Laughter and distraction have been HIGHLY VALUED this week as I’ve been stressing over the situation with Paul’s mom’s estate.
I laughed all the way through Kacy’s Candy Policy. AND I changed my candy policy as a result: the bigs can now monitor their own candy consumption. (The littles all voted against it for some reason; perhaps they didn’t understand?)
I also laughed all the way through Temerity Jane’s The Last 12 Weeks, which caught us up to date on the part of her recently-revealed pregnancy we’d missed before she revealed it.
And I’ve been fully enjoying the Fakesgiving updates (Thanksgiving dinner rehearsals) by Life of a Doctor’s Wife.
For distraction, I’m using the method I discovered in high school when trying not to die of over-thinking the end of a romantic relationship: read horror novels. I’m working on Stephen King’s Under the Dome, even though I haven’t been able to get past 50 pages in the last two Stephen King books I tried. My main problem is the way each main character has about 5 words they say/think again and Again and AGAIN until I feel like I need to strangle. Another problem is the “view from inside the mind of someone going crazy,” which I don’t mind in one occasionally-visited character but don’t want to read 900 pages of, especially if the method for indicating mental slippage is going to be gross words for things and endless flits into italics.
Wow. I have a lot to catch up on. Sadly, it’s a busy morn and I’ll have to attack this later. Happy Saturday, Swistle!
I try to just scan Stephen King books. I really like them but my GOD he can do with the repeating and the descriptions of descriptions.
Thanks for the links. Can’t wait to look at those. Keep us posted on your family drama. The horror novel distraction is a good call. There’s a reason why we all liked Stephen King in high school–perhaps before we became such sophisticated readers. hahahahaha
I listened to Under the Dome on, like 25 cd’s that I got from the library. I don’t think I could have gotten through it if I had to read it. Not his best work, and I’m a fan.
I LOVE Stephen King, but I had a hard time getting through Under the Dome. I think it was because I disliked one of the main characters SO MUCH. And it bothered me that he had SO MUCH POWER in the situation. Anyway, once I got past that issue I thought it was pretty good, although I agree with sooboo that it’s not his best work.
ps. I’m praying that your SIL had someone tell her she was insane and that’s why she changed her tune. It says that she’s willing to listen to such statements, and also bodes well for things actually working out for you. Good luck!
Has Stephen King ever written a novel about someone who comes to grief after taking something that rightfully belonged to someone else? Maybe that wouldn’t be a distraction. Or maybe it would — I mean, that shouldn’t remind you of anything.
Cynthia Heimel recommends reading murder mysteries after a break-up because they provide a mix of bloodshed and coziness. Yes, the vicar ingested strychnine, but the next day people were tucking into cream tea.
Oh me too, I LoveLoveLove Stephen King but lordy did Under The Dome piss me off. It gets much better somewhere in the middle, if you can stick with it. Kind of like The Stand, way too many characters. But thrilling in that this thing could maybe happen one day if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief that far so let’s just read about how this gigantic group of tools made their already-crappy lives worse for themselves.
Oh Swistle. You never fail to cheer me up, especially when I need it. Like now.
Horror novels? Brilliant! Although I myself can’t go there. Too much sticks. Any other tried and true distraction methods?
Kristi- Any absorbing book or movie can help. It has to be ABSORBING, though, or I’ll just gaze into space, or I’ll multi-task by watching/reading AND stewing.
Oh and one more thing: if you’re right and the fact that SIL backed down was because the lawyer informed her of the 50/50 requirement, then it PROVES that she knew that her arrangement WAS NOT a 50/50 split. So she’s not clueless or crazy or really bad at math: she knew she was offering Paul the short end of the stick but apparently, did it anyway.