I have almond bits stuck in my teeth (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: I'm very confused about what day it is, which is not uncommon, being that it's summer, and I'm a stay-at-home parent. Yesterday I posted twice and didn't even realize it. I just adjusted our budget for the week, thinking that pay day is next week when it's actually this week (thank heavens because I was trying to figure out how to fill my gas tank). When I bought milk today, I was disappointed to see that the expiration date was July 14. For some reason, I thought that was only a few days away rather than over two weeks away. Meanwhile, my library books are four days overdue because I can't figure out how it's already been three weeks since I checked them out. 

Fact #2: I have a confession: I like sitting. All of my favorite activities are best done sitting. Reading... puzzles... blogging... playing board games... holding babies (humans or chickens)... writing meal plans and grocery lists... recreational studying (it's a thing)... eating... putting things on the calendar... Wordle... Wingspan... texting my friends... binge-watching (I don't do it a lot, but when I find something I really like, I'm all over it)... Driving around the valley to be away from my kids for a while... spying on my neighbors out the window...

Because of this, I love road trips. Ten hours in the car? Heck yes! Do you know how much I can get done while sitting in a car for hours and hours? 

To all of you who say, "I can't stand just sitting around!" I am freeing myself from trying to pretend that I am like you. I am not like you. I looooove to sit around, and I'm just gonna own it from now on.

(I have to clarify that, just because I love sitting, doesn’t mean I hate standing - I’m just saying I have no problem with sitting! I find it quite delightful!)

Fact #3: One of my hopes and dreams for my garden this year was to be able to harvest enough strawberries to make jam. I was very excited when we got home from Saint George, and we had strawberries galore! I was able to make ten pints (which required a fair amount of standing, for the record).

Fact #4: I happen to be in a place right now where I enjoy making jam, and I find it fulfilling. I just want to remind you that whatever you see on the internet - here on this blog or elsewhere - you should never feel like you have to do what that person does. So in this moment, when I'm like, "OMGoodness, I made jam! Squee!" just know that I'm enthusiastic about my jam and feeling mighty happy about this accomplishment, but it in no way subtracts from the value of a person who doesn't make jam. 

In fact, if I make jam and you don't, we, together, have provided balance in the world. Look at us!

(Maybe you're a person who doesn't like to sit - and thereby, we continue serving the world through our differences. Go us! High five!)

Fact #5: Lately I've had many run-ins with miserable people, which has made me very observant and contemplative regarding what makes a person that way. The more I think about it, the more evidence I see that it has very little to do with circumstances and much more to do with attitude and perspective. I believe these people are stuck and have acquired a level of learned helplessness in their misery. 

This is important for me to acknowledge because there is an area of my life where I am completely miserable, and I have to be accountable for my own role in it. I don't want to be this way, and yet, I can see that I, too, have allowed myself to get stuck. There's something addicting about misery and feeling like you can blame everyone else. But blaming others is non-productive and unhealthy and does nothing to remedy one's misery. It can only be fixed within. 

Thank you for coming to my therapy session.

Fact #6: One other thing I've been thinking a lot about lately is the alignment or misalignment of words and deeds. This is something that's always on my radar because I notice that many people describe themselves one way but act another way. An example of this that Shannon and I always joke about is how people who say things like, "I'm low drama!" or "I don't do drama!" are often people who thrive on and contribute to significant drama. 

Words are very important to me, and I've always been pretty decent with words, which means that I know how to say the "right" things. This can be dangerous because saying the right thing and then demonstrating the right thing are two things that should align but often don't. Words are powerful and and be used to manipulate and mislead with or without intention. I'm not innocent in that - I've use words for good and bad. Therefore, my thoughts are:

Am I who I say I am? 

Do I have an accurate picture of who I really am, and do I portray that to others?

#deepthoughtsbybritt

Fact #7: I'm defrosting my deep freezers today. As with the jam, this is something I want to pat myself on the back for. We have two small freezers in our garage - one upright and one chest. The upright is currently defrosting and only takes about an hour in the heat. When it's up and running again, I'll move all the food over and do the chest freezer. I've never defrosted the chest freezer in the 15+ years we've owned it, but it's become absolutely necessary because the ice build-up is keeping it from being able to close all the way!

Save the popsicles!!!

(Isn't this exciting information?)

Fact #8: Speaking of appliance care, I really need to clean my oven as well. Things haven't been going well oven-wise lately. Pretty much any time I cook, I set off the smoke alarms. Over the weekend, I tried baking a carrot cake - one I've made before, so I know I'm capable - but something went terribly wrong and it overflowed the sheet pan and dripped all over in the bottom of the oven. So now there's a big carrot cake mess in there that will ever increase the speed at which I set the smoke alarms off if I don't get it cleaned up post haste. And I need not even mention the burning smell!

(Isn't my life exciting?)

Fact #9: Someone get this bag of almond M&Ms away from me!

Fact #10: I've reached the point where there's nothing more to say, but I have to write at least one more little blurb because if I only did nine facts, I would feel uncomfortable.