Where Bloggers Live 05.2026

 

Hey, friends, guess who's home?  Yup.  Me!!  We climbed into our own bed last night just before midnight.  It was a long day of travel but we survived.  And what a fabulous trip!!  Hope to share some of our fun in an upcoming post.  We slept really good last night and have felt pretty fair today.  I am beginning to run out of steam now so this will be rapido! But I am already one day late in getting this month's Where Bloggers Live post out.

Where Bloggers Live

The “Where Bloggers Live” series was created by Bettye at Fashion Schlub to be something like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…with bloggers! Bettye recognized how most of us enjoy peeking behind the scenes and looking inside people’s homes, interests, and lives.  So, "Where Bloggers Live" was born.  Every month these blogging buddies share their lives and their thoughts in posts based on specific prompts. 

This month we are writing about 'my favorite things about me.'  I actually wrote up my list on the plane between London and Atlanta.  Typing anything on my phone is very hard for me.  I don't use my thumbs to type on my phone although my granddaughter Cadence is always trying to get me to.  Instead I use one index finger which makes it very slow going.  

I hope you will join me in visiting the blogs of my WBL friends to check out their favorite things about themselves.  

Daenel @ Living Outside the Stacks

Bettye @ Fashion Schlub

Jody @ Jody's Touch of Style

Em @ Dust and Dog Hair

Sally @ Within a World of My Own

My Favorite Things About Me!!

I've never been my own biggest fan.  Never have had a whole lot of self-confidence.  And still don't in some areas of my life.  But when I was working, I was confident about the librarian that I was.  I always did my best and worked very hard and was well regarded among the other librarians and teachers in my district.  I think that helped me to become more confident overall.  

I don't think baby-boomers were showered with praise the way children of more contemporary generations are.  My parents loved me but didn't say it often (until much later in my life) and weren't especially complimentary.  Certainly not about my looks.  And little more about anything else.  So I didn't grow up with a strong sense of self.

It has taken years to come to like myself better, to feel more comfortable in my own skin.  I am happy to report that at 68 years old, I am finally there.  Sure, when I look in the mirror I still see the crinkles and dots, as Cami and Lucia call wrinkles and sunspots.  My cellulite hasn't suddenly gone invisible, my hair is more salt than pepper these days.  But rather than constantly focusing on those imperfections that come with age, I have begun choosing to celebrate my good health and ability to still do most everything I want to.

So this list is less about the external, physical things I like about myself and more about the intrinsic.  Here's what I came up with.  

In this season of life, I like that I:

• have control over most of my days, most of the hours of each day.  I am my own boss and I get to decide (usually after some consultation with PC) what I am and am not going to do each day.

• am courageous enough to try new things.  In fact, I often seek out new experiences.  

• similarly, I am not (deathly) afraid to step out of my comfort zone.  

• allow myself to enjoy things without feeling (too) much guilt:  taking a nap, indulging in a slow day, crafting or writing rather than cleaning or finding some other kind of chore to do.

• have let go of perfection...in every aspect of my life.  Which supports my Word of the Year (WOTY) 'flow.'  I am getting less bent out of shape about things that aren't quite perfect.  One of the ways I see this most clearly is in my enjoyment of hobbies.  Instead of fretting over a scrapbook page or painting, collage or even when writing something, I am appreciating the experience, pushing myself to just 'do it' and not worry if my final product is perfect.

• no longer worry about every bite I put in my mouth.  After years of calorie counting and calculating Weight Watchers points, I can at last drink a chocolate-Nutella-peanut butter milkshake, savor every sip and think very little about it afterward...except for remembering how I obnoxiously slurped up the last drops very noisily in front of all the tourists at the Cotswolds.  

• am blessed to be PC's wife.  

• thankful to be Brennyn and Lauren's mom.

• delight in being a Mimi and a Gabba.

• try to protect my good health with exercise, vitamins, rest, sunshine, downtime enjoying the activities that give me the most pleasure.

• am a loving, considerate, kind old soul.  There is always room for improvement but all together I am pretty okay.

A lot of what is the best about me are the people I love in my life.

Your Turn

What would your list of favorite things about you look like?  Would we have any common items on our lists?  

I am uploading a photo of how this list looked when I typed it - hunt and peck - on my phone on the plane.  Thank goodness, tonight when I was feeling less than motivated, I could decipher what I was trying to say!

Thank you for stopping by, sweet friends.  Hoping to catch up on my blog reading over the next few days.  And then I am subbing for 3 days in a kindergarten class.  Glutton for punishment I am!

Off to bed.  Got all of our laundry done but too tired to fold and put it away.  There's always tomorrow.

Hugs and kisses,