Wednesday Thoughts

What I'd like to do today is share with you some things that are making me happy. I feel like life is stressful right now for me but I'm also optimistic. It's the second half of the year and I've been reassessing and thinking about goals I want to accomplish by the end of the year. One of those goals is more inner peace. One of the best ways that I know to do that is focus on happy things - things that make me laugh, things that uplift, and basically anything that chases away the grumpies.

First of all, over the weekend, I saw this headline shared by the Ann Arbor news on Facebook.

As is my way, before I read the actual article, I read the comments on the link. They ranged from defensive to hilarious. This was my favorite:

Something else making me happy is this picture:

What song is that cat playing? Who is he/she playing it too? Who made this painting? I don't know any of the answers but I know I like it.

This cat feeling the music is also pretty good:

Once again I don't know who made this picture. And by made, I mean took this photograph of a cat floating in space playing a synthesizer.

Another thing making me happy? This.

That's how I would feel if someone put a giant plate of cookies in front of me right now.

What's making you happy today?

Happy Wednesday.

Stuff & Stuff

Welp, I'm back from my week long vacation to beautiful Ludington, Michigan.

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UPDATE: I wrote that first sentence yesterday and stared at it off and on throughout the day. Nothing happened though! Pictures and words didn't magically appear. They just stayed in my head lacking the energy to send the messages to my fingers to type the words into this space.

This is a second attempt.

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UPDATE: I stared at the screen some more, then did some work, then a coworker standing behind me quietly burped and I hated it.

This is my third attempt, and final. I'm doing this.

So. I got back from vacation. Vacation was fun and I got to spend a lot of time with my little nieces and nephew. I introduced them to the joys of Mad Libs, played lots of games with them, hiked with them, and read to them. It was wonderful. My dad and I made a 2 and a half hour hike out to a lighthouse and had a great time! I was a poor sport at a card game I played one night, and a good sport another night. I cooked and made a lot of food. I napped through almost one entire day and did NOT regret it. I showed up at the beach two days and bailed one minute later because it was too cold. Other days I stayed and one day even swam in that icy cold Lake. I attempted to dig a hole in the sand at the beach all the way to China with the littles. We said loudly, "ni hao ma?" into the hole now and then to see if we'd reached all the way across the globe. I think we almost made it.

I could spend the time uploading a whole bunch of photos to this post that you will quickly scroll through because you already saw them on Facebook but I don't have the energy for that (geez, do I have mono or something!?) so I'll just make a little mosaic of some of my favorite moments (many other favorite moments not included in this collage):

Now I'm back to normal life - working for the man and sleeping in a bed not half full of sand like my vacation bed.

Sigh.

Summer Goals

Summer is halfway over and I feel like it's going way too fast! Between added responsibilities at work and taking on other responsibilities in life, I've lost track of making fun moments!

It's like, who am I?

I've decided I need to carpe summer asap. Here's my list of summer goals:

Wear flip flops - what the? I haven't worn flip flops once yet this summer! My feet are demanding freedom from their shoe prisons!

Swim swim swim - I'll be at Lake Michigan soon and I can't wait to dive into that icy cold water and splash away my problems.

Continue watching Big Brother - guys, I don't even care that this is embarrassing. This show is so, so good and it's only on in the summer so it feels very summerish to me. 24 hour surveillance, paranoia, fun personalities, competitions, etc. Oh my gosh, I love this show. If you watch it, let me know - I have so much to say about this season!

Make the dinner from the famous dinner scene in What About Bob - mashed potatoes, corn on the cob ("is this corn hand shucked?"), green salad, ("pile it high and deep - could you get that tomato off there?"), fried chicken "("Leo, do you want the breast?"), biscuits ("great corn, great biscuits, great potatoes"), salt ("I see salt - do you have a salt substitute?")

Make zucchini bread from zucchini I grew in my garden. I was feeling good about the little zucchini I grew until my cousin brought me a zucchini from my aunt and uncle's garden. I'll let you guess which is which. Sigh.

Be outside more. Bike more, walk more, sit outside and watch fireflies in the evening. Doesn't that sound divine?

Experiment with s'mores. Here's what I know makes a good s'more so far (not together, necessarily): Reeses peanut butter cups, nutella, cookie butter from Trader Joe's, strawberry marshmallows, peanut butter. I've tried other candy bars but I forget which... I need to get all this information documented. I can't emphasize enough how important mastering the perfect s'more is for the human race.

Take in the summer smells. I need more summer smells in my life. I am so bored with the smells I've been smelling lately. They're all the same! I need more lake water, sunscreen, bbq's, cut grass, chlorine, and campfires. My nose is craving those smells.

Watch a movie outdoors - I'll be real with you, this almost always sounds better than it is but it's still fun and makes for good memories to live off of in winter.

I'm sure I'll think of more summer goals but for now, this is where I'll start. What about you? What are some things you still want to do this summer?

Adult Problems

Last night I was laying in bed when I started to feel a little hot. So I kicked off some covers and put my foot out to cool off. I immediately felt vulnerable and pulled it back in.

This often happens where I put my foot out to cool off, start picturing a ghost grabbing it (I'm not kidding), and put it back under the covers for safety.

But last night I started thinking, "why would a ghost grab my foot? why not my arm, which is almost always outside the covers? and what's the point in a ghost touching us at all, anyway? just to remind us who's boss?"

That led to more questioning such as, "do I really think a ghost is going to grab my foot?" (kinda) or am I more worried about a human sneaking in and tickling it? (It happened in real life, people!!)

And really, how are my blankets going to protect me from a serial tickler or a ghost? Some ghosts don't follow the blankets-are-off-limits rule we set for the paranormal (The Grudge, for example.) And a serial tickler could simply lift the covers off.

After a bit of thinking, I decided to be tough and put my foot out again. It felt so vulnerable. I pictured some ghostly fingers gently touching it. Then I reminded myself that I didn't believe ghosts would really do that. OR WOULD THEY!? It was back and forth like this for awhile.

But I'm proud to say I kept my foot out for quite some time. I may have even fallen asleep like that. Though I doubt it.

Since apparently the foot is the ultimate extremity for controlling sleepy time temperature, this is a problem I should really try to get over.

Or is that what the ghosts want me to think?

It's hard being a grown up.

twist: the water was a ghost

If this was the last thing I ever posted, this blog would be complete

Fireworks

Years ago, I saw a video like this on America's Funniest Videos (or as my nephew calls it: AFV - I am so behind the times). I laughed about it for about five years. It's still one of the funniest things in the world to me. Silly, silly dogs.

Fireworks are amazing but they scare me when done by anyone near me. Only about a million things could go wrong.

I do love them from a distance though. Next to fireflies and UFOs, they're one of the most magical things to light up the night sky.

We used to have to cross the border into Ohio to buy illegal fireworks because most were illegal in Michigan. But now they're legal so we are free to blow off our fingers and get third degree burns like our neighbors to the south.

There's no way I can write a post about fireworks (the only reason I wrote this post was to share the gif of the dog with the Roman Candle) without sharing this clip from Joe Dirt, one of the funniest slash STUPIDEST movies I own:



If you can watch that clip without laughing, we're not friends anymore.

Wednesday Thoughts

This Friday is the 4th of July! Our Independence Day in the US. When I think of people who love America, Ron Swanson is one of the first people that come to mind. He's a fictional character from one of the best shows on tv, Parks and Rec. He loves America, but he hates the government, which is ironic because he's a government employee. He's a libertarian, a red meat lover (when asked if he wanted salad, he responded, "since I am not a rabbit, no I do not."), a carpenter, and has one of the best mustaches since Magnum PI.

Here are some of my favorite Ron Swanson quotes about America (the opinions expressed here don't necessarily reflect the opinions of this blogger):

"The whole point of this country is if you want to eat garbage, balloon up to 600 pounds and die of a heart attack at 43, you can! You are free to do so. To me, that's beautiful."

"America: The only country that matters. If you want to experience other 'cultures', use an atlas or a ham radio."

"Crying: acceptable at funerals and the Grand Canyon."

"Cursing: there is only bad word. Taxes."

"I like Tom. He doesn't do a lot of work around here. He shows zero initiative. He's not a team player. He's never wanted to go that extra mile. Tom is exactly what I'm looking for in a government employee."

 “The government is a greedy piglet that suckles on a taxpayer’s teat until they have sore, chapped nipples.”

 “Child labor laws are ruining this country.”

“When I walked in this morning I saw that the flag was at half mast, I though, ‘All right, another bureaucrat ate it!’ And then I saw it was Lil’ Sebastian. Half mast is too high. Show some damn respect.” (Li'l Sebastian is a miniature horse.) 

Bonus Li'l Sebastian quote: "I have cried twice in my life. Once when I was seven and I was hit by a school bus. And then again when I heard that Li’l Sebastian had passed."

(His museum speech) “Shut up. And look at me. Welcome to Visions of Nature. This room has several paintings in it. Some are big and some are small. People did them and they are here now. I believe after this is over they will be hung in government buildings. Why the government is involved in an art show is beyond me. I also think it’s pointless for a human to paint scenes of nature when they can go outside and stand in it.”  

 

"This is my favorite part about having a new city manager. They always try to shake things up and their ideas are terrible and it brings city hall to a grinding halt. I just grab a few donuts, sit back, and enjoy the show."

 

 

Happy Wednesday and happy Independence Day!