This DIY project is a lot more than I bargained for. The structure is OK, except for the neck area. That area has been condemned. Overall though, the structure is solid, though antique. It’s a registered historical site. The progress is slow, but the work continues. (The neck might need some scaffolding, though.)
What’s next? Banning words that are streamed together inside of bound hardback covers? Then do we burn them?
No, thank you.
If I knew that, I would know how to make these blog prompts better.
No one can know the answer to this question. You may think you can, but you cannot. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. You can lose everything, you can gain everything. You have no idea what your biggest challenge will be in six months.
Edit: after I wrote this this morning, which will now be yesterday morning as this is a scheduled post, I got into a car accident. It was a normal day, I was coming home from the store, and Bam. A car accident. A cascade of unpleasant events occurred from that point on. I am OK (I think) and the person involved the accident was also OK. But what I’m saying is, life can change in an instant. There is no way to know what your biggest challenge will be in six months. There is no way to know what your biggest challenge will be today.
In summation, WordPress:
Stop👏 asking👏 this👏 question👏
It’s OK to feel like you don’t fit in. Please don’t pluck your eyebrows so thin. They will never grow back. Learn how to drive mom’s stick shift. There will come a time when they won’t exist anymore. Crazy, right? Do not get rid of your white denim Guess jean jacket. In 2024 you’ll be wanting it back. (But thanks for keeping the blue denim Guess jean jacket.) Don’t worry about that boy. Or that other boy. I know, it was sad when Matt moved away. You’ll never know what happened to him. But remember that day when he put a dime in your penny loafers and jammed it so far in you couldn’t get it out? Well, when the shoes got too old and you remembered the dime was in there, you spent an hour digging it out. Then you taped the dime to your journal. It’s still there. You should’ve asked Mark R. if you could’ve had a ride in his Cabrio. He would’ve said yes. Remember how you and your friend would pass notes to him in the hallway? You’ll keep those letters. But you’ll never look at them until now when you’re writing this and you’re thinking about it.
The whirlwind that was junior, senior and then freshman college year will be worth it. Because of all of that, you learned to see everyone equally. And you’ll never forget hiding in the dorm closet with the alarm going off. Don’t worry about being shy. As you get older, you’ll learn to be more extroverted, even though inside, you feel the same as your teenage self. Still misunderstood.
Enjoy the friends you have, because as you get older, it becomes harder to make new friends. Never lose your love for animals.(Spoiler: you don’t.) You will keep the friend you’ve known since you were seven. The one that made mud pies with you. She also threw up on you and your stuffed panda on the bus in third grade, but we won’t talk about that. It remains a sore subject, and she still laughs about it.
You’ll reminisce about high school, but you won’t ever want to go back. And when you get to sophomore year college, daddy dies. It happens before you can fix your broken relationship. So you’re stuck with a lot of loose ends. You will work the rest of your life on that, and many times, not know what to do with them.
There will be a point in time where you will regret arguing and fighting with mom. Try not to do it too much. You can’t get that time back. Please, please listen.
Your life will not turn out as you planned. Nothing usually does. Your braces will come off and your teeth will look straight but then 15 years later, they will go back to where they were. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you that part. Sorry.
You’ll go to some tennis tournaments and have the time of your life. I’m not even gonna tell you what happens. I’m just gonna let you live it.
P.S. Do not get rid of the peach high top Converse. You know the ones where you wrote “I love Johnny Depp ❤️” on the sole? Don’t get rid of those. (She did.)
Just always remember to keep smiling and laughing even when things get really difficult. We got this.
It has extended into February, but the OG is…
With cream and sugar.
I think I’ll have a cuppa!
Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk.
Have a good day, everyone.
I got the sandals circa 2005. The featured image is a close representation of them but not exactly. I couldn’t find the exact model. I should have bought two pair, but I never do that. I never think of it until I no longer have the item.
Above is a photo of me opening birthday presents wearing The Sandals. Two months later I would be at the U.S. Open enjoying a night tennis match wearing these same shoes. If you’ve ever been to New York City in late August, you know it’s hot and it’s humid. And when you’re watching Rafa Nadal in a night match at the same time a baseball game and a concert are going on in the same complex, and there’s exactly one late bus to take you back to the hotel in Manhattan, you know what is about to happen.
We were watching the match in Arthur Ashe stadium. At the time, there was no roof. Arthur Ashe Stadium is the largest tennis stadium in the world. Just some random trivia for you there. I’m putting off telling you what happened to my shoes.
So, as I was saying, we were watching the match on a humid night in a stadium with no roof. We were staying in Manhattan, not Queens, where the stadium is, so I didn’t pay much attention to the weather forecast for Queens.
When it rained the first time, I wasn’t too nervous. It rained off and on throughout the match. My shoes were OK. Rafa won the match. We (herd of cattle) were all moving out of the stadium. At the same time, the baseball game and the concert were moving out of their respective building and stadium. Then it started to thunderstorm.
By the time my friend and I reached the parking lot, it was pouring. Remember I said there was one late bus to get us back to Manhattan? We couldn’t find it right away and it was about 2 AM. I believe the depart time for the bus was 2:15 AM, We were running toward the location where we thought it would be. Yes, I was running in my sandals. My beloved sandals.
We finally saw the bus. We reached it and we were drenched. I thought of my shoes, but I thought I could dry them out and everything would be fine.
And for the most part, they were. But over a few years, they started to dry rot. One summer day, I reached for them, took them out of their shiny box. It was white with black lettering. The sandal straps were stretched out. And rotted.
I said goodbye to my strappy sandals that day. I never tried to replace them, but there are a few out there that look similar. But they will never be my Nine West strappy wedge heeled sandals that sat through a night match at the U.S. Open and ran through a thunderstorm to a bus waiting to take me back to Manhattan.
RIP sandals.
Oh, in case you’re wondering, this is the match:
©️2024, itsamyisaid.com, all rights reserved
Can’t get it back
Can’t go forward
(or can you?)
Waits for no one
Will tell
Is of the essence
And time again
Is on my side
The song I thought thought of when I was pondering this prompt is Hazy Shade of Winter, The Bangles version:
Time, time, time
See what’s become of meTime, time, time
See what’s become of me
While I looked around for my possibilitiesI was so hard to please
Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winterHear the Salvation Army band
Down by the riverside
There’s bound to be a better ride
Than what you’ve got plannedCarry a cup in your hand
Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winterHang on to your hopes, my friend
That’s an easy thing to say
But if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend that you can build them againLook around
The grass is high
The fields are ripe
It’s the springtime of my lifeSeasons change with the scenery
Weavin’ time in a tapestry
Won’t you stop and remember me?Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winterLook around
Leaves are brown
There’s a patch of snow on the groundLook around
Leaves are brown
There’s a patch of snow on the groundLook around
Leaves are brown
There’s a patch of snow on the groundSource: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Paul Simon
Hazy Shade of Winter lyrics © Sony/atv Songs Llc
I would like to demonstrate for you all how I budget. The following is an artistic representation of my budgeting practices.
“It's Amy,” I said. 