Headline News
My company likes to switch people around for a well-rounded experience, which is one of the reasons I came here. This month, after only a year and a half, it was my turn! Effective May 1, I have a new boss, new team, new cubicle, and am doing similar work but in a new business area. While I loved my old team, and the timing isn’t ideal (work was the only area of my life that was stable), I’m happy about the change and encouraged that I was chosen. My new co-workers are great. The work is more complicated and will expose me to more things. I can’t see out a window from my cubicle anymore, but the new space is quieter, more secluded, and less cold, so I’ll take that trade-off.
Wedding Update
My second bridal shower had a Memphis theme and was an all-family production! The overall guest list was too large for the venue for my first shower, so this second one was for church friends and our moms’ friends. It was at my church’s fellowship hall and personally catered by my BIL Lance, including a potato soup people are still raving about. Taylor, his brother and family, and my dad were all there too. I had a great time!
I ordered our guest book and am pretty excited about it. I also sent Penny Hardaway a wedding invitation – hopefully we’ll get something fun back!
We have less than a month to go. People keep asking me what’s left to do, and the answer is A LOT of details I’d forgotten. Linens, cups, ice logistics (the venue has no icemaker), cake knife, etc. Thankfully, Taylor is finished with a busy time at work and should be able to help more from here on out. I still haven’t made a decision about bridal hair, headwear, or jewelry. And I’m starting to feel the way I do in the last lead-up to an important race: excessively aware of the fragility of the human body. Every day I’m like, don’t fall down!! Don’t tear a muscle! Don’t get scratched in the face! Don’t get into an accident! Time to move into a bubble.
Reading
How the Bible Actually Works: In Which I Explain How an Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers – and Why That’s Great News by Peter Enns (4 stars) I read this with a book club in advance of the author coming to speak at my church this month! His approach to the Bible really refreshes me. If you’ve hit a wall (like I did) trying to reconcile some old, rigorous interpretations of the Bible with our current lived reality, this book is for you.
All the Lives I Want: Essays about My Best Friends Who Happen to Be Famous Strangers by Alana Massey (3.5 stars) While some of the author’s perspectives are a little self-destructive for me, this is the type of academic pop cultural analysis I crave – especially when it highlights women of the 90s.
Just for Clicks by Kara McDowell (3.5 stars) A novel about twins who’ve been celebrities since birth thanks to their mother’s blog. Now that they’re high school seniors, Claire is ready to abandon their Kardashian-esque lifestyle for something more real. The story starts a little slow, but takes several unexpected turns!
Becoming by Michelle Obama (5 stars) After months on the waiting list at the library, I finally got my shot at this memoir. It was wonderful and inspiring.
Millenneagram: The Enneagram Guide for Discovering Your Truest, Baddest Self by Hannah Paasch (4.5 stars) I couldn’t resist getting this as soon as it came out. It’s an enjoyable, insightful Enneagram deep dive that I began discussing with friends immediately. Sensitive readers might want to check out Hannah’s Twitter before purchasing – she writes just like she tweets.
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid (4 stars) When I described this book’s plot to Taylor, he replied “Basically, Cast Away” (from Helen Hunt’s perspective). So there you go.
Listening
I downloaded a few songs from Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You and cannot pick a favorite. Perfect for the start of summer!
Travel
I went to Nashville twice this month, first for my older niece’s birthday (she turned SEVEN, how is this possible), and later for both nieces’ dance recital and my sister’s birthday. Taylor came with me for the second trip. We ate at Aquarium for Debra’s birthday, and also at Chef’s Market in Goodlettsville.
Around Town
This month Coach Penny Hardaway (mentioned above ;)) locked down the #1 recruiting class in America / best recruiting class in Tigers history! AND the Grizzlies secured the #2 NBA draft pick! Taylor and I watched the draft lottery together, clinging to each other and then rejoicing as we surpassed the worst lottery pick spots.
Due to my multiple weekend trips, and everything else, I missed most of Memphis in May this year. We did make it to the official bicentennial celebration, Celebrate Memphis, last weekend. Among other things, there was an air show, a new world record for the longest picnic table, fireworks, and street signs representing important intersections in each Memphis neighborhood.
I’m a summer intern mentor at work this year. Most of them are law students and I’m a paralegal, so I’m mostly there for moral/social support, telling them where the cafeteria is, etc. In any case, we’ll have a lot of activities throughout the summer. This week we did a fun scavenger hunt downtown and my in-depth knowledge of the area came in handy. We stopped into the Peabody and saw the ducks.
At Home
We (mostly Taylor) continued working hard in his backyard this month. Lots of weeding and pruning. I brought over some of my large potted plants, and we bought a nice hydrangea to go by the back door. We’ve enjoyed watching a robin raise two sets of babies in a nest under the carport. Last weekend, we saw one of the now-teenage robins hanging around the yard after it had fledged!
Back at my house, my gardenia had its spectacular annual bloom, and I soaked up my last evenings on my patio. Pictured: my final al fresco dinner omelet. The patio table is now in Taylor’s backyard.
On a related note, we haven’t finalized the documents yet, but I already found tenants for my condo and feel good about it! They’ll need to move later in the summer, which gives me plenty of time to move out, clean, and figure out what to do with my excess furniture. Thankful.
Wearing
As my large quantity of Super Cash proves, Old Navy has been my jam lately. Most of my camisoles and tanks ride up mercilessly or are just worn out, so I’ve been buying a lot of their First Layer fitted tanks and First Layer camis in Tall (the extra length keeps them in place). I also found two nicely-structured summer ponte dresses that I can wear to work: this one and this one!
Wellness
After making a big deal about not going on a wedding diet, I caved and have been on the Sugar Busters diet since the beginning of May. Basically, no sugar, white flour, corn or corn products, beer, potatoes, or high-sugar produce like pineapple. I chose this method because 1. I only want to lose a few pounds in the stomach area and 2. I don’t have to starve on it, and carbs are fine as long as they’re whole grain. Really I’m only cutting out stuff that’s not great for me anyway. Also, after an initial two-hour label-reading trip to Kroger, I am not obsessing about one or two grams of whatever. This is a big-picture effort.
This diet has been a disturbing education in the pervasiveness of added sugar. IT IS IN EVERYTHING, often for no good reason. I’ve had to get less reliant on packaged foods, and when I go out, a salad is usually my only option. Avoiding corn and flour has been much more limiting than cutting out desserts. However, due to parties and events every weekend and in the interest of enjoying life, I’ve been taking Saturdays off. I never thought I felt badly before on a “normal” diet, but now by Saturday night, my stomach is kind of unhappy and it’s not so hard to get back on the horse.
I don’t have access to a scale, so I don’t even know if the diet is working. I think it is a little bit, but it’s hard to tell. I’ll probably stick with it through the wedding week, and maybe a less restrained version after the wedding. The best compliant foods I’ve discovered are Trader Joe’s quinoa and brown rice pasta, and Lily’s dark chocolate, which has a high cocoa percentage and is sweetened with stevia.
Random Happiness
At my church this Mother’s Day, every woman – single, married, young, old, mom and not mom – got a flower. ♥
Your Monthly Rufus
Rufus turned five this month! I don’t know his exact birthday – the vet just estimated May – so I usually celebrate him at the end of May. As usual, he refused to wear his birthday hat and chewed on it instead.
LOL of the Month
When your fiancé really knows you.
On the Blog
I wrote some reflections about my upcoming marriage!
Good Reads
♥ Kaitlyn Tiffany at Vox: A mysterious gut doctor is begging Americans to throw out “this vegetable” now. But, like, which?
♥ Debbie Weingarten at Longreads: If You Should Find Yourself in the Dark
♥ Abby Norman: What do you do when you don’t know what to do? A sermon for Rachel Held Evans
♥ Another tribute to RHE from Emmy Kegler: My faith makes space for this. I wish it didn’t.
♥ Mike at Listen Carefully: The Six Stages of Deconstruction (I’m somewhere between The Resting Stage and The Justice Stage, with grief still popping up occasionally.)
♥ Amanda Mull at The Atlantic: I Broke Breakfast
♥ Brandi Miller at The Salt Collective: Why So Many White Christians Refuse to Believe In Police Brutality
♥ I’ve followed Karen’s Makeup and Beauty Blog for a while and was sad to hear of her beloved cat’s passing. I sympathized with her beautiful tribute to him: Lessons of Love and Life I Learned From Grief
♥ Danielle Jackson at Longreads: “Give It Up For My Sister”: Beyoncé, Solange, and The History of Sibling Acts in Pop
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