Monday, July 06, 2026

The Unseen World by Liz Moore

I read The Unseen World by Liz Moore because the guest on Sarah's Bookshelves really recommended it. I cannot resist it when people are enthusiastic about their favorite books. I have read The God of the Woods by this same author in the past and really enjoyed it, so I thought reading an older book by the same author would be a fun thing to do.

Ada is raised by her father, a computer scientist named David who is working on a very early AI named ELIXIR in 1980s Boston. David's past comes into question just as his health and memory begin to falter. Ada is taken in by one of David's colleagues and together they begin to unravel the mystery of her father's life. 

In The God of the Woods, I thought it took a bit (70-80 pages) to get into the thing. In this book, the first fifty pages were a real snoozefest. I found myself starting to think that the person who recommended this book was insane. And then I was crying on page 111 and full out sobbing by page 140. 

In same ways I have been lucky. My parents died at relatively young ages (56 and 67) and I never had to watch them go through a mental decline. My mom did suffer some brief hallucinations towards the end, but she knew they were hallucinations and honestly had so much fun with them that I couldn't help but wonder if my mom would have enjoyed psychedelic drugs when she was younger.

(This is a funny story, I think. But maybe it's only funny to me? I don't know. I'll tell and you can let me know. My mom lived on a tiny house on my sister's property and right next to her tiny house was another tiny house that my brother-in-law's mother lived in. My mom and my BIL's mom - let's call her C - got along well enough, but C found my sister challenging and didn't leave her cabin very often. My mom frequently hallucinated a man who would come and gossip about C. He called her names and was often unkind. My mom sort of knew this man wasn't real, but she would repeat the gossip as if it were from a trusted source. When I'd call my mom, this is what she would talk to me about. You know what? This story isn't funny. I'm leaving it.)

So I was caught by surprise at how emotional this book made me about aging parents. Maybe because I never really got to see it? (Add this to When the Cranes Fly South as books about aging that have made me sob.)

Anyway, outside of the slow start and the epilogue, this was such a lovely book. (Much like in Harry Potter, you should skip the epilogue entirely and let the book stand on its own without that tacked on garbage.) (How many parenthesis can I put in one post? Can I set a record?)

4.5/5 stars

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Things I looked up (I might be on some list at Homeland Security after this):

There had been suicides already since the HUAC was formed. (Among themselves, they never called it the House Un-American Activities Committee, they called it the Inquisition.) Five, ten, fifteen suicides within the State department alone. (page 380) - I'm just going to leave this link here

Thomas Patrick Cavanagh (page 393) - an aerospace engineer who was sentenced in 1985 after being convicted of trying to sell stealth bomber secrets to the Soviet Union. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Robert Cordrey (page 393) -  a Marine private who was convicted of attempting to sell classified information about nuclear, chemical and biological warfare to the Soviet bloc and sentenced to 12 years by a military court.

Ernst Forbrich (page 393) - an East German spy who was arrested in Clearwater Beach, Florida in 1984 after he paid an undercover agent posing as an Army intelligence officer for a classified document. He later admitted selling documents to East German intelligence over a 17-year period. Forbrich was convicted of espionage and sentenced to prison.

Bruce Kearn (page 393) -  a Navy operations specialist assigned as command Secret control officer on board the USS Tuscaloosa, was arrested in March 1984 and convicted at a general court-martial for dereliction of duty, and willfully delivering, transmitting or communicating classified documents to unauthorized persons. While absent without leave, Kearn left behind a briefcase which was found to contain 147 classified microfiche (copies of nearly 15,000 pages of Secret documents), seven Confidential crypto publications, and child pornographic photographs and literature. He was sentenced to 18 months based on a plea bargain.

Karl Koecher (page 393) - usually referred simply as Karel Köcher, sometimes written as Karl Koecher (born 21 September 1934) is a Czechoslovak mole known to have penetrated the CIA during the Cold War. The Guardian wrote up a long article about his batshit life. 

Alice Michelson (page 393)- Michelson was arrested in 1984 for trying to deliver material she obtained at Baltimore-Washington International Airport from an American double agent to the Soviet KGB. She was later involved in a spy swap

Richard Miller (page 393) - an American FBI agent who was the first FBI agent indicted for and convicted of espionage. In 1991, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison but was freed after serving less than three years.

Samuel Loring Morison (page 393) - a civilian analyst with the Office of Naval Intelligence, was arrested in October 1984 for supplying Jane's Publications with classified photography showing a Soviet nuclear powered carrier under construction. The photographs were subsequently published in Jane's Defence Weekly. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Charles Slatten (page 393) - an Army PFC who was arrested in 1984 for stealing military devices to sell to the USSR. He was sentenced to nine years in prison and given a dishonorable discharge. This was not the end of his criminal career, though, and he later set off a pipe bomb and was convicted of making, possessing, and conspiring to use a “weapon of mass destruction.” He was sentenced to another 24 years in prison in 1996.

Richard Smith (page 393) - Smith was a former army counterintelligence agent who was arrested in April 1984 for passing classified information to a KGB officer in Japan on several occasions. He claimed he was working for the US government as a double agent. He was found not guilty on charges of conspiracy and espionage.

Jay Wolff (page 393) -  former Navy enlisted man, was arrested in 1984 in Gallup, New Mexico, for offering to sell classified documents dealing with US weapons systems aboard a US Navy vessel. Wolff, who was discharged from the Navy in 1983, met with an undercover agent and offered to sell classified material for $5,000 to $6,000. According to the FBI, a tip led to the meeting with Wolff at a convenience store where he was apprehended. Wolff pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to sell classified documents and was sentenced to five years in prison.

fontanelle (page 408) - (colloquially known as a "soft spot") is a normal anatomical feature on an infant's skull where the bony plates have not yet completely fused

Hat mentions (why hats?):
Santa hat (page 62)
knit black hat (page 269)
hat and parka (page 271)
took her hat off (page 273, 321)
red winter hat (page 312)
overcoat and hat (page 321)
knitted Red Sox hat (page 356)
wearing his hat indoors (page 372)
hat rakishly askew (page 398)
pilgrim's hat or a Santa hat (page 406)

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Have you read other books by Liz Moore? Should I be reading more of her books?

Friday, July 03, 2026

What I Spent: June 2026

As a reminder, my husband pays the "big bills" like mortgage, phone, car, and electricity. I pay for groceries and the pets and that somehow evens things out. Only, to be honest, this doesn't actually work out evenly. We had a discussion recently about how I make a lot less than he does and he has agreed that he's going to take over the Costco runs. We'll see if this works out.


Groceries ($893.73, 42.8%) - Look, we keep eating. 

Pets ($374.17, 17.9%) - Once again I am asking who thought it was a good idea to get a dog? (Me, it was me. I'm my own problem.) Litter, food for the dog AND cat, flea and tick prevention for the dog, litter for the cat. The list never ends.

Savings ($300, 14.4%) - Boo.

Bills ($168.37, 8.1%) - Insurance. It went up by eight dollars AND DON'T THINK I DIDN'T NOTICE, insurance company.

Cars ($142, 6.8%) - I gassed up once and paid for registration for the new car.

Clothing ($131.71, 6.3%) - I bought some stuff for work. 

Personal care ($27.20, 1.3%) - Some face lotion. 

Eating out ($24.17, 1.2%) - Okay, this is where I splurged this month (outside of HAVING PETS). I got coffee A LOT. June was rough at work and some mornings I just need a pick me up. 

Entertainment ($13.70, <1%) - Spotify subscription. 

Gifts ($12.63, <1%) - A couple of greeting cards.

Why am I broke all the time? Well, I think we just need to look at those first two categories. *sigh*

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What's something fun you spent money on last month?

Thursday, July 02, 2026

June 2026 Accountability Buddy

June is my absolute craziest month at work. Because of this, I made a goal to try to do some sort of strength training for ten minutes a day, so I would at least prioritize this one thing. I also tried to really hit that 80% mark for 30 minutes or more, but sometimes that 30 minutes was ten minutes here and ten minutes there. I am not going to win for endurance this month, but I did what I could. 

Monday, June 1
10-minute upper body dumbbell workout

Tuesday, June 2
30-minute full body dumbbell workout - I stuck with ten pound weights with this. It was challenging, but felt good. There's not a lot of rest, so my heart rate really went up. 

Wednesday, June 3
45-minute yoga class at the community center after work
10-minute legs with dumbbells - I really worked up a sweat with this!

Thursday, June 4
20-minute total body dumbbell workout
12-minute dumbbell deadbug workout with Caroline Girvan - Every single time I do a core workout on the  mat, it hurts my quads way more than my core. I'm pretty sure that indicates a weakness in my back and/or form, but if you're ever curious why I do standing ab workouts, it's because this one doesn't really work for me.

Friday, June 5
10-minute standing arm workout - This is an interesting video with some moves I don't normally see. I used 7.5 pounds and it was HARD.
10-minute yoga for lower back

Saturday, June 6
10-minute standing abs with dumbbells
35-minute deep fascia release yoga

Sunday, June 7
30-minute Pilates dumbbell workout
10-minute gentle yoga

Monday, June 8
10-minute standing "abs" workout - Look, all respect to Caroline Girvan, but this was a hip flexor/balance workout. Thumbs down for false advertising. 
30-minute yoga to reduce stress

Tuesday, June 9
20-minute chair yoga at work during lunch
30-minute fully body dumbbell circuit - Three circuits. Usually I don't like circuits, but this one went by fast. I did five pounds on lats, but otherwise was at 10 or 12.5, which was pretty heavy for me. 

Wednesday, June 10
45-minute yoga class at the community center after work


Thursday, June 11
15-minute full body workout
10-minute standing abs - I used ten pounds here. 
15-minute upper body dumbbell workout
10-minute yoga full body stretch for stiff bodies

Friday, June 12
15-minute legs workout (bodyweight, but my legs are on fire!)
30-minute yoga for low back and hamstrings

Saturday, June 13
30-minute full body AMRAP workout - I am so sweaty.
20-minute morning yoga flow

Sunday, June 14
15-minute leg/glute/thigh workout - Bodyweight, but I got warm!
30-minute yoga for flexibility - Maybe not the best option for right after legs! Lots of one-legged balancing here. 

Monday, June 15
15-minute stretch class at lunchtime*
15-minute standing abs
15-minute full body dumbbell workout 

Tuesday, June 16
10-minute leg workout - I used fifteen pound dumbbells. My legs are really shaking!
15-minute gentle yoga for flexibility and relaxation

Wednesday, June 17
15-minute stretch class at lunchtime
45-minute yoga class at the community center after work
10-minute standing abs

Thursday, June 18
30-minute no repeat strength training - I really liked this format.
10-minute post-workout stretch

Friday, June 19
15-minute stretch class at lunchtime
15-minute chair yoga at work - A rare day in June when my calendar was not back to back to back, so I took some time for myself. 

Saturday, June 20
33-minute walking workout
10-minute standing abs

Sunday, June 21
30-minute full body dumbbell workout - I did standing abs for the last two ab exercises. 7.5-15 pounds.
25-minute yin yoga

Monday, June 22
10-minute quads and calves - I am sweaty and out of breath. Good video. 
30-minute deep stretch yoga

Tuesday, June 23
10-minute standing abs
10-minute yoga after work

Wednesday, June 24
15-minute stretch class at lunchtime
45-minute yoga class at the community center after work

Thursday, June 25
20-minute no repeat full body dumbbell supersets
15-minute post workout stretch - Look, the music is terrible. Pretty distracting for me. 

Friday, June 26
15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

Saturday, June 27
We did a couple of hours of yardwork. The less we say about this, the better.

Sunday, June 28
30-minute total body with dumbbells
30-minute somatic stretch - Look, I laughed at loud at the thought of doing the "thigh stretch" and "plough" and things got silly with "ear massage," but I was a good little soldier with this and do feel a lot better about *waves hands around* the world and my body after doing this.

Every attendee at the outdoor class. 

Monday, June 29
15-minute stretch class at lunchtime
45-minute boot camp class after work at a local park - Ha ha ha. It was like 90 degrees. There was a breeze, though, which made this doable. I feel like I should get bonus points for this, though. 

Tuesday, June 30
15-minute standing abs with dumbbells
15-minute cardio - You want to make cardio boring and tedious? Do this video. 

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*Our local healthcare organization does free stretch classes virtually three times a week. Sign up here! It's free. It's fun. We regularly talk about candy and what's for lunch. It's a delightful break in the middle of the day. You do not have to have your camera on. She has the classes out there for the rest of the year, so you'd only have to register ONCE. 

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Total: 26/30 (86.7%) days doing thirty minutes or more
Cardio/strength: 14 days
Yoga: 12 days 
Short stretch classes at lunchtime: 6 days

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I managed ten minutes of strength-based activity on 26/30 days, too, so that's not too bad. I will not be repeating that, though, because I hesitate to tell you how often I was doing that right before bed, which isn't exactly the most relaxing thing in the world.

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Wednesday, July 01, 2026

What I Read: June 2026

6/1: The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean (library ebook, 1998) - What a snoozefest. 2/5 stars

6/2: Dog Show: Poems by Billy Collins (library, 2026) - Perfection. No notes. 5/5 stars

6/7: The Wonder State by Sara Flannery Murphy (library, 2023) - I sped through this book in a day. Lovely. 4/5 stars

6/10: Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence - and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process by Irene M. Pepperberg (library, 2008) - Super interesting look at the life of an animal biologist. I think this would be an interesting book for some of our STEM students to read because there's a lot about trying to get funding for work with animals. 4/5 stars

6/13: Into the Blue by Emma Brodie (library, 2026) - Sometimes you just need a romance novel. 3.5/5 stars

6/14: Sweep of the Heart (Innkeeper Chronicles #5) by Ilona Andrews (library ebook, 2022) - This series is so good. There were a lot of characters to keep track of in this book, but the author kept us paying attention to the main plot. I really am enjoying this series. 4/5 stars

6/19: How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin (library, 2024) - The middle third of this book was such a bore. And the main character was an idiot. And I do not think I understood the ending. The premise was actually pretty good, but the execution was not. 2.5/5 stars

6/20: Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City by Robin Nagle (university library, 2013) - I love shit like this. The more niche an anthologist embeds themself, the more I love it. 5/5 stars

6/24: In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (library ebook, 2015) - Look, thrillers are not for me. I was annoyed that so many pagers were the main character just going through possible scenarios. I KNOW THE SCENARIOS. I want action to happen. Also, I sort of knew what was going on from the beginning - like the bad person was clear? Ugh. Not my jam. I know this about myself, but I still can't help but want to read thrillers like the other cool kids. 2.5/5 stars

6/27: Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove (library, 2025) - In 2026, I am not a fan of anthropomorphizing AI. This book was batshit insane (werewolves, aliens, vampires, mummies!), but I just felt sort of dirty reading it. 3/5 stars

Total: 10 books (although Dog Show is a very short poetry collection, so do with that what you will)
Average star rating: 3.45/5 stars

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Did not finish:

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese - I listened to 2.5 hours of this book before giving it up as a bad job. It's 31 hours long, so I was at about 8% when I gave up. Maybe I need to read it with my eyes.

The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl - This was far too cozy for me. Maybe a winter read? DNF at 15%. 

The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther - I am not a lady who can read instalove YA romance. There. I said it. I dropped this book like a hot potato as soon as another book became available on my Libby app for me to borrow. DNF at 36%.

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I read three non-fiction books this month and a poetry collection. Who am I? What sort of middle-aged person have I become?

Have you read any of these books? Which one would you like to read?

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

The Chew, Part III

This is the last of miniseries on food. I have been loving the discussions in the comments!

What food did you think you would hate but end up loving?
The first time I had kohlrabi, I did not have high hopes for it. But kohlrabi is good, yo. 

What food combo sounds weird but is actually amazing? 
You know me and I'll always rep a Midwestern "salad." Consider strawberry pretzel salad or Snickers apple salad. Those things are legitimately delicious, even if they should never be called a salad.

What food should NEVER be eaten together? 
Whatever the nastiness is that makes green bean casserole. Gag.

What’s your go-to dish when family or friends come over? 
Oh, this is fun! I almost always have fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. I keep frozen dough in the freezer so I can have cookies whenever I want. I also will almost always make popcorn with my Whirley-Pop. There will always be a charcuterie board with cheese, nuts, and jam. If I have any date balls around, I'll pop those on the table. That's all snack-y stuff if I'm hosting book club or something.

If people are coming for dinner, I'll make my regular berry and lettuce salad and then we'll have a frittata or soup or something that can easily be made ahead of time and just heated up when people arrive. 

For years I would serve turkey tacos with a Rachel Ray recipe we had, but since we don't cook meat in the house anymore, we've really steered away from tacos and burritos. I'd like to bring Mexican back into our rotation, though. 

If you were dating and a potential partner was NOT a foodie, would that be a dealbreaker? 
Obviously not. *sigh*
 
What’s on your food bucket list? 
I want a bubble waffle cone again. I could probably make this happen by just going to Milwaukee, but it's not fun to go with my husband, so I need a partner in crime to do this.

But, not really. Since I've been married to my husband, I stopped having food-related aspirations. It's for the best. 

Would you consider frozen food as good food? Why or why not? 
Frozen fruits and vegetables are just as good as fresh. But after that...I'm a bit of snob.

On a scale of 1-10, how picky of an eater are you? 
There are some foods I won't eat - pork, Brussels sprouts, and beets spring to mind. Drinking milk makes me gag. I find a lot of convenience food (think frozen dinners or canned soup) is overwhelmingly salty. I don't love to eat meat, but if I went to dinner at someone's house and something beef or poultry was served to me, I'd eat it. So, I'm not without particularities, but I'm pretty open-minded. 2.5/10 for pickiness? (Edit to add: I asked my husband how he would rate me over breakfast and he said 4/10. I don't know how to answer this.)

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This or That?
Doughnuts or muffins? Muffins, but this was a hard call.
Pizza or ramen? Pizza and it's not even close.
Sushi or tacos? Oh. Wow. Tough. Tacos, probably, but if you want to go get sushi, I'll go with you.
Chips or popcorn? Popcorn, but I'm not a food snob. I'll take either.
Ice cream or cake? Ice cream.
Coffee or tea? Coffee, but I am a daily tea drinker who only gets coffee as an occasional treat.
Wine or beer? Neither.
Breakfast or dinner? Breakfast.
McDonald’s or Wendy’s? Wendy's.
Sweet or savory? Sweet.
Crunchy or chewy? Crunchy.
Sparkling or flat water? Sparkling.

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What's your go-to dish when people come over? Are you picky?  McDonald's or Wendy's?

Monday, June 29, 2026

What I Wore to Work Last Week

FRIENDS! REGISTRATION SEASON IS OVER!! Yes, that does deserve all caps. July is a slow month at work, so I'm getting pumped up for that. Meanwhile, I enlisted my co-worker's help to take photos of me last week. Here's what went down.

Monday - The day between events. I was mostly just in my office all day inputting appointment summaries from an event on Friday and preparing for Tuesday. I'm wearing a tank I bought at Macy's approximately fifteen years ago and some linen pants

Tuesday - Registration event. I need to be prepared to walk across campus, complete my presentation, kneel on the ground, and move furniture. I'm wearing a Happy Earth dress from several seasons ago (love this dress) and a bolero from Ann Taylor about ten years ago. It can range from boiling to frigid on building across campus, so I have to be prepared. 

Wednesday - You guys. It was cold and rainy. I hate that. On the plus side, the rain does fabulous things for my hair. I have on a Passion Lillie dress and I spent most of the day wearing a duster from Rowan Grey Clothing.

Thursday - Last registration event of June. Woot woot! Another Happy Earth dress. The white tank is from H&M like a billion years ago. It has held up quite well considering its origin. 

Friday - We had another event on campus for prospective students. *sigh* This was less intensive work, but I still had to be prepared to move tables and cart half our office across campus. It was also quite cool. The shirt is from LL Bean and was a FANTASTIC purchase at the beginning of the summer. The pants are more of the Athleta linen pants. The H&M tank is in play again.


Accessories: I wore Mephisto Helen sandals all week (on the rainy day I had Vionic flip flops in my bag), a silver bracelet from Twisted Silver that I got from Dr. BB as a present before we were married, and my two little purple bracelets from Tobias. I'm still rocking my permanent bracelet that I got in Seattle and my permanent anklet I got with my niece. I have a pair of sapphire earrings and Hey June hoops. LOOK, I like my jewelry. 

Outtakes: Sometimes I think I sound like I am NOT FUN on this blog. But here is proof that I am an utter goof.

Full credit to my co-worker LB who took each and every one of these photos when I would barge into her office with my phone outstretched. 

Friday, June 26, 2026

Five for Friday Plus Extras, Edition #45: Another Happy Things Edition

This month has been A LOT at work, but I've worked hard to find lovely things. They're almost all about food, but let's all admit that food is one of the best things in life. 

1) Potato chips: One of my besties in Wisconsin has dual citizenship with the U.S. and Canada. I once made an offhand comment about how much I loved all dressed potato chips, which are a Canadian delicacy that one cannot find easily in the States. Now, whenever she goes to Canada, she brings me larger and larger bags of this chips. Last week, I got a giant, Costco-sized bag. What a dream. They're also labeled as gluten-free, so Dr. BB can also eat them. (Note: Dr. BB referred to them as a low-rent BBQ chip, so he's banned from eating them. He doesn't GET IT.)

I'm included for scale. The bag is the size of my torso.

2) The public library: Recently, my library stash started getting a little low and I went on an absolute rampage ordering things from the library. Look at this pile!

3) Late morning: We were having someone come over to the house to look at something and so I was hanging around to help with Hannah on a workday morning. Here are the good things that came out of that.

    a) It was raining, so it was a perfect opportunity for Zelda and I to sit on the couch together. She was purring and I was "reading." 

    b) When the workman pulled in the drive, we put Hannah in our downstairs bathroom. Hannah barked for about a minute AND THEN STOPPED. She did no damage to herself or the bathroom. Maybe we can have worker people in the house for small periods of time without me having to just take her out of the house. 

    c) My workday was two hours shorter. Yay!

4) Dunkin?: A Dunkin has opened in the town where I work. It's actually kind of sad because they bought out a location that once housed a local coffee spot, but it's great news for me because I'm hoping it puts the Starbucks across the street out of business. HOWEVER. They are definitely not operating at 100% yet. I was so excited last week to treat myself to an iced decaf americano. When I got to school and looked at it, I saw this. 


Maybe you can't read it, but what it DOESN'T say is decaf. The last time I had a caffeinated americano, I thought I was going crazy because I could not control my racing thoughts. I was already at work, though, so I didn't want to turn around. I instead just put it down the sink (after offering it to everyone else who was at work - no one wanted it) and sent my husband a sad text.

And then!


He made a special trip in to work to bring me one! (Note that the tag says "Hot" - he had been given a hot one and had to go in to exchange it for an iced one.) What a super husband.

5) Ice cream: One very lovely June evening we walked over to the local ice cream spot where I got myself a turtle sundae. It was perfect. 

Yes, I do wear this white gauze shirt over everything this time of year. Don't judge me.

Bonus!

6) How gorgeous is the place where I work?: Just look at this place. Even on a stormy afternoon, it radiates beauty. It really shines in the summer and it's a real sadness to me that more people aren't here to see and enjoy it.

7) Things I've seen that have made me laugh:
   
 a) This sign/Post-It note at the gas station. What does it mean? I love that there are mysteries in this world still.



    b) Why do we need patriotic dog treats? I don't know, but a chain hardware store that rhymes with Tenard's sells them. I did not buy any if you were wondering. Also, a very lovely young man named Alex helped at this very hardware store and I sent an email to the store telling them what a great job he did and they emailed me back that he was going to get a small monetary bonus because of my email. Alex also made me very happy this week. I hope good things for him. 


    c) My friend Rob played a clip on his episode "Hips Don't Lie" on the 60 Songs that Explain the 90s: The 2000s podcast that literally made me snort laugh and have to bend at the waist when I was pan frying potatoes cooking dinner. Imma just going to leave the clip here. 

Not particularly relevant, but I am hot and cold on The 2000s remix of my friend Rob's podcast. (Tangent inside a tangent: Do you think Rob Harvilla would think it's weird that I refer to him as my friend Rob?) The "Feist" episode? SO BORING. I DON'T CARE ABOUT FEIST. (Sorry Canadians.) But this Shakira episode? NEW RESPECT FOR SHAKIRA. Do I need all caps? Sure, why not? 

I think this post is probably long enough. Have a super duper weekend, friends. If you have a dog or military veteran in your home and you're an American, it's the last okay weekend of the summer!

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What made you happy this week? Did you have ice cream? Buy patriotic dog treats? Do you want 10% off in a Mexican desert?