped somewhere we don’t belong. People forget that insects have been here longer than we have – not just stupid insects! I did a video about the flies once – if I could make peace with a fly why can’t we make peace with each other? I think our brains and thoughts make things so complicated. I haven’t been able to make peace with ants like when they invaded the house- just too many!

These days, as an adult, my teachers are all around me. Like I remember my Dad telling me once “ You are never out of school.” Its important to remain teachable and not get set in your ways. This is difficult for me as I don’t like change very much but nature continues to teach me that change is a part of life.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

2 July 2023 Surgery (ever had one)

July 2, 2023 by saymber, posted in animals, Bipolar life, Health, history, Home, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Have you ever had surgery? What for?

Hello to you. I’m just back from church and groceries. The message today came from Thessalonians in regards to the return of Christ. Pastor Daniel from the Nampa campus gave the message. It was good to see familiar faces and get caught up on things. Dear Penny lost her Dad recently and she shared her peace about that. The grocery trip was kind of disappointing. I wanted to get some Tillamook ice cream to take over to Ruth’s on the 4th but they didn’t have vanilla and the freezer was failing – a lot of the ice cream was melted. I picked up some Dreyers that wasn’t too melted! Hope it will be ok!

Todays prompt takes me back to the two surgeries I had to remove fibroid cysts. The first surgery removed a cyst the size of a 5 month embryo and second surgery, in August of 2005, when I had my hysterectomy to remove fibroid cysts and all my baby making parts. It was a life changing decision we made to have the hysterectomy. I remember just before being put under anesthesia for the second surgery the technician asking me if this is what I wanted to do. It rained that day as Kyle waited for me to get in and out of surgery. I remember it was hard to wake up from the anesthesia for both surgeries.

I never had children and having the 2nd surgery shut the door on that. It was for my best. From time to time I wonder what my life would have been if we had tried for a child either in my first or second marriage but it passes. Looking back at the wreckage of my being Bipolar, it really would have been rough trying to raise a healthy child. A large part of my dog Links early life was me in the hospital. It would have been worse if he had been a human child.