Tuesday Tips: Living through a water outage on Guam

If you follow me on Instagram, you would have noticed my post the other day where I made a joke about Guam's water outages:

Water outages happen a lot here, especially during and after storms (remember my Typhoon Dolphin post where I mentioned that we had no water or electricity for days?) and there's really nothing you can do but sit and wait for the problem to be fixed.  Over the years, I've adapted to the outages and have learned ways to cope with the situations.  Though they'll never be pleasant, at least we make them more manageable and easier to deal with with these tips:

1.  Take your tiara off - there are no princesses here.  When you have to go days without running water, it's best not to act like you're the shit because you will probably be smelling like shit eventually.  Learning to handle the situation is the most important thing.  Everyone else is probably feeling just as gross and nasty as you are after not being able to shower all day so don't be so quick to lose your temper.  It is not a life or death situation.  You will survive and come out a better, more self sufficient, person after all of this.

2.  Save tap water in sealed containers beforehand.  If a water outage is scheduled to happen (or even if it's not), it's best to prepare ahead and fill up a few gallons of water just in case.  Buckets, empty storage bins, whatever you've got.  When there is a water outage on Guam for a long or uncertain amount of time, there are usually reservoir tanks set up in the villages for residents to get water.  You will have to bring your own containers and stand in line to fill them up just like everyone else.  Remember #1 above.

3.  Buy bottled water for drinking and brushing your teeth.  The water in the reservoir tank is non-potable, which means it's not suitable for drinking.  Keep bottled water stocked so you can at least brush your teeth.  You can also conserve water by drinking alcohol instead.

4.  Jump around and try to muffle your screams.  Unless you've decided to boil your water on the stove (not really worth the wait in my opinion), chances are you'll be showering in cold water.  Jumping around helps but it's best not to scream out loud or your neighbors might think you're being murdered.  They won't come to your rescue of course, because that means they'll have to use their water to wash your blood.  Best just to try to keep it down by pretending you're on an episode of Silent Library or something.

5.  Be prepared for awkward moments.  If you've still got water trickling out of the bottom spout in your shower/tub, consider yourself lucky because your water hasn't run all the way out yet and you've got yourself a free yoga session!  Squat down and get as low as you can to fit yourself under that spout because who knows how long that precious trickle will last!  If it's raining outside then even better because mother nature is helping you out!  Grab your shampoo and your loofah and shower outside.  Like camping.  Real camping - not that "glamping" bullshit.

6.  Hold your breath.  You're in for quite a wake up call if you think your shit smells like roses.  Without water, you won't be able to flush your toilet so your bathroom is bound to smell like a port-o-potty sooner or later.  Sure, you can mask the stench with sprays and fragrances, but just the thought of all that crap sitting in the toilet is enough to make you want to vomit.  You're going to have to manually flush that out by pouring a bucket into the bowl to force all those roses down the drain.  Fun, huh?

7.  If you've got the cash, treat yo'self.  If you really cannot go without a long hot shower, you can always rent a hotel room somewhere until the water in your area is restored (assuming that it's not an island-wide outage).  You can also splurge and stock up on wipes to keep you feeling fresh throughout the days.

8.  Stay lazy.  During water outages, it's best to keep still.  Guam is almost always hot and even just sitting outside can make you sweat so it's best to be as lazy as you can until your water is restored.  No working out, doing yardwork, etc. because you'll get sweaty and stinky and who knows how long it'll be until you're able to shower.  Perfect excuse to stay indoors with the A/C on and binge on Netflix.

9.  Keep things simple with kids.  Most times, wherever the water outage occurs, schools in the area will be closed.  This means that you'll not only be out of water, but your kids will be stuck at home all day.  To conserve, prepare meals that don't require water to cook with (sandwiches, pizza, etc.) and aren't so messy.  Probably also not a great idea for them to be outside digging in the dirt either.  Keep it simple and have them do activities that don't require a lot of water to clean up.

10.  When water is restored, take the longest shower EVER.  You deserve it.  You've survived!

So, what do you think about my tips on surviving a water outage?  Have you ever had a water outage that lasted more than a day?  Do you think you'd be able to last a week-long outage?

Wait, do I really want to be a part of that?

I had started drafting a post for a popular weekly link-up this morning but I just couldn't go through with it.  I got two small paragraphs in and I had to stop because my heart wasn't in it.  I started writing it because I thought it would be a fun way to let some creative energy out without getting too distracted and stressed out about it.  But, truth is, I've been all sorts of distracted and stressed out this week so I couldn't bring myself half-heartedly write a post and ramble on about shit that doesn't really matter much just because everyone else is doing it.  (Funny story about distraction:  Yesterday, I grabbed my brow pencil and started filling in my eyebrows, only it wasn't my brow pencil - it was purple eyeliner.  What.  the.  actual.  fuck.  I was able to get most of it off, but my right brow still had a tinge of purple to it all day.)

Anyway, as I was in the middle of the two paragraphs, I decided to hop on over to the link-up hostess's blog to see what new posts she had since the last time I visited, which was probably about one or two months ago.  I skimmed the posts and was surprised at how many comments all of her posts had so I clicked on a one about fashion and skimmed that too.  The post was actually nothing fancy.  Some selections of products and suggestions on how to wear certain items.  I do that.  Then I skimmed the comments which mostly consisted of "great picks!" and "I've been dying over those!" or "that's my favorite brand!".  I started wondering how all these people came to this space and what did I have to do to get these people to visit and comment on my blog as well?  Then I looked at the post again, clicked on the links to her selections and realized, NOPE.  I will never fit in with that crowd.

The prices of her selections were ridiculous.  Ri.di.cu.lous.  Granted, they were designer brands, but still.  I'm never going to be the type of person who spends more than $100 on a tank top.  The most I ever spent on a bag was $135 (fyi, it was a Michael Kors purse that I found at Ross and thought would be a perfect Christmas gift for my MIL) and even that was after careful deliberation and texts between Joey and I.  Sure, I swoon over Valentinos and Kate Spade just like the next blogger but that doesn't mean I'm actually going to put my hard-earned money towards it.  Especially when I know that a $20 tank top at Target is just as good as any $100+ designer tank top, so long as you know how to take care of it.
 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that even in adulthood, most of us still don't have all of our shit together.  We're still looking for attention, trying to fit in to a certain group or have a certain lifestyle because we think that's what we want.  It's easy to sit behind the screen and say "do you, boo" or "who needs them" to everyone else as we secretly stalk the living shit out of the same blogs hoping for an way in to the "cool" group.  The hard part is taking that same advice and shoving it down our own throats.  Once we can do that, we'll have a clearer vision of who we really are and what we really want.

I don't know about you, but I'm glad to be the foul-mouthed cheap-ass that I am, unbrushed hair, purple eyebrow and all.  And who knows, maybe one day I will join in on the link-up - when I actually have something to write about that isn't forced or thrown in there just to be like someone else.  Because, really, if you're only imitating other blogs and other people, why would we even need to follow you?

Tuesday Tips: Find what works for you.

I've decided it's time to change things up a bit around here as far as my posting and content go.  Some things I used to write about aren't as big a deal to me anymore, while other things have begun to hold more importance in my life than they previously did.

That being said, I'd like to incorporate more inspirational posts - sharing things that I love, mood boards, color palettes, DIY's, etc.  I've really come to love my "Monthly Mantras" and from the feedback I've received so far, it seems you all love them too so I wanted to take that concept and expand on it.  But, not too much where you get overwhelmed with inspiration like we all do on Pinterest.

I'm also changing the "Tuesday Tips" posts around a bit by making it more general and open rather than focused only on blogging tips.  I mean, I've been blogging for like 3 years, parenting for 9, been in a relationship for almost 10 years, but living for 29 (holy shit) - so that kind of makes me a life expert.  Just kidding.  In real life, I'm a great listener (actual people have said so) and I'm the kind of friend who shows support and gives advice if asked, so I'd like to be able to do the same here in blogland.  I just want to share parenting/relationship/life knowledge with you like we're hanging out at Starbucks.  Or a bar.  Whatever you like.  Sort of like an advice column, but without the "Dear Abby" and bad 80's photo.  Or, you know, we can do that too.

So that's it for now.  I just wanted to share with you the minor changes and shifts that will be happening here.  There will still be beauty/makeup posts, hopefully more fashion/outfits, and posts about Guam and my life, but my goal is for this to be a place of inspiration.  Whether it be through the words on the screen or the photos, I just want you to leave here inspired, empowered and ready to take on the world.

Let's Start Over

I feel like this blog has slipped away from me over the past few months.  Since our vacation (*cringe* that makes me feel like I'm bragging) family trip back in May, I've lost touch with most of my loyal readers and I feel like I haven't really gotten that connection back.  I've lost followers, and haven't had much reader interaction lately and it's kind of got me down.

I've been trying to post more consistently this past month and have got some awesome giveaways and reviews coming up soon too but I feel like my efforts have gone unnoticed.  I've also got a serious case of writer's block and I don't know what to write about and when I do have an idea, I'm constantly second guessing myself and asking "Is it blog worthy?"

Have you ever felt this way?  What do you do when you're in a blogging rut?  Should it even be called a blogging rut?

Any advice would really be a big help, seriously.  I'm thinking of starting all over - new design, new direction - but I'd really like to hear from all of you first.  What would you like to see?  What would make YOU want to read and comment on?

Blogs are supposed to be a fun way to put yourself out there, get support, and interact with others and I want to get that fun interaction back.  Please, please, please comment below!

P.S. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, so if you need blogging help too, let's help each other out!