Throwback Tuesday — This post is from 2017. Not much has changed except I don’t make homemade brownies often. The box mix will do in a pinch!
Aside from eating three brownies in a day this past weekend (I can’t believe I did that!), I don’t feel guilty about much. I have accepted my idiosyncrasies and no longer apologize. Sometimes I explain but never apologize.
There are things I don’t like to do. I don’t do them. On the other hand there are things I like to do that others may think is wasteful or ridiculous (daily Starbucks runs come to mind). No matter. I’m comfortable doing them anyway.
For example I’m not a traveler or a camper. I only travel to get someplace I want to be and I have to “want to be there” a lot to endure the rituals they now call traveling. Body searches, seats created for kindergarten children, extra charges for breathing air. You know what I mean.
Camping was never one of my loves. I can appreciate the beauty of sitting around a campfire in the evening but most of my memories are of freezing my butt off or gale force rains or aggressive biting bugs.
For several years I had a house in a beachside community. (No, it wasn’t ON the beach. Those homes cost a gazillion dollars.) I enjoyed it. It was a good getaway but there was twice the work and worry. Sometimes I miss it but when I hear of a nor-eastern storm coming up the coast, I’m grateful that someone else is worrying. I wish I had a friend with a beach house. That’s much more practical.
It’s all about different stages in life.
Some things make sense. You don’t do something because you don’t like to do it. Other things are more complicated. I have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). For those unfamiliar it means I have bathroom issues. When I gotta go, well…I gotta go. It peaks and wanes but it does guide what I do and where I go (literally and figuratively).
I never eat unless I know there is a bathroom available. I would never eat street food. Not because I’m a sanitary freak but because food trucks don’t come with potties.
I also like CLEAN potties. (Did you hear me pizza shops? You are the most disgusting!)
I’m cautious about concerts and plays. I rarely eat much beforehand because even if the venue has a bunch of potties, the lines are outrageous.
Anyone who has suffered from this, gets it. Those who don’t, have no idea why I think twice about attending something or downright turn down some events that may be awesome.
I used to have a sense of guilt about it but no more. Does it really matter what someone thinks? Do they think I’m boring? Perhaps, but do I care? Nope.
Everyone harbors secrets. Some folks have severe health issues that you can’t see. Makes my bathroom runs seem like a walk in the park. I try not to be all judge-y about things but I’m human and unless I understand, I sometimes am.
I realize that there is a root reason why people do things. Then again, sometimes I wonder if they are freaking nuts! Depends on my mood! Which reminds me, there are some brownies left over….

I’ve never been camping and don’t want to. I like the idea of a hotel or house. The beach would be nice.
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My theory is if the campgrounds don’t say Hilton, I’m not in.
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I agree
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A friend with a beach house is a good friend to have, but I’d settle for a friend with a truck.
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There have been times in my life when I would have loved a friend with a truck.
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I love the “I don’t care what other people think” stage of life. I just wish it came when i was younger.
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Me too! I wish that very badly!
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I like brownies, but I don’t bake, which is probably a good thing. I discovered a product called “Nature’s Bakery Brownie Bars” – you get six individually wrapped, two-in-a-package, very small double-chocolate brownies made from dates and I get them when they are on sale … they are otherwise ridiculously priced. Nature’s Bakery has other bars which are good and made with figs, or apple. I once liked to travel, but I wouldn’t do so now – too many things go wrong these days and besides, I don’t have a passport. It’s quite a rigamarole to get a passport now as I’m not a U.S. citizen. I have to plead “orphan” status since I know no one in Canada who can vouch for my signature and photo anymore so I’m fine with that and am grateful for the trips I have taken in the 70s and early 80s.
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I’m past traveling too and perfectly fine with that. I did a lot when I was young. The bars sound interesting. I like dates and figs. I was a big Newtons Fig bar fan back when I was young. I like dates, naturally sweet but here the packs they come in are too big for me.
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I like dates and figs too and I always liked Fig Newtons. I was reading comments about these bars once when they first came out and someone said “why not just eat Fig Newtons?” These have a unique taste and it’s difficult for me to stop at one package.
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If someone offers you something to eat or asks you if you want to go somewhere, “No, thank you,” is a complete sentence. I use it often.
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I use it myself.
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I have IBS and don’t feel like I need to explain it to anyBODY. It does not matter to anyone else and if it does they are not friend nor family. I always need my own bathroom, thank you very much. I have been having a desire for Publix brownies. I hate to camp and I hate to travel via air, car or boat. I have traveled enough in my 52 years of married life.
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We are very similar except I never had Publix brownies. I feel like I’m done traveling too.
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I should send you some Publix brownies. I had a dear friend send me her homemade Nisua bread. It made it from NC to Missouri via UPS. It was the best! Butter it up. A cardamom delight. If the heat would just break!
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We are now consistently in the 80s. So much more pleasant. We are not used to the 90s weather we had this summer. Never heard of Nisua bread. I’ll have to google it!
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I am lucky in that I don’t usually need to use a wc when out. Public loos are nearly always dirty and those in shops passable, but I don’t feel comfortable. However, I have been caught a few times and now always carry tissues and sanitizer gel in my bag!
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Yes, I carry a larger kit. I go through spells when I don’t use a public one for months and then bad spells. Enough said about that.
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Beautifully written, Kate (and so very appropriate for those of us who suffer from IBS)!
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Thanks! That was penned so many years ago but some things never change.
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I love knowing all these things about you and can relate to a good number of them too. I only do what I want (when I can get away with it), too. I also don’t care for the inconvenience of travel. I could go on, but suffice it to say, this is “my kinda” post!
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There are a lot of us!
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It’s funny how the older one gets, the more you develop a “give a #$%&” (paraphrased-heck). For me in this stage of life, I gotta really care to do a lot of things. Just last night I declined attending a couple of social functions for pet therapy and the hospital. For one, I no longer have a dog in the program and two, with a lot of recent changes in the hospital’s administration, I just felt it wasn’t worth it. And that was before I considered doing outside get togethers in the summer heat. That’s a whole other bridge I’m not willing to cross. This is freedom and I wish I’d adopted this attitude decades ago. Bravo to you. Now, would you be willing to share some of your brownies? ;)
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I will box up the brownies along with the rain and send it to you. We’ve had so much rain they are considering lifting the drought warning for our area. Yay!
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Wow, that’s great news! And I wouldn’t mind the rain or a brownie. 😉
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This whole post thing today has brownies on my mind. We were fortunate. We got a lot of rain over many days without flooding or torrential downpours. Everything is sooooo green!
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Good for you! I’m still hopeful we’ll receive some rain soon. 🤞🏻
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Me too!
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I have that pottie thing too … it is really a challenge sometimes….
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I know! First thing I check out when I go somewhere new is WHERE IS THE POTTIE!
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I love this … lol!
My mom had pottie issues to the point my daughter knew every acceptable bathroom in the tri-state area. We really should have developed an app!
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There is an app for that (or there used to be). Unfortunately for my area it was very spotty.
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Haha … that’s because no one conferred with us.
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I see all kinds of conversation starters in this post! I will be back when I’ve caught up!
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I have never known anyone personally with that medical problem, but I am familiar with it, and I have a question. What happens if you eat/pig out on food that is the constipating type? Does that make any difference in how fast it goes through you?
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There are no foods that constipate me. I was put on an iron supplement and that was wonderful for a while. Then my body seemed to get used to it.
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That sounds really rough. You have my sympathy.
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Everyone has something.
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True!
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Let me say this my friend…….this post – along with a gazillion more of yours – speaks to me. I THINK a lot of these things but rarely say them. Potty issues (count me in that category), camping (hell no I won’t go), beaches (sand can get in the most awkward/painful/inconvenient spots!)…..oh but I can say I love walking along a beach early mornings or at sunset – as long as I can have a nice hot shower in a beautiful beachfront hotel afterwards. Anyway, my likes/dislikes have morphed a bit over the years but one of the bottom lines that has NOT changed is I do better when I’m COMFORTABLE. Yep and now that I’m practically 80 I’m pretty darn sure that won’t change!!!
Big Hugs, Pam
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Same here Pam and I’m older than you!!
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Exactly! I’m not the roughing it kind of gal. Never was. After my teens I refused to wear uncomfortable clothes even if they made me look like a million bucks. I did love my heels though. I wore 3″ spikes (that was high back then now I hear women totter on 5″!).
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Yep – I wore them too – complete with the pointed toes that ruined my feet forever. But we looked good!! I can’t imagine 5″ heels – I am sure I would develop a fear of heights………….
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If we lived in the same town, we’d be besties! :)
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