Sliver moon

I noticed a beautiful sliver moon yesterday morning as I was leaving for work and it was there again this morning. It was a pitch dark sky with the faded circle outline of the moon. There was a distinct contrast with the bottom wedge  beaming bright. All that shining light from a narrow sliver of light is something to see with all the darkness around it.

I don't care about the science of why I see it that way, but only marvel at the treasure I glimpse at that moment.
TT

Baking

I have three machines working right now. If I took my time yesterday to try and figure out what I was going to do, I've got a complete head-start on today's activities. It's a complete 180 turnaround from yesterday. I have a load of laundry, a load of dishes, and the bread machine all churning away. The coffee maker has already done it's duty and I will have some biscotti baked up in short order real soon.

I started yesterday very slowly. I finally got up and went to the grocery store. It was a unexpected surprise to see they had a three piece group playing jazzy holiday tunes. Yes, in the entrance by the produce there was music. Look, I'm not kidding...

Well, that was certainly different. I'm glad I showed up when I did. 

Then it was home again and I decided to take care of some sugar cookie dough I had in the refrigerator. It was time to roll in out and put in on cookie sheets.

 I was able to get help decorating the cookies. Mr. L decided he was willing and able to sprinkle some colored sugars and discs on the cookies. He is a regular baker in-training and did an outstanding job of helping. He went out back and played with the dog while the cookies were baking but he washed his hands and came back to move them from the cooling racks to the plate. He later moved them to a large zip-lock bag to take home. He protested the small quart size bag I tired to give him claiming it was too small! I gave him a gallon size instead and he seemed pleased. 

I later baked some chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies to go with the sugar cookies. I will make some oatmeal in a bit but I am missing an ingredient so it may be chocolate hazelnut biscotti to make this morning. 

It sure smells good in here. 

TT

Wandering

I have no idea what I'm doing today. I've been up for over an hour and a half and you would think by now I would have worked out what needs to get done. I guess it's nice to have the time and opportunity to take that big amount to come up with a schedule. And if I don't come up with one, than that works out, too.

I'm just giving myself some time to get over the morning chill. Right. That's the ticket. I will mull over my options, take my time, and wander into my day. Splendid. I'm so glad I cleared that up.
TT

No mistake

Nothing can straighten out your confusion about what day it is faster than a Friday. It's the end of the work-week, time for the weekend and yeah! Who get's confused about that? Not me, oh no. I know exactly when it's a Friday and the fact that I will get my work done and head home, head to the store, head to a good book, head to...whatever, whenever, wherever.  There is no, however, I need to go to work so I need to get that done first. Nope. It's very easy to figure out when a Friday rolls around.

A Friday just rolled up to this prime location.
TT

Pause and focus

Again I'm having some confusion with days, which is which, and is it Wednesday or Thursday. You would think this reoccurring disorientation of time would abate after numerous reiterations. It hasn't, and I still sometimes have to pause and conscientiously remind myself of the accurate day of the week. I do that and it sets me straight but sometimes I am hit with the same confused state again when I need to pause and put myself back on track.

I guess this is just an example of anything we want to stay focused on. Some habits we want to break or create fall into this type of category of having to remind ourselves. We need to catch ourselves when we are confused or do the same things we want to change. We need to stop and think. Pause and refocus. Remind ourselves on what is real and what we really want.

Then try, for once, to remember what day it is.
TT

Fresh cookies

I got an unexpected phone call yesterday afternoon for a cookie order. It seems every time I am about to pull the site and stop the business, I get an order. Every time this happens it takes my thoughts away from stopping the business and reminds me of how easy it is to keep going. Since I have no sales expectations, every time I get an order I am breaking my own records for sales. If you have a zero expectation and something comes in, it's a win, right?

It has to be the easiest business to keep in operation. I have a website that costs me close to nothing each month. If I get an order I bake cookies and get paid for them. I keep the money in a separate bank account and it sits there once I'm paid. The close to nothing cost of the website comes directly out of that account.

It helps that I did my homework when I first started. It didn't start out as homework but merely baking cookies. I wanted to come up with different combinations so I baked this into a cookie dough and that into cookie dough and took them to work for others to taste. I changed a few and baked a few differently but came up with some cookies that weren't bad. That was my initial expectation. I just wanted to stretch my creativity with baking some cookies.

My youngest son, Dante, thought I should sell them. We got together and did some research on how much cookies cost at other on-line cookie sites. We figured our cost for the ingredients and packaging, and knew where our pricing should be to make a profit. We took pictures and set it all up. He went to work and got orders that first time around. Then I got other orders and then big orders from companies wanting 60 and then 90 dozen cookies. I got small orders and medium orders. I let it all happen. Yesterdays order was for 4 dozen and I would need to look back to my sales for this past year since I know I got more than a few orders.

Don't think the business blew up and was this busy cookie machine. It never was. Orders are sporadic, but then I don't do a thing until I get an order and then I make a profit and the money goes into that account. If I would spent a smidgen more time on working on it I might actually make a lot more sales. I haven't. I don't even think about it until days like yesterday when I get an unexpected call for a cookie order. Then I think about working on it. Then time goes by and I start thinking I should close it down. I haven't. There really isn't any reason to close it. It practically works itself.

Fresh cookies are baked and that is what it has always been about.
TT

Choose one

It's the first day of a new month which is the last of the year. It should be a good time to clear the slate, clear the mind, set up some goals, and close out the year with an abundance of well-being. I have high hopes for the coming days and weeks. I am looking forward to all the many events, large and small, that can encompass our lives. It's all about the moments. Remembering that it's all the small things that makes it good should be constantly in the forefront of my thoughts to achieving the enjoyment we can get from everything we do.

It can be a rat race. It can be stressful. It can be hard and tiring. It can be all those things and I won't diminish the idea that sometimes that is exactly the way it is. But it's the time we have. Right now. It can be the way we choose if we are conscience of how we are viewing those moments. It can be fun. It can be joyful. It can be calmed down to a moment, right now, that we acknowledge there are reasons to be happy even when we are tired or even when we are stressed. We can just as easily remember why we are happy because if you let yourself, you are. It can be done just as easily as allowing yourself the option. Why not choose the one you would rather be and let the other go.

It's a new day, a new month before the end of another year. Choose.
TT