The time has come (the Walrus Said)

to talk of many things...

It's time for me to write again.
I've got things to write about.
And things to process...

So, now that I'm on the other side of forty,

I'm just starting over.

Here's where I'm writing now...
https://wildandpreciousturns40.blogspot.com

There won't be anything for a little bit...
And I don't know that there's anyone left to read it- again- it's mostly for me to process my thoughts


But I will tell you that the first topic is...
my new guy.

This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.

Ned? Ned Ryerson?

Happy Groundhog's Day.

As per usual, yesterday I wore a tank top and was hot as H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks, and this morning I wore very warm clothes and was so cold I couldn't stand it. And tonight, I will have to wear pants on top of my pants to practice. 

Modern Mrs. Darcy wrote about what is saving her life right now, and focuses on what's life giving to us right now. I wrote about this two years ago, and I love going back and reading about it. Some things still ring true, and some things are so very different for my life right now. 

So here, in 2017, 

1. Grown-up GrrAnimals

I got a cute dress from Old Navy, and wore it with leggings. It was the most comfortable thing, and perfect to teach in. I've since bought four more, in different colors, and between that and some oversized tunic tops, I mix and match every day. My "capsule wardrobe" now consists of leggings and a top, so I basically wear grown up GrrAnimals. 

2. First things first.

Two days a week, I have 45 minutes at home to change clothes and get myself ready, and usually have a few minutes to play on my iPad. So, I've learned to come home and get completely ready, and then have my down time.

3. Trader Joe's trash bag

If cleanliness is next to godliness, then my car is the portal to hell. In the back seat of my car, I keep a paper Trader Joe's bag in the backseat where I can reach it. Any and all trash goes into that bag and I can use the handles to lift it out to dump out. Game changer. 

4. Half-empty water bottles that DON'T go in the Trader Joe's bag

When I'm done with practice, I haven't finished all of my water. Instead of throwing it out, I leave the water bottle in the trunk of my car with my gear. Next practice? I grab a water bottle, pour it out on the grass near the entrance, and fill it up at the water fountain. Saving my life $2.00 at a time...

5. Weekly outfits in advance

I've started picking out and separating out my outfits on Sunday when I work on my laundry, all the way down to underwear. It's a game changer, and I spend so much less time staring at my closet at 6am in the morning.

6. Political Guidelines for the Facebook

It's an easy equation... I'm conservative on what I post, and liberal on what I "unfollow." We can still be friends, but I cannot keep seeing your clickbait and fake news and Word p$rn. #eyeroll

7. That nifty Unsubscribe button

Best part of the iPhone update? The unsubscribe button. I've cleaned out more email that way than any other. It's glorious.

8. Cursing in my car

I have to deal with a bunch of little people all day and that means on the way to work and on the way home, I give myself the grace to say any and all curse words I feel like, no matter how little or big the need... It's a blood pressure changer...

9. Driving blankets

It's cold in the morning and my heat takes FOREVER to go on. And I don't have seat warmers. Blankets over my lap for the win.

10. What is one thing?

When I'm crazy and busy and slightly stressed (is there ever a time I'm not?), I ask myself what is one thing I can do now to help me feel better about what I've done today. It has a surprisingly calming effect on things.

Bonus: Clean the first thing you see.

This is not getting up and cleaning up the first thing I see right now... it's keeping clean the things I see first. I wake up and stumble to the bathroom- I keep that straightened up so I'm not met with clutter. The entryway is the first thing I see when I walk in... so I keep that table straightened up. The bar is the first thing I see en route to my kitchen, so I get that cleaned up...

What about you? What's giving you life right now?

Life Right Now

I would love to do one of the currently posts, or the present participle lists. But one thing I currently do not have is time... 

This little app is making my memory keeping fun right now. I capture one second of video a day, and it tells my story for the month, and eventually the year. I had grand ideas of what I was going to video each day... and then the days happen and I take what I can get and it is much more reflective of what is actually going on in my life. I also like the feature of the app where I can upload video of regular life that I took on a different day in case I forget one day. (Thus, the videos of Daisy snoring or just being generally cute... I keep a couple of those on hand.)

This is a weird time of year... the Christmas spirit has worn off, and it's typically a bleak time of year. I was all ready to snuggle into Hyggee, the practice of seeking comfort and such in the winter months. But it's Texas and Mother Nature didn't take her medicine and I wore a tank top today and had to take off my cardigan because I was hot.

It's also coming up on my 40th birthday, and that might be a smudge of what is making it weird.

2016: 'Bye Felicia

It's the eve of 2017, and in about two hours, I'm going to leave to go jump in the lake to wash off the shitstorm that was 2016.

Until then, I'm looking at 2016, and what was this year, the good, the bad, and the heartbreaking, but also roasting a pan of black-eyed peas, because this Southern girl doesn't take any chances.

The good:
- didn't die, and Daisy didn't die.
- went places, saw things, met people
- became a committed coach of my junior team
- school year ended and a good one started

The bad:
- rough end to a school year
- shaky beginning to a new school year
- dealing with sister getting married
- just the general tough stuff that comes with living a life that includes other people in it.

The heartbreaking:
- ending my "relationship" with Mike. That was hard, man. Really hard.
- ending my derby "relationship" with my league. I'm still trying to figure it out and find balance.
- a derby person's suicide a few days before Christmas. I'd worried about him all morning, and made plans to sit him down with coffee and try to help him figure some stuff out. Didn't get to do that.


Last year's intentions:

1. Go somewhere new: Houston. Kansas. Jupiter Beach. Norman.
2. Learn a new skill: Photoshop. Coaching.
3. Go on a date:  Though it wasn't intentionally romantic, Mike and I did go on a couple of really really good dates. We called them date nights, set them up in advance, and both cleaned up (which for the two of us is something).
4. Chase adventure: every chance I could.
5. Eat more real food: uh, yeah. Sure. Totally.
6. Learn from others: I think so, though I can't pinpoint the lessons right this second.
7. Buy less: uh... yes?
8. Make myself feel significant: Believe it or not, ending the relationship with Mike and ending the relationship with derby both filled this box.
9. Nurture important relationships: This was really what 2016 was all about.
10. Believe that anything is possible: somewhat. I did a lot of "would I have believed this was happening last year?"
11. Embrace simplicity: Still working on that.

2017.
I'm making no promises.
I'm holding on to little to no hopes.
I'm simply accepting it as it comes along.
With one little word.

LESS.

So there's that.

It's Saturday, but I slept in this morning until 8:30. And then laid on my couch until almost 11. 

I had practice, and until yesterday at lunch, I had planned on going to that this morning. 

But last night I sent an email to the board of directors of my league letting them know I'm done.

I'm not skating with my league anymore. 

I don't play roller derby anymore. 

I'm still coaching and skating with the juniors, and I love every minute of that. (Well, almost  every minute.) But I'm not part of my league anymore. They are struggling, so they've made some changes, and I don't fit in those changes. I've suspected it since about May, but they made it clear this week. 

And then they made one decision in particular that prompted me to send a (very grown up and eloquently-worded) email that essentially said "Bye, Felicia." 

So there's that. 

Since I last blogged (sorry about that), my sister got pregnant, got engaged again (to the same guy), lost the baby (which was a blessing), and got married. 

It was a lot to put together, process, and pull off (as well as pay for) in ten weeks. Thanks to some poorly-chosen high heels, I had to have my foot x-rayed and take some codeine. 

So there's that.

Oh... also... 

The boy{space}friend is no longer speaking to me.

He stopped answering my texts the first of July. He accidentally responded to a text I sent him last week, but when I realized he didn't know it was me, I said "I'll leave you alone if you wish" and he said "I'd appreciate that."

So there's that.

And then, to top it all off, I went to my parent's house for dinner tonight, and my mother asked me what I had rainbow laces on my skates, and was relieved to find out I'm not gay. 

But before I left she handed me two magazine articles to read when I got home- one about a magical weight loss plan and one about bariatric surgery. 

So there's that.

Week in the Life: Tuesday

Wednesdays are such CRAZY BUSY days that I didn't have time to post Tuesday's pictures.

I'm also playing with how to display/scrap all of the pictures. I don't necessarily want to do the natural M-T-W-TH-F-S-S setup. I think I'm going to stick with themes. Ideas I'm playing around with:
- routine
- family
- work
- home
- derby
- texts/messages
- ??

And, of course... a day in the life of Daisy...

Here's Tuesday:

Bed. To Do List. Bad Habit.
Laundry. News. Weather
Scrape. Slow. Classroom.

Week In The Life: Monday

This week, Ali Edwards is documenting Week in the Life, and since I haven't done anything creative or scrapbook-y in forever, I'm going along for the ride.

Here's my Monday... I'll be scrapping it in my Messy Book, but I'm not sure of some of the details yet.

1. Bored after the test. 

2. My STAAR wars shirt. (Why did I even take this bathroom selfie?) 

3. Me heading off to coach the littles in the derby.

1. Lunch

2. The crazy pile of papers on my desk

3. A day of testing

1. The local tv station said the weather was indicating that the sky would be falling shortly.

2. Maps seemed to back up this forecast.

3. Coaching the littles. Barely a cloud in sight. 

1. Sleeping beauty

2. The view from my parking spot

3. Texting with the work buff

Favorite moment: 

After coaching the littles, ran by the boy's house 

and we went and sat outside 

and had tacos and listened to some guy play his guitar.

"Play" is used very loosely.

Here's The Story:

After a month of not speaking, I had some pretty harsh words and several head thumps for the boy {space} friend. And we talked it out and had been working on our friendship since then (end of March). But then I was out of pocket (babysitting, running to San Antonio for a quick derby trip, babysitting), and we didn't see each other for more than a few minutes for about three weeks. And during this all, I've been going through some tough stuff at work, and he's been a good friend to lean on, so when I got back and finally had a night "off", we had a little date night to reconnect. 

And since then (you know... Saturday), the {space} is closing.

And it's weird. And I'm trying to figure out how to navigate it.

And that's one of the reasons I'm documenting this week.