Category: Daily Prompts

Have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution that you kept?

No and here’s why.

I think my resolutions have always been someone else’s resolutions. Not to say I haven’t wanted those things I’ve resolved to do but rather, they were goals that weren’t that important or realistic for my lifestyle.

Not to mention, I just get bored with trying after a while.

I’m lazy. I really am. And I’m terribly selfish with my time. I think that selfishness stems from the fact that I spend the majority of my time helping/serving others. I work in the medical field so my day comprises of being available to our patients and at my doctor’s beck and call.

I don’t feel like I truly have time for ME. Because given the choice, I WOULDN’T do this job – it goes against every grain of my body – but somehow, I’m good at it. And I’ve gotten to the point where I feel comfortable doing the job and I like my co-workers so I don’t see myself starting over any time soon.

Plus, I’m just too old to start over. I could, but I don’t think it would be a good thing, overall, to do that.

I think if alternate day fasting has taught me anything, (and yes, I’m still doing that), it’s that I need to do what works for ME. Granted, I don’t know what that is until I try different things but I need to stop and recognize when something is not working and try something else. And NOT beat myself up over failing.

Ultimately, I’m scared of failing. I’m scared of wasting precious time because again, I don’t have a lot of time TO waste. I think that’s my biggest hang up with writing – I’m scared to fail. But how can I succeed if I don’t fail?

So, though it’s good to have goals, I think it’s more important to have REALISTIC goals for YOU and YOUR life.

I’m asking the obligatory first of the year question:

What goals do you have for this year?

I want to write more and finish a novel. Notice I didn’t say it has to be a GOOD novel, but something tangible, something workable.

I want to do a better job of balancing my work/personal life and take more days off. Life is too short.

I want to blog more.

I want to successfully complete a bullet journal. (More on that later).

I want to take more pictures.

I want to improve my mental/physical self.

I want to make money from my writing … somehow.

I want to cash in our frequent flyer miles and take a long weekend trip with Kevin (in addition to our yearly cruise).

Your turn: What goals do you have for this year?

 

I’m attempting to force myself to write in my blog every day. I’ve gotten SO BAD at keeping up these past several years and someday I’ll be dead and then what?

I’ll be gone but hopefully not forgotten. (Feel free to use these prompts for your own writing).

Today’s prompt(s):

Would you rather be less attractive and extremely intelligent or extremely attractive and less intelligent? What do you think the pros and cons of each combination would be?

Wow, what a conundrum.

I mean, let’s be honest, if you’re attractive, life is easier. People tend to be nicer. They tend to make allowances and bend the rules a bit more. If you’re attractive, you’re more approachable.

Just don’t open your mouth.

I think being attractive opens more doors than just being smart.

Though if you’re smart and not that attractive, there are ways to MAKE yourself more attractive. And no, I’m not talking about plastic surgery though I guess that might be an option for some. (Not for me). I’m talking more about wearing clothes that highlight your particular body type, having a flattering hairstyle and wearing appropriate makeup.

But can you really make yourself smarter? I sort of feel like you are either smart, or you’re not. You can ACT smart but people typically see through the facade fairly quickly. But would anyone really care if you’re not smart if you’re nice to look at?

I guess one could make a lot of money if he/she was attractive – modeling, acting, etc. Not saying those careers don’t require intelligence but come on, not many people get past the packaging in that industry.

You can also make a lot of money if you’re smart. But I think it would take longer and require more effort to get to that stage since so many people take one look at you and make a judgement.

I think for me, I would rather be less attractive and more intelligent. Hey, I’m smart, I can figure out how to get past the outer flaws and transform myself into something, or someone, to get what I want.

I feel like I do that now. 😉

I’m attempting to force myself to write in my blog every day. I’ve gotten SO BAD at keeping up these past several years and someday I’ll be dead and then what?

I’ll be gone but hopefully not forgotten. (Feel free to use these prompts for your own writing).

Today’s prompt(s):

Three things you can’t live without.

Kevin. Blake. Brandon.

Okay, let’s list something else besides my family.

Food. Drink. Air.

Ugh, that’s even more boring.

Let’s think of something unique to ME.

1. False eyelashes – did you know that I wear falsies? I actually started last year. Since I’ve gone through the change, all my hair grows back really slowly. This includes my eyelashes. They were never super long to begin with, but now, gads, they are short and light so when I don’t wear mascara it looks like I don’t have eyes. I can usually make one pair of lashes last one week. I could probably make them last longer but I’m too lazy to properly care for them so I wear a pair Monday through Friday and then start over on Monday. (I don’t usually wear makeup on the weekends). I’ve gotten the hang of putting falsies on, it took quite a few months but now I love them and I love how they make my eyes look.
2. My Garmin Fitness tracker – I’m not into fitness, I just like to keep track of my steps. And that’s largely because I get a health point on my health insurance for every 6000 steps I take every day. I’m usually all over the place all day at work so I might as well earn points toward my health insurance, right?
3. My swing dresses. I freaking love these swing dresses from Old Navy. They are super comfy, super cute, super cheap and look good with either leggings and boots or bare leg and flats. I wear these things to work all the time. I love them. Can you guess why else I like them? Cause they disguise all the love lumps, baby. Ha!

I don’t know if these things are things I can’t live without, but they are definitely my obsessions right now.

 

 

I’m attempting to force myself to write in my blog every day. I’ve gotten SO BAD at keeping up these past several years and someday I’ll be dead and then what?

I’ll be gone but hopefully not forgotten. (Feel free to use these prompts for your own writing).

Today’s prompt(s):

What happened to our garage?

So, going through my Flickr account (which currently has nearly 8500 pictures on there – and by the way, what is UP with yearly membership being $50 now?? It was $25 – I think it’s time to find another photo storage site – maybe I’ll just bite the bullet and upload them all on my Google photos account), I came across these pictures.

I’m not sure if I ever told you guys this story, so, here goes.

Someone, who shall remain nameless, *cough-Kevin-cough* backed into our garage door. This happened a while back, I think the date on the photo is March 2007.

As you can see, he backed into it hard enough to crack it and put a literal hole in the door.

Kevin has a history of miscalculating the garage door. One time, shortly after we bought our van, when the kids were little and I needed lots of room when chauffeuring them around town, I had backed into the garage and when I was shutting the garage door, I panicked, I didn’t think I had backed up far enough because I was worried that the metal handle sticking out of the garage door would hit my van.

Kevin went to the front of my van, gauged the distance and said, “Nah, you’re good.” So, trusting his judgment, I went ahead and pushed the button for the garage door to go down.

Well, I was right and the van hadn’t been backed up far enough and the next thing we hear is this sickening crunching sound as the metal handle completely annihilated the grill on my van.

I will never forget that sound. It’s right up there with the sickening crunch and grind of metal meeting metal whenever you hear two cars collide.

So no, Kevin and our garage door have not always gotten along.

I don’t know if you can tell the material of our garage doors back then, but there were literally particle board and they were flimsy and rotting anyway, so him backing into the garage was probably a blessing in disguise as we needed to replace them before they simply disintegrated before our very eyes.

Yep, there are quite a few things like this that I don’t let Kevin live down.

But we ended up getting it fixed and our doors look A LOT better. Not to mention, they are more secure.

Another time, he accidentally left the garage door open all night and someone came into our garage and stole a huge, yellow remote control airplane that it took him MONTHS to build, by hand, from a kit. It was a beautiful plane and it worked, though I think he only actually flown it a few times because he was afraid of crashing it.

And then it got stolen.

He was heartbroken.

But to this day, we argue on who actually left the garage door open. I know for a fact it was him, but he insists it was me.

It was definitely him.

 

I’m attempting to force myself to write in my blog every day. I’ve gotten SO BAD at keeping up these past several years and someday I’ll be dead and then what?

I’ll be gone but hopefully not forgotten. (Feel free to use these prompts for your own writing).

Today’s prompt(s):

What’s the most time you’ve ever spent apart from your favorite person? Tell us about it.

The most time I’ve spent apart from my favorite person is …

Well first of all, wait, who is my favorite person?

Probably Kevin. (Probably?? I can hear him say that, lol) He knows me the best and we’ve been together for about 32ish years now so …

The longest I’ve been away from Kevin has been one week. I know when he was working for an accounting firm here in town, he would often go out-of-town to do audits and that seemed to never last for more than a few days, at the most. Though it felt longer because I had two small boys with me at home and I didn’t have my buffer to cushion the crazy when he was gone.

But other than taking vacation without me, I’ve never really been away from Kevin for very long.

Yep. He went on a cruise without me.

Actually, two cruises without me.

And I encouraged him to do it.

Kevin, LeRoy and both boys recently went on a cruise that left from New Orleans. They cruised the Western Caribbean without me.

I could have gone, but I really didn’t want to. Plus, I figured the guys would have more fun without a GIRL hanging out with them anyway.

They could oogle all of the pretty girls they wanted to without fearing my reaction.

Their cruise only lasted 5 days, but when you calculate travel days in that equation, they were gone for a week at a time.

For me? I liked not having him around for about two days, but then I started missing him. I LOVE being by myself, I have no trouble being by myself, at all. In fact, I much prefer my company to that of any other people, but when it comes to my favorite person, Kevin, I don’t like being away from him for too long.

It just feels … weird. Empty, I guess.

True, we do most of our activities alone. He spends the majority of his time at the rental house with LeRoy “doing projects,” which consist of buying junk and fixing it up to put into his junk booths and selling. (And he does a pretty decent job at selling his stuff, too).

But at the end of the day, he comes home and we have dinner together. He’s my “home base,” if that makes sense.

I don’t know that he’s interested in going on any more vacations without me but he’s welcome to if he wants to. I trust him not to do anything stupid.

I, of course, fully intend to cash in on this, though. If/when the opportunity comes up to go on vacation with “the girls,” I will absolutely throw the fact that he went on vacation without me, TWICE, into the argument. I’ve been trying to talk the girls at work into going on a cruise with me and I can feel them wavering, but we’re not there yet.

But overall, one week away from each other is really long enough for me.

 

I’m attempting to force myself to write in my blog every day. I’ve gotten SO BAD at keeping up these past several years and someday I’ll be dead and then what?

I’ll be gone but hopefully not forgotten. (Feel free to use these prompts for your own writing).

Today’s prompt(s):

The most surprised you’ve ever been.

I don’t like surprises. At least when I’m the recipient. I like being the person surprising someone but don’t surprise me.

Ever.

I like control. I feel comfortable when I’m in control.

Though I know filling in for each other at work WILL happen, I work with nine doctors after all, I HATE it when I’m asked to fill in at the last minute. I absolutely don’t mind if I’m given a head’s up and I can prepare, but to walk in and someone say, “Oh hey, Karen, I need you to fill in for so-and-so” makes my butt cheeks clinch.

(How’s them visuals??)

So to surprise me and I receive it well, is rare.

It has happened before. When Kevin and I lived in our rental house, shortly after we got married, when Blake was a baby and I believe it was around Christmas time, I walked into the spare bedroom to get something and then came back out to talk to Kevin.

“Did you notice anything unusual?” Kevin asked.

“No.” Was my response.

“Really?” he asked. “That’s weird, follow me.”

So I followed Kevin back into the bedroom. “What do you see?”

I looked around and shrugged. “Nothing.”

He nodded toward a huge lump of something covered by a blanket.

I blinked and am embarrassed to say it really didn’t register for a few seconds. Then I gasped, lifted the blanket off and saw it.

It was a curio case to put all of my Previous Moment figurines in.

(Because back then, I collected them. I know. I KNOW)

I just have knick knacks in there now, no Previous Moments (though I still have most of them and I bet they’re worth some money today) but it’s the same case. I LOVE my case. It fits my personality, I think. Sleek and sexy.

(Why are you laughing??)

I had no idea Kevin was even THINKING about buying me a curio case. I had never mentioned wanting one and until he bought me one, I didn’t even know I WANTED one. But that is one time that will always stick out in my mind because because he truly took me by surprise.