Day 24: Sometimes I Just Hit Record

Today's episode is a collection of real-life moments—from an unexpected visit with my granddaughter to preparing for surgery, growing my marketing business, and getting ready to welcome our new parish priest for dinner. Along the way, I share another beautiful love letter from Rebecca's 2017 project and tell a funny story about preparing every room in the house for a priestly blessing. Sometimes the best conversations are simply whatever is on your heart that day.

Transcript

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Good afternoon. Welcome to another edition of 10 unedited minutes with Marlena. It is Tuesday, July 21st. It is a little bit later in the afternoon because I chose to uh do a little bit of work uh before I recorded my podcast this morning. And so when I do that, it seems to happen later on in the day. So as I said, today is Tuesday. Um, let's get into it. This uh podcast is sponsored by my dear friend Rebecca Conklin Kleibomer. Um, Rebecca has agreed to sponsor me for two months, and as a result, I have decided to dedicate 60 days worth of episodes to my sweet dear friend Rebecca. And um, the first 30 days, we spent a little bit of time at the beginning of each episode just kind of loving on Rebecca, um, maybe sharing a fond memory of her and I. And I saved the final 28 days to for um a series of love letters. So back in 2017, uh, Rebecca spent the month of February and dedicated each day to writing a love letter to somebody that was very near and dear to her heart. So we are on uh day sixth. So Rebecca wrote this letter on February 6th. And if you want to hear the other ones, you can listen to my last uh five podcasts, right? So February 6th. Dear Lisa and Taylor, you don't know each other, but there are several similarities in the ways in the ways that I love your guts. I've met both of you through journalism, bright young girls, dedicated and passionate, equipped for both the profession itself and the climb you would have to make as a woman in it. Your commitment to telling the truth and sharing the news and stories of people's real lives is admirable, and exactly what this country needs from the fourth estate. One of you has left the hallowed halls of a newsroom and traded her press pass for a police badge. My credentials have changed too, of course, but we all still share this particular skill to ask the right questions, an innate sense of knowing what it is that we don't know yet, a drive to investigate and get to the bottom of something, to serve our communities and care about the people in them. Journalists are a bastion of these qualities, and we could never write or edit another word again and still carry them with us in whatever we do. How I love you for that. You both are solo mothers, one by intention and one unexpected, but both fucking great at it. You are raising these delightful, delicious boys, these bright and funny little pieces of you in the world, who will make it all the more awesome of a place. You are two of the people I have been most proud of to have mentored, even if it was just for a time or only part of the guidance you've received in your careers. The ways in which you have instructed and bolstered me are immeasurable, and you'll never know what it meant to me whenever you sent an atta girl my way. I'm not sure I could adequately articulate it, and that's saying something for us in the communications business. Know that it swelled my heart and my confidence. You're different ages, but technically both younger than me, and it's been a privilege to watch you blossom into womanhood, into these fierce creatures who have overcome extraordinary hardship and obstacles and every stupid little thing tossed into our stilettoed and ballet flatted way. Spellcheck really doesn't like stilettoed. What do you think, stilettoed? Whatever. They're gonna stomp the shit out of it all, even in sensible thick soled boots. I love you, Lisa. I love you, Taylor. Always Rebecca. So today is the first day in this series that I read a letter uh to two people that I don't know. And I I didn't if I knew them at the time, Rebecca, I don't remember knowing them. But um I feel like I'd know them a little bit better based on your letter. And they sound like beautiful women, beautiful single moms at the time. And they yeah, um, I don't know what to say about that. So great letter, Rebecca. I love this series that you started back in 2017, and if it would inspire one person to do this um for one month or even three days, whatever, to write a letter to somebody they love, then this makes this all worth it. For both you and me, I know that. So today, like I said, it's Tuesday. I honestly sat here before I hit record today. I sat here for a good five, ten minutes just trying to think about what I want to say. And my brain feels like it is so full of information that I just don't even know what to talk about. So I was like, you know what? Just fucking hit record and whatever happens, happens. Right? This microphone is like my best friend right now, and we're gonna see where this takes us. So it is partway through the week. Um I've been working really hard on my uh hook and rise um marketing. Uh obviously, I can't talk today. I've been working really hard with my hook and rise marketing company, and I've been doing some social media for my daughter's two businesses. One's a cleaning business and one is a massage and wellness uh business. And then I've been doing some self-promoting through that. Today I was lucky enough to spend a little bit of time with my amazing sweet dear little granddaughter. She, it was an unexpected visit on her part. Um, my daughter came for a well baby check, and um my granddaughter was supposed to stay home with dad, but she snuck along with mom and she got to spend the day with Grams. So that was beautiful. She's so cute. She's just getting so articulate and telling these funny, fun stories, and just has this way of getting whatever she wants from Grammy, and I don't hate it because that girl gets whatever she wants. Um this morning I had a doctor's appointment, and it was just uh a pre-check for surgery coming up in a couple weeks. Um, I'm all clear to go. We're ready to go. It will be in um two weeks from Thursday, and I'm a little nervous, but um just anxious to get it done. I'm more nervous, I'm gonna be honest with you guys. I'm more nervous about um my daughter going into labor while I'm having surgery or while I'm recovering, because I know she's gonna want me to be there. And if if I'm less than a week out of surgery, I don't know if I can be there. And so just pray. I pray that this girl, that this baby makes it to at least 36 weeks. At least 36 weeks and um is healthy and beautiful. I'm so excited about this baby though. Every time we get an ultrasound, uh she's beautiful and healthy and just growing, I feel like, against some pretty crazy odds that Hannah's body is putting her through. Um, but I can't wait. I'm excited about this. And the weather's beautiful this week. I've been sitting outside at night. I put up my patio lights um around my patio, so it allows me to sit out there even longer. And this year I improved my setup by plugging them into a smart plug. So now all I have to say is Alexa, turn on the patio and my lights come on. And every time I do something like that, it just the tech this technology in today's world amazes me. But um, I'm grateful. I'm grateful that I am able to have, you know, the ability to work it, to have those smart plugs, and grateful for the people that have uh invented them because it makes our lives a lot easier and safer. What am I what else am I gonna do for the day? Um I have to cook dinner yet. And which my husband's not even home right now, but I'm assuming he'll be home for dinner. I still have a little bit uh to do for the icon after I finish this podcast. There were two things that I forgot to do before I signed off of it for the day, and I need to go back and do it today. And I need to clean my house. Clean my house. I'm very excited, you guys. I'm having Father over for dinner on Friday, and um if you've been listening before, this is a new priest in Bluffton, and I think I told you this on Monday, but uh it was just yesterday. Um, but he told us at the end of Mass on Saturday that he is unapologetically inviting himself to everyone's house for dinner, and I signed up for Friday. I'm excited, I can't wait for him to uh visit us, get to know us a little bit more, um, and obviously I'm excited to cook for him because you know cooking is my love language, and he's gonna bless our house. So there's a funny story. I'll tell you this. So fat I've been emailing back and forth with Father because I wrote a uh welcome story on him for the icon. And so I had to email him questions and talk to him about it. So, anyway, um, when I signed up to have him over for dinner, he sent me an email to get my address and set up a time to come. And he also offered to bless our house, and he wanted to know if I wanted him to do that. And of course, um, I've been meaning to get this house blessed since the day we bought it, and I'm kind of getting sidetracked here. But the year we bought this house was the year that my all-time favorite priest, Father Dave, from Ada, got reassigned and left. And I wanted Father Dave to come and bless our house before he left, but it just we just couldn't work it out. So then um COVID hit, and everybody stopped going to church during COVID. And after, you know, we were kind of they opened church back up again. Um, I didn't go back for a while, and then um Father John, I knew him for a short time, but never really asked him to come and do it. And when um Father Kyle offered, I said, great. So anyway, we're emailing back and forth, and I and I said, Yes, I would love for you to bless my house. But Father, I've never had uh my house blessed and I don't know what to do. Do you have to do you have to go in every room to bless it? Because you know we all have that one room when we have company over. And he emailed me back and he said, um, yeah, I usually like to sprinkle some holy water into each room, but I can avoid that room if you want. I said, It's okay, father. I have a week to prepare, so I'm preparing, and I have to make sure every room in my house looks at least presentable, right? And trust me, I know you guys, not everybody's house is perfect, and neither is mine. But um, we're gonna work on that. I have my girls slated uh to clean my house on Friday. You know, my daughter Haley, who has the company Haley's cleaning team, that's what I'm getting in return for all this marketing is uh twice a month clean from them. So I'm excited for that. And the first one is Friday. So I have to have everything picked up because that's her policy when she cleans for her clients, is everything has to be picked up. So all she has to do is, you know, dust, wipe things off, and you know, do the cleaning part of it. So anyway, we're gonna wrap it up for there. Uh, that was 10 minutes of just whatever was running through my head today. And hopefully somebody found something interesting in it or at least made you laugh, whatever. But um, we're gonna wrap it up. Hopefully, I can end my day here soon, and um we'll be back tomorrow with another love letter uh from Rebecca. Thank you, Rebecca, for sponsoring these episodes. I'm getting a little sad that your sponsorship is almost um up. I am looking for another sponsor. So if you feel the need, um I do have some pretty exciting things coming up, some series that I'm planning or trying to plan, and um it'd be great to have a sponsor for it. So, or for anything, or for this show in general. So it's $25 a month, guys. It's a minimal investment. It just uh pretty much um covers the cost of my Buzz Sprout subscription, which Buzz Sprout is the uh platform that I use to push this podcast out to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, uh Prime Music, all all the podcast um streaming platforms. And I also uh post this to YouTube and I have started posting full episodes to TikTok as well. So there's plenty of places for you to listen to me. Hopefully, I reach somebody and um you know it's a positive experience for them. So I love you guys. Pray for me. I pray for you every single day, and uh we'll see you tomorrow. Bye.