This is Teacher Appreciation Week. Earlier in the week, we were able to celebrate with the rest of the girls' school when one of the 5th grade teachers was named Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. That's quite an honor. I'm not surprised it was bestowed on a teacher at our school. We have some super teachers. But I've been thinking about teachers in my life. I remember quite a few that were noteworthy. But I found myself quoting one of them in particular throughout the week.
I guess it makes sense that a band director, a teacher that I had for 4 years, would leave a huge impact. It makes even more sense when that band director is a larger-than-life character. I know he's known for quite a few signature sayings. Some were more colorful than others. But there are two that have stuck with me that I had the chance to pass along to my oldest daughter over the last few weeks.
HeyMama has been practicing a piano piece for tomorrow's school talent show. She's a kindergartener. She's been playing piano since this past September. So less than a year. And she wanted to play the Star Wars Theme. So with the help of a musician friend and some free online software, we obtained a version that was appropriate for a beginning pianist. Challenging, but attainable. She's been diligently practicing. Well, sometimes diligently.
"Practice like you'll perform."
This was one of Mr. Fariss' many sayings. If you practice something sloppily, you'll perform it sloppily. If you prepare and practice with the goal of a performance-worthy production, that's what you'll get when it's time to perform in front of an audience. I found it to be true in my marching band days. I found it to be true in non-musical endeavors since then. And these past few weeks, I've been saying it to HeyMama.
But as we've gotten closer to performance time, another saying has resurrected itself.
"Fake it 'til you make it."
HeyMama is concerned about what happens if she messes up during her performance. This is reasonable. I encouraged her to just keep going until she feels like she's got it under control again. In marching band, you can't stop moving on the field just because you forget what to do next. People are running all around you with instruments in their faces. Bloodshed would ensue. You keep moving until you figure it out. And if you've "practiced like you'll perform", it will come to you. And typically, no one is the wiser of your temporary lapse of memory. Again, I have found this advice to be helpful in professional and social situations.
But this week, I've had to take that advice to heart to merely get through the day.
This past Sunday, BestestHusband and I decided that we'd get the big girls on their bikes, HurricaneDebbie in the jog stroller, the dogs on their leashes, and running shoes on our feet. We'd take a family exercise excursion to the other side of the Arboretum to see the cherry trees in bloom. It was truly glorious. The weather was finally sunny and warm. The trees were extravagantly decked out in white and pink blossoms. The place was full of people basking in the glory of a warm spring day. And we had a great workout. I had to do some sprints to keep with the girls. The girls had fun on their bikes. And I think the run was even tolerable for BestestHusband. But two days later, it became apparent that the excursion was not the best idea. I had inhaled a lot of pollen, and my body was rebelling. I couldn't breathe. My nose was ok. It was my lungs that were in crisis. Here are some of the things that have left me out of breath:
Walking up stairs
Walking across a small room
Picking up HurricaneDebbie
Picking up a fork
Making phone calls
Sending emails
Lying still on the couch
Trying to sleep at night
Talking
Sitting quietly
I coughed so hard and so much that I strained my back. I went to the doctor, and got a nebulizer treatment and inhaler. I've been vaguely headachy and have had no appetite since then. I'm a mess.
But I had a job interview on Tuesday. I think I nailed it. I picked up extra work hours today. And I will on Friday and Saturday. Getting off the couch has required great effort. But the words "fake it 'til you make it" have echoed in my ears. It doesn't have to be easy. You just have to do it until it gets easier.
I only cooked dinner tonight because I was afraid of $15 worth of chicken going bad in my fridge. But I ended up making a pretty good meal. (Hey, I got BestestHusband to eat cauliflower and be happy doing it!) I only went to the grocery store tonight because buying ice cream sounded really appealing. (The fact that we were out of fresh fruit and a lot of food staples wasn't enough to get me there.) But I just got started doing the tasks, and they got done. Even though I really didn't feel like I could do it.
So the wisdom of my teacher's words becomes apparent yet again. And I am grateful for Mr. Fariss and all of my teachers that have gotten me here today. I just hope that my girls have at least one teacher who will leave an equally strong impression.
Showing posts with label I love tissues with lotion in them. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I love tissues with lotion in them. Show all posts
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Pregnancy and Dog Food
Well, something exciting happened today. I went to the gym. It was only for 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, but hey! It was the first time I've been motivated to do this in months! Given my current tendency to crave creamy chocolately sweets 24/7, any time spent at the gym is a good amount of time.
It was on the elliptical machine catching up on cable TV that I rediscovered a problem I have during pregnancy - dog food. Actually, dog food commercials. Maybe it's the hormones. Maybe it's because I love my dogs. But when I'm pregnant, dog food commercials make me cry. Consistently. This is my third pregnancy, and the third time I'm crying about kibble.
Ok, it's not the kibble itself. The last times, it was about the shelter dogs. Shelter dogs that were waiting and waiting for loving homes. (sniff) Sweet doggie faces that just wanted someone to love them. (sniff sniff) Sweet innocent animals that reminded me of my Mandy and Cameron. (sniff sniff SOB gulp) If I just bought their dog food, they'd donate money to help give those dogs a home! (BOO HOO HOOOOO!) Dang, those commercials got me every time... I'd be there sobbing on the couch for no good reason. I couldn't even DESCRIBE the commercial to someone without tearing up. It was pitiful, really...
But this one's a little different. Maybe because it's an Irish Wolfhound and I drool over insanely large dogs? Maybe because the dog's waiting so patiently at the window for his human to come home? (sniff) Maybe because the human's a woman in military fatigues that just came home after a really long absence and I know that the dog has been desperately missing her every day she's been gone? (sniff sniff GULP) And then they let the dog out the front door and he goes running up to her and jumps up on her and he's taller than she is and they hug and he licks her face like crazy and he lays down and she rubs his belly. (sob sob SOB!) And you can see the doggie joy in his face because he's so devoted to her and he's missed her so much and he's just SO HAPPY she's finally home! (excuse me while I go find a box of tissues...)
Ok, I'm back. BestestHusband thinks I'm a bit nuts to cry so much over silly dog food commercials. But I think the commercials are specially targeted towards pregnant dog owners. We are the ones more likely to buy the dog food in the average household. I think they've just fine-tuned their marketing message to manage to make us putty in their hands. It's working.
So if you see me crying in the gym, don't worry. I probably just saw this Iams commercial.
It was on the elliptical machine catching up on cable TV that I rediscovered a problem I have during pregnancy - dog food. Actually, dog food commercials. Maybe it's the hormones. Maybe it's because I love my dogs. But when I'm pregnant, dog food commercials make me cry. Consistently. This is my third pregnancy, and the third time I'm crying about kibble.
Ok, it's not the kibble itself. The last times, it was about the shelter dogs. Shelter dogs that were waiting and waiting for loving homes. (sniff) Sweet doggie faces that just wanted someone to love them. (sniff sniff) Sweet innocent animals that reminded me of my Mandy and Cameron. (sniff sniff SOB gulp) If I just bought their dog food, they'd donate money to help give those dogs a home! (BOO HOO HOOOOO!) Dang, those commercials got me every time... I'd be there sobbing on the couch for no good reason. I couldn't even DESCRIBE the commercial to someone without tearing up. It was pitiful, really...
But this one's a little different. Maybe because it's an Irish Wolfhound and I drool over insanely large dogs? Maybe because the dog's waiting so patiently at the window for his human to come home? (sniff) Maybe because the human's a woman in military fatigues that just came home after a really long absence and I know that the dog has been desperately missing her every day she's been gone? (sniff sniff GULP) And then they let the dog out the front door and he goes running up to her and jumps up on her and he's taller than she is and they hug and he licks her face like crazy and he lays down and she rubs his belly. (sob sob SOB!) And you can see the doggie joy in his face because he's so devoted to her and he's missed her so much and he's just SO HAPPY she's finally home! (excuse me while I go find a box of tissues...)
Ok, I'm back. BestestHusband thinks I'm a bit nuts to cry so much over silly dog food commercials. But I think the commercials are specially targeted towards pregnant dog owners. We are the ones more likely to buy the dog food in the average household. I think they've just fine-tuned their marketing message to manage to make us putty in their hands. It's working.
So if you see me crying in the gym, don't worry. I probably just saw this Iams commercial.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Whine Fest
The urge to whine must be a very strong one.
My first job out of college was teaching children with autism in a private school that provided ABA therapy - Applied Behavioral Analysis. With ABA, you look at a behavior, you look at its antecedent, and you look at its response. ABA teaches that you need to change a behavior's antecedent or response to get a change in behavior. A behavior that is persistent must have a response that is reinforcing to the child. If you want to remove a behavior, you need to remove the positive response, and train a different behavior with a different desirable response.
So, when you have a persistent and undesirable behavior, like, say, whining, there must be some reinforcing response that makes a child continue to do the behavior. In other words, whining continues because it works somehow for the child. If it's successful, they'll keep doing it. And if you want to make them stop whining, you need to stop giving in to it, and only reward them for NOT whining.
Here's where ABA fails.
My girls whine. Constantly. But not because it's reinforced by the adults in the household. No. In fact, whining results in a response like, "No, you can't, because you're whining." or "I can't understand you when you whine. Use a Big Girl voice." or "Stop whining." or "No. Ask me again when you're done whining." NEVER does whining get them what they want. Yet they still whine. And we've tried to replace the undesirable behavior with a better one. We model a pleasant voice and polite way of asking. Here's an example:
MeToo: "Moooommmm, I waaannntt miiilllkk!"
Me: "Mama, may I have some milk please?"
MeToo: (in a non-whiny voice) "Mama, may I have milk please?"
Me: "Sure sweetie, here you go."
MeToo: (gets milk, her desired result)
ABA would claim that after multiple trials of this re-training, the whining behavior should be extinguished, replaced by polite Big Girl voices.
ABA would be WRONG! They persist in their whining attempts. Despite never getting anything they whine for.
But today, I suddenly feel the need to join in on the whining.
Logically, I know that I don't really have any problems in my life. We can make our monthly mortgage payments. We're both as employed as we want to be. Our girls are both healthy. Our extended family is quirky, but not dysfunctional. I'm not battling a terminal illness. I'm not puking nonstop like the former Kate Middleton. There are people in this world with REAL problems, and we are not them.
But I have an annoying niggling little thing that makes me want to whine. And I'm going to do it now.
I caught a cold from the girls. It hit me full-on at work today. I've had a sinus infection for 2 weeks. I'm on Day 13 of antibiotics. I haven't had full use of my left nostril for 3 months. It was 3 colds back-to-back that set me up for my sinus infection. And just as I was starting to turn the corner on my sinus infection, I got walloped by another cold. Seriously?
Can't a girl catch a break?!?!
Look, I know it's not the same as a neurodegenerative disease. It really isn't such a big deal. It's a mere nuisance in the grand scheme of life. But I'm angry. And sad. And holding a one-person-pity-party in my own honor.
Please pray for my sinuses. And if you get the chance to talk to Santa, tell him I'd like a new left nostril for Christmas. It's only 2 weeks away. Certainly he can take pity on me and start working on it...
Thanks for entertaining my whine. Come on over and I'll serve you some cheese to go with it.
My first job out of college was teaching children with autism in a private school that provided ABA therapy - Applied Behavioral Analysis. With ABA, you look at a behavior, you look at its antecedent, and you look at its response. ABA teaches that you need to change a behavior's antecedent or response to get a change in behavior. A behavior that is persistent must have a response that is reinforcing to the child. If you want to remove a behavior, you need to remove the positive response, and train a different behavior with a different desirable response.
So, when you have a persistent and undesirable behavior, like, say, whining, there must be some reinforcing response that makes a child continue to do the behavior. In other words, whining continues because it works somehow for the child. If it's successful, they'll keep doing it. And if you want to make them stop whining, you need to stop giving in to it, and only reward them for NOT whining.
Here's where ABA fails.
My girls whine. Constantly. But not because it's reinforced by the adults in the household. No. In fact, whining results in a response like, "No, you can't, because you're whining." or "I can't understand you when you whine. Use a Big Girl voice." or "Stop whining." or "No. Ask me again when you're done whining." NEVER does whining get them what they want. Yet they still whine. And we've tried to replace the undesirable behavior with a better one. We model a pleasant voice and polite way of asking. Here's an example:
MeToo: "Moooommmm, I waaannntt miiilllkk!"
Me: "Mama, may I have some milk please?"
MeToo: (in a non-whiny voice) "Mama, may I have milk please?"
Me: "Sure sweetie, here you go."
MeToo: (gets milk, her desired result)
ABA would claim that after multiple trials of this re-training, the whining behavior should be extinguished, replaced by polite Big Girl voices.
ABA would be WRONG! They persist in their whining attempts. Despite never getting anything they whine for.
But today, I suddenly feel the need to join in on the whining.
Logically, I know that I don't really have any problems in my life. We can make our monthly mortgage payments. We're both as employed as we want to be. Our girls are both healthy. Our extended family is quirky, but not dysfunctional. I'm not battling a terminal illness. I'm not puking nonstop like the former Kate Middleton. There are people in this world with REAL problems, and we are not them.
But I have an annoying niggling little thing that makes me want to whine. And I'm going to do it now.
I caught a cold from the girls. It hit me full-on at work today. I've had a sinus infection for 2 weeks. I'm on Day 13 of antibiotics. I haven't had full use of my left nostril for 3 months. It was 3 colds back-to-back that set me up for my sinus infection. And just as I was starting to turn the corner on my sinus infection, I got walloped by another cold. Seriously?
Can't a girl catch a break?!?!
Look, I know it's not the same as a neurodegenerative disease. It really isn't such a big deal. It's a mere nuisance in the grand scheme of life. But I'm angry. And sad. And holding a one-person-pity-party in my own honor.
Please pray for my sinuses. And if you get the chance to talk to Santa, tell him I'd like a new left nostril for Christmas. It's only 2 weeks away. Certainly he can take pity on me and start working on it...
Thanks for entertaining my whine. Come on over and I'll serve you some cheese to go with it.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Stewardship Sunday Again
It's Sunday again. Wow, that was quick.
This was a weekend of domesticity. I harvested lavender and mint. I made yogurt. I made bread. I made soup. I made a mess. I feel like I'm constantly cleaning something...
My Show is on Sunday nights. I haven't had my own show in so long. Ok, that's not exactly true, I do love Revenge. And Castle. And I do watch Dancing With The Stars. But that's mostly just to have a good excuse to spend more time sitting on the couch with BestestHusband... I've become a PBS junkie. There's a new show, Call the Midwife. I'm a sucker for period BBC drama. I've seen 3 episodes and I can't wait for more. Unfortunately, it's right through bedtime. But that's what repeats on the Pbs.org are for. I apparently need to live vicariously through a naive 1950's London nurse-midwife who lives in a convent. Maybe it's all the newborns. Or maybe it's the quiet of the convent that's so appealing...
I've been fighting a bad head cold this week. It was a great reminder that sometimes I don't appreciate something until it's gone. Like free airflow through my left nostril.
Fall arrived early this week, with a hard frost, coats and mittens. I resisted the temptation to turn on the heat, and turned on the oven and stove instead. It's that time of year again. The requests for baked goods are starting to come in from my family.
Ok, again, it's late, and I need to take my NyQuil and go to bed. So I'll report in on the week.
Time: I didn't give up Facebook, but have cut back. We spent a lot of time inside, and I tried to nap more this week. I'm not sure it helped much. I don't feel like I really used my time well, but I don't feel like I frittered it away so badly, either. I did watch a ton of full episodes of other BBC treats on pbs.org, but that was just because I needed to sleep and the meds wouldn't let me. I was resting, really.
M&Ms: when the Sudafed didn't kill my appetite, I indulged too much on the M&Ms. My taste buds may be dulled for healthy stuff, but still register M&Ms very well. Sigh.
Patience: The Patience Angel was my constant helper, but I still have difficulty when I'm not feeling well. I hope this week will be better.
Money: I made some big grocery shopping trips this week. I'm going to try to coast on that for a few weeks and use what we've got. Wish me luck. Did I mention that I got good deals at the yard sale? But I mostly got them for other people. I still need to buy pants and other things for HeyMama. Wish me luck.
Food waste: I ended up throwing out some leftovers that were just leftover too long. Last week, BestestHusband, my usual waste-preventer, was at a conference and didn't need lunches. So my usual level of leftover-production was excessive without his lunch-taking. And I have a more active gag reflex than he does. So I threw out probably 3 lunches worth of food. Sigh. Tonight's dinner used up quite a few ingredients that needed to be used. Hopefully that trend will continue and I'll have a better report for next week.
So the next week starts in about 40 minutes. I'm thankful for Sundays, and the regular time to gather with my church family and refocus on God and His unending grace. I'm thankful that we're given a blank slate to start over again. I'm thankful for forgiveness, and the knowledge that God gives strength where we need it the most. Because most days, I really feel like I need it!
Hope you have a great week!
This was a weekend of domesticity. I harvested lavender and mint. I made yogurt. I made bread. I made soup. I made a mess. I feel like I'm constantly cleaning something...
My Show is on Sunday nights. I haven't had my own show in so long. Ok, that's not exactly true, I do love Revenge. And Castle. And I do watch Dancing With The Stars. But that's mostly just to have a good excuse to spend more time sitting on the couch with BestestHusband... I've become a PBS junkie. There's a new show, Call the Midwife. I'm a sucker for period BBC drama. I've seen 3 episodes and I can't wait for more. Unfortunately, it's right through bedtime. But that's what repeats on the Pbs.org are for. I apparently need to live vicariously through a naive 1950's London nurse-midwife who lives in a convent. Maybe it's all the newborns. Or maybe it's the quiet of the convent that's so appealing...
I've been fighting a bad head cold this week. It was a great reminder that sometimes I don't appreciate something until it's gone. Like free airflow through my left nostril.
Fall arrived early this week, with a hard frost, coats and mittens. I resisted the temptation to turn on the heat, and turned on the oven and stove instead. It's that time of year again. The requests for baked goods are starting to come in from my family.
Ok, again, it's late, and I need to take my NyQuil and go to bed. So I'll report in on the week.
Time: I didn't give up Facebook, but have cut back. We spent a lot of time inside, and I tried to nap more this week. I'm not sure it helped much. I don't feel like I really used my time well, but I don't feel like I frittered it away so badly, either. I did watch a ton of full episodes of other BBC treats on pbs.org, but that was just because I needed to sleep and the meds wouldn't let me. I was resting, really.
M&Ms: when the Sudafed didn't kill my appetite, I indulged too much on the M&Ms. My taste buds may be dulled for healthy stuff, but still register M&Ms very well. Sigh.
Patience: The Patience Angel was my constant helper, but I still have difficulty when I'm not feeling well. I hope this week will be better.
Money: I made some big grocery shopping trips this week. I'm going to try to coast on that for a few weeks and use what we've got. Wish me luck. Did I mention that I got good deals at the yard sale? But I mostly got them for other people. I still need to buy pants and other things for HeyMama. Wish me luck.
Food waste: I ended up throwing out some leftovers that were just leftover too long. Last week, BestestHusband, my usual waste-preventer, was at a conference and didn't need lunches. So my usual level of leftover-production was excessive without his lunch-taking. And I have a more active gag reflex than he does. So I threw out probably 3 lunches worth of food. Sigh. Tonight's dinner used up quite a few ingredients that needed to be used. Hopefully that trend will continue and I'll have a better report for next week.
So the next week starts in about 40 minutes. I'm thankful for Sundays, and the regular time to gather with my church family and refocus on God and His unending grace. I'm thankful that we're given a blank slate to start over again. I'm thankful for forgiveness, and the knowledge that God gives strength where we need it the most. Because most days, I really feel like I need it!
Hope you have a great week!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
The Taproot is Established
Today was the yearly group yard sale of my local mommy network. It's an established tradition with around 40 families participating, held in the basement of a local church. It's a great place to get ANYTHING kid-related at really good prices. So it's a mob scene, of course.
This was the first year I was able to go. Typically, I manage to sign up to work the weekend of the yard sale, and Anne becomes my personal shopper and finds things for me. She volunteers for the event so that she can get in early and scoop up the best stuff. This is a good strategy. Stuff goes fast. But Anne was out of town this weekend, and I was not working, so I got to go and be Anne's personal shopper instead.
I got there early to help out. I knew the organizer because she helped me with the enormous yard sale I did last year. I ran into my neighbor and her friend who shared a table. I met a lot of new people. Then the sale opened, and the crowds arrived. I saw friends that I know from BestestHusband's work. I saw friends I know from church. I saw friends I know from daycare. I saw friends I know from our old babysitting co-op. I saw friends I know from the playground. I saw so many people I know. I didn't know I knew so many people around here. I know I've said it before, but occasionally I realize how rooted I've become here. And today I realized that I have a taproot in this community. I'm firmly dug in.
I didn't find much stuff for HeyMama, unfortunately. But I did find some great stuff for Anne's daughter, Rockstar. (she's earned this nickname for the place she holds in my daughters' lives. MeToo idolizes her.) Part of me wants to post pictures of the loot, as I'm proud of the finds. But I also want Anne to be surprised when she sees them. So I'll hold back. But I will say this: a pristine Hanna Andersen dress for $5. Of course, Anne told me which tables to beeline to first, so I can't claim too much credit...
I hope your weekend's full of fun surprises!
This was the first year I was able to go. Typically, I manage to sign up to work the weekend of the yard sale, and Anne becomes my personal shopper and finds things for me. She volunteers for the event so that she can get in early and scoop up the best stuff. This is a good strategy. Stuff goes fast. But Anne was out of town this weekend, and I was not working, so I got to go and be Anne's personal shopper instead.
I got there early to help out. I knew the organizer because she helped me with the enormous yard sale I did last year. I ran into my neighbor and her friend who shared a table. I met a lot of new people. Then the sale opened, and the crowds arrived. I saw friends that I know from BestestHusband's work. I saw friends I know from church. I saw friends I know from daycare. I saw friends I know from our old babysitting co-op. I saw friends I know from the playground. I saw so many people I know. I didn't know I knew so many people around here. I know I've said it before, but occasionally I realize how rooted I've become here. And today I realized that I have a taproot in this community. I'm firmly dug in.
I didn't find much stuff for HeyMama, unfortunately. But I did find some great stuff for Anne's daughter, Rockstar. (she's earned this nickname for the place she holds in my daughters' lives. MeToo idolizes her.) Part of me wants to post pictures of the loot, as I'm proud of the finds. But I also want Anne to be surprised when she sees them. So I'll hold back. But I will say this: a pristine Hanna Andersen dress for $5. Of course, Anne told me which tables to beeline to first, so I can't claim too much credit...
I hope your weekend's full of fun surprises!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Gas Stinks. And other ramblings, thanks to NyQuil...
I had so many things I wanted to write about tonight, but won't, thanks to NyQuil.
Like a rant about how the price of gas stinks. When I drove my first car to college, I paid 89 cents per gallon. Yes, less than a dollar per gallon. Tonight I paid $3.41. And I felt like a winner for paying that. Only because I saved 30 cents/gal by spending too much money at the grocery store. Without the loyalty points, I'd spend $3.71/gal. For the "cheap" gas. My first job out of grad school was a 45-60 minute drive north of here. I entertained 2 job offers. The jobs were very different, the pay was very different. Driving almost 2 hours round trip every day was worth it, we calculated, if gas never rose above $3.50/gal. We laughed. Certainly that couldn't happen. Ha! How naive we were back then... Thankfully I got a job down the street before gas did get that high, and was able to walk to work. Gas stinks. It'd stink more if we had 2 cars...
I wanted to do a fond farewell to our garden. Our first hard frost is scheduled for tonight. So today I harvested a ton of parsley, mint, and lavender. And I pulled up the poor baby spinach that was struggling to grow in the waning sunlight. Farewell garden, we will miss thee... Dang, I forgot to bring in the ivy. I should get that pot inside right away...
I enjoyed a glorious trip to the grocery store alone tonight, where I combined a fistfull of coupons and some store sales to save $15 just on cereal. I did buy a lot of cereal. I love the grocery store late at night. It's so peaceful. And when I have extra coupons, I lay them on top of the product that they apply towards for someone else to discover and use. (sometimes even the coupon doesn't make it cheap enough for me to buy...) I like to think of myself as the Coupon Fairy. But only for coupons that aren't so great...
I did not bring home any candy or treats from the store. But I did bring home 3 versions of cold medicine. 2 were on sale. That's the sign of illness in me. I had 2 kinds of leafy greens in my cart (spinach and kale), but no chocolate. Not even more Dum-Dums for the girls. I'm definitely still sick.
Dogs are great. I love our dogs. I wish they didn't shed so much. But if I brushed them more often with the Furminator, I wouldn't have so much fur to sweep up. But I don't think to do that very often. Did I mention we have great dogs? That are very furry?
My cold is getting a bit better, but I'm sustaining myself on various drugs. Thanks to Sudafed and Mucinex, I could actually use my left nostril intermittently throughout the day. This is a significant improvement. But also thanks to Sudafed, I was wired all day, and couldn't nap. This is noteworthy, as I have a history of napping any place, any time. Rowing in college trained me to nap flexibly, and I was even able to take 90-second naps in the boat. But I could not nap today. So I took NyQuil as soon as I got home from the store. And now I'm a zombie. A zombie that writes tangential blog posts. I think I might be able to sleep now, so I'll wrap this up and go to bed.
Wash your hands. Stay well. And thank you Lord for NyQuil.
Like a rant about how the price of gas stinks. When I drove my first car to college, I paid 89 cents per gallon. Yes, less than a dollar per gallon. Tonight I paid $3.41. And I felt like a winner for paying that. Only because I saved 30 cents/gal by spending too much money at the grocery store. Without the loyalty points, I'd spend $3.71/gal. For the "cheap" gas. My first job out of grad school was a 45-60 minute drive north of here. I entertained 2 job offers. The jobs were very different, the pay was very different. Driving almost 2 hours round trip every day was worth it, we calculated, if gas never rose above $3.50/gal. We laughed. Certainly that couldn't happen. Ha! How naive we were back then... Thankfully I got a job down the street before gas did get that high, and was able to walk to work. Gas stinks. It'd stink more if we had 2 cars...
I wanted to do a fond farewell to our garden. Our first hard frost is scheduled for tonight. So today I harvested a ton of parsley, mint, and lavender. And I pulled up the poor baby spinach that was struggling to grow in the waning sunlight. Farewell garden, we will miss thee... Dang, I forgot to bring in the ivy. I should get that pot inside right away...
I enjoyed a glorious trip to the grocery store alone tonight, where I combined a fistfull of coupons and some store sales to save $15 just on cereal. I did buy a lot of cereal. I love the grocery store late at night. It's so peaceful. And when I have extra coupons, I lay them on top of the product that they apply towards for someone else to discover and use. (sometimes even the coupon doesn't make it cheap enough for me to buy...) I like to think of myself as the Coupon Fairy. But only for coupons that aren't so great...
I did not bring home any candy or treats from the store. But I did bring home 3 versions of cold medicine. 2 were on sale. That's the sign of illness in me. I had 2 kinds of leafy greens in my cart (spinach and kale), but no chocolate. Not even more Dum-Dums for the girls. I'm definitely still sick.
Dogs are great. I love our dogs. I wish they didn't shed so much. But if I brushed them more often with the Furminator, I wouldn't have so much fur to sweep up. But I don't think to do that very often. Did I mention we have great dogs? That are very furry?
My cold is getting a bit better, but I'm sustaining myself on various drugs. Thanks to Sudafed and Mucinex, I could actually use my left nostril intermittently throughout the day. This is a significant improvement. But also thanks to Sudafed, I was wired all day, and couldn't nap. This is noteworthy, as I have a history of napping any place, any time. Rowing in college trained me to nap flexibly, and I was even able to take 90-second naps in the boat. But I could not nap today. So I took NyQuil as soon as I got home from the store. And now I'm a zombie. A zombie that writes tangential blog posts. I think I might be able to sleep now, so I'll wrap this up and go to bed.
Wash your hands. Stay well. And thank you Lord for NyQuil.
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