Midwestern soul

[clevermanka]

Tomorrow I'll have been in the new place for a week. Still doesn't feel real for a number of reasons. Lots of things not feeling quite real right now, tbh.

Yesterday was especially surreal--I haven't been that fatigued since the days following my hysterectomy. In fact, it took me a while just now to figure out if it was really yesterday I felt that terrible or if it was the day before and I missed a day somewhere. Miraculously though, I managed to get nearly seven hours of sleep last night (exhaustion is not always a precursor to sleep, alas) and five of those were consecutive. This morning I feel much better.

At some point last night as I was lying on the couch, staring blankly into a silent room, taking internal inventory of my physical state (an important habit/skill for chronic fatigue types) it hit me. Oh, this is my body processing a lot of emotional upset. Like, over a year of it. Once that registered, some of the pressure in my chest and belly lifted and bang! my appetite came back (a bit). Had to make myself a little cup of (rice) noodles at almost 9pm. Bodies sure are something, aren't they?

I added some final things to the BB&B registry and need to mention to whomever purchased the magnifying mirror that it didn't arrive. Ironically, it's the one item purchased by an anonymous donor. Guess what arrived in today's mail, of course? With today's additions I think I've pretty much exhausted everything from BB&B. If people want to buy me gift cards, let me expose my egregiously Midwestern tastes by asking for one from Menards. 😂

Y'all, I fucking love Menard's. You have to experience a store in person to understand the full glory, but imagine a place that not only sells (seriously) some of the most gorgeous lighting fixtures I've ever seen (and I am picky about lighting design) along with construction materials and other basic hardware stuff but also large and small appliances, furniture, basic clothing (sweatshirts, socks, tee shirts, hats, gloves), home decor, seasonal toys and gifts, and even shelf-stable groceries. Seriously I love that stupid store so much. They were the first store in town to make masks mandatory, way back in March, and for the most part their employees are always chatty and helpful which I think speaks well to a nice working environment. Friends tell me I could be a spokesperson for them and obviously they're not wrong. Anyway, MENARDS!

I'm actually headed out to Menard's in a few minutes to pick up a few things (window plastic, some hanging hooks, a nightlight for the bathroom) and also return something that didn't work right because did I mention they also have A Really Great return policy?

MENARDS!

Comments

[moodsong]

"Oh, this is my body processing a lot of emotional upset. Like, over a year of it."

Yeppers.

Menards sounds a bit like Canadian Tire.

[clevermanka]

I'm pretty sure Menards started in Minnesota, so it doesn't surprise me at all that there's a similar Canadian counterpart.

[goss]

Hee. I was just about to mention how much I love home-hardware stores like Canadian Tire, where I worked floor sales one summer, while at college in Toronto. ^__^

[clevermanka]

Love that I'm not alone in my love for that sort of place. If I was physically capable (and it wasn't, you know, currently dangerous to one's health), it's retail I would consider working.

[ride_4ever]

<3 for Canadian Tire! What was it like being an employee there?

[goss]

Awesome actually! It was a pretty zen experience (compared to my current job teaching highschoolers). :b It felt like working in a library, kinda - mostly shelving items and finding things for people. I am that boring person who loves assembing stuff, quietly organising and re-boxing things, and playing with the tape gun dispenser. lol. The customers were normal, polite people, just looking for vacuum cleaners and kitchen ware. I especially enjoyed the employee discount. *g*

[ride_4ever]

Except for the vacuum cleaners and kitchen wares it does sound like my job (I'm a librarian) and I am also that person who likes "shelving items and finding things for people....assembing stuff, quietly organising and re-boxing things, and playing with the tape gun dispenser". (I really like playing with the tape gun dispensers, of which I have five for doing book repairs.)

[naye]

A hell of a year, too. *hugs* (And then a hell of a week just now, especially with the moving and all!) SO GLAD you have a place to unwind now. So glad. I hope your body and spirit continue to recover.

[clevermanka]

It has been a hell of a week, indeed. Thank you for the hugs and wishes for peaceful recovery!

*deep breath* *another* *another*

[ride_4ever]

Yes, Menard's FTW!

And if you are ever in Canada and go to a Canadian Tire you will <3 that place too.

[clevermanka]

Sure sounds like it's right up my alley!

[nnozomi]

It can be such a relief to figure out something related to that mind-body connection. I hope your appetite keeps coming back and that you enjoy(ed) the Menard's trip! (We have occasional giant hardware-etc. stores here that sound similar; very useful, but there are no in-store maps and not much signage and you just sort of have to wander around blindly until you memorize where everything is...).

[clevermanka]

Such! A! Relief!

Menard's doesn't quite need a map, but thank goodness for the ever-present employees (and really quite decent signage).

[resonant]

Can I ask you to do me a favor and make it possible for me to avoid talk of weight loss? Either cut-tag it or put it on a filter that I'm not on? Or if that's unpleasant for you to do, I can unsub, no hard feelings -- it's just that you ought to be free to talk about whatever you like in your own journal, but weight talk is bad for me. Thanks!

[clevermanka]

Oh sure sure sure. Sorry, jesus you'd think I OF ALL PEOPLE should be aware of that. You know what? I'm just gonna cut it from the post. My sincere apologies.

[resonant]

I appreciate it! I felt bad for asking because who knows, maybe it's helpful to you to talk about it.

It's as if I were saying to someone, "so very sorry but I'm violently allergic to your service dog ..."

[clevermanka]

No, no, no! Not at all. It was a stupid thing to mention. People need service dogs. They don't need to talk about weight stuff in public. Thanks for pointing it out, I appreciate it.

[write_out]

Happy One-Week Anniversary!

Oh, this is my body processing a lot of emotional upset

Oh, yes... A LOT of it. And now you have your own space in which to do that, at your own pace, with no pressure. <3 <3

[clevermanka]

Thank you!

I do need to give myself time to recover/process at my body/brain's own pace, but at the same time I'm like "You'd best feel better before you get a job!" 😬

[khellekson]

MENARDS! I know their jingle by heart. They don't have them here on the East Coast. I scored at the Larryville Menards a bunch of those spectral blue or green night lights. I use them not to light the way but to inform my sleep-befuddled, nearsighted eyes that a wall is present, so I don't walk into it.

[clevermanka]

I'm glad you got those when you did because their nightlight selection is Sorely Lacking these days Let Me Tell You.

[khellekson]

The nightlights were in some stupid place. When you walk in, look right at the low (not tall) gondolas. Although I suppose by now they have moved them. They weren't by the lighting or flashlights, for example.

[clevermanka]

I'll look again when I go today (two--TWO! lightbulbs went out pretty much immediately as soon as I returned from Costco yesterday sighhhh).

[brandywine28]

This is the first I'm ever hearing of Menard's, but it looks kind of like Target, just way less full of itself, to which I say: Yes. :)

[clevermanka]

Way less full of itself and full of more stuff! Lumber! Siding! Plumbing fixtures! TARGET WOULD NEVER.

[tinny]

it hit me. Oh, this is my body processing a lot of emotional upset.

Oh I love that. It's so hard to see it when it happens. Glad you realized that this is what's happening. <3

Good luck settling into your place!

[clevermanka]

Glad you realized that this is what's happening
One thing I learned from having an autoimmune disease is to pay real close attention to my physical state and evaluate how it corresponds with my mental state. Who needs therapy when you can simply contract a chronic illness? 😏

Save big money at Menard's

[the_lucky_nun]

Menard's is the best, although I was not pleased when my mom purchased my gym shoes there in third grade. They were white knockoff Adidas with velcro straps. One of the things I miss most right now is walking laps around Menard's and poking around every aisle, or checking out the holiday displays, especially when the weather is either too hot, too cold, or too rainy to enjoy walking outside.

Re: Save big money at Menard's

[clevermanka]

Yessssssssssssss those long, aimless wanderings around Menard's are the best. Someday we'll have better days where that's possible again.