Top Ten 10 List / Things That Make me Sm

Things that I make me smile

1,  The sound of my bunny pushing things around in his cage. I like to know he is next to me keeping me company

2. Rainbows

3. My 12 year old daughter giving me the rundown of her latest creative story. She is an inspired writer and very imaginative

4. My 18 year old, all dressed up to go to a dance or on a special date

5. The sound of kids laughing 

6. Getting to bring the flower delivery to an old lady at work, (at the assisted living)  and seeing her eyes light up when she sees the flowers

7. The chicken dance

8. Gangnam style

9. Playing with the balloon with the Alzheimer’s residents. They love that.  I think balloons have magical powers

10. Getting to number 10 on a top ten post, because… I just have to defiant and write another

11. Giving someone their first blog award

12. Giving someone their first WordPress “Like”

13. Ending on 13….just because  it is wrong

Is There Still Magic in Your WorldI

I need magic! I love magical moments and magical ideas. To me life is very boring without some kind of magical sparks here and there to spice it up. Here are some things that I consider magical.

1. Balloons – I love balloons! I love the way they float in the air. I love the way they have a mind of their own and they will go whichever direction they feel like going, in spite of where you tell them to go!

I love the way the alzheimer’s patients eyes light up when I get the balloon out. They all smile and have so much fun just playing and batting the balloon back and forth in the air, with me. It is one of my favorite things to do at work.

In fact I am the one that usually stops at CVS pharmacy  to get balloons when we run out. No matter how bad my anxiety may be before I get to work, the magical powers of the balloon can make it better. I can almost feel my blood pressure lowering, from the first time one of the residents smiles and holds out their hands to catch it.

I love the way little children are entranced by the balloon and how it floats and flies in the air. They love the way it feels when they touch it. To really amaze my little niece,  I can rub in against my hair and make it stick to the wall.

2. Creative Collaboration – Collaborating on a creative, inspiring project can have a magic all it’s own. I have a very good friend that like to collaborate with me on business projects like redesigning his web site or coming up with new slogans.

The two of us work together in a perfect harmony and once the inspiration begins, we bounce ideas back and forth off of each other. It is .almost like a dance, where one of us takes the lead and then the other one steps together and the two creative minds do things that neither one of us could do alone. That is magical and fun.

3. Random Dancing –  My friend Hanorah, is a very old woman that lives in the assisted living where I work. When she sees me in the hallway, she always puts her hands out and says “Time to Dance!” It does not matter who is around or what part of the building we are in.

Once we even danced in the elevator, on the way up to her floor. She just takes my hands and begins to dance to the music in her head. Then I will sing something for her, like “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue” and she sings along with me. She always loves to see me, because I will dance with her, just because.

4. Bunny – My bunny is magical, as most bunnies are! He hops and plays. He even hops into the air and makes a turn right in the air, to change direction and to be silly. He kisses me on the lips and he dances a special love dance around my feet, which is like a figure eight, going around one foot and then the other.

When he wants my attention, he will get it. If I am typing on this laptop, for my blog and he feels left out, he will jump right up and land his bunny butt right on this keyboard that I am typing on now. He just sits there, with his fuzzy butt in my face, and won’t move. So funny!

Once he took my cell phone away from me. I was talking on the phone, to my boyfriend and the bunny hopped over, took the cell phone with his teeth, and pulled it right out of my hand. He tossed it on the bed and then hopped away. So funny! Bunny is magical because he can make me smile no matter what my mental state it. He can always get a little smile from me, because he is so animated like a cartoon.

5. Bubbles – Bubbles are magnificent as they are blown in the sunlight outside. They float way up in the air and catch all the colors of a rainbow as the sun reflects off of them. Bubble are fun indoors too. I have a bubble necklace (you can get them around valentines day ) that I can wear and when the alzheimer’s residents are least expecting it, I blow some bubbles into the air and they love it !

I also just like sitting outside and blowing the bubbles to see how they float. It is relaxing and magical.

6. Spending the entire day on the phone with a very special friend –  which is what happened today. My best friend, who is usually too busy working to be on the phone with me for more than 30 minutes at time, during the daytime, was off today! He stayed home sick in bed and I am sorry about him being sick. But he has been getting better throughout the day, as we have been on the phone.

He kept me on the phone for company all day, from 11 am this morning and he is still with me, but I hear him sleeping now. It is 10pm. He fell asleep a few times on and off and I just kept doing what I was doing and stayed with him, so that I would be there when he woke up, for comfort.

I went out to the store and back, and did some other errands, but we stayed on the phone together anyway. I just brought him with me. It was nice to be needed for comfort and I loves having the company all day. Too bad he only does that when he is sick. But I am thankful for the wonderful day together.

7. Blogging – Blogging is magical in many ways but there is one that is most significant to me. You get to meet and connect with people in a deep and meaningful way. These are people that you would otherwise never have met, because they live so far away from you.

8. The Floating Lanterns in The Picture on the Top of This Post – These lantern are beautiful and they look like they should have some magical element to them, to me.

9. The Laughter of Children – The sound of children laughing naturally, because they are children! It is a wonderful sound.

10. Dr. Seuss – Dr. Seuss stories and all the creative nonsensical characters are magical. I love their funny hair and the funny creatures. His stories like The Cat in the Hat. Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who and The Lorax are very special and I have never gotten to old for them. (but on the other hand…you are taking advice from someone who still plays with balloons and bubbles LOL )

Let’s have some fun, since I feel in a good mood today, because I felt supported all day, by my friend. You all can put the things that are magical to you, in the comments below and that way we can all learn about each other.

I did leave out my favorite magical thing in the world to do…but I was trying to keep this a post G rated!  LOL!

Ok, so what are Your Magical items, Activities, and Magical Moments? You can think back into your past, if you want to. I did that for this post also.

Blessings,

Annie

Top Ten Things You Cannot Do About Annoying Relatives !

We might like to, but we cannot…

10. Drop them off at a random bus station and say “good luck!”

9. Change our phone number, but keep telling them they are dialing the number  wrong.

8. Turn out the lights and hide behind the door, like they do in “What About Raymond?” tv show

7. List them on Craig’s List under the “Please Take … Free…you haul”   section

6. Send a postcard from where you go on vacation and tell them you moved there

5. Have a remote control that plays the CD Player really loud, and hit the button every time they start to criticize you or give you annoying advice

4. Fake a doctor’s note that you have suddenly become deaf and cannot talk on the phone or even hear them when they are speaking directly to you

3. Take them back for a refund !

2. Exchange them for a new hair dryer

1. Change your name and identity and move to another state

Time for Annie’s Top Ten 10 Random Thoughts

Time for 10 random thoughts ….

1. I think that only people who have been through a trauma can understand. Maybe therapists that treat PTSD should be people that have been through trauma and are also  trained to treat it. These people that have had cushy lives with no horrible mental injuries cannot understand. How can they help you, if they have no idea how you feel?

2. I love veggie straws and I sometimes eat them while sipping a peach fuzzy navel wine cooler. It is a strange flavor combination that I find oddly pleasurable

3. I love my bunny soooo much. He is sooo funny

4. I am tired and want to sleep for a week

5. Facebook has closed groups for mental health. There are some for bipolar disorder, PTSD, domestic abuse survivors , eating disorders etc. You can search tags in the facebook search bar. Type in anxiety, depression or mental illness or whatever you are looking for. Then you click to request to join the group. They usually approve you and then give you the group rules

6. Writing poetry is easy, dealing with live people is hard

7. Sometimes I am afraid I

8. My flute is broken and I want to buy a new one with the tax refund. Then I can play flute for you all 🙂

9. I think that blogging can be great therapy

10. Making certain kinds of lists can be therapeutic. The part of the brain that is involved in organizing and sorting ideas becomes activated. When that part is dominant, the fear center of the brain is quieter. Just make lists about things that are not anxiety provoking. You can list things about your mental health if it helps.

Ideas for lists

1. Lists within lists LOL

2. Lists about what to list LOL

3. Fears

4. Dreams

5. Achievements

6. People you like

7. Favorite somethings….animals, colors, sensations, movies….

8. Question that starts a list “What I would do if I were a queen..” “What I would change if I were president…”  “What would I do if I lived in a a mansion?”

9. favorite post of Annie 🙂

10. Favorite posts of your own

Top Ten Things Women Hate About the Holidays – Annie’s Top Ten Lists

10. You spend 40 hours of work to afford the gifts, 20 hours shopping for them, 4 hours wrapping them and they are all torn open in less than 15 minutes.

9. Your mother in law will come to visit for longer than usual.

8. She will re-organize your kitchen, in spite of your pleas not to, and you cannot find the things you need to make the holiday dinner.

7. Little children will leave toys that roll, right at the top of the stairs.

6. All those family members that you have “been too busy to get back to” suddenly realize you are off from work.

5. The men monopolize the tv, with football and yell things a lot.

4. Other women comment on your weight, one way or another. (Why do they do this? Who the hell asked them?)

3. When women end up at your house, before you have gotten any make-up on, they say “Oh, Annie you really can pull off that “natural look” can’t you? I just can’t do it myself. But you can manage to pull it off.

2. You have to tell your 16 year old to pull up her shirt to cover her cleavage better, before Grandma gets there for dinner. Then your 12 year walks into dinner late, with her shirt even lower.

1. Aunt Mary eats your hidden stash of emergency chocolate or Uncle Bob drinks all of your hidden stash of wine coolers which you bought specifically to get through the day.

Annie’s Top 10 List – Things an Introvert Does Not Want to Hear

10. The whole gang is going out tonight. You should join us !

9. You really need to put down that book and do something fun.

8. Honey, my mother just called and said she’s coming to visit for a whole week.

7. Honey, Mom just called back. She can’t come on Tuesday but she’s taking you to her Red Hat Club instead.

6. We are going to throw you and Bob a big party for your anniversary.

5. OK , I understand. We’ll just have a small family get together instead.

4. Surprise !!!

3. “Family, friends and loved ones. As you know, Annie and I have been dating for six months and I wanted you all to be here when..”  (  “Annie? Annie? She was here a minute ago ” )

2.  The new girl always takes the whole office out for drinks!

1. Are your parents coming in the delivery room too, or just mine?

Top 10 Things That Annie Does Not Want to Hear

10.  You look great for 48 !

9.  You’re 48 ?  Wow, I would have thought you were only 42 or 43 !

8.  You are doing a great job parenting, for a single Mom.

7.  On your day off you should spend the whole day cooking and then freeze the meals.  It would save you a lot of  trouble.

6.  Since it’s your day off and you won’t have anything to do,  you should…

5. I’ve never been there myself,  but you really should go.

4. Don’t worry Mom, the policeman said…

3.  Hi  Mom. I’m okay but…

2.  You know where the yellow car always parks? Turn right after you see it.

1. You can’t miss it  !