Transformation Tuesday #56

Happy Transformation Tuesday! I am thrilled to have some fun transformations in my inbox. Because of the nature of this transformation, I decided to make it a solo transformation post. This one really tugged at my heartstrings. As you know, I am a big supporter of rescuing/adopting pets rather than purchasing them. Rescue pets are the best! And they need patient, loving homes with families who will see them for just how special they are.

So, I just loved seeing this transformation...

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I’m sitting here next to my latest foster dog thinking about the amazing transformation he’s had in just a few weeks. I thought I’d share for Transformation Tuesday. These pictures might be upsetting so I understand if you don’t want to use them.

I’ve fostered for about 5 years for a local Atlanta rescue (we adopt only to the Atlanta area—Releash Atlanta).  I love highlighting these amazing rescue dogs to encourage people to look at shelters or their local rescue.

Chip is a senior little fellow who was found stuck in a ditch in rural GA with mats so severe they covered his eyes and he had large fecal masses covered in maggots.  He had a massive dental infection with fistulas, UTI, skin infection, heart problems, mostly blind, underweight and dehydrated.

So much neglect and yet he couldn’t be a sweeter little dog. He’s starting to feel better after a big dental surgery and has started wagging his tail. He’ll be with us until he’s recovered and then available for adoption. We love him so much!

Some would say, why save a sick senior dog? Spend 5 minutes with Chip and you'll know why. He's nothing but a ball of love and he deserves to know what it’s like to be loved and safe. I think he has years left to be healthy and happy—and he’s going to be the best companion dog. Nothing but up from here, little man.

The first "after" photo is from yesterday—just about 3 weeks after he was found. He’ll get a full groom once he’s feeling completely better and is going to be a heartthrob!  Three weeks and look how far he’s come :)

- Christina

Christina, I don't even have to tell you how much this warms my heart! The poor little dog must have been scared to death while stuck in the ditch and with so many health issues going on. I can just picture how much happier he is right now while staying with you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring for him and loving him. You're right--he deserves to feel loved for the rest of his life (however long that may be). Please give him lots of snuggles from me!  - Katie

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Like I said, I was going to add a couple more transformations to this post, but it's just hard to follow up after this one. So, I think I'll save the others for next week. If you want to see some more rescue pets' transformations, I did a full Transformation Tuesday post on them--you can find that post here. It's definitely a feel-good post! :)

And here is the desktop calendar random facts post of the day:

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Narrowing Down and Cleaning Up Crafting/Hobby Stuff

I have been keeping super busy the last couple of days by organizing my crafting stuff. (I also milled down a couple of oak boards that Brian gave me, but I'm not done with those, so I'll save that for later.)

The problem I have with crafting is that I love all of it--I like knitting, crocheting, cross stitching (which is rare, but I like it), sewing, woodworking, flipping furniture, journaling... and probably things I'm forgetting. Anything DIY, basically. And when you have that many hobbies, it takes up a LOT of space.

Which is fine if you have a room that is dedicated to crafting (I don't) or an attic or a basement (I also do not). I don't even have storage closets! But the biggest problem for me is that I tend to go through phases of one thing or another for a while. It's not that I want to give up a hobby--I just switch to a different one when the mood strikes me--but all of those *things* still need space.

Right now, for example, I'm dying to work in the garage (I need to build shelves for Noah's bedroom) but it's so cold that I can only stand it for a couple of hours. Also, none of the batteries in my tools work when it's that cold!) Shawn (my brother-in-law) is supposed to help me install a gas heater in the spring so next year, I should be able to work in there).

Lately, I've been trying to convince myself to give up some stuff. The knitting and crocheting should probably be the first to go. I don't do it nearly as often as I used to and after Duck swallowed that yarn, I just get a bad feeling when thinking about it. So, I actually sold ALL of my yarn a few days ago! I couldn't bring myself to get rid of my needle and hook sets (mainly because they are difficult to list for sale--they are complicated sets). So now I only have one small box of knitting/crocheting stuff, which consists of the needles and hooks.

I've pretty much given up on the bullet journaling, mainly because it just takes up too much time. I could do it faster and more efficiently, but when I see the beautiful spreads on Instagram, I just become more of a perfectionist and I never get anything done. Thankfully, I didn't spend a fortune on the bullet journaling--the journals weren't cheap, but I still use those for sketching out things for woodworking and stuff like that.

The bullet journaling also took up the least amount of space. So getting rid of that doesn't really help much as far as creating space. I do like to keep my fill-in-the-blank journals (the Some Lines a Day journal and my Clever Fox planner - Amazon affiliate links). Those are fast and easy to fill in.

I was really enjoying flipping furniture for a little while (I didn't do a lot, but I could see myself doing it and selling pieces). Unfortunately, I really messed up my body and developed bad carpal tunnel syndrome; painting furniture is what makes it flare up the most. So that took care of that "problem". 

Since I can't work in the garage much, I've been thinking about sewing (there are clothes that need mending and I also like to upcycle old items). This is what led me to clean out my sewing stuff the last couple of days. 

Unfortunately, sewing takes up SO. MUCH. SPACE. I really love sewing and I don't plan to give it up, but I really need a way to organize it efficiently. I have a lot of fabric (most of it small pieces), all sorts of sewing notions, thread, accessories, and tools. And the two biggest things--my sewing machine and my serger.

The worst part about sewing has a hobby is where to put the sewing machine and serger--they should be easily accessible (otherwise they're too much of a hassle to get out and use) but out of the way of everything else (I can't keep them on my dining room table, for example). This was my set-up with my sewing machine when I made what felt like 8 million masks in 2020:

BY FAR, the biggest, most expensive hobby I have is woodworking. It also happens to be my favorite. We have a three-car garage and literally half of it is taken up by my tools! Almost all of my tools were bought at a fraction of the retail price (via Facebook Marketplace) but even buying used tools can be expensive. And they just take up a ton of space.

However, I've built myself a nice little shop over the last couple of years and I love love love working out there. Even if I'm not really making anything in particular; I just like tinkering around with tools to see all the features they can do.

Anyway, my tools and workshop aren't going anywhere in the foreseeable future, so I wanted to work on organizing my other stuff. I feel bad that it takes up so much space! Today, I took out my sewing stuff--which was in several different places--and I organized it into three separate containers. That may still sound like a lot, but believe me, I narrowed it down to the basics! (Not counting the sewing machine and serger, of course.)

This is what the mess looked like before:

Trying to keep the cats away was the worst!! I didn't want them finding stray thread to swallow.

And then this is what I condensed it down to (I've taken a couple of things out to show you the inside, but the second picture shows it neatly tucked into the three containers). 

Eventually, my goal will be to condense everything down to a small box of fabric and a box of essential sewing notions/accessories.

I always wonder how people live in those "tiny houses". I would love to be a minimalist like that, but I would miss my hobbies too much!

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Okay, here is my desk calendar's random fact of the day (in honor of MLK Jr. day, of course!):

I'd reckon that Hoover had some serious mental issues--good grief!

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Taking My Own Advice?

Well, I was able to get my prescriptions today, thankfully. This has only happened a couple of times, but never for as long as three days. When I don't take my mood stabilizer, I can feel it physically--if I ever forget to take it, I am quickly reminded (within about 26 hours of my previous dose) by the way my body feels. I can only describe it as "buzzing"--almost like a tingling, but more intense. I hate that feeling!

After taking my meds today, I was feeling better within hours. My anxiety has been super high today, but hopefully that will go down now that I have my meds again.

Anyway, my sister mentioned something today that got me thinking. She asked me if I'd be interested in doing the Glass City Marathon Relay on April 24th. (Note that I said RELAY and not just marathon--the relay is for five people running a marathon distance total.) I immediately texted back, "I'm not ready for a race."

This is a photo from the 2015 Glass City Relay--we obviously had several teams.

This was the first and only race that all of my siblings and I have done together!

After telling Jeanie I'm not reading for a race, I started thinking about it. My first advice to someone who is interested in starting running?

Sign up for a race!

Knowing that you are already signed up for a race gives you the drive to go out and get the runs done. So I always suggest that before you ever even run your first mile, you pick a race--likely a 5K--in the future (even if it's 6-9 months away) and sign up. Then you're committed!

I've been having such a hard time pushing myself to go run lately, that I'm wondering if it's time to take my own advice. Even if it's not the Glass City Relay; I could pick a 10K that's in the late spring and I think I could be ready to run it. I absolutely would not be going for any personal records in speed; the only goal would be to finish it.

The last race that I completed (I think) was the Melanoma 5K that I did in my friend Sarah's memory. That was a 5K in October 2018. I had been planning to walk it, but at the last minute I decided to run it. I was totally unprepared; I wasn't wearing typical running clothes and I didn't even have my Garmin! I ended up winning first place in my age group (but the field was VERY small--my pace was 11:04).

The last time that I really RACED (ran my hardest) was in April of 2016! I ran a 10K that I'd trained so hard for; I met my goal and then I just felt burnt out on racing. I only did a few races after that, but none that I trained hard for.

Anyway, if I was to sign up for the Glass City Relay, that would give me 14 weeks to prepare. The leg distances are 3.4 miles, 4.9 miles, 6.6 miles, 5.3 miles, and 6.1 miles. I'd like to do any of them except for the first one; I'm capable of running 3.4 miles right now, so I'd like to have to train for it. Who knows! It's just a thought right now.

I like to write training plans that are 12 weeks long, so if I should pick a race that weekend, I'd have two weeks to write up a plan for it. I have a feeling that signing up for a race would work similarly to me as my signing up for the DietBets that I have. It gives me accountability.

I don't know; I could regret this entire post tomorrow! Hahaha. 

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HERITAGE RECIPE : Scottish Shortbread

First, I have to admit that this is a total cop-out of a recipe. There are only four simple ingredients and not much work at all.

However, I am in a terrible mood today and I just don't feel like getting into a big mess with a recipe right now. 

I would like to thank Kroger Pharmacy for filling my prescriptions two days late; when you're on mood stabilizers and anti-anxiety meds and suddenly cut off from them, things can become a shit show after just one day. Just ask Jerry. I think he was excited to go to work today just to get away from me.

I understand that everything is slower right now, but I get the same meds every month and these were sent in with plenty of notice. Cutting someone off cold-turkey isn't cool.

Anyway, I feel terrible that this is how I am starting this heritage recipe! Heritage recipes are supposed to be light and fun. This recipe was submitted by Sharon Laura to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society. I promise that I will do her justice by finding another of her recipes and making up for it.

To make me feel even worse, Sharon is the daughter-in-law of my school bus driver that I had (and loved) all through elementary school! I would love to write a little about her, and I will do that in another post (she has submitted recipes as well, so I'll pick one of hers).

For today, though, I picked (what I thought was) a simple recipe. I almost managed to screw this up, though, because it started to crumble apart when I tried removing it from the pan (turns out I had to let it cool first)

As always, I made the recipe exactly as-written. I didn't make any substitutions or alterations. The "printer-friendly" version below is rewritten by me with any notes to clarify things.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Scottish Shortbread

1-1/4 c. flour
3 T. cornstarch
1/3 c. granulated sugar, divided
1/2 c. butter

Combine 1/4 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch and butter. Rub with fingers; press into ungreased 8-inch pan. Bake at 325 F for 40 minutes. Cut into wedges; sprinkle remaining sugar on top.

My Notes:

Simple enough, right? I mixed the ingredients in my mixer and then squished it all together with my fingers. The dough was REALLY dry and I never thought it would come together, but it did--barely. This is what it looked like before and after smushing it with my fingers.

And then after pressing it down to the bottom of the pan...

It looked pretty much the same after baking as it did before baking...

Getting it out of the pan was ridiculous. The whole thing just started crumbling apart. I wondered if I was supposed to let it cool first before removing it from the pan. So I tried to smush the crumbled part back in there, and then I let it cool. (You can see on the left where I started to try to lift it out and it crumbled apart on me.)

It worked out MUCH better after it cooled. In fact, it was absolutely delicious! It was very buttery tasting and not super sweet. It would be amazing served with some strawberries on top.

Anyway, I apologize to Sharon for my sour mood. I will try making this again when I am in a better mood and maybe I'll do better at it. I'm really looking forward to making one of Sharon's mother-in-law's recipes as well!

Don't let my bad mood stop you from trying this recipe--it really is delicious!  (And if you need a super fast, easy dessert for last-minute company or something, this is perfect. Just serve it with some fruit and it'd be really pretty!

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Friday Night Photos

This week has been busy busy busy! We had Eli's birthday last Friday (which technically is last week); orthodontist appointments, Eli's COVID booster shot, I babysat Luke and Riley a couple of days ago, and Eli had his driving test yesterday.

Interestingly, I've had a surprising burst of energy this week, too. My pain level is about half of what it was a couple of weeks ago! I don't want to get my hopes up, but I can't even describe how good it feels to get out of bed without walking hunched over like I'm 180 years old. I'm not exactly spry, but definitely doing better.

Anyway, here are my pictures from this past week...

I finally finished building the backyard slingshot for Luke and Riley (it was supposed to be a Christmas present, but you know how ridiculous December was for me, so I didn't finish it until the first week of January). I'm excited about how it turned out! We launched a bunch of tennis balls over the balcony. We also had a bunch of frozen water balloons, but I was worried that they would hit the fence and then fly back into their faces--so those will have to wait until the slingshot is on the ground without any interference in front of it.

Here is a video of Luke using it. He really wanted to get some good trajectory, so he laid on his back, bracing himself with the poles. (I made the hooks where the band connects to be adjustable, so it can be shorter or longer, depending on how big the item is that they are launching.) I shot one of the balls all the way into the pond!

(On a side note: how cool is it that they have a slide that goes from the balcony to the patio on the ground?! Rather than take the stairs, they can just slide down. You can only see a glimpse of it in the video.)

I had quite the busy day at their house (I only babysat for a few hours, but I was exhausted by the time I went home). We played laser tag, which was kind of funny--it's a running joke with a friend of mine that hell will freeze over before I ever play laser tag again. I tried it before but immediately had a panic attack when the game started and I swore I'd never do it again.) This was obviously the "home version" for kids and Luke wanted me to play, so I was a good sport. We actually had a lot of fun; we were both totally out of breath when we were done. (I took this photo to send my friend--he wasn't even impressed!)

The kids wanted to show me some stuff in the basement and Riley came across her unicorn costume from Halloween--so naturally, she wanted to wear that the rest of the day. 

Speaking of Luke and Riley, remember how I wrote about Luke's bedroom last week? It's SO cozy--the ambiance in the room is amazing. Well, I just had to try to recreate it at least a little for my bedroom. I bought the light that he has--it projects stars and a whispy looking fog (not actual fog--it just looks like it) across the ceiling and all of the walls if you place it in the corner. Here is what my ceiling looks like when it's turned on:

Isn't it awesome?! You can change the color, too. I also got a diffuser like Luke's--you put in a few drops of essentials oils and some water and the whole room smells amazing (without being too strong). Note: I know that most essential oils are toxic to cats; I use lavender, which is safe. I also use a very small amount. (Here is the Amazon affiliate link for the light and here is the link for the diffuser)

This is what the light and the diffuser look like. The diffuser is the pretty-looking one--it doesn't project the colors at all though. It's the bright light that projects the stars onto the walls and ceiling.

It's been super relaxing having those on at night! I lie down with my electric blanket and heating pad and just enjoy the ambiance of the room.

My dad called me on Friday afternoon (when we were celebrating Eli's birthday) and asked if I could build a simple little workbench for Luke and Riley. I knew I had the scrap wood to do it, so I said sure. He asked if I could have it done by Saturday morning before the kids went to my parents' house. Hahaha! I told him I was celebrating Eli's birthday, but I'd work on it in the morning. Thankfully, it only took me a couple of hours. It ain't pretty, but that's what he gets for such short notice!

When the kids went to his house, he showed them how to pound in nails. They were really cute! I love how hard Luke is concentrating in the second picture--he's sticking his tongue out :)

I was feeling so disappointed this Christmas because I couldn't find Terry's milk chocolate oranges ANYWHERE. It's something that the kids and I are obsessed with every Christmas and we looked and looked, but no luck. On Eli's birthday, we stopped at World Market and they had this orange chocolate bar--it was literally the same thing as a chocolate orange, just shaped differently! I was so excited--I just had to buy one.

This is a terrible picture, I could have sworn I took more (with Jerry an Eli in them) but this is all I found. We played the game 'What Do You Meme?' and it was so funny (to me, anyway--you know I love memes!)

This one was my favorite:

And finally... to get in some more fiber, I decided to go back to my trusty old cold oats! They have chia seeds in them, which are loaded with fiber. This little mason jar has half the fiber that is recommended for the day. It's my favorite flavor that I make--Almond Joy. I wrote out a list of the recipes for different flavors, which you can find here. 

And finally, here are my desk calendar pages for today (I actually really liked the someecards one, so I'm sharing that as well):

Have a great weekend, everyone! xo

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10 Reminders of Why I Loved Running

Since I started the Couch to 5K plan in May to get back into running, I've been writing about my running progress on Thursdays. Today, I have no progress to report, unfortunately. My last run was last Thursday!

I don't know why I'm having such a hard time sticking with it after doing so well all summer and fall. So, I thought I'd write this post about all the reasons I used to love running. And maybe that will give me the "feel goods" and I'll feel that urge to get back to it--regularly. So here goes...

1. The Runner's High.

There is nothing like it! (Well, except maybe when I was on like 27 different pain meds after I broke my jaw, but that doesn't count.) A Runner's High doesn't happen very often. It's not something that you feel every time you go out for a good run. I've only experienced it probably 10 times since becoming a runner. It feels like you are on top of the world; you can do anything. There is absolutely nothing negative going through your mind.

My most memorable runner's high was when I nailed my "Best 10K Workout" for the 10K I trained so hard for. This run was a tip from Greg McMillan on one of his training plans. I didn't follow his plan, but he *guaranteed* that if you could complete this workout, you would reach your goal on race day. I had to run 3 x 2 miles at race pace. My race pace was 7:55/mile. This post describes my workout that day. It was fun to read it just now ;)  And here is the picture I took afterward. That smile/Jerry face was 100% genuine!

2. Feeling like there was something special about me.

I don't know what population of the world considers themselves runners, but I imagine it's pretty small. And I really liked calling myself a runner. It made me feel like I was part of an elite group of people who share a common bond. With running, there is always something to talk about when you meet another runner--races you've done, what got you started, what your training is like, etc. I liked running outside and imagining that people would see me and think, "Man, I should start running." (Yes, it's pretentious of me.)

That one time I was in Runner's World magazine. Dream come true!

3. Setting goals and working hard to reach them.

My running goals over the years have been big and small. My first goal was to be able to run a mile without stopping. Some others were to run a mile under 13:00 minutes; a mile under 10:00 minutes; run a 5K, 10K, half-marathon, marathon; run personal records in each of those; successfully pace a friend at a race; and so many, many more. Even running the Couch to 5K was a goal of mine in May--I wanted to complete the entire program (and I did).

It took me three tries to complete this 8-mile run!

4. My regular running routes.

I can tell you the exact distance from my house to just about any point on the peninsula where I live. I know about 10 different 3-mile routes from my house. I knew what dogs lived in which houses, the routines of people who worked outside in their gardens or what time they left for work, and I saw "regulars" on my routes--usually walkers. During Halloween, I especially love to see the skeleton decorations.

5. My body felt harder. Literally.

My body fat got down to 19% when I was training for my 10K (it's closer to 30% now), and I loved that when I pushed on my abs, I could actually feel muscle there. My legs were still jiggly from loose skin, but when I flexed them, I could feel the muscle underneath. I could sit comfortably without my legs falling asleep or having to shift positions. My body just felt COMFORTABLE--and I crave that more than anything right now. I remember when I preferred jeans instead of stretchy black pants! Hahaha.

Feeling comfortable enough to run in just my sports bra (only in my home, though!)

6. Getting outside.

I'm definitely more of an "indoors girl"--I prefer to stay inside most of the time--but there is something about running in nice weather that just puts me in a great mood. Breathing in the clean air (unless it's Monday--garbage collection day!), feeling the breeze evaporate my sweat, seeing all the houses I was used to seeing. Everything was so familiar.

7. Feeling good about getting in exercise for the day.

After a run, no matter how good or bad it went, I always felt good about myself for doing it. My body felt tired and my mind felt at ease--like I'd really accomplished something.

8. The numbers.

Being a total numbers nerd, I loved looking at the data of my pace, my heart rate, how much faster I ran since the previous run, what my pace needs to be to hit a PR, etc. I miss looking at the data.

9. Following an actual running schedule.

I've tried umpteenth times to do this ever since May, and I just can't seem to get back to it. I remember printing out a schedule and crossing off each workout as I did it. It felt so good! And I felt bad about myself if I skipped it for no reason at all. Skipping a run didn't used to be an option; I just did it, no matter what. It was a regular part of my day and I always figured out a way to work it in, no matter how busy I was.

You can find all of my training plans here

10. I had less anxiety.

Now, I feel anxiety all day long and I know that I could at least cut that in half if I would go for a run. Running feels like part of a "to do" list and when I procrastinate, it gives me anxiety. Checking off a run first thing in the morning set my mood for the whole day. If I ran that morning, I felt so much better about myself.

And there it is. Ten reasons I really loved (love?) to run. It's so hard to keep these things in mind every morning when I dread the thought of dressing for the cold outside or dressing to hop on the treadmill and watch the time pass slowly.

If I had to put it in a nutshell, my top three reasons for making myself JUST DO IT are these:

1) It makes my body feel good all day long.
2) It takes away at least half of my anxiety each time I run.
3) I want to feel COMFORTABLE in my body. Not just mentally, but literally--sitting, standing, walking, lying down, naked, clothed, whatever--just comfortable.

Will this help me this next week? I have no idea. But it's worth thinking about. I really ought to print this out and post it next to my bathroom mirror. If I can just get in the habit of running in the morning again, I think I'll feel a million times better.

If you want to share, please tell: what do you love about running?

Desk Calendar pages for today: Some of the someecards are pretty lame (today's included), so I'm only going to post the ones that I like. However, the random trivia is fun! Today's was especially cool; I've written about "tortitude" before in regards to Estelle (who is a tortie). She's definitely talkative and sassy! (I wouldn't use the word "aggressive", however.)

Another fun fact: 99.6% of tortoiseshell cats are female!

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Wednesday Weigh-In : Week 33

I have had such an exhausting day! I'll spare you the details (at least on this post) but it's after 5:00 PM and I still haven't eaten anything or sat down all day. I'm grouchy and my body hurts.

When I just now sat down with my heating pad and my heated blanket to write this post, I realized that I hadn't taken my token mirror selfie for my Wednesday Weigh-In. I sighed loudly to Duck, who was sitting at my feet enjoying the warm blanket as well, then got up to get dressed for a picture.

When I was standing in my closet, I realized there was no real point in getting dressed for my mirror selfie. I had just put on my pajamas and I was nice and cozy. So, I took my photo wearing exactly that--not even a bra under my sweatshirt.

I thought I had a pretty decent week. The only day that I went overboard on calories was on Eli's birthday (Friday). He wanted Chinese take-out for dinner and then we got a dozen cookies from the Detroit Cookie Company. The cookies were just okay, however, which was disappointing. Definitely not worth the $53 we spent on them! I thought they all tasted kind of the same. At least I got that out of my system and I won't be going back there. (We cut all the cookies into four pieces each and then that way we got to try them all.)

So, that was really the only "bad" day that I had this week. Something that I think has been a problem though is that I wait way too long to eat. I've been staying super busy during the day and before I even realize it, it's 5:00 PM and I still haven't eaten anything. I really do think my body does best when I space my food out over about 12 hours. I loved the intermittent fasting (it's so convenient!) but I found it very hard to lose weight that way. I lost weight easiest when I was eating at 8:00, 12:00, 4:00, and 8:00. I don't think I need to stick to that exact schedule, but I do feel like I need to spread out my eating.

Anyway, my weigh-in today wasn't as great as I'd hoped, but it was still something:

I was at 156.6, which is down a pound from last week's 157.6. I had a large loss last week, so I couldn't expect that to happen two weeks in a row.

I've still been doing good with getting in fiber wherever I can. I don't always meet the daily recommendation, but I do come close. And sometimes, I even go over. I find that I get the most fiber on the days that I cook something with beans or lentils. I don't want to do "fake" fiber--like the kind that's added to foods just to bulk up the fiber content--so I've been sticking with more natural sources. As a bonus, it's helped me to eat healthier!

I haven't been doing so great with my water. I'll have about two liters a day, and my goal is four. It's just so hard to want to drink water 1) when it's cold outside, and 2) when I could chew ice instead. (Yes, I realize that sounds strange that I'd rather chew ice when it's cold; I just can't help it--I love ice!)

So, my goal this week is to get in at LEAST three liters of water each day. Then maybe next week I'll go for four!

As for today's desk calendar pages:

I think the someecard one is kind of dumb--like maybe it was a filler for the better ones. As for the random fact, I've never been a smoker, so I actually didn't know that smoking damages your sense of taste and smell. A good reason to quit! (Or at least to go without for 48+ hours to see if you notice a difference; I know, easier said than done.)

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