February 26, 2014

10 things I'd happily pay others to do

February 26, 2014/ Lisa Carpenter

I don't dust my house as often as I should. I did dust this past weekend, though, and throughout the chore — three floors of thirty-plus years worth of accumulated stuff that needs dusting — I continually thought to myself, "Now this is one of those things I'd happily pay others to do... if only I had the money."

Here are 10 more things I'd happily to pay others to do... if only I had the money:

TEN
Clean the...

February 21, 2014

Eating frogs and other edification

February 21, 2014/ Lisa Carpenter

What I learned this week:

A frog a day keeps procrastination away. Or something like that. I recently enjoyed lunch with a friend, and she shared with me a book that has helped her, a blogger and writer, accomplish more and procrastinate less. The book is Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy. The frog eating relates to Mark Twain's wisdom noting that if the first thing you do each day is eat a live frog, it's likely the worst thing that will happen all day. The author uses "eat that frog" as a...

February 19, 2014

9 temptations this grandma can't resist

February 19, 2014/ Lisa Carpenter

As my oldest daughter and I embark on another round of supporting one another in efforts to get into shape, the idea of irresistible temptations have been on my mind.

Thankfully I don't lose my willpower when it comes to chocolate. No, it's carbs that do me in. Love me some pasta... and potatoes. I'm working hard to resist them now.

brother on a slide How could I possibly not moan about missing these cuties?

I've lately considered other temptations that get the best of me. Here are nine — with the top...

February 07, 2014

Sirens, earworms and closer to fine

February 07, 2014/ Lisa Carpenter

I write quite often here about movies and about books. I realized this week that I very rarely write about music anymore, especially after changing the focus of my Saturday posts from "The Saturday Post" to "The Saturday Movie Review."

I love and appreciate music just as much as I love and appreciate movies and books. And when it comes to music, I think the songs that move and matter to someone tell so much about them, far more so than movie and book selections do.

In light of that, today I share with you the music...

February 04, 2014

Watching the clock

February 04, 2014/ Lisa Carpenter

I admit it: I'm a compulsive clock-watcher.

clocks

As a freelance writer working from home, I don't watch the clock in the sense that I eye the hour hand as it makes its egregiously slow move from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. so I can...

January 29, 2014

The view from here

January 29, 2014/ Lisa Carpenter

deer grazing

When Jim and I bought our current house — after more than 20 years in a house that afforded us a daily view of Pikes Peak... in the winter when there weren't leaves on the trees to obstruct our view — we lamented the loss of any fantastic views. With this house, we had opted for a magnificent interior over majestic mountain views.

That said, I do regularly wax unapologetically about wanting to raze the house next door. It was built many years after our house, and it completely...

January 24, 2014

On energy and wishing for more

January 24, 2014/ Lisa Carpenter

tired pointer pit dog

I used to have a neighbor on the block where we lived before the nest emptied whose boundless energy rivaled that of the Energizer Bunny. She was continually working on some major home improvement or landscaping project. I'd see her down the street tugging and lugging boulders and boards from the front yard to the back on a fairly regular basis.

When not sawing or painting, she cleaned in ways most might...

January 10, 2014

Ode to my eldest daughter

January 10, 2014/ Lisa Carpenter

Fridays are typically when I pontificate here on what I learned during the week. What I learned this week is this: My eldest daughter is one of the most kind-hearted, deserving and — most importantly today — resilient women I know.

eldest daughter When Brianna was a teen, Jim and I often marvelled at the manner in which she could come under the wrath of her parents — for, like all teens, Brianna certainly did some wrath-invoking acts of idiocy...

January 06, 2014

Special delivery plus GRAND Social No. 86 link party for grandparents

January 06, 2014/ Lisa Carpenter

link party

It's often the little things that make you smile. Yesterday, for me, it was the delivery of my newspaper.

Like much of the country, it's been cold and snowy in Colorado (though admittedly not as snowy as many spots farther east). My newspaper is usually thrown from the delivery person's vehicle into my driveway, meaning I must walk a ways to get it. Yesterday, though, it arrived...

January 03, 2014

2014... In color and in word

January 03, 2014/ Lisa Carpenter

The company Pantone is the authority on color, and every year Pantone chooses a Color of the Year.

For many years now, I've been intrigued by the winning hues. Because I'm not hip or up on color or fashion in any sense of the word, I think it's possibly the words themselves — some of the names given the color of the year — that most make me smile.

Pantone Color of the Year 2014