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Not To Put Too Fine A Point On It…

April 25, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 2 Comments

…but after many years of careful observation I have come to the conclusion that sometimes, I am REALLY weird. (As opposed to the rest of the time when I am merely “quirky”, “eccentric”, and “entertaining”.) Here’s an example of what I mean.

Yesterday I was at Quiznos attempting to pick up dinner, but I was stymied in my quest due to the fact that I was behind a family of four who had absolutely no idea how to order a sandwich. This despite the fact that there is a sign directly above the ordering station that details the entire 3-step process, with pictures and everything. Here’s how that process went.

The Quiznos Lady: “What kind of sandwich would you like?”
Family: “Honey mustard and mayonnaise.”
The Quiznos Lady: “What kind of sandwich would you like?”
Family: Extremely long consultation among the four of them; no response for the Quizno’s lady.
The Quiznos Lady: “What kind of bread do you want?” (trying a new question, since the previous question wasn’t getting through)
Family: “We want ALL the vegetables.”

There were many possibilities available for how I, personally, chose to respond to that situation. Anger. Disgust. Irritation. Impatience. Laughter. Extreme Eye-Rolling. But did I choose any of these? Um, no.

Instead I took a deep breath, marshaled all of my inner resources, and decided, “When it is my turn, I will place The Most Perfect Sandwich Order that has ever been seen in any Quiznos in the history of all time.”

YEAH! Because that’ll show…no one…nothing? But in that moment I honestly believed that my perfect sandwich ordering behavior would become such a shining beacon of light as to show that family of four the gross error of all of their ways, leading to a grand repentance and renouncement of all of their former restaurant practices, and a personal culinary redemption.

See what I mean? Weird.

Filed Under: My Mind Works In Mysterious Ways, Playing Well With Others

Rebel Yell

April 20, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 4 Comments

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to any of you to learn that I have an extremely well-developed inner rebel. But the weird thing about her is the the things she chooses to rebel against.

For example, I will happily dump every single trash can in our house, tie up the garbage bags, and deposit them outside the kitchen door in the garage. But I absolutely refuse to take those same garbage bags and place them in the big trash can that we take to the curb every Tuesday. I just now went outside and checked, and it is exactly 24 extra steps from the kitchen doorstep to the trash cans. I refuse to walk 24 extra steps because I believe that in doing so, I am winning some kind of moral victory. (Please know that I never said any of this is rational.)

Fortunately I am married to a man who is afflicted with this same issue. But where my rebellion is up front and in your face his is more passive, so you don’t actually realize what’s going on until you notice for the 2 bazillionth time in a row that, Under No Circumstances Whatsoever will he retrieve clean towels from the linen closet and hang them on the hooks in the bathroom.

I’m not really sure what this proves other than the fact that if, as I am, you are the firstborn child of 2 firstborn parents, married to another firstborn child of a  firstborn parent, that there will occasionally be moments in your marriage when you both act like rams who are continually smashing into one another, horns locked in mortal combat. Except that you’re not fighting for anything important, like a mate. You’re just fighting to defend your right to be stubborn about really stupid stuff.

My inner rebel also showed up A Lot in my work life, and I’m sure you can imagine just how much my employers enjoyed that. It did not matter what rule they made; I was an expert in finding a way to react with moral outrage and righteous indignation, thus allowing me to feel totally justified in completely ignoring said rule.

However now that I’m in my 30’s I’ve been thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could try to do things a little differently. And so for the last 7 months I have been taking a class to actually become certified at this profession of being a Life Coach. And that is also why I have been absent from my blog for the last week. This Tuesday was our 2 1/2 hour final oral exam, and while I do excel at totally-making-things-up-as-I-go-along and pulling-things-out-of-my-ass-at-the-last-minute, I thought that perhaps I should actually prepare for this exam, so as not do undo all my hard work of the last 7 months (and the 4 months before that).

And so I am very happy to report that I successfully managed my inner rebel, and now I am officially a Certified Life Coach.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming of humorously commenting on all of the goofy contrasts that we, personally experience in life. (And thankfully, there are lots.)

Filed Under: All About Me, Going Solo(preneuring), Playing Well With Others

Things That Make You Say, “What?!”: Competition

April 13, 2006 By Jenny Ryan Leave a Comment

My husband and I are really competitive people. Like, really competetive. Especially over goofy stuff.

For example, he and I were recently playing a board game with 3 other couples, and on more than one occasion we caused the entire game to ground to a screeching halt because we were arguing with each other over whose turn it was to read the question to the other players.

“Wow,” said one woman. “You’d never know by looking at them how competitive they are.”
“It doesn’t really matter who reads the question,” said her husband, in a futile attempt at making peace.
“OH IT MATTERS!” I retorted triumphantly, as my husband finally admitted that, yes, he had read the last question, and that it actually was my turn to read, and handed me the card in grudging resignation.

However, today at the bookstore I saw something that made me feel SO MUCH BETTER about myself and my competitiveness, that I just had to post about it here. It was a book entitled, Eat This Book: A year of gorging and glory on the competitive eating circuit.

There apparently exists in this world a Competitive. Eating. Circuit.

So clearly, I could be A Lot worse.

PS-For another humorous look at competition, check out today’s Story of the Day at StoryPeople.

Filed Under: CFG Says, What?!, Playing Well With Others Tagged With: board games, competition

The Better Part Of Valor

March 29, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 3 Comments

Knowing that when your husband is nearing the end of the game, “God of War”, and is snarling out phrases like, “What is the point of this?”, and “This is absolutely ridiculous!”, and, “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen!!” to you, an avowed non-gamer, as he is trying to climb up the Rotating Pole Of Spiked Death, that he is not the only one facing a trap in that moment.

Filed Under: A Moment In Time, CFG And The Wonderful World Of Gaming, Playing Well With Others, The Perfect Blend Tagged With: god of war, video games

The “F” Word, or The Karma’s Gonna Getcha

March 24, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 2 Comments

When my brother and I were growing up there was a joke in our family that in our house the “F Word” was not the actual “F Word”, but instead was the word “flexible.” As in, “You need to be flexible.”

This is actually really good advice, and it is the reason that now I am able to get along with just about anyone I meet. But at the time my brother and I reacted to this parental guidance as if we were being asked to swallow broken shards of jagged glass, washed down with a chaser of smoking sulfuric acid. (Incidentally, this is exactly the same reaction my mom would get whenever she said, “I think somebody needs an ‘n-a-p’.” “I do NOT need a nap, and I am NOT CRANKY!” we would roar, as flames erupted from our skulls and incinerated half of the kitchen.)

So I have to admit that a small part of me was secretly pleased when she called me the other day and said, “Well, they’re telling me that I’m going to have to be really flexible at work these days.” This is not a new thing for her, as this is the same company that sent out a profile of its ideal employee as one who was “not fearful of acting with a minimum of planning,” and who, “makes tough decisions in a timely manner, sometimes with incomplete information,” among other things. (This is also the same company who causes her to frequently remark on how she now finds herself living inside of a Dilbert cartoon.) [Read more…] about The “F” Word, or The Karma’s Gonna Getcha

Filed Under: Labor Pains, Playing Well With Others

Highway To The Danger Zone

March 16, 2006 By Jenny Ryan Leave a Comment

Generally speaking, I tend to leave everything technological and electronic up to my husband. And generally speaking, that tends to be in the best interests of everyone involved.

Although I do sometimes find it a little upsetting when people won’t even give me a chance. For example, when The Gamers are here on the weekend they sometimes ask me to go online and look up hints for them so they won’t have to miss a split second of combat with the demon-zombie-vampire-chainsaw-wielding-donkey-riding-skeleton-people, or whoever it is they’re fighting this week. But apparently I’m not able to complete this task quickly enough for them.

“Here, give me that,” they’ll say impatiently, irritated that their quest for the golden dragon fangs must temporarily be put on hold.
[Read more…] about Highway To The Danger Zone

Filed Under: CFG And The Wonderful World Of Gaming, CFG Grapples With Technology, Playing Well With Others, Using My Powers

Things That Make You Say, “What?!”: Party Edition

March 13, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 2 Comments

Last weekend I was invited to go to a Southern Living party. I guess I had an image in my mind of it being all sophisticated and elegant, things which I don’t consider myself to be, so I was pretty much planning on staying in the background. So you can imagine my surprise, and my relief, when I overheard the following comments.

“Grannie, do you want a beer?”

And,

“Isn’t it funny how easily your fake nails catch on fire when you’re using a lighter?”

After that I knew I would fit in just fine.

Filed Under: CFG Says, What?!, Girl Power, People Say The Funniest Things, Playing Well With Others Tagged With: southern living party

It Was Somebody’s Job To Think This Stuff Up

March 8, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 1 Comment

Recently my husband has been excited to find some new friends with which he can play video games. While I am an excellent wife and companion in many ways, I do not share his enjoyment of gaming. So it has been good for him to connect with others who do.

Last weekend one of The Gamers arrived at our house and announced: “I just went to Blockbuster and found The Best Game Ever! You’re a samurai, and you wake up one day, and all of your body parts have been stolen. You have to go out and fight the bad guys who took them so you can like, get your arms back and stuff!” [Read more…] about It Was Somebody’s Job To Think This Stuff Up

Filed Under: CFG And The Wonderful World Of Gaming, CFG Says, What?!, Playing Well With Others Tagged With: gamers, gaming, video games

I Don’t Drink, But If I Started, This Would Be Why: Part 2

March 2, 2006 By Jenny Ryan Leave a Comment

The bug guy was here again today, to do our quarterly pest control as well as rodent maintenance.

As he was leaving he said, “Yeah, it’s a good thing we got the rat situation under control when we did because, you know what rats attract in the summer?”

He was laughing as he said this. My mind had totally stopped functioning, unable to imagine a new, potential creature-related horror.

Did I mention that he was laughing as he said, “I just love scaring you. In the summer, rats attract SNAKES.” [Read more…] about I Don’t Drink, But If I Started, This Would Be Why: Part 2

Filed Under: Playing Well With Others, The Naked Truth, Wild Kingdom Tagged With: phobias

I Don’t Drink, But If I Started, This Would Be Why

February 28, 2006 By Jenny Ryan Leave a Comment

1. On Sunday I walked into a restaurant to meet a friend for a girls’ night out, and I was greeted with the following words: “I’m so excited! I just spend the last 30 minutes holding a python!”

2. Learning today that it was not a python, but rather a boa constrictor. Apparently my friend has been visiting the snake on a regular basis over the past three days.

3. Hearing from my friend that, “It likes to curl around this button on my coat.”

4. And that, “It likes to curl around my neck and sleep under my hair.”

5. And that, “It LICKED MY EYE.”

6. And that, “It’s only $100, so I could buy it and then keep it with me in my coat when I come over to see you.”

Filed Under: Girl Power, Playing Well With Others, Wild Kingdom Tagged With: phobias

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