Five for Friday, Edition #49

 1) My husband won a big award. I mean, technically he won two big awards, one at the university level and one at the college level, but the one at the college level was super meaningful. I was there when it was announced and he was so surprised and I was surprised at how quickly I welled up with tears. He's so good at what he does.

2) The first day of classes was Wednesday. There was a "threat to life safety" emergency issued at my campus, but we didn't know at the time was that it was not a true threat to life safety.  It was scary. Fortunately, I was not the adult in the room at the time - our associate deans started telling us what to do in our office space and I just did what I was told to do. I had a student in my office and I shut off the lights, closed and locked the door, and pulled down the blinds. It was terrifying. I mean, in the end, it was nothing, but there was a half hour or so there where I was frantically trying to find my husband. I just. I never want to go through that again.

And, honestly, the rumors going around this are astounding. Someone was acting erratically at the library and someone else thought they had a weapon. This was called in. It turns out that the maybe weapon was an umbrella. That's the end of the story. But the rumor mill is out of control. 

Now we're dealing with a flood of calls for students asking to move to online classes. Classes have started. Classes are at full capacity. This feels like a surreal nightmare. 

3) The dog was sick. Again. This time it was the living room rug. So if you come to my house and it smells like dog shit, YOU HAVE TO LET ME KNOW. We are officially nose blind to it at this point because the involvement in cleanup was real.

4) Labor Day is this weekend. I have been tasked with bringing salads. Let's be clear, I usually bring a lettuce salad, but I'm OUT ON LETTUCE RIGHT NOW. I'm going to bring green bean salad and grape salad and hope for the best. If anyone dares to call me out on the salad game, I will probably not handle it well.

I also added "mani/pedi" to the options of things to do over the weekend and a bunch of us are going to get our nails done on Saturday morning. I've already made the appointment and everything. I WILL BE THE COOL AUNT.

5) Updated on seasonal SAD: It's already bad. I'm walking Hannah in the dark 2/3 daily walks again. I am chronically tired. I am very much liable to start crying if you ask me a single even slightly controversial question. I am looking forward to Labor Day, but as soon as someone asks me how the start of the semester is going, I'm nervous I might just break down. 

I decided on my birthday in mid-August that I was going to reset. It's been a tough couple of years in the old Gimbalsh household and I was determined that things were going to turn around. But the days get shorter, there's unbloggable things happening at work, and then this week happened with the dog and the active threat to life alert and the news of the world. And it has been (counts days) seventeen days since I decided to reset and I think I'm in a worse place than I was before. 

So if all I'm writing about is books and what I ate for dinner, please give me some grace. I am trying to keep it together. 

Happy Labor Day to those who celebrate. For the rest of the world, happy weekend!

Five for Friday, Edition #48

I've been working on this post for weeks. Some of this is now outdated, but I'm not editing anything. You get it all.

1) The deer were back! I would really like it if they ate all the greenery in our yard. 

Hey, is that a jungle? No, it's our backyard and our algae-stained siding!

2) Do you know what Michelle sent me? A dragon the size of a teacup!! I nearly died with the cuteness. Thank you so much, Michelle. She holds a pride of place in my office.

3) Last weekend was my birthday weekend! I was a lady who lunched! On Sunday, my actual birthday, I lunched with some friends in town. On Monday, I met with Sarah, Birchie, and Kyria in Madison for a quick brunch. There was cake and presents! What a life. 

The water bottle is a thing. So, I'm sort of a picky witch about water bottles. I hate plastic ones. I don't want a straw (impossible to clean - FIGHT ME ON THIS). I have been using a dented old metal Nathan one (Nathan doesn't even make metal bottles anymore) that wobbles because of all the dents, but earlier in the summer, the carabiner clip BROKE on the lid and my husband had less and less patience for me and my busted, wobbly water bottle. USE ANOTHER ONE, he implored. 

He bought me this one. Here's the sssshhhh secret. I don't like it. I hate the mint green color. This can be fixed with a judicious use of stickers.  But more than that. The lid is plastic. I don't want my lips to touch plastic (this is a sensory thing - plastic has a *smell* and apparently no one else gets it, but I DO). Okay, I can take off the lid. Well, that's all well and good, but then I have to put the top down and IT DOESN'T LAY FLAT. 

It was a thoughtful gift, but there's a reason I was still using the busted Nathan one. 

(Also, I really am grateful he bought it for me. You know I'm going to use it until it, too, is busted. And then I'll find an old Nathan water bottle on eBay.)

4) I'm going to Indianapolis this weekend to see Garth Brooks in concert with TJC!! Woot woot! We saw him in Rockford, IL in 2014, Detroit in 2015 (we went with my mom, sister, and BIL, and they were SUCH DOWNERS - don't go to concerts with people who don't share your concert vibe), and Columbus in 2016. Having a blog with all these details is AMAZING. Anyway, I'm going to have so so so so much fun.  

5) It wouldn't be a Five by Friday post if I didn't tell you a little bit about how disappointed I am with my fellow humans. I was driving home Wednesday night after a very long workday in which I ran a training for all the faculty advisors in my college. I was looking forward to yoga and convincing my husband that a frozen pizza is a healthy dinner option. As I drove along the river, a woman was literally LYING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD trying to stand up and she kept falling over. A man was with her, but he seemed unable to help her up. I watched THREE CARS in front of me pass by her. I pulled over as soon as it was safe to stop and ran back to help her.

I watched ANOTHER THREE CARS drive by as I ran towards her. 

Anyway, the man and I helped her up and walked her to her car. She was shaking and her knee was terribly scraped. I asked if they wanted me to call an ambulance or run to my house (like three blocks away) to get first aid stuff. They declined and drove away. 

WHY DIDN'T ANYONE ELSE STOP? 

I honestly thought the boys on the roof situation was the last time I would deal with this. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? I don't think of myself as the kindest/most helpful person in the world, but I was literally crying as I drove the three blocks home. Why are we not helping people who need help? Is this just my town? I love my town. I'm a big booster for it. But maybe my town doesn't have anyone's back? I apologize for the all caps but WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? 

Five for Friday, Edition #47

1) Last weekend we went to the Wisconsin Dells with my husband's family. There were twelve adults and eleven children in one VRBO. It was an eight bedroom, four bath building with a kitchen that was smaller than it probably should have been, but there was an arcade with old-fashioned game cabinets in the basement. If you aren't from the upper Midwest, you might not have heard of the Dells, so let me describe it to you. It's a weird tourist-y area with lots of theme parks, especially water parks, and duck boat rides. There's also anything your childlike wonder would like to do - go-karts, ziplining, mini golf, whatever. 

VRBO decor

Our niblings are aged nine to nineteen and every single one of them had a fabulous time. 

If anyone wants to know, we went to Noah's Ark on a Thursday. It was a typical water park with long lines, but the kids had a good time. We rented a cabana and there was always an adult there for the kids to check in with. On Friday, we went to Land of Natura, which is not a typical water park. It's a man-made salt lake with huge inflatables that you climb on and because the lake is deep (up to 25 feet in places), our boys spent most of the day practicing dives, backflips, and somersaults. It was also COLD AND RAINY when went (what do I mean by cold? mid-60s! in July!), so that kept down the crowds. I swear our party made up about a third of the people there. Regardless, most kids said Land of Natura was their favorite part of the weekend, so if you're in the Dells and you have confident swimmers, this is a good option. 

2) Dells Escape Rooms - We had two big groups do different escape rooms. One group was a bunch of the kids with their grandfather and his wife. The rest was our oldest niece (19) and people of my generation. Both teams managed to escape, although I have to admit our room only had like twenty seconds to spare. LOL. If you like escape rooms, these ones are pretty fun. (You might note that I'm wearing a hoodie and my husband is wearing pants. WE WERE ALL VERY COLD. None of us were prepared for how cold it was that weekend.) 

3) Where were the girls when we were in the Dells? I'm glad you asked. Zelda stayed at home and our neighbor came by every day to give her wet food and clean her box. ALSO! SHE READS TO THE CAT. No wonder Zelda ignored us completely when we came home.

Hannah? Hannah was at the swank boarding place just outside Chicago where they take 80 pictures of her doing nothing every day.  Maybe I should have put all these photos in some sort of collage, BUT NO, you have to scroll by each one. 

Nicole talks about how Rex comes back from boarding like he was at a frat party with messed up fur and fleas or whatever. Hannah came back with a powerful thirst, a smell like she has never had a bath in her life, and refusing to eat food. So, that's something, I guess. 

4) Our side and backyard recently became deer daycare. I cannot stress enough to you how crazy this is because WE LIVE IN TOWN. ON A BUSY ROAD. The deer overpopulation here is nuts. 

5) Anniversaries - Earlier this week was the one year anniversary of my mother's death. I am, in a very healthy fashion, ignoring this fact.

6) Giveaway winners - The giveaway winners are Lisa and Jenny! Congratulations! I'll send those packages out in the mail sometime in the next week or so. 

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Have you ever done an escape room? Had a fawn bed down in your yard? Been to Wisconsin Dells? 

Five for Friday, Edition #46

Let's see if I can come up with five topics. Can I do it? 

1) I was driving to work earlier this week when a sedan heading in the opposite direction flashed its headlights at me. The driver was warning me about a sheriff's car parked on the side of the road. How kind! There are nice people left in the world. 

2) Friends, the air quality is poor here right now because of wildfire smoke. I am struggling. That is all. Even in the house and at my office, I feel slightly nauseated and there's a smell that is permanently in my nostrils. I can't imagine what it was like at the point of origin in Canada and I have so much sympathy for people who work outdoors and the poor animals who live outdoors. I have taken to wearing a mask when I'm walking around campus and taking Hannah out these days. I feel like I have a better understanding of The Road now. 

3) This weekend! It's a big one in our town. There's a big fundraiser situation at the local community center tonight and Saturday there is an Adult Book Fair and there are lots of activities around town, including vendors, local author book signings, "Bookish Pilates" (I have no idea what that is, but you better believe that I signed up for it), DIY bookmarks at the library, and BOOK TRIVIA. My excitement about the book trivia is pretty high. I'm trying to get the best trivia team possible, but people keep telling me they "have other plans." *sigh* I guess that's allowed.

4) One of my goals this month was to text at least one person every day and that person could not be my  husband. This means I have taken to just randomly texting my friends and family random questions. What was the name of the dance club we went to in college? What is your interpretation of the song "Don't Take the Girl" by Tim McGraw? Do you think that she died in childbirth? How many mittens could we make from the fur I brush off my cat in a week? 

Hey, if I text you a random question, it just means I love you.

5) Random songs Spotify has recommended to me in the last two weeks:

"Love Song" by Tesla - Do I secretly love this song?

"Hey Cinderella" by Suzy Bogguss - It's not even a secret that I love this song, but I had forgotten its existence. How did Spotify know?

Every fucking George Strait song in the world until I finally blocked him as an artist. I just feel like he's a second-rate Garth? 

"The Irish Rover" by the Pogues - I have to admit that my Pogues knowledge is pretty much limited to "Fairytale of New York," but maybe they are my new favorite band?

"The Unicorn Song" by The Irish Rovers - At this point, I thought Spotify was punking me because this song is such a throwback to my childhood. HOW DID IT KNOW?

"If I Had a Hammer" by Peter, Paul, and Mary - Speaking of throwbacks from my youth, this gem was immediately added to my daily playlist. It's the hammer of justice/It's the bell of freedom - Listen, I can pretend to be Mary Travers when I'm driving to work. 

I just looked up my top song for the month and it's Billy Ray Cyrus. I'd be embarrassed, but Some Gave All is a dope album and he had some great singles. ("Could've Been Me" is the song, but "Words by Heart" is also up there.) Speaking of embarrassed, as soon as Toby Keith died and I wouldn't financially support his anymore, I immediately unblocked him on Spotify and started listening to his songs again. The musical heart wants what the musical heart wants.

Okay, great, that was five meaningless things. How's your air quality? What is your interpretation of the song "Don't Take the Girl" by Tim McGraw? Would you do book trivia with me if you weren't busy tomorrow? 

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?

Five for Friday #44: The Happy Things Edition

There will not be one unhappy item in this entire list. NOT ONE. You will not bring me down, 2026!

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1) Puzzling - Last weekend, Birchie and Anne came to see Hannah and Zelda hang out with me in my town. The most exciting thing I could offer them on a  rainy Sunday was to do a jigsaw puzzle on my dining room table. We did a bit of it and then my husband took over.

Tuesday morning

Wednesday morning

 Wednesday evening

Bonus puzzle photo: When I put puzzles away, I separate the edge pieces. Do you do that?

Thursday night

2) San photos - There is a lot of construction happening in my town. They're putting in fiber optic cables or something. That means there's a lot of digging and marking of where underground lines and pipes are located on the ground. Meanwhile, I keep spotting spray paint that reads SAN and immediately think of San. You're welcome for this little peek into my daily walks.

 

3) Book event - On Tuesday, I met with Sarah and her friend Shannon to go to an author Q&A with Caro Claire Burke, the author of Yesteryear. Then we went out to eat tacos! I didn't get home until ten, which is insane for a school night! It was so much fun.

4) Snail mail - I have been so remiss in thanking everyone for sending me snail mail! Postcards! Little notes of encouragement! I really appreciate it. And look what Tobia sent me! These little purple bracelets make me so happy. I wear them every single day.

5) Mystery book reveal - Dulcie sent me an email with the reveal of the mystery book from the giveaway I did a few weeks ago!

I've never even heard of that book!

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Anyone read Kitty Karr? Do you like jigsaw puzzles? What do you consider "late" on a worknight? 

Happy long weekend to my American friends. Happy regular weekend to my international peeps!