What Goes Around, Comes Around.

You are probably familiar with the idiom, "What goes around, comes around." According to the definition offered in The Free Dictionary by Farlex, this means "The results of things that one has done will someday have an effect on the person who started the events." I have found this to be true in my own life.

Just as I started high school, my family moved to Mallorca, Spain. For four years I attended the American School of Mallorca and I lived at home, but a high percentage of the students were boarders.

Many of my friends lived in the rooms in this building at the American School of Mallorca.

My family would often invite some of the boarding students over for dinner or the weekend. My mom and dad were generous with help, parental advice, or support for these kids when it was needed. My parents

Living Life is a Lot Like Traveling on a Highway

On the first Tuesday of January last year, I wrote a post comparing a "new year" to a highway stretching out before us. Click here to read that article: A New Year - A New Road to Travel.

It is funny how a person can write something, and a year later sees it with completely fresh eyes. I just reread the "travel advice" I offered here that day, and I am actually a little surprised by my own wisdom! Living life really is a lot like traveling on a highway. I think this year I will focus even more on "varying the route" and I would also add one more observation to my list:

• Be careful not to envy other vehicles on the road. 

Automobiles (like bodies, salaries, houses, opportunities, and so forth) come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and conditions. When well-cared for, however, most of them run just about the same. Even when a different model is not within our means, comparing our own to others does us no good. Our energy is better spent improving and appreciating what is ours, than letting envy and jealousy undermine our own confidence and efforts.

I am happy to say that overall I am "glad I went the way I did" last year - and I am looking forward to where the highway leads this year. 

I hope your travel route is smooth and scenic!

Have you planned your route? Are you willing to explore some detours?

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Saturday Suggestion: Perfection Promotes Procrastination.

Today's Saturday Suggestion is to strive for good enough, as I believe it is a desire for perfection that leads to procrastination.

This poster hangs in my laundry room where I see it daily, and this advice given by Thomas Jefferson is still very applicable today.
His first rule cautions us to avoid procrastination.

As regular readers of this blog know, I have been posting less than usual throughout the past month. Reasons were varied: a little bit of blogger burnout, some social media fatigue, and some self-doubt about whether I really have anything worthwhile to say. My decision to pull back, however, mostly stemmed from a

Stepping into a New Year

When stepping into a new year, 365 days stretch out before us with endless possibilities of what we might accomplish. Yesterday I commented that "like footsteps in the freshly fallen snow, it is fun to make the first strides in a new year." 

Here in Montana, the first day of 2016 is crisp, clear, and cold. Brilliant sunshine is reflecting off of sparkling snow, and temperatures are hovering around 5 degrees Fahrenheit.  A truly beautiful day.

Here's to all of us making great strides in 2016: as individuals, collectively as humanity, and in our efforts to be kind to each other and protect this beautiful planet on which we live. 

Happy New Year! 

Auld Lang Syne and New Year's Eve

One of my traditions on New Year's Eve is to try and get my home and life in order before the year ends. I have yet to be fully successful - but I like to try to start the New Year feeling organized. A year has never ended without me feeling nostalgic, but there is something about a fresh slate that provides the idea of endless possibilities. Like footsteps in the freshly fallen snow, it is fun to make those first strides in a new year.  I like goals better than resolutions, and this year I have quite a few.

Auld Lang Syne

No matter whether a year concludes with a fancy dress party; an early celebration with small children before

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

To you and yours ...

... best wishes 

for 

a wonderful holiday season 

from 

The Most  -  - of Every Moment!

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Saturday Suggestion: Be Present.

Many of us keep our phones and cameras at the ready all through the day. When I saw the cute Santa hats on the geese in the Bozeman airport last night, of course, I took a photo.

My daughter was supposed to arrive at the Helena airport last night at midnight on a connecting flight out of Seattle. She had already spent several hours at the airport when she found out her flight to Montana was

Dear Santa

What's on my list for Christmas? To be more in control of time.

In a blog post last December, I published My (Grown-Up) Letter to Santa.  If I wrote to him again this year, most of what I said last year would still apply. But now, I think I would ask for one more thing. I would ask for the power to be more in control of time. 

Speed up or slow down

Sometimes, like while waiting for family members to arrive for the holidays, we want time to speed up. Other times, like during the limited days when guests are visiting, we want it to slow down.

More time

Sometimes we just want more moments in our day - so we can get more done. Actually, I could be content without a longer day if I could just become more productive in the hours that I have.

Past and future

Time travel has its appeal as well - wouldn't it be nice to be able to just take a quick trip back in time to remember an event we can't seem to recall?  Or, perhaps travel to the future and catch a glimpse of what consequences there might be for actions we are considering taking now.

Plan better

How many times have you been late getting somewhere, or arrived too early and wasted precious moments that could have been spent doing other things? I'd love to always just get my arrival time exactly right!

Time management

This blog is all about making the most of all of our moments. We can't really acquire more moments than the ones we already have - but we can figure out the best way to make the most of them. Time management skills are valuable to learn, and it is important to prioritize all of the things that demand our attention.

There may be a decreased number of blog posts here the rest of this month.

December is a busy month for all of us. I've been keeping up with my usual publishing schedule so far, but other things are begging for my attention. Rather than risk just churning out quantity without quality, my posts may decrease in frequency for a bit. This is a gift I can give myself, to help me gain just a little bit more control of my time, and to ensure that I am not wasting yours! 

What things can you do to gain more control of time? 

Will you do them?

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog. Check them out!

A Question About Holiday Greeting Cards and Letters

This time of year, many of us send out a holiday card or letter to friends and family. Even people who do not celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah often send a New Year's greeting.

Opinions vary widely about acceptable format for holiday greetings. 

I enjoy catching up with friends and past acquaintances annually at this time of year, and I love getting newsy letters and lots of photos from friends and family. I know, however, that some people roll their eyes and don't understand why others choose to share so much information.   

Today, I'm curious about the majority opinion, and I'm asking you for your thoughts on this topic.

What's your opinion?

What is your favorite type of holiday greeting to receive?

1. A store-bought card.
2. A custom photo card.
3. A newsy printed letter.

 When it comes to content, is it true that "less is more"? Do you prefer:

1. One simple photo of a family or friend.
2. A variety of photos taken by the sender throughout the year.
3. A note or letter without photos.

Do you send out holiday greetings? 

1. No.
2. Yes. If so, do you:

• Just sign and send a card.

• Put a photo in the card or send a photo card.

• Send a holiday letter with one photo.

• Send a holiday letter with multiple photos.

4. Do you send your holiday greetings to:

1. Close friends and family?
2. Only people that are far away?
3. All of your friends and family?

 5. If you do send a card or printed letter, do you:

1. Have it printed and send it without signing or adding a note.
2. Sign your name but never add a note.
3. Add a hand-written personal note for each recipient.

Please leave your answers in the comment section. Let's find out how people really feel about the cards and letters we've sent throughout the years!

And by the way ...

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Saturday Suggestion: Sometimes it's best to not say anything.

"If you don't have anything good to say, then don't say anything at all." While attempting to write this post last night, that was the phrase that kept running through my head.

I've heard this advice at various times throughout my life, and in most cases I have tried to heed it. I have always understood the word "good" in this context to mean "nice."  But, last night I realized there can be another interpretation of this advice as well. When we speak (or write!) we should strive to ensure that our words have value and meaning.

I had a few ideas of topics for this post, but I lacked the energy to develop them fully this week. Rather than waste your time reading something that is not "good," today I am simply going to share this quote and wish you a happy weekend.

And I'll leave you with this thought: Think how much better we would all get along if we all only ever said things that are "good."

Do you agree with this advice?

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog. Check them out!

Ideas for the Holidays: My List of Fabulous Finds (Week #24)

The holiday season is upon us. Here are a few links to articles previously published on this blog, which might make your life even merrier and brighter. I really hope they do!

~ ~ Decorate

A Coding Lesson from Khan Academy and a Christmas Poem

Have you heard of Khan Academy®? It is a free learning resource for people of all ages, offering on-line instruction on a huge variety of topics. The website is https://www.khanacademy.org and it is well worth taking a few moments to check it out.

Yesterday, I received an email about an "Hour of Code" opportunity offered by Khan Academy®, and I decided to take a peek. Before I knew it, I was deep into the "Hour of Webpages" tutorial, learning some basic HTML and CSS coding and having a really good time! One of the assignments was to write a poem, using the HTML skills that had just been taught.

I am not a poet. In fact, I think a poem of mine has only ever appeared on this website once, and it was really just a few rhyming lines.  The challenge of writing poetry was actually more daunting for me than trying to use computer code, but I wanted to complete the assignment. I took some inspiration from our recently decorated Christmas tree, and I gave it a try.



I am sharing my little poem here, as an example of how easy it is to learn a bit of basic coding from Khan Academy® in just an hour or so.

Using my newly acquired skills, I was able to write text in several colors, make a title heading, and create line breaks. By googling "centering lines of text using CSS" (a skill not taught in this introductory lesson),  I even figured out how to format my poem to appear in the shape of a tree:

Tree Lights

Shiny

bright,

red & white.

Simple strands

placed happily there, by

several sets of willing hands.

Green strings full of pretty lights,

wound round fragrant pine boughs,

illuminate

the festive 

nights.

I should probably stick to writing prose, not poems, but I can now do so using a little computer jargon! I even learned how to include the photo of our tree in this post without using the Blogger "insert image" tool, but by actually writing the correct code.

Of course, on the Blogger platform I have always been able to do all of this without knowing how to code, just by using the available tools. But, I have learned that some understanding of computer coding can really be helpful - when something goes wrong, or when you just want to make some changes that are not otherwise possible.

I can't wait to see what else I can learn from Khan Academy®. Can you?

NOTE: All Khan Academy® content is available for free at www.khanacademy.org. I did not receive any compensation for mentioning their website, and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Have you ever taken a Khan Academy Course or visited their website?

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog. Check them out!