What I Learned the Week of Jan. 20 – 26, 2014
By Jill Whalen
It was not the most productive week in terms of what I learned this week. Still, I did manage to come up with a few tidbits.
Monday, Jan. 20, 2014
- It seems that the little black spots (floaters?) I used to see in the peripheral vision of my left eye (mostly in bright light) are mostly gone! They started and were really bad about 15 years ago when I was severely anemic. After I took iron supplements 3 times a day for 6 months, they did fade a bit, but they were never quite gone. I’m not sure if they were due to an iron or some other vitamin/mineral deficiency or something else. But it doesn’t surprise me that now that I’m mainly eating healthy foods that they’re just about gone. I did notice them slightly still on a really bright day, but it was nothing compared to how they used to be, even in low light.
Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014
- Apparently, if you want the true metabolism boost that green tea supposedly delivers, you need to drink 10 cups a day. I think I’ll pass. 🙂
Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014
- It amazes me that meteorologists in 2014 still can’t predict the weather and snowfall with much accuracy. I guess Mother Nature is more unpredictable than we’d like her to be!
Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014
- There are too many dog owners who don’t rein in their dogs when people run or walk by them. We really don’t want your dog’s wet snout on our pants. Nor do we want them nipping at our heels. At least I don’t.
- This one is probably good fodder for its own blog post, but for now, I’ve noticed that when I’m out and about, people talk to me now. I’m sure this is normal for most of you, but it’s not for me. For whatever reason, I generally went about my business in the world with very little interaction with others, which was how I liked it. When others would tell me how seat mates on airplanes would always talk to them regardless of the signals they tried to send to show they wanted to be left alone. I never had that problem, as it was very rare for that to happen to me. I have many theories on this, which I will elaborate on in said future post.
Friday, Jan. 24, 2014
- How to do a bead “stitch” that looks kind of like a caterpillar:
My Caterpillar Bracelet!
Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014
- Trying to think of these “things I learned” this week was extra hard for some reason. I’m not sure if it’s because I wasn’t learning anything, wasn’t paying enough attention, forgetting too much of what I learned, or some combination of those. I’m going to try to pay more attention next week.
Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014
- Women my age apparently like to bitch about their husbands and/or ex-husbands. 🙁
— Jill
Oooh Jill — the best part of being out and about is chatting up people. That’s how I learn so much!
Yesterday I was waiting to be rung up at the grocery store and the smell of basil kept wafting near me. (Smelled so good!) Finally I said to the guy in front of me, “Is it you with the basil?”
He said yes and then held up the bunch of basil for me to sniff.
He then proceeded to tell me how he uses it to make lasagna for his wife. 🙂 When he left, he said, “Nice talking to you.” The entire conversation made me so happy.
Good stuff this week re: what you learned. Glad your floaters are gone. I’ve not ever had green tea.
PS — Can you use Evernote to record some of your jottings? I’m using the DayOne app (Mac only) to record bits and pieces — I’m loving it. It lets me add photos too. I never did like Evernote but I know lots of people do.
Thanks, Dianna!
I could use evernote (I used to use it for doing my SEO reviews), but right now I just create a draft post in WordPress and add to it as something comes up. So kind of the same thing and that way it’s all there when I need to clean things up and post for real.
The talking to people when out thing is really new for me, but I am enjoying it. Definitely have to write about that one more!
Keep track of who you run into and what you talk about. You’ll be amazed at how many messages you’ll get from the universe.
One day I was having a particularly hard day. I drove into the bank parking lot and got out of the car. As soon as I got out, a dog in the car next to me popped his head out of the window and proceeded to shove his nose at me. He was quite friendly — and I swear Jill, I could hear him saying, “It’s ok. Take a deep breath now.” So I did and patted him some and made friendly noises. He gave me kisses and everything went better after that. Have never forgotten that dog. 🙂
That’s a great idea to keep track of the convos!
Now you have me wondering if those stinkin’ dogs that are always “attacking” me are really just trying to talk to me! haha…
As part of your new journey, you have opened windows for new experiences: food, exercise, new experiences… being intentionally open welcomes things that have not permeated your awareness before. Ergo, you ARE witnessing a fuller existence!
Dogs KNOW good people. The wetness dries but the good feelings exchanged stay!
I guess the dogs think I’m bad people then Sheryl as they always want to bite me 🙂
When I first moved to Hawaii from Massachusetts many years ago, I remember a woman that worked for me talking about chatting with strangers on the street. I thought it odd and that she should be more careful about talking with strangers. She told me that was normal in Hawaii. Now I can only laugh at that memory. How could I have thought that?
Now I think it’s rude NOT to talk with strangers you encounter.
PS. Your caterpillar necklace looks more like a Hawaiian centipede. http://www.whatsthatbug.com/images/centipede_hawaiian.jpg
I don’t think it’s all that unusual for people to talk with others when they’re out and about, even in Mass. It was more that it has been unusual for me. I believe I always presented a closed off persona, which perhaps now is somewhat more open.
Good for you Jill! Denny and I had to “break the ice” with many from MA. when we first moved. Many would volunteer “You’re not from her are you?” Eventually, as we became known, people were less judgemental of the new kids in town. Between the two of you, Don seemed the more outgoing. That is until I got to know you!!
Yes Don makes friends everywhere! I take awhile to warm up to people usually.
Floaters in one’s eye can indicate a couple of things: serious issues or in most cases, according to my opthalmologist, it is “debris” which can be managed with eye vitamins such as I Caps or Ocuvite which have properties that have AREDS formula based on “age related disease study”. These have a profound effect for my distracting floaters!
Thanks, Sheryl. I think in my case it seems that they were caused by a likely vitamin deficiency. (I’m not a fan of doctors so I never went in for this specific issue as it was never all that big of an issue.)
Hi Jill!
Sounds like big changes for you–and warm fuzzy ones too! It’s nice to hear you’re having some fun ‘eye opening’ experiences. Hope they continue with the good vibes.
–We met at BendWebCam, in case you’re trying to remember where we met.
We’re still plugging along with little change in the technology department, unfortunately. I’m careful what I comment on because it could be my next job duty. Ha!
Hope you’re staying warm! We just had 10″ of snow on the valley floor which has maybe happened once in my life before!! Take care! Best wishes!
Hi Terry,
Nice to hear from you and thanks for commenting! Staying mostly warm here even though it’s been cold. Good outerwear helps big time 😉
Jill