swngl

As a reminder to myself that I need to pay better attention to the word choices I make:

The problem with excuses, I have recently gotten really clear about, is that the Universe hears them as instructions.

I learned years ago to stop saying things like, “I can’t afford it” or “I don’t have time” to requests that I just plain didn’t want to do. Because the last thing I want to manifest is lack of time or money. (Good Vibe Blog)

Perhaps a bit more focus on what I’m sending out to the Universe will improve what I’m getting back.

I’ve still got eight more years until I’m old enough to join the AARP, but knowing I’m becoming a grandmother this year has already started to impact my view of myself and caused me to think about ways I can ease into that new role gracefully, but without losing my vibrancy or attractiveness as a woman.

Jamie Lee Curtis will turn 50 this year, and is featured in AARP magazine in anticipation of that milestone (which makes her eligible for membership):

Curtis says growing older means paring down to an essential version of yourself.

“I’ve let my hair go gray. I wear only black and white. Every year I buy three or four black dresses that I just keep in rotation. I own one pair of blue jeans. I’ve given away all my jewelry, because I don’t wear it,” she says. (CNN.com/Entertainment)

So, now I have something to think about: what are the elements that define the essential version of me? And can I embrace these without winding up feeling that “fewer essentials” means “less attractiveness”?

Finally got the word that I’m approved for the new apartment (not that I was worried about the approval, just annoyed at having to wait so long to have them confirm it).

It will be a nice expansion: from 809 sq ft to 1,117 sq ft; from one bedroom/one bath to two bedrooms/two baths; and a washer/dryer included (happy dance, I hate lugging laundry!).

The second bedroom is basically going to be my office, so that I can make a better effort to separate work from the rest of my life by having a room that I can walk out of every night, closing the door behind me. I’m thinking about putting my loveseat in there with the desk in case I don’t want to sit in that desk chair all day, but I’m still undecided on that.

I’ll also use the closet space for all my ‘work’ clothes: tank tops and sweats, etc. The extra bathroom is a bit extraneous, so it will be for the cat (i.e., litter box) and for guests.

The things I’m giving up: a garage (exchanged for an assigned covered parking space in the gated community), patio (for a “sunroom”, which is basically an extended area of the living room with some windows), and $125 or so more dollars every month.