Summer Flu And Blog Cramps

Barbara: I was doing so well. I felt awesome. The summer has been divine; hot, sunny, carefree. I was getting lots of writing done. My time has been both frivolously and well spent. And then it hit me: achy, crampy joints and muscles, sore tired eyes, heavy chest and itchy throat. What was this, I asked myself??? How was it possible to be so healthy and upright one minute and then positively legs-cut-out-from-under-you flatlined the next?

I crawled into bed—oh the muscle/joint aches were the worst—and succumbed to sleep. But then I woke and discovered I … couldn’t do anything. Couldn’t read, not even your wonderful blog posts, couldn’t (oh the frustration) write, couldn’t enjoy a lunch of Vietnamese noodle soup with my hubby (I love Pho Tai, it must be the best, cheapest comfort food known to man, but what, oh, what was this flu-ridden lack of enthusiasm?!)

24-hours later, the achy joints finally abandoned me (I guess they couldn’t take all the whining), but the fatigue and discomfort linger on. I can’t sleep for all the hacking. It’s a fucking cold, people! Why do I feel so helpless? But it’s also summer and who wants to be forced inside on a summer’s day when there are so very few of them? (and no, neither walks in the sun or half-hearted workouts have managed to “sweat it out” of me.)

And then there was this: this blog, with its funny, sweet little face that I just wanted to pinch and pat. 

Remember this?

And even so my daughter and I decide we’re going to play with it a bit, just check out some options (you know girls and their makeovers), and all of a sudden “apply” gets hit and we have crap on the screen and we can’t get the old face back, try as we (she) might. Our lovely readers have already mocked and kindly advised me in the comments’ section, bless their hearts (that’s for you, Karen), but there you have it: blog re-boot by fire. Thank god Deb was sweetly gracious about the whole thing and tagged along on the now-necessary task of a complete overhaul. (is it just me or is Blogger offering fewer template options??? And some really weird neither-here-nor-there colours…)

Just so you know, there have been a few issues working out the width of the new columns so they fit into all browser pages, so please let us know if it’s getting cut off on one side or the other.

Anyway, big thanks to Stefanie for her patient re-tooling and mocking up of the new masthead. Deb and I just love it. Hopefully you do too!

Middle Ages Milestone

Art by Deb's finger

Happy 1st Anniversary, The Middle Ages! It has been an amazing journey filled with new friends and old, and fraught with venting, kudos and wonderings. And we have loved every single minute of it.

Which is why we are sad to say that we have to hang it up. We’re not saying forever. In fact, we NEVER SAY NEVER. But with personal and professional commitments, we are finding ourselves overwhelmed and we both know that is the last thing any of you dear and darling followers would want from us.

So what we have done for our last (for now) blog-post is to compile a little story, each of us taking one sentence from our random archival blogs, trying to give them a flow. Each sentence contains a link, so any sentence you click on will take you to that old blog-post chestnut. We hope you enjoy it.

And please know that at this point the only words we can manage are:

April Fools Day!

As if we would ever leave!!!! Who the heck would we prattle on to?

The part about today’s post is true however. But it is in honour of our 1st anniversary, not our departure. So enjoy. You are stuck with us.

Love, Deb and Barbara

Deb: Dearest Blog Readers, 

Now that I know what I was missing, I ask myself: how could I have gone so long without this???!

I keep telling myself that there is nothing wrong with me just because I engage in verbal solitary intercourse, is there?

I’m a bright girl! I’ve been well edumacated!

But I faked it, faked it up, faked the “love”! 

Oh well—I guess that’s the difference between fantasy and cliché! 

It can take me way back to my days as a child.

Nothing worse than a teenager with a good point. Should be against the law.

Human beings at their best kill me. Their capacity for compassion and empathy is bigger than air. And when we are lucky enough to witness it or be a part of it, we are filled to bursting.

After all, it’s like that scientist said: there is greater diversity in the DNA of a handful of snails than there is in the entire human race!

It makes up wonderfully for all the times we cry for sorrow, doesn’t it? 

Oh and P.S. while I am writing this, the thunder and lightening is cracking in the sky! 

Wasn’t that the most stirring storm? Nothing scary (unless you’re a dog), just lovely cracking and pouring, indeed! You see, we just shared that storm together—beauty. 

Today is one of those days where I find myself embarrassed for the weather. 

“Quit biting … Quit biting … Quit biting.”

It’s a cutting of the apron strings from the other side of the old cliché.

As long as we don’t let the power go to our heads, bwa ha ha…. 

As I watched the Queen approach, I thought of you.

So please, pray for him or think of him because he is our boy. Our boy’s first boy. He sleeps in our bed. He is our family and we are losing him. 

I always loved the age I was right then and there.

I just am. Spontaneous meditation. Joy. Joy. Joy. I am alive.

On our wedding day, I wonder how many of us really take it in when the phrase “for better or worse” is uttered?

My goal is to always try to find that good side.

The other day Deb bit my head off. True story.

I am not judging. 

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere!

And gie’s a hand o’ thine!

And we’ll tak a right guide-willy waught,

For auld lang syne.

Barbara: Happy Birthday, Baby!

Hopefully, our poor taxed brains won’t self-combust in this new venture!

I am a chicken-shit. Simple as that.

Have you ever lost something that was really precious to you––and you can’t figure out how the hell you lost it? 

I have still not gotten over that utterly disorienting feeling of confusion I experienced on looking and looking and LOOKING at her and not understanding what the hell I was seeing. 

It took me to hit rock-bottom before I realized I had left myself without that precious life-preserver: a true girlfriend.

It was different for me, this friendship thing. I was the girl in school who had a gang.

I’m getting much better at choosing to embrace who I am over worrying about what other people think.

Sure, they should understand that people might indeed judge them, but they shouldn't live their lives making choices out of fear.

My older self would say that any good friends will do … as long as no one brings expectations or judgment or recrimination. They will fit together—maybe not perfectly or seamlessly, but willingly––because they need it as much as you. 

Why can’t I just say “Thank you” and leave it at that???

And I will share my knowledge with you. It’s not too tough. It goes like this. “Thank you”. 

Can't Get Started

Deb: This isn’t the first time I’ve sat down to write a blog uninspired or tired.  There are other times when I sit down with a whole blog mapped out in my head only to find my fingers typing something else. Actually those are usually my faves.

But today is a new one. I’ve started three blogs and I just can’t find my angle. I am uninspired with me today. The facts of the stories are just facts, although each experience was really interesting and/or fun for me. 

But I sit here expressionless.

So today’s blog is my bloggie version of a movie trailer, a coming attractions if you will. Maybe one will be a huge Blog-buster hit, or maybe they’ll all go straight to video. So here they are, coming this spring??? (or not) to a Middle Ages Blog near you:

1. A Model Performance

The other night I walked a runway for the first time in my life.  No surprise there, as I hardly have the body of a model. Five-foot tall, hourglass shape is not what they seek to sell clothes. But thanks to charity––in this case, the Heart and Stroke Foundation––I was walking the walk. And for the first year ever, they included men, so my sexy husband walked too. Each participant was matched with a designer who then made a custom dress for each of us and we had the requisite fittings and changes, nip and tucks. My designer was Karamea and her instruction from me was just this: “I WILL NOT SHOW MY ARMS!

To vote for more of “A Model Performance” vote MP1

2.  A Record of my Past

My husband and I just came home from a record show. Cash only, bartering welcome. We went down just to see what was what and to make a few purchases. Nothing gives me more joy than popping a disc on the record player. Slipping the vinyl out of its sleeve, blowing the dust off, and gingerly placing the needle on the thick grove at the edge. Then comes the lovely scratch of anticipation and, boom, instant time machine.  When I was a kid, records were my pride and joy. I would actually carry around a fave album at school with my books like it was a baby. I remember Led Zeppelin 11 actually having the grooves of my handprint on it. So did Lighthouse’s One Fine Morning.

To vote for more of “A Record of my Past” vote ROMP2

3. Face-to-Face with Facebook

I tried the Facebook many years ago and did not like it one bit. Rather I should say, it was not for me. It felt too...in my face, the Facebook. I guess I did not really grasp its purpose, as the fact that it was in my face came as a big shock to me. So Barb tried to convince me to go back on Facebook for, If nothing else, the sake of our blog. She felt it would help to get it out there.  Well, that made perfect sense and so I resigned myself to try it again.

So I am back on the Facebook and I just can’t face it. Facebook has already––ONE DAY IN––sent me a warning and cut me off from accepting friends. And the sad thing is, I do not know what I did. So within 24 hours I am in the FB penalty box.

To vote for “ Face to Face with Facebook” vote FTFWFB 3

And if the snippets are enough for you, please vote BTTODB (Back to the Old Drawing Board).

THE IRONY THAT THIS IS THE LONGEST POST I HAVE EVER WRITTEN IS NOT LOST ON ME.

Barbara: I, for one, am thrilled and inspired by this idea, Deb. I love it when we shake it up a bit here on the blog. Just so you know, I’m not gonna vote as I’ve heard the stories. But I can say this: they’re all classic Deb.

Diversions

As today we have posted to our WTF?! page and really want you to click over to read it, we’re keeping things to a fun minimum on this page. 

First, we want to encourage (beg) you to share with us any of your own fun WTF or Side of Slaw stories—email us at: radeckirites@gmail.com We’ll mete them out over time—while of course giving you credit and linking to your own blog. 

Second, if you guys remember our (*cough* Deb's) rant about Grammar a few weeks back, here’s a very funny video for your amusement that perfectly illustrates our (Deb's) point. 

See more funny videos and Technology Videos at Today's Big Thing.

And lastly, we want to give a shout-out to all our great readers who also have their own wonderful blogs, which have been amusing us and warming our hearts. You have only to link to any of our Followers or Commenters (is that a word?) to see what we mean. There are some extraordinary writers and dear hearts out there! 

And then, last week, three of our readers virtually simultaneously posted videos that brought a wee tear of joy to our eyes (Deb commented on the virtue of those kinds of tears in the Apron Strings comments). So, for your further enjoyment: 

An amazing skipping rope performance and audience reaction on Life at Golden Grain Farm.

A sweet Free Hugs video from Nag on the Lake. 

And a downtown Toronto flash dance performance celebrating inspirational women at Ramblings of a Woman. 

But don't forget WTF?!  Enjoy!!

Blahbedy Blog

Barbara: So if you look at the date of our first post, you might notice that it says April 1, but you might also notice that we are only really going “live” this week (April 19). And you might ask yourself, Boy, what took them so long to get going? And I might––but probably shouldn’t—tell you that we’ve actually been trying to get this baby up since February!!!! And these blogs were written that long ago!! Apparently this is exactly how long it takes for two tech-illiterate middle-aged women to acclimatize themselves to the confounding worlds of (in no particular order): the internet, setting up a blog (we actually designed 7 different ones on 3 different sites before settling on this one), learning and sort-of using html (what even IS that??!!), writing blogs, and tentatively but excitedly exploring the outside world of other sites. Hopefully, our poor taxed brains won’t self-combust in this new venture! Wish us luck …

Deb: I don’t see what the hell you’re complaining about. It was EASY! I sat here quite content in my bloggy ignorance while you did all the work. Easy. Then I took time out of my very busy schedule so you could drive to my home and explain it to me. Easy. 

Barbara: No, that’s absolutely not the way it was!!!! ... well, um … maybe it actually kinda was …

PS We have received several private emails with amazing insights into friendship––but it seems Deb and I aren’t the only ones hesitant about the blog-world because none of these people were sure how to comment and join, and several people HAVE joined and commented and can't be seen! So … I’ve changed the comment setting to “anyone”, meaning you don’t need to sign up to comment. But if anyone can give us more info about these other settings (that look so damn professional on the screen, but have confounded pretty much ALL of us), we’d be eternally grateful!!