2016-04-03

Something Old, Something New, Something Muddy, Maybe YOU

Cough *, cough *  it's dusty in here.

Not that the Fatness Post from November  was not Superexciting, but it's high time we have a new post, ey?

I've been really busy and I know we're ALL busy so I'll spare you the boring details, but whenever I feel more busy than I'm happy about, it's time for a timeout and some THANKFULs.

10 Things Thankful is a blog hop sort of, and an ancient and  practice  (?) I may have made ​​that up  of ACTIVELY being grateful for the good things in your life. Including and for me Especially when things get tough.  

Being thankful for the things you have is not some gift that is magically deliciously * bestowed upon some people, they have to actually work at it.
(* I know deliciously makes no sense in this sentence, but as a victim of children's marketing of leprechaun marshmallow cereal I can no longer type or say 'magically' without the word 'delicious.' I worked in Marketing so instead of being mad, I'm kind of in awe actually.)

Without further ado because let's a-don't, here are things I'm thankful for:
1. The ​​Gravity Challenge.  The  I have been a part of this since summer of 2015. It's a lovely group of people, overseen by vBulletin® the ever 's by patient over-seer, WHO COMPLETE is my 2nd thankful.

2. Clark of the Wakefield Doctrine, making sure we check in first with ourselves and then with each other daily to report how gravity is affecting us. Putting our information together, Encouraging us when we need it, Supporting us through victorious moments, all for less than minimum wage. A lot less.

3. Wii Fit by Nintendo.
I do not have a scale because years ago my now husband and I were drunk fighting and I threw it. 
(True story, obvy who would make that up?) 
Luckily our local neighborhood gaming system has a torture device disguised as a game, that allows you to do a variety of exercises with some guidance. It has yoga, with a board to stand on that tells you if you're doing it wrong (I usually am.) 
Practicing yoga helps me in many ways. It also weighs you and keeps track of your weight, with judgement at no extra charge.

Also, it's a little creepy. At no extra charge.
Uhhh ooookkkkaaayyy. I gotta go, do .... a .... thing kthanksbye.
4. Spring
I lowkey hate Spring and it's bipolar mostly COLD weather and it's smug attitude and all it's mud and allergies and Spring cleaning, but it's one of those things you have to live through not to die of cold and Vitamin D deficiency in the Midwest.

5. Spring Break
No crazy schedules, just the ones I choose to make to do the things I want to do and to see the people I do not normally have time in my day to see. 

6. My car
I have a super cliche minivan and it's haunted. Sometimes, for reasons that escape it's dealers and every mechanic I've ever taken it to, the battery drains and we get stuck in random places. 
Yes, we've tried that. Whatever you're thinking, we've tried it, replaced it, got a better "super-power" one. Does not matter. Anyway, other than that it's a great car and it's been weeks since we've been stranded anywhere. So there's that.

7. This weird year
It's been strange, tough, painful, monetarily and physically, and different than our normal routine. However, parts have been wonderful. I hope to find more work from home or things are going to get really uh, interesting let's say, but it's allowed me to spend a lot of time with just my kids and that has been a priceless blessing. I also haven't had a headache in weeks, thanks be to whatever ghost moved out of my head, b/c we never knew why I even got them so I don't know why they're gone.
from wanna-joke.com
8. Aldi
I know people hate it and complain about it all the time, it's the opposite of typical American grocery stores. It does not kiss your butt and do everything for you, it's like the My Mom of grocery stores,
"Get it yourself. Your arms ain't broken."
Without it's low prices we would be in much worse debt. I can bag my own groceries and move an empty box or 3, thanks for the low prices, man.

9. This blog
I do not know how much longer I'll even have it. I never have time to write any more, but it's nice to know there is a community of smart, funny people when I can make the time. 
Raising small kids in today's world can be lonely, it's so nice to find like-minded people, even in the Computal World. Also need to the I figure out Post why it keeps changing my text AS the I'M TYPING sometimes. STOP doing That, Books Blogger Reader Even . BUT the I have it and the blog Itself is
free, and a reminder of the adult by mind the I of used to have.


10. This hop I , and Especially it's Creator.
See above.




20 comments:

  1. Hi Joy -- So nice to have a new post from you! Sorry to hear times have been tough. I hope you find whatever kind of paid employment you're looking for soon.

    My Rare One bought a Wii system on impulse a few years ago. We've never used it for its intended purpose. But it did come in very handy as an internet-TV-connection so we can watch Netflix. So it was kind of a good investment in the bigger picture.

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    1. Hello Debra, good to see your gloved hands again! I have been on a not-enjoyable hiatus from blogging, meaning I miss blogging and especially reading my favorites.
      We also use the Wii for Netflix, it seems to freeze up less often through there. It's like it downloads or buffers or whatever all at once, instead of throughout the entire show as it does just through the television.
      Hope to be on here a little more often when possible!

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  2. Thankfully spring has pretty much sprung here. Though it is supposed to be near freezing next week. I love looking at the 70s all week on the Weather Channel. My blogging has suffered from the busyness of life too. Glad to meet you and have a great week.

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    1. Nice to meet you! I apologize profusely for the sTrAnGe type-os. My blog may be haunted also? I've fixed these 3 times and they keep popping back up somehow.

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  3. OMG JOY! So good to see you here! It sucks that the hiatus wasnt because you struck it rich and had time to spend all your winnings and go broke so now your back to slumming it but none the less... Im still soooo happy too see you!!!!

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    1. Ha. Sorry to disappoint, and of all the various ways I've disappointed people this is the WORST Zoe. You would be one of the few people that WOULD KNOW for sure if I had struck it rich, trust me. Happy to be seen here, I hope to be a little more often. Maybe not every weekend right away, but more often than once every 5 months at least hahaha missed you!

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  4. Hey, nice to see you popping up again! My car has a haunted battery too, but it usually takes a few days, it won't just strand me on the spot (isn't it considerate?). I know you said everyone's given you suggestions, but have you tried setting it on fire and pushing it off a cliff? (That's my next idea for mine)

    Also, I used to have the Wii Fit, and one of the things I always loved was how it told you the last time you logged on and scolded you for it. I can just imagine booting up that thing now and it having a heart attack. "It's been 4 years, 17 days, and 9 hours! Where the hell have you been? We thought you were dead!"

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    1. I've been reading here and there but my phone usually posts as my personal account and I'm too lazy to log out and log back in. Phone blogging isn't made for sausage fingers. Hashtag-struggle is real.
      YES, Death By Fire is Plan C I believe for Brienne the Beauty, our giant ugly van. Plan A is my Life Plan: Ignore it and carry on. Plan B is sell it during a good spell and make it someone else's problem. That plan comes with a lot of guilt, even though that's what the previous owner obviously did.
      Yes Wii Fit is a dickmunch. It also calls out other family members to me, e.g. "It's been a long time since I've seen Alex." Uh, does it think I'll take it's side in trash talking my life partner? Beyotch.

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  5. <3 Dear Joy, if the Thing in your Head moved out and moved into your blog, then I'm thankful for less ACTUAL headaches for you. AND HOORAY to your thankful post and your spring break and your routine of precisely what you like, when you like, with whom you like :D

    ALso, Aldi is AWESOME. I shop at Lidl, which is ALdi's equally awesome twin, and I LOVE it! So veryvery simple to shop at, as they have it, or they don't, and it's cheaper than anywhere else :) My budget is grateful to it :)

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    1. hahaha I haven't written here in awhile and now there is this POP-UP white box that will not GO AWAY and wants to change my words. Then it finally looks like it goes away, but it CHANGED MY WORDS. And usually NOT for the better. I know, that's hard to believe. But all the gobbelty-gook is what they changed. WTH?!
      I'm glad you have Lidl, which sounds SO MUCH more cool b/c everything English sounds so much more cool. It does make things easy. Then you take what's there and figure out what to cook and eat. That makes things easier for meal planning, too. They now have this "Local Grown" section that is lovely.

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  6. and... and!!! we gots Tee Shirts to prove it! (the Gravity Challenge)
    good to 'see' you on the scene again, weird how time is so... something, never enough, but somehow sufficient to the things that we enjoy and all

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    1. That's RIGHT! I may cut the sleeves off of mine, as I wear mine while exercising for encouragement. Time is weird, sometimes it drags but for the last 10 years it has absolutely FLOWN BY in an instant. I know it will eventually slow down again, but right now? It's scary. I have to force myself to look around, LOOK at my kids before they're teenagers and enjoy them as they are. It's going back tooooo fast!

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  7. As someone with a head full of ache, nothing better to me than a mysterious story of someone having headaches and then suddenly not having them. Sometimes life happens in that we experience something that we will never understand. So glad, why or why not, for whatever reason, that you can be headache free going forward. Maybe, hopefully, more time to write or blog or do whatever elese it is you enjoy or need to do with your life.
    :-)
    Have a good week.

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    1. YES, victory! The only thing I can think of is the change in weather, not being stuck INSIDE all of the time, and I had a partial root canal about that time which took away most of my tooth pain. Now you're going to say that MUST be it, but they really couldn't even finish the root canal because the inside of the tooth is dead, it's being pulled today, it could just be a coincidence. Whatever it is, happy to see it GO and hope it doesn't come back.
      I hope you have a wonderful week as well!

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  8. OK...I just can not resist the urge to call you out just the smallest bit. You have a van that is super cliche? You have a van that is haunted? I think in this case you must pick one statement or the other. See I had a mini-van for like 14 years, so I think I have some expertise in this area. My experience tells me that the haunted thing pretty much bumps the van right out of the cliche zone! Too funny!

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    1. Ha, I thought about that after I wrote it but I was running out of time so I just left it. I meant that just driving a minivan, in and of itself with small kids, is cliche. The HAUNTING makes it mine and that's kind of why I almost LIKE it? (If that makes sense?) It IS a good vehicle, it's so easy in and out and everyone is SO COMFORTABLE, and that is what my life is all about: The relentless and unapologetic pursuit of COMFY. I don't really care much about appearances, I care about Comfy and that's what it is: COMFY. For everyone. We love it and would never want to go through the Young Kids stage of life without it. Other than the battery issue it's the best car I've ever had. It handles great in the snow, rain, ice, sleet, hail, doesn't matter. It's solid. I don't regret having it. The dealer keeps emailing my husband to trade it and for awhile we were considering it, but really no other vehicle we look at has the same, feel? So we keep it for now. It's OURS. The haunted not-so-cliche cliche minivan :)

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  9. I love, love, LOVE Aldi. I would perish without it.
    That piggy bank pretty much sums up our life, too.
    Good to see you back!

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  10. Where you been hiding yo'self?? Good to see you back!
    And I'm totally with you on Aldi. TOTALLY love saving money
    and don't really mind bagging my own crap!

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    1. Oh Teri it's been a strange year of migraines, Crazy part-time schools & 2 hr activities for the little ones and all kinds of crazy from the older kid, and looking looking for work. My new job with no paycheck. I hope to work writing in there more thus year at some point. I've missed it and my fave writers.

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