Feature Friday - Grossnasty!

A while back I worked at Costco, and for some reason I don't remember, I was put somewhere and not allowed to leave where I was unattended. Perhaps it was cameras. Anyhow, a children's chapter book wound up where I was, and being the person I am, I couldn't help but sneak a peak when there was no one around. I wound up reading the whole thing, and it was hilarious. I don't remember what it was now, but one thing that stuck with me was that the dog, or perhaps its toy, was called "grossnasty," and I still find myself calling things grossnasty and thinking of that book. How silly. It's one of those young reader chapter books, with a couple of illustrations and a pink cover to attract the intended girl audience. Something along the lines of Ivy & Bean or Amelia Bedelia. I'm currently using Google to try and find what it actually is.

Found it! The book series is Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton, and I think that this is the one I read, Am I the Princess or the Frog? Grossnasty is the chew-toy of the dog named Stinker.

It's been at least five years, and I still find myself thinking about it. I decided to being it up today, because yesterday after mowing the yard, I thought 'I am soooo grossnasty.' I've been thinking about it ever since.

Until next time!
Julia

Mindful Monday - Returned

So it's back to Monday again, is it?

Well, I've been a little quiet lately, but I've seen the numbers, it's not like anyone actually noticed ;-)

So I've had a lot on my mind, but I'm finally feeling a little more human.

So what's been going on? Well, I've come to the conclusion that I suck. At least when it comes to doing things for myself, that is. This blog? Deserted for nearly a month. My writing? Well, do to-do and grocery lists count? Working out? HAHAHAHA! Seriously, I'm much better at doing things for other people, including getting out of bed and actually eating.

Those things haven't been far from my mind though, and I don't think I actually suck, so no worries--the logical and emotional parts of my mind are always at odds with each other, and logical usually wins, in the end of the often-lengthy battles. I compose blog posts in my head as I try to go to sleep, and forget them in the morning. I've more fully created characters for a story that is spinning in my mind than I've ever done before, although they are far from complete. And working out? HAHAHA! Seriously. Maybe I should buy a full-body wetsuit to swim in this summer (it'd be a lot warmer, right? And I haven't really enjoyed swimming in years...).

There are also things going on that are outside of my control. Some of them aren't really mine, but things with people I love, that I wish I could do something about, but it is not my place and it is not in my power. So in place of my being able to help, I worry for them, I dream for them, I hope for them. For myself, I had what I felt like a very positive job interview, but I've yet to hear anything back. I know these things take time, and I've done the best I can in the time when I could affect the outcome, so all that's left to do is wait.

So maybe these things don't seem like much, but they were enough for me to bury my head in the sand for a couple of weeks.

What now? Well, I get to try again. I get to experiment with blogging some more, transfer the scenes in my head onto the screen, and try to pick up yoga again. Seek the relief from anxieties I felt I was close to before. Will I do all of these things perfectly this time? No. I will probably fall off the face of the Earth again. And then I will return. That's life, I think, and I accept that while the yo-yo experience is typical me and I can try to change it, it takes time.

See you around.
Julia

Edit: "So I've had a lot on my mind, but I'm finally feeling a little more human." I've been thinking about that, and I'm certain I've said it before. So, what is feeling human, anyways? For me it is being able to feel my emotions and not just recognize them from a distance. The journey there feels like climbing up a muddy hill, you get close to the top and slip a little before you finally make it. And once you do, you realize that it really wasn't the top, and you have to keep going. More mud, more slips, and more stops along the way.

Feature Friday - Story of Seasons

Well, hello there. It's been a while, sorry about that. I haven't read a [published] book since the last one I featured, and this pretty much sums up what I've been doing: Story of Seasons. I'll be honest that not only have I been playing this pretty heavily, I've been using it to escape the anxieties that crowd my mind. More on that later.

So what is Story of Seasons? It's a Nintendo 3DS game in which you play the role of a new farmer in Oak Tree Town, which needs help boosting its trade and what not. If you are thinking this sounds a lot like Harvest Moon, you would be very correct.

I'm already halfway through the Spring of my second year, in a relationship with Raeger, the restaurant owner, and feeling like I'm doing pretty well, as far as the game goes. I don't know what it is about these kinds of games that can devour my attention so wholly, but they do. So, that's what I've been up to enough to feature today. Enjoy!

Julia

Pendulum Ascending

Kelsey Macke, author of Damsel Distressed--which, if you haven't read it, you need to, and don't forget the tissues, my thoughts here--used great imagery for the feeling of slipping into depression, that of the pendulum. As I attempted to get to sleep last night this morning, I began to feel some positive energies begin to return to me after spending some time in the darkness that pendulum swings through, I believe this time around it was more anxiety than depression, they aren't exclusive from each other. I thought about the pendulum a bit, and that just as it falls, the nature of it is to also rise back up to the other side, back to the light. It is that ascension that sometimes is all we have that keeps us going, the knowledge that somewhere, on the upside, is light. I also think that sometimes, where the darkness and light meet and become that gray, in-between area varies, and perhaps my dark is another's dawn, but that doesn't make it any less dark to me.

Found on Pinterest - Links to here: http://www.theprincessandthepump.com/2014/02/at-least-its-not.html

With these thoughts on my mind I drifted to sleep, and found the lovely S. Usher Evans, author of the Razia series and soon-to-be-released Empath--also must reads, being the kindred spirit she always seems to be:

From Empath. #SlayYourFears #bookquotes http://t.co/PPMFP0jKXD pic.twitter.com/QioRyg66cS
— S. Usher Evans (@s_usherevans) April 15, 2015

So here are two of my favorite authors, whose works give words to that which I struggle with, and somehow, those images help. Now it's up to me to continue taking steps, to keep the upward swing of the pendulum as long as I can.