Day 3558: Leave nothing behind but love

Love is a wonderful thing to leave behind — a sentiment left behind last night by Yogi Tea:

I’m wondering how my beloved son and heir, Aaron, will feel if I leave nothing behind but love. I think he’ll remember me, no matter what.

Let’s see if this blog post leaves nothing behind but love.

I have nothing but love to leave behind for the Daily Bitch Calendar.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “leave nothing behind but love.”

Besides love, I always try to leave behind gratitude, so thanks to all who help me leave behind a blog post every day, including YOU.

Day 3557: What day is it again?

Today is

• the second day of Rosh Hashanah,
• National Forgiveness Day,
• a day I’m providing individual and group therapy remotely,
• another day I need to make phone calls about my long-delayed upstairs bathroom repair project,
• a day when I should make some decisions about a river cruise in May 2023,
• a day when I am going to try to revel in doing those things I can control instead of dreading making mistakes,
• a day when I’m going to take the Warfarin dosage recommended by my care team as we try to get my INR levels back under control,
• a day when I hope to read something from the stacks of books I’ve been accumulating,
• a day when Joan the cat is going to want to go outside while Harley will not, and
• Tuesday.

It’s also a day, again, when I share my latest images.

What day is it again? It’s another day when I love the Daily Bitch Calendar.

Today is also the day that I share with my friend Carol and with you “A Call from Long Island” from the album You Don’t Have to be Jewish.

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What day is it again? It’s a day when I express gratitude to all the kind people in my life, including YOU.

Day 3556: Honestly

Honestly, I’ve been having trouble deciding what to call today’s post.

Honestly, I often take my cues from the Daily Bitch Calendar.

Honestly, I don’t expect to outlive my dear husband Michael, because I’m 10 years older than he is and I have complicated medical issues. Honestly, Michael keeps telling me that I’m going to outlive him and, honestly, I prefer to focus on the wonderful moments we are sharing with each other now.

Honestly, today is the 12th anniversary of our first encounter online through the dating app OkCupid.

Honestly, I’ve preserved and printed out all the messages Michael and I exchanged online before we met in person on Halloween, 2010. Honestly, I think that collection would make a great epistolary novel.

Honestly, I don’t observe Jewish holidays any more but I do want to wish everyone who celebrates them a Happy New Year today.

Honestly, I’m relieved that my INR is in a safer range, as of this morning.

Honestly, sometimes life is a little overwhelming.

Honestly, these are all the other images I have to share with you now.

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Honestly, for me, every day has to be Situational Awareness Day.

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “honestly.”

Honestly, I am very, very thankful for YOU.

Day 3555: Confetti Moments

While preparing for today’s blog post, I came across the term “confetti moments” and assumed I knew what that meant.

To me, “confetti moments” are when you choose to celebrate …

• something you’ve accomplished,
• somebody/something you love, or
• just being alive.

I remember moments when I would say this to patients who had good news to report: “I wish I had some confetti I could throw right now!” I even fantasized about inventing a reusable confetti-moment device that threw confetti attached to invisible, retractable strings.

In a day filled with confetti moments yesterday, my husband Michael and I had one last night when my car wouldn’t start after we had dinner out at a favorite restaurant. Working together, we figured out the problem and easily fixed it! 🎉

Do you see confetti moments in my images for today?

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Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “confetti moments.”

Thanks to all who give me confetti moments, including YOU!

Day 3555: Confetti Moments

While preparing for today’s blog post, I came across the term “confetti moments” and assumed I knew what that meant.

To me, “confetti moments” are when you choose to celebrate …

• something you’ve accomplished,
• somebody/something you love, or
• just being alive.

I remember moments when I would say this to patients who had good news to report: “I wish I had some confetti I could throw right now!” I even fantasized about inventing a reusable confetti-moment device that threw confetti attached to invisible, retractable strings.

In a day filled with confetti moments yesterday, my husband Michael and I had one last night when my car wouldn’t start after we had dinner out at a favorite restaurant. Working together, we figured out the problem and easily fixed it! 🎉

Do you see confetti moments in my images for today?

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Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “confetti moments.”

Thanks to all who give me confetti moments, including YOU!

Day 3554: Trying to make sense of things

Here and now, I’m trying to make sense of things, including:

• Why my INR level dipped dangerously low yesterday,
• Why I thought to check my INR earlier than usual (thank goodness),
• How it was so difficult to get the shots I needed to protect myself from having such a low INR from my local pharmacy,
• Why I’m doing a better job administering those shots than some trained professionals did last week at a Georgia hospital when my INR was also dangerously low,
• Why some people that I reach out to take so long getting back to me,
• Why the repair of our upstairs bathroom is taking so long,
• Why some days have so many National Day observances and other have so few,
• Why so many people in the USA don’t exercise their right to vote,
• Why so many people get fooled by toxic narcissists, and
• How I continue to remain sane through all of this.

Yesterday, my dear friend Carol and I discussed how trying to make sense of things can lead to magical thinking.

For example, I’ve been trying to make sense of the unexpected and scary medical things I’ve been dealing with lately by magically thinking they might be the the result of:

• my unexpectedly being reassured by a new cardiologist this month that my very unusual heart was serving me very well and should keep me alive for many years to come,
• my not observing the Jewish High Holidays,
• my boldly and confidently sharing my original song “Everybody‘s Somebody’s Asshole” with total strangers in Georgia and getting a delighted reaction, and
• being “too” confident in general.

I’m wondering how you are trying to make sense of things (including this blog post) right now.

Please join me in trying to make sense of my images for today.

Thanks to the National Days website, now I’m making sense of National Seat Check Saturday.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “trying to make sense of things.”

Gratitude always helps me make sense of things, so thanks to those who visit this daily blog, including YOU!

Day 3553: Distance

Here and now, I’m trying to gain some distance from

• a scary medical event I experienced last week,
• fear in general ,
• the sad and unexpected loss of a co-worker,
• catastrophizing,
• confusion about best next steps to solve problems,
• self doubt,
• the news, and
• toxic people.

Today’s Daily Bitch has something to say about distance …

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… and so do many other notable people:

I take a little distance from things by blogging, accepting all my feelings, and sharing images like these:

I will try to gain some distance by letting stress and worry fade away for the day.

Also, I didn’t walk any distance at all yesterday because of bad weather and a VERY long work day. Today, I will walk my usual distance around home.

Here’s what I’ve been hearing in my head as I’ve been going the distance creating this “distance” post:

From a distance, I hope you can feel my gratitude for YOU.

Day 3552: Wall hangings

Yesterday, I was talking about wall hangings with Matthew …

… while he was taking x-rays of my teeth at Beacon Hill Dental Associates. Matthew told me that after considering other possible wall hangings for his home, he decided to frame this panoramic view of his teeth …

… and hang that up on his wall. That wall hanging reflects Matthew’s creativity and his obvious love for his work.

Do you see possible wall hangings in my other images for today?

Today’s list of National Days would make a very long wall hanging.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “wall hangings.”

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Many thanks for reading this “Wall Hangings” post and for hanging around with me here.

Day 3551: Ruminating

Here and now, I’m ruminating about

• my health, after I had a TIA last week on vacation,
• my anticoagulant medication,
• travel insurance,
• my dental appointment today,
• those aspects of my job I really dislike doing,
• our upstairs bathroom, which has been out of commission for over a year because of water damage,
• the change of seasons from warmer to colder,
• the USA midterm November elections,
• the death of Queen Elizabeth,
• pain and suffering in the world, and
• things I cannot control.

I guess it makes sense that I’m ruminating over things I can’t control, because otherwise I could friggin’ do something about them!

When I am ruminating, it helps to identify a simple next step I can take (including sharing my thoughts so I’m not alone with them).

Do you see ruminating in my images for today?

I was also ruminating about getting good tickets on National New York day for a new NYC production of the Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along, but tickets actually don’t go on sale until October.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “ruminating.”

I also find this …

… and this:

I look forward to ruminating on your comments about this Ruminating post.

Thanks to all who know something about ruminating, including YOU!

Day 3550: Who speaks to you?

Last night, after listening to many Todd Rundgren songs that spoke to me, I asked a question on Twitter about who speaks to you:

I love reading about who speaks to other people.

Do you know who does NOT speak to me (which I’ve never spoken about before on this blog)? My sister. People who speak in my therapy groups often reveal that siblings in their families have trouble speaking to each other.

Here’s someone who constantly speaks to me, although I don’t know what she’s saying.

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Do any of my images today speak to you?

The Daily Bitch always speaks to me (even if some people in Real Life and on Twitter don’t speak to me).

Here’s one of the Todd Rundgren songs that spoke to me yesterday:

Who is speaking to you now? Hello, it’s me, with gratitude for YOU.