Let’s be real. I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but I have a good idea of some of the things that we can do to fight the emptiness that this terrible pandemic caused us. I think that we should do a self-assessment of our current life situation and try to find ways to make it better. So, these are some of the areas that I feel we should take a look at and decide if we need to make any adjustments. I will start with:
 
Nutrition: Have your eating habits change because of the pandemic? Remember that a lot of adults and children are working and schooling virtual. Meaning, you may be at home all day and the temptation to eat unhealthy (meaning ordering out, or munching on junk food) is always there.
 
Fitness: Do you have a workout routine, either walking, yoga, Zumba, weights, etc. If you are working virtual, make sure that you do something to stay in shape. Set aside time for it.
 
Relationship(s): Being at home all day, every day with your partner can create sudden friction more than before. Why? Pressure and other elements of life. Use this “at home all day time” to find enjoyment and happiness with your partner. Respect each other and be grateful that you have one another, since many people aren’t as lucky.
 
Community and Friends: There’s nothing sadder or depressing than isolation. We must make an effort to reconnect with people and family. Use Zoom, email, text, and even phone them. They are as lonely as you are and that contact can really brighten yours and their day.
 
Finally, enhance your life: How? Try to learn something new during this time. Travel, even if it is local within 30 minutes to an hour. Take on a new hobby, or establish a “game Night” for you, your partner or the whole family. Get a dog(s), since they are the most loving creatures ever. Incidentally, these adorable pups are 2 of my 5 grand-doggies, smile!

Finally, help someone in need, believe it or not, there are other people having more significant needs than yours. The activity not only will create happiness but it will lessen the mental pressure of being isolated at home all day, almost every day. Find your purpose!

Rudbeckia Fulgida is such an adorable plant that produces yellow flowers non-stop during summer. It grows like crazy in the garden and reseeds itself to produce even more plants the following year.
 
There is not much that you need to do to keep them alive. In fact, I do not recall when was the last time that I water them.
 
Instead, I go to my “little meadow” garden in a corner of my backyard, and cut as many flowers as I need to keep my home with fresh flowers all summer. All you need is a flower container of your choice, fill it with water and place your flowers randomly. Done!

These flowers grow all over and are so easy to care. Do nothing to them and they will continue to live and provide that bright orange color to any spot in your garden. Their name though is so true; they live just for one day, then die away. However, more buds open up.

I actually did not have them until one of my neighbors asked me to take as many as I wanted from her garden. Hence, I did, smile.
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Today I am happy to report that these plants are so user friendly that I don’t recall when was the last time that I either water or fed them. Still, they continue to put out a show.
Than you Daylilies!!!!

I was strolling down my backyard garden and then noticed that although all my azaleas are flowering beautifully, two of them look shocking. Therefore, a thought came to me right away. Why not enjoying my time by making a flower arrangement and in the process, make my dining room even more beautiful with fresh flowers, oh, and FREE! Smile!
So easy to do:
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1. Find yourself a flower base of your choice, anything that you may have at home. If not, just use any interesting container such as a carafe, or a big coffee mug or any other container.
2. Go to your garden (or your neighbor and ask, smile) find the flowers that makes you happy and cut several twigs.
3. Go back in, fill the container with tab water and start inserting the light branches until they for a patter that you will be please with.
4. Finally, find your flower arrangement a home and show off your artistic work! BOOM!

Yes, you guessed it, I was kind of bored and suddenly decided to do something creative. Went to my craft room and after lots of thinking, I chose these beads to create the earrings.

​Nothing fancy, therefore, I decided just to make the earrings and no bracelet and or necklace. Boom, done.

Well, I am not too happy with this set, simply because I am not fond of the yellow color that much.

​However, at the end of the process, the earrings didn’t look that bad and turned out OK, so I like them a little, smile. Plus, I had a good and creative quiet time to enjoy, boom!

Unfortunately, we are creatures of throwing everything in the trash without thinking twice if there is another use for an item. Of course I know that we can’t recycle everything but we should all make an effort to keep the land fields “healthy” for the next generations.

Today, I am sharing a hack with you that I have been doing for quite a while. Reusing egg cartons is very rewarding and creative. Though I use them in the past to start seeds for my garden, I also use them to store earrings in my drawers so that when I need to find one pair I do not go crazy not finding the other one.

My twin daughter Suzy took my hack to the next level and when I visited her, I was so impressed with her organizational skills on this matter. These are her drawers, so neat!
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Hopefully you will be excited and start using the egg cartons in your own favorite way. 

Yes, I felt crafty today and did what I always do; grabbed my beads boxes, beads board, and some of the mechanicals needed. Then the thinking begins. What will I be making? Is it earrings? Bracelets? Necklace or a combination set?

Without too much thinking, I decided to start selecting colors that may look different, however, combined, then I came up with these two beads tones; lime and purple. Then I decided to make a mixed combination of 3 bracelets and of course, earrings to match.
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This is the final set, hope you like it. 

I was in a mood for making jewelry and without missing a beat, I went to my craft room, got my beads containers and started the exciting process of looking at what appeal to my eyes at the moment.

Would I want to make a bracelet, or just earrings or maybe a set that would include a necklace? Will I pick gold or silver tones for the mechanicals? Well, that is what makes making jewelry as a hobby so exciting. It is your “me” time with the beads, smile. So many options, ideas, colors, combinations.
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Finally, these are the pieces that I came up with and definitely, I am hoping that you like them too. 

This is a simple, yet bling, bling set. Nowadays, one can use it even to go to the mall, smile.
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Regardless, it is one of my lovely hobbies, along with cooking, gardening, decorating, traveling, exercising, sewing, cleaning my home and a ton of other things, smile, that keeps me entertained during this crazy COVID times, where you do not get to mingle or socialize as much as you want to.
Life is good, we are alive, we have loving families and health and that matters a lot.