1) After years of being the only municipality in the county that didn't allow it, our city council finally caved and allowed ATVs to be on our city streets. This is crushing for me. These vehicles are loud, numerous, and almost always driven aggressively. Now that the weather has turned, my afternoon walks with Hannah are occasionally very loud affairs and poor Hannah, never a fan of small engine noises, tucks her tail and runs for home.
I feel very "get off my lawn" about this, in the same way that I do about fireworks.
2) I have done some soul-searching recently, based on a comment Jenny wrote on this post. I have joked in this blog space and in the comments sections of a lot of your blogs, that I am a lazy person. My true desire at any given time is to be on the couch with my cat reading a book. But the truth is that I am NOT the kind of person who actually IS on the couch with my cat reading a book most of the time. I am a busy person and I'm busy because I've set myself priorities that don't lend well to hanging out with Zelda the Cat and reading a trashy romance novel most days of the week. Just to give you a quick idea of how a generic weekday in my life might look:
6-6:30am - Walk the dog
6:30am - 8am - Feed pets, feed me, get ready for work, including getting lunch ready, drive to work
8am - 4:30pm - Paid work
4:45-5:30pm - Walk the dog
5:30-6pm - Exercise
6-7:30pm - Make and eat dinner
7:30-8pm - Update blog stuff
8 - 8:30pm - Walk the dog
8:30-9:30pm - Get ready for bed/clean up the mess that is the house
9:30-10 - Read in bed
3) I just got a reminder that I need my yearly mammogram. Does it seem crazy to anyone else that I need to do a yearly mammogram? The screening guidelines are so inconsistent. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (UWPSTF) doesn't recommend yearly mammograms until women are 50 (unless they have increased risks) and for women older that 50, they recommend every two years. The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends women 45 to 54 get a mammogram every year and every other year for women 55 and older. Such variation! I have been getting mammograms every year since I was 40 based on the recommendation of my doctors, but my risk factors aren't crazy. Anyway. Just a complaint. I scheduled it for next week.
4) Just what is Duolingo trying to tell me with this?
The candidate does not accept his/her defeat.
But democracy doesn't work like that.
5) Some of you may already know this, but I'm planning a fun celebration for my blog's 20th anniversary in September. Some of you may also know that my dear husband does not read or participate in anything having to do with my blog. But as part of the anniversary schedule, I was hoping to do a 20 Questions with him. (Note that this is aspirational. I have thought about this for a long time, but have yet to ASK MY HUSBAND if he will agree to this. If he says no, well, maybe I'll answer the questions the way I would answer them. That would also be a fun exercise.)
If you have any questions you've been burning to ask him (what do you think of your wife's obsession with Garth Brooks anyway?), please fill out this form and let me know what you're interested in learning from him!
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Do you have any fun plans for the weekend?
Not to add to your angst--but ATVs always seem so poorly driven and always on the cusp of uncontrollable. I'd be very nervous taking walks with them on the streets. It's those rentable scooters for us... people whizz by without warning and I worry about how awful it would be to get hit by one going at full speed.
ReplyDeleteThose rentable scooters are all over campus and the town where campus is. They're always just thrown on the sidewalk and road and the storage of them is actually more of an issue for me than people behaving badly while riding them. *sigh*
DeleteI think I feel a little relief that your husband also doesn't read your blog. Mine doesn't read mine, save maybe the occasional travel recap that I'll show him on my phone or something. He is just not the kind of guy who would be into reading blogs, even his wife's, apparently! Haha. I actually don't think I would even like it necessarily if he read my blog all the time- not because of anything to hide, obviously, but it's just sort of a separate space for me with a separate audience I guess. I feel a little bit like it would be if he were hanging around eavesdropping during a gathering with my girlfriends or something. I don't know. Not that my blog is written specifically with any one audience in mind, anyway. It's mostly just...whatever happens to come out of my head and onto the paper. Er, screen. But then occasionally I have thought- should I feel bad that he doesn't seem to care to read my blog??? lol. (I mean, I don't actually feel bad- I don't think he loves me any less bc he doesn't read my blog. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, I had my blog BEFORE I even started dating him and he thinks of it as my space. I guess I don't care that he doesn't read it, although I sometimes update him about what's going off in the comments. I don't think you should feel bad that he doesn't read it!
DeleteATVs on city streets seems so strange to me. Where I live, there is the occasional tractor because I'm on a vineyard next to orchards, and so there are warning signs about agricultural equipment that might be on certain roads that are adjacent to vineyards/ orchards. But ATVs? That is honestly weird.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you're not calling yourself lazy anymore. I have heard you do it often, and it's just not true. Having the desire to curl up and read is also not lazy - even curling up and reading is not lazy! You do so much in your daily life, and yes, I know you know this, but I am just reiterating.
My husband occasionally reads my blog, but I don't think he'd agree to a 20 question. Or maybe he would, who knows!
I have "dense and lumpy breasts" so I have had annual mammograms since I was 38. But I haven't had one done this year yet so I need to get on that.
We get tractors, horse and buggies, and now these ATV things. It's WILD on the streets of Nowhere, WI.
DeleteI get the "dense" breasts report every year. And yet I still troop over there to get it done.
I have mixed feelings about ATVs; where I grew up we have a lot of forest service (dirt) roads and they are allowed to go on many of them, but not on the city streets! However, even in the wild, they are still loud and when I am hiking or biking, I would prefer that they have their trail and I have mine. When I was hiking the Colorado trail, there were a lot of mixed use paths and man let me tell you those dirt bikes are not only loud, but also they don't get out of your way; they expect you to get out of theirs! The ATV and side-by-side drivers seemed nicer than the dirt bike drivers though!
ReplyDeleteI think you should do your questions like the Newlywed Game - you answer them and then see what his answers are and then see if they match! Then you could also just do ten questions, since you will have ten and he will have ten so that's twenty!
I cannot believe how loud the ATVs are. I dread the summer, to be honest. Apparently there's been research that our town was losing a lot of tourism dollars because of the ban on ATVs and people would go to other, nearby towns that DID allow ATVs on the road. I guess we'll see how it works out for everyone. Right now I a strongly dislike the policy.
DeleteI'm glad you've realized you're not lazy. But I have a question! How do you read so many books? Adding up your reading time, it's only an hour a day. Are you listening to audiobooks while you're walking Hannah?
ReplyDeleteMy husband doesn't read my blog that often. Every once in a while he will. i'm fine with that! I actually know a blogger who told me her husband doesn't even know she has a blog. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE???
Oh, I read every second I'm not actively doing something else. Sometimes it's audiobooks, but I mostly listen to podcasts on Hannah walks. I read when I eat breakfast, I read if I have five minutes to go before my fitness class starts, I read if I'm in the car and my husband is driving, I read at lunch, I read compulsively. I *always* have a book with me.
DeleteHow would your spouse not know about a blog?!?! I need to know this!!
I LOVE Kyria's idea. That is genius!!!!
ReplyDeleteATVs...on city streets? I have never heard of such a thing.
Duolingo is smart.
You are not lazy, Engie. You are the opposite of lazy. It's "the woman across the room" syndrome, I think. I look at you and think: Wow, she walks so much and exercises every day and reads so many books. And I look at myself and think: "I don't do half of that."
Here's the quote: "You know, there's a thing about the woman across the room. You see the woman across the room, you think, She's so poised; she's so together. But she looks at you and you are the woman across the room for her." - Diane von Furstenberg
I think I'm prone to laziness and maybe even aspire to one day have a lazy lifestyle, but I am not actually engaged in laziness. LOL.
DeleteAnd, hey, I'm not trying to parent two children and do multiple jobs over here. I'm just walking a dog and working a single job. Maybe you're right that we all think everybody else is more together than we are!
I'm really REALLY sorry about the ATV thing. That's awful and truly absurd and unsafe. It's bad enough around here with the influx of motorcycle enthusiasts (read Hillbilly Jerks) that make fresh air season sometimes unpleasant. I cannot begin to fathom ATVs running amok. The fireworks/crackers alone (starting in June and proceeding through the first week of August AND DURING THE ECLIPSE) drive every decent person and my granddog crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think Elisabeth is a genius with her Diane von Furstenberg quote. THANK YOU, ELISABETH!
All of us would do well to remember that (and I will, because I am writing it on a sticky note and putting it on my screen immediately and in my life permanently).
Do you have any folks in your neighborhood who roll coal? They modify their diesel engine so that they are super loud and they spew grey smoke like crazy. We have them in our neighborhood and there's one guy in particular who always rolls coal when he sees me walking Hannah. It's so gross. It seems like something you might also be dealing with.
DeleteNo coal rollers here (YET), thank goodness. I've seen that and been behind them on the road. Some assholes like to do that to me because I drive a Prius. Small minds...
DeleteI will hope that no one in your neighborhood discovers the "joys" of rolling coal because it's terrible. At least you don't have that happening!
DeleteI DON'T THINK THOSE THINGS (caps) are allowed on our street. Snowmobiles aren't. I think they're allowed on the trail that goes through town as they would certainly be used on the parts outside of town. They would also not be used on the little trails that are completely within the town, like the one near our house.
ReplyDeleteSnowmobiles aren't allowed on our streets, either, because they're too low-profile. I cannot imagine the result of a car-snowmobile accident, but I guarantee you that the snowmobile would not come out ahead!
DeleteMedical guidelines are very frustrating. I get that the science evolves and along with it, so do guidelines... but the consistency seems lacking and the communication around them is abysmal. I have been getting mammograms since I was 35, because my mom had breast cancer. But I find the guidelines around pap smears and gynecological exams to be very confusing and poorly explained. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteLove Kyria's Newlywed Game style Q&A! That would be so fun.
My husband knows about my blog, and occasionally we've discussed whether I should or should not post about something or other (although usually, I use my own discretion), but I don't think he's ever read a single post. Which is FINE with me!
Yes, I do understand that the medical guidelines are evolving. It's just that all these organizations have access to the same studies and come to wildly different standards and then my doctor has an entirely different standard than that!
DeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one whose husband hasn't read their blog!
A year or two ago, it became legal here to drive what look like golf carts on the streets--they tell me they're not actually golf carts, they are street-legal with license plates etc., but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck... Some of them are SO loud, like from the 6th floor they're too loud, and they're so SLOW! We don't have many streets in my town that have even a 35MPH limit, and if you get behind one of those doing 24, it makes me crazy.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite quote regarding the "lazy" thing is, and I'm paraphrasing, "try not to compare your insides with another person's outsides."
They're SO LOUD. I just want a peaceful walk where the loudest thing I hear is geese, but between the pickup trucks rolling coal, the ATVs, the leafblowers, and the church bells, I frequently have to have my noise cancelling earbuds in when I am walking the dog!
DeleteMy five thoughts are
ReplyDelete- yes I would be a tad concerned if ATVs were allowed on our streets
- someday you need to take a lazy day just to see what it's like
- I'm really bad about not keeping up with my annual exams. I finally got caught up last year after using COVID as an excuse to stay away from the doc for a few years. But I still don't want to do these things annually, or in the case of the dentist, every six months. My childish retaliation is pushing the time between appointments just a little bit. Like instead of going to the dentist every 6 months I'll push my appointments to 7 months. I'm allowing myself 1.25 years between mammograms.
- DuoLingo knows you
- Hubs and I don't really talk about my blog, but I see him reading it from time to time. The closest thing that we've done to a collaboration is that I asked him and the boys to proofread the tribute post to Stepdog to make sure that I'd gotten all of our family stories about her. Anyway, whether Dr. BB wants to or not, I say that he is obligated under the Unwritten But Binding Blogger Spouse Laws to write a guest post.
Dr. BB has agreed to the plan! He thinks it's ridiculous, but I also think he thinks it's good I have something to concentrate on right now. LOL.
DeleteCould I take a lazy day? What would that even look like? I'd have to be away from my house, right? Because it I were at home, I'd do the chores and walk the dog and probably work out!
I hate all the yearly medical exams, but I know it's so much better to catch any problems sooner rather than later. Still - it's unpleasant and stressful to have all these tests performed on us. I will try to think of some questions for your 20th bloggiversary celebration!
ReplyDeleteIt is better that we have all these preventative tests and I will do what my doctor recommends - it's just sometimes I feel like I'm taking up valuable medical practitioners' times with my healthy self.
DeleteI am frustrated about the ever-changing medical guidelines too... it seems like they change every time I go to a doctor. I got a reminder for a mammogram too but then my PCP said I could wait another year. Hmpf.
ReplyDeleteI am excited about your blogaversary celebration and love the idea of an interview with Mr. BB :) I hope he agrees to it. My husband knows about my blog, didn't like it for a while that I write on the internet, now thinks it's cool because of all the awesome connections I've made (and our wall full of Christmas cards from around the country ;)) but he does not read my blog either.
Who wouldn't love the wall full of celebratory cards that come from being the Best Organizer in Bloglandia? You are an inspiration for all of us!
DeleteAre we all on the same yearly medical visitation schedule? I JUST received notification that it's time to schedule mine.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we are? Every woman in America needs to get a mammogram in April!
DeleteI'm blown away that any city would allow ATV's on them; that seems so unsafe and irresponsible.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have the time to be lazy, so that might be why in your brain you say you are....it's wishful thinking.
Yes, there's not enough time in the day for me to do the things I have to do AND be lazy. LOL. #lifegoals
DeleteYou are quite probably one of the least lazy people I know.
ReplyDeleteI find the ATV thing so weird. I have only ever ridden an ATV in backwoods cottage country, and the fact that they would be allowed on residential streets? What the actual heck. There is someone who revs a motorcycle obnoxiously here in the spring and summer and it is enraging, and that's just one person.
I'm overdue for a breast ultrasound and have to book another mammogram for August, but I did have a spot that had to be investigated. Cheers?
The ATV thing is quite common in a lot of small towns in the Midwest. That doesn't mean I have to like it. There are some annoying motorcycles, trucks that roll coal, and now these ATVs in our neighborhood. It's sometimes super quiet, but sometimes it's not at all quiet!
DeleteOh, no! Don't be overdue. Go book that appointment now!
Ben reads my blog-- but I never know until he's all pissy about something I said.
ReplyDeleteLOLOLOL. I would love specific examples of what's made him pissy. I sort of wonder why my husband would think if he read my blog. He'd probably think I whine too much!
DeleteUGH. ATVs. I hate them. I am sorry to hear they are allowed on your city's streets!
ReplyDeleteAnd you definitely are not lazy and should not think of yourself as lazy! That is a fictional comment/concept to call yourself lazy so I am glad you had a come to Jesus moment about the inaccuracy of the statement.
My husband does not read my blog either. he jokes that if he had a blog URL it would be mindyourowndamnbusiness.com. he is an intensely private person so he doesn't love that I blog. I think he has checked it a few times just to see what I write about and has said - are people really interested in the fact that you went to a 5 year old's birthday party on a cold, snowy day and had to leave because Will lost his mind when his hands got cold eating a donut at said party? He's not really into the mundate details of life, I guess.
I get a mammogram yearly but I do have breast cancer in my family so it feels like an easy thing to do. I do not find them overly painful, but I have had what a lactation consultant referred to as "nipple trauma" when I had a bad latch when Taco first started breastfeeding. And he also bit my nipple a few times when he was teething... so I think my benchmark for painful is quite different than other women who talk about how excruciating mammograms are. I also don't have much for them to squeeze since my chest is like a deflated pancake after having children.
Yes, I am so glad for the personal realization that I am a person who does things. It's really changed my mind about a lot of things.
DeleteYour husband would be shocked to learn that the most fascinating posts really are about the mundanity of life. I LOVE hearing about when you had drag Will out of a party. I LOVE that post that Sarah did today about where she stores all her groceries. I LOVE a DITL post. Your husband is obviously not in on the most interesting part of all of it.
Oh, mammograms are uncomfortable, but it only lasts for thirty seconds or so. I understand why some women think they are the Worst Ever, but my average dental appointment is like a million times more painful, so I just go. I guess I'm just confused about the efficacy of mammograms because it seems like my results are always "dense tissue" - do your self exams. *shrug* I'm doing it tomorrow morning!
Well, I don't have a partner but I did share my blog address with my previous two partners so I always wonder if they still read it or not. Haha. My mom now gets my blog posts emailed to her so every now and then, she'll comment on something I wrote in a random way. HA. I think you said in a comment that Dr. BB has agreed to the 20 questions? I hope so!!
ReplyDeleteI have no idea when I'll even need to start getting mammograms! I just assume my gyno will tell me when it's time. Breast cancer doesn't run in my family so I'm not at increased risk so there's that. Preferably, I'd like to get my first one at 40 so I can just have that baseline. But we'll see what happens. SO FUN.
My mom got hers yesterday (4/29), and I got the reminder to schedule mine (in June). What, is spring hot season for mammos?
ReplyDeleteAlso, dude. You are NOT LAZY. Good grief. How on earth could you think THAT? I think we'd all want to curl up with Zelda and a (good) book if we had our druthers, but that's a dream, most days. That doesn't mean you're *lazy*. I'm glad you've finally realized this. The rest of us knew all along. ;)
I think my inner monologue has always been that I'm lazy and I'm not sure where that attitude comes from. I should probably unpack some of that!
DeleteI guess mammograms are the hot thing to do right now. Let's all be cool and do them!
That doesn't look like a lazy schedule. Good thing you realized that too. It is always amazing to me that the days fill up so quickly with things we do even though it feels like we are lazy and just not getting things done.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think it's because I have prioritized things like walking the dog and doing exercise and that means other things (housework, sewing, etc.) don't get done, so sometimes it feels like I haven't done anything. Days do just go by!
Delete