I have a life-long cycle of getting overloaded with commitments (especially around the holidays, of course) and then getting so stressed that I get through everything by shutting down, gritting my teeth, and surviving. Then when it's over, it takes a couple of weeks to recover.
In the past, I've tried to manage this by cutting back on commitments, but then I get bored and depressed. This year was definitely not a bored and depressed year. I think we had two evenings at home during the two weeks before Christmas. I was completely brain dead by Christmas day. I'm starting to think that I just need to accept that this is my normal cycle, and I should figure out how to manage it instead of trying to change it. It's not like this is a surprise--the holidays are busy and stressful for everyone.
For me, managing holiday stress for sure means scheduling time off after Christmas, and this year we were able to do that. I was totally on auto-pilot by the time Christmas rolled around, but during our week of vacation I could feel myself coming back to life. We had a great time with our kids and their partners, played a lot of cards, watched a lot of football/golf/movies, and walked on the beach. Can't ask for much more from a vacation.
I also got some reading done-- wouldn't be a good vacation without a stack of books-- including one more five-star read for 2019, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts. The title makes complete sense once you've read the book, but I think it's also misleading.
There is a ghost, sort of, but it's not really a ghost story, and it's certainly not a horror book. The blurb also mentions a treasure hunt, and although there is a treasure hunt, it's not the focus of the story and really it only has two steps. A lot of the negative reviews are about people's disappointment on those two fronts. But if you want a story of a bunch of misfits who are dealing with grief and not fitting in with a major dose of snarkiness, it delivers in spades. I loved it.
So now it's 2020. I've told you before I don't do New Year's resolutions (because I always fail at them), but I do usually have a theme, and this year it is pay attention. I've done this before, and it's always just something that pops into my head during the first week of the new year. I don't bother defining it any more than the phrase, because part of the whole thing is figuring out what it means as the year goes by.
The other intention I set for myself this year is to start investigating how we can cut down on single-use plastic. I gave up on paper towels in one moment when I walked into the restroom at our local movie theater and noticed that there were more paper towels stuffed in the trash for that one night than we would use at our house in a couple of months. Maybe the whole year.
Cutting down on plastic is probably more important anyway. I quit buying bottled water three (four?) years ago (partly because PellMel lectured me about it--I love learning from my kids). I quit buying apples at Costo, where they come in a large, molded plastic clamshell. But I've never done much more than that. Up until last year, we could recycle plastic, so it didn't seem too horrible. But last year our county stopped taking plastic for recycling, and there are no other options for recycling in our community. So, will be working on this. Please share if you have any ideas.
Hope you survived the holidays with your sanity intact. My third intention for the year (start writing shorter blog posts) is apparently already shot to hell. Have a great day.
Showing posts with label seasonally appropriate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seasonally appropriate. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
updates on several things
I should stop talking about things I'm unqualfied to talk about, so I will just update you on things we've talked about previously.
- A couple of months ago I told you I was going to try out a more intentional meditation practice. I did really well for about six weeks, at least in terms of keeping up with it. I'm sure I didn't meditate every single day, but I didn't miss many days, either. Then a couple of situations happened and things got stressful, and as I've said before, the more I "need" to meditate, the harder it seems to be to find the time.
But overall, this is going well-- the doing it part of it. I'm still terrible at meditation. I used to think it was because I had an unusually distractible mind, but now that I'm using this app (10% Happier) that is sort of a meditation community, I'm discovering that it's that way for everybody. So, I'm still doing it, I'm still terrible at it, and it's still helping with my sanity.
- Oh, Lord, remember the winter vegetables project? That has been a total fail. Partly because I haven't cooked much. We were gone, and then Dean was gone, and we've both had things going on in the evening, and a couple of times when I was planning on cooking dinner, we got a last minute invite to meet friends out for dinner, etc etc. You get the idea. But the intention is still floating around in my head, and since this is Montana, it's still winter no matter what the calendar says, so I may get back to this. After vacation (see below). Although by then, it really will be moving toward spring. I hope.
- Last week I told you I was halfway through The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead. Honestly, I picked it up because I knew I didn't have the stomach for the brutality I've heard about in his better known book Underground Railroad, but I'd heard he is an amazing writer, so I wanted to read something by him. And he is. A terrific writer, I mean. Intuitionist is crazy smart.
You could read it as just a standard plot-- young woman gets framed for an elevator accident and goes off on her own to find out what really happened-- but it is also an allegory? satire? alternate reality? with all kinds of stuff happening. It's fascinating. Highly recommended if you want your brain stretched, but if you just want to read a good plot (which is all I'm going to be reading on vacation next week)(see below), probably not the best choice. I will give it this-- unlike most allegories? satires? alternate realities? where the plot eventually falls apart under the weight of The Message Being Delivered, this one really does work as its own story.
- You know, I confess I've had the thought I don't have any friends a couple of times in the last few months. I've been surprised to hear two other people say the same thing recently. People who look as if they have plenty of friends. Which has me wondering, is this part and parcel of the larger changes we're going through? Is there something about the breaking up of cultural expectations that is also disrupting personal connections? I don't know. Have just been thinking about this.
- So here we are at below. I can't remember how much I've told you about our upcoming vacation that starts on Saturday, but I am really looking forward to it. We went to a little town north of Cabo for a week last spring with both kids and loved it. When they were able to finagle the same week off this year and I asked them where they wanted to go, the unanimous decision was the same place.
So off we go. I won't be writing anything new next week, but while poking around for some other stuff I ran across a couple of old posts that made me laugh, so if I have time I'll set them up to repost next week. Otherwise, I'll catch you when I get back. Hope spring is springing wherever you are.
- A couple of months ago I told you I was going to try out a more intentional meditation practice. I did really well for about six weeks, at least in terms of keeping up with it. I'm sure I didn't meditate every single day, but I didn't miss many days, either. Then a couple of situations happened and things got stressful, and as I've said before, the more I "need" to meditate, the harder it seems to be to find the time.
But overall, this is going well-- the doing it part of it. I'm still terrible at meditation. I used to think it was because I had an unusually distractible mind, but now that I'm using this app (10% Happier) that is sort of a meditation community, I'm discovering that it's that way for everybody. So, I'm still doing it, I'm still terrible at it, and it's still helping with my sanity.
- Oh, Lord, remember the winter vegetables project? That has been a total fail. Partly because I haven't cooked much. We were gone, and then Dean was gone, and we've both had things going on in the evening, and a couple of times when I was planning on cooking dinner, we got a last minute invite to meet friends out for dinner, etc etc. You get the idea. But the intention is still floating around in my head, and since this is Montana, it's still winter no matter what the calendar says, so I may get back to this. After vacation (see below). Although by then, it really will be moving toward spring. I hope.
- Last week I told you I was halfway through The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead. Honestly, I picked it up because I knew I didn't have the stomach for the brutality I've heard about in his better known book Underground Railroad, but I'd heard he is an amazing writer, so I wanted to read something by him. And he is. A terrific writer, I mean. Intuitionist is crazy smart.
You could read it as just a standard plot-- young woman gets framed for an elevator accident and goes off on her own to find out what really happened-- but it is also an allegory? satire? alternate reality? with all kinds of stuff happening. It's fascinating. Highly recommended if you want your brain stretched, but if you just want to read a good plot (which is all I'm going to be reading on vacation next week)(see below), probably not the best choice. I will give it this-- unlike most allegories? satires? alternate realities? where the plot eventually falls apart under the weight of The Message Being Delivered, this one really does work as its own story.
- You know, I confess I've had the thought I don't have any friends a couple of times in the last few months. I've been surprised to hear two other people say the same thing recently. People who look as if they have plenty of friends. Which has me wondering, is this part and parcel of the larger changes we're going through? Is there something about the breaking up of cultural expectations that is also disrupting personal connections? I don't know. Have just been thinking about this.
- So here we are at below. I can't remember how much I've told you about our upcoming vacation that starts on Saturday, but I am really looking forward to it. We went to a little town north of Cabo for a week last spring with both kids and loved it. When they were able to finagle the same week off this year and I asked them where they wanted to go, the unanimous decision was the same place.
So off we go. I won't be writing anything new next week, but while poking around for some other stuff I ran across a couple of old posts that made me laugh, so if I have time I'll set them up to repost next week. Otherwise, I'll catch you when I get back. Hope spring is springing wherever you are.
Monday, January 7, 2019
Bingo! Tag'em and Bag'em! aka the entertainment report
I know it's Tuesday (actually, it's Monday as I'm writing this), but I don't have the energy to think up an entire post at the moment, and I am so far behind on the basic life tasks (laundry, replacing my lost driver's license, etc etc). So I'm doing a list. Maybe it will turn out to be seven things but it might not.
➧ Status report from the convoluted depths of my brain: one of the most difficult things for me to manage is the balance between routines and change-ups. If I have to do the same thing day after day, I go nuts. Not kidding-- routine makes me wiggy and depressed. But if I change things up and I'm out of my comfort zone for too long-- say we have house guests for more than 4-5 days or the Christmas decorations are still up on January 8th-- I go a different kind of nuts. It's like my brain starts shorting out. I can't get anything done because things have been abnormal for too long. So, definitely have to get the decorations put away before poor Dean has to peel me off the ceiling.
➧ We were fans of the original Transformer movie-- the crazy parents, the neurotic kid, the military guys-- and we have a dozen lines from it that have entered our family lingo. Left cheek! Left cheek! and Shut up, Grandma! and Sam's happy time and the chihuahua with the bandaged foot who wears a jeweled collar (it's his bling!). Judy, Sam's mom, is possibly my favorite cinematic character ever. We re-watch it at least once a year.
➧ So we had high hopes for Bumblebee, especially since it is getting such great reviews. But don't bother. Like all the subsequent Transformers movies, it was disappointing. I might have liked it better if I hadn't gone in with high hopes. (It did, admittedly, have some good moments.)
➧ Aquaman was also thoroughly average, but I wasn't expecting much from it so it didn't bother me as much. Typical superhero origin story. It had a few good moments (like the edible roses) but was otherwise just a decent way to pass 2 1/2 hours on a rainy day. (because in case I haven't told you often enough, it rained every. single. day. we were in Florida.)
➧ I don't usually read suspense or horror novels, because I like to sleep and I can't sleep after reading that stuff (or watching the movies, either). So I wasn't sure how I was going to do with The Marsh King's Daughter, which was our book club book for this month. A woman who was responsible for putting her psychopath father behind bars years earlier goes out to hunt him down when he escapes from prison. I will admit that I avoided reading it right before bed, but it ended up being a really good story. It has some seriously dark moments, but it also has some redeeming moments, and it makes sense, which counts for a lot. If you like that stuff, recommended. It has not, however, convinced me to read any more suspense/horror novels. One every twenty years or so is plenty.
So maybe once the wrapping paper is back in the store room I will be able to write something interesting again. Hope your new year is off to a good start.
➧ Status report from the convoluted depths of my brain: one of the most difficult things for me to manage is the balance between routines and change-ups. If I have to do the same thing day after day, I go nuts. Not kidding-- routine makes me wiggy and depressed. But if I change things up and I'm out of my comfort zone for too long-- say we have house guests for more than 4-5 days or the Christmas decorations are still up on January 8th-- I go a different kind of nuts. It's like my brain starts shorting out. I can't get anything done because things have been abnormal for too long. So, definitely have to get the decorations put away before poor Dean has to peel me off the ceiling.
➧ We were fans of the original Transformer movie-- the crazy parents, the neurotic kid, the military guys-- and we have a dozen lines from it that have entered our family lingo. Left cheek! Left cheek! and Shut up, Grandma! and Sam's happy time and the chihuahua with the bandaged foot who wears a jeweled collar (it's his bling!). Judy, Sam's mom, is possibly my favorite cinematic character ever. We re-watch it at least once a year.
➧ So we had high hopes for Bumblebee, especially since it is getting such great reviews. But don't bother. Like all the subsequent Transformers movies, it was disappointing. I might have liked it better if I hadn't gone in with high hopes. (It did, admittedly, have some good moments.)
➧ Aquaman was also thoroughly average, but I wasn't expecting much from it so it didn't bother me as much. Typical superhero origin story. It had a few good moments (like the edible roses) but was otherwise just a decent way to pass 2 1/2 hours on a rainy day. (because in case I haven't told you often enough, it rained every. single. day. we were in Florida.)
➧ I don't usually read suspense or horror novels, because I like to sleep and I can't sleep after reading that stuff (or watching the movies, either). So I wasn't sure how I was going to do with The Marsh King's Daughter, which was our book club book for this month. A woman who was responsible for putting her psychopath father behind bars years earlier goes out to hunt him down when he escapes from prison. I will admit that I avoided reading it right before bed, but it ended up being a really good story. It has some seriously dark moments, but it also has some redeeming moments, and it makes sense, which counts for a lot. If you like that stuff, recommended. It has not, however, convinced me to read any more suspense/horror novels. One every twenty years or so is plenty.
So maybe once the wrapping paper is back in the store room I will be able to write something interesting again. Hope your new year is off to a good start.
Friday, December 7, 2018
7ToF: take a long ride on my motorbike
1. Here we are again, sim-ply--hav-ing--a wonderful Christmas time!! For better or for worse, I'm one of those who love Christmas. I love the music, and the movies; I get all sentimental as I'm unpacking the Christmas decorations; I love getting Christmas cards, even the family newsletters.
2. But I know not everyone does. So for those of you who bear with the Christmas onslaught with gritted teeth and mounting depression, I hope you can find creative ways this year to get through it. There should be a badge or a lapel pin or a secret handshake so the anti-Xmasers can find each other.
3. This week's interesting read: an article in The Atlantic about parks that allow kids to explore and experiment without adult supervision (it was actually published in 2014 but I just ran across it a couple of days ago). We all assume that the world isn't as safe as it used to be, but the idea of these parks makes me happy. Back in the day, we ran all over the neighborhood, walked to school nearly a mile away, and played with matches (although only after my mom lit a single hair on fire to show us how flammable human hair is). All without adult supervision.
4. But I'm definitely not encouraging you to get nostalgic about the past. In fact, it occurred to me this week that maybe that's part of the problem we're having these days-- all of our visions of the future are dystopian, while we watch endless Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movies that idealize small-town rural living as if it were still 1956. I enjoy living in a small town, but I can promise you that not everyone is warm-hearted, generous, and tolerant (for example, me). For every good thing about small town life (and there is a lot that is good), there's a downside. Why can't we imagine an urban future that is vibrant, friendly, positive? I don't know-- no answers, I've just been thinking about this.
5. I bought an Instant Pot when they were on sale over Labor Day weekend, but I hadn't even taken it out of the box until this week. I've made a couple of things with it now, and I'm impressed. It's definitely not instant-- you still have to chop onions or whatever, and the cook time that the recipe specifies doesn't include the time it takes to come up to pressure, or to release pressure when you're done. But it does all happen in one pot, which makes it seem simple. I think I'm going to like it.
6&7. We went to see Bohemian Rhapsody this past weekend. I told you about my love for Queen on Tuesday, and I've written about it before in this post. Also back when I was trying to write novels, one of my favorite scenes I ever wrote was a woman my age who breaks her ankle, and in the backseat of her daughter's boyfriend's ancient car, high on percodan on the way home from the ER, she belts out the entire six minutes of Bohemian Rhapsody. So I have a history with Queen, and I wasn't sure if I'd like the movie, especially given the terrible reviews.
It is easy to pick it apart-- it's more than a little weird that Brian May and Roger Taylor were involved and they made themselves out to be pretty blameless; the costumes look like something you'd see at your office 70s party, and could they not afford decent wigs? And why would you make Freddie's teeth worse than they were in real life? I was never able to forget that Rami Malek had a mouthpiece in. Good grief.
And then I came home and did some fact checking and discovered that it wasn't all that accurate. I loved Queen's music, but it was back in the days before the internet, so I didn't really know that much about them. You couldn't google "What is Freddie Mercury's real name?" and get an instant answer back then. They definitely played fast and loose with the facts and the timeline in the name of creating drama where there wasn't any--Queen never really broke up, and in fact had been touring together right before Live Aid; Roger Taylor put out a solo album before Freddie did; Freddie's AIDS diagnosis was probably a couple of years after LiveAid.
So I don't know what to tell you. In spite of all those reasons not to like it, I had a great time just listening to Queen's music on a massive sound-surround system for an hour and a half. In fact, I'm thinking about going to see it again. But if you don't like their music, it probably won't change your mind.
Have a great weekend. Stay warm out there -- we were down to single digits this morning.
2. But I know not everyone does. So for those of you who bear with the Christmas onslaught with gritted teeth and mounting depression, I hope you can find creative ways this year to get through it. There should be a badge or a lapel pin or a secret handshake so the anti-Xmasers can find each other.
3. This week's interesting read: an article in The Atlantic about parks that allow kids to explore and experiment without adult supervision (it was actually published in 2014 but I just ran across it a couple of days ago). We all assume that the world isn't as safe as it used to be, but the idea of these parks makes me happy. Back in the day, we ran all over the neighborhood, walked to school nearly a mile away, and played with matches (although only after my mom lit a single hair on fire to show us how flammable human hair is). All without adult supervision.
4. But I'm definitely not encouraging you to get nostalgic about the past. In fact, it occurred to me this week that maybe that's part of the problem we're having these days-- all of our visions of the future are dystopian, while we watch endless Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movies that idealize small-town rural living as if it were still 1956. I enjoy living in a small town, but I can promise you that not everyone is warm-hearted, generous, and tolerant (for example, me). For every good thing about small town life (and there is a lot that is good), there's a downside. Why can't we imagine an urban future that is vibrant, friendly, positive? I don't know-- no answers, I've just been thinking about this.
5. I bought an Instant Pot when they were on sale over Labor Day weekend, but I hadn't even taken it out of the box until this week. I've made a couple of things with it now, and I'm impressed. It's definitely not instant-- you still have to chop onions or whatever, and the cook time that the recipe specifies doesn't include the time it takes to come up to pressure, or to release pressure when you're done. But it does all happen in one pot, which makes it seem simple. I think I'm going to like it.
6&7. We went to see Bohemian Rhapsody this past weekend. I told you about my love for Queen on Tuesday, and I've written about it before in this post. Also back when I was trying to write novels, one of my favorite scenes I ever wrote was a woman my age who breaks her ankle, and in the backseat of her daughter's boyfriend's ancient car, high on percodan on the way home from the ER, she belts out the entire six minutes of Bohemian Rhapsody. So I have a history with Queen, and I wasn't sure if I'd like the movie, especially given the terrible reviews.
It is easy to pick it apart-- it's more than a little weird that Brian May and Roger Taylor were involved and they made themselves out to be pretty blameless; the costumes look like something you'd see at your office 70s party, and could they not afford decent wigs? And why would you make Freddie's teeth worse than they were in real life? I was never able to forget that Rami Malek had a mouthpiece in. Good grief.
And then I came home and did some fact checking and discovered that it wasn't all that accurate. I loved Queen's music, but it was back in the days before the internet, so I didn't really know that much about them. You couldn't google "What is Freddie Mercury's real name?" and get an instant answer back then. They definitely played fast and loose with the facts and the timeline in the name of creating drama where there wasn't any--Queen never really broke up, and in fact had been touring together right before Live Aid; Roger Taylor put out a solo album before Freddie did; Freddie's AIDS diagnosis was probably a couple of years after LiveAid.
So I don't know what to tell you. In spite of all those reasons not to like it, I had a great time just listening to Queen's music on a massive sound-surround system for an hour and a half. In fact, I'm thinking about going to see it again. But if you don't like their music, it probably won't change your mind.
Have a great weekend. Stay warm out there -- we were down to single digits this morning.
Friday, August 10, 2018
7ToF: the week in pictures
1. Remember the room-sized air-conditioner I told you about last week? It is finally working great, and it's a good thing because it's supposed to be over 100 today. The key was turning on the overhead fan. We have a 20-foot ceiling in the living room, so this is counter-intuitive to me-- since warm air rises, you'd be pushing down all the hot air, right? but for some reason that is what has made it work. It is a pleasant 75 degrees in here right now. *sigh of happiness*
2. We're going to a fancy-dancy cocktail party tonight, which is not something we normally do. I don't wear heels unless absolutely necessary, but even though this is supposed to be relatively casual, there's casual, and then there's Casual. I don't think I can wear Tevas. I have a strappy pair of sandals with one-inch heels that I've only worn a couple of times because they hurt my feet. But it's either wear them or go shoe shopping, so I've got on gym socks with them to stretch out the straps and maybe they won't hurt tonight.
3. In the winter, MadMax ties flies (for fly fishing). In the summer, he fletches arrows (whatever that means, all I know is it's for bowhunting). Either hobby is a mess. Just saying. The table in this picture is in front of the couch in our living room. (Karen was possibly right about the adult children starting to drive you crazy eventually.)
4. Backyard friends.
5. My bookstagram post for the "books and ice cream" theme day.
6. Our hearts go out to the Californians dealing with fires. We had a really bad fire season last year, and it is heartbreaking. The fires are just cranking up around here this year, but last year we were already a month into it. Yesterday the smoke from the Cali fires reached here, which means we can't see the mountains at the moment, but at least we're not worrying about losing people/buildings/landmarks we're familiar with, as we were last year. Love and prayers to the Californians in harm's way.
7. Which brings up an interesting question to think about sometime when you've got a long drive in front of you: you're being evacuated because a fire is on it's way and you've got half an hour to get out of the house. What do you take? (this almost happened to us last summer because of a grass fire in a field about half a mile away, but I wasn't home when the sheriff came by to warn of possible evacuation, and then they got the fire put out well before it reached our house anyway, so it was all over by the time I got home.)
And that's it for me this week. I hope you are staying cool. Have a great weekend!
 |
| Danger, Will Robinson! |
3. In the winter, MadMax ties flies (for fly fishing). In the summer, he fletches arrows (whatever that means, all I know is it's for bowhunting). Either hobby is a mess. Just saying. The table in this picture is in front of the couch in our living room. (Karen was possibly right about the adult children starting to drive you crazy eventually.)
4. Backyard friends.
6. Our hearts go out to the Californians dealing with fires. We had a really bad fire season last year, and it is heartbreaking. The fires are just cranking up around here this year, but last year we were already a month into it. Yesterday the smoke from the Cali fires reached here, which means we can't see the mountains at the moment, but at least we're not worrying about losing people/buildings/landmarks we're familiar with, as we were last year. Love and prayers to the Californians in harm's way.
7. Which brings up an interesting question to think about sometime when you've got a long drive in front of you: you're being evacuated because a fire is on it's way and you've got half an hour to get out of the house. What do you take? (this almost happened to us last summer because of a grass fire in a field about half a mile away, but I wasn't home when the sheriff came by to warn of possible evacuation, and then they got the fire put out well before it reached our house anyway, so it was all over by the time I got home.)
And that's it for me this week. I hope you are staying cool. Have a great weekend!
Friday, December 11, 2015
7ToF: Christmas preparations and a hat trick of faults
1. I've had a really bad attitude about Christmas the past couple of years. It wasn't always that way--I used to look forward to Christmas all year. I have more boxes of Christmas decorations than I am willing to admit, and I'm more sentimentally attached to most of them than I am to many items that decorate our house all year long.
Then the kids grew up and I got grumpier and Christmas took a left turn into something that was more obligation than joy. But for some reason this year I'm looking forward to it again. I voluntarily put Christmas music on a couple of days ago. Ding a ling.
Then the kids grew up and I got grumpier and Christmas took a left turn into something that was more obligation than joy. But for some reason this year I'm looking forward to it again. I voluntarily put Christmas music on a couple of days ago. Ding a ling.