This was what I needed during the time I was a new mom, or working and feeling inadequate, even as I was getting home from the ER and feeling feverish from newly diagnosed diverticulitis. Michelle’s gentle voice made me feel like my mother was sitting and holding my hand. Or I was in a very good counselor session. So much good advice for all of us when we are feeling ‘less than.’
Okay, I know that some will not hold with her political point of view. But this book isn’t about that. It is about feeling awkward and being uncool. In so many ways, she nailed the feeling I know I had as a kid or teen. But mostly how I felt as a new mother. Everyone else had it together. How was I supposed to be a parent to this little one? Everyone I knew did it better. I know it was just part of growing up and becoming a parent. But I remember that insecure feeling well. This book reached inside and hugged that young mother and childhood me.
I highly recommend especially women to read this. And if you get the chance to listen to the audio version, do it! Her voice was comforting while I was still feeling the fever.
Nothing to wear. Wear something one more time. But no underwear motivated the chore I’d put off while in bed with fevers. Antibiotics are my friend right now. I finally felt I could do all my clothes! Yay! Still, this cartoon from Facebook cracked me up.
Two hours in, two hours back. The rest of the time at Urgent Care, they sent us to the ER. Prognosis? Diverticulitis. CT scan proved it.
BRAT diet for a few days, antibiotics. Rest. Then lots of fiber. I already eat a salad a day. Intermittent Fasting is going to be hard with the BRAT. Oh, well. Maybe when it’s healed, I can get back to healthy eating.
Hope your day was better than mine! Have a great weekend!
We took our walk this morning. But I spent the rest of the day sleeping. If the fever is still there tomorrow, we’ll drive to the UC and see what’s up.
Wow, what a woman! I am very impressed with this young lady. For that, I want to make sure people read this book.
On the other hand, as an audiobook, I found Aurora’s reading got harder to take as the more excited she was about what had happened lately, the faster she read. Toward the end of the book, I could barely understand her. Here is the blurb that pulled me to the read. Maybe it reads better in book form or with Kindle text-to-speech.
Aurora Jamesโs life is a great American โsuccess storyโโprecisely because it looks so different from others weโve seen. Born in Canada to a counterculture mother, James was raised to question everythingโspecifically the very institutions that have shaped so many of us. When James was seven, her mother married a man who would move them to Jamaica, where James would learn harsh lessons about control, power, abuse, and belonging. Eventually she would find her way back home to Toronto, where her blue-eyed and fair-haired grandmother welcomed her with unconditional loveโand inadvertently showed her that racism is the water in which we are all submerged.
Scouted as a model in eighth grade, James struggled with body image and became disenchanted by the industryโs objectification of women and commodification of race and culture. After she dropped out of high school, a flirtation with street racing led to her eventual arrest. Sheโd hit rock bottom, but as a visionary and optimist, she allowed that experience to become one of many that reshaped her way of thinking about the world. A slew of fashion-related jobs led James to discover the real power in creating for the runway, and she started her own business in a flea market: a sustainable fashion line showcasing traditional African designs that would become an award-winning international brand. But none of this came from a drive to โsucceed.โ It came from a desire to forge a new creative pathโand to lift others up alongside her.
Already a rising star in fashion and the first Black female designer to win a Council of Fashion Designers of America Award, James posted a revolutionary idea in the wake of George Floydโs murder that connected economics to racial justice in a way that has forever changed the American economic landscape. With that Instagram post, she founded the Fifteen Percent Pledge, which challenges retailers to commit 15 percent of their shelf space and spending power to Black businesses and is one of the fastest-growing social justice nonprofits. To date, more than two dozen of the worldโs most recognized retailers have taken the pledge, redirecting $10 billion in annual revenue to Black and BIPOC brands.
Empowering and full of heart, Wildflower is the riveting story of how Aurora James made an indelible mark the American economic system, and a rallying cry for those eager to make change.
Didn’t go half as far today. Even at 11am it was too hot and humid. Tomorrow we need to walk far earlier or evening.
Instead, I thought I’d better capture the greenery while I can. We are green usually only early Spring. But here we are nearly July when yellow and hot dust is the norm for the desert Outback of Oregon.
Looking south. The hay barn has the first cutting of alfalfa.
Looking south-west.
The sagebrush is taller than me! But still green.
I don’t know if this is edible but it looks like wheat. All similar plants are green.
Looking northish. Just enjoying the green scenery.
Looking west towards Table Rock mountain. So green!
Another looking northish. Sky blue with green fields.
The yellow butterflies from the beginning of summer have faded away. Now we’re getting white ones. This one has spots and is showing off!
The science says this proves the high moisture in the air. But I’ll accept love and promise, too. But really, the humidity is part of why we had to cut the walk short.
~~~~
So, I think I know what I want to wear for my daughter and her fiancรฉ’s October costume wedding.ย Crone witch! I can make my own hat and cape! The crone part is built in!๐คช
So at the beginning of the weekend I was working with Scarlett Royal’s loomknit witch’s hat. But I learned there would be a lot of sewing.ย
I had socks on the Flexes so I transferred by way of a skinny set of ChiaoGoo Red-lace Circular Needles. I had started on the 12 pegย loom for the brim and the 36 peg for the hat. That was when I noticed I’d have a lot of sewing ahead.
In the past, I learned I could do a nice decrease using the Flexees. But for this witch hat I needed to get a good point. I didn’t feel I could figure that out. Here’s her YouTube if you want to try.
I have made a couple hats by her including a beret I was quite proud of. And I do love the picture of this hat.
I think this next one by PleasantSeas may do the trick. After tinking and frogging all weekend, I found and started working on it.
I read the pattern featured on the YouTube page. That I can do. I told myself. It starts similar to my Toe-up Two At A Time Socks. So I followed the pattern about 17 rows in. Then I noticed that it seemed the author got the numbering wrong. Once again, my tracking was off. Still I was liking how it was turning out.
Here’s what I should have done:
But here’s what I have at Row 17.
Yeah. I’m stuck with the Knitter’s Pride Royale circular needles. See how the cord coils up? Ugh! But all my other needles are in use.
Anyway, I think I’ll continue as I am going until the “wearable” part of the hat gets close. Then I’ll increase faster as PleasantSeas does. I think I want the point high or curly. We’ll see how that turns out.
Meanwhile, the socks I pulled off the Flexee looms, looks like this:
Two more inches before the Fleegle Heel. These would fit me right now. But these are for someone else.
Sadly, the Flexees are empty. Back to just needle knitting for now.
But now I need to drop the needles and hop on the stationary bike to see if I can make up the mile(s) we missed this morning.
Working on my series: Haven.
Doodler (zendoodle.com)
Music major: voice and piano
Mom of four great adults
Reiki II practitioner
I have been on disability/retired for 10 years now from depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
Hi! my name is Sebastian (You can call me Seb!) ...welcome to my Blog. I'm a photographer from Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Thanks for dropping by! I hope you enjoy my work.
Books, games, music, and life โ filtered through the mind of a writer, drummer, and philosopher who thinks too deeply about all of it. If it moves something in your chest, I'm interested.
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