• Counted Cross Stitch Jan 2 2024
    Uncategorized

    Positively Unquantifiable.

    Last week, the last one of 2023, I was seeing so many people post their Goodreads 2023 Reading Challenge results. I thought every single one of them was so impressive, but I noticed there were some sour grapes. For some reason, there are people out there who take others’ achievements personally, as if it makes them “less than.” That really bugged me, so I did two things. One. I wrote in my Instagram stories about when people we know achieve their goals (or get things done), it’s not an affront to everyone else. It is ridiculous for people to feel badly about themselves just because others have success, big or…

  • your vote your voice
    How To,  Something That Could Change Your Life,  Uncategorized

    Don’t Let the Polls or Anyone Else Dictate How You Vote This Year: Make Up Your Own Mind.

    Jim and I went out the other night and had a great discussion about the 2020 election. It wasn’t the first political discussion we’ve had, by far, but it was a really good one. First let me say that I’m very lucky we can have good political discussions, because he and I have never agreed on what the best candidate should possess, though what we want (or rather, what we don’t want) this year is closer than it has been in the past. It hasn’t always been this way, the “having good political discussions” thing, which was actually the topic of that conversation. Like now, in our younger days he…

  • beer e1569524107103
    Random Thoughts,  Uncategorized

    Not the First Time I’ve Written About Change and Probably Not the Last, Either.

    We were at the bar for Trivia Night recently when I looked around from my perch in the front corner of the room, our favorite place to sit. As I glanced at what was happening around me I realized that the scene looks basically the same every Tuesday night we’re there. Outside of our comfy chairs, the tables are full of other trivia teams, most of them regulars like us. The beertenders (because this is a beer bar; they don’t serve hard liquor) are smiling and chatting with customers. The young girls who work at the Mexican restaurant next door enter the bar every few minutes with food orders, glancing…

  • Uncategorized

    Oh Nothing, Just a Quick Header Change.

    I crack myself up sometimes (okay, a lot of the time). Since Jim and I moved to Knoxville I’ve been dying to get at the rebranding I’ve been planning for this site, but first LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER CHICAGO happened. Then, when I normally get a slow down period for a month or so before the conference crazy kicks in, I had to keep going because #BlogHer17 was moved up by eight weeks this year; it starts this Thursday! So, in light of the fact that I will meet a bunch of people in Orlando this weekend and one or two of them may come to check out my blog…

  • Uncategorized

    Lazy Saturday

    The plan for today was to enjoy a gloriously Lazy Saturday, and although I achieved that, I had the added bonuses of a headache and nausea. We slept until nine, which is totally unheard of around here. Jim and I both had a mentally intense week and the exhaustion won out over our typically early body clocks. I woke up feeling pretty awful but pushed through (typical!) and made breakfast anyway, watched some television, and made oatmeal raisin cookies. Then I took Jim’s recliner over, grabbed two blankets, and slept off and on for an hour while half-watching reruns of “The Office”. My body doesn’t like intentional slow-downs. My body…

  • Spreading the Bloggie Love,  Uncategorized

    Sunday Reading

    After getting through my personal crisis yesterday (thanks, Internet!), Jim and I took the evening off and then spent much of today tying up the rest of the pre-Thanksgiving loose ends that needed attention. Roxie spent today doing the same thing she did yesterday, which was pretty much this: Sigh, what a life. Anyway, here’s some Sunday Reading for you. Enjoy! I absolutely adored Angela’s beautiful tribute to her youngest child (Number Four!) over on Jumping With My Fingers Crossed. The post was chock-full of love and positivity and sweetness, and you should go read it right now. While there’s technically no reading to be done in this case, my…

  • Uncategorized

    Pizza Delivery

    So as you probably knew, it’s been a little crazy around here. While I pick up the pieces, dig myself out of what seems like a never-ending virtual pile of (e)mail, get myself caught up with non-LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER business, and try to decide how much of the massive amount of leftover pizza I have in my refrigerator I should eat before throwing it away, listen to this. It’s the kind of thing that often happens when my Dad calls and I can’t answer at that moment.   Too bad he doesn’t live nearby. He could pick up his own pizza.

  • Uncategorized

    Now Streaming…

    I just became a member of the Netflix Stream Team and will be writing monthly posts on how you and your family can best enjoy what’s available for streaming directly to your television. Click here for my first post, which has some suggestions on how to extend the sense of inspiration (and motivation!) you likely felt after watching two weeks of Olympic games!

  • Food,  How To,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  Uncategorized

    A Crisis Of Epic Proportions

    I had a crisis of epic proportions the other day. My stomach dropped, my breathing intensified, and I started having heart palpitations. An anxiety attack was on the horizon. You see, I ran out of chocolate chips. I know; I couldn’t believe it either. I have posted on Facebook several times about how I “get nervous” when I run out of chocolate chips, but most people think I’m just trying to be funny. Sadly, I’m not. I truly have a physical reaction to the news that I have zero bags of those little semi-sweet teardrops in my freezer*. Granted, I hardly use them anymore: I don’t make chocolate chip banana…

  • Uncategorized

    Dear Carnival Cruise Line,

    I recently returned from my second cruise on one of your ships (The Carnival Victory)–a five-day voyage around Cuba with stops in Jamaica and Grand Cayman. The experience, in combination with my childhood fantasy of being a Cruise Director (like the majority of females my age and thanks to Julie McCoy on ABC’s “The Love Boat”), made me more determined than ever to work on a cruise ship. But what would I do? I put lots of thought into that very question and will elaborate on it once I explain how perfect my qualifications are for your company. My skills are as follows: 1. I am friendly. I smile all…