tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76081053051120336292024-03-22T04:27:48.158-07:00Sister SerendipSister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.comBlogger612125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-76689887310455330322024-03-22T03:57:00.000-07:002024-03-22T04:26:46.774-07:00Five on Friday: Get a Clue . . . <div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> . . . about perimenopause! (If you say words out loud as you read them, please sing "about perimenopause" like it's a jingle.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Like fifteen million other women in one hundred eighty countries around the world, I use the <a href="https://helloclue.com/" target="_blank">Clue app</a> to track my period. I know there was a lot of <a href="https://blackrj.org/the-new-dangers-surrounding-period-tracking-apps/#:~:text=After%20the%20overturning%20of%20Roe,even%20in%20instances%20of%20miscarriage." target="_blank">concern about using such technology </a>after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. but as a grown-ass woman who previously relied on the "uh, I guess it <i>has</i> been a month since I last shed my uterine lining" method of menstrual tracking (and I have plenty "period underwear" to prove it!), that was a chance I was willing to take. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Menopause is so rarely discussed that I didn't even know what <i>should</i> be known:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKjX2wHQ9imnqnK8Fh1lRvV2b36gNcs-3-cltgNmJjpuGmEAPkladksAaMEJiF1_ZIwhby9l23GTW7UxcSafXw5C7xJEpeVvGLXpSXupmUTQRpofaAzLh_R1mVbo8NHypoFB671P0Se3aVV40hDrPikk2f9YPDw-ePd94tA_bLwCjtr2C67AD_5KcCJA/s1028/Screenshot%202024-03-20%20at%209.58.22%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="1028" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKjX2wHQ9imnqnK8Fh1lRvV2b36gNcs-3-cltgNmJjpuGmEAPkladksAaMEJiF1_ZIwhby9l23GTW7UxcSafXw5C7xJEpeVvGLXpSXupmUTQRpofaAzLh_R1mVbo8NHypoFB671P0Se3aVV40hDrPikk2f9YPDw-ePd94tA_bLwCjtr2C67AD_5KcCJA/w400-h115/Screenshot%202024-03-20%20at%209.58.22%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;">Which means that the symptoms widely known as <i>menopause</i> are actually <i>perimenopause.</i> Menopause is one day and the symptoms that follow are <i>postmenopausal.</i> So much to look forward to!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>If you're unfamiliar with the Clue app, it has tools to track your moods and sleeping throughout your cycle as well as your pain and flow levels. But it doesn't offer (at least in the free version I use) an appropriate selection for tracking perimenopause. So I would like suggest a new app that's called </span><i>Get a Clue About Perimenopause</i><span> (sing it)! It will offer options to track things like:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Today was an EATING day! As in non-stop eating. Cannot get full.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>2. Closely related: In the entire history of humans and cookies <i>(or other</i></span><span><i> food of your hormones' choice),</i> there </span><span>has never before been a human that needed cookies </span><span><i>(or other</i></span><span><i> food of your hormones' choice)</i> </span><span>like you did today.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3. Day <i>(drop down choice of 1-38)</i> of the current bloodbath.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKenfgqzMfM5_T3UPftn-p-F68MJPLt4YarPxaWhnF-_Yc3vEb440qG7YZToGn3_THGxcPtCKBHlLFCouOynU4vplUA7m7Hj_shj6oYKPbLMx7vTfkHQ9NEFHZ2AmUpSWiIPDLh1BZrYLUJeUb-HOWisMu6FFLxrGQ9kLM6oL5e2ErNM6v5Xl7c6jkaYo/s1316/Screenshot%202024-03-21%20at%206.35.13%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="1316" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKenfgqzMfM5_T3UPftn-p-F68MJPLt4YarPxaWhnF-_Yc3vEb440qG7YZToGn3_THGxcPtCKBHlLFCouOynU4vplUA7m7Hj_shj6oYKPbLMx7vTfkHQ9NEFHZ2AmUpSWiIPDLh1BZrYLUJeUb-HOWisMu6FFLxrGQ9kLM6oL5e2ErNM6v5Xl7c6jkaYo/w400-h131/Screenshot%202024-03-21%20at%206.35.13%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><i>This wasn't the only <a href="https://www.verywellhealth.com/perimenopause-periods-5190945#:~:text=Cycles%20during%20perimenopause%20and%20can,that%20lasts%20longer%20than%20usual." target="_blank">article</a> I found saying it could last up to 38 days. <br />I found that oddly specific.</i></span> </span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4. Insomnia day <i>(drop down choice 1-1,000).</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. Sure it may seem like you've lost multiple pounds of blood and tissue in the recent <i>(drop down choice of 1-38) </i>days of the current bloodbath but you've also <b>GAINED </b><i>(drop down choice of 1-15)</i> pounds in the same time frame!!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNrQLCgq8QkY1sE-JRdQwDo-mrx5nYPPH5MdWql8i8bch9FzLf_T3WefDGIZKVbIqAYkIliaQ2Mcars17Vb0bcd9GYcnvU7UFXTYd50CyoABTtPRB5CKntKtjzF1SZa9SLkIp-jehM_qm61e7fO9SvGxHyM5edozCmVFcwk4k01EwqmTc2IgktHTykqw/s540/Screenshot%202024-03-20%20at%2010.19.51%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="540" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNrQLCgq8QkY1sE-JRdQwDo-mrx5nYPPH5MdWql8i8bch9FzLf_T3WefDGIZKVbIqAYkIliaQ2Mcars17Vb0bcd9GYcnvU7UFXTYd50CyoABTtPRB5CKntKtjzF1SZa9SLkIp-jehM_qm61e7fO9SvGxHyM5edozCmVFcwk4k01EwqmTc2IgktHTykqw/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-20%20at%2010.19.51%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-5400109038850731052024-03-08T03:38:00.000-08:002024-03-08T03:39:01.702-08:00Five on Friday: Facebook Memories<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Before there were<a href="http://www.sisterserendip.com/2024/02/five-on-friday-texts-with-teens.html" target="_blank"> Texts with the Teens</a> to look back on for <i>oh-so-sweet</i> memories of conversations with my kids (and long after I gave up writing them down in actual paper journals) . . . there were daily memories on Facebook. I am ever glad to have them--I start most days downstairs in the dark by myself with my coffee so I can take a stroll down memory lane with gems like these:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1. These days he can dress himself so maybe he could fight fires after all.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-B95NdjKlEnho1GsWH68GLKbWTMqlBmXBAoOfqEDnm_bPQ0c7kvzLUxr6-P90At0aTFJvpB4kwk8n0lv19VZl2BxJzVGt_bQCzEgK3RMvBtKPwX-GdndNHlR9JFo_HQra5ORZ0P8mEKm16fsQfkHpME1V0kpAAIun7smB0aN-2UchbuRlL49LXbAgiQ/s2078/bad%20firefighter.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="2078" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-B95NdjKlEnho1GsWH68GLKbWTMqlBmXBAoOfqEDnm_bPQ0c7kvzLUxr6-P90At0aTFJvpB4kwk8n0lv19VZl2BxJzVGt_bQCzEgK3RMvBtKPwX-GdndNHlR9JFo_HQra5ORZ0P8mEKm16fsQfkHpME1V0kpAAIun7smB0aN-2UchbuRlL49LXbAgiQ/w640-h182/bad%20firefighter.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2. From a family charade night, my son wrote this and I had to act it out:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNaWepFCvYk9h0p9WrRYIfG01b64LIJPQCFtpZZOX81ZKd2sLlvB82-iSPDv3Zmh6GyOQkU-xFb_vYE1cggvngfhGZn6VV0GwoCnBHpZk5CUGd6e79r02CYOB9y49mvwuUyERT9EDcU_KXQeklY3TXAxtOLXnLTGZ0o_BEEH8YpmAA5YiqEqLSyXYsvA/s1136/charades%202014.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1136" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNaWepFCvYk9h0p9WrRYIfG01b64LIJPQCFtpZZOX81ZKd2sLlvB82-iSPDv3Zmh6GyOQkU-xFb_vYE1cggvngfhGZn6VV0GwoCnBHpZk5CUGd6e79r02CYOB9y49mvwuUyERT9EDcU_KXQeklY3TXAxtOLXnLTGZ0o_BEEH8YpmAA5YiqEqLSyXYsvA/s320/charades%202014.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">("dj playing rap")<br /><br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>3. The world may never know what this is supposed to mean:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_VOTddq2RoL9AJnN-OZTFUht00C3y4Li7J1zfr_7bEQ75TgUmIJcymopjsuvHHQ-cyWHkbouMLnUSiyFjM6wn5Su1HQWnAW9EuQKpIQ5LhawWukfatmEiAyjOpbmOi6V7UoQfA5vTSQ42YGQg2h2nt5_gf7KbFxGKOjseTQ-8uSyVV_hnwJlRGJyz7w/s1050/cheese.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="1050" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_VOTddq2RoL9AJnN-OZTFUht00C3y4Li7J1zfr_7bEQ75TgUmIJcymopjsuvHHQ-cyWHkbouMLnUSiyFjM6wn5Su1HQWnAW9EuQKpIQ5LhawWukfatmEiAyjOpbmOi6V7UoQfA5vTSQ42YGQg2h2nt5_gf7KbFxGKOjseTQ-8uSyVV_hnwJlRGJyz7w/w640-h132/cheese.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>4. <span style="text-align: center;">This guy now regularly posts pictures & videos of himself both attending & performing at all manner of concerts:</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1G473BrLAh9rw-FpAYJBXW1R37g3Put6_C8Zt9dv8jII6tCCqi6EBmwjV3rn9sXRRZ9X4cVGRBPFApXOvNFMjDLuO-c7gS2EXwIO662nuRe2agBY4YAX6lPFtZSdUUMMNmcjadFT1evSZD2MaiOMtkyDK-VR05B4amo9B22OgHs52eJjme1_nY-mKUB4/s1408/Screenshot%202024-03-07%20at%206.55.03%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="1408" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1G473BrLAh9rw-FpAYJBXW1R37g3Put6_C8Zt9dv8jII6tCCqi6EBmwjV3rn9sXRRZ9X4cVGRBPFApXOvNFMjDLuO-c7gS2EXwIO662nuRe2agBY4YAX6lPFtZSdUUMMNmcjadFT1evSZD2MaiOMtkyDK-VR05B4amo9B22OgHs52eJjme1_nY-mKUB4/w640-h274/Screenshot%202024-03-07%20at%206.55.03%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>5. But this one will always tug at my heartstrings the most:</b><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLN9imHZpSOE6EhE_KzDEW7n2qtKx8J3AqlV98RQOzusjoatFWAX2BoEbXw3dy0aWxqToPI5MnZaGy6fbhnRwDFIPJ6YfsVBvY88tOGzMUNeKu01SkNP8It4OinYH5WHG-tzS_6lpfNE4R_IRTm42omFjo9ihQibX-ghgdaQhHiiSMt14qqR0x4eNUXcg/s1624/He%20my%20sister.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="1624" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLN9imHZpSOE6EhE_KzDEW7n2qtKx8J3AqlV98RQOzusjoatFWAX2BoEbXw3dy0aWxqToPI5MnZaGy6fbhnRwDFIPJ6YfsVBvY88tOGzMUNeKu01SkNP8It4OinYH5WHG-tzS_6lpfNE4R_IRTm42omFjo9ihQibX-ghgdaQhHiiSMt14qqR0x4eNUXcg/w640-h138/He%20my%20sister.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /><br /></span></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-19576250176717594082024-02-23T03:22:00.000-08:002024-02-24T03:50:32.990-08:00Five on Friday: Texts with the Teens<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I know I'm not the only one that relies on text messaging to communicate with my teens, even when we're all in the same house. I could lament this is a lack of face-to-face conversation or I could appreciate the fact that it provides me with running commentary, proof that I *did* ask them to do something and endless entertainment that I can refer back to again and again.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here are some good ones I've gotten recently:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Out of nowhere from the 13-year-old:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJDA7AdKe39jjdTZYoFJRufBEDAmkoUOUXGGcb29ue4duAjGqf8STMKcmAA8YpFxRQyKjRzhYDoXow32jOZXoP7WBLZkuOU7FBbAu3jAvYiSNLLrD_tz_MW2yKa58EkKRS8hfFI8AYupu65SGkzUv89xbU8izjLV47uEYW-1oeuCsbgGss7Bf31B_Z44/s1014/Screenshot%202024-02-14%20at%207.36.51%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="138" data-original-width="1014" height="55" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJDA7AdKe39jjdTZYoFJRufBEDAmkoUOUXGGcb29ue4duAjGqf8STMKcmAA8YpFxRQyKjRzhYDoXow32jOZXoP7WBLZkuOU7FBbAu3jAvYiSNLLrD_tz_MW2yKa58EkKRS8hfFI8AYupu65SGkzUv89xbU8izjLV47uEYW-1oeuCsbgGss7Bf31B_Z44/w400-h55/Screenshot%202024-02-14%20at%207.36.51%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. I was watching my 15-year-old son play basketball (what a surprise, I know) and saw him slam into the wall, slide down and lie in a crooked-necked heap on the floor. Right then and there, I texted our chiropractor for an appointment and then sent my son a message to let him know he'd be going the next morning. After the game, he saw it and responded:</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdftW1QP1Oo3xtEigyLpZCvtTkayrviK6CSSxrS249uUlpVnSuFYVq7ELYVFPm6900KgJVMj2qn8Zlrfk6NCIrxAN482x0xMKkiFtPx_yevWMl-i0Vzum8Q6EkOTsmwOkZZI0NiDLguN5YxtYyGAOI4Kv_4nyx1W9gdzSRiXHsQ2hqR_CRSBfZmUdyDsI/s254/Screenshot%202024-02-14%20at%207.38.00%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="clear: right; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="124" data-original-width="254" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdftW1QP1Oo3xtEigyLpZCvtTkayrviK6CSSxrS249uUlpVnSuFYVq7ELYVFPm6900KgJVMj2qn8Zlrfk6NCIrxAN482x0xMKkiFtPx_yevWMl-i0Vzum8Q6EkOTsmwOkZZI0NiDLguN5YxtYyGAOI4Kv_4nyx1W9gdzSRiXHsQ2hqR_CRSBfZmUdyDsI/s1600/Screenshot%202024-02-14%20at%207.38.00%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="254" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">(Trust me, this is high praise)</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3. 13-year-old, again, trying to convince me to get a puppy:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="1564" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5SJbDzn6Deze6tujwUVlruTOsFJqoEpKzqBWJKWAg-DtZsLHP6naoX2u1xxEpkTMli3Hf6Guwgzid1n9p9Q49C2aov5X9dCRvpIgEIdK9ovsVhRAJHIge-ajt3B03_WUMM-1wgWMHEl9m6oPhEpEp-Ct2ZrVRmxaxPrVe4qdWQ6_pDJMrG4QQlcjHMYI/w640-h226/Screenshot%202024-02-14%20at%207.37.33%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5SJbDzn6Deze6tujwUVlruTOsFJqoEpKzqBWJKWAg-DtZsLHP6naoX2u1xxEpkTMli3Hf6Guwgzid1n9p9Q49C2aov5X9dCRvpIgEIdK9ovsVhRAJHIge-ajt3B03_WUMM-1wgWMHEl9m6oPhEpEp-Ct2ZrVRmxaxPrVe4qdWQ6_pDJMrG4QQlcjHMYI/s1564/Screenshot%202024-02-14%20at%207.37.33%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4. After an allegedly successful thrift shop outing:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqtxCudEK1ak5AMRovIJzfE5Ie2wfY0OU_5AjJlK3wT78HNelsRp8cypNGzVpJLWLx0iuPGrBLGROQOtawGbIUtbSGsRGY27PFNHr4BBxsNCxUOgIOxWUXHVyZlHuEjXnHdeqwK4MGovbqn6o9gIE2r8leYb-9r6FMClbxMYhS3czdDcLBlHRpTVGh_0/s1018/Screenshot%202024-02-20%20at%208.54.56%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="1018" height="90" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqtxCudEK1ak5AMRovIJzfE5Ie2wfY0OU_5AjJlK3wT78HNelsRp8cypNGzVpJLWLx0iuPGrBLGROQOtawGbIUtbSGsRGY27PFNHr4BBxsNCxUOgIOxWUXHVyZlHuEjXnHdeqwK4MGovbqn6o9gIE2r8leYb-9r6FMClbxMYhS3czdDcLBlHRpTVGh_0/w400-h90/Screenshot%202024-02-20%20at%208.54.56%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">(Modern teen problems)<br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. What about the 17-year-old, you might ask? Oh don't worry. He texts me plenty, too . . </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrNWDJxrRdsYw5D_HFTtlv6kHt-9NROz79m0LDLidt9m-kTVH1njA-Rmfp93OfHPOu4EEK4Gcfdd8KpV3w4Eau-o_TZOvmqynrAwp3Ur-h7NIaL6rOKpTZf8nVJdcxOJuWMUkmmOK2g9RhNHhWWGep2PDwHebqBhe_oMjjcqr90q42rwdEZrFHIzE9Cg/s638/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%207.01.17%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="208" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrNWDJxrRdsYw5D_HFTtlv6kHt-9NROz79m0LDLidt9m-kTVH1njA-Rmfp93OfHPOu4EEK4Gcfdd8KpV3w4Eau-o_TZOvmqynrAwp3Ur-h7NIaL6rOKpTZf8nVJdcxOJuWMUkmmOK2g9RhNHhWWGep2PDwHebqBhe_oMjjcqr90q42rwdEZrFHIzE9Cg/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%207.01.17%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="104" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> </span><p></p>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-22593602745460774322024-02-09T03:23:00.000-08:002024-02-09T03:26:03.993-08:00Five on Friday: Appreciation Post<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lately I've been very much appreciating:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Watching the basketball coaches on the sidelines of games. I recently realized that I enjoy this the same way I enjoy watching the High School band directors conducting at concerts. Passionate, involved, actively participating and obviously invested but not a part of the team (or band). I dig it. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwfNFQvyFvM2F-fW1u2evQ_CPruQfdFBT-DIve8PDHQ71sSObRkoi8MQR_kf3-2aKiraskSCXwH_FP5dSjcfQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Not the best example but I felt sort of creepy taking the video. But you can see what I mean, right? The pacing, the clapping . . . dude is definitely a part of the game while not part of the game.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. Not working weekends. I didn't mind working on Saturdays at my old job and most of the time I actually liked it. But now that I have Saturdays off . . . well, I might like that even better.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3. Winter sunrises. It's been a mild winter (this pics is from the only snow we've had) but I still hate it and long for spring. That being said, I can't deny how gorgeous the winter sunrises are here.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnKsMfLdc8GeRAYPiOgTKlI6TWasYKjWys9-4uoJoDn4twmffTiYeIXct_b_M7EWwJObUSide2DjBaI7ZsrNiwv2bWWXDdZBnnZjG4g0ERrQbxjBd3X2fVaYJl6ojUA8Uwpp9M17k5jpXUak3J0Hp7T6BPxDIi8iTKJQkrK7WUV53tV-AG2h4Hz6i4Uw/s4032/IMG_5550.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnKsMfLdc8GeRAYPiOgTKlI6TWasYKjWys9-4uoJoDn4twmffTiYeIXct_b_M7EWwJObUSide2DjBaI7ZsrNiwv2bWWXDdZBnnZjG4g0ERrQbxjBd3X2fVaYJl6ojUA8Uwpp9M17k5jpXUak3J0Hp7T6BPxDIi8iTKJQkrK7WUV53tV-AG2h4Hz6i4Uw/s320/IMG_5550.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4. Intergenerational friendships. Since I have so many friends that are older than me, as I'm approaching fifty I find myself thinking, "Only fifty? I'm still a baby!" </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. Large scale art exhibits.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluuu7Ss3HiPmhC5VRpAEzsbBPkIlp-_bBDRQBE03LXlsdqqeWipZqZfwhhxaX-3wu88ZgicUBydbTj74fn2WdPKneqb0O5okZf6d9AravrCjkRQK43sPWO9jiPmXP4b3zviGtdlLq825q4sYJOFo64-fCRpAypkNpGYbiRP2BzPa65DX8IlcPNh1f3GQ/s5712/IMG_1358.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4284" data-original-width="5712" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluuu7Ss3HiPmhC5VRpAEzsbBPkIlp-_bBDRQBE03LXlsdqqeWipZqZfwhhxaX-3wu88ZgicUBydbTj74fn2WdPKneqb0O5okZf6d9AravrCjkRQK43sPWO9jiPmXP4b3zviGtdlLq825q4sYJOFo64-fCRpAypkNpGYbiRP2BzPa65DX8IlcPNh1f3GQ/s320/IMG_1358.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmT7b_Lrc1ejYv4Z0jr0zwe0OK5GGshQt8OvyD3MBTxb-yaT9eGAekyf4_T5xqjqr3z5tDnxPrr7LpOTyst4EA02GE0EaIRHzbZRHUwx8PzhmA1ghC9kK2VYrsWAlPB7TKbZMlAdwr0sOmlpT-iS3E4wbYNCkAs1FhM5lK1V_1zJ8xXH3tE9FrA1tdjaU/s4032/IMG_5736.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmT7b_Lrc1ejYv4Z0jr0zwe0OK5GGshQt8OvyD3MBTxb-yaT9eGAekyf4_T5xqjqr3z5tDnxPrr7LpOTyst4EA02GE0EaIRHzbZRHUwx8PzhmA1ghC9kK2VYrsWAlPB7TKbZMlAdwr0sOmlpT-iS3E4wbYNCkAs1FhM5lK1V_1zJ8xXH3tE9FrA1tdjaU/s320/IMG_5736.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-38223611215702129182024-01-26T03:47:00.000-08:002024-01-26T03:47:44.079-08:00Five on Friday: January So Far<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span>Hey if the kids can do it on Instagram, I can do it here, right? </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Gratefully started the year once again by getting to wish the kids' Great Grandmother a Happy Birthday (#95!)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyGpzQTV1ukXdRuvlSYVVPQjdKJP3-cqAyu9iWVoJptIdd9Uxz18uR0EH_U2cDD22SE0hBlvYPe16exLR5LivhdrIw-CyCpxtM0E5Ckw_11OI97FSlTEDK9qiMZ4AAUfB9K6ko-vqzrgtxKnlcAWFs_lykOu3l5A6Lgp2VwpJIE4VNq0w784cZX-UU8vI/s878/imageedit_4_6593765395.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="878" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyGpzQTV1ukXdRuvlSYVVPQjdKJP3-cqAyu9iWVoJptIdd9Uxz18uR0EH_U2cDD22SE0hBlvYPe16exLR5LivhdrIw-CyCpxtM0E5Ckw_11OI97FSlTEDK9qiMZ4AAUfB9K6ko-vqzrgtxKnlcAWFs_lykOu3l5A6Lgp2VwpJIE4VNq0w784cZX-UU8vI/s320/imageedit_4_6593765395.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. A smaller milestone but still impressive . . .MLK Day #21</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixX4oHl_1AiYZu2Aoh5JSxXEzG_j7y1_WocYoSfzM72-M_lkrA7QWdhIUcTCo7eFxRDerDx9mT_U0fczxVWPgsXwpHRTFR_d4jjGKOZl8m3FOyGNiq-kR3qZ5vBkd9Musr7cJW43FfR02kx-900mSOl5NyR8i_ZKJSEVshOaFHj4GzSxKcycemrAYv7Go/s4032/IMG_5407.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixX4oHl_1AiYZu2Aoh5JSxXEzG_j7y1_WocYoSfzM72-M_lkrA7QWdhIUcTCo7eFxRDerDx9mT_U0fczxVWPgsXwpHRTFR_d4jjGKOZl8m3FOyGNiq-kR3qZ5vBkd9Musr7cJW43FfR02kx-900mSOl5NyR8i_ZKJSEVshOaFHj4GzSxKcycemrAYv7Go/s320/IMG_5407.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3. Experienced some weather.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwYQatR9BmqKUKhG8Njo9TXPvjYwT8bqG0XpOlatiBEE2CyUmQRfGW6ecTRJ-M-JVTBCgQ3Bq5uu142Xqkg9g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2k8Mso3xY4fyabr433qqysJMMCekvpIvAmmQEhJX2_J49bntKm-JIBPhpLL2GZ9l6E6gNNF3CIO-VUoDrj3fphyphenhyphen_xQDXn0wUskp-Qjpb1AlK2v5X8SwVpslLvQUGlgDV3V_RC-2N_Re08CmMMsYTsVojJ3aOyvdITl7fbyGT-oX9RAHfEQH31WtqbHg/s4032/IMG_5457.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2k8Mso3xY4fyabr433qqysJMMCekvpIvAmmQEhJX2_J49bntKm-JIBPhpLL2GZ9l6E6gNNF3CIO-VUoDrj3fphyphenhyphen_xQDXn0wUskp-Qjpb1AlK2v5X8SwVpslLvQUGlgDV3V_RC-2N_Re08CmMMsYTsVojJ3aOyvdITl7fbyGT-oX9RAHfEQH31WtqbHg/s320/IMG_5457.jpeg" width="240" /></i></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>All three teens playing in the snow together. Joy!</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4. Started a puzzle. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1BNBe5kLVavqWfn6VtTKz8YEX2k62MCLRgwZ6K4zrxs8FwSJOP9U6MVekR7-XVJnwYqOaGV00nKJvUS6Ou4RZlqzc4eKpzQR3WzLhQELVgOFJlVtXstX8DxE7H2CCF7zFQdJsy15mcgJzH2VXZXGiX7kwsHPaJ1RqNWJORLeFFWeDx2AHMTavYM_BjU/s4032/IMG_5534.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1BNBe5kLVavqWfn6VtTKz8YEX2k62MCLRgwZ6K4zrxs8FwSJOP9U6MVekR7-XVJnwYqOaGV00nKJvUS6Ou4RZlqzc4eKpzQR3WzLhQELVgOFJlVtXstX8DxE7H2CCF7zFQdJsy15mcgJzH2VXZXGiX7kwsHPaJ1RqNWJORLeFFWeDx2AHMTavYM_BjU/s320/IMG_5534.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><i>(<b>Started</b> being the operative word here.)</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>5. Okay . . this picture is from December. But <a href="https://www.njpbs.org/programs/heres-the-story/" target="_blank">PBS' Driving Jersey</a> will be at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/389418180249523" target="_blank">Story Slam</a> again tonight and I want to post this entry this morning so I'm taking liberties. See you at the slam tonight or PBS in a month or two.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3QLtQzFsLHeJ4YuSN3E2r9k_N9hHQGc5XB56uiAS6oKHxLpc5N5RB_-3PgemHd6In_Syw4F6EtE929EHvQA9kCRf6Q3sLQmwC_bOL4NBkzQkde7CA_MVfrk5KQEMuKlkJ31WnLQ9L5wJd8F-M4MXoSMLrtWuF3o2oHq2N1cZDt0PpAnzm5sW5ovbQi8/s4032/IMG_4852.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3QLtQzFsLHeJ4YuSN3E2r9k_N9hHQGc5XB56uiAS6oKHxLpc5N5RB_-3PgemHd6In_Syw4F6EtE929EHvQA9kCRf6Q3sLQmwC_bOL4NBkzQkde7CA_MVfrk5KQEMuKlkJ31WnLQ9L5wJd8F-M4MXoSMLrtWuF3o2oHq2N1cZDt0PpAnzm5sW5ovbQi8/s320/IMG_4852.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-89636482539360731452024-01-12T03:44:00.000-08:002024-01-12T03:44:43.167-08:00Five on Friday: New Year, Old Me (?!)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's 2024 and here I am, still trying to squeeze in exercise, not forget to pick kids up from sports, plan a Day of Community Service in my quote unquote spare time. The one major difference is that I'm working outside of the home full-time now so let's just say there are some ongoing adjustments. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Kid: "Mom, when do you go to the grocery store?" </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Me: "I honestly don't even know."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. I am finally and truly embracing frozen, canned and pre-made.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3. I am literally scheduling in time to schedule things.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4. Answering even text messages now has a much longer turnaround time. Hang in there, friends, I swear I'll get back to you.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. As soon as I get some stamps*, I swear this much smaller-than-usual stack of post-holiday cards are getting in the mail. Aaaaany day now.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEUc2XA0WvcirJecU9Tdx1YLB17Zx-tMpcm5gp8AqdsJwCKcxF1Gf-V8YegXv0b3EN7lQeS9vS68nFHrKm1UyPIGdIxM-hjZ717CuzVKYshEGX4Ijs-zra28EMerccGfyboXR7YQ0n6BGfIV5Vry3Bj6x5P6IHpnmEKZ7pdRDAj4lQz-1K-eEMnhpMWg/s1268/Screenshot%202024-01-12%20at%206.41.03%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1268" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEUc2XA0WvcirJecU9Tdx1YLB17Zx-tMpcm5gp8AqdsJwCKcxF1Gf-V8YegXv0b3EN7lQeS9vS68nFHrKm1UyPIGdIxM-hjZ717CuzVKYshEGX4Ijs-zra28EMerccGfyboXR7YQ0n6BGfIV5Vry3Bj6x5P6IHpnmEKZ7pdRDAj4lQz-1K-eEMnhpMWg/w400-h213/Screenshot%202024-01-12%20at%206.41.03%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>*AND I couldn't even commit to finding time to stop at the post office.<br /> Stamps through the mail it is!</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-67779374705334841322023-12-29T13:24:00.000-08:002023-12-29T13:24:09.707-08:00Five on Friday: How I Pass Time at Basketball Games<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sure, I spend a lot of time complaining about <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C1Dg8u_Nuhl/" target="_blank">how much pain I'm in</a> (unless I remember to bring my <a href="https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/dicks-sporting-goods-stadium-seat-16dsgudsgstdmstxxodr/16dsgudsgstdmstxxodr?sku=16670737&camp=CSE:DSG_92700078150802895_pla_pla-2222613061172_58700008079349751_71700000101024692&segment=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1rSsBhDHARIsANB4EJbIJfufC7mjlZa08Q_0sQkq0pHOwKsDRgzdUqcLhNv1W-PkxNPUj1gaAuUKEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds" target="_blank">old lady seat</a>), but how else do I pass time at the high school basketball games?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Confused.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. Stealthily asking Siri to define basketball terms that one might think I'd know by now <i>(See #1)</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3. Thoroughly enjoying watching this guy in his element:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiabW42Lx5WE8KfwMdMxjWuyAS9ROth6xcBS9XfQKEPCDzKOZUDNJIoUUJLMncR0TEUP2fKV66wmS3bT4EAjVY75XO8mpKspiRSHXNjwM8He0pDBV5lQdvy8sX9h0ZOh2UhERr6f_qVK0AoHgIBTT6HanFXcc4ISbNsZ73jaz_eg1jlrLY9ZZ3qFf-6dTM/s1066/Screenshot%202023-12-28%20at%206.40.27%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1066" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiabW42Lx5WE8KfwMdMxjWuyAS9ROth6xcBS9XfQKEPCDzKOZUDNJIoUUJLMncR0TEUP2fKV66wmS3bT4EAjVY75XO8mpKspiRSHXNjwM8He0pDBV5lQdvy8sX9h0ZOh2UhERr6f_qVK0AoHgIBTT6HanFXcc4ISbNsZ73jaz_eg1jlrLY9ZZ3qFf-6dTM/s320/Screenshot%202023-12-28%20at%206.40.27%20PM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">4. Likewise with <i>this </i>guy, the un/official team photographer:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNr10-hdGOVViPMhPTVcgZal2wOTY3TELUL27EciZgIzskHC030ZLhUMoAkqp4nn3qiTv3zgytkuMAY6Bil-T0rPNpobCsjdGPjoyQfM40kPb7crR611iMnsYIUJErr1cFu2ZhBT2ZcIiIGePyui2podsW6YD7eETzZ0I1nUNNks0ZUnTc5CoNmiYUWc/s4032/IMG_4666.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNr10-hdGOVViPMhPTVcgZal2wOTY3TELUL27EciZgIzskHC030ZLhUMoAkqp4nn3qiTv3zgytkuMAY6Bil-T0rPNpobCsjdGPjoyQfM40kPb7crR611iMnsYIUJErr1cFu2ZhBT2ZcIiIGePyui2podsW6YD7eETzZ0I1nUNNks0ZUnTc5CoNmiYUWc/s320/IMG_4666.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. Playing I spy in the ceiling beams:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxjw1fP2z4HboB9uqTRl2eRe6s3yVDWUgK6Tl1r17t_dAXiixQCiqY7zl9l9B_RNScvgCw-RJ0o2PuYfU4_AfeBiijiXcpUk5KiDBZM5E0KDdfH1DiPj0lMNSR9Cq3sZyK4bU5zvvzMVcHY8oBz7Wz4f__eAYo4yY2FDsH01Kjd-rEi_CaO93ddoiUWs/s4032/IMG_5076.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxjw1fP2z4HboB9uqTRl2eRe6s3yVDWUgK6Tl1r17t_dAXiixQCiqY7zl9l9B_RNScvgCw-RJ0o2PuYfU4_AfeBiijiXcpUk5KiDBZM5E0KDdfH1DiPj0lMNSR9Cq3sZyK4bU5zvvzMVcHY8oBz7Wz4f__eAYo4yY2FDsH01Kjd-rEi_CaO93ddoiUWs/s320/IMG_5076.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Can you find one volleyball and three birdies?</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-89506921213714225742023-12-15T05:10:00.000-08:002023-12-15T05:18:45.112-08:00Five on Friday: Texts from the Teens<p> Presented for your enjoyment:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1. Is this a typo? </div><div style="text-align: left;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIi9cxTWvI9F3dN21SnknAUsGUtEGPqpl5-hJ1FLJlpXcLhJ-G262RDqE_MBeRdkauzq2FT4l86brJARGLBfi0UhJNVK6yQt8M2UpA6coB9Ov8Z4fZtgo4pfCFSfguQbCnzgfjb3YWAD0FxlIcjx9wNaBUiMtInB6jo4NNg2Hb-HQmDobddymR92SpzBs/s192/Naurr.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="116" data-original-width="192" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIi9cxTWvI9F3dN21SnknAUsGUtEGPqpl5-hJ1FLJlpXcLhJ-G262RDqE_MBeRdkauzq2FT4l86brJARGLBfi0UhJNVK6yQt8M2UpA6coB9Ov8Z4fZtgo4pfCFSfguQbCnzgfjb3YWAD0FxlIcjx9wNaBUiMtInB6jo4NNg2Hb-HQmDobddymR92SpzBs/s1600/Naurr.png" width="192" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Naurrrr, just some <a href="http://www.sisterserendip.com/2022/10/five-on-friday-kidspeak-these-days.html" target="_blank">kidspeak.</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">2. To be fair, sometimes I speak a language they don't understand:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAijggX0mU5a-0AcwXd8qBuC6_wZP03ElWYDbgguvOxMtLUPDcSvMPmPYe48pgRXAMciAUet4WrnlqQMgsAT59umHI9Ew8w3TlHrztq2B3Tf2oazBuJujj6C4FOsXl6s6253a2EKAJacnJMlxEEIlHP9JEGfdNtnMpIy27lcgO9IAPwjJgALt_9Y-NwRw/s1050/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%208.08.22%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="1050" height="67" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAijggX0mU5a-0AcwXd8qBuC6_wZP03ElWYDbgguvOxMtLUPDcSvMPmPYe48pgRXAMciAUet4WrnlqQMgsAT59umHI9Ew8w3TlHrztq2B3Tf2oazBuJujj6C4FOsXl6s6253a2EKAJacnJMlxEEIlHP9JEGfdNtnMpIy27lcgO9IAPwjJgALt_9Y-NwRw/s320/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%208.08.22%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">3. These are both from the same child. Not on the same day, I just think they're funny together:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJ7-nQ1aLVrto6YA8V2boYXiG1092W2C-Y8eW2MVFSTnn-_OUeCbHbCj9tUad7IsAEjiT0KuuMmFBaaO62eDEQycm3Kvo3-OVrBQeESgWQ019nhl5ei-5o1qBLNF_8S_7uugaP3FghFC7c1Y-dr_LoAIh8fR3wp5fU7vLLImEKSmx96UnJlec96MVJEE/s662/look.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="162" data-original-width="662" height="78" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJ7-nQ1aLVrto6YA8V2boYXiG1092W2C-Y8eW2MVFSTnn-_OUeCbHbCj9tUad7IsAEjiT0KuuMmFBaaO62eDEQycm3Kvo3-OVrBQeESgWQ019nhl5ei-5o1qBLNF_8S_7uugaP3FghFC7c1Y-dr_LoAIh8fR3wp5fU7vLLImEKSmx96UnJlec96MVJEE/s320/look.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3yKrlqiZChuhyaZ4jS6W7oJ3ZCiWty3BGFjMwu7Qlc9JSKsvwg7aVHvHpWPrGN4ztolq3lwHGtNOL89xgjyuT1xHYDIEmEz2LafZ1rJ7bQ1SHnABsa3vp7D1M8wbP2yqUin0Z5Rk6hB-s6W0sJJ0iIZryf9mER15pQhNxyGkd2uPcHN3gKttTIxd2VhU/s482/pooping.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="134" data-original-width="482" height="89" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3yKrlqiZChuhyaZ4jS6W7oJ3ZCiWty3BGFjMwu7Qlc9JSKsvwg7aVHvHpWPrGN4ztolq3lwHGtNOL89xgjyuT1xHYDIEmEz2LafZ1rJ7bQ1SHnABsa3vp7D1M8wbP2yqUin0Z5Rk6hB-s6W0sJJ0iIZryf9mER15pQhNxyGkd2uPcHN3gKttTIxd2VhU/s320/pooping.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>4. When they were home and supposed be doing chores, I asked "How's the house looking?" One of my sweet darlings wrote back:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJ_6PZnnIZnlH8W7OcGddldDJFLb-EgY53culatXiVuV8kUJaiaeEn_veIGCm4yrd32fZoak3RD_TUbwmLvEAzfyc7nul0tI6nR2km0q0s9DWepUMZvfup6saynzcqeawRcZMEOgFNORAn8DcpK19tZLOCyOAKwbz40KF60WEmNcE_SK-iddAHzEVfok/s888/HOUSE.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="888" height="79" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJ_6PZnnIZnlH8W7OcGddldDJFLb-EgY53culatXiVuV8kUJaiaeEn_veIGCm4yrd32fZoak3RD_TUbwmLvEAzfyc7nul0tI6nR2km0q0s9DWepUMZvfup6saynzcqeawRcZMEOgFNORAn8DcpK19tZLOCyOAKwbz40KF60WEmNcE_SK-iddAHzEVfok/s320/HOUSE.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">5. My favorite one, though, has to be this text that I got yesterday after zero discussion about molasses:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-aRtAeqDjIDBuQikkulkWQeJ2VHRm7EG6y8dixu_ZoPmMlDMV4ZvKwSspvoOSyoGf3_XtqEtN3XxwHHdSiAlAbAumbw2tGSzLUxGLTdL5hmN7J8QAdNEi-O5xfnzJnnGKuSPtH-JGHu72aevw8J1EjA5llVq-4UBwg5R0dCZP35duaoAnsp9I8XpDrQ/s448/molasses.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="76" data-original-width="448" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-aRtAeqDjIDBuQikkulkWQeJ2VHRm7EG6y8dixu_ZoPmMlDMV4ZvKwSspvoOSyoGf3_XtqEtN3XxwHHdSiAlAbAumbw2tGSzLUxGLTdL5hmN7J8QAdNEi-O5xfnzJnnGKuSPtH-JGHu72aevw8J1EjA5llVq-4UBwg5R0dCZP35duaoAnsp9I8XpDrQ/s320/molasses.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-12995740540172607092023-12-01T13:24:00.000-08:002023-12-01T13:24:34.132-08:00Five on Friday: Disagreements We've Had With the Teens Recently<div style="text-align: left;">1. If we are "literally the only parents in the world" that make their teens leave their phones outside of their bedrooms overnight on weeknights. (Note to kid: have we ever cared about being like the other parents?)</div><div><br /></div><div>2. Whether or not this room is clean:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjquJjozWdZzVX7SYX19-QTiHT2Bqh0IhNQ2Kq6VHdnFYcLvYts5ss85JicXACC3xFEpVFs65zswwlJ4pWvsDB9eddBrjQaZu72FnovFfFxd7s89lr0yqVAWOsfhqey3OCc8EJWdH03Xc7RF5CiaBWobehRLMkT2e1nkSpZ0xOnr_pSWNuWwN46-jBlwHE/s4032/IMG_4336.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjquJjozWdZzVX7SYX19-QTiHT2Bqh0IhNQ2Kq6VHdnFYcLvYts5ss85JicXACC3xFEpVFs65zswwlJ4pWvsDB9eddBrjQaZu72FnovFfFxd7s89lr0yqVAWOsfhqey3OCc8EJWdH03Xc7RF5CiaBWobehRLMkT2e1nkSpZ0xOnr_pSWNuWwN46-jBlwHE/s320/IMG_4336.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">3. If the hermit crabs deserve to be fed every day even though the novelty of owning them has worn off (who ever could have predicted that?)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>Here are some actual conversations for your reading pleasure:</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>4. <i>(Time: approximately 3:00 pm) </i></div><div><b>Us: </b>You have to brush your teeth at least twice a day.</div><div><b>Him <i>(annoyed)</i>: </b>Yeah I know.</div><div><b>Us:</b> Okay but you just admitted that you didn't brush your teeth last night or this morning.</div><div><b>Him (<i>totally and absolutely disgusted and annoyed with us</i>):</b> Ugh, yeah, I<b> </b><b>know.</b></div><div><i>(End scene)</i></div><div> </div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">5. <i>(Time: approximately 3:00 pm) </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Him: </b>What's for dinner?*</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Me:</b> Leftovers.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Him (<i>groaning</i>):</b> Leftovers are so mid.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Me:</b> Well, they're what's for dinner.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Him (<i>whining</i>):</b> But whhhhy though?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Me:</b> We have leftovers because we didn't finish it the first time.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Him (<i>without even knowing what tonight's leftovers will be</i>):</b> I didn't finish it because I didn't like it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>*This child has been asking me this question almost every day of his life. He has, on occasion, been even known to ask "What's for dinner tomorrow?"</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-86105116606190036702023-11-17T13:24:00.000-08:002023-11-17T13:30:40.659-08:00Five on Friday: Funemployment to Full-Time Employment in a Flash<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the great things about funemployment was the ability to travel without having to take time off from work, so that's what I did. The youngest and I spent a beautiful long weekend visiting the alleged adults, going out to eat, sightseeing, seeing a show, spending time with loved ones. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And also getting a phone call with a job offer. I accepted and said yes, I'd jump right in. So that's how I went from funemployment to full time employment in a flash.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lessons & take-aways from this first nearly-full week of full-time work:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1. I still hate doing supermarket shopping online and really don't think I'm going to use it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2. I somehow bought bologna??? So maybe I should reconsider #1. (In my defense, I think it was in the wrong grab & go slot. I know I was in the right section so I was only looking at the weight, not the name.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3. Sitting at a desk for many hours for many days in a row makes my old bones ache. (I'm going to have to remember to take more frequent breaks!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">4. I really do have an amazingly wonderful, supportive and appreciative husband.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">5. Starting a new job where you already know so many of the staff and volunteers is a wonderful feeling.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWnCFgmtDu86U2V04DLyDj2LLOhKE_sDMwyp51xhvMeFNNzFZv81jDaU_4vpLRcxOFz7mQrVteDUEwq5YbQTYpJIz6b60RdhOG6xhKvQEYS3LM5eWnNJrD0cF0SZbX-BRYFxLq64JxffwUCxLe0P6k1Omv2XFTcluPn3ubqmOSpz619NNJmZ-qtG4ECRY/s4032/IMG_7675.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWnCFgmtDu86U2V04DLyDj2LLOhKE_sDMwyp51xhvMeFNNzFZv81jDaU_4vpLRcxOFz7mQrVteDUEwq5YbQTYpJIz6b60RdhOG6xhKvQEYS3LM5eWnNJrD0cF0SZbX-BRYFxLq64JxffwUCxLe0P6k1Omv2XFTcluPn3ubqmOSpz619NNJmZ-qtG4ECRY/s320/IMG_7675.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuO878gwWyw" rel="nofollow">Gee but it's great to be back home</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"> </h2><br /><p><br /></p>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-77767239702081949662023-10-27T03:37:00.000-07:002023-10-27T03:37:14.005-07:00Five on Friday: Guess the Costume<div style="text-align: left;"> These are the items the 13-year-old has asked me to pick up for her Halloween costume this year:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1. White sheet</div><div style="text-align: left;">2. Neon work vest</div><div style="text-align: left;">3. Plain black sunglasses</div><div style="text-align: left;">4. Fluorescent pink shirt</div><div style="text-align: left;">5. Hard hat</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What sort of costume will this be? I am not sure. I don't even think it's just one costume but I am honestly not sure. However, being the funemployed, costume-loving Mom that I am, I gathered the supplies for her. She has since changed her mind on needing half of them. Cool.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3D2HtM00SskHlWTCMNFFnH2HgLKiXnZ1u5pNGSr5KSLRLrzUUmfij4Pz_ynmhrfURd6uKFDXtr8CSGGa1wb0ZWfNxwoEtZRpKZmOF834p6dvVjFjr7cduXVBLEJE6GLOhtqu7rMk3yFFWjoizsqGNK7gOGZALtr6g5pt543SsPpWMYZNiOBVcBearixI/s2279/IMG_0614.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2279" data-original-width="1202" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3D2HtM00SskHlWTCMNFFnH2HgLKiXnZ1u5pNGSr5KSLRLrzUUmfij4Pz_ynmhrfURd6uKFDXtr8CSGGa1wb0ZWfNxwoEtZRpKZmOF834p6dvVjFjr7cduXVBLEJE6GLOhtqu7rMk3yFFWjoizsqGNK7gOGZALtr6g5pt543SsPpWMYZNiOBVcBearixI/s320/IMG_0614.JPG" width="169" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure what she was being then, not sure now.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-78092376219299309882023-10-13T04:41:00.003-07:002023-10-13T04:52:06.039-07:00Five on Friday: In Which Gina Attempts to be a Lady of Leisure<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Taking it easy is <i>not </i>easy for me. What is that I always say? I always say I'll rest when I'm dead (this excludes the frequent mid-day naps). As a person who thrives on multi-tasking and no longer has five little children at home needing constant care, one might think I wouldn't voluntarily leave my job with nothing else lined up.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But this time, one would be wrong.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>At the end of my first day of being home, I told my husband I was going to spend the evening looking at job listings. He said maybe I should just take a breather so then I started to cry. </span><span>I have compared quitting this job to leaving an unhealthy relationship and I agree that I wouldn't advise someone else to jump right into a new relationship. So even though I had five listings bookmarked, I decided to just give it a few days. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So how am I occupying myself in this first week home? Some highlights:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strike>1. Laundry, cooking, shopping for family's needs </strike> Ha, ha, those don't count, I've always done that even while working outside the home.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Two coffee outings, one walk with husband, one walk with friend and one lunch with a friend. While I did always try to do these things while I was working, it's never been this many in one week before.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. About the cooking: yes, I did most of the cooking even while working outside of the home but even with attempting to meal plan it usually all went to hell by Tuesday or Wednesday. Not this week! Let me tell you how excited they are to have stuffed poblano peppers and black bean soup instead of frozen pizza. So. Excited.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3. Two weeknight dates with my husband: local documentary screening and art reception. Basically instead of just saying "interested" on facebook events, I am actually attending. Wild.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4. All the home games, both field hockey and soccer! So many of them tend to be on Thursday afternoons which were my late shifts so I'd have to miss. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. Working! Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm supposed to be enjoying my "funemployment" but I am actually still working a little bit. The day job may be over, but the little gigs are still occupying me this month. That means I also spent time writing my script for the next <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/3600245873588519" target="_blank">Story Slam,</a> leading <a href="https://sigalmuseum.org/event/eerie-easton-walking-tours/" target="_blank">Eerie Easton</a> walking tours (tonight and next Friday 10/20 at 7:30) and figuring out a potential rain date for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/872799404267334/872799417600666/" target="_blank">Graveyard Tours.</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjToISCunK1wA-25vWSDW0SyYypI51VZpNmKeXTjaq9e0d5U9Kj9AeNwau8v4CN2_A_0e6jNY_K7W1vi3uRPFS-ipyg9Pu4v07gZiiG2Z5Fas4QPw5HGYEOu1p1PmmHiexCPDtnObA7wdXua6im3ub_qYdGwLipbQsysXxaFW4_8GxwDXOgADuujUsFc4/s2304/IMG_20230915_202934.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="1728" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjToISCunK1wA-25vWSDW0SyYypI51VZpNmKeXTjaq9e0d5U9Kj9AeNwau8v4CN2_A_0e6jNY_K7W1vi3uRPFS-ipyg9Pu4v07gZiiG2Z5Fas4QPw5HGYEOu1p1PmmHiexCPDtnObA7wdXua6im3ub_qYdGwLipbQsysXxaFW4_8GxwDXOgADuujUsFc4/s320/IMG_20230915_202934.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcrKoua1ihg1OOGB8AomC6upjnXhlBh8b3klrjqp36VUviHhSGHkrm2frBodMo5mGWNQJEEdNpc3tCR73lte_6c65zo2vRPbgnp9TqFdTKXQovkfWJdboGo5sqlcu-yf30Ss8TGvxf0hnYC_jXuJPQHMYdCC3RwwtZHm6vPJa_h2yDqh8Jg0l8EAWmjf8/s4032/IMG_7080.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcrKoua1ihg1OOGB8AomC6upjnXhlBh8b3klrjqp36VUviHhSGHkrm2frBodMo5mGWNQJEEdNpc3tCR73lte_6c65zo2vRPbgnp9TqFdTKXQovkfWJdboGo5sqlcu-yf30Ss8TGvxf0hnYC_jXuJPQHMYdCC3RwwtZHm6vPJa_h2yDqh8Jg0l8EAWmjf8/s320/IMG_7080.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">All in all, it's been a pretty fun and productive week, but it's the idea of sustaining this long term that scares me a little. So I think I <i>will </i>look at job listings again today.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-17475102529799066192023-09-29T04:02:00.002-07:002023-09-29T04:02:45.345-07:00Five on Friday: Teens Say the Darndest Things<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I realize I've been complaining about the teens a lot, but since I find stuff like this on the regular:</span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHvofQ4XoB-laXWvnGNLuv0Uz_7qngVStFrSDlM1Qq6e3ThJWKsOlyH9KZiTjdvVrbsNZYoLe436QtynT6RKRF8pc_Q1IBt4mJgwyj3V9WzyRY4EVMeAfafyKKvCLy0T8wQ_s5kxz5HbLL5i7Sz3-QYgdpayJue86XHuksCgVWn8BZjFNhM3eabtLb2-A/s4032/IMG_3100.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHvofQ4XoB-laXWvnGNLuv0Uz_7qngVStFrSDlM1Qq6e3ThJWKsOlyH9KZiTjdvVrbsNZYoLe436QtynT6RKRF8pc_Q1IBt4mJgwyj3V9WzyRY4EVMeAfafyKKvCLy0T8wQ_s5kxz5HbLL5i7Sz3-QYgdpayJue86XHuksCgVWn8BZjFNhM3eabtLb2-A/s320/IMG_3100.jpeg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> . . . you can<i> hardly</i> blame me.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I thought it'd only be fair to also share the ways they've charmed me lately with the cute and funny things they've said (apparently toddlers haven't got the market cornered on that one!)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. I was having an early morning <strike>argument</strike> <i>discussion</i> with my 13-year-old daughter over whether "I haven't ate" or "I haven't eaten" was correct. She finally told me that "I haven't eaten" just isn't the vibe.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. Daddy-O was away overnight and I treated the teens to Chinese food (they're <i>always </i>asking for it). I told them that while I was picking it up, they had to get the dishes and drinks ready and I wanted them to pick out a movie for us to watch so we could have a fun special Chinese-food-eating movie-watching dinner. There was no eye rolling and I was pleased with the movie the 17-year-old chose: Pixar's <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1453405/" target="_blank">Monsters University.</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">As if that wasn't cute enough, he then commented: "If college isn't like this, I don't want to go."</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">3. "Mom, can I wear one of Dad's sweatshirts? None of my sweatshirts are sweat-shirting."</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">4. "Can you get Babybel cheese?"</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span> "I will when they're on sale. I don't know why they're so expensive."</span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> "It's 'cuz they got that high quality wax!"</span><br /></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">5. Texted the boys before bed on the first school night after a holiday weekend, reminding them it was back to school the next day and that they should turn in soon. (Yes I texted them even though we were in the same house, doesn't everyone do that?) I then put my phone down and went to brush my teeth and read. I didn't realize until the next morning I got this from the 15-year-old:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh236JIfy-7bGlvZdq1hHKp3at2F68UamA9fWVGCIu2F8R1Jon19-skZXR_OgK9t5nWROJB8kMlDM19eRjaajl_6wLc4tOyBGTf1dzi6pZgf0TGN8dla_xaGGPDdFqdOGRqbWWkF3QpVmprZ1QUmcaUwYZpYXu7jCuDrtdEtTVZfsH9mniwNaeuSyKNd74" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="68" data-original-width="456" height="48" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh236JIfy-7bGlvZdq1hHKp3at2F68UamA9fWVGCIu2F8R1Jon19-skZXR_OgK9t5nWROJB8kMlDM19eRjaajl_6wLc4tOyBGTf1dzi6pZgf0TGN8dla_xaGGPDdFqdOGRqbWWkF3QpVmprZ1QUmcaUwYZpYXu7jCuDrtdEtTVZfsH9mniwNaeuSyKNd74" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></p></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-35252185359843544152023-09-15T03:56:00.000-07:002023-09-15T03:56:36.797-07:00Five on Friday: AITA?<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> If you're not familiar:</span></div><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>What Does AITA Mean?</i></span></h2><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: times;">AITA means "Am I The Asshole?." The abbreviation AITA is widely used on social media with the meaning "Am I The Asshole?". AITA is used as a question (often rhetorically) when someone is asking for an opinion on whether or not they have behaved badly towards another person.</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></i></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;">So, dear reader, I ask . . . AITA because I:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;">1. Didn't purchase cheese sticks after I asked her in the morning if she wanted anything from the supermarket and she said no.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;">2. Asked him if he was wearing his brand-new specialty sports socks outside after fifteen years of trying to instill "shoes off or socks on," purchased the socks he requested and saw him walking around outside in them.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;">3. Didn't register the injured teen for soccer after asking, "Do you think you might need to be registered anyway if you're still going to go to all the practices and games, like for insurance or something?" and being told, "Coach said no."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;">4. Suggested that transporting honey in a lunchbox like this might be a bad idea:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-v3ng_Gi4gDA-_zG4Z_Tt1GlMDuwHlfI75ZVpyYDDlD_E0CAT2XFjBu-W22h4kiIRFG5i3pDK0VAHvilOAHZg9vtZDe_UmG12LruvHZSBJ6aLKaE_xdUpU-nY2v6V6BYCjNORZFGLU1tZN_4tnydYKLyhDPem618nZCXY1ZiPcBssRBJWvQ8Ql49xRXg/s4032/IMG_3038.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-v3ng_Gi4gDA-_zG4Z_Tt1GlMDuwHlfI75ZVpyYDDlD_E0CAT2XFjBu-W22h4kiIRFG5i3pDK0VAHvilOAHZg9vtZDe_UmG12LruvHZSBJ6aLKaE_xdUpU-nY2v6V6BYCjNORZFGLU1tZN_4tnydYKLyhDPem618nZCXY1ZiPcBssRBJWvQ8Ql49xRXg/s320/IMG_3038.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;">5. Cannot even remotely understand her feelings of "secondary embarrassment" when she sees things like a daughter hugging a father in a show she's watching.</span></span></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-17214455701853672982023-09-01T03:42:00.003-07:002023-09-01T03:43:33.390-07:00Five on Friday: This Summer Was Brought to You by the Letter <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhLY53LEtqyM4t_3kiwKwHszGjd_SmOmBOIHg9w5bDCiVfSFf6Ee58h9XrPVjB2IFqfgAvZ28TX7RnEAaickZVbt8xipS7oBT_voWu520yBunVkzU8oVZQ01afezLNvpNivUkDPtGAVVLakB8smCX6ZD4t1QAXJ4PMKpI-FQjGfcmuaYH41rCvXWmM5Y/s4032/IMG_2726.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhLY53LEtqyM4t_3kiwKwHszGjd_SmOmBOIHg9w5bDCiVfSFf6Ee58h9XrPVjB2IFqfgAvZ28TX7RnEAaickZVbt8xipS7oBT_voWu520yBunVkzU8oVZQ01afezLNvpNivUkDPtGAVVLakB8smCX6ZD4t1QAXJ4PMKpI-FQjGfcmuaYH41rCvXWmM5Y/s320/IMG_2726.jpeg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">. . . as it was made up of:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. Sports</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9kpRkGadLUCHL-RL-xqxdfTaGryXtL23sVbyChXmpjwsK2mOu9tfPsAYE-nzTo75gwxV7rJd1KL-dAwTkhEe8jBCnBuW8t7ppSYUJFJBaAMVDh0VgzTpYTtenFsJ1aHYXXHm0429HsHSKVSDx6esZ1ibYd8_gy73LsrEZGB1UMYRE7EAywwk-3ksBfww/s4032/IMG_0373.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9kpRkGadLUCHL-RL-xqxdfTaGryXtL23sVbyChXmpjwsK2mOu9tfPsAYE-nzTo75gwxV7rJd1KL-dAwTkhEe8jBCnBuW8t7ppSYUJFJBaAMVDh0VgzTpYTtenFsJ1aHYXXHm0429HsHSKVSDx6esZ1ibYd8_gy73LsrEZGB1UMYRE7EAywwk-3ksBfww/s320/IMG_0373.jpeg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. Surgery</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidjdq2ycuTk4rBaninW2pJ7varIq36QSJowLIuvYFBXD0eVDmOH88GcobuAiZg1sM8khVwvhDMxzVf73BxS5ugQX49ghGZjCiZ22Zl1Z7blSqlYR-hIFKFB8aI5YXhCdt_7pyFAD4p_uALn1WRPuje9dAXLzqoIy-yoQ0IhO_sMukzqExwr0TSkUpZIU/s4032/IMG_1033.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidjdq2ycuTk4rBaninW2pJ7varIq36QSJowLIuvYFBXD0eVDmOH88GcobuAiZg1sM8khVwvhDMxzVf73BxS5ugQX49ghGZjCiZ22Zl1Z7blSqlYR-hIFKFB8aI5YXhCdt_7pyFAD4p_uALn1WRPuje9dAXLzqoIy-yoQ0IhO_sMukzqExwr0TSkUpZIU/s320/IMG_1033.jpeg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. Sightseeing</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWu2d30vg9oVQfEunrjTHoeVEw_u_d5Ncgw0S3JJ5wOfC1hGwooflSU-r6Jss0FMXPm4BD_zLBiMIn8goKkDKv1wL19L3sHSGo5Yg_RoomV1SwO6jFAfsurMRxhA1UL0WUEEXngd8lAv_UewGIvDxULfq717zapfpJiXrNtZSM2cucgEuzAiO8j1dPoUo/s4032/IMG_1865.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWu2d30vg9oVQfEunrjTHoeVEw_u_d5Ncgw0S3JJ5wOfC1hGwooflSU-r6Jss0FMXPm4BD_zLBiMIn8goKkDKv1wL19L3sHSGo5Yg_RoomV1SwO6jFAfsurMRxhA1UL0WUEEXngd8lAv_UewGIvDxULfq717zapfpJiXrNtZSM2cucgEuzAiO8j1dPoUo/s320/IMG_1865.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. Story Slams:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHg7UeME0Ih1f3srrswxsH2Kl81sArGEJAhoWZ9xfOMyHzEEYi3-N5o8qmz5145asTFyOaZAwROWWpdeWIE5AaRFLEONDQm1BGkCtBWdoTQU6FtYJ7hE3QOHOD033gncPX8kksNN-ZS1apX6MxZQm3S6tt2_BMhZYFbwlHIoFQVj_5NC6wGgsv1C079Mw/s4032/70925550549__6E9A5ED7-97C9-4417-B708-2800A3D26354.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHg7UeME0Ih1f3srrswxsH2Kl81sArGEJAhoWZ9xfOMyHzEEYi3-N5o8qmz5145asTFyOaZAwROWWpdeWIE5AaRFLEONDQm1BGkCtBWdoTQU6FtYJ7hE3QOHOD033gncPX8kksNN-ZS1apX6MxZQm3S6tt2_BMhZYFbwlHIoFQVj_5NC6wGgsv1C079Mw/s320/70925550549__6E9A5ED7-97C9-4417-B708-2800A3D26354.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">5. Salads & Soft Serve</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTII2IbeV3zf99SJDEpLrw41r6Gaz9ooBZc769lmo_5hrWvkjfbCiSSycHr-8gYFMWItfWGLMShpuw4NAlMUl94OkWotIyvM4TUt3l0YoGG45sL3FIwoe1TpSlKcz8R4v2A-2nnCu7mTjTXYtlmhjSOjz50SDM19n3NR2wh5q_BumuDZP8TIzb3Ak_M8/s4032/IMG_0401.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTII2IbeV3zf99SJDEpLrw41r6Gaz9ooBZc769lmo_5hrWvkjfbCiSSycHr-8gYFMWItfWGLMShpuw4NAlMUl94OkWotIyvM4TUt3l0YoGG45sL3FIwoe1TpSlKcz8R4v2A-2nnCu7mTjTXYtlmhjSOjz50SDM19n3NR2wh5q_BumuDZP8TIzb3Ak_M8/s320/IMG_0401.jpeg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1RxoE5OQj1hrHx7CgGQzalt3E6WD_8ZTmGCX_IkGRh_6TAaWWlEnA2DgvwPw_MTz4--lusIXywAD0dGzduvH0bQoXODS-TKr6e7a9jk9iINw2A6pewOPyoqvvYN1ZPG16Qx2TcYBH2NOO78yMwgH0EpX8UMg2Z4L3CN6UwjQ1B38F0JZKqWqbZTNrLU0/s4032/IMG_0403.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1RxoE5OQj1hrHx7CgGQzalt3E6WD_8ZTmGCX_IkGRh_6TAaWWlEnA2DgvwPw_MTz4--lusIXywAD0dGzduvH0bQoXODS-TKr6e7a9jk9iINw2A6pewOPyoqvvYN1ZPG16Qx2TcYBH2NOO78yMwgH0EpX8UMg2Z4L3CN6UwjQ1B38F0JZKqWqbZTNrLU0/s320/IMG_0403.jpeg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">. . . but now it's September. Sigh.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><br /></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-22879892702794181292023-08-18T04:32:00.006-07:002023-08-18T04:32:43.614-07:00Five on Friday: Win-Win (Win-Win-Win)<div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's no secret that I've been needing a break from the home kids lately.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> (Remember my last </span><a href="http://www.sisterserendip.com/2023/08/five-on-friday-teens-fun.html" style="font-family: georgia;" target="_blank">post</a><span style="font-family: georgia;">? It hadn't gotten much better since then.) </span></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I think the combination of summer + a lull in the sports (as much as they make our schedule crazy, they did occupy the kids) + typical teenage disrespect x 3 teens + our son's surgery making it so he can't drive or participate in much all added up to my husband taking them aside and saying, "You guys do realize that Mommy is losing it, right?"</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So their trip to Cape Cod with their Aunt & Uncle really could not have come at a better time. It wasn't just a win for me, it was a win all around, providing:</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">1. A MUCH needed break from the daily demands of parenting three teens (see above).</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">2. The opportunity for my husband and I to get away for the weekend without them.</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9rgnnmA5usqolGLMkloNU3G6wqKGsIKbXVFPodfIunROmb9Wgs8bFxnaAxSB3s_r84g7J4Oj2ejHhhPYJZK8csbtPrBKOlMnK7bSl_TwzRyD1c627mJ-63NHaMBCYspbcjb3NUCVY4FBe8INUDC5F7KrgqjyxeP3kfjhiuB3sODdxCa0BeewI1Veznt8/s3088/IMG_2205.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9rgnnmA5usqolGLMkloNU3G6wqKGsIKbXVFPodfIunROmb9Wgs8bFxnaAxSB3s_r84g7J4Oj2ejHhhPYJZK8csbtPrBKOlMnK7bSl_TwzRyD1c627mJ-63NHaMBCYspbcjb3NUCVY4FBe8INUDC5F7KrgqjyxeP3kfjhiuB3sODdxCa0BeewI1Veznt8/s320/IMG_2205.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">What did we do when we were kid-free? Visit our </span><b style="font-family: georgia;">other </b><span style="font-family: georgia;">kids, of course!</span></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It was <i>really </i>nice having a visit with our adult kids, just us adults. We got to have dinner and drinks with them without anyone rolling their eyes at me or telling me how cringey I am. They used manners!</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Also, we were able to go to the museum where our oldest daughter gives tours (something that the younger kids would have complained about and ruined for me). She was wonderful and I got to hear her coworkers gush about how amazing she is. It was lovely.</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRauvGAiKCvTbK5yRXeDlJPPNCiVLghvWxCgBSIvO-24CBozyI_6CLx0crSEgxRt5oijxtgmTkecYBZqU0OBpT3ojHbyXUW_WMJb9bgxiKTeNCTEjGEMDhz6vZCShUWUfjMI45SSSZ03FL1xVcidGv22uCr2c9JogrL-A5FiraziISX4h8mKkxbC02KGU/s4032/IMG_0187.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRauvGAiKCvTbK5yRXeDlJPPNCiVLghvWxCgBSIvO-24CBozyI_6CLx0crSEgxRt5oijxtgmTkecYBZqU0OBpT3ojHbyXUW_WMJb9bgxiKTeNCTEjGEMDhz6vZCShUWUfjMI45SSSZ03FL1xVcidGv22uCr2c9JogrL-A5FiraziISX4h8mKkxbC02KGU/s320/IMG_0187.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">3. We had ice cream for dinner. I had a lovely impromptu birthday party for a friend. I got a nice ride in on the practically neglected Vespa.</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3hbRnvWqSY5FFwYcvwO5aLgRnIDvIt3Byi9dwa4VJcscxTO3g3EyicCA7wzNcaWdJFmTkcNTeHrofVyocfysCYVIg8NP4sMX6s5SjNXX47GBJIBhlkY4n1qtBscePO3svd0nr7XD0h6hb99bdkrc2Nw_l53m54hVH8Snt4E9XyTip9hEiQOhxCmYf9W8/s4032/springhouse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3hbRnvWqSY5FFwYcvwO5aLgRnIDvIt3Byi9dwa4VJcscxTO3g3EyicCA7wzNcaWdJFmTkcNTeHrofVyocfysCYVIg8NP4sMX6s5SjNXX47GBJIBhlkY4n1qtBscePO3svd0nr7XD0h6hb99bdkrc2Nw_l53m54hVH8Snt4E9XyTip9hEiQOhxCmYf9W8/s320/springhouse.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCq-wsQ3yjTkKsw0eV-9cgBro0-_j-sV8rn8hmKk2miJ5QKGeneIpKm8ki2OlIrlqw1AvxtpaSr4dT3ylvNqSmqP-O1rZ5oEXtptk010U4diG6xQLy7OKoD_-CHhFegA2env_CIZc_wD32v3dBFyVtGt0xfagD_MBfoLOU8mHeH6G6pjJr3J1vimNObGs/s4032/IMG_2387.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCq-wsQ3yjTkKsw0eV-9cgBro0-_j-sV8rn8hmKk2miJ5QKGeneIpKm8ki2OlIrlqw1AvxtpaSr4dT3ylvNqSmqP-O1rZ5oEXtptk010U4diG6xQLy7OKoD_-CHhFegA2env_CIZc_wD32v3dBFyVtGt0xfagD_MBfoLOU8mHeH6G6pjJr3J1vimNObGs/s320/IMG_2387.jpeg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">4. In the meantime, the kids had a lovely vacation without us, enjoying the beach, kayaking, fishing, mini-golfing, shopping, a shark conservancy visit, a pedicure and lots of dessert.</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">5. But wait, what do Aunt & Uncle get out of all this? Time with the kids who were surely much nicer to them than they are to me and their father. Our son even cooked on more than one occasion (boot and all).</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGJ6-mrazPp_XBxZLVIhe4HdJejnFKlcBc77bCFrBAGdOzrblrNDeZQ4GCjJdJSa1eav3cqoZKds14d674ZUS4Dctm9bFsiFAOtCCRNmA_czZ0R-KezLeQZomnCAxnKIbNc9BqBsde-bSEa8rqA_bA8G5NGuHQ9a-Toz1g31Pg_EI9hFqBLJHQ1yEgbs/s960/367014677_10227670109250043_2563956504908084196_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGJ6-mrazPp_XBxZLVIhe4HdJejnFKlcBc77bCFrBAGdOzrblrNDeZQ4GCjJdJSa1eav3cqoZKds14d674ZUS4Dctm9bFsiFAOtCCRNmA_czZ0R-KezLeQZomnCAxnKIbNc9BqBsde-bSEa8rqA_bA8G5NGuHQ9a-Toz1g31Pg_EI9hFqBLJHQ1yEgbs/s320/367014677_10227670109250043_2563956504908084196_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">And that, my friends, is what I call a win-win-win-win-win.</div></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-43190439244953562072023-08-04T03:05:00.006-07:002023-08-06T17:42:37.948-07:00Five on Friday: Teens Я Fun<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. 13-year-old daughter: "I really didn't expect to like this dinner but it was actually pretty good."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />2. Me: "You need to finish your summer math packet for school."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> 15-year-old son: </span>"No I don't."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3. Me: "Come in with me to pick out the compression stocking the surgeon said you need to wear."</span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> 17-year-old son: "</span>Ew. Ew ew ew. Oh my god. NO. Mom. WHY." </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">(Fine, he didn't actually <i>say</i> this but his expression conveyed the message loud and clear.)</span><div><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4. 13-year-old daughter: "OH MY GOD MOM. You are FLIRTING SO MUCH with the waiter." (She then demonstrated what my alleged flirtatious behavior looked like by what I can only describe as having some sort of eyelid seizure.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. Remember when I said there'd be a <a href="http://www.sisterserendip.com/2023/07/five-on-friday-weekly-theme-summer.html" target="_blank">"fuck around and find out" </a>week this summer? Guess what? That week is here! The phones, gaming controllers, television remote and even the computer mouse(!) were confiscated and I wouldn't tell them what chores needed to be done to get these items back. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In my defense, I've been trying to get them to figure out what needs to be done without me telling them and they have been failing. Also:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQamOXgbonxbq0g2WkX62K4mtR31EZajxKV4QgosR4351xHrVjRG2ZwQLdwsikJishvkwrYA-nDn80napUoWrmGruxr2tuFW0bC83HGg7vKF46wONAiFK4hTyCUp4aOhImNZb0mycbjMFSqkNcYjRgqjpqgcYoDBbavepCF5bWPHSxLifjFoI-ErF8EQ/s1160/Screenshot%202023-08-03%20at%2012.46.57%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="1148" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQamOXgbonxbq0g2WkX62K4mtR31EZajxKV4QgosR4351xHrVjRG2ZwQLdwsikJishvkwrYA-nDn80napUoWrmGruxr2tuFW0bC83HGg7vKF46wONAiFK4hTyCUp4aOhImNZb0mycbjMFSqkNcYjRgqjpqgcYoDBbavepCF5bWPHSxLifjFoI-ErF8EQ/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-03%20at%2012.46.57%20PM.png" width="317" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"There is literally nothing else to do around here," <br />said the 15-year-old when the kitchen looked something like this.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-61129103072674315912023-07-21T04:06:00.006-07:002023-07-21T05:52:50.685-07:00Five on Friday: Thanks for Checking In<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>As many of you already know, our 17-year-old athlete snapped his Achilles tendon recently. His surgery went very well but he's got a long road of recovery ahead of him. They said he may not be cleared to play sports for 6-9 months (!!!!!). Emotionally, he's been handling rather well but I have not. </span><span>The kids can't figure out why I've established a "no joking about this" rule* when "He doesn't even care, Mom, only you do!"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well, smarties, it's not just me. Here are some of the nice texts, messages and gestures from other people:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. From my Mom, relaying a message from my 14-year-old nephew:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="1092" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGpENmMX4Pg9JsAj2Plr1EvRfGQvi70nOLEnS600avtMXWQ--SkIs6Ac_hWEHCX-fnzI9MDSehNCZDp613drROnh6BJUyKla4wUeouV65JQsadlBFTzSraOtubLcMFfECdD3GDCmbQKQPc9aMjTDwu9kjboUEXRf6JZA1naN82VNDc6rFNwOkd0J5OIk/s320/Screenshot%202023-07-19%20at%201.21.03%20PM.png" width="320" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. From my 21-year-old son:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-hTK-mRidcC_u6S5DbwLExoszrGHqiNA36qXs0mBF5nfkVCsoJrLTygmfs4C7pJd84vf8yvxqgSZsWko5-tbPdGV_YLZRqmbe92-VJWH20WHHKZWsy-x5gMWSsKTiQUGkDR8_0x7RtPXKt71-LNJa6DUTXo-16JlQoxtCPp1TWhRvwzfDlPwkSb6O0o/s850/Screenshot%202023-07-19%20at%201.17.50%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="850" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-hTK-mRidcC_u6S5DbwLExoszrGHqiNA36qXs0mBF5nfkVCsoJrLTygmfs4C7pJd84vf8yvxqgSZsWko5-tbPdGV_YLZRqmbe92-VJWH20WHHKZWsy-x5gMWSsKTiQUGkDR8_0x7RtPXKt71-LNJa6DUTXo-16JlQoxtCPp1TWhRvwzfDlPwkSb6O0o/s320/Screenshot%202023-07-19%20at%201.17.50%20PM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">3. From my friend (who also happens to be an athlete, but I think she'd feel the same even if she wasn't) :</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrqjmfuCFtGGHX0mIc_rtL504bNed_Q5_XUpNkV4lQ--jpgzIu2zU0TsS311epwRqJhqSAkpLq8-x1r9RHnSPyns9iTCkKZso58B0FA_52G1eT0i7CWfKjjlQg3AwIF08xS2Zd88zc_Xn96Se1F0Tgha485yYUYbu3BKR4TtdHMr0tj7HSA7gMnYWwWC4/s474/Screenshot%202023-07-19%20at%201.29.45%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="138" data-original-width="474" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrqjmfuCFtGGHX0mIc_rtL504bNed_Q5_XUpNkV4lQ--jpgzIu2zU0TsS311epwRqJhqSAkpLq8-x1r9RHnSPyns9iTCkKZso58B0FA_52G1eT0i7CWfKjjlQg3AwIF08xS2Zd88zc_Xn96Se1F0Tgha485yYUYbu3BKR4TtdHMr0tj7HSA7gMnYWwWC4/s320/Screenshot%202023-07-19%20at%201.29.45%20PM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">4. By the virtue of the fact that my son's coach has called me--<i>twice-</i>-proves that this is a big deal. In one of our conversations, I was telling him how I seem to be more upset than my son is. I was really looking forward to watching him play his Senior year soccer season; I very much wanted to see him and his brother on the field together again.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">"Oh believe me," he said, "We really wanted to see that too."</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">5. Lastly, two of our son's good friends baked him a cake. (The arrow is to get you to notice the . . . illustration. It's supposed to be a bloody foot. Kids are so sweet.)</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrPAFNFUH4fUcv_hD1CgyF5z0nLVTTn9FWiZXgrPtiGpyFSDrlf_DQcIOMZ9I3i2BPLAyQ43babJ7pong1zsziTy757OIoQbx2-iJ9i0uKvQbGMpZnnSkkPOH7DlKzVTaf0NSKCdxlxP4qIY85weyIGQzukL_QLzEq_ljatDrICb5TvYLMkqX8N5OUJQ/s738/IMG_1370.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="532" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrPAFNFUH4fUcv_hD1CgyF5z0nLVTTn9FWiZXgrPtiGpyFSDrlf_DQcIOMZ9I3i2BPLAyQ43babJ7pong1zsziTy757OIoQbx2-iJ9i0uKvQbGMpZnnSkkPOH7DlKzVTaf0NSKCdxlxP4qIY85weyIGQzukL_QLzEq_ljatDrICb5TvYLMkqX8N5OUJQ/s320/IMG_1370.jpeg" width="231" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span><br /></span></span><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* Okay, fine, I made <i>one </i>joke. Months before this happened, we had scheduled a short trip to meet up with the alleged adults and have a little getaway with all seven of us. This included a visit to an amusement park. I joked that we would have our son in a wheelchair and use him to cut to the front of the line.</span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To that, he said, "I don't even want to go on any rides." So I said, "That's okay, once we use you to get in the front, we'll leave you parked in the stroller parking area."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(Spoiler: we did not do this and he was a good sport about it all; sat around at the park for awhile and then I took him back to the air conditioned Airbnb.)</span></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-68307811936824806842023-07-07T04:45:00.009-07:002023-08-06T17:41:47.393-07:00Five on Friday: Weekly Theme Summer<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Do you want to know how adorable I used to be? Ten plus summers ago, I'd plan out stuff like this:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="1538" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtq8vvXvirRWoZjKDbqyjnGOSD2EXJne8Zyjyi2FlEha2P_a8j3KJ7ckxXeUQY4fliDnNxVwA71q-Id0wPdfOYkBr28cYR_WLeoAdSXsLfad5sYWdsZ3ZdMr8rzFhEuhZvE1khijfxkIy9mk1sWo6GykRr3c5JRsOqjHvtCxH1bzzLzZ6xowxDTrhuLM4/w400-h270/Screenshot%202023-07-05%20at%209.14.01%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Not only that, but the kids would do it all . . . without complaint . . . and<i> enjoy</i> it. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>The current teenage residents really just want to be on their screens or maybe go to the mall. They think that I (& my ideas) are all super cringey so i</span>t's hard to imagine weekly theme summers now. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Unless, of course, I completely adapted them. I'm creative! I am sure I could think of PLENTY of weekly themes for my 13, 15 and 17-year-olds at home. I'm sure they will LOVE participating in:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1. Charm School <i>or </i>Who Taught These Children Manners Because They Did a Bad Job Week: </b>Focus will be on using the manners with your parents that we know you use for other adults </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2. SPORTS WEEK!</b> Just kidding, the sports never freaking end over here. But know what goes along with sports <strike>week</strike> life?</span></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqaubf6CmGufRuS8zMKJWf7Lo6TBSYCIy-LNhNv2lP9kpG9izeNd-6ZhZQlU6_KJDJR-bAMgWLwAuVGsTMeOmSOo_CQynRzXyX8PpMqhTximSs2OyKScE-dkuGZBAMaiXeC1A1DjV_bXErH1tQyUTLWSolDO-e5CnJ8JLWsA7R3SasiUhcpd0JlHjxd4/s4032/IMG_0999.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqaubf6CmGufRuS8zMKJWf7Lo6TBSYCIy-LNhNv2lP9kpG9izeNd-6ZhZQlU6_KJDJR-bAMgWLwAuVGsTMeOmSOo_CQynRzXyX8PpMqhTximSs2OyKScE-dkuGZBAMaiXeC1A1DjV_bXErH1tQyUTLWSolDO-e5CnJ8JLWsA7R3SasiUhcpd0JlHjxd4/s320/IMG_0999.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Nothing says "summer evening" like a soccer game, amirite?</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2. Appointment Week! </b>More forms for the doctor to fill out for more sports? LOVE IT. Let's make sure to get some specialists in, too: orthopedist, chiropractor . . . could we be so lucky to add surgeon to the list??? Anything is possible in appointment week!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>3. Humor Your Parents Week:</b> I don't care how boring or cringey our suggestions are: family walk/hike/bike ride? Connect Four? MUSEUMS? It's ON, baby. Without complaint.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>4. </b><b> Fuck Around & Find Out Week: </b>in which they continue to disregard my polite requests so the consequences are jacked up. Our motto is: "<i>Confiscating cell phones is <b>just </b>the beginning."</i></span></p><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><b>5. DIY Week, also entitled: Ask Not What Your Mother Can Do For You Week: </b></span><span>During this week, nobody is allowed to ask Mom for anything. Not a meal, not the location of their own belongings, not a ride. They are also most certainly not allowed to text Mom at work with a question when Dad is at home with them.</span></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-15064179760211978212023-06-23T04:08:00.001-07:002023-06-23T04:12:58.641-07:00Five on Friday: Summer Begins<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">School's out and I'm overwhelmed by the schedule. Seriously. I've signed the athletes up for so many summer trainings, leagues and camps that I don't even know if any of the dates conflict. They kept throwing links at me and I kept entering my credit card number and I'm just kissing it up to god. I've given up. Succumbed to incessant sports that obey no typical seasons. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We got back from a weekend away (sports-related, natch) and jumped right into the first full week of no school--which meant basketball camp, weight room training and summer soccer league games. It's totally crazy, but it does keep the boys active and busy . . . now to figure how to keep younger sister occupied (but maybe at not quite the same frenzied pace).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the meantime, here's how our very early summer is going so far (aside from the athletic insanity):</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Yes, our weekend getaway was because our boys were both competing in the <a href="https://www.nbnationalsout.com/" target="_blank">New Balance Nationals Outdoor Track Meet</a>. Yes, that was quite an honor for them, yes we are really very proud of them both and yes, it was nice to have a mini-vacation with just two out of five kids. But do you know what else was <i>really</i> nice and something we're only able to take advantage of recently? Ditching the kids, even while away, and doing stuff without them.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOxNKgIDwrIW9jUDyOu2qdQPh7tRxFyf6D6om5MD_AMDXZIFxNiH8dq7jyGn_2ubyP1Jy2MmB6hpX3J0FAYi9LPTzLFhbV1YO_au72a9SCyIWSIZ9pnkg2shrQHK1NqQZsLKCB1EhgqzWj7zRzE9ed3_z6r8d9kG7Hf4YbFf2qnEWR0VrgPIC6qpt2og/s4032/IMG_0388.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOxNKgIDwrIW9jUDyOu2qdQPh7tRxFyf6D6om5MD_AMDXZIFxNiH8dq7jyGn_2ubyP1Jy2MmB6hpX3J0FAYi9LPTzLFhbV1YO_au72a9SCyIWSIZ9pnkg2shrQHK1NqQZsLKCB1EhgqzWj7zRzE9ed3_z6r8d9kG7Hf4YbFf2qnEWR0VrgPIC6qpt2og/s320/IMG_0388.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">While the boys were hanging with their friends in the hot sun waiting the<b> eight hours (!!) </b>between events, Daddy-O and I snuck out to a <a href="https://www.barnesfoundation.org/" target="_blank">museum </a>that they would have complained about being dragged to anyway.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. Speaking of getting away without the people you love the most, I've got overnight plans with a friend tomorrow night and I am very much looking forward to it. There will be a pride parade, henna, two museums (take that, kids!) and meals I don't cook.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3. Deer ticks! So many deer ticks. So much time spent trying to determine if you actually have always had a freckle near your toe or does that thing have minuscule legs? Was that a random tickle or was that bug crawling on you? It makes summer fun!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4. Watching a mama bear amble across the yard while two adorable cubs scramble down from the cherry tree* to follow her also makes summer fun as well as infinitely cuter . . . as long as the watching takes place from a safe distance away. Being in between mama bear and said cubs would end up putting a real damper on . . . well, life probably.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. Lastly and most importantly is that I am the proud inventor of a new summer diet craze! It's called the "I just want an interesting salad and a cocktail for every dinner and I'm a grown-ass woman so that's what I'll have" plan. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm off to a strong start.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-_eRkASmO3B-yJ3_K8fb7q2SkVopzzk4atqjHccWhmo9JFfR6zstv8xFA8oOF4Su46xvXjRN9fOoAa8-M2nJW0yC5hqJyFBFEl6V2oFmXzblON4WE6woYtENXCQfEySpwidRkZRACWtTG57kIprRQ88Yx_sjzYgXwWngQcso8mRqvBpvZhz6m9Wwfj4/s4032/IMG_0358.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-_eRkASmO3B-yJ3_K8fb7q2SkVopzzk4atqjHccWhmo9JFfR6zstv8xFA8oOF4Su46xvXjRN9fOoAa8-M2nJW0yC5hqJyFBFEl6V2oFmXzblON4WE6woYtENXCQfEySpwidRkZRACWtTG57kIprRQ88Yx_sjzYgXwWngQcso8mRqvBpvZhz6m9Wwfj4/s320/IMG_0358.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkhumHlQUCAj6obKmo-syNIwIL9MeuRoJPqUbB8kjnaesIfZjsbpMXFs6mvlgDuaMduVKgvI8l1XqBGU4RdGHcM9ZtaJaPIYqmdGme4lAWDd_caSYCbGTrMvND_v4ZSaLI5w0a-RUUdiazv9b65lP13rmUHcWp5eSuvDj7Qj7NNSSYmnd7E3Vf4e4vs8/s4032/IMG_0401.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkhumHlQUCAj6obKmo-syNIwIL9MeuRoJPqUbB8kjnaesIfZjsbpMXFs6mvlgDuaMduVKgvI8l1XqBGU4RdGHcM9ZtaJaPIYqmdGme4lAWDd_caSYCbGTrMvND_v4ZSaLI5w0a-RUUdiazv9b65lP13rmUHcWp5eSuvDj7Qj7NNSSYmnd7E3Vf4e4vs8/s320/IMG_0401.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4n4OUv6fKq5xfdSUgOArH3qImRv36km_4JLhcQsgNeKlYXh-ATfhkM_4leP2BqnWqfIudHW0X2A_bmuEslYDVKpmDsuObusAloBPK_sdwIP72unwvW5egvPTHh8RksKCR-8FXTXTU8E0-9G2opOxZJqtMcYCMTwQS7clK8zB-M1MPeHYFQMzpne4ndE/s4032/IMG_0414.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4n4OUv6fKq5xfdSUgOArH3qImRv36km_4JLhcQsgNeKlYXh-ATfhkM_4leP2BqnWqfIudHW0X2A_bmuEslYDVKpmDsuObusAloBPK_sdwIP72unwvW5egvPTHh8RksKCR-8FXTXTU8E0-9G2opOxZJqtMcYCMTwQS7clK8zB-M1MPeHYFQMzpne4ndE/s320/IMG_0414.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Also on my plan this is called potato salad. <br />You're welcome.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><b>*Postscript:</b> </i>The bears may be a common scene this summer! After that first sighting, they returned yesterday while I was at work. My husband, working from home, literally took his laptop out on the roof so he could continue working while watching mama and two cubs 35-40' up in the tree eating cherries, play fighting, hanging out and napping in our cherry tree for hours.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht4PU0KNAv1hjCDoNIAT3gDCboBXL-khmX6n9own_HKNG7vdvBgpt3JMNus_lj9-8b6-evyTMX569cfQ85c0FxPeuVBV_7UADsRHaXTghjB26qcA5Ykkegm_2c1uiEyKRpgaY_ZVEugbhPYQw7wBoxnjnAXVEkxhZS6UYPuAtDrcE3r9LjymfDNbIbvcc/s3000/DSC_0310.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht4PU0KNAv1hjCDoNIAT3gDCboBXL-khmX6n9own_HKNG7vdvBgpt3JMNus_lj9-8b6-evyTMX569cfQ85c0FxPeuVBV_7UADsRHaXTghjB26qcA5Ykkegm_2c1uiEyKRpgaY_ZVEugbhPYQw7wBoxnjnAXVEkxhZS6UYPuAtDrcE3r9LjymfDNbIbvcc/s320/DSC_0310.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxiG9ON4NQWo4rU2gl-Iw2XaaoNskCdPAknGazF8IZehgJ9wmuyLLydvLoWLaC4SJGGE3GmR0VjAZc89GCDqawygVA5w5w2ezZeTl5Jl6ms_jFYvdaMYPDzqnlMxDJ0XMlK3luUpI-CAeu5uVl5LlaRBdZIc-QMpmXG0plCHzt8TFlZy6RreCupYeY4Q/s3000/DSC_0374.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="2000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxiG9ON4NQWo4rU2gl-Iw2XaaoNskCdPAknGazF8IZehgJ9wmuyLLydvLoWLaC4SJGGE3GmR0VjAZc89GCDqawygVA5w5w2ezZeTl5Jl6ms_jFYvdaMYPDzqnlMxDJ0XMlK3luUpI-CAeu5uVl5LlaRBdZIc-QMpmXG0plCHzt8TFlZy6RreCupYeY4Q/s320/DSC_0374.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxfOpfLC2hugNgWSmtBQvhZanHSYMSwK7gby1SURQcbhKAuUbW5WzJqafVkesMwkma4SE61joCdZmLfHXHsBQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-26854733754848589732023-06-09T03:18:00.002-07:002023-06-09T05:18:05.113-07:00Five on Friday: Aw, They Still Need Me<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just when it seemed like my kids didn't need me that much anymore:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Mom, can you make me an appointment for the __________ (fill in medical specialist)?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span>2. </span></span><span>Ugh, Mom, this is such an </span><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/ingredient-household-tiktok-snacking-viral-b2256516.html" target="_blank">ingredient house!</a><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>In our home, unlike in that linked article, the resident children would rather go hungry than actually assemble ingredients into something edible, which means they sit around complaining and eating dry cereal while the food sits around and goes bad. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So Mom's been food cutting, prepping, assembling a little more than usual (grab-and-go chef salad for lunch, anyone?) A truly magical thing happens--the food gets eaten.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBiBgKKGUQFRD_7LfIADQS8BVqw7EVFO_tJRaoU0w-ehbbEuCvRG3gnrWAiD9ugkJ2tegwdtHCI7EXFndFhcBrUn81XdvplHa5F_YvmPU9rT8MfBUOntteqVs9FlNuDWixkmBcGEk5DgGr_kBDJqPZeB2EB_aNziYNDaKrpu-5vLZUcWVx23BVjY1/s4032/IMG_7634.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBiBgKKGUQFRD_7LfIADQS8BVqw7EVFO_tJRaoU0w-ehbbEuCvRG3gnrWAiD9ugkJ2tegwdtHCI7EXFndFhcBrUn81XdvplHa5F_YvmPU9rT8MfBUOntteqVs9FlNuDWixkmBcGEk5DgGr_kBDJqPZeB2EB_aNziYNDaKrpu-5vLZUcWVx23BVjY1/s320/IMG_7634.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>3. Mom, I don't have any ________ (fill in article of clothing) that fits. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">4. Mom, did you sign me up for ________ (fill in one of a million freaking summer sports-related camps, travel and activities)?</span></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. And of course . . . if I weren't here, they wouldn't know what to do when they ran out of room in the dishwasher's utensil basket!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisbgl6qShG3aBy0KQNQZoknVg-u6m5hK-SUlFzbss04daTQNBcNL77kAf32lbKlXlM8TcyYOMhu2rsrvhR7_59u-MRmCFcOrHAZ_WAiGgF4nmnJqoDCz1yeWQq_a00joJAtMIe4Q5F1i--m6m3g-gcz71AJoEJrNcYv05Zj6jE2yX3on-_t5OyZuN-/s4032/IMG_0098.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisbgl6qShG3aBy0KQNQZoknVg-u6m5hK-SUlFzbss04daTQNBcNL77kAf32lbKlXlM8TcyYOMhu2rsrvhR7_59u-MRmCFcOrHAZ_WAiGgF4nmnJqoDCz1yeWQq_a00joJAtMIe4Q5F1i--m6m3g-gcz71AJoEJrNcYv05Zj6jE2yX3on-_t5OyZuN-/s320/IMG_0098.jpeg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;">I guess they </span><i style="text-align: left;">do </i><span style="text-align: left;">still need me! Sniff.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-58912193785856212512023-05-26T03:10:00.001-07:002023-05-26T03:18:40.711-07:00Five on Friday: Best-Worst Mothers Day Gift Ever<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Even though gift giving (and receiving) can really stress my husband out, the man frequently </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Br0Ck4YFThW/" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">knocks it out of the park</a><span style="text-align: justify;">.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For Mother's Day this year, he had a GREAT idea which I really, truly loved. Also, it was pure torture. For this week's list, let me explain:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. When we got in the car to go take a hike at the <a href="https://www.njhiking.com/catfish-fire-tower/" target="_blank">Catfish Fire Tower</a> on the Appalachian Trail, he told me we'd be playing a game. He was going to pull one slip of paper at a time out of an envelope. Each slip had something one of the kids said that they appreciated about or were grateful to me for. Each kid submitted five statements.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggry9noEL6yc2pQAe85nObnpQJ3OZNpYqQ52kFkXfambDBYFCn1cas1cHcbtlM-GDPilCDbbEytTKWg8evnYIdkqIOA2bOk27nIDBntaHr2F0EPdNZHxRiccWxRC2WtfO1d86U1dX3DpPk_J6x8a2AngQEgfUhyZ57kTTHFj3xRNtaoRYbzaxcVQu5/s2441/IMG_9251.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1831" data-original-width="2441" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggry9noEL6yc2pQAe85nObnpQJ3OZNpYqQ52kFkXfambDBYFCn1cas1cHcbtlM-GDPilCDbbEytTKWg8evnYIdkqIOA2bOk27nIDBntaHr2F0EPdNZHxRiccWxRC2WtfO1d86U1dX3DpPk_J6x8a2AngQEgfUhyZ57kTTHFj3xRNtaoRYbzaxcVQu5/s320/IMG_9251.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">5x5=25</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. I was informed I'd be getting points for the ones I got right. This meant I had twenty-five chances to prove if I was a good Mom who really knows my kids or not. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmcNIWc19PlVvnbhjwaWwxP9lyYYoWU8rhgyaTl2iutjJ9BHftViW07SlE2A5QCeCLcHLDOIWfM-fekEktTTdpGtTBEs1F9GwqUxqAF2U5Edm8F_QfEtFRUklhpqjqhpkbr71_Ckp9N84LvNEZ1Hppe5TyTLvykSCvxrKxDPc0RD6IMofmLTjxgjC/s4032/70578133715__D716128A-ECE3-4276-8786-7647726D74B3.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmcNIWc19PlVvnbhjwaWwxP9lyYYoWU8rhgyaTl2iutjJ9BHftViW07SlE2A5QCeCLcHLDOIWfM-fekEktTTdpGtTBEs1F9GwqUxqAF2U5Edm8F_QfEtFRUklhpqjqhpkbr71_Ckp9N84LvNEZ1Hppe5TyTLvykSCvxrKxDPc0RD6IMofmLTjxgjC/s320/70578133715__D716128A-ECE3-4276-8786-7647726D74B3.jpeg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">No pressure.</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">3. I didn't start out too hot. In my defense, some were like this:<br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6JkMVYszXal8BR5PTJBViVMxM1OZfHtUhn9n7H8Jl9Qlvl1mOWLuOobsY2CutNOn6qtHchZbAbTfUt_eHQGwNctBzW9MApIGRuVig486KwWGiNySz0JsfC_E_8fI07Fm-Pw-p3v6Cy3VZokHYlmC2mQVY3XkfUKs4lG5fDAmDLr_B4Nk1yB0Rel1/s2779/IMG_9252.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2084" data-original-width="2779" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6JkMVYszXal8BR5PTJBViVMxM1OZfHtUhn9n7H8Jl9Qlvl1mOWLuOobsY2CutNOn6qtHchZbAbTfUt_eHQGwNctBzW9MApIGRuVig486KwWGiNySz0JsfC_E_8fI07Fm-Pw-p3v6Cy3VZokHYlmC2mQVY3XkfUKs4lG5fDAmDLr_B4Nk1yB0Rel1/s320/IMG_9252.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">I guessed it was our youngest daughter, whom I drive to practice once a week. I was wrong, this was submitted by our 15-year-old who admitted I don't actually drive him to practice that much anymore. </span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">4. And some were like this:</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ279pmeQiyw1xNUVY9vJHSVO2zGvItlpTBEopBi8RknGQLA1iMwr4gw-WAOcRusWeA1d5i_5alRg9Ls9R6WwYdXAu3iVJXSGh3_hmtm06aszZJJOSuG9v0nSGWaWloRgvXskD4LzY1qHs-dizLGEMCvwZNIo4iPFDp5RyY2TzhaQI4wXVq38xO4G1/s4032/IMG_9253.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ279pmeQiyw1xNUVY9vJHSVO2zGvItlpTBEopBi8RknGQLA1iMwr4gw-WAOcRusWeA1d5i_5alRg9Ls9R6WwYdXAu3iVJXSGh3_hmtm06aszZJJOSuG9v0nSGWaWloRgvXskD4LzY1qHs-dizLGEMCvwZNIo4iPFDp5RyY2TzhaQI4wXVq38xO4G1/w300-h400/IMG_9253.jpeg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Come ON! Is that even fair??!!!</span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">5. Final score: </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2m-jH5055ksk4u0iUsARfcBh6ztlSYty3ncGFez8-9fnXH7-goUFRUksKrE3s0d0_ulTmVzw8mmpR7wTze76KXJyt0XW1qLsscY5as9VsVehckWqHf4AUpq8LdhgMABu7eoQaKk3fEomc1zt44GT2NjGZiUbZ_JIVZLlmGVOdqsUdyy1kq3IftL3/s764/Screenshot%202023-05-24%20at%205.38.22%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="764" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2m-jH5055ksk4u0iUsARfcBh6ztlSYty3ncGFez8-9fnXH7-goUFRUksKrE3s0d0_ulTmVzw8mmpR7wTze76KXJyt0XW1qLsscY5as9VsVehckWqHf4AUpq8LdhgMABu7eoQaKk3fEomc1zt44GT2NjGZiUbZ_JIVZLlmGVOdqsUdyy1kq3IftL3/s320/Screenshot%202023-05-24%20at%205.38.22%20PM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>It was much harder and more nerve wracking than I thought it'd be. As much as I don't want to straight-up copy my husband's awesome idea, I really want him to experience the <strike>nail-biting pressure</strike> love and delight of hearing the nice things the kids have to say about their parents (And believe me, there were plenty of truly sweet ones. I really did love this gift very much!), so </span><span>I might have to repeat this for Father's Day.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">If you'd like to continue today's theme and hear the story of the Best Worst Mother's Day ever (day itself, not a gift) come on to<a href="https://www.instagram.com/scoutscoffeebar/" target="_blank"> Scout's</a> tonight for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/230256162931163" target="_blank">Story Slam!</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><p></p>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-36944475421669939642023-05-12T03:41:00.002-07:002023-05-12T03:41:46.471-07:00Five on Friday: Every Day is Mother's Day!<div><span style="font-size: medium;">I guess if you mean I am a mother every single day that's true but if you mean the kids do something nice for me every day you are soooorely mistaken. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">But you know what? When I think about it, there actually <i>are</i> nice things they do for me at least on a weekly basis. For example:</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Think all mushrooms are the worst possible food on Earth thereby leaving my foraged food alone (clearly this one is unintentionally nice to me but I'll take it).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8c1AitAbD4TmMiIyiGOHR2ENbiLzzv40JII2h--Iy2VTbM7_2aqI7cCVKyn4IZCwldt38SrJxFeMbpoOrtbFptrsnBZsuddr9mcEc8KpQTc_-85vLtj8xFxUguL4R0BxrHqhDFCw29fG9LJtPWihiFIC9si-rMEzG40zGKeUmpmoEMLLRB9J5SFBF/s4032/IMG_8893.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8c1AitAbD4TmMiIyiGOHR2ENbiLzzv40JII2h--Iy2VTbM7_2aqI7cCVKyn4IZCwldt38SrJxFeMbpoOrtbFptrsnBZsuddr9mcEc8KpQTc_-85vLtj8xFxUguL4R0BxrHqhDFCw29fG9LJtPWihiFIC9si-rMEzG40zGKeUmpmoEMLLRB9J5SFBF/s320/IMG_8893.jpeg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">2. Amaze me with their talents (again this isn't intentional, they absolutely do this for the love of sport and not for me at all . . . as a matter of fact this guy recently only told me *one* event he was competing in at a meet so I stood around for hours in the sun and missed him competing in the two *other* events that day . . . but I do thoroughly derive pleasure out of seeing them shine). </span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Bn-6di_qKD_Pl8dXhQ8B38U0R5GghMaVyC_y1Je4pQa-6f6-7tw0-G0Xal3-dFWn6ZgZDOXOn33D7yRE5m1D4gYGU8EDRokBJbXGmZNkrdWTRGAdMKMMLSgKrHl4CT0SqvmYfV5VDl1WpPVKQBj6yXf4MajkjPsU9LuY_KUwTPTzb3g__58aQCVI/s750/IMG_9016.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="750" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Bn-6di_qKD_Pl8dXhQ8B38U0R5GghMaVyC_y1Je4pQa-6f6-7tw0-G0Xal3-dFWn6ZgZDOXOn33D7yRE5m1D4gYGU8EDRokBJbXGmZNkrdWTRGAdMKMMLSgKrHl4CT0SqvmYfV5VDl1WpPVKQBj6yXf4MajkjPsU9LuY_KUwTPTzb3g__58aQCVI/s320/IMG_9016.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">3. My older two live five hours away but they are really good about texting and honestly make me laugh out loud several times a week. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">4. It's true I <a href="http://www.sisterserendip.com/2023/04/five-on-friday-pro-tips-for-connecting.html" target="_blank">complain about our youngest </a>a lot. She's always been my button-pusher. Lately, however, she's been a real sweetie. She stuck this note in my lunch:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kTgeHY5YkTJWGRxXa8UH61JIkY2-6TXJIRu8mSVejzjoX1EEnvwzKXixSJPvvGurDTwSl7QgNiNZjeRvS-tqIZEn9KZBy6CQUEvAE5GkOxPXuxegLAfY6RJZyVHoqvHysTbFCQDUtKyRZaU0TWOisk4u_m-4syN8aCpTZzpb6F7MwLru1U5COkqS/s320/70534438711__A988C27D-A8B1-4C1F-9263-9EE03D86C8B5.jpeg" width="240" /></span></div><p></p><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">5. . . . which made me feel really special but then I found out she did it for her father too. And her brothers. So much for special 😢 </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Want to know what really made my heart sing though? Getting this text from her when I was at work:<br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh546hpaPURfHD0W1N6dTqi9THSsfZbL66raYET_q0Fo0b_UcoNQaKL99ERMu1lN9lzB55EOYM3ib8lB_ABmEwneaXF0u9tldAIxFKNAg6R8m84GpngShhhU975jhKv4E6zdyszHtWASKUp89OLi_AfJWGxM7jq23U84QCnsJrMH2bM7urcHVcgHtfm/s320/imageedit_1_3016321144.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="180" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Best non-Mother's Day gift EVER</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh546hpaPURfHD0W1N6dTqi9THSsfZbL66raYET_q0Fo0b_UcoNQaKL99ERMu1lN9lzB55EOYM3ib8lB_ABmEwneaXF0u9tldAIxFKNAg6R8m84GpngShhhU975jhKv4E6zdyszHtWASKUp89OLi_AfJWGxM7jq23U84QCnsJrMH2bM7urcHVcgHtfm/s1334/imageedit_1_3016321144.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></span></div><br /><p></p></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-5243545134175654752023-04-28T05:05:00.005-07:002023-04-28T05:12:08.530-07:00Five on Friday: The Menstruation Song (Otherwise Entitled "Proof That I May Be Im-maturing as I Age")<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A few weeks before my birthday, my husband asked if "im-maturing" might be a word because he was <i>pretty sure </i>that was what I was doing. He went on to say he was actually quite surprised that I haven't rewritten the "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgiCS2Yj6l8" target="_blank">Diarrhea Song</a>" to be about periods.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Don't be ridiculous. Period doesn't have the right number of syllables . . . it'd have to be menstruation." </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I actually didn't have any intentions of doing this but then ideas started coming to me. I texted him a few verses and then, because he is im-maturing right along with me, he started sending some back.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our tween and teens at home wanted <b>nothing</b> to do with this (shocker). So I printed out our verses and brought them to my parents' house on Easter Sunday. I grabbed a colored pencil (red, natch) on my way out the door so new verses could be added on. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5AeMhY1iKnUJJSqnWyVJlUMhOKJNer3WBzK9hP7NQIvBwuWzoOGHcvkMOqsf52sQI8AP0iILqI7qvA_wVAHhBFbP8rbMMtO8YSdoX4-I0bHNk02pYzSXi9iKf3mAPJhjqVw1lI0q5i99Czv6L5glWE85XwN5v5GCs_GR4QfHUxXsWLihijRHT0Co/s4032/IMG_8891.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5AeMhY1iKnUJJSqnWyVJlUMhOKJNer3WBzK9hP7NQIvBwuWzoOGHcvkMOqsf52sQI8AP0iILqI7qvA_wVAHhBFbP8rbMMtO8YSdoX4-I0bHNk02pYzSXi9iKf3mAPJhjqVw1lI0q5i99Czv6L5glWE85XwN5v5GCs_GR4QfHUxXsWLihijRHT0Co/s320/IMG_8891.jpeg" width="240" /></span></i></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Isn't this what everyone does on Easter?</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The young adults in our family (both offspring and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/words-were-watching-nibling#:~:text=Nibling%20is%20a%20gender%2Dneutral,being%20revived%20in%20recent%20years." target="_blank">niblings</a>) were more than happy to oblige. It was a true bonding experience.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here are some favorites. If you enjoy them, you, too, may be showing signs of im-maturing.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-b24a472c-7fff-13d1-c385-34d3e5bc1e2b"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. When you took a stupid chance and you wore white pants. Menstruation! (clap, clap) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-dbd95e24-7fff-d929-1fe9-87c535fe0009"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. When you think that it’s all done but it comes back, just for fun. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! (clap, clap) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you keep that real gross pair as your period underwear. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! (clap, clap) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you really want to go but you’re stuck home with Aunt Flo. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! (clap, clap) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-68548fa8-7fff-039a-4ba0-8b161b561473"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. When you don’t wanna hang with Gramps so you blame on your cramps. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! (clap, clap) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! </span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>But wait, there's more! </b>(Did you really think I could limit this to only five??)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you are out wining and dining and begin to shed your lining. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! (clap, clap) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">7, When you know you gotta sneeze so you give your knees a squeeze. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! (clap, clap) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. When you’re feeling like the GOAT but then you see the bloat. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! (clap, clap) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. When you feel like you’re dying and you don’t know why you’re crying. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! (clap, clap) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. When you aren’t really sick but you need the toilet quick. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Menstruation! (clap, clap) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Diarrhea!! (#iykyk)</span></div></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608105305112033629.post-21803537960772746892023-04-14T04:40:00.005-07:002023-04-15T04:47:57.533-07:00Five on Friday: Pro-Tips for Connecting with Tweens<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our twelve-year-old daughter asked if we might be able to have a little girls' trip over spring break with our best friends, like we did last year. I considered it but since I've been feeling the need to try to get some quality time with the baby of the family, I decided it would just be the two of us. We'd drive her brother five hours back to college and then spend two nights together. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I was pretty sure she would <i>hate</i> this idea. So I lined up all sorts of carrots to dangle: we'd get a hotel with a pool! We could get her nails done (something she's begged me for but I've never agreed to). I wouldn't even make her go to a museum!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When I told her I wanted just the two of us to get away together, she said, "Okay." This stopped me dead in my tracks, I was ready to start dangling those carrots. So even though I didn't have to, I couldn't help but add, "We can get a hotel with a pool!" (well, I wanted one of those anyway). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She nodded.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Her agreeability was really throwing me off. Here she was, ready to go and for some reason I couldn't shut up. "You can pick things to do, whatever you want!"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Again, she nodded.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"And go out to restaurants!"<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She mulled it over. "Could I . . . get my nails done?"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Sure!"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"And get sushi?"<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Whatever you want."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Boba tea?"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Yup. And I won't even make you go to any museums."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then came the biggest surprise of all . . . she said, "We could go to one as long as it's <i>good.</i>"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our trip got off to a great start. I adequately spoiled her with Starbucks, a manicure and letting her eat sushi in bed while watching a police drama on television. She was pleased. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't make her go into the history museum near our hotel but I did tell her we'd be visiting the <a href="https://www.phipps.conservatory.org/" target="_blank">conservatory</a> in the morning. This is where my luck began to run out . . . a bunch of gardens did not count as "good" in her book. Naturally after getting her everything she wanted for two days, she started acting like a real pill about it. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After several attempts, I managed to get my girl back on track, salvage our trip and hopefully connect a bit with my tween. Here's what I tried (and how well each worked or didn't):</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Pointed out in advance how much she was being spoiled and how this one thing was for me and that she might enjoy it. (DID NOT WORK)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. Reminded her as we entered that I knew the conservatory wasn't her top choice but that didn't mean she had to make us both miserable. (DID NOT WORK)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3. Tried to make corny jokes about the plant names ("Hey, don't tease this one for not having any flowers yet. It's a <a href="https://www.thespruce.com/mimosa-pudica-plant-profile-5072410" target="_blank">sensitive plant.</a>") (WENT ABOUT AS WELL AS YOU'D EXPECT IT TO)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7taycpqypbE6KV___D9d1FCFDBga2nCK7eGgKxwzDA76TnHzzw-aVM59m8WxSqzdbKJHUzdbZXyZJVPSHjoPBjBBuWXV6BcIgCN3elL5eyBIvj9thW9PFkvK8Hhb7okG6aI9iwkqoeoL289hdflcXMIAuaqvI9jENvLBlMYgf4Wa5RutsPmUr1SW2/s4032/IMG_8501.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7taycpqypbE6KV___D9d1FCFDBga2nCK7eGgKxwzDA76TnHzzw-aVM59m8WxSqzdbKJHUzdbZXyZJVPSHjoPBjBBuWXV6BcIgCN3elL5eyBIvj9thW9PFkvK8Hhb7okG6aI9iwkqoeoL289hdflcXMIAuaqvI9jENvLBlMYgf4Wa5RutsPmUr1SW2/s320/IMG_8501.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">"Do you think he looks like that because the naked baby's constantly blowing the horn in his face?" (EYE ROLL)</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4. Caught her trying to stealthily take pictures of pretty flowers so then I started trying to take my own not-so-stealthy pics. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNd14qGwG9WQqfb3YCnsS0LRXr1A57bp7ymrleLmj4NFly9AJT8hpEtsmzkoQIomoFsRcbiMC3t64cbyNfZIJZbjJkrvh0jGHABgpj50xf7QMRwgZj63sctrzVZcHGI71tMi-DicQ3AGi2pS770zRstN1zLdoVeotgmuICmRSS6aosPEjTrd9coxZf/s3088/IMG_8502.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNd14qGwG9WQqfb3YCnsS0LRXr1A57bp7ymrleLmj4NFly9AJT8hpEtsmzkoQIomoFsRcbiMC3t64cbyNfZIJZbjJkrvh0jGHABgpj50xf7QMRwgZj63sctrzVZcHGI71tMi-DicQ3AGi2pS770zRstN1zLdoVeotgmuICmRSS6aosPEjTrd9coxZf/s320/IMG_8502.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Two can play at that game, Missy.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(ACTUALLY WENT BETTER THAN I EXPECTED IT TO: She allowed one selfie with the two of us, that she took at a weird angle and quickly before anyone could see us being so embarrassing.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. When walking in the tropical fruit and spice room, she declared it smelled like a fart and "No, Mom, seriously, how do you not smell it?" I told her to just go walk ahead of me and sit down somewhere because I was enjoying myself and we didn't need to stick together. "What if I get lost? Or kidnapped?"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I looked my giant baby in the eye (no, really, I can look her right in the eye now without squatting at all) and deadpanned, "Who would want to kidnap you?"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now this was risky . . . but it made her laugh. So even though the room allegedly smelled like farts, she stuck with me until the end.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Sister Serendiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03203971150929819955noreply@blogger.com3