75 Hard - Day 3

I can't come up with a creative title, so this will have to do. I made it through Day 3 of 75 Hard! I feel like if I can get through a week or so, I'll have a long enough streak going that I won't even have thoughts of quitting.

That's usually how things work for me... once I have a solid streak, I don't want to break it, so I become very determined to see it through.

I've been staying super busy, which has helped to keep me on track. The last few days, I've gotten up really early in the morning--like 5:00 or 5:30! I write in my "Some Lines A Day" journal for couple of minutes, then do the 10 pages of reading for 75 Hard while drinking a quart of water--all before I get out of bed.

Then when I do get up, I immediately go for a walk (workout #1 for the day) and take a progress photo in the mirror. So, by 8:00-ish in the morning, I've already done most of the 75 Hard checklist for the day!

Today, I walked Joey this morning (he loves this new routine). It kept looking like it was going to rain, and I was hoping it would. The humidity was 98% and the rain would have felt great. Also, I could check my "rainy walk" off of my Cookies Summer Challenge checklist.

While I was out, I happened to see three rabbits fairly close to the road, spread in a triangle. They were lying down and just starting at Joey and me. It was the weirdest thing! I see rabbits all the time, but I've never seen them do that before. I wonder if they were protecting a nest or something...? I was surprised they didn't run off when we walked by.

The pictures make them look kind of far away, but they were fairly close to the road and they didn't even flinch when Joey and I stopped to watch them for a minute.

Anyway, I've just never seen rabbits do that before. It didn't end up raining during the walk, so I decided to cross off my "bridge walk" on the checklist. It wasn't a very exciting bridge, and I was hoping to hold out for a good one, but I couldn't think of another walk to check off the list. So, here is the bridge. I know, it's intimidating! ;)

Since I've been walking so much, I got shin splints--especially in my left leg, and it's really sore. I also feel pain in the spot where I had my stress fracture five years ago. I know that it's because of the slope in the road. When I walk, I always walk against traffic (which is what pedestrians are "supposed" to do). However, that means I'm always walking with my left foot on the slope. My doctor said that is likely what caused my stress fracture.

So, even though it felt totally weird, I walked on the opposite side of the road, in the direction of traffic. I felt so much relief in my leg when I did that. I'm going to have to make sure to switch it up so that I'm doing each side of the road evenly. The last thing I want is another stress fracture! I've also been rotating my shoes.

After my walk, I drank another quart of water (halfway to my goal for the day). Then I went to Lowe's and bought a bunch of 2x6 boards for the garage. Of course, I left the paper that I'd written the measurements on at home, so I didn't know how many boards to buy. I took a guess and bought 10.

When I got home, I immediately got to work cutting and installing the boards around the perimeter of the garage. When I finished, I had just eight inches of one board left! I couldn't have made a better guess as to how many boards to buy. And I drank another quart of water while I was working.

I forgot to buy wood filler to fill in the little holes from the trim nailer and the screws, so I couldn't prime and paint today. I'll have to buy some tomorrow. I am so excited to see what it looks like when it's done! But even more excited for it to just BE DONE because I want to move all the stuff in the garage back into place.

When I was done working in the garage, it was around 1:00; I decided to do my second workout for 75 Hard. Again, I was sure it was going to rain. To be safe, though, I figured I'd do part of my walk on the beach so that I could cross that one off the list. I hadn't been down to the beach in a long time, so I was shocked when I got down there and saw it was completely underwater!

Jerry and I used to walk along this beach once in a while. It wasn't huge, but there was plenty of space for us to walk in the sand for at least a half mile or so. Needless to say, I turned around and nixed that idea. Of course, as soon as I got home and took off my shoes, it started raining.

As long as I stay busy like I have been, the intermittent fasting isn't hard at all. I break my fast at dinner (an early 4:00) and then have a snack a few hours later. I haven't weighed myself, but I don't really want to for a while. I am feeling really good about this 75 Hard right now, and I feel like if I don't see the scale move downward, I'll get discouraged. I really am doing this challenge to become mentally stronger.

I know it's only been three days, but I am happy with how I'm doing with it. It's been a while since I stuck with anything for three days! Haha.

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The One Where Duck Helped Me Start Day 2 of 75 Hard

For the past couple of days, I've actually made myself go to bed by 11:00 (last night I was asleep by 10:30). I have been trying to get in a nightly routine where I am done on my computer by 9:00 and then I read on my Kindle until 10:30 or so (when I start falling asleep).

I've always had trouble falling asleep so early, but I think that reading a book without distraction makes me tired enough to fall asleep. And then when I go to bed THAT early, I have woken up earlier for the past couple of days, too. This morning, I was up at 5:00 and wide awake to start the day.

This is how my day started... Duck was determined to help me start my 75 Hard challenge. First, he decided that since my eyes were open, it was time to get up.

Then I wrote a few lines in my 'Some Lines A Day' journal (Amazon affiliate link). Journaling is not part of 75 Hard, but a habit I want to get into.

Then I started drinking my water, and Duck was all about licking the condensation from the bottle while I drank.

Then I read my non-fiction book (I'm reading 'The Complete Guide to Fasting' by Dr. Jason Fung. I liked 'The Obesity Code' (Amazon affiliate links) so much that I started this one. I'm not loving it so far, so I may find something else to read for 75 Hard instead and maybe listen to this as an audiobook like I did with 'The Obesity Code'.)

Duck was clearly intrigued by it, though.

By the time Jerry got home from work at 6:15, I was ready to head out for my first workout of the day--a 45 minute walk. Duck decided not to help me with that one.

I actually wanted to check off one of the walks on my Cookies Summer Challenge list, so I walked until I reached three miles. When I walk, I feel like I'm going faster than I actually am. My pace always surprises me. I took Joey with me this morning.

I did the "progression walk", where each mile is faster than the previous.

When I got home, I drank another quart of water and then changed right into my painting clothes so I could work on the garage some more. I felt like I had so much energy! It was only 7:30 or so, but I had already checked off my 75 Hard list: 1) Two quarts of water; 2) Reading 10 pages; 3) One outdoor 45-minute workout; 4) Taking a progression picture.

I did quite a bit in the garage today. Remember that 2x4 sill that runs along the top of the concrete foundation wall, just below the drywall? I had no idea what to do with it.

I decided to use a bunch of scrap boards my brother had given me to nail to the edge of it all the way around the perimeter. Then, I'll buy some 2x6 boards to put on top of those, so it'll be a little ledge all the way around. It's hard to describe, so I'll take a picture once I get the 2x6's.

But today, I used the table saw to cut down all the boards into 2.5-inch wide pieces (I probably had 25 of them when I was done!). Then I used a trim nailer to attach the to the side of the 2x4's. It already looks better than before.

When I decided to be done with the garage for the day, it was 1:00. Jerry was still sleeping, so I decided to get in my second workout of the day and then I could just relax for the rest of the day. Since I started that one between 12 PM and 2 PM, I counted it as my lunch time walk for Cookies Summer Challenge.

My legs were definitely feeling tired. I had gotten in over 15,000 steps before 2:00 PM, which is a LOT for me.

I was feeling hungry by the time my intermittent fasting "eating window" started at 4:00. It was weird--I felt super energetic all day and then right after I ate dinner, I felt like my whole body just crashed. I got SO tired. After Jerry left for work, I started reading my book. I just started Suzanne Collins' new book, 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'  (Amazon affiliate link) a couple of days ago and I'm loving it! It's a prequel to The Hunger Games. Almost right away, I started falling asleep.

The urge to sleep was so strong that I actually climbed in bed and took a nap. I never, ever take naps! I don't know if it's the extra exercise, or getting up early, or the intermittent fasting, or what--but it was so unlike me to fall asleep during the day. I woke up at 8:00 and knew I had to get up and write my blog post, so here I am.

Anyway, I completed Day 2 of 75 Hard and I'm feeling good about it! The part that I find the hardest is the second workout of the day. I wanted to go for a bike ride today but my butt bones hurt too much from yesterday, haha.

I'm going to read some more of my book and hopefully get another good night's sleep tonight. It would be nice if I can get in the habit of being in bed by 10:30 every night and wake up at 5:30 or 6:00 to start the day with my water, non-fiction reading, and first workout.

I feel really good about the last two days and I feel like this 75 Hard challenge will be good for my self-esteem. I have been feeling terrible about myself lately and being able to stick with something like this makes me feel good and it makes me want to keep going. Of course, I have 73 days to go ;)

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75 Hard: A Mental Toughness Challenge

I swore I wasn't going to post about this for a while because you all know me... I start things and only finish them about 10% of the time. It sounds like a terrible track record, but if I had given up what I started before reaching every accomplishment in my life, I never would have achieved some of my proudest moments.

• I tried to lose weight about 10 trillion times before I was finally successful.
• I tried to give up alcohol for 30 days (and failed) lots of times before I finally decided to give it up for a YEAR in 2019 and was successful.
• I tried to make a blogging streak of 30, 60, 90+ days several times, and failed. Right now, I've blogged every single day since January 1st (I made the goal to blog daily for a year)

My point is that I'm going to try a lot of things in life and fail. Over and over. Until one day, maybe I'll have a win.

My other point is that it's embarrassing to post "I'm going to do _______!!" and then a week later, admitting that I failed. This has happened numerous times--over the last few years, especially. So each time I post something like this, I'm nervous that it'll be just another of those times.

Which is exactly why I didn't want to share this just yet. It's just another new challenge that appealed to me and I'd like to try it. Will I succeed? I have no idea. Will I learn from it? Probably. Will it be harmful to at least give it a whirl? Nope.

But I decided to post it because I think that MOST people try and fail over and over until they have a win. I don't think many people achieve everything that they say they are going to do. So I'm not alone in that (at least I don't think so).

That right there is the only reason I keep trying new things, new challenges, new ways of doing things. Most of the time, I fail to achieve what I set out for; but a small percentage of the time, I kick ass. And MAYBE this will be one of those times that I kick ass and I can feel really good about it.

When Adam was over a couple of days ago, he told me about a challenge he is doing called 75 Hard.

I could make this post a trillion times longer than my other posts, but I'll try to keep it brief and then give you a couple of resources to check out for yourself.

75 Hard is basically a plan for mental toughness--something I've been lacking REALLY badly lately. There are some physical aspects to it, yes, but the entire point of it is to make yourself extremely disciplined so that you DON'T quit your goals and you DON'T make excuses not to do things. To quote Andy Frisella, the creator the plan:

"This is not a physical challenge. It is a mental challenge, designed to develop all of the characteristics you lack in life that have landed you where you are at. The physical transformations that occur are just the by-product of the mental transformations you will make."

I used to feel mentally tough. Sometimes, when I put my mind to something, nothing can stop me. But other times, I talk myself out of the steps I need to take in order to hit my goals. I really want to feel that mental toughness again!

The plan is 75 days long, and it consists of five components:

1) Follow a diet. This can be any diet you choose. Again, the point is not a "physical fitness" plan, but a mental toughness plan. So, before you start, you choose whatever diet you'd like to follow. Personally, I'm going to go with intermittent fasting. I've been dabbling with it lately and I'd really like to give it a good, hard try. I think 75 days should be a good amount of time.

Following a diet also includes giving up alcohol (this is a rule of the 75 Hard challenge). And there are NO cheat meals allowed (like people who eat clean six days a week and then have a cheat day, etc.)

2) Workout for 45 minutes twice a day, and one must be outside. Adam totally lost me at this. I said no way! But then he explained that it doesn't have to be running, or cross fit, or Insanity, or anything like that. I could choose to do walking, riding a bike, aqua jogging if the pool ever opens, yoga, lifting weights, whatever. As long as I do two 45-minute workouts a day, it counts.

The workouts cannot be together, like a 90 minute workout. They have to be done separately. AND one of them has to be done outdoors. The reason for this is because you can't always control your environment. Sometimes you might have to workout in the rain, snow, excessive heat or cold, or other miserable conditions. This toughens you up mentally because you just have to get it done, regardless of the circumstances. No excuses.

3) Take a progress picture every single day. I am doing simple mirror selfies. The reason for the progress photos is again, to develop a habit--no excuses. Also, it's because people usually hate having their picture taken and mental toughness is built on stepping out of your comfort zone. Finally, even if you don't see a difference on a daily basis, you can eventually flip through the pictures and notice the changes.

4) Drink one gallon of water every day. This doesn't really require an explanation. The point isn't just because water is healthy, but because it's a habit to form, and habits require mental strength. Also, people tend to focus on the big changes rather than the "easy" ones, but the "easy" ones like drinking water are just as important in mental toughness.

5) Read 10 pages of a non-fiction, self-development book every day. Reading 10 pages sounds like nothing, but it's one of those "easy goals" that can get overlooked. It's easy to say, "Oh, I'll just read 20 pages tomorrow". But that's not acceptable for 75 Hard.

So, the huge kicker is that if you fail or modify ANY of these for any reason, even just something tiny, then you have to start over again from Day 1.

When Adam showed me the rules of the challenge, I really focused on what he was saying and thought that it was do-able. The hardest part for me will be the diet and exercise (which is probably the hardest for everyone). However, I REALLY want to develop mental toughness--I used to be very mentally tough, and I know that I can be if I want it badly enough.

Also, I've already been working on intermittent fasting and on the Cookies Summer Challenge, so this will just solidify that. And add a few more things.

When I decided to lose 30 pounds and run a 10K PR (starting in 2015; my race was in April of 2016) I felt a fire inside of me that could not be extinguished for ANYTHING. I wanted that PR so badly and I worked my ass off for it. And I can't even describe how good it felt to go for something that seemed impossible and actually DO IT. I miss that discipline, that determination.

So, today was Day 1 of 75 Hard for me. Miraculously, my knee felt 100% back to normal when I woke up this morning--so weird!--so I went for a walk. While I walked, I listened to an excellent podcast that describes this whole 75 Hard challenge and the meaning behind each of the components. Remember, it's not about physical fitness--it's a challenge for mental toughness.

The podcast episode can be found here on iTunes or here on Spotify. (Just FYI, there is very explicit language throughout). If you want a clean explanation, there is one on his website.

I drank my gallon of water, I took my progress photo, I read 10 pages of a book, and I went for a bike ride as my second workout of the day (I had to dust off my bike and put air in the tires... I can't even remember the last time I rode it!). And as long as I don't eat anything else before bed, then I will have stuck with the intermittent fasting. So, Day 1 was a success! Just 74 more to go ;)

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Random Camera Roll Pics

I'm not going to write a post today. I was up super late last night with Jerry and Adam (late even for ME), and then I got up early because my body just doesn't like to sleep in. I did do a little work on the garage this morning, but I somehow hurt my knee (I don't remember doing it--I just woke up today and my left knee hurts SO bad). My knee was killing me in the garage, so I went back in the house and set up camp on the couch.

I'm feeling super restless--mentally, I want to go do something! But physically, my knee just won't cooperate. I hope that it's not serious. It's so weird that I can't remember injuring it in any way.

Anyways, I just thought it'd be fun to post some random photos that I have on my phone's camera roll. Mainly just things that I took pictures of and don't really fit in anywhere else!

I'm really in the mood to read a book today, so I'm going to spend the evening doing that.

So, here are some random pictures that are on my camera roll...

This is a sign that my friend Jessica posted (I don't know if she took the picture or not). I love the message!

While it may not be the prettiest sandwich, this is Eli's famous grilled cheese. It's simply HEAVENLY. He made this up all on his own several years ago when I was teaching him how to cook. Here is how he makes it: Add some olive oil to a skillet on medium heat, then chop an onion very fine and add it to the oil. Add lots of garlic (several cloves, minced). Turn the heat down to low and let the onions and garlic sweat so they infuse the oil.

Meanwhile, top a piece of good Italian bread with two slices of Havarti cheese and another piece of bread. Then set the sandwich down into the skillet, right on top of the onions and garlic. Increase heat just a touch to medium-low (to avoid burning the garlic) and cook low and slow until the cheese is melted, flipping over halfway through. Devour immediately. 

This is the "before" photo of a futon we have in our garage. It's just an old second-hand one that we stuck out there in the "man cave" section of the garage. All of the furniture out there is old and worn (and I'm not going to buy new furniture for our garage!) so I figured I'd at least paint some of it and make a new cover for the futon mattress. I'll post an "after" photo when I am done. I'm not painting the metal--just the wood.

This is just a picture of Jerry at work, wearing his mask. I kind of like the skull masks he bought!

An adorable picture of Luke and Riley playing in the rain :)

The only reason this is on my cameral roll is because I found it recently and sent it to my mom. This is from 2014, right when Mark was signed into hospice care and we learned we couldn't bring him to my parents' house--he was going to his nephew's house. I was super upset about it all, and my mom told Jerry and me to go out to dinner to get away.

Noah knew that I was upset about Mark, and he set up this little "nest" for me to relax when I came home. The note reads, "To, Mama! Love you hope you feel well soon! :)"  I don't remember this at all! I must have taken the picture because of how cute it was that he did that, but I don't remember it actually happening.

Jerry bought me a Bingo scratch-off ticket a few days ago, and I won $5 (the same as he paid for it, of course). When we were dating, I would go out to my car after work and sometimes there would be a bottle of Cherry 7-Up (my favorite) and a Bingo scratch-off ticket. He knew I liked to take my time scratching them off, so it was just something fun he'd do once in a while to show he was thinking of me.

Luke and Riley got ice cream from the ice cream truck for the first time while at my parents' house, and I thought it was hilarious to see the packaging vs the actual ice cream. It reminds me of my frozen Smart Ones meals, hahaha.

Adam doesn't eat meat, so when he came over yesterday for dinner, I made Chick Pea Tikka Masala. This is the third time I've made it, and it's SO SO good! I don't even love chick peas, but the sauce is insanely delicious and therefore, the chick peas are, too. Here is the recipe that I used (I skipped the cilantro).

As part of the Cookies Summer Challenge list, I signed up for a virtual race. I just have to get in 20 miles (running, walking, etc) between July 26 and August 8. I thought this would be the perfect medal to have in order to represent this 2020. (So far...)

Finally, I just found this meme funny. Mainly because it's so true! ;)

Okay, I'm off to read my book! I am turning off all distractions so that I actually spend time reading it.

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Party Like It's 1999

I'm going to keep this super short; my friend Adam is over right now, so I'm catching up with him. He's having a conversation with Noah right now (about religion!), so I'm going to type this post while I can.

I met Adam in high school (he's the friend I just wrote about recently... he bought a van and turned it into a home). Now that the social distancing rules are getting a little more flexible, he came over for dinner and to catch up.

We started talking about high school and I asked if he remembered such-and-such person. Eventually, I brought out my yearbook from 2000. It's probably the first time I've opened it since I got it as a senior. You would think I'd have checked it out, because I was on the yearbook staff! Haha.

Sifting through it, I found some fun stuff--surveys about the 1999-2000 school year, interesting things that happened in that timespan, and of course, people that I'd totally forgotten about until now.

I was laughing so hard at the irony of a stupid quote from me in our yearbook class:

"I'm not on the Internet!" --Katie

I am not sure what that quote was regarding, but I'm *guessing* that I'm saying, "Hey, I'm not surfing the web, I'm working on my yearbook spread." I honestly cannot remember this at ALL. Except that it was in my favorite teacher's class.

But seeing the quote, I just thought of how ironic it is. I'm ALL OVER the freaking internet now, hahahaha. (I never intended that, but it just got out of hand back in 2011 and I embraced it.)

Also, what the heck is an "art editor"?!

And also again, "Thrift Fair" was the best! It was a second-hand store where I bought all of my clothes. The division in my class is funny--Abercrombie vs. Thrift Fair--and is quite the difference.  I'll always be a second-hand-clothing person. On Mondays, everything was half off at Thrift Fair!

Here are some surveys in the yearbook that I found interesting... Remember, I graduated in 2000, so this is from the 1999-2000 generation :)

One of the things that was a huge that year was the whole "Y2K" scare. December 31, 1999 was one of the most memorable nights of my life. I went to my friend Andy's house for a party, and had lots of fun with my friends. Everyone was excited/nervous about what was going to happen at midnight.

When it was finally time to countdown, we all started counting down from 10... 9... 8...

3... 2... 1...

BOOM. All the lights went off and the power to the entire house went out. It was a total blackout.

I actually can't remember my thoughts immediately afterward. I think we were all in disbelief and confused?

Anyway, it turned out that Andy's parents have an insanely awesome sense of humor... they turned off the electrical breakers to the house at exactly midnight to scare the shit out of all of us! I totally want to be that kind of parent ;)

I kind of love that I was part of that generation/the graduating class of 2000. Anyone else remember the Y2K scare?

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RECIPE: Mexican-Style Lentils and Rice

After reading The Obesity Code, I have been trying to get in more fiber. Regardless what what else I choose to eat, there is nothing wrong with eating more fiber from natural foods! This is one of my family's favorite recipes--you can use this as a taco filling, topping for tostadas, or eat it in a bowl with cheese, sour cream, guacamole, etc. It basically tastes just like taco meat. And if you don't think you like lentils? I dare you to try it! ;)

I'm not kidding--Jerry is totally a "meat and potatoes" guy, but he LOVES the few lentil dishes that I make, and this is one of them.

Also, this is the easiest recipe ever. You simply combine ingredients in a pot, don't stir it at all until it's done cooking, and then eat it!

Here is a printer-friendly PDF version!

Mexican Lentils and Rice

3/4 cup dry lentils
3/4 cup uncooked white rice* (see notes)
3-1/2 cups beef broth**
1 Tbsp chili powder***
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a pot on high heat and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. (Don’t open the lid or stir while it’s cooking! This will make it mushy.) Simmer on low until the lentils and rice are cooked, when all the water is absorbed (about 20-25 minutes). If there is still water left, increase the heat and remove the lid to evaporate some of the excess water.

Serve topped with cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, etc. Or use as a filling for tacos, a topping for nachos, etc. Basically, you can use it as a replacement for taco meat, and it adds a boatload of fiber.

Notes:

*You can use brown rice, but it takes much longer to cook than the lentils do. I would recommend cooking it separately in beef broth, and then adding it to the dish afterward. You’ll have to reduce the amount of broth in the lentils by roughly half.

To make this vegan, simply use vegetable broth instead of beef broth.

If you want to skip the spices and add a packet of taco seasoning, just use 4 cups of water and skip the chili powder, cumin, garlic and onion powders.

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A Full Night's Sleep (and feeling the need for a routine)

I don't have any photos for today's post, so I'll just share a cute photo that Jerry took of Joey and Duck...

Duck really likes Joey and cuddles with him--he rubs his face over Joey's and he'll groom Joeys face and ears. It's so cute! He also likes to play with him. When Joey turns is back, Duck will jump all over him try to grab Joey's ever-wagging tail.

Last night, I took an over-the-counter sleeping pill because I could feel that I was in desperate need of sleep. I told myself that at 10:30, I'd read a book on my Kindle Paperwhite while in bed, and then I would turn the light out at 11:00.

I slept (mostly) through the night (the kittens wake me when they come cuddle next to my head) but I got up at 6:30, so that was much longer than I normally sleep. The problem was, I was SO TIRED when I woke up. Not tired enough to go back to sleep, but I had no energy at all. It could be residual from the sleeping pill, but my energy level was super low all day today.

It's frustrating! I need to create a bedtime routine and stick to it. Maybe after several weeks, it'll become habit and my body will start getting tired at certain times. I have always thrived when I have a routine, and whenever it gets disrupted (like with this COVID quarantine), I have a very hard time feeling "normal". I think it affects my mood a lot, too.

Being that I was so tired today, I didn't get much done. I worked on the garage in the morning, but I didn't accomplish much. I hung a ceiling fan and then started working on framing the windows. I thought that part would be pretty fast, but considering the studs aren't completely perfect, I have to make sure everything is perfectly square and level. I didn't get far. I even went back out there in the evening to work on it, but was just feeling tired and unmotivated so I quit after only an hour or so.

I did make dinner for the fam--fried chicken thighs. I will not eat them, which is why I never buy them, but I instead ate leftover pulled pork that I made yesterday. I get really grossed out when looking at and trimming raw chicken; if someone else made it for me, though, I'd probably eat it.

Today, I fasted until 3:00 when we ate an early dinner, and I was full when we were done eating. After that, I had a LaCroix flavored water (which you're not supposed to have during intermittent fasting unless it's in your "eating window". I made the decision to close my eating window at 8:00. This should be good if I can just get to bed at a decent hour!

Speaking of which, I'm going to end this post now so that I can read my book for a little bit before turning off the lights at 11:00. G'night!

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Mid-July Check-In

It occurred to me today that it's the middle of the month already and I haven't even paid much attention to my July To-Do list. Between Jerry switching back to nigh shift, the July 4th weekend, the Cookies Summer Challenge, Noah's birthday, and now plans to go up north for a mini-vacation at my sister's, the month just seems way too short to get things done.

So, my list for July was the following:

• Pull out the enormous bushes on each side of the house
• Prime and paint the garage
• Clear out my inbox
• Touch up paint around the house
• Make a plan for the front porch

It's the middle of the month, so I still have time (especially since I won't be coaching cross country this year--I'm still feeling kind of bummed about that, but I think I made the right decision). I've made a little progress, though...

Pull out the enormous bushes on each side of the house

Yes! Well, partly. While I love working on things in the garage, I despise anything having to do with landscaping. I'm terrible at it and I don't enjoy it at all. And Jerry thought it would be fun to do this project, so I just stood back and took videos as he worked on cutting them down today. After our hilarious attempt at splitting our hostas together, I knew that if something didn't go as planned, I wanted to at least get a video, haha.

Here is the smaller of the two...

And here is the bigger one after she used some shears to trim the bottom branches off...

It actually went really well, so I don't have a funny video to share. Jerry trimmed the branches off the bottom first, so he could see what he was doing, and then he just used a sawzall to cut through each of three branches that came from the base. He and the boys just dragged them down the driveway and tossed them into the woods across the street. He'd cut down both of the bushes in less than an hour or so. (I was cooking dinner while I did the second one, so I don't have pics from that)

Now, we still have base and the roots to deal with. We'll save that for another day, because it's going to require a lot more work. There are also green stains on the siding where the bushes were, so I'll have to see if I can get that to come off somehow. 

I'm glad the bushes are (almost) gone. According to Tim, the man who sprayed the house for spiders, those things are like spider magnets. And I trust him! We haven't seen a single spider, indoor or outdoor, since he sprayed. I am definitely going to have him come out annually.

We do need to make a landscaping plan, because now that the bushes are gone, we have hostas and weeds, hahaha. Nathan's girlfriend, Alex, enjoys landscaping and just did a lot at his house, and she said she'll help me when I'm ready. Lord knows I can use it!

Prime and paint the garage:

Done! I'm super excited that I managed to get that done. Now I'm going to be working on the finishing touches trimming the windows and door, etc. And finally moving things back into place! I don't have a better picture than this to showcase that the entire garage is painted, but it is. When I am able to move things back into place, I'll take more pics.

Clear out my inbox

I feel so horrible when I look at my inbox and see that I still haven't made a dent. I'm not a "canned response" type of person, and when someone writes me, I like to be able to sit down and write a thoughtful, genuine response. The problem is that I tell myself I'm going to do that later, but I never make the time to just do it. 

I certainly don't dread replying to emails from readers--I love to hear from you all! And it's because of the fact that I enjoy them that I take forever to reply. I'm always waiting until I can write a "good" reply. I feel like a canned response is disrespectful, but I also feel like taking two months to reply is just as disrespectful. 

Ideally, I would have a schedule for my blog. Writing a blog post at a certain time of day rather than waiting until just before midnight. Spending one day a week replying to emails. Updating the organizations tabs ("housekeeping" stuff) every two weeks or so. Maybe I'll make that an item on my August "to do" list--write up a blogging schedule.

I do have to say, though, that I am proud to have posted every single day this year so far! My goal on January 1st was to post something every day, even if it was short and meaningless. I enjoy having a post every day, even though sometimes I just can't think of a single thing to write about.

Anyway, as far as clearing out my inbox this month... no, I haven't. But the month isn't over! I have a 10-hour car ride up to my sister's place, so maybe I'll work on it in the car. That would be a nice way to pass the time.

Touch up paint around the house

I haven't done this yet, simply because I forgot I put it on the list, but it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours. It would take much less time if I was only using one color, but I'll have to switch out colors for different areas. 

There aren't any big spots that need touching up. I'm just talking about a little chip here or there from moving things around.

Make a plan for the front porch

This is stressing me out. I need to make a decision soon because we really can't wait any longer on it. It's falling apart and I need to either build a new one (which I think would be fun) or call some more people about doing concrete. I'd like to have concrete because it stays cool in the summer and it's more durable. I'm at least going to write down a few options and try to make a decision asap.

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So, as far as my mid-month check in, I think I could be doing a little better, but I've checked off two items (well, one and a half, because the bushes aren't totally done yet). The hardest item on the list was to get the garage primed and painted, and that's done now!

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Tuesday Night Bullets

Some random Tuesday night bullets...

► I have been craving basil like crazy for a while, which is really random. It's cheaper to buy a live basil plant at Kroger than it is to buy a little package of basil, so I bought the live plant. I've never in my life been able to keep a plant alive, but somehow, I managed to keep this basil fresh for at least a week--and I never even took it out of the bag! I just added a little water every other day or so. Today, I made rigatoni with (ground turkey) meat sauce with parmesan and basil. It was the best!

This was after I took off the leaves for the rigatoni today...

► Speaking of food, I've been slowly integrating into intermittent fasting. I have no problem waiting to eat until about 4 PM... I wake up at roughly 7:00 and then I stay really busy until I cook dinner before Jerry goes to work. The problem is that I don't really "close" my eating window, and I graze until I go to bed (way too late--at like 2:00 AM).

► I loved being able to chill out last night. With Jerry working nights, I have some time to myself. It's kind of funny, because my "chill out" time last night consisted of watching several episodes of "Billy the Exterminator" on A&E. Hahahaha! I watched one episode and I was hooked like an alligator ;)

► I went to Lowe's today and bought most of the things needed to finish the garage. It was a bit frustrating when I got home, though--I bought a ceiling fan to put up where the "man cave" will be, and I had to replace the electrical box in the ceiling. I should've done that before drywalling, but I didn't have the ceiling fan idea until afterward. It was a pain, but I finally got it done. I'll probably hang the fan tomorrow.

► I feel like I'm in a "mixed state" with bipolar, because I feel hypomanic at night (staying up so late and not feeling the least bit tired) but I feel a bit of a crash in my mood during the day. I really need to start getting into a good sleeping pattern. The problem is that I never feel tired! My body feels exhausted after a busy day in the garage or something, but mentally, I'm wide awake all the time. After listening to the audiobook 'The Obesity Code', I realize how important sleep is.

► Because we had to cancel our plans to go on a family vacation this year, we made plans to go to my sister's property in the upper peninsula of Michigan later this month. It'll only be our family with Jeanie and Shawn, so it's socially distant, but still a sort of "vacation" from our typical life. This is a video from three years ago when we went...

► I ordered an anti-bark collar on Amazon for Joey because he barks when cars drive by our house. Our street is very quiet but we get about 10 cars that drive by each day, and Joey barks. With Jerry working nights again, the barking wakes him up. The collar cost about $28. When it arrived, there was a card in the package that offered a $30 gift card if we give it a 5-star review. I was SUPER pissed about it, because one of the reasons I ordered it was that it had something like 11,000 reviews. I'm returning it. Anyone have ideas for how to get Joey to stop barking during the day? I am curious about ultrasonic devices. I don't want to use a shock collar, so any other repellant would be better.

► I listened to a podcast today that really opened my eyes to how horrible COVID has been to health workers. I don't listen to This American Life very often, but it caught my eye last night when I saw that the recent episode was about health workers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. This American Life is a super popular podcast with millions of downloads, and I was surprised to see HFH in the spotlight. That was the hospital where I spent six nights after breaking my jaw. It's a great episode, and I highly recommend it!

I think that's about it for what's happening right now. Nothing too exciting!

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The Home Stretch!

I'm going to keep this short today, because I just want to veg in front of the TV until bedtime. I had a super productive day in the garage--I went out there as soon as I woke up (7:00 AM), worked until dinner time for Noah's birthday dinner (he chose to order pizza), and then went back out until 8:30 PM.

Over the last couple of weeks, I finished the final layer of drywall compound, sanded it, primed the walls and the ceiling, then painted the walls and the ceiling with two coats of paint. After finishing up the second coat of gray on the walls today, I realized that I had about half of the paint left (I'd bought a five-gallon bucket, and only really needed about three gallons).

It's outdoor paint, so it's not really something I'd want to use in the house or on many other projects. I decided to use it to paint the concrete foundation wall underneath the drywall. From the floor, we have 2 feet of concrete foundation wall and then a 2x4 sill on top of that, and then the drywall goes up 8 feet to the ceiling.

The concrete is ugly, and I had thought about putting some sort of bead board or something over it, but that would be expensive and not very practical. So, I decided to try painting it with the leftover wall paint.

I am shocked at what a difference it made! It took SO LONG to paint it (I used a brush because the concrete has a ton of nooks and crannies). It wasn't hard work like the drywall was, but it was tedious and took all day. I finished three walls.

I still have to do something with the 2x4 sill, but that won't be hard--I'll probably just put a ledge there to cover it. I'm excited to trim the windows and door. Just cosmetic stuff but it's my favorite part to do!

The garage is still a cluttered mess (it's all in the center of the garage so I could get to the walls), but I want to finish the windows before I start moving everything into place. I'll probably go to Lowe's tomorrow to get the rest of the supplies to finish up this project. It's been a great distraction to keep me busy during the COVID quarantine, but I want my garage back!  :)

Here is a "before" picture of the corner of the garage that we had a couple of couches and TV (the kids liked to hang out in there with their friends). And then a current photo... such a big difference! I'm super excited to completely finish everything and post before and after photos.

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