I didn’t mean to quit writing for so long… it just… happened. I actually went places and took photos and planned to post, and I’ve read books and written reviews and planned to post, and I’ve created recipes and reviewed other recipes and took photos and planned to post. But I just couldn’t seem to get the words from my brain to any other medium.
But, I’m headed out of the country in less than two weeks. It’s time to get back on the horse, as the saying goes. But this time, in addition to writing, I’m going to try making some videos to be interspersed. I’m not particularly photogenic, and I hate my voice, but sometimes it’s nice to say the things out loud. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll hate it and go back to just writing.
But I’m back, and hopefully this little post will hold me accountable to myself.
Anyway, this sweet pup turned 13 last month, and who doesn’t love a cute sweet dog.
Anyway, I have had this one on my TBR pile for two years. I think someone recommended it to me, since (as my previous blog posts have stated so very clearly) this is not my favorite genre of book, it’s not one I would necessarily choose on my own. I can’t remember who recommended it, but I’m glad that they did.
I think the author writes how she speaks (which I totally get, I write how I speak… I don’t know how to do otherwise), but it seemed a little disingenuous, a little contrived… like she was trying to be something she isn’t. But, she is engaging. She’s vulnerable. She’s relatable. She’s funny.
The author lays out 20 “Lies” that we tell ourselves; and they are lies that keep us from living up to our full potential. The 20 lies are as follows:
1. Something Else Will Make Me Happy 2. I’ll Start Tomorrow [we’ve all been here, right?] 3. I’m Not Good Enough 4. I’m Better Than You 5. Loving Him is Enough for Me 6. No is the Final Answer 7. I’m Bad at Sex 8. I Don’t Know How to be a Good Mom 9. I’m Not a Good Mom 10. I Should be Further Along by Now 11. Other People’s Kids are so Much Cleaner/Better Organized/More Polite 12. I Need to Make Myself Smaller 13. I’m Going to Marry Matt Damon 14. I’m a Terrible Writer 15. I Will Never Get Past This 16. I Can’t Tell the Truth 17. I Am Defined by My Weight 18. I Need a Drink 19. There’s Only One Right Way to Be 20. I Need a Hero
Usually I’m bored by self-help type books, they’re just warmed-over cliches. And yes, you will find some cliches in this book, but they’re told in such a relatable way that they’re less grating. And she has some unexpected lessons. Things that make sense, things that hit close to home. I definitely recommend this book. I’m not a mom, so there are many chapters that aren’t geared directly toward those that are childless, but there are still lessons to be gleaned from them.
So… I HATE being cold. hate. hate. hate. hate. Hate being cold. Which is why we live in the balmy paradise of NYC.
Just kidding. We live here because this is where God has placed us for the time being, I really do hate being cold though. But here’s the thing, if it’s going to be cold, I think it should snow. At least it will be beautiful while I’m freezing my tuchus off. But we live in southern Brooklyn, not far from the Atlantic ocean, so we rarely get much snow. A dusting here and there, but in the three years we’ve lived here we’ve only had one decent storm, but even then it only lasted a day, and had melted within a day of that. But, for the last week they’ve been calling for a big snow storm, like 6-10 inches big storm. Of course I have been skeptical because, well, we don’t get much snow here. So my lovely Lewis and I made a bet. If we get just a dusting of snow he has to serve me a bowl of rocky road ice cream. And if we get at least two inches of snow, I have to serve him a bowl of rocky road ice cream. Yeah, for as long as we’ve been married, whenever we make a bet on anything, we bet on a bowl of ice cream.
I’m in the midst of losing our current bet, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Lewis and I drove down to Brighton Beach because neither of us had ever been to the beach whilst in the midst of a snow storm.
As much as I hate being cold, I have a commensurate love of the ocean. And if we lived somewhere warmer than NYC, I’d like to think I’d spend more time down by the water. I also love the quiet of the falling snow. I find so much peace in these two things. Which is why I shouldn’t have been surprised when I started crying when we were down by the water. Seriously, tears just started rolling down my face. It was so beautiful. At 41 years old it’s not often that you get to experience something entirely new, but tonight I did. And it was so beautiful. The only thing that would have made it better is if we had been alone on the beach and could have experienced the serenity of falling snow in the quiet. There are a couple of things that are hard to find in the city: quiet and darkness. I miss both of those things sometimes.
L & L Shenanigans 