A person, whose opinion I value, has suggested that my writing could be improved by organizing my thoughts in a more clear fashion. He is absolutely right, and I am going to start working on that...but not in this particular post.
My birthday was last week. My husband gave me a priceless gift: a brief return to sanity. I spent a glorious twenty six and one half hours all by myself in beautiful Mankato, MN. It wasn't a particularly glamorous or exciting trip, so I won't give you all of the details of how I spent my time. Instead, what follows is a list of things that occurred to me while I was by myself, playing tourist in a town that I should be much more familiar with then I actually am.
*First thrill of the trip: being able to listen to songs that I loved as a teenager without having to make a loud coughing noise or turn down the volume during swear words.
*Old, empty buildings make me sad.
*I'm fairly certain that Univision would be my favorite channel, if only I spoke Spanish. The first time I flipped past it there was a beautiful woman carrying on a serious conversation with a large green robot. The second time, a group of people were REALLY happy about Coca Cola, and the third time there was the most attractive Catholic priest that I have ever seen, doing... well I'm not sure what he was doing, but he was very earnest about it.
*Why do Old Navy's always smell like wet paint?
*You know that you're getting old when you walk into a store and can't tell if an article of clothing is supposed to be a shirt or a dress.
*Tip: When driving in a downtown area, no matter how small, look out for One-Way Street signs. The person who doesn't do this puts themselves in a potentially dangerous and certainly embarrassing situation. Don't ask me how I know this.
*Tip: ALWAYS keep your gut sucked in when wearing a baby-doll style shirt. If you don't, you will be shocked and appalled when you walk past a store window or mirror.
*I have a new found fascination with grocery stores. I went into a couple of them just to see if they had natural food sections. They can be hard to find in rural Minnesota, but are a necessity if you or someone you live with has food issues.
*If I see something pretty or interesting in a store, I have to touch it. I am such a hypocrite! I yell at my kids for that very thing every time we go to the store.
You can probably tell by these riveting thoughts that I had a wild and crazy time! It wasn't all that exciting, but it was just what I needed. I needed a chance to enjoy my own company for a while. And I did, I really, really did!
PS After reading this back, I've decided that I really do need to organize my thoughts more concisely. Kudos to you if you made it through this jumbled mess. It's not pretty, but I'm going to post it anyway. Part of the goal of this blog is to get me to write more. Sometimes it'll be good, other times not, and I'm going to learn to be okay with that.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
It's 10:30 and I can't sleep. This is a real problem (my inner old lady is screaming at me in horror right now). I am not a very good mother when I am sleep deprived, but my mind will not relax. It has decided that right now is the time to write my first blog post (I won't mention the three or four other posts that I've written and deleted in the past six months).
I love reading blogs. There are two reasons for this, the first reason is a very good one, and the second reason...well, I'm debating whether or not to share the second reason for fear of losing friends. I genuinely love to read about other people's lives, their children, their interests. The world in which we live is so self-involved, so all-about-me-ish, and no one is more guilty of self-involvement then I. Reading a blog allows me a little glimpse of someone else's life, their joys and their struggles, and it helps me to get out of myself a little bit. I really need that (and that will be evident if you take moment to count the number of times I use the word 'I' in this post).
Okay, I'm going to tell you the second reason that I like to read blogs. It is terrible, and I apologize in advance for being such a jerk. Understand that I know this isn't good, and I'm not proud of myself, but I'm a very honest person, so I have to put this out there. Reading other people's blogs let's me put on my Judgey Judgerson hat (What can I say? Members of my family receive this hat at birth. If you are reading this and you are related to me, you know it's true!). I can critique writing style or topic, and I can tell myself that I could do a better job...IF I wanted to.
Yeah, that is absolutely disgusting, and trust me, I AM ashamed of myself (also, please don't assume that I am judging your blog, and if you think that I might be, just remember that I am a big fat jerk-face). Here's the thing: I can judge all that I want, but all of those bloggers have something that, up until this point, I have been completely lacking: the courage to put themselves out there. I am terrified of looking stupid, of being vulnerable, and of being judged (Is that irony? No, seriously, I'm asking if it's irony or not because I'm not real clear on the definition). But after a discussion with my husband, in which he basically told me to put my keyboard where my mouth is, I decided that I need to just do this. Cue the racing brain which won't let me rest.
So, here is the first blog post. Go ahead, judge away! I totally deserve it. I will probably stick with topics I know: kids, cooking and being a crummy house keeper. From time to time I might veer into something that mainstream society finds interesting, but I make no promises in that regard.
I am hoping that I will be able to sleep now...unless I lay awake all night worrying about what people will think of me after this...
I love reading blogs. There are two reasons for this, the first reason is a very good one, and the second reason...well, I'm debating whether or not to share the second reason for fear of losing friends. I genuinely love to read about other people's lives, their children, their interests. The world in which we live is so self-involved, so all-about-me-ish, and no one is more guilty of self-involvement then I. Reading a blog allows me a little glimpse of someone else's life, their joys and their struggles, and it helps me to get out of myself a little bit. I really need that (and that will be evident if you take moment to count the number of times I use the word 'I' in this post).
Okay, I'm going to tell you the second reason that I like to read blogs. It is terrible, and I apologize in advance for being such a jerk. Understand that I know this isn't good, and I'm not proud of myself, but I'm a very honest person, so I have to put this out there. Reading other people's blogs let's me put on my Judgey Judgerson hat (What can I say? Members of my family receive this hat at birth. If you are reading this and you are related to me, you know it's true!). I can critique writing style or topic, and I can tell myself that I could do a better job...IF I wanted to.
Yeah, that is absolutely disgusting, and trust me, I AM ashamed of myself (also, please don't assume that I am judging your blog, and if you think that I might be, just remember that I am a big fat jerk-face). Here's the thing: I can judge all that I want, but all of those bloggers have something that, up until this point, I have been completely lacking: the courage to put themselves out there. I am terrified of looking stupid, of being vulnerable, and of being judged (Is that irony? No, seriously, I'm asking if it's irony or not because I'm not real clear on the definition). But after a discussion with my husband, in which he basically told me to put my keyboard where my mouth is, I decided that I need to just do this. Cue the racing brain which won't let me rest.
So, here is the first blog post. Go ahead, judge away! I totally deserve it. I will probably stick with topics I know: kids, cooking and being a crummy house keeper. From time to time I might veer into something that mainstream society finds interesting, but I make no promises in that regard.
I am hoping that I will be able to sleep now...unless I lay awake all night worrying about what people will think of me after this...
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