June 21 - Reverb Broads

List 5 reasons you shouldn't bathe for a week. 

Suggested by Katrina 

1. Taking showers, instead (assuming this means in a tub)
2. Guaranteed some sort of prize commensurate with feeling grimy for the week
3. Camping and swimming daily
4. Ill or incapacitated some way so as to make bathing impossible
5. Traveling in space

Nothing?

June 16 - Reverb Broads

List all the idiotic things you have done for love. 

From the book List Yourself 

 

I suppose this is said with great hubris, but this is as close to idiotic for love as I've gotten. 

1. Spent most of college pining for someone who wasn't interested.
2. I was dating a guy. We exchanged Christmas presents. His parents gave me some gorgeous crystal candle holders from their recent trip to Europe. We broke up between Christmas and New Years (major WTF there, but anyway). I returned all the gifts to him, despite the fact that he did not return any of gifts I gave me. Damn, I really wish I still had those candle holders.

What's in Your Garden

June 18 - Reverb Broads

What's in your garden? 

Suggested by Me

As when I suggested this prompt and every time I see it, in my head I hear a barbarian asking "What's in your garden?!" a la Capital One credit cards. To me it is quite amusing. I have to admit it, I'm a little sad that our lovely moderators didn't hype that aspect of it.  Oh well, such is life.

Although we have a large lot, most of it is "wild" and marshy.  Our decision to put in the library and office this year meant that we had to put off any exterior remodeling.  As a result, our garden is mostly in containers arranged to get the most sun while killing the least amount of grass.

So, my garden...

There's  a frog

Some cilantro gone to seed and that's fine since I'm out of coriander

Some peas in pods

A couple of blueberries

Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, and Sage

And the potential for peppers (four varieties), tomatoes (four varieties), eggplant (at least two varieties), tomatillos, kale, peppermint, catnip, parsley, and broccoli.

June 17- Reverb Broads

What three things do you want more of in your life? What three things do you want less of? 

Suggested by Krissy

More:

Time to read, write, and pursue other hobbies.
Determination when it comes to certain lifestyle changes I'm trying to make.
Hours of sunlight in the winter.


Less:
Of me. On the scale.
Time at work
(Fewer) Chores - laundry, dusting, bill-shredding

June 15 - Reverb Broads

Who was your first best friend? 

Suggested by Kristen

I had my first best friend in Kindergarten.  I think we rode the same bus. We were in Dave's class. Then, one day she wasn't there.  Dave took me aside and told me she went to another school.  I cried.  

It was pretty intense and of course I don't remember her name or anything about her.  Just the sense of loss. Amazing what we learn as five-year-olds.

With This Ring. . .

June 10 - Reverb Broads

What was your hardest parenting or partner moment? 

Suggested by Dana 

For better or worse, Jon and I have had fairly smooth sailing. We have our communication issues and we're really horrible about giving each other directions.  If you want to ensure we're both cranky, just put us in a car together and send us to someplace we've never been before.  At the very least we recognize this, but I'm not sure we're getting any better at it.


Still, the worst moment had to have been shortly after we were engaged and just as we were starting to look for rings.  It was a Saturday morning, each of us curled up in our couch corners discussing ring options. Jon says, "Oh, I already know what kind of ring I want."


I was so touched.  He'd been thinking about it.  He had images of what our life would be like together.  We could bond over this moment of shared sentimentality.  Yes, our engagement arose from a road trip talk, but this, this was romance.


"I don't want one."


In that moment, I went from the height of heights to the depth of depths.  I felt kicked in the gut and so hurt that even now I can't find the words to express myself.  I just stared at him, not able to speak. That big run up to romance up there? Shattered.  It was nil, nothing, dirt.

Fortunately Jon was able to read the hurt on my face.  Fortunately I was able to talk about it.

Since then I have learned that I need to tell Jon my expectations, up front.  If I'm hurt that he doesn't fulfill my expectations, it ought to be only if he knew what they were to begin with. The great thing, usually once I make my needs known, he does his very best to make it right.  Good Husband.

June 14 - Reverb Broads

In a world filled with more technological distractions than ever before, social networks, smart phones, etc, what strategies do you enforce in your life in order to stay focused on your goals and living life in real-time to the fullest? 

Suggested by Neha 

I really hope I'm not the only one to answer this way.  I'm hoping you all are better at experiencing life real time than I am.

I tend to spend too much time in front of screens. And then, even that time is not well spent.  I smash pigs, match gems, and blast balls with abandon. I should be writing for this blog or working on my novel or researching stuff or reading an actual book or crocheting or knitting or gardening or biking or something, but instead I'm sitting there trying to find the golden egg.

I find the following Heinlein quote applies to me - enslaved by the trivial.

“In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.” 

How do you free yourself?