Author: Jen Rios

#Devastated

I was very much looking forward to today because it’s my favorite day of the week and I was going to unveil cucumber mint for the first time this season! Seemed like a pretty good day! My feet are slowly getting better and once I get out of my bed and in my chair, I saw this tweet and it devastated me:

I texted my friend because this is the death of an era in my life! right after my knee was injured and before surgery, I still was in the mindset of teaching so I was able to get up every morning and start my days off with football! And then I stopped working all together. But then, as my disease progressed and I stopped working, I can’t get up at 7 a.m. anymore. I texted my friend the video that GMFB tweeted out And he knows where I stand:

I told him that I was devastated!

But this news got me thinking about a shirt that I have never worn:

I won’t be able to watch the show live but I will check out the highlights on Twitter tomorrow. I never have liked change very much and it seems like everything in my life is changing so rapidly! I’m #Devastated!

Oh Yeah!

Today, because it’s Thursday, I have taken a break from my two man race between strawberry and sweet mandarin Chapstick. It’s time to use cucumber mint! When I put it on the first thing, I had to sigh! Oh yeah! I remember this! And I’m getting closer to having that being my summertime Chapstick all the time as soon as I am done with my current Chapstick box.

The pomegranate is just a placeholder until The seasons change but after this one is completed:

I’m kind of excited!

I’ve Shown my Hand

So, in my current two-man race of strawberry versus sweet Mandarin Chapstick, I think I have shown my hand without even knowing it because this was the first puzzle I did after my 290th one:

I said before that I wanted strawberry to win but I realize that it really doesn’t matter at all but… it’s something to keep me busy and I will restart puzzlin’ right now and I’m pretty sure I will hear The Fray.

And I Laughed

The problems that I am having with my feet are killing both my MI’m and me!!! This is such a slow process and I haven’t felt my feet in over 20 years but now this pain is beyond. I couldn’t think of descriptive words but it’s bad!!!

To cheer myself up, I put on an old musical that I’ve watched so many times and so many with my cousinT, Shannon! Just as the opening credits were ending, I texted her:


And she texted me back this:

My Mom was surprised by my choice of movie but I told her about Shannon and me singing and dancing in my aunt’s basement and I laughed and I laughed!

A Note About my Puzzlin’ Tunes

I completed five puzzles last night while my Mom rested. I have completed 295 puzzles. I am becoming increasingly aware of how small my world actually has become. It’s kind of really sad and I will choose to think about something else…

I was told in the first years of my teaching that you know someone is old when they listen to music from their era instead of listening to new music. Well, I am officially old! I am 40!! Some new songs I like but I got to stick with my ‘oldies but goodies’!!!

While I am puzzling, I listen to Apple Music on shuffle but I always start with the Sara Bareilles song and I let the music take me wherever it will. I do skip some artists though. I am NOT a John Mayer fan. I skip songs that come on from him but one band that I constantly hear and I’m not sure if I like them or I like what the band’s sound reminds me of?:

I’m embarrassed now to say that I owned this CD. I was too old to get into the ‘doomed youth’crowd but I was teaching middle school so my kids listen to this!

I’ve been hearing so many songs from The Fray but I never skip them because they remind me clearly of my second apartment living where I was mostly in the land of the able-bodied. It’s nice to think about that time and remember…

290 Puzzles

I started a puzzle last night just before I was getting ready for bed and I showed my Mom and she thought that it was beautiful! So, this morning, I only completed this puzzle as my Mom tended to my feet. I showed my Mom the finished product and she looked at my phone and asked how many puzzles I had done and I told her I haven’t counted. I told her where to look to see all of them and she counted them for me. I have completed 290 puzzles thus far:

After my Mom counted my puzzles, I saw the very first one I did which looks very similar to the 290th one I just completed!

A Two-Man Race

So, my air conditioner is running full blast and I am fully into the summer flavors of my Chapstick but it looks like it’s going to be a two-man race from here on out!:

Today, I used the sweet Mandarin Chapstick. Cucumber mint is only used on Thursdays until I finish the Strawberry and Sweet Mandarin flavors. I have a retired the Pomegranate until the change of seasons.

I know that this is way too much thought about Chapstick but it gives me something to think about other than how my body is feeling right now. My feet still hurt but they are getting better because my Mom is tending to them so well!

*As a side note, I think that Strawberry will win the race because they were a couple days when I just had Strawberry.

Notable Puzzlin’ Tune #12

This puzzle was free and I can’t figure out what it is. Why is there a tortilla chip?!:

As I was completing the puzzle which TOTALLY distracts me from my pain and discomfort, I heard this song and I remember hearing it and singing along with the radio. I think about the fact that I no longer can sing all of the time but I don’t have the strength to get that much air into my lungs anymore which is really sad when you think about it…