Maureen O'Shea

Thirty one days, the month of January, is a great start for whatever change you may want to make in your life. So many ways that 2023 can be part of your plans to choose what makes you happy! Losing weight, changing jobs, trying a new art form: drawing, painting, wood carving, writing, wallpapering a wall (or a room — wallpaper is on trend this year!), walking, biking — oh so many more things you could do.

Someone said that when she got out of bed she would say, “Get ready to go on stage! Pull up those covers and make your bed, tuck your pj’s into your pillow, get dressed, put on your socks and shoes — all before you leave your bedroom.”

Here are some habits that I think are real winners. Routines help keep things orderly, and an orderly life frees up time and space for the people and things you really love.

When you come home from work (or finish your work from home), change your clothes and hang them up.

In your closet as well as your own life, discard what you don’t use. Clothes that haven’t been worn for a year can go to the charity bin and someone else will wear them.

People who don’t return your calls and not worth hanging on to. And also those who have nothing good to say have nothing to make you happy.

Take this next year to develop warmer more meaningful relationships.

Do ankle circles. Every day. Exercise with weights to retain your muscles. You need to as you age. Try doing your workout as soon as your feet hit the floor when you get dressed. In 1/2 hour you can then make your coffee.

Keep your car clean. Never leave anything (I mean anything in your car that is visible to anyone walking by) in your back or front seat. Thieves will break your window if something looks valuable.

Recycle, reuse and regift. If you have a vase that your Aunt Mary gave you years ago and you have enough vases, then give it to one of her kids. They may be really happy to have it!

Make someone happy with the vase from Aunt Mary

Keep a happy jar. Anytime something makes you happy, make a note of the day and time and what made you happy. How exciting to revisit a jar or more of happy notes!

You can start a happiness jar today. Just do it!

Talk to elderly people in line at the store. Open with, “How is your day going?” That’s much better than, “How are you?”, which can feel like prying.

It’s amazing how happy you may make this person. He or she may live alone and not have had a conversation with anyone for a long time. Maybe days.

365 days to make a difference. Happiness is worth a try. You’re worth it!

November 27, 2022

Las Vegas …. Week Two

We had some chilly days in week two but that didn’t stop us from going shopping. Lisa and I went to Golf Galaxy and although there weren’t any purchases made there was an offering of lessons by LPGA pro Tara that Lisa was planning to check out later. We stopped at a hair salon and made a booking for some color for Friday. (Not very successful). The mall with Macy’s at one end and Dillard’s at the other end was our next stop. Lisa needed a pump for her bicycle tire and we stopped at Dick’s Sporting Goods to no avail. We decided to take Tropicana all the way past the Strip to Las Vegas Golf and Tennis some eight miles away. It was interesting. I tried on a pair of golf shoes and that was a mistake. They went back four days later as they were too heavy.

It was a bit cool for golf but Tracy managed a couple of games while we kept close watch on the weather forecast. Lisa and I planned to go to St. George and golf at Sky Mountain but the forecast was for a high of +10C with wind warnings. So we opted instead for golfing at Coyote Springs on Sunday, November 13. The forecast high was +15C with a bit of wind.

Off the three of us went Sunday morning just after 9 a.m. We had a nice sunny drive up #93 highway off I-15. There were clouds ahead of us to the NW when we arrived at the golf course. And it was windy. Lisa hopped out of the SUV to take a picture and she nearly blew away!

This is the entrance off the highway to Coyote Springs.

It was COLD, it was WINDY. It was REALLY WINDY. We went to the driving range and it was so windy it was hard to stand let alone hit any balls so we went back to the Starter at Hole #1. He said we could join the couple of guys on the first tee. We drove up and they immediately drove off down the fairway. As hopeful as we were that the wind would, maybe, let up — it was not to be. Tracy and I golfed the 18 holes and Lisa tried to keep warm on the golf car while chauffeuring me to all of my shots. (I gave her my rain pants and the extra jacket I had but I think she was still cold). Tracy hits a high ball and had more trouble than my shots that day as I don’t hit that high a ball. I was so sorry that the day was so miserable as the course has such a beautiful layout.

That’s my ball on the green on one of the par 5’s. I was putting for a Birdie…..missed it! The other two pictures are of the course.

We were so happy to get into the SUV and get the heater on. Lisa took a great picture on the way back to L.V.

We had tacos from Tacotarian that Tracy picked up and they were SO good. On Tuesday, Lisa and I were out checking glasses frames and we went there to have lunch. It was so delicious and such a cool place.

That’s about all for week two in Las Vegas.

November 21, 2022

Las Vegas …. Week One

August Book on me

Thursday November 3, 2022

This was the first I had stayed in Las Vegas away from the Strip. And I walked out on the deck at Rosefinch Street to see the Strip from some ten miles away in Henderson. Every day the sunrise and sunsets were splendid from this surprising vantage point.

Friday Night

Another photo

The Beatles LOVE — only at The Mirage Hotel and Casino. “Set to an iconic soundtrack, The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil is a multi-sensory journey. This theatre-in-the-round technological and psychedelic spectacle continues to be one of the most celebrated shows in the world.”

Golfing at

I golfed twice with Tracy this first week of my stay. We played Stallion Mountain and then Chimera. The ‘Stallion’ was bucking my ball into the rough (very tough Bermuda grass that just won’t let go of your ball). I finally started moving my ball to the fairway if it was in the rough! In the end, I didn’t keep a score for many holes. We golfed with a nice young guy who was a good golfer and had several birdies! Tracy had someone to talk to on the T-boxes and he played pretty good. As it turned out, Tracy was playing in a charity tournament the next day so was glad to get a preview of the course during our outing.

By the way, at that tournament, his foursome won first place with 16 birdies and 2 Eagles…. For a 52. Awesome. One of the guys hit drives over 300 yards so everyone else had short shots to the green.

As noted, Tracy and I golfed Chimera Golf course. Big, wide fairways, decent rough and big greens. The forecast was for winds, gusting to 60 mph with showers and they didn’t lie! We golfed with a guy who played from the blacks. He hit the ball well over 300 yards but not necessarily on the same fairway! No problem putting his next shot next to the pin. He lost a couple of balls (I think) but birdied a lot of holes also.

I played much better at this course right from the first drive. It was really windy and into the wind added a stroke but with the wind you gained one so it evened out. One Par 3 was only 108 yards into the wind and my 3 wood wasn’t enough to get to the green. It went 30 yards to the right with the wind – across the water. It was where I could chip it, so OK. The last two holes were tough as it was sprinkling rain into the wind but it wasn’t COLD, just nasty.