Category Archives: Short stories

Nov16

Spots or are they Freckles?

Posted on by
Image

We all have them, the question is what do we do with them? What can we do?

When I was around nine or ten years old, I spent a lot of time with my Grandma. Grandma’s mother was from Scotland, and had bright red hair and a personality to match. My Grandma also had bright red hair, I don’t know about her personality, she didn’t seem very fiery to me. Grandma was always patient with all of us kids, and very kind to us. By the time I was old enough to spend time with her, she had gray hair, and lots of freckles! I mean all over her arms, her legs, and some on her face. I loved her so much that I use to sit and wish for freckles like my Grandma’s.

I now wonder if they were all freckles or…..were they age spots like we get as we get older? I’ll never know now, but be careful what you wish for! I now have spots!! I wished for them, and I was given them! I just hope I didn’t wish for something I’ve since forgotten and will get the shock of my life one morning upon awakening.

“Freckles are small, concentrated spots of melanin on the skin, often appearing on areas exposed to the sun, such as the arms. They can be a beautiful and natural part of one’s appearance. Embracing freckles can lead to a positive body image and self-acceptance.

To celebrate arms adorned with freckles:

  • Acknowledge Their Uniqueness: Freckles can highlight your individuality and tell a story about your experiences in the sun.
  • Skin Care: Consider moisturizing to keep your skin healthy and radiant. Sunscreen is essential to protect your skin from further sun damage, which can also intensify freckling.
  • Makeup Tips: For those who want to minimize their appearance, using a light foundation or tinted moisturizer can help create an even skin tone. On the other hand, embracing them with a sheer, glowy highlighter can enhance their natural beauty.
  • Fashion Choices: Wearing sleeveless outfits can showcase your lovely arms, allowing you to embrace and celebrate your freckles.

Remember, freckles are a unique and lovely feature that many people cherish. Embrace them with confidence!” This information is donated to us from AI.

So you see, we should be proud of all the spots we were given.

It’s funny, but as I age I certainly have a different attitude. Of course, I want to look my best, and I put effort into that, but there are so many things we need to learn to live with that a thousand or more spots really doesn’t have much weight any more. So much of what we have to deal with in older age is difficult, some things unbelievable, and shocking. I’m healthy, I don’t always feel good but those are the days I treat myself gently.

We’re all in the same boat, and it gives me a small sense of comfort to know my sisters and I are all in this together.

Together we stand, Karen

Oct19

We’re Getting Better & Better

Posted on by
Image
We’re Getting Better & Better

How do you feel today? As the weather gets cooler, everything changes, but we still can look fabulous even if we are a little off inside. For me I’m more stiff, everything aches, and now I need to get use to the new winter challenges. We are all alike, our challenges are different, but the boat is large, and holds us all!

I mentioned a while back about the Advanced Style, so now I’d like to show a video featuring some of the ladies from that group of very interesting women.

I love watching, and listening to all of them talking of their creations, how they feel about aging, & much more. It’s not a long video, but an interesting one.

The first thing I realized was that they are pretty much all from New York. I’m sitting here on the West Coast!” I know a lot of you are not in California, but I’m guessing we have different ways of dressing depending on where we live. So even though the women in NY are fabulously dressed, we are much more casual here in the west. Maybe it’s just an age thing. We dress up, it’s just a more casual dress up.

I went to the Opera several years ago, and my husband and I were all dressed up because it was the Opera. Hardly anyone was dressed nicely, and more than half were dressed in what I would call cleaninng clothes. The T-shirts. and jeans were dirty, and yes they were younger, but I was younger at the time too. The whole experience was so disappointing to me. The opera was great, but the people around me not so much!

As I watch women get all dressed up for little outings, ie: Doctor appointments, grocery shopping, even going to fuel up the car, I now understand why they do this. Is there any other time, or any better time to dress up? Now I’m loving being home, safely tucked away, able to do what I want, listen to my own kind of music, and dress up in my PJ’s if I want.

Personally, I put makeup on to make me feel good. It’s only to help me feel better each day, and just for me. Sometimes it’s a effort, but I still do it.

Let me know what you think of these interesting women…..

Thank you for taking time to read my blog, have a beautiful day.

Karen

Oct6

The Older I Get…..

Posted on by
Image
The Older I Get…..
The photos of me at the end of 6th grade wouldn’t load, so art is what you get!

When I was at the end of sixth grade, I thought I was pretty darn grown up. Then I started what was then called “Junior High,” and things really changed. I no longer thought I was the cats pajamas because I now was a small fish in a big pond.

Fast forward to high school…..

Again I thought I was going to be the cool one in school because I was entering a new phase in my life, High School! I went to Van Nuys High in the San Fernando Valley. In those days VNH was the place all the kids from families that were in the film industry went to school, and I was going to school with them. Natalie Wood, Stacy Keach both went there, but I didn’t know either of them. High School wasn’t quite as glamorous as I thought it would be, but there I was trying to be a cool kid, and still keeping up with my grades. That wasn’t easy since I was basically majoring in “Boys!” To be honest, the boys situation was a bit discouraging as well. There wasn’t the selection I had anticipated, but what was available had to do!

Faster forward…..

Once out of high school, again I thought my knowledge was primmer and with nothing more to learn, I tried my hand at a local community college. The thought of studying literally made me sick to my stomach, so I decided to once again major in “boys!” There I had a much better selection, however still not quite up to my expectations.

My next door neighbor was just entering a university, and invited me to go to one of the groups of interest she signed up for. This one was a skiing club, and reluctantly I went to her first meeting with her. Wow, now this was what I was talking about!!!

BOYS…

They were everywhere, tall ones, short ones, skinny ones, stocky ones. There was a boy for every occasion. They looked at both of us like they had never seen girls before, and we were in seventh heaven! Conversations were easy, not like those lowly high school boys. They hadn’t learned how to talk to girls yet. Before we knew it, we were both invited by the boys to go skiing with them, and hang out. My friend wasn’t intimidated, but I was passing myself off as a college student, and I wasn’t. So after the meeting I quickly disappeared into the sunset, not to be heard of since. I lived out my days in high school quietly, and as quickly as I could.

After graduating I thought my life was my own. I’m free as a bird, with nothing to stop me! Sure that’s what I thought, then reality set in. My parents were very strict, and I still couldn’t go anywhere without their approval….I was humiliated! I was an all knowing, graduate, and adult now, how could they treat me that way? I know they were just trying to do the best they could, but at the time I couldn’t understand why their job wasn’t finished.

Me at “21”

The following year, I met the love of my life, we married soon after, and started our family. First a son, then three years later another son. By five years later, I had divorced, remarried, and had a daughter. I was a young, all knowing mother of three with one divorce under my belt. Boy was I cool!

Fast forward a few years!

Almost seventeen years later, my kids are getting big with two boys in high school, and a daughter in elementary school. My hands were full, and I was running a business., and holding down a full time job. As I look back, I wonder how I found the energy, or the time to do all of this. But I did, and it worked. I had a lot of energy, and of course I was all knowing. That helped! I knew exactly what I was doing, and where I was going. How cool was I?

Then the stuff hit the fan…..

One day my husband came home and told me he was dating a blond waitress, and because I was so cool, he knew I’d understand & be OK with it. I certainly was OK with it! I guess I figured it was time… and so I decided since I knew everything there was to know, it was time for my children and I to go. And we went…

It was a struggle, but somehow we did it. The kids and I had a Charlie Brown Christmas , and ate hotdogs & baked beans for some time, but we did it, and we were better for it. My dad use to say, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger!” “Thank you Dad, I hate to admit it, but you were right!” How true that was… We have all grown, and become stronger, and better people because of this little bump in the road. Looking back, that’s all it was, just a bump in the road.

Many years later in the middle of working my second job, I met a local man, we dated for a while, and decided to marry. They say the third time is the charm. Apparently they were right, because we are now going on thirty years of marriage. Everyone is doing well, and we are all happy.

The point of this entire story is this, I have learned by trial and error that the Older I get, the less I know! Yup I was cool then, and slightly cooler now.

As most of us do get older, and each day I learn something I didn’t know, and each day I reflect on how much is in our world to yet learn, I’m curious, I want to know things, and I learn every day. But every day I’m on this amazing earth, I realize how much there is to learn, how much it has to offer, and we only have so much time. It’s undetermined, Don’t waste it!

With much love, I thank you for stopping to read Stone Soup.

See you next time, Karen

Sep1

Find the Sweetness in Life

Posted on by
Image
Download

Download

Sunday after church (on line of course), we were all giving readings from spirit, and nothing resonated with me. I listened patiently as all the messages seamed to be general, and almost for everyone. So I sat there taking it all in, and realizing I had a spirit on my left waiting for me to read him. He was patient, courteous, but still wanted me to acknowledge him.

After everyone had finished their reading, I finally said I’d go next with a man who had been waiting patiently for an hour. He first showed me black and white poke dots. I thought, what the what?? After received that I had a very unexpected and strange thing happen to me. I found myself viewing his journey from behind his eyes. I was a little taken aback as this had never happened to me before. We walked all over the forest, watching little animals in the woods, traveling, seeing the ocean, the beach, and exploring everything around us! I thought to myself, this is what I love to do! That was an interesting experience in itself, when out of my mouth I exclaimed, “This reading is for me!” I was so stunned that I lost my connection with this man. I didn’t know that was coming, it just spewed out.

As soon as that happened, our Minister Malcom took over and finished the reading. Malcom was able to connect to the same man that I had been connected to, and this is what he told me…..The man was my grandfather, he was here to let me know to keep looking, and exploring, I’m on the right path!

That was from my grand father who I haven’t seen since I was a teenager, & it warms my heart to know his spirit is watching over me, guiding me, and keeping me safe. My grandfather passed many years ago and I feel so blessed to have him come to me, & let me know he is here supporting my efforts.

This may sound strange to some of you, and I can understand. But I assure you, as strange as it is, it’s true. We can speak with our loved ones that have passed, and we all have the ability. Some of us don’t want any part of it, but if you just open up and consider the possibility that there are things still unexplained, you will be amazed at what is possible!

Have you ever had a dream of a loved one, or dear friend that had passed? Maybe even one of your animals from the past is in that dream. Well, this is one way they contact you, another way is you might feel your pet jump up on your bed, but when you look—nothing is there. You could have sworn something was on your bed, maybe even up against your leg.

I know I’m stretching your world right now, entertain the possibility of finding peace from a place we have been programed to know nothing about. This isn’t a religious thing, Spirit is totally non-denominational.

Just give it some thought!

Thank you for reading my post today. Many blessings to you all. Karen

Aug11

LIVE IN THE MOMENT

Posted on by
Image

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and our minds are so powerful, we don’t even realize how much we can do with our own mind.

We all have so much going on in our lives, some more than others. I for one am comfortable with my own problems. I know what they are, I’ve resolved myself to whatever it is, and I wouldn’t change with anyone else for the life of me. I’m betting others feel about the same. I know, I know we don’t really want the problems we have, but we have them, and until we fix them, they aren’t going away!

Many of us are anxious, and stressed about what the future brings. What can you do about the future. We plan, we invest, we spend much time thinking about something that is difficult to predict. Yet, we still stress over it, and our health and happiness suffers for it.

Live in the Moment!

Might I suggest that we all try to push the past, and the future aside, and make an effort to go somewhere peaceful, maybe even fun and spend the day with someone you care about. Take a day off from stress, and anxiety, just one day…see how it goes.

Others seem to be fixated on the past. I ask you if you are one of those people? Do you talk about your life ten years ago, five years ago, or in a different marriage? STOP! After the first two or three times, your friends and family don’t want to hear it, and it doesn’t serve you well to hash it over.

What good does that do? We can’t change the past, we can learn from it, survive it, but we never need to dwell on it. It’s in the past, it’s gone….let it go!

Again my suggestion is taking someone special on a picnic, or to an outdoor restaurant for lunch or dinner, or even on a drive. Have fun, and laugh a little, or a lot. Laughing relieves stress, lightenes the mood, and is very beneficial to you. Can we even walk on the beach these days? That’s also something men, women, and kids love to do.

Treat yourself kindly, and everyone else kindly. It feels really good to start changing the narrative in your mind. You are appreciated, and you are loved.

Thank you for stopping to read Karen’s Stone Soup, see you next week. Karen

What we do today is what matters most. The Buddha

Aug4

It’s Never To Late!

Posted on by
Image

After sitting and thinking about this post, and what to write, it came to me. In my life I have made many transformations. Regardless of whether you consider them for the bad or for the good, I have learned something from all of them. Actually I’m grateful for the negative experiences, they have made me who I am today. At the time I wasn’t so happy, but reflecting back, some things make me chuckle, and some have made me grow!

As I’ve grown through my life, my ideas and attitudes have changed. There was a time of innocence, a time of testing my wings, a time of my wings being grounded! Then my wings flew once again, and I went through some real growth, I mean real growth! A time of calmer waters, and reflection. Some growth comes from hard times, some comes from quiet reflection. For me this time was one of quiet reflection. Learning why I made the decisions I made, and how I would manage to reverse some of those decisions, most importantly how not to make the same decisions again. Each time, I grew, and reflected, and grew. I grew one more time with the best decision I’d made in many years. This time resulted in being happily married for twenty nine years now. It’s never to late!

Those were decisions. The things I’m going to talk about now are also decisions, however they are internal decisions. The process of Giving myself an attitude adjustment!

Words from Dr. Wayne Dyer

For one reason or another, I won’t mention how I think I downloaded these ideas, but I always thought you had to step on others to get ahead. This went on for many years along with a very negative attitude. At some point maybe forty five years ago, I didn’t like who I’d become and after giving it many hours of thought, decided to change my way of thinking.

I somehow found a little paperback book by Eric Pace. Funny, I remember his name, but not the title of his book. In essence it said to change your thinking, and you’d change your life. It was an easy read, and it rang a bell with me. I don’t remember how many times I read it, but I couldn’t get enough. Just about the same time I was introduced to Wayne Dyer. He said pretty much the same thing, however Dr. Dyer had reading material along with CD’s, lectures, and anything else that would inspire you. I became totally infatuated with Wayne Dyer. I couldn’t get enough on him. Anyone I ran into that was having a problem, I’d tell them about Wayne Dyer. If you don’t know about Wayne Dyer, do yourself a favor and Google him, or look him up on YouTube.

There was so much useful information on those CD’s that before long each time I had a negative thought I’d replace it with a positive thought and I felt better about myself. I was honoring myself, my higher self, and my creator just by those positive thoughts. After that my glass has always been half-full!

You see, negative thoughts pull you down, negative people pull you down, and in the process it’s sometimes necessary to shed the negative people in order to fly like you are suppose to. The shedding process happens all by its self. When those negative energies try hanging around you, they don’t like the change in you, and go elsware to unload their negativity. You may find those people do the shedding for you, they just aren’t comfortable with positive energy.

Make some new, positive friends!

The world is full of negativity, and it doesn’t have room for any more of the same. The world needs positive people to have good thoughts, and deeds. We need each other, and there is a huge group of positive people to be friends with. They will find you because a positive person has a light around them, that negative people don’t have. Positive attaracts positive, and negative attracts negative!

“It’s never to late!”

Spread the light, show others who you were really meant to be, and glow in your beauty. We are all special, and all have that little spark of the devine in us. Let it shine bright, and be a beacon for others!

Much love to you all, until next time. Karen