The Saturday Six (Fourteen)

1. Saturday, my mom, my sister, my nephew, and I all went to Geneseo for Chinese and a trip to Goodwill.  My mom ended up buying me some “new” books, some by Mercedes Lackey, The Diary of Anne Frank, and a few Boxcar Children books for my collection.  The latter was my favorite series when I was a little kid, and I still hunt for copies to add to it; I wasn’t sure if the books we got were ones I already have, but luckily, when I went to shelve them, I didn’t. Yay! Oh, and she got me some soundtracks on CD as well as a cute cookie jar for my future apartment.
   
   
2. Mom worked with me more on driving on Sunday, and I can’t wait to learn to shift…I feel really bad when I have to ride my brakes, especially since I hear my dad’s voice in my head lecturing me about it. She says I’m doing better at making my turns. The only tenseness I’ve felt when with her is in my left arm, and more confident.
   
   Dad came home on Monday though, and had me driving on our fields, lawn, and through our pasture…needless to say, my whole body locked and I almost became sick because my anxiety became so bad. I really wish there was a driving school for adults in my town, and not half an hour away.
   
   
3. Elk jerky. Yeah, I got to try some of that this week, courtesy of Texas. Better than bear, similar to deer, but more dry. I know, it’s jerky, but trust me, jerky can have a moist taste. We used to make deer jerky when I was a kid, I know what I’m talking about. All in all, it was alright. I wouldn’t go searching for it, but I’d eat it if put in front of me again.
   
   
4. I’ve thought about doing yoga for a while, and this week, I hunted down over a hundred beginners videos on youtube. And I’ve started doing yoga. Very small stuff right now, and going pretty slow. I ended up tweeting with my old personal trainer, Jenn, from my college days, for advice. Aside from the normal stuff most people have told me, she told me to experiment and test with some things, and do low-impact. I have tendonitis in my right wrist, so some things I can’t do compared to a year ago, such as downward dog, push-ups, and a plank that isn’t on the elbows. I want to badly, but considering I have to take breaks just from the computer to ice and massage now and then, as well as just stop using that hand, I guess I’m SOL on some positions.
   
   I did make a small playlist for my first circuit to branch from, which is going well so far. Some parts were harder than others, but…I’m actually a tad optimistic about it. And I realized that some parts of my body are considered more flexible already than others. Like bending my knees toward the floor…I guess some need pillows until they become better at that part, while mine had no need. Yay! And my lower back, is very weak. Something I never would have thought. Yikes! Seriously, I went to do one move where your weight is on your forearms flat on the floor, while you’re laying on your back, legs straight, and lift your butt up off the floor, and hold for three breaths. Needless to say, this is where I had to experiment, and pretty much turned myself into an open box or something, but bringing my feet in, and had to lift my butt up that way. Gaining strength in that area is going to be harder than I imagined. Boo.
   
   I feel for anyone who hasn’t worked out in a while, or trying to learn new things like this. It’s hard, which is great. And it did make me feel better a bit. But man—a pain in the, would it be lower back in this instance? Haha.
   
   
5. I’ve started asking some of my published author friends to beta-read for me. To be honest, even though I had professors who were published read my work in college, I think I’m more nervous now. I love them, but when you spend so much time with pieces of work, looking at it over again, etc, over a course of time, you no longer know entirely what to expect.
   
   
6. Last night, my youngest nephew, got a hold of some leftover bubble wrap from one of the packages we got this week. Needless to say, after supper, he stood in the kitchen, jumping and marching on it, wanting us to join. We preferred to watch his excitement, and besides, we know our feet would have popped most of it and taken away his fun rather quickly. He was definitely over-wound, but I like that fact that he can still enjoy life like that. Have fun with small simple things, and not the countless toys he is spoiled with, and not in the need of all of the electronics so many kids seem to have at much earlier ages than in the past.
   
   Sum of this scene: enjoy the bubble wrap in your life over the things that cost more. Simple pleasures y’all, those make the world go ‘round. And even though that has me aching to curl up with someone close to my heart, and god forbid it, watch an awful horror movie or raunchy comedy that aren’t my taste, I still mean what I say. Simple. Pleasures. Enjoy them. Cherish them.
   
   

~Count your blessings, and whether things are bad or you’re doing well, find something good and hold on!

Much love!

~*~Alyse~*~

The Saturday Six (Eleven)

1. Sunday, even though I had zero energy, I went to Geneseo to see We’re The Millers, even though it meant me sitting there by myself.  My dad went and saw 2 Guns.  Why didn’t he watch my movie? Because I told him he would not want to watch it with me…he’d probably like it, possibly, but after seeing Savages when that was in theaters, I’d like to avoid anything regarding my like in movies that happen to have sex and marijuana. Especially, when both movies involve the selling of it.  I’ve no problem with the way people choose to live their lives really, as long as it doesn’t harm another person, and they’re movies. However, my dad watching this with his youngest daughter is a very bad idea, and I didn’t want him to damper the movie I’d wanted to see.
   
   And how I enjoyed said movie!
   
   I have got to say, it was probably one of the funniest movies I’ve seen released in months, and my mute-self was wanting to laugh so hard, I even had a coughing spasm trying to.  I sat there in the theater, by myself, Goobers and popcorn with extra butter and salt in my lap, with an incredibly large grin upon my face.  Who would have thought that seeing Jennifer Aniston as a stripper would be the highlight to my day, let alone, the highlight in my life in days.  Thank you Millers.
   
   
2. Tuesday was the two week marker of being a mute.  So…needless to say, I was overjoyed when Monday night, my sister sent over a dry erase board from the Dollar Tree in my nephew’s diaper bag. I’m extremely grateful for this gesture, because I was tired of hunting around to make sure I had scrap paper on me or typing in large font on my computer to communicate with people. I learned a long time ago, when I had laryngitis in high school (three times!) that these little boards are a god send.
   
   
3. Even as a mute, I was tired of seeing only family members and being a hermit.  I was losing all sanity. I wanted to scratch the crap out of a certain individual.  I took a chance of completely draining myself again, possibly getting nauseated and risk passing out (did that last week, bad, very bad), and allowed my friend Chrissy to kidnap me and take me on errands with her.
   
   Unlike everyone else, she has no problem seeming like she is talking to herself.  She is quite a talker, and great at picking up subtle cues of communication.  I was also able to use a little bit of signing that I do remember from my childhood mixed in with using my handy dandy board, and heavens thank you for her friendship! My throat was feeling a tad better, and I was able to laugh—well, kind of.
   
   And apparently, I was quite amusing, even in my mute state, and not just to Chrissy.  Our waitress at Applebees got to read my order off my board, and another waiter thought that we were doing a trivia game until he found out I had no voice. They loved that I had a board. Weird, but good.
   
   I thank the stars every day for the friends I have in my life.  Friends are the biggest reason I survive, they are part of the why and part of the how.
   
   
4. I got my hair trimmed this week, finally!
   
   It took almost a year, which makes me extremely paranoid to go so long without one.  However, I found a person I could afford and that I could trust.  Having both things work together is hard, and I trust very few near my hair, even fewer with something that could harm it, such as scissors. Woo-hoo!
   
   
5. This month, I’ve done some BETA reading and editing for a friend.  I finished with what she has towards her larger manuscript that is a WIP.  I loved a lot of it, and for some reason, my writing friends who’ve had me look over scenes, etc for them this summer, have a way of playing with my emotions through their work.  Thumbs up, ladies. I consider that a good thing. And I loved her takes on some of the creatures involved, as well as how she tackled different aspects about life.  The more important things, such as the connections between people.  I think she truly has potential in what she’s creating.
   
   
6. My sister, even in her frustrated state last night, got me a plate of fried dough and my favorite taffy (wintergreen) from our county fair. I practically inhaled the dough, I’d been craving all week. There’s something about fair food and summer, I swear.

~Count your blessings, and whether things are bad or you’re doing well, find something good and hold on!

Much love!

~*~Alyse~*~