I’m really not active on social media anymore. I used to have a ton of fun on it and the side effect of enjoying it was some pretty good marketing for my books. Then one day, I just stopped. Some people think it’s laziness.

It’s not. It never was. In fact, the reason I left is simple. It wasn’t aligning with who I am choosing to be at this point in my life. Simple. Social media can be wonderful. I love seeing pics and updates of friends and family. Some posts crack me up and brighten my day. But the other side of social media, is a dark and treacherously slippery path. One that is filled with others who cheer us on as we shed civility, choose up sides on any subject and proclaim anyone who disagrees is wrong and stupid and worthless. And sometimes we call them criminals or worse. And it seems that we get more and more okay with doing that.

That’s not a path I choose to navigate most days. And that means I absolutely miss out on the information, sense of community and bright moments of hilarity for sure. But who I am, how I’m showing up in the world and to my family and friends means more to me right now.

A lot of time I do think I miss out. And yet, lately, finally, I’ve begun to find a freedom of thought that I’m really enjoying. I have the time to explore topics and delve deeper into things that interest me. I read non-fiction more and more because I enjoy the process of delving deeper into subjects and learning without so much exterior noise that can come from social media.

On the other hand, that may change and I’ll pop back up on social media. This isn’t a hard and fast rule for me, I’m just doing what I think is best at each moment in time. Maybe I’ll even start my own platform just to cause trouble (I’m joking!).

Do you have any ponderings today?

Time change! I know how much you all love the time change, LOL! But it’s here, and we’ll adjust. Except the pets who have to wait an hour longer for dinner — they are protesting

So you know what I did this weekend? Nothing. Okay I did stuff, but nothing big and I’m good with that. I made some cookies, cleaned a thing or two, and we went over youngest for an hour or so since we hadn’t seen him and his wife for a while.

This week we’ll start getting ready to go to Cambria next weekend. But that shouldn’t be very hard. And after that, time to plan Thanksgiving!

How was your weekend?

TGIF!! I, for one, am glad it’s Friday and this week is over. I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Now let’s get to sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. The diet and tests are over! Hence my joy at the week being over What I’ve seen so far of the results is good, but I can’t tell if I’m still a candidate for one more treatment. There was one uptake spot in my neck, that I don’t understand enough to know if I’ll need more treatment. That’s going to be something we’ll decide with my doctor at an appointment at the end of the month. But the great news is there’s no evidence of metastasis and that’s everything at this point. Wednesday night, we celebrated by going out to dinner. Now for two things that stood out during the whole experience. #1) When I took the tracer pill 24 hours before the scan — inside the radiation area of the hospital — I was not allowed to TOUCH the pill. I had to use the small vessel to pour it in my mouth then swallow it with lots of water in cups lined up on the table. And I’m like, okay, I won’t touch it but I’m SWALLOWING it. It was a weird feeling.  And for #2)  When the scan was done, we got good news that I won’t need a CT scan which is a hint that things are good. If they look bad, they would have sent us over to the CT scanner in another part of the hospital. We were thrilled and left — making it all the way to the elevator to leave, when the nurse caught us and we had to go back. They’d found a spot on my hip. Our hearts sank, hard. But they quickly rescanned it, and it was fine. Whew, we were relieved and this time, we hustled to the elevators before they could burst our happy bubble again
2. On Tuesday between the morning and afternoon appointments, I visited my granddaughter who was quite chatty. She’s really learning to make noises and mouth movements in response to our talking to her. She’s cute and was the perfect break in an otherwise very long day. Here’s a pic of her talking to me:
3. I took Maggie to the vet yesterday for a couple shots. The vet tech told me not to worry, she and Maggie were friends. I was amazed to see that she got Maggie to go with her almost willingly. So yep, they’re friends! Even after two shots and some invasive exams. Sadly, we were there when a family brought in a dog who had passed. The entire office went quiet and respectful, trying very hard to not interfere in that family’s clear and painful grief. While it was sad, at least people tried to not make it any worse. It’s good to see people come together in quiet support that way.
4. One of the days I was gone, my handbag arrived. I love it. It’s silly but this is my present to myself. Here’s a pic:

5. This weekend, I may do some catchup stuff on the house and see if I can find a wallet for the new bag. I may have one here, or I’ll get one (cheap, LOL). I know I’m not seeing either grandchild, while the radiation in the tracer pill I took was low, I’m still going to wait through the weekend to be 100% sure before I see either kid. It’s overkill, but I’m fine with that.

That’s my five, now I’d really love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!