POSITIVELY TUESDAY

 by Mauverneen

Good morning Positive Thinkers!

I'm reminding us all (myself included) why I started this blog. We need to stay Positive! I picked Tuesday because it's generally a slow day and most of us are picking ourselves up from Monday and gaining momentum to get through to the weekend.

If we can be positive for just one day a week... No complaining today. No putting anybody down - including ourselves. Find something good to share. Turn off the news if you have to, but try to be positive for a whole day. If we can accomplish that, hopefully that attitude will carry through to another day, and another.

It's very gray and dismal looking outside right now, but I won't dwell on it, or even complain about it. After all it's POSITIVELY Tuesday. So is there anything nice about this gloomy day? Well, it's not snowing and the days are getting longer and it's good weather for taking some moody photos if you're into that. And if none of the above apply, remember what we were told as kids "If you can't say anything nice..."

I'll leave it there. 

Have a POSITIVELY wonderful TUESDAY!

I drove over to the local greenhouse for a bit of color. It was Positively refreshing!

As always, words and photos are my own, and require permission to reprint. However, feel free to share the blog in it's entirety. In fact, I encourage it! Interested in photo prints? Contact me! maureenblevins@yahoo.com See more photos at 

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-mauverneen-blevins.html

Positively Another One

 by Mauverneen

Yep - a birthday. Mine!

Unlike some people, I don't mind my birthday. Sometimes I'm a little taken aback by what number is actually is, but I can't dwell on that. And it's certainly better than the alternative. 

It was a good day - other than the fact that I was chasing birds around the house for an hour. 

I was gifted with a parakeet for Christmas and, well, the cage was big and I figured he needed a buddy, so I got another one. 

In anticipation of company that evening, I cleaned the cage so it would look presentable. First one escaped and then the other! I chased them from one end of the house to the other, putting out candles and shutting the lid on the toilet lest one of them should have a mishap when landing! They might have returned to their cage on their own eventually, but I didn't have that kind of time. I was near tears, feeling sure they would hit a wall or a door and kill themselves. I finally cornered one, grabbed him by the tail, intending to get hold of him but before I could do that he pulled away, leaving me with two tail feathers! I did eventually coax him onto a mirror and walked him back to his cage. I ended up dropping a light weight dish towel on the other one, thereby ending his little escapade. 

They're both chirping away as I sit here, none the worse for their adventure. 

And the rest of my birthday? Excellent! Good dinner, good cake, and good company. 

No, I don't mind birthdays at all!

As always, words and photos are my own, and require permission to reprint. However, feel free to share the blog in it's entirety. In fact, I encourage it! Interested in photo prints? Contact me! maureenblevins@yahoo.com See more photos at 

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-mauverneen-blevins.html

Positively A Positive New Year

by Mauverneen

Happy New Year everybody – and may we all stick to our resolutions - for a couple of weeks at least. I was looking over some previous New Year posts. It's funny how some things never change, and some do. One theme that seems to run through my January blogs is travel. Or rather, planning travel. But then, it seems I'm always doing that.

January is sort of a lost month. The holidays are over, the job of taking the decorations down is usually accomplished right after New Years Day, if not before, and then there are a few days of relaxing, putting your feet up and maybe watching a little tv. Or falling asleep on the couch. Life is good, life is calm. Everything is back to normal. And then - what? There's not another holiday until February (Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras) and sometimes it's a little boring with nothing to do. Might I suggest you start planning a vacation to ease the boredom or the cabin fever. Can't get away now? Do something local - some live entertainment, visit a museum. Plan a trip for further 'down the road'. Road trip? Summer vacation with the kids? A getaway without crowds, or maybe that once-in-a-lifetime bucket list trip you've dreamed about forever. Just plan it. Now, while you're not distracted, while you've got some time on your hands.

Even if you never take the trip you might learn something new, and it's always fun to dream. And sometimes, our dreams may be all we have to get us through.

 One tradition I've only recently heard of is taking your empty suitcase for a walk around the block to bring you a year filled with travel. I may give this one a try as I toast the New Year. 

One resolution that I AM putting on my list is to take a fantastic trip this year. I don’t want to wait two years to the next one. I know how selfish that sounds, but travel is oh so addicting! I want to get to Yellowstone and Yosemite one of these days. If I can take one foreign trip and one domestic each year, life would positively be a dream.

 We put those dreams out there, and sometimes it takes a little time to realize them, but they can come true!  I finally got to Yellowstone in 2023 and it was amazing! And this year - I have actual plans for those two trips - one foreign and one domestic!

I hope your dreams come true! May you have a prosperous, dream-fulfilling, happy, New Year!

As always, words and photos are my own, and require permission to reprint. However, feel free to share the blog in it's entirety. In fact, I encourage it! Interested in photo prints? Contact me! maureenblevins@yahoo.com See more photos at 

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-mauverneen-blevins.html