Day 2560: Look what I made!

Look what I made!

I made a life filled with

• creativity,
• curiosity,
• puzzles,
• welcomes,
• friends,
• wonderful connections,
• sweet things,
• hopeful signs,
• love,
• cats,
• joy,
• purpose,
• appreciation,
• wonder, and
• images like these:

 

Look what my future in-laws’ cats are doing — making out the smell of our cats on my boots (which I didn’t make).

Here‘s “Hey Look Ma, I Made It” by Panic! At the Disco.

 

Look what I made!  Another blog post!

Thanks to all who help me make it through every day, including YOU.

 

Day 2521: Double takes

I did a double take, just now, when I realized this is my first post about double takes, defined as ….

noun
a rapid or surprised second look, either literal or figurative, at a person or situation whose significance had not been completely grasped at first:
His friends did a double take when they saw how much weight he had lost.

I’m doing a double take at that definition because

1. I don’t know what a figurative double take would look like, literally or figuratively.
2. I don’t know how much weight I’ve lost recently because, as I discovered yesterday, our scale in the bathroom presents two very different weights, depending on where you move it on the floor.

In case you haven’t completely grasped the weight or significance of today’s title, here are some visual double takes:

 

Did you do any double takes at any of those photos, literally or figuratively?

Yesterday, Michael & I were trying to remember supermarkets that were around when we were young.  We remembered Stop & Shop (still around today) and A & P (no longer with us).  I asked Michael, “Do you remember the old joke that Stop & Shop and A & P are merging and the new name is ‘Stop & P’?” I did a double take when Michael said he’d never heard that.

I also did a double take when I saw how few views “Double Take” by Blondie has on YouTube:

Here’s a double take of gratitude for (1) all those who helped me create today’s blog and (2) YOU.

Day 2433: A Day in the Life

A Day in the Life …

• could be the title of this blog, instead of The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally,
• can be described with words and pictures,  and
• came to mind yesterday because of this:

That billboard commemorates a day in the life when Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (the movie) opes in America.  On this day in the life, I’m learning the film version has a 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

I’m thinking other things must have happened on the day of July 24 to celebrate, like:

1965  Rock group “The Animals” 1st time in British charts

1967  The Beatles sign a petition in Times to legalize marijuana

1974  Supreme Court unanimously rules Nixon must turn over Watergate tapes

1979 Red Sox Carl Yastrzemski hits his 400th HR

1986 13th Commonwealth Games open in Edinburgh, Scotland

Yesterday, my day in the life included work that I love, meeting up with my old friend Isaac, an incredible Mexican lasagna made by Michael, and many facial expressions.

 

 

 

 

I wonder what I’ll find for “A Day in the Life” on YouTube.

What are your thoughts and feelings on this day in your life?

As always, I’m grateful for every day in this life, so thanks to all who help me create this daily post, including YOU!

Day 2337: How to have a nice day

Here are some hints about how to have a nice day (based on my nice yesterday):

• Take nice photos to share with nice people.
• Be ready to use helping signs.

• Nicely help yourself and others.

• Say “please.”
• Work on acceptance and hope.

• Be strong (and also vulnerable).

• Consider forgiveness.

• Use productivity hacks.
• Be open to (and less rigid  about)  new experiences and understanding.

• Put aside what’s not good for you (if only for the day).

• Do things for fun!

• Sing new songs, no matter who and how old you are.
• Consider the past and the future while remaining present.

• Plan a date night.

• Share love — locally and globally.
• Be where you are, completely.

• Make wishes.
• Celebrate old traditions in new ways (at a very nice restaurant).

• Look for treasures (including the Afikomen at a Passover meal).

• Accept good luck and all gifts that come your way (including a $25 gift certificate to a very nice restaurant).

How do you have a nice day?

Here‘s the nice Bon Jovi singing “Have a nice day.”

 

Nice thanks to all the nice people who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — to YOU.

 

Day 2325: Could this be?

Could this be another daily post from me? Could today’s blog post be inspired by The Curse of Oak Island, a TV show I first heard about yesterday at a birthday celebration for my niece, Laura?

Could this be Joe — Laura’s step-father and brother-in-law —  telling me about the treasure hunting on The Curse of Oak Island and how the show’s dramatic narration constantly notices clue and repeats exposition, asking questions like “Could  this be the triangular rock that will finally lead us to the treasure’s destination after searching for all these years?”

Could this be my introduction to the rest of my photos from yesterday, many of which include ducks? (Could “duck” be my answer to the question, “If you could be any animal, what would you be?“)

Could this be the latest vegetarian culinary masterpiece from Michael? Could this be the point that I remind you that you can click on any of the above photos to enlarge them?

Could this be where I include the opening from The Curse of Oak Island?

Could this be Stephen Colbert interviewing the brothers from The Curse of Oak Island?

Could this be my request for comments?

Could this be my thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and to (dramatic music) YOU?

 

Day 2260: Cute

Happy groundhog day!  Isn’t this a cute photo of a groundhog?

That’s my cute Facebook profile photo today, because Groundhog Day is my birthday!

Yesterday, I heard the word “cute” several times — when I listened to this recording of my latest open mic performance …

 

… and when I showed my boyfriend Michael Malone the birthday card with original art created by my newest good friend Alice Malone (no relation between those two cute Malones).

I think Alice Malone’s drawing of a tiger looking at ties is much more than cute.  Don’t you?

I don’t think it’s cute how there’s a delay between my taking photos on my iPhone and my ability to post them in my blog, especially when I deliberately take pictures of things  I think are cute.  However, I will share all my other new photos from yesterday and share those other cute photos when they turn up (probably tomorrow).

 

If you decide you want  a closer look at the cuteness in those photos, give a cute click on the photo of your choice.

While I am creating this blog post, a lot of cute people are distracting me (as I was distracted during my “cute” performance last night by a cute kid dancing in front of the audience)  by wishing me a happy birthday.

I’m going to make another cute try and see if I can access those other cute photos.

Here they are!

 

Here’s a cuter and closer look at Alice Malone’s website:

Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good!  That’s a cute and helpful saying.

I look forward to many cute comments, below.

Thanks to those who helped me create this cute post and to all who helped me make it to age 66!

 

 

 

Day 2000: Two thousand days of blogging

When I wrote my first blog post on January 1, 2013,  I never thought I’d still be here,  now, blogging away.

Two thousand thanks to all who helped me blog daily, including Michael who took over for two posts (here and here ) after my open heart surgery on September 21, 2016. Michael’s two posts had the most likes and the most comments in the last two thousand days, but who’s counting?

Actually, over the last two thousand days, I’ve asked “Who’s counting?” many, many times, and I think today is a great day to reveal the answer to that question.

Who’s counting? Me.  I’m counting.  And I’ve been counting on this blog and on all of you to help me learn, grow, and get through every day.

Let’s see if the latest photos on my iPhone are relevant for today.

They were taking off the roof of this house yesterday on the South Shore of Boston.  Later that day, I saw and heard somebody in a Chicago subway station tap dancing to “Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof.” (A song that helped me get through pneumonia, as described in this April 18, 2016 post.)

One of my quests over the last two thousand days was to move near the water, and I made it! Here’s a link to one of the many posts from that quest.

Over the last two thousand days, I’ve collected hundreds if not thousands of thank you’s.

There’s Boston, my home town.

This blog has given me an exit to hopelessness, worry, and judgment.

With readers like mine and my apparently endless commitment to blogging, the sky’s the limit!

When we were walking around Chicago yesterday, I asked my son Aaron if he thought that photo was interesting or funny.  We couldn’t decide.

As usual, I’m going to throw in the rest of my photos from yesterday and hope they fit the post.

 

 

I got this great video for today’s post!

As always, thanks to all who help me create this daily blog and — of course! — to YOU.

 

Day 1600: Round numbers

Today is the 1600th day in a row of blog postings, here at the Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally.  1600 is a round number and a much bigger number than expected when I began this blogging journey back on January 1, 2013.

Do you have any reactions to round numbers?  In therapy, people often describe negative reactions they have about reaching round numbers as they age. For example, somebody yesterday talked about turning 40 with a lot of self-judgment.  For some reason, when people approach round numbers, they can roundly judge themselves about their accomplishments and life situations.

A round number is just a number, no more significant than any other number. And yet,  here I am roundly noting it.

However, I am not going to get into a round of self-judgment about my posts. Instead, I’m going to post two musical round numbers (going round here and here on YouTube).

Here’s a round number of photos I took yesterday:

This is my blogging world, and I’ve tried to shape it as best I can.

A round of applause for the large number of people who’ve help me create these 1600 posts and — of course! — for you, on this round-number day.

Day 1455: What makes a good gift?

Recently, somebody who is a gift to me gave me the gift of this question:

What makes a good gift?

What makes a good gift, to you?

During this time of gift-giving, I think good gifts include

• thoughtfulness,
• kindness,
• attention to what people like,
• pleasant memories,
• really listening to each other,
• acceptance of differences,
• fun,
• originality, and
• I hope, my photos from yesterday.

I believe that one of my photos, above, brings the good gift of a musical suggestion for this Christmas and Chanuka Day.

Any comment from you would make a good gift, indeed.

Gratitude also makes a good gift and I have gratitude, here and now, for all who helped provide the good gifts in this post and for you — of course! — for the very  good gift of your visit.

Day 1373: Dreams

Yesterday, my  12th day after open heart surgery,  I fell asleep and had a dream of  being lifted suddenly by unseen hands and carried, very rapidly, as I lay flat on my back, through many rooms and hallways. In the dream, I thought, “Oh no!  Ghosts are taking me away!” I screamed in the dream, the dream faded, and I woke up in my  bed at home.

Somewhat of an expert on dreams (because I’m a psychotherapist), I asked myself, “What did that dream mean?” And I realized the dream captured the dreamlike experience  of being wheeled down hospital hallways into  operating rooms, which has happened to me more times than you could possibly dream between the ages of 10 and 63.

Then, I got ready for my dream of a friend, Carol, to pick me up and carry me to my appointment at the Coumadin/Warfarin clinic at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, to find out if I would be able to eat all the foods of my dreams on this new medication.  The nurse there, Kathleen, was a dream, as she allayed my fears and told me I would probably be able to eat whatever I wanted (including chocolate!), as long as I did so consistently.

Then, I told Carol I wanted to drop in on members of my Cardiology Dream Team at Tufts Medical Center, who hadn’t yet seen me since my surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on September 21. I assumed my appearance would exceed their wildest dreams. And while most patients wouldn’t dream of dropping in unexpectedly on their doctors, my cardiologist Dr. Mark Estes has demonstrated (see my previous dreamy blog post here), that he is fine with my doing that.

The next hour was like a dream.  Dr. Mark Estes showed up trailed by five students and told me I looked like a dream — better than he had ever seen me in our decades of working together.  I told Dr. Estes that I might have been dreaming, but I thought I had heard various people at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota state that my heart was in a normal/sinus rhythm after the operation, instead of its usual atrial fibrillation.

Let me explain why my heart going out of atrial fibrillation and into normal/sinus rhythm, even for a limited amount of time, would be a very unlikely dream come true.

1. My heart went out of normal rhythm and into atrial fibrillation almost exactly three years ago today (described in this here dreamy blog post).
2. At that time, my doctors agreed it did not make sense for them to try any non-surgical means to return my heart to a normal rhythm, because the atria were so stretched out from my leaky valve that my heart would almost definitely return to a-fib.
3. When I had my last cardiac procedure in May of 2015, Dr.  Estes told me that my fibrillating atria were even bigger — “the size of a grapefruit, instead of the normal size of a walnut.”
4.  My other cardiologist, Dr. Deeb Salem,  had a dream: he hoped that the surgeon at the Mayo Clinic, when performing the open heart surgery twelve days ago to replace my leaky valve, might also use a surgical technique (called the Maze technique) to try to get my heart back into a normal rhythm.
5. When I discussed that possibility with the Mayo doctors, they all agreed that the added surgical time of two hours was NOT worth the risk, since the chances of any technique returning me to normal rhythm was highly unlikely.
6. At that point, I let go of the dream of my heart getting out of atrial fibrillation, and instead focused on preparing myself for the heart valve replacement surgery.

So when I told Dr. Estes yesterday that I thought I had heard people at the Mayo Clinic say that I  was out of a-fib after my surgery, he looked like he thought I was dreaming. He said, “Ann, if your heart DID get back  into sinus rhythm post surgery, that would have lasted for a very short time. I am skeptical it happened at all.”

And then everybody  — Dr. Estes, the students, Carol, me, and others — watched yesterday, as if in a dream, as we accessed the data stored in my pacemaker/defibrillator to see what kind of rhythms my dreamy heart had been generating recently, when I’ve been awake and dreaming.

As if in a dream, my dream team cardiologist, Dr. Mark Estes, announced to all of us: “You’re in sinus rhythm.  And you’ve been out of a fib and in normal rhythm consistently since your surgery on September 21.”

I responded, “My boyfriend Michael would call this a Christmas miracle.”  I heard Carol say, dreamily and sweetly, “Today is the Jewish New Year.”  Everybody looked happy, like in a dream or in a special on the Hallmark Movie Channel where the heroine does better than anybody dreamed possible.

How did this better-than-anybody-could-possibly-have-dreamed result occur?  I have a dreamy memory of a discussion, last week, with a Mayo Clinic EKG technician, who told me I was in normal/sinus rhythm when he visited me in the Intensive Care Unit.  Perhaps, we speculated, when they stopped my heart and then restarted it after the open heart surgery, that helped my heart’s rhythm — just how we often fix our phones, computers, and other devices  by turning them off and turning them back on again. Sometimes, the simplest solution works better than our wildest dreams.

After this dream of a visit with Dr. Estes, Carol carried me away in her car and drove me home to my dreamy boyfriend Michael. I told him the good news, as if in a dream. Later, when I shared the good news with my dreamy 18-year-old son, Aaron — far far away in the dreamy land of Scotland — Aaron texted me: “It sounds like a magical fairy wonderland situation over there.”

Magical and MUCH better than the scary dream that started out my dream of a day, yesterday.

I also want to say, at this point in this dreamy post, that it’s very possible that my dream of a heart with its shiny new valve might go back into atrial fibrillation — tomorrow, next week, or some other point in the future.  However, I wouldn’t dream of lowering my heart’s expectations right now — that heart of mine has exceeded everybody’s dreams for sooooooo long.

When I was dreaming under general anesthesia last week at the Mayo Clinic, my surgeon played dreamy music by our favorite saxophonist, the late Michael Brecker. On this dreamy day, 13 days later, here is one of my favorite tunes by Dreams, the 1970s dream team of Michael Brecker, his brother and trumpet-player Randy Brecker, the dreamily fabulous drummer Billy Cobham, dreamy bassist Will Lee, and other dreamily amazing jazz musicians.

 

 

Because my readers appreciate photos I take beyond my wildest dreams, here are all the dreamy images I captured yesterday:

You know what?  Yesterday still feels like a dream to me ….  too good to be true. And I don’t have any photos showing Dr. Estes, the medical students, Carol, Kathleen the nurse, or any of other people I dreamily wrote about in this post.

So …. maybe it was all a dream?

What do you think, my dreamy readers?

Dreamy thanks to all those who helped me create this dream of a post and to you  — of course! — for whatever dreams you bring, here and now.