Marley and Dave (It Feels Like We’ve Adopted a Teenager)

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday, is…..  “rest” to use any way we like and enjoy!

Rest has become more important to me as I get older. That doesn’t always mean I get enough of it. There’s always something to do, but that’s nothing new. Rest, as in stretching my back out flat, is in some ways more important than sleep. But I’ve read that sleep is important, too.

The two “men” in my life, David the husband, and Marley the pitsky (husky/pitbull), have more energy than I do. They are often “on alert” and busy when awake, but they sleep well. Marley has made slow progress in his training. In the house, he’s a sweetheart – well-behaved and loveable, though even my golden retriever didn’t shed this much.

We are still keeping Marley and Mama Cat separated. Marley has a high “prey drive.” He’s getting better when I walk him in the back yard as we reinforce the fence and only occasionally lunges at squirrels out of his reach. I watch him closely to anticipate a lunge by planting my feet and holding on to the leash with both hands, but like I said, he’s getting better in the yard. He LOVES to play ball on the long leash, throwing the ball in the air and starting to let me get it from him if he gets a training treat.

A few nights ago, David was taking Marley on his nighttime walk and right out of the gate, Marley lunged at a neighborhood cat, catching David off guard and catching two fingers in the leash. The next day, David went to the doctor. They had to cut his wedding ring off. 😦 But that can be fixed. His ring figure has a small fracture, and his pinky finger popped a tendon. It’s good it’s his left hand, but still. On Wednesday, he’ll have surgery,

Apparently, Marley needs more serious training. I’m watching a video program for “reactive dogs” but I’m also researching more local training. We did five sessions with a woman who I like, because she is laid back and not bossy, but maybe I need someone more serious without being bossy. I bet dogs think we are bossy. No, we are just pack leaders. Huskies are notoriously headstrong, and pit bulls are tenacious. Both breeds are loyal and affectionate. Good thing David loves Marley. When I asked him how he felt about Marley after the injury, David said, “It wasn’t his fault. I wasn’t paying attention.” I’m sure glad I got my “must love dogs” wish from my soulmate wishlist. It makes me love him even more.

David is going to have to give those fingers a rest. Marley will probably chill out in a few years when he’s ten. Even though he’s six, he acts more like a two-year-old dog. I feel like we’ve adopted a teenager. At least I don’t have to worry about him going out and partying, especially since we got him neutered and keep close tabs on his whereabouts. Marley keeps us from becoming too sedentary.

Mama Cat, now she knows how to rest.

I’m trapped on the couch by MC while Marley and Dave are back in the man cave

I love this picture of Marley waiting for Dave to come home and take him for a walk. It was a few weeks ago. You can see the Christmas tree lights reflected in the window. I finally took the tree down.

~~~

For more on Stream of Consciousness Saturday,

visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking HERE.

When I Stopped Looking, Love Found Me

Today’s prompt for Just Jot it January is, “Looking.” Thanks, for the prompt, Di. And thanks to our host, Linda Hill, for keeping the January Jotting going!

The first thing that came to mind was when I decided to stop looking for my soul mate. It was the year 2011, in January. What if it was January 20? That would be a hoot. I’d been married for 20 years and divorced for about 10. There were two unhealthy, stressful relationships followed by five years of unplanned celibacy when I wondered why no one interesting was interested in me. I had described to God what I was looking for, but it wasn’t happening.

The on-line dating scene was not working at all, and neither was going to community events where I hoped to find someone with common interests. But maybe the community events were working in the sense that I was going for me and reclaiming my interests as well as meeting new friends with common interests.

So, in January of 2011, I was looking at some on-line dating site and got disgusted with shallow, adolescent minded men my age looking for younger women. I tried to be cynical, but that only worked sometimes. I promised myself that I would stop looking, especially online, until my daughter graduated from high school in June. Then maybe I’d have some adventures of my own.

The two of us took a mother-daughter trip by train to my hometown of Washington DC. We stayed with friends, rode the subway and went to museums. My daughter graduated on the first Saturday in June. On the Monday after that, I found a Facebook message from my long-lost high school sweetheart. It had been 39 years since we’d had any contact. He’d been living in New England all that time and was working as a fire fighter/EMT. More importantly, he had three dogs! Must love dogs was on the top of my soulmate list!

Well, to fast forward, we got married on December 1, 2012. (We thought about 12/12/12, but that was a Wednesday.) Want to read the whole story? Click on my book cover for Trust the Timing, on the right side bar above.

1972

2011 Second First Date

December 1, 2012

Must Love Dogs

2016

2018

For more Just Jot January posts, go looking at Linda’s blog HERE.

SoCS: Compatibility, Snoring, Melatonin, and the Magic Desk

Today’s prompt is: “List.” Make your list and check it twice. I just edited a wee bit because I forgot to mention the prompt!

“Must love dogs.” That was somewhere near the top of my list when I was manifesting a soulmate. Spiritual was up there somewhere. Open minded. Intelligent. I got those things in my compatible partner. There were other things that I got that might not have been on the list, but were in my mind, like, He knows how to fix things.

What I didn’t get, because maybe it was on the bottom of the list, or maybe it wasn’t on the main list, because there were multiple lists, was, “He doesn’t snore,” or “doesn’t snore loud.” That did not manifest. But in the big picture, if that’s our biggest challenge, and it might well be, it could be worse. At least he turns over easily if I ask him to. Problem is, he even snores on his side. But there’s a lot more to be thankful for than complain about. Gratitude gets you more good stuff.
Ear plugs decrease the snoring noise by about 40 percent. That’s not enough for the discomfort. Going in the next room decreases it by about 80 percent. Taking melatonin or half a Benadryl helps, but I better not take the latter too late, if I want to get up early.

I just read that melatonin is being looked at as a treatment for COVID because it (melatonin – a natural sleep hormone) helps with decreasing inflammation and helps immunity. I had no idea! That’s great!

Back to my compatible partner: after 23 years, he finally bought himself a new truck. I didn’t take a picture of it yet, but what I did take a picture of was the signing of the documents with the financial guy at the car dealer. The truck buying process took a BIG part of the day. But the interesting thing was that almost all the documents to be signed, and there was a very long list, were signed on a screen that was also the desk. There were only a couple of pieces of paper to sign for the DMV. David got a nifty little flash drive of the documents.

There’s no paper.
He’s actually signing the magic desk
with a magic pen.

If we can do all this with technology, we should be able to feed the hungry, clean up the planet, and figure out how to get along. And we can. Sorry, he didn’t buy a hybrid electric truck, though. We have almost no trash to throw away at our house on most weeks. We recycle and reuse like crazy. But it’s his truck. He picked it out. Nobody’s perfect. But we are compatible.

…

For more streams, a whole list of them in fact, and rules, visit Linda’s blog:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Dec. 5/2020 | (lindaghill.com)

An Interview and Review of From Loneliness to Love

Thank you so much to Jane Sturgeon for this interview and review of From Loneliness to Love! Please click on the link to Jane’s blog:

https://janesturgeon.com/joanne-maccos-latest-book-from-loneliness-to-love-five-steps-for-finding-a-healthy-relationship-review-and-interview/

…

” It is chock full of loving wisdom which is gentle, practical and relatable and her suggestions are fabulous and do-able. ” Jane Sturgeon

One-Liner Wednesday: Timing and Joy

“In God’s good plan, there is a reason why today is not tomorrow.”

Curtis Almquist

Sometimes we wonder what’s taking so long.

In The Twelve Days of Christmas, Curtis Almquist writes “We need the provisions of today to prepare us to receive the promises of tomorrow.”  He writes about how joy takes time, acceptance, and desire.

This reaffirms my story.

Ten years ago, I’d look up at the stars in my backyard and ask, “Is there someone out there for me? Don’t I deserve to be happy?”

The answer was yes. But first, I had to learn to be happy with me.

It took 39 years for my soulmate to find me again. We needed every one of those years, with their provisions and lessons, to become ready to journey together.

 

My wish for each of us is that we find joy in the gifts of today.

 

…

For more one-liners, or to join in, visit our host, Linda Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2019/12/18/one-liner-wednesday-mugshot/

Here are the guidelines:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

 

Calling a Soulmate (Or Any Heart’s Desire)

“Use the word, call or any word that contains those letters in that order.” That’s our prompt for today’s Stream of Consciousness.

“Calling Your Soulmate Home” was the title of my work in progress, but since it’s a How to book, I’m probably going with, How to Find Your Soulmate While Loving Yourself. It’s the short (recipe) version of Trust the Timing, the recipe I didn’t plan, but the one that worked to bring my soulmate home to me.

Calling your soulmate home sounds like he left and you want him to come back, like he just went out for a while and you’re calling him home for dinner. So, Finding Your Soulmate might be easier to understand as a title.

Here’s a quick preview of the table of contents:

Clarify Your Heart’s Desires

Request Help from the Divine

Learn to Love Yourself

Focus on Friendship

Imagine the Best

It’ll be a short book, like I said, a recipe that worked for me. But it could also work for other things besides finding (or calling home) a soulmate. It could work for finding the best job, a new home, peace of mind, whatever your heart desires most.

It took  a while for my soulmate to hear my call, for him to find me, but that’s because we were both still getting ready – learning the lessons we needed to learn – to work on our stuff together. Sometimes it takes a while for the call to reach the one and for the one to be ready.

Today’s prompt also conjured up this musical. I remember my parent’s watching it when I was a young child and thought it was the corniest thing. Maybe I wasn’t that young if I thought it was corny. Anyway, they must have watched it more than once because it sure stuck in my head. I think the following version is from a re-make of the original black and white movie, Rose Marie. I like the setting. And today, I can appreciate their voices, even though I don’t usually like opera. It’s more of a musical than an opera.

For more Streams of Consciousness, or to add your own stream, visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking the link below:

https://lindaghill.com/2018/08/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-4-18/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

SoCS: Panting in Yoga Class

Today’s Stream of Consciousness prompt is the word, “pant,” brought to you by Linda Hill at:  https://lindaghill.com/2017/08/18/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-1917/

I’ve been getting back into yoga lately, going to a class about once a week. Usually I go to a “gentle” class or something called “flow.” But last week I decided to try something different: kundalini yoga. WP says I didn’t spell it right. Who cares. The class theme for that day was letting go of anger. At one point we were pounding our  fists on blankets and I almost started crying, because that’s what I often do when I’m angry, cry. There was a lot of breath work, too. At another point, the instructor had us panting like dogs with our tongues sticking out.

A photo by my daughter, Ayla, who loves dogs.

I like dogs. No, I love dogs. But I’m not that good at panting. It reminded me of natural childbirth all those eons ago. The childbirth panting helped for a while, but eventually I gave in and had a shot of stadol. With both births. Oh, well. The kundalini panting wasn’t so bad, but for the rest of the day and night, my throat was dry and scratchy. I hope I released lots of anger that I didn’t know I had all bottled up inside me.

The best thing I got out of this class was a chant that went,

“From now on, I send you only love.”

That’s for ourselves and anyone we had the anger at since I guess it’s gone now, right?  I was thinking I’d say that to myself in the mirror. “From now on, I send you only love.” And then maybe I’ll stick my tongue out and pant and laugh at myself. Laughter is the best medicine after all.

This morning I’m going to that same yoga studio (where I plan to stick with gentle and flow classes that my body has come to crave – but not to the point of panting) and I’m facilitating a workshop called, “Finding Your Soulmate While Loving Yourself.” It’s based on what I learned in my life about that, which is all in my book, Trust the Timing. One thing that I’ve clarified as I’ve thought about the workshop is I moved from being cynical to being accepting of whatever God had planned for me as far as a soulmate was concerned. I found a place balanced between cynical and desperate. Because I really did NOT want to be desperate. That gets you in all kinds of trouble, panting after some guy…nope, not for me, not anymore. Never again.

If you’d like me to come to your town and do a workshop on soulmates or loving yourself, I’d be happy to consider it, especially if there is a beach or some mountains near where you live. We can do some guided imagery about loving yourself and/or being happy and cozy with your soulmate, but we will NOT do any panting. I promise.

From now on, I send you only love. Pant, Pant.

Congratulations to J-Dub for our new SoCS Badge!

Here are the rules for the Saturday Stream of Consciousness:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

 

Soulmates: Finding a Good Fit

Since I often use the word, soulmate, That Girl’s post: The Soulmate Phenomenon, grabbed my attention. It got me thinking about the word, “soulmate,” which can mean different things to different people. I never liked the expression, “my other half,” or “my better half.” I am not half a person. My soul was okay without a human partner,  especially having human and animal friends who loved me. Yet, at times, I did feel like something was missing. I considered that annoying void carefully.  If my soulmate was still out there, I didn’t want to get side tracked (again) by an impostor. I clarified what qualities my soulmate would have.

Here are some things I’ve learned about soulmates:

What is a soulmate? The word, soulmate sounds romantic, but for me, it goes beyond romance. It’s someone who is a good fit – not just physically, but mentally and spiritually. My soulmate is someone who nourishes my soul, my true self, the part of me that will live on into eternity. My soulmate was meant for me. He gets me.

Who Can it Be? Can we have more than one soulmate?  I believe so. I probably thought my first husband was my soulmate. At first we were a good fit. But in the twenty years we were married, we both changed and grew in different directions. I think I changed more than he did. He would probably agree, but I wouldn’t swear to it. My soul was pretty shaken when he left. After that, I had a much deeper appreciation for my friends. It’s possible that a close friend or relative  could be a soulmate.

When is he (or she) going to get here? A soulmate comes when we are ready. He or she may leave and come back again. The man I am now married to was my first love. We dated for less than a year, then he was gone – a sweet memory for 39 years – until the time was right. Though he says it would not have worked out when we were younger, we are clearly a good fit, now. He nourishes my soul. He feels like my soulmate. Maybe he’s my super soulmate.

Why Care? It’s different for everyone, but having a partner or close friend to share life with is a comfort, and in many cases, increases longevity, as long as that person is a good fit, someone who respects you and doesn’t add constant stress to your life. Being with someone who understands and nurtures us, improves the quality of life. Soulmates encourage healthy growth and well being in one another.

How to find one? In my April newsletter, I’ll be sharing about the five steps I took that helped my soulmate find me. Here’s the overview:

• Clarify desires
• Turn it over
• Work on YOU
• Focus on friendship
• Imagine!

For details coming next week, sign up for my monthly newsletter at the sidebar on the right.

Or just click here:  http://eepurl.com/cLDxdD

What are your thoughts about soulmates?  Do you think we can have more than one?

A Man Who Can Listen AND be Manly

Today’s Steam of Consciousness prompt, brought to us by Linda G. Hill, is “man.”

Aside from the fact that I have trouble with using the word, “man,” to mean all humans, just as a matter of principle, I still imagined myself with a man as a partner. I love the company of women, because it’s usually easy for women to understand each other, as long as we are mature enough to avoid the petty drama of adolescence that some people never grow out of. But when I imagined my dog-loving soulmate, I imagined a man. It’s too bad that I still imagine a man sometimes when I think of God, and I wonder if I’ve been brainwashed, or a better word would be influenced, to imagine God as male based on the language in the Bible and mainstream Christianity. But I really didn’t mean to go there. It’s the Stream of Consciousness that led me there. Let me just swim back up river and pick up another part of the stream, because I wanted to tell you about a song I made up when I was looking for, hoping for, my soulmate. I didn’t make up the tune, and I bet you can recognize the tune by the words.

But first, some background: As you may know, I’ve always been a big Star Trek fan with Mr. Spock being my first crush. Later in life, when single again, I developed a crush on Chakotay, the first officer on Voyager.

Anyway, here’s a stanza of the song I made up:

Oh Lord, won’t ya find me, a man who can listen.

Someone like Chakotay, who’s not been to prison.

I’ve tried on my own Lord, and I have been missin’

Oh Lord, won’t ya find me, a man who can listen.

Chakotay was a man who could listen to a woman, because Janeway was the captain. But he could also give orders and be, well, manly. He didn’t give orders to Janeway though, he was protective of her and a good first officer.

It turns out that the Lord did bring me a man who could listen and be manly too. And protective in a non-dominant way. That’s what a real man is anyway, right?

…

For a chance to win a free, signed copy of When God Says Wait, sign up for my monthly newsletter before March 21st by clicking the box on the side bar on the right, or just click here: http://eepurl.com/ch52KT

Here are the Rules for Stream of Consciousness Saturday:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Answered Prayer

I asked God to take away the desire for a partner or else send me a good one. “And God, I would really appreciate it if you could get my soulmate here before Dad and Jesse die,” I added.

  From Trust the Timing

When I prayed that prayer seven years ago, I knew I would be strong enough to deal with the death of my father and my dog, Jesse, when those times came. Even without a partner, I had proven to myself that I could cope with loss and keep my head above water. No matter how much it hurt, I would deal with it. But I didn’t want to go through it alone gritting my teeth and forcing myself to be tough.

Now, as I process grief for my father, I can’t imagine how I would deal with the waves of sadness, especially after I spend a day going through Dad’s abundant possessions and then come home to sort through his mail and paperwork. I’m going through mom’s stuff, too, because he didn’t want to get rid of anything after she died eight years ago. If I had to do this alone as the only surviving child – and go to work the next day at a challenging job – it would be overwhelming to say the least.

But I don’t have to do it alone. I know that even if I was still single, God would walk with me through this, and that I’d survive (probably with jaw and neck pain from the teeth gritting.) But it helps so much to have a supportive partner. That is an understatement. Not only does my husband support me emotionally, he made it possible for me to quit my job just one month before Dad died. We didn’t know the timing would work out that way. But I bet God knew.

My husband was here for me when Jesse died a couple years ago, and now he’s here for me as I grieve for my father, because God answered that prayer.

God doesn’t always answer my prayers my way. Despite all I’ve learned about trusting the timing, God still seems awfully slow to my limited perspective regarding prayers yet to be answered. But I know things are being worked out in those I love, and ultimately, love will prevail.

I am thankful beyond words.

2012, just after our wedding

Here’s Dad on my wedding day.