Category: At the Moment

At the Moment

Stuck at Home? (Aren’t We All?) Bored? This Might Bring a Smile to Your Face

Karen

What the heck, it’s been 11 days since I last posted? I SWEAR it feels like three days ago.

Anyone else losing track of time with the quarantine?

Missouri has been on city/state lock down for … three weeks now? Honestly, I’ve lost track. I believe Kansas City / St. Louis / Springfield were the only cities in the state that went on lock down, the state of Missouri followed suit … last week?

AARGH, time is hard!

I also feel like I’ve aged ten years since this nightmare started, too.

Fortunately, I’ve continued working so I haven’t really had time to be bored, but I know a lot of people are not as fortunate so I’m sharing a fun YouTube video of the Eh Bee Family. I was going through my subscriptions and when I saw their name, I thought, “what are they up to now?” And of course, they didn’t disappoint. They are a cute family that do cute family stuff together.

Anyhow, enjoy this video of fun things to do if you’re bored at home during this quarantine. I’m currently working on a podcast where I talk about all things COVID-19 and how it’s affecting me, my family, and my job as a healthcare worker.

Stay healthy, friends!

At the Moment, Camp NaNoWriMo, Politics

Stop Playing Victim and Start Being Victor!

Karen

Wow. I have a girl crush on Candace Owens. This girl is ‘DA BOMB!

This conversation perfectly, PERFECTLY, defines what is wrong with our country.

It’s long, but well worth the watch. I dare you to take time out of your day to watch this.

Also, I spent 38 minutes watching this video:

FASCINATING conversation. And there is so much wisdom from the black conservatives in this round table. To be fair, I see what the liberal guy was saying but it comes around to being the victim, not the victor. And if you watch the faces of the liberal guests you can SEE the confusion.  They truly don’t know how to respond when faced with thoughtful, intelligent counterpoints.

I think this is indicative of America today. No one wants to think for themselves. It’s all about regurgitating talking points. I don’t think they even knew what they were saying, or arguing, half the time.

It’s time to stop being sheeple and start thinking for yourselves, people. Stop allowing the media to spoon feed you crap. Stop. Think. Digest.

I’m feeling hopeful after watching these videos. That’s how it starts, with thoughtful, intelligent conversation.

Post Eleven
At the Moment

Obsessed with These Daily Vlogs

Karen

I’ve mentioned the past that I don’t watch a lot of TV anymore. Nothing really interests me. Though I’m wondering if that changes once I get back on the treadmill and start watching shows to distract me from the fact THAT I’M DYING.

Still. I’ll make a vow right now – I will only watch TV on the treadmill.

There. Hold me accountable.

No. Instead of TV and reading, I’ve been OBSESSED with family vlogs. These two specifically:

And …

Ellie and Jared are the perfect parents. They are gentle, quiet, kind, patient and very loving to their boys. When I watched the Christmas Special, Part 2, I actually cried because the boys are just so sweet! I think it reminds me of when our boys were little and I MISS those days. I really do.

KKandBabyJ is a vlog I love because it’s a young, modern family that are simply DOING IT RIGHT. They are hip but they are clearly teaching their boys to be good  human beings. They have a great sense of humor and their boys are SO SWEET!! They are fun to watch and I pray if our boys ever get married, they live this kind of life.

I also feel envy when I watch these videos. Not for the family dynamics, though I do wish I had Ellie’s patience when the kids were little, but what a GREAT video diary of their lives to look back on when they get older. I WISH I had done something like this, either video, or blog format, just to look back on and reflect and appreciate those times. I have pictures, which is better than nothing, but there are no stories to go with those pictures and as time goes by, I am forgetting the little things surrounding those snapshots and that makes me sad.

I like to watch clean, wholesome videos like this because it just sort of “cleanses” my whole day. It makes me happy and I walk away feeling hopeful about people in general.

 

At the Moment

What Do You See When You Hear This?

Karen

Isn’t this a fun video?? I love The Piano Guys – such a cool duo.

Watch it first because it’s cool.

Then push play, close your eyes and listen. Breathe. Take a moment. We’re all in such a rush nowadays. It’s nice to just slow down and EXIST.

What sort of images do you see when you hear this song?

I see a young couple in various stages of their relationship  – romantic, exciting, volatile, sweet, loving, fun, determined to make it work,  then older, sitting on their back porch, satisfied with life and with each other, and then finally reflecting back on their lives together, hands joined, small smiles creasing their faces.

Comment below.

At the Moment, Life

Breaking Tradition

Karen

We didn’t buy fireworks this year. I don’t know, we just weren’t into it this year. In years past, we bought fireworks at a place where Kevin’s parents knew the owners and we would get a really good deal. The owners would pack us a bag full of goodies (because let’s face it, fireworks look the same and you really don’t know what they are going to do, but the fireworks stand owners know and are a great resource if you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck. [pun intended]), and we would split the cost with Kevin’s parents.

We’ve gotten some REALLY good fireworks with that arrangement for the past several years.

We would then have a cookout at Kevin’s folks’ house then shoot off our awesome fireworks. Me, Kevin’s mom and dad would sit on their pergola and Kevin, Blake and Brandon would run their butts off and light the fireworks.

Then, when it was over, we would all go out with bags and pick up the aftermath.

Fun times.

We did this for two reasons: Kevin’s parents live outside of the city limits thereby giving us a venue to blow our money [pun intended] and it gave us a chance to spend the holiday with Kevin’s parents. Because for whatever reason, Kevin’s sisters have never included Kevin’s parents in their 4th of July festivities.

However, we broke tradition this year. Money is tight and having us over for a cookout is a lot of work for Kevin’s parents, who are getting up there in age. Everyone agreed with this plan except Blake – he was disappointed. I think 4th of July is his favorite holiday. He loves blowing things up.

(That desire has always sort of bothered me, to be honest).

This year, Kevin’s parents came over to Roy’s house (i.e. the rental house) and we, (i.e. Kevin) cooked hamburgers and curly hotdogs. Kevin, Roy and Blake swam and Kevin’s mom and I sat on the edge of the pool and chit-chatted. Kevin’s dad napped.

When it got dark, we drove over to the nursing school parking lot and mooched off the spectacular fireworks show at the country club.

I imagine that will be our 4th of July plans for many more years to come. Cheap and easy.

And now it’s way past my bedtime and my eyes are drooping. I have a lot of chores and studying to do tomorrow before the boys come over to swim and then have nachos with us.

Happy birthday, America. You’re not the same awesome country you were twenty years ago, but we still love you and haven’t given up on you. You’ll be great again someday …

https://twitter.com/hboulware/status/617545345409548288

At the Moment, Funny

I Miss This …

Karen

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The boys act like they don’t like it, or get embarrassed, whenever we reminiscence about their childhood days, but they stick around to hear the stories. 🙂

It snowed ya’ll! We had about 1/2 inch of ice first, then 3.6 inches of snow on top of that. And it’s cold, like FOUR degrees cold. This is pretty unusual for March – not so much the snow, though the snow we get is usually the big, fluffy, wet kind, but it’s terribly cold for this time of year. I heard on the radio this morning that we’re now the 10th area for the most snow this winter.

FUN!

(Not. I hate snow/ice).

Anyhoo. School has been cancelled so Bran won’t have to drive to class in this. However – we’re all still going to work so … YAY.

*sigh*

Have a good Monday.

At the Moment

I Pity His Wife

Karen

I’m waiting for Brandon to get home from work so we can all drive up to the technical college and find the building he has classes in tomorrow. We did the same thing with Blake so I sort of feel compelled to do the same thing with Brandon. (I’ve always tried my best to treat both boys equally).

He’s nervous.

I remember my first day of college – actually, I don’t remember the day, per se, but I certainly remember the butterflies. I was also self conscious because I was one of the oldest on campus since I waited so late to even GO to college.

But I was ready and I took it seriously and I earned Cum Laude, thank you very much. 🙂

The day couldn’t be more gorgeous. It’s sunny and nearly 65 degrees. We’re being rewarded for surviving a really rough winter week last week – the polar vortex swept through here and this time last week we were bracing for a high of three – 3!

Gotta love that climate change. *smirk*

Kevin is at work. As usual. The man works nearly 24/7. He says this is his busy season, but honestly, every season is his busy season.

We’re asking Blake to go with us so he can give Brandon tips on where to park – I’m sure parking is going to be crazy the first week or so. But Blake hasn’t even taken a shower yet (he takes showers at 6:30 P.M. on the weekends – WTF??) so I’m not looking for him to go with us.

Brandon just text me – “Not getting home until probably 4:30, please have something ready for me to eat this afternoon.”

*pause*

LOLOL – um, no. I’m not your slave. Sheesh. I have to give it to blondie, he’s got nerve.

I’ll be sure and tell him that when he gets home – the little creep.

Anyhoo – Brandon has classes Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 9:00 – 11:00. He’s also taking an online class. He’s about to get a very real taste of adulthood in the next few days. It should be interesting to see how he handles the extra demand on his time.

He’ll have to seriously whittle his gaming down. ‘Bout damn time. Now if we can just talk Blake into taking some accounting classes so he can help Kevin a bit more with his clients and work toward a FUTURE.

*sigh*

Have something ready for him when he gets home … AARGH … I pity Brandon’s wife. lol