Life in progress

Tag Archives: #atozchallenge


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Paula, a psychiatrist, and a pandemic walk into a bar …

It’s been a while since I’ve gone into armchair-psychiatry mode so how’s about a little sit down, eh? While we’re here, why don’t we talk about the theoretical link between the pandemic of depression and social media?

Is there even a link? Let’s imagine for a moment there is.

I don’t want to write an entire dissertation here–I lack both the time and the energy to do research, thus, the armchair. But just grazing on the surface, it’s easy (I think) to see a few different realities that exist in social media that could, quite easily be the cause of depression.

The first and most obvious is the common troll. There are no lengths to which many will not go to attain their goal of making their target miserable. To the point of depression? Perhaps.

Second, the “keeping-up-with-the-Joneses” factor. Being inundated by how good everyone else’s meals look/kids are thriving/vacations turn out/book sales are going (that last one might be personal) can be enough to point out how much yours is/are not. It’s like being a rock in the way of the tide–it’s gonna wear you down eventually. To the point of depression? Maybe.

Third, and possibly least likely–your name isn’t Paula. Because who doesn’t want a name like Paula? (Be nice, Paula is reading your comments.) Could not being called Paula cause depression? Well, you can always change your name, so probably not.

What do you think?

NOTE: I am, in no way trying to make light of the very serious disease that is depression. I’ve suffered it myself, and I understand the debilitating nature of it.

Thanks to the three lovely ladies who gave me my three “P” words for today’s not-A-Z post. You’ll find their links under the words “psychiatry,” “pandemic,” and “Paula.”

I need suggestions for “Q” words for tomorrow’s not the A-Z Challenge post! I’ll take the first three. Note, the comments on my blog are newest on top. One word per person, and please keep ’em clean.

Thank you!


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Oops! No oestrogen for the octogenarian!

Okay, so nobody wants to think about an octogenarian‘s oestrogen. But if I can make a title out of the three words I’m given for my absolutely-not-the-A-Z-Challenge post, it seems I’m compelled to do it. Oops!

Speaking of octogenarians, I didn’t talk to my mother on the phone yesterday, though she called at least 30 times. She has a flip-phone. It’s a new one–they’re manufactured for people like my mum who need something simple to use. Only it turns out, she still can’t figure it out sometimes.

You see, she can open the phone, she can find the numbers she has saved, and she can call. But the moment she hits the enter button to connect the call, an option pops up on the screen that says “Cancel.” For some reason, she cannot resist pushing it when she sees it. So my phone keeps ringing once and stopping, or if I’m really quick, I can pick it up and listen to her hang up on me.

Seriously, the next thing I know I’m going to start getting calls from her, asking if my fridge is running.

What can I say about oestrogen?

You like that spelling?

It’s British for estrogen, in case you hadn’t figured it out.

I like it. Every time I see it, I want to start singing it: “O-estrogen, o-estrogen …” to the tune of “Oh Christmas Tree.”

And now you’ll never hear that song quite the same again.

Oops!

Thanks to the three lovely ladies who gave me my three “O” words for today’s not-A-Z post. You’ll find their links under the words “octogenarian,” “oestrogen,” and “oops.”

Tomorrow’s “P” day! Any suggestions for “P” words for my not the A-Z Challenge post? I’ll take the first three. Note, the comments on my blog are newest on top. One word per person, and please keep ’em clean.

Thank you!


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Nostalgia’s got Nothin’ on the Narwhal

Okay, so I wrote the title and I’ve got nothing. I just didn’t want to delete the title, because I like it.

Who’s to say what a narwhal can remember? Are they capable of a nostalgic moment?

When I was just a little narwhal with a nose-spike only yea long, I used to swim upstream to school, both ways!

(Get it? School? … Fine, narwhals are mammals. Sue me.)

We know elephants are supposed to have good memories.

How about rhinos?

Are rhinos just land-narwhals?

We may never know.

Thanks to the three lovely ladies who gave me my three “N” words for today’s not-A-Z post. You’ll find their links under the words “nothing,” “narwhal,” and “nostalgic.”

I’m in need of suggestions for “O” day, for my absolutely not the A-Z Challenge post tomorrow. One word per person, and please keep ’em clean.

Thank you!


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Miraculous Marzipan Maven

I am no marzipan maven. In fact, I used to take the marzipan off of my Battenberg cake before I ate it. My mum used to buy them every week when I was young. Back when we had a Marks & Spencer in the mall. I haven’t seen one–an M&S in Canada, nor a Battenberg cake–in decades.

Not that that’s at all miraculous when you think about all the stores that are going out of business. We still have our Toys ‘R’ Us here, but Payless is pretty much gone if not completely.

Does M&S still exist in England?

I dread the day when all we have left is Amazon.

Thanks to the three lovely bloggers who gave me my three “M” words for today’s not-A-Z post. You’ll find their links under the words “marzipan,” “maven,” and “miraculous.”

I’m in need of suggestions for “N” day, for my absolutely not the A-Z Challenge post tomorrow. One word per person, and please keep ’em clean.

Ta!


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Kangaroo adds Kilos

I titled this post “Kangaroo adds Kilos” but that’s not strictly true: it’s the formula that adds the kilos. But only when the Kangaroo is working properly, which it hasn’t been.

Confused yet?

Yeah, thought so.

Kangaroo is the brand of feeding pump I use for Alex. Ours hasn’t been very reliable lately. Which isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with Kangaroo brand pumps, but ours was donated to us, and I have no idea how old it is. It’s probably old. We’ve had it for more than two years.

Want a visual? Here ya go: https://www.cardinalhealth.com/en/product-solutions/medical/patient-recovery/patient-care/enteral-feeding/kangaroo-joey-enteral-feeding-pump.html

And honestly, the only other problem we’ve had with it up until recently is the kitty. Every once in a while he’ll decide to eat the tubing to get at the formula inside. It sucks when we spring a leak the size of a kitty fang, so we have to keep an eye on him.

He’s not as innocent as he looks.

Thanks to the three lovely bloggers who gave me my three “K” words for today’s not-what-you-expected, not-A-Z post. You’ll find their links under the words “Kangaroo,” “kilos,” and “kitty.”

I don’t need suggestions today, but look for my request for them on my SoCS post tomorrow for Monday’s absolutely not the A-Z Challenge post.


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS April 13/19

It’s Friday, so welcome to your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! During the month of April, I’ll use the appropriate letter of the day to correspond with the A to Z Challenge, so anyone who’s participating in both challenges can do so at the same time. Here’s your prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “lip.” Use it as a word, or find a word with “lip”in it. As always, use any way you’d like. Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our pretty SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


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Justifying the Juxtaposition of my Balls

By now it’s no secret how busy I am. I’m juggling so many balls at a time, I can barely keep track of them.

Do I drop ’em every once in a while?

Rarely.

I’m not a very good juggler, but somehow I almost always manage to catch ’em before they reach the floor.

The real struggle, though? Is when I have to use one to justify the other.

I can’t do this because I’ve got to do that right now, or that won’t get done before I drop the ball.

Organizing the juxtaposition of my balls is almost as hard as keeping them in the air.

And yeah, sometimes I have to bullshit my way through it all, in order to keep my sanity.

Because, you know what? I’m not perfect.

But the alternative is having a whole mess of balls on the floor. And if there’s one thing that’s worse than juggling?

It’s cleaning up balls.

Thanks to the three lovely ladies who gave me my three “J” words for today’s oversharing not-A-Z post. You’ll find their links under the words “juxtaposition,” “juggling,” and “justify.”

This will be the last time this week that I’ll look for suggestions, since the “L” word will be Saturday’s SoCS prompt. So, “K” words? Anyone? One per person, and keep ’em clean if you please. I’ll accept the first three I get … remember, the oldest comments are at the bottom of all the comments on my posts.


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I’d’ve’n’t had insane issues, if …

I’d’ve’nt (I would have not) had the insane issue of being too tired to write this post if I’d been able to sleep last night.

And the night before.

I’d’ve’nt had the insane issue of being alone to look after my mum (who’s okay, by the way–thanks for all the good wishes) if I hadn’t been an only child.

But there was nothing I could do about that.

I’d’ve’nt had the insane issue of wanting to learn everything now, if I hadn’t been me.

But I am.

I’d’ve’nt had the insane issue of having to keep remembering how to spell “I’d’ve’nt” every second line if I hadn’t asked for a suggestion for an “I” word.

But I did. (Thanks again.)

I’d’ve’nt had the insane issue of wondering if “I’d’ve’nt” shouldn’t be spelled “I’d’ve’n’t” if I hadn’t been an editor.

But that’s one of the things I HAVE learned.

And it’s bugging me.

Because there’s no red squiggly line under I’d’ve’n’t.

So someone out there agrees with me.

I’d’ve’n’t had the insane issue of figuring out how to end this post if I hadn’t started it.

…

That’ll do.

Thanks to the three people who gave me my three “I” words for today’s “n’t A – Z” post. You’ll find two blogs and one Twitter account under the three links for “I’d’ve’nt,” “issue,” and “insane.”

Looking for “J” words … anyone got a “J” word for me? One per person, keep it clean if you please. I’ll accept the first three I get … remember, the oldest comments are at the bottom of all the comments on my posts.


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Mother Hen

It’s hard to not act like a mother hen some days, especially when you’re a mother and you’re responsible for your own mother.

She’s back in the hospital again. My mother, that is. She fell today when she was outside having a cigarette, and she cut her head open. Smoking is dangerous to your health, I tell you!

She’s had six staples in the back of her head and a CT scan to say that’s all that’s wrong with her this time. Unlike last time when she fell and broke her neck. At least it wasn’t that horrendous.

Now, I’m just waiting for my eldest son to come home from work at 11:30 pm so I can go pick up my mum and drive her back to the retirement home.

Oh, to have harmony in my life.

Thanks so much to the three ladies who gave me today’s “H” words. You’ll find their links under the words “hen,” “horrendous,” and “harmony.”

I could use some “I” words for tomorrow’s illegal A to Z post. One word per person in the comments, and please keep them safe for work. Also note when you’re looking in the comments to see if I already have my three words that the oldest comments are at the bottom of the page.

Thanks!


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A Great Gregarious Gift

I knew the regular meaning of the word gregarious–outgoing, social–but I thought I’d look it up to see if there was anything else. And wouldn’t you know it, there was another definition to be found! From Merriam-Webster online:

a: of a plant : growing in a cluster or a colony
b: living in contiguous nests but not forming a true colony —used especially of wasps and bees
“b” is the sort of great gift I often find in the hedge at the front of my house. My best friend, John, has been stung after finding such a gregarious gift.
Hey, does that bow look suspiciously like insect wings? I wouldn’t open it if I were you! Might be a gargantuan wasp!

Thanks so much to the three ladies who gave me today’s “G” words. You’ll find their links under the words “gregarious,” “great,” and “gift.”

Care to give me some “H” words for tomorrow’s “absolutely-not-the-A-Z-Challenge-because-I-didn’t-sign-up-for-it-and-doing-it-anyway-would-be-wrong” post? One word per person in the comments, and keep ’em clean.

Ta!