11..., Lifestyle

11… Things I’ve Missed Over the Last Three and A Half Months

Enjoying downtown Houston last summer when I had significantly less dogs and far more time and no COVID in my life. | Dress | Watch | Earrings |

The last three and a half months have been crazy chaotic for everyone around the world. You’ve probably noticed the hoard of puppies in my Instagram stories or the pictures or the posts I’ve managed to produce. COVID and quarantine have definitely had a serious impact on my life, but the puppies have had a far bigger impact. Working from home, my quotidien life didn’t change drastically because of quarantine, but it did change because of the swarm, which is what we came to call the thirteen puppies. I love them, but I have missed out on a whole lot of things because of them. 1000% worth it, though. 

  1. Sleep. I have missed sleep. What is it? I don’t even know anymore. They are sleeping through the night, so I’m getting more than two non-consecutive hours now. I am playing catch up. 
  2. Beau. Because I was living at my best friend’s house and then in Iowa, I went two months without seeing Beau. It hurt my heart, and I know it hurt her feelings because I disappeared with a gazillion dogs for EVER. Luckily, I’ve been back in Houston for two weeks, and Beau and I have been snuggling like crazy trying to catch up.
  3. Going Out. Even if COVID hadn’t shut down the world, I wouldn’t have been able to go out and enjoy the world. I feel like I’ve been so detached from everything because the puppies have kept me occupied and preoccupied. 
  4. Showers. I haven’t had tons and tons of time for showers, and even if I did, I’m not completely sure how useful they would be. The moment I get out of the shower, I tend to find poop or pee or throw up or most usually a combination of all three. It’s hard to convince myself to shower when I’m just going to be gross ten minutes later. Might as well stay gross.
  5. Reading. I have not had time to read because my time is spoken for. I’m about a gazillion books behind schedule. Woops.
  6. Looking Like A Human. I’m certain I look like an exhausted, chubby alien version of myself. Eating well went right out the window because I haven’t had the time to cook, let alone grocery shop. I’ve definitely put on some softer edges and some wrinkles. 
  7. Water. Honestly. I’m so dehydrated. I keep forgetting to drink water because… Well, I’m not good at it to begin with, so when I’m uber busy, hydration just doesn’t happen.
  8. Knowing What’s Going On. Whether it be what’s going on in the world or what’s going on with my best friend, I honestly have no fucking idea. I’m not even on social media right now. This is the first blog post in a month! I found out about George Floyd because my best friend texted me (I did take time out to protest because that is FUCKING IMPORTANT, and social justice is a huge part of …on the B.L., so I can’t not march.) I love my friends, but seriously, I hardly talk to them. 
  9. Money. I’ve been spending it like it grows on trees because these puppies have been ridiculously expensive because the number of them and they’ve also had some super fun rare medical problems, but they’re healthy now. Also I’ve not had much money coming in because COVID has slowed everything down. I so poor. 
  10. …on the B.L. Hello. I haven’t written or posted anything in weeks and weeks. It’s hard to motivate myself to do anything with the very little free time I have when I’m exhausted. So here I am, finally posting something. Woo!
  11. Houston. I’ve missed Houston. I was gone for a month, but even when I’ve been here I can’t even enjoy the outdoorsy things this great city has to offer because I’ve been momming it up. Oh well. Maybe soon. 

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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Books, NonFiction

101 Things I Learned in Law School by Vibeke Norgaard Martin

Worth A Read Yes
Length 216
Quick Review Everything from definitions to quotes to government makeup to what the bar actually is. 

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I would need coffee if I went to law school. | 101 Things I Learned in Law School by Vibeke Norgaard Martin | Shirt | Purse | Fossil Smart Watch | Sunglasses | Earrings |

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101 Things I Learned in Law School | Fossil Smart Watch | Purse | Sunglasses | Shirt | Ring |

There was a period of time in high school when I wanted to go to law school. The lawyers I talked with warned me away from it because they assumed I watched law dramas on TV and wanted the courtroom thing, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I didn’t even start watching law dramas until about two years ago. I liked the law because I knew it would be constant learning and researching, and I could advocate for people and women and become a judge or become an advocate or lobbyist. Vibeke Norgaard Martin hammers home the point that being a lawyer is not about being in court in 101 Things I Learned in Law School

If you’ve ever read a book that has anything to do with law or the judiciary system, most of this is not new information. Martin does break down a lot of complicated and sometimes confusing concepts, terms, ideas, and workings of the law, government, and even courtroom in his 101 Things I Learned in Law School, and he particularly focuses on the US but does speak to British and global law.  

Martin wants to make it clear that lawyers are people with prejudices, blind spots, limitations, skills, and specialties. Lawyers have areas of expertise, so consulting a corporate law attorney will not help you in divorce court. They do not know everything. Lawyers are known for having a good hold on words and manipulating language – which is a huge part of why the law has always spoken to me – but there is a difference between honesty and truth. This fact transcends law. 

For every thing learned there is a little drawing on the opposing page to demonstrate, in a usually humorous fashion, what Martin is describing. There is a sense of humor to the entire book. Even in the quotes chosen have levity, humor, and drive home the point being a lawyer is a way of thinking and it is not infallible: “There is no doubt that if there were a super-Supreme Court, a substantial proportion of our reversals of state courts would also be reversed. We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.” Robert H. Jackson. Martin goes through some of the most important cases tried in courts, and cases people should know about but probably don’t. 

101 Things I Learned in Law School talks about history, language, law, thinking, and more. It is a quick and easy book to peruse, but it’s filled with information and a lesson. I highly suggest it to anyone with a curiosity for law or wants to look smart and worldly by putting it on their coffee table. Either way, I suggest it. 

Memorable Quotes
“Honesty and truthfulness are different things.”
“In practice, the exceptions to the rule are the rule.”

Buy on Amazon | Buy on Barnes & Noble | Buy on Book Depository
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Title: 101 Things I Learned in Law School
Author: Vibeke Norgaard Martin
With: Matthew Frederick
Publisher: Three Rivers Press (Penguin Random House)
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9781524762025

In My Own Words, Lifestyle

Homecoming

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Welcoming Alex home with my sign. | Dress | Shoes | Watch | Sunglasses | Earrings |

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Happy hugs in front of his helicopter du jour. | Dress |

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Marines lining up ready to see their families.

No, I’m not in high school or college. I did celebrate Homecoming a week ago. By this point in your life, you’ve probably seen a movie or a YouTube video showing a military person (probably man because patriarchy) come home from deployment or war – technically deployment just less cushy and more PTSD inducing. There are lots of flags, running, hugs, kisses, and happy tears. It’s all very realistic. 

This deployment was never actually supposed to happen because he was supposed to get out of the military last October. Oh the military. You never know what’s going to happen until it’s already happened. Alex extended another year to go on this one. His two previous were to Japan and a bit of time on a boat floating around Asian countries. This one took him on a boat around the Mediterranean and an unplanned adventure in the Iranian neighborhood. With Flaming Hot Cheeto in office, it’s not exactly a time you want your loved one deployed in a less than friendly neighborhood. Six years. Three deployments. This was my first homecoming. Due to poverty, scheduling, and a lack of communication on not my part, I’d never been able to welcome Alex home with a cliché sign and a hug. 

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Yes that is a dinosaur behind us. | Dress | Shoes | Earrings | Watch |

Alex came home from his last deployment a week ago. I was waiting with a very me sign and a very big hug. It was not his longest deployment [upon Alex reading this: it was the longest. I guess I missed him less this time or I’m used to him being gone or it didn’t seem as long because we were able to talk more than any of the other deployments], but it was the most stressful, for me. Although, they are all stressful if I’m being honest. 

As in everything military related, there is a lot of hurry up and wait, which is the military’s unofficial motto, by the way; I should figure out what that is in Latin. Hurry up and wait all the way up until you hold them. 

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Alex’s helicopter as we wait and wait and wait to actually see them.

Homecoming is an emotional thing for families. I can’t explain to you what having someone deployed is like except it feels like your heart is torn in two, and one piece is somewhere in the world. You wait on phone calls and emails. You wait and wait and wait. Then the day comes when they come home. Make a sign (please make it original, I will judge you). Dress up. Pop a mint in your mouth because it has been seven months. Huddle with hundreds of other people in a hanger in 97 degree weather waiting to watch the helicopters come over the horizon. The room vibrates with anticipation and love and anxiety. The Marines corralling the families dictate where the boundaries are and say, “If you step over this line, you could die.” Terrifying to children and some adults, while also being completely overdramatic. You wait and laugh and chat and don’t step over the line. The glint on the horizon… just a bug. A glint on the horizon… a helicopter. Just kidding, not the helicopter. Is there time for a bathroom break? If you run fast. Don’t run! Wait. Jostle. A roar goes up. Helicopters are on the horizon. People scream and cry and wait. The helicopters fly over in a V formation. Look for the one your Marine is on. They land. You can see your Marine. Wait. They gather on the flightline and “march” towards us with as little panache as very tired Marines can muster. The loud speaker says an unknowable something. People rush forward over the line separating alive and possible death. No one dies. Some find each other immediately; others take awhile. After hugs and kisses and I missed yous and I love yous, Marines play a rousing game of where the fuck is my stuff? Because it is all piled into neat lines, but it’s government issued, so it all looks the same. Stuff is located. Buy a tshirt. Everyone carries something making your way to the car. Wait some more in the parking garage. Freedom. They’re home. 

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Three minutes in and I’m already goofing off. | Dress | Shoes | Earrings | Watch | Sunglasses |

I want this to be more emotionally charged than it is. But it’s not going to be. I can’t get sad or weepy or nitty-gritty honest about homecoming or this deployment because I’m not in that headspace. I don’t foresee myself being in that headspace in the near future. If you want something real and emotionally charged click here and read my post about military movies and my lack of composure watching them. 

I’m happy Alex is home. I’m happy he’s not dead. The likelihood he would die on the deployment was low, but you never really breathe easily when they’re away. I can breathe easily again. I’m sleeping better, which is to say as shitty as usual when Alex isn’t deployed. Deployments are hard. They suck. It’s emotional to have them deploy and emotional to have them come home. The interim is equally emotional. I think I’m tapped out on emotion right now, so this post is lackluster. I told Alex I had nothing interesting to write because he was lackluster, which is obviously not the case. No one spends six years loving a person in the military at a distance through deployments, deaths and illnesses, graduations and birthdays, anniversaries and holidays, normal days and hard days, when the one person you want by your side can’t be there. 

This is not a life I would have chosen, but I did choose to love him. I loved him before the military. I loved him through the military. I will love him after the military.

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Happy to have him home!!!

Travel, Travel Guides

Caledonia, Minnesota

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Well-Read Black Girl | Dress | Flannel Shirt | Boots | Socks | Watch

Caledonia, Minnesota is a small town in the southeastern part of the state. It’s almost as close as you can get to Wisconsin without actually being in Wisconsin. It’s the county seat of Houston County, so there’s a courthouse alongside all the other small town amenities. There are a few bars, a bakery, a couple restaurants, a grocery store, a coffee shop, and a few other things, but it’s not much more than a hiccup of a town.

Why, oh, why am I writing about Caledonia?

About eight years ago, my partner in crime, Alex, took me to meet his family in Caledonia, Minnesota. I was there often during college because it was only a few hours away. After college, it’s become a lot less common since he lives in North Carolina and I in Houston. This is the first time I’ve been back in a year.

My two favorite places in town are the cafe and the bakery. The bakery is open in the morning and serves yummy donuts, pastries, and cookies. The Wired Rooster is an adorable cafe in the middle of downtown. I had to buy one of the mugs because they’re cute/I have a mug addiction. The cafe is a fairly recent addition to the town landscape, but it is very cozy – especially now in the winter with the snow on the ground.

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I have a turkey cookie!!!

I’m here for a little over a week and a half. It’s a calm and understated several days. It’s a nice break from the normal busy-busy-busy of my life at home.

Caledonia is a blip on a map, but it holds so many wonderful memories and feelings for me. It’s a place where I have no reception, so everything and everyone else fades into the other. The people are friendly and passionate about the Vikings. It is football season, you know. Everything closes early except the bar. It’s like many small towns. But this one is special. It’s the home of my person.

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