Author: lizardek

22
Sep
2019

LONG WEEKEND, SHORT THOUGHTS

I had a nice long weekend, with Friday off, and not a lot of plans, though I seem to have done things…apart from just cleaning house and laundry. I also noted yesterday that my shoulders didn’t hurt like they typically do after a regular work day, so that was good. I still DID work, though most of what I did this weekend was for the AWC and not my day job, as we have our annual business meeting and board elections coming up on Tuesday. My life seems to be a lot of lather-rinse-repeat these days. One year blending into...

16
Sep
2019

IT’S A POST

God, I’m lame. I can’t seem to get a post up to save my life, though I’ve thought about it several times. Mostly, I’ve been reading, re-watching Glee with Anders and Karin, working like a crazy person because work=crazy, trying to avoid shoulder issues, perusing art on Instagram and various and sundry other small things that go into making up a day. None of which are earth-shattering or all that interesting. I read a fantastic book last week, the latest by Bryn Greenwood. If you haven’t read any of her books, do yourself a favor and go get them now....

04
Sep
2019

OUT OF SORTS

It’s not good when your jokes about wanting to kill people and hide their bodies start to have an edge of real possibility to them. I’m just now realizing that maybe working all summer and only taking a minimum of vacation was possibly not the best plan for my mental health. On Friday, one of my colleagues sent an email to a new co-worker titled “Useful links” and in it she gave the email list address that we use for a weekly internal eNewsletter. She accidentally included the email list address in the cc field of the email, so it...

31
Aug
2019

SEASONAL TRANSITIONS

It’s been really hot here this past week, a second summer, and while most people are rejoicing, I’m basically fretting about global warming and wishing my bedroom had a better cross-breeze…even though we have a ceiling fan, it’s often stifling by evening when the whole day has been hot. Today, it’s sunny and beautiful, and the skies are blue and there’s a ruffly breeze. All the windows are open and that helps keep things cool, even though it’s well over 80. We are invited to an annual crayfish party tonight with friends that have been hosting it every August for...

25
Aug
2019

TRIALS OF A BIBLIOPHILE

Megsie tagged me a book meme on Facebook, which is kinda the only meme that I can’t resist. It’s posting 7 books you love for seven days. When you read as much as I do, it’s REALLY hard to only pick 7 books. Do you pick your FAVORITES? (Impossible to stick to 7, in that case). Do you stick to one genre? Do you play to your audience? Do you choose only newer books or only older ones? What if you like really quirky books or complicated books or Harlequin romances or you feel children’s literature is underrated and not...

19
Aug
2019

A WEEK AWAY

I love the Netherlands so much. Although, I call it Holland more often than not, because it’s my favorite place and Holland just sounds a little more cozy. On one of the last days, Karin asked me why I was so fascinated by it as a country, and I stopped and thought hard before I answered. I have loved a lot of different places. I love the drama and the beauty of Switzerland and Norway and Scotland. They give me a mountain fix. I love the smell of the air and the taste of the water in Michigan. I love...

06
Aug
2019

TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF AND MAKE A CHANGE

I seem to be on a Tuesday posting streak. I just looked at my calendar and saw that, with this post, I will have posted for 5 Tuesdays in a row. But the streak stops here, because I won’t be home next Tuesday, and I probably won’t be thinking about posting, because as of 4 pm this afternoon, I’m FINALLY on vacation! Only for 1.5 weeks, but whatever, I’ll take it. I didn’t mind working all summer, and I got a lot done, especially on projects I had no time to prioritize during the first half of this year, but...

30
Jul
2019

SUMMER STUFF

It’s been borderline unbearably hot and humid here, for me, anyway. Anything over 25C and I’m wanting to move further north…though, according to one friend who lives VERY far north, it was just as hot and humid there, so maybe there is no escaping it. Today, however, though it was hot and humid throughout the first part of the day, cooled off considerably and it’s now a lovely chill temperature. Especially since I opened the front door to create a draft and now the house is under 20C for the first time in ages. It’s quite cloudy out and I...

23
Jul
2019

ANGELS AT THE IRS

Yesterday, I got an official-looking envelope in the mail. The return address was the IRS. “Uh oh,” I thought, as I opened it, and I was right. I’ve been filing my US tax returns the exact same way for 20 years and for 2018 they changed everything. All the forms (bar one) were completely different, what they asked for was different, how they asked for it was different, and I struggled really hard to figure things out. I read all the instructions. I read them several times, but most of the time I couldn’t figure out what exactly I was...

16
Jul
2019

IT’S NOT WHAT WE HAVE IN LIFE, BUT WHO WE HAVE IN IT THAT MATTERS*

How many friends do you have? How do you count them? Do you count the ones you went to school with? The ones you work with? Or the ones you used to work with? The ones you live near? The ones that are related to you? The ones that you used to hang out with but haven’t seen in years? The ones that have friended you on Facebook…or the ones you have friended? What about friends at the gym, or in the club, or at church, or at the pub? And if you’ve never actually met them in real life…but...