friday’s “secret”: pay the money

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Graphic made with Font Candy. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Occasionally, I like to post things that I have realized helped me enjoy my life.  I call them “secrets”.  Today’s “secret” is to just pay the money, sometimes.

My daddy is what he likes to call “fiscally conservative.” But in the words of comedian Jeanne Robertson, “In our house, we spell that C-H-E-A-P” Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, some of his conservativeness slipped into my DNA and I dislike spending a lot of money on things.  When the Hubby and I were about to purchase our home, I got physically ill.

But the older I get the more I realize the necessity to intentionally spend the money on things that will make my life more enjoyable as oppose to just random stuff that I will forget that I bought the next week.

My recent trip to San Diego was probably one of the least stressful that I have ever taken because a couple of months prior to departure, I paid the $80 or so to become TSA PreChecked.

We departed for San Diego via Hartsfield International Airport, the busiest airport in the world with over 107 million passengers in 2018.  Hartsfield is laid out beautifully and once you go through TSA, you have access to the entire airport.  But there are only two separate TSA access points so you can imagine that there are a lot of people going through each one.  The general TSA line snakes for days. I have spent at least 45 minutes in that line before.

Not this trip.  With TSA PreCheck, me and the Buddy Man were through in less than 10 minutes.  I didn’t have to undress and redress on the other side.  It was so easy and WORTH EVERY PENNY!

Additionally, the last couple of times I have traveled, we have parked close enough to the airport to not require a shuttle to get to our car.  This is also great when you have another two-hour ride home and you’ve already been traveling for 6 hours with a toddler.

Money is a good servant but a bad master. -Gretchen Rubin

Of course, I am not advocating fiscal irresponsibility.  Your life is not enjoyable if you are sitting in the dark, hungry, or awake all night worrying because you decided to become TSA PreChecked.  However, in more appropriate situations, I am realizing that sometime I should make an intentional choice and spend the money to reduce my anxiety and stress and make life a bit more pleasant.

What “secret” do you have to enjoy life? Let me know in the comments.

enjoy life…

P.S. TSA PreCheck is valid for 5 years.  And, no, this post was not sponsored. LOL

what i’m into – keeping me sane {june 2019}

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If you have a monthly recap post letting us know what you’re into, please share it in the comments below and let your community know that you are doing so.  We do this every month, next on Friday, August 2.  

I have a very difficult time believing that we are halfway through 2019.  The older I get, the quicker time flies. It will be Christmas before we know it! The Buddy Man will be thrilled.

Anywho, June was divided by three major things: (1) a trip to San Diego (trips are generally stressful for me); (2) returning from the trip and trying to get my bearings again; and finally (3) reviewing the first half of 2019 to see where I am with my goals and intentions and what I need to prioritize the second half of the year.

We went to San Diego to attend my paternal extended family’s biennial reunion.

SIDEBAR: I’m ashamed to say but I have always been confused between the use of semiannual, biannual, and biennial. So, for this post, I decided to take the time and figure out the difference once and for all.  Shockingly, this took less than two minutes!

Semiannual and biannual mean the same thing: something that occurs twice a year.  Biennial means something that occurs every two years.  But because biannual and biennial are often confused (Hello!), it is easier to use the words semiannual and biennial and just leave biannual alone.  That’s what I’m going to do from now on.

The Buddy Man and I drove to Atlanta and flew with my parents to San Diego.  This was the first flight that the Buddy Man realized what was happening; his very first flight was at 9 months.  He did very well.  Landing on the first flight messed with his ears and he didn’t know what was happening. There were tears. However, he was ready on the return flight.  He listened to me and yawned and ate appropriately to keep his ears popping as we descended.

We did get to go to the beach; the first time the Buddy knew we were there and he LOVED it.  I am so excited! I LOVE the beach and to see him like it as much as I do was very gratifying for me.  So, the Hubby and I have decided to plan a quick weekend to the beach in August. Something to look forward to.

It was really great to see most of the family again.  Every time, I see them I resolve to be better at keeping in touch with them and this time, I took some time to think about how I could make that happen. Most are on Facebook and so I set a monthly notification on my phone to reach out via Messenger.  Might as well make Facebook good for something.  We will see how it goes.

I was so happy to be able to run every day during the month of June as part of the Runner’s World Running Streak that started on Memorial Day and ends on the Fourth of July. I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to keep the streak going while on the trip but thanks to my mom watching the Buddy, and running at the end of one day (which I don’t necessarily like) and in the fitness center on the #dreadmill, I got it done.  The streak continues.

Upon our return, I quickly felt overwhelmed with everything.  My mind was racing with what I want to accomplish this year, what I said that I would do but haven’t got to yet (like finish “KonMari(ng)” my home) and what I should be working on for the rest of the year. So, I took a self-care day. I reviewed my Intentions/Goals for 2019 and acknowledge the progress I had made. I had a nice lunch alone, a massage, and watched a movie.  It was a very nice day and I came out of it refreshed and with clarity and focus.

I have also watched the World Cup in women’s soccer and I have absolutely loved the women’s Nike commercials.  Here’s one of the good ones.

What have you been up to this month? Let me know in the comments.

P.S. By the way, have you seen this Google Nest Hub commercial.  Makes me smile every time I see it.

enjoy life…

 

book review: “never have i ever” by joshilyn jackson

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Pic. Never Have I Ever

I adored “The Almost Sisters”, my best book read of 2018, so I was thrilled to get an Advanced Readers’ Copy (ARC) of Joshilyn Jackson’s Never Have I Ever (NHIE), releasing July 30. This book is also a Modern Mrs. Darcy Summer Reading Guide pick which only increased my desire to get my hand on a copy. In NHIE, Jackson ups the ante, stepping fully into the psychological territory first explored in “gods in Alabama”. It read like a departure for Jackson, yet hauntingly familiar.

The Snail on the Wall Books was kind of enough to provide me with an ARC in exchange for my thoughts and so I wanted to finish it quickly. I set aside an entire day to read it. Like most psychological thrillers, NHIE began with a slow burn but by page 100, I became interested and happily kept turning the pages to find out what happened next until I reached a satisfying conclusion (and after GoT, I needed a satisfying conclusion. LOL)

I missed the humor in The Almost Sisters that balanced out all that dark and twisty.  And it is dark, ladies and gentleman.  Individuals may find some triggers within its pages, so readers beware.  And while “The Almost Sisters” held subtle but profound social commentary, NHIE is more personal.  Jackson describes what happens when the secrets that we bury deep within us are threatened to be exposed and the lengths that we are willing to go when we’re pushed to the brink. It would make a good book club pick.

If you tend to be very conservative in your reading preferences, this may not be the pick for you.  But if you are looking for a page-turner (my personal benchmark) for the late summer read in the same vein of The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine and a darker Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, give this one a go.

3 ½ stars

Read my reviews of Mrs. Parrish here and Lies here both for the Rocket City Mom Virtual Book Club.

What are your thoughts? Have you read this or will you be reading it? Do you agree or disagree with me? And if you are looking for as noncommital a book club as you can get, check out the RCM Virtual Book Club.

enjoy life…