Friday Randoms because the week got away from me <3
Happy Friday!
We are acclimating ourselves to summer hours. Late nights and a couple of early morning exits to hang with our grands are the norm for the next seven weeks.
Wow…why is summer getting shorter and shorter????
Maybe it’s because we are playing all the sports and doing all the things…wouldn’t have it any other way.
The photo above was what the horizon looked like as we neared home last night. We drove through pretty rough storms and it looked so other worldly when we neared our neighborhood. Thought it was a cool shot. Hope you enjoy it <3
Anyway here are some randoms to read as we wave this week goodbye:
Random #1
I feel like there is an unnecessary amount of speed utilized by people in just about every driving situation these days. We watch people routinely fly through lights that are fully red. It is a rare drive for me when a car or pickup isn’t right on my bumper exiting or entering our quiet little neighborhood.
A friend of ours told me her solution in this situation is to slow down even more.
The closer they are, the slower she goes.
This makes me laugh and relieves some of my stress when I have a car glued to my license plate and I am going the speed limit, but I can’t bring myself to do it.
My go-to as my anxiety sky-rockets is to turn my signal on and pull over so they can pass me. I breathe more easily and they can scurry along to whatever big event they are trying to get to.
Win-win.
Random #2
I do a lot of philosophizing in the car, so here is another one for today.
I followed a pickup quite a ways the other day. At a respectable distance and speed, mind you.
The guy either custom made his rig or was in some kind of accident because there was a non-issue bumper on the back that was white and set at an odd angle. The result was that his tires looked like they should be going more to the side than straight and the whole effect was disconcerting.
As I tried to figure out exactly what was going on and how things had transpired to result in this configuration, I realized that other things were kind of shifting and looking off balance in relation to the bumper.
Like, was the bumper really aligned and the truck was crooked? Which meant the whole landscape was in question now.
And I finally had to shift my gaze and look at things that were stable and constant, like trees and buildings and my dashboard to get myself righted from this Alice in Wonderland experience.
Which made me think how it’s important to double check your perspective on things and people and opinions and make sure you aren’t using a skewed plumb line to measure the truth of things.
Random #3
Russ bought me this dress. He is probably the best personal shopper for our whole family.
It arrived on his birthday which is typical of him to give me something on HIS birthday.
I love it and he was so impressed with his ability to wangle a deal with Kohl’s cash.
He makes me laugh.
I love the thought, the gift and I love him.
Random #4
Still about the dress.
It had a self-belt made of the fabric.
These are okay, but I wondered if one of my old belts would work with it to upgrade the look.
I pulled a box off the top of my closet shelf that holds this accessory category and wondered if I was emotionally prepared to actually discover that not a single one goes around my waste anymore.
What joy when I discovered that three fit fine!
My happiness was fleeting when I realized that while they fit fairly well around my waist, I actually last wore these on jeans that hit mid hip.
In the words of one of the characters in Nemo, “Good feeling gone.”
The shocking reality is my waist is now the size my hips used to be.
Don’t mind me, I will be drinking green tea and doing crunches the rest of the day.
Random #5
Speaking of summer … we were, earlier… what is about kids and conflict?
They seem to love the picking on each other and chaos. Oh sure, they scream and fuss about it but deep down, it’s like a hobby for them.
Nothing to do?
Walk just a tad too close to your sibling as you pass in the hallway.
Things seem a bit too quiet?
Call someone the nickname they despise.
Have to turn off the TV and play a game?
Run quickly to the table and take the seat someone else usually uses.
I had a flashback to my own season in the trenches. I vividly remember the day it dawned on me that as I was trying to bring peace into the fray, they were actually having a great time of it.
They were having…FUN…doing this stuff.
I believe I told them that while this seemed to be highly entertaining for them it was eating my soul away and could they please, for the sake of my sanity, stop it and find something else to do.
Thankfully just like puppies outgrow chewing our shoes, children eventually find less pleasure in arguing and devouring one another.
Or they should….
we all know there are a few adults who have hung tenaciously on to this annoying habit and we all wish they would GROW UP….
Have a fun weekend.
You are dearly loved <3