Not to count my chickens before they hatch but I’m hopeful my family, friends and I’ll be heading to warmer temperatures and sunny skies soon. Our original trip to Hawaii was planned for March of 2020 but you know what happened next …..Covid!

Growing up, along with my bothers, sister and a few neighboring children built snow forts, had epic snowball fights, rode snowmobiles and were pulled behind them lined up on a toboggan and metal saucer. Those were the days. Playing carefree, full of imagination and curiosity.

The definition in the dictionary of encouragement is the action of giving someone support, confidence or hope. Right now seems like the perfect time for giving or receiving encouragement.

This past week I learned about the comet named “NEOWISE” which was just discovered this year. Astronomers stumbled upon it while looking through the NEOWISE space telescope, is one of the brightest comets seen since 1997, and is visible to the naked eye in the northern hemisphere. Since comet sightings are rare I wanted to catch a glimpse before it was gone. It wouldn’t be seen again for another 6,800 years…..HA!

Having my daughter home during isolation has been a blessing. It’s been nice to be able to make and enjoy meals together. During the day, we work across from each other at the dining room table as her two felines, Tillie and Leroy have the run of the house. With only essential trips out and both of us occupying the space, some days there seemed to be a large amount of mishaps going on inside the fray.

This week I was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin kitty-sitting. My daughter had to go out of town for business and I offered to come up and take care of Tillie, the long-haired white and tan sassy but sweet matriarch and Leroy, the younger, short-haired gray with white paws, loving obedient servant.

I’m embarrassed to say but didn’t get out of my pajamas for three days……..YIKES! Truth be told I love when that happens. Day one, I got out of bed and headed directly to the dining room table. Making sure to get up to move from time to time in order to avoid being stiff. Hour after hour finishing sections, sending emails, receiving replies, writing this, creating that……on and on. The good news…..by the end of the day, I was already dressed for bed, no extra effort was needed…HAHA!

The evening started off by donning our tall, white chef's hat and black apron, then the owner described the good, bad and ugly of olive oil. Have you ever stood in front of scads of olive oil bottles at the grocery store and wondered which one to pick. I have, on many occasions, often picking either the prettiest bottle or the one on sale. I learned that wasn't such a great idea.

When my website designer mentioned she wanted to move my site, I dug my heels in at first and then slowly over time realized I needed something easier to manage. Since I'm not tech-savvy by any means, I was afraid to take the leap but a few weeks ago while meeting with her, it somehow took a turn for the unexpected. I agreed to not only change my platform and web hosting but I also agreed to use another name for my life coaching and soon I'll have my hypnotherapy certification. Let me tell you......this was a GIANT LEAP for me.