Too Many Books

 A Ahhhhh, I love bacon. But do you deserve bacon if you haven't been to the YMCA to work out since around 2018?  Well, suck on this - I went to Yoga there this morning. So I gets all the bacon. Secretly, I'm pretty sure I love grief, too. I tend to hold on to mine, and nuture it like it's a little pet, like a puppy I can stroke when I'm feeling anxious or alone. But, I digress... To Be Read Book I Haven't Read Yet : Bacon Grief, by Joel Shoemaker. Reason I Haven't Read It : I didn't know it existed until Friday. I attended the first in-person Louiville Book Festival on Friday and it was phenomenal.  Joel's ad in the event program caught my eye, as did the title. I knew that after I attended a couple of panels, I would immediately make my way into the ballroom to find his table and grab a copy of his book. Should you read it?  Um, only if you like awesome librarian dudes who have husbands and dogs named Maximus. Also, this might be a great one to get int...

 I It's been a Nora McInerny-forward week here at Too Many Tabs, for which I have zero regrets. That woman is my spirit animal. Her podcast episode from a couple of weeks ago (10/11/22 - Bad Vibes Only) made me realize that MORE Than Ever.  Nora mentioned her childhood diaries, pawing through Nostalgia -- and her voice cracked with tears as she read a poem she wrote after the death of her grandpa in 1992, when she was only nine years old.  I choked up, too. I remember, like Nora, the details of my Pappaw's death - it was similar to Nora's experience, though my Pappaw Carl had a heart attack rather than a stroke. It was also quick, and unexpected. I too remember what I wore - not to the funeral, but that weekend I remember wearing  those ankle length tights with lace at the bottom. They were popular. We were in some venue for brunch with family members and it was the first time I took an elevator on my own.  It was terrifying. I was fifteen.   Like Nora...

T To Be Read Book : Bad Vibes Only (And Other Things I Bring to the Table) Author : Nora McInerny Haven't read it yet because : Nora's latest book - a collection of essays, was released October 11th and it just showed up in an Amazon box on my front porch YESTERDAY. I'll be starting it as soon as I hit publish on this post. Should You Read it?  I'm thinking the answer here is a big, fat, resounding YES. If you aren't familiar with Nora, check out her award-winning podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking. Between her soothing sound, her relatable nature, and the way she processes her grief along with us as the listener... Well. You can NOT find a better voice for the broken hearted, the tired Mom without a manual, the woman finding hope in humor. Nora has an ease in expressing pain, and in making space for the pain of others. I really dialed in to the Terrible Pod around the time my grandmother died, a few months before COVID fell upon us. Mammaw passed away on September...

  Oh, Gigi. Thank you, from Louisville. Thank you for being so so vulnerable and real. I was SO mad. I was at a 10. I didn’t know you until today. I didn't know "How" I was. And I was TERRIBLE, thanks for asking. I am part of TheTerribleClub . I overshare. It took me a week of insomnia and, like, until I was today years old to understand that, simply put, the way I write is just literally how I process. And, man. It’s fast. It’s not easy! My brain is active to the point of affliction. It isn't a flaw -- nor is it something to flaunt. But, this is why I have struggled. This is that thing that is the very hell of my fiery damnation here on earth. I thought maybe Chronic Illness was too difficult to speak about, because of the stigma. But, it dawned on me after one of my all-nighters, that I wasn't only afraid of the stigma from the world around me, but also the stigma around how I saw myself. I want to be the BEST me I can be, and I have the space to explore that...

T Top Ten Things I Loved About Being Home Alone      Hubs is traveling for work, so I got the house to myself last night. Daughter is on fall break with her dad... We've lived here about a year and a half, and it was my first night alone since we moved in. 10. The heat. I had it all toasty up in here and there was no one to adjust the thermostat except me. Granted, I woke up in a blistering sweat. 9. The quiet. Delicious, unbridled quiet. I swear, ever since COVID, my noise tolerance has gone down to about a one. 8. A marathon binge of This Is Us. Somehow, I forgot to watch most of Season 5, so mama stayed up late finishing off the season and had a good cry or two. 7. The coffee. No one to share it with = more for me. 6. The food. I ordered this pecan cranberry chicken salad for lunch yesterday that was TO DIE FOR. Then, I got nachos for dinner and ate them on my couch in a judgment free zone. Not that hubs would judge my nacho eating ability - hell, he would have been im...

 T The truth is, I've really been hating my day job. It feels good to say that out loud on the page.  I don't want to tell everyone, but it's sucking the life out of me. However, I'm a real asshole for complaining about it.  I have a good gig. I make a really good salary. I get to be challenged like never before in my fifteen years in the industry. The company I work for (the people who represent it) have given me promotion after promotion, believed in me and allowed me to rise through the ranks to sit where I do today. Which is at home, warm and in my pajamas, because I don't have any client meetings or zoom calls today. The culture itself has always been team oriented.  I no longer have sales goals. I don't have quotas to meet, I don't feel compelled to hit "numbers," and my annual bonus doesn't depend on anything like that.  There is no struggle to fill my fridge, keep the lights on, and no need to think too hard before spending money on all...

 T Top Ten COVID Confessions 1) We ordered from Door Dash three separate times this past Sunday. This is not the first time since COVID began that we have made a day of Door Dash meals. For those of you who are curious, we ordered bagels from a local bakery, something for dinner but I forget what, and like eight desserts from a local place. #EatLocal 2) We binged the 4th season of Australian Survivor (streaming on Paramount) in about three days. This took serious dedication, and left my back feeling tight because we watched the majority of it in bed 3) Speaking of bed, we spend many evenings and weekends in bed, literally, especially on Sundays. Hubs likes to watch "Seven Hours" of NFL football, and I'll watch along with him or: nap, read, write. 4) Also speaking of bed, we eat in bed, like, a ton. If my daughter is with her dad, we post up in bed and have had everything from steak to ribs on a white comforter that has seen better days. 5) We re-watched LOST, Fringe, and ...