read more posts by
Amy
Ways you can document kind or meaningful things you do (e.g. keep a notes jar, take a photo) Ha. I started a notes jar (it was actually a My Little Pony metal lunchbox….I wonder where it is now 🤔) on January 1st 2020. It was to draw out of in the coming years to bring a smile and hopefully the memory of the good thing that happened that day that I wrote down for posterity. Well, we all know what happened in 2020…so it was abandoned about March. For over a decade, I kept a daily planner. It was a black leather Coach diary, 3″x 5″. They eventually discontinued the refill pages and I hunted replacements in other brands for a few years before eventually giving up. I still have it, but no longer carry it with me. It holds all my passwords scribbled haphazardly among the notes pages, blood pressure readings from a few months in 2016, and birthdays of those who have been important to me at various intervals, and other arcane tidbits. I reckon pictures are the streamlined way of the modern world, or perhaps video journaling. I sound like such a hick, I see no need to commemorate that. {I thought commemoralize was a word. It is not. In other news, I had to look up hints for Wordle this morning; I think I’m losing it}. Anyway, social media has often been accused of being the highlight…
Identify what a 10-minute morning routine that’s just for you could look like COULD look like? Or what it DOES look like? I mean, I guess I could be briefed by the President of the United Nations and sipping green tea while my secretary makes travel plans to Thailand for some strategic takeover, but I think I prefer my coffee (sweetened with sugar and Starbucks white chocolate mocha creamer), Wordle, Connections, all while rubbing velvet ears from the corner of my couch. I think that’s just for me. I like it just fine…
Right now, sit and be present for two minutes. Identify if anything became clear to you It’s clear that my left nostril is NOT clear, otherwise I feel okay. The birds are singing. I have lots to do and not a lot of motivation to do it. Nothing new on that front. It’s nice to sit in peace. But then all the guilt of “need to do this” kicks in. I once read a meme that said, “I’d LOVE the luxury of a nervous breakdown!” No joke. There sure isn’t anybody to step in for me and take over all my responsibilities. And I don’t think I’d totally surrender it all, even if there was. Call it productive, call it controlling, call it what you will, but life goes on. No sense of sitting and wasting time, yours and everybody else’s. Shake it! People die in bed…
If you didn’t have to do anything today, what you’d do with your day I don’t guess any of us HAVE to do anything. I would like to think I would have gone and done something fun, like visit Kevin in Bowling Green, or maybe gone to some new-to-me thrift shops, or treated myself to a meal at a trendy place I’ve never considered eating. But I know the truth.I would have slept in (sidenote: I’m rarely able to sleep past 7), cuddled my dog, and cleaned house so I wouldn’t have to do it over the weekend. Not that there’s any big weekend plans that would be put off until the house is clean. If somebody calls, wanting to do anything, I’m game. Even though I went out last night, all this gloomy weather has me feeling a bit stir crazy. It’s funny, when presented with a gifted “free” day, I still want to do the mundane. Three days away wouldn’t even warrant much of a chance to travel far. Am I lazy? I don’t feel overburdened or taxed. Am I in a rut? Or do I just value my peace and not want to be out in traffic, searching for a parking spot in an unfamiliar location? I think that must be it…
Several months ago, I was in Chattanooga for a workshop. I took myself to a local bar that presented itself as safe for a single lady in the early evening hours. It had been raining, and I didn’t feel much like shopping with some of the other ladies on the trip. And truthfully, they hadn’t invited me. I learned about their activities the next morning. At any rate, when I arrived at the well-lit restaurant on the end of a forgettable beige strip mall, I was pleased to ascertain there were three empty barstools, all in a row. I opted for the farthest one against the wall. I settled myself and the bartender was immediately there, ready to provide assistance. I must’ve looked like I meant business. Or maybe I just looked desperate. Either way, I got prompt, friendly service. I was enjoying my beer when an older guy walked up and sat down on the stool next to me. I nodded to him, as etiquette dictates, and he returned a greeting along the lines of, “how do you do?” He had a spiral bound notebook with him, so I immediately made an assumption that he was a local contractor who caught up on the day’s paperwork at the local watering hole. I have seen this in action countless times over the years. Forget scouring the internet and community “speaks out” Facebook pages for reliable contractors: simply…
What qualities you value in other people Work ethic. Passion for whatever you do. Honesty. I don’t care if you’re an attorney on Wall Street or a stay-at-home mom, be good at it. If you’re a lawyer, don’t be condescending. Be truthful and direct. If you’re a homemaker, have your kids involved with lessons or extra curricular programs at school. Take them to the library. Don’t just lounge around drinking by your pool all day and let the kids figure out their own meals. Be proud of what you do. Someone told me long ago: it costs nothing to be on time and have a good attitude. And in all likelihood, you’ll improve at whatever you keep after. If you can’t swim, take lessons. You may never compete in the Olympics, but at least you won’t drown. If you want to paint, paint. There are no contests, unless you enter one. If you hate it, throw it out and start again. Nobody even has to know. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t tell anyone. People ruin everything. A virtue and something I value is honesty. If you can’t be honest with yourself, how can you say you’re honest with others? What is it you’re so ashamed of, anyway? If you can’t help but embellish all your stories to make…
Beyond being “productive”, what would a “good day” look like Oh, how easy. A good day is rising after a restful sleep, just as the sun comes up, and taking my coffee to the porch. There, I would enjoy watching the birds and my flowers, and not think about mulching and weeding and weed-eating. After awhile, I’d fix breakfast, probably an omelet and fried taters, and enjoy eating it there at my table. I might go in and do a little housework or decluttering. Lunch could be a simple sandwich, or maybe something picked up from the little gas station down the road. (My days center around food, in case it wasn’t obvious). I’d spend some time with my dog, and maybe rock in the hammock for awhile with a good book. For supper, I’d meet up with Kay at one of our favorite watering holes for drinks and laughs. This is one variation, the most common. Another would be in Savannah, wandering around, visiting my preferred haunts and watching the ships glide up and down the river. Some oysters and beer and general people watching and tree admiring. That’s what Savannah is made of, made of. A good day can be a good day, even if it’s just a regular day. But you know what they say- a bad day fishin’ is still better than a good day at work! I…
This “underconsumption” business is baffling to me. Do people actually buy new heavy coats and all new Christmas decorations every winter? Do they throw away their Valentines themed coffee mugs on February 15th and then shop for new ones the following January? Do people buy a new car every year or two? Like, seriously. I’m confused. How is wearing the same pair of well-fitting jeans till they get holes in them “underconsumption”? How is buying a well constructed pocketbook and carrying it for a few years not normal? Or boots? Or anything else? I mean, if you buy what you truly love you wouldn’t want to replace it, right??? These influencers are showing their insulated travel cups with chipped paint and small dents like it’s something to celebrate and be congratulated on. ???? Was I supposed to run out and buy a big, bulky Stanley for every day of the week, plus holiday editions? Am I supposed to throw away leggings that I only wear around the house because they get a pull or a bleached spot? I mean, somebody please explain this to me. I can’t make it math, or understand the WHY. Even if I was using some mythical rich husband’s money, I can’t see replacing anything that’s serviceable and not stained beyond repair. Maybe I’m the odd one…
Thursday afternoon, right after I posted my first hand account of my utter disgust in the system (about quarter till 5), I witnessed an honest-to-God miracle. So for those of you who messaged me and didn’t get an immediate response, here’s what I was doing: I’d just crossed the bridge at the Dollar General on Chapman Highway at White School Road & I see something large laying close to the side of the road. I thought it was a contractor sized garbage bag, it was the right shape. Then I see a pickup truck ahead pulling over and I looked again and the garbage bag had FEET!! And it wasn’t a garbage bag at ALL, it was black pants on a husky body. But that couldn’t be right, a patrol car was less than a quarter mile in front of me. Surely he’d seen it. Is this a joke? A training exercise?? So I whip it over in front of the truck and am watching traffic for a safe opportunity to get out, and digging my phone out to call 911, because the other guy wasn’t out of his truck yet. I start running back down the side of the road to the victim, who’s laying flat on his back, feet close to the white line of the road. When I say close, I mean less than 12″. There are no cars or anybody…
I have a friend who has been unable to flush a toilet or take a shower since January 2nd. Why not call a plumber, you ask? Well, she did. Six of them. Two eventually called back. One was just calling to let her know he got her message and couldn’t come (appreciate the honesty), the other could come from Sweetwater. And he did, on Tuesday the 6th. He was there less than ten minutes. He poked around in the vicinity of the septic tank, declared it and the field line full of roots, told her it’d be $13,000 to fix, and left. That’s terrible news for anybody, right? Now let me tell you my friend is disabled. I don’t mean that she simply draws disability (which she does, a pittance). I mean she is completely blind in one eye and only has 5% vision in the other. She has a disorder called myasthenia gravis, MG for short, which causes muscles to involuntarily quit. This includes muscles in the throat that make you swallow. You don’t think about that, right? Your neck supports itself and you just swallow spit all day as needed. She doesn’t always have that luxury. On flare up days (sometimes lasting a week and often as once a month) she has to sit up and let saliva come out her mouth or else she can choke. Her diaphragm muscles will sometimes get lazy and…
