👋 Hello from Weird Limbo Land, where we are slowly dipping our toes into socially-distanced backyard hangs and slightly expanding quarantine bubbles. My parents came last week and it was so wonderful to just…look at other faces? If your state or area isn’t there yet, I’m so sorry. If your state or area has been there, but you’re not there, I get it. Our churches are beginning to reopen (with all kinds of regulations and restrictions like no congregational singing, making a reservation, and lots of masks), restaurants are beginning to seat customers at limited capacities, and we’re trying to figure out best practices for our own family. I know that looks different for different places and people all over, so I hope you’re able to figure that out without judgment or fear or frustration.
💔 Other than the pandemic (a sentence introductory I find myself saying a lot these days), it’s been another mixed bag of a week. I do have a few treasures, but I did want to point out just a few things relating to the murder of George Floyd this week in Minnesota. You can go to justiceforbigfloyd.com for ways to aid in the fight for justice for Mr. Floyd. And while it’s never the responsibility of a person of color to teach me how to not be racist towards them, or how to be a good person and ally, I am so grateful for the work of several teachers on this subject. Osheta Moore, Ekemini Uwan, Dr. Lucretia Berry, Lisa Sharon Harper, and Latasha Morrison are just a few. I urge you to follow these women, learn from what they give, and listen to what they say. Support their work (I’m super into courses right now and just signed up for Dr. Berry’s Brownicity community. One of the modules is called “Raising Anti-Racist Kids” and it looks great and it’s actually my first Lil Treasure), if you can. I thought something that Dr. Berry’s husband said the other day was incredibly prescient for white people: he talked about how he’s been married to Dr. Berry and they have three children together but he STILL finds racial bias within him. It’s okay for us to admit we have racial bias, we’re not perfect, but we want to do better. I hope you’ll give these women a follow and a listen.
On to the rest of the treasures!
🌟 Because you love me, I got this article about JOURNALISTS uncovering the plot of “Twinkle Towne”, the musical that briefly appears in High School Musical. I would like for Lin-Manuel to please begin the book for “Twinkle Towne.”
🌳 If you need a feelings purge, may I suggest this episode of On Being where Wendell Berry reads one of my favorite poems?
👑 I binged The Great on Hulu this week and while it is DECIDEDLY BAWDY, I loved it. I will watch, read, and listen to just about anything on any royals from anywhere, I really loved Elle Fanning and Phoebe Fox, and the COSTUMES! It’s definitely rated mature, so keep that in mind if that’s not your bag.
📚 I finished listening to The Book of Longings and I’m still processing it. I don’t do reviews often (because so many people are so much smarter than me), but I might break format and do a quick one soon.
🦖 This video of a dinosaur toy reading to a pack of puppies:
👠 Did I share this last week? I don’t even care. It’s my guiding star. I’ve watched it every day. I need to know everything about the entire group dynamic. Who are they? Who are they performing for? How do they know the words to “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease so well? I would like them as bonus dads. Show out, you big dreamers!
☀️ I mentioned on Instagram last night that I was going through Mama System’s Summer Survival Mini-Course because I need to NOT lose my salvation over these next months while we don’t have camps or normal summer activities like throwing a kid into a ball-pit in an air-conditioned room while 249 children scream as I mindlessly scroll TikTok and slurp a cookies and cream milkshake. ANYWAY, you know who I trust to give me advice on how to parent: the lady with ten kids who looks like she just got back from a solo vacation in Fiji. I trust Laura. I have paid Laura in the past to come and HELP ME with chore charts and mom mental space because I love experts and I want them to tell me what to do. I watched the course initially and then went back and worked through the modules. At first it seemed like a lot of work and it doesn’t feel like I have the space to get to it, but once I sat down, it was really just about making a block of time and knocking it out. And that small investment is going to save me time all summer, I can feel it. I love it so much, I want to give a registration away! All you have to do is comment on the thread today. You don’t have to even post anything about how much you need it or want it. I’ll choose one commenter, and if they don't want or need it, we’ll move on to the next random selected commenter. No extra entries for every response you post, and I’ll let you know by Monday. FULL DISCLAIMER: Laura sent me this for free, and I am an affiliate, which means I get a percentage if you buy her course using my code, but I hope y’all know by now I’m not trying to sell you on something that’s not fully beneficial to you because that’s just not the life I’m trying to lead. If you want it now, and think waiting is boring, you can use my code SUMMERMOON, which gives you $10 off the price.
Looking forward to seeing your lil treasures and can’t wait to hear about your week. My favorite internet day! Huzzah!
(This is me commenting. For the first time. Because I was today years old when I realized about the comment section AND there's a possible free course I need and will probably purchase if I don't win.)
Spicy take? I hate Grease. But, I can’t get enough of these guys singing to it. I need to be their BFF. I need to choreograph ALL. THE. SONGS with them!
I’ve just recently started digging into the threads here - why did I wait?! - because you all are delightful. After feeling my heart get heavier and heavier with every look at words on a screen, this is exactly what I needed. Wonderful people celebrating our every day lives even while we hurt, are confused, and a little bit scared. Thank you, Erin, and everyone here. ✌🏻 Simply the best.
Hey team! Lil Treasure to share — Taika Waititi is reading Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach on YouTube with a bunch of fun guest readers. My six year old is enjoying the story, I’m enjoying listening to Taika say words, all the words, with his glorious voice, and it’s free with a donation option for Partners in Health. Win/win/win!
Ohmygosh. Chores. Enter me. Yes please. Two more weeks of school and then? Then what will my people do? TheyRe taller than me so getting harder and harder to be the enforcer!!!
Friends, this past week was a doozy. Felt all kinds of weird, anxious, heartbroken and lost—for personal and larger reasons. I am so broken over the world and so often feel at a loss. All of your words, reflections and treasures are a balm.
This week had its treasures, too. Spending 5 days with my family and going to the beach was an exhale. I got to escape reality, which is always welcome (and a huge privilege).
I'm low on online treasures at the moment, but I'm lapping up all of y'all's like mad. I've been reading Jane Austen and I'm almost done with Emma, which I have loved!
Oh man, my one and only treasure this week is that today I found out my library is opening up on Monday! I have a VORACIOUS 7 yr old reader & we cheered like fools when I got the news. Her book list is already written & is full of series with 10+ books in them. I am going to crash their system with holds and I am thrilled!!!
Need this Book of Longings review STAT. Bought it. Want to read it. Think it will be incredible but I’m scared as a Christian that it will be irreverent?? Esp with the marriage piece? I can handle any number of people disagreeing with me and think it’s such a strong idea for a book, but I’m just nervous that it will feel disrespectful. Need you to guide me, plz.
Save me, mama systems. You’re my only hope. 😂 love you, love this, love that there is apparently a whole group of real live people over here just chatting it up!
I'm always down to win something but I'm sure someone else could use the Mama System's Survival - since my kids are grown and all. Please do not enter my name :).
I asked my library to buy Nothing to See Here months ago and I got the notification that it's in this week. It's the most satisfying feeling to check out a brand new, never-been-read book!
Also I haven't done much school with my kindergartener for the past month but now school is officially out and that guilty little "I should do school with him" niggle in the back of my mind is gone! 🎉
How did Sarah Bessey get in my house? I don’t even know her🙈😬 but I have seriously threatened to throw ALL my kids Legos over the years more than once. Which I guess means I’m not that serious. When they start fighting over the miniature gray block that they know belongs to them because it cane on their ninjago kit from two birthdays ago and also they made a trade for one random Lego piece for another random Lego piece 6 months ago so that proves that random Lego piece belongs to them. Dang. That really hit a nerve. I’m going to watch that puppy video again.
Erin-Update! I am getting that fine Target romper in the mail the DAY BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY. Nothing could be more perfect to celebrate 31 in quarantine. REJOICE.
We still have two more weeks of school, and I am definitely counting down the days. My youngest is great, but he needs me to be right by him the entire time helping and doing it with him. My middle schooler is the best student ever, but she relies on me to make a schedule for her every day and likes me to check in with her often and take her out on regular walks and regular dancing breaks. I’ve decided my high schooler is trying to kill me. The attitude coming from him is so intense and vial it makes me want to regularly act like a teenager right back at him. Not to mention that he hasn’t done a lick of school work in over a month and has decided he doesn’t care about graduating. WTF?!
On the flip side, my neighbor invited four ladies in our neighborhood over to sit in lawn chairs, and chat it up. After three hours, I felt so much more relaxed!
(First time commenter here, but I love this thread!) I watched those puppies on a loop for at least five minutes! DYING. I think Golden Retrievers are the most holy and right breed of dog on this earth, and Golden Retriever puppies are truly my undoing.
This week I finally wrapped up my first year of teaching (6th grade English). I still have things to grade and a classroom to organize a bit, but I'm DONE WITH EFFING ZOOM finally! Ironically, I ended our year with a goodbye zoom session with whichever kiddos chose to show up, and we played some trivia games together before saying goodbye. It was so good to see their awkward little faces! I'm been missing those weirdos like crazy since March 13; having to unexpectedly say goodbye to my students has truly been the most difficult part of Covid.
On another note, I thought I wasn't going to be able to go be a bridesmaid in my childhood best friend's wedding, but enough restrictions were lifted so I can go after all! I have to fly from MN to Boston, but I actually get to wear the expensive dress I bought and see my dear friend get married. YAY! The wedding's on June 6th, so I'm really hoping the bride and groom leave early enough so I can catch the Saturday Night Reconsidered PMG Live show when it plays live...is that terrible? Haha, I may be watching the replay early Sunday morning before catching the plane!
On another OTHER note, I finally got the guts to join Hope*Writers last week, and I'm loving it so far! Emily P. Freeman is basically the soft-spoken fairy godmother of my dreams.
A thousand thank you's for the Grease dads and the puppies with the dinosaur librarian!
It's been a busy week work-wise, so I don't have any online treasures to share. But I do have these:
*I'm alive! I went kayaking last weekend and ended up tipping over (for the first time) in the river. This was after five days of heavy rain, and N.C. has snakes. Lots of snakes. Cue Danielle FREAKING OUT. But my friend was amazing and it went as best case as a tip over could possibly go. Huzzah for life as a treasure!
*I went to my hairdresser last night and darn near cried when I left. He cut five inches off and between that and some color I feel a slight sense of normalcy.
*If any of you are local to Raleigh, NC I joined Ripe Revival and got my first grocery box delivery. It. Is. FANTASTIC. Local produce, dairy and meat delivered to my door for a reasonable proce. I didn't even have to put on a bra. TAKE MY MONEY!
*Now that restrictions have lifted my county is no longer sheltering in place. I'm still being muy careful, but a college friend is visiting next weekend. I've been trying to do all the productive things this week (you know, that I could have been doing this whole pandemic). My corona virus family stopped by to pick up something Monday while I was deep cleaning the guest bedroom. One of them stayed for TWO HOURS and helped me sort/clean/box up things for good will. It was amazing (and humbling). It's so much easier to put a clean bedskirt back on a box spring when there are extra hands! I'm so thankful, and still a bit in shock of how much we accomplished in such a short time.
Erin, does her Summer course help you plan out your day? I know that sounds like a ridiculous question but I’m an ADHD mama and seriously struggle with all things related to TIME and struggle how to plan anything and inherently hate routine but am probably the person who NEEDS it most haha! I have a 7 yr old and a two year old who is a challenge to put it lightly (not just normal 2 ur old stuff) so need a lot of help!
Weird limbo is right EHM. Those twitter videos. So great! Also, I would love to know who those guys are too! They win the internet!
So let's see. Treasures of the week....
I have a doctor's appointment today and it is by phone and I am over the moon excited about this because his office is 45 minutes away and I want to be like can we just keep doing this? haha! I love him because he is my rheumy and he has helped me so much but man I have spent so much time in his office and it is SO FAR AWAY. So these new life of phone/video Doctor's appointment is a thing I can get use to.
Last night my husband and I watched all of the available episodes of Tirdy Works. A show about sh!+. Y'all I laughed until I almost peed my pants. Mary the lady who came up the idea is a hoot. There is a lot of cursing but it is bleeped but it was just what I needed after this dumpster fire disaster cake of a week.
I know TikTok is bad but y'all the pet videos! I can't get over the hilarious pet videos! Thankfully most of them seem to have an Instagram so I just go follow there because Instagram is my happy place (well most of the time!)
We have had hail storms and tornado warnings three of the last four days. Do your know where I don’t want to be after eleven weeks of quarantine? Stuck in a tiny bathroom with my kids for hows at a time. And we lost huge branches off our beautiful oak trees. But the bright shining spot in the literal and figurative darkness was coming home, expecting to find my husband and a friend, who had generously offered to help, sawing down the fallen limbs and instead finding hours of work already done and stacked neatly on the curb. A youth minister and his summer interns saw the need and took care of it while we were gone. We go to a different church, of a different denomination, but it didn’t matter to them if or where we attend. It just made me so happy to see the Church being the Church! And it freed up my husband to go help someone else with their branches!
First treasure: my friend is having a backyard happy hour birthday party tomorrow (which has now likely moved to a carport party because Oregon is dumb and it's going to rain) and I get to see people I haven't seen in nearly three months. Also, as soon as the invite was sent out with a drink menu and BYOB option, a friend texted me and asked me to bring things to make her a drink. Making bomb cocktails is my hidden talent and it always brings me great joy to bring out bartender Sarah.
Second: I unexpectedly got a nice chunk of hazard pay added to my paycheck today (cue all the praise hands) and am currently shopping for a new mattress so I can dump my 15-year-old one when I move in three weeks. Should I put this extra money toward something more responsible? Yes. Do mattresses still cost more than this extra pay? Also yes. I may or may not follow through with actually purchasing one, but that's where my mind is right now and I'm going with it.
I'm focusing on these things because my type 9 brain prefers to avoid uncomfortable reality as much as possible and work has been extra rough this week with lots of clients leaving our shelter out of fear and lots of heavy emotions running through these ladies who have already experienced so much trauma in their lives. Yesterday right before I left work, another email was sent out with a million new protocols for our staff and guests, and if I hear one more person say that this is our "new normal" I may release the ugly inner 9 rage on someone unsuspecting.
So for now, I'm thanking the good Lord that it's Friday, I get to have happy hour with friends tomorrow, and I have some extra money to maybe do something fun with.
I've watched the parking lot Grease video at least 60 times and I can't stop, won't stop smiling and sharing it. I wish I was a better Twitter detective and could sleuth out the details we all need! Sweatshirt guy with his near-Carlton dance moves, and t-shirt guy with his flawless shoulder shimmy moves...this is what we need right now!
My state (Okla) has pretty much opened itself up with glee and little regard for caution, much to my chagrin. Luckily my favorite local and small businesses are proceeding much more cautiously and it makes me love them all the more! I got to experience a dream last week, which was a solo shopping hour in our local independent bookstore, which has been doing appointment-only shopping for the last couple of weeks. I went to the grocery store last night and found about 95% of shoppers were masked, but only about 30% understood the GIANT pink arrows taped on the floor at the end of each aisle. So we've got a ways to go here, people.
I started Trial by Media on Netflix this week and can't recommend it enough. I work in law so a bunch of equally nerdy co-workers got texts from me insisting they watch it.
My No-Discipline-Whatsoever-Quarantine-Eating-No-Exercise plan caught up with me yesterday at a routine doctor appointment. Grudingly, I started today an hour earlier than normal so I could get on my treadmill and followo that with 20 minutes of mindfulness with my neglected Headspace app. Adulting is so hard.
I've been reading this thread for a few months now, but haven't been a comments participant. I love this little community and decided today was the day to jump in to the chat! I'm single and childless and I hope there are at least a few others like me!
Dang it, Erin! The twitter videos were everything I didn't know I needed today. Some gems for me this week were books! Yes, I can love books again after this time period took away my attention span!! There I Am by Ruthie Lindsey made me feel like I sat down for an extended coffee date with a new best friend and Fierce, Free and Full of Fire by Jen Hatmaker is firing me up, which considering the title is I guess what she wanted all along (way to go, Jen!) Also (and always) Trader Joe's Mac and cheese.
P.S. Sometimes when I text Trader Joe's, I accidentally write "Trader Hoes" and I feel like my phone sees me and knows me. Trader Hoe for life.
Minnesota & just everything. the world feels so dark right now. Grateful for the resources Erin listed, and I also just ordered a book from this resource: https://bethebridge.com
Stealing the little turds line from Lily because it's PERFECT:
Turd #1: Our state is opening things county by county and I thought our county would be open by June 1 to have small gatherings, haircuts, etc and so we all had hope it now it looks like it's not going to happen but our governor hasn't said anything... June 1 is Monday! I need to know NOW if my hopes will be dashed. He's ghosting an entire county by not responding... (and in general, he's done a great job of leading our state through this... but I'm a little over it.)
Turd #2: ALSO congrats to my state - highest number of unemployment fraud, which includes me and my husband and literally everyone else we know. SO fun to deal with that.
Also in this world of reopening and phases just creates awkwardness... like daycares are opening and we're doing social distance walks but knowing what some people are comfortable with and some are not, is hard.
Treasure 1: You can shred chicken with a hand mixer! Why did I not know this? Perfect shredded chicken for tacos! My life is changed.
Thank you for all of the suggestions for working against racism - I followed all that I did not already follow. I have The 13th in my Netflix que at the recommendation of Karen Walrond. Looking forward to a weekend that may or may not include painting my hideously orange garage doors. And looking forward to All Things Reconsidered! If only I can figure out the launch show deets
Thank you for the fun treasures this week. The dads doing Grease made my day. I'm hoping to win the class. I've worked with Laura before and yesterday my kids all did their own laundry and I didn't have to and it was magical. I wanted to purchase her course but the husband just got a pay cut and layoffs are coming and we're getting mixed messages if his organization is safe so we're preparing. So I'm doing my part to try to limit spending but even if I don't win I'm going to use the coupon code you provided so thank you for that. And thank you again for dads lip syncing Grease. My heart has been very heavy this week and this helped for sure.
I rewatched Mindy Kaling's "Never Have I Ever" and I have no regrets. I watched it when it came out towards the beginning of quarantime and it was a nice escape from the craziness. My roommate had never seen it before so I convinced her that she needed to watch and that I would re-watch with her. It reminded me why I love To All the Boys and other teen flicks. Would love any other recommendations for shows or movies that are within the same vein. It's been the way that I've been stuffing my adult angst - basically replacing it with teen angst and although it may not be healthy and I need to learn how to sit in my emotions - it gives me a bit of a vacay from real life.
Another treasure is BREAKFAST NACHOS. My roommates and I did this last weekend and wow wow wow why haven't I made these before. You can put whatever you want on them but we did: refired beans, eggs, breakfast sausage, bacon, roasted potatoes, and cheese. I wouldn't change anything except for adding something fresh on top like pico or an avocado crema.
I did some digging on the Grease guys from a link in the Twitter thread. Apparently the video is from 2018 and keeps making the rounds. The guys are BFFs, Antwaan Taylor and Bobby Glorioso. I am now Facebook stalking to see what else I can find out!
THE GREASE DADS. I'd watch a whole compilation of every song from the movie. They are great. As soon as I figure out how to get it into my insta stories, I will. SO GOOD. 👵🏻
Treasures this week:
1) I discovered @blackcoffeewithwhitefriends on Insta and she is an absolute delight. I have SO much to learn about my own privilege. I wasn't sure where to start, so that was my first step. I joined her book club on Goodreads and get Ghost Boys, the first book, today!
I also watched 13th on Netflix and I am telling everyone about it that will listen.
2) Our area just made headlines! FOR THE WORST POSSIBLE REASON. We’re at the top of the NYT list for places where cases of COVID-19 are increasing rapidly. What an excellent reason to be noticed on a national scale. It's probably all the people waiting in line to get into Home Goods without masks on that I see when I grab my special coffee once (or twice!) a week. 🤭
3) We had our first life group meeting last night! First, thank you for your sweet encouragement last week! I survived! Since its summer + pandemic, we don't expect big groups but I was scared no one would show at all. We had two couples show up (so a total of 6 including us), but it was WONDERFUL! We were all kid-free, ate dinner together takeout-style and had our own space to spread out on the deck. I felt so rejuvenated! (Backstory: yesterday was the due date of my first pregnancy, four years ago. I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks so we never got to meet that baby but we never forget May 28.)
Two things that show me God’s faithfulness through it all: 1) my son (my rainbow baby) was born almost exactly ONE YEAR LATE. (5 days before). As you know, he turned three last week 2) we hosted our first marriage life group last night at our new home on the 13 acres that we bought on our first baby’s due date 4 years ago. We came full circle last night and it just brings happy tears to my eyes. We specifically designed a house that allows us to host life groups comfortably and I'm so glad we did! ❤️
My husband and I are talking and intentional sabbath today and the Austin weather is cooperating! I needed a win this week, and this feels like it. About to sign off and read and ACTUAL TURN THE PAGES BOOK! but couldn’t resist commenting because I read the lil swipes email while drinking coffee from a shop called SUMMERMOON!
Reading white Fragility. Reading it slowly to try to fully understand. It's so hard. It's hard to look at yourself and see prejudice and bias. I follow shaun king and he is a great resource as well.
Also. The grease singers. I love them and want to bake them bread.
My family believes that somewhere along the line we're related to Catherine the Great - she was minor nobility in Prussia who married WAY up - so I'm kind of interested in watching, but I'm not into bawdy much, so maybe I'll pass.
We live near a pretty decent-sized creek, and my kids are making it their pool for the summer. I am praising Jesus that that they're big enough that I don't have to go with them - they pick up some friends and come home three hours later. I always quiz them on what different grownups say to them because there's almost always someone concerned about their lack of supervision. But man, if my kids can grow up with memories of running around the neighborhood all summer and playing in the creek, I'm not going to get in their way. Plus? THREE HOURS. In the house all by myself.
Yeah, I’m gonna need that Mama systems class so I don’t lose it on the daily with my 3 kids under 5 😂 Erin, your lil treasures brings me life every week! Thank you!
secondly - https://www.instagram.com/p/B-4bCABB8SO/ this ADORABLE otter comic in general has brought my great delight. but this *specific* installment made me laugh so hard, but maybe just because its totally in character with The Boy.
Thirdly - I am about to have my OWN solo apartment for the first time in my 29 years and I amd STOKED BEYOND MEASURE. Ikea got a lot of money from me yesterday. Also my new place has LOTS OF BOOKSHELVES.
Fourthly - the Boy is ever a gem. ya know. in case you were wondering.
We got to play with friends yesterday, and it was EVERYTHING. Also, I think my introvert-ometer has adjusted to quarantine, because two hours with my friend and I was SPENT.
I made banana pudding this week, apparently for the first time since having kids? 2/3 loved it so I’m sure it will be in heavy rotation along with BLTs because I am over food that has to be cooked.
🙋🏻♀️is this how you sign up for to maybe get the Mama System’s? This is me signing up. We are at DEFCON 12 over here. I am preparing to go down with the ship. Mayday mayday, someone please bail us out.
(This is me commenting. For the first time. Because I was today years old when I realized about the comment section AND there's a possible free course I need and will probably purchase if I don't win.)
Enjoyed this week. Mamasystems sounds intriguing!
Spicy take? I hate Grease. But, I can’t get enough of these guys singing to it. I need to be their BFF. I need to choreograph ALL. THE. SONGS with them!
I’ve just recently started digging into the threads here - why did I wait?! - because you all are delightful. After feeling my heart get heavier and heavier with every look at words on a screen, this is exactly what I needed. Wonderful people celebrating our every day lives even while we hurt, are confused, and a little bit scared. Thank you, Erin, and everyone here. ✌🏻 Simply the best.
Hey team! Lil Treasure to share — Taika Waititi is reading Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach on YouTube with a bunch of fun guest readers. My six year old is enjoying the story, I’m enjoying listening to Taika say words, all the words, with his glorious voice, and it’s free with a donation option for Partners in Health. Win/win/win!
Ohmygosh. Chores. Enter me. Yes please. Two more weeks of school and then? Then what will my people do? TheyRe taller than me so getting harder and harder to be the enforcer!!!
Friends, this past week was a doozy. Felt all kinds of weird, anxious, heartbroken and lost—for personal and larger reasons. I am so broken over the world and so often feel at a loss. All of your words, reflections and treasures are a balm.
This week had its treasures, too. Spending 5 days with my family and going to the beach was an exhale. I got to escape reality, which is always welcome (and a huge privilege).
I'm low on online treasures at the moment, but I'm lapping up all of y'all's like mad. I've been reading Jane Austen and I'm almost done with Emma, which I have loved!
Oh man, my one and only treasure this week is that today I found out my library is opening up on Monday! I have a VORACIOUS 7 yr old reader & we cheered like fools when I got the news. Her book list is already written & is full of series with 10+ books in them. I am going to crash their system with holds and I am thrilled!!!
After watching the puppy video, I think I just need to go hold puppies.
Need this Book of Longings review STAT. Bought it. Want to read it. Think it will be incredible but I’m scared as a Christian that it will be irreverent?? Esp with the marriage piece? I can handle any number of people disagreeing with me and think it’s such a strong idea for a book, but I’m just nervous that it will feel disrespectful. Need you to guide me, plz.
Save me, mama systems. You’re my only hope. 😂 love you, love this, love that there is apparently a whole group of real live people over here just chatting it up!
I'm always down to win something but I'm sure someone else could use the Mama System's Survival - since my kids are grown and all. Please do not enter my name :).
Huzzah! I started saying that the more I watched The Great - your assessment was spot on! And the costumes - wow!
I LOVE all of this. ALL OF IT. Thanks and carry on!
I asked my library to buy Nothing to See Here months ago and I got the notification that it's in this week. It's the most satisfying feeling to check out a brand new, never-been-read book!
Also I haven't done much school with my kindergartener for the past month but now school is officially out and that guilty little "I should do school with him" niggle in the back of my mind is gone! 🎉
How did Sarah Bessey get in my house? I don’t even know her🙈😬 but I have seriously threatened to throw ALL my kids Legos over the years more than once. Which I guess means I’m not that serious. When they start fighting over the miniature gray block that they know belongs to them because it cane on their ninjago kit from two birthdays ago and also they made a trade for one random Lego piece for another random Lego piece 6 months ago so that proves that random Lego piece belongs to them. Dang. That really hit a nerve. I’m going to watch that puppy video again.
Erin-Update! I am getting that fine Target romper in the mail the DAY BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY. Nothing could be more perfect to celebrate 31 in quarantine. REJOICE.
We still have two more weeks of school, and I am definitely counting down the days. My youngest is great, but he needs me to be right by him the entire time helping and doing it with him. My middle schooler is the best student ever, but she relies on me to make a schedule for her every day and likes me to check in with her often and take her out on regular walks and regular dancing breaks. I’ve decided my high schooler is trying to kill me. The attitude coming from him is so intense and vial it makes me want to regularly act like a teenager right back at him. Not to mention that he hasn’t done a lick of school work in over a month and has decided he doesn’t care about graduating. WTF?!
On the flip side, my neighbor invited four ladies in our neighborhood over to sit in lawn chairs, and chat it up. After three hours, I felt so much more relaxed!
(First time commenter here, but I love this thread!) I watched those puppies on a loop for at least five minutes! DYING. I think Golden Retrievers are the most holy and right breed of dog on this earth, and Golden Retriever puppies are truly my undoing.
This week I finally wrapped up my first year of teaching (6th grade English). I still have things to grade and a classroom to organize a bit, but I'm DONE WITH EFFING ZOOM finally! Ironically, I ended our year with a goodbye zoom session with whichever kiddos chose to show up, and we played some trivia games together before saying goodbye. It was so good to see their awkward little faces! I'm been missing those weirdos like crazy since March 13; having to unexpectedly say goodbye to my students has truly been the most difficult part of Covid.
On another note, I thought I wasn't going to be able to go be a bridesmaid in my childhood best friend's wedding, but enough restrictions were lifted so I can go after all! I have to fly from MN to Boston, but I actually get to wear the expensive dress I bought and see my dear friend get married. YAY! The wedding's on June 6th, so I'm really hoping the bride and groom leave early enough so I can catch the Saturday Night Reconsidered PMG Live show when it plays live...is that terrible? Haha, I may be watching the replay early Sunday morning before catching the plane!
On another OTHER note, I finally got the guts to join Hope*Writers last week, and I'm loving it so far! Emily P. Freeman is basically the soft-spoken fairy godmother of my dreams.
A thousand thank you's for the Grease dads and the puppies with the dinosaur librarian!
It's been a busy week work-wise, so I don't have any online treasures to share. But I do have these:
*I'm alive! I went kayaking last weekend and ended up tipping over (for the first time) in the river. This was after five days of heavy rain, and N.C. has snakes. Lots of snakes. Cue Danielle FREAKING OUT. But my friend was amazing and it went as best case as a tip over could possibly go. Huzzah for life as a treasure!
*I went to my hairdresser last night and darn near cried when I left. He cut five inches off and between that and some color I feel a slight sense of normalcy.
*If any of you are local to Raleigh, NC I joined Ripe Revival and got my first grocery box delivery. It. Is. FANTASTIC. Local produce, dairy and meat delivered to my door for a reasonable proce. I didn't even have to put on a bra. TAKE MY MONEY!
*Now that restrictions have lifted my county is no longer sheltering in place. I'm still being muy careful, but a college friend is visiting next weekend. I've been trying to do all the productive things this week (you know, that I could have been doing this whole pandemic). My corona virus family stopped by to pick up something Monday while I was deep cleaning the guest bedroom. One of them stayed for TWO HOURS and helped me sort/clean/box up things for good will. It was amazing (and humbling). It's so much easier to put a clean bedskirt back on a box spring when there are extra hands! I'm so thankful, and still a bit in shock of how much we accomplished in such a short time.
Huzzah!! Loved The Great times one freaking million.
Need it. Want it.
Erin, does her Summer course help you plan out your day? I know that sounds like a ridiculous question but I’m an ADHD mama and seriously struggle with all things related to TIME and struggle how to plan anything and inherently hate routine but am probably the person who NEEDS it most haha! I have a 7 yr old and a two year old who is a challenge to put it lightly (not just normal 2 ur old stuff) so need a lot of help!
Weird limbo is right EHM. Those twitter videos. So great! Also, I would love to know who those guys are too! They win the internet!
So let's see. Treasures of the week....
I have a doctor's appointment today and it is by phone and I am over the moon excited about this because his office is 45 minutes away and I want to be like can we just keep doing this? haha! I love him because he is my rheumy and he has helped me so much but man I have spent so much time in his office and it is SO FAR AWAY. So these new life of phone/video Doctor's appointment is a thing I can get use to.
Last night my husband and I watched all of the available episodes of Tirdy Works. A show about sh!+. Y'all I laughed until I almost peed my pants. Mary the lady who came up the idea is a hoot. There is a lot of cursing but it is bleeped but it was just what I needed after this dumpster fire disaster cake of a week.
I know TikTok is bad but y'all the pet videos! I can't get over the hilarious pet videos! Thankfully most of them seem to have an Instagram so I just go follow there because Instagram is my happy place (well most of the time!)
Also, I am thankful to be able to lean into some very wise people this week in light of the George Floyd news and I am sharing a google document Carlos Whittaker shared if you want to learn more about how to be a better bridge builder and just about how to be a better human. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/preview?pru=AAABcoWkZq0*ViF5YK6UqXSn_Em3nZdkxA
Long time Lil Swipe first comment. It’s much harder to comment than I expected!! But I think I did it!!
Thank you to Erin and all of you wonderful Lil Swipes for making this crazy time a little easier to get through!
We have had hail storms and tornado warnings three of the last four days. Do your know where I don’t want to be after eleven weeks of quarantine? Stuck in a tiny bathroom with my kids for hows at a time. And we lost huge branches off our beautiful oak trees. But the bright shining spot in the literal and figurative darkness was coming home, expecting to find my husband and a friend, who had generously offered to help, sawing down the fallen limbs and instead finding hours of work already done and stacked neatly on the curb. A youth minister and his summer interns saw the need and took care of it while we were gone. We go to a different church, of a different denomination, but it didn’t matter to them if or where we attend. It just made me so happy to see the Church being the Church! And it freed up my husband to go help someone else with their branches!
love all of this, as always! Thank you!
First treasure: my friend is having a backyard happy hour birthday party tomorrow (which has now likely moved to a carport party because Oregon is dumb and it's going to rain) and I get to see people I haven't seen in nearly three months. Also, as soon as the invite was sent out with a drink menu and BYOB option, a friend texted me and asked me to bring things to make her a drink. Making bomb cocktails is my hidden talent and it always brings me great joy to bring out bartender Sarah.
Second: I unexpectedly got a nice chunk of hazard pay added to my paycheck today (cue all the praise hands) and am currently shopping for a new mattress so I can dump my 15-year-old one when I move in three weeks. Should I put this extra money toward something more responsible? Yes. Do mattresses still cost more than this extra pay? Also yes. I may or may not follow through with actually purchasing one, but that's where my mind is right now and I'm going with it.
I'm focusing on these things because my type 9 brain prefers to avoid uncomfortable reality as much as possible and work has been extra rough this week with lots of clients leaving our shelter out of fear and lots of heavy emotions running through these ladies who have already experienced so much trauma in their lives. Yesterday right before I left work, another email was sent out with a million new protocols for our staff and guests, and if I hear one more person say that this is our "new normal" I may release the ugly inner 9 rage on someone unsuspecting.
So for now, I'm thanking the good Lord that it's Friday, I get to have happy hour with friends tomorrow, and I have some extra money to maybe do something fun with.
That Grease video will get me through the last 4 days of school. 🙌🏻
I want that Mama System system.
I've watched the parking lot Grease video at least 60 times and I can't stop, won't stop smiling and sharing it. I wish I was a better Twitter detective and could sleuth out the details we all need! Sweatshirt guy with his near-Carlton dance moves, and t-shirt guy with his flawless shoulder shimmy moves...this is what we need right now!
My state (Okla) has pretty much opened itself up with glee and little regard for caution, much to my chagrin. Luckily my favorite local and small businesses are proceeding much more cautiously and it makes me love them all the more! I got to experience a dream last week, which was a solo shopping hour in our local independent bookstore, which has been doing appointment-only shopping for the last couple of weeks. I went to the grocery store last night and found about 95% of shoppers were masked, but only about 30% understood the GIANT pink arrows taped on the floor at the end of each aisle. So we've got a ways to go here, people.
I started Trial by Media on Netflix this week and can't recommend it enough. I work in law so a bunch of equally nerdy co-workers got texts from me insisting they watch it.
My No-Discipline-Whatsoever-Quarantine-Eating-No-Exercise plan caught up with me yesterday at a routine doctor appointment. Grudingly, I started today an hour earlier than normal so I could get on my treadmill and followo that with 20 minutes of mindfulness with my neglected Headspace app. Adulting is so hard.
I've been reading this thread for a few months now, but haven't been a comments participant. I love this little community and decided today was the day to jump in to the chat! I'm single and childless and I hope there are at least a few others like me!
Dang it, Erin! The twitter videos were everything I didn't know I needed today. Some gems for me this week were books! Yes, I can love books again after this time period took away my attention span!! There I Am by Ruthie Lindsey made me feel like I sat down for an extended coffee date with a new best friend and Fierce, Free and Full of Fire by Jen Hatmaker is firing me up, which considering the title is I guess what she wanted all along (way to go, Jen!) Also (and always) Trader Joe's Mac and cheese.
P.S. Sometimes when I text Trader Joe's, I accidentally write "Trader Hoes" and I feel like my phone sees me and knows me. Trader Hoe for life.
Minnesota & just everything. the world feels so dark right now. Grateful for the resources Erin listed, and I also just ordered a book from this resource: https://bethebridge.com
Stealing the little turds line from Lily because it's PERFECT:
Turd #1: Our state is opening things county by county and I thought our county would be open by June 1 to have small gatherings, haircuts, etc and so we all had hope it now it looks like it's not going to happen but our governor hasn't said anything... June 1 is Monday! I need to know NOW if my hopes will be dashed. He's ghosting an entire county by not responding... (and in general, he's done a great job of leading our state through this... but I'm a little over it.)
Turd #2: ALSO congrats to my state - highest number of unemployment fraud, which includes me and my husband and literally everyone else we know. SO fun to deal with that.
Also in this world of reopening and phases just creates awkwardness... like daycares are opening and we're doing social distance walks but knowing what some people are comfortable with and some are not, is hard.
Treasure 1: You can shred chicken with a hand mixer! Why did I not know this? Perfect shredded chicken for tacos! My life is changed.
Treasure #2: I had a ton of carrots from my produce box and made these muffins- which are delicious: https://prettysimplesweet.com/carrot-muffins/
annnnd that's the limit to my treasures... ha.
Thank you for all of the suggestions for working against racism - I followed all that I did not already follow. I have The 13th in my Netflix que at the recommendation of Karen Walrond. Looking forward to a weekend that may or may not include painting my hideously orange garage doors. And looking forward to All Things Reconsidered! If only I can figure out the launch show deets
Thank you for the fun treasures this week. The dads doing Grease made my day. I'm hoping to win the class. I've worked with Laura before and yesterday my kids all did their own laundry and I didn't have to and it was magical. I wanted to purchase her course but the husband just got a pay cut and layoffs are coming and we're getting mixed messages if his organization is safe so we're preparing. So I'm doing my part to try to limit spending but even if I don't win I'm going to use the coupon code you provided so thank you for that. And thank you again for dads lip syncing Grease. My heart has been very heavy this week and this helped for sure.
Pick ME. Choose ME. Love ME.
I rewatched Mindy Kaling's "Never Have I Ever" and I have no regrets. I watched it when it came out towards the beginning of quarantime and it was a nice escape from the craziness. My roommate had never seen it before so I convinced her that she needed to watch and that I would re-watch with her. It reminded me why I love To All the Boys and other teen flicks. Would love any other recommendations for shows or movies that are within the same vein. It's been the way that I've been stuffing my adult angst - basically replacing it with teen angst and although it may not be healthy and I need to learn how to sit in my emotions - it gives me a bit of a vacay from real life.
Another treasure is BREAKFAST NACHOS. My roommates and I did this last weekend and wow wow wow why haven't I made these before. You can put whatever you want on them but we did: refired beans, eggs, breakfast sausage, bacon, roasted potatoes, and cheese. I wouldn't change anything except for adding something fresh on top like pico or an avocado crema.
I did some digging on the Grease guys from a link in the Twitter thread. Apparently the video is from 2018 and keeps making the rounds. The guys are BFFs, Antwaan Taylor and Bobby Glorioso. I am now Facebook stalking to see what else I can find out!
THE GREASE DADS. I'd watch a whole compilation of every song from the movie. They are great. As soon as I figure out how to get it into my insta stories, I will. SO GOOD. 👵🏻
Treasures this week:
1) I discovered @blackcoffeewithwhitefriends on Insta and she is an absolute delight. I have SO much to learn about my own privilege. I wasn't sure where to start, so that was my first step. I joined her book club on Goodreads and get Ghost Boys, the first book, today!
I also watched 13th on Netflix and I am telling everyone about it that will listen.
2) Our area just made headlines! FOR THE WORST POSSIBLE REASON. We’re at the top of the NYT list for places where cases of COVID-19 are increasing rapidly. What an excellent reason to be noticed on a national scale. It's probably all the people waiting in line to get into Home Goods without masks on that I see when I grab my special coffee once (or twice!) a week. 🤭
3) We had our first life group meeting last night! First, thank you for your sweet encouragement last week! I survived! Since its summer + pandemic, we don't expect big groups but I was scared no one would show at all. We had two couples show up (so a total of 6 including us), but it was WONDERFUL! We were all kid-free, ate dinner together takeout-style and had our own space to spread out on the deck. I felt so rejuvenated! (Backstory: yesterday was the due date of my first pregnancy, four years ago. I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks so we never got to meet that baby but we never forget May 28.)
Two things that show me God’s faithfulness through it all: 1) my son (my rainbow baby) was born almost exactly ONE YEAR LATE. (5 days before). As you know, he turned three last week 2) we hosted our first marriage life group last night at our new home on the 13 acres that we bought on our first baby’s due date 4 years ago. We came full circle last night and it just brings happy tears to my eyes. We specifically designed a house that allows us to host life groups comfortably and I'm so glad we did! ❤️
My husband and I are talking and intentional sabbath today and the Austin weather is cooperating! I needed a win this week, and this feels like it. About to sign off and read and ACTUAL TURN THE PAGES BOOK! but couldn’t resist commenting because I read the lil swipes email while drinking coffee from a shop called SUMMERMOON!
A high school classmate of mine was an expert on Pawn Stars. Way to go Fr. Josh! He is not on social media, so we haven’t seen him for some time.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=a7zi0BsfH5k
Reading white Fragility. Reading it slowly to try to fully understand. It's so hard. It's hard to look at yourself and see prejudice and bias. I follow shaun king and he is a great resource as well.
Also. The grease singers. I love them and want to bake them bread.
My family believes that somewhere along the line we're related to Catherine the Great - she was minor nobility in Prussia who married WAY up - so I'm kind of interested in watching, but I'm not into bawdy much, so maybe I'll pass.
We live near a pretty decent-sized creek, and my kids are making it their pool for the summer. I am praising Jesus that that they're big enough that I don't have to go with them - they pick up some friends and come home three hours later. I always quiz them on what different grownups say to them because there's almost always someone concerned about their lack of supervision. But man, if my kids can grow up with memories of running around the neighborhood all summer and playing in the creek, I'm not going to get in their way. Plus? THREE HOURS. In the house all by myself.
Yeah, I’m gonna need that Mama systems class so I don’t lose it on the daily with my 3 kids under 5 😂 Erin, your lil treasures brings me life every week! Thank you!
Your last gif reminded me I need to follow all things Merritt Wever. Her show Run on HBO is a perfect 30 min pleasure on a Sunday night
good morning y'all!
I MADE A LIST as I went this week to share with y'all.
first off - The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is one of my favorite places in the world, and I would have been back there in Amherst MA earlier this month if not for Stupid Covid. This virtural exhibit of Art in Place (co-curated by *the* Mo Willems, if that matters to you) was a true treasure. (is my children's librarian showing yet?) https://sway.office.com/4gm5EH94jhEswJ7z?ref=Link&utm_source=AIP+General&utm_campaign=2020_general_Art_in_Place&utm_medium=email&fbclid=IwAR1zrMUbVgYTp7vpdjLlFkhjTsftgV1ns7V-EqCDb0I1WQt6KBwqiKGKVcU
secondly - https://www.instagram.com/p/B-4bCABB8SO/ this ADORABLE otter comic in general has brought my great delight. but this *specific* installment made me laugh so hard, but maybe just because its totally in character with The Boy.
Thirdly - I am about to have my OWN solo apartment for the first time in my 29 years and I amd STOKED BEYOND MEASURE. Ikea got a lot of money from me yesterday. Also my new place has LOTS OF BOOKSHELVES.
Fourthly - the Boy is ever a gem. ya know. in case you were wondering.
We got to play with friends yesterday, and it was EVERYTHING. Also, I think my introvert-ometer has adjusted to quarantine, because two hours with my friend and I was SPENT.
I made banana pudding this week, apparently for the first time since having kids? 2/3 loved it so I’m sure it will be in heavy rotation along with BLTs because I am over food that has to be cooked.
My first comment. Help. What have I gotten myself into?
🙋🏻♀️is this how you sign up for to maybe get the Mama System’s? This is me signing up. We are at DEFCON 12 over here. I am preparing to go down with the ship. Mayday mayday, someone please bail us out.