#84 Carrying On
I'm overwhelmed by your support.
Gratitude
I confess that I was pretty worried what would happen after last week’s newsletter. After putting myself out there more even more than I usually do, I wasn’t sure who would still be reading this week after the dust settled.
I cannot adequately put into words how grateful I am that, not only did almost all of you stick around, more new subscribers signed up than I’ve ever had before in a single week and the newsletter had more engagement than any post I’ve published previously.
Thank you so much!
I will continue to strive to make this newsletter, not only worthy of your time and attention, but hopefully you will always feel a little better after reading.
To that end, I’m going to add more links to things I personally take inspiration from or that just make me feel good.
It’s my first step on the road to fixing my little piece of the world.
And Now For Something Completely Different
Christmas decorating season is rolling up fast . (Some of you may have already started but I try to hold off until Thanksgiving weekend.)
I love putting up all the holiday finery.
Fetching it from the basement, not so much.
Because I have a secret.
My basement was the inspiration for this comic strip in 2009. (Behind the scenes info for this lower down.)
Things have not improved.
First, there is the air hockey table that has seen approximately 46 hours of actual air hockey activity and 16 years as a catchall horizontal surface suitable for piling.
(The current pile consists of two defunct electric keyboards, a disassembled marimba, several throw pillows awaiting makeovers and a bunch of other stuff I don’t even have the courage to wade through for identification.)
Next, we move to the laundry center which, once upon a time, was worthy of inclusion in a Martha Stewart magazine spread dedicated to beautifully organized laundry centers.
Due to the encroachment of several Rubbermaid totes filled with crap (crap from my kids’ apartments, crap from my parent’s house that I’ve been clearing out for two years, crap from my in-law’s house that I cleared out before that…) the laundry now takes up residence wherever it can find more than 24 cubic inches.
(When we bought our washer and dryer we shelled out the extra bucks for a special shelf thing that goes over the tops so that there would be a lovely place to fold said laundry. The special shelf quickly lost its intended status in favor of storage shelves for even more crap.)
Finally, we pivot to the big storage closets.
Yes, I have the great good fortune to have some very large and capacious built-in storage cupboards. Capacious enough to hold a multitude of Christmas decorations.
Which they do.
And the decorations are in there, all ready to go, just waiting for me to open the door.
Which I would do.
If I could get to the closets.
Which I can’t.
Because, of course, in FRONT of said closets are all those items that get sent their merry way down the stairs to be “put away” only to find that there is no nicely designated tidy space waiting to receive them.
Except that big space in front of the closets.
I’d love to get a handle on all of this.
I’m going to try to get a handle on all of this.
If you don’t hear from me next week send down that search party.
I may be trapped under a pile of dirty laundry.
Copyright© 2024 Anne Morse Hambrock All rights reserved.
Inspiration #1
One thing that always makes me feel better is water.
Especially large bodies of water.
And the fact that I can still get myself out of bed every day without assistance and walk out into the world and appreciate the beauty all around me.
I’d love to know what makes you feel better.
Inspiration #2
I also use music to make myself feel better. Sometimes I’ll go for quiet and reflective but, more often than not, the more up tempo something is the more it helps me shake off whatever I’m dealing with.
One such tune is “Sing, Sing Sing”.
I’m including two links here (click on the images) - the original recording by Glenn Miller and also a clip from the TV Show Everybody Loves Raymond. The TV clip shows what happens after Debra and Robert find out that Ray has lied to both of them to get them to stop dancing together because he’s jealous of the time they’ve been spending and the great time they’ve been having.
(If you’d like to see the rest of the episode it is titled “Dancing With Debra” and is streaming on Paramount Plus.)
Holiday Gifting!
Gift giving season is right around the corner!
These books make great holiday gifts!
Archives
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Tip Jar
This button will take you to my PayPal tip jar. It is tied to my old Typepad “Anne And God” page (look for the button in the left hand sidebar) because I cannot use the Substack tip jar.
Substack only has a relationship with Stripe as a payment gateway and I recently had to close my Stripe account after they failed to adequately protect me from credit card fraud generated by identity thieves in Australia (a whole long story) so I have to do things in this roundabout way.
Thank you for reading and for your support.
Thank You
For subscribing and/or following! Your support gives me something to live up to!
Keep The Messages Coming!
A big “thank you” to all of you who have messaged me commented or hit “like” after reading my poems and commentary!
I appreciate the feedback and knowing how often I have struck a chord with your lives.
We moved in about three years ago and after all the working we had a number of dunno what to do with this boxes that stayed in the garage even though I put all these heavy duty shelves in place downstairs. It’s either too hot or too cold or I go look at it and shake my head and slowly close the door behind me lest I disturb something in there. I keep telling myself I will get it sorted…but then there is so much else to do. Bleh! I’m happy for you on the feedback. Being vulnerable is scary.