My kid, S, is in 7th grade, and splits time between my house and their dad's house. Mostly they're here.

Anyway, this unknown number calls the landline, which I always pick up because really no one has that number except the people we give it to. This kid (12? 13?) asks, "Is this S's parent?" I say yes. S told him to call if he needed help with a group project, and he does. I say, "Sorry! S is at their dad's house. Let me get your name and number and I'll have them call you."

So he says, my name is Michael John, but for some reason everyone at school calls me M.J. [Name changed for privacy reasons, but you get the point.] And I can't even explain how hilarious it was and hard it was not to laugh. What a mysterious nickname! Why *would* everyone call you M.J.??? Let's get to the bottom of this!

I get his number down, check that I have it right, and am ready to end the phone call. He says, "What do I call you? Mrs. [ex's last name]?" I said, "No, you can call me MyFirstName," to which he replies: "Okay, thank you MyFirstName, I hope you have a great day."

The whole thing took maybe 90 seconds, but it left me with a smile. Who says the younger generation doesn't know how to make phone calls?

”In My Rhythm” SnapBack Guy: Ay yo. Don’t get more chicken. You ate chicken like four weeks in a row. You’ll go insane.

UMass Dartmouth Sweatpants Guy: I eat the same thing every week. Can’t afford to eat anything else.

”In My Rhythm” SnapBack Guy: For your diet you can’t afford it or financially?

UMass Dartmouth Sweatpants Guy: I’ve got to spend $30 a week on food. Period. Need to save up for my trip.

”In My Rhythm” SnapBack Guy: So what?

UMass Dartmouth Sweatpants Guy: So I’ve got to stick to the same stuff every week that I know is $30.

”In My Rhythm” SnapBack Guy: Yeah, so fine. Spend $30 on a different set of meals.

UMass Dartmouth Sweatpants Guy: Huh. I guess you’re right.

That's all

During a bachelorette party, we went to my bachelor brother’s house, with the intent to toilet paper it as a joke.

He came home later to find the dishes washed, the kitchen sink and countertops bleached, and post-it notes (with various craziness) throughout the house. Even in the medicine cabinet & refrigerator.

He said he continued to find them for years.

And we did TP the house, but I believe it was only one tree…?

Was running some quick errands of getting gas and groceries, and ended up putting a rose and sunflower bouquet in my shopping cart because he loves flowers and I love him.

I take a lot of

Edit: Pretty sure the body text was accidentally copied from my clipboard. Sorry 😂

He doesn't care about stealing any of my other drinks, but whenever I sit down with some nice iced hibiscus tea he tries to stick his entire face in the cup. Don't blame him, it's my favorite too

All summer they kept to their own corners, but tonight all four of them have congregated in the same one. What's up with that?

But the butterfingers in the snack machine were stacked so I'd accidentally receive two. Oops! 🤫

53F just bought a yoyo, that is all.

I counted. When I try to not hit my dog, I hit him half the time. When I try to hit the dog, I hit him 1/4 of the time. But then I feel guilty because I tried to hit him and then I did. So I try not to hit him. And hit him more.

My dog thinks it's great fun.

I feed the blue jays who live on our part of the street. There are two of them, a pair (they mate for the longterm.) I shake my peanuts and call for them, and they flash over from the big tree across the street, streaks of dark blue against the suburban background.

Anyway, we went out of town for the weekend, and after we got back last night, I was watering out front when I heard a rustle in the tree overhead. It was one of the jays (I can't really tell them apart.) "Hello! Do you want some peanuts?" I said. They made a little noise (they are very noisy birds, usually if I miss peanut time they shriek at me), which I think meant "peanuts!!" So I set out some peanuts, and sat and watched the bird eat them. The other jay noticed, and flashed down from the big tree to get some too.

I learned they are different with their peanuts at dusk. They don't hide as many, and rather just eat some. And then they flashed off to the big tree for bed.

I am grateful for my noisy little blue friends.

There's a checkout clerk at my local grocery store who's worked there for years. About 6 months ago, she started remembering that I always bring my own bags and would have them ready before I even reached for them.

Last week she wasn't there Monday or Tuesday and I found myself slightly disappointed. When she returned Wednesday, she smiled and said "How were those apples I recommended?"

I want y'all to guess how I feel the whole week! :D

I wish I had a list of every song I've ever heard and enjoyed. I wonder how long it would take to reach the end (listening of course). I also wonder how many songs I've forgotten about over the years. Have you ever had that thought?

I think about it every so often when a song comes on over the radio (it's usually Metallica, Pink Floyd or Rush, I've noticed). It's like I completely forget that they exist until that moment and while I'm jamming along, I'm thinking to myself 'I need to listen to these guys more often!' but then I never do.

I feel like I do limit myself these days, getting stuck in the cycle of picking from the same 3 lists, depending on my mood.

My seven year old comes home singing Queen, Papa Roach, Elton John and I love it.

My friends niece has just hit teenage years and is heavy into music these days. It's so surreal hearing her gush over Ozzy, Nirvana, Gorillaz etc. getting to experience these bands for the first time and fall in love with their music. Oh, it takes me back!

Staind was my first music love. Break the Cycle was the first CD I ever bought. It's also one of the handful of albums that I enjoy every single song on it. That band definitely got me through the worst of my teenage angst years.

My job has me on the phone all day every day, answering questions from a ton of people. The past couple of weeks have been even busier than usual, and admittedly my patience is wearing thin, because it feels like I can’t finish one phone call without missing two more.

Anyway, this morning I get a call from someone I’ve spoken to before. She’s an older lady dealing with her own very stressful couple of weeks, so she’s calling me for help. No big deal, I get her the information she needs and let her know she can call back if she runs into any more trouble. She says “thank you, honey” and hangs up.

I don’t know why this specific phrase at that specific time hit me the way it did, but it made me feel so appreciated. And like I should go call my grandmother.

I haven’t really been able to celebrate my birthday in a while. This time I wanted to, but since I work night shifts now, I’ll be on duty.

So I’m just planning to take a little break around 11:55 p.m., head downstairs, sit on the sidewalk where everyone hangs out to smoke, and just enjoy the moment.

I was coming off of a 4-day weekend where I'd severely upended my sleep schedule. Think staying up until 4, getting up at 10, then taking long naps so I again wouldn't sleep at night. I knew I needed to avoid a nap yesterday, so I enlisted my husband. We took a field trip to see a big sunflower field, then ran errands until about 7. I didn't eat any heavy meals, and then we put on a movie I like (The Martian) and while I did doze off in my popcorn a few times, I managed to not really sleep. I had taken a pill for some nerve pain earlier and it started making me reeeeeally drowsy, so at 10pm I took advantage and went right to bed (I usually go to sleep between 11pm-1am). A lot of times if I do go to bed earlier I end up waking up after a few hours, but to my delight I woke up to my alarm at 7 and felt soooo rested.

This day could have been going very differently so I'm just thankful. 😂

Lately I’ve been doing a book of puzzles to help me wind down before bed without screens. I like the number ones. It’s nice to chip away at them over time. I’m grateful I can spend half an hour to an hour just working on a puzzle before bed.

I usually eat lunch in my car, parked across from an old fence. Blackberries grow over the top, spilling over to the sidewalk below. Just close enough to grab.

And I’ve begun to notice just how many people do. A group of stylish teenagers, a mother and her three young children, a man and his dog.

Just something simple and sweet. A shared human experience. A brief joyful pause in the middle of our day.

I walked into the kitchen, and there it was in the sink, about to drown. I said, "Not today, friend," and scooped the little guy out to safety. I'm sure he'll tell the exciting tale to all his grandflies.

^{I think it was male, since they tend to be smaller and less robust.}

Today I was making a recipe that called for more sugar than I had - so I decided to run out and go grab some more. I had left my phone on the counter at home due to me reading off the recipe. I got about halfway down the street before realizing I had due to my phone not connecting to the car. I decided to continue on because I knew I wouldn’t be gone long, but it was…oddly freeing ? I know that sounds silly because this was a 15 min errand I was doing, but for those few minutes I realized that no one would be able to contact me. At all. No one would could track where I was at (I have locations on for my friend and husband-my choice), no one could call or text me, I had no ability to listen to my audiobook, or be distracted from just being in that moment. It gave me a strange sense of being a teenager again. I really enjoyed it.

I was lying down in bed, and my cat went and walked up onto my legs and laid down. I rolled him over by bending my knees towards my chest, and he didn't mind at all, then he used my cheek as a pillow.

That is all.

Stopped to grab some groceries on my way home - store was out of potatoes but I had a mean hankering. Snagged a couple of flavors of instants to keep on hand should I face this kind of emergency in the future.

Cashier casually asked which was my favorite, and we chatted for a bit. About nothing but potatoes. And quite frankly, talking to a fellow potato enthusiast was the best human interaction I've had all week.

A coyote watched my dog and I play, this morning. It was atop a hill, a fair distance away. I watched it, too. Toast, my dog, didn’t even notice; he was too excited about running after and bringing his ball back to me. Ultimately, we had to come inside when the coyote began to approach and was closing distance.

Toast is now huffing and throwing a tantrum on his memory foam dog bed that’s almost as big as my queen sized people one.

He’s a sweet boy, and I love him.