Lorene Mentality

Oh the holidays.
A great time for vacations, family, memory making and reminiscing.
Many families have traditions.
I remember holidays at my grandparents house. Aunts, uncles, cousins, food and grandma’s divinity fudge.
I’m not a sweets person, but that fudge was to die for. I would make myself sick eating my share, plus a few other’s.
All of the cousins running in and out of the house, playing tag, hide and seek, enjoying life. Not a care or worry in the world.
The grow ups sitting outside smoking their cigarettes, drinking their tea, or whatever they slipped in their glass, watching us burn off all that energy and fudge before returning home.
My cousins were my first best friends.
After grandma passed away, it all changed. Crazy how one person can be the glue for an entire family.
I miss those days.
To all my cousins, aunts, uncles, inlaws and outlaws…
I love and miss you!
Lorene

Its a bit cold this morning, did we even have a fall? Seems we went summer, ice, summer, winter. If the 30 degree Temps stick around that is.
It could be summer later today.
It’s Monday and this is the busiest day of the week for me. Payroll, inventory, ordering, catering, all rolled up together. And that’s only if everyone shows up to work.
But first, it’s me and my coffee. Quiet time. Snuggled in a blanket on the couch, I rehash my dreams from last night. It was a double feature. Starting with a weird home invasion and ending with a OU football game with friends I haven’t met yet. How’s that for variety?
My weekend was relaxing, shared with close friends and family. It did include the OU football game, Bedlam to be exact. Mexican style food, a seven layer dip that turned into a casserole, then toppings for nachos and burrito fillings. We couldn’t decide what we wanted, so it morphed. But it was yummy!
Even made homemade guacamole.
Anyway, weekends are too short.
The work week has begun, albeit a short one because of Thanksgiving. My department is still open. People are hungry on the holidays and expect to be fed. No closing down for a holiday or even bad weather.
Now that’s essential!
Everyone has an important role.
Even in life.
You make things happen.
You are a trigger for someone else to make things happen.
You are the change!
You are the reason someone else can make it through the day.
You are the map for an untaken path.
You are the laughter, the tears and comfort.
You may be broken and cracked and still your light shines through.
You, yes you.
You are essential.
You make the world go round.
Now, go rock it!
Spread your light, wit and wisdom with others.
Be the difference.
Love big.
Lorene

Its about time.
Friday.
Its been a long week. Early mornings, staying late.
8 to 430? Bahahaha not once.
I have my 40 hours in already, sometimes being on salary does not work in your favor.
But no working from home, no hazard pay, just the same day to day operations.
But I am good with that.
I have not had a dramatic change in my daily routine.
My hospital doesn’t close.
We are the support group that feeds everyone. No ordering pizza or Uber eats for patients.
I still get up and go to work.
I run a department, same as always. My expenses are higher due to changes in procedures, isolation trays, disposable everything.
My hands are dry and cracked from washing and extra sanitizer.
Some days I go home smelling like bleach.
But I am still rocking it.
We do not have direct contact with patients now, but the staff that does, comes down to our area to eat and relax a bit.
We are basically one big family in a big house together 8 to 14 hours a day.
We work side by side, share the same air and space.
We are in this together.
I pray for our work family.
I pray for my staff.
And I pray for me.
I pray for guidance to make the right decisions, I do the right things to help keep my staff healthy and safe.
I pray that God place his healing hand over our country, not just for a virus, cancer, or any other physical ailment, but over our hearts.
Heal whatever is causing the hate and turmoil within us. I pray those will ask for healing and comfort of their own hearts and those around them.
Pray for unification.
In that sense, we are all on the front lines.
All of us fighting an unseen evil.
We should be doing it together.
There is power in numbers.
Let’s just make sure the numbers are in our favor.
Love big my friends,
And pray even bigger.
Stay well and happy.
Lorene

Comfort.
Its different for everyone.
It could be a certain food that warms your heart along with your tummy. Each bite bringing back memories of long ago.
My mother made us coffee on cold school days. We walked to school, it was uphill one way and not too far, but the weather was a factor some days.
Anyway the coffee. I guess we couldn’t afford hot chocolate so mom would pour us a cup of her coffee and add sweetened condensed milk. I think that came in the commodity box we got, along with that processed cheese loaf.
She would make us buttered toast and we would dip it into the coffee. There would be a glaze of butter floating on top of the mug. I would slurp it off the top. That was the best coffee in the world.
Maybe that’s why I love my coffee time in the morning. And why I dont put sugar in it. Lol
There are time I will grab a flavored coffee and the taste will send me back.
My memory fails me when it comes to my childhood. Things will pop up that will trigger a memory, but not often. I’ve thought of getting hypnotized to bring some back.
What I do remember keeps me centered.
Mom’s Arroz con Pollo. Yellow rice and chicken. I remember picking out the pimento. And wondering how she got the rice yellow. But it was always good and a family meal around the table.
Comfort to me is also the rain.
I grew up in a metal trailer. The sound of the rain hitting the outside could lull me to sleep. Thunderstorms were scary at times, and the wind would rock the house. Really move it at times. Hail would sound like gunshots, echoing inside. I remember covering my head with the blanket when that would happen.
But now I have a sleep app that plays the rain and thunder for me so I can slip off to sleep.
It reminds me of a simpler time.
Whether your comfort is the rain or tomato soup and grilled cheese, enjoy it again.
Stop and relive what comforts you.
I do every morning and it truly changes my attitude for the day.
I may skip the sweetened milk, but the memory hugs me just fine.
Love big
Lorene

Brrrr this morning, even Maddie went back to bed after a bathroom break.
So I’ll snuggle my coffee instead.
I plan on starting my day early but wanted to start with a fur baby snuggle and a cup to warm me up.
Mondays tend to be the busiest day of the week. It’s considered the first day of the work week, although Sunday is the first day of the week. We love Sunday.
A day of rest, worship, family.
Any day of the week can be your day of rest. Society today has made the work week crazy. 24 hrs., open on holidays and weekends. Maybe that’s what has torn families apart.
No time to spend together.
Both parents working to make ends meet.
Crazy schedules.
Working the holidays.
Coming home from work to sleeping babies and a tired spouse.
Leaving for work before the sun rises and returning after sun set.
Sometimes I think the world has spun off its axis, flinging us in all directions.
I miss the cousins, aunts and uncles at grandma’s house.
I miss meals around the table with mom and dad, sister and brother.
I miss all of us sitting in the front yard with the neighbors, listening to the crickets, cicadas and catching lightning bugs.
That was a lifetime ago.
Times have changed but so have we.
I should have fought back more to have those things for my children and grand children.
A simpler time.
I think I have reached a point in my life where I just want to declutter.
Not just my house, but my life, job, circle.
Clean out toxic people and things.
Pull out the hidden gems and display them. Let them bring happiness and smiles from memories once again.
Keep what I need and makes me happy.
Work on retiring the crazy life and settling into the life of crickets, cicadas and lightning bugs.
Love big.
Lorene

Its nippy this morning.
My coffee needs to work a little faster on warming me up.
Each sip pushes me further towards feeling human. So many of you want that. Me to have my morning coffee that is, and be human before I go out in public.
I know it’s all in my head. I can be human without the magical beans, but what fun would that be?
Everyone needs a little magic in their lives.
It could be coffee, hot tea, a vanilla cream filled maple slathered, soft, sweet long john. Don’t ask me why that is so specific.
Watching a sunrise is a magical way to start the day, and a sunset to finish it.
A lightening storm.
Wow, just wow. Magic. Power. Beauty.
The magic of nature is always inspiring.
You have that magic within you.
You could very well be someone else’s magic.
The reason they smile in the morning, make it through the day without a melt down.
You could be that person someone waits to hear from, a text, call, or following you on Facebook.
Be careful of the magic you put out.
Others are using it to be human. And Lord knows we need more and more good humans to over power the bad.
I’ve rambled enough. I’m going to take my magical beans, scroll Facebook for some positive mojo, maybe put some out of my own.
Have a magical day!
Lorene

This has been a crazy year.
Besides the obvious world wide stuff, I’ve had a major gall bladder attack, fell face first on a boat, worked crazy hours due to staff shortages, knee pain and issues, to name a few.
You would think I would be bald from pulling my hair or eating high blood pressure meds like candy. Maybe even have a dent in the wall where I bang my head.
But no.
I may not be able to control what gets thrown my way, but I control my response.
I’ve spoke of my boating accident, that sounds so much more exciting than tripping on the ladder doesn’t it?
Instead of feeling sorry for myself and hiding at home because I looked like a Frankenstein project with all the stitches in my face, I made it front and center. Took pictures every day to show the healing process. Plastered my bruises for all the world to see and learn from what happened to me. I shared how it was friends that took care of me and made sure I was safe. I found every good in that accident. The bad was done and over. Healing was my focus.
Gall bladder? I attacked back. Boom, out of here. Ejected, bounced from the party, evicted from my space. And of course I feel so much better. I had help from my surgeon of course, and even though I begged for a tummy tuck at the same time he did give me an anatomy lesson. I learned something new about my innards and it was fascinating!
The biggest gall bladder lesson was to remove what hurts you.
If it causes you pain or discomfort, discard it.
Learn from it and don’t look back.
Ask for help if you can’t do it alone. There are professionals at your service.
If you have a “gall bladder” in your life, remember you can live without it. Sometimes a few life adjustments are needed but not always.
And you heal.
As for the other crazy stuff happening, well I try to write about it or anything else that takes my imagination for a ride.
Journaling is therapeutic and sometimes entertaining when you go back and read your thoughts.
This year I have been motivated to write more, get back to finishing my cook book and stay mentally healthy.
I will continue to heal from life’s curveballs and not dwell on the ones I miss.
I am Lorene, hear me roar! And growl and roll my eyes.
But I got this and I can Love Big,
Lorene

How quickly things can change.
From beautiful green leaves to bare brown branches.
But it happens every year.
And every year the leaves come back, filling the top of the tree with color and life.
A reminder that letting go can be a new beginning.
I talk about change a lot.
Change is the only constant.
I find that a good thing.
My life changes every day.
It could be big or small, sometimes not even noticeable.
Something enters my life or I let something go.
Some things will leave without a word.
With the flap of a butterfly wing, it all changes.
But at the end of the day, my life is growing, changing, maturing and molding me.
One door closes, another opens. Sometimes the walk down the hallway to the next door can me a challenge. There may not be a welcome mat directing you. You may have to try each and every door to find the right one.
I’ve even found a window or two to crawl into it.
Now that’s life!
Every door, every window brought changes to help me grow. To fill up again with new life, new adventures. Sometimes letting go over and over in order for me to grow.
Changing
Growing
Expanding
Living my best life.
Find your change and use it to change the world around you.
And while you are doing that, remember to Love Big,
Lorene

The second full moon of October.
She peeked into the skylight of the loft I was sleeping in. Perfectly round and glowing, her beauty was breath taking.
She has no true light of her own, but that doesn’t stop her. With a little help from her friend, she shares beauty and brilliance when it is dark.
A reflection of heat and power, that she harnesses and tames. Enough so that you can stare into her face and enjoy her magic. You don’t have to turn your eyes away in fear of pain.
She can light your path but not disturb the dark. Pull the oceans at her command.
She is a reminder the sun is just over there, out of sight for the moment.
This full moon was special in her own right. A whisper of the beauty left to come as we close out the year. Making you pause to look up, slow down for a minute and just enjoy life.
A perfect moment in an imperfect world.
A reminder to lean on friends when your own light is dim or nonexistent. And to share your light with others who need to reflect.
Time moves on and although “It is what it is”, how we respond makes the difference.
Choose to be happy, collect the rocks that life may throw at you, they are the perfect foundation for your castle.
Stop with the “woe is me” attitude and get up and do something about it.
You can not close your eyes and wish it all away.
You have to work at it.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it was destroyed in one.
Destruction is always easier and quicker.
Light the fire of determination not Devastation.
Move towards the new year with a new attitude and confidence.
Expect the best.
You deserve it.
Love big,
Lorene

The light from the sun not yet up is painting the sky this morning. The different views from this spot are all the same yet so so different.
We had wildlife visiting the deck last night. A huge gray heron was walking along by the window and flew off when it saw movement on our side.
A little later a masked bandit was peeking in the window, disappointed we didn’t leave the trash outside for him.
This area is so quiet, you can hear yourself think and thats a good thing. Sometimes you just need to have a conversation with yourself.
Set new goals, discuss dreams and desires. Decide what you want out of your time here and how you want to spend it. Including the people around you.
What are you willing to let step into your life? What is a hard no?
You know you are the one in control of that, right?
You are the master or mistress of your universe. Not your parents, not your spouse or children, you.
You write the rules.
But you have to enforce them.
It is more than ok to keep toxic things, situations and people out of your life.
There is no rule that says you have to endure any type of behavior you are uncomfortable with.
I remember a phrase from grade school, “just say no to drugs”.
Well that goes for more than drugs.
JUST SAY NO
No, I will not allow you to speak to me in that manner.
No, I will not let you treat me that way.
No, I will not allow you to steal my time and waste it.
No, I will not let you break or bend my rules that pertain to me.
No, I will not let you tell me I am anything less than your expectations.
I will allow no one to steal my joy.
I am the only one I have to please and live up to my own standards.
This is MY life’s movie and I write the screenplay.
You may be a regular character or just a walk on, but if you break my rules for me, you can be canceled, no renewed contract. I won’t say killed off, someone may say I threatened someone. 😬
I am rambling and the sun is shining in the windows now. My coffee is empty and I hear others stirring.
Have a beautiful day and I hope it goes as planned. If not, rewrite the script!
Love big and
Just say no,
Lorene