STARTING 4/8/17: Six Word Saturday is now being hosted by the lovely Debbie at Travel With Intent.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Six Word Saturday

Rough emotional week but still hopeful


Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing. I love seeing what everyone does with their entries.

Each week (probably on Sunday or Monday), I use random.org to select a bunch of entries to visit. In addition, please visit the person ahead of you on the list (or visit everyone if you like!). That way everyone receives at least one visit!

If you play along in your blog, please add a link to the Mr. Linky. I appreciate a link back (shiny code below if you like!). Otherwise, you're welcome to leave your six words in this post as a comment.

Please be sure to link either to your main page or (preferably) directly to the 6WS post. Links to blogs that do not contain a 6WS entry will be removed (sorry, just the button in the sidebar doesn't count as participating).



Thursday, January 20, 2011

Who Am I?

Yesterday, I had an appointment for the lower back pain I've been experiencing. The good news is that the nurse called me "fixable". The bad news? Meds and physical therapy. I'm sure the insurance company will want to cover all of that...

That's not the whole identity crisis part of the story though. That came as a result of giving my details to the patient registration lady. She asked where I'm employed and I had to say "I'm not currently working". Which I sorta choked on because, I don't know, I was embarrassed?

And THAT's not the identity crisis part of the story either. Nope, that part came after she printed out my paperwork and asked me to fill out one last form while I waited. And on that form, for occupation, it said "housewife".

Housewife? HOUSEWIFE!?!? I mean, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being a housewife. Except, that's not who I am. Am I? At least, it's not how I see myself. I wanted to yell - no! I was a webmaster for over 9 years! I just finished a grad program for marketing! I'm only on a break because the Drama Llama wasn't going to let me finish classes!!!

The extent to which so many of us define ourselves based on our careers is amazing. Amazing - and really sad. But that's really another post for another day. Today, I need to vacuum and do laundry and put a pork roast in the crockpot. But, you know, I'm not a housewife!

P.S. I mainly dealt with the doctor's nurse, who is made of awesome. The doctor didn't seem all that interested when he spoke to me for less than two minutes (no exaggeration there). She believes my issues are "mechanical". So I just need a tune-up of physical therapy, anti-inflammatories, and muscle relaxers for a month, then we re-evaluate.

P.P.S. This is my first time on muscle relaxers. Twelve hours after taking the first pill, I'm still half-zonked.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Let It Out or Let It Go?

My six words this past Saturday referenced my recent lack of bloggy mojo but if I'm honest with myself, it's a lot more than that.

I sit down to blog and the words stick. I debate how much to share and about what topics. I abandon posts in draft because I feel some obligation to my readers and some deep desire within myself to be funny or entertaining or at least light-hearted and I'm just not feeling it.

I've got a lot of stuff in my head right now and I'm wondering how best to deal with it all. Hmm, can the crazy dreams be that much of a coincidence? (Meditation before bed, btw, is helping a lot.) Sometimes I think that it's best not to give these fears and issues a voice; not ignoring them, exactly, but also not putting them down in black and white. Or is it a better idea to write them out, acknowledge, and then (hopefully) move on? Let it out or let it go?

Screw it. I started this blog over two years ago as a place I could be honest and voice those thoughts and fears openly. Anonymous in name but authentic in all else. And right now, I'm going through a lot of stuff. It's not big stuff in the scheme of the world. I have enough food, I have enough money, I have enough things. But I don't have enough peace or love or direction.

So, dear reader - and I mean that, because some of you have become amazing friends - I'm going to let it out, in hopes that it will facilitate letting it go. Also, maybe by letting some of these words out, I'll also be able to find some of that light-hearted face-punching first-fursdaying fun. Because I miss that, a lot.

I hope some of you will stick by me while I try to get back not only my blogging mojo but my life mojo. It's overdue but I feel like I've come as close to hitting bottom as I dare allow and I'm ready to fight my way back up.

Here goes nothing everything!

Monday, January 17, 2011

2011 Reading Goals & Two Book Reviews

Last year, my goal was to read 25 books of any length or sort. Despite being far behind when December began, my final count was 28. And I didn't even count textbooks.

This year's goal is 30 books. So far, I've read two and they both sucked. I've decided to start "reviewing" my books here as I complete them, because I have nothing else to blog about I'm all about sharing the good and saving you from the bad.

The Beach Road (James Patterson)

This was one of his earlier books, I believe. While his books aren't always amazing, the short chapters and writing style usually make these a quick read. It took me over a week to struggle through this book. The story-teller changed chapter to chapter and most of the voices weren't enjoyable. Rather than feel enlightened at the final twists, I felt lied to and that was a lousy way to end. I'm going to give this one a rating of Two Punches in the Face.

Oleander House: Bay City Paranormal Investigations (Ally Blue)

This was a free for a reason Kindle download. I downloaded the FREE!!! book without reading more than the title and seeing that it was well-rated so I can only blame myself. The book was all kinds of awful. There were two main storylines going on. The main part of the story focused on the paranormal investigation, which was interesting at times but ended dramatically with absolutely no answers. The other story involved the main character, Sam, who was new to the group. He developed an immediate crush on his married-but-in-denial-gay boss, Bo. My issues with their "relationship" had nothing to do with them being gay and everything to do with them being juvenile and ridiculous. The portrayal of their interactions was uneven and miserable to read. Turns out this is the first book in a series, which I will not be continuing, free or not. I'm going to give this one a rating of Worth Every Penny I Paid.

Currently Reading: Kick-Ass Creativity: An Energy Makeover for Artists, Explorers, and Creative Professionals (Mary Beth Maziarz)

This is good so far but I'm going through it slowly as it's a lot to digest. So far, the focus has been on how energy around us influences our creativity. I'm enjoying it, but it's not a quick read.

I'm looking for suggestions. I'm not into sci-fi. I'm not into trashy or sappy romance novels. I tried to read Hunger Games and couldn't get into that at all. I'm not a fan of vampires, werewolves, or other twinkly weirdness. You can see what I've read recently on my bookshelf. My favorite reads last year were two by Kate Morton (The Distant Hours, House at Riverton) and the Millennium Trilogy (Stieg Larsson). Other than the Women's Murder Club, I've given up on James Patterson.

Tell me what you've read lately that was awesome. I'd love to get lost in some good books because if the 28 other books I read this year are as awful as the two I've read so far, I may be forced to take drastic measures be sad about it.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Six Word Saturday

Has anyone seen my blogging mojo?


Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing. I love seeing what everyone does with their entries.

Each week (probably on Sunday or Monday), I use random.org to select a bunch of entries to visit. In addition, please visit the person ahead of you on the list (or visit everyone if you like!). That way everyone receives at least one visit!

If you play along in your blog, please add a link to the Mr. Linky. I appreciate a link back (shiny code below if you like!). Otherwise, you're welcome to leave your six words in this post as a comment.

Please be sure to link either to your main page or (preferably) directly to the 6WS post. Links to blogs that do not contain a 6WS entry will be removed (sorry, just the button in the sidebar doesn't count as participating).