I’m officially in love with cherry limeades, specifically the sugar-free ones I make at home. Incredibly refreshing!
JoJo’s
I’m addicted to JoJo’s chocolates. In fact, I have three large to medium sized plastic containers filled with different options. Not pictured: chocolate covered pretzels.
Parlor Donuts
I believe Parlor Donuts are the United States’ best kept secret. I said it here first. They offer both keto and gluten-free options. No one I know does this! Although the keto version (top photo) is more “cakey”, it was sweet without being overly, weirdly sweet. The bottom two were also incredible. Because I couldn’t not take a bite. And they offer coffee, which is a must with sweet donuts.
Rebel Pistachio
I love the Rebel brand, and each flavor is good. However, Pistachio is the best of the best. So good, in fact, I had it 2 nights in a row. Big deal.
_________________
I ask you –
Of the list above, have you tried any?
What is your favorite donut brand?
Thoughts on keto/lower sugar ice cream.
(The post Favorites first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)
Sights and sounds of a road trip through Arkansas, then Tennessee, and the southern part of Kentucky.
I will say this was one of the most fun trips I’ve taken. However, the road trips which stand above them all were the ones to the Texas border cities. Yes, some might balk at the selfishness of my thoughts but I still can’t explain my gratefulness to strangers for sharing their lives and their reality with me, also a stranger, an outsider with a desire to write what they gave me.
We turned a 20+ year retirement event into a 5-day road trip, complete with food, coffee (tons of coffee), and shopping. Participating in a Naval retirement flag detail is a big deal. Quite the honor actually. So, when mini’s dad asked me to be the final part of the detail – delivering the U.S. flag to mini – I had some initial reservations because hello, wild card. But I quickly realized it was a big deal to him and, one day, it will be to her. Upon acceptance, I didn’t fully understand the logistics of said trip and all the little parts which make it a huge event. Not thinking, agreement. When the time came to pack, and travel, and take off from work – I was a little overwhelmed but also really excited to try new coffee shops. I mean, participate.
Without further ado (and in no particular order), some photos and related commentary.
Tacos 4 Life, Benton, Arkansas
I adore Tacos 4 Life. Bold, fun flavors, great ingredients, and a mission to donate a portion of every sale to others in need. A must try!
My hometown…tiny, no stop light, Avery, Texas
I took this photo intending to send it to a high school classmate, but then I forgot until I started writing here. Sorry, Jen. This convenience store has the best chimichangas in all the lands. Indeed.
Koffeewithakause (via IG), Bryant, AR
Incredible coffee from a local vendor. I drank me way through the states.
The Parthenon, Central Park area, Nashville, TN
Admittedly I’m not very interested in Roman, Greek, or any type of history, minus select, niche things. Trains. But an opportunity to view and explore the museum inside a gigantic Parthenon replica was a must do on my list. It did not disappoint.
Retirement cookies
And, finally, the retirement ceremony was everything mini’s dad had hoped it would be. It was a short yet emotional homage to his Naval career and I hope mini sees his time away as one which made her stronger and more resilient. The trip was a whirlwind but a necessary respite.
____________________
I ask you –
Of the four I mentioned, have you visited some/all/none?
What were your favorite things to do there?
Tell me how many retirement ceremonies you’ve attended. Countless.
(The post TX – AR – TN – KY first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)
Garmin has a lot of faith in me! This is the Forerunner 955 Solar, a vast improvement to my previous Forerunner 265. The solar feature was a last minute decision, but since this is Texas and the sun is nearly always shining, I thought why not. Even without it, my battery, with regular use, lasts more than a week between charges. It says you can sit the watch in the sun and it will charge without overheating. Haven’t tried yet.
Thus far, I think the watch is much more accurate than my previous version, especially when it comes to heat acclimation. Very important to me. At the time of this post, I’m only 44% acclimated. When my other watch would give feedback, it commonly stated I was 78-80% acclimated when I hadn’t been running at all. Although it doesn’t influence my running habits, I would like a more realistic picture of heat acclimation, which I believe I’m receiving.
For me, this was a satisfactory, albeit expensive, purchase. My previous one, the Forerunner 200-something series, was great…no complaints, but when it started losing charge quickly and began having some glitches, I knew it was time.
Just like this post. It was time. Get it get it.
_________________
I ask you –
When did you last update your electronic gear?
Have you tried a newer version of a watch where it exceeded your expectations?
Based on some workplace conversations, I researched (broadly) the history of the Gregorian calendar vs Hebrew calendar. I found this article easy to read and understand: Noah’s Flood and God’s Calendar. As I choose not to debate politics or religion, looking beyond the scope of either, is an open minded understanding of something I cannot quantify…the oft ignored feeling. I have nearly always felt the month of January did not fit into my knowledge of a new year. Instead, it felt more like the culmination of one. Just as Saturday and Sunday are inexplicably considered the end of the week. It is my “feeling” perhaps we have allowed society and the lovely but sometimes inaccurate common knowledge to overrule our senses.
Did you know Sunday and Saturday bookend the work week, as displayed on any modern calendar? These are considered the rest days; therefore, we end with one and we begin with one. However, my mental picture is one of 5 days of work, then 2 days of rest, as if the week begins on Monday. The more I rearrange the mental image into bookends, the more care I take to preserve each of the bookends as separate days of a new week. Rest at the end, rest to begin.
Translating this into the annual calendar, the Gregorian calendar – the Western calendar, or solar calendar, adopted into use in 1582 – is the standard (January – December). Unless you operate in the government or in finances, then the calendar used is the fiscal calendar (1 Oct – 30 Sep). Starting to sound like meters vs feet. But, once upon a time, there existed the Hebrew calendar, or Jewish calendar, a lunar calendar, i.e., based on moon patterns. Lunar cycles have been (incorrectly) identified as reasons for erratic behavior, “lunacy”, and other stigmas. However, research thus far has not been able to corroborate these anecdotes. Sure, it is fun to blame it on the moon, but definitive correlations are still too far out (no pun intended).
I realize while writing this I am a walking contradiction. Some of it makes sense, some of it does not. Alas, the feeling remains. To believe the Hebrew calendar fits my narrative better than others (the beginning of the year starts in Spring) and to believe a bookended week feels better is decidedly unable to be validated. It is just a feeling.
Disclaimer. The photo below was originally sent to Parts as we discussed how she’s graduating her final child from high school and is still managing to screw it up. Then, we brainstormed a book about it. And we made fun of nearly everything serious in her life, roast fashion.
But, I really wanted to post the photo with a caption about how I needed to pee while out waking and was worried to find a bush/patch of ground because my butt would be ambushed by mosquitoes.
Which then prompted my thought about how I don’t post those things on social media yet I save them for the blog which does get posted on social media. So basically I just add another step to read the good stuff.
Anyway, we graduated my nephew this past weekend which resulted in a very quick trip to my hometown, complete with the most humid run I’ve encountered in quite some time, a lot of dirty looks from people in my old life, and a hug from my ex’s grandmother with the words “Yes, I remember her, I liked this one”. HaHA. What’s funny is I thought she hated me, but I did spend time with her and listened to her stories. She even invited me to visit her. Seriously, though, some of us have not aged well.
And, on aging, late night and early morning conversations with my aunt and uncle resulted in a conglomerate of topics, such as educators, the education system, federalist papers, and the Constitution. Then, work ethic, Mark Twain, the Roman Empire, and the Bronze Age. What I enjoy most is these are discussions based on our interpretation of what we know, or have heard, and less about what we can research and clarify in the moment. For all we know, we have missed the mark entirely, but it’s those reasons which make it fun, thought provoking, and eye opening.
On that note, this is my final thought: people generally have little fear. But, the fear of being forgotten trumps many.
Believe it or not, I am the type of person who does not do well with change. Which is comical because my work life constantly changes. It drains me. And it takes me, what feels like, days to process change. When I began my work with the Air Force in 2020, I would listen when others said they would retire in 20-whatever or in (insert number of) years. In those moments, it didn’t resonate.
Now? With the past 4 years fraught with retirements, it has become another point of change I must take time to process. Because these are no longer people whom I didn’t really know. They’re…friends. Beacons in my workplace. Coworkers with vast amounts of knowledge, who have shared their memories and children and stories. They truly are staples in the fabric of my office, my life, my world.
It is possible I’m waxing poetic about a topic you may not relate to or are not as invested in as I am. Fine. But I do believe we all have those people in our lives whom we have “grown up” with, so when they depart, then there’s an empty space they once filled. Even if it is a chair on the third floor in room 308, the person who fills the seat is still a person.
_________________
I ask you –
How do you cope with change?
Are you particularly close to your coworkers?
Tell me someone in your life who you feel you have “grown up” with.
Occasionally I attend self-care and self-help type presentations. Or I give them. Something I like to mention are the effects of mental load. Most people are familiar with Newton’s something or other law about pressure and load and force, etc. The same applies to humans. The mental load of caring for, disciplining, and explaining life to other humans is remarkably taxing on the mind.
For example, making a grocery list. First, come up with meal ideas. Then, write those down. Next, consider what ingredients to purchase for those meals. But, first, find out what ingredients are already on hand. Scratch out, rewrite, repeat. This is a smaller mental load than, for example, disciplining employees. It’s no wonder the Facebook guru dude only wears blue shirts and jeans. Less mental load!
Before any other parents or parenting partners get their feelings hurt (I do the laundry, I cook!), yes, typically, mothers carry the heaviest mental load. Maybe it’s by default, maybe it’s the natural order of life, I’m not a doctor of that stuff. What I can say is the stress of being responsible for child-related tasks is more of a motherly duty.
All this to make a point about mental load in the workplace, especially for those with supervisory roles, balancing employees’ needs with the mission’s needs. Some days I offer feedback to adults acting like children, and some days I escape the day unscathed, with most of my sanity still intact. And on the roughest days, no matter the dazed and confused look I carry for hours, the next day brings renewed joy and hope to fight the good fight.
Some people are caretakers. Some are takers. The mental load finds balance where it can.
_________________
I ask you –
Before this post, had you heard of mental load?
How often do you consider the load of mundane tasks?
The title of this post is admittedly paraphrased from a radio show host who shared a sweet phrase she saw graffiti’d on a building: “It only takes a second to tell someone something beautiful”. Obviously, the radio host indicated graffiti is vandalism, but it made me wonder why not greeting cards? Why not share inspirational quotes and phrases, lick the envelope, and send it on its way? How much are stamps? Probably less than defacing public property charges.
Did you know commercial greeting cards originated in 1860? Me neither.
The several cards received. (not pictured)
_________________
I ask you –
I doubt many will answer, but have you ever grafitti’d something?
Do you send greeting cards?
Effective 13 July 2025, postage stamp prices will increase to $0.78.
Woman seeking… mosquito repellent. Specifically, a mosquito repellent-infused lotion that doesn’t smell like my childhood. Have I ever mentioned the citronella s’mores?!
Sun’s out, ‘squitos out
Also, a Gummy-repellant would be nice, too. For the first 45 days, I had a life lifter which meant the available lives were increased to 5 from 3. Now, I get 3 lives. First world problems.
On average, it takes me about 10-12 months to fully learn a position, enough to become the SME of responsibilities. So, lately when I’ve had extra time on my hands, I find small projects to share whatever knowledge I possess. At this moment, it’s records management, which everyone despises. Necessary evil. Next year? Who knows. But my 5 yr plan most definitely includes a sword and dragon. I’m partly there.
_________________
I ask you –
What are your thoughts on mosquitoes?
How long does it take to learn your role?
Name something in your 5 year plan!
(The post Sun and Swords first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)
We could beat people when they’re down, but it doesn’t make us leaders, it makes us tyrants. Recently, a leader in my organization approached me without fanfare, without ulterior motive, to share a situation encountered unbeknownst to me. He was concerned, he expressed empathy. And although I knew of the logistics of the situation, I hadn’t known the full picture. He offered grace rather than condemnation. He offered care as opposed to vindication or punishment. That’s a leader.
It has arrived!
Although the photo is not inherently leadership related, and neither is the following story, it will get me there. Standby.
The past few weekends have been packed with conferences. One I spoke at, the other I did not. However, each brought together hundreds of people looking for connection and community, and offered an opportunity to share stories. One may never know what another is dealing with until their story is shared. There were several what not to do’s, also.
I have probably never shared on this platform the struggle with my name, but I find others with similar issues when I share. Even mini has expressed an issue with her own name and its similarities to a popular name which causes people to mispronounce it. She despises this. All this to say, we each have struggles. In an effort to overcome these struggles and become great leaders, we must listen first and act second.
_________________
I ask you –
How often do organizational leaders jump to conclusions?
Care to share a story of your own?
Tell me your best advice.
(The post Order of Leaders first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)
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