Thankful Friday*

No one says it better than Dr. Seus.

"When you think things are bad, 

When you feel sour and blue,

When you start to get mad...

You should do what I do...

Just tell yourself, Duckie, 

You're really quite lucky!

Some people are much more...

Oh, ever so much more...

Oh, muchly much-much more

unlucky than you!"

Thankful to be at the lake.

Thankful to be able to jump off the dock.

Thankful that the mosquitoes a few and far between.

Thankful to be able to eat and cook good food.

(Marshmallows and dark chocolate - is this heaven!? YES!)

Thankful to be on an island with nothing but 

good peeps.

(People like THIS are not allowed on the island, period)

Thankful that I haven't gotten so burnt.

Thankful that I am almost done my book

(Reading the Goldfinch has consumed me - argh!)

Thankful to be SWIMMING in the lake and breathing FRESH AIR on a daily!

And finally, 

thankful to happy to also be leaving and seeing MORE family.

Hope you are having a good Friday, and if not?

There's always next week.

Boom.

Smiling (cuz it's Thursday!)

I read this the other day while searching for a funny

quote for a  friend...

"We loose ourselves in books, we find ourselves there too."

Not sure if I am turning into my character

in Donna Tartt's "The Goldfinch" 

but I am definitely afraid if somehow I am "finding" myself in this story?

Absolutely loving the fact that I am lost 

in this delicious novel but again,

hoping there are no REAL connections 

between me and (gulp) Theo.

*Yikes*

What is the last book you 

fell in love with?

p.s.

Thank you for that little nugget of wisdom, 

Columbia public library!

p.p.s. Smiling cuz it's one day closer!

Mornings are Magic

I have always been a morning person.

For me, mornings are magic in every way.

Things are quiet.

New and fresh ideas slowly start surfacing.

The light seems rejuvenating.

The world seems more approachable.

And did I mention the 

COFFEE is HOT AND DELICIOUS!?!

But in all seriousness.

If there was EVER a moment in the day that I wished would last just a little bit longer?

My answer would be those weeeee early mornings when it's just

me, 

the birdies,

some inspiring bits of light,

that solid, warm cuppa coffee and 

my random thoughts.

Trying to solve all the problems of the world,

one day at a time. 

HAH.

So...yeah.

What did YOU do this morning!?!?!

Mission Impossible: Exercising at the Cottage with Dylan the Dog

Back on the Wildcat and DAAAAaaaaaang, 

does it ever feel good!!!

Why good?
It's the one place in the world,
where I can actually get "bored"

There's nothing really to do.
Okay-okay, not N-O-T-H-I-N-G!

What does doing "nothing" refer to at the Wells'sss cottage?
Reading.
Sleeping.
Exercising.
Making food for family.
Reading some more.
Naping.
Making food again for family and cleaning-up.
Back to reading.
Yoga or stretching.
Reading but this time in bed.
Snoring by 9:30 p.m. which is when it gets dark around here.

So this morning,
I tried very hard to be productive but THIS guy got in the way.
This is Dylan, Dylan the dog.

He looks cute and cuddly but MAN OH MAN...distracting as H***!

It started off okay and then...

...I couldn't help myself.

I JUST HAD TO PET HIM!!!

He is too cute.

But I also needed to get my circuit in for the day so, 

I distracted Dylan with a ginger break cookie thrown into the lake

(Brilliant plan Lauren, sheer brilliance!)

and just as I was about to start...

DYALN is BACK!

And this time with a vengeance.

He would not stop KISSING me and licking me, ewwww!

So gross but it KINDA feels good.

Just a little?

Yeah, well.

I am weird.

Sigh*

It's hard to be loved so much, right?

Clearly!

Cuz who WOULDN'T love this face?

*crickets*

Awkward silence.

So...yeah.

What lifts YOU Up?

What lifts YOU up?

I have plenty of bad days.

So what do I do when I need a little pick-me up?

Well, duh!

I ask for some of the following..

A kiss.

...or perhaps a fresh coconut?

When I wake up on

 the wrong side of the bed

(literally)

I ask for at least one sweet smile

 to go with my morning coffee.

(I also have more than one coffee

and so when I look in the mirror I see more than one smile!

That ALWAYS seems to help)

Clearly, some people prefers 

donuts to smiles with 

their coffee.

(Nice one dad!) 

But really, 

a kiss always seems to do the trick.

Why?

Well, why not?

Sweet.

Fun.

Exciting and

full of freshly pressed coffee breath taste.

Whaaaaat!?!

Yes, I said it.

Coffee breath kisses are the BEST!

Okay, fine.

Maybe not everyone likes kisses with coffee breath.

Sheeeesh!

What lifts YOU up?

Reading = A Sane Lauren

I have started reading again.

Stop that right now, cuz I know what you're thinking.

You're a teacher, you HAVE to read!!!

Well...yes and no.

For a long time, reading was like a chore.

I had to read certain topics.

Like what?

***

Eastern Philosophy like Hindusim and Kinsugi

Mesopotamia - cool

Domestication of animals - ugh

Human Evolution

Greek Gods - aren't they all beautiful?

UNESCO World Heritage Site - whoa, Canada is on the list!

The UN Sustainable Development Goals - uggh.

***

Shall I go on?

Fine, some of that stuff is FUN to read about 

but 

It kinda kills your spirit to read because you barely have enough

time in the year as it is...UNTIL NOW THAT IS!!!

READING HAS CHANGED ME!

Here are my thoughts on a regular basis.

Scattered.

Broken.

All out of order.

Out of place.

RANDOM.

Weird.

And terribly hard to organize in my head.

Which cause me to do things like:

Wear different shoes all day and not notice until I got home.

True story. 

Wear RIDICULOUS hats like this as an adult and think it's okay.

(For the record it's not)

My brain is so FRIED that I often see my fruit as underwater creatures and 

start talking to them, 

giving them names

and drawing on them.

(cough-WEIRD-cough)

My favourite is when I am so SCRAMBLED in my head that I catch myself seeing things...

...that aren't there?

HEY! 

Was there not someone just there?

I swear I saw a man...

Or simply, my brain is flooded with ideas, noise and chaos that I  

I struggle to mak decisions.

LAUREN, MAKE A DECISION ALREADY!

But 

since I started reading this summer - ahhhhhh!

Nothing but this:

Ordered thoughts.

Clear images.

One idea at a time.

Right to the point, well almost.

(sometimes I get a little too excited and trail off)

But most of the time, 

focused,

and happy to be silent.

Ahhhh.

Well, yes.

Of course,

I'm still a little weird but at least people can understand me!?

Of course it has NOTHING to do with sleep.

It's about reading - stick to the programme!

Sigh*

I am finally speaking and everyone around me can understand.

YAY!

Success.

I win.

Time for bed.

Sleep is the best.

Boom.

My Life in the Nam Up-to-Date

Time has really gotten away from me lately.

As in, where the HECK did the year go?

(Let alone your blog posts Lauren!) 

As I said, I kinda just... got distracted?

Okay-okay.

Let me explain.

THIS is where I live currently.

(WARNING: This is 100% travel porn)

Local rice fields in Mai Chau, three hours outside of the city of Hanoi.

Sapa mountains 5 hours north of Hanoi.

Beautiful temple somewhere along my travels.

Beach down south, two hours away from Hoi An.

The view of the lake that I ride along every day to get to and from work.

So.

Can you really blame me for not getting a lot done this year?

(other than teaching, training, family dinners and finding looooove?)

MOU-HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA!

STAY TUNED!!!

(Lauren Wells is here and back in ACTION...well, it's also summer break for teachers!)