flip flops

I stopped wearing flip flops about a month ago, maybe only a few weeks... At first things were ok. My husband seemed a little remote, but it was nothing really unusual. Then I guess I just lost the flow. I stopped drinking coffee. I started to sleep more... a lot more... and things just went downhill from there. I felt like I couldn't cope as well, with life. Then a couple of weeks ago everything derailed:

My sister in law has been quite sick in the hospital.
My other granny passed away suddenly at the age of 92.
Our family has had to make some changes like cutting off the premium cable channels, our phone line, and our penchant for eating out.

And... I had to cancel our trip to Hawaii.

All I can say is, "Damn those pale grey ballet flats!!!"

an amends...

Dear Sober Chicken,
It was wrong of me to snap at you the other day. When I called you, I should have been more clear about what I was looking for in our interaction. I really just needed to vent. And after telling you in detail what a m----- f------ c--- that Mr. --- was, I was not up for hearing about how when I'm disturbed I must look to myself first for the solution. And I'm not sure I agree with you when you say that the words "my part" don't show up anywhere in our solutions manual. At least, I'm not sure that those words aren't implied. But I digress. I'm sorry that I called you an annoying, arrogantly obsequious, 12 stepping, seed pecking snot. I apologize for hanging up on you so abruptly, without even saying good bye. I realize that you were just trying to be helpful and that you did not want to co-sign my bullsh--. Will you forgive my outburst, Sober Chicken? I would like to be able to call you again for you are truly stuffed with sage breadcrumbs of knowledge.

I am the mole!

True Blood: The Complete Second Season (HBO Series)

I need darkness. I need to burrow into the cool, moist earth for some relief.
I despise this glaring, gleaming, polished chrome blindness that is driving in July.
And the heat... !
All I can say is that it's no wonder that murdered drifters are rolled up in carpets and stored in the third floor "sewing room" in Louisiana. The heat will do that to you.
I am languishing in the languid torpor that is summer.
Oh God!
I long for the crisp damp chill of autumn.
Pumpkin hunting! Tromping through crunchy yellow and rust colored leaves. The smell of wood smoke in the air promising a crackling fire waiting at home.

Not this... warm gelatin that we call "air".

I shall draw the drapes and wait for nightfall. I shall not emerge until October 1.

why ghosts don't exist

Here is the arguement for the non-existence of ghosts that I posited to my 4 year old who is currently enchanted with the game "Ghost in the Graveyard."
1. When the body dies, a person's soul goes to live with "God", who exists in another dimension -- can you say DIMENSION?
2. Therefore there is nothing left here on earth to be a ghost.
3. So ghosts are made up because it's fun to feel spooky sometimes.

sober chicken says:

You must always remember, that what other people think of you is not just none of your business, it's completely beside the point. It truly doesn't matter what others think of you. What does matter is what you're doing, how you're acting, and who you want to be around. And focusing on that will change your life.
... An unexpected side effect of this perspective is that other people's "mind games" won't distract you. And when you take these people at their word and at face value, they tend to get confused. Which is fun to watch.

Sober chicken also counsels: it's OK to be tired and sad, as long as you keep doing what you need to do every day. And at some point, after you've accepted that your happiness is orbiting a distant star, you'll realize that you're having a fantastic afternoon!

Speaking of distant stars, my daughter came to the conclusion today that since there's no way that "bad guys" could live in our city, they must have driven in from a different planet. I asked her what planet that could be and she answered,"Star Wars."
And now, upon witnessing bad behavior, I can say:

"What!? Did you just drive in from the planet Star Wars?!"

the power of flip flops

Flip flops say "I am on vacation."
They make it hard to rush. And impossible to creep demurely through a library.
Their irreverent smacking sound is the pedi-equivalent to loudly chewing bubble gum in the church of life.
Flip flops make a spontaneous pedicure possible, and can invoke the long dormant surfer spirit within.

I have been wearing flip flops for almost two weeks now
and I can testify to their life changing power:

- my marriage has improved
- I'm more relaxed and open to what each day brings.
- I've stopped writing my plans in ink...
- I booked a family vacation to Hawaii.


Yes. I did.
Oh. My. God... Hawaii!!!!!

So... flip flops.
They will change your life. Try them and you'll know.

Sober Chicken says...

We all go through times when things feel bad.
That's when we have to do things regardless of how we feel about them. Because it will only get worse if we avoid what's in front of us. Bad day? Add a dirty kitchen, no clear floor or table space, and no clean clothes. Then add unhappy family members who have been given dry cereal for breakfast and who also have no clean clothes.
It can always get worse.
And sometimes, more often than we'd like to admit, the act of doing something makes things just a little better. It won't eradicate the root of our existential angst, perhaps, but we will be ruminating in a clean house. And with clean clothes, there's the option of leaving the house.