5 thing Friday - cicadas, the deck, waterworks, walking, habits

Weather permitting, I've been sitting out in the backyard in the mornings, sipping my coffee and listening to the birds.  Occasionally I will work the Wordle puzzle.

But I'm also trying to just sit in the moment and notice things.

Like this. What tha...

Calmly watching this little guy pop out was interesting.  I don't know if I have ever seen this.  Happy Birthday!  

We've had quite a bit of rain the last couple of days.  I'm so glad I crossed "deck maintenance" off my list of things to do early in the week.  Day one I scrubbed it.  Day two I put a coat of deck seal on.  Day three we got rain.  The water puddles instead of sinking into it, turning the deck green and rotting the wood.  I noticed a bit of warping on a couple of boards, and I'm annoyed we didn't seal it to begin with.  It was just one of those things that took a backseat to Highlands.  

I turned on the faucet a couple days ago and water and air shot out of the base of the sprayer and underneath the sink!  But, something different also happened.  Instead of me losing my mind and crying, I calmly emptied the cabinet, grabbed a couple of towels to mop up water, and poked around to discover the spray nozzle was coming unscrewed.  I have more faith in myself that I can handle things lately.  Its a good feeling.

I have upped my walking to a 20-25 min. stretch at a time, 4 days a week.  It seems like its getting easier.  {Its like there's a general trend here.  I like it.}

Along with changing up when and what I eat, I am cutting as far back on salt as I dare.  Each small new-ish habit takes a bit of getting used to, but like I've said before, habits aren't preferences just because you do them.  The trick is adding habits that increase your quality of life.  Not the other way around.  Sometimes easier said than done.

Gina