With the 4th, this week has felt completely off-kilter. I could never get my feet under me and had a rare night of tossing and turning yesterday. Spinning mind, restless legs..... Ugh, just ugh. Why does everything seem ten times worse after midnight?
The animals and I are continuing to get along. One of the tetris fish has even grown and I am so proud of myself for keeping the fish alive!
Two more weeks of summer classes which means I am getting closer and closer to my AA degree!
Ok. Onto my treasures.
-Water balloon catapults. Our neighbors had one on the 4th and it is the funnest thing that I have done in a while!
-Plant sale plants. Some of the most random plants make the prettiest pots! I know there are quite a few plant savers here, so cheers to us!
-Hadestown soundtrack and karaoke with Clark on Stage on Youtube. I've been listening to it and it is now in my head. I'm not mad about it.
-I have really been enjoying reading again and am nearly finished with another book! Hopefully I can start writing book reviews on The Subversive Feminist.
-The dance clip from 'Anne With an E' in the school always brings me joy. Seriously, how cute is the hand holding and their smiles! I can't figure out a hyperlink but it's worth a search. :)
Can't wait to catch up with you all! Have the best weekend available!
🎉 We made our move back to Oahu and have spent the last 11 days eating our way across the island. Truly wonderful forms of fried dough to be found here. And all the fresh poke my mercury levels can handle.
🤬 At the risk of sounding like a total B- the house we were supposed to move into last week is still not available bc the tenants (who weren’t paying rent) have refused to leave. Bc of Hawaii laws - the only way to evict them is extremely expensive. I don’t want anyone to be homeless- but WE are currently homeless (staying with a very generous friend in her 2BR apt with my very loud, very energetic kids 🤪).
If y’all pray or anything like that- pray the tenants move out so we can get the kids settled before school starts aug 1.
Treasures: I'm here! It's been too, too long and I've missed you.
My nephew gets married one week from today and I've spent the last few weeks visiting every store and mall within driving distance desperately trying to find something to wear to the wedding, but no luck. Until today when I finally bought a dress. I love the style and the cut but I don't like the color or the floral pattern, but hey, at least now I have something to wear and the dress is really comfortable!
- therapy. Specifically EMDR. We've been working on a preverbal trauma and it's been so good while also being a lot. Just grateful I get to prioritize that care for myself right now.
- Skittles. I bought an original pack and a berry pack & combined them in the same snack bowl so it balances out the less favorable flavors from both.
- trimmed my hair & also ordered a wig because while I love my short hair I also love shape-shifting/upsetting people's expectations.
Turds:
- we still don't have a green light/close date on our mortgage.
- my dentist uncle fell and shattered multiple bones on Monday. This is an uncle with a controversial life where I disagree with so much of how he's welded his power & influence but also I grew up loving so trying to navigate how much I can offer to his support/recovery feels tricky.
- my toothpaste. Turns out the reason my mouth is sluffing off skin every morning is that the new toothpaste I recently started using every day (yay for being able to engage in regular dental hygiene!) contains SLS which I'm apparently incredibly sensitive to. So.... gotta go switch to the old brand of toothpaste I used to use & toss a half used tube of this new stuff.
If you follow Mama Doctor Jones on IG (you should), her stories today are the shenanigans her and her mom did for her mom to make a trip to New Zealand to surprise the grands. Watching the kids figure it out and then be SO EXCITED to see Grandma made me very happy.
Currently waiting for my best friend to finish her newborns' pediatrician appt. so we can chat for the first time in way too long.
There's a fantastic French cafe here that I like to go to, but the parking situation is extremely hit or miss. Today it was a miss, so I went to a backup coffeeshop for breakfast, where I had an incredible sandwich. My current coffeeshop reading is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which has been on my TBR for awhile. I think I'll take my time with it, the writing is too lovely not to.
I sincerely hope everyone gets at least one excellent breakfast sandwich this weekend.
I finished Stranger Things s4 last week and HO BOY I can not wait for season 5.
My main treasure is the app, Swimply - it's like airbnb but for private pools. We are renting one on Sunday (it's supposed to be 105 degrees in SLC on Sunday so just kill me now I guess) and every time I have rented a pool it's been amazing. GET SWIMPLY, Y'ALL. All the luxuries of having a pool without having to take care of it. Plus, if you get a group of people to split it, it's only a tad bit more expensive than going to the rec center and worrying about everyone peeing in the pool next to you. All hail Swimply.
Hello, Friday friends! (Is that accurate for most of us? Just me? Okay. 🙃) I’ve actually had a lovely week of feeling like an actual, productive human being with all credit due to this accurate description of my summer so far:
One of the revelations I had during my week away last month was that I function best with a plan or a guide, if you will, and that I should structure my weeks in blocks of time with each day given its own specific purpose. This is not revolutionary in a work situation but it never occurred to me that I should do it in a home situation. But since my life as caregiver to my mom is also my j-o-b, I’ve realized that I function much better with structure. It’s taken a month to implement these thoughts but it worked *beautifully* this week. In essence, I designated Monday as COOK and used it to prep/cook several dishes to eat throughout the week, thereby having a true meal plan. I was *exhausted* after and my body refused to settle into rest, but it felt so good to know that I didn’t have to do kitchen work again through the week. (I don’t love it, the kitchen hates me, and it all just makes me sad.)
The other days this week allowed for ORGANIZE (finances, files for this go-round), REFRESH (laundry and tidy-up), and even a day to CREATE (birthday card for a niece). I’m still thinking through my categories and how to group tasks in my mind, but having a singular focus each day gave me permission to cast off all other thoughts when they threaten to disrupt my flow. I wrote down the thought and went back to my day’s plan. For the first time I felt like a true lazy genius! 💃🏻
Results of this new thang: daily accomplishments that were *completed* and not carried over to another day; actual rest/sleep in the actual nighttime hours and *morning* wake-ups (hallelujah amen 🙌🏻); a mind that resisted its usual pinball activity; long, quiet hours without tv noise that allowed for clear thinking and structured planning. This might be the first week I felt like I had a handle on “life” since my mom’s care became the focus. And that was a long stretch to feel so unmoored.
Because I’ve taken to the Gollum Cave (it’s hella hot in Texas, ya know) and basically stopped using my voice to keep up with people (apologies, Marco Polo pals 😬), I’ve had a good summer of reading! I’ve mentioned Sea of Tranquility (Emily St John Mandel) which I can’t stop thinking about, but I’ve also finished The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd (great beginning, devolved at the end) and This Too Shall Last (excellent KJ Ramsey backlist). I’m revisiting The Artist’s Way (Julia Cameron) with thoughts to include this in my new LG structuring. And I just finished Trust by Hernan Diaz, which might be my only 5-star personal review this year. “Trust” begins with a novella about a Wall Street wizard in early 20th century who became a multimillionaire as the 1929 Crash occurred, and then proceeds to retell that story through multiple narrators until it reaches the climax of that history through the eyes of the man’s wife. So layered! It made me go back to reread all the previous chapters to put all the details together in my mind. I LOVED this novel!
Wishing you all a feeling of accomplishment and true rest. 💚
My treasure this week is God worked a miracle of healing for a woman @church! For a part of her body she didn’t ask for! After I had just prayed for me to be part of a miracle. No lie!
The day after a holiday weekend is always hopping at the library; add to that a brief power outage and a staff member out. Needless to say, Tuesday was wild. I've been trying to be more consistent with an am Bible time, and moving it to my porch this week has kept me motivated. Porch fans make all the difference! I've got a busy week next week as all my programs and my late night/weekend line up, so I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend before all that begins.
My treasure this week has been reading, Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer. Such a tiny book doing big things for my healing from purity culture, evangelical culture, etc.
Based on the subtitle, I was hoping this was going to be about David Archuleta playing Joseph--a video of him spinning in the coat hit Tiktok--but it was just Ryan GosKen. (though I always appreciate a Joseph reference...)
My treasure this week is…we bought a house! (Well, “bought” is a little dramatic. But our offer was accepted!) It happened very quickly and we’re still surprised we got it, but we’re excited mixed with a little bit of “oh crap what have we done” lol. We close August 12th!
We spent the 4th with my extended family in Iowa, which was a childhood tradition that we haven’t done in many years. I got to bring my husband there for the first time, and both of my brothers brought their fiancé and girlfriend, respectively, as well. It’s fun and weird to watch people marry into your family, isn’t it? Like, I’m glad you’re here, but also…who are you? But I like you? If that makes any sense at all…
In the words of Pantsuit Politics who I have recently started listening to…have the best weekend available to you!
It’s been a hard few weeks for our family (and it doesn’t look it will relent in the near future). If anyone else finds themselves in a similar place, my treasure is Davy Flowers’ album I Was Loved. It’s been on repeat in my house since it dropped last week (alternating with Bethany Barnard’s All My Questions).
I have job hunt updates! Well I don’t have a full-time job offer yet… I have three part-time/contract work job offer! Progress!
This guy has gotten a lot of memes this week!!
Hello friends!
With the 4th, this week has felt completely off-kilter. I could never get my feet under me and had a rare night of tossing and turning yesterday. Spinning mind, restless legs..... Ugh, just ugh. Why does everything seem ten times worse after midnight?
The animals and I are continuing to get along. One of the tetris fish has even grown and I am so proud of myself for keeping the fish alive!
Two more weeks of summer classes which means I am getting closer and closer to my AA degree!
Ok. Onto my treasures.
-Water balloon catapults. Our neighbors had one on the 4th and it is the funnest thing that I have done in a while!
-Plant sale plants. Some of the most random plants make the prettiest pots! I know there are quite a few plant savers here, so cheers to us!
-Hadestown soundtrack and karaoke with Clark on Stage on Youtube. I've been listening to it and it is now in my head. I'm not mad about it.
-I have really been enjoying reading again and am nearly finished with another book! Hopefully I can start writing book reviews on The Subversive Feminist.
-The dance clip from 'Anne With an E' in the school always brings me joy. Seriously, how cute is the hand holding and their smiles! I can't figure out a hyperlink but it's worth a search. :)
Can't wait to catch up with you all! Have the best weekend available!
Aloooooha!
🎉 We made our move back to Oahu and have spent the last 11 days eating our way across the island. Truly wonderful forms of fried dough to be found here. And all the fresh poke my mercury levels can handle.
🤬 At the risk of sounding like a total B- the house we were supposed to move into last week is still not available bc the tenants (who weren’t paying rent) have refused to leave. Bc of Hawaii laws - the only way to evict them is extremely expensive. I don’t want anyone to be homeless- but WE are currently homeless (staying with a very generous friend in her 2BR apt with my very loud, very energetic kids 🤪).
If y’all pray or anything like that- pray the tenants move out so we can get the kids settled before school starts aug 1.
Hi friends!
Treasures: I'm here! It's been too, too long and I've missed you.
My nephew gets married one week from today and I've spent the last few weeks visiting every store and mall within driving distance desperately trying to find something to wear to the wedding, but no luck. Until today when I finally bought a dress. I love the style and the cut but I don't like the color or the floral pattern, but hey, at least now I have something to wear and the dress is really comfortable!
Treasures:
- therapy. Specifically EMDR. We've been working on a preverbal trauma and it's been so good while also being a lot. Just grateful I get to prioritize that care for myself right now.
- Skittles. I bought an original pack and a berry pack & combined them in the same snack bowl so it balances out the less favorable flavors from both.
- trimmed my hair & also ordered a wig because while I love my short hair I also love shape-shifting/upsetting people's expectations.
Turds:
- we still don't have a green light/close date on our mortgage.
- my dentist uncle fell and shattered multiple bones on Monday. This is an uncle with a controversial life where I disagree with so much of how he's welded his power & influence but also I grew up loving so trying to navigate how much I can offer to his support/recovery feels tricky.
- my toothpaste. Turns out the reason my mouth is sluffing off skin every morning is that the new toothpaste I recently started using every day (yay for being able to engage in regular dental hygiene!) contains SLS which I'm apparently incredibly sensitive to. So.... gotta go switch to the old brand of toothpaste I used to use & toss a half used tube of this new stuff.
Fun times!
If you follow Mama Doctor Jones on IG (you should), her stories today are the shenanigans her and her mom did for her mom to make a trip to New Zealand to surprise the grands. Watching the kids figure it out and then be SO EXCITED to see Grandma made me very happy.
Currently waiting for my best friend to finish her newborns' pediatrician appt. so we can chat for the first time in way too long.
There's a fantastic French cafe here that I like to go to, but the parking situation is extremely hit or miss. Today it was a miss, so I went to a backup coffeeshop for breakfast, where I had an incredible sandwich. My current coffeeshop reading is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which has been on my TBR for awhile. I think I'll take my time with it, the writing is too lovely not to.
I sincerely hope everyone gets at least one excellent breakfast sandwich this weekend.
Some good good good tweets.
I finished Stranger Things s4 last week and HO BOY I can not wait for season 5.
My main treasure is the app, Swimply - it's like airbnb but for private pools. We are renting one on Sunday (it's supposed to be 105 degrees in SLC on Sunday so just kill me now I guess) and every time I have rented a pool it's been amazing. GET SWIMPLY, Y'ALL. All the luxuries of having a pool without having to take care of it. Plus, if you get a group of people to split it, it's only a tad bit more expensive than going to the rec center and worrying about everyone peeing in the pool next to you. All hail Swimply.
Have a great weekend, friends. ❤
Hi friends!
We had the best time with our nephew last weekend. He's getting so big but also he's still so little!
Finally started watching Abbott Elementary and I'm hooked, I love it so much!
We're going to see Thor Love and Thunder today and I'm so excited!
Hello, Friday friends! (Is that accurate for most of us? Just me? Okay. 🙃) I’ve actually had a lovely week of feeling like an actual, productive human being with all credit due to this accurate description of my summer so far:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfbtU-OuxA9
One of the revelations I had during my week away last month was that I function best with a plan or a guide, if you will, and that I should structure my weeks in blocks of time with each day given its own specific purpose. This is not revolutionary in a work situation but it never occurred to me that I should do it in a home situation. But since my life as caregiver to my mom is also my j-o-b, I’ve realized that I function much better with structure. It’s taken a month to implement these thoughts but it worked *beautifully* this week. In essence, I designated Monday as COOK and used it to prep/cook several dishes to eat throughout the week, thereby having a true meal plan. I was *exhausted* after and my body refused to settle into rest, but it felt so good to know that I didn’t have to do kitchen work again through the week. (I don’t love it, the kitchen hates me, and it all just makes me sad.)
The other days this week allowed for ORGANIZE (finances, files for this go-round), REFRESH (laundry and tidy-up), and even a day to CREATE (birthday card for a niece). I’m still thinking through my categories and how to group tasks in my mind, but having a singular focus each day gave me permission to cast off all other thoughts when they threaten to disrupt my flow. I wrote down the thought and went back to my day’s plan. For the first time I felt like a true lazy genius! 💃🏻
Results of this new thang: daily accomplishments that were *completed* and not carried over to another day; actual rest/sleep in the actual nighttime hours and *morning* wake-ups (hallelujah amen 🙌🏻); a mind that resisted its usual pinball activity; long, quiet hours without tv noise that allowed for clear thinking and structured planning. This might be the first week I felt like I had a handle on “life” since my mom’s care became the focus. And that was a long stretch to feel so unmoored.
Because I’ve taken to the Gollum Cave (it’s hella hot in Texas, ya know) and basically stopped using my voice to keep up with people (apologies, Marco Polo pals 😬), I’ve had a good summer of reading! I’ve mentioned Sea of Tranquility (Emily St John Mandel) which I can’t stop thinking about, but I’ve also finished The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd (great beginning, devolved at the end) and This Too Shall Last (excellent KJ Ramsey backlist). I’m revisiting The Artist’s Way (Julia Cameron) with thoughts to include this in my new LG structuring. And I just finished Trust by Hernan Diaz, which might be my only 5-star personal review this year. “Trust” begins with a novella about a Wall Street wizard in early 20th century who became a multimillionaire as the 1929 Crash occurred, and then proceeds to retell that story through multiple narrators until it reaches the climax of that history through the eyes of the man’s wife. So layered! It made me go back to reread all the previous chapters to put all the details together in my mind. I LOVED this novel!
Wishing you all a feeling of accomplishment and true rest. 💚
My treasure this week is God worked a miracle of healing for a woman @church! For a part of her body she didn’t ask for! After I had just prayed for me to be part of a miracle. No lie!
The day after a holiday weekend is always hopping at the library; add to that a brief power outage and a staff member out. Needless to say, Tuesday was wild. I've been trying to be more consistent with an am Bible time, and moving it to my porch this week has kept me motivated. Porch fans make all the difference! I've got a busy week next week as all my programs and my late night/weekend line up, so I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend before all that begins.
Two recipe treasures to share!
Joy the Baker is always a delight, and I will probably by making this Tomato Galette all summer! https://joythebaker.com/2020/08/a-summer-tomato-galette/
Beth at Budget Bytes is another fave, and this one-pot meal has been a great brainless crowd pleaser for me this summer. https://www.budgetbytes.com/cajun-sausage-and-rice-skillet/
My treasure this week has been reading, Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer. Such a tiny book doing big things for my healing from purity culture, evangelical culture, etc.
Based on the subtitle, I was hoping this was going to be about David Archuleta playing Joseph--a video of him spinning in the coat hit Tiktok--but it was just Ryan GosKen. (though I always appreciate a Joseph reference...)
My treasure this week is…we bought a house! (Well, “bought” is a little dramatic. But our offer was accepted!) It happened very quickly and we’re still surprised we got it, but we’re excited mixed with a little bit of “oh crap what have we done” lol. We close August 12th!
We spent the 4th with my extended family in Iowa, which was a childhood tradition that we haven’t done in many years. I got to bring my husband there for the first time, and both of my brothers brought their fiancé and girlfriend, respectively, as well. It’s fun and weird to watch people marry into your family, isn’t it? Like, I’m glad you’re here, but also…who are you? But I like you? If that makes any sense at all…
In the words of Pantsuit Politics who I have recently started listening to…have the best weekend available to you!
It’s been a hard few weeks for our family (and it doesn’t look it will relent in the near future). If anyone else finds themselves in a similar place, my treasure is Davy Flowers’ album I Was Loved. It’s been on repeat in my house since it dropped last week (alternating with Bethany Barnard’s All My Questions).