I was blessed with a visit in October, the month of my birth, from my bestie of 20+ years. We'd never met In Person before this. We met in an AOL chat room back in the day, conversing about parental adventures. Over time, we went from two names on a screen among many to LOLing on IMs, to sending quickie emails back and forth, trying not to get sucked in to all the falderall that all internet communities endure periodically.
13 December 2019
Stream of Nonsense
We made it through the Summer without melting in to puddles, but it was a challenging Season
Vehicle was repaired locally and covered fully by insurance + we got our deductible back! I do know how to work "with" the system of good ole boys, much as I hate it, and at least break even. Standing firm on what really matters - not writing off vehicle for body shop profit - and remaining icy calm in the face of comments meant to trigger your emotions so they can write You off is easier than back in the day....
Following the vehicle adventure, we had leaky pipes in the kitchen and A/C went out during the hottest week of the summer and it took 3 days for guy to get here but it was an easy fix so we did not die, only thought we might. Thank God we can afford home insurance that covered all this! Between the washer and refrigerator repairs earlier this year and the Summer adventures, it has more than paid for itself!
A former co-worker started his own biz and so I took on a second job helping him get it off the ground -- more about this later.
Vehicle was repaired locally and covered fully by insurance + we got our deductible back! I do know how to work "with" the system of good ole boys, much as I hate it, and at least break even. Standing firm on what really matters - not writing off vehicle for body shop profit - and remaining icy calm in the face of comments meant to trigger your emotions so they can write You off is easier than back in the day....
Following the vehicle adventure, we had leaky pipes in the kitchen and A/C went out during the hottest week of the summer and it took 3 days for guy to get here but it was an easy fix so we did not die, only thought we might. Thank God we can afford home insurance that covered all this! Between the washer and refrigerator repairs earlier this year and the Summer adventures, it has more than paid for itself!
A former co-worker started his own biz and so I took on a second job helping him get it off the ground -- more about this later.
11 August 2019
No One Was Injured but our Wounded Vehicle
Let me repeat that right off: Everyone is fine, no one was injured
On Monday night, about 9:30, after picking up worker bees we had to stop at Wal-Mart and as we left, a drunk driver doing about 60 ran a red light and plowed thru our front bumper and tore off a fender and knocked the car in to Neutral. I saw him coming as I moved in to the intersection, stamped the brakes and turned as far to the left as possible and kept my feet on the brakes so we weren't drug along to become a vehicle slamming in to other vehicles. Truck behind us did Not hit us and pulled to the left, car behind him pulled to the right so no one else was in the intersection. At the red light coming the other way the car pulled into a shoulder assuming the car would swerve, it didn't. Damn drunk didn't even hit his brakes till a quarter mile down the road.
On Monday night, about 9:30, after picking up worker bees we had to stop at Wal-Mart and as we left, a drunk driver doing about 60 ran a red light and plowed thru our front bumper and tore off a fender and knocked the car in to Neutral. I saw him coming as I moved in to the intersection, stamped the brakes and turned as far to the left as possible and kept my feet on the brakes so we weren't drug along to become a vehicle slamming in to other vehicles. Truck behind us did Not hit us and pulled to the left, car behind him pulled to the right so no one else was in the intersection. At the red light coming the other way the car pulled into a shoulder assuming the car would swerve, it didn't. Damn drunk didn't even hit his brakes till a quarter mile down the road.
11 June 2019
MiGawd There Really Are Coloring Police
I'm heart sick over a violation of trust and online bullying.
An Instagram Post attacked a woman's livelihood and was twisted to insist she is as an enemy of the suffering. Nothing I say, or write, or share is going to comfort Christine. Not one person is going to be persuaded to stop and think an opinion about facts is not hate, is not mocking, is not biting the hand, is not pissing on people or community, and that in context of how to expand a channel is quite true.
Within a Group of Friends, most chats are basically the same content among the chatters. Those outside the circle of friends are welcomed IF they conform to the standard of acceptable behavior for The Group. To bring in more people requires a change in the standard flow of chat. Part of that is the number of people chatting, part of that is new people bring new things to a chat. Content, not the chat, expand channels. Acknowledging this isn't a sin, or even especially profound.
It certainly is not cruel stones tossed at those suffering physically, emotionally or mentally and using coloring [and chatting] to cope. It isn't an attack on sparkle or pink or unicorns. It is a fact chat gets in to a rut now and then, gee that's just like in Real Life!
An Instagram Post attacked a woman's livelihood and was twisted to insist she is as an enemy of the suffering. Nothing I say, or write, or share is going to comfort Christine. Not one person is going to be persuaded to stop and think an opinion about facts is not hate, is not mocking, is not biting the hand, is not pissing on people or community, and that in context of how to expand a channel is quite true.
Within a Group of Friends, most chats are basically the same content among the chatters. Those outside the circle of friends are welcomed IF they conform to the standard of acceptable behavior for The Group. To bring in more people requires a change in the standard flow of chat. Part of that is the number of people chatting, part of that is new people bring new things to a chat. Content, not the chat, expand channels. Acknowledging this isn't a sin, or even especially profound.
It certainly is not cruel stones tossed at those suffering physically, emotionally or mentally and using coloring [and chatting] to cope. It isn't an attack on sparkle or pink or unicorns. It is a fact chat gets in to a rut now and then, gee that's just like in Real Life!
31 May 2019
Thumbs
I frequently lurk in you tube livestreams during the working day; one of those low maintenance "watch minutes" people that faithfully thumbs up as I enter. I've been doing this for well over four months now, chatting when I can, lurking when I must. Even so, from a viewer's perspective, I have some thoughts on those all mighty thumbs, if you're interested....
19 May 2019
The Best Nest
Spent last week working in the yard, repotting plants, and generally trying to squeeze more hours in to the day than the clock allows. Saturday was the day we put all the pieces together and cleared out some junk under one of the awnings so our hanging laundry has more airflow and our English ivy more encouragement to climb up the lattice instead of around bits and pieces of life. Our faithful trestle table that served us so well through all the growing up years has finally been put to the street. It's time to let her go before she comes apart and squishes a cat. Second son trimmed back, shaped up and raked, swept and did it all again after a gully washer came through. He also re-arranged my flock of flamingos in a lovely spiral around the bird bath. It is totally spiffy!
08 May 2019
On Comparing Apples and Turnips
I did an impromptu inventory of my coloring books, art supplies and such over the weekend. To color and use everything I have in my possession right now would take me at least 10+ years of "doing art" 10.5 hours/ day and I'd still have enough bits and bobs left over to fill two shelves. Yeah, I did the math. I'm a nerdy girl with geeky tendencies.
I am disgusted with myself. Truly!
I started this journey some time ago, oblivious to the larger coloring world. I had some specific goals, a love of art I'd never had time to explore, and a wacky schedule that dictates anything I do be "pick up and put down and pick up again." Turning my journey in to an exercise in frustration would not happen if I kept reality in mind when planning my projects.
02 May 2019
Reality is only just a word
Air conditioning is back on in my neck of the universe. Between the pollen and the temperatures, it's a Blessing to have. Because it's expensive to run central air, we don't push temp below 77 and have many fans running to augment and facilitate air flow. This constant background noise takes my brain time to not perceive as "something's happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear...." It takes about ten days for my sleep patterns to settle back down so I don't jerk awake every couple hours thinking a baby is crying, or giant dust bunnies are attacking our town, or the washer is exploding with all the lost socks spewing forth creating a hole in the roof and a twisted vortex of sock tornado right over our house ... or whatever goofy thing my subconscious was thinking about when I drifted back off to sleep.
25 April 2019
Life is just stinky sometimes
There are times life is just stinky. You can't plan for it, can't do much but ride it out and maintain your sense of humor, can't get through it one step faster than the ticking of the clock allows. Frequently, these times involve work. You crash in to the wall of some power struggle that has absolutely nothing to do with you, or redevelopment, or another jargon type phrase that minimizes people to statistics or an equation that not only doesn't add up, it simply can't compute.
My Eldest Son is enduring such a season. It sucks. As his mother, I still want to have a magic wand to fix everything, though I've never quite managed to find the wand OR the mother instruction manual that should come with all babies. Instead, I'm reduced to blathering platitudes and encouragement at him, neither of which he believes or really wants to hear right now. Totally get that. I don't want those things either.
We know we are so much more than what we do to pay the bills. A job does not define our soul. But when you've put so much of yourself in to a job to meet the expectations and arbitrary goals and suddenly get hit with a kick in the personal area, it feels like life has been slurped right out of you. When others not only enjoy your pain but gloat over it, intentionally humiliating you before co-workers, it grinds away at your sense of self.
And yet, he stood tall, finished his shift with the same attention to detail, and when his immediate supervisor promised all would be well, he laughed knowing it for the lie it is. He came home in a subdued state of being, talked with me a bit, vented some, ate a decent meal and went to bed at a reasonable hour. None of that is as easy to do as it sounds. I've never been prouder of him than I am right now.
How we face the bull sheit life flings at us, the integrity we maintain during those seasons, IS the definition of who we are. I hammered at my sons that a man - a genuine man - uses his strength to help others. They both got that message loud and clear. They also use that same strength to help themselves, to get through the stinky and sheitty and just plain kick in the personal area days.
There were many people that insisted a single mom could not raise six children "alone." They were certainly right. Fortunately, I didn't have to do it alone. I had God to kick my essentially lazy butt out of bed and to keep me moving when I wanted to hide under the house and to provide energy I know I never had, or will have again.
My Eldest Son and Eldest Daughter tapped in to that early and continue to amaze me, daily, with their determination and tenacity that not only endures, but thrives and carries on even in less than ideal circumstances. The other children have observed and learned the path is often rocky and pitted but they'll get along just fine if they put one foot in front of the other. Some days it feels harder than others, but in truth, those are the days we Prove who we are, inside, where it counts.
My Eldest Son is enduring such a season. It sucks. As his mother, I still want to have a magic wand to fix everything, though I've never quite managed to find the wand OR the mother instruction manual that should come with all babies. Instead, I'm reduced to blathering platitudes and encouragement at him, neither of which he believes or really wants to hear right now. Totally get that. I don't want those things either.
We know we are so much more than what we do to pay the bills. A job does not define our soul. But when you've put so much of yourself in to a job to meet the expectations and arbitrary goals and suddenly get hit with a kick in the personal area, it feels like life has been slurped right out of you. When others not only enjoy your pain but gloat over it, intentionally humiliating you before co-workers, it grinds away at your sense of self.
And yet, he stood tall, finished his shift with the same attention to detail, and when his immediate supervisor promised all would be well, he laughed knowing it for the lie it is. He came home in a subdued state of being, talked with me a bit, vented some, ate a decent meal and went to bed at a reasonable hour. None of that is as easy to do as it sounds. I've never been prouder of him than I am right now.
How we face the bull sheit life flings at us, the integrity we maintain during those seasons, IS the definition of who we are. I hammered at my sons that a man - a genuine man - uses his strength to help others. They both got that message loud and clear. They also use that same strength to help themselves, to get through the stinky and sheitty and just plain kick in the personal area days.
There were many people that insisted a single mom could not raise six children "alone." They were certainly right. Fortunately, I didn't have to do it alone. I had God to kick my essentially lazy butt out of bed and to keep me moving when I wanted to hide under the house and to provide energy I know I never had, or will have again.
My Eldest Son and Eldest Daughter tapped in to that early and continue to amaze me, daily, with their determination and tenacity that not only endures, but thrives and carries on even in less than ideal circumstances. The other children have observed and learned the path is often rocky and pitted but they'll get along just fine if they put one foot in front of the other. Some days it feels harder than others, but in truth, those are the days we Prove who we are, inside, where it counts.
18 April 2019
Scattered Thoughts on a Restless Night
At times, body and mind simply does not work on the cycle of time the world would impose. A day is supposed to be neatly divided in to three 8-hour portions in a twenty-four hour perfection that, not coincidentally, matches the degrees of our globe. Those portions are supposedly divided in to work, living and sleeping. Do you know anyone whose life works out in such an ordinal way? Me neither. One always bleeds to the other and the first place you steal hours from is usually sleep, then life and sometimes even work. As my grandmother used to say, "It's always something...."
17 April 2019
Dusty Corners & Treasures of Someday Re-Discovered
I didn't really expect to tidy the piles of mess This Week. I anticipated putting it off till next Christmas, maybe. Work to do, pages to color, books to read, Worker Bees to blather with, FIBs to chat with and weather to enjoy before it gets roasty and toasty.
But life is like that. You think you've got The Plan inked in then something comes along, a simple thing, a momentary distraction and there went The Plan, shrieking out the window like a bat desperate to escape the light. Being an Old Biddy, this no longer bothers me, in fact, I don't generally ink The Plan anymore, I make a list and hope for the best.
But life is like that. You think you've got The Plan inked in then something comes along, a simple thing, a momentary distraction and there went The Plan, shrieking out the window like a bat desperate to escape the light. Being an Old Biddy, this no longer bothers me, in fact, I don't generally ink The Plan anymore, I make a list and hope for the best.
13 April 2019
Majestically Awkward & Other Stuff
Spring pollen is thick this year, coating everything gold, little flakes of the future. The poor bees keep trying to pollinate our vehicles and the front steps, they are very confused. We skirt them politely as bees are endangered and we choose to encourage them to stay here, protected and wanted. When we start the vehicle, switching on the windshield wipers scares them off so they flee to the azaleas or back to front steps. I feel so bad seeing them flung off the side mirrors as we're going down the road. I fret about Columbo showing up and saying, "O ... there is just one thing still bothering me, if you have a minute...?"
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