I think I had forgotten the whole purpose of creating this blog this year. Granted, it hasn’t been the best times to remember, but I’m still here. Here’s the rundown.
In the past few months, I have survived two hurricanes, one in the dead heat of the summer, and the other just a month later. Now, when the weatherman announces a hurricane forming, I barely flinch and have been heard snickering. After all, it is still 2020. I also contracted Covid-19. That experience, I’d like to elaborate on in a completely different post. It’s a stinker.
I have been spending most of my free time working on my photography. I had a photo shoot with a family and their 8 month old daughter that turned out ok. Not my finest, but I’m just trying to grease the wheels that have been lying dormant for several years. Now that I’m in recovery, I will move forward with the families with whom I had already planned shoots. I may share them on here. I haven’t decided yet.
I’ve also been thinking about nursing and how I still want to continue with my education. I’m finally where I wanted to be several years ago when I started, and I realize now how complacent I’ve gotten with my life. I needed the stability of consistency in my life and I have that now. Now is the time to move forward. So, maybe that will begin again in the spring. Time is wasting.
So, I guess that wraps up the highlights of the past few months. I know, exciting. Stay tuned for my Covid-19 experience and stay safe out there!
Well, hello there. It’s been a while. How’s the second half of 2020 treating you? The same as the first? I have a lot of catching up to do. I have 28 drafts started from the last time I posted. 28. I haven’t even gone back to look at what I was wanting to talk about in those drafts. It’s been so long now, it doesn’t matter.
Things are finally changing now since the last time I posted. I think I was working on our home office, but I’ll get to that another time. I did want to get on here and try to catch up, now that life is more than just staying home. Our state is still in phase 2 of this dragged out lock down, but other than the mandated masks, it’s hard to tell.
I’m finally employed, though I feel a bit gun shy to say so. I work for a healthcare group and am enjoying it for the most part. The work, I enjoy. I enjoy it a lot. The not so enjoyable part is the environment and taking a while to get used to it. It is ridiculously fast paced. I’m not the person to master multi tasking. I have to wait for that muscle memory to kick in before I’m confident in myself. Well, muscle memory and the ADHD meds I’m finally taking again. I’m feeling kind of fabulous for having health insurance again! Of course, having the ability to see my doctor while I’m at work, and not having to pay a dime for the office visit is somewhat on my list of hallelujahs too.
In the midst of being AWOL, my beautiful little grandson turned 3. Let me tell you, he had a birthday and all of a sudden he changed from a toddler to a whole kid! Like he’s a little boy now! I don’t know what happened! His entire attitude changed and I’m not sure if I even like him anymore! I’ve always been the master at putting him down for a nap and the other day, he fought me like I was his mother! Who did this kid think he was anyway? pshh. I finally had to give up and let him have his way and let his mother deal with his no nap self.
So beyond the kidding that I don’t like my grandson, I’m just working and being grateful for it. Oh and I had several calls from other interviews I thought I had bombed. Yeah, I got those calls one week into having this job. One was like, “Hey girl, you ready to work?” Don’t think I didn’t consider leaving where I had spent my week. Same company though, different job. Didn’t really want to come off as insatiable and I certainly don’t want to burn any bridges. That one year no job thing almost took me out.
Also, just for journal purposes, last week I woke in the middle of the night, walked toward the laundry room (it’s a sleep disorder) and all of a sudden, had this sharp, pinched nerve feeling shoot through the inside top my forearm. It continued all night with certain movements and into the next day where I had one of the doctors look at it for me. Doctor said it was probably coming from my neck, so she prescribed a muscle relaxer and an anti inflammatory for me. They did nothing. So, all week, I’ve had the same pain shooting through my arm, along with my shoulder, neck, and part of my back feeling sore, stiff, and twisted. Today, I followed up with her and she put me on some nerve pills, wrote an order for an X-ray tomorrow, and physical therapy once a week. I’m not at all fond of the pills I’ve been consuming, but this pain is debilitating. I am highly tolerant to pain, but this…this hurts and I’m kind of tired of it. Again, luckily, the X-rays are at work, so I won’t have to miss anything. (This may be a “perk” that bites me as I’ll never be able to call in sick.)
I’ll read those 28 drafts later. Enough for tonight. It’s bedtime.
Louisiana is finally at phase 1 of opening after the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown. I’m ecstatic over it but mostly because I, personally, have been above the fears for some time now. I’m at the point where I wonder if there is going to be a”Covid season” every year. The first place I wanted to go is to the gym, but going out into public today took entirely too long with all the people! However, I’m holding true to my desires, so I’ll be heading to the gym here in a few minutes.
I’ve not been posting lately because I’ve been working on that home office I mentioned before. Well, not really working on the room itself, but I’ve been trying to build the desk that will go in there. I’ve changed my mind on the design so many times that it had me stumped! If I’d just follow a pattern and be done, all would be well, but I can’t leave well enough alone. It’s going to be a floating desk, but with the bulk of it, I couldn’t see it not having some sort of storage in it. So, it went from front loading storage to flip top storage, back to front loading, to saying forget the storage all together and hang the thing! I’m back to flip top storage now. All that mind changing hindered my progress and messed up my final decision on it. It is coming together now and I have stumbled across a finish I’m dying to try out! I also picked a paint color and a few pieces of furniture for the room that will really turn it into a functional space! I’ll show it all soon.
Anyway, not much to say but wanted to just peek in for a minute. I’m about to head out the door and get these stiff joints moving.
I’m new to this blog, so I was surprised and excited that I’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award by Janet at https://endless-rivers.com/ Thank you so much, Janet! I’m honored! (and sorry, I couldn’t get the link to change to your blog title)
RULES
Thank the blogger who nominated you, and provide a link to their blog.
Answer the 11 questions given to you.
Share 11 facts about yourself.
Nominate 5-11 other bloggers.
Ask your nominees 11 questions.
Notify your nominees once you have uploaded your post
Answers to Janet’s Questions
What is your greatest life lesson so far? To be self sufficient. Totally self sufficient.
What’s your favorite Car Karaoke song to sing? Depends on the purpose of the drive. Decompress drive – worship music. Traveling – Jason Mraz, Uncle Kracker, or Goo Goo Dolls
Name one habit you would like to quit and one you would like to start? I would love to master the art of not procrastinating. I would love to start practicing Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning, but I’ve tried it and it (I) was terrible.
What has been your greatest challenge in the past month? Getting off my tail! I’ve never watched so much tv in my entire life. I’ve never been this idle. Ever.
Share one thing you’ve never shared before about yourself. I dislike when people copy me on anything. It’s supposed to be the greatest form of a compliment, but I find it annoying. I don’t follow trends, I just do what I like. If what I like becomes a trend, I change it. I just like novelty in everything.
What are you most afraid of? Dying too soon. I don’t dwell on it or anything, but I’ve had health issues no one in my family has had. Hereditary ones at that. I seem to catch the brunt of it all. However, I’m not unhealthy at the moment.
Have you ever been mistaken for someone else? Not sure if I’ve been mistaken for anyone, but have been told hundreds of times I look like Jamie Lee Curtis or Jenna Elfman – even though they don’t look anything like each other? You can judge whenever I finally put a picture on my profile, one day, when I stop procrastinating.
What’s missing in your life? A teardrop camper. Retro style.
What is the ONE thing on your bucket list? Visiting Cape Cod.
Would you rather camp or do a five star hotel? Camping. Alone with my dog. If you know me, then you know.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Extrovert. No doubt. My oldest and youngest daughters are introverts and I have no idea how they do it.
11 Facts About Myself
I have a very low self esteem at the moment, even though I know better. ???
I’ve been married and divorced twice. First marriage started when I was 19 and ended 4 years later. I was bored. Second marriage lasted 18 years and was 18 years too long.
I can drink buttermilk all day every day and don’t understand why people don’t like it, yet they like sour cream. IT’S LITERALLY THE SAME THING WITH LOWER VISCOSITY!
I love doing laundry
Anxiety hits me hard driving on high overpasses. My body locks up and I break out in sweats, barely able to drive. It’s not a fear of falling. I can feel the altitude, but it doesn’t bother me if someone else is driving.
I wanted to try veganism after one of my professors made the class watch videos on Dr. Michael Greger, but I love butter and bacon too much. It’s not out of my realm of experiments though.
I want to teach myself acoustic guitar. After letting this be known, I received a guitar for my birthday last year. However, I broke my left wrist 10 years ago and it didn’t heal correctly, so it hurts to play. I have to have it restrung to be able to strum it left handed. I’ve just never had it done yet. I can imagine with this quarantine, had I thought about it, I could have been pro by now.
I have a wanderlust soul. I initially wanted to become a psych nurse and I still don’t know exactly what area I want to be in, but I do believe I want to be a travel nurse.
I have bounced back and forth from Texas to Louisiana my entire life. Currently I’m in Louisiana.
Speaking of Louisiana, I’m not a fan of Louisiana culture. At all. I’m also in North Louisiana which is a completely different state from South Louisiana. However, I do love crawfish.
I’m not following too many blogs at the moment, so I couldn’t choose very many nominees. They are not listed in any particular order and they also range from one end of the spectrum to the other, so there should be something for several here. Go check them out and give them a follow!
Questions for my Nominees
What is one quality about yourself you’d like to see passed on to your descendants?
Would you rather live in the convenience of the city or the simplicity of the country?
Are you fan of reality TV? If so, what’s your favorite show?
What has been the most challenging part of quarantine?
Have you ever been out of your home-country?
What was the most expensive vacation you’ve ever taken?
Have you ever met a celebrity?
How many languages can you speak?
If you knew you only had one day to live, how would you spend it?
What’s one thing about your life you would change if you could?
Why did you start a blog?
This was a thought process for sure! It was fun! You don’t have to be nominated to join in on the discussion. I’d love to see everyone’s answers!
The other day my grandson, Aiden, 2 years old, handed me a pen and a piece of paper and asked me to draw a square. Knowing he was capable, I insisted he draw it himself. Not wanting to do it, he shoved the paper back to me and asked me to draw a house. I obliged, and as I completed the square for the start of the house, he grabbed the paper from me and said, “Thank you” and ran off.
I got played.
When my youngest daughter was in kindergarten, she was reading to me and pronounced the word “go” like “gah”. I reminded her it was a “long O” So she read it again and said, “gaaaaaaaaaah”.
That one will never die.
My middle daughter in her preteen years looked really thin one day. She said it was because she was wearing black. I told her no, she looked just extra thin. She responded with the fact that she had on 2 black shirts.
She may have been onto something, actually
Same daughter at a time she was too old to have this be anymore than a “duh” moment – We were in the paint section of Home Depot when she came across some biodegradable paint pans. She asked what biodegradable meant. I told her that it meant that it will break down. She said, “Well, they better hurry up and sell them then!”
She’ll hurt me for broadcasting that.
Youngest daughter at about age 7 went to shower in my bathroom. While she was occupying the bathroom, I remembered I was out of body wash. When she was finished, I asked her if she used soap. She said yes. I asked her what she used because I didn’t have anything in there. She responded by showing me the bottle of shampoo she had used. I asked her why did she use shampoo. She said because it said, “Head and Shoulders”.
Can you argue with that?
After falling prey to Aiden’s little game, I thought about how we soon forget these small little things. As of right now, I can’t really pin point anything funny like these from my oldest daughter and it shreds my heart because I know there were so many. I’ll remember, and as soon as I do, I’m archiving them, never to be forgotten again.
What are some funny moments from your children? I’d love to read about them.
Do we even know what day of the quarantine this is? It’s all just running together now. I still have an endless list of things to do, but for the past few days, Netflix and Pop Tv have grabbed my attention. I started (and finished) the Schitt’s Creek series. It was was so silly and quirky but I couldn’t stop watching, and the characters were so dynamic I had to see their outcomes. What’s a girl to do? However, I can get on with my life now that it’s complete. I mean, probably.
My energy levels are waxing and waning just as they have for months now. The only thing that is really starting to irritate me about this quarantine is the job situation. I’m just so ready to go to work! However, my car isn’t even working right now. It decided to take a break the other day, but thankfully it was at home when it did. I have been trying to diagnose the problem off and on over the past couple days, but I haven’t figured it out completely. I’ve narrowed it down to either my starter or my ECM, which, hopefully it’s the least expensive of the two. Thanks to several YouTube videos, the ECM I can do, but I can’t even find my starter. Even not going anywhere, the car trouble slayed my energy where I feel even more locked up. Also, I miss my daughter in Oklahoma. It’s just time to video chat again.
Since the tv series and the “ho hum” feelings have interfered with my projects, I haven’t finished the storage building. I am almost finished. Maybe another hour or two worth of just doing it, it will be finished. Not pretty, but cleaned out, nonetheless. My next project will be our back bedroom which has, for a year now, been screaming to become a much needed home office, but just keeps getting ignored. I have to admit, sometimes I forget about it altogether. I’ll be posting before and after pictures of it when the time comes. I’m still entertaining ideas in my head about it. I do know it will have a moody, masculine feel to it and it’s a surprise for the man who pays the mortgage. He’s been asking for it for a while now.
Ok, so maybe it’s not the first project I’ve done during quarantine, but it’s definitely the biggest. For the past few days, I’ve been cleaning out our storage room. It’s nothing special, just one of those that attach to the opposite end of the garage from the main house. Long and narrow. For it to be no more than probably 120 sq. ft., it sure held a massive amount of junk. It’s taking quite a bit of time to go through everything.
Long story short, I had held onto a house for over a year while I was resident general manager of that hotel I’ve mentioned. I worked such long hours, I never could find enough time to drive all the way out there to pack up all my belongings. I’d grab a pickup truck load or two and not return for several weeks to months later. Within that time, it had become ravaged by drug users and thieves. Over and over and over again. When I was able to finally collect what was left of my life, I just grabbed. No order. Nothing. I shoved things in boxes and bags and got out of there as fast as I could. It was probably one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life. I loved my sweet home and everything in it, but mostly everything that the crooks left behind, was destroyed.
So, for the most part, those boxes and bags of my life was put into aforementioned storage room. It’s been almost a year since everything was thrown in there. I shoved it all into one side of that space while the other side housed yard equipment, vehicle maintenance items, woodworking tools, camping gear, and those types of things. I pulled it all out to start organizing with a clean slate, and suddenly our large garage was filled. How does that even happen?
So far, I have managed to fill our regular garbage can, 3 contractor bags, and 3 boxes of nothing but things I still had to throw out. I only have it manageable right now. The smell of what those vandals caused had permeated into my possessions. The entire storage room reeks right now, so it’s going to be a little more work than anticipated, with sealing it off and painting every nook and cranny. Lucky me, I have an ozone generator too. I knew I’d use that thing one day.
Other than the obvious circumstances, I’m very thankful for this quarantine time. For the next week or so, I’m going to reconfigure that room and utilize it to its full potential. I get so excited over things like this!
Oh, and car washing supplies? You’d think I owned a detail shop. Geez!
I just completed my studies tonight for the future “begin again in nursing school quest”. My body aches and my eyes strain to read the small print in a large textbook. Funny, each chapter ends with how age affects each studied body system. Over the past several months, I have awakened numerous times, unable to initially walk upright due to stiff ankles. How I miss the days of the fear of sitting in one place too long would just put my foot to sleep. Now, it’s almost as if I have to remind my own joints they aren’t inoperative just because they were stagnant for a few minutes. It’s not fun, but what’s worse is I know it gets worse.
I know I’ve mentioned before how much I love learning. I could live and breathe this anatomy and physiology book. It’s a love/hate relationship, to be honest, though. I can flow right through it sometimes, and other times, I can’t grasp it for anything. I need tangibility, and sometimes it doesn’t seem too tangible. Still, it intrigues me and leaves me longing for a clearer understanding.
I don’t believe in learning without intention. I do believe in being well rounded, but that is intention, isn’t it? I, personally, don’t learn to be well rounded. I learn because I like having the knowledge it takes to treat myself and others a little better. I bet I’m not the only one who ever took psychology and didn’t psychoanalyze things in my own life, or even in others’. I bet I even over analyzed. I was that girl in class whose mind wandered to past experiences and thought to myself, “That’s why I do that! That’s why I am like I am!” One thing is for sure, I wish I had taken it before having children. Anatomy and physiology is the same way. Had I taken it in my younger years, I can guarantee I would have taken better care of myself. I would have never fed my kids any fast food. I would have had them on a daily exercise regimen to the point of them thinking it was unacceptable not to exercise daily. I would have limited their exposure to the sun. I would have been boring, but my kids would be the poster children of health. I would have had a clearer understanding of groups of people and their cultures had I applied sociology and anthropology in my everyday surroundings. I could bet racism, bigotry, obesity and addiction wouldn’t be as they are today if people would just heed to a little genuine education. Yet, why don’t we?
I have encountered several people in my life who claim they don’t like to read, yet they are the ones who stay on social media to read for hours about what’s going on in their own social circle. Sometimes, even, outside their social circle. Yes, you like to read. It’s not the act of reading you don’t like, it’s the content. To each his own, but wouldn’t it be a better world if people fell in love with mental sustenance?
I really do wish I had taken courses before having kids and I’m serious about heeding to genuine education, but sadly know it’s easier said than done. We are a lazy world and our brains like things that make us feel good. Fast and easy makes us feel good. It takes effort to apply all that we have learned to our daily lives. I’ve been scolded all my life for not doing so, myself. My mother used to say, “You knew better than to do that”. She was right, but I’m also stubborn.
Yall! I don’t even know where to begin with this post. This past weekend was Ree Dik A Luss!!
Last week, for my birthday, my daughter, Allison gave me a Home Depot gift card. Of course, I’m staying at home, other than randomly walking and going to the grocery store when needed. However, this week was forecast to be terrible storms in our area. With that thought in mind, Sunday I decided to make a run to Home Depot and pick up some things I could use this week. The weather was just a little drizzly off and on, but nothing to worry about at all. So, I jumped in my car and headed out.
I spent a total of maybe 30 minutes in Home Depot. Right at the time I was getting back into my car, the rain drops began to fall. I was on the interstate heading home when I got a phone call, but had only spoken for a less than a minute before I had to end the call. The rain had gotten so heavy, I couldn’t see past my windshield. You know, eyes and ears go hand in hand like that. Immediately after hanging up, that obnoxious noise of a tornado warning blared from my phone. We get these pretty often during storms, so I just set my mind to getting home as quickly as I could. I just really couldn’t see anything, so I drove to the next overpass and hid underneath it. Now, I’m not sure if that was the smartest thing to do, but a truck behind me did the same thing, so there’s that. The rain was still pounding hard on my car, regardless of my shelter and all I could do was look around for that tornado. I felt I was directly in harm’s way of it. At this point, I was about 7 miles from Home Depot.
All of a sudden, the rain stopped beating on my car and I pulled out from under the overpass and drove home. It had already stopped raining completely by the time I made it. Moments after returning home, I watched the weather and found out a tornado had ripped through a neighborhood and our regional airport, tearing homes and aircraft to shreds. The neighborhood it ripped up is right across the street behind Home Depot and the airport is 2 miles from Home Depot. Whaaat??
Now, here’s the deal. I’ve been even closer to a tornado than that before. A few years ago, I was in my living room when my front door blew open because of “high winds”. Yeah, that high wind was a tornado that literally weaved around my house and took out others right behind me. Less than a year ago, I drove right beside one, and a year before that, one was right behind the property of the hotel I was running while I was watching a guest record it on his phone from the parking lot. But this one Easter Sunday was a little different. It grabbed my heart and will not turn loose because of what’s going on in the world today due to Covid-19. The residents who were involved are supposed to be staying home, yet they have no home to stay in right now. I’ve been asking where do these people go? What do they do? I’m not getting any answers. This was their Easter Sunday this year. Could it get any worse? Actually, yes it could, but to them, probably not. Allow me to give you some visuals.
These were just images readily available from yesterday on social media. These are not my own.
I just can’t imagine how horrified these people are. Businesses, even, that have encountered monetary loss due to the virus and now these businesses physically destroyed. Some may not ever come back.
I have a ton of Easter decorations I didn’t bother to put out this year. I couldn’t see myself digging it all out when I shamefully have a spot in my house that still holds Christmas decor I have yet to take up to my attic. It is what it is. Although Covid-19 is keeping us from gathering this year, I still have had nothing on my mind about Easter, other than making sure I do my part in making my grandson’s Easter special. Seriously, nothing else.
Yesterday was Good Friday. I didn’t think anything about it other than businesses being closed. I had gotten an email Wednesday that I hadn’t read until Thursday night. It was for an interview at one of our cardiovascular diagnostic centers here. They wanted to set up an interview with me. I was upset when I got the email because I check my email daily hoping for responses to my countless employment applications. The one day I didn’t open my email, I got a response. Hoping there was just the slightest chance they wouldn’t be closed Friday, I called only to get their answering service. Great. Now I have to wait until Monday and pray I didn’t lose my shot. But, the point is, yesterday was Good Friday and I never gave the first thought to the meaning of the day.
After reading a blog post today by a lifelong friend, I was faced with the true meaning of Good Friday. Shortly after, for some reason, I decided to create a Twitter account, not knowing I already had one. I had created it back in October 2016 and had only tweeted once. This was it:
At the moment, I’m sitting here while my two youngest daughters watch a pointless 90’s gory movie while I keep my eyes from the tv. I’m not into movie gore. With all the aforementioned events of today, I can’t help but think of a movie we should be watching if blood is what they want. The movie my lifelong friend I mentioned earlier talked about in her blog post was, “The Passion of the Christ”. I remember that one. I’ve watched in once. I had to close my eyes for a lot of it years ago when I watched it. I’ve always remembered one particular part in it when I looked at the wrong time. I’ll just say these words: “Cat of nine tails and flesh”. That image has stayed in my memory for 16 years now, as I suppose it should. That movie moved me probably more than any other in my lifetime.
Of course, as important as the message is, that movie was too much for my kids when they were little. Now, as adults, I believe it’s what’s next. They are about to experience just a glimpse of how amazing that love really is.
The Potter's Project 