WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist by MC Beaton. Our heroine, the redoubtable Aggie, is on a solo holiday in Cypress. She surrounds herself with other British tourists and is as fascinated/amused by them as she is of the Mediterranean. Then one of them gets dead. Will Agatha's sleuthing skills translate overseas?

This is lighter than air but it's just what I needed after 500+ pages with Mrs. Lincoln.

2. What did you recently finish reading?  Mary Lincoln: Biography of a Marriage by Ruth Painter Randall. This is a comprehensive, fair and very readable look at Mary Lincoln's life. I enjoyed it, but it was not an easy read. The lady had a staggering amount of pain in her 63 years. She buried three children, and the only one who survived to adulthood had her declared insane. (Let that sink in.) During the Civil War, her siblings took up arms against the Union, and Mary's husband. Don't think that won't cause a rift. The national press routinely attacked her as a boorish Westerner (Illinois was considered the rural West in those days) and a Southern sympathizer (her Kentuckian father was a slave owner). Neither was true: Mary was an elegant, educated lady who spoke fluent French, quoted Shakespeare and was staunchly anti-slave. Her husband was shot while holding her hand. She felt the bullet in the paroxysm of his hand even before she heard it. Not something you ever recover from.

The woman on these pages is warm, loving and more sinned against than sinning. She's also shown to be sharp-tongued and quick-tempered and often unable to get out of her own way.

 

Ms. Randall puts us in the 19th century. You can smell the biscuits and gravy! But if you pick this volume up, be warned: it was written in the 1950s. Some of the word choices were a little squirmy. This is no longer how we talk about people of color, little people, or those with speech impediments. After I cringed, I realized it's important that we know who we were as a nation. 

3. What will you read next? I don't know.

 

Three Nice Things about Myself -- Day 12

My blogging buddy, Kwizgiver, wrote a post that really resonated with me. She detailed how self-care helped her helped her prevail during a (ridiculously) tough month. Her tips were very wise and so doable! So she has inspired me to take one and integrate it into my own life.

Since I can be a pretty harsh self-critic, this is the one I chose. I hope I can do this every day during March. By then it should be a habit, right?

Three nice things about myself -- March 12:

1) My patience paid off. John sent a goofy response to my goofy email. YAY! That means the lines of communication between us are, indeed, open and flowing both ways. I've been very worried about my self-isolating friend but had decided to give him space to work out his own problems. In his own way, and in his own time. I take today's rather silly interaction as evidence that I made the right choice and I like myself for respecting his privacy. (<<< Not easy.)

2) I followed up. I shot an email to Elaine. She's a good friend and I think I take her for granted sometimes. I like that I was more careful of her feelings.

3) I returned to yoga. I will never be good at yoga, but after missing two consecutive weeks, I was creaky and stiff and, well, I sucked. It's never fun to get up and go over to do something you know you're not good at. But it's good for me! I'm glad I took care of myself by making myself go.

 

The Tough Conversation that Wasn't So Tough

Last Thursday I checked the store's online program and discovered that my name doesn't appear on the schedule after the 15th. Some people are working between the 15th through 31st, but not everyone ... and not me. I was concerned that this means I don't have a job anymore. While I would certainly understand this -- we have experienced a lull after Valentine's Day, and I was originally only hired through New Year's Day anyway -- I wanted to know the truth right away and was tempted to text my boss over the weekend but resisted. She was on vacation and deserved to unplug. 

But Monday, once she got in and got settled, I asked her about it. She apologized for any confusion and explained that, with the drop in business, she just can't support everyone. I have not been let go. Corporate expected this dip in sales and lowered the store's daily projections, so we aren't "in trouble" or going out of business. This is the nature of part-time retail work. I must learn the ways of this new world.

I told Ceecee I understand and reminded her that I'm flexible* and can come in with advance notice whenever she needs me. I was also happy to see that before I got in, before we had the conversation, she had added my name to two displays in the breakroom. I now have a paper flower on the decorative team board and my "birthday" (the day I started working there) is on the team calendar. She wouldn't have added me to those if I was on the way out.

I like this job. It can be fun and the extra money is nice. But I also like sleeping in and since my oral surgery and vacation are coming up, I'd have to take time off anyway. And don't forget: I'm lazy. So this is not the worst that could happen.

 
*Kinda. I still don't want to work Tuesdays, evenings or weekends.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Three Nice Things about Myself -- Day 11

My blogging buddy, Kwizgiver, wrote a post that really resonated with me. She detailed how self-care helped her helped her prevail during a (ridiculously) tough month. Her tips were very wise and so doable! So she has inspired me to take one and integrate it into my own life.

Since I can be a pretty harsh self-critic, this is the one I chose. I hope I can do this every day during March. By then it should be a habit, right?

Three nice things about myself -- March 11:

1) I gave my oldest friend a chance. I was in a mood Monday night. I just didn't feel like being alone. So I phoned my oldest friend. She's been annoying me lately -- her recent emails have been as artificial and superficial as the mass newsletters you receive from distant relatives in Christmas cards. But I reached out to her last night and she really came through. We had a lovely, funny chat. Like the old friends we are. I like myself for not letting my irritation fester and become a bigger deal than it needs to be.

2) I nurtured a new friendship. I sent Bob and Patty -- the couple I had brunch with Sunday -- a link to my movie group. Maybe they're busy on Mondays. Maybe they can't bear the idea of another Zoom meeting. But I made the gesture. I like myself for that. (I must remember this week to reach out to Elaine. I could be a better friend to her. But this is the place to celebrate what's good and not indulge in negative self-talk, right?)

3) I'm looking at my caffeine intake. I have long limited myself to two Cokes/day. Less than that, and I get unpleasant caffeine headaches. I find, though, that if I have that second Coke earlier in the evening (last night it was before 9:00), I sleep less fitfully. I like that I'm taking care of myself.