Funny Friday Photos

A very happy Friday to everyone!

How was everyone's week? It only took me four days to miss a call to my kids. We were watching a movie and all of a sudden it was 9:30 pm, and I was supposed to call at 7:30. Oh the guilt! I feel like the worst mom ever.

One more day and I'll have participated in my first 5K run. I realized at the beginning of the week that I had nothing to wear. I know how girly that sounds, but there's no way I'd wear the clothes I wear to run at home in public. It's not that they're ragged, but that they show more of me than I want people to see! It was surprisingly hard to find shorts and a shirt that weren't skin-tight or super baggy.

I have been writing on book 2, as well. The plot has taken a minor detour and I'm trying to decide if I should go with it. I think I will, even though it stresses my little plotter heart. Let the creativity flow!

Last week's winner for funniest video is:

This week's photos are a rather odd collection. Be prepared!

Even with the caption in the picture, it looked like a bird in a miniaturized city to me.

Elmo looks positively shocked and dismayed, like he lost his best friend.

Not quite the way I remember it.

What on the earth is that? Or rather, why on the earth is that?

Especially on the days I don't expend much effort to getting ready to go out of the house.

We are going to Legoland this summer on our first big family vacation, so here's some Lego funnies.

I believe this is how Boy 2 feels about Boy 1. Heck, it's how I feel about Boy 1.
He's amazing w/ Legos. And I'm not!

Some puns. I picked two because I liked them both.

And the last picture is an extra - included because it's just so cute. We all need a little cute at times, right?

Well, there they are! This week's funny photos. My favorite is the At-At, actually. And the love at first boop. 

Did you have a favorite this week?

Funny Friday Photos - Cats, Dogs and an Unimpressed Whale

Congratulations! You made it through another week! And so did I!

My sad news of the week is my husband hurt his knee and so I'll be running the Insane Inflatable 5K all alone. I feel bad, because the only reason he was running it was so I wouldn't be by myself. He hates running. Unfortunately, they don't offer refunds, and there isn't anyone to transfer his registration to, so he'll be getting an expensive t-shirt.

Last week's winner for funniest photo was:

I had a vote for the cat on Twitter, too, which put it above "the spring around the corner" pun. Here are the new photos:

Just this week a couple was making out in the driveway of the school as I left. Not only was it inconsiderate for them to be all over each other in the middle of the road, but their decision to do so at an elementary school was totally inappropriate. I wanted to run them over... 

That is the most bizarre cat I've ever seen.

Why is that?

The whale is unimpressed.

That seems like a pretty cruel joke for a bird of prey.

I did have to look a couple of times to try to figure it out.

Wet cats are funny. Angry wet cats are funnier.

A feel-good pun:

This weekend I am taking Boys 1 and 2 to stay with my mother for several weeks. They're already out of school and I still have two weeks. People keep telling me I'll enjoy myself, but I'm not so sure. I like having them around and get anxious when I'm not near them. I guess I'll need to meditate a lot. And write a lot to distract myself.

My favorite this week is the dog with the bone.

Did you have a favorite?

Are you doing anything fun this weekend?

Mindfulness Monday

This post is in response to the two questions Suzi asked on Friday: What is mindfulness and what do you learn at a mindfulness workshop? When my reply got to be a little long, I decided to just move it over to an actual post. And, this entire post is really long. If you don't make it to the end, I won't hold it against you. If you do make it to the end, God bless you and thank you for reading it all!

Mindfulness is the ability to be present and aware, and accepting, of yourself and others. In the curriculum I've been teaching at school, we go through learning to be fully present with the five senses, eventually working on physical self-control. We then move into emotional control types of self-awareness, and then turning our awareness to others in kindness and gratitude. There is a meditation exercise called the Core Practice that helps everyone (teachers and myself included) to calm their minds and focus. The complete instructions are in the curriculum, which is called Mind Up and you can buy it on Amazon.

Linking mindfulness, nueroscience and cognitive behavioral therapy has really taken off (or at least been acknowledged by major institutes and universities) lately. The presenter, Donald Sloane, recommended a book called the Emotional Life of Your Brain, written by the neuroscientist Richard Davidson, which details the research he has done on neural networks, emotion, brain plasticity and how we can rewire our brains through mindfulness. I am very excited to read the book.

What you learn at a workshop depends on the focus of the workshop. The one I went to last week was "advanced" mindfulness, and we mostly learned about meditation and Buddhism, focusing on the four Boundless States: Loving Kindness, Compassion, Altruistic Joy and Equanimity. I was able to make connections between what I had been teaching with the Mind Up curriculum and the training and now have ideas of ways to continue and deepen the curriculum.

I realized how much I had changed over the course of the school year by teaching the curriculum and practicing the meditations. I had gone to another mindfulness workshop at the beginning of the school year, and was highly emotional during the exercises. I felt very vulnerable and exposed, and emotionally raw at the earlier training. Last week I was stable and felt centered and peaceful. The core practice takes maybe three to five minutes, so it isn't a huge time investment, and really I only practiced three times a day for three days of the week (when I'd do groups in the classrooms.) I wondered what kind of changes might occur in me if I actually had a daily meditation practice of my own! According to the research, quite a lot of changes - both in attitude and health. The benefits of meditation have been studies and are numerous and there are no detriments.

Finally, I realized something about my writing journey. I've been feeling almost ashamed for a couple of months at least, because I've been trying to decide if I've given up on being a successful, "real" author. I wrote a blog post about expectations and dreaming for the Wordsmith Studio at the end of March that explains some of my internal thoughts about my publishing experience. It might help to read the post, if you're interested, so here's the link. It's not too long. You can skim it pretty easily.

I didn't even share that I'd written the post because I was so worried people wouldn't understand and think I'd thrown in the towel. Which it kind of seemed like I had, to me. I haven't actively marketed Finding Meara in quite a while. I raised the price to a respectable (and less likely to be bought) level and have let it sit there, waiting for someone to stumble onto it. I'm writing book two at the speed of a snail on quaaludes. I'll put spending time with my family, or reading a book, or cleaning the house in front of writing. I'm doing all the things that the people who tell authors what they have to do to be a success say you can't do and be a success.

Since this is getting really long, I'll cut to the end. I was worried that I'd given up. That embracing being nothing and not daydreaming my life was giving up, not keeping faithful to my hopes and dreams. That I'd lost my way.

Last week I realized what I'd done was learn to let go of my expectations and live in the present moment. To accept where I am with publishing and writing, mommying and wifing, and to enjoy it for all it's crazy normalcy. I realized that by daydreaming constantly I was trying to live in a future of my making, and that was why it was good to stop. I am missing out on a lot of things - real and good things - if I'm trying to live in a fictional future. I'm also setting myself up for disappointment when my expectations and daydreams don't come to fruition. 

I don't have an ending. Nothing wise to say to tie it all together. But by now, if you're still with me, you're probably okay with that. Maybe even thinking "Just end it already!!" So...

The End

I don't even have a call to action. I just hope this was beneficial to someone.

Have a lovely Monday!

Funny Friday Photos

Happy Friday to everyone!

Has anyone felt like this?

It seems like the older I get, the less I know about how my life is supposed to be.

I attended a mindfulness workshop on Wednesday, and it was phenomenal. First, it clarified what I can do next year at school to continue mindfulness training with the students. But, I also gained some insight into my own mindfulness journey this past school year, both about the day job and in regards to writing and publishing books.  I've been trying to decide if I should write a post about the connections with writing. I've also been thinking about maybe sharing what I've been learning about mindfulness here. I could have Funny Friday Photos and Mindfulness Mondays.

That was actually on Monday, when we had a snow day because of the weather. I think we received 8-10 inches of snow. Of course, the wind was blowing, so the drifts were easily three to four feet.

Last week's funniest photo is:

Are you ready for this week's photos? Here they are!

Eeek! For the more recent readers, I have a phobia about aliens, especially the Grays. And do you see how it's paw looks like a hand clutching the chair?

And the pun of the week:

I hope you like this week's choices. I'm sorry I wasn't able to think of things to say below the pictures. I'm a little brain dead tonight. 

My favorite is the arousing cat. It's expression is perfect for the caption. Although the expensive little girl makes me laugh, too. I guess I'll say it's a tie.

Which is your favorite?

Funny Friday Photos, A Race and Some Science Humor

WooHoo! Friday's here!

How was everybody's week? The most exciting thing I did was register for the Insane Inflatable 5K run. It's going to be so much fun and the run benefits the Dumb Friends League of Denver, so it'll help out some of our four-legged, furry friends. There are twelve inflatable obstacles spaced over the three miles. Here's a short video of highlights from one of the races, if you're curious.

I anticipate my backside getting kicked, but I'll feel like a ninja, so it'll be worth it. The run is May 31st, and my body hurts because I've been exercising hard so I hopefully won't look stupid.

All right! Here is the winner for last week's funniest photo:

And now for this week's photos!

Totally me when I look at the phone after trying to take a selfie.
Or trying on swimsuits.

A furry little window into the future.

I don't know. Maybe it was the Thor reference that cracked me up.
Or the dogs expression at the bottom.

This is how girls LOOK without mascara (and eyeliner.)

Ding-dong, the witch is dead...

I loved having to help my kids in bouncy houses when they were toddlers.
They were my adult pass into the fun.

Some science humor for you...

Here's the pun:

Isn't that the coolest chair lift? And a great pun!

My favorite is the panda without mascara. It's hilarious because it's true. 

What's your favorite photo this week?

Have you ever run an obstacle course race? Have any tips?

Funny Friday Photos

Yay! It's Friday! 

I've noticed that, on Mondays, I'm feeling great. By Friday, I'm dragging myself around, eyes burning, and falling asleep on the couch by 8 o'clock.

And all this week, my brain has been functioning like this:

It's hard to look professional and like you actually know what you're doing when you can't hardly put a full sentence together. Hopefully it's temporary and stress related, and not age related.

I'm not that old, but apparently I'm feeling ancient. I had the funniest dream this week that I was going to go dancing with Chris Evans. (Yes, totally weird. I think my subconscious latched onto him because I was suggested to follow him on twitter earlier in the day.) He wanted me to pretend to have some sort of relationship (for some unfathomable dream reason), and said "So, would you pretend to be my aunt?" AUNT! In the dream I thought "Well, that put me in my place" and felt soooo old.

Thank you very much to everyone who voted last week, and the new commenters, Magaly and Linda! It gave us a better variety of votes.

Last week's funniest photo was:

Here's the new photos:

I'm not sure I'll be able to look at a package of bacon in the same way, now.

They look like they're about to burst! 

Good thing the snow was there to cushion the fall.

I love "Convinces you to do something, then makes you feel bad about doing it."
It's the story of every decision I've ever made.

Change studying to writing, and there you go. The reason I'm so slow writing.
But I have gotten past 40,000 words now. I'm making progress!

And a Dr. Who related pun:

The creature is of a religious order in Doctor Who called "the Silence," for those who don't know.

I hope you all have a great weekend. We will be celebrating Boy 2's birthday, maybe by going to the zoo. At the very least, cake and ice cream will be consumed.

I think my favorite this week is the roly-poly puppies. They remind me of Adipose (Another creature from Doctor Who. We've been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately.)

Which is your favorite? Do you have fun weekend plans?