A little something to look forward to!

Gosh, I had no idea how many people would request a mask! I feel really bad that I don't have enough for everyone. I decided that instead of sending up to two per person, I'll just send one--that way more people can get them. I apologize if you requested two.

Tomorrow, I will email everyone that I will be sending a mask. I'm going to try to sort them out by color and hopefully, give you the choice that you asked for. I just have to buy some more envelopes and then I will get them in the mail (hopefully on Monday!). If you don't get an email from me by this weekend, it means I just didn't have enough masks--I'm so sorry! If I should get the urge to make another batch, I will let you know!

We just got word that Michigan is going to be under lockdown until May 15th. And we are "strongly encouraged to wear homemade, non-medical grade masks when leaving the house".

I haven't written about this yet, because I don't want to jinx anything, but I am REALLY hoping that the lockdown gets lifted soon because of a very selfish reason... we are adopting kittens!

Now, I have to say... I have always been against adopting kittens because kittens are usually the first to be adopted. Older cats have a much smaller chance of being adopted. After we (tried to) adopt the two kitties last month and it didn't work out, the woman who runs the cat rescue said that kittens are very easy to adapt to a new environment.

Considering we have two older cats at home (Estelle is about 10 and Phoebe is about 11, I think), I thought about adopting kittens (so that Estelle and Phoebe will have an easier time adjusting). The woman who runs the cat rescue has something like 10 kittens that need a home! She said that they have four black kittens, which are very hard to find homes for--everybody wants the ones who have cute colors.

Of course, I love the cute colors as well, but if I'm going to come up with a compromise, I decided that we could go ahead and adopt two black kittens. They were taken from their mother when they were just days old and have been hand-raised by this woman and her husband. We've already been approved to adopt them, so as soon as they are ready, they will come home with us!

Unfortunately, due to the lock down, the kittens aren't able to be neutered or vaccinated to prepare to go to a new home. So, we have to wait. It's been torture! The whole family is so excited to get them. However, we are willing to wait until they are ready.

In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures. How could anyone not want to adopt these little guys?!

They are currently named June Bug and Lennie, respectively, but we will change those, of course--have to stick with our Friends theme! (They are both male.) I love the black hair and green eyes, but of course I must be biased ;)

We just hope we can get them soon. It will make this quarantine period go by so much faster. Or least be more fun!

From what I've learned, kittens adapt more easily to a new environment, so I hope that they'll be happy here. I'm curious to see how Phoebe and Estelle will react. I have a feeling that Phoebe will have some sort of maternal instinct and Estelle will be a brat.

When we first took Phoebe in, we got her from someone who said she was a stray. I knew a woman from a Mom's Club that I was in, and she said her sister had taken in a stray cat and she'd had it spayed and gotten its shots. She was looking for a home.

Jerry convinced me that we just "needed" another cat, so we picked her up. She was missing half of her tail (I believe it was slammed in a door, based on the way the end of it feels) and she had a bb (from a bb gun) embedded under her skin--the poor cat had been shot! She was very skittish, but she was so sweet. I am SO GLAD that we took her in, as she is now my favorite pet (shh!).

Anyway, I saw on her vet paperwork that she had been in her second trimester of pregnancy when they spayed her, and it made me so sad! She obviously never had her kittens, and it always makes me wonder if she knew that she was expecting kittens but they were gone. 

So, our new kittens have an appointment on May 1st to be neutered, and we should get them shortly thereafter, but with this lockdown, it may take longer. I'm excited, though! It'll be fun to have kittens to play with.

Meanwhile, I've gotten totally addicted to a stupid game on my phone called Best Fiends. I heard the ad for it several times on various podcasts I listen to, and one day I decided to try it. Of course, I got addicted right away, so I've been playing that way too much.

Today, however, I spent most of the day working on the garage. The insulation is done, and now I'm working on the drywall. It's much more difficult than I thought! Drywall is SUPER heavy and awkward to move. I even broke the very first piece I picked up!

I've only gotten about 2/3 of a wall done over the last three days, but I'm starting to get the hang of it more. I'm totally dreading the mudding/taping part! But even thought it's not perfect (not even close!) it's looking better than it did before I started working on it, so there's that.

I did pretty good with my three goals for three days, but it's kind of a blur now--so I won't recap. Today is my day "off" before I start the three day cycle again. My goals for the next three days:

1) Run 3 miles on Sunday within 30 minutes of waking up and run 2.75 miles on Monday within 30 minutes of waking up. Walk Joey daily, a minimum of one mile. (My kids each walk him daily, too--it's a mandatory chore--so he's getting plenty of exercise!)

2) Spend (most) of my free time doing something productive--working on the garage, mainly. However, I'm not going to feel bad about doing unproductive things that I enjoy, like playing stupid games on my phone.

3) Get in a good eating pattern. Eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack daily. Preferably at the same times each day. Right now, I might eat nothing at all until dinner time or I might snack all day long. It just depends on what I have going on. I really want to get into a routine. Bonus points if I count calories!

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If anyone needs a face mask...

It's so odd to even ask this question: Does anyone need a face mask?

I never would have dreamed that we'd come to a day in this country where we are wearing face masks when going to the grocery store or other necessary places. I notice about 75% of the people at the store are wearing masks, and it makes me curious about the other 25%.

Do they just not care to wear them? Or do they not have access to one?

I realized that not everybody has access to a mask or to someone they know that can make one for them. Once I posted photos of the ones that I made for my family, I got a lot of interest on Instagram about selling them.

For years, people have told me that I should sell items that I make, or open an Etsy shop. I would really love to do that (I love crafting, and it'd be great to make money doing it!) but I don't do it for a couple of reasons:

1) My time is worth a lot to me. I would probably charge much more than other people do for the same item, simply because I would look at it like a "job" rather than a hobby. The amount I would charge would have to be worth the amount of time I am spending on it--and I wouldn't blame someone for not wanting to spend that much money! ;)

2) I worry that people won't be happy with what they are paying for. Nothing I make is perfect, and being a perfectionist, I notice all of the little flaws. I would feel really bad if someone paid for something that then wasn't happy with how it turned out. (And these masks are no different--they aren't perfect!)

(This is the same reason I don't typically take on running clients--I would feel bad if I made a plan for them and then they didn't reach their goals, or they got injured, etc.)

Anyway, I really wanted to give people access to masks, but I don't want to "sell" them for those reasons. So, I came up with a compromise...

I will give away masks to those who would like them (while my supply lasts--I won't be sewing more). And then when you receive them, you can pay me whatever you think they are worth to you. (For reference, the cost of shipping + materials is about $5-6; and each masks takes me roughly an hour to make). And I'm so sorry, but I cannot ship them internationally. I'll be paying for shipping myself, so I'm just hoping to get back the money spent on shipping.

I have about 45 masks, so I'll give them on a first-come-first-serve basis (to request one, it must be on this form below only--not comments here, not Instagram messages, etc.) I'm also going to set a limit of two per person.

A little about the masks themselves... I used two types of fabrics. For some of the masks, I used three layers of cotton fabric; for others, I used one layer of cotton with one layer of 600-thread count cotton bedding (an unused flat sheet--my kids don't like flat sheets, so I always save the ones that come in sets to use for fabric).

These are not hospital-grade masks, and they don't have a pocket for a filter. These are great for just going to the grocery store or being out in public when necessary. I cannot make any guarantees about their effectiveness, but I did research online, and they should work pretty well.

(The bedding fabric is actually highly recommended because it's woven tighter--that's why I only used two layers on those masks.) Here is a photo of the back of the mask with the sheet fabric (the zigzag stitch is from where I stitched the pipe cleaner in place).

The masks are made in only one size (adult). And since we are all shaped different, I cannot guarantee that it will fit will. It has two elastic hair ties that go over your ears, so there is a chance it could be too tight or too loose. In that case, you can cut out the hair ties and thread other elastic through or use shoelaces to use to tie it in the back of your head. But so far, these seem to fit well to those I've given them to!

I also included a pipe cleaner in the top to pinch against your nose to form it closer to your face (the more coverage you get, the better).

Finally, I have very limited choices in fabric. If I had been making these for profit, I would have bought a large diverse selection, but I had to use what was in my stash. And unfortunately, that's not much! So, I may or may not be able to give you the one you want. When you fill out the form, just select your favorite choices and I'll see what I can do.

I'll try to figure out how to post a "donate" button on my blog, so when you get them, you can decide what they are worth and donate that way. For now, though, my PayPal address is the same as my email address: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Please don't donate until you get your masks and are happy with them!


I will email you to let you know if I'll be sending a mask (I have no idea how many people will want these, so it'll just depend on that). If I run out, then I'll close responses on the form.

And just as a reminder, I posted a tutorial for how to make the face masks, which you can find here!

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So many masks!

I'm not going to write a "real" post tonight--I'm exhausted and Jerry and I are watching Gilmore Girls (no, I'm not joking! haha).

I spent almost all day long working on sewing face masks. Last week, I mailed out a lot of them after people on Instagram asked if they could buy them. I didn't feel right taking money for them, so I just shipped them off without checking how much it would cost.

I've gotten requests for a ton more, so over the last two days, I've made about 50 of them(!). I'm not going to "sell" them, because it just doesn't feel right, but the shipping cost was insane last week. It costs about $4 for a first class envelope!

So, when I'm done with these, I'm going to offer them to whoever would like one for a donation--whatever you think is fair. I'm not looking to make a profit, so I would suggest $5 per mask (to cover shipping plus envelope and materials), but if you can't afford that, then I'd be happy to ship one at no charge.

I will post more details once I finish sewing them (likely tomorrow). I don't have a lot of different fabrics to choose from (just what I had in my "stash" at home) and they certainly aren't perfect, but for anyone who needs a mask, I have several to give.

I will post the details tomorrow or Friday. For right now, I'm super exhausted from working on them all day! I was only going to make a few for some friends, but I figured that since I was going to be making those, I might as well make a bunch more.

This is what my table has looked like for the last few days...

If you haven't seen the photo of what they look like on an actual face, here it is:

Jerry's "bank robber" look ;)

Anyway, that's what I've been up to the last couple of days! Once I'm done with this batch, I won't be making any more. I'm totally burnt out.

And if you want to make your own, I did write a tutorial for it--you can find that tutorial for making your own mask here.

G'night!

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RECIPE: Gobby's Noodle Cream Cheese Casserole

Gobby is an affectionate name given to my maternal grandmother, who passed away in 1999. After she died, my aunt made a cookbook out of Gobby's recipes and passed the books out to the women in the family. I love the book! It's so nostalgic for me--some of the recipes are more modern, and some are very old.

This recipe is my favorite in the book! The cream cheese and sour cream mixed together is a great combo. This is 100% the best comfort food.

I've even used these ingredients to make a lasagna, which makes the lasagna unique with the sour cream. Lots of compliments when I made that for a get-together!

Here is a printer-friendly PDF version!


Gobby's Noodle Cream Cheese Casserole

16 oz (dry) small shell pasta (or radiatore)
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
16 oz ground turkey (or beef)
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce + 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temp
1 cup sour cream
8 oz cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions.

Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add onion and sauté for a minute or two and then add the ground turkey or beef. Cook, breaking up turkey, until it is browned and onions are soft. Drain fat, and add the tomato sauce.

In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer, combine the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth.

To assemble casserole: In a large casserole dish, layer half the pasta, and spread half the cream cheese mixture over the pasta. Then spread half of the beef mixture. Repeat layers. Top with cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 F for 30 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Makes about 8 servings.

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A Ridiculous List of TV Shows I've Watched

Before this Covid quarantine, I very rarely scrolled through Facebook... maybe once every 2-3 days! But lately, I've been on Facebook daily. It's still not my favorite social media app (I am partial to Instagram) but I've definitely been on there more lately.

This post is brought to you by a random post I saw on Facebook. Someone listed 100(!) TV shows, and I'm supposed to reply with a checkmark whether I've seen more than 10 episodes of each show. So here goes...

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You never realize how much/little TV you watch until you fill out a list. Put a checkmark by the shows of which you have watched more than 10 episodes.

1. Grey's Anatomy: ✅ I started watching this from the very first episode on the day it aired, and just can't stop watching. I don't like any of the characters, but I still watch. *eye roll*

2. Stranger Things: Tried it, but I hate supernatural anything

3. The Vampire Diaries:

4. The Walking Dead: ✅ (This show was fantastic until the last four seasons or so.)

5. Fear The Walking Dead:

6. Dexter: ✅ (LOVED Dexter! Deb was amazing. And of course, Dexter himself was the best.)

7. American Horror Story: ✅ (I don't know why I watched this. I hate anything supernatural, so I must have been REALLY bored to start this one. I watched about two seasons, I think.)

8. Orange Is the New Black: ✅ (I liked the first couple of seasons of this, but then I stopped watching when the "women took over the prison" for one season (or at least the first episode--that's when I called it quits)

9. A Million Little Things:

10. This is Us: ✅ (LOVED this show until recently... lately it hasn't been as good.)

11. The Simpsons: Fun fact--Never saw an episode of The Simpsons in my life. I wasn't allowed to watch it as a kid, and then when I was an older teen, I just didn't have interest in "cartoons".

12. New Amsterdam: ✅ I'm a sucker for medical dramas, what can I say?

13. Manifest:

14. How To Get Away With Murder: ✅ (I actually downloaded a song that I heard on this show--"All of Me" by Conrad Ricamora


15. Breaking Bad: ✅ This was a great show! I watched it when it was still on the air, but a couple of years ago, Jerry and I watched it with the kids. Now Eli is re-watching it himself.

16. Sons of Anarchy: ✅ LOVED this show!

17. Scandal: ✅ I didn't finish this, but I watched a few seasons. I am not sure why I kept watching, because I am usually very turned off by anything political!

18. Riverdale:

19. The Good Doctor: ✅ One of my very favorite shows I've ever seen!

20. House of Cards: Again, politics. Nope.

21. Once Upon a Time:

22. House: ✅ This show is SO underrated! I reference Dr. House all the time. Loved loved loved this show!

23. True Detective:

24. Dr. Pimple Popper: I've watched a couple of episodes, and I'm a fan! Not more than 10, though.

25. Power:

26. Empire:

27. One Tree Hill: ✅ I got sucked into this, along with Jerry and the kids! I ADORE Sophia Bush.

28. Supernatural:

29. Family Guy:

30. Santa Clarita Diet:

31. Shameless: ✅ My very favorite TV show EVER on television. No exaggeration. So jealous that Jerry got to meet "Ian" in Chicago!

32. Pretty Little Liars: ✅ Got sucked in one summer while I was doing some craft... I can't remember what I was working on. Maybe my race t-shirt quilt? I didn't finish the series, though. I got tired of wait to find out who "A" really was.

33. Chicago PD: ✅ Jerry and I watch all of the "Chicago" shows.

34. Bones:

35. Criminal Minds:

36. The 100: ✅ (I binged this really quickly... It got weird the last couple of seasons, but I still couldn't stop watching!

37. Chicago Fire: ✅ Again, the Chicago shows.

38. Chicago Med: ✅ See above.

39. The Resident: ✅ A sucker for medical dramas--really.

40. Game of Thrones: I tried a dozen times to get into this show, but just couldn't! The dragons turned me off. I don't like shows with things that couldn't *actually* happen.

41. The Big Bang Theory:

42. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Tried a few episodes

43. Lost: ✅ I loved the first couple of episodes, but when I realized it was supernatural, I was done.

44. The Sopranos:

45. NCIS:

46. NCIS Los Angeles:

47. NCIS New Orleans:

48. Law & Order SVU: ✅ On and off over the years. It's a good show, but slow moving.

49. Gossip Girl:

50. How I Met Your Mother:

51. Blue Bloods:

52. Two Broke Girls:

53. The Office: This is Noah's favorite show EVER. One day, he asked me for a hug and he was literally CRYING... when I asked him what was wrong, he told me that The Office was over, and he was so sad that it was done! Hahaha. I've never watched it--I am not a fan of sitcoms.

54. Blacklist: Watched about 7-8 episodes of this. It was good, but not enough to make me want to keep watching.

55. Full House: ✅ Of course I watched this all the time when I was a kid!

56. Fuller House: Watched the premiere, but not past that.

57. Downton Abbey: Tried this one (so many times!), but couldn't get into it.

58. Hawaii Five-O:

59. Big Mouth:

60. Last Man Standing: ✅ A fun show for Jerry, me, and the kids to watch.

61. Six Feet Under:

62. Wentworth:

63. Friends: ✅ Yes... could it BE any more obvious?

64. That 70s Show:

65. Girlfriends Guide to Divorce:

66. Heartland:

67. All-American:

68. Greek:

69. Yellowstone:

70. Better Call Saul: I watched about 7-8 episodes of this, but I forgot about it and never went back to it
71. You: ✅ I watched this when it was on Lifetime and I had a temporary subscription for it.

72. Rescue Me: ✅ This was a great show! The first song on my running playlist is actually the intro from this show... "C'mon C'mon" by The Von Bondies...



73. Scrubs: ✅ Watched a little of this a long time ago

74. Community:

75. Letter Kenney :

76. Kitchen nightmares:

77. The Masked singer:

78. Robot Chicken:

79. Vikings:

80. Mindhunter: ✅ LOVED this show--I read the book first (a memoir) and the show was based on the memoir.

81. New Girl: ✅ I'm not usually one for comedies, but I really loved Zoey Deschanel in this.

82. The Good Place: ✅ I ADORED this show until the very last episode of the first season. My whole family was so disappointed at the twist that we didn't watch it again.

83. Black Mirror: ✅ I'm obsessed with this show! I can't wait for more episodes. This show is amazing for conversations topics and debates. It's so scary to see that these things could actually happen.

83. Lucifer:

84. Peaky Blinders:

85. iZombie:

86. Parks and Rec:

87. Brooklyn 99:

88. Handmaid's Tale: ✅ Love this show! Scary to think it could become reality one day.

89. Modern Family: ✅ It's been a long time, but I watched the first couple of seasons. Again, I'm not big on sitcoms.

90. Smallville:

91. Seinfeld: Never saw an episode!

92. Gilmore Girls: ✅ LOVE this show! Jerry and I are currently watching it. I watched it before a few years ago, but this is his first time, and he really likes it. The one-liners in this show crack me up!

93. Charmed:

94. Private Practice: ✅ No idea what possessed me to watch this, considering that I wasn't a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy, but I actually liked this show. Maybe a girl crush on Caterina Scarsone? (I know she's on Grey's now, but I like her on Private Practice before)

95. Lost Girl:

96. True Blood:

97. Roswell:

98. Haven:

99. Mad Men:

100. Arrow:

And there it is! I feel like I've watched way too much TV. But there are a lot of shows I've seen that aren't even listed here, hahahaha. One of these days, I'll write a list of my favorite shows!

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A Great Sunday: 3-3-1 goals for the week start today

I have NO idea where this post disappeared to! It showed up on my feed, but now it's completely gone from my blog. That's never happened before! Anyway, this is yesterday's post.

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Today, I'm going to give a (hopefully) short recap of the first day of my 3-3-1 goals. Starting today (Sunday)...

For the next three days, my goals are:

1) Go to bed by 12:00 am. I'm going to turn off electronics and read a book (well, all electronics except my Kindle Paperwhite--which I don't use a backlight on, so it literally looks like a page in a paperback). I've found that by going to bed early, I have the energy to get up in the mornings and run within 30 minutes of waking up.

I didn't have a run scheduled today, but I do tomorrow, so I want to get in the habit of going to bed early. I can't say how well I did on this today, because it's only 9:00--but I plan to be in bed reading by 12:00!

2) Run within 30 minutes of waking up on Monday. I have 2.5 miles on the schedule, so I plan to get out of bed, throw on my running clothes, and head out the door to get it done early. On the days that I don't have a run scheduled, my plan is to walk Joey for two miles.

Today, Jerry was off work, so the four of us (Jerry, me, and the kids) took Joey for a walk to my parents' house. We haven't seen my parents at all, really, and since it was a nice day today, I thought it would be okay to go visit outside, keeping a distance of at least six feet. It felt odd, talking across the deck that way, but it was nice to have a conversation with them!

3) Cook dinner all three days (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday). Since I've been having a hard time with this lately, I made a SUPER simple menu this week--so that even when I don't feel like cooking, I can take a few minutes to whip something up.

Today, I made grilled cheese. Not just any grilled cheese, but the BEST grilled cheese ever. (That's actually what I call it--"The BEST Grilled Cheese". There is an art to making a good grilled cheese, and this is perfection, if I do say so myself ;)

Here is the recipe. Hard to call a grilled cheese a "recipe" but the bread and cheese are very specific.

Let's hope I can get up and run tomorrow! ;)

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RECIPE: The Best Grilled Cheese EVER

This is kind of a stupid "recipe" to post, considering it's "just" a grilled cheese. But it is SOOOO delicious that I had to post it.

The keys are: cooking over medium to medium low heat using oil instead of butter (which makes the perfect toasted texture), and the combination of the rye bread with havarti cheese. Don't make substitutions on this recipe!


Here is a printer-friendly PDF!

The Best Grilled Cheese EVER

Ingredients:

2 thin slices rye bread
1 slice Havarti cheese (if there is an option, get the "cream Havarti")
2 tsp. extra light olive oil  (the "light" just means light tasting, not light on fat or calories)

Directions:

Pre-heat skillet over medium heat (don’t be impatient with this—the best way to cook a grilled cheese is “low and slow”.

Spread each slice of bread with 1 tsp of oil (alternatively, you could put half the oil in the skillet, and the other half when you flip the sandwich). I like to spread it on to make sure each slice is covered.

Set one slice of bread in skillet, oil side down, and top evenly with the cheese. Set the other slice of bread, oil side up, on top of the cheese.

Cook (low and slow; keep on medium to medium-low heat until the bottom bread is nicely brown). This takes roughly four minutes per side, if you're cooking it low enough. Flip the sandwich and toast the other side. Cut and serve. It’s delicious with tomato soup for dunking!

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How I Gained 45 Pounds in 2 Years

I've been writing a lot lately about my "recent" weight gain (I can't even really say "recent" anymore, because it's been over the last couple of years. In December 2017, I was at about 133, my goal weight. Fast forward to now, a few months into 2020, and I'm at 179--the most I've weighed since early 2010.

(If you're new here, you can read about my weight loss and then gains and losses since then here.)

As I've written several times, I've been struggling with this weight gain quite a bit lately. I've been doing a lot of introspection about why I've gained so much weight in the last couple of years, and I'm pretty sure I've narrowed it down. (I wrote about finally facing the scale here)

Here is a photo from December 2017 versus now:

Thoughts on my reasons for weight gain:

Mainly--Stress. I have been putting a lot of pressure on myself, but also with Jerry's change in work schedule, my life was thrown for a huge loop and I feel extremely overwhelmed much of the time.

Actually, "overwhelmed" couldn't be a more fitting word for what I felt in 2019.

When Jerry's work schedule changed, he started working straight days instead of swing shift (where he would work nights for a month, followed by days for a month, and repeat). When he would work nights, I got a lot of help from him as far as driving the kids around; but when he switched to day shift, I've been doing it all myself, and I feel like I live in my car. (The Covid quarantine has changed things, but I'll get to that.)

I also used to get time to myself in the evenings. The kids would go to bed at 10:00 pm, and Jerry would be working nights, so I'd have time to do what I wanted--watch TV, read a book, work on my blog or a craft, etc. When he switched to day shift, he's home every evening. (No, we don't have to spend that time together--but I really do like spending time with him! Now, I've resorted to staying up way too late after he goes to bed.)

I have always struggled with insomnia, too. But it has gotten so much worse since he's been sleeping in the bed with me every day. Jerry sleeps like a rock the second his head hits the pillow; but I toss and turn all night. I never realized (until recently) just how much the lack of quality sleep affects me.

I was starting to feel like I was reaching a breaking point just before the Covid outbreak. I was really getting concerned for my mental health, because I was feeling so stressed and overwhelmed... and I was eating to make myself feel better. Ice cream was my way to de-stress, and it (clearly) wreaked havoc on my weight.

I had also quit drinking for all of 2019 as a challenge to myself--because drinking wine would help me relax, and I didn't want it to become a problem--and when I quit drinking, I started eating more to fill that "void".

Until a couple of years ago, I never felt stress like I did the past couple of years. Yes, there were periods where I felt overwhelmed as a mom and wife; but those passed in a relatively short amount of time. The past two years, however, have just kept going and going.

This Covid quarantine, as horrible as it is--please understand that I am not at all trying to trivialize how devastating this has been for all of the thousands of people that have been affected--has changed things quite a bit as far as my stress levels go. Because I am at home all day, I finally feel the freedom to do things I really enjoy without feeling like a bad mom or wife or daughter or sister or aunt.

This quarantine isn't going to last forever (at least I hope not!) so I'm taking advantage of the de-stressing while I can. I am doing crafts I enjoy, binge watching TV shows that have been on my list forever, playing games on my phone, and pretty much anything I feel like doing. My house isn't as clean as it probably should be, and the laundry piles up for a couple of days before I finally wash a load.

But I don't feel nearly the amount of stress that I did a couple of months ago. Back then, I kept thinking that I just needed time to stop for a while so I could just take a break and breathe before going again. And this is that break.

Still, I'm not making any progress to drop the weight I've gained. I think this is because I got so used to changing my good habits into bad habits over the last two years that I'm having a hard time getting back to those good habits.

In 2009-2010, it took a long time for me to develop those good habits! At first, I was still eating junk food, but I was eating less of it because I was willing to sacrifice food quantity in order to shed the pounds. Eventually, as I tried new foods in order to reduce the number of calories I was eating, I started to gravitate to healthier options (I still ate junk food, but most of the time I was eating relatively healthy).

I started eating oatmeal all the time, and I LOVED it; I ate fruit with lunch every day; I cooked a "normal" dinner and divided it into four portions, and then ate only one portion; I learned to love certain vegetables, particularly when roasting them; I never did learn to love salad or yogurt, but I still try them from time to time in order to see if that's changed. I even developed the habit of sticking to a running schedule, no matter what else I had going on. No excuses.

They were strong habits that developed when I didn't even notice.

Over the past two years or so, I've undone all of those habits that took me at least a year to develop. I don't like the thought of oatmeal for breakfast, or tuna sandwiches for lunch, or a piece of fruit for a snack. Cooking and meal planning have not been at the top of my priority list because those things are stressful to me.

Several people have suggested having my kids and Jerry cook once a week, and I like that idea. The kids need to learn that stuff anyway, and now is the perfect time for it.

Today, I wrote a meal plan for the week (I'm starting a new 3-3-1 plan on Sunday), and Jerry went grocery shopping. (I have to admit, it was SO HARD for me to let him do it--I am such a control freak--but he did great! I gave him a very specific list and he probably did it faster than I would have, haha.) And I have a couple of meals on there that I will have the kids cook.

So, to answer the question, in a nutshell, of how I gained about 45 pounds in the last 2 years:

1) Life changes as we get older. And I wasn't prepared to change with it.
2) I didn't learn how to manage stress in ways other than eating.
3) I stopped making time for myself, which only made me feel overwhelmed and unhappy.

Whether you can relate to this or not, I don't know. I just wanted to share my introspections and observations as to what caused this radical weight gain.

I feel desperate to gain control over my habits again, and I think I need to start by controlling my stress in healthy ways. I know that running has always helped with stress and anxiety, so starting my training plan for the Detroit Half will be helpful. Even though I know I'm not going to want to hop out of bed and into my running clothes, I will feel a million times better after getting in that run.

Making time for myself is crucial, and even after this quarantine, I am going to make sure to set aside time to do whatever I want--even if it's just binge watching a TV show.

Also, I felt really good about myself when I took the time to do my hair and make-up recently (and dress in something other than stretchy black pants and an oversized sweatshirt). When I need a boost, I can make sure to do that again. (It's not always practical, depending on what I'm doing that day--when I work in the garage, I end up pulling my hair up in a messy bun and wearing my "painting" clothes that I don't mind getting dirty.)

I really like the 3-3-1 approach (setting some goals to accomplish for just three days... then resetting and doing another three day session... and then taking a day off before starting over again). I don't know how long it will help going forward, but I can't believe the difference in my mood when I did the first round--I felt fantastic!

I know a lot of you are in the same boat I am, having lost a large amount of weight and then gaining some (or all) of it back--and I thank you so much for sharing that with me!--so hopefully we can get back to our healthy habits together. Identify the problem and look for ways to solve it!

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Things That Make Me Laugh

Good grief! I have been staring at this blank page on my computer, and I went through numerous lists (literally for over an hour now) and I just cannot think of anything to write about today.

I eventually decided to post a bunch of things from a Pinterest board I have called "Things That Make Me Laugh". I legit belly laughed over these when I first saw them, and I still like referring to my Pinterest board when I need a good laugh.

So, here are some of my favorites. Hopefully they make you chuckle too!

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Setting Short Term Goals (3-3-1 Goals)

So, after finally facing the scale after avoiding it for weeks (months?) I've written a few times now about this idea of goals for just three days. Instead of thinking 30-day, 60-day, 90-day, etc, I decided to try out writing some goals to do for just three days.

Three days!

That's enough time to feel like I accomplished something, but not extremely difficult to actually complete.

Someone commented on a recent post about making three goals for three days (with one day off per week--so it would be two "three goals for three days" sessions, then a day off, and repeat). I really like the idea of choosing three goals!

I think when choosing too many goals, it gets overwhelming. That's how I've felt the last few days, because I chose several goals to work on. I'd like to try this 3-3-1 approach, and see how I do.

I've learned that getting enough sleep is EVERYTHING when it comes to running in the mornings. I had planned on running in the mornings again for another three-day set, and I just couldn't drag myself out of bed with the energy to run.

The first time I made the three-day goals, I did great! The only difference is that I went to bed early the night before. So, I think that in order to get up and run in the mornings, I need to get in bed by a decent hour. Right now, I go to bed at around 2:00-3:00 (yikes!). And then I get up (without an alarm) at 7:00 or 8:00. So, clearly, I need more sleep.

I felt really good about myself during the first round of three-day goals. However, doing my hair and make-up just seemed pointless because I spent the rest of the day in the garage working on installing insulation. So, I'm going to narrow down my goals to three--hence the 3-3-1 approach.

Insulating the garage has been fun, but a challenge--moving everything around makes a huge mess and I'm constantly having to step over and dodge things while I move the ladder around. I'm almost done though.

Today, my older brother, Brian, came over to check it out and give me some pointers. He said I should drywall the ceiling before I do the walls, and I'm super bummed about that. The ceiling is going to be a huge challenge! It's too high to do it without ladders, and I'm going to need the whole family out there helping to hold up the drywall so I can screw it in.

After drywalling the ceiling, I have to insulate it (I'm going to use a spray insulation) and then I'll finally be able to drywall the walls of the garage. I knew this would be a big project, but I didn't realize just how big until Brian explained all that to me.

Anyways, I digress... three goals, three days, with one day off after two rounds.

I have a strong feeling that tomorrow is going to be extra hard to accomplish anything (I'm almost done insulating the garage, Jerry will has his first day off in over a week, and I have a lot of housework to catch up on). I want to do well on this round of goals, so I'm going to start them on Sunday.

That means I'll do a three-goal challenge on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday; and then reset for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday; and I'll take Saturday off. Then repeat.

I realize I'm probably overthinking this entire thing! But right now, being cooped up at home for "quarantine", I overthink everything ;)

I'm going to write my first set of goals here now... three goals for three days:

1) Go to bed by 12:00 am. This is going to be SO HARD for me, because I am never tired that early! I don't really get tired until at least 2:00 am. To accomplish this, I'm going to turn off the TV at 11:30 and then read a book from 11:30 to 12:00. Reading makes me more tired than watching TV. I'm not going to set an alarm to get up (I always get up naturally between 6:30 and 8:00).

2) Run within 30 minutes of waking up on Monday. Since I'm following my training plan for the Detroit Half, this is important. I am scheduled to run 2.5 miles on Monday. I like getting it done in the morning. Since this is just for Monday, I am also going to set the goal of walking Joey two miles on each of the three days.

3) Cook dinner all three days. Lately, I've been asking Jerry to grab something on his way home (I've been really into Jimmy John's for some reason). We really don't need to be ordering food, because I am home and certainly capable of making a decent meal. But since I spend so much time working in the garage, I am exhausted when I come in and I don't feel like cooking.

We're supposed to get snow(!) this week, which really sucks. We got snow for the last couple of days--I don't know why I was surprised, because we always get snow in April--and it really put a damper on my mood. I was so excited for spring.

It has since melted, but I was not happy to see this!

Finally, I just have to say how stinkin' cute Luke and Riley are. I LOVE seeing pictures of them, since I can't be around them right now. I got to see them in their car for a minute, and we could blow kisses to each other, but I couldn't hug them.

Anyway, here are a few pictures. I cannot believe how big they've gotten! Remember how excited I was to become an aunt? It feels like it was just yesterday.

What good is an Easter dress if you can't get down and dirty with it?

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She reminds me so much of Eli when Eli was her age! He loved "accessories"--I even have a folder on my computer called "Eli's accessories"--all photos of Eli wearing fun things like Riley in the photo above. So cute!

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