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Everyday changes

I love how we all try to get things back to ‘normal’. What exactly is normal? Why do we want it? Is it even really possible?

I have figured out in all my trips around the sun that what is normal for me changes every single day and sometimes it changes by the minute. I think most people want things to flow easily and not have stress. Well let me stop you right there. Life is full of stressful things and most of the time plans don’t go smooth and easy. I love when we plan something and as soon as we feel good about the plans then something happens, a friend stops by to visit and we get behind or a call from someone who needs us to help them out and it is usually right when we had something else planned. I don’t know how you are but I usually change my plans to help out everyone. I figure unless what I am doing is an emergency it can wait. I love helping people when I can. I know I would want someone to help me when they could.

Some people’s normal could look boring or even wild and crazy to me. I am pretty sure that my normal would look out of control and crazy wild for most everyone else. I actually love it when the house is full of noise and grand babies running all over the house. I think even my husband doesn’t like all the noise for his normal. Lol!

I have always loved having a lot of things going on. I have found over the years that I like to have 3 to 6 things going on all the time. I might complain about not having enough time to do it all but I love it. I do my best work when I am rushing at the last minute. Most people never know that I was up all night and running crazy right up to the last minute.

I think we want normal because we feel in control. So many things in life are out of our control and when we can set a schedule or plan the perfect day we are in control. It does feel out of control when everything is crazy and you don’t know what is next or how you could possibly get it all done. But after it is figured out and done it always gives me a sense of great accomplishment. I can look back thru my life and see the most proud I feel about things I have done is usually around craziness. Because despite everything falling apart around me I actually got it done. I might not have been in control of everything around me but I was in control of finishing my task or getting things handled or whatever it was. So even though the normal was out of control I did have a positive outcome when I got thru it all. You can only control what you do in the craziness.

I think we can create a normal for us but we have to learn to be flexible. The ridged guideline we put on the perfect schedule or life feels out of the normal when we don’t allow for things to happen. They will not always be interrupted or out of control but by allowing yourself the freedom for change you give yourself permission to flow with anything. Normal is not defined by ridged rules it is more about creating a free flowing life that works for you. My free flowing life may be a crazy mess to you but if it works for me it is my normal.

We should stop comparing our journey thru life to everyone else’s. Different normals and perspectives are a good thing. Don’t try to create the ridge mess of your friend life or the crazy out of control life of someone but find your happy normal and be happy there. Normal will not make you happy always. The fun and memorable things in life sometimes comes out of a not so normal day or life.

So learn to move with the flow of things and be happy in each moment and don’t compare your normal to anyone else’s and be flexible to unexpected changes you just might have the best day ever! Tomorrow is always a new day to create another new normal.

Smile and enjoy the ride because you have a one way, non refundable, golden ticket thru your own normal life.

Shelia 🙂

My world today is taking me to the mountains and beyond. Very Soon….

sheliasworldtoday

Appalachian Trail here I come. ( March 2022 )

I have officially registered for a Thru Hike of the Appalachian Trail. Ok first I should say that I am not an experienced hiker at all and I have only been day hiking for the last few months. I had heard about the AT and I had been to Amicalola Falls many years ago but at the time I didn’t realized that it was a part of the trail. About 2 years ago I started watching U-Tube videos about the trail and learned that people actually hiked the trail all the way thru from Ga. to Maine. I knew that I wanted to do that. I thought about it and then life happened and between Covid and a car wreck I have been extremely busy. I watched Dixie’s thru hike and then I found Meandering Meagan’s hike. After watching them I realized that I really wanted to attempt this huge feat for myself. My husband has been extremely supportive and he would love to go with me for the whole trail but his work at this time will not allow him to be gone that long. He plans on walking on and off as much as he can. He was the first to tell friends about the trip. He helped me get my gear and he went with me on my first over night back packing trip. I did all the tent set up and take down so that I would have the experience. Me and my grandchildren have practiced setting up my tent in the yard several times. They love playing in the tent in the yard, it is like a playhouse. I am currently taking day hikes and have several weekend trips planned before my start date.

I have purchased and exchanged and repurchased almost all of my gear. I have changed my backpack, sleeping pad, quilt, tent and stove. I thought I had done enough research but after trying the items you really figure out what works best for you. My first REI backpack was not working and it was so heavy when it was empty that I could not imagine it full. So I now have a ZPac Arc Haul backpack. The quilt I first got was thermo rest and it is great but it was not quit warm enough for the colder temperatures so I got a enlightened equipment 10*down filled quilt for the winter and I will use my thermo rest for the summer. The stove I first bought was the small little MSR stove and a small titanium pot. I switched it to a jet-boil. It has a cup on the bottom that will allow me to not have to carry an extra bowl for my coffee. My tent is the Big Agnus Tiger 2 and I also have a Dan Durston 1 person tent. I was planning on taking it but I realized that it is very small inside and if I plan on living in it for 5 months I should probably have plenty of room to move around inside. Also when my husband is there we have to have enough room to sleep in and the Dan Durston tent is made for only one person.

For those of you that do not know me I am 53 years old I have been married to my high school sweet heart for 39 years and we have 3 grown children that are married to wonderful spouses and I have a total of 5 grandchildren 3 boys and 2 girls. I am a retired RN and for the last 9 years I have been taking care of the grand babies. I have loved every minute of it, they are all amazing, smart, funny, wonderful kids. I love to travel and take cruises. I am a craft-a-holic and I do every craft there is including coloring, painting, drawing, making resin things, jewelry, sewing, knitting, crocheting, miniature things including book nooks, puppets, cards and scrapbook to name most of them. lol. I love to create things, the process of creating a project and then working thru the whole process and seeing a completed item at the end is very satisfying to me. I am a little bit worried about not being able to work in my office on these projects while I am gone on the AT and think I might lock myself in my office/craft room for a month when I get home. I am also worried about missing the grandchildren, I get to see them every week and have since they were born, 3 of them will have birthdays while I am on trail and I hate missing any thing they have. I don’t want them to get used to me being gone. I know they won’t but I will miss being with them. I have several things that I think about when I think about being gone for that long. I try not to worry but worry is still there.

I have had some very unexpected reactions from people some negative and surprisingly a lot of people have been very supportive to this trip. I am very grateful for everyone that has had positive reactions to my plans and I wish everyone could go along with me on the adventure.

I am going to attempt a thru hike and I have to keep telling myself that I am only attempting it and if I fail that it is ok because I at least I tried. I am very stubborn and I do not want to start and not finish. I do know that if I don’t finish this year I will make another attempt in the next year or two. I have always pushed myself to complete something when I start it and I want to finish this endeavor too. I hope that I have what it takes to complete all this trail has to offer. I have had many people ask me why I am wanting to do this, I know that I love the views from the tops of the Mountian and right now my answer is to get the views. I have a lot of other thoughts but not another answer pinned down yet I will keep you posted.

I look forward to seeing everyone on the trail and can’t wait to see how far we make it.

HAPPY TRAILS!

Shelia 🙂

The Journey Begins

sheliasworldtoday

Thanks for joining me! I hope you find something here that helps you as we learn new things together.

I have an idea for my first post to be about my adventure with acrylic paint pours. Right now they are all the rage on u-tube and Pinterest. I have watched about 50 different pours and techniques that people use. I like the flip cup method the best but I have tried several different ways also. I think every one has heard about the pinterest fails, I have had a few u-tube fails. It is funny that my very first attempt was probably one of my best. The next few help me to understanding the term ‘repainting’. I love it when you watch people on the videos they make it look so effortless, it is really not that easy. To me the prep work and getting things prepared before you even pour the paint is the part that needs to be shown in a 30 minute stand alone video. The first video should be about 30 minutes on how to prepare all the paints and flotrol and water, then the next video should follow with how to pour it in the cup and flip it and swirl on canvas. The actual doing is the easy 10 minute part. LOL!

I have found that when you mix the flotrol, paint and water it does have to be mixed correctly to allow the paint to stick to the canvas. I tried to just guesstimate the proper amount on the first few I did (probably why I had to repaint). I thought, I have painted before so it can just make it look like theirs. Not true. The mixture works best when you use actual measure cups and mix with 50% flotrol, 30% paint and 20% water. I have premixed up a few colors that I use a lot and just close the bottles when I am done and they will be ok to use the next pour. Just be sure to remix them very well. Some of the paints that are used seem thicker that others. If the paint seems thick after mixing, I will add a little bit more of the floral and a tiny bit of water. If you add just the water it seems to get to thin.

The next thing that has helped me is to make sure to prep the canvas. I can not stress this enough. I have skimped on this part and the canvas shows thru the paint because of the lack of coverage. It make the whole painting look bad. So please pour extra white or black depending on the color painting your doing. Put a thin coat on the whole canvas even the side and corners. When you are ready to start, mix each color paint with the formula 50% floral, 30% paint, 20% water in individual cups. I use the small little bathroom size cups to mix these. You will not need to much of each color for smaller canvas. I will do more colors for larger canvas and still mix this size cup just more of them. Mix each color well, making sure to get all paint from bottom and sides of the cup. Get a larger cup to get thing started. This is the process I was talking about that takes the longest. All this pre work and mixing and measuring and picking the colors takes a long time but it is necessary to make great art.

Take the larger cup and slowly pour about 1/3 of each small cup into the larger cup decide the order you want so the colors look good next to each other. I always start with the color I have put on the canvas as my cover. There are several ways to do this part. You can slightly tilt the large cup to one side and pour in on the side and let them run down the inside of cup on the side or you can pour them directly in the middle, keeping a circle in the middle with each color or you can pour each one in a swirling pattern to allow the colors to overlap each other. The way you pour it in will effect the look of each pour to some degree. I have done it all three ways and I prefer to pour them into the center of cup each time. Play around and experiment to find your favorite way. Once the first 1/3 is poured in repeat in the same order 2 more times. On the last time make sure to get all the paint from the cups. After they are all in the large cup let it sit for a minute. Then pick up the cup and take the canvas and put it onto of the top of the cup and flip the cup and canvas at the small time to keep the paint in the cup. Gently sit them on the table keeping the cup secured to the top of the canvas so no paint leaks out from under the cup. Let it sit for a minute, use this time to put a layer or ring of the base color mixture around the outside edge of the cup. This is to help the paint to move easily and allow it to run evenly over the edges to cover the sides.

Now quickly pick up the cup. I sit it aside just in case I need to add to the edges later. Now lightly torch over the top. Do not get to close to the paint and do not hold in one place. Keep moving over the top and only for a swipe or two. You don’t need to do too much, less is more. Pick up the canvas just enough to be able to tilt to move the paint. This is a very slight movement, if you move it too much too fast the paint will move and run off that side and it makes it hard to get it back to other side off the canvas. I usually go slightly to the two farthest side first (meaning if it is a 16×20 do the 20 sides first). Do not try to go all the way to one side and then go back. Go to the left a little bit then to the right and the back to left, continue and every few times I will go up and down to cover the whole canvas. You can also do small slow circles to move the paint around. I get a little discouraged sometimes because I see something that I love in the paint and it ends up getting mixed up or spread out, that is why you should go slowly with this to try to keep the beautiful ‘happy little things’ that happen. As you get to the edges try not to touch them too much but if you notice small places that doesn’t have paint you can touch the paint that has ran off on the table and then touch the canvas edges to fill in these places. Do not rub these places, just touch them with the paint picked up and let the paint from your finger cover that spot. When you have total coverage on the canvas the you can lightly torch over the top one more time. Leave it alone and let it dry. It can take any where from overnight to 2 days to dry. If you have a small fan to put near it this can help speed up the dry time. Make sure that it is not blowing directly on the paint because the air can move the paint around. After it is dry you can seal the top with an clear acrylic spray if you want but it is not necessary.

I hope this has helped you in some way.

Happy painting!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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My favorite place is anywhere near water.