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I have spent the past two plus weeks dealing with rodents in my walls. It started in one wall and they have now dispersed to multiple walls and the ceiling after the first "visit" from the exterminator. The air quotes are there because despite repeated requests that someone please tell me what the heck is happening, no one did and so he came when no one was here and possibly put down a couple of bait boxes, or possibly did nothing. My landlord is now more on top of things (he's pretty good, but this had all been run through the property manager, who is...less reliable). The latest report is that the rodents are rats (the worse possible option, was hoping for squirrels, willing to settle for mice), and that the traps that were placed yesterday have not yielded anything. I leave for two weeks on Sunday and if there are rats inside my house when I get back I am going to lose my mind (arson unfortunately not an option as it's part of a duplex).

My dog has started a fun new thing where she fully believes that if she does not go outside every hour on the hour (or more if I did not provide sufficient sniffing/cat chasing time on the previous trip) she will die. So my evenings have been less relaxing of late. She's fine, just a pain. Between all of the above and the new cat/kittens that have shown up (in addition to the neighborhood cats that pass through regularly - I guess I'm starting a TNR colony in my backyard?), it's basically just a lot of animal-related woes.

I was not anticipating my UK trip happening during a period of national mourning, but I will not be dissuaded from traipsing around outside in the rain for two weeks.

All of these tweets are so good. I can't possibly pick a favorite, but I am delighted by the idea that Guy Fieri and Paul Hollywood are alternate universe versions of each other. Who is the prime version, and who is the mirror universe version, is the real question. Also Chris Pine is the best Chris, is this even up for debate?

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Sorry to post twice, but how cute is this: https://twitter.com/tcpcrobert/status/1568198417733619713

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THANK YOU! I didn't know how badly I needed every piece of this newsletter until I was reading it.

Treasures this week include:

- the heat wave finally breaking last night.

- a zoom Murder Mystery adventure with extended family I hadn't seen in a year.

- going to BIL's 40th birthday party & actually having a good time at it.

- having the bandwidth to help a friend through a mental breakdown induced by the heat.

- booking my own self a trip that my husband may or may not accompany me on, later this month.

There are a lot of turds but frankly I'm tired of reciting them, let alone thinking of them, so the one I'll share is that we went to go see the salmon run on the local reservoir and while they were expected to be running, for some reason they aren't & we only saw a single mature fish, which is confusing/concerning the local park rangers. Hopefully the run is just delayed from the heat and not from other factors, I guess? Climate change sucks.

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It's been so hot that I actually want to be at work - WHAT?! That is all kinds of wrong. Treasures this week...

😎 Listening to this week's Popcast and my husband overheard all on "Don't Worry Darling" and now he is so invested. Ha ha - cracks me up!

📚 Books are starting to click with my twin 7-year old boys! 🥹 It's been a struggle especially with the younger twin. But this week I've seen him pick up books on his own and also that he went beyond the required reading time for homework! He's not quite there wait with recognizing sight words and sounding it out, but there is some joy and enjoyment there now. ❤️

🎃 Not a fan of PSL but I always feel somewhat obligated to have one during the season... BUT this time I tried Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew - what a DELIGHT! So happy I found my pumpkin drink! Next time I'm going to get it with extra pumpkin cream cold foam! 😋

👩🏻‍💼 Started "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" on Netflix, and I really enjoy it! I'm willing to sacrifice sleep to watch it! Quirky but has also dealt with some serious topics (as much as it can in 1 hour). Not too heavy but still has some substance which is what I need and can handle right now.

👑 This post on the Queen's passing that Erin posted in her Stories: https://www.instagram.com/p/CiQzVNmpgOg/?igshid=NDRkN2NkYzU=

Sad about the Queen but also conflicted. The post was helpful. Talked with my mom who grew up in Hong Kong when it was still under British rule. She had nothing but nice things to say about Lilibet, which is unusual for mom... she's quite hypercritical of everyone! But then she had some biting words about Charles so all is back to normal folks! (It was actually quite hysterical - not a big fan of Charles.)

Ok going to read all your wonderful treasures now! Hope you all stay cool! ☃️

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Hi friends! Longtime lurker, first time commenter.

A project I've been a part of since Feb. was finally birthed into the world. If your kids are fans of the book Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, we did a live action retelling. It's super cute!

🥾: https://youtu.be/54SwA-tuh6Y

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OMG is that why I love Ecclesiastes so much?!?

My treasures are books! First, TJR ‘Carrie Soto is Back’ is so fun- I can’t put it down. Second, I got to read an advance copy of Jenny Booth Potter’s book ‘Doing Nothing is No Longer An Option’ and it’s so good. If you’re a White person on the anti racism journey- you’ll want to read this. (Please read it so we can talk about it!)

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Hi Swipes!

I agree - what a wild Internet week. Lawsuits and investigations and natural disasters. That corn kid became an ambassador for the Corn Palace in South Dakota. And of course the Queen.

Jame B Golden sucked me in to Spit-gate. What in the actual?! I will say the Chris Pine tweets/memes from this have been great.

Well. We've had record breaking heat for a week and the air is once again filled with fire smoke. I have three weeks left on the Project That Almost Killed Me. And lemme tell ya this project ain't going down without a fight.

🙏 For any of you who prayed for my coworker last week. Things did not go well. If you don't mind, please continue to pray.

💰 I'm somehow being productive, but this is how I feeeeel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChKl-ecDp9v/

📻 In September I like to listen to bluegrass/roots/Americana stuff and have been enjoying the Steep Canyon Rangers this week: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1a6tqLJPUs4DBAnNUZkr2O?si=qyvUMIMEQAukNv9bvDjwsQ&utm_source=copy-link

Also like Sara Deshields, a music buddy of Amanda Opelt who sings on one of the tracks on this album https://open.spotify.com/album/604aU6Y2pVISDJkZKErxHl?si=yAng6JvNQjOTYP5jcKAoGQ&utm_source=copy-link

📺 Our heat wave movie marathon choice was Marvel stuff. We watched the What If series, the One Shot series, and Sheng Chi. All good! Akwafina was so charming. Like a badass Darcy.

📚 Finished A Hole in the World by Amanda Opelt. Almost done with my book on Ghengis Khan (so fascinating!) Starting My Lady Jane and hoping my brain cells allow me to finish in time for book club.

🃏 played Azul https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/230802/azul

and Qwirkle https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25669/qwirkle

📝 Nadia Boltz Weber's sermon, Salty. (Which i kept misreading as Sally. I kept wondering when Sally was going to feature in. Sigh. So tired.) Anyway. Man, that woman can preach.

And this article about Craig Ferguson: https://www.cracked.com/article_34002_the-inconspicuous-king-of-late-night.html

He really was different in how he talked with guests. Vulnerability.

I remember when his dad died and he played drums with the Wicked Tinkers* after giving a Eulogy.

The Tinkers are a fun scottish pipe and drum band btw very fun live show. He had them on a few times. Here is a different performance on a happier occasion: https://youtu.be/e00gjtCHcr0

Looking forward to seeing your 💰 and 🗑in the comments!

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Christmas Pinecone! 🤣🤣🤣

🤒 I'm sick and I worry that means I'll have to cancel my vacation next week. If you need me I'll be hiding under a blanket all weekend.

🧳 Next week I'm (hopefully) going to Stockholm! I've booked the cutest hotel and am making lots of fun plans.

🎬 Marcel the Shell was a delight.

📺 I binged season 2 and 3 of Trying this week and that show makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I love it.

👑 This story about the Queen was really cute: https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/1567894552744271872

May your weekend be exactly what you need it to be.

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The Parent Trap tweet SENT me lol!

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someone should do a TV series about a Dave Ramsey like character and his organization. That would be so disturbing and good.

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I LOLed at the Christmas Pinecone tweet.

My turd and treasure this week is that we spent last weekend up in the mountains on our church's annual retreat. It's a great retreat center, it's so fun to watch the kids run around in feral packs, and the highlight is always the talent show. And! I hate eating in a relatively small room with 175 people. And spending three days with mostly people I don't know very well. And trying to weigh "family time" at the rock wall against "recharge time" in my room. We are all exhausted when we return, but it's so much fun we just suck it up every year.

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ECCLESIASTES 😆😆 I definitely sang that tweet.

I love the Christmas Pinecones one too. These are delightful.

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Hello friends!

The long weekend was lovely, I made a new dress and did some good deep cleaning in my apartment. Four day work weeks are a treasure!

We had our first fall program and it went really well, the tweens that showed up were super fun and we all enjoyed the button maker.

Storytime starts back on Monday, and I'd completely forgotten so that's what I'll be doing today.

I'm going to see Mean Girls in Charlotte tomorrow night which should be fun. Has anyone seen it? What did you think?

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Good morning, y'all! If you are not in the Lil Swipes book club (of which I am an "attends every now and then" member), I just wanted to recommend the book "My Lady Jane" by Cynthia Hand. If you are a person who can enjoy fiction in audiobook form and/or a person who likes a genre mashup of historical fiction / comedy / romance / magic, this one is for you!

I'm a few weeks into my new job and therefore very busy, but this book has been a delight this week.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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its been a hot sec since I've been here and just dropping in to say HOLY DOUBLE STANDARD SLIMEBUCKETS BATMAN re: Ramsey. What a richard.

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The tweets got me this week. SO GOOD!

We have been doing all the wedding things this week, because my little sister is getting married tomorrow! TBH, I really don't like weddings (especially when I am in them), but I am trying my best to show up and smile and do all the things. My kids are the ring bearers and we have a few little fun jokes up our sleeves, which is helping me manage all the familial expectations. Send me your best wedding stories and pray that it's going to be cooler than forecasted tomorrow - we are in (beautiful) long velvet dresses in 85+ degree humidity. I'm off to work out some feelings before the whirlwind resumes- happy weekend, Swipes!

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