Hi there! Welcome once again to our quirky, fun, personal assortment of odds and ends that have percolated through and added flavour to our lives this week.

id=”theshineandrise_script_3_1_2024_0″>window.addEventListener(‘load’, function() { let element = document.getElementsByClassName(“theshineandrise_link_3_1_2024_0”); let linkDatabaseIndex = [ 13 ]; if(element.length >= 1) setPostLinks(element, linkDatabaseIndex); });

What do you do with old mugs you like, but whose handles have broken off? Do you throw them away? or do you repurpose them? For me, it depends on the mug. Some have a brief moment on stage and then disappear behind the curtain or into the charity bag or the garbage can. These two are a reminder of the radical change in my life’s journey when I decided to “dare to be different” and brave and go to university at 40. Now they sit beside my green pens, which are another reminder of how my life was transformed. – Maria

Fresh lemons vs bottled lemon? I’m on team fresh lemon. I think it tastes better in anything you make. What team are you on? – Cris

Do any of you still have one of these? Do you still use it? I still use mine as an alarm clock on the mornings when I have to get up extra early, which seem to be coming around faster and faster. It has been set to the same radio station for the approximately 25 years that I’ve had it. Increasingly, I also use it to let me know what time it is in the middle of the night; do I need to try and fall back asleep? or is it close enough to morning that I can get up and start my day? – Maria

This is my face. Sometimes I’m okay with it, sometimes not. Is this something that only women face or do men also feel this insecurity? My opinion is that the pressure to look good, to make your self look good, comes from every direction for women, but is minimal for most men. In this video, Kate Winslet talks about the language journalists use to describe women on the the red carpet and the insecurities it generates and magnifies in women. I’m a huge fan of Kate and her crusade against body shaming.

So this is my face. Are you comfortable with your face? – Cris

Last weekend, I was wonderfully surprised by friends who gathered to celebrate my birthday. I am still overwhelmed, grateful and smiling inside at their generosity and kindness. “Somewhere in my youth or childhood/I must have done something good.”

What are you grateful for this week? Let us know in the comments below. – Maria

Author