A day in my life

It's 6am when my alarm goes off.

I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and stretch a little.

Reaching for my phone, I see my good morning text from John and I wish him a good morning too.

Then it's time to open the gate to let Mini and Bubba downstairs to go outside and maybe snuggle a bit. 

As I head upstairs, I'm reminded that I need to finish up my hallway project.

When I get to the top, the sun is rising.

Soon, it'll rise before I even think about waking up and I'll miss it.

 I contemplate this as...

 I feed the pups, 

brush my teeth, 

and start up the percolator.

While it heats up, I watch and listen to the birds happily chirping away outside at the bird feeder.

Within minutes my first cup of coffee is ready.

I take it over to sit down in my little breakfast nook and notice the sunlight changing in my kitchen.

Afterwards, 

I hop in the shower, 

get dressed, 

and it's time to call my mom for our morning chat.

We hang up eventually and by this time the sun is shining brightly.

It's time get on with my day.

I might snap a few pictures around the house...

turn on the news, 

check my email, 

visit some blogs, 

and maybe post something myself.

Then it's time to eat my breakfast...

and wash the dishes.

After that, 

I run downstairs to put on my makeup, 

make my bed, 

and throw some laundry in the washer.

Then it's back upstairs to check my list of chores to see what else needs to be done.

As I get to work, Bubba and Mini do their jobs of barking and sleeping ;)

 Around 11:30 or so, I eat my lunch...

and then get back to my chores.

This time of year, I like to go for an evening walk in my neighborhood with Bubba.

Poor mini has to stay home these days, because she's too old now.

She doesn't seem to mind though.

I think she enjoys the peace and quiet of not having to listen to Bubba bark at everything ;)

Anyway....

Before I know it, it's time to start making dinner.

There might even be a cocktail poured ;)

And as always, my ever faithful companion is staring at directing me.

I clean up the dishes and then I settle in with Bubba to read a book or watch a movie.

Sometime around 10:30 or 11pm, it's time for bed.

I pour myself a glass of water, brush my teeth, kiss the pups goodnight, turn off all the lights, go downstairs, set my alarm, get cozy under the blankets and fall fast asleep.

It's not always the same though.

The next day might involve...

 going to the grocery or hardware store, 

visiting with one of my friends, 

or with my family down south. 

Annie, my very busy daughter, could actually be home for once ;)

Alex, my son, could be coming home for a visit.

Sadly, it might end up being a day filled with tragedy.

Although, I certainly hope not.

But perhaps, it's just a regular day, like this one.

There's one thing that never changes though.

I'm always grateful to wake up in the morning and go to bed, alive and loved.

Isn't that all that really, truly matters?

I think so :)

xo

rue

Be you

As a blogger, I've always wanted to be more like my dear sweet friend, Kim.

After all, she's the reason I started blogging.

And it's no wonder...

No matter what may be going on in her life, she always manages to see beauty in her everyday world.

She snaps gorgeous pictures.

She writes beautiful words.

And you read and see these wonderful creations of hers and not only do you feel like you know her, but you also feel like the world is a comfy cozy place where there is no pain or sorrow.

Just beauty.

The reason behind this is that she's writing from her heart and being her own sweet self.

But the thing is...

even if I tried to be more like her,

and as much as I did try in the beginning, all those years ago,

I know that I'll never have her eye for photography or her way of using the written word.

Basically...

I can't be her, because I'm not her.

And that's okay, because...

I have my own way of seeing things through a lens and I have my own way of wording what I want to say.

I may not always give you the warm and fuzzies and God knows, my blog will never be perfect, far from it, but it will always be 

all 

me.

Which leads me to the point I'm trying to make.

Be you.

If you don't want to be just another person in this boring world of perfection that Blogland has become.

Just

be

you.

If you want to show everyone a roadrunner that you spied in your tree.

Post it.

If you want to share a moment in time, but the house is a bit messy, because your pups have just left their cozy chairs.

Post it anyway.

Or not.

You don't have to do anything I tell you to do.

I'm not the authority on anything except my own life.

And sometimes I question that ;)

But I will say this...

I would rather read about things that interest you, than what you think I want to read.

Unless you want to be the blog that shows people how to boil an egg.

What? 

You haven't seen this?

I kid you not, there are blog posts about it.

I know, because I clicked on one of them recently, thinking maybe it was written with humor.

It wasn't.

Now, I get that there may be some people that don't know how to boil an egg and although that scares me on some level, I'm assuming that the people that are trying to learn how to do this common culinary feat, have heard of google.

And maybe I'm wrong (it wouldn't be the first time) and these women are really passionate about teaching people how to boil an egg, but my guess is that they're trying to compete with all the how-to blogs out there.

And they couldn't think of anything else.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Now don't get me wrong...

I love a good how-to, just as much as the next person.

but when there's no personality behind it, I might as well be reading an owners manual on how to run a lawn mower.

My apologies if you find that stuff fascinating.

I don't.

My other friend, Kim is a great example of how to put personality into how-to posts.

After all, she makes me think about making beautiful wreaths, like she does, until I remember that I don't craft.

Come to think of it, maybe I would read about how to run a lawnmower if she wrote it. 

That's a good tutorialist right there ;)

Yes, I just made up that word.

I have many other friends that have the ability to inspire me as well.

Just look at my sidebar and you'll see all sorts of bloggers that will inspire you to do all sorts of things you didn't think you wanted to do.

;)

Anyway, back to the eggs....

(I know, I know, but stick with me.)

Another friend, Benita posted about boiling eggs, but it was funny because the eggs exploded all over her kitchen.

She wrote it in self deprecating humor and it was great, because she was being her hilarious self.

Not to say that anyone has to be funny or beautiful or anything in particular, but I do think that you need to be you and not another person showing people how to do the same damn thing over and over.

It's boring.

There.

 I said it.

You know what's not boring?

Say it with me...

Being

YOU.

So, if you're dying to post a tutorial on boiling an egg..

go for it!

Own that egg boiling post.

But be you.

People will read just about anything if it comes from your heart.

It's true!

You know how I know?

 Because you just read this whole post ;)

Now see...

Kim would never write something that snarky, 

but someone has to and it might as well be

me.

;)

xo

rue

Where I've been

Well, busy living life mostly.

Don't think for a minute that I didn't miss all of you (I did!), but I really needed to step away and just 'be'.

I'm sure you've all been there at some point.

Anyway, I didn't mean to be gone so long, but time got away from me and I neglected this poor blog and all of you, so for that I apologize.

I truly do.

So, what exactly has been going on here?

Well, we watched the leaves change....

then fall...

had our first snow...

and I lit the first fire of the season.

Annie and I celebrated our birthdays in November.

I can't believe she's 21!

For the occasion, my mom, my brother, his wife, Annie and I all went to Las Vegas.

We were so busy that all I managed to take were these awful pictures of the views from our rooms...

and the two outfits I wore to dinner.

Thank goodness for my sister-in-law that managed to take quite a few photos of our adventures while we were there:

We also carved pumpkins.

and I spent time with friends.

What about Bubba?

 Well, he did a lot of sleeping...

and begging ;)

And these days Mini mostly sleeps.

Poor old girl.

There were beautiful sunrises...

and lovely full moons.

We've trimmed the tree...

and now we're waiting for Santa.

And I'm ready to ring in the New Year with a new hairdo ;)

So that's what I've been up to :)

How about all of you?

I'll be checking in on you very soon.

xo

rue