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Summerside, PE
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tuesday truths....the random edition

April 2, 2019 Arlene Giddings

i went all morning thinking today was Wednesday
it’s not.
it’s Tuesday.
sigh.

toaster strudels
for supper
is my
new favorite thing.

my pen bled a little on this card
which made me sad
but the ballerina bunnies?
oh….
they made me incredibly happy!

heeheehee.

this sunshine just makes me think
of beaches and bare legs,
ice cream sundaes and parades,
birds chirping outside my window,
dirt roads, air shows,
getting lost on hiking trails,
bonfires and music outdoors…
sleeping with the window open,
driving with nowhere to go
and no one expecting me…
sigh.

In words, unfold2019, tuesday truths, she's so weird, island girl, i take pictures Tags tuesday truth, pei, pei blogger, finnegan, toaster strudels, spring fever
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spring-sunday...

March 31, 2019 Arlene Giddings

i made a list
of all the things
that i needed to get done today…
not wanted…
needed.

things like
laundry
and kitty litter,
dishes
and the sweeping up never ending
furballs…

and had thought that if
i crossed everything off
my need-to-do
list, i would reward myself
with a drive with the camera
and maybe (most definitely)
a stop at the dairy bar.

well…i crossed everything off the stupid list
and i did get out for a drive
and the sun even made a few short appearances
while i was out so that was a nice surprise.

i ended up at this wharf/lighthouse
(as i often do)….
spring always brings me through st nicholas
where i grew up,
where all my best memories are still vivid
and driving through there
always stirs up
strong emotion…
happy and bittersweet/sad

and then to our beach…
(yes, yes, I know…it’s a public beach…)

where the sun started to set

and i remembered I hadn’t gotten my ice cream yet!
but as i got close to the dairy bar,
i realized there were 682 cars and 3 trucks and possibly a snowmobile
ahead of me so
i settled for the next best thing…
a happy meal with a new robot toy!

my “i kinda wanted ice cream but i’ll settle for a new member of the robot army” face.

all in all
a very good spring-sunday!
:)
(well, it would have been better with a sundae.)
sigh.

In i take pictures, island girl, she's so weird, spring, the adventure continues, words, unfold2019 Tags robots, dairy bar, ice cream, i wish i had ice cream, union corner
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daylight savings apparently makes me wordy....

March 10, 2019 Arlene Giddings

i don’t know why
but daylight savings weekend
always makes me incredibly happy.

the days are getting longer.
spring is coming.

i am like a plant…i need light
to survive,
to grow,
to thrive.

without it
i just want to sleep
bundled up in blankets…
i want to cocoon and nest,
hibernate and burrow.

but when the days start getting longer
i feel like i am ready to shed
those layers
and suddenly i start to find energy
that has been missing
throughout the cold dark winter months.

it’s a damn good feeling.

i took the dog for a walk in the park today
and let him off his leash
and watched him run with abandon
(well, with as much abandon as his short little
pug legs will let him go in deep snow)
and the warmth on my face
made me feel like stretching
into the sunshine
awake again finally.

In words, unfold2019 Tags spring is coming, hoping for spring, daylight savings time
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2019::Unfold

January 5, 2019 Arlene Giddings

every year
i choose a word for the year…
a word to help
push me or gently guide me
depending on the need.

some years,
it has worked amazing…
other years, i may or may not have forgotten
what the word was
before the last sunset in
the first week of
january.

and that’s ok.
i don’t worry too much about it.
if it works, that’s great!
and if not, well, maybe i just picked the wrong word for that year.

looking back::

2018::Embrace - yeah…not so much. But, in my defense, the year kinda sucked no matter what word i would have chosen.
2017::Adventure - this one went really well for me…it was when i started my Friday Adventures :)
2016::Happy
2015::Risk - the year i decided it was time to cut back/stop shooting weddings
2014::Balance
2013::Brave
2012::Leap
2011::Connect
2010::Play/Expand
2009::Dare - this was another one of my best years related to my word
2008::Focus - looking back, I think this was helpful for the following year…

and this year, 2019, I am choosing a gentle word.
unfold.
a passive verb, if there is such a thing…
i need to let go a little, to relax, to stop holding on so tight
to what used to be….
and let a new beginning unfold.

i don’t want to force it or plan it or rush it or demand that it match
some preconceived picture in my head….
i just want to take my time and allow things to happen
as they happen.

which does not mean that i won’t be setting goals and
creating habit trackers and devising blueprints for taking over the world… :)
i do have a lot of things that i want to shift my focus to this year.

mainly in the creative areas of my life.
that’s where i feel excitement and fire and butterflies in my belly….
(all in a good way)…

but…in other areas, the areas that are murky and blurred and
sometimes, a little scary…the areas that involve change
and transition and how do we do this now when we are no longer “we”…
what happens next? how does one move forward?
what does moving forward even look like for me?
well. that part i am going to let go of.
i think that going through our first Christmas apart
might have taught me that it is ok to let go of any expectations…
to just let it happen….don’t worry about what new tradition should
replace one that you feel you lost…let the new tradition find you…
maybe it will be jamming a christmas tree in the back seat of the car
every year…maybe it will be picking up breakfast at a local gas station
coffee shop and then laughing about how you froze in the
drive through and ordered everyone some sort of weird (but good) vegetarian garden bagel…

maybe it will be playing a rousing game of parcheesi at the end of the day.

regardless, i have resolved to just let it find me.
and the same with new relationships and friendships…
i am going to stop panicking that i will be alone for the rest of my life
because i am incredibly awkward and far too forthcoming on social media…(this post is proof of that)
and
just
let
whatever
happens….
happen.

let it unfold.

In unfold2019, words Tags 2019, 2019::unfold, word for the year, you got this, still a little sad but thats ok, resolutions, maybe too much truth, i talk too much, awkward phase
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goodbye 2018...

December 31, 2018 Arlene Giddings

It’s New Year’s Eve
and I am wishing that I had thought ahead
and gotten food or treats or diet coke (!!!!)
but now it’s dark out
and I am in my pjs
and don’t want to leave the house.

It’s a sad state of affairs.

Heeheeheehee.

I realize I have not blogged since November
but honestly…
my life was kind of falling apart off and on
all through 2018
so I am actually surprised that I blogged as much as I did (93 times).

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram,
then you likely already know that my marriage of 20 years
has sadly broken into pieces & while I spent a good portion
of 2018 just trying to hold the shards of my heart and head together,
I also tried to appear normal…I didn’t want to admit out loud
for a long time
that anything was wrong…but, eventually, I had to
and, honestly, admitting it was a good thing for me, for all of us, in the end.

So. Anyway. That news is soooo 2018
and I really don’t want to talk/think about it anymore.

This time last year, I wrote about how I wanted 2018 to be a year of fun
not realizing at the time that 2018 was actually still going to be a big year of suck.

Therefore, I reserve the right to re-use my plan of attack & make
2019
a year that I focus on fun. :)

Every year, I go back and re-read my blog & journals for the year that is passing.
This year, well, I just didn’t want to read my journals because…that’s just depressing
and for the first time ever, I am considering burning journals.
But, for my blog, I mainly only talked about the good things, the funny things,
the stuff I love…so here are some of the highlights:

  • I read 36 books! My goal was 24 so yay me! I realize I didn’t write about all of them on here so I am planning to do a short summary again of the ones that I missed writing about. And now, I need to set a new goal for 2019. Is 25 setting the bar too low? Heh. Oh…any recommendations??

  • I sold a bunch of watercolor cards (and journals & a canvas!). This blows my mind. Seriously. And makes me incredibly happy. I have big plans for expanding this in 2019 so stay tuned! :)

  • I sang Mony Mony on a speaker & didn’t get kicked out!

  • I saw real live eagles.

  • I went to the air show and sat in a Hornet (a stationary hornet, but still….)(and I had to line up with 50 little kids to do it…but still….)

  • I joined a writing group, started nanowrimo, got further on a story than I ever have and submitted a story to a contest (I didn’t win…but I submitted it!)

  • I got to talk on a taxi CB….always a goal of mine.

  • I created an online dating profile. This has been both amusing and horrifying.

  • I got my thumb stuck in a box of cold shots at the liquor store which prompted the cashier to say “Well. THAT’S a first.” Heh.

  • I tried cabbage. I learned how not to stir fry it and that stir fried cabbage could actually kill me. And they keep it by the turnips if you are ever looking for it. And cauliflower and cabbage are not the same thing.

  • I got in a car accident. Goodbye little accent…I still miss you. :(

  • I ate a lot of jujubes, broccoli, ice cream sundaes, cucumber sandwiches and popcorn.

  • We had unplanned kittens.

  • I did a whole month of Inktober! :)

I am not going to lie though. I didn’t love 2018.

But I learned
that I can do this…we can do this…
that a separation does not mean the end of the world
and it doesn’t mean we failed…
things happen, people grow and change…
(24 years together is a long time…we should just be proud of that)

And that, yeah, there are days it’s going to totally fucking suck
but there are also little bits of good in every day
if you look for them…some days, you have to look really damn hard
but they are there.

And that it’s ok to accept help or support.
That’s one I am still struggling with.
I know we have such a strong support system of friends & family & co-workers…
and I felt like I should write
”thanks for being there for me even when it
felt like all I was doing was pushing you away
”
in EVERYONE’S Christmas card….
because…that’s what I learned I do…

The truth is we are alive and healthy…
and 2019 will not be about spinning my wheels any longer.
2019 will be about getting some traction
and moving forward…about having fun and being open minded…
making new friends and reconnecting with old ones…
laughing so hard you spit your diet coke through your nose…

and lots and lots of adventures.

Happy New Years Eve to you…if you have stuck through this
long and painful post, hahahaha, thank you.
I am always totally surprised when anyone reads this
(and always always always so appreciative….)
so thank you so much for being here!

Now…is it too late to order Chinese food?
:)

In 2018, we are family, words Tags 2018, 2019, unfold, recap, looking back, looking ahead, you got this, yeah, bad words ahead, gonna be ok
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