My treasure of the week is the Mississippi Book Festival this weekend!! It’s one of my favorite times of year, even in the heat! I love seeing people young and old come out because of their love of books, stories, and reading!!
Your friendly neighborhood vet here to tell you that Voldetort and Susan are both excellent names for a tortoise, each in their own way. We see approximately 5 million Lunas/Bellas/Baileys/etc. so anything original is very exciting to us (just today I saw three Rockys). Do not name your pet Loki, they're all jerks, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This absolutely stunning documentary about Leonard Cohen and "Hallelujah" is now available on Netflix, everyone should go watch it. I saw it in theaters when it came out and could not get over it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11IPQYZMXjc&t=4s
I’ve got nothing going on — just hiding indoors from the “excessive heat warnings” and trying for a MONTH to get a county clinic doctor to refill the one medication that keeps me from being a raging, sobbing, walking mental breakdown 😫 — but I have to say:
🙏🏻 My sister is the queen of “unspoken prayer request” and the number of deep eye rolls that I’ve responded with is probably a world record. At this point, she either needs to open up and trust her community or acknowledge the fact that her church is just a bunch of gossips.
👧🏻 my grandniece just completed her first week of pre-K and it’s been the most exciting thing to observe but also very bittersweet. It came much more quickly than I was ready, and even faster for her mother. I have appreciated all of the posts and comments about first weeks of school so I can share with my niece for the years ahead. She feels isolated so much of the time as a SAHM with two small children (18 months apart), so this has been a tender time for her. [The little brother is having severe separation anxiety, too.] But I’ve had the most fun shopping online to get the grandniece a complete wardrobe to start school off well-outfitted. [My mom wouldn’t have it any other way! ] The reports have been great, although we hear that she is already getting a desk change because she declared a best friend on day one and hasn’t been able to stop talking to her. Daphne is nothing if not full of questions and commentary. When I asked her about school, she said, ”it’s fun and I love it and but we have NOT learned our letters yet.” That’s her entire goal. 😄
"I thought we were just playing for the love of them game". GAH. That made me wheeze.
Y'all, I've been gone for a minute basically because of what Erin talked about in the first part of this newsie. When you would customer-facing and your job is literally to answer peoples' never ending questions about the city you live in and where can they get a rental car and why are the streets numbered the way they are? It's exhausting and I find myself desiring silence more and more. Or at least the absence of having to talk to people. Listening to podcasts is fine LOL. I just don't have any room to form new thoughts anymore. My brain feels like at the end of thanksgiving when you're trying to shove down that last bite of pumpkin pie but you're actually not sure that you have room at all? That's my brain.
I won't go into everything happening (see: paragraph above), but I am wondering if anyone has any advice. I find myself in a season of grieving the idea of sisters-in-law that I had when I got engaged. One SIL basically doesn't talk to me, her husband (my husband's brother) has almost gone no contact with us. They have a six year old that we haven't seen since last January and an eight month old we've never met. My other SIL is fun and kind and we get along, but we're not very close. Not to be cocky, but I am normally really easy to get along with and I have a plethora of friends, so I don't feel like I haven't put forth the proper effort to build a relationship with them. Are my expectations too great? Has anyone else dealt with this?
I’m an only child so I always hoped I would marry someone with siblings and have SIL’s to hang out with. My husband has 1 brother who is 8 years younger than us and a real a-hole. I also don’t think he will ever get married because he’s so rude to literally everyone. I’m not close with any of my family and I’m worried that when my parents die I won’t have anyone left except my husband. So, not exactly what you’re talking about, but similar. It’s disappointing for sure.
My kids went back last week and just yesterday I thought “ok I feel like we’re past the initial craziness and I can breathe”…..then my 5th grader brought home alllllll the new extracurricular papers and I am now lost to the age of darkness. I’m so excited for her to have new opportunities but HOO BOY it’s parent taxi time 🫠
📚I’m slowly coming out of a reading slump and it feels really good to feel like my reader-ly self again! Currently listening to The Lost Queen by Signe Pike & very into it.
🏡 So, it's fairly common to have bars on some of your main floor windows here. The house I'm buying has been empty for a little bit and the owner had bars on all the windows, so it wouldn't pass the appraisal which my grant requires. One set of bars in each bedroom needed to come down so that I could jump out a window in a fire. Little Bro and I tried to take them down, bought some tools, tools didn't work. Tuesday my realtor sent two photos showing that the bars were down. She said nothing. I have no idea who or what has happened, but Suzanne is a queen and she got 👏it👏done👏.
🎤 We're going to the Jonas Brothers concert next Thursday and I'm so excited! The tour started last week, and we've been watching TikToks and getting hype. I've never been to a concert other than some Christian family day situations at Six Flags.
🥱 August is just feeling like a slog. Summer reading and the frenzy and then waiting of the home buying process has been a lot. I go on vacation the 28th and cannot wait!
So excited to read Erin's newsletter and enjoy the comments before driving 7 hours from IL back to MN. This morning I have to pack my grandparents' bed (!!) into my small SUV plus other stuff from my mom's house (she just moved into assisted living), and PRAY that I can get everything tied down sufficiently to make the drive safely and with everything intact. I'll have to leave the hatch open a crack because the bed posts won't fit, so I'm watching YouTube videos and gearing up for the challenge. Hope you all have a glorious and safe weekend.
But, last week I got to spend four days with my BFF in Hilton Head, SC. We didn't plan anything. We just spent that time relaxing, hanging by the pool and beach, and got super sunburned. Like, I totally undid the past 2 years worth of skin care work by getting absolutely roasted, but I had fun doing it, sooooo......
It's Bama Rush time and as someone who went through Bama Rush in 2009, I just can't get enough. These videos are bringing back so many memories and I can't fathom being so vulnerable on social media like these girls are today. I didn't even have a smart phone when I went through rush. Have we thought about maybe not letting our kids have a smart phone until they finish high school?
Okay, that's it. Can't wait to catch up in the comments <3
Oh, and P.S. Bath and Body Works soaps are on sale today for $2.95, just in case you need some fall scented soap :)
Beautiful post, Erin. Thank you! Also, will you need help “stickering” the Twitter bird onto the soon-to-be “X” posts because I feel like we could get a Kickstarter going and just build something that does that automatically 😉😁😇
So I have been feeling that disconnected/overwhelmed feeling for like a year- and finally did something about it. I was talking to my doctor (asking for supplements for my brain because she is fried) and she suggested I get tested for ADHD. It was expensive and time consuming to be tested....but turns out, I've had it my whole life and figured out tons of coping strategies. It actually explained so much about what was hard for me as a kid/young adult. Well, my life has gotten complicated enough (mentally/physically/emotionally) that my strategies aren't working any more. I go Monday to figure out what we can do about it. I'm finally hopeful that maybe I can feel differently.
I know not everyone has ADHD (and some people think it's not real blah blah blah) but for real, even if it's not that, don't be afraid to ask for help!
My husband was diagnosed with ADHD at 38. This was life changing for us and our marriage. By educating ourselves we also learned more about our son, and advocated for him to get tested as well. Turns out he has both adhd and autism. Embracing our neurodiverse family 🩷
Got diagnosed at 35. Explained so much , wish I knew about in when I was 19 and all my coping mechanisms fell apart and spiralled into an anxious mess. But I survived that and so shall you. Meds have done wonders for me and timers. Jamie from the popcast is not wrong about ADD and timers.
My daughters didn't get diagnosed until 17 and 23, respectively, and I'm sure I have some version of ADD. Both of them had the same issue - got back with their invented hacks until life/school/work became too complex to manage. I'm piling up major life change on top of major life change myself, and am finding my coping strategies are failing me. So proud of you for seeking help, and praying that you land on a treatment that makes life more manageable.
I’m so proud you advocated for yourself, and that now with this diagnosis you will have some tools and resources to step beautifully (and boldly) into the next chapter of your life. Thank you for sharing your vulnerability and victory with us! Blessings.
Ok following up to say, I have been looking forward to doing dis/entangle with the community for awhile since trying to go back and do it on my own when I joined Swipe Up+, but honestly right now life is chaotic and hard and I have not been focused much on my spiritual journey so I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea of starting it soon and actually keeping up but I think I really need it right now so I am glad for the timing! And yes I am an enneagram 8 so I did type this the first time and then changed it to my short comment and then decided to come back and share 🫠
Need those treasures this week for sure. Mine is I have signed up for craft classes a watercolor class this weekend and then a pottery class this fall and I’m so excited for both of them.
I'm a new subscriber because of your dis/entangle study! I'm really looking forward to it!
My treasure of the week is the Mississippi Book Festival this weekend!! It’s one of my favorite times of year, even in the heat! I love seeing people young and old come out because of their love of books, stories, and reading!!
Your friendly neighborhood vet here to tell you that Voldetort and Susan are both excellent names for a tortoise, each in their own way. We see approximately 5 million Lunas/Bellas/Baileys/etc. so anything original is very exciting to us (just today I saw three Rockys). Do not name your pet Loki, they're all jerks, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This absolutely stunning documentary about Leonard Cohen and "Hallelujah" is now available on Netflix, everyone should go watch it. I saw it in theaters when it came out and could not get over it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11IPQYZMXjc&t=4s
My friends currently have a Gary and a Howard (both dogs) and I find average human names for pets delightful 😂
I’ve got nothing going on — just hiding indoors from the “excessive heat warnings” and trying for a MONTH to get a county clinic doctor to refill the one medication that keeps me from being a raging, sobbing, walking mental breakdown 😫 — but I have to say:
🙏🏻 My sister is the queen of “unspoken prayer request” and the number of deep eye rolls that I’ve responded with is probably a world record. At this point, she either needs to open up and trust her community or acknowledge the fact that her church is just a bunch of gossips.
👧🏻 my grandniece just completed her first week of pre-K and it’s been the most exciting thing to observe but also very bittersweet. It came much more quickly than I was ready, and even faster for her mother. I have appreciated all of the posts and comments about first weeks of school so I can share with my niece for the years ahead. She feels isolated so much of the time as a SAHM with two small children (18 months apart), so this has been a tender time for her. [The little brother is having severe separation anxiety, too.] But I’ve had the most fun shopping online to get the grandniece a complete wardrobe to start school off well-outfitted. [My mom wouldn’t have it any other way! ] The reports have been great, although we hear that she is already getting a desk change because she declared a best friend on day one and hasn’t been able to stop talking to her. Daphne is nothing if not full of questions and commentary. When I asked her about school, she said, ”it’s fun and I love it and but we have NOT learned our letters yet.” That’s her entire goal. 😄
Daphne sounds like a hoot! Love a girl with concrete goals 😂
Hello, friends!
I've been sick with a summer cold this week, but I still have a few treasures to share.
-Hidden Love. A Chinese Netflix series with a delightful "brother's best friend" storyline.15/25 episodes in and most of the banter is spot on.
-I have been waiting for Sharon McMahon's book announcements for this semester with bated breath and they were released today!
-Seeing a monarch butterfly hatch from a chrysalis. We've been raising them this year and it was amazing. I nearly teared up. Nature, man...
-The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois on Audible. This book is the first audiobook that I have listened to I am maybe (slightly) obsessed.
Have the best weekend available to you, everyone!
"I thought we were just playing for the love of them game". GAH. That made me wheeze.
Y'all, I've been gone for a minute basically because of what Erin talked about in the first part of this newsie. When you would customer-facing and your job is literally to answer peoples' never ending questions about the city you live in and where can they get a rental car and why are the streets numbered the way they are? It's exhausting and I find myself desiring silence more and more. Or at least the absence of having to talk to people. Listening to podcasts is fine LOL. I just don't have any room to form new thoughts anymore. My brain feels like at the end of thanksgiving when you're trying to shove down that last bite of pumpkin pie but you're actually not sure that you have room at all? That's my brain.
I won't go into everything happening (see: paragraph above), but I am wondering if anyone has any advice. I find myself in a season of grieving the idea of sisters-in-law that I had when I got engaged. One SIL basically doesn't talk to me, her husband (my husband's brother) has almost gone no contact with us. They have a six year old that we haven't seen since last January and an eight month old we've never met. My other SIL is fun and kind and we get along, but we're not very close. Not to be cocky, but I am normally really easy to get along with and I have a plethora of friends, so I don't feel like I haven't put forth the proper effort to build a relationship with them. Are my expectations too great? Has anyone else dealt with this?
I’m an only child so I always hoped I would marry someone with siblings and have SIL’s to hang out with. My husband has 1 brother who is 8 years younger than us and a real a-hole. I also don’t think he will ever get married because he’s so rude to literally everyone. I’m not close with any of my family and I’m worried that when my parents die I won’t have anyone left except my husband. So, not exactly what you’re talking about, but similar. It’s disappointing for sure.
My kids went back last week and just yesterday I thought “ok I feel like we’re past the initial craziness and I can breathe”…..then my 5th grader brought home alllllll the new extracurricular papers and I am now lost to the age of darkness. I’m so excited for her to have new opportunities but HOO BOY it’s parent taxi time 🫠
📚I’m slowly coming out of a reading slump and it feels really good to feel like my reader-ly self again! Currently listening to The Lost Queen by Signe Pike & very into it.
🌮Attempting to make homemade crunchwraps this weekend a la Half Baked Harvest https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-crunchwrap-supreme/ & hoping I love them as much as Taco Bell’s bc I would eat those every day if it was feasible.
Have a peaceful weekend, Swipes!
🏡 So, it's fairly common to have bars on some of your main floor windows here. The house I'm buying has been empty for a little bit and the owner had bars on all the windows, so it wouldn't pass the appraisal which my grant requires. One set of bars in each bedroom needed to come down so that I could jump out a window in a fire. Little Bro and I tried to take them down, bought some tools, tools didn't work. Tuesday my realtor sent two photos showing that the bars were down. She said nothing. I have no idea who or what has happened, but Suzanne is a queen and she got 👏it👏done👏.
🎤 We're going to the Jonas Brothers concert next Thursday and I'm so excited! The tour started last week, and we've been watching TikToks and getting hype. I've never been to a concert other than some Christian family day situations at Six Flags.
🍒 My ripe cherries needed to be used up last weekend, and I happened to find this recipe. It's incredible. I will be making it again this weekend. It's a great balance of sweet and savory with some nice depth of flavors. https://www.delishknowledge.com/whipped-ricotta-with-roasted-sweet-cherries/#tasty-recipes-37434-jump-target
🥱 August is just feeling like a slog. Summer reading and the frenzy and then waiting of the home buying process has been a lot. I go on vacation the 28th and cannot wait!
Thank goodness for the Suzanne’s of the world!!!!
PTL for Suzanne! Good realtors are incredible. Have so much fun at the JoBros! What an amazing first big concert!
Good realtors are AMAZING. The things they can do & get done astound me. Congrats on the house!
This post is always the best part of my Friday 🩷🩷
Thank you!! Reading is so hard 🤪
So excited to read Erin's newsletter and enjoy the comments before driving 7 hours from IL back to MN. This morning I have to pack my grandparents' bed (!!) into my small SUV plus other stuff from my mom's house (she just moved into assisted living), and PRAY that I can get everything tied down sufficiently to make the drive safely and with everything intact. I'll have to leave the hatch open a crack because the bed posts won't fit, so I'm watching YouTube videos and gearing up for the challenge. Hope you all have a glorious and safe weekend.
You got this, Sara!
Omg. Good luck!
Morning, Swipes!!!
Ughhhhh I hate August.
But, last week I got to spend four days with my BFF in Hilton Head, SC. We didn't plan anything. We just spent that time relaxing, hanging by the pool and beach, and got super sunburned. Like, I totally undid the past 2 years worth of skin care work by getting absolutely roasted, but I had fun doing it, sooooo......
It's Bama Rush time and as someone who went through Bama Rush in 2009, I just can't get enough. These videos are bringing back so many memories and I can't fathom being so vulnerable on social media like these girls are today. I didn't even have a smart phone when I went through rush. Have we thought about maybe not letting our kids have a smart phone until they finish high school?
Okay, that's it. Can't wait to catch up in the comments <3
Oh, and P.S. Bath and Body Works soaps are on sale today for $2.95, just in case you need some fall scented soap :)
That sounds like such a lovely vacation!
Your trip sounds wonderful!
Beautiful post, Erin. Thank you! Also, will you need help “stickering” the Twitter bird onto the soon-to-be “X” posts because I feel like we could get a Kickstarter going and just build something that does that automatically 😉😁😇
So I have been feeling that disconnected/overwhelmed feeling for like a year- and finally did something about it. I was talking to my doctor (asking for supplements for my brain because she is fried) and she suggested I get tested for ADHD. It was expensive and time consuming to be tested....but turns out, I've had it my whole life and figured out tons of coping strategies. It actually explained so much about what was hard for me as a kid/young adult. Well, my life has gotten complicated enough (mentally/physically/emotionally) that my strategies aren't working any more. I go Monday to figure out what we can do about it. I'm finally hopeful that maybe I can feel differently.
I know not everyone has ADHD (and some people think it's not real blah blah blah) but for real, even if it's not that, don't be afraid to ask for help!
My husband was diagnosed with ADHD at 38. This was life changing for us and our marriage. By educating ourselves we also learned more about our son, and advocated for him to get tested as well. Turns out he has both adhd and autism. Embracing our neurodiverse family 🩷
Got diagnosed at 35. Explained so much , wish I knew about in when I was 19 and all my coping mechanisms fell apart and spiralled into an anxious mess. But I survived that and so shall you. Meds have done wonders for me and timers. Jamie from the popcast is not wrong about ADD and timers.
My daughters didn't get diagnosed until 17 and 23, respectively, and I'm sure I have some version of ADD. Both of them had the same issue - got back with their invented hacks until life/school/work became too complex to manage. I'm piling up major life change on top of major life change myself, and am finding my coping strategies are failing me. So proud of you for seeking help, and praying that you land on a treatment that makes life more manageable.
I’m so proud you advocated for yourself, and that now with this diagnosis you will have some tools and resources to step beautifully (and boldly) into the next chapter of your life. Thank you for sharing your vulnerability and victory with us! Blessings.
I’m really looking forward to dis/entangle!
Ok following up to say, I have been looking forward to doing dis/entangle with the community for awhile since trying to go back and do it on my own when I joined Swipe Up+, but honestly right now life is chaotic and hard and I have not been focused much on my spiritual journey so I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea of starting it soon and actually keeping up but I think I really need it right now so I am glad for the timing! And yes I am an enneagram 8 so I did type this the first time and then changed it to my short comment and then decided to come back and share 🫠
I'm looking forward to it too!
Need those treasures this week for sure. Mine is I have signed up for craft classes a watercolor class this weekend and then a pottery class this fall and I’m so excited for both of them.
Ooh, a pottery class sounds amazing!
Oh my gosh, that sounds like so much fun! I hope you'll have the best time!