Category Archives: NaBloPoMo

How Old Am I?

I was born in 1976 according to my birth certificate. But I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m actually about 85 years old. I submit to you the following recent events which I feel make a significant case for my claim.

1. My displeasure of Halloween knew no bounds this year as I audibly wished for the kids to get off my lawn. I’m not saying I want to see another hurricane or blizzard rip apart our area, but I did not miss Halloween in 2011 and 2012.

2. I find myself referring to “kids these days” and telling stories of “when I was young” in attempts to show how my generation was better.

3. Twice in one week I went down to the supermarket to buy some random grocery items I needed and paid for them in change. All change.

4. I can’t tolerate going out to an evening movie. Maybe I could on, say, a Tuesday or something like that. But a Saturday? Forget it. That’s when the kids are out! Recently my husband and I wanted to see a movie, but we lamented the ever-escalating ticket prices and the teenagers and how tired we were. Then we found the $3.50 theater in our area was playing a not terribly new movie at three in the afternoon. That would give us plenty of time to eat an early dinner, but to hold us over, we ate snacks and drank water that I had smuggled into the movie in my purse.

5. The portable heater I have set up about two feet from my desk chair says it’s 80 degrees in here, but I beg to differ. I am still cold. Too bad I can’t crank this thing up to 90.

See? I can’t possibly be only thirty-seven.

This is NaBloPoMo Day 8. I’m going to go fix a cup of Sanka now.

I Made It Through Week One.

The first week of NaBlo is over and I’ve learned something already. I really like writing nonsense. I’m not sure how you feel about reading it, but since it’s 13 minutes from my bedtime and I’m determined not to mess this up on week one, you’re getting another dose of my nonsense.

I could tell you how busy I was all day, but you probably don’t care. I’m still tired, too. I’m already thinking of the coffee I’m going to drink tomorrow.

I listened to a lot of Pandora today. I put on the Sara Bareilles station and, oddly enough, barely heard any Sara Bareilles songs. I did realize that I really like Regina Spektor though, so that’s cool. I think I’m going to create a Regina Spektor station so I can hear more Sara Bareilles.

I’m considering parting my hair in the middle instead of on the side. I haven’t worn my hair that way in many years. Upon further consideration, I realize changing my part will require me to take my hair out of my ponytail which really seems like a lot of work. Meh, I wasn’t really committed to the idea either way.

I have high hopes for writing a cohesive post tomorrow. If not, Saturday definitely. Or Sunday. Quit pressuring me.

I’ll leave you with this picture of my kid. He’s really cute, particularly when he’s asleep. And yes, I went into my kid’s room and took a picture of him, with a flash, while he was sleeping. But look at how cute he is. How could I not take a picture?

A rare moment when this child is silent.

This is NaBloPoMo Day 7.

This is why I’m not a food blogger.

You know how people take pictures of their amazing meals for Instagram? Most of my food pictures are quite the opposite. First up was tonight’s dinner, then some gems from the recent past. Bon appetite!

Leftover potatoes I don’t remember cooking and freezer burned chicken nuggets.

Shredded chicken and refried bean tacos. Or what I like to call Brown.

Leftover chili mac. Food Network, here I come!

Honey, I exploded the mozzarella sticks!

I might have over-toasted my bagel.

When you have to combine two different kind of frozen fries to make a meal.

The morning my breakfast consisted of scraps.

One veggie burger + one frozen hash brown = dinner!

Now you can see why I like to order pizza so much.

This is NaBloPoMo Day 6.

I Wish I Had The Answers.

I had a post planned for today, but it’s going to have to wait. It’s the kind of post that can. Mostly it was going to have links and such and I’m not much in the mood for a multiple link post. I’m worn out, so you’re going to get some words.

I woke up on my couch just before four this morning. My husband was on the other couch. This happens a lot, us falling asleep in front of the TV. When Kris realized I was up, he told me about the shooting at a mall very close to my house. I wasn’t able to fall back to sleep after that.

I had three different part time jobs in that mall. When I staged my own What Not To Wear style intervention, this is the mall where I replaced my wardrobe. This was the mall of my youth, where I went to try to meet boys, hang out with friends, and buy my New Kids on the Block posters. Just on Sunday, I met up with someone in the parking lot of this mall to sell her an old car seat.

Now this mall was the location of yet another shooting. Thankfully, no one but the shooter was hurt last night. I know he had bad intentions, but I can’t help feeling sadness for his family, his friends, and even for him. To think that this is what people become – one who murders or attempts murder for reasons we may never know – it’s devastatingly sad.

Today I happened to see a post on Facebook that mentioned a local school on lock down, but didn’t say which. I went to Google, thankful that my own son wasn’t in school today, only to find two different area schools were locked down due to threats of gun violence. My heart sank again for the second time in about twelve hours.

I don’t have the answers. I don’t know how to stay safe. I don’t know how to protect my son. And I worry that my family or friends will become the victims of this crazy violence. I wonder what it is that causes these people, in some instances practically babies, to turn so hateful and angry. Could someone I know take this sort of action? One of my son’s classmates? The child of a friend? My own child?

I took my son to his first real karate class tonight. I sat and watched Nathan jump into things, in a manner quite unlike him. He wasn’t shy or nervous. He participated, he focused and he was joyful. I started to well up, but this time with pride and happiness.

Tonight my son is safe in his bed, tuckered out from being a kid. I wish I could keep him safe and innocent and small forever. I can’t and I probably shouldn’t try. Instead, I think I’ll focus on talking to him, loving him, and doing what I can to make his world a better place.

This is NaBloPoMo Day 5.

Phoning It In.

I’m really tired. And I honestly can’t think of something to write. I know what tomorrow’s post will be. I have an idea of what’s coming up later in the week. But today? I’m stumped.

Also, it’s Monday. This is my busiest day and today was extra busy. I had to go to the bank today and what should have been a 10 minute errand took 30. I think I was the only person in the bank under 107 years of age. I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering why I’m even going into a bank in the first place. Doesn’t everyone do everything online these days? Apparently everyone does except me. And all the 107+ year olds within a 15 mile radius of my house.

What else… what else…

Yeah, I have nothing. Don’t hate me. I’ll have a real post tomorrow. But it’s Monday, and you didn’t really feel like reading another blog post tonight anyway, did you?

This is Day 4 of NaBloPoMo. This counts. It’s a post so it counts. It’s not a good post, but there are no rules about quality.

Michelle Longo

random words