tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83392506239194887602009-12-06T08:07:39.474-08:00Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comBlogger622125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-89350488385849015132009-12-05T16:30:00.000-08:002009-12-06T08:07:39.496-08:00

I was moved by Rick's post on the JJL blog the other day about his unconventional holiday plans. I wrote a comment after the post that I want to expand here. It's about what we call "the season". We never have conventional Christmases. For the last ten, my husband has been mourning the loss of his children via estrangement after a difficult divorce. Each Christmas is a painful reminder of what

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-71309418387251572072009-12-04T10:37:00.000-08:002009-12-04T11:04:00.512-08:00

As I've been learning how to experience time as my friend I've discovered a few things. First of all, I'm absolutely on the right road and am just glad to be here. I am totally committed to this lifestyle, and benefiting from it on a day-by-day basis. I've been hard at work on my book and have been able to create the time to enjoy immersing myself in it. It's required me to give up a lot, but

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-9225518994233724302009-12-03T09:53:00.000-08:002009-12-03T09:53:00.185-08:00

For me, vacations in Hawaii are not about the activities we participate in there at all. LoveHubbie felt that in Kauai there was "nothing to do". Exactly. Nothing but relax in the pool, watch the constant rainy squalls, read, sit on the lanai and watch the wild chickens, take long walks, visit sleepy laid-back hippie towns, talk with laid-back interesting people, eat glorious fresh food of all

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-45464839798706797212009-11-26T09:58:00.000-08:002009-11-26T09:58:00.681-08:00

I am wishing each and every one of you a Day of Gratitude, wherever you are and whatever you're doing. I am blessed to know you and blessed that you read my blog so that I can share my life with you. Much love, O

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-9046945404698000022009-11-25T07:57:00.000-08:002009-11-25T08:03:31.800-08:00

This is so controversial, but important for me to post. Whether or not you get the H1N1 vaccination is up to you. It is such a personal decision. No one should be forced to get it. However, everyone should make a conscious decision for themselves. Here are the facts: (1) The H1N1 vaccination has not been tested the way it should have been. It may not be safe. It may or may not even be effective

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-68037050949278784912009-11-22T16:13:00.000-08:002009-11-22T16:15:49.415-08:00

Today I am having a beautiful, meandering Sabbath. I started with a lovely quiet time, did some relaxing art in my pajamas, snagged a walk in between raindrops, and read. And watched a geekie video about Google Wave that was incredible. I read some more. I thought a lot. Listened to Christine Kane's new "Wide Awake" album again and again and again. Cried some. Now I'm watching the sun begin to

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-15779742945479611762009-11-19T12:50:00.000-08:002009-11-19T13:44:47.416-08:00

I won an apron from Jane last month, and I wanted to tell everyone that it is gorgeous, wonderful and IT FITS! For those of you who visit Jane's blog and Jane's etsy shop, you may have noticed that she is an attractive petite woman who looks gorgeous in little aprons. I am not that. But I do love her aprons as well as everything else she creates. One thing about Jane is that she is currently

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-48299271731440131522009-11-18T00:49:00.000-08:002009-11-18T00:49:00.123-08:00

Is it possible to create time abundance? To cultivate an attitude of experiencing time as slow, as a friend, as there being more than enough to accomplish everything that the day should hold? I think that it is, and this is what I'm doing. It started a few weeks ago with a strong desire to find a way to prune my schedule so that I would have time for writing. I am working on a book that I've

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-70320207614151054282009-11-17T06:57:00.000-08:002009-11-17T06:57:00.156-08:00

As many of you know, I am a big fan of the book The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save Time in Our 24/7 World" This is my book review from Amazon published yesterday on "The Power of Slow" by Christine Holhbaum: 5.0 out of 5 stars A Fresh, Modern Look at Slowing Down and Befriending Time, November 16, 2009 By  O. Brown "Ms. O. Khannah-Brown" (Twopeas, WA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-67072707598044721732009-11-16T07:38:00.000-08:002009-11-16T07:38:41.370-08:00

In my haste in writing yesterday, I forgot to give you some links to Jane and her wonderful aprons in case you don't know who she is. Stay tuned for a later post and a picture. Jane is incredibly talented in many areas, including but not limited to mothering, making ordinary furniture beautiful, photography, collage, and aprons. You'll love her so visit her blog and her etsy shop for a treat!

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-24551889992618722512009-11-15T17:08:00.000-08:002009-11-16T07:34:14.049-08:00

Well, we've had an exciting day today, not the usual Sunday. LoveHubbie lost his iPhone about 4 hours ago, and we found out that it had been found and stolen by a particular thief who is now using it. Normally this would be bad enough considering the identity theft aspect, as LoveHubbie has all of his important personal information on the iPhone, as well as access to all of our banking

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-83609177619361435642009-11-10T14:09:00.000-08:002009-11-10T14:14:40.619-08:00

Wow, the commenters on my last post gave me a lot to think about. First of all, I didn't realize that I was beating myself up, but I agree that I am. I'm just being too darn hard on myself, instead of gentle, kind and positive. I don't need to make myself wrong about my lifestyle with such vehemence in order to embrace my new way of life. Secondly, YES, that quiz had a lot of values that I

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-50520904470059458042009-11-09T23:01:00.000-08:002009-11-09T23:01:00.287-08:00

I took Oprah's quiz about negative and positive energy, which teased me away from work last night, asking, "What Kind of Energy Do You Give Off? Take the Quiz!" So I did. Ouch! The truth hurts. My results, which were more about efficiency, more related to how "clean" your energy is, were as follows: You scored 30. 26–35 points: Your life is inefficient and is getting more so. You have a sense

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-42784390511452774952009-11-08T21:26:00.000-08:002009-11-08T21:26:17.863-08:00

As many of you know, I am currently reading the book The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save Time in Our 24/7 World" by Christine Hohlbaum. I am also completely revamping my life in order to create time abundance. I should have a strategy and plan in place early in the week; however, I am already implementing changes, since many things take time to accomplish. I will be writing more about this soon.

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-81615824312163902972009-11-01T22:55:00.000-08:002009-11-01T22:55:50.837-08:00

Tonight I thought I'd write a bit about some treats I decided to give myself in the last few weeks. Each one is meaningful in its own way and has made a difference in my life. The first treat I gave myself was a special pen nib. I enjoy writing with fountain pens (I also collect them) but have never bought a special nib, one that I custom-picked and detailed every aspect that I wanted it to

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-41205226295957920562009-10-28T17:00:00.000-07:002009-11-08T20:40:55.522-08:00

Writing what I did yesterday, I know that time abundance is the answer to what I struggle with. I masqueraded as a life coach in a former life, after all! I know that our perspective on time is all between our ears. However, it still is a major challenge for me. I appreciated the blog series that Patti recommended in the comments. It's a four part series on The Elasticity of Time at Marelisa

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-47047999596287395152009-10-27T19:32:00.000-07:002009-10-27T19:32:26.884-07:00

I've had an interesting couple of days here. It is mushroom season in Washington where I live, which means that here in the forest, mushrooms sprout up like you wouldn't believe and people go "shrooming". These people study so that they can correctly identify edible mushrooms, as a mistake can be disasterous. Yesterday someone I trust picked me some chanterelle mushrooms from the side of my

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-74796139284221671712009-10-25T23:39:00.000-07:002009-10-25T23:39:36.039-07:00

For those of you who missed it, I had a post yesterday, too, a movie that didn't work at first, but now does. Just scroll down or see it here. Love to all, O

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-89946655732413588812009-10-25T18:33:00.000-07:002009-10-25T18:33:41.243-07:00

It is really good to be back to blogging and to be hearing from friends again. For a long time I've felt like I've had nothing substantial to say, so I've been quiet here. Mostly, I've been dealing with things that are either dark and/or hard to blog about because they involve other people. My vacation was wonderful and healing, as always, but it didn't leave me able to open up much until and

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-77589019848821327522009-10-24T18:03:00.000-07:002009-10-24T18:15:08.875-07:00

I've long since come back from vacation (three weeks ago) and have finally returned to blogging. I hope you enjoy this 4:07 movie!

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-60568596481506897022009-09-09T23:46:00.000-07:002009-09-10T01:06:48.033-07:00

I am so happy to write that I won Patti Bourne's giveaway on her redesigned blog bliss fruit! Patti's blog used to be called "Welcome to My Universe", and she has given it a fresh new look. The prize was a beautiful painting she did that she sent to me here in Washington state, all the way from Australia.Here is a video showing it off (1:34 minutes): Thank you so much, Patti!I am going on

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-70285484889220534692009-09-08T23:32:00.000-07:002009-09-03T08:21:08.953-07:00

Now there are good reasons to take probiotics with antibiotics, discussed in this article in The Health Insider. I take probiotics every day, but never with antibiotics, thinking that the antibiotics would kill off all the probiotics. No, they still help, apparently.Just thought I'd share this little tidbit with you. It's a bit off the beaten path for happyluau, but not for me personally. I have

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-64010405522759001052009-09-01T13:05:00.000-07:002009-09-01T13:05:00.412-07:00

Here is a very useful article for those of you who are on Facebook, but who know little about Facebook privacy. If you aren't on Facebook yet, but are considering being there, check it out as well. I love Facebook---a lot! but it is important to be aware of the risks and precautions to take. If you don't have time to read a whole book or even a book chapter, spend a few minutes reading this.~

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-90251964060750512382009-08-19T12:23:00.000-07:002009-08-19T13:38:22.885-07:00

Today is my birthday, and I celebrate today by acknowledging YOU, who have each and all helped make my past year the wonderful year it was! I reread the comments on my last post and felt so affirmed and blessed that each of you is a part of my community.Today something important happened that I am now celebrating, something that is not traditional birthday fare. One is that I stood up for myself

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-33703633315927742182009-08-16T12:52:00.000-07:002009-08-16T13:33:25.530-07:00

Come on now, don't you? Patti is the hands-down heroine of my lovely online community, a well-deserved position. And it's her birthday today, too, so I thought I'd admit my secret longing. I know it's not cool to compare yourself to other people, but I'm not cool, and I do it, even though I know how silly it is. I'd love to write like Lori-Lyn, or have the energy of Jessie or Jane. I'd love to be

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com14