Tag: bedtime

Well, then…

I was supposed to go to the rodeo with my friend and her husband and baby (and the husband’s stepmom) tonight. But the friend was so exhausted, she ended up not going. Therefore, I turned in my exhaustion card, too, and stayed home. So, it is 7pm, and I am already in bed and finishing up my bedtime routine.

I wasn’t joking when I said I was exhausted. While I would love to wake up early tomorrow, I have a feeling I will need all the sleep between now and 7am… we shall see!

Thank you, God, for this unexpected blessing of having plans cancelled. Help us all to sleep well tonight and to prices and release that which holds us back from loving you fully and pursuing and fulfilling your will on Earth. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Did we grow up?

My cousin is staying with me the next few nights. My alarm is set for just after 4am tomorrow. I usually aim to go to bed no later than 9pm on such nights. Yet, she and I stayed up until after one o’clock just talking and hanging out together. Frankly, the disregard for a need to sleep and for the responsibility of sleeping enough reminds me of any sleepover we had as kids. The only thing missing was being yelled at by my aunt for being too loud and up so late. It all calls to kind the question of, “Did we actually grow up? Or are we still totally kids?” At least when we’re together, it seems to be the latter idea that is more true… 😛

And I am grateful for that. Though tomorrow might be more than a little tough at school. (See? School. Totally still a kid. 😛 )

God, thank you for this friendship and family tie. Thank you for the time we now get to spend together. Help us both to sleep well tonight and the next few nights, that we be energized during the waking hours and ready and able to take on the days and to pursue and fulfill your will. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Prayer

Some nights, when I’m getting ready for bed, after I’ve already prayed the rosary with Mark Wahlberg, I listen to a chanting-sung version by a German-born, Ecuadorian-raised sibling-group called “Harpa Dei”. Their prayer-song-chant is called “Rosary of the Nations”. It is sung with what I call a Latin base, and accents in Hebrew, English, Spanish, German, and French, with each decade having a different focus language. It is lovely and it is calming. Every night I play it before bed, I go to bed calm and feeling easy and somewhat light. Perhaps it releases the yoke, somehow…

Whatever the case, it is lovely. I actually donated to have the real version of it – high quality audio for the win – instead of the YouTube one, but here is the YouTube one, in case you’d like to give it a listen. I love it and I love how it improves my life each night.

Thank you, God, for sharing these prayers and this version with me. Please, bless Harpa Dei for these gifts they share so wonderfully with the world. Thank you for the love. Please, heal my grandma and my brothers’ dad. Thank you for this life and all of its love and opportunity. In your name, I pray. Amen.

P.S. If you would like to learn more about the group and consider purchasing any of their albums, via donation, click here to see their website.

Post-a-day 2023

Saturday

Today was awesome. I got to see my aunt in the morning, eat fresh eggs with bacon, volunteer and make a positive difference at a rodeo event, learn loads about brisket and everything involved in it, eat great and free brisket, have a lovely free beer, be gifted some awesome paraphernalia with our family name, ride my Vespa, see videos of my man having a great time at the range, hang out with one of my best friends and her family, play with her daughter who is my former bedroom neighbor, have a dance party with the daughter and my friend, then play with my man with the daughter and even do some acro-yoga all together, and then come home for a great shower and some lovely air conditioning in our wonderful home.

Thank you, God, for this absolute blessing of a day – this was wonderful, and I am so grateful… Thank you. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Waking up

I want to start waking up at my early hours again, and naturally so. And, by ‘waking up,’ I actually mean, ‘getting up and staying up.’ I still mostly wake up close to my former time. I get up and use the bathroom and go right back to bed most of the time. And I am so tired most days that I do fall back asleep somewhat quickly. However, I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to get up early and go to bed early. I like being nearly halfway through my day by the time most people are starting work for the day. I don’t get up to near as much good by staying up late, anyway. When I get up early, just as Marie Kondo said from her experience with customers, I get a whole lot more done, and faster than when I wake up at standard or late times.

So, here’s to looking into what has been in my way for the past year and (almost) a half, and seeing what I can alter for myself in order to get myself back to bed when I actually want to go to bed, and then getting out of bed for the day, rested, when I actually want to be starting my days.

Help me to see clearly, please, Lord. Guide me to pursue and fulfill your will by being my best self. Thank you for this life and this opportunity. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Not excited

I have a jury duty summons for tomorrow. The courthouse is about 40 minutes away, without traffic. Start time is 8:30am. Compensation barely covers the cost of gasoline to get there and back.

Jury duty frustrates me immensely, and on multiple levels. I won’t get into it now, but I will mention one thing.

People claim that Voir Dire, the questioning of potential jurors by the lawyers to determine whether they will be on the jury or not, means, “to tell the truth”. It absolutely does not. It means, “to see to say”. I speak French. I know these words and I use them regularly in French. I also use the various words for “truth,” none of which are “voir” or anything like it. “To tell the truth,” would be, “Dire la vérité.” “Voir dire,” only equals, “To see to say.”

So, I went ahead and grilled Chat GPT on it. It gave some basic boring information, quoting all the same articles I had already crossed. But I kept pushing it to find the sources behind the sources, and, after taking much about the Medieval French practices of law, we came to this simple response/explanation:

Yes, you are correct. The term “voir dire” in its legal context originally referred to the process of “seeing” or “observing” what potential jurors said or how they responded to questions during their examination. It was used to assess their qualifications, impartiality, and credibility to determine if they were suitable to serve on the jury for a particular case.

The word “voir” in French means “to see,” and it has never meant “truth.” The term “voir dire” itself does not directly translate to “to speak the truth” in French.

The term “voir dire” originated in medieval England during the Norman Conquest when French legal terms were introduced into the English legal system. “Voir dire” was used to describe the process of “speaking the truth” or “telling the truth” during the examination of witnesses or jurors in legal proceedings.

While the term “voir dire” itself comes from the Old French words “voir” (to see) and “dire” (to speak), its usage in the legal context in England evolved to represent the idea of truth-speaking during the examination of witnesses and jurors.

Bam. I am satisfied that a reputable source agrees with me that evolution of terminology has happened in the case of “voir dire,” and that it does not mean “to speak the truth,” no matter how many times people claim it. It merely references a time when potential jurors are expected to speak the truth, and the lawyers observe the responses and determine how to proceed with each potential juror based on those responses. And it still means “to see to say”.

Goodnight.

God, let me go home early tomorrow morning, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Getting back into it

I dropped off the cousin with another fourth cousin (this one twice removed!) today at midday, and have been working on getting back into it all since then. I got some studies done (though very little), picked up some, rested some, and ran some errands (specifically buying some hooks for the chickens’ fence to connect and disconnect easily to our yard’s fence and a wheelbarrow – woohoo!).

Then, I picked up my aunt and uncle at the airport as they returned from El Salvador. Unfortunately, they never looked outside to the pickup area, so they had no idea they would have to spend several minutes fighting their way out to me once I finally made it through the terrible traffic trying to pick up those hoards of people waiting in the heat, all caused by terrible construction at that terminal of the airport – construction that has been going on for over a year, at least, and is only getting worse. Nonetheless, they made it out just in time for me not to have to spend another half hour barely moving after circling the airport.

There were hundreds of people crammed into nowhere near enough space for them, let alone for their luggage, too. It was dreadful, and even freaked me out a bit. It was at least 200 meters long, the pickup area, plus the walkway to get there, and that was all packed just like in these photos, even more packed on the walkways and ramps at the start. It was frightening. What was more frightening was that the airport folks didn’t seem to be bothered by it one bit, as though it weren’t a major problem. Why was I not going to pull away when I was clearly parked at the end, the officer is asking (though kindly)? Because my family is over there, but they are trapped in the crowd and can’t get out. (I wasn’t even lying, y’all.) Fortunately, the officer then asked what they were wearing. I had no idea, though. Just as I said so, they suddenly popped into view in the roadway a few cars back, shoving their way forward by hugging to the vehicles that clearly weren’t moving very quickly or at all. As soon as they got to the car, they threw in their luggage and told me to get in and drive. I obliged. They were worried I wouldn’t be able to get out, due to the cars all trying to cram out. I’m no India driver, but I am a good Houston driver. Just as I had snuck my way in to be able to pick them up at the curb, I forced my way out, back into the third lane, the one with moving traffic, and got us out of there quite quickly. (They were impressed, and specifically commented on how they’d forgotten that I was a Houston driver and could do stuff like that. 😛 )

Anyway, they’re here and they’ve showered and gone to bed. Now, I’ve showered, and I’m going to bed, too.

Goodnight!

Thank you, God, for the safe travels today. Please, make us all well and healthy, and heal where we could use healing to help us become our best selves. Keep my man safe, please, as well as the dog and all of his stuff and our stuff. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

A great day

Today, I did outdoorsy stuff and spent time with people I love and who love me. I had a great lunch with my dad, a great workout with a friend over FaceTime (and her little sister who was doing a lot of the stuff with us, on and off, which was adorable, including her counting aloud when she was on a way different count than either of us had been at the time :P)), and then I had a great evening playing pickle ball with friends for my friend’s birthday – none of us had ever played before today, and there is definitely an adjustment to be made from tennis – and then having dinner with them afterward. I got home tonight close to 9pm, absolutely exhausted and sun exhausted.

I could barely stay up half an hour to talk with my man before I went to bed. And my skin is only slightly burned, but I definitely spent some time in the sun today, and I can feel it throughout my skin and body.

Dear God, thank you for such love and fun and satisfaction today. Thank you, loads. Please, help us all to sleep very well and effectively tonight, that we awaken tomorrow ready for Church and your word, as well as pursuing and fulfilling your will and our daily goals! In your name, I pray. Amen!

And goodnight!

Post-a-day 2023

P.S. Happy July! Welcome!

Saturday in the park

I planned a surprise boys weekend for my man. My two brothers (one who lives in Wisconsin) showed up Friday evening, right when my man finished work for the day, for an evening hanging out with steaks and green beans, cigars and drinks, and general merriment (without me), as the start to their two-night sleepover party. I had gone out with my mom and stepdad for the evening, only to return just before midnight to the boys out back, sipping bourbons and smoking cigars, while music blasted inside the house, so they had a gentle soundtrack seeping to them and the dog on the back patio. They hung out until very late, before finally being almost forced to go to bed, just so they could get up and be alive for the full schedule today. They seemed to be having a great time already.

Today, I made them double-chocolate pancakes with bacon and eggs for breakfast, and then shoved them out the door at half-past ten. They were scheduled to meet at a gun range with some family friends – my friend’s husband and dad – and our stepdad for some shooting time. They had a whole line of guns ready for them to swap around and shoot together, and I was gently envious of their time – I most certainly wanted to go myself, but I had promised a boys weekend for my man, specifically without me (and, no, he didn’t know that, since he didn’t even know about the weekend at all, but it was the whole reason I’d wanted to plan something in the first place, so I was sticking to it). However, I digress… Anyway, instead of the anticipated hour shooting and half hour to fiddle around there, they ended up shooting for about an hour and a half – it wasn’t busy, so no one kicked them out of the lanes – and then hanging out in the private lounge for another long while, just chatting. I’d anticipated an hour and a half at the range, yet they spent over three hours there. And, according to my stepdad, “It was Awesome,” and they all had a great time. 😛

(Bonus there is that the boys didn’t have to pay anything, because the other three are members of that gun club, and each gets a free guest and free protective gear for all parties to use, plus I made sure guns were brought by all who had them, so there were enough to go around without any renting. Not bad for something my brother had originally said was an expensive thing to put on the schedule. [It’s okay, I’m amazing, and it becomes clear to all, eventually. 😛 ] Granted, I did have to pack the bag for my man as they were rushing out the door this morning, as he’d not realized that he might want to bring guns to a gun range. I blame that on his still half-asleep state. They were up until three last night…)

Afterward they finally left the range, which was after two PM, they went to lunch at the one place I had recommended in the area, and then went to play with the mini-drone my brother had brought, while they waited for their 5pm tee-time (that’s golf). Apparently that was quite cool and silly and fun.

Then, they had their round of golf. If it had been busy, they wouldn’t have been likely to have finished the full 18 holes. However, since there were some openings/cancellations in tee-times, they were able to start on time but on the back half of the course, and actually play all 18 holes. The last one, they said, was rather tough in terms of visibility – sun was going down, you see – but was still doable. The sun had been really hot, but the later tee-time helped relieve a good amount of the painfully hot sunshine, and just make it quite hot.

When they were finally leaving the course at 8:40pm, my one brother requested a shower before dinner. So, instead of heading to the restaurant to eat, they just picked up the food and brought it home… which meant that I got to have a meal from the awesome Tex-Mex place, too(!). (Yippee! And thank you!) And they had the soft-serve ice cream cones while they waited for the food at the restaurant, as an appetizer, of course. 😛

I kid you not. Though I had purposely purchased ice cream stuff for them – it had been specifically requested – when they got home, they devoured their dinners, absolutely stuffing themselves from the intense hunger they were feeling after the hours of drone time and golf in the hot air and sunshine. Only one Snickers ice cream bar was eaten, and one fruit-based popsicle. So much for all the ice cream. 😛 Guess we’ll be eating that ourselves over the coming weeks. Haha

Anyway, after they’d eaten and showered (or showered and eaten, as was the case for my man and the one brother), we got on a stint of watching clips of old roller coasters from our beloved Astroworld, while my man passed out in a rocking chair. There was a touch of piano playing after the videos, and then they were beyond ready for bed, absolutely wiped.

After everything this weekend, they were tired little boys, and they had earned it, to be sure. I think they all genuinely had a good time, and I’m so glad it all worked out.

Tomorrow morning, the one brother leaves here at 8:30 to catch a flight back up North, and the other heads home to his wife whenever he wakes up. We have a lunch and then an afternoon thing for fathers’ day for each of our dads. Hopefully, we can be up for morning Mass. if not, we’ll have the evening Mass. And then, we likely will pass tf out, and early, tomorrow evening. This weekend had been good, but a lot, especially for the boys.

Thank you, God, for making this all work out so well this weekend. You answered my prayers for a positive boys weekend, and I am grateful, as you know. I am relieved it all went so well, and so pray that my man truly enjoyed it all, as that was the main goal. Please, grant us all safe travels tomorrow especially, and always. Thank you for this life and all this love. Thank you, especially for the love we all have been able to experience this weekend, and from many directions. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Last day of this yet?

Well, today showed no signs of diarrhea.

It showed no signs of a BM at all, unfortunately.

I ate quite normally today. Eggs and bacon to start, and a bit of beef jerky and dried fruits, yogurt, some other stuff, and pho. I keep wondering how I am possibly storing all this stuff inside me. It is uncomfortable, but only like a single tough meal kind of uncomfortable, not like the previous few days uncomfortable. Oh, but goodness… I need to release my bowels… my brain can barely handle this right now, and staying away from thoughts of germs and problems resulting from constipation…

Dear God, please, heal my body. Help me to go poo on the toilet in the morning, and to release all this buildup inside of me. Heal my body and mind, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023