Would you rather?

So it turns out that the Dead Mouse camp swept the Penis camp by a fair amount: 64% of you would rather remove a dead mouse from the garage than have to use the proper terminology when talking to your kids.

I gotta say, I had NO idea that so many of you were so wussy when it comes to the privates! On the plus side, there are quite a bit more people than I realized who will come to my rescue next time I need rodent disposal.


Here's what the garbage peeps had to say:

"This former farm girl wouldn't even care if there was a plastic bag if there was anti-bacterial soap and water near by."

"I'm am as surprised by this response as you are, I'm sure"

(From a NURSE who would rather remove a mouse)

 "I work in a natural history museum and walk by dozens of hundred-year-old dead animals in cases and know that I am just a few floors away from a giant freezer of dead animals and an aquarium full of beetles that eat flesh off of animals for a 'living'. So give me a barrier and a disposal location and I will happily get rid of the mouse. But give me my 4 year old pointing out the penis on our plastinated human male in our health gallery and I totally freeze up... I am not shy about sex or body talk with adults, but the 4 year old poking at her vagina in the bath tub totally makes me not sure what to do!"

Here's what the science peeps had to say:

"NO contest. Body parts are normal, moving dead bodies is not."

"I don't care how cute and small they are, they scare me to death. And I so get the 'body shake' thing."

"We have plenty of this talk in our house. Especially at bath time!"

"Y'all have NOTHING on giving the 'where do babies come from' talk to a FOUR year old who insists on knowing ALL the proper terms. She's trying to kill me. I'm recently traumatized."

So there you have it. B and I were totally wrong in our assumption that our friend was the only crazy gal out there who ran away from body part talk. But you know what? I genuinely like it when I'm wrong about stuff like this because it expands my understanding of the world in tiny ways.

It happens all the time as a parent. You find yourself remembering some previously held assumption or believe that ended up being completely wrong. Or if you let yourself be a good enough listener, it can happen with friends, family, and acquaintances as well. Because judgments and assumptions are the easy way out. But letting yourself be wrong and rethinking a situation you had judged from a distance takes some humility and understanding. 

It's why I enjoy these seemingly mundane life polls from you all. Thanks for participating!

* Here was the last poll we conducted about kissing

Penis v. Mouse

I know, the very title conjures up uncomfortable images of duals between a phallus and a rodent. And there's really no way of knowing who would win because there are just so many factors to consider.

But I digress. Can you digress before you've actually started? Ponder that while we talk genitals and garage-dwellers. Before we start, you need back story.


The back story on body parts and their proper names:

I was raised by a nurse. But not just any nurse, a labor and delivery nurse. And having been raised by one, and having met a hundred zillion of her coworkers over the years, and having been the live-in nanny to an OBGYN, I can tell you that staring at vaginas all day for a living, for your job that you must go to every day and be paid to do, does something to a person.

I don't even know what, exactly, but it DOES something. Your job encompasses that which people never talk about or discuss in public and often not even with their good friends (although I don't know who those people are, because if you can't talk vagina with your best friends, then what the hell are they your best friends for?). So you deal in the taboo and then you have no concept of taboo and then you just talk about inappropriate things all the time to anyone who will listen.

But despite your inability to know what is and isn't ok to discuss in mixed company, you have a healthy respect for body parts and their names. We were raised with the proper names for everything and knew all about the sex stuff from an early age.

(Disclaimer: "Vagina" is still one of the top 5 worst words in the English language)



Now let's talk about mice:

After college I moved to Boston and lived in the most perfectly awful apartment with lots of mice. I didn't have the heart to kill them all and it also seemed impossible just given their sheer numbers, so I invented a humane method for getting rid of them. Every night before bed I would pull the garbage can over to the counter, put food in the bottom of the bag, and grease up the sides with olive oil. Every morning there were three or four wiggling mice in the bottom. I grabbed the bag (untied), walked out back to the dumpster and tossed the bag in.

But mice removal and picture hanging are two (of many) things that you do when you're single because there's no one else around to do them. Not so when you're married. You can relegate all that shit to it's proper place - with yo MAN. And I didn't realize that one day I'd get to hand off chores like that, but it's totally a reason to get married. He no longer has to buy gifts, RSVP to weddings, make social plans, or remember to call his family back because I'll do all that. In return, I don't have to take the garbage out, parallel park in tiny spots, or remove rodents.

So, long story short, I was raised by a medical professional and no longer deal in mice. But that's just me, some peeps had the opposite experience.



The main story...

I have a friend - who totally has a blog of her own that I could link to, but she MAY not want me outing her self-admitted prudishness, so I will keep her anonymous - who is squeamish about things of the body part nature. The "P" and "V" words are NOT uttered around that house - everyone just has "PRIVATES!" Boys have "boy privates" and girls have "girl privates." I ruthlessly make fun of her for this absolute insanity and also threaten to steal her children for an afternoon and give them a good schooling. I also tell her that she's going to have kids who think you can get pregnant from a toilet seat, but she assures me that the state sponsored sex ed classes they get at school will kick in before it gets that far.

As you can imagine, Charlotte is WELL aware of what girls and boys have and will talk about it at will. Now, do I relish saying the word "vagina" every single day? NO, I do NOT. It's awful. But I'm not going to pass on any stupid body part issues to her and make it seem like something shameful by calling it something else than what it really is. So I say it and I pretend it's normal and then I make gagging faces in my head.

But mice? Well, as much as in THEORY I'd like to not pass on any squeamish issues, I did. But then the next day I pretended I was kidding and wasn't ACTUALLY freaked out by the dead mouse and it totally worked because she's 2 1/2. 

She and I were doing laundry and went to the garage to put in a load. Then 30 minutes later we went back into the garage to switch the laundry and right in front of the dryer was a dead mouse. As in, it had JUST died. And it looked creepily peaceful, like it was just tired and needed a rest and the lull of the washer just put him right to sleep on the concrete. But obviously I wasn't expecting to see a dead mouse where there hadn't been one 30 min ago, so I involuntarily screamed and then did the Icky Body Shake that you do when something is Icky and you just want to shake the experience off of you.

So I went upstairs and started frantically texting the aforementioned friend about how she HAD to hop on a plane and get this damn mouse OUT of my path b/c it was icky and dead and I had shit tons of laundry to do. Because while said friend won't utter the body part words, she DID grow up on a farm and can get all Farm Girl Fierce when needed. Seriously, there was a story about a squirrel that nearly made me puke. It was humane and all, but BARF.

Since she declined to take care of the rodent problem and the husband declined to take a sick day and HANDLE IT, I covered it with a blue party napkin and kept doing laundry.

So here's the incredibly random Squeamish Poll. Would you rather go on about penises and vaginas all day to your potty training, inquisitive toddler, or put your hand inside a plastic bag and grab the dead mouse and get him out of the garage? Pick your poison.

** Get the results HERE **

Do the old marrieds make out?!

Apparently some of you do! After a funny conversation with a fellow Old Married about this topic, I ran a poll last week to see what was going on in the world of The Make Out. We were both hoping that we weren't the ONLY couple to/to not make out, and as you can see we can both relax.

38% of you said that, yes, you and your long time mate are fans of the random, pants-on, make out session. Here's what that camp had to say:

"We don't really sit down and make time for it, it kind of just happens sometimes...
like if we're passing each other in the house"

"Making out is also great because you get to feel like you're 15, instead of feeling like
you're a thousand because you actually eat wheat germ and go to bed at 8pm"

The other 62% of you said, no, The Make Out is only done as part of something more - ahem - involved. Here's what that camp had to say:

"Um, no... who has the time?!?!"

"That sounds crazy! (but nice)"

"No, but I'd like to. I think it would be a nice reminder of what started us
on the whole married path"

"I never thought about making out like a bunch of virgin teenagers in my
long term, committed relationship... we should try it!"

The whole survey has been so fascinating though because I'm sure everyone just assumed (as my friend and I did) that whatever you do in your own house is what other people are doing in theirs. It's been making me wonder what other innocuous things we're doing differently from one another - things where there's no right or wrong, just different, that we've never thought about before.

If you've run across any little nuances in your conversations over the years, let me know in the comments, I think it would be so interesting.



 

Kissing Poll

I was talking to a friend the other day who was telling me a funny story that started off like this:

"So I was making out with my husband when he said...."

And then she told me about a funny little exchange.

I immediately replied something along the lines of  "Yeah, yeah, funny... what do you mean you were making out?? Like JUST making out? Like hanging out on your couch after the kids were in bed, clothes on... kissing? Is that a thing, do us old marrieds DO that? We've never once done that! I think everyone would be very confused or start laughing if there was some make out session just for the sake of a make out session and then everyone parted ways and went back to Modern Family."

And it's not that I in any way don't like the idea, it sounds like a lovely way to keep the romance alive and like a very sweet part of a marriage. But I have to know - from you! - do people do this? Do people have little make out sessions that aren't connected to something more involved?

Now here's the thing. You're ONLY allowed to take the survey if you're in some way an "old married." You don't ACTUALLY have to be married, obviously, you just need to be in the spirit of a couple who has been through the trenches, had the shine wear off a tad, fought with the relatives, you get the idea.

If you still have lots of disposable income, go on dates all the time, have never had anyone had a misunderstanding about anyone else's in-laws, still wear the lace underwear while pretending the beige cottons don't exist, you don't get to play.

And feel free to reference a past "old married" relationship, I just really want to know - is this something people are doing??!!

** Poll results HERE**

What makes you smarter than the rest?

The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next

- Henry Ward Beecher

For some reason I was thinking about old timey smoking the other day. Way back in the days of yore when it was normal and even encouraged. And then I thought someone HAD to know. In their gut. Someone, many in fact!, must have been sitting in yet another smoke-filled room and thought to themselves Ugh! This is just gross and I can't breathe and I want fresh air, and I don't care if it's good for you, this is awful. Someone is wrong.

I feel that way constantly. I look around and I think I must SO CLEARLY be living in the wrong century when there are people who still care about gay people falling in love, who deny evolution, who believe in torturing other humans, who spend their time watching Snooki. There has to be some future time period where people care about what's important and not what's distracting. Where they aren't wedded to their beliefs without the desire to question them.

But I know that everyone feels that way about something, so I really want to know what you're something is. What's your thing that, as the quote says, is mere philosophy now, but you know for certain will be common sense one day? What thing do you think or know that other people don't think or know as clearly that will come to light one day? Tell us your thing and then we'll all be a little step closer to the common sense of the next generation.

  

Poll: Pollyanna or Scrooge?

When we were eating, family style with 8 other people, at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Savannah, one of the gentlemen was talking about a trip he had taken recently and concluded his story with "Yup, you meet good people wherever you go." And his statement kind of knocked me on my ass. He just seemed so... convinced. It was his unquestionable world view that, obviously, you'll meet good people wherever you go.

And call me a product of a cranky New England upbringing, but I have never once thought that. I know perfectly well that there ARE good people wherever you go, but I've never been convinced of it in such a particular way as that man was. He fully expected to meet really good people wherever he went.

I fully expect to meet ignorant or distant or rude people wherever I go. Yikes. And the thing is, I've never heard any friend or family member or stranger express the sentiment that he did. So I think, unfortunately, that my assumptions are more common than his.

But I'd like to hear from you - when you go out into the world, do you assume you're on your way to meet good people or do you assume you're gonna encounter some assholes?

Tell me in the comments.

Help me!

I was cleaning out some boxes in the garage and found a box labeled "decorations." I sent about half of it to Goodwill and then found a little bag of metal letters. You guys, I have NO idea what these letters are supposed to spell! You need to help me figure this out - what are these letters supposed to spell out?! Go...

Superheroes

I was listening to an old This American Life on my walk to dance class last night and it was an episode about superheroes.  Ironic, really, since I was like a spastic twitching slinky last night, instead of a dancer, but I digress.

They had a brief segment with John Hodgman who said that when he meets someone he asks them "Flight or Invisibility" and it inspires these intense and passionate discussions. In these discussions, he has learned a few things: The people in the Invisibility camp almost always turn immediately into thieves, the people in the Flight camp avoid all public transportation, and no one offers to fight crime.

Two rules: 

Flight: You fly at 1000mph, and you don't suddenly possess super strength. If you can hold your friend for three hours in your living room, than you can hold them while you fly them across the country, otherwise, you're not a substitute for an airplane.

Invisibility: Whatever you're wearing is invisible, whatever you're holding isn't.


So, which is it? Flight or invisibility?



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Only ONE day left!!!  Enter Giovanina's recipe contest and get some free art!  Details HERE.

  

Poll: Websites

Since you guys totally rocked the house with the last poll that we did - very helpful, by the way - I thought I'd put up another one that I'd like some help with.

What websites do you visit regularly?

And I don't mean, What websites are bookmared and are pretty cool, I mean, you wake up in the morning, you have the time to visit a very small sampling of websites while drinking your coffee before you have to get dressed for work - what do you look at?

I'm partially asking because I'd like to regularly visit more sites and partially asking to better understand what kind of media people are digesting.  And much like the music thing, don't get all lofty on me to impress people.  You can exclude email and social media (we all know you jump on Facebook before you're even showered).

Here's my list:

iGoogle - mine has news headlines, entertainment headlines, & my friend's blogs (what does yours have?)
MSNBC
People
Eonline - to read the daily gossip Q&A post, titled Bitch-Back, on The Awful Truth blog
Slate

That's pretty much it.  I think B's list is something newsy, Huffington Post, and ESPN.

 

Musical Input Needed

In case you haven't been able to learn this for yourself - or have absolutely no desire to - having a baby... rearranges things.  Not emotional things.  Not your life.  Yeah, I mean all that happens too, blah, blah.  I'm talking about your body.  Not to gross you out too much, but your BONES SPREAD during pregnancy.  Ugh.  And I think they enjoy all that extra room away from those other pesky bones and just decide to stay there.  I've read things that say in 18 months they'll eventually go back, but first of all I don't buy it, and second of all, I'll probably be pregnant again in 18 months, so it doesn't help me anyway.

As of today I weigh less than I did when I got pregnant, but thanks to the aforementioned bone thing and the fact that pregnancy weight isn't kind enough to distribute evenly, I'm still squeezing into things.  Also, my shoe size is more like an 8 and less like the 7 1/2 it used to be. 

So I come to you with a request.  No, not gift certificates to the mall, although that would be awesome and my email address is listed under the Contact Me page. I need to reinvigorate my workout playlist.  It's pretty much the same it was 2 years ago when I got pregnant.   And, hey, I love me some Tootsie Roll as much as the next gal, but I'm getting bored.

So send me your workout favorites!  And remember, we're not going for quality here, music snobs needs not apply.  Send me all the cliche, embarrassing, get-your-ass-moving songs that you can think of.

I'm hitting the gym again on Thursday, so send 'em quick!

Wish List Poll

Yesterday my brother called me and told me that he's applying to spend 6 days in Honduras this summer with Habitat for Humanity.  I'm so proud of him for doing that and also so jealous.  I had forgotten until he mentioned it that it was something I had always wanted to do.  It's one of those things that's been in the back of my mind since high school but it's just never been a priority.  So I think I'm going to add it to the Life List. 

My point in telling you this is that the other thing I recently added to the list was a Ropes Course.  It's another one of those really random things that I've always wanted to do and just haven't.  I mean, this isn't like world travel.  It's pretty easy to find a ropes course and just make it happen, but I haven't... yet.

So I'm fascinated to know what little thing you've always wanted to do but just haven't.  Nothing too monumental.  Just one of those super random ideas that's been kicking around the back of your mind for years. Hit me.

Year End Wrap-Up

Yum is my Mantra has invited her fellow bloggy friends to follow in her footsteps and do a Year End Questionnaire. And since I'm trying really hard to be a better blogger but often don't have ideas, this sounded like the perfect easy-way-out!


1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Give birth.


2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I don't make New Year's resolutions. My birthday (in September) always feels like a more significant benchmark in the year to look forward and backward than January 1st does.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, B's sister on February 23rd.


4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank God. That's my greatest fear.


5. What countries did you visit?
None this year. But my heart is always traveling. I'm meant to visit other countries at least twice a year, so when I can't do that physically, I do it in my mind. Europe (again) and Costa Rica or Belize are on my mental list of the next places to visit.


6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
The same stability and creativity that the end of 2009 held.


7. What dates in 2009 will remain etched in your memory?
February 23rd - birth of our nephew
August 11th - birth of our daughter (on my mom's birthday!!)


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Maintaining happiness and serenity during a lot of transition and chaos


9. What was your biggest failure?
Something with my mouth, I'm sure. That little baby gets me into trouble at least once a week - I've pretty much just made my peace with that, it's not going to change anytime soon.


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
The usual back issues, but nothing that would qualify as illness, thankfully.


11. What was the best thing you bought?
B and I actually buy very little, but we splurged on a fancy new camera (Canon SLR) for our new family and it has been worth every penny.


12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Oh wow, I can think of so many people. My husband, during the child birth process. My dear friend A, who is marching through life and nursing school while battling MS. All of Charlotte's grandparents, who love her so dearly. I could go on and on...


13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Right-wing extremists, always. They give Republicans a bad name.


14. Where did most of your money go?
Bills


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Our babymoon trip to Florida in March, meeting our baby girl, when my brother and father flew in from the west coast to meet her, & any number of small things that involve food or family - little things makes me super excited.


16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
None really.


17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Happier or sadder? Happier
b) Thinner or fatter? A wee bit fatter
c) Richer or poorer? Emotionally richer, financially poorer


18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Everything. I'm a thinker by nature. I tend to sit around and think about things rather than doing them. I'm getting a lot better though.


19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Wow, I feel like there should be a million answers to this and yet I can't think of one.
(Go read Yum's response to this - it was so great it stopped me right in my tracks)


20. How did you spend Christmas?
This year we're spending Christmas Eve with B's parents, Christmas morning here with my mom and brother, Christmas afternoon with B's extended family, Christmas night here with both families for dinner, and the weekend after Christmas up in Plattsburgh with some of my extended family. Phew! It's tiring just typing it! I hope it's less tiring to live it.


21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Yes! With the most wonderful baby girl ever!


22. What was your favorite TV program?
Still love The Office, Top Chef, & Project Runway. And my new love is Glee.


23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't hate anyone and B doesn't even allow that word to be spoken in the house. Besides, I'm remarkably good at letting things go (in my humble opinion, it's the ultimate key to happiness in life)


24. What was the best book you read?
The Happiest Baby on the Block. You could literally read nothing else while expecting a baby and still feel like a total expert!


25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
There are very few people who are as out of touch with music as I am, but I think Glee was my best musical discovery this year!


26. What did you want and get?
A great place to rent while living in Albany


27. What did you want and not get?
A labor that didn't make me feel mentally scarred.


28. What was your favorite film of the year?
The Hangover!


29. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 32 about 5 weeks after Charlotte was born. We used a gift certificate we got from my dad and had a great family dinner at The Olive Garden.


30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Nothing really.


31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
January - August: Turning size large Target clothes into maternity wear
August - December: Wearing the one pair of larger jeans that I bought for post-baby body over, and over, and over...


32. What kept you sane?
My husband, laughter, and wine.


33. What celeb/public figure did you fancy the most?
"Fancy" as in "have a crush on"? Bradley Cooper. Swoon!


34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Any time grandstanding, idiocy, fear, & lies were used to trump really legitimate issues like health care and climate change.


35. Who did you miss?
Having my father and brother only be able to see Charlotte a few times a year breaks my heart like you can't imagine. THANK GOD for video cameras, text messaging, the Internet, etc.


36. Who was the best new person you met?
Charlotte, of course!


37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009?
Oh god, I feel like I learn them all the time. I don't think a day goes by where I'm not observing, thinking, analyzing, and trying to make myself better.


38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Definitely not musically saavy enough to come up with one. Some song that talks about lots of transitions.

Body Poll

I ran across a great poll in Glamour magazine the other day that I thought we could repeat here. It's been a while since we've done a blog poll and I hope I still have enough readers left to participate! As always, feel free to comment anonymously. Also, don't feel like you have to complete the sentence with just one word. Most of the magazine answers were a sentence or two and they were all SO fascinating.



My Body Is... (and you can't say anything negative!)

No reason... just because...

A short list of items I've never purchased at the grocery store:

Turnips
Cabbage
Rutabaga
Figs
Star Fruit


You??

Friday Philosophy

Here's something for you to ponder - as a society are we getting more enlightened as the years go on or are we dumbing ourselves down? It's actually something I think about sometimes and of course I come up with a different answer every time. So I was struck when I was reading Girl's Gone Child and she posted this video of Comedy Central's movie Idiocracy. I haven't seen the movie, but the trailer is enough to scare the crap out of you. Years ago someone said to Feather Nester, in the midst of a conversation of whether is was responsible to have children considering the population problem, that it was people like her (educated, thoughtful, etc.) that should be having children. Any thoughts as to whether we're getting more or less enlightened as the decades tick by or on the children conundrum?

Survey Results

We have the results from last Friday’s survey! My goal was 40 participants and there were 35, so that’s pretty good. The blog gets 60 - 70 unique visitors a day, so about half participated. Let’s see what you had to say…

Gender:
Men = 20%
Women = 80%

Age:
20s & 30s = 89%
40s = 0%
50s+ = 11%

How did you find the blog?
You know me = 25 ppl
You know someone who knows me = 8 ppl
Stumbled Upon = 2 ppl

What type of websites do you visit?
Responses were quite varied on this one, as you would imagine, with several write-in responses
Entertainment & Blogs = ~44% each
Cooking & Politics = ~30% each
Others = sports, social networking, news, etc.

What would you rather do?
Be in Nature = 33%
Museum & Music = 21% each
Restaurant & Dancing = 12% each
Write Ins = TV, cooking, vacation, etc.

The Pulp Fiction Question: Do you…
Really listen = 28 ppl
Wait to Talk = 5 ppl (honest people!)

B’s Question about the ranking system for college football was very divisive with 60% of you answering yes to the fact that there should be a playoff system and 40% of you not having a clue as to what he was asking. Good to know there’s consensus among those who understand the question though!

Daily Element
This question was the most even across all categories with the dirty birds out there representing 27% and winning the race by asking for daily porn. The other categories got pretty even representation – recipe, craft, photo, etc.

Politics
Democratic = 19 ppl
Republican = 1 person (how lonely my blog must be for you! :) )
Independent = 4 ppl
No affiliation – decisions based on each election = 9 ppl

Open Comments Section – What do you want to see more or less of?
More recipes – Less recipes – More pictures – More cute stories – More stories about B! – More info about dinosaurs – More information about the media I absorb – etc.


So there ya have it. If I were to generalize, I’d have to say that you’re a bunch of young, nature-loving, good-listening democrats with a propensity for dirty photos and a desire to change the collegiate football system.


************


Feather Nester was the first to respond to yesterday’s post with her own post on products she loves. As you’ll see when you read it, she took it in a slightly different direction. Basically she’s succumbed to our mutual annoyance with hygiene and just given in completely. It’s better for the planet that way.

Just for Fun

Instead of a normal poll, we’re going to switch it up a little this week. I designed a 10 question survey for you to do! Popular blogs do this to gain demographic information for advertisers, but don’t you worry – we’re a small group here at Scarlet and in absolutely no danger of being popular enough to sell advertising!

Plus, I know how y’all like your anonymity and general lurkiness, so this way you can still secretly read and participate in the blog without identifying yourself. It’s a win-win! It’ll be up all weekend and maybe into next week. So click on the link and answer the 10 multiple choice questions!!! I’ll let you know how everyone responded sometime next week.


Take the Survey!

Take the Survey!

Immune System for Sale?

This past Saturday, the first day where I would have been able to stand and walk and catch up on life after my back injury, I was shot down with an intestinal illness that knocked me out for much of the weekend. And while this really isn't interesting for anyone to read about, I just have to vent and say how horribly frustrating it is to be sick for this long and how frustrating it is to go through life with a chronic health problem.

I feel like I do a pretty good job of keeping my spirit up on a daily basis with my back pain. And it's true that I can't lift, can't run, can't sit on a hard surface, etc., but when it comes to day to day activities, I can do most things. However, when the injury gets acute, as it did this past week, and completely debilitates you and you're told by two specialists that it was nothing more than bad luck and is just a symptom of your condition, it's incredibly disheartening.

Last week when I was bent in half and wearing my brace, I was telling B that I was shocked at the sight of myself every time I went into the bathroom. I couldn't move and was wearing a huge sweatshirt, but when I went to use the bathroom, I'd have to lift up my sweatshirt and remove the brace and the reflection in the mirror was startling. I felt like I was a hundred, with creaky and gnarled tree limbs for joints, yet what I saw was a very small and very fit woman in a small purple tank top and it was such a jarring difference from what I felt like. It brought my frustration to life in such a vivid way.

And when you're on the couch for an entire week and when it's a problem that won't go away but will just get a little easier to handle, it makes you feel old. It makes you feel older than your peers and unable to participate in life. It makes you question whether you'll ever be able to lift your children up or have as many children as you want, or what else you'll have to deal with.

And I fully realize that this is just a particularly frustrating period and that I really will feel better about this soon. However, a lot of the frustration comes from feeling like no one understands what you're going through, so in writing this, I'm hoping to alleviate a little of that. After all, the main reason anyone becomes a writer (or a blogger) is because they have a story to tell and a need for it to be heard. Whether it was my journals as a child, my writing therapy business in my twenties, or this blog in my thirties, I have always felt that I've had hundreds of stories that lived inside of me and this is just one of them. I would love to tell you that chronic pain wasn't part of my life's story, but it is, and on the grand scheme of things, it's less than what other people have to deal with on a daily basis, so for that I'm grateful.

If you're willing to share, I'd love to know from you what is the one thing that you wish people really understood about you? Even one sentence will do - what is the one part of being you that you wish people understood on a deeper level?

Friday Poll

As I told you on Wednesday, the Friday Poll this week is: What is your go-to weeknight meal? When you come home and you're tired and not in the mood to think, what do you cook? Feel free to leave the recipe so other people can benefit from your idea. Like last week, the poll will be open all weekend.

The answer for us is always breakfast. Eggs and home fries or, more frequently, breakfast burritos. SO good!

Food List

This morning Sweet Nothings mentioned to me that she didn't eat cheese until her senior year of college. This got me thinking - not only thinking that I can't believe I was friends with someone for so long who didn't eat a food as perfect as cheese, but also about other foods that would fall into that category. I now present:

A list of foods that are nothing short of perfection and should be included in every meal :

Cinnamon

Garlic

Cheese

Bacon

Chocolate - high end, not Hershey's

Sesame - oil, seeds, whatever

Peanut Butter

Good coffee


Now for you. What food do you think was sent from the angels just for your culinary pleasure? We're going home this weekend, so you'll have all weekend to answer.