#WednesdayWisdom: One thing at a time

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Often I have to remind myself: one thing at a time. We have an endless universe of things on our minds constantly.

Or maybe that’s just me.

And if we let them all talk to us at the same time, we become overwhelmed.

Again, maybe that’s just me.

But if we give ourselves the freedom to say hey, THIS is what I’m doing right now, all those other thoughts can take a step back.

Not only is it OK to do one thing at a time, it’s really all we’re equipped to do. So give yourself permission. Let the demands take turns.

And have a wonderful Wednesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

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#TuesdayThoughts: When did granola bars get so complicated?

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I decided I wanted to have some granola bars on hand. No problem, I think, I will just choose among the ten thousand available kinds.

Only.

Almost all of them have something I can’t eat. Or they’re over 200 calories which, to me, seems like a lot for a granola bar. I could have an ice cream for that, and a good one.

Sigh.

Let’s be honest, they’re basically very textured candy bars. Oh well.

It was rainy this morning, and it looks like it’s clearing, but I can’t be sure. The rain has done the grass good, the swaths of yellow are turning green again, and it once again looks like early summer. It’s cool, too, mid-seventies if the weather app is to be believed, which it isn’t always.

I’m on my second cup of coffee, going cup by cup, and here, with the morning mostly gone, I am finally feeling more integrated into the day. A little bit of a contrast from yesterday.

Anyway, that’s it for me. I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#MondayThoughts: Let’s GOOOOOOO

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I’ve got a lot of energy today. I don’t know why or where it came from but I’m going to take advantage while I have it. It’s a nice thing on a Monday.

Yesterday I realized I lost an earring, just as I was going to take them off to shower. I looked around the bathroom, and didn’t see it.

I didn’t have time to search, I had to leave, so with the earring on my mind I got ready and on my way, less organized that I’d hoped to be.

And when I came home, I looked around for my earring. I grabbed a flashlight hoping for a telltale glint, starting in the kitchen, checking around the couch, the living room and again the bathroom.

Nothing. Disappointed, I figured that was that, and the earring was gone. That happens sometimes.

It got particularly humid last night and I’d done laundry. After finishing hanging the stuff I don’t put in the dryer, I decided I wanted to take a refreshing shower before bed. I glanced down at the floor of the bathroom.

And there was the earring.

In the middle of the floor.

I have no idea how, I looked multiple times, once with the flashlight, and had nothing. But like magic, it had returned.

Life can be like that sometimes. You think something is gone, or it’s done, or there is no chance, and yet one appears.

That’s also a nice thing on a Monday. Have a great day.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#FridayThoughts: Unsettled

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I had a neighbor I don’t know come to my door last night at 9:30 pm to accuse me of making noise. I was not making noise, I didn’t even have the TV on. I also didn’t open the door. He knocked persistently and wouldn’t go away, so I asked him what he wanted.

“Are you hammering?” Though phrased as a question, it was an accusation. Angry. He was certain he knew the answer.

I said no.

“Are you sure? I live directly below you.” Impatient now, and still fuming.

I said yes I was sure.

“Are you hitting an object against another object?” he said, his tone condescendingly contained rage, implying I was either too stupid to understand “hammering” or being deliberately cagey.

“No,” I said.

“You’re sure you’re not hammering?” And around again. I’m not sure how long it went on, how many times he asked me the same question.

“It’s not me,” I said and finally he went away.

But I was shaken, if I’m being honest. It was very late, and who just knocks on people’s doors like that? And I suspect, had I opened the door, he would have forced his way in to prove that I was, in fact, hammering.

Which I was not.

I complained to the building, and I’ll follow up if I hear nothing, I am still disturbed. When I did contact the building, I discovered he hadn’t even called about the noise, just took it upon himself to ragefully park himself outside of my door.

Today I am largely angry, angry he felt entitled to knock at a stranger’s door at 9:30 at night, angry he felt entitled to interrogate me, angry he felt entitled to keep knocking when no one answered.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to share this story here, but why not? I did nothing wrong, I was merely existing.

Anyway, that’s it for me on this Friday. Have a good one, and a great weekend.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#ThursdayThoughts Ten Word Photo Prompt: Love

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Photo by Marcelo Chagas on Pexels.com

It’s THURSDAY! And we all know that means it’s time for our #ThursdayTen, a ten word story based on the image above, specially selected as we go into the last week of Pride!

Not that I’m telling you how to write your story.

ANYWAY, using the above image as a prompt, write a ten word story.

EXACTLY ten words.

Ready? Here’s mine:

The Balloons worked. Sam’s ideal love materialized in his arms.

#WednesdayWisdom: Do one new thing today.

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Gray again and today we might actually get some rain. I’ve gone back to doing coffee one cup at a time, I think I was drinking too much and my 4 am wake ups seem to agree.

This morning I did cardio after Daily Burn, since the workout was strength-based, and I’m trying to decide how I feel about it. It didn’t feel overly taxing to do both at once.

I’ll definitely consider it an option if I’m not exhausted by the end of Daily Burn. I’m not exhausted now, though I am on my second cup of coffee but you and I both know that’s nothing new.

So that’s my challenge to you today, even though you didn’t ask for one. Do something new today. Something different. Whatever you want, whatever you wonder if you can do.

Push yourself, but don’t harm yourself. Make it something that proves to you you can, something that’s been at the back of your mind, slightly taunting.

And if you try it and find you cannot, what have you lost?

All you have to do is try again. The trying is the win.

Just the trying. Have a great Wednesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#TuesdayThoughts: I really identify with my old coffee grinder.

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I’ve got to stop spending money. There are all these sales, and throughout the pandemic I bought little besides the essentials. Now we’re opening up again and I want stuff.

Not sure how healthy it is. Although it is healthy for the economy, so there’s that.

It’s cloudy today and weather apps are at odds over whether it will rain. I think it will, it has that feel about it today, but who knows. It’s cooler than it’s been.

I don’t mind it.

I’ve settled into my new coffeemaker, and I’m wondering if I should start grinding beans again. I used to, but it didn’t make much of a difference with the previous one I had, and now my previous grinder is available. I’d given it to my dad when I stopped using it, but I got him a new one for Father’s Day because I dropped this one and it still works but you have to hold it closed.

I feel a kinship.

Aren’t we all missing a latch or two at this point? Are any of us in mint condition these days?

Probably not.

Though some have been widely refurbished.

Good for you if that floats your boat.

Anyway, that’s it for me with a very random post. Have a great Tuesday.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#MondayThoughts: It’s not all urgent.

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I’m definitely drinking more coffee with my new coffeemaker. Whether that’s good or bad I’m not sure.

Probably not good, but I guess I’ll keep an eye on it.

It’s cloudy today after a night of intense storms, and I kind of hope it will rain dramatically again. I love a dramatic rain.

Yesterday I left home without my phone, something I never do, and spent the bulk of the day without it. I felt the absence, wanted to check it multiple times, repeatedly, endlessly. But could not.

And then when I finally had it again I’d missed…pretty much nothing.

We live with these things in our purses and our pockets, and their siren song is strong and constant. We have a question in our minds and we need to know right now. We think we may have a notification and we need to know right now.

But maybe we don’t.

Maybe most of it is just noise, cluttering up our thoughts and our time.

And in the end, if we let it wait, most of the time it’s fine.

And that’s me for Monday. Have a great day.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#FridayThoughts: Deescalated to concern.

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The new coffeemaker is settling in, at least today I remembered to turn on the warming plate so it will stay hot. I went wild and made myself a half carafe, so the second cup was built right in.

I don’t regret it.

It’s sunny now, but we’re supposed to get storms. At this point I don’t believe they’re going to materialize, but who knows? This is Chicago, after all.

I’ve ordered groceries, and here I wait. Yesterday, as I grew annoyed filling the virtual cart, I thought how great it is that I could just walk away and come back later. Hello 21st century.

On Wednesday I walked around an outdoor shopping mall without a mask, only putting it on when I entered stores. There were plenty of people without them inside, and there’s no way to know who is actually vaccinated. So we’re heading toward normal, but normal still laced with fear.

Maybe not fear. Maybe we’ve deescalated to “concern.”

Maybe.

I have nothing deeper than that for you today as the coffee takes its time kicking in. Just mild summer thoughts, and hopes for an expanse of days far safer and lovelier than last year.

Have a wonderful Friday and a fantastic weekend.


Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#ThursdayThoughts ten word photo prompt: Training

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Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

#ThursdayTen time! Using the above photo as a prompt, write a ten word story.

Exactly ten words.

I’m starting to think that “Cottonbro” at Pexels.com is playing along, because he (?) produces great prompts.

Anyway, write your ten word story!

Ready? Here’s mine:

Droid assimilation nearly complete, the batch practiced authentic phone use.