Discover a New World of Romance with Christine Columbus

 32 years ago, I thought I would have money when… I didn’t need to buy formula…then it was diapers…I thought for sure when I no longer had daycare expenses…. And lately, I have been thinking when Covid is over… First time at a campground in 5 months…. And while we slept, thieves went through vehicles and the only thing they took were weapons and money…luckily we had neither. But another camper told me they got his loaded pistol, other lost weapons, money, cellphones… And then we went and got fuel, $4.37 a gallon…2 days later, the same station was $4.99 a gallon.

Today, I failed to trick myself into doing stretching or strengthening, but I did walk 4.5 miles. 😊 I generally walk 10,000 steps a day, but I break the steps up into 3 walks.  Which is very easy to do, but walking all 10,000 steps at once was a little more difficult.   I did use my creative power to create dinner…I add a can of dice tomatoes into the bullet mixer with can of tomato paste - and after a minute, I had spaghetti sauce. Of course I add ground beef, onions, celery and  angel hair pasta.  And for desert I added a packet of Emergen C to no-fat Greek plain yogurt.  So, five more days to use my creativity to find ways to trick myself into strengthening and stretching.  On today’s walk I passed by white pelicans, of course it was towards the end of my walk and I was too tired to enjoy the site.

Today I am starting my class assignment over, partially because I stopped halfway through the week and because I have decided instead of creatively blogging I am going to use my super power ‘creativity’ to improve my life. I want to lose fifteen pounds, increase my strength and flexibility. I am in my 60’s, so I know exactly what to do…but knowing and doing are two different things. And I am lazy. So, I am going to use (notice I didn’t use the word attempt this shows I am fully committed to this idea) I am going to use my creativity to get what I want.  A slightly smaller and stronger version of myself. Because today is Valentine’s Day and I wanted something sweet, (like dark chocolate hearts) - but instead of buying a bag of candy. I bought a box of Larabars, they are made with dates and nuts and of course the one I choose has chocolate chips and are 250 calories or 8 WW points…not a great creative choice because Dove dark chocolate hearts have 150 calories for 4 hearts or 8 WW points

 Labels aren’t for lazy people.  I am lazy so I like to generalize.  Below are pictures of birds I have taken at the NWR where I volunteer.  Some people study the birds shape, size and habits in order to label them with their correct or even scientific name.   Whereas, I too see color, shaper, size and habits, but instead of placing them in a category, wading bird, shore bird-I take the lazy approach.  They are all birds.

 I am a volunteer and today I answered the phone and a woman said, “There is a manatee dead on the beach.” I said, “call CROW.” She said, “The manatee is dead, not injured.” CROW is a clinic for rehabilitation of wildlife, but she did dial a National Wildlife  Refuge. Not a National Dead Life Refuge…so, this is a classic example of calling the kettle black.

There is no creative way to do 7 loads of laundry.  My husband has a severe reaction to poison ivy.  In less than a year he has had to go on steroids, three times.   So, just in case we have  an  oil  called urushiol on any of the bedding, clothes, dog beds, blanket, or dog.  I washed everything in our trailer.   To use my super power to solve the problem of living on an island with an abundance of poison ivy, I created a vision board and I checked to see where we were on the waitlist for housing.   We applied to three places,,,number 30, 27 and still waiting to hear back.    

 I am taking a happiness course from  (coursera.org) Presented by  Laurie Santos, ‘ The Science of Well-Being’ The homework suggest you try and use one of your top 5 strengths everyday.  And they gave the following suggestion for creativity. ‘For example, you might write a blog post that is unique because it is entirely gibberish. That’s not going to be useful, so it would not be considered creative” So, I am going to use my “ Judgment.” And apply the VIA Institute on Characters definition.   “ Thinking things through and examining them from all sides; not jumping to conclusions, being able to change one’s mind in light of evidence, weighing all evidence fairly.” A blog written all gibberish might be useful to someone who wants to blog, but is not confident.  The run across said, ‘gibberish blog’ and think, if someone can publish a blog all in gibberish, maybe I can blog. Everyone is entitled to an opinion.  The author believes creativity has to benefit self or someone else to be valid

 When I tell people, “ I’m lazy .” They always respond, “No, you’re not.” Yes. I am lazy and it’s okay.  I am not a slob, unhealthy, or a burden to society.  I am lazy .  I am taking a happiness course and went to the VIA strength questionnaire and they didn’t list ‘ Lazy ’ as one of my strengths - but they should have…if you read through my top 5 strengths you will see they support my statement.   I am lazy. 1. Creativity .    I have no problem thinking of novel ways to avoid doing housework and a 40 hour a work week. 2. Love of Learning .  Which is one of my novel ways to avoid doing housework, exercising or any of those things ‘non-lazy’ people do.  So, this is the real reason behind taking a happiness course. 3. Judgment .  I don’t spend energy judging. I am a firm believer in - you do you- as long as your actions don’t leave anyone dead at the end of the day.   4. Forgiveness .  I am a forgiving person, because I am lazy.  I have no desire to drag around hurt and heavy negati