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Annie Fox, M.Ed., is an internationally respected parenting expert, award-winning author, and a trusted online adviser for tweens and teens.

Day 2: We’re all in the blender

June 9, 2009

 

Fresh Pea Soup

Cream of Fresh Pea Soup (2/3 blended)

My sister-in-law Randee sent me an email pointing out the fact that yesterday’s announcement of the Annoyance Challenge needed some editing. From her perspective I was creating a Meet-up for Grouches Anonymous. (Paraphrasing alert!) And that would leave out the 90% of us who are generally happy and don’t jump on the impulse to shout down the person at the next table whose broadcast of David Carradine’s uh… mishap, makes a god-awful pairing with your baigan bharta.

Rereading my post I could see where she was coming from. So I asked her to suggest a revision. She came back with something that described the phenonmenon of “hooking into” the “little annoyances” of life. “It’s like taking another route at a fork in the road. Turn the wheel and it’s behind me. Like magic! Other times I am hooked before I know it and immersed in it.”

Thanks, Rand. That fork-in-the-road metaphor nails it for me. When I’m at the fork and I’m nodding off at the wheel, high probability I’ll go this way — up the onramp to the Why Does This Sh$$% Always Happen To Me? Freeway. But on those rare occasions when I’m awake enough to pay attention to what’s going on I’m much more likely to turn that way, and end up grinning and parked in front of DQ. Sorry, I just returned from a road trip so the driving metaphors are strong in this one.

My objective in doing this 30 Day Annoyance Challenge is to to be more awake at the fork in the road. And if you’re reading this, maybe you’d like more of that in your life, too. The way I see it, any life practice that leads to more frozen treats sounds good to me.

But I’m also a little worried about whether I can actually do this because of that old “Watch what you wish for…” thing. I mean, here I am, wanting to examine, at close hand, the mental processes that get triggered when you’re at the fork and blogging about it every day. And in order to do that, I’ve got to take it from the realm of purely intellectual discussion into the belly of the dyspeptic beast that is Life. I’m picturing the Universe, one of my earliest subscribers, slyly arching her brow, stroking her chin and muttering “So, Annie, you want some real annoyances, you say? Oooookay. I can do that.”

So far, here’s the only thing that happened yesterday that was mildly annoying: I was pureeing the third and final batch of tender garden peas (slightly steamed) with turkey broth (frozen from April and microwaved) for this wonderfully simple yet delicious Cream of Fresh Pea Soup recipe from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest when the blender started oozing hot pea puree all over the base and counter. What to do? What to do? First I panicked. But the ooze could care less, so, in a race with gravity, I went to Plan B… unplug blender, lift the whole thing (base and all) and pour contents back into the pot.

Could have been a major annoyance. Wasn’t.

I’m guessing the Universe is going to kick it up a notch.

See you tomorrow.

Filed under: Annoyance Challenge,Parenting,Teens,Tips — Tags: , — Annie @ 2:34 pm
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3 Comments »

  1. I’m not quite sure how to join this challenge. So annoying that I sometimes miss the correct place to click.

    But there is an antidote. When I can’t see where to click, I have an excuse to reach out and ask for help.

    No major annoyances today, and that feels good.

    B. Lynn Goodwin
    http://www.writeradvice.com
    Author of You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers

    Comment by B. Lynn Goodwin — June 9, 2009 @ 9:23 pm

  2. Hi Lynn, To “join” simply read the posts each day and chime in when the Spirit of Annoyance moves you to share something of your own vast store of wisdom from living on Earth. If said spirit is sacked out in the back seat, do NOT resuscitate. (It’s so annoying when you don’t know how to spell a word so you can’t look it up to find out how to spell it!)

    Comment by Annie — June 9, 2009 @ 11:44 pm

  3. How nice to have accomplished what I set out to do. I am in such a good mood today that I don’t think anything could annoy me. Of course that’s when the negativity gremlins sometimes slip in through the back door.

    Lynn
    http://www.writeradvice.com
    Author of You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers

    Comment by B. Lynn Goodwin — June 10, 2009 @ 9:13 am

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