Power, Presence

Manicure Fail

June 1, 2024

The state of my fingernails, approximately ten minutes post-manicure. Dismal

I had a break in my work schedule Friday, so I stopped by a nearby nail salon and got my “it is basically June and the weather is warming and it is definitely sandal weather and hurray! I have new sandals that seem like they fit and do not hurt my feet” pedicure. Got a manicure too, since it had probably been a year since my last one and my fingernails always benefit from professional care. I was wearing my new black sandals, the second pair that I ordered this year; I had to return the first ones because my right foot is spreading in a strange way and they didn’t fit right. It’s not a bunion, but something weird with the bone near my pinkie toe. Suddenly, shoe fitting is a treacherous process. Because shoes are expensive now! And what if they don’t stretch and my poor bony foot gets blisters and hurts all day long in my cute but uncomfortable and expensive shoes?

So I proudly sported new sandals that did not hurt my feet and picked out my polish colors. I knew what color I wanted for my toes and for my fingernails, too. The magic number for my fingernails? 144. All the polish colors at this salon have numbers attached to them. I do not know if this is a universal nail salon practice or if it would just be the number for this shop. But the fact that I do not know means that I will probably never go anywhere else, because of my affection for polish 144. I had even saved this information in a reminder document on my phone. A technician had used it before on my hands and I loved it. It was perfect, just a light pink that didn’t command too much attention.

This time, my nail technician frowned a little when I showed her my choice. “Mmmmm,” she said. Continue Reading…

Daily Grace, Presence

Dysregulation Station

May 18, 2024
(I think I am a little too proud of this rhyme… Dysregulation Station! Dysregulation might be a new word for you; it was for me. Verywell Mind defines emotional dysregulation as an “inability to control or regulate one’s emotional responses which can lead to significant…changes in mood.” For me this week, I found myself dysregulated with a notable dip in my mood after an unsettling conversation. I’m sure we’ve all experienced those! Which means that all of us, at one time or another, have punched a ticket on a train heading for dysregulation station. And there! I used my rhyme again!)

 

An old photo I took one day when stopped at a railroad crossing. A circus train would certainly seem like it could make a stop at “Dysregulation Station.” Photo circa 2015.

Earlier this week, a hummingbird flew into my front picture window and laid still, dazed on the ground. I watched him for a while. It is a strange thing, to see a hummingbird almost motionless. He occasionally whirred his wings but wasn’t able to take flight.

It didn’t look good for him.

But in the time that it took for me to find my phone and Google “how to help a bird that flew into a window,” it disappeared. No predators around. Fat Cat was snoring happily on the couch. So I’m going to take it as a good omen.

I hate that birds fly into windows so often. I have beautiful big picture windows. Years ago I bought some of those decals that supposedly help birds avoid them. Maybe they worked for a time, but the windows are big and they don’t last forever.

When I saw the hummingbird there, I confess that I prayed one of those prayers that is kind of a begging one. I don’t usually do those. Because if God already knows everything I need, there is no need to strive to appease Her or kowtow to Her with lengthy words and pleas. She’s happy if we hang out. So that’s my prayer time usually, just chilling with the Divine, mostly in silence, trying not to think at all. But when I saw that little hummingbird? I spoke up and challenged the Almighty a little. I apparently had a little attitude about that situation. Continue Reading…