tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6628550164474266102024-03-13T02:57:19.345-04:00My Blog My Lifejust a blog. about my life.*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.comBlogger1235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-12665605046570070172018-09-30T09:00:00.000-04:002018-10-01T09:20:04.280-04:00Bookish and Not So Bookish Thoughts<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'm a few days late, but here is my </span><a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #e0d44a; text-decoration-line: none;">Bookish & Not-So-Bookish</a><span style="background-color: white;"> post!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. August and September have raked me through the coals. I haven’t felt so negative about life in a long time. When I really get going on my pity party, I can truly say I have nothing good going on or to look forward to. I know that’s not entirely true, but when you feel unloved/unwanted, your job is less than good right now, you can’t run because your legs are SO messed up and feeling worse instead of better and every day is pretty much the same boring, work, home, dinner, clean, repeat. I’m just tired of not having some “happy” in my life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. So I think I mentioned the past couple months have definitely not been the greatest in my life...this week was no exception as I nearly broke down on the treadmill on Wednesday night. My legs do not seem to be getting better and I was only able to run 2 miles, with pain the entire time. I have a 15k race in 2 weeks and I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up the shirt and not running. The most frustrating part of all of this is that even though I had pain before, I could run and the pain came afterwards...now I have pain in my left leg, while running which ultimately prevents me from running of course. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. I really want to go see Chris Young in concert on Nov 29. The problem...I have no one to go with of course...was hoping to go with Mr. Not-So-Wonderful but that’s certainly not happening now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. Started reading this. I really need to give less fucks...about a lot of stuff (and people)...so this is the perfect book for me. I just need the quiet time to sit and soak it all in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. Start the countdown for FL...cannot wait to get away. 9 more days! Woot!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6. The TV shows are off the chain this Fall...I may have to commit to more than my usual 2-3 shows. I'm already on board with This is Us and The Voice...but whoa - Manifest....amazing...and I also enjoyed A Million Little Things...nothing like seeing a bunch of 40ish yo men "in touch" with their feelings...shit, that never happens so it's nice to see it on TV...maybe some of the single manbabies out there will learn a thing or two. No, I'm not bitter or anything LOL.</span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-88004961927411082722018-09-25T20:05:00.002-04:002018-09-25T20:06:21.553-04:00wishful thinking<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">a short list of things i'm wishing for - while also NOT wanting to wish for, because i'm so tired of being let down...who knew being hopeful was such a detriment to one's happiness...this is where I think it pays off to be either a realist or a pessimist...why expect things to go well...because when you have expectations, things end up falling apart and going horribly...at least for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">so from now on, i expect & hope for nothing and that way if/when things work out, i'll be pleasantly surprised.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I know I said I am taking a guy's approach to dating, and that is still my plan, but I am also finding that most (almost all) guys on the stupid dating apps are after only one thing...and that's not exactly the approach I want to take. Ugh!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>So my wishes (not expectations) are:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-go on a date to Dollywood...I guess over the years I forgot how much MORE fun an amusement park is when you're there with someone you like/love...my ex didn't do rollercoasters and therefore never went to Dollywood with me. We did go to Cedar Point a few years ago, but he doesn't enjoy the rides & is impatient in lines, so let's just say it wasn't as fun as it could have been.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-having someone special in my life come Christmas - for many reasons, but one is that I'd really like to go to Biltmore Estate to see their Christmas lights. I've lived 1 hour away from Biltmore for 12 years and I've never been. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">They are supposed to be amazing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-having someone to kiss on New Year's Eve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-i'd really like to feel wanted/needed/valued by someone...i felt wanted by Mr. Not-So-Wonderful but maybe I'm an idiot & he had me fooled all along, but it sure felt good to get his "how was your day?" texts every day and chat on the phone every night. I miss that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-take a road trip to Nashville to check out the many wonderful restaurants as well as listen to live country music in as many of the bars as possible. Good times!</span></div>
*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-2029736028187807102018-09-19T07:00:00.000-04:002018-09-19T07:00:01.675-04:00Bookish & Not So Bookish Thoughts<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Look at me....trying to blog twice in the same month....miracles do happen. I anticipate this being a "book-heavy" post and therefore it will also be a <a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.com/">Bookish & Not-So-Bookish</a> post.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. I've never been successful with audio books - when they are novels, but low and behold, I am more successful (with paying attention) when they are informational/self help type books. A friend recommended Creating Magic by Lee Cockerell (former Disney CEO) recently - a book on leadership, and having just moved into a Supervisor role at work, I figure there is a lot I can learn from the book. I'm about 1/2 way through it and not only do I like it, but he's definitely made some great points.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. On a not so bright note...I find that I still have some low moments and maybe a tear or two here and there over Mr. (Not-So) Wonderful. I guess what bothers me most, well, there are 2 things actually...the suddenness of it -everything was fine, and I mean totally fine - great conversations the week everything fell apart, even what you would consider "deeper" conversation...,like who does that if they are planning to break up...which is why I still don't "buy" his reason(s)...yes reasonS because he kept changing them during our phone call...which only tells me he really wasn't sure with what he was doing. He even said he wasn't planning on it when he called...what? So that's the 2nd part that bothers me...never really knowing what was/is going on with him. Pretty sure I've since pissed him off by my reaction to his "out-of-the-blue-dumping" me so I doubt I'll ever hear from him again. What is most frustrating is that I liked him so much that I'm having a hard time remembering HE ROYALLY EFFED up and dumped me <b>ON MY BIRTHDAY WEEKEND</b> after saying we were going out to celebrate my birthday that weekend. This was so unexpected too as I really believed he was a good (great) person...now I'm not sure which is the real him...the one I knew for 6 weeks or the one I talked/texted with the last 2 days...who was mean and cold. I really need to just forget him - too bad that seems to be next to impossible for me right now...so I at least need someone to come along and distract me from him. I don't want to think about him anymore...it's too painful. Going forward, I'm taking a "man's approach" to dating for now...no emotional investment...no hopes that it'll work out & overall, just not caring...just looking at it as fun and a free dinner or drinks....totally not the real me...but it's the only way I know how to protect my heart. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. Back to reading...easier topic...same complaint though - so much to read, so little time...I'm reading The Blinds, which was a BOTM book ages ago. I started taking it to the pool over the summer since I can't see my iPad at the pool. I'm only about 30% done with that one. I have been reading The Invisible Bridge for what seems like eons as well...probably started it in January...it's too long but I'm so far in, I can't give up and just need to finish it. I think it's around 700 pgs....I'm almost to 500 I think. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. I recently purchased Daring Greatly & Rising Strong by Brene Brown. I have been "on the fence" with her for a few years after reading The Gifts of Imperfection and not thinking it was "all that" but I'm gonna give her a try again. I've also pre-ordered her new book that comes out in October calling "Dare to Lead"...which should be really good, again for my new "leadership" role at work. Yay!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">5. Confirmed travel to FL for Fall Break and couldn't be happier. Woohoo! I am so glad it worked out and I cannot wait to get away (from real life). Haven't been to the beach all year so it's a much needed getaway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6. Fitting with the rest of my life lately...my MUD "hope" bracelet broke last night...kinda symbolic...no hope/loss of hope....etc...LOL...at least I can laugh about it a bit. On the brighter side, I ordered a replacement already.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">7. I'm back in physical therapy for my hamstring(s)/legs...after my MRI, my orthopedic doc sent me to a different PT guy who seems to be much more advanced than where I was going. This guy specializes in working with athletes so I'm super stoked about that. Turns out that the root problem is in my pelvic bones and the fact that they move and they shouldn't!!! Ack!! As a result, it appears one leg is slightly longer but only due to the bone position. We are working on getting the bones back in place (!!!) and then will work on strengthening the legs & core which will eventually help offload some of the work from the hamstrings. I have so many exercises to do now, it's like having a second job.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">8. I've never been a big TV watcher, but I did watch the Jack Ryan series on Amazon Prime...it was pretty good and hopefully they'll do another season. I then started watching Goliath with Billy Bob Thornton...and it's ok. Then recently I caved and upgraded my HULU to include the local live channels...definitely enjoying that right now and it's still not as expensive as cable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">9. Lastly, after much thought & debate, I added my extra bedroom to AirBNB...and in less than 24 hours, I had 3 nights reserved and now have 4. Pretty excited about making some extra money and I really hope it takes off and more reservations come in. One lady who booked one night so far says she will likely book quite a few more as she will be coming out to work on the hurricane damages once it's completely passed and she can travel to that area.</span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-75045211049930882492018-09-09T18:25:00.001-04:002018-09-09T18:27:06.728-04:00Update<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It seems all my posts can be called "update" now because I only make it over here about once every 4-5 months lately.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is sort of a "Bookish and Not So Bookish Thoughts" post as well...I really enjoyed the weekly posts but along with a lot of life, I fell off the bandwagon on this one quite a while ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1) As always, there are so many books I want to read or am currently reading...I am making my way through Emotional Intelligence 2.0. I took the 1st test and scored 87% overall. I'm riding the wave of "self-help" books so I have also purchased Brene Brown's "Daring Greatly" and "Rising Strong"...I had huge plans to get tons of reading done this weekend, but when I got home from my half marathon Saturday afternoon, I was exhausted and spent some quality time with the couch instead. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2) I recently got a promotion at work, which is a good thing, but it's made the work days pretty damn crazy. It's a combination of a few other things going on at work as well....it won't always be so crazy but for now, it's "off the chain" and a bit more harried than I would like it. I look forward to the end of each workday more now than ever. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3) To add to the shitstorm that is my life, the wonderful guy I met on July 4th and spent 6 weeks with, decided to end things 2 days after my birthday BY TELEPHONE after saying he wanted to take me out to celebrate on the weekend for my birthday and having many other sweet conversations during the week prior. Yeah - talk about being blindsided. We had no issues/problems/fights etc - we were quite well matched IMO and had a lot of fun together. I remain confused, angry and sad about the whole thing still today, 2 weeks later, not to mention heartbroken, but I'm trying really hard to remember WHAT A SHIT MOVE he made by blowing me off the entire weekend AND while it was my birthday as well. That's pretty damn crappy. The person who dumped me was so different from the person I knew for 6 weeks prior, so I'm not sure what is going on there, but I guess it's his problem. The worst part, I really liked him. And I miss him. :(</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4) Back to running, yesterday I ran my 11th half marathon...and 1st since April 2017. I was training like a crazy woman this year until late June when my legs really started to give me problems. First it was the right hamstring, an issue from 3 years ago that resurfaced. Then the left left started to give me problems, more along the outer edge - hip, IT band area, not sure really. I finally had an MRI done and both hamstrings have small tears and frays, which are typical for a runner due to overuse. Well, great....that totally sucks, because the amount of pain from each is ridiculous. I had 17 days of rest prior to my half marathon and almost immediately the left leg started to hurt when I started running. There was also a 5k the night before, so I ran that on Friday night and then the 1/2 on Saturday. I even struggled through the 5k, which makes me furious as I ran my all time best 5k on May 5th this year coming in under 30 minutes...a goal I am super proud of, but now frustrated as I feel like I've gone backwards. Ugh!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5) Some positive news...working on a beach trip to FL for Fall Break. I sure hope it works out. I can certainly use the getaway. Never saw the beach this summer, primarily due to becoming a single mom, buying a house and moving. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6) Being alone by choice is wonderful. Being alone without choice sucks. I can only distract myself so much. My heart hurts and I hate it. I can honestly say (1) this has never happened to me and (2) I've never felt like this before. </span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-89825169727463892182018-05-31T07:30:00.000-04:002018-05-31T15:19:03.804-04:00Dating in my 40s<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While I'm looking forward to eventually meeting someone, there have been MANY days when I'm completely disappointed, disgusted or just plain hopeless that it will ever happen...and I get that it's not been that long but the things I have experienced already are just ridiculous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*the guy who flirts & pursues me but turns out to be living with someone, someone he said he was working on leaving...now 9 months later, guess what....he's still living there!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*the bazillion boneheads on Bumble who (1) don't respond AFTER they have "swiped right" thereby expressing interest and/or all the others who can't bother to put up a decent picture or even write a couple lines about themself, you know, a profile. *sigh*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*then there's the guy who CLEARLY makes eye contact w/me at a recent sporting event, multiple times, let me add...then tells a mutual friend he is only "casually dating"....yet I discover he has been dating someone for 1 year. Seriously, DO NOT EVEN LOOK AT ME IF YOU ARE NOT 100% AVAILABLE.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*lastly there is the guy that I went to dinner with last week but there was no "spark" for me....apparently for him there was a shit ton of fireworks *of course* and so I finally told him I didn't want to pursue anything with him and he then suggested being friends w/benefits....OMG...this is what is out there?!?! Dare I mention that I am 98% sure I saw his truck in my neighborhood early this morning while I was out running? Oh crap!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*Guys are jerks and right now I hate them all. </span><br />
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<br />*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-37569703549995351522018-04-30T07:00:00.000-04:002018-04-30T19:59:43.180-04:00Update - And longest blog post ever! <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Consider yourself warned as this post is selfishly for me to get things off my chest...I've talked to friends, family & even a counselor and am now at a point where none of that seems to help me feel better and so "getting it down on paper" is my next option. I don't want to wear out my friends any more than I already have.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This will be long. Read if you want. Don't read if you don't want to. I'm good either way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So I guess to start, my lack of blogging is due to the fact that I've had <b>significant</b> life changes beginning last Fall and (sorta) "ending" last month - though not completely ending. Here's an easy timeline that lays everything out and if I ever want to reference it, at least it will be here for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Sep 2017</b> - discovered MANY pieces of proof of O cheating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Nov 2017</b> - told O I wanted to divorce and reasons why (above & then some). We later decide to get through holidays first and talk about filing in Jan 2018.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Later Nov 2017 </b>- O says he's going to job site in KY on Sunday nights to get ready for week, but turns out he's shacking up at his 27yo girlfriend's apartment. Not only did he lie to me about this, but also to our 10yo son. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Dec 17, 2017</b> - I obtained pictures of his truck outside her apt and filed for divorce on Dec 20. Felt happy & relieved as I knew I could move forward with filing with NO guilt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Dec 2017</b> - he continues to stay with gf, but now also through the week while E and I remain in the house. I'm glad he was not around, but also disgusted & disappointed with the pathetic example he set and continues to set for E. He is so ridiculously selfish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Late Jan 2018 </b>- sold the house.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Feb 2018</b> - longest month in the history of ever. Counting down the 90 day waiting period for my divorce to be final. Miserable most of this month awaiting "closure". </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Through all of this, I am thankful that I was no longer "in love" with him and therefore had NO heartache over all this...a lot of anger...but no heartache.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>March 2, 2018</b> - E and I moved in with a friend/former neighbor. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>March 2, 2018</b> - "discovered" a house for sale by owner on same street of our 1st house and 5 houses down from friend/former neighbor...priced a bit high, but I decide to pursue it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>March 4, 2018 </b>- look at the house down the street, LOVED it & put in an offer. After some back/forth and another $5k, they accept my offer. Market is horrible here for small houses, in that they go quickly & there is a lot of competition for them, so I'm relieved to have found something in a good area and where E is familiar and will not have to change schools. Now commence the stress of making a house payment larger than what I had hoped for. Ugh!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>March 8, 2018</b> - O ended up buying a condo in a town 30 minutes away. His g/f moves in with him which is COMPLETELY against the Parenting Plan. I actually didn't discover this until March 18 (see below).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>March 9, 2018</b> - closed on house. Oddly this caused me many tears, though I was not at all attached to the house. We lived there only 10 months....which was infuriating (and embarrassing at the closing IMO) - having to move again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>March 18, 2018</b> - Ethan spends the day with O since he missed the weekend prior due to us being in FL. Ethan returns home at the end of the day to tell me that O's g/f "coincidentally" showed up at the go kart track they went to....in a town where there are 30+ go kart tracks. Furious doesn't begin to explain my feelings. I can't even say anything to O about it because he's such an asshole that he tells E that he is a "snitch"...what a great dad, huh? I don't do well holding on to anger and it was nearly killing me not being able to unleash some really foul language on O.<b> </b>I even told O prior to the divorce being final that I would NOT tolerate this & would report him for contempt of court and in true O-fashion, he ignores it as he thinks he is above the law and does as he pleases. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>March 19, 2018</b> - contacted my lawyer about O breaking the parenting plan. The plan states that NO romantic partners are to be introduced to E until 6 months after divorce is final & no overnight guests of the opposite sex either. That 6 month date is September 21, 2018. O even told E that the g/f would be staying with him and will be there on weekends when E is with him. My blood was boiling. Lawyer never returns my call.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>March 20, 2018</b> - divorce is final. I could not be happier. Glad to be FREE. Never realized how much O "kept me from". Looking forward to a happier future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Late March 2018 </b>- drama about O and the g/f continue & I contact lawyer again. Finally have a date/time for discussion about filing Contempt of Court against him. Turns out it's a complete waste of time & energy to even have that 6 month clause in the parenting plan because it would cost me $$$ to take him to court and then by the time we'd get into court, the 6 month window will have passed and it's a moot point. There are also potential repercussions to think about, financial & emotional (for E). Additionally, the damage is already done. E has met her etc. They are doing the whole "disney dad" thing, buying everything that Ethan asks for and taking him to places like Main Event, Jump Jam, Go Karts etc. We did these things while married, but not every weekend. Can you say "manipulation"? Turns out the divorce drama is SO MUCH MORE AFTER the divorce is final vs. as when it was going on. What's the point then in even having this in divorce paperwork?!? It's pretty standard...but pointless. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>April 2018 - </b>this is the month of drama....NONE caused by me, I swear. O decides he wants to hold onto my step sister and her family for his own. Honestly, I'm not that close with them, but I also have boundaries and feel he is way out of line. I am not seeking to stay in touch with ANY of his family. In fact, I even honored his wishes of NOT telling his mother for months that we were divorcing because he didn't want to upset her until the last minute I guess. He has gone so far as to Facebook with these family members and say unkind things about me. THEN it turns out that my (evil?) step sister replies and says how she never felt like I thought they were my equals, as in, I thought less of them etc. She also told him they do not believe that he cheated and the things that I told her he did. Wow - seriously! To add to this, just over a year ago, my dad moved up to VA and lives next door to her. Now, while he is my stepdad, he did raise me, but I'm pretty close to cutting him off at this point because he says he is going to be neutral (for now). Well, I won't be going up there to see him EVER so what's the point in being neutral. O wants to take E up there to visit them, because he has always liked it up there, but still, just so wrong. And honestly, why does he have to say crappy things about me, I wouldn't be as angry w/him if he left that part out. Good grief...it was an "agreed divorce" - why all the hate now? He is so two-faced it's not even funny. So I have cut all of them off of my Facebook except for my dad, but when I post, I often block him from the post(s)...so I'm sure it's just a matter of time. *eyeroll*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Another Chapter</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As if there needed to be more...over the past few months, I met & have been communicating with a person we will call "S" - (because that's what his name starts with)...he began to pursue me a few months ago with some friendly texting & hopeful words about an eventual future together and it completely caught me off guard. Not something that has typically happened to me in my life. Unfortunately, he is in a similar situation to mine for the most part, but now that we are nearly in May, my situation is complete and he's still "stuck" in his (he's not married). To be completely honest, this situation/relationship (?) has been more heartache-inducing for me than the whole stupid divorce...speaks volumes huh? I'm finding that I'm pretty "head over heels" for him...crazy I know...but it's how I feel. I don't remember ever feeling so "into" someone like this or "excited" to see or talk to someone as I do with him. I really wish I didn't feel this way because then the heartache would also be less. It's been a roller coaster of emotions and on/off communication with him for months now. It's not a re-bound. There have been times when I maybe should have just said "forget this" and "walked away" but I simply can't...nor do I want to. Deep down I feel like we would be awesome together, if we can just get there. There have also been numerous obstacles along the way and so I hold on to that whole belief that <i><b>anything worth having is worth the work</b></i>. We made some good "progress" recently with some communication but he prefers/finds it easier (?) to have limited communication until his situation is cleared up and while <b>I KNOW</b> that is for the best, at the end of the day it's just hard. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In our most recent conversation, he mentioned that it is his fault for pursuing me when he cannot give himself to me 100%, recognizing that I deserve better and that he was raised to be a gentleman and in trying to be one, we have little to no communication recently with the hopes that he gets his s*** together soon. The obstacles are legit but frustrating at the same time. In order to not feel miserable, I tend to focus on all the sweet things he has said as well as some of the very personal things he has shared with me that I believe would not be shared with "<i>just anyone</i>"...so when I recall these memories, I feel good about us, but when I verbally share them with someone (which I've stopped doing), they tend to not sound as good and as if I'm just hanging around WAITING for him. I basically am, by my choice. He did say to me "<i><b>I want to tell you to wait, but it's not fair</b></i>"...so the fact that he acknowledged it is something. I really have ZERO interest in "trying to find" anyone else right now-it's such a pain/hassle (keep reading)...again, maybe that's stupid on my part, but this is where I am. In fact, just typing this out brings tears to my eyes...I am sad, hurt, lonely and often feel unworthy of him or anyone. Sometimes even thinking "does he *really* want to be with me?" I was encouraged by a friend to get on Bumble a while back, so I did and what a joke that was...I definitely don't need any help LOWERING my self-confidence and that's exactly what that did....seriously no one swipes right (likes) on me & then the few that do are old and gross or live 1 hour or more away and though they swiped right, they then say it's too far away. Seriously! Over it. I even had one loser unmatch me after I said that I have my 10yo son MOST of the time....thankful to not have that jerk in my life. I tried to get back on there today & just felt disgusted with the whole thing, the process, the energy, it's simply NOT what I want to do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the end, I think I get really "hung up" on </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">injustice</b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (that's always been hard for me) in that O has broken <b>ALL</b> the rules along the way and yet has ended up with everything he wants EASILY...while I have done "what I am supposed</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> to do" and end up with nothing and feeling very sad & empty on a regular basis. I hate to even admit that I feel lonely, but I think I do. I was looking forward to my weekends alone when E is with his dad, but this next one coming up has me worried. I will be running a 5k so thank goodness that will take up some time and my Handy Man is coming over for a few hours to help get my house in order, but after that...I'm worried. And at the end of the day, I can fill my hours/days/weeks with things to do, but I still think about S and wanting to be with him. It's just so hard & I hate feeling this way. </span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-41649702721501993662017-10-23T06:00:00.000-04:002017-10-23T15:50:08.829-04:00Catching up...<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hello!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I've been a bit MIA lately...for a variety of reasons and while I have caught myself with a bit of "down time" - i thought it was a great opportunity to blog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ethan, my mom and I did enjoy a fall break trip, though the destination changed and we shortened it by one day. Because of the storm that was coming into Panama City Beach, we ended up going to Savannah, GA. We had only a little bit of rain there and it didn't hinder our plans, so all was good. We toured the city "up and down" it seems. We love the trolley tour they offer throughout the day and learned A LOT about the city. Ethan requested a Ghost Tour so we did that one evening and while fun, it was less than "stellar" as we didn't see ANYTHING ghost-like...no orbs, nothing. Bummer!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We did head out to Tybee Island one day to check it out and since the forecast wasn't so great for the beach, we didn't bother with our beach wear. Of course, as my luck would have it, it was beautiful so we camped out there for about an hour when at which point we could no longer tolerate the stifling humidity and heat. The (not-so) highlight of the trip was the $35 parking ticket I got while we were there. OK - in my defense, there was NO meter within short sight of where we parked...apparently they use those electronic meters that are set up every 10 car lengths or so. You pay, get your receipt and put it on your dashboard. #lessonlearned #thehardway</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On our last day, we ventured over to Hilton Head and had a wonderful day at the beach...we spent a luxurious 4 hours there, with almost the entire beach to ourselves. We then enjoyed a great dinner at <a href="http://thecrazycrab.com/">The Crazy Crab</a>, where Ethan and I picked up matching shirts!! :) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For being on vacation, Ethan had more than his share of whiny/crabby moments of which drove me absolutely nuts. I swear 9 is 1000x more difficult than 4yo. He was so much more easy going back then (or didn't care). I've tried a variety of things in an attempt to curb his whinyness, but none seem to be working all that well. One morning last week, he woke for school and asked if I had my work computer at home, so he could stay home....um, what? No, you need to go to school...so when he didn't quit whining, I told him he lost the ipad for the day, which only caused MORE whining!!! Seriously! He's going to drive me to drink. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I've been slowly making my way through a few different books, but I will admit, my desire to read lately has been quite lacking....not entirely sure why.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Work has been very busy and I've been dealing with some other life drama stuff, which has kept me from blogging...so hopefully I'll be able to get back in the swing of things soon.</span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-12383345079678890312017-09-27T18:00:00.000-04:002017-09-27T18:00:51.939-04:00Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by </span><a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #e0d44a; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px; text-decoration-line: none;">Bookishly Boisterous</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************</span><br />
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<img alt="Bossypants by [Fey, Tina]" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Q8HMpHFTL.jpg" width="206" /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">1) I'm currently reading Bossypants. I wasn't initially interested in reading it, though I thoroughly enjoyed Amy Poehler's "Yes Please" and while Bossypants is fairly enjoyable, I remember laughing a lot more while reading "Yes Please". To add to that, they are both rather similar, to the point where I sometimes think I'm reading Amy's book, vs. Tina's.</span><br />
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<img alt="Product Details" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51-60r+tZBL._AC_US218_.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">2) I'm also reading "And We're Off" which I received through the Book of the Month club a few months ago. It's an enjoyable book, but since it's a "real" book vs. e-book, I have limited opportunities to read it. Most of my reading is done in bed at night (with lights off) so I'm on my iPad. We have been enjoying some late summer weather and had some pool time on Sunday where I was able to enjoy a "real" book. If I don't finish it soon, I'll take it along to the beach for Fall Break in just 2 weeks. Woohoo!!</span><br />
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<img alt="Distressed Graywashed Round Accent Table" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEj3YnT6etvDjoAvFDL6VMUDsgfADg85yxCY52kAVC_4DHIcKb1tDJ44AXP6xi0y7vwOt8fFIaliu2-1E0yrrfMAhfHGZaJDDOqCiPwxBy5HPh0rZ_xgjrPQX9a25iDgRV0XBX7L0B1P0OqN5OTjkQ6j21su1ZmovVjZ1QWZ3HHzy-PR_AqNibSfBqo_i4fOykAD3SwQn06ya3M5Rrx9XKBU9JE-KMNMM7qPdGLG=s0-d-e1-ft" width="267" /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">3) I'm in love with this table for my home library! </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">4) I've been having a lot of "is this all?" type thoughts lately...meaning, is this all my life is going to be? going to work in a cubicle in a corporate setting, racing home, taking E to his after school activities, racing back home and getting ready for the next day??? I just feel like there should be more to it than this, don't get me wrong, I don't want to be CEO or anything like that, but I feel like there's something bigger out there for me, but it continues to escape me. this is a super frustrating feeling. I love spending time with Ethan of course, but it constantly feels like it's not enough time and the time we have is spent rushing from one place to another. then there is the whole piece of "me-time" of which I have none, but I can leave that on the back burner for now, as I have for quite a few years now anyway. i also find myself longing to be an "expert" in something...I don't even know what that thing would be, but i feel like I only know a little about this and that, but not a lot about anything and that bothers me. is this what they would call a mid-life crisis? is this normal? have you ever felt this way?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">5) On the brighter side, 7 more work days until some quality beach time with my mom and E. Good times.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">6) We had a major air conditioning issue at our house over the past two weeks. talk about "freak accident"...we hung a few things on the living room wall and it is believed that in that process we hit the copper pipe to the AC which essentially "broke" the AC for upstairs. did I mention the unusually warm weather we have been having the past 10 days? it's been fun. our choices were to knock out the wall and find the hole/broken pipe, then have the AC company repair it and recharge the AC. We would repair the wall. this was also the (much) cheaper option. on saturday afternoon, when we were supossed to begin this crazy project, my husband decided that he just did not feel confident (or energetic) enough to deal with the wall issue and instead we went for the (unfortunately) more expensive option of running the pipe outside the house. the project was completed yesterday and while it's nice to have the AC back, i realized that i also enjoyed sleeping with the windows open and warmer air. it was freakishly quiet in the house when i went to bed last night. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">7) This Friday I will have the <a href="https://www.spine-health.com/treatment/injections/radiofrequency-neurotomy-facet-and-sacroiliac-joint-pain">RF Ablation</a> done...I'm both excited and a bit freaked out. Thankful that I will be put into "twilight" status. lol!</span><br />
<img alt="Image result for handmaid's tale" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzEzNTIzMDk2OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjIzODQxMjI@._V1_UX182_CR0,0,182,268_AL_.jpg" /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">8) I caved to the pressure and hype of The Handmaid's Tale and watched the whole 1st Season on Hulu last week. Around episode 8/9 I wasn't planning to continue with season 2, but then when I watched episode 10, I changed my mind. Whoa! Gonna be good!</span><br />
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<img alt="Image result for mindy project" height="150" src="https://ib1.hulu.com/show_key_art/11248?size=1600x600&region=US" width="400" /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">9) Speaking of Hulu....the only reason I signed up for it in the first place was to watch The Mindy Project. I absolutely love her and the show...ok and I definitely loved Danny. I can't wait to see what happens during this last season. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't care who her baby daddy is...the fact that she isn't saying makes it that more intriguing. I secretly hope it's BJ Novak. They'd be so cute together. </span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-49628254980479974482017-09-18T06:00:00.000-04:002017-09-18T08:48:41.542-04:00*the struggle is real*<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img alt="Image result for lower right side back pain image" src="http://img.aws.livestrongcdn.com/ls-article-image-400/cpi.studiod.com/www_livestrong_com/photos.demandstudios.com/getty/article/142/178/87791434_XS.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">my life, these days, revolves around back pain and little else.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">it's sad and yet amazing how back pain can control every single thing you do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the 3rd injection was less than successful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">i've gone for a 2nd opinion. the news was not good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">there is only 1 thing left to be done before surgery - an RF ablation AKA burning the nerves that send the pain signals to my brain. sounds awesome huh?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">i'm NOT at all willing to do surgery at this point...despite the insane level of pain i've been experiencing lately. (this weekend was near torture)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the surgeon told me the surgery would include screws and rods in my back! what? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">i'm 46 yrs old. i can't believe i'm in need of such a procedure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">i'm beyond depressed about this and am wondering when/where the full blown melt down will occur.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">i think it almost occured this morning when i put a top on that i hadn't worn since last summer...and it's much tighter than it was. the weight gain piece of all of this has me completely devastated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">i worked SO hard to lose weight and do as much running as I did last year...and now, its all for nothing. i'm up 10-12lbs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">we had biometric screenings at work last week & I already got my results. of course they are much worse than last year. as if that's a surprise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">this may be extreme, but i do feel like "nothing" is going right for me these days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">i can barely stand up in the kitchen long enough to do the dishes or bake some brownies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">should i be thankful i do not have a job that forces me to stand for long lengths of time? ugh.</span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-56509404891292437642017-08-31T06:00:00.000-04:002017-08-31T13:39:00.595-04:00Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by </span><a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #e0d44a; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px; text-decoration-line: none;">Bookishly Boisterous</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span>
<img height="210" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/misc/1503944357-1503944357_goodreads_misc.png" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">1) I love <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/1011-hide-a-book-with-goodreads">this idea</a>! Hide a Book on September 18. I know it's been done quite a bit in the UK, particularly by Emma Watson, but I'm really hoping it picks up here in the US. I'm planning to hide a few copies of (one of) my favorite books. While I'd like to buy the stickers, I think I'll make my own and save my pounds (dollars) for something else. :)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">2) Looking forward to the 3 day weekend. Who doesn't look forward to an extra day off? Taking a mini road trip up to VA to see my dad.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">3) I'm still "on the fence" with following through on being a Lyft driver. I've heard SO many stories of how much $$$ people have made and I love the flexibility...but as a female, I'm also a bit frightened. Oh and then there's the part where my husband doesn't want me to do this at all (for safety issues). Ugh! It just seems like it's the only (relatively well paying) part time job that would really work for me and not make me feel like a (broke) loser. Your input welcome! :) I just really want to pay down debt and increase my savings....after 6 years in a private school (and making VERY little money), I'm trying to make up some ground. *sigh*</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">*ETA - the more I read #3, the more I am "accepting" that it's probably just not a good idea. :(</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">4) I had a great time last weekend at the scrapbooking crop with my mom. Despite many many hours of (nearly) uninterrupted crafting, I remain quite behind...though I was able to fully complete my Week in the Life album from cover to cover. So excited about that. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">5) It seems whenever I return from one of these scrapbooking events, it is days, if not weeks, before I get back to scrapbooking. I'm happy to report that I actually jumped right in on Tuesday night to get a couple things done...of course, I stayed up too late and paid for it on Wednesday morning. Ha!</span></span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-42627765093848597892017-08-24T06:00:00.001-04:002017-08-24T08:34:17.486-04:00Bookish & Not-So-Bookish Thoughts<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=662855016447426610" imageanchor="1" style="cursor: move;"></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by </span><a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #e0d44a; font-size: 14.3px; text-decoration-line: none;">Bookishly Boisterous</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1) Found another good podcast! I have become a bit addicted to <a href="http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/">The Vanished</a>!! Each podcast is a story about someone who has gone missing and has still not been found. Pretty interesting.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=662855016447426610" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=662855016447426610" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=662855016447426610" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">2) Commence the countdown to Fall Break...my, Ethan and my mom are going to Panama City Beach, FL. I haven't been there for 25 years, so I'm pretty excited to go back since it's much more developed now. I'm also really excited to be going somewhere different/new. I need to investigate all the activities available there so we can determine what we should do. So excited!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3) Ethan & I enjoyed the <a href="https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/">Great American Solar Eclipse</a> from our friend's farm in Greenback, TN...in the path of Totality and it was totality awesome! :) Schools were closed here because of the timing of the eclipse as it would occur during dismissal, which means it would have been dark...then there's the whole "once in a lifetime" thing too. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4) On that note, I couldn't believe the craze on eclipse glasses. It was like Cabbage Patch kids all over again. Thankfully we had our glasses for a while and were ready to view.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">5) In addition to being off this past Monday, I was also off on Friday (Yay! 4 day weekend) to take Oscar to have 2 wisdom teeth pulled (the anesthesia was hilarious) and then I enjoyed (not) yet one more back injection at 1pm. As suspected, it seems it was a complete waste of money since I have only had about 1-2 days of "relief". The doctor seemed to think it could help....or maybe he just wanted the $. (They are billing the insurance $1000+ for each injection). I have decided to move forward on a 2nd opinion since only 3 days after this last injection, I had pain equal to before every having seen him. #fail</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">6) I've had a lot of days off in August...and tomorrow is another day off. I'm excited to go on a scrapbook "retreat" with my mom this weekend. We will be at a local hotel, but it's so much fun to scrapbook from morning til really late at night. I hope to make some mega progress since the whole house painting and move completely derailed my scrapbooking progress.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">7) September will be rough as I have NO days off scheduled. Oof. Add to that a co-worker has quit and will be leaving early September, leaving only 3 people on our team....down from 5 just two months ago. This should be interesting. </span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-81964772768714749152017-08-23T07:00:00.000-04:002017-08-23T10:17:49.919-04:00Another Year Older<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>*disclaimer: this post is more for my memory in looking back years from now to recall what was happening in my life at this time. you may find it rather boring. consider yourself warned. :)</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/assets_c/2014/11/BakedOccasions_BirthdayCake-thumb-1500xauto-414365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for birthday cake images" border="0" height="240" src="http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/assets_c/2014/11/BakedOccasions_BirthdayCake-thumb-1500xauto-414365.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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*i turn 46 today.<br />
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*i bought my first pair of readers last night. much needed.<br />
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*i'm getting my teeth cleaned today...because I know how to celebrate a birthday! ugh!<br />
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*looking forward to dinner @ chez guevara tonight with ethan, mom & dave.<br />
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*we are living in our 3rd home together.<br />
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*i am not loving my job (no surprise there).<br />
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*i've been struggling with some significant back pain for about 1 year now.<br />
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*i still wonder "what if" to having made other choices earlier in life. this will probably never stop.<br />
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*i love scrapbooking, specifically "project life" but struggle to find the time to do it.<br />
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*i love reading, but like scrapbooking, struggle to find the time for it. usually in bed at night or while i'm walking/running on the treadmill.<br />
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*i'm going on a scrapbooking weekend with mom starting on friday and cannot wait. these are always so much fun and i'm glad we've made it sort of a tradition. this is our 4th "retreat" - to a local knoxville hotel - so not necessarily "retreat" but super fun nonetheless. so excited.<br />
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*and it's official. oscar has forgotten my birthday. i just got off the phone w/him and he neglected to wish me a happy birthday. gonna see how long it takes him to remember.<br />
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*updated: oscar called back 20 minutes later to wish me a happy birthday. *sigh*<br />
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<br />*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-7193685132647751892017-08-09T21:00:00.000-04:002017-08-11T08:23:27.252-04:00Bookish & Not-So-Bookish Thoughts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by </span><a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #e0d44a; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Bookishly Boisterous</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Miq2Jr2QL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img alt="Love & Gelato by [Welch, Jenna Evans]" border="0" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Miq2Jr2QL.jpg" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1) I read "Love & Gelato" in 2 days!!! That never happens. It was that good. Great YA book for middle school and up. I loved traveling through Italy with the characters. This is one of those that I was sad to finish because I was enjoying it so much. Also, it's only $1.99 on Kindle...grab it while you can. That's a great deal! I think I may stick to YA for a bit, as I haven't been having much luck with adult books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2) Today is our 3rd full day of 4th grade and so far the complaints have stayed to a minimum...thank goodness. Really hoping and praying that this year is amazing for him. That may be wishful thinking though. </span></div>
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<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">3) I'm taking a class at the end of the month to learn how to make French Macarons...I am super excited. They are a bit intimidating to make so I'm hoping to get all the secrets and then make them myself (and maybe sell them if I have any luck).</span><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">4) I signed back up at the YMCA. Hopefully I can get there more regularly than I was during last school year. On Tuesday night, I spent almost 2 hours there, including a 1 hour yoga class. The downside to the Y is their child watch still. It's sub par at best. The kids SIT in a room with a few games and then just the other night, Ethan was told he can't use his iPad there. What? How about you take the kids to the gym so they can run around and, oh I don't know, EXERCISE!!!!??? It's hard for me to get there w/o Ethan in tow, but I will probably limit it to 2x/week and then Saturday mornings when he is at drum practice. I definitely won't be staying for 2 hours though as that's just way too long for him to sit around with little to nothing to do.</span><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">5) I've been in a funk the past couple days and really need to shake it. I think though, that the only things that will help me shake it is winning the lottery or going on a really long beach resort vacation. Ha!</span><br />
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<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1458676234l/27189194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="One True Loves" border="0" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1458676234l/27189194.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">6) I've read so many positive reviews about One True Loves and I'm finally reading it. After Love & Gelato, I just wanted to read another YA book. They are quick reads and very enjoyable. I'm 33% done and plan to finish it this weekend.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span><br />
<br />*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-73336058089786484002017-08-03T07:00:00.000-04:002017-08-03T08:34:45.296-04:00Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by </span><a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #e0d44a; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px; text-decoration-line: none;">Bookishly Boisterous</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************</span><br />
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-my fortune from dinner last night w/my dad :)</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">1) I joined a new book club! First meeting is tonight. I haven't finished the book. I don't much care for the book. And then, I can't even go tonight as I have a schedule conflict. Try again next month.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">2) Today is "meet the teacher". Ethan is out of town with his dad, coming back late tonight, but I"ll go up to the school to meet her and drop off supplies. Praying for a better year this year. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">3) I'm done with the chiropractor. Next up: steroid injection #3 on August 18. #CantWait</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">4) Excited to have "summer hours" at work...which means if I can work 36 hours in 4 days and then 4 on Friday morning, I can leave at 12noon. Woot! Doing this tomorrow.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">5) Speaking of work...didn't find any school counselor gigs, so I'm staying put for now. We will see what happens...and if you watch the news, it was just announced that my company was purchased by a really big company to make together the biggest company in this particular industry. Lots of change coming, but the job losses that typically occur from this sort of thing are at least a year away. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">6) Booked a trip to Fl with my dad for Spring Break next year. So excited as we typically don't go anywhere for Spring Break. Happy that I'll have the whole week off with my little man too!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">7) Speaking of FL, I really just need to move there...it seems everytime I plan a vacation, that is where I want to go. I just told the husband that I want to go to Panama City Beach for Fall Break for a few days. I haven't been there for over 20 years, before it was so "happening"....there seems to be a lot to do and I'd love to take Ethan there. Husband isn't so excited, but I'm hoping to convince him. :) After all, we are ALWAYS going to SC and while I love it there, I really want to go someplace new.</span><br />
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<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/514ZPPhVkpL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Blinds by [Sternbergh, Adam]" border="0" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/514ZPPhVkpL.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">8) Chronically short on time to read. Just had to say that. Speaking of books, I just choose my last book for BOTM club and while it's not my usual genre, it sounds amazing...I chose The Blinds by Adam Sternbergh.</span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-53163705917744903882017-07-27T08:00:00.000-04:002017-07-27T12:33:19.458-04:00Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by </span><a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #e0d44a; text-decoration-line: none;">Bookishly Boisterous</a><span style="background-color: white;">. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img alt="Image result for happier in hollywood podcast" src="http://is5.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music117/v4/d2/10/90/d2109017-16cd-f5cc-8e49-c01f401019a2/source/1200x630bb.jpg" height="200" width="200" /> </span></span><img alt="Image result for wondery locked up abroad" src="http://wondery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Locked-Up-Abroad-300.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><img alt="Image result for elise gets craft ypodcast" height="200" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56cf65c07da24f46e5ff5211/t/56d8ae7d60b5e9cb453904af/1457041032788/" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" width="200" /><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1) Happy to report that I've found a couple podcasts to enjoy during my long drawn-out cubicle days---Happier in Hollywood is pretty funny...it's by Gretchen Rubin's (Happiness books) sister and her co-worker. I've also listened to a few of the "Happier w/Gretchen Rubin" podcasts, but this will not likely be a regular one. I've jumped back on the wagon with "Elise Gets Crafty"....maybe every other podcast is relevant to me as she talks alot about building a small business...I don't have a small business to build, so I only usually listen to the craft-specific podcasts. Lastly, I am close to obsessed with "Locked Up Abroad" and am anxiously awaiting the next podcast to be published. Check it out, if you haven't already.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2) I need a side hustle...I have no imagination to create or come up with some great business...so I keep reverting to becoming a Lyft driver, but then reality kicks in and I decide that I don't want to get murdered in my car. I'll be poor & unfulfilled forever. *sigh* I would love to know if you would consider being a Lyft driver...I started filling out the application but stopped...I think I would be scared to pick strangers up, even if I stayed in "good" areas, which would be my plan. It's so tempting however, as the money is pretty good. Who couldn't use a few extra hundred dollars, right? </span></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxdxqTF0KjhsOln9RplkFZq4mPFqobur98nCwuGNKp95r-h-OVAPTfAz4ztekFRKzt6jmeAmjDtooefSnHMvQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3) Check out Ethan's 36 second video he made in Apple Camp last week.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img alt="Image result for bored cartoon girl" height="180" src="https://ak5.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/16089898/thumb/7.jpg" width="320" /><img alt="Image result for apple logo" src="http://diylogodesigns.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Apple-Logo-Png-Download.png" height="200" style="background-color: transparent;" width="161" /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4) Ethan has been at sleep away camp this week. As much as I looked forward to the alone-time, I've also found myself wondering what to do or even with nothing (exciting) to do. I was hoping to take advantage of the time to do things that I cannot do with Ethan, as he and I are together 99% of the time. Instead, I've done the usual: laundry, dishes, recycling, garbage...as much as I love to read, sitting down and reading for hours on end at my house just doesn't work for me. I really need to be removed from my home in order to read at length....strange...maybe. In my defense, Starbucks keeps their AC way to freakin' cold for me and I'm pretty much "over" iced chai and I don't drink coffee. Doesn't leave much of a reason to go there. I've also felt like I need to get my 10k steps every day which means getting on the treadmill everyday after work...so yeah, not really doing much out of the ordinary this week. On Monday, I did go to Kohls to use a $5 certificate and buy some socks for Ethan. Weeee! I was hoping the Apple Store would have some more cool classes this week, but no. Speaking of that though, the Photo class I took on Saturday evening was awesome...I learned A LOT about using Photo on the Mac and additional ways to organize my pics. I had NO idea I could order prints and make books through Apple!! Amazing!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5) My back continues to give me trouble. A lot of trouble actually. After 2 steroid injections and a lot of "pestering" from my mom, I have returned to the chiropractor to see if he can help me. I provided him with a copy of my MRI and he said he has some adjustments that may help me. Fast forward 6 visits later and no real progress has been made (again!)...it continues to be inconsistent, no matter what I do, treatment or activity-wise. I'm beyond frustrated and just this morning I wanted to just break down in tears about it...and then there's the 10-12 lbs that I've gained as a result. Yesterday, I did 15 minutes of traction at the chiropractor and still no improvement.</span></span><br />
<a href="https://previews.123rf.com/images/blamb/blamb1406/blamb140600199/29155819-A-cartoon-woman-grimaces-from-the-pain-in-her-back--Stock-Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for back pain cartoon" border="0" height="200" src="https://previews.123rf.com/images/blamb/blamb1406/blamb140600199/29155819-A-cartoon-woman-grimaces-from-the-pain-in-her-back--Stock-Photo.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6) Because I had just returned to the chiropractor, I postponed my 3rd injection from this past Tuesday to August 24 - the next available date - *sigh*....hindsight, I wish I hadn't but I wasn't in as much pain the day I cancelled as I am today and still wanted to give the chiropractor some time. Of course, they never have cancellations for injection appointments, so the chance of getting in sooner is next to nothing....but then again, the 2 injections I've had have only lasted 6 days each. #fail</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">7) Why can't all areas of life align in a good way at the same time? Seriously, it seems that if I'm happy at work, home is a bit of a wreck....or as is my reality right now, when I'm not happy at work, home life is pretty good. Ugh!</span></span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-61421829113808952642017-07-19T22:00:00.000-04:002017-07-19T22:51:58.911-04:00Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.300000190734863px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by </span><a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #e0d44a; font-size: 14.3px; text-decoration: none;">Bookishly Boisterous</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">1)If I can't have my summer off, at least I can work from home quite a bit. Ethan is attending Apple Camp, the computers, not the fruit and he absolutely loved it after just one day. Day 2 & 3 are Thursday & Friday. It's 90 minutes and the parent (or guardian) has to stay in the store the </span><span style="font-size: 14.300000190734863px;">entire time. Lucky me, I have a book I can take with me tomorrow. My mom took him on Tuesday, the first day. I'm just happy I can take the mornings off to be w/him and then work from home in the afternoons.b vn b</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14.300000190734863px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2) Happy to report that we got all the childcare situated for the remainder of the summer...phew last week was one of those that definitely goes in the "parenting is hard" book. These last 3 weeks should be Ethan's favorites. Today he was with a friend of mine who has 2 middle school age daughters - it was like "mom/daughter" combo babysitting (mom is a teacher). Ethan had a blast and said he wishes he was going there again tomorrow, but he's stuck at home with me. Ha. I'm just glad he was so happy!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14.300000190734863px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3) Added bonus to #2...I have a new friend-in-the-making. I knew the family already and they recently moved into our subdivision. We ran into one another at the pool recently where I ended up invited to her book club. Hooray!! We will be reading "Swimming in the Moon", I haven't started it but will very soon.</span></span></span><br />
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4) This summer will definitely go in the books as one of the LEAST greatest. Even our vacation was (much) less than stellar, primarily because my husband didn't take the whole week off like he was supposed to, which left E and I tagging along to his job site and/or doing things on our own instead of as a family, which is one of the main points of going on a (family) vacation. *sigh*</div>
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5) I'm back at the chiropractor for my back. He's become a good friend of my mom's so she has been telling him about my treatment with the orthopedic doc and the really fun injections (ouch!). I gave him a copy of my MRI and he told my mom and also called me to say that he has some adjustment moves that could help...I'm to the point where I am willing to try anything if it means I don't have to get another injection and/or I can get some relief. I've gone 4x now and there is definitely some improvement but as always, it is inconsistent. The past 2 days, however, have been my best in a while. I go again on Friday and then need to decide whether to call and postpone my 3rd injection, which is scheduled for next Tuesday. Getting old stinks.</div>
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6) Ethan just fell asleep on the couch watching tv. that almost never happens. he clearly had a blast at our neighbors house today. love that!</div>
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7) I've clearly moved into the world of "boring adulthood"...or in other words, I have next week completely to myself as E goes to sleep away camp and of course the husband is always out of town during the week. I cannot find a single thing to do with myself. There are no movies I care to see. I'm not a drinker & don't really have friends who are either, so going out on a "girls night" isn't happening either. I did find 2 yoga classes I may attend and hopefully my back will feel better and I can spend some serious time on the treadmill...but I really want to do things that I don't get to do usually because I have Ethan with me. Last time, I was able to go see "The Zookeeper's Wife" which was good....I had read the book a few years ago.</div>
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8) The husband and I are trying to make plans for a "date night" after we drop Ethan off at camp on Sunday. We enjoyed dinner @ a Thai restaurant last time and plan to eat somewhere else that Ethan wouldn't enjoy since we'll be on our own. We are really bad at making time for "date nights" so we are both pretty excited about this opportunity.</div>
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9) We really want to cut the cable costs in our house and switch over to something like Amazon Firestick or alternative...but I do not know the first thing about any of them. My husband is the TV watcher but it's mostly news (yawn) or military/history channels. I just don't know which option to choose that would give us what we want...I want HGTV, Food Network and all those lovely channels....I can live without everything else.</div>
*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-28424124373886974282017-07-14T07:30:00.000-04:002017-07-14T14:33:23.951-04:00Books, Books & More Books<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My book game has really dropped off this year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not by choice either.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'm constantly 4 books behind on my Goodreads challenge, even with finishing 2.5 books on vacation last week. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Currently Reading:</b></span><br />
<img alt="Same Beach, Next Year: A Novel by [Frank, Dorothea Benton]" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51kNeISURzL._SY346_.jpg" width="211" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Same Beach, Next Year by DBF...her's are always a "must-read", though I will say that last year's book was not a great one IMO.</span><br />
<img alt="Alexander Hamilton by [Chernow, Ron]" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51X4L0OiziL.jpg" width="208" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hamilton - I started this quite a while ago, read for what seemed like hours only to discover I was on page 10. I want to read it, but can't seem to find the motivation.</span><br />
<img alt="You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by [Sincero, Jen]" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Wc-Y86GtL.jpg" width="203" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness & Start Living an Awesome Life - confession: I don't even think I have "greatness" therefore, I can't really doubt it...but this book was recommended (generally) by a co-worker so I picked it up. It's one of those I read a few pages and set it down to read something else. I'll get back to it eventually but so far there was no "earth shattering" information on how to improve my life - at least that I thought was practical. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Just Finished:</b></span><br />
<img alt="The Four Seasons by [Monroe, Mary Alice]" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41ksv4sQ5fL.jpg" width="202" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Four Seasons by Mary Alice Monroe - 4 sisters, lots of drama, good book. I gave it 4 stars. I went right into this one after finishing her new release, Beach House for Rent, which was fantabulous.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Up Next:</b></span><br />
<img alt="Perfect Little World: A Novel by [Wilson, Kevin]" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51wUTPqFLKL.jpg" width="211" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perfect Little World - It just came through from the library so I've got 3 weeks to get it done. </span><br />
<img alt="The Orphan's Tale: A Novel by [Jenoff, Pam]" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51o5CUlC70L.jpg" width="213" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Orphan's Tale - picked this one up when it was $2.99, loved all of Jenoff's other books so I'm looking forward to this one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So now I just need another vacation so I can knock a couple of these out. :)</span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-71994669000069631462017-07-13T06:30:00.000-04:002017-07-13T09:48:47.455-04:00Ups & Downs<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This has been a summer full of ups and downs. I wish I could say more Ups than Downs, but I think it's probably pretty even.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Down</b>: Ethan is miserable at the (main) day camp he is enrolled in, so much so, that yesterday I had to pull him out. Just not a good fit for us this year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Up</b>: He had a great time at a different camp I enrolled him at in June. Wish he could be all year there, but it's way too pricey. Glad he loved it though.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Down</b>: Since pulling him from camp, I'm scrambling to find coverage for him during the day. A lot of days are covered by my mom and I, since I can work from home, but I have ONE remaining day where neither of us can be with him and I'm quickly realizing we have (almost) no friends (who can help).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Up</b>: He made huge strides by going to sleep away camp and having a wonderful time and successfully sleeping away from home for an entire week...something that rarely happens. He loved it SO much in fact, that now that he's out of day camp, he will spend another week at sleep away camp and he's super excited.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Down</b>: I've reached out to a couple friends about helping us out with E next week and I totally understand when it doesn't work out, but sometimes the responses I get make it seem like I never should have asked them in the first place. THIS IS WHY I HATE HATE HATE asking for help! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Down</b>: This also makes me wish I had never left that stupid school job...even though it was absolutely awful and 17 other people also quit that year and I would have been miserable this last school year, but at least Ethan would be happy and we wouldn't have all these stupid issues over the summer. At this point, I'm totally willing to take the pay cut to get back into a school...too bad there are no opportunities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can't think of any more "Ups" so I'm gonna stop here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-31243276888668038032017-06-26T06:30:00.000-04:002017-06-27T08:04:49.656-04:00this week in my life...<img alt="Image result for krispy kreme cherry pie" height="200" src="https://www.krispykreme.com/SharedContent/User/97/97280db9-df1e-463b-89ce-9b472f95c79d.png" width="200" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">* Krispy Kreme glazed cherry pies are 1000x better than Hostess...I never thought that was possible. They are dangerously good. Consider yourself warned. :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<img alt="Image result for diet dr pepper" src="http://www.dpsgproductfacts.com/smedia/dpsgproductfacts.com/www/product_images/small/DR_PEPPER_DIET_FTN_12.png?v=1481563123" height="200" width="142" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*Diet Dr Pepper is not having the same delicious taste for me that is has had all these years. I think I've worn out my taste buds for it. Is that possible? Sadly though, I have no replacement.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*Ethan blew me outta the water with his easy transition to being dropped off at sleep-away camp yesterday. He yelled "See you Friday!"....I'm still shocked. But so happy that he is happy!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*Seeing that Ethan was happy yesterday helps me feel less guilty about having the week to myself (after work of course)...for now I plan to go to the YMCA to get some much needed workout time in. I think I'll browse the used book store afterwards. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<img alt="Image result for beach house for rent book" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81If609EgfL.jpg" width="132" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*Thursday night my mom and I are going to the local book store to see author Mary Alice Monroe...we have really enjoyed her books over the past couple years. I love that she writes about the area of South Carolina where we travel to every year for vacation....and where we will be next week. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*I feel really dumb when I come across a word I don't know. I guess I think at my age, I should know *every* word out there, but clearly I don't. I have been known to go along in conversations acting as if I know whatever mysterious (to me) word was said....only to go look it up later. Confession: just read the word "oenophile"....I was luck, what the heck is that? Yeah, "lover of wine"...in my defense, I don't drink wine and I definitely don't love it. But I know what the word means now. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*Did I mention I have only 3.5 days of work this week. Beyond excited. Seriously. Vacay starts at 12noon on Thursday. Cannot wait!</span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-66296434910218644882017-06-21T07:00:00.000-04:002017-06-21T07:00:49.016-04:00SAHM for a day!Super happy today - I've taken the day off to spend it with Ethan and pretend I still have the whole summer off. Ha!<br />
<br />
We slept in, which is always awesome and doesn't happen nearly enough.<br />
<br />
I have a check up for my back at 1045am so we'll head out shortly for that.<br />
<br />
The plan is to then hang out at the pool. Of course, when I decided to take the whole day off, the weather was to be sunny and high 80s, perfect pool weather. It will still be warm today but mostly cloudy. Boo! This girl needs some color.<br />
<br />
Strangely enough, I had a hair highlight & cut appt set up for Friday with a newish gal but she cancelled on me today. I reached back out to the other gal I've been going to and she is able to get me in today at 530pm. I definitely got lucky here because she is going on vacation in a few days. Also, I really wanted to get my hair done before we leave on vacation on July 2. Happy that is getting done.<br />
<br />
Why do I struggle to stay awake until 1030pm these days when I used to stay up easily until 1am? So bummed about this as I'm pretty sure the only explanation is that I'm getting old and frankly, I've heard that answer way too many times this year already. Geesh!<br />
<br />
Contemplating signing back up at the YMCA. Really want to so I can take Spin classes and return to my Yoga classes as well. I just remember how hard it was to get there after work. There's no time in between work and getting to the YMCA to feed Ethan and everyone knows a 9yo boy is NOT going to wait until 7pm to eat dinner. Not happening. Since he will be gone to camp next week, I may sign up on Monday so I can start with 6pm spin that night. It will be amazing to not have a "curfew" all week next week and be able to do my own thing.<br />
<br />
<img alt="Product Details" class="s-access-image cfMarker" data-search-image-load="" height="218" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51j-cC1yraL._AC_US218_.jpg" srcset="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51j-cC1yraL._AC_US218_.jpg 1x, https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51j-cC1yraL._AC_US327_QL65_.jpg 1.5x, https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51j-cC1yraL._AC_US436_QL65_.jpg 2x, https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51j-cC1yraL._AC_US500_QL65_.jpg 2.2935x" width="218" /><br />
Another exciting activity next week is that author Mary Alice Monroe is coming to our local indie book store for a signing. Cannot.Believe.It. Nobody who's somebody ever comes to Knoxville. Seriously! It will be girls night out with my mom!*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-44120943933332380582017-06-13T07:00:00.000-04:002017-06-13T12:51:15.122-04:00Another Day in (not) Paradise<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hello to all one of you reading this! :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not much "new" to really post about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's summer. I'm working. I don't like it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Did I make the right choice 1 year ago? Yes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is my current situation ideal? No. Far from it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It doesn't have to be ideal, but there's room for improvement.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Truly hating working the summer and sending Ethan to camp(s).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hate that he has to get up early all year 'round now. We love our "no bedtime" nights!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bright side: he's at a new camp this week and LOVING it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I may have sent my resume to a local private school for consideration. (Please!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not only would I love to work in a school again, but even more would love for Ethan to be in private school. I have nothing against public school, but I will say that there was a "huge" difference in quality for Ethan this year. He needed a lot more challenge and just didn't get it. I would say it's because they have so many kids, but he had 18 in his class, same as private school. Half way thru the year they put him in the G&L program, which is a whopping 1-2 hours on Fridays. Can't say he got a lot out of that. In addition, his teacher went out on Maternity Leave and that caused a few more bumps in the road.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Surprise of the summer: Ethan asked to go to sleep away camp! What? Completely shocked, but he is signed up and will be gone from June 25-30. Now I'm hoping for no mega meltdown at drop off on the 25th. I did everything I could to ENSURE he WANTS to go and he has confidently replied "yes" every.single.time. Thankfully, he will have a friend there the same week and they will hopefully be in the same cabin. I know he will have great experiences and I'm super excited for him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Counting down the days to vacation...17 to go. </span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-71698487048334963712017-05-10T06:30:00.000-04:002017-05-11T08:49:47.040-04:00Random Update<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1) I'm so unbelievably tired of hearing about Millennials...seriously, can we just STOP talking about them? I don't care how they "plan" to change the work world, or how much time off they are demanding or how much they want to work from home, blah blah blah....you know what? I'm NOT a millennial and I want time off and to work from home too. See! There! You aren't so different, you're just high maintenance and whiny! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2) I remain in a state of "not enough time" for anything, especially reading. If reading were air, I would have suffocated over the past couple of weeks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3) On that note, I am making slow, but steady progress on unpacking my house. I put 6 empty boxes in the garage last night. Score!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4) It's been a rough few weeks at school for Ethan, which translates to a few stressful weeks of life for me. Holy moly - this parenting thing is NOT easy. There was a situation that caused a lot of stress & heartache but that has since calmed, however now he doesn't want to go to the after care, ever. He asks daily if he can be picked up in carline or go home with a friend. Sadly, these are not daily options hence the fact that he is registered for after care. I get there as fast as I can, but 5pm/515 is not nearly fast enough. This whole dilemma makes me feel EXTREMELY guilty about my change in work situation and makes me feel like it was a mistake. I guess if one of us has to be miserable, I'd rather it be me. :( </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5) Mainly because of #4, I've been rather unhappy with life lately. There are other things that factor into it, but I'm definitely in what I would consider a "rough patch." *sigh*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6) Due to recent chaos & events in my life, I've been eating all sorts of junk. I don't want to even be within 100 feet of a scale. It will not be pretty. To add to that, my treadmill is in pieces because when we moved, it would not fit through the doorways, of either house. To make matters worse, we have to take apart even MORE of it to get it into the bonus room. Can't anything be easy? That has been my motto lately. Seriously!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<img alt="25788406" height="200" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435165875l/25788406.jpg" width="140" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">7) Let's see if I can come up with a happy thought....the book I am sorta reading, "Pax" is really good. It's a YA book about a boy and a wild fox that he has as a pet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">8) I do love my new house, but definitely wish I had more time to spend there. I wish more than ever now that I had summers off...but then again, if I had stayed in the job that offered that, we probably would not have bought this house. Hard to say really.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">9) I guess the hang up for me is that you never know what you are getting into and when leaving one bad situation in hopes for a better one, you really do not know if you are walking into a "better" one. Of the 300ish days I've been here so far, I would say that maybe 1/3rd of them have been "happy" or "enjoyable". Not a great track record, I suppose. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">10) Is it Friday yet? </span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-22243768373425031702017-04-27T07:00:00.000-04:002017-05-03T07:56:54.777-04:00Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by </span><a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #e0d44a; font-size: 14.3px;">Bookishly Boisterous</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">1) Pretty sure April 2017 is going to rank as my least favorite month of the year. So much drama, BS, body aches, headaches and heartaches. I'm OVER it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">2) Hard to believe tomorrow is my 10th wedding anniversary. If you'd have asked me 3 years ago, I would have told you we never would have made it this far. Sometimes I still wonder about our fate. #MarriageIsHard </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.3px;">3) I "successfully" completed the Disney Star Wars Dark Side Challenge last weekend. And by "successfully", I mean I finished upright and alive. Amazingly, the 10k was cake. I felt great -thanks to the injection into my SI joint I received on Wednesday before leaving for Disney. Such a relief....sadly the pain is back already...the minute I woke up at home on Tuesday morning - go figure. The 1/2 marathon was another story and though I finished, I started worrying at mile 2. I stopped at every medical tent for Biofreeze as well as a pit stop in Animal Kingdom, so my finish time wasn't great, but I'm ok with that. I'm sorta kicking myself for not stopping for 1-2 pictures when I saw short lines. Oh well.</span></span><br />
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4) This is moving weekend...you know, to round out the madness of April. We are moving OUT of our house today and into the new one tomorrow. Such a pain. Not sure if I'll do this again for a very long time if I can help it. #PITA</div>
*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-571977835256593422017-04-12T19:00:00.000-04:002017-04-13T10:25:33.064-04:00Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by </span><a href="http://bookishlyboisterous.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #e0d44a; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14.3px; text-decoration-line: none;">Bookishly Boisterous</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.3px;">. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1) I had an MRI done on my back today. Now to wait a full week to get the results. I sure hope it provides some answers (and solutions).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2) Still in the process of moving. What a nightmare...though I think most of the madness is behind us. Closing in 16 days!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3) I am really struggling to "like" my job. So many reasons. I applied for 2 School Counselor jobs this week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img alt="Displaying FullSizeRender.jpg" height="309" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=d680bb50d3&view=fimg&th=15b67b35ec13936b&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ_IagVWTmGoGAVT_k7xxN3JO6uT8ykFOoUc0Gq3gCrT9LIIVBqc0_hjS3Mw7qd7bHBgUElVwCl3PtP2Ts1kQPqTbxKqTV-grz4ae5dMV1zFFQWYSy_omRo5ous&ats=1492093461827&rm=15b67b35ec13936b&zw&sz=w1279-h913" width="320" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4) Our neighbor's sweet dog, Fritz passed away yesterday. Super sad. He was 12. ShihTzu. He was her life. She is unmarried, no kids. Ethan and Fritz basically grew up together. Fritz had been struggling with health issues for a while and there were a few close calls along the way, sadly yesterday there just wasn't anything more the vet could do for him. It was a sad evening. Fritz will be so missed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'd really like to do this someday....to a few people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6) Disney in 8 days. Still worried and not terribly excited. I just hope I can get around the parks pain free and truly enjoy the trip. </span><br />
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<img alt="The Strays: A Novel" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1477600361i/32795904._SY180_.jpg" /> <img alt="Modern Lovers" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1458657735i/27209486._SY180_.jpg" /> <img alt="Alexander Hamilton" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328306509i/5647399._SX120_.jpg" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">7) With the little bit of "free" time I have these days, I am juggling 3 books. Book 1: Hamilton, Book 2: Modern Lovers and Book 3: The Strays. I had actually been reading The Strays before Modern Lovers, but ML came in through the library so I switched over to it. I was also not loving The Strays, so it was an easy switch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">8) Ethan and I went to an Open House for a summer camp program where he will attend 1 week this summer. They have an amazing camp program but the price is 3x more than most camps, hence only going 1 week. The theme for the week will be Star Wars, so of course, he is super excited. This camp also operates as a private K-8 school and while I knew it existed, I had never visited their campus. It is gorgeous and I loved some of the things they shared with us about their school program. Ethan was begging me to send him to this school next year. It has a $14k/year price tag. Yeah, he will probably not be attending. LOL!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">9) Ethan will be in a music performance tonight at a local nursing home. He is singing "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Da". :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">10) This is a good week to work in a Catholic school...Holy Thursday is a half day and Good Friday is a holiday. So here I am in Corporate America, working all day Thursday and Friday. At least I'm working from home on Friday and getting off at 3:30pm. </span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662855016447426610.post-31634316045574050732017-04-07T07:00:00.000-04:002017-04-11T07:51:07.550-04:00Losing At Life<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'm having a series of bad days/weeks/months and it's usually best to not write when things are like this, but then for the sake of documenting my life (for someone's consumption later?), here's a brief update.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*after $400 of orthopedic & PT bills, my back is no better. I'm scheduled for an MRI next Wednesday, which is another pricey investment, so I'm not so excited about that, but I do hope to get some answers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*we rec'd a pitiful offer on our house, countered & then IMO were just about forced to accept if we wanted to be able to buy the house we put a contract in on. It's still a crappy offer for our current home and I'm angry about the whole thing. I need April to be over with so I can move past it all and not be angry anymore. I finally gave my realtor a piece of my mind yesterday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*the buyer is a milleneal. he is giving them (even-more) of a bad name.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*I'm going to Disney in 13 days and am the least excited I've ever been. I chalk this up to many things...different job, back pain, house situation etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*I think I've come to the end of my time at Orange Theory. I'm putting my 30 days in tomorrow so I'll have 6 more classes and then be done. While I enjoy it, I just cannot afford the time or the cost to go more often and for what I'm spending, it just doesn't make sense. I'm thinking I'll go back to the YMCA and get back into going every Saturday morning and then at least 2x during the week. It'll be hard, but I'm determined to make it work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*On that note, I was in Nashville earlier this week for work and I used the elliptical machine at the hotel fitness center both nights. Ironically (or not), I woke up both mornings FREE of back pain and even turning over etc was pain free -which is NOT typically the case. The YMCA has elliptical machines which is what got me thinking about changing my fitness membership situation. I plan to go to the Y tonight on a one-day pass and try the elliptical and see how I feel in the morning. I've had crazy pain yesterday and this morning, so it all makes sense, but this will be the true test.</span>*krystyn*http://www.blogger.com/profile/08611182339906918223noreply@blogger.com0