106 Comments

Hello everyone!

Micro things (things that immediately affect me) have settled down while macro things (things that don't directly affect me, but I give headspace to anyways) have made it seem as though the universe is coasting down the arc of justice. Enjoying my last week of vacation before college classes start back up on the 22nd.

Here are my treasures:

-Reading consistently at night, (devotion, poetry, chapter in a book) has really helped me in my reading game. Grace and peace to all fairy godmother librarians out there!

-Knitting and listening to Sharon McMahon's First Ladies podcasts. She is just a delight. :)

- @kniturgy , @bluesprucebakery , @davenportlibrary , and @bethanyjoyful have been my comfort IG pages this week. I know that there is a lot of debate going on around social media and I want to listen to Pantsuit Politics new episode on that, but I have found so many creative gardeners, bakers, makers, and readers that inspire me.

-We have so many raspberries, tomatoes, and zinnias that we had a free mini farm stand last night in our front yard and everything was taken aside from 4 tomatoes! (If you are in IA/IL, please come and help with our tomato situation!!!) It was such a fun way to meet neighbors and give away some homegrown food. I have some videos on my IG stories @sarahmasterson_ if you would like to follow along in our gardening adventures and misadventures!

Have the best weekend available to you, lovelies!

Expand full comment

I made it a whole minute into that music video. Please clap. Here is another ridiculous music video, but it has the advantage of being a good song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOGPHUFAxWQ

Sometimes I think about the fact that there are people who knew me in high school that still like me, and it's pretty mind-blowing.

After the driest July on record, apparently all that was needed was to just turn the calendar page because it has rained several days this month already, with more forecasted for next week.

Seeing that documentary last week kicked off my semi-annual Leonard Cohen bender, in which it's all Leonard all the time for who knows how long. Days, weeks, months, all of these are options. Various Positions is a perfect album and you all should go listen to it, preferably with whatever beverage makes you feel sophisticated.

Expand full comment

There is just one treasure worth mentioning:

WE FINALLY HAVE A DATE FOR CLOSING ON THE MORTGAGE THAT TOOK A LIFETIME TO GET APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday.

Now, depending on if my FIL did or did not do anything he needed to prior to this, we might not actually be able to close, but we will end up in somebody's office on Monday morning and that feels almost unrealistic to say.

You know that trope of kissing the ground once you arrive on solid surfaces after a particularly rough journey? I'm feeling it deeply and will no doubt do something of the sort when we finally finally finally have this whole thing over with and heaven forbid ANYONE talk to me about refinancing ANYTHING for the next fill-in-the-blank years because NO THANK YOU.

Expand full comment

👏🏽 Hello! Today and Monday are my last radiation treatments for breast cancer! I will have completed 33 daily treatments Mon-Fri and I. am. here. for. it! How do I feel after 10 months of surgeries, chemo and radiation you ask?

🔥 https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRyjJxmB/

We just annihilated Chuck the spindle cell b@st@rd, up next is Chad the thyroid tumor. No one likes you Chad. Surgery in September and then I can begin recovering ❤️‍🩹

Expand full comment

This week (life) has been a ping pong match of turds and treasures.

💩 my daughter’s teacher emailed me on the 6th day of school to tell me she’s behind 🙄 Daughter cries every night saying “everyone else is faster than me” and “my brain is different than other peoples” She’s a wildly perceptive and deeply sensitive 7year old and I hate that she feels dumb because she is not performing the way her classmates are. Even when we tell her that all we care about is her trying and being a good human- she has this internal pressure (hello, oldest daughter) to be perfect. It hurts to see her hurt.

🌈 It seems our house will finally be available in September and we can move out of the 1BR and have some room to breathe. Not a moment too soon bc the daily fights over who gets to press the elevator button are killing me. Just let me press it, damnit!

Expand full comment

Good morning Swipes! The last two weeks have been a shitshow-y clusterf*ck, so I am looking for treasures anywhere I can find them. But first up, it feels nice to be honest about my turds:

💩 Things with family have been hard, particularly with my 23 year-old sister (and her masterclass-level manipulation tactics). So I have just been repeating the 3 Cs to myself over and over: "I didn’t cause it, I can’t cure it, and I can’t control it." These are from Al-Anon, but if you need ‘em this weekend, use ‘em. 💜

😵‍💫 Professionally, things have also been a little wild, as another member of my team resigned this week. This time last year there were 8 of us, and going into this school year there will be 4. I’m feeling excited about the new school year (I work at a Christian college), but it also feels a little daunting if I’m honest.

🪴Okayyy I’m not sure if this is a turd or treasure, (I don’t think it’s either?) - but last week I officially got diagnosed with ADHD. I’ve had a sneaking suspicion that I might have it since I was 22 (about 7 years ago yikes), but It’s really been the last year that I started noticing how much ADHD-like behavior I have. So I finally went and got an actual assessment done. I had a lot of big feelings about it last week, but this week I’m feeling more settled, more hopeful, and looking forward to learning more about my brain. If you have any ADHD resources to share, please do! I’m trying to look at this like I a starting a journey of learning about how my brain works, and shame can see itself out, thankyouverymuch.

🥃 The biggest treasure of my week is that I did two great things for my mental health: an extra long therapy session on Wednesday and happy hour with a dear friend yesterday. And maybe a yoga class today?

😂 Also, this video makes me laugh every time, no matter what: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgJalTRsYyH/

🥰 I brought my letterboard to my office and put a new quote on it that says “Surely not everyone was Kung Fu Fighting” and it makes me giggle. 😊

Here's hoping you find something to giggle about this weekend, too. 💛

Expand full comment

*to the tune of Eminem’s Slim Shady

School is back, back again!

Praise be, y’all! We are finally back in school!

Also, the STRUGGLE of routine and structure after a chaotic summer is killing me slowly. 😂

We have a 7th grader who’s sole purpose is to act like we have inconvenienced him by asking any questions or offering help in any way.

A 1st grader, who told us he does not want to go back to school because we told him he did not have to go. 🤦🏻‍♀️

We moved into our lovely new home Monday, as in 4 days ago, and everything is a disaster. One child has only a bed and no other furniture. Clothes are everywhere. The other one is bugging us to get his boxes into his room (they’re all in the garage) so he can open them to find this one specific thing.

But we are taking it one day at a time.

Erin’s Dirty Hair Friday today is the energy I’m taking into the weekend! Do I need to start drinking iced coffee? 😂

Happy weekend! We made it! Treat yourself (especially if your kids are back in school)! You deserve it!

Expand full comment

Hi all,

It's a cool and rainy morning in White Bear Lake, MN and I'm here for it - we need the rain so much. Drove my husband to a work reunion yesterday to connect with former co-workers of 30+ years ago. His health has been challenging for the past 2+ years, so it was nice to see him interact with old friends. Our two younger daughters are both moving to college 400+ miles away by the end of the month, and I'm getting all up in my feelings about how much I'll miss them this fall. Hoping to get some last minute errands done this weekend to finish preparing for that. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Expand full comment

I feel like you are the people who would understand. Why is my beloved pair of skinny jeans only back in low rise? Didn’t you youngins just tell me they were only wore by moms and “older” women. Well, guess who needs high rise the most, people who have birthed another human. For the most part we have middles that are still ptsd on why we stretched them so much (in my case 4 times in 6 1/2 years.

At least I can be consoled that my single parenting gig for the weekend is way easier than my husband’s. I just have the two kids that don’t fight and he has the 15 year who likes to push the 12 year olds buttons plus 8 other kids he has to share responsibility in my making sure they don’t seriously harm themselves in the woods and maybe get them to brush their teeth.

Expand full comment

Additional treasure: the new episode from Bible Binge about heaven. Gave me a lot to think about (definitely resonated with Jamie and her being nervous about what she’d learn bc of what she always believed about heaven). It’s a great episode, highly recommend listening!

Expand full comment

I would love to know about your new jeans! Desperately looking for a new comfy pair!

Expand full comment

I cannot stop laughing about the clapping on the cooking show clip. I do not understand what is happening?!?!?

Expand full comment

Congratulations, Erin Moon Sports Mom! That felt like a Very Texas video. Lol. The best I've got is the Space Lady:https://youtu.be/1leWu43A44E

Oh wait - there's also this Leslie Hall banger from back in the day: https://youtu.be/i8WoyPEVRFo

Man. I love Terry Stokes. I used to live for his modern collects on IG. The Internet is a wonder. And that Costco tweet killed me. Lol.

I worked several 11 hour days in a row this week after pulling an all-nighter on Sunday, so I don't have any other treasures. But I hope you all have a Corntastic Day!

Expand full comment

Good morning! It has been a much better week around here and I'm so glad.

Old man coworker and I had a talk last Friday, so hopefully that will continue to improve but I got to work 3/5 days at the other branch with my friends and that's been lovely.

I made my beloved Tikka Masala from Define Dish this week, it's just the best.

I finished Messy Lives of Book People and have to agree with the 'meh' reviews I've seen around the interwebs. I'm starting The Bodyguard by Katherine Center today.

I recently finished season 10 of taskmaster and Mawaan Riswan is my favorite, particularly this bonkers song about skiing https://youtu.be/PBmOrWXfntY

My SIL is still job hunting for me in MI and found one in Novi that is right up my alley. I'm submitting my application today, so we'll see what happens 🤞🤞 Any Swipes in the Ann Arbor, Novi, Detroit area?

Expand full comment

OK, that Denzel monologue video? Oh. My. Goodness. 1-why does he sound just like Denzel? Not just the delivery but his voice...wow! 2-I am stealing this and making it an assignment for my community college acting students: find a song and adapt it into a monologue, then perform that monologue. Love it!!!

Expand full comment

I will never unsee (or unhear 😳) that music video.

Expand full comment