Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm linking up with Joyce for the weekly hodgepodge; I'll jump right in!
1. What's a characteristic you admire in others? Explain. I admire the quality of being able to extend grace to someone; I believe this is because as grace has been given freely to those of us who are believers, so we are to extend it to others. I'm definitely not saying that I'm great at doing this, but I do try my best, and I'm always working on it to make strides toward improving. There are a few people who have taught me this over the years: my friend Abbey; my friend Steffeny, whose favorite phrase is "grace upon grace"; my friend Richard who was instrumental in helping me change my attitude about my ex-husband and his girlfriend; and my own sons. I'm grateful for the people in my life who have had an impact on me; there are many more than just the few mentioned here.
2. Do you have a favorite mug? Let's see it. Why is this one your favorite?
This is my favorite mug! It's insulated, which is why I love it; I also love that it's copper, that it's large, and that it's easy to hold. It has a lid, as well, but I rarely use it since I mostly drink coffee at home.
3. July 15th is/was National Give Something Away Day...will you (or did you) give something away? If so, what? Do you regularly do this, or do you tend to accumulate? I gave some things away this week! In the painting and redecorating phase that I'm in right now, I decided I didn't want to use the same pictures and artwork I had, so I donated it to Goodwill. I also donated a coat and a few other things. I am good at purging often!
4. You're planning a trip. Do you prefer exploring big cities, or smaller off the grid towns? World Atlas lists these top 12 off the grid towns to see in 2025. How many on the list have you seen? Of those listed, which would you most like to visit? Tell us why. I like both! I love cities because of the life that I love to witness; I love small off the grid towns because they're usually quaint and picturesque. There's a time and a place for both!
Boothbay Harbor Maine, Middlebury Vermont, New Hope Pennsylvania, Rehoboth Beach Delaware, Brevard North Carolina, Saugatuck Michigan, Medora North Dakota, Ouray Colorado, Lamoille Nevada, Neah Bay Washington, Hood River Oregon, or Cambria California,
I haven't been to any of these places, friends. 🤣
5. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle? Been to a Disney park? Met a celebrity? Won a contest? Tell us something about whatever you answered yes to on this question. When I was a young girl, I got to meet The Beach Boys at a concert I went to; I don't remember it, but I've seen a picture of me being held by one of them.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Hi, I'm Jenn! I'm 48 years old and divorced, and I do not at all recommend ever (ever, ever, EVER) getting a divorce at any time, especially in midlife. I am at the point in life that I could write a book on dating in your late 40's after divorce, and friends...nobody would want to read it, because it would be sad and depressing. Men are disturbing creatures to whom too much credit is often given. I had someone ghost me this week! Like fell off the face of the earth after two days of nonstop texting and about 500 text messages; and I'm pretty sure he lied about someone dying to get out of meeting me. What the actual hell? Sorry for cursing, there are no other words that are strong enough to express my disgust. Be a freaking man and tell me, "thanks, but no thanks". I was so mad that I subscribed to Truthfinder for six months, because I've about convinced myself that he's actually married with a family and was lying. (Total speculation there, but that's the vibe I got.)
Anyway, for you married people out there, keep working on your own marriages! Date them, have the sex as often as possible, dote on them, never complain about them, and cherish the moments. Because if you don't you'll end up in my shoes, where marriage is looking less and less attractive as time goes on. Kidding...but kind of not kidding.
Sorry to end on that note, but I've got to get ready to leave my house! Thanks for reading here today, friends. Love to all!
Jenn
I'm always thinning out our possessions too though I try really hard to make sure I'm getting rid of things that belong to me and not someone else in the house (but I'm kind of bad at that!). I hate clutter and yet I think after living here for 20+ years we have far more than I'd like. God help us if we ever have to move! On a totally different note-- have you shared the prompts for August's Currently? I don't seem to have any written down anywhere and was wondering if I missed it.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the amount of junk in my home overwhelms me...or it did, until people started moving out. I feel like it's under control now, but I definitely need to do more work on it as time goes on, especially in my kitchen. I hate clutter, too! We have so much in common. I have not, and thank you for the reminder! I'll include them in Friday's favorites post. Happy Wednesday!
DeleteYour words of advice are good ones. I think that would be enough for me to take a break from the entire male species for a while.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good thing you have a trip planned and will be busy soon! It will change things, I think.
Thank you! You would think...but I also want to keep dating and put myself out there. I enjoy getting to know men and talking to them; their thoughts and opinions are usually pretty fascinating, and they give great perspective. I'm glad I'm going away this weekend! It will do both Mare and I loads of good.
DeleteI have heard similar horror stories about the dating world in middle age. I hope there's a right guy out there for you to meet when you're ready to meet him. I know that sounds like a platitude and I'm sure it's not really helpful but it's my hope for you so I guess I'm keeping it in this comment... It's great you're giving stuff away. I need to do more of that. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteIt's rough! I know there are better ones out there, which is why I keep subjecting myself to this. I want to keep putting myself out there...even if it's to make a friend, and I've made two friends in this process: Richard and Randall. I texted with both of them yesterday about different things, and Richard is the one who took care of my car being repaired after I had that wreck. Randall was the one who lives in St. Louis...I reached out to him yesterday just to say hi and to see how his dating life was going. He had some horror stories too, and we shared a good laugh over text. All that to say, it is worth it to keep going, but my mindset has shifted to just making friends.
DeleteThat was a lot for a midweek dating update. 🤣 I need to work on my kitchen with the whole purging/cleaning out thing. Thanks, friend! You do the same.
Hang in there friend- always appreciate when you are honest and raw
ReplyDeleteThank you, sweet friend! ❤️❤️
DeleteI have two ghosting stories for you. One. I dated a guy a looooong time ago. In my 20s. We dated for close to 4 years. The last year and a half of our relationship was very long distance. Like 10ish hours apart. We still made it work and I I visited him and he visited me (his family was still close in distance to me) one day he just stopped talking to me. It was the craziest thing. We finally did end up talking again but he didn’t really have a good reason for stopping talking to me
ReplyDeleteThe second one was one of my first dates post-divorce. He was also divorced. We met for ice cream and had (what I thought) was a very nice time. We sat and talked for close to 4 hours. I never heard anything from him other again.
Men are strange creatures indeed.
What in the world! Both of those are way worse than the one I've experienced. I've also been catfished -- in which the guy looked NOTHING like his dating profile pic -- and I've been the recipient of unwanted and inappropriate pictures. 🙄😮 I'm telling you...I could write a book on the do's and don'ts of online dating. BLEH.
DeleteThat is a pretty mug!
ReplyDeleteI think I like smaller towns, they are always so much cuter and quirky.
I couldn't imagine being in the dating game now, it sounds like such a challenge.
Thank you! I love small towns, too. I agree with your assessment! Thanks for your always kind words, my friend. Have a great day!
DeleteGlad you are giving some things away to help with the clean, fresh look of YOUR house! And of course, I am rolling my eyes with you at this dating world in our phase of life. So glad we have each other though!!
ReplyDeleteI feel more now than ever being equally yoked is so important in a relationship. I'm currently a widow; I met my husband on Match.com years ago. We were NOT equally yoked, and it was a disjointed marriage to say the least. We were married for 17 years before he passed. We both worked hard at understanding each other and did not leave the marriage. Fast forward to now, I've been single for 2+years. I do desire another spouse, someone to grow old with, to serve God with. It's not easy and so far I've not found him. Thank you for keeping it real. I read your blog daily.
ReplyDelete