Noury's Creative World…

Couldn’t wait till the official tea time in London…I know, the Queen is going to be somewhat upset that I could not wait for her.  Well…here in America, we do things whenever we feel like it…or when the weather is driving you so nuts, that you break protocol.

I had my best intentions since around 12:30 pm today.  I talked myself into waiting until 4 pm to have my piece of sweet for the day and a cup of lemon tea.  Love that tea!

First, increased the temperature on the thermostat, and then decided that the tea police was not around, so started to boil my water.  Cannot boil it too much.  Oxygen escapes, and tea does not taste as good.  According to the instructions.  Then, after two minutes, sat down and enjoyed my very hot cup of tea.

The moment of anticipation went by too fast.  Could I have a second cup of tea and another piece of good-for-you piece of cardboard tasting cereal bar?  Tried to walk around the apartment to make the decision and then, voila, decided to do a posting about the whole thing.  That will take care of my brain telling my stomach that there is room at the sac for more.  I imagine I am not alone in this constant battle.

The typing won…for the immediate moment.  I will let you know in a future episode how the battle ended.

So…it was today…14 January, 2012…the perfect day for a cup of tea.  High…48 degrees…in Florida.

Your Happy Contessa

“The older you get, the more important it is not to act your age.”  Ashleigh Brilliant, English-born author and cartoonist.  9 December, 1933.

The past few days have been a real test to my endurance to the cold weather.

Robes, two to three pair of socks at once, sweat shirt and pants, scarf, and hardly moving at all.  The lowest temperature I resisted was 64 degrees.  At which time I said to myself,  this is getting real bad, my fingers are turning purple and I feel like a lion in a cage.  So I cranked up the heater to a compromising 70 degrees.  I was not being cheap…well…to a certain degree I thought I could handle it and save some money too.

I had to wait until the morning, because I was afraid the heating unit will react violently to me ignoring it and smoke and explosions may be a reaction.  Nothing really happened, but after a minute or so of releasing some heat, it turned itself off.  So I thought, here we go, I knew it!

After a few seconds, it came back up and showed me it was alive and kicking heat as fast as it could.  Of course, static is a by-product of heat, so sparkles sometimes fly, but it is either being purple or facing a few electric shocks.  Cannot have it all, I have learned.

Then, today, 6 January, it was up to 70 degrees.  Had to totally change my outfit or I was going to burn up with so much protection and look ridiculous to the pretty people of my village.

Another day in paradise…or warming up Florida.

So…it was today…6 January, 2012…a day to enjoy the fabulous weather I moved here for.

Your Happy Contessa

“To know what has to be done, then do it, comprises the whole philosophy of practical life.”  Sir William Osler, was a physician and one of the founding professors at Johns Hopkins Hospital.  12 July, 1849 – 29 December, 1919.

Let’s start with the salutation first, Happy New You!!!

Now, to the line of business.  I moved to Florida because I do not fare well with the cold weather.

So this morning, I am thinking…Am I in a parallel universe?  High today 48 and low tomorrow 29.  What has happened?  Back to my sweats and good old robe.  Thanks God for my post menopausal temperature raising once in a while.  Yes, I am still dealing with those internal thermostats issues.  The brain does not get it.  It thinks I am cold, when I am not.  No pills taking, please.  Can only deal with one thing at a time.

I am planning to take good old Christmas tree today and all the season’s decor to keep me a bit warm.  Had my oatmeal already.  Also using scarves to be inside my home.

As you have noticed, this is my first posting of 2012.  Mayan calendar anyone?  We’ll take that whole garbanzo another day.

Sharing my experience in cool, no…cold Florida with all of you…so it was today…3 January, 2012.

Your Happy Contessa

“We all find time to do what we really want to do.  William Feather, American publisher and author.  25 August, 1889 – 7 January, 1981.

I am breaking from the break…could not stay silent on this very special occasion…Christmas.  I am off to visit with my lovely daughter and a very special friend.

Going back to the cold weather, and all of you know how I feel about the cold weather.  But I hope that the mind over matter principle delivers just perfectly.

I am grateful as always for my beautiful and very credible life.  I feel great, feel the abundance of blessings, but most of all…I feel privileged to have so many generous, kind, thoughtful and fun people in my life.  Have to have a sense of humor to add spice to life.  I am all about laughing a great deal.  My favorite subject to laugh about is…myself.  Cannot take anything too serious.  It gets too heavy to handle.

I wish you all lots of laughter, hugging, peace and much, much love at this Christmas time and may the New Year, 2012, bring all of us closer together with much, much understanding and tolerance.

Merry Christmas!!! Feliz Navidad!!! Joyeux Noel!!!!!!

So…it was today…December 14, 2011…a day to come back and share my happiness.

Love,

Your Happy Contessa

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”  From “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement C. Moore.  It was a tradition in our house to read this story on Christmas Eve and have all present at that moment sign the book and date it.

P.S. I will return sometime in January.  Thanks for letting me know how much you miss my almost daily blogging.  Ta ta.

This is going to be a surprise to all of you as it was to me also.  The first birthday of this blog is November 15, 2011.  That is, tomorrow.  After 270 postings, 786 comments,      726 spam comments, and 8,879 views all-time, I have decided to take a long break.

I was watching a show where the word intention was mentioned quite a few times.  Then, of course, I questioned my intention of doing this blog.  I had valid and great intentions when I started.  The first one was to relate to my lovely daughter part of my story.  Also, among other things, I learned how to take better pictures, how to express myself a bit better;  learned the ins and outs of blogging to keep my neurons busy and alert, made new blogosphere friends, got to know other friends much better and all in all, it was exciting, motivating and enlightening.

Also, it gave me incentive and motivation to keep on going at that stage of my life when I was going through feeling so alone and with a need to be productive and to learning something new.  All is part of going through the seasons of life.

All that begins must come to an end, eventually.  Before that happens, the end, I want to experience new adventures and exploring other things before I convert back to total energy. What I am trying to say, it is time to move on to something else.  What is that “else”–I do not know right now, but have a slight idea.  When I decide what “it” is, I will share.

I want to express my gratitude to all of you who have been with me in this very interesting part of my life and appreciate each and all of your comments.

As a child, we grow up.  As an aging adult, I feel like the world is my oyster and everything is out there for me just for the asking.

Life is like that famous ice cream company promotes, it has many flavors and this one was very good, but I need to try new and different things.

Thank you again and I wish all and each one of you the best life has to offer.  I do wish the same for myself.  Maybe once in a while, I may be in touch, but do not know how soon.

So…it was today…14 November, 2011…a day to say until we meet again my dearest friends.

Your Happy Contessa

“It is hard to bring closure to some part of your life that you know very well, and welcome the unknown.  But fear must not stop us from venturing out and making new discoveries.”   Happy Contessa

Hold it!  That’s what I am telling the frontal part of my brain.  The famous Perry moment has been dissected and analyzed so much that the subject of my posting today has been taken over by the incident this poor politician had last night.

It was a simple…”senior moment.”  Why don’t they call it what it is.  Brain freeze or overload or in the baby boomers’ lingo, a “senior moment.”

Do we still have a red telephone in the White House that our fearless leader is supposed to use in case of a nuclear threat?  Oops!  Cannot get confused with the colors of the phones.  It will send us flying into orbit, all of us, and I mean the whole planet.

This is so bad.  I feel I am being mean to the poor man, but when you are running for public office, and not just any public office, but the presidency of the United States of America, you better have your Wheaties every morning and your Senior Centrum with extra vitamin B and plenty of potassium every single day.

And to think I thought I would not have anything to write about today.

If you have cockroaches behind your walls, any dirty laundry, any mental stress, or any little honeys hiding waiting to be discovered, please spare us the embarrassing moments some of you are putting us through.  I couldn’t run for office, because right away they will say I cannot be understood, my accent is too heavy.  That’s why I cannot be a U.S. Senator.  I know my weaknesses.  What a waste.  A woman with so much talent like me cannot serve all of you, just because of my accent.  Just kidding.  I have plenty in my life the way it is right now.

My fellow citizens, before you think about running for public office, please, I implore you, Google yourselves, look at your Yearbooks and try to remember, after you have taken your Centrum vitamins, if there are some dots that can be connected by somebody else.  And remember guys, keep those zippers really, really closed.  Don’t let a moment of weakness outshine your moment of Oops!

So…it was today, 10 November, 2011…a day to remember…or oops, forget.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot, have the loveliest of weekends and I shall return on Monday.

Your Happy Contessa

“Too much talk, beware trouble…”  Old Chinese proverb.

This is the way it looked when I purchased.  Very heavy box.  My Superwoman skills came very handy when loading and unloading the heavy bookcase into the cart, into my car, and into my apartment.  You don’t want to know what my mind was processing while doing all of this.

But…I wanted a small bookcase in my bedroom, and of course, inexpensive also.  $16 plus tax, but the best part is…it is made in the U.S.A.!!!!!!  I was searching for an old little bookcase, but it never showed up into my life, so this is it.

I am making it my purpose to check label for provenance.  Cannot fight La Grand China, but I am finding quite a few items made in our own soil.  That translates into jobs for our population.  We need to do our part.  We should ask retailers to show when a product is made here in our country.  It feels good to consume our own products.

Took it out of the box.  Thanks God I remembered when Ron and I put one together and we didn’t check front side vs. back side.  We had to disassemble the whole bookcase.  That was a larger one.  So I prepared myself and checked to match all sides, had the right tools and there I went.  Some of the muscles on my arms are more prominent after I finished putting the bookcase together.  Had to take deep breaths while pushing the screws into place.

And…after one hour and a half…drumrolls, please…

Now, I do not want to fill it up totally, because aesthetic is very important.  Things have to be utilitarian, but with a degree of flair.  C’est la vie in my digs.

I know I can…I knew I could.  I am gearing up for the next project…the Christmas tree.

So…it was today…9 November, 2011…a day that I put together a bookcase and feeling very good for my accomplishment.

Your Happy Contessa

“The strength of any plan depends on timing.”  Michel E. De Montaigne, one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance.  28 February, 1533 – 13 September, 1592.

As you have heard me say before, I love my new home in Florida.  It is a small city in Central Florida and it has many amenities to offer such as museums, a small college right downtown, a fabulous library, many boutiques, several ethnic restaurants, bistros and a beautiful park where the terminal for my friendly trains is located.

One of my dear friends  is having a birthday coming up, so we decided to hang around my downtown.  I discovered a new place to park the car for three hours, but need to move it when the three hours are due, because as we were told, the friendly police will ticket you.  We went in and out, in and out of the many shops.  I was holding very tight to my dinero.

The pains of hunger started to knock on my psych and when we were passing by a guy giving out samples of quinoa salad, that was the catcher.  It was so good.  It reminded me of tabouli, with red pepper, tomato, lemon juice sprinkled on and maybe parsley, and some goat cheese . We shared a chicken Panini made with free-range-chicken and all the good stuff they give the bird to make it safe and good for us.  No hormones.  There it went out of the window my vegan intentions.  The chicken was really tender and juicy.  It had some tomatoes, and very slim pieces of squash and other veggies.  Highly recommended!

Then at the end of the day, we went to try…let me see how to say this without making anyone blush.  We went to see how we could lift and perk up the girls.  To my female audience, no explanations necessary.  To my only male audience guy, just pretend you don’t have the foggiest idea of what I am talking about.  Better for everyone.

Have you ever been to a fitting session?  It is so stressful!!  And it is not cheap to look all perked up.  All in the name of looking good and feel that we are with it, it does not matter if the rest of the body is holding on to dear gravity with all its might.  Finally, after making a purchase, and walking out with a very nice looking shopping bag, there we went totally exhausted back to the car.  I try to rationalize it as follows.  It is an investment in myself, right?  Have to check with the girls to see how they like feeling all alert and higher up.

I feel a bit too daring with the above paragraph, but life is short.  Perk it up!!

So…it was today…8 November, 2011…a day to become a rambunctious carnivore for the day and fight gravity in high places.

Your Happy Contessa

“Reflect that life is composed of small incidents and petty occurrences.”  Samuel Johnson, English author, biographer, essayist, editor.  18 September, 1709- 13 December, 1784.

Today, on my way out to drop my garbage, sometimes I do it two to three times a day.  Do not like bugs.  Oh yes, on the way to the big garbage container, I almost stepped on this snail.  Can you imagine the energy and time it took this beautiful creature to get right on my path.

Then, of course, I needed to go back to the apartment and get my camera (ccc) and take an impression of this coincidental moment.  According to the wise guys, nothing is coincidental in the universe.  So I took a few pictures, turned it a little to see if I could catch a glimpse of the little fellow inside.  No way.  It didn’t feel like entertaining visitors at that time.  Just like me, I thought.  Sometimes I love my silence and peace and quietude.

What’s the meaning behind this encounter with Mr. or Miss Snail?  Probably that I need to slow down my pace, and stop to be in the moment and be happy to be here and now.  I have been reading a book, Quantum Wellness, where the author states that being happy can only happen in the present.  So…there I go, trying to capture my happiness with my surroundings as it happens.

I think that animals, plants, snails, and other creatures never think about the next moment, tomorrow or yesterday.  That’s where we screw things up.  We love to worry, plan, be concerned about what impression we make to others and so many more hang-ups.

I need to stay in the moment, be grateful for said moment and be grateful for whatever it is that is happening as I type.  So I am!  The sun is shinning brighter today than it was yesterday, when I allowed myself to have a small pity party with moi and myself.  Not such a good idea.  Life is good!

So…it was today…7 November, 2011…a day of catching up with the friendly snails of the neighborhood.

Your Happy Contessa

“Get out of my way, that I am in a slow hurry.”  The snail to the Contessa.

I already had something working on for today’s posting, but my good friend Lucy sent me an email that contained a story of a young man named Kevin Schombert, a senior at his high school in Frederick County, Maryland.

He was named Homecoming King.  According to some of his school mates, he has the highest school spirits, participates in sports at his school and has a great positive attitude.  He has Downs Syndrome.

He comes home every day and says “Mom, today was the best day of my life, I think today is really going to be hard to top.”

You know, sometimes in my life I am going through some days that are not that hot.  I don’t mean weather hot.  I mean emotionally challenging.  Today was one of those days.  You know, some days are hotter than others.  Do not like to minimize the days when I am not that chipper.  They are part of my life, just as are the very exciting and joyful ones.

But, my incredible Creator knows exactly what to do and when to do it.  I turned on my computer to type my posting for Monday with an idea in mind, but decided to check my emails before.  There it was.  Thank you Lucy for being the vessel that the Almighty used to make me see the extremely fortunate and blessed that I am.

Also, thanks to you, Kevin, for being my angel for today and reaching out to someone you will never meet in person, but already has influenced my life.

The picture above is a small painting my lovely daughter made over fifteen years ago when she was going through her wanting to be a painter phase.  I have always kept it inside my Bible right on the page of Isaiah 41.

So…it was today, 6 November, 2011…a day to see the rays of sunshine high above the clouds.

Your Happy Contessa

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41, 10.