Whatever you may be doing right now, stop and consider looking back 10 years just for sh*ts and giggles. You know, just to see what you might see. In photos. Go on, it’ll be fun.
According to Urban Dictionary, it’s a thing to do.
Whatever, right?! I can’t be the only one to waste some time, so join me. It is what I did for entertainment this morning instead of finishing up my tax papers.
Ten years ago, I was attempting to do my tax prep too. The animals joined me. As I messed up the dining room table.
People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.
Winnie the Pooh
Yesterday, I set out to do tax prep again. While Mr. made an emergency repair to install a new water heater at a rental unit, I felt guilty I couldn’t help him. So I made myself stay at my desk and I’ll be damned, with a bit of motivation, I made great strides – all bank accounts are reconciled!! Yay me.
Where was I again? Oh, yeah, telling you about my distractions.
Sometimes you have to rethink the things you thought you thought through.
Winnie the Pooh
Before I show you the photo I found. It is important to note it is coincidentally what I went looking for in the first place when I read the prompt of “whatever”. I wasted quite a bit of time looking. Down memory lane.
Whatever would I do if I were sitting in the funeral parlor looking back upon my life, I thought to myself, “Would I care about tax prep season?”
As I was looking for the exact photo, in our archives of way too many photos, I could hear Mom’s voice. I’ll never forget my mom’s ability to pull this phrase out of nowhere to fulfill a sentence and keep us captivated and waiting for more. Or for her to finish a thought. I think I may have a bit of her in me…just saying!
Whatever, whatever else, and whatnot.
My mom in her early stages of dementia
Then I found it…
Me: “Mom, can you make a wish? Is it okay if we tie this balloon to Betsy?”
Mom: “Sure, whatever.”
We took her and “Betsy” – that she constantly forgot and said, “Whatever” when reminded she should be using it – to Olive Garden for lunch. I had made a fun gift bag for her of essential items that one needs in assisted living, including new socks. She was impressed.
Then the clock and my empty coffee cup reminded me of how long I had gone astray from more important tasks. “Whatever!” I said, and then remembered the real pictures I wanted to share with you today!
The storm…the windy, winter storm of 2/18/2022. We’re getting kind of numb to this kind of weather, and the fact that we’ve been stuck inside. This storm blew and blew for 24 hours. Whatever…Spring will come sooner or later. And, I messed with the order of the photos but gave up. Whatever. I seriously need to get back to work and finish the task at hand!
PS – in case you’re wondering, I’m thankful for my Valentine’s gift that fixed our washing machine. Isn’t it beautiful?!
Post inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “whatever.” Use the word “whatever” any way you’d like. Bonus points if you start your post with it. Have fun!
PS – What is your favorite Winnie the Pooh quote? How is the weather where you live?
Sweet photos of your mother, Shelley, God bless her. Those snowy photos are beautiful but wow, too cold! I hope it will warm up soon for you guys. Sunny and 72 in Las Vegas today, just ride for biking!
Thank you, John. It has been cold – it did get to 54 yesterday, but it’s back down to snow producing temps now. 72 and sunny sounds like perfect weather. Glad you’re getting out to enjoy it!
Whatever, your meanderings were quite lovely on this blowy Sunday Morning – okay almost noon of this and that
Thank you, Chris, I’m thankful you stopped by to check out the post. I hope your week is a delightful one.
Sometimes it’s nice to take the long way home between tasks that really should be done. Every year, I set out to have our taxes ready by the first week of March. First week, last week, whats the difference, really? I liked your photos, especially the ones with your mom.
LOL – I agree, what week things happen seems irrelevant. I’m aiming for the end of Feb for my completion date. On a side note, I solicited the assistance of the person who does all the shopping to match receipts with statements. It’s enlightening to see how much the process should be streamlined to avoid frustration. 🤔😉 And we both agreed that we’re feeling less and less motivated to know what we spend $ on if it’s not tax deductible.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the photos. I enjoyed your post too – great photos and fun tips on how to adjust to a new iPhone. I have to do that one of these days too.
Yeah, if it’s not deductible, I’m just going to assume it was necessary. I am not impressed with Face ID. I would like it if Apple would bring back a touch ID before I upgrade.
WHAT??? The new phones have Face ID? I don’t want that either. Sigh.
IPhones after the iPhone 8 have no fingerprint option. Unless you buy the iPhone SE – they keep saying they are going to add it back, but they haven’t yet. The hope is they will add it to the iPhone 14.
Thanks for the clarification. I’ve been toying with upgrading, but do still like my SE that I have. I hope by the time I get around to changing they’ll have the fingerprint option back.
The rumor is that there’s a new SE coming in April and that it still has a fingerprint reader.
Yay, there’s hope…….if I can just wait it out a bit longer!
The joy of looking through old photos! I do miss having actual photo albums to thumb through on rainy days with nothing better to do. Wonderful photos of your mom. Isn’t it amazing how a single photograph can make us remember an event in such detail?
So sorry for the wintry weather. The snow looks lovely in some of the photos but I’m not a fan of the cold and will enjoy seeing it rather than living it. We had some chilly days the last few weeks and even a night of freezing temps that some of bushes were a bit burned. But warmer days are back and today I enjoyed being outside with blue skies and warm sunshine. Hoping the snow melts soon and you get an early spring.
Hi Lisa, great to hear from you! Yes, old photos are treasures. I often wish these photos were in photo albums, but they’re not. I don’t even have them labeled well enough to search, only by date. At least we have that going for us.
The weather is what it is. Last year I was looking forward to my trip to Florida. We reached the high of 54 yesterday, and I stood out on our deck to soak up a few sun rays. I’m glad your freezing temps didn’t last – enjoy the opportunities you have to get out in the nice weather! It’s good for the soul 🙂
Taxes? What taxes? I should get on that too. But, whatever. A snowstorm like that hit us too and now it’s almost all melted. Very strange weather. I am (as always) looking forward to Spring. Coincidentally was my Oma’s favorite word – preceding almost every thing she said. Or it was more like “coincidentally honey…” and then on to the subject at hand. Ten years ago seems like a lifetime. So much has changed.
And! that IS a beautiful Valentine’s gift.
LOL – that’s been my approach to taxes too. If I didn’t pay attention to them, they’d just disappear. I’m close to the end of preparation and will celebrate by keeping current for a month or two and then repeat my routine until next year.
Hi Andrea, great to hear from you! Aw, coincidentally is a fun word to say. Thank you for sharing your Oma’s story. I love how she added ‘honey’ to it too.
A working washing machine thanks to a loving handiman is a beautiful gift indeed. 💕
Hi Shelley, glad to pop in. It’s been a challenging few months, so I don’t get on WP as often as I’d like to. I’d take a working washing machine over candy and flowers any day!! 😄
I’m happy to see your comment. I TOTALLY get challenging times and lack of energy or time to hop onto WP. You’re always welcome to pop in when it works in your schedule! 🥰
Thanks. 🙂
Howdy. Here in greater Philadelphia the weather has yo-yoed a lot this winter. Many frigid days. And plenty on the fairly warm side. I think I heard that the predicted high for tomorrow is about 70 degrees F, which is pretty wild. See you. Whatever.
Hi Neil – thanks for sharing your weather update.
I hope it evens out soon. I see that weather ups and downs aren’t the only thing going up and down on your blog since the last time I stopped by to read. 😉 😆😉
Funny, I just wrote about distractions too… maybe it’s that time of year 🙂 I don’t think going down memory lane is a waste of time at all, though. It looks like you have some great pictures of your mother and I love hers sweatshirt!
Sorry to gloat but our weather has been fabulous.
It must be that time of year – squirrels everywhere! I love your post – I can definitely relate. Enjoy the fabulous weather. If I had your weather, the squirrels would definitely take a back seat. 😉
Now you’ve got me wondering what I was doing 10 years ago. I know I was still working…but what FUN things did I do back then? I’m sorry about your mom, that must have been sad and scary all at the same time. Time is flying so fast 10 years feels just like yesterday. I’m going to go look in my photos and see what I can see.
It seems like the last years of working tend to blur together. 10 years ago, my job was way more stressful. I’m not done with working – yet, so I should take down notes so I can remember what it was like to be me when I look back 10 years ago again some day.
Yes, it was a challenging time with my mom. I can look back now at the good times.
I hope you had fun looking back at your photos!
Yes, I chose a file called Thanksgiving in Alabama, 2012. Turns out my aunt was with us that year, and that was the last time she went down with me. I need to call her, she was diagnosed with colon cancer this summer…so time is short.
Aw, that’s a bittersweet moment. I hope you and your Aunt can connect soon. I’m sorry to read about her cancer. I’m sure she’ll appreciate hearing from you. 🤗🙏🏻
I went back to see what I was writing about 10 years ago on the blog and found that we’d been to FL on vacation in Feb. Talk about different times, when traveling was easy! As for Winnie the Pooh quotes, I just used one in my post last week. In Eeyore’s wise words: “We can’t all and some of us don’t. That’s all there is to it.”
Ah, yes, winter vacations a thing of the less complicated past. I keep seeing reminders of our trips as I toss on another layer of clothing to keep warm. I miss easy travel days where the only complication was if the darn swimsuit would fit.
I love that Eeyore quote. Your post was very intriguing. I wonder if 10 years ago the ‘like’ factor was easier to come by or not? Thanks for keeping us thinking, Ally, you have a gift for that!
Well, that was a fun trip down memory lane. We were siding our previous home and having a new porch built on the front. Wow. I don’t miss the construction crew outside every morning. LOL.
I’m one of those who files taxes the day they can be filed. Over the course of the year, I enter everything in Quicken, so it’s all lined up. (I’ve decided having all of that at my fingertips is a stress reliever for me…what can I say?) Got into the habit when we ran our business out west, I guess. So our refund has been in the bank for a couple weeks already. Much easier to do quickly when retired, may I just say? And our taxes are pretty simple now. In the past, I would have been looking for more distractions too. 😂
Hi Laurel! Wow – that’s a big project you went through. I think we remodeled more than one apartment back then. Where has all that energy gone?
You’re my role model – EVERY year I set out to do the same thing with my tax prep. Every May when the weather gets nicer I deviate from my goal and then in the following January shame myself into waiting until February. 🙄 I should screenshot your comment and post it on my desk for a reminder that it can be done and should be done in such a positive producing manner. Maybe you’ve converted me!?! 🤔😁
LOL. It’s just my OCD on the money front…a feature of my heritage, I think. It does make taxes easy, though.
Your OCD is inspiring to me! Easy peasy taxes would make my first quarter of the following year a much nicer time! 😉
Loved the picture of you and your mom. I too am done with these crazy storms and ready for some semblance of normal weather…even if it is still February.
Thank you, Anita. I appreciate you stopping by! I agree, the storms can go, I’ve had enough of them this year. They’re making February seem so long.
I went back and looked at a few 2012 photos and found one of the few of myself that I actually like – sitting on a floaty thing in a lake with a straw hat on my head and adult refreshment in my hand. That was a fun adventure!
I love the photo of your mom. I have a few, too, of my mom that make me smile. It’s been three years since she passed, but I still miss her. Even with dementia, we had some very heartwarming moments and it was in these years I felt closest to her.
Hugs for you, Shelley, and I hope you got those taxes done. This is only the second year I had someone prepare my taxes, but I’ll probably go back to doing it myself again in 2023.
Here we are, with the crappy cold and snowy weather again. How many inches did you get from this last storm? We didn’t get much, but that’s how our winter has been going – the worst of it passes to the north or south and we just feel the cold.
Soon, spring will be here. I can feel it. Have a wonderful week!
Yay, that sounds like a wonderful memory of 2012.
I remember that you lost your mom to dementia too. She lived a long life. I’m glad you have heartwarming memories and photos of her to treasure. My mom passed away at the age of 70, just 3 months shy of her 71st birthday. Way too young. Her type of dementia was preventable.
The taxes are almost done – I just have to print and review the stuff this weekend. If I’d just stay on top of it all year long, I’d be done and paying what we probably owe by now. LOL.
We ended up with about 4″ of snow. It wasn’t as bad as they predicted. They even closed schools.
I’m ready for Spring too! I hope your week is going well too. Mine is flying by, which I guess is a good thing.
Sometimes you just have to say “whatever”. Those are sweet photos of your mom and I can see why you named your pup Copper. A perfect fit!
Dang, WordPress – your comment was stuck in my spam folder! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We do have some happy memories despite the difficult times we went through. Copper was my pal through all of it. The moment we saw him we knew his name should be Copper. xoxo
Hi
Enjoyed this post and how cool that your mom was wearing a sweatshirt with the whatever word on it! And the way she had that phrase to also tie in! Such a fun share and the wisdom of Pooh is always a treat
I saw my mother recently and one of her well known sayings is “you are up until you win”
Which means keep trying (early on my spouse was teasing as he asked what it really meant)
–
Our weather had sunshine this week and Guess what? I got a touch of sunburn on my face yesterday while doing a little garden clean up!
That was pretty awesome because usually don’t get that much sunshine (enough to show on the face) until April!
But now wr have rain and chilly temps – but you know how we can approach it…
“Whatever”
Hahaha
Hi Yvette, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I love your mom’s saying too – that’s awesome you had to explain it to your spouse. Some day I’ll expand into the sayings my dad says.
I’m jealous of the sunshine and warmer weather. I look forward to getting my first sunburn in the garden.
We had more snow and it’s -1F so no sunbathing for me. Whatever, right!
Take care, and thank you for stopping by – always a delight to hear from you.
How fun to look back at a day a decade ago. Those are nice pictures of your mom, Cooper as a pre-teen and his fur siblings. I take my taxes and have them done as I’ve never done them but I have to compile everything this weekend and not looking forward to it. I used to file every bill paid nice and neatly and now, since I pay everything online, I just throw the utility bills or anything else paid into a box to sort thru at tax time. Not a great way to do things as it then takes a complete day to winnow it down to the piles I need – sigh. I love the quote by Winnie the Pooh “sometimes you have to rethink the things you thought you thought through.” The snow … I feel for you on that topic for sure!
Thank you, Linda. I thought you’d enjoy the furry siblings photos.
We’re kindred spirits – I have a box that I use too. I do try to file as I go into individual envelopes for every month. I hope when you get around to your tax prep time it goes smoothly for you. As you prepare, think of Pooh!
The snow…ugh, we have a fresh 4″ coating. Ugh!
I did enjoy the furry siblings Shelley. I used to file things quarterly in a bin that had hanging folders – easy peasy, neat … but that was before blogging. I think of BB and AB (before and after blogging) and the change not only my life, but my orderliness in this house has taken. 🙂
LOL – I don’t mean to chuckle, but I TOTALLY understand your BB and AB comment. 😉 I might make some big moves in March while I wait out the end of winter. So I’m READY for Spring when it arrives.
I am going to hunker down this weekend – crummy weather and if I go out mid-day or early afternoon because the ice has melted (or is soft) then, it messes up my day. I really like to walk early, so I seem to not get as much done. But I shall also put my nose to the grindstone this weekend. Ugh.
I’m cheering you on!! 📣📣📣 Let’s be done with taxes and freezing temps by the end of FEB!!
Thanks Shelley – I need all the help I can get to get this walking back at full speed again.
We made it outside both Saturday and Sunday – it was too cold on Sunday to make it further than 1.5 miles, but today it was warmer. I think Spring is on its way!!!
I think you’re right Shelley – it was cold and windy here today, but no ice or snow, so that was wonderful. P.S. – I did not do my tax stuff. I figured February had behaved so badly, that I needed a break and will buckle down next weekend – who knows what the weather will be like next weekend, so “seize the day!”
Yes, carpe diem!
Glad I did – freezing rain again on Friday … then I’m content to hunker down inside.
Warm and wonderful memories of your mother. It’s fascinating how certain small items become important to us. The socks for you and my late dad’s shirts for me. My older daughter is making sachets out of them for my dresser drawers. It’s a way to keep him close to me. Tax time is NOT my favorite and I don’t blame you for your distractions.
Aw, thank you for sharing your thoughts Margaret. I agree, it’s fascinating how we place importance on small items. The sachets sound like a beautiful way to keep your dad close.
I’m determined to be done with the tax prep by the end of the month. I’m on the home stretch now…after I get back from my distractions. 😆😆😆
Wacky weather here–cold today, warmer tomorrow, and windy–always windy. I love looking back at old photos. Could do that for hours! Luckily, Shutterfly emails me old photos of the boys so I don’t even have to go looking for them. I sure miss those chubby-cheeked smiles. Hope you’re well, Shelley, keeping warm and looking forward to spring!
Hi Rebecca, so happy to hear from you! I’m glad to read you’re surviving the wacky weather too.
Old photos are the best – I love how you describe the boys chubby-cheeked smiles. They’re growing up so fast, treasure every moment by capturing a photo or ten!
We’re doing well – anxious to do some different projects in March so I’m ready for spring outside in April.
Happy writing to you!! xoxo