My Bad Wolf has been remarkably silent this week because all we did was work; it’s hard to bitch at somebody who’s been carrying lumber and putting in screws for three days straight. I’d say that hard work feeds the Good Wolf, but I think it just exhausts them both, althought the Good Wolf had several helpings of I Am Woman, Watch Me Do Things Involving Power Tools. A full stomach helps any Good Wolf sleep better.

What did you feed your good wolf this week?

I recently gave up my smart phone because I don't want to continue paying the data fees when I only use it for regular cell phone things and as a kindle. I can buy a kindle cheaper than those fees. And, in fact I'm ordering one tomorrow.

One of the things I want to do with my phone is take pics and upload them onto the computer. I can take pics. I was told uploading was simple because the charger has a usb port.

Guess what - not simple.

I will not go back but I do wonder -

Am I too dumb to have a dumb phone?...

             To some people, Memorial Day weekend means camping.  To others, the remembering of loved ones, lost but never forgotten.  For me, since the 23rd day in May of 1987, it’s only been about my Hurricane.

             (If you are so inclined, please feel free to look in the archives [HISTORY QUILT] to see previous years’ posts on this date.)

             All day, this night, a full 24-hour period, is all Hanna, all the time.  Well, as much as I could make it from this far away.  (And while still being in my usual life.)  I fell asleep thinking of her, and texted her this afternoon as soon as I was awake enough t...

Today on Facebook, someone I know posted a picture that they picked from some other site.  The picture said, “Food is the most abused anxiety drug.  Exercise is the most underutilized antidepressant.”

Friends, I have to say that those two statements really resonate with me.  Can I actually say with any certainty that “most” applies in either case?  No.  I don’t have the data.  In reality, they could be massive generalizations.  However, I absolutely know that this is how I feel about food.  It is my drug of choice for anything — anxiety, stress, fear, sadness, nervousness, you name it.  It’s readily available without a prescription, too.

This is not a new realization.  I’ve understood this about myself for a few dec...

Joe successfully kept a secret from me for almost the entire time we were dating: Joe was a smoker.

Ok, not a big deal in the adult grand scheme of things, but I was an innocent, church-going 14-year-old. It was a big deal to me, and I can see why Joe didn’t want me to find out.

But how did he do it? You’d think I would have noticed at some point, you know, because he smoked at school and in his car and pretty much everywhere, I guess.

His alibi was always that his dad was a smoker, which is why his car smelled like smoke and his letter jacket smelled like smoke and his hair smelled like smoke. Not sure why I didn’t put together that his mouth shouldn’t taste like smoke just because his dad was a smoker. (Ew.)

He told me the tr...

             As we journey along in this life, we are handed challenges.   At that point, we have a choice.  And you all know how I feel about CHOICE.  Big huge damn proponent, that’s how.

             Even when, especially when, it doesn’t FEEL like we have options, we truly do.  One way to go is to NOT go at all.  There, see?  A choice to be made.

             In these Change My Brain projects, ones I’ve shared here over the years as well as lots that I haven’t, I’ve been searching for the right direction.  Not spiritually, THAT is unquestioningly set.  No, my challenges are more about the physical and the mental.

Today is one of those days.

I can’t go into vivid detail because a lot of the suckitude involves someone else’s business.  Suffice it to say that this person’s situation has triggered a lot of stuff and it fell like I was mired in it all day long.  Tense to the point where I felt like I’d swallowed steel bolts that were jabbing my stomach, I only wanted to come home and chill out for a little while before going to Tai Chi which would, hopefully, help me relax even more.

I fed the dogs, ate a little dinner and fixed a mug of chai tea.  The porch was lovely in the late afternoon with a cool breeze and fresh ocean air.  I breathed deeply, processing out the stress.  Right up until I knocked over the hot mug of tea and spilled most of it on myself....

We wrapped up our school year this week with our annual beach party.

We play musical beach towels, drip drip splash, and have a water fight, teachers included. The kids were so so excellent and fun. There were only two fusses in my group and I chalked them up to the stress that's been plaguing Team Cupcake for the last couple weeks. See, they don't want to go and I don't want to let them go but I tell them the truth--you're too smart for second grade now but you are always my kids and I am always part of your team.

And, you know, I tossed wet sponges at them.

While we were baking on a bench during recess duty afterwards, Mentor asked me:

How come you're not as drenched as I am? You got off easy.

My kids LIKE me, I deadpanned....

I don’t review movies here, guys, so this isn’t a review. It’s a re-enactment of what I did in the movie theater, no joke. Never take me to the movies. (If you can’t see the video, click here!)

Watch the premiere of “Graceland” on USA on June 6: http://full.sc/10JrzLX

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Also, don’t forget about The Pintester Movement! There’s still time to sign up to do a May 30 post. I have 102 people signed up so far, which is amazing, but my goal is 150, so help a girl out, wouldja? Just go to the post for all the details.

Just a short blog post today to wish my darling husband of  nine years a

Happy Wedding Anniversary.

Nine years ago Wednesday you stood up in front of way too many people

and

promised to do a lot of highly improbable things

and

not only have you managed every one of them you’ve done more.

You’ve loved me throug...