In a nutshell: it’s okay. BuzzFeed organizes this diet (they say challenge, but that’s just doublespeak, in my opinion) around the idea that you have a lot of free time on the weekend, and less during the week. So there’s more in the way of cooking and prep work over the weekend. If you do the regular nine-to-five gig, starting the diet on a Sunday is probably your best bet. And yes, the shopping did take all day. But since... Read more
This was my day. Downton Abbey: The Kale Episode. Everyone in the kitchen is taking holiday, leaving two scullery maids to do all the work. (Including washing the family’s seventeen dishes over and over and over and over and over.) Due to war rationing, there is nothing to eat but kale. Kale. For every meal. And almond butter. Mostly kale. Did I mention we had to continually wash dishes. I’m exhausted. More tomorrow. Read more
My daughter came home yesterday after graduating from college. She has immediately taken over my life and declared that we are undertaking the BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge. Two weeks of “clean eating. Whatever that means. Really, as much as I like food, I’m not at all certain what this means. But it’s about food, and it has nothing to do with exercise. The blurb promises that I’m going to feel like a million dollars, or whatever the BuzzFeed equivalent of... Read more
I have to get my picture taken for our church’s directory this afternoon, and realized the top I wanted to wear needed to be washed. It was looking pretty decent out, and I thought to myself, “I wonder where that rain is that everyone talked about last night at choir?” I should probably mention that I was naked. (Because, um, that’s maybe the sole advantage to living alone. Naked chores.) Anyway, I’m down in the basement, starting things up, when... Read more
One of the big warning signs that I’m getting more depressed is irrationality. That, and its sister irritability. Just when I need all my wits about me to fight off sinking into a mental miasma of misery and self-loathing, I become paralyzed by these twins that do nothing for me and end up making things worse. So, today’s writing is being conducted at my local bread/pastry/coffee shop. Because… spider. I was already at the end of my tether earlier in... Read more
“You have to just fling the stuff out there.” “I know. But I want people to like me.” “That’s normal. Try to think of it more like weather.” “Like weather? What does that mean? How is writing a blog post like the weather?” “Well, there’s all kinds of weather. No matter what kind of weather it is, it’ll work for some people, and not for others. That’s okay. But it doesn’t really stop the weather. Don’t let it stop you.” Read more
I am the Khaleesi of excuses. I rely on them. I clutch them close to my bosom like the baby dragons they are. Because they are, in fact, dragons. And if there’s one thing we know about dragons, regardless of whether they’re from George R.R. Martin or J.R.R. Tolkien, it’s that they’re flying fiends of fiery…uh…fiery crap, really. Excuses are like a deluge of nonsense, and like dragons, they aren’t even real. I’ve had a bunch of excuses for not... Read more
No matter what you think this post is about, based on its title, I bet you’re wrong. But by all means, prove me wrong instead. On the one hand, I’m not a fool. I am fully aware that once you think you’ve arrived, spiritually speaking, it’s absolutely true that you haven’t. Humility is tricky like that. On the other hand, it seems impossible not to do a little mental happy dance that I can be thankful and recognize the blessings... Read more
Joy is a secret you just can’t keep. It burbles up, bubbles up like a spring. Slow, it starts small like the flame on the candle you just lit. Then it catches and it flares up and it draws you in closer and it makes your smile brighter and it sends you spiraling off in another direction. Giddy, you spin, reveling in it. You can’t keep it to yourself. You just want to share it, and there’s a stranger in... Read more
There is little more encouraging to a woman “of a certain age” than to be told, time and again, “Wow! You’re very beautiful.” Because, let’s face it, as women, we desire that. We desire to be found beautiful. To be admired. If we’re fortunate, we grow up having our dads say something like that. And our moms. I can remember having my dad come home after a business trip, pick me up, and swing me around, asking, “How’s my little... Read more
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry...
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