Guilty Pleasures

August95 tagged me with this meme. Just a silly meme, so it should be easy, but I found myself wrestling with it. List my five “guilty pleasures.” That would be five things I enjoy, but feel at least a little guilty about. Guilt is a thing I try not to do. I made that decision a long, long time ago. Not that I do nothing bad. Oh, I do plenty of bad things. But they are my choice, so I don’t allow myself the “out” of feeling guilty about them. Martin Luther’s words, “Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly . . .” were the impetus for staking claim to my “I don’t do guilt” posture. If I do something wrong, I consider the consequences beforehand, and if it’s important to me to do the thing, and if I’m willing to live with the consequences, then I go for it. No guilt allowed. That’s a lot of philosophy for a little meme.

So, here are some things from which I get pleasure, but about which I may have occasional mini-regret or even embarrassment:

1. Blogging, of course. I spend a lot of time here. I weigh, almost daily, the benefit to me, and the benefit to others (as they have communicated to me). My rule is, I can take time from realworld things and stuff to do this (especially I can do it instead of TV-watching), but I can’t take time from realworld people to do it. Yea, almost daily, I look at this.

2. When I watch TV, I like me some mindless TV. How mindless? Like, “Reno 9-1-1” mindless. I like sitcoms. Lately I love “My Name is Earl,” and Britcoms, like “Keeping Up Appearances.” I like Super Nanny (she could kick Dr. Phil’s ass in a child-raising contest), and I used to enjoy “The Osbournes,” for the wisdom it added to my family therapy practice. Incidentally, while channel surfing on Saturday afternoon, I stopped on “Hogan Knows Best,” in which former wrestler Hulk Hogan and his family do their “reality” thing. I watched parts of two episodes; enough for me to conclude that Hulk Hogan makes Ozzie Osbourne look like Andy Griffith, in the dad department.

Something Mrs. Hulk said to Hulk, that I’m pretty sure I’ll never say to Jif:
“Put your boa on.”

3. There’s a whole food category. Chocolate anything and everything. And Cheetos. Mind you, I don’t purchase Cheetos. However, as most moms will admit (if they have learned to sin boldly), there is a place in this world for Cheetos. And that place is at a children’s birthday party. I will leave a child’s birthday party with some orange fingers, for sure. Indeed, if anyone reading this is considering whether or not to have children — consider the Cheeto factor. I like to eat Hillbillian foods, but in my firm commitment to never weigh more than my car, I don’t cook them often. Not at all. If I make comfort foods, though, they are the real deal. I may make mashed potatoes only . . . oh, four or five times a year . . . but they are made with real butter and cream, when I do.

Now it’s getting tougher to find things to feel guilty about . . . OK:

4. I flirt. And in the process of doing so, I may embellish the truth from time to time. You may have figured that out from visiting here. I get a lot of pleasure from this. But truthfully, not so much guilt, because it’s not THAT kind of flirting. I am an equal opportunity flirter. Men, women, children. I like to leave someone’s presence with the feeling that THEY feel better than they did before I got there. We’re just not sweet to each other the way we could be. I try to be sweet to people, compliment them, help them upgrade their sense of self, at least for a moment. And I may lie in the process. I have no problem with that. And NO, I have certainly never lied to any of you.

5. I have gone through phases of buying too many of something. Shoes, purses, cosmetics, CDs. Probably the most consistent transgression in this category is books. That is not the case at the moment, but it is likely to emerge again at any time. I am a book addict.

There you have it. These are not the worst things I do. They are some of the worst things I do, from which I get pleasure. Revealing the other worst things I do from which I get pleasure would attract a more unseemly element than the riff raff that already frequents here, so we won’t be talking about that today 😉

I won’t tag you, but you know we want to know. So post your guilty pleasures, or spill them here 🙂

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A Clarification

Yesterday, some people thought there was a funeral here. Some people thought this wasn’t my door, because there was a funeral behind this door, and there wasn’t a funeral here. These thoughts were expressed in comments and in concerned email. Allow me to set the record straight. It’s my door. There’s no funeral. The wreath is a winter wreath, not a funeral wreath. See, sometimes, in black and white, dark colors look black. In this area, funeral wreaths are not customary. I did not mean to alarm anyone. Now, LIGHTEN UP. (And don’t you think if there were a funeral here, I would tell you? I mean, unless I couldn’t; and then you’d figure it out. Of course, then I couldn’t really post pictures either . . . never mind on that one.) Oh, and the quote still stands — it’s not too soon to be kind.

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Sunday Post ~ "You cannot do a kindness too so…

Sunday Post ~ “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Matthew 25:34-40

file under: &Sunday Post

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Biscuit Friday ~ Guard Dog

We recently discovered that Biscuit is an excellent basketball player. At least, he’s good at helping LG improve her skillz.

He is actually quite good at blocking shots and stealing the ball. Of course, once he gets the ball, he has been known to double dribble.

And double slobber. And double bite.

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HELP ME! My bookmarks have disappeared (again). If I normally visit you, or if you want me to vist you, please leave a comment so I can add you easily. I’ll find you eventually, but this would help. Also, if you are geeky and know how to retrieve bookmarks that have been obliterated, that would be nice, too. Thanks!

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Just When You Think You Know Someone . . .

I have recently had a most unpleasant experience in blogworld. Events that happened earlier in my life, for which I have been forgiven, and which I had hoped could remain hidden, have been uncovered and exposed, by other bloggers. I was young, I was confused; I did the best I could under the circumstances, at the time of these events. I had hoped to put all that behind me. After the initial trauma to all parties, I had hoped that this story would never again see the light of day. And that was the case.

Until a certain girl band, Nikki and the Sisters, uncovered my story. You may know these women by their innocent-sounding name, SWLF, Sarah’s Wacky Loving Family. Yes, the very same. If you see them mentioned around blogworld, you’ll see, “Oh, they’re so nice,” “Oh, they’re so kind,” “Oh, they have so much love.” But I have seen the dark underbelly of Nikki and the Sisters. And I’m here to tell you, it ain’t pretty. If you have a secret in your past, they will expose it. They are like the National freakin’ Enquirer.

What they say about me is, in fact, true. But everything has truly worked out for the best, for all concerned. I married my true love. And that other guy, he did OK. He really did, thanks, MOSTLY, to me. I inspired every success he ever had, and he will be the first to admit it (if he’s still alive).

Now, I hope that we can return this matter to the closet, where it belongs.

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I’m Just Sayin’ . . . ( #4)

Bless your heart, we’ve all been there. But the rule is: Don’t do anything in public that you wouldn’t want to show up on the “innernets as a hole.”

On Saturday, I took some pix at LG’s basketball game, Beagles vs. Kangaroos. When I got home, I was dismayed to learn that I didn’t get one single good shot of LG. I was going to delete the whole batch, when something bright yellow suddenly caught my eye. In this pic where the two teams face each other and match up their wrist bands, to see who is guarding whom, I had struck gold.

I’m just sayin’, you never know when a blogger with a camera is behind your behind.

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European Update

You are all welcome to a big piece of yesterday’s pineapple upside-down cake. When I am in the mood for comfort food, I make something Hillbillian. The weekend just begged for a cake. There are probably enough chemicals in each of those bright red cherries to kill us. But we are a brave, cake-eating people.

I thought that Monday might slide by with folks not remembering that I had, in a moment of insanity, confided about certain medical tests that were scheduled. Comments on the Sunday Post revealed otherwise. Y’all remembered! Due to circumstances beyond my control (ohmylord, so FAR beyond my control), it is unlikely that the scheduled tests will take place today. They will be rescheduled. I am not going to keep an ongoing medical update, here. However, I know that some folks are concerned, and I promise I will tell you any definitive thing that I learn. As of now, I have no diagnosis, and no plan for treatment. I will give more info when I have it, for sure, but in the meantime, I’m going to stop talking about my own medical things and stuff.

And now some good news: Sarah’s Wacky Loving Family is about to get bigger! Sarah’s sister, Lisabeth, revealed in comments that she is expecting a little one. And this was a BIG surprise! Lisabeth thinks Sarah and God are in cahoots, and I must agree.

Speaking of God, thank you for your prayers. Even though the “procedure” date has changed, they are not wasted. They are so very much appreciated. And I do believe. Thank you 🙂

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Sunday Post ~ "Words of comfort, skillfully ad…

Sunday Post ~ “Words of comfort, skillfully administered, are the oldest therapy known to man.” — Louis Nizer

Proverbs 16:24

(“Food of comfort, skillfully prepared and eaten, is the second oldest therapy know to man.” — Susie Fairchild)

file under: &Sunday Post

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Get Your MAJOR AWARD Here!

Remember how I said, “If I could present an award…”? Well, who says I can’t?! My dear friend Circus Kelli designed, and presented me with this lovely distinction, the BAIB Award. As the first recipient of it, I reserve the right to present it to anyone I please. And I am pleased to present it to YOU . . . IF you visited Kranki and Deb, and left them a comment. Hmmmm . . . should there be a deadline? Nope. If you haven’t done it yet, go do it now, then come back and get your Major Award.

Perhaps you are a noble person who says, “But Susie, I didn’t do it for an award. My reward is just the feeling of knowing I did something good . . . blah blah.” NOT ME! I like me some awards!!!!

I am serious. I hope, if you agree with me that the opportunity for extending kindness to one another is one of the very best things about blogging, and if you have availed yourself of that opportunity, I hope you will celebrate yourself, and blogging, by posting one of these on your site. This award will be presented on an honor system. I will not check up on you to see if you earned it. However, it is only fair that I warn you, if you accept this award, and did not earn it, karma will kick your ass.

Now, being a techno-dunce, myself, I am not the best person to tell you how to take your award home with you, but I’ll try. Mrtl, the badge-master, tells me you can right-click on the award (whichever size you want, in the post, or on my sidebar), and save it to wherever you save your pix, and paste it in your template from there. Or you can click on the pic, and go swipe it from flickr.

If you have any questions, ask them here, I’ll try to answer, or get help from CK or mrtl. Here’s one question that I know may arise:

Q: Don’t you have some nerve, just coming up with your own award, and posting it on your site, and giving it out, willy-nilly?
A: Yea.

Also, let me know if you’re going to display your BAIB Award, and make an acceptance speech here! No music will start playing to rush you off the podium, the floor is yours . . .

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BAIB ~ Blogging at its Best

I recently joked with some of you here about presenting my own Major Awards to fellow bloggers. If I could present an award, I’d present the BAIB, for Blogging at its Best. And it wouldn’t have anything at all to do with what your blog looks like, or how many people visit you, or even what or how well you write. It would have to do with how much goodstuff you put out in blogworld, by way of encouraging comments.

For me, some 10 months of blogging have yielded many rewards. I got the increased writing practice, and the outlet for goofiness, that were really my only two goals when I began. But I’ve gotten much more than that. I’ve gotten to be a part of something much bigger than that, something I didn’t imagine at all, when I began. I’ve seen how actual people can derive some actual benefit from the kind and encouraging comments of strangers. I’ve been on both the giving and receiving ends of that transaction. On my birthday, when I was anxious and scared, people I will probably never lay eyes on took my mind off of my worries, which was the very best gift I could have gotten that day. I’ve seen people go through illnesses, unemployment, children’s disabilities, and worse, and be helped by strangers taking a moment to say, “I was here, and I care, and I’m hoping good things for you.” It is no small thing, this “blove” we talk about.

I’ve talked a little bit before about how (and I still don’t quite know how) blogworld seems to be an amalgamation of neighborhoods. I adore my neighbors. Can you imagine the block parties we would have, if we could really all come out and get together? One of our neighbors, the beautiful, charming, gracious von Krankipantzen, has made it through chemo, and through radiation, and is preparing for surgery. Big, terrifying surgery — a bilateral mastectomy — on Monday, January 23rd. Kranki has blogged through nearly a year of dealing with cancer. And in that year, she has amazed and delighted us, and given us an excellent cookie recipe, and exploited her beloved cat, Yoshi, nearly every Friday, for our pleasure. If you haven’t already, or even if you have, please take a moment to stop in and give Kranki some love, and some encouragement, and whatever else you got lying around that she might put to good use.

A couple of days ago, I got an email from someone very special*, inviting me to visit someone else very special. This second someone is Deb, at Debutaunt. She lives in another neighborhood, but it’s not all that far away. She is a fine writer, and the single mom of a beautiful little girl, Zoe. And she has leukemia. She’s just entering a fifth round of chemo, with the hope of preparing for a bone marrow transplant after this round. I know that my neighbors here are not a bit shy, and will think nothing of going and knocking on a new door and introducing themselves. That’s another reason I love you guys. So after you leave Kranki, with a kiss and a crush for Yoshi’s head, please head on down the road just a bit and give Deb some encouragement, too. But be careful while you’re reading there. She likes to give out a daily assignment! Last night’s required me to do laundry at 11 p.m.! Just be careful, that’s all I’m saying.

I wouldn’t bother asking for this, except, it’s important. People who’ve had serious surgeries, and people who’ve had dear ones who did not survive, despite our witty comments and our fervent prayers, tell me that it helps to have weird blog people come and comment. So of course we will do that. No good reason not to.

Thanks, friends and neighbors. And lurkers, too. Hey, if you lurk here, do me a big favor and go de-lurk on Kranki and Deb’s sites 🙂

Much love to you strange, lovely people who stop in here. Now go get your BAIB. THAT is a Major Award.

*The someone special who emailed me was Nikki. If you are a non-believer that your comments make a difference, please read Nikki’s comment here on this post. Not because of the outrageously kind things she says about me, but because no one knows better than she about the power of comment-love from strangers. Nikki is Sarah’s partner.

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