Happy Friday! Today is National Angel Food Cake Day (they’re okay, better with toppings), National Handbag Day (I have a few nice purses which I rarely use) and National Metric Day, which is a perfect use of the 10/10 date.
We were taught the metric system in grade school in the ’80s and even though we understood it, if the rest of the country isn’t using it, it’s a pretty trivial thing to know.
Last night WM and I attended a wedding for one of his former students. WM officiated (he does that by request) and everything went beautifully. I took today off because my aging carapace can’t handle staying out late on a weeknight and it was the correct choice because Shorty got low, low, low last night and Shorty is sore, sore, sore today.
Let’s hit the Friday 5! The theme is Ten Slash Ten, which looks to be a clever nod to today’s date.
1. On a scale from 1 to 10, how was your week?
Gotta be real, it was about a 4/10.
For the last few weeks, from the moment my eyes open, my brain is like a radio scanning through stations at max volume. Song! (static) News! (static) Yelling! (static) Ad! (static) Ad! (static) Song! (static) News! (static) Ad! Ad! Ad!
There is so much insanity going on in the country right now and I feel frozen. Concentrating on anything requires Herculean effort and by the time my workday ends I’m am mentally exhausted. People are being dragged out of their houses for merely existing and I don’t know what to do about it.
And then I’ll have a selfish thought like “I hope my future flight isn’t cancelled because of the government shutdown” or “Crab rangoon sounds fantastic” and then I feel terrible about the person I am.
Highlights: The lovely Kristen’s birthday on Monday. The wedding last night.
2. Which of the Biblical 10 commandments are you especially guilty of breaking this week?
Coveting my neighbors’ lives.
Watching WM take a photo with the bride yesterday gutted me. He will never be the father of the bride or groom because of my stupid body’s failure to do the most natural biological thing.
3. What do you remember about being 10 years old (or in 10th grade, if you prefer)?
I don’t remember much about being 10 years old.
Tenth grade was wonderful. I loved my classes. I had a boyfriend. The music was amazing, the hair was big, and the future was bright.
4. Which 10 things do you like most about October?
TEN THINGS? IN AUTUMN?! TEN??? From me???!?
Okay. Let’s try:
- The lovely Kristen was born in October and she brings warmth and light to this world
- Halloween
- Hockey
- Being able to quit mowing the lawn
- Discovering Autumn-themed Spotify playlists
- The return of the Gobbler sandwich to Wawa
- Pumpkin…things?
- It’s still in the 80s thanks to climate change (nervous laughter)
- Baseball playoffs when the Phillies are in them (RIP, this season)
- Opals. October’s birthstone is the opal.
That’s ten. Whew!
5. Who are 10 people you admire, each for a different reason?
What is this torment? TEN?? Fine. FINE.
(To my family: I love and admire most of you, but I’m not stepping into the morass of assigning you numbers that could incorrectly be thought of as ranking you.)
- Eleanor Roosevelt – underestimated for years, then took charge of her own life and legacy
- Dolly Parton – a national treasure who rose above of all of the trashy boob jokes to become a changemaker
- Greta Thunberg – an ambitious activist who continuously puts herself into dangerous situations because of what she believes in
- Malala Yousafzai – shot in the head at 15 for advocating for women’s education and Pakistan and then courageously kept going. (For reference, in that 10th grade answer above I was also only 15.)
- Queen Elizabeth II – for good or for ill, she knew she faithfully performed her duty with dignity as the world changed around her
- Kamala Harris – our first Madame Vice President who held her head high despite the relentless and disgusting racism and sexism
- Ilona Maher – a lipstick-wearing rugby powerhouse, challenging ideas about the intersection of athleticism and beauty
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – a lightning rod for hate from both sides, yet she continues to believe that a better USA is possible
- Meghan, Duchess of Sussex – educated, funny, and warm, our American Duchess shows what modern English royalty could have been
- LeVar Burton – a multi-hyphenate talent, he taught generations the joy of reading.
That was a challenge! Thanks for sticking through this sometimes-raw post and I’ll be back on Monday with a lighter read about September’s greeting cards.
