It’s been a rough week over here. My old dog, Vinny, died on Monday and I miss his presence so much. The day after we said goodbye, my daughter got a stomach bug, which resulted in very little sleep and a ton of laundry. I am exhausted and staring down a holiday to-do list that is a mile long (#firstworldproblems). If you’re reading this, I hope your week has been less eventful than mine.
Quote of the week:
“Understand me… I do not have time for things that have no soul.” –Charles Bukowski
What I’m reading:
The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok. Interesting storyline. I’m almost done and trying to decide what’s next.
What I’m listening to:
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell. If you feel like the pace of the modern world has hijacked your brain, read this.
What I’m watching:
I finally watched the Barbie movie. I meant to see it in the theater, but a canceled babysitter thwarted my plans and it just didn’t happen. I think I would have enjoyed it more in the theater with an audience, but I still enjoyed it. Last night, I watched May December with Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman. The acting was fantastic and I’d never really seen a story like this on screen.
Interesting things I learned this week:
- De Winton’s golden mole (Cryptochloris wintoni), an elusive blind mole that “swims” through sand and lives in inaccessible burrows, was thought to be extinct, but it was just rediscovered in South Africa. The last sighting was in 1937!
- According to Microsoft’s Work Index Report, the average Teams user has experienced a 252% increase in time spent in meetings since February 2020. It’s out of control!
- A national survey (from the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital) reported that 84% of moms and 69% of dads turn to Instagram and Facebook to get and discuss parenting tips; only 16% of parents said that what they saw on social media helped them worry less about their parenting. My assumption is that social media makes most parents worry MORE
- Although American women won the right to vote in 1920, married women were legally obliged to vote under their husband’s surname until 1975
- According to the US Department of Agriculture, a child born in 2015 would cost a middle-income married couple $233,610 to raise from birth to age seventeen, not including the price of any higher education
- A man named Charles Fourier is often credited with coining the word “feminism.” Some quotes from his writings in 1808: “the extension of the privileges of women is the basic principle of all social progress”; “the happiness of men is proportionate to the freedom enjoyed by women”; “women, in a state of liberty will outdo men in all mental and physical functions which are not dependent on bodily strength.” Pretty impressive for 1808!
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“longest plank hold.” I heard it was multiple hours, so I had to look it up. Whoa: “A man from the Czech Republic has performed the longest abdominal plank ever recorded, as confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records. Josef Šálek, known to his friends as Joska, undertook the physically grueling challenge on May 20, 2023, maintaining a strict plank position for 9 hours, 38 minutes, and 47 seconds.”
What I’m grateful for:
- I’m grateful I got to be with my dog when he died. I brought his favorite bed to the vet and was able to lay next to him and rub his ears. I know he felt loved and comforted. It was awful, but very peaceful
- I did not get my daughter’s stomach bug. Knock on wood
- I got my own Christmas tree for the first time! I was so proud of myself for putting it up. Then it fell over. Because that’s how this week has been. It is back up now, so… yay
Snapshots:
So sorry to hear about the loss of your dog.
They are a true blessing in life .
Kind regards
Lisa