By “we”, I mean “I”, and by “her” I mean “Aunt Jemima. Those of you who have been reading my stuff since the beginning (Ten years! Thanks!) will remember that an old glass Aunt Jemima bottle that was stuffed full of twinkle lights at some point back in the 1960s is one of my most-prized family heirloom holiday decorations. That says a lot, by the way, because if you’ve been here a while you also know how much Jim and I despise decorating for holidays. (Exhibit A: one of my very first blog posts, back in 2007. Wait, don’t read it. It’s horrible.) Aunt Jemima is one of my favorite…
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Inbox Breakups and the One I Just Won’t Let Go
My inbox has been out of control lately. I’m not currently employed so it’s not work emails causing a problem: it’s newsletters and retail emails along with credit card notification emails. The credit card notifications are a necessary evil, I have found. Jim and I have had our credit card numbers compromised four times in the last couple of years and it finally occurred to me that, in addition to keeping an eye on our accounts, I could take advantage of the handy notifications that our card company offers. Those notifications have purpose. The newsletters and retail emails are a different story. I can’t believe how many lists I’m on,…
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Managing Expectations is (Now) My Jam
I had a great conversation earlier today with a friend about expectations and how we manage them. This is something I have been working on for a while now, but I’ve kicked it into overdrive in the past few months since I stopped working full time (and stopped having to be on the go constantly). Back in the day I was the Queen of Expectations–wait, maybe High Priestess of Expectations–both in regards to myself and others. I was raised with high expectations and believed that keeping the bar waaaaaaay up there was important when it came to being successful, being happy, and getting things done. Well, I was wrong…and I’m…
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A Sunday Haiku, Part Two
Holiday over She looks at the week ahead Sees nothing, and smiles.
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On Peeling Eggs and Other Things That Take Time
One of my contributions to the family Thanksgiving dinner this week was deviled eggs. I was determined to figure out how to peel them so they stayed looking as pristine as the eggs you see in the magazines, because usually when I peel hard boiled eggs they end up looking like a hot mess. i did a little research of course, because that’s what I do. Let me save you some time; there are LOTS of theories out there about how best to peel eggs, and the theories contradict each other like you wouldn’t believe. What I came up with that was different from what I’ve always done was: 1.…
