It’s a serious time and we have to take care of ourselves and each other, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun. I decided to provide an activity that you can do alone at home. I bet you laugh at least once.
Be aware of the philosophy of laughter yoga. Laughter yoga was created by Dr. Madan Kataria, “The Laughter Guru,” who believes in the power of laughter and its ability to provide physical and holistic benefits. The laughter must be loud and deep, like a belly laugh coming straight from your diaphragm.
“I love people who make me laugh. …Venus
Through a combination of deep breathing, physical movements, and deep laughing, laughter yoga ties the mind and body together, creating harmony between them. Though you may not feel happy or motivated to laugh, laughter yoga can help you learn to laugh as a form of exercise.
“I have one of those very loud, stupid laughs. I mean if I ever sat behind myself in a movie or something, I’d probably lean over and tell myself to please shut up.” ―J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Keep in mind the physical benefits of laughter yoga. There are many physical benefits associated with laughter, especially with laughter done on a consistent basis for thirty minutes a day. These benefits include:
A higher release of endorphins: Laughter has been proven to encourage the release of endorphins. They create a happier state of mind and boost your sense of self-worth and optimism.
Improved circulation to your lymphatic system: Deep laughter involving deep inhales and exhales can help to ensure your major organs are fully oxygenated, giving you big bursts of energy and release. It can also massage your lymphatic system and promote better circulation to your digestive and lymphatic systems.
A stronger immune system: Better circulation can also boost your immune system and increase the amount of anti-viral and anti-infection cells in your body.
A healthier cardiovascular system: Laughter can help to lower your blood pressure and your pulse rates, ensuring your cardiovascular system is functioning properly.
A form of catharsis and stress relief: Laughter is also a known form of catharsis and release, helping to release blocked emotions, mental issues, and any depression or anger.
Recognize the holistic benefits of laughter yoga. There are also holistic benefits to laughter yoga, which can help to improve your overall health, physically and emotionally. These include:
Better emotional intelligence: Laughter encourages a sense of play and childlike behavior.
An increased sense of joyfulness: Prolonged laughter can help you feel joy and have fun, despite any obstacles or problems you may be experiencing. Feeling joy is primarily a physical experience and you will be able to feel a real sense of joy doing laughter yoga.
A better grip on negative emotions like depression, anxiety, and stress
“Inventory: “Four be the things I am wiser to know: Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe. Four be the things I’d been better without: Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt. Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content, and sufficient champagne. Three be the things I shall have till I die: Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.”
― Dorothy Parker, The Complete Poems of Dorothy Parker
Pearl’s Fashion House/Runway/Farm has been open for a few weeks now and there has only been one fashion show. The crowd mostly consisted of Bingo player holdovers. However, the word is trying to get out and Hilda/Hsomething has actually gotten some big name fashion designers to commit to a run down the runway under one condition. There has to be 150 attendees who each have the ability to purchase a minimum of one designer outfit. This will not be a runway event where fashion is purchased to provide inventory for high end shops…maybe later.
Essie/Ellie: Since we have a bunch of chickens now, we have more eggs than we can eat, sell, and give away. There are a couple of dozen going rotten every day. I can’t even get them all collected. Sometimes, I don’t know if the ones I’m getting are rotten or fresh.
Grace: Maybe we can sell some nice fresh eggs at the fashion show, and I’ll sell some of my divinity. I use lots of egg whites when I make divinity.
(I’m going to jump ahead just a little and tell you that an awful thing happens at the fashion show. Grace accidentally uses rotten eggs to make her divinity. In an attempt to use some of the eggs, she has also made custard pie with rotten eggs.)
Pearl: We can make some of those egg salad sandwiches and cut the crust off the bread. That makes them look high society.
(Jumping ahead, that turns out to be a bad idea.)
Ellie/Essie: You two are coming up with some great ideas. We also have too much milk. We have goat’s milk and cow’s milk. No one likes the goat’s milk. They think it tastes like a hairy old goat. Does anybody know how to make hairy old goat cheese?
(Bad Idea)
Pearl: Stop Essie. Grace is getting that funny look on her face. She hates to waste anything and bad things happen when Grace tries to overcome wastefulness.
(Jumping ahead, Grace makes eggnog and sells it at the fashion show. The fashionistas seem to like it.)
And the crowd? Well, at first they were pretty upset.
Then a laughter yoga instructor decided to save the day by doing laughter yoga. Pearl and Grace loved it. Pearl is looking at adding another slash to her business. How about Pearl’s Fashion/Runway/Farm/Laughter Yoga Studio?
I asked my dad to help me with my school report. He said, “Not now, my little one, my time is just too short. I know you’ll understand that I have promises to keep. I work late every night, while you are fast asleep. You know that old car of ours? It runs great, but it’s not fancy. You asked for some new dresses and I said that I would see. I only want the best for you. I work harder than before to make a better living so I can give you what is more.”
Dad went off to work that day and I went off to school. I saw a friend’s new shoes and they were oh so cool! I wished that I could have some shoes exactly like she had. I couldn’t wait til I got home so I could ask my dad if I could have new shoes, though my old ones were still new, I didn’t love them anymore, so they would never do.
When Dad got home from work, I could see that he was weary. Though it was late, I couldn’t wait to approach him with my query. He said, “I only want the best for you. I’ll work harder than before to make a better living so I can give you what is more.” It seemed no matter what I had, I wanted better stuff. No matter what Dad gave me, it was never quite enough. We didn’t talk about it, in fact we hardly talked at all. Soon all those things around me, did nothing to enthrall.
Dad worked so hard there was no time for us to be together. In time, it didn’t seem like we were two birds of a feather. I sometimes questioned why things were so different from before. Didn’t it mean Dad loved me, when he gave me what is more?
I couldn’t understand, why I felt such discontent. The feeling came along with me, everywhere I went. One day, though I was early, I thought I must be late. I saw my dad out back, leaning up against the gate. He didn’t see me coming. His expression was intense. What was he looking for on the other side of the fence? I stood quietly beside him and I felt him squeeze my hand. We both gazed straight ahead and I began to understand.
“I see the Beasterhop,” I said. “Can you see him, Dad?” “He’s riding the same old bicycle. The one he’s always had.”
Then Dad did something he hadn’t done in quite a while. He waved hello to the Beasterhop and smiled a great big smile.
“He’s hard at work in his garden, Dad. He has bunny mouths to feed.” Dad sighed and said, “Not to mention all of the other things they need.” “I remember now,” Dad said, as he stopped and rubbed his chin.
I knew what he was thinking and I couldn’t help but grin.
Dad thought a little longer, still staring straight ahead. And then he spoke to me, and this is what he said.
“I miss these times my little one. I know that I’m to blame. I wanted to give you the world, and I played the world’s sad game. The Beasterhop knows better. I just had two words wrong. I know the right way now. It’s too bad it took so long. I thought I had to give you the best of what is more. And so I worked much harder than I had ever worked before.
Our life will change. It won’t be both. It must be either or. I’ll give you what is best for you, instead of what is more.
We’ll have more time together. We’ll make memories to store. And we’ll be thankful for enough instead of wanting more.”
The Beasterhop looked our way and I thought I saw him wink.
If you have enough… more gives you less. At least that’s what I think.
It’s a way of life much easier to talk about than do. Please say a prayer for me and I will say a prayer for you.
I went out to the she-shed this afternoon to see how Kip was coming along. He is doing a great job! There is still a lot of work for both of us to do, but it’s about to get fun.
The walls are covered with four inch pine furring strips. they look like knotty pine. They’re a real light color and because there won’t be any windows, I’m going to stain them with a light stain.
I’m not going to complain about the “no windows” thing. The she-shed has double doors in front that take up space and I’ve come up with a couple of ideas for the ceiling that I hope will bring the feeling of the outside in. I’ll see what you think.
The ceiling has plywood held up by 2 x 4 rafters. They (the ceilings) are flat on 2 sides. Those areas could be used for storage. they’re kind of like a low loft. the ceiling is vaulted in the middle. I’m thinking of painting the rafters dark brown and the plywood light blue. Then I will stencil some clouds and birds up there.
The first pic is of one of the flat sides. The second is of the vaulted space in the middle.
The picture below is just to show the brown rafters. I couldn’t find a picture with the ceiling made from plywood.
There will be no chandelier or balcony. This is to show the clouds on a blue ceiling. Mine won’t look exactly like this because I’m not going to air brush the clouds on. I’m going to use stencils.
Bird and cloud stencils.
Painting the concrete floor is going to take a lot of work. You have to clean it with a special cleaner and seal it with a special sealer. I’m still looking for a cozy round rug,
There is already a storage cabinet and a shelf in there to display my display stuff.
Kip just ordered a combo air conditioner heater that will go in the wall, and Heidi gave me a really cute little duraflame fireplace that looks neat and also puts out heat.
This is a rerun about junior high dances. It was written back when the little Murdo Girl was taking directions from “the lady.”
It’s 9:00 o’clock, and the not so little Murdo Girl just turned her paper in. I think it’s a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but it’s too late to do anything about it. Besides, I’m suddenly really craving a Fern’s cheeseburger.
It’s seven o’clock Friday night, and Karen, Marlene, and I are all at the auditorium for the school dance. (Don’t worry lady, I have plenty of time to write my paper.) There are two teachers, and two parents chaperoning. Let me tell you something. They’re going to be so bored, by the end of the night, they’ll probably hope someone makes a run for it, so they can fight over who “gets” to go after them. Where do they think we’re going to go? Actually, a good old hamburger from Fern’s Cafe sounds pretty good.
f you want to know the truth, our class is a bunch of rule followers. There won’t be any surprises here tonight. (Unless someone makes a fuss about the girl who’s wearing corduroy pants instead of a skirt or dress. It’s cold out there tonight.)
Someone cut my bangs so short, I had to plaster them against my head with scotch tape to make them look as long as I could. I obviously don’t even know how ridiculous I look.
I’m not that crazy about the 7th and 8th grade dances. I think they cause too much worry. All the girls spend days and days trying to decide what boys they like, and which ones they do or don’t want to dance with. The boys probably do the same thing. Surprisingly, kids don’t all look at this the same. Some don’t even want to dance with the one they have a crush on, because it’s too much pressure. Others have been telling everyone they don’t like someone when they really do, but they aren’t quite ready to go public with it.
Here’s how it goes…the dances start at 7:00 and last until 9:00. The only thing there is to do is dance to a record player, which nobody does until about 8:30. Well, actually the girls dance with each other, and the boys just stand in a group and talk. They don’t really watch the girls because they’re afraid to make eye contact. Then at 8:30 the chaperones yell, “You better get out there and dance, you only have 30 more minutes!” That’s when the boys finally get up the nerve to ask a girl to dance.
This is Marlene, Karen, and Mary trying to make eye contact. (Probably with Eddie Jackson.) It seems like it takes forever sometimes.
If some of the boys still can’t get up the nerve to ask a girl, the leftover girls just keep dancing with each other. There have been times, when I have wished the 30 dancing minutes would hurry up and be over, and times I didn’t want them to ever end. Other times, I wish I had just kept dancing with the girls. What am I talking about? There are only 2 dances a year.
Personally, I think it’s too much work trying to figure out the best time to make eye contact so the right guy will ask you to dance. Just think about it. The poor guy might have 3 or 4 different girls trying to make eye contact with him. If you see a boy staring at his shoes, that could be the reason.
Even if you do get the one you want, there is no guarantee he knows how to dance. Then what are you going to do? It’s too late to make eye contact with someone else.
There are two things I can tell you for sure. Usually, the only boys that can dance are the ones who have older sisters to teach them.The sisters should tell their brothers to dance two dances with the same girl, then move on. If you chose the wrong person, and have to dance with them the whole thirty minutes, it’s wasted time. Besides, everyone will get the wrong idea and think you really like each other, and if one or both of you don’t feel the same way, it could take weeks to undo that misconception. Secondly, and I guess I should only speak for myself, I usually leave the dance with a crush on a different boy than when I got there.
There is one boy I like to dance with whether I like him or not. He can polka, and that is so much fun. His name is Don and he doesn’t even have an older sister. Anyway, you can burn up a lot of nervousness by going all over that auditorium doing the polka.
The chaperones. One of them is missing…probably at Fern’s
I’m kind of a last minute Lulu. I try to tell myself I work better under pressure, but I’ve been known to lie to myself.
I’ve been under a self-imposed time crunch; one being to put together a forty minute presentation to the Cedar Creek Literary Club. I’ve spent a significant amount of time in preparation which might not necessarily be a good thing. I have added and removed things so many times, who knows what will come out of my mouth? I’ll let you know how it goes after next Tuesday.
I didn’t write a blog blog for today, but I do have some exciting news. Kip has started the she-shed remodel. I’m pretty excited and can’t wait to decorate. There will be lots of painting and staining to do, but that will be part of the fun.
Well the girls at Pearl’s Fashion House/Runway/Farm don’t let any hay grow under their feet. They are already planning a fashion show followed by a square dance. I guess you could call the place a halfway barn. Let’s take a look and see how they’re doing.
Grace: Pearl, do you want me to get all of those hot dogs out of the freezer? We can sell them at the square dance. I don’t think I’ll make any chocolate cake, though. I think I’ll bake some peanut butter cookies. I’ll need to buy some peanut butter. Do you like creamy or chunky?
Pearl: What? I don’t care. I’ve got bigger fish to fry.
Grace: I don’t think fish and peanut butter cookies go together. We better not serve hot dogs, either.
Pearl: What? I meant there are many decisions to be made and much planning to be done. I like to delegate. I’ll need some time to buy my outfit.
Grace, you seem to have the food under control. Get a couple of bags of ice, too. We’ll serve some kind of drinks.
Grace: I know! I’ll see if Llama Mama has some fresh honey. I’ll make tea with honey and lemon.
Bee Keeper/Aunt farmer and part time Llama Mama.
Ladies in Waiting: When does this thing start? What is this thing anyway? Where are we and why? Why are we wearing sunglasses?
Lav: Don’t you know a fashion barn/runway/farm when you see one?
Airy and Windy: I’m sure glad I brought my air cigarettes. This place is making me nuts. I know! These people are a pain in the neck!
Those 70ish Girls 