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the big orange house
Summerside, PE
902-439-4562

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where i am at...

March 9, 2024 Arlene Giddings

I am still here.
I know I have been quiet,
but I am still here.

What have I been doing?

Going for rainy early morning walks
in my pjs and dino boots.

Watching Andrew Huberman on YouTube
and trying to emulate some of the routines he has
like early morning sun-in-your-retinas
and cold showers,
yoga nidra and meditation.
Working hard to take the right supplements,
eat better and fix my broken sleep.

Working along with a
fantastic group online to do
The Artist’s Way.
I have done this before
on my own
with inspiring results
so I am really looking forward
to diving in hard on this
and seeing where it takes me
if I let it.

I am trying to hard
to keep my mind and
heart open,
to see the synchroncities
where they happen,
catch the glimmers when they sparkle
& shine
and to focus on joy instead of
loss and stress…
some days it works,
some days it doesn’t.
it’s a process.
:)

In this is 53, she's so weird, glee2024 Tags artists way, andrew huberman, health
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sponge.

January 27, 2024 Arlene Giddings

I don’t know if I am going
through a bit of a cycle of some sort
but I feel like a thirsty, dry sponge
who just can’t get enough
of everything…
books
movies
music
real conversations
podcasts
interviews
documentaries
blogs
articles
nature
I just want to
keep absorbing
and connecting
and feeding the sponge monster
who is gobbling it up
and then saying
more…
give me MORE.

things are resonating
and clicking
and whirring like gears
and click-clacky clockwork…

i like this feeling.

the truth is
i am going to try to come
back to the blog more…
for no other reason
other than it is has always proven
to be a source of creativity for me.

i may, however, not always share the
link to new posts on other social media.
i haven’t decided that yet.
when i first started this blog,
it was a bit of a secret club
and mostly, i was the only member. :)
and while i have enjoyed sharing it,
i also catch myself censoring myself on it now…
because…it feels…different
to be so open and
it feels…
scary
sometimes.

though sometimes
i think why do i let it scare me.
why is it hard to be open,
to be vulnerable…
to let go.

but whatever i decide,
you know where to find me
if you are interested in seeing
what muddled thoughts are being shared
over here. :)

happy saturday!!
we are almost all the way
through january….
spring is just a hop-skip-and-a-jump away!
:)

In glee2024, pep talk, she's so weird, this is 53, words Tags thinking out loud, creativity
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whatcha readin'? {goal 40:: MISSION COMPLETE}

January 15, 2024 Arlene Giddings

It’s no surprise that I
totally did not keep on top
of updating the blog
with all the books
I read in 2023
but I DID hit my goal of
forty
just by the skin of my teeth
but I did it
so that is all that matters in
the big orange house.

Here is what I read…in list form…
cause it’s 2024 and, frankly,
I’m over it.

  1. Frankenstein - hated. Literally HATED this book

  2. House in the Pines - Ana Reyes
    ♥♥♥♥

  3. The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
    ♥♥♥♥♥

  4. Love & Gelato - Jenna Evans Welch
    ♥♥♥♥

  5. Life after Life - Kate Atkinson (this book was a struggle but beautiful but also made me want to hurl it into the ocean)
    ♥♥♥

  6. She Who Became the Sun - Shelly Parker Chan
    ♥♥♥♥♥

  7. Whiskey in a Teacup - The Adorable Reese Witherspoon
    ♥♥♥♥

  8. Slammed - Colleen Hoover
    ♥♥♥

  9. The Book of Goethel - Mary McMyne
    ♥♥♥♥♥

  10. Bone Black - bell hooks
    ♥♥♥

  11. The End of Her - Shari Lapegna
    ♥♥♥

  12. Call Me Zelda - Erika Robuck
    ♥♥♥♥

  13. Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur {audio book}
    ♥♥♥

  14. Really Good Actually - Monica Heisey
    ♥♥♥♥

  15. Molly’s Game - Molly Bloom
    ♥♥♥♥♥

  16. Demon Copperfield - Barbara Kingsolver
    ♥♥♥♥

  17. A Court of Thorns & Roses - Sarah J Maas
    ♥♥♥♥♥

  18. I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jeannette McCurdy
    ♥♥♥♥

  19. The Whole Body Reset - Stephen Perinne
    ♥♥♥♥

  20. Happy Place - Emily Henry
    ♥♥♥♥

21. A Court of Mist & Fury - Sarah J Maas
♥♥♥♥♥

22. I Carried You Home -
♥♥♥

23. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
♥♥♥

24. New Boy - Tracy Chevalier
♥♥♥♥

25. Homecoming - Kate Morton
♥♥♥♥♥

26. Breaking the Girl - Kim Corum
♥♥♥♥

27. Hello Beautiful Ann Napolitano
♥♥♥♥♥

28. A Homemade Life - Molly Wizenburg
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

29. Expected Loss; Anticipatory Grief - Alan Woolfelt
♥♥♥♥♥

30. From Scratch - Tembi Locke
♥♥♥♥

31. Did you hear about Kitty Karr - Crystal Smith Paul
♥♥♥♥

32. The 5 am Rule - Robin Sharma
{i hated this with ALL my heart.
if i could give negative hearts, i would.}

33. It’s OK to Laugh - Nora McInerney Puemon
♥♥♥♥ .5

34. Book Lovers - Emily Henry
♥♥♥♥♥

35. How to Pronounce Knife - Souvankham Thammavongsa
♥♥♥.5 {mainly because I don’t love short stories}

36. Self Care for Grief -Nneka M Okona
♥♥♥♥

37. One Day in December - Josie Silver
♥♥♥♥♥ {this one surprised me that i would
love it so much}

38. Surviving the Holidays with you - Gary Roe
♥♥♥

39. Ugly Love - Colleen Hoover
♥♥♥♥

40. Inside Out - Demi Moore
♥♥♥♥

41. Evidence of the Affair - Taylor Jenkins Reid
♥♥♥

Note: I realized as I was typing
these out that I had miscounted
in my list so I actually read
forty ONE books this year. :)

and took a LOT of photos of
my books as I was reading them…
this was just a few of them.
:D

In one book at a time, this is 53, whatcha readin' Tags books, whatcha readin'?, read all about it, book lover, avid reader, tell me a story, book round up
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The days are passing by...

December 28, 2023 Arlene Giddings

The tree is down and out…
the presents are all put away…
the meat pie all eaten,
the Christmas specials all watched.

These are the days
that I look forward to now…
those limbo transient days
between the bustling busy-ness & stress of Christmas
and the quiet, introspective
silence of the days in between the old year
and the new.

This Christmas was a mix
of hard and soft,
good but sad,
present but also with one foot
in the past
missing our dad.

There is no way it could be anything else.
A teetering balance, a towering loss,
a tenuous hold on keeping it together.
There were new traditions made,
a tradition you would sooner not have to make…
visiting him somewhere you don’t want him to be….
you want him in his chair,
you want to hear him laughing and
calling your name when you walk in the room.

But the first Christmas without him is over now.

I have been rereading my journal from 2023
as I always do.
And I knew that this year would be hard to read.
Bittersweet. I’m glad that I journaled as much as I did.
I realize now how much it helped me
to work though things…even though I
did not feel prepared at the time…
you can’t be. There is no preparation.
There only is what there is.

But the journal helped.
Especially the little bits of gratefulness
scattered throughout it.

RANDOM THINGS I WAS GRATEFUL FOR - 2023 EDITION
(a sampling)

my red & white striped pjs
pineapple & ham on pizza
no water in basement
milk carton kids
sweater dresses
maple cookies
the crow and the clementine
pugs & cats sharing the same patch of sunlight
loud rumbly cars
dad’s good days
TMNT socks
the big orange house
my dad’s laugh/making my dad laugh (various versions of this)
lilacs
the chicken i saw crossing the road sunday
no headache
the flowers on the tree for one last season
baloney sandwiches
how dad resigned himself to the fact that i was not going to go home (she’s so stubborn)
his little jig
dad telling the lost paramedic story
emma’s tattoo for dad
soft crusty bread
motorcycle rides
making emma laugh
dad’s reaction to that room (and the couch that I could sleep on instead of a chair)
cozy girl playlist
me trying to light dad’s cigarette…and how hard we laughed
chickadees
surprise sesame street socks
salt sauna
hearing dad’s voice in videos
♥♥♥

In slow down for december!, this is 53, grateful, we are family Tags christmas, my dad, looking back
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this is 53....

September 9, 2023 Arlene Giddings

this has been the best
birthday weekend ever…
my heart feels full.
literally.

sunflowers,
friends,
lemon tart that is too die for good…

art supplies,
an ice cream sundae from Cows,
a visit to island hill farm
with a friend,
held a baby goat AND a bunny,
sugar doughnuts,
lemon filled doughnuts….

i visited my parents this morning
and dad is doing good! :)
then 23 came over and cut my lawn
(which is desperately needed)
and 28 ordered us Chinese take-out…

i feel like i have gone into 53
in perfectly happy and content way.
♥♥♥

In grateful, cultivate 2023, this is 53 Tags happy birthday, this is 53, 53, sunflowers, happy
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