Reeds Review Things Poorly

 OK first a little bit of background: When I grew up, we were not allowed to be angry. To be angry at someone meant you hated them. If you hated someone, and then something bad happened to that person, it wouldn't necessarily be your fault , but yeah basically it was your fault. Now that I'm an adult and I've been to loads of therapy and am starting to set boundaries for myself, I'm learning more about anger. Having kids has helped, too. But this isn't about them. This is about my critical review of anger as a feeling. It serves a purpose, and it should be managed appropriately. But let me tell you what. It is exhausting . Anger is probably one of my least favorite emotions because it just drains all the joy and energy out of life. And right now I have some real anger fatigue. From Covid (and peoples' irrational reactions to it and all that it entails), the end of the fiscal year at work (and peoples' entitled attitudes about it), and social justice chaos...

 I love my 2 kids soooooo much. That's not up for debate. But one thing I do NOT love is hosting kids' birthday parties. When I was growing up, I had an emotionally traumatizing birthday party experience that caused a lifelong dislike of celebrating my own birthday. So for the most part, I did not have parties growing up. However, in wanting my kids to have a better experience than I did, we've been going along with the trend of having parties for my kids in which they get to invite some or all of their classmates to some third location (never at our house.... that's a story for another time) for a party. Let me tell you what I don't like about it. 1) the expense. It's always a couple hundred dollars, and I am not made of money. 2) the invitation process. I don't want to hurt any feelings, and somehow, this is a duty that always falls to me as the mother. 3) small talk at the party. Usually other parents are fine; there is nothing wrong with them. But as an

 OK so here's the deal. I hate  cooking. Luckily my husband and kids don't expect much of me. For my entire marriage up until Hello Fresh came along, I was "cooking" a couple of times a year, and it was always either spaghetti, tacos, or chili. The rest of the time, we ate pizza, take out, cereal, sandwiches, tv dinners, or snack food. I was very skeptical about Hello Fresh, but a Facebook friend of mine tried it and was posting the photos of the meals and she was serving the food on paper plates, so I knew she was likeminded to me with respect to cooking and homemaking. My husband and I used some coupon codes and started trying it out and I honestly am not exaggerating when I say that I was impressed with the delicious meals I was able to make. It was still harder than I wanted it to be, but my hatred of cooking turned to a dislike. Something I *could* do and *would do* where before I didn't feel it was possible. My husband enjoyed cooking together, spending that

 I'm so lucky to live in a region of the U.S. where Waffle Houses are abundant. The food at WH is consistently good and fresh. The people working are always busy working-- they aren't sitting around chit-chatting. If they're not cooking or serving, they are cleaning. At best, they are charming and friendly, and at worst, they are indifferent while still providing good service. Most of the time, if you have a bad experience at WH, it's because of other customers; and that's not WH's fault. I usually get the All-Star Special and end up sharing part of it with my kids. Sometimes if I get it for breakfast, I'm full enough afterwards to skip lunch. Fortunately, though, WH serves breakfast all day, and is open 24/7. Pro tip: if you're like me and like to eat your savory food first, then have the waffle as dessert, you can ask them to hold the waffle until the end of the meal. That way your waffle is fresh and there's more room on the table once some of the

I've wanted to make a blog for a long time where I give my personal opinion about things. The views here are my own; not my employer's, nor my church's, or my family's. Thanks for taking the time to read how I feel about things. My ultimate goal would be to eventually have a YouTube channel or podcast where I review stuff, and where I can take requests to review things. And why do I say I will review them poorly? Well, I am not a writer, and I have an immense sense of gratitude, while also (perhaps pathologically) feeling like I deserve nothing good. It's hard for me to express criticism without the bookends of positivity on each side. I thought this might be good practice in expressing honest opinions, developing some writing ability, and getting out of my comfort zone. The first thing I want to review is Manifestation . A very dear friend of mine introduced me to the concept of manifestation (the law of attraction, or "The Secret") because I have struggl