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Tired menu

Posted on October 14, 2020 by backuphill

Anyone want to be a cook with dinner responsibilities four nights a week? Are you someone that has tasty ideas, likes to cook a variety of foods, and can work within a budget?

Specifically, can you be my cook? And I say four nights a week because I am not opposed to eating leftovers the other three nights, especially if the original meal was tasty!

I am tired of coming up with ideas. I am tired of cooking up those ideas.

What I really want is restaurant quality food at home and I want someone else to produce it. I want variety. I want classics and I want something new. I want simple foods and I want fancy foods. I’m not asking for much, really.

If I could order out four nights a week, then I would. That way there is no prep, no dishes, little clean-up afterwards. I could enjoy other aspects of life while still eating great meals.

Anyone else tired of cooking and all that it entails? Anyone up for the job?

**OK, there really is no job. If I can hire someone to cook for me, I could likely also afford to eat out anyway. It’s just nice to dream…isn’t it?**

Enthused?

Posted on October 9, 2020 by backuphill

Enthusiastic. Enthusiasm. Enthused.

Something that I am “less than” of.

OK, that last sentence is admittedly weird. But, maybe you got the point. There are things and people in my life that I am having a hard time getting enthused about or having any enthusiasm over. I am just feeling…blah…

Someone earlier in the week suggested meeting up. Nah. I’m fine. Didn’t feel any enthusiasm at the prospect.

Someone is visiting this weekend. Not all that enthused about it. I should be, since I haven’t seen the person since March and he’s my best friend in the world. But, I am just kind of…blah…

Is something wrong with me? Am I just going through a phase? Could it just be that I am so tired of people that relationships of any kind are just not worth the effort or excitement?

Anyone else experiencing this loss of enthusiasm over things they normally would feel enthused and energized by? If so, can you pin-point why you don’t feel the way you normally would?

If you need me, I’ll be over here the corner, not being enthusiastic about anything.

Fading

Posted on October 6, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Seasons change in life, just like the seasons of the year. There are times of newness and excitement (Spring), times of security and comfort (Summer), times of change and passing (Fall), and then times of darkness and cold (Winter). Life has it’s ups and downs and these times fluctuate.

I think I am headed into a literal and figurative “fall season” in life. The weather is changing quickly and I am seeing changes in life too. It’s time to let some things and people go, to let them remain as they were in the past. We can fight the change in seasons, but there really is no stopping it. We can look back fondly on what was, but in the end change will still come.

Things are fading and I am content in that. I know there is a season of darkness and cold not yet come, but I’ll deal with that when it’s here. For now, the cool mornings and falling leaves of life are in this chapter.

Fading.

Saying “Hello” to change and passing on to another time.

Slide

Posted on October 5, 2020 by backuphill

When you know a double standard exists, at what point do you just let is slide?

Conversations have gone round and round and one side believes there is no double standard, or that the double standard issue lies with you. While you can admit that sometimes you may have a double standard in certain areas the other person refuses to admit or acknowledge the existence of a double standard on their part.

At some point, the double standard becomes so blatantly obvious that only a blind person could miss it, what do you do?

Sometimes I just don’t know what to do as the rules only seem to apply to me, but not to others.

Drop-in

Posted on September 29, 2020 by backuphill

I highly dislike people showing up at the front door to visit. HIGHLY.

Call me anti-social. Call me a grump. Call me whatever.

I think it is rude to show up at someone’s front door unannounced. I don’t care if you are friend, family, or other. The least you can do is text or call and let someone know you are gonna stop by. It isn’t a tough thing to do.

I mean, how do they know if it’s a good time or not? For someone working from home right now – NEVER is a good time. But really, that applies to all the time for me. I just don’t want you to come visit unless I have invited you.

What do you think? Do you like surprise or unannounced visitors?

Do you show up randomly at other people’s doors? Are you one of “those people”?

Fall quarantine

Posted on September 25, 2020 by backuphill

I’m not ready for summer to be over. I’ll admit, I like the sun and warm days (but not hot days…72 is the perfect temp). But, clearly in the Northwest, that doesn’t happen for long up here.

Being from the Northwest, I have grown up with rain. I don’t like it much. Yes, there is a need for it and it does keep things green here, but I don’t like going out in the rain and spending time in it. Yes, I am going to let that stop me from having fun out of doors, because, well, being in the rain for long period of time just isn’t that fun.

Anyway, we just went through six months of lockdown (literally and figuratively). To say that the summer wasn’t a bit of a let down, even with half way decent weather for some of it, would be kind of an understatement. It was a big let down. Trips cancelled. Outdoor activities cancelled or severely hampered/limited. Not much hanging out with friends or family (but we did some). Always the specter of “what if” when we decided to go for a drive to who knows where…what if they aren’t open, what if they don’t have anything to see, what if we can’t find a place to go to the bathroom, what if there is no place to stay? Irritating when you look back on all this stupidity.

So, now there is a new prospect of a “lockdown” in the Northwest, not from dreaded Covid *eyeroll*, but from the weather. It will be more windy, more rainy, and darker sooner and longer. To say that that will kill the spirit of anyone who has to stay inside for the next six months because of the weather is discouraging. Really discouraging.

I am not sure I can handle this next lockdown. I don’t think I have Seasonal Affective Disorder but I can certainly say that I am feeling like I missed out on the best part of the year. I kinda feel like I have treaded water all summer only to have no payoff of fun and relaxation. Know what I mean?

How do you deal with the change in seasons, especially the summer to fall transistion?

I tried

Posted on September 23, 2020 by backuphill

I tried. Yesterday. To write a blog post. It never happened. Didn’t get done.

Every time I started, I deleted what I had written.

Nope, can’t write that. Too mean.

Nope, can’t write that either. It will be misconstrued.

LOL. Seriously can’t write about that. People might take it seriously.

Then the day kind of got away as work was VERY busy. Well, is always busy, but more so than normal. A few times I got something started yesterday and then got buried and never got back to it. When I did I changed my mind about it.

That’s dumb. No one will read that.

Is that really the way I wanna address this topic?

Gosh, that’s a lame topic. A chimp could have tapped out this mess.

So, I bagged it. Ever have days like that? Got lots to say, but don’t know how to say it? Me too. Sometimes the ideas are plentiful and sometimes that leads to “writer’s block.” Other times, the ideas just don’t come together.

Got a topic you wanna know my thoughts on? I’ll open the floor up and take suggestions. Pop the ideas into the comment! Thanks!

Shop

Posted on September 21, 2020 by backuphill

Is this normal? Asking for a friend…

No, not to shop. Everyone shops. It’s something that is probably done at least once per week, if not more. I get that.

But, what I am wondering is if it is normal for someone to go shopping and then ask if anyone in their family (not immediate, but extended) needs anything? Not just once, but every store you are running to for errands that day?

Three stops. Each one had the question posed to family. Different family members want us to pick up stuff for them at these three different locations?

Would this irritate you? It does me, obviously.

I am not out to shop for other people. I am not a service. I am not running it around to you and I am not going to store it for you until you have time to pick it up. I don’t care if you are family or not, I don’t wanna do it, especially if you are physically capable of doing it!

Small exception: While we were in lockdown and the older parents were afraid to go out in public, I made an exception here. I fully understood and supported this.

Not the case now.

Irritating AF. I guess that is my lot in life. First world problem, I know. But still. I’ll take care of my own crap and they can take care of their own…now if someone else in the house, er, I mean, that friend I was asking for could catch the drift…

Host

Posted on September 17, 2020 by backuphill

What do you do? How do you handle the situation?

So, one of the adult children wants to have their children’s (our grandchildren) birthday party at our house. They asked if that could happen at the end of the month.

Sounds simple, right? Sure, go ahead! We love you. We love them. No problem!

But there is history. There is always history.

They have done this once before. Asked if they could use the house and yard for a birthday party and we said that was fine. Very little communication with them between the ask and the event.

Day of the event comes and we find out it is a four hour “open house” where people can just drop in and hang out. 40 people show up (not including family and many of whom we don’t know) at various times during this open house. The kids, on a very limited budget, didn’t plan or budget for said party. They didn’t have enough supplies for said party. They didn’t have enough food for said party. They had no alternative plans for said party if the weather was crappy that day. They didn’t stick around long after the open house was over to clean up.

Guess who picked up all the slack, both in time and expense? I guess you don’t need to guess since you know it was us.

So, what do you do this time when they ask? Just let them do it, no questions asked? Or, do you put limitations on it? Do you set expectations, or do you just go with the flow?

Loaded questions, because you know how I would handle it (at least you should by now). But, the other person in the house doesn’t think it should be handled that way.

What is reasonable, logical, and practical?

Thee and Thou

Posted on September 8, 2020 by backuphill

Round and round we go.

What’s good for thee, isn’t good for thou.

There’s an exception to everything.

Blended families are tough, to say the least. I have made this no secret here on the blog. As I have stated previously, lots of material comes from my experiences in this arena.

And here we are again. Thee and thou.

In the past, I have protested how parenting by one parent of their children should be different because they are adults and have their own families. Yet, it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference as it still is done (much to the satisfaction of the child). I am always told that if the situation were reversed and it were my own child that I would think and act differently.

“Just wait till it’s your daughter…”

And she may have been right.

The situations don’t play out exactly the same and a key difference is that my daughter is not yet an adult. She is getting closer with each passing day, but in the eyes of the law I still have some responsibility there. But, the way you parent adult children and minor children should be completely different – as in, minors should receive more assistance than adult children who can make their own decisions, have their own families, and their own jobs/income.

Now, when a situation arises that is similar to a situation of the past with the other children, and I handle it similarly to how the adult children were handled, I am greeted with scorn. The protests about how I didn’t like it when the adult children were parented that way so why am I doing it that way now with my own daughter come raining down. As if the fact that she is a minor and they are adults are completely disregarded for the sake of a disagreement.

Nice.

So, round and round thee and thou go.