Five for Friday, Edition #22

Warning: Number 1 is gross. Frankly, number 3 is kind of gross. Maybe this is a gross post.

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1) In the March What I Spent post, I mentioned that at Hannah's annual exam, we had a couple of her bumps and lumps examined. One was on her haunch and it had grown pretty quickly in the last few months, but it didn't seem to irritate her. The vet basically said it was the equivalent of cystic acne and if it didn't bother her, just leave it alone. 

Well, that went well until we woke up one morning to find that she had BIT IT OPEN. WITH HER TEETH. BIT IT OPEN WITH HER TEETH. Egads. So we put on her Thunder Shirt to keep her from poking it at it while we went to work because we had no other solution. When I came home, it was clear that the Thunder Shirt had not accomplished this goal. I put on some gloves and squeezed all the pus and blood (THE SMELL) out and cleaned it and then we went to the pet store where we bought a cone of shame. She's now coned up when we can't watch her because it's going to drive her crazy as it scabs over and heals up. 

It's no big deal, I don't think. As long as we can keep it from getting infected, it's going to be fine.

On the good news front, we have switched her to a new probiotic and it seems to have relieved a lot of her post-dinner tummy woes. I am so pleased with this and hope that it keeps up. 

2) Look at all the snail mail from my friends! I love how happy my mailbox has been recently. 

3) Feminine hygiene discussion alert. I am a woman who menstruates. I use a combo of pantyliners and tampons. I recently purchased a giant box of Tampax tampons (with plastic applicators) from Costco. For those of you who don't use tampons, let me set the scene for you. The kind I have purchased looks like the one in blue below. You basically insert the plastic applicator up your vagina and remove the plastic part, leaving the cotton in your body to absorb fluid. 

The problem is that in this box of tampons, maybe one-quarter to one-third of them have something WRONG with the applicator. I had one where one of the plastic teeth was bent at a 90 degree angle. I had another where it looked like a saw had been taken to the smooth round end. I had another where there was no plunger part to the applicator. 

I am terrified to use them. That is all. 

4) Last Friday night, Dr. BB and I went to an exhibit opening at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art because one of our friend's art was chosen to be displayed. Date night for May accomplished on the second day of the month! Woot woot! The exhibit was fabulous and I instantly followed a couple new artists on Instagram. Oh, and there was another amazing exhibit by an artist named José Lerma where he painted these amazing faces with layers of thick of acrylic, so when you're standing right by the image, it's hard to see what it is, but as you move further and further away, it turns into an obvious face. If you're in Madison anytime soon, the exhibits at the MMOCA are amazing right now and admission to the museum is free. 

While there we chatted with my friend and his wife and congratulated them on how all his hard work is paying off. We also met up with a couple of other folks from our town who were there. As we were talking, the conversation kept veering towards the nasty news of the day. And guess who kept trying to veer the conversation towards happier, most positive things?

IT WAS ME.

My friend's wife even asked if I had turned over a new stone and I was a bit surprised when my husband piped up and said, "it took a second Trump term for her to become an optimist."

I'm trying so hard, friends. I could easily doomscroll and worry that my Canadian friends think I'm a terrible American and that if I travel outside of the US I won't be allowed back in, worry about stateless American children who are getting deported without due process, worry about war, poverty, and abuse, worry about my mother's health situation, worry that Hannah will eventually learn that I am not the coolest person in the world, worry about what is going to happen to this next generation of children who will not have jobs and won't ever learn how to read or write thanks to AI. I could.

But instead I focus on what's in front of me. Who can I help today? What can I dance to? How can I make someone laugh? Whose accomplishments can I celebrate? 

I worry about toxic positivity and I promise I won't ever be one of those people. But I am going to do my best to keep it as light as I can when I can.

5) On that positive note, on Sunday evening I washed all the winter clothes and put them away for the season. We changed from flannel sheets to regular cotton ones. I put Hannah's boots in the hall tree. I have worn sandals every day this week even though it has still been in the 40s in the morning. Temps are supposed to get in the 80s today and stay that way into next week. It is full sunlight when I walk Hannah in the morning and the sunset is after 8pm. SO MUCH SUNLIGHT.

Cold weather season is over!!!!

AND! There is stuff on the calendar that I am looking forward to. I have 20 hours of leave I need to use before July and I took off the day after Memorial Day and a random day in May. AND! Bestest Friend and I bought plane tickets for a long weekend together in July. 

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Is cold season over for you? Are you as pumped as I am for the warmer weather? Do you have gross stories you'd like to share with me? Do you have anything on the calendar to look forward to?

Five for Friday, Edition #17

1) Happy making postcards in the mail! I received beautiful cards from Elisabeth and J! I love getting surprises in my mailbox and it's making me feel like I'm falling behind in my own correspondence. I shall send out those St. Patrick's Day cards sitting on the dining room table ASAP!

2) Does anyone wonder how the smallest creature in the house is the loudest and also the most physically in the way? It's our fault, really, since we trained the dog to GTFO of the kitchen when we are in it, but the cat thinks that if she puts herself in the middle of the damn room, she'll get food. She was right here THE ENTIRE TIME I WAS COOKING DINNER. Bless her little kitty heart. 

3) Anyone want to see the books I have checked out from the library?

*Here Be Dragons (Welsh Princes #1) by Shannon Kay Penman - Dudes, the font is SO SMALL. I am struggling to literally read it.

Pop City: Korean Popular Culture and the Selling of Place by Youjeong Oh - My little BGSU Falcon heart can hardly wait to read this. 

Take a Thief (Valdemar) by Mercedes Lackey

*The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray - This is my next IRL book club read.

The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen 

*On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan by Giles Milton

Empire of Sand (The Books of Ambha #1) by Tasha Suri (ebook)

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman (ebook)

*Big books (over 500 pages)

4) My hairstylist sat me down in the chair and asked what I was looking to have done. "Oh, maybe a bob and bangs," I said, absolutely straight-faced.

"You want bangs?" she said.

"Yeah, and just chop it off. It's driving me crazy."
"You want me to chop it off?"

"Yeah. And some bangs."

She stared at me.

"You don't want bangs. You will hate them."
I laughed.

"You're right. Just take off an inch or so and add some long layers. No bangs."

She laughed. "I nearly had a heart attack."

5) Podcast episode recommendations from me to you:

a) Rob Harvilla's back with 60 Songs That Explain the 2000s. The episode on "Hurt" by Johnny Cash is quite good if you're interested in Rob's thing. 

b) Nate DiMeo's podcasting game is still the best thing in the world. Listen to "Two Postcards" from The Memory Palace. You won't regret that fifteen minutes. 

c) You know how I like a good shipwreck story, right? Well, what happens when someone finds a shipwreck? Who owns it? Should it be excavated? Should it be treated as a mass grave? Boy do I have a Planet Money episode for you! "The Fight for a Legendary Shipwreck's Treasure"

d) I randomly have the 12/13/24 episode of Food News down as something you should listen to. I think it's because at one point one of the hosts is laughing for real and not fake podcasting laughing and I found it super charming. If you're not listening to Food News, why not?

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How many books do you have checked out from the library? What book are you going to read next? (Bonus points if anyone can recommend me a good big book - over 500 pages - written by a woman.)

Tuesday Tidings

I'm leaning into the dark these days. Hannah and I have been LOVING our morning walks in the pitch black. It's just me and her and I like to just let her sniff and enjoy the world. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's nervous as all heck and jumps if so much as a leaf falls near her, but at least I'm having a good time. 

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On our walk on Sunday night, I even took the holiday cards to the blue mailbox and dropped them all in (except for my five Canadian cards - I have yours sitting next to my goal journal all stamped and ready to go out as soon as the strike is over, Canadian friends) and whispered happy travels for them. I ordered my cards through Minted again, despite the fact that I literally have never been 100% satisfied with my orders from them.

One year, we did not get any envelopes. One year, we actually got two orders sent our way. One year some of our envelopes were duplicated, so I had to go through and make sure people only got one card from us. This year? This year some of the addresses were addressed incorrectly. The number 3 became the number 8.  Apartment numbers were added where apartment numbers did not need to be added. The abbreviation MN became MI. Now these are all things that could be blamed on me, but MY SPREADSHEET HAD THEM CORRECT. So I stuffed all the envelopes, but then had to go through each address VERY CAREFULLY to make sure things were correct. (If there is a handwritten correction to your address, I did that!) 

And let me tell you, I am not a detail lady. I am a lady who doesn't notice things like MN is MI. This took me a long, frustrating time. I don't know if I'm going to stick with Minted again. (Also, our card is HUGE. Like 5x7? This is on me, though. I just didn't look at the dimensions because I thought it was normal card size. I was wrong. I'm SORRY, friends. I'm bad at holiday card sending, I guess.) 

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But, in more cheerful holiday news, my Secret SANta gift arrived from Jenny! If you don't think that dog ornament went right on my tree, you don't know me very well!

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Also, we went on our annual trip to see the lights at the Rotary Gardens.

I did not ask my friends if I could post their photos, so I am protecting their privacy. Not my husband's though. If you see him around, maybe don't mention you saw his photo on my blog? 

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Last week, the dean of our college did a "Cookies & Cocoa" event. His partner made like a million cookies and all the leftovers made it to the kitchen on our floor and every time I go by the kitchen, I eat more cookies. The eggnog shortbread cookies are AMAZING, but I have to admit that I have not been making good choices re: sugar this December. January is going to HIT HARD.

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Speaking of cookies, do you know what my husband sent me a photo of today? 

A new KitchenAid!!! My beloved KitchenAid finally gave up its battle. We looked into fixing it (of course we did) and it was $200 to fix it and about $300 to get a new on, so Dr. BB took the plunge and bought me a new one! Who's going to make chocolate chip cookies tomorrow? This girl. (Yes, I'm going to make cookies despite the fact that I've eaten my weight in eggnog shortbread cookies this week. Don't judge my December baking decisions.)

(As part of the November/December hemorrhage of money, why not buy a new kitchen appliance? Fortunately, this came out of my husband's budget. He also paid for an oil change and the cat's trip to the emergency vet last week. Yes, all three things should have been mine to pay for, but that's how the cookie crumbles when you have a six-week winter break and your wife has to actually go into the office.)

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Have you sent out your holiday cards yet (sorry, Canadian friends - your turn will come soon!)? What's the last kitchen gadget you bought? 

Mail call

Yes, I did have two pre-written posts to go out Wednesday and Thursday. No, I don't really want to talk about the election results. We are watching the decline of the republic. I have lost respect the majority of adults in my own state and my own country. I fear for our young people, particularly girls and young women. I fear that I am permanently scarred by this election and will no longer be giving people as a collective the benefit of the doubt - people are cowardly, selfish, and cruel. 

As time has moved on, I've gotten more and more irate about this. My country, my state - more than half of you really think that a treasonous, idiotic convicted felon who lies constantly is more qualified than a black woman with a demonstrated history of public service? The sexism, the racism, the xenophobia. 

But this is where we are. I will stand and fight for the most vulnerable among us. The young, the elderly, the minorities - racial, sexual, and religious - the ill. Don't give me your platitudes - it's not going to be all right. It's going to be bad and it's going to get worse. Don't fool yourself. 

For any new readers (NaBloPoMo could bring them in), I am not usually like this, I promise. I will try to refrain from too much political content in the next few weeks, but I make no guarantees. The reality is that I'm PISSY and SCARED and MAD and I think it's going to bleed through. I refuse to apologize for this. 

Onwards. 

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My mailbox has been full lately! A lighthouse from Birchie; another lighthouse from Elisabeth and Kyria; the Last Spike from Nicole; Washington, DC (ugh) from Lisa; and a delightful Halloween card from Jenny. None of my non-internet friends send me snail mail and I feel so lucky to have all of you in my life.

What do I do with my mail hauls? I take them to work and put them up. I love using them as a teaching tool when I'm talking about travel study options - do you want to go to Canada? Portugal? Spain? Do a semester in DC? Do an exchange at another university? So far I have learned that I'm not a good salesperson for these opportunities (SHOCKING! OUR STUDENTS DON'T WANT TO LEAVE WISCONSIN OR DO NEW THINGS! FFS I am super irate about everything right now, maybe even especially my conservative student body), but even if they aren't actually a good counseling tool, they're a lovely reminder to me that there are good people out there. 

Weird angle to avoid any internal documents from being shown. 

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What do you do with your pretty postcards/greeting cards?

October Weekend Fun

It was a bit of a crazy weekend for me and since I rarely do anything more exciting than walk my dog counterclockwise around the block, I am going to document it here.

On Saturday, I met up with Anne at a little store that sells locally-made art. They also do classes and have a time when you can glaze pre-made ceramics and then come back a few weeks later after the ceramics have been through the kiln. So in spirit of Anne and NGS doing arts and crafts projects we are definitely not talented enough to do (I shouldn't speak for Anne - I am DEFINITELY not talented enough), we painted some stuff. When we get them back from the kiln, I'll show everyone a before and after photo. CLIFFHANGER.

Actually, it is sort of a cliffhanger even for the two of us because the colors we painted things did not look anything like the colors presented on the sample color sheet, so who knows? 

(Also, a woman who volunteers at the community center was working at this place. I said hello, briefly introduced her to Anne, and then forgot this encounter took place. This is FORESHADOWING for later that evening.)

BUT! Because I am who I am, I also purchased a bunch of postcards and greeting cards.

Right now is peak greeting card season for me. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. They're all coming right in a row. But come January (February is Valentine's Day, March is St. Patrick's Day) and April, some of you might get some fun surprises in your mailboxes!! 

Then Anne and I ate lunch (I ate enough for five people, Anne took three bites and packed up the rest to take home), wrote out a few postcards, and we agreed we'd meet for coffee when we came to pick up our works of art. 

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I stopped at Walgreen's to buy body scrub and Halloween greeting cards for the niblings. 

I walked the dog; it rained.

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THEN! It was time for the big fundraiser at the community center. I did not splurge for a ticket to the event ($100 a person!), but one of the board members asked me if I would sit at her table, so I said yes. She has asked me to be at her table for the last several years, so I imagine I'm just her favorite person/the only not rich person she knows in town. Ha!

Anyway, there was a silent auction to start the event (I had a Moscow mule mocktail) and most of the baskets were way out of this lady's price range or were alcohol-related in nature, so I found myself putting down the minimum opening bid on a stack of greeting cards and stickers made by a local artist that had been donated by the lady who Anne and I had talked to at the art store earlier in the day. I felt pretty smug as I put my auction number on the sheet - I have now bid in the silent auction and SURELY SOMEONE ELSE WILL OUTBID ME. My fundraising duty is done.

(I did donate some money for the fund the need auction. I'm not a monster. The building is an old historical place and it needs about $100,000 in exterior work done. I raised my paddle and donated a tiny bit. I also bid on a piece of pottery in live auction, but my bid was pretty nearly tripled. I can't hang with these people.)

You know what happened, right? I won those cards.

Those animals on top are wearing HATS. HATS!!

My husband nearly murdered me when I walked in the door carrying MORE GREETING CARDS. 

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Sunday was less fun. I bathed the dog and did her nails. I laundered and vacuumed. I wrote blog posts and froze my toes off. I wore sandals and my heated vest when I walked the dog. I want you to just imagine for a second how disappointed my husband looked when he saw my dog-walking outfit.

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How was your weekend? Did you buy any greeting cards? 

12.24 Family - Iowa Lost

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined topic chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-fourth day of the month is "Family."

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First up, I did a guest post over at Elisabeth's blog yesterday. If you haven't seen it already, it just reiterates that I love popcorn, my dog, and telling stories about growing up in a cornfield. 

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While I was preparing for the big gala on Saturday, my husband drove to Iowa and back to go tailgating for the Iowa game at my SIL and BIL's house. They live in Iowa City about a block from the football stadium and they host a big event for one of the games every year. Obviously, I couldn't go, but don't worry, the kids didn't forget about me. 

I'm sure if you're a parent or someone around children a lot, getting a piece of art from a child is no big deal, but I love it so much. Straight on to the fridge!

Also, look what I put in the mail today!

Woot woot!  

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In the last week, I've gotten postcards or cards from all three of my regular snail mail correspondents. That is UNHEARD of and makes me think someone is telling them that I need cheering up. LOL.

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Do you have children's artwork hanging on your fridge? Tell me all about it. 

12.17 Method - How To Get Snail Mail

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the seventeenth day of the month is "Method."

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Look! A postcard from Nicole! Thanks Nicole!

This is clearly the result of decades of me sending postcards and letters to people. Now rarely a month goes by that I don't get some sort of lovely surprise in the mailbox. 

So, that's the method. Spend years sending correspondence and eventually it will come your way!

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What's a secret life hack you've learned? 

11.15 Volume - Is This Box Bigger Than That Box?

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the fifteenth day of the month is "Volume."

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Because of Hannah's recent incident at the dogsitter's house, our vet suggested we switch her probiotic to one from Purina that is supposed to reduce anxiety in dogs. The reviews look favorable, the vet thinks it can't hurt, and after some back and forth about whether or not it would cause Hannah GI distress (it contains a small amount of beef, which is a problem for her), I ordered some from Chewy. Yesterday, it  arrived in a giant box.

Look at all that cardboard!

The vast majority of the volume of the box was taken up by cardboard. So unnecessary.

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What's the last thing you received in the mail that was dreadfully overpackaged?

11.7 Contact - In the Mailbox, Part II

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the seventh day of the month is "Contact." 

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My sister and I aren't particularly close, but I always include her in my random mailings of postcards and letters. I do this mostly because my mom lives with her, so I don't want her to feel left out, but I also do it because she's my sister and I feel guilty that we aren't close. We've never been close. Even when we were children, we rarely played together or hung out. This isn't like some relationship turned sour or anything - it's just the status quo. 

Tangent: When I send a bunch of postcards, I always mail them at the same time from the same location. My nieces and nephews from the same family like to tell me that the postcards frequently arrive on different days and I find this both hilarious and puzzling. If you have any insight into why this might be the case, please let me know. Also, my nephew used a card from me as proof of residency for him to get his provisional license. My mail neuroticism has paid off for someone!

ANYWAY.

I was so excited when I got this postcard from my sister. She was on an Alaskan cruise (got COVID, natch). 

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When my husband returned the Scribe, he then bought me some new earrings and a popcorn maker as a replacement gift. I love popcorn and probably eat it at least twice a week, if not more. We have traditionally made popcorn in a heavy risotto pan, but this Whirley Pop makes it so much easier and the cleanup is much faster! The average number of unpopped kernels in each batch is about six. 

We use a heaping tablespoon of coconut oil, one-third cup kernels, and a bit of popcorn salt and in four minutes, we have a giant bowl of popcorn. I'm obsessed with this thing. I registered it at the company's website and received a package of free goodies.

It's been a fun couple of days in the mailbox. 

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What's new in your mailbox?

10.24 Family - A Bevy of Postcards

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined topic chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-fourth day of the month is "Family."

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We didn't quite get the postcards out in the mail while we were in Minnesota because we were there for such a short time, but I did get cards for my niblings and my regular snail mail correspondents. I found myself trying to look up fun facts about Minneapolis/Minnesota for my nieces and nephews, so I wrote things like "The Stone Arch Bridge is the largest arched bridge that crosses the Mississippi. It was made with locally sourced stones, including some from Iowa" or "a group of loons is called an asylum" and, in retrospect, realize that those kids must think I'm a real dweeb. Oh, well, I'm the dweeb who loves them and will inevitably bail them out of jail, so hopefully it's the thought that counts.

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What's the last fun mail you sent or received? 

6.7 Contact - In the Mailbox

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the seventh day of the month is "Contact." 

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When I did my AMA posts for NaBloPoMo (Part I and Part II), Elisabeth asked if the people I send snail mail to ever mail me back. The answer is generally no, but the thing is that when my nieces and nephews go on a trip, their parents usually make them mail me us a postcard and I we adore it when I we get unexpected delights like this in the mail. (I try to be fair to Dr. BB here, but everybody, right down to the six-year-old boy, knows that I am responsible for making sure they get cards/gifts/postcards and that he's riding on my snail mail coattails. That being said, this postcard was addressed to both of us, so I will include him. Grudgingly.)

They write their own messages now!  I melt into a puddle right on my floor. 

What's the last fun thing you got in the mail?

4.21 Decision - The Last Holiday Clutter

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined topic chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-first day of the month is "Decision."

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I predicted this would happen and it has. I am sitting on all of the holiday cards we received AND a huge box of leftover cards from the Minted Fiasco of 2022. All of you have offered perfectly lovely ideas for what to do with them (recycle them as gift tags! keep the cards to use to determine who to send cards to next year! put them in photo albums!), but ours are just sitting in the same spot they've been since I removed them in early January.

We are having guests over in two weeks and we're going to be gone a lot next weekend, so I'm trying to clean up the clutter problems NOW, but instead I'm just sitting here acting indecisively about what to do with these cards. 

Up next: I will regale you with my internal debate about what to do with to do about the placemat situation for our dining room table. (No, I will not. I am struggling with finding placemats that work for me and I think I'm just going to have to settle. If you ever visit my home, please don't say a word about the placemats.) 

Have you dealt with your holiday cards yet?

4.20 Message - To Anne

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twentieth day of the month is "Message." I have decided that I'm going to write about the last photo message I sent via text.

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Anne and I met up on Saturday morning at a local(ish) Botanical Garden and Conservatory. For me, it was a chance to be someplace warm in the winter and I was looking forward to a quiet morning wandering around the plants. However, I had failed to notice that the exact time we decided to meet was also their "open house" event, in which everything was free, the usually top-secret greenhouses were open for public perusal, and there were other fun activities happening, including postcard painting and an iron pour in the garden.

So, as you can imagine, it was packed. It was controlled chaos, but chaos nonetheless. 

All of that being said, it was such a lovely time. It was lovely to meet Anne in person and she humored me as I insisted we do each and every activity available to us. It was also lovely to be warm. At one point I actually took off my coat! I considered taking off my vest, but it never really got that far.

So the last text message I sent was to Anne with a photo of our delightful watercolor creations. Obviously, neither of us is watercolor experts, but I'm sure the intended recipients of our postcards will appreciate the work we put into them!

What's the last photo message you sent?

Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Kim Fay

 

Lisa wrote about Love & Saffron by Kim Fay in her best of 2022 recap and I was intrigued. In this epistolary novel, told over a three-year period in the 1960s, we see a friendship develop between two women of different backgrounds, generations, and experiences. They share the ins and outs of their daily lives, recipes, and dreams. It's short, not even 200 pages, and there's a lot of white space on most pages, so it's a quick read.

I am so hungry for books about female friendships. My female friends are the backbone of my life. I depend on my friends for sympathy when I send them dumb texts about having to figure out dinner Every Night. I depend on them for laughs when I receive yet another rejection after a job interview that I thought went well. I depend on them for a different perspective when I am wrong about something but refuse to admit it to myself. My female friends are one of the best parts of my life. Three of my closest female friends do not even live in the same time zone as me, but modern technology allows us to remain close. But books focus mostly on romantic and familial relationships and while those are worthy topics, I really would like more literature that focuses on positive female relationships. 

So I LOVED this. I loved the bravery of the first letter sent to a total stranger with an offering of friendship and food. I loved the way these women supported each other through some very trying times. I loved how the author slipped in historical events, like earthquakes and the assassination of JFK, without it being forced. It's just how friends WOULD talk. I was absolutely delighted by this representation of the beauty of letters in the mail and the joy of reading a thoughtful note from your friend. 

This book, my friends, is exactly the book for me.

5/5 stars

Lines of note:

I tried reading but can't concentrate on the only unread novel here on our shelves. A book of the Month selection, Rabbit, Run, by a self-satisfied-looking stuffed shirt named John Updike. It was left behind by my friend Hazel. After tormenting myself with a few morose chapters, I began to suspect Hazel abandoned it on purpose. While the storm could fairly be blamed for my lack of charity, I'm sure I would find this book a toil in clear weather, too. The protagonist gazes at his navel as if he is the first man in history to have feelings of dissatisfaction about his life. (pages 6-7)

Obviously, a pithy review of a book by a boring author is going to appeal to the likes of me!

I have simply always had an interest in people from other countries. I like the way their kitchens smell. (page 10)

What a lovely approach to life. Food is such an important touchstone for culture.

[as a note to her friend when she is struggling with hard personal decisions] Fill the corners of my mind so there can be nowhere for doubt to lurk. (page 122)

Friends are so important.  

2.15 Volume - Mail Call

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the fifteenth day of the month is "Volume."

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The big stack of holiday cards went out last week and I've been hearing from my bloggy friends (thanks Lisa and Jenny!) that some of them have reached their intended recipients. I ended up buying four packs of stickers at the Hallmark store, where they are more expensive than I would like, but no card went out naked on my account. I still have approximately forty cards left from the great Minted Fiasco of 2022, so if you'd like a card, please fill out the form and I'll send it out ASAP.

In the meantime, I'm a little disappointed in our lack of holiday cards that we've received so far this year. I only have seven hanging up. I know we're still a week and a half out from the holidays, but we won't leave the Christmas decorations up long after Christmas itself, so it makes me kind of sad to know that cards we get later on won't be on display for very long. 

That brings up my next question. What do you do with your holiday cards after Christmas? We have two pieces of ribbon over the doorway between our living room and dining room and we attach all our cards there with teeny tiny clothespins I bought just for this purpose during the holidays, but then when we take the decorations down, we take down the cards and put away the clothespins until next year.  In our house, the stack of cards sits on my desk until mid-March when I start spring cleaning and then I just dump them all in the recycling, feeling badly about it the whole while, thinking I should have some crafty repurposing activity for them.  

What do you do with the cards you receive after the holidays are finished?

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To see what Bestest Friend has to say about volume, go visit her at Too Legit to Quit.

2.7 Contact - So Much Snail Mail

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the seventh day of the month is "Contact." 

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In a post I wrote about sending Thanksgiving cards, Kae asked about what types of cards I send. "Are these cards you send like all Hallmark type cards? Or are they blank cards that you buy big stacks of? Or handmade cards? Or simply a letter? Just curious, as I find actual cards in the store to be quite expensive..." is her direct quote. This is worth a detailed post. 

One of the things I love is stationery. I love a good stack of writing paper, lovely cardstock, fancy pens, stickers, and postcards. Some people collect magnets or shot glasses or salt and pepper shaker or whatever when they travel. I buy postcards and send them to people. I buy greeting cards at the museum gift shop. I skip over the books and the scarves and the games and the posters and I go straight to the card rack. 

So let's tackle Kae's questions by saying Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes. I send a wide variety of things. Sometimes I just go to Hallmark to buy birthday cards. Sometimes I buy blank cards in bulk. Sometimes I buy tons of handmade cards from Etsy. Sometimes I write letters on fancy paper I've purchased. Sometimes I send postcards. I buy cards at craft fairs and Farmers' Markets. I buy cards at gas stations. I buy cards at floral shops. I basically can't walk by one of those carousels of greeting cards without at least stopping to take a quick look.

And the people in my life who I stay in contact with via snail mail sort of just expect it now. I have friends who I will send a postcard if I think about them for one reason or another and when they see me, they frequently talk about how it brings them a little lift on the day they get it. I also end up getting lots of cards and postcards as gifts from other people, too. It's a cycle now that my loved ones know I will send mail and they sort of want to get it!

Random examples from my card box:

Dog with sunglasses (Hallmark)

Five dogs side by side (freebie from The Humane Society)

Pawprints are forever condolence card (Seedy Cards Etsy shop)

Mermaid birthday card (Rosie's Wonders cards)

Leaves (BeeDazzlesGifts Etsy shop)

Random writing paper. No idea where it's from, except the bicycle paper came from a shop that doesn't seem to be around anymore called Pink Loves Brown.

Animal suffragette postcards (SuffragetteLife Etsy shop - fun note, I have a bunch of these postcards framed in our downstairs bathroom - I'm so cool)

Still Standing pavilion from a set of postcards from the University of Iowa press

Old Mission Point Lighthouse from a packet of postcards I purchased after a lighthouse tour to help fund the preservation of lighthouses

Old school postcard from Williamson Street Bridge in Madison from Arcadia Press

 

My current favorites are these awesome postcards that showcase female artists. For $20, you get 100 postcards. I bought these when I was visiting my mother over the summer and try to send one to someone I love at least once a month. I'm a little bit obsessed with them.
 

I have enough stationary for me to never have to buy any again, but what's the fun in that?

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To see what Bestest Friend has to say about contact, go visit her at Too Legit To Quit.

2.5 Drawing - Not Enough Holiday Stickers

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a predetermined theme randomly chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the fifth day of the month is "Drawing." FYI, I'm not a good artist, so please be kind.

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Yesterday I decided I really needed to focus and get my Christmas cards done. I gathered the stamps, addresses, and Sharpies. But as I went to set up my assembly line, I realized I didn't have any way to seal the envelopes, so I went in search of wintry-type stickers to use. I did not buy stickers this year because I assumed I had enough from last year. 

I went into my giant envelope of stickers labeled "holidays" (I also have envelopes labeled animals, cartoons, and the overly generic "things") in the tote under the bed, and found three stickers with angels on them. Hm. I have approximately eight million Halloween and Valentine's stickers, enough Thanksgiving/fall-themed ones to get through the next couple of years, and so many shamrocks I'm wondering if the rest of the world has any left. I went to my office desk where I found more shamrocks (!) and a slew of heart-shaped ones, as well as a strange sticker that says peace be with you.  I found a handful of seals from the ASPCA with animals in snow. I went into my box with a random assortment of generic holiday cards that I use to give presents to the groomer, vet, mail carrier, etc. and found two sheets of Christmas stickers. In the end, I only found about forty stickers and I send out more cards than that. So some people got random drawings from me. (Some people have naked envelopes right now. Don't worry. I won't let them go out like that.)

This one is for Bestest Friend. I based it on our snowman ornament.

But, seriously, where are my Christmas stickers? This can't be all I have. Do I need to go BUY more? I mean, I'm worried that next year it's going to be a shamrock situation when I find a stash of Santa stickers somewhere I haven't looked. 

That's it for now. Stayed tuned for the resolution of the The Case of the Missing Stickers.

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To see what Bestest Friend has to say about drawing, go visit her at Too Legit to Quit.

1.15 Volume - November Mail Call

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the fifteenth day of the month is "Volume."

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In my regular snail mail rotation, the end of the year is so easy because I can send Halloween cards in October, Thanksgiving cards in November, and Christmas cards in December. It's so much easier than that stretch from May through September when there are no holidays. If anyone is really interested, I also batch send Valentine's cards in February, St. Patrick's Day cards in March, and Easter cards in April. The rest of the months are tricky!  

I am planning on sending this large volume of cards out tomorrow, which gives USPS a week to deliver them. For Halloween, I sent them out with nine days to spare and my sister and mom still didn't get theirs until two days after Halloween, so who knows if I'm giving them enough time.

So, I am sending eleven cards to my nieces and nephews, one to my sister's foster child, one to my three regulars, and to two good friends. 

I talked to one of my cousin's yesterday and she had been at a family birthday party over the weekend and my aunt and uncle who I send regular mail to had a confab about it. My other uncle (the father of my cousin who I was talking to) who was at the party seemed a bit hurt that I wasn't sending him mail, so I'm a tiny bit worried I'm going to have to send something to ALL my aunts and uncles (and my mom is one of ten siblings, so this could get intense...).  

Are you sending Thanksgiving cards to anyone in your life?

1.14 Control - The Name Game

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the fourteenth day of the month is "Control."

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There's been a bit of a thing in the NaBloPoMo posts about names. San's big reveal of her actual name and Meike's discussion about people mispronouncing her name are the two that spring to mind right away. Nicole mentioned in the comments of this post that she actually thinks of me as "Engie" because of my blog pseudonym NGS, which I think is amazing.  My "real" first name is a tad bit uncommon for people in my generation (my parents were in Europe when I was born and I think they were overly influenced by it), but two of the Magnificent Seven on the 1996 US Olympic gymnastics team had my first name, so by the time I was a teenager, it was a name people in the States should have at least heard of, even if they'd never met anyone with that name.

I really like my name. I like it so much that I didn't change it when I get married. I like it so much I don't really go by nicknames. There are exceptions to this. I did go by a nickname until I was about seven, so people who've known me since I was little are allowed to call me by that nickname. Bestest Friend and her son call me by another nickname and I've sort of accepted that.  But those are the limited exceptions. Even my own husband calls me by my full name.

But other people seem to be convinced that my name requires a nickname. The first time my FIL met me, he immediately tried to shorten my name to its first syllable. I corrected him (gently, reader; he was my boyfriend's father, after all). I've had co-workers try to shorten it, usually in emails first and then audibly. Those also get a quiet correction. But there is little left to do when it happens repeatedly and it is out of my control.

This is the nickname Bestest Friend has for me. She and her son are literally the only two people on the planet who call me this.

I bring this up mostly because all these posts about names and misspellings and mispronunciations are bringing it up in my mind, but I also bring it up because we're about to enter holiday card season, AKA The Season NGS Gets Hepped Up about Everyone Putting the Wrong Name on Cards to Her. Here are ways to address cards to me that I do not mind:

1) Robert (Bob) Smith & NGS Jones

2) Robert (Bob) & NGS

3) Dr. Smith & Mrs./Ms Jones (or other variants of both our correct names with the correct titles used)

4) Jokey portmanteau neologisms that are combinations of our last names that we have with a handful of friends - it demonstrates an awareness of what are actual names are (for example, The Joth Family would be fine if everyone is in on the joke)

Here are things I find annoying and possible cause me to become irate:

1) Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith (I mean, it gets HIS title wrong and my name wrong)

2) Dr. and Mrs. Robert Smith (for Pete's sake, I am a real person with a real name of my own)

3) The Smith Family (do I even need to say this?)

So, that's all I have to say. Please don't try to shorten my name. Please stop calling me by my husband's last name - I am not his property. If you don't know how to properly address a letter to someone, ask them. When we got married, I had to call no fewer than four people to ask them this question and one of them literally said to me years later that it was the most thoughtful anyone had been about it. (She was a newly married, newly minted doctorate, and I didn't know if she preferred Dr./Ms/Mrs. or if she had changed her name. I was really confused, not necessarily thoughtful, but it was such a valuable lesson for me on the importance of taking the time to do things the right way.)

My own name woes are nothing compared to my husband's. If you're interested in the strangeness of being him, feel free to read a post I wrote all about his nickname. So that's a whole different minefield for people who address letters to us because many people honestly don't know what his first name is.  

This sounds really ungrateful now that I'm typing it out. I honestly loving receiving holiday cards and I swear I do not get grumpy for longer than a split second about it when they're addressed incorrectly. I just appreciate that someone thought of us long enough to address and stamp a letter for us - it's lovely to know that people think about us.

Are there name woes in your life?  

Catalogpalooza 2021!

In a close second to my beloved annual Christmas ornament hunt, one of my favorite blog traditions is doing a round-up of catalogs that appear in my mailbox in October and November.   They just pile up and my husband keeps threatening to throw them out until I eventually give in and put this post together.  Here are some of my thoughts from the past: 2018, 2019, 2020. In this edition of shopping I will never do, I ignore whether or not things are made ethically or are from trustworthy companies and just, you know, window shop with reckless abandon.

One of the things I've been trying to find for a couple of years now is a warm rain jacket.  I walk the dog in some pretty terrible weather, but the worst is 30s/40s and rainy. It's so cold and no rain jacket I have can handle this. I end up layering sweaters and scarves under jackets, but it's just not a great solution. To the rescue come holiday catalogs!

L.L. Bean - Women's Waterproof PrimaLoft Packaway Outerwear ($249, which is INSANE and available in multiple colors)  - It seems like it would be perfect for my dogwalking needs, but I'm much too frugal to spend this much money on it.

American Giant - Women's Storm Full Zip ($178, available in three colors) - I like AG and have a number of their shirts.  They don't hold color very well, if you must know, but they otherwise are a good source of basics.  This is basically a hoodie with water repellant fabric, which might be an okay solution if it's not really pouring.  

Hammacher Schlemmer - Kickball Dartboard ($179.95) - HS is such a strange catalog, but I often find things I think would be fun for family events and this kickball dartboard is one of them. I also would not spend this much money for something huge I'd have to store, but I can window shop and talk about how cool it is, right?

Guideboat - New England Traveler ($395, comes in two colors) - Guideboat is one of our favorite catalogs because it regularly features dogs. It skews maybe a little bit older than we are just yet, but this jacket is super cute on the model in the catalog. It doesn't look as great in the online photos, but if I were the kind of person who would spend $400 on a jacket to wear a few times a year, I'd consider this one!

Garnet Hill - Ribbed Hat ($79, available in multiple colors) - GH has clothing, pajamas that look cozy and soft, but not warm, linens, and home decor. I have never purchased anything from this company, but I enjoy looking through it, knowing someday in twenty years it will be my main form of gift purchasing. Ha!

Parachute - Fouta Stripe Towels ($114 for set of 2 hand towels, 2 bath towels, 2 washcloths, available in three colors) - We've had our towels since we got married and they're looking ratty and threadbare and a bit stained. I have had towels on my mind, but I'm unlikely to get any until ours are unusable because that's the kind of person I am. 

Sharper Image - Heated Ice Scraper ($49.99) - I got one of these when I was in college and as soon as I plugged it into my cigarette lighter, it blew the fuse of my latek-90s model Chevy pickup truck. That was decades ago, so who knows if it works any better now?  

Stio - Wool Neck Gaiter ($39, available in three colors) - Is this really just a scarf?  Stio has a lot of outdoor equipment, particularly for snowboarding. My neck is the weak link in cooler temps and you probably won't see me without a scarf for the next six months, but isn't a gaiter just a scarf with a different name?

See's Candies - Cinnamon Lollypops ($10.50 for 12 lollies) - I have put in a request for some cinnamon lollypops from See's this year and will probably get them.  See's has wonderful chocolates and candies and has lots of gluten-free options, which is important to me.  

Orvis - Battenkill Cashmere-Lined Gloves ($129, available in two colors) - My husband gets cashmere-lined gloves almost every year for Christmas from someone and the cashmere usually has giant holes in it by the end of the season, so I'm not sure they're worth the price.  I have ordered sweaters for Dr. BB from Orvis before, so they keep sending me catalogs and I'm not mad because the catalogs frequently feature dogs.

The Vermont Country Store - Blue Willow Servingware ($39.95 - $59.95) - My mother-in-law's choice of daily ware was this pattern. When I saw it in the catalog, lots of feelings were felt. 

Uncommon Goods - Fitness Dice ($19) - I've actually purchased a lot of things from this catalog for gifts. It's always full of interesting ideas and things people might actually use.  

Minted - Deconstructed tree holiday cards (roughly $2/piece) - It is the time of year when I spend way too much money on holiday cards and that is the way it will always be.  This year we went with a stripped down version of a card - us on the front and the girls on the back. I definitely used the coupon code that came with the catalog, but it really is still stupid expensive, especially once you factor in postage!

And that is the fun romp through catalogs this year.  What's your favorite catalog to get in the mail?