Random Tuesday and Coffee Chat

Linking up with Stacy today, and this is going to be really random!

Have you ever been sitting on your couch or in your recliner and felt like you forgot to put your seat belt on?  I guess it's the result of riding in the car too long!  When I asked my son this question, he worried a little about my sanity. (teasing me, of course!)

And today, I was talking about a dream I had where we were driving a black truck through high water and flooding.  We came to the place where we had to stop, and we parked the truck.  When we went back for the truck, all the other cars were gone, and our truck was buried under the ground.  They wouldn't let us get the truck out because it would disturb the grave of someone who was buried nearby.  What the heck does that even mean? When I told my husband, he also teased that it sounded like my elevator didn't go to the top floor!  Crazy dream!

Yesterday, my twins turned 21.  It doesn't seem that they should be that old.  I took them for their first "legal" drink.  Haha!  And I got them "grown-up" cakes instead of regular birthday cakes.

It honestly makes me a little sad.  It's sad for them because being an adult is often not fun.  You just have so many responsibilities.  And for me, it's sad realizing that I am getting old.  No, I'm not really old yet, but I haven't fulfilled some of my life's goals and dreams, and I am running out of time.  And some of them are too difficult to do when you're my age.  Heavy sigh.  Oh, well.  It is what it is.

And now, Coffee Chat at Ink Interrupted.
Today Leslie asks, "What are three things on your summer to-do list?"

1.  Sleep.  Glorious sleep!  During the school year, I don't get near enough sleep during the school week.  It's nice to be able to sleep in.  It's nice to feel like there are no pressing obligations (even though there will be some.)  It's nice not to have to wake up to a screeching alarm clock.  And I plan to savor every moment of sleep that I can.

2,  This is the summer of organizing, and I have already started.  My husband never throws anything away.  He doesn't even open half the mail.  So, I am going through every piece of paper in the kitchen, the file cabinet, and the closet.  I'm shredding and tossing as much as I can.  I'm going for a more stream-lined system of organization and decor.  I plan to clean out all the closets and purge everything I can.

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3.  Vacation.  I'm not sure when or where, but I need at least a weekend getaway.  I'd like to go somewhere I've never been before.  My husband has a business trip to Seattle toward the end of summer, and I may tag along for a couple of days, but it's the week right before school starts again, so I don't know.  I'd really like to sit on a white, sandy, beach somewhere under an umbrella with cold pina coladas and a good book.



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Random Thoughts and Coffee Chat

I'm linking up with Stacy for some Random Thoughts.

You know what's weird?  All during the week, I think of things I want to write, but instead of actually writing them down, I think, "I'll remember when it comes time."  But I don't!  I hate that my memory is not what it used to be.  There was a time when I didn't have to write things down, but that time is long past.

As I mentioned last week, the wedding is over, and it went so smoothly.  I may be biased, but I thought it was beautiful!  It gets so stressful when you're planning a big event, and when it's over, you can finally breathe more easily.  Here are a few shots of took.

The couple with the officiant

Dad/Daughter Dance

Some of the girls dancing

My twins

My twins will be 21 in one week.  I can't believe it!  I really wanted to do something special for them, but they'd rather be with their friends.  They're a little old to have a party anymore.  We will be going for lunch on their birthday and for dinner with their grandmother the day after.  I'm having a difficult time deciding what to get them, too.  Ideas?


And now, Coffee Chat with Rory Bore.

This week, our hostess says, " Shameful!!!   Come on, fess up!  We all have a book, movie, or song... maybe even celebrity crush that we are a bit ashamed to say we love!   I'm listening. "

Books - My favorite genre is crime thrillers.  They are sometimes a little graphic or gruesome, but I love them.  And no, they don't scare me.  For example,  Along Came a Spider and First to Die, both by James Patterson, or Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass.  On the flip side, I don't watch scary movies.
  There is a song that always gets me dancing:  Love Train by the O'Jays.  It never fails to make me smile.  I secretly wish I could perform a lip sing routine to this song for someone!


There is one other song that I'm a little ashamed to admit I like.  It's the song Fantastic Man that is playing on the iPhone Portrait Mode commercial.   I have no idea what they're saying, but it's got such a catchy beat!


I honestly can't think of anything else that I am ashamed to admit I love.  I'm pretty comfortable with my nerdiness.

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Coffee Chat

Our lovely hostess at Ink Interrupted asks us...

What is your favourite way to spend the weekend?

(I love spelling favourite like our hostess!)

Everyone in my family will tell you that my favorite weekend activity is SLEEP.  During the school year, I get about 6 hours of sleep a night Sunday through Thursday, oftentimes less.  I'm a night owl, so going to bed early is not easy for me.  I'd rather stay up late and sleep in, which is impossible when you have to be at work at 8:15 AM.  So, I make up for it on the weekends.

The experts tell us that you should try to keep the same sleep schedule every day, but I say, "Why?" as long as I get back on my regular schedule Monday. The experts also say that too much sleep is just as damaging as too little sleep.  Too much is 9 or 10 hours.  If you use the law of averages, I get about 7 1/2 hours per night.  And according to research by the National Sleep Foundation, an exact amount of sleep cannot be pinpointed, just a range of hours, and I think I'm within my range.

Perhaps I should have been a cat.  They sleep 12-16 hours a day!  So, my favorite weekend activity is a little boring, but it's not the only thing I enjoy.  A good weekend also includes reading, eating out, spending time with my husband, maybe church on Sunday, if I'm not sleeping (I know, I know!), and the best weekend includes avoiding the grocery store.  Grocery shopping is my least favorite chore ever.

This past weekend did not include a lot of sleep due to our daughter's wedding.  It was absolutely beautiful!  Here's the proof!

So, even though this past weekend did not include extra sleep, it was so worth it! Subscribe in a reader

Random Thoughts and Coffee Chat

Link up with Stacy to post your random thoughts!

Summer!  Oh, summer is finally here!  It's been a good school year, but after 28 of them, you could say I'm kind of tired.  Kind of.  Haha!

I don't have any specific plans except our daughter's wedding in a week.  Now, she is my step-daughter, but I have known her since she was 9, and she has lived with us since her dad and I got married when she was 12.  So, you see, she's pretty special to me.  I'm very excited for the big day to get here!  I can only imagine how she feels!

How 'bout them Astros?  We haven't followed MLB in a few years because, frankly, our home team wasn't that great.  But this year?  They are off to a fabulous start!  Their record is 42-16, and they've won the last 11 in a row.  It's good to have a winning team in town again.

And isn't this clever?  Or maybe it's just bizarre... Some 20-something guys in Spokane (who don't live with their fathers) have placed a Craigslist ad looking for a generic dad to come over and grill hamburgers and talk about guy stuff on Father's Day.  Creative, or creepy?

And now, time for Coffee Chat.

Our lovely hostess asks
What is the best compliment you've received lately?

Wow.  We, meaning all people, are often not good at accepting compliments.  Maybe there are some people who don't feel worthy of a compliment.  Perhaps they don't trust the source of the compliment.  How a person reacts to a compliment is often a reflection of their self-esteem.  Compliments make people uncomfortable, at least, sometimes.

I don't remember learning how to accept a compliment when I was a child.  Perhaps I didn't get many.  As an adult, I learned that I should just receive and acknowledge the praise by saying, "Thank you."  It's easier said than done, though.  The tendency is to say something like, "Oh, it's not that great," or "It was nothing." Tonight, for example, our daughter told me she thinks the wreaths I made for the wedding are beautiful. I believe I said, "I'm glad you like them."   Do you think that was an appropriate response?

That's all for now!

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Get Random and Have Some Coffee

I'm linking up with Stacy with my Random Tuesday Thoughts.

Metallic nail polish... pretty?  Or not?  I thought it was pretty, but I will never wear it again because it doesn't come off!  I rubbed and rubbed with acetone, about three times the amount I usually use, and I still have remnants of gold on my toes.   Ugh!  Whyyyyyy?

IMDB.com

IMDB.com

IMDB.com

I was watching Shots Fired, and I kept telling myself the Governor seemed familiar.  About the third episode in, I thought, "She looks a lot like Helen Hunt!"  Lo and behold, I checked IMDB, and it IS Helen Hunt.  She's changed a lot!  I don't mean in a bad way.  Her demeanor, for example.  I guess she's grown up and older like the rest of us.  But it doesn't seem like that long ago that I used to watch her in Mad About You (1992-1999). Time flies!

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My husband and I just celebrated our 12th anniversary (2nd marriage for both of us). Instead of doing something romantic, we spend the weekend driving to Abilene with a U-Haul to help my daughter move all of her heavy items out of her house.  She would continue living in the house, but she is only going to be there one more semester, and the house requires a year's lease.  So we went up Sunday (our actual anniversary) and back today.  6 1/2 hours each way.  Typical "parent" holiday!

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Back to work tomorrow.  2 1/2 more school days then a teacher workday on Friday.  I think it's pretty stupid to have a 2 1/2 slash 3 1/2 day week after Memorial Day when most of the other schools here in our area are out.  We've finished exams.  What am I supposed to do with them?  I have this same problem every year.

And now... Coffee Chat

Today she says,
Get something off your chest.   No, don't throw your bra at me: unless it's after 7 pm and you're home for the evening, because Yes! 
I think I just basically did that already!  No, not throw my bra at the computer, but got stuff on my chest.  Here goes more, though!

My son (who will be 21 in 4 weeks) and his childhood friend (who is already 21) are going on a road trip next Friday.  They have a motel reserved for the night, and they are going to the Rangers/Astros baseball game.  I remember being younger when I went on my first road trip, but things have changed.  The world is even more cruel now, and the drinking age was 18 when I was growing up.  I'm a little nervous, but I have to say, I trust them both.  My daughter, his twin, has been all over Europe on her own, so if she can handle that, he can handle two days 4 hours from home, right?

I still don't want to go to work tomorrow!!!

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a little random and coffee chat

Linking up with Stacy.

Life is a series of ups and downs, peaks and valleys, and I think I'm in a valley right now.  Makes me think of that song by Aretha Franklin and George Michael, Knew You Were Waiting for Me... except who's waiting for me?  They sing about the mountain being high and the valley being low...



 But seriously... sometimes when you're in one of the valleys of life, it seems like you will never get out.  You know you will, but that ride back up seems like it will never happen.  Trying to stay positive gets more difficult each day.

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I guess I am much more cynical now than I was as a young woman.  Back then, I daydreamed about romance and chivalry.  Now, I'm more practical. 

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~~Giggle~~

One of the many reasons I feel as if I am in a valley, besides relationships and work, is that I was injured at work last week by a reckless student.  It wasn't intentional, but it hurt.  I've got the neck, shoulder, and back pain to prove it and the bruises on my upper leg.  Colorful bruises.  So I have to go back to the workman's comp doctor today.  My school will cover me for an hour to go to my appointment.  I think they should have given me a day or two off.  But, no.

And speaking of valleys... Some good news is that I've found a delicious new snack! Nature Valley Biscuits with Peanut Butter.  I don't know why they call them biscuits because they more like cookies, Nutter Butter type cookies, just a little less sweet.  They're so good!  They're by the granola bars at the grocery store.

And now, Coffee Chat!

Our lovely hostess asks...

What song reflects your mood right now?

Hmmm.  I have a song above that speaks of mountains and valleys, but it's a little too upbeat for my current mood.

It took me a while to decide which song best suits my mood right now.  I considered Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence.  And I thought about the Youngblood's Get Together.  Two Pink Floyd songs came to mind:  Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb.  I finally settled on this one.

That's all for now!

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Random Nonsense and Coffee Chat

I'm joining Stacy for some randomness.

Now here's a job I wouldn't want!  Snakehunter!  I hate snakes! They give me the heebie jeebies.

Snakehunter gets big paycheck after catching longest snake of the season. 

This happened in South Florida. The snake was 16 feet 10 inches long.  The snakehunter makes $8.10 an hour plus "bonuses."  He received $375.00 for the catch.  Really?  That's not much in my opinion.  Luckily, it's not his day job.  He's an orchid grower.  Talk about contradictory jobs!  There is no amount of payment large enough to entice me to catch a snake, much less to do so for a living!  How about you?

I can't put the picture here because I can't stand snakes, and I can't look at it more than is required to read the story, but if you're curious, click on the above link, and you will see it.  I can't even put a cartoon snake.  That's how much it bothers me!

So... I went to see The Circle.  I love Tom Hanks and Emma Watson.  The movie, however, was a little disappointing, particularly the ending.  It was one of those, "You decide what happens" endings.  I like my ending tied up with a pretty bow.  Haha!  The movie is about technology and the loss of privacy.  Have you seen it?  Are you planning to see it?

How was your Mother's Day?  Mine was pretty good.  I got some pretty cala lillies.  I got to spend time with my son and husband who took me to eat Tex-Mex.  They rarely agree to do that.  I skyped with my daughter for an hour and a half, and it was so much fun.  I even got a bubble bath!  Best of all, I didn't have to go to the grocery store!

And now... Coffee Chat with Rory Bore.

Our lovely hostess asks...
What gets you turning green?

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I'm typically not a very jealous person.  When I was younger, I was very jealous when it came to my romantic partner, but I think a lot of that comes from a lack of self-esteem and a fear of rejection.

Now that I'm older, it just isn't worth it to be jealous to the extent I once was.  I admit there are little twinges every now and then when I think a waitress is flirting with my husband right in front of me.  But it's just a twinge.  It goes away as easily as blowing a match out.

I do get envious about some things that people have.  I work with many people who live in nicer neighborhoods than I do, have pools, decks with hot tubs, more square footage, prettier decor, beautiful clothing, and so on.  I do feel some envy, but I don't feel that envy toward the people, just the fact that they have things I would like to have.  Then I remind myself that I have everything I need and most of what I want.  I thank God for that. Jealousy is really a self-defeating emotion.  I think this quote sums it up:

That's all for now!  Have a good week!

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