Kristine Joy, Writer

To Whom It May Concern and FWIW,*

• When going to the beach by myself, I need a bikini swimsuit that covers the entirety of my buttocks. When going to the beach with my husband, I need one of these newfangled bikini swimsuits that covers none of my buttocks for I’d rather be IN the game than standing on the sideline IF my husband is in the stands.

• My first husband and I were in the poker industry for years. He once cashed out and left a casino with four $2500 poker chips in his athletic shorts pocket. I needed for him to still have four $2500 poker chips, instead of only three, when we got back to the hotel room a few minutes later. #poof
  • We used to back other 🐎🐎 for tournaments. I needed for Jesse, who I considered a son, to reach the point of knowing that he needed help but maybe for the call to 1-800-BETSOFF to have started better than this (or maybe it absolutely needed to start like this?):
    • Counselor: What are you addicted to?
    • Jesse: EVERYTHING! YOU NAME IT. POKER, SEX, CIGARETTES, POT, MASTURBATION, PORN, ALCOHOL, SPORTS BETTING AND I’M SURE I CAN THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE IF YOU GIVE ME A MINUTE.

• I need for our HVAC system to not die at the beginning of the same Summer in which I chose to work towards a goal of $12,000 in supplemental income.
  • I need for the husband of a best friend to be an HVAC guy and for there to be enough mutual love and respect between our families for him to hook us up (pun intended). He did. But the supplemental income bank is broken nonetheless.
    • You can read more about Ryan, the HVAC guy, in Chapter 1 of Better to Have Tried.
  • The $2500 poker chip was lost around 15 years ago. If it had been invested instead of lost and returned 12% (I need our Financial Advisor to be the stud that he is), my first husband and I would each have an additional $7K in the bank today and that would certainly help towards the HVAC system. 😂
    • #timevalueofmoney

MONEY MAKES MONEY

– Matt S.
(our FA if you need a good one?!?)

• I need to give props to Lennox for the old HVAC system lasting 35 years!! 👊👏 But for a part that isn’t made anymore, it’d still be going strong!

• I needed to not pull a tick off pug Scout, put it on the couch cushion so that I could get a Kleenex and then proceed to watch Scout’s tongue to instantaneously be “lizard eating a fly” like. I needed to, seconds later, learn that a dog ingesting a tick is far more okay than a dog having a tick. #whoknew?

• I give tennis lessons to a high school student named Lily. She is in a Child Development class and was assigned the baby doll for a weekend in which we had a lesson. I needed for her teacher to honor her parent’s request to turn the doll off for an hour. As a parent myself, Lily and I could have handled it (thank you On Becoming Baby Wise) but Lily’s parents certainly didn’t need to pay me a decently high rate to babysit SmartLily taking care of her SmartBaby.

• I needed to overhear this conversation:
  • Equipment Manager: Have you ever heard of a stand-up double?
  • Baseball Coach (nods alongside an expression of confusion as to why he’s being asked)
  • Equipment Manager: Let’s just say that I’m glad to be done washing your uniforms for awhile.

A+ for AI on giving me options that I couldn’t decide between.

• I didn’t need to, but it was nice to, beat an 11 year old boy at tennis the second time around in my journey back to being a tennis player (after 3 years out due to injury).
  • I didn’t need to, nor did I, win the our first match six weeks ago. He may be half my weight, but he is ranked in the top 3 in the country for U12. #legit #youhearditherefirst (unless you know A.J. in which case you already knew)
    • I also lost to an 11 year old girl when I (thought I) was a hot shot DI tennis player 25 years ago and that needed to happen. #humbled

• Apparently, I need the middle ground to be spelled out for me when it comes to my posture and weight over the years because I’ve literally been told all of the following:
  • You need to see a chiropractor; you’re awfully hunched over. You have tech neck. Pull your shoulders back. Have you been lifting? Do you need that much upper body strength? Yes, I’m trying better my posture! 😂 
  • You really ought to start running because it looks like you put on some weight (to defend the orator here, I had and I wish that I had listened instead of angered because I may have had more success as a DI athlete). You’re too skinny! What do you eat (said both admiringly and critically)? Referring to someone else, but meant AT me, what does she know; she’s never been anything but a size 0? For your information, I’ve been a size 0, size 14 and everywhere in between (obviously) and you wouldn’t know or hear her story if it hit you in the face, is what I thought but did not say.

I appreciate your readership. I need the validation as writer; if there is a like or heart icon for you to depress, I’d most appreciate the support!

Sincerely,

K.J. Sculling

* The content is presented as “needs”, and some of them may front a harsh reality that evoke strong emotions. Others are expressed in pure jest to entertain myself (and maybe you?!?). Ultimately, the notion that we all live in a more idyllic world is at the core and not actual need. Life can be tough; regardless of your own circumstances, please keep up the fight because life can also be grand! The idea of ‘I Need…’ stemmed from my thought process while sitting at a red light listening to the song, Alright by Darius Rucker, on the radio (you can read the original ‘Idealist’ post here and all ‘Idealist’ posts here). If you’re inspired to submit your own ‘Idealist’ “needs” for future reader write-in posts, I’d love to hear from you via this form.