Not Worth It

 So I almost faced some jail time last night. Facebook jail, that is. Three times I tried to share my blog link and they took it down accusing me of trying to scam people or spam people and coerce them to click on a link.

There are no humans in this process. They just follow some algorithm or something. No person on the other end where I can explain I'm some middle-aged woman in Wisconsin just trying to bring some inspiration or levity to people.

So I haven't decided if I'll even try to share this tonight. It might be too soon.

Also, I really don't want them to cut me off when I have sports to shoot in the coming days and a fantabulous work trip to the West Coast next week.

Just know this is where you'll always find me, whether I post the link on social media or not. Bookmark this site so you won't miss a thing. 

Including any pending time behind bars.

Be careful out there!

Inch-by-Inch Influencer

As a blogger, I was riding high this morning as I overheard members of our construction crew talk about my recently "published" label that our new soffits are sexy. I'm just lucky that one of my friends who reads my blog has a hubby on the crew.

Still, I'm like, "yes, they are!"

Naturally one of them installing soffits outside my office today shouted through the window "Are you sure it's the soffits or the crew?!" I promised to take photos and compare and let him know. But I never got out there while the guys were here. 

But I do have a few progress photos.

I mean you'll completely agree that even without the inset lights in the front side of the house, the soffit on the backside is still sexy, right?

And the progress on the east side of the house is why I heard pounding all day in my corner office (far right). No pain, no gain, I guess!

And the backside of the garage is looking so good! I love all the progress each day. I know there will be some hot weather coming in so we'll be grateful for whatever they can do without melting. But I prefer slow and meticulous and perfect to progress any day. Love this dedicated crew!

Being Strong

A year ago today our favorite part of Maui – historic Lahaina – was basically obliterated from an out of control wildfire. Since my company is a title sponsor of a PGA golf tournament there, all of us employees are pretty tuned into the happenings there. 

So today, on the one year anniversary of the fire, I made sure to wear my "Maui Strong" t-shirt to golf league tonight. 

It did not help my game, but I felt positive, nonetheless.

The past few days have been challenging for a few reasons. One, we're preparing for my mom's memorial service this weekend. Secondly, my good "friends" at Facebook decided to suspend my account again for going against "community standards."

I have no idea why, really. And it's aggravating.

But I do realize that a vast majority of my readers think they can only access my blog via Facebook. So the 8 of you who just follow my blogger website, thank you.

 You inspire me to keep going!

Sabbatical Spoiler Alert

Dear, gentle readers...

If you've followed me long enough, you know I'm a weird Olympics junkie. Probably because I'm the most un-athletic person you'd meet. So I'm full of awe and admiration when The Games come around.

That also means there's a deep connection between me, Mr. Recliner, and the remote. Just your patriotic threesome. Nothing to see here!

That also also means I will be blogging sporadically since the daily highlight broadcast ends way past my bedtime.

But if I have something interesting to share – like this goldfinch enjoying his lunch while I scarfed down a bratwurst – then I'll be sure to let you know.

In the mean time, Game on! 

CSI A.I.

All this artificial intelligence talk shouldn't be ignored. I mean, "they" (the A.I. folks) know things. Look at this "automated" response on my name test today. This is so 100% accurate for unfiltered Robyn!

But it is a bit unnerving sometimes, isn't it?

Whether it's autocorrect in your Word document or in your texting app, "they" know things. Like when I tried texting hubby the name of a town starting with an S and "it" automatically thought I was typing "sensual." H-m-m. One, where did that come from? And two, keep my secrets, smartphone!

But a side note, this A.I. business is a threat to my career. For real. Who needs reporters and writers of any kind when you can just plug in a few key words to your A.I. app and you're in business? Kinda crazy.

By the time I retire (not soon enough) I will have survived the daily desire for paper newspapers and magazines (hello, online publishing) and the need for human writers. Pretty unnerving.

But obviously, as a woman who won't be remembered for keeping her mouth shut, I'll keep you posted.

Stay safe out there – and keep command of your own voice. In any form!

Drive-Thru Inspiration

Thanks to Culver's, I don't even need to blog tonight. Just go through the drive-thru and pick up instant blogs like this.

Here's your reminder to be amazing today!

My work here is done. Ha.

Plus, I don't have any pressing news to share. Another cough-free night last night so I'm kicking COVID to the curb! During my "back swing" of course, I will still get to bed by 9 p.m. so I can get enough rest. Probably easier to sleep IT out than kick IT out anyway.

But...it IS my day – and yours – to be amazing. Anything can happen! 

Be careful out there. 

B Grateful

Our alphabetical gratitude month continues today with the letter B, which means a few more blessings to share!

A = Autumn, Austins, Assumption

Ballots: Let's start with the most obvious one today! So grateful for our freedoms in this country and the right to choose our leaders! It was quite an unusual election day. With the whole pandemic happening, more people than ever cast their votes ahead of time – just in case they couldn't make it to the polls today or in case polls were closed for COVID reasons. Hubby and I are old school traditionalists. We grabbed our masks and our own pens and voted at our town hall.

Remember, no matter what the presidential election results are... B kind. If your candidate wins, don't gloat. If they lose, don't respond with anger or violence. Show compassion for your friends and neighbors like it's any other day.

Books: I'm grateful for my books – physical and digital. A lot of people like to watch TV for their down time. I like to escape in my books. Or course, it goes hand in hand with my love for English and writing! Words are powerful, aren't they? Open the Bible if you need convincing on that one. And if it weren't for books, I wouldn't have my Book Club! Love my fellow page turners. They started out as a group of random fellow readers and now we're "sisters." 

Brother: Since I mentioned sisters (sort of), I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my ONE brother. I learn so much from him. I'm grateful for his wisdom, his love of clever humor, his unwavering faith, and his sense of adventure!

Blog: Of course I'm grateful for this blog. Aren't you? Ha. I am blessed to have an outlet for my random words of humor (well I think I'm funny anyway), inspiration (occasionally), and daily nonsense. I'm grateful that every once in awhile something I write touches someone's soul – or their funny bone. This is blog number 4,675 so the odds are in my favor on that one. 

Seriously, I am blessed to have you with me right this minute! And you'll be blessed with my brevity. Gotta go distract myself from election returns with a good book!

#gratitudemonth

Three Decades of Hamster Dance and More

Today is allegedly the 30th birthday of the World Wide Web. I say "allegedly" because some experts have different dates in mind. I just can't believe it launched when I was in college and I really didn't see it (in action) or touch it until the mid-1990s.

I want to say we've come along way from the Ooog-a-cha-ka Baby and the Hamster Dance, but have we?

Sure I don't have to use my phone line to dial in on an incredibly slow modem. But now we've got dancing, laughing and pooping babies (and pets). Time wasters called Facebook and Pinterest. An Asian woman telling my how to declutter and organize my house.

And our cat can take a selfie.

Of course that doesn't mean I don't love the Information Super Highway and all it has to offer. Just pointing out a few of the ways it impacts my life.

Today I am thankful for that cyber connection with our friends and family – even across the ocean – and yes, my ability to spout nonsense in a blog and use Facebook to give away fabulous "prizes" cluttering my house. When it doesn't detract me from living my real life, it's a win-win.

We still have glitches, though. I tried downloading Spring two weeks ago and I'm still getting that spinning rainbow.

Twelve Months of 2018

I'm literally pooped out tonight as I had my first-ever colonoscopy this morning, so I won't make it to midnight. Like the cartoon says, I'm gonna call it a year.

But first a Twelve Months of 2018 song (well, list) akin to the Twelve Days of Christmas...

12 months of clicking (photos)

11 rounds of golf league

10 weeks with Carter (this summer, which breaks up the pattern of the song)

9 months of choir

8 months on council

7 sassy siblings

6 weeks in das boot

5 days in Seattle

4 friendly kayakers

3 movie dates

2 weeks in Sweden

and a New Year's Eve colon-ahhh-scop-peeee!

Side note: In a nutshell, the colonoscopy sucked. Apparently, my usual healthy low blood pressure really dipped during the procedure so they couldn't give me enough meds to knock me out. So 20 years later, my lamaze breathing came in handy getting through the, uh, great discomfort. Way to finish 2018 as a warrior, right! And not starting off a new year full of B.S. for a change! :)

Not Quite a Perfect 10

Three thousand, four hundred and sixty-seven.

That is how many blog posts I've written since I launched this thing, whatever this thing is, 10 years ago today. Yup. A daily blog. Well, 3,467. An almost daily blog. It appears I've missed at least a dozen days per year and that is usually when I am on Sister Weekend, Camp Crop-A-Lot weekend and random acts of tiredness.

Wow.

It's not so much dedication as it is habit. Just part of my daily routine. If I was smart, I would have some cake and ice cream and "retire" on a high note. Seriously, read my first post and you'll see why I started it and why, in a way, I have made no progress....

Friday, April 6, 2007
TGIGF

It's probably kind of strange to start a blog on Good Friday. Maybe it's because Lent is coming to an end and it's that time of year when we think about what's important in our lives. I love to write and express my creativity so why not start a blog?! It's never too late to jump on the blog bandwagon, right? Seize the day!

Sounds good, but most likely the reason I started a blog today is because it's one of those tumbleweed Fridays at work. Half the people took the day off and the rest of us don't feel like working. Now and then we find ourselves breaking away from real work to talk about those far more important things like our children or "Grey's Anatomy." Since "Grey's" was a repeat last night, we turned to solving the world's problems and finding answers to those perplexing questions like "What's 'good' about Good Friday?" and "How come we always say we're going to write a book and none of us have?"

As a writer at heart but editor by trade, I wondered that, too. My husband and I talk about how we can retire early as soon as one of us sells our book and we make it big. We can only joke about it, though, since neither of us has written word one in anything resembling a book ... or novel .... or short story.

My solution? Baby steps. I'll start with a itty bitty blog in my itty bitty world to get my creative juices flowing. Once they are flowing, running and creating rapids, we can move on. In the meantime, I welcome you to join me as I observe the light side of life through the eyes of a working mother hooked on scrapbooking, "Grey's" and her 8-year-old's smile. 

So... I am still hooked on scrapbooking, "This is Us" instead of "Grey's" and my now 18-year-old's smile. But no, still haven't written that book. LOL. Need to get off the pot! Or as we might say in literary circles...

It's time to write or get off the blog.

Wouldn't hurt to start with that anniversary or retirement or "it's Thursday" ice cream, right?

Thanks for reading.

Voting Early and Often

Had to borrow a little religion from Orange Is The New Black's character Pennsatucky. Hallelujah, indeed.

Even though our phones may be ringing tomorrow with last-ditch efforts from candidates and the commercials may still air, at least there is an end to the madness in sight.

And despite the loony campaign season, I am grateful to live in a country where we do have the freedom of choice. We can vote. It will count. But our candidate still may not win. What a privilege, though, to participate!

Tonight I started voting early and often...

Nothing illegal. It was the live show on The Voice. And while I did pick my favorites, they aren't all moving on. Again, that's just part of the process. And, as a consolation, there is a lot of great talent that was chosen.

Let's hope we can say the same in some 24 to 36 hours, right? And for each of us, that perception will be different.

I don't expect the world's going to end or anything. If it does, at least my blog career would end on an interesting number. Yup, this is blog entry number 3,333. That's a heckuva lot of expression of free speech in this great country!

Uff da. I think my term limit is just about up.