Good Morning World!

Its the little things, the minor details, that bring pleasure to a single gal.  After work yesterday, spur of the moment, I stopped in at Starbucks and ordered a Venti Green Tea Frappucino - as anyone on a diet will admit, this isn't the best drink one can order!  But it's sooooo good.  The creamy sweet concoction replaces the need for some kind of snack after work, and dinner wasn't necessary.  I slurped my drink down, got home to a happy pup, and we lounged in a chair positioned in the sun. 

 As sunset drew closer, I slipped her leash on and we walked over to the grassy area a few blocks over so she could run and jump and play.  Its so much fun to watch her; another young girl and her mother were there taking a break from packing up their house and wanted to play with Sadie -- and of course Sadie being a people person, she was loving all the attention as well!! 

After our walk, we played fetch in the backyard, watching the sun set, sipping a glass of wine.  I thought "wow, its so great to be able to relax, no drama, no crazy chores that absolutely have to be done"  and then chuckled, because my sink is full of dirty dishes that should be loaded into the dishwasher, but the dishwasher is full of clean dishes --- well, you get the idea :)

Now, its 7am, the sun is about to come up over the mountains.  I'm cuddled into a blankey, sitting outside where its a bracing 45 degrees.  And the only thing on my agenda is getting my hair done today.  I'll probably stop by my aunt's house on the way home to drop off a DVD of our vacation trip; its always good to see her, she's always been my fav aunt.  :)

I chuckled as I traded thoughts with MrK about finding "Mr Right" and how our perspective changes over time.  Being male, when he was young he didn't care if they were smart, only if they were sexy!  Now, he says, he's happy if they don't drool while sitting at the table. hahaha funny guy! 

I guess there comes a point in life where you learn to enjoy the little things.  I'm proofreading this post and thinking, maaaaan, that sounds pretty boring!   In truth, its very nice to have a break from the pressures of life.  No work worries, no major home projects in the works at the time.  I made the choice to stay undecorated for the holidays -- we'll see if that holds true.  No tree or decorations makes for a lonely feeling Christmas at times, but the thought of dragging out the tree, the ornaments, the decorations, when Christmas Day is a Tuesday, knowing I'll probably have to work the weekend before Christmas, and definitely the weekend after Christmas.  My girls won't come up for the holiday, boring for them if I have no time off.  I'll probably ship my son to her on a Greyhound bus, and use the day to rest and relax.   Hmmm, wonder if he can take Sadie on the bus with him??? hahah he'd just love that!!  NOT! 

So there you have it, my early morning thoughts as I ponder the new day.   The sun is brightening the sky to a beautiful golden color as it peeks over the mountain and begins to warm the Valley desert.  the birds begin to chirp softly as they start their day, looking for food. 

Good Morning, world, its a beautiful day! 

Respect Yourself

Respect Yourself is a song title by the Staple Singers from back in the 70s.  And its not a very easy concept to apply to real life.  One of the hardest things we do, or don't do, is respect ourselves.  There are moments when it is very hard to draw a line and say "enough!" 

If you disrespect anybody  

That you run in to 

How in the world do you think  

Anybody's s'posed to respect you? 

I was thinking this thought at 4am as I have a friend who I believe is disrespected by their spouse (based on things I'm told).  And in my opinion, needs to stand up and say "respect me, or I'll leave" -- and then follow through.  Thinking that brought my back around to my own divorce.  At what point in a relationship do you finally realize that the lack of respect for you also means you're lacking your own self respect?  When someone treats you badly on a regular basis, and you accept that as how things are, isn't that the point when you've lost your self respect?  

When I finally decided to leave my ex, it was because his behavior made it a choice of my own self respect, or accepting how I was being treated.  It came down to this:  Do I stay and let the person who is supposed to be my most significant be the one who causes me to be someone I don't like any longer?  Or do I leave, standing up for myself and the respect that I deserved from a marriage?  

On Wikihow, I found this:  A person with self respect doesn't allow others to treat them badly, and would rather not associate with someone who is disrespectful. This might seem obvious, but there are many times when we accept being treated badly (in both big and small ways) because we believe the person doesn't know any better, or because we're not willing to let that person go, or because we're too down on ourselves to believe we deserve better. When someone doesn't give you basic respect, you need to be able to say, in one way or another, "You just disrespected me and that's not acceptable to me. If you don't respect me, I won't spend time with you anymore."

What's worse for my own self respect is finally realizing that after all this time, I've been letting a friend disrespect me, and that I allowed it, thus disrespecting my self as well.  But I chose to accept the reasons, the excuses, the omittance of facts and ignored my own values for a while.  Eventually it all comes down to a choice:  your own personal values and morals, or theirs.


The more you understand about yourself, the more you'll see and appreciate how unique you really are, and the more you'll respect yourself. Discover your principles, personality, and talents. Stop pandering to other people's approval and start developing your own standards.

Respect Yourself!

(ok, 430am, time to go back to sleep!)