This is my little corner for the things that don’t quite fit anywhere else: small victories, petty annoyances, unexpected favorites, funny moments, and the random pieces of everyday life that felt worth remembering.
No major life updates. No deep essays. Just life lately, in smaller pieces.
──── ❤️ Tiny Wins ────
❤️ Kindle Unlimited blinked first.
My two-month promotional Kindle Unlimited subscription was about to expire, so I went to cancel it like the financially responsible adult I occasionally pretend to be.
Then Amazon immediately offered me three more months for a total of $9.99.
Not per month. Total.
Considering the regular price is $11.99 a month, I accepted immediately.
I genuinely love KU for psychological thrillers, lesser-known authors, and random books I probably wouldn’t discover through the library. When I don’t have it, I just rotate back to library books for a while. A tiny little reading ecosystem.
❤️ The 3D printer accessory finally appeared.
Caleb had been waiting for months for a specific 3D printer accessory to come back in stock. It’s the attachment that will let him print in multiple colors at once, which in his world is basically revolutionary technology.
It finally came back in stock.
For approximately one day.
Luckily, we jumped on it before it disappeared again. Victory by speed-clicking.
❤️ Kindness counts.
Holden was invited to another birthday party recently, but what made this one feel special was something the birthday girl’s mom told me.
Only a handful of kids from the class were invited, and she made a point to tell me she was glad Holden could come because her daughter has been dealing with some bullying at school.
Apparently Holden has been kind to her.
As parents, we spend a lot of time worrying about behavior, school, manners, screen time, and whether our kids are listening to literally anything we say. Sometimes it’s nice to get a reminder that the character stuff matters too.
❤️ The civil service test wasn’t as terrible as expected.
I had been dreading taking a civil service test. Not because I was especially nervous about it, but because I simply did not want to sit there and take a test for three hours.
A test I had willingly signed up for, mind you.
But once I got there, I got in the zone. I finished in a little over two hours and actually felt pretty good about how I did.
Tiny win: the thing I was dreading turned out to be completely manageable.
❤️ Holden’s moving-up ceremony.
Holden had his moving-up ceremony at school, which means he’s officially starting third grade next year and moving on to a new school.
Afterward, we went to McDonald’s, just the two of us.
A small little ending to one chapter before the next one begins.
❤️ Three weeks without a migraine.
I realized recently that I went nearly three entire weeks without a migraine.
That may not sound exciting, but after dealing with migraines for nearly two decades, it’s a pretty big deal.
A few months ago, my neurologist and OB both worked to make some medication adjustments. At the time, it was hard to know whether the changes were actually helping or if I was just having a good stretch.
Now I’m starting to wonder if the plan actually worked and everything has finally had time to fully kick in. I’m trying not to jinx it, but I’m cautiously optimistic.
❤️ The Voortman wafer quest.
I used to eat Voortman wafer cookies years ago and was recently reminded that they exist. Since they’re sugar-free, they felt like the perfect excuse to revisit a favorite snack from the past.
Unfortunately, finding them turned into a scavenger hunt.
I checked Walmart. Nothing. Target. Nothing. Amazon had them, but only at absurd prices and multi-packs.
Then I finally discovered they had them at Family Dollar.
Are they mostly marketed toward old people? Perhaps. Do I care? Not even a little.
❤️ Walmart+ came through.
Last week was packed. Between chaperoning Caleb's field trip, a dentist appointment, a musical with my aunt, and a wedding, I was not interested in adding yet another trip to the store for gift bags and cards.
Instead, I ordered everything online using Walmart+'s free shipping.
I wasn't entirely convinced it would work. There are approximately one million greeting cards in existence, and I had specifically picked out the ones I wanted.
Somehow, they found what I wanted and shipped them in time.
A very small victory, but one that saved me an errand during a week when I absolutely did not want another errand. And it became a double win a few days later when I also discovered that they ship gift cards. This really came in handy with needing to buy Father’s Day and end-of-year teacher gifts.
❤️ The $9 wedding dress gamble paid off.
My cousin requested that guests wear all black to her aforementioned wedding, which sent me scrambling because I didn't really have anything appropriate.
With time running out, I found a black dress on Amazon for $9 and had my aunt order it for me with her Prime shipping. It was very much a shot in the dark because if it didn't work, I wasn't going to have much time to come up with Plan B.
I ordered it in a large, and when I started putting it on, it initially felt tight. Then I got it on completely, looked in the mirror, and realized it actually worked. I'm just used to wearing baggier clothes.
Cheap, reasonably flattering, and wedding-appropriate. For nine dollars, that's practically a miracle.
──── 👎 Petty Woes ────
👎 The convenience fee was not convenient.
I recently shopped around for new auto insurance, switched companies, and thought I had found a better deal. Naturally, my new policy has already gone up several dollars, because apparently savings are a temporary emotional experience.
When digging into the price increase, I also discovered they had been charging me a $5 "convenience" fee every month because my autopay was linked to my debit card instead of directly to my checking account.
The debit card that is connected to the same damn checking account.
I switched it over to routing/checking, and now the fee should only be $1. So technically I fixed it, but I will still be retroactively annoyed about every unnecessary $5 they already took from me and refused to refund.
👎 My ongoing feud with Amazon customer service.
A few months ago, I returned two Amazon items and received the usual advance refund after dropping them off.
Then Amazon decided they never received the items and charged me for both of them again. Even though the tracking (which they could see and acknowledged) showed the date, time, and place that I dropped it off when it was scanned in.
Since then, I chatted with multiple customer service representatives. Every single one assured me the refund had been processed and everything was taken care of.
And every single time, the refund somehow failed to materialize.
Finally, after talking to the sixth person (yes, really!) and threatening to file a chargeback, the refund magically appeared.
At this point, I’m less annoyed about the money and more annoyed that I apparently had to unlock the final boss level of customer service to get it back.
👎 The field trip sunburn.
I went on an outdoor field trip with Caleb and came home with a sunburn, because apparently I needed a physical souvenir from the day.
I understand that this is technically my fault, but I still reserve the right to be annoyed by it. Especially because it physically hurt to brush the hair on the top of my head for at least three days.
👎 The dentist disappointment.
I've dealt with gum sensitivity and on-and-off pain for several years now. It wasn't constant, but it was frequent enough that I finally decided it was time to see a specialist.
After the exam, he determined that I need gum grafts on three teeth.
And honestly? I was relieved.
After years of wondering what was causing the problem, it felt good to finally have an explanation and a plan to fix it.
Then the receptionist came in and informed me that my dental insurance wouldn't cover the procedure.
The estimated cost: nearly $4,000.
So I went from "Great! We have a solution!" to "Absolutely not" in about thirty seconds.
👎 Nobody thought to mention there was a problem.
I've spent a surprising amount of time lately acting as the middleman between systems that apparently refuse to talk to each other.
First came my medication renewal prior authorization. Once again (this happened last time too!), a key piece of information was left out, which means I've been bouncing back and forth between my doctor's office, the insurance company, and the prior authorization team trying to get everyone on the same page.
Then there was my retirement loan. Months ago, I signed up to have automatic payments deducted from my paycheck. Nothing happened.
When I finally called to ask why, I was informed that the request hadn't gone through because my employer wasn't listed correctly as my primary employer.
Apparently everyone knew there was a problem except me.
A quick email, letter, phone call, carrier pigeon, smoke signal... literally anything would have been appreciated.
👎 The ongoing pants situation.
I’ve spent my entire adult life being annoyed by pants. At 5'3", they’re almost always too long, too bunchy, or otherwise determined to remind me that the fashion industry apparently designs everything for women built like gazelles.
Lately, though, the situation has somehow become even stranger. Several pairs have developed an aggressively saggy crotch situation that I can no longer ignore.
After some investigation, I think the problem is a combination of weight loss and the fact that I should probably have been buying petite sizes all along.
The good news is that I may have finally identified the problem. The bad news is that I’m now questioning every pair of pants I own.
👎 The mystery of the missing Disappeared seasons.
One of my favorite true crime shows is Disappeared, and lately I’ve been on a mission to find the early seasons. Namely, seasons 1 – 4.
This turned out to be much harder than locating some of the missing people featured on the show.
One service had some seasons but not others. Another had random episodes scattered throughout. Discovery+ wasn’t helpful. HBO Max wasn’t helpful. Amazon wasn’t helpful. I seriously checked about ten different services, and every time I thought I’d found the answer, I’d discover another chunk of episodes had vanished into the void.
For a show called Disappeared, the streaming situation is admittedly on brand, but I would still like to file a complaint.
👎 The Walmart dessert cup disappointment.
I kept seeing Walmart’s new dessert cups all over Facebook and eventually gave in. The Biscoff and Dubai Chocolate varieties were the first ones to make it into my cart.
I had high hopes, especially for the Biscoff one because I love anything Biscoff flavored.
Unfortunately, both were kind of underwhelming. They looked much more exciting than they tasted.
Mostly they just tasted like plain cake wearing a fancy costume. Thankfully they were inexpensive, so the financial damage was limited.
──── ✦ Until Next Time ✦ ────
Some weeks feel bigger than others. Some are mostly small victories, minor inconveniences, parenting plot twists, questionable snacks, and stories I’d forget if I didn’t write them down. Either way, this felt worth keeping.
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