My stress level has been high lately. Life is extremely busy. I work for 8-10 hours a day and then work on various projects around the house we’re rehabbing.
Most of my stress is from the house. I hired someone to help me with some of the more technical details that I’m not experienced in. 90% of his work is fine, but sometimes he takes ridiculously bad shortcuts. I’ve considered giving him the boot at least twice, but I’m pushing through for now. Finding quality people is soooo difficult. I think it would be easier for me to perfect nuclear fusion.
Anyway, all of this is very stressful. When I’m stressed, it affects all parts of my life. I get moody and quick to anger. Under normal circumstances, I don’t dream or if I do, I don’t remember them. When I’m stressed, I have horrific nightmares. I wake up in a cold sweat. When I finally get back to sleep, the nightmare continues where it left off and I wake up again soon after. Bah!
So, I’m trying to think happy thoughts. Along these same lines, Mrs. 1500 and I were talking about how the Thursday rants can be pretty negative, so today, I’m going to post some things that have made us smile lately.
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This week I learned a new phrase: yarn bombing. Mrs. 1500 and I were walking down our main street when I saw a tree with knitted yarn around the trunk:
- Me: Ha, look at that!
- Mrs: Looks like someone yarn bombed the tree.
- Me: Yarn what?!? Oh, I get it.
It cracks me up that someone would take the time to knit all of this and attach it to a tree.
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With 2 small children and no family in the area, Mrs. 1500 and I don’t get much time alone. This weekend, a relative came in and we went for a hike at Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Shortly into the hike, it began to rain. The rain turned to hail. We stuck it out though and had a great time. We talked more in those 4 hours than we have in the past 4 months. No marital issues; it’s just that we have 2 little girls who NEVER stop talking.
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I was taking a walk down the mountain stream near my home. Way off in the distance, I hear opera music. I thought it was someone’s stereo, but I soon figured out that it was someone singing. I quickened my pace to see if I could figure out who it was. I don’t really like this type of music, but this guy had a really good voice. I finally caught up with the mystery singer (who stopped singing when I got close) and was greatly amused to find it was a skinny high-school looking kid in a hoodie.
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We just had our county fair. The rides and smells of all things fried bring back lots of fun memories from when I was a kid. The fair is about a half mile from my house and one night, the wife and kids were out of the house. I jumped on my bike and rode over there. The sky was a neat shade of blue. I walked around for a little while and absorbed it all.
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I’ve had this plant for 20 years, almost twice as long as I’ve been married and over half of my life. Earlier this year, it was looking really pathetic. I was pretty sure it was done for. After we moved from our hated neighborhood, I gently removed it from its pot, gave it some new dirt and replanted it. Now it’s coming back to life. Go plant! While it’s probably the new dirt that brought Mr. Plant back from the brink, I like to think he didn’t like the old neighborhood either.
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Finally, here are some newspaper articles that have made me laugh recently:
- If I had a “toy” collection and it was stolen, I think I’d just write it off. No need to tell another. living. soul. about it.
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Thanks for this – you just made my morning! I especially liked the goat man story…. wow.
Sorry you are stressed! Hopefully it will get better soon 🙂
Thanks Mrs. Herb! It will get better in about 2 months when the initial construction is done and I don’t have to rely on anyone else.
I take it neither your nor Mrs. 1500 is a knitter, then! We knitters have our own social network (Ravelry.com), and yarn bombing is *very* controversial. Someone brings it up on Ravelry and there will be 200 posts in the forum rehashing whether this is art or vandalism, charming or ugly, etc. It’s one of those topics guaranteed to raise tempers.
Meg recently posted…Domestic Wednesdays: Designing a Knockoff Sweater
Mrs. 1500 knits, but isn’t hardcore.
The yarn bombing thing cracks me up and I love it! Vandalism is a bit of a stretch I think. If someone spray painted my garage door, that would take me hours to repair. On the other hand, if someone decided to give my tree a present or decorate my car, if I didn’t like it, 2 minutes with the scissors and it’s all gone. I want to get yarn bombed!
Well, if I lived in your neck of the woods I’d come over and give you a personalized yarn-bombing, but I don’t.
Meg recently posted…Fiscal Friday: Talk Is Cheap
Holy cow, I LOVE #7 on this page: http://mentalfloss.com/article/50493/10-ambitious-yarn-bombing-projects
The ball hanging off the turret makes me laugh! This is great!
Wow, there are people who consider it vandalism? I mean I guess by the strictest definition, sure. However, it’s not like it is that hard to remove if you disapprove of yarn around your tree. A simple pair of scissors and you are done. It’s not like you will be spending hours scrubbing a wall or something.
Micro recently posted…Stop debt collectors with a drop dead letter
Are you on Ravelry? Seriously, go search “yarn bombing” and you will see there are definitely people who are not fans. I personally think it’s kind of silly but harmless.
Meg recently posted…Domestic Wednesdays: Designing a Knockoff Sweater
Exactly, I would love to get yarn bombed! Bring it on knitters!
Love your plant! Is it a pothos? I gt one from Walmart the day I moved into my college dorm (almost exactly 12 years ago) and still have it. My roommate and I named him Harry. =).
Brings smiles to my face every time I think about how long I’ve had him and how well he’s still doing!
Mrs PoP @ Planting Our Pennies recently posted…The Gift Of Time
I don’t think it’s a pothos, but I have no idea what it is.
For me, the plant is one of the constants in life. We move around and get more wrinkles, but the plant is always there looking like its old self.
Yarn bombing sounds awesome. It’s the kind of graffiti my grandma would do. I like to think of a band of old ladies sneaking out at night, someone keeping the lookout while Betsy gently finishes the knitting around the tree…
Done by Forty recently posted…So Long, Perkstreet
DbF, that is an awesome image! Love it!!
The American Cronut is coming to Canada. The deep fried croissant dough in the shape of a donut with a gooey icing on the top is coming to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition – like one of your giant state fairs) in Toronto but with a twist. They are going to use the cronut as a hamburger bun. A cronut burger.
I cannot afford a day at the CNE but if one food truck does it I am hoping a food truck near me will catch on to the idea. Homer Simpson and I are both drooling over this idea.
Jane Savers @ Solving The Money Puzzle recently posted…Dorm Dollars, Pay Walls, No New Budget And Money Quickies For August 13, 2013
A cronut, eh!? It cracks me up how the rest of the world is getting obese from American brands (KFC and McDonalds in China for one). Somehow, the healthy habits don’t seem to spread as well.
I live in one of NYC’s Chinatowns, and the Korean-owned pseudo-French bakery here is now selling knockoff cronuts.
Ah, fusion.
Meg recently posted…Fiscal Friday: Talk Is Cheap
Well said, nice change of pace.
“With 2 small children and no family in the area, Mrs. 1500 and I don’t get much time alone….We talked more in those 4 hours than we have in the past 4 months. No marital issues; it’s just that we have 2 little girls who NEVER stop talking.”
This sounds exactly like my life! It’s so difficult having no family around to babysit for even an hour or two here and there. I love my daughters more than anything, but it’s just nonstop and hard to even explain to someone how busy life feels…
Brad @ RichmondSavers.com recently posted…How a Family of Four with a $100,000 Yearly Income Pays only $6,400 in Federal Income Tax
Yep, exactly. Up until last week, we had zero family within 1000 miles of us. My sister just moved close, so maybe we’ll get more nights out.
As much as I love Thursday Rants, these Anti-Rants are lovely too. Happy to hear Mr. Plant has had a revival! I LOLed at the part about your 2 cute little girls who never stop talking. Kinda like me! 😛
Girl Meets Debt recently posted…Friendly Disclaimer
Holy cow, especially the little one. A couple months back we were going somewhere in the car and there was 30 seconds of silence. The 3 year old goes, “How come no-one is talking?”
Yeah, once the construction is done, all will be well. I can’t stand relying on people for stuff like this. In my experience, 90% of them do a crap job. Grrrrrrr…
really great post. stories like this are refreshing to read after a crazy day of news stories.
Tara recently posted…Happy Hour is the best hour
Yeah, the news usually stinks, especially if you live in Egypt right now.
Oh man, funnel cakes at the fair.
I can smell ’em right now…
Thanks for the positivity, Mr. 1500.
And…Goat Boy lives?!
No Waste recently posted…Mrs. No Waste: A First Person Perspective On Multi-Level Marketing
Funnel cakes are awesome! Who wouldn’t like a 5 pound donut covered in sugar!
I have been pretty stressed out recently too. Work is non-stop busy and the nights and weekends have been flying by – before I know it, I’m back at work. I hope things get a little easier for you!
I enjoyed your little stories today. Sometimes it’s worth it to focus on the positives! That plant story is nice – one of my bosses told me a story about the plant in his office. He said his wife had gotten it for him when he started the business, and he’s made sure to take care of it ever since. He said it has grown with the company, and I really liked the symbolism behind it. Maybe I need to get a little plant!
E.M. recently posted…One Financial Lesson Learned from NCIS
That is a cool story about the plant! The plant is a constant in my life. If it croaked, I think I’d fall off the space-time continuum or something. OK, now I’m getting crazy.
1500! I read about the sex toys and goat man and for some reason could not recall the remainder of the post. I had to scroll back up! Glad you and Mrs. 1500 got that nice Rocky Mountain hike in! Have a creamy, dreamy weekend!
cj recently posted…Grateful for My Lovely Hair and Nails Wife
Those stories are just crazy. I almost put the ones about the Potty Peeper and Laundry Room Dumper in too, but they were just too disgusting. Some day when I’m in a vile mood…
You and the Mrs. are too cute. Sorry, you are. I really like the Thursday rants but also enjoyed the light feeling of today’s “rant.” We once saw a man singing on a bench at a bus stop on a lightly-trafficked road. He didn’t stop singing and waved as we passed on the other side of the street. So fun to notice the good in the world. Thank you, Mr. 1500! Hope your dreams are happy tonight!
Tammy R recently posted…Grateful for My Lovely Hair and Nails Wife
Yeah, it is good to notice the good in the world. I don’t do enough of it myself…
Always good to look around and see the fun/funny stuff in life – like I say, nothing I love better than a good belly laugh! 🙂 I try to have at LEAST one a day!
But I am also a HUGE fan of your Rants! Put your contract guy on your next rant list!! 😉
O Happy Day!
Thanks for the kind comments!
The battle with contract guy is ongoing. He drives me nuts because most of his work is really good. Why cut corners on the rest? I WILL notice!
Interesting article. However, I’m not jazzed about yard bombing. My immediate thought of seeing the yarn around the tree trunk was “is that healthy for the tree?”. A bit of Wikipedia reading shows that, no, it isn’t. It’s disappointing that yarn would be used in such a manner vs making sweaters for people or animals.