dual personalities

Well, Daughter #1 here, coming to you on a Wednesday evening. How strange. It’s getting close to Halloween and boy things are getting spooky all over. I’ve got my little witch candle out (got it at an estate sale because my mom has one just like it).

At some point, I’ll watch some of my favorite October movies like Signs (it’s always good for a good shriek and likely a good cry). And I’ll throw in some Autumn Harvest movies on Hallmark too.

As my mother wrote, we had a delightful weekend. Full of laughter and music, sunshine and activity. And booze. We’re not becoming boozehounds–but a glass or two here and there does bring some joy.

In fact, on Saturday, after the babes and their father left, while drinking our recovery margaritas, I downloaded the Marty Stuart Greatest Hits album so we could listen to some classics. It was a good choice.

I’m repetitive these days. But, you’ve gotta find your joy where you can.

“Cause pilgrims walk, but not alone.”

Daughter #1 has asked me to sub in for the blog today, which means surprise Katiebelle content for everyone. How’s that for hump day?

I am happy to report that the wee babe adapted well to her new environs on our mini-getaway. She slept soundly in a pack-n-play and went with the flow when we explored the area. We spent a lot of time outdoors, which wore us all out in the best way.

Well, it was a wonderful time and much needed. I am trying to not let the horrors of the workweek steal the joy I stored up while on the water. But I can’t help but feel like this when I’m on Zoom too long:

It’s the second week of October, the weeks keep slipping by and I’m checking in with my usual refrain: nothing much happened this week. But don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the quiet times. With a contentious election looming, we should savor the calm while it lasts.

The trouble with that is, well, that quiet gets boring and routine. We begin to lose track of time, we lack purpose and life seems meaningless. Work is either boring or stressful and our usual entertainments begin to pall. What to do?

Accept the challenge! No one ever said life would be continuously fun or rewarding. We have to make it so. Decide to be happy and interested. Do something new:

1. Cook something difficult and take photos of the process. If it’s a disaster, laugh about it!

2. Investigate something: an ancestor; a historical mystery, or even the news from every angle (figure out how everyone is lying to you). You will learn something and keep boredom and depression at bay. If you’ve always wondered whether the Loch Ness Monster is real, look into it! Or go for something less grand. Personally, I’m interested in several family history mysteries: what happened to my grandmother’s cremated remains? What was my aunt’s name, where was she born, when did she die, and where is she buried? Did she even exist? If any of you want to help with those questions, let me know!

3. Learn a new language. Okay, this isn’t for everyone. I know it’s not something I’ll be able to do. I’m too old and that part of my brain atrophied a long time ago, but even if I don’t become fluent, I’m sure to pick up a few choice phrases. Knowing how to say “Is my porridge ready?” in Gaelic (A bheil mo bhrochan deiseil?) could really come in handy someday.

4. Get outside and rake leaves, preferably while it’s very windy and none of them will stay in your leaf pile. This is either an exercise in faith or a lesson in existentialism. Your choice. But remember, we must imagine Sisyphus happy.

I’m not even going to attempt #5. I have no more ideas and it’s time to get to my primary Sisyphean task — grading papers. Hang in there and have a great weekend!

Photos found on Google Image.

Congratulations on making it to Thursday for your weekly dose of darling. I had one of those weeks when I felt incredibly busy but also like I got nothing done, so that has been fun. This is partly because I added more things to my plate: I have been working on an essay, which was due on Tuesday and which I now need to revise. (What? How am I doing this? I truly don’t know.) Anyway, it’s about Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Custom-House, a sketch in which he pokes a lot of fun at his boring colleagues and offers the sound advice that I have quoted above.

Moving on! Katie had a pretty solid week of sleeping, eating, kicking her feet in the air, and crushing tummy time. She was declared a healthy four-month-old at her pediatrician appointment, where she weighed in at 15 lbs 4 oz (72nd percentile) and measured 25.5 inches long (88th percentile). Tall baby!

We received some more adorable drool bibs from Aunt Mary. Some are made with remnants from my grandmother Mary’s stash of fabric, which I think is really, really nice. Mamu’s basement clean-out is really paying off! The Halloween bib matches a witch costume that I wore multiple times growing up, and which I can’t wait for Katie to wear one day. For now, she can don her festive bib and make her mother feel sappy.

This weekend, we are escaping to an Airbnb on the Chesapeake Bay. This will be the first time I have taken a trip anywhere since March, unless you count our hospital stay when Katie was born. (Haha.) Here’s hoping a little peace and quiet (and a house with no chores) prove to be restorative!

I did not want to get up this morning. I woke up several times in the middle of the night thinking. And I’ve started doing this new thing where I wake up at 6 a.m. and then don’t really start to fall asleep again until it’s time to get up. It’s not great.

But, I did eventually get up to face the day. I decided to make a cup of coffee for a change and put it in a pretty cup and saucer.

And I don’t know if it was the blue and white china or the caffeine, but it did make me feel better.

For work today, I got to take a road trip to Knob Noster because the bossman had a meeting and then we got to see the B-2 stealth bombers at Whiteman AFB. It was very, very cool. I did have to climb and up down several ladders (to get an above the plane view and to get into the cockpit) but I managed to do that without embarrassing myself. Sadly, I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, because you know, military secrets.

Of course, this meant a drive through Tipton, the billiards capital of the world and home of the infamous 8-ball water tower. It cracks me up whenever we drive through.

And if you watched that short documentary I included on the blog several months ago, you know how devastating this news is:

The title of this blog post comes from a Max Lucado book (it’s more of a booklet) my mother kindly ordered for me while trying to hit the free shipping minimum on a website. Most of it is pretty duh, but I did like this:

This, to me, is the key. Anxiety is real. And there is plenty to be anxious about. But, we can’t let it keep us from living our lives. And we can’t be afraid.