Note: Last week’s Not a Recap – The Courtship will be up tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

The drapes are hung, and I couldn’t be happier! How you ask? As you can see from the picture, we just cheated them upwards so that they land just below the window molding, and it works. I just said screw Martha Stewart, I’m hanging them my way! And what’s great about these drapes are they block the direct sun but allow the natural light in. Also, they aren’t as bulky as some drapes I’ve seen – win win. 

So, after only a year, my downstairs has some privacy (of course I could have tried harder over the last year, but 🤷🏼‍♀️). And my dad swears he is never hanging another drape in his life 🤣🤣🤣.

There was another, more important, reason than privacy to get the window coverings up – my Books! (You should have seen that coming 😆 😆 😆). The front room gets morning light streaming through the windows, so I needed to protect them from fading. Of course, you’re thinking “she still has her books in boxes because she has no bookshelves” and you would normally be right, however….

…. the bookshelf has been completed 🥳 🥳! I cannot WOOHOO loud enough about this. My dad and I spent two and a half days last week designing, cutting and generally putting it together and I love it. Is it perfect despite our screwing the design up. The only worry I have? Not enough shelf space 😳. Yes, I have that many books. My mom made the mistake of suggesting I pare down my collection and she received this look in return 😒. Just kidding, though I can’t believe she made such a suggestion 😆.

But before I start unpacking, I have to decide whether or not to paint it 🤔? I may just paint the frame of it, or I may just leave it as is – one year is long enough to be away from my books 📚. Thoughts?

So that is why I was out of pocket all last week. When I wasn’t building or shopping for supplies, I was utterly exhausted, and my brain would just shut down (until I went to sleep of course 😜). I was still recuperating over the weekend, hence no “Not A Recap” post. It’s hell to get old 🙄.

That is my tale of “woe” this week 🤪. Back tomorrow with my snarky take on The Courtship.

Greeting My Lovelies, I trust you had an amazing first week of spring. And if it snowed this past weekend, keep that s🤬🤬 to yourself 😜.

It’s going to be a quiet week here at My Lemons My Lemonade because my parents are coming into town for the next few days and that means project time! My dad is great about helping with things around the house and hopefully we will solve this bookshelf dilemma and I can finally get my books unboxed – it’s only been a year! I miss my books 😢.

One project I was hoping to accomplish is finally hanging some window coverings downstairs. To that end, I went out looking, found some drapes that would look great and scooped them right up. When I got them home, I pulled out two (of four panels) out to hold them up against the wall just to make sure they worked with the paint color. However, I realized after pulling them out and checking what height to hang them at, that there is one slight problem – they are too short 🤦‍♀️. I mean they are the normal length (84 inches), but the windows are long and the height they sit at causes the drapes to sit short. Because of course they do 🙄. But I’ll wait until my folks get here and see if we can problem solve this issue.  Otherwise, these go back and I’m going to have to pay more for custom drapes (patented dramatic sigh in 3…2…1… 😮‍💨)

Anyway, I’ll be back Friday with my weekly Not a Recap of The Courtship, as ridiculous as it is 😆. 

Have an amazing week 😊!

As many of you know, I moved into my house 1 year ago this week. And it was a new build, which always comes with some issues. Mine have mostly been minor. But one issue that has emerged may take an act of congress to fix!

Three weeks ago, while taking a shower in one of those pre-made insert kind, I shifted my position and heard a popping sound. I look down and there is a crack in the floor of the shower with some of the fiberglass missing 😮! So, like one does when one has these issues, I contacted the builder’s customer service department as the shower is covered under warranty. I was then guided to call the plumbing people directly to submit a warranty claim. All of this occurred on March 7^th. That day I called the number listed and got a voicemail so of course I left a message clearly stating my name, number, and address. Two days go by, no return call. So, on Wednesday, I try again getting the same voicemail and leaving the same message as before. Again – no response. Now this is a big pet peeve of mine. If I leave a voicemail for a company, I expect about a 24-hour turnaround to respond to my message, so my frustration level is climbing (I’m about a 3-4 on the frustration meter at this point 😡).

I leave it until Monday, the 14 because at this point it isn’t going to get fixed this week. And did I mention that I have to shower in the guest bath with a shower liner that insists on attacking me the entire time I’m showering 😳, the guest bath that is down the hall from my master? Yeah, that’s fun 🙄. 

Soooo, Monday the 14^th rolls around and I try the number again, vowing to contact the builder’s customer service agent if I can’t get a live human on the phone. Lo and behold a real person answers (hallelujah). I explain the situation and she tickity taps on her keyboard and tells me she can schedule an appointment for the following Tuesday (the 22^nd) so of course I jump on it. Now I’m happy camper. Well, that was short lived because she calls me back immediately to say that the warranty department has to come out, take pictures and investigate, so cancel the appointment I just scheduled 🤦‍♀️. Now I have to wait for a call from the warranty dept. to schedule that appointment (frustration level = 5 😡😡). Then the 18^th rolls around, and I have to call again. And give the same information again. And still, no contact from the repair people. I wait then I call on Monday (the 21^st) twice and get the same damn voicemail that never returns calls 🤬🤬🤬. Try again Tuesday, get a live person, and give my information for the THIRD time. And still no call! The absolutely worst customer service of all time! At least this time I made a point to get her to send me something via email so that they can’t say I didn’t contact them before the 1-year warranty expired (not so dumb after all 😉). Friday rolls around and still no follow-up on my complaint. Now I call back, wanting to know who do I need to call and yell at about this, because I know that the person taking the information is not at fault and probably has limited power. Unfortunately, the woman I spoke to was out, so of course I called today. She was going to escalate the situation to management, so we’ll see if that yields any results.

So while I await a response, I’m left to wonder which deity I pissed off recently (insert patented dramatic/woe is me sigh here 😮‍💨😆).

Time to smudge 😁!

Some days I just have to tackle certain issues. Luckily, it’s only about once a week, if that 😜.

A while back I did a fact post about myself and one fact I mentioned is that I am childless by choice. I also said that I would discuss more about in a later post. Well today is later, and I really want to talk about this topic. 

Let me dispel a few myths first. 

1. I don’t hate children. In fact, I love children – other people’s children 😁. 
2. That I am selfish – not so, I made a choice that works best for me.
3. “You’re so good with children, you would make a great mother.” No, that’s not how it works 🙄! 
4. And lastly (when I was much younger) “You’ll change your mind”. Obviously, I didn’t. And now I can’t (menopause 😉), not that I would.

Now a little deeper dive into each myth. I don’t know why people think that choosing not having children equates to “well you must not like them”? Is this some sort of shaming tactic to push people into a lifestyle they don’t want? I enjoy spending time with any child in my world. I have been the human jungle gym for many a child over the years as I let them abuse me mercilessly time and time again and I still come back for more.  I have spoiled my niece and nephews with love, affection, and occasional treats. Then I send them home having enjoyed my time with them with little need for discipline. I get to be the cool aunt, not the one who makes them eat their vegetables and tells them not to do this or that, while still respecting their parents’ rules (in case my sisters read this 😆😆). And I love that dynamic. It’s how I was built.

Deciding a long time ago that pushing a child out of my lady parts (being delicate for the men 😁) was not something I ever had a desire to do is not selfish. When you don’t feel it in your soul, when holding a baby doesn’t give you that “I want one of these” moments, then you know what you know, and you live accordingly. That is not selfish!

Also, being good with children does not mean I would make a great parent (if there is any scientific study out there that definitively proves that assertion, I would like to see it). I’m great with animals, doesn’t mean I’d be a great vet 🤷🏼‍♀️. The reality is I am not the most patient person, and I don’t care what anyone says, having a child does not teach you patience. I’ve had dogs for over 20 years, and they haven’t taught me better patience, why would having a child be any different? Again, when you know you know, and I know that I am not a person who wanted to have children.

The worst of the worst I endured (in my younger years) because of my decision were the people, especially women 🙄, who were just determined to convince me to have a baby.  Like it was my only reason for being. The stories about how wonderful giving birth is (LIE) and how fulfilled I will feel only pushed me further into my resolve. Only one older friend of mine had the decency to be honest about how awful childbirth is and how difficult raising children can be. She was one of few who supported my right to choose.

I know I am not the only woman who has fought (good lord I actually wrote fighted first 🤦‍♀️😜) against this belief system that a woman’s purpose in life is to bear children. People might not say it like that, but it’s definitely the undertone of many a conversation that has been had by women who choose not to have children and women who can’t. I heard it over and over, from friends to acquaintances to passing strangers. 

For those of you who chose to have children, imagine living in a society where that was the “atypical” choice and you had to constantly defend your decision and told that’s against the norm for your gender. I’m betting you wouldn’t like it any more than I liked people telling me I should/need to have children.

Can we just stop this ridiculous narrative along with the need to force someone to defend their situation? Especially for women who are unable to have children. Imagine how hurtful it is to listen to someone telling you that you should/need to bring a child into this world. Then feeling like you have to explain why you can’t. Defending myself was hard enough and my choice was deliberate. It has to be ten times worse for someone who can’t bear a child and wants to.

So, let’s get out of other women’s wombs and worry about our own damn selves (don’t get me started on some of these awful laws being put into place 😡). If someone tells you they don’t want children believe them. If they change their mind, they are allowed that right and keep your “I told you so” to yourself! 

Whatever the case, it’s no one’s f🤬🤬🤬ing business but the woman and her partner (if that’s the situation).

As always, feel free to chime in, comments are always open – just lead with kindness in mind.

Note: Throughout the piece I said that I didn’t want to have children, as in bear them. That doesn’t mean I would not take in my niece or nephews (two of which are adults now) if such a situation arose. I would do so willingly and without hesitation. They all have my heart, and I do almost anything for them, including raising them if needed.