Friday Night Photos

I have no idea what to write about today! I figured I'd just go through my camera roll and find some pictures that I could post. I can't remember what I've already shared, so hopefully these aren't duplicates! Anyway, here are some Friday night photos...

I was in the mood to play Grandma's Game recently--it's been a long time! We had a lot of rainy days in a row and it felt like a good time to break out the cards. I lost, as always. (Here is a video tutorial I made of how to play the game.)

I came across this in my Instagram feed and I was totally confused for a minute until I realized... Waaaaait a secoooond... (I wish I could spell out how Jerry and I say that "Wait a second" phrase... but it sounds like how I wrote it, kind of...? Anyway.)

I walked into the bedroom while Jerry was sleeping and saw Estelle sleeping on top of him. I thought it was super cute, so I took a photo. (And judging by the window sill, you can see that I really need to either make or buy nightstands soon!)

I know that Euchre is a midwest thing, so many of you probably don't understand why this is worthy of a picture. But this is legit the first hand I was dealt in Euchre when we played last week! Serious question: Would you call trump if you had this hand? (I didn't--I tend to play conservatively. And as awesome as it looks, it's a losing hand!)

I wanted to find a meme of Frank Gallagher to text someone a couple of days ago and I found this picture of him with the caption "If 2016 was a person..." and I just had to redo it for 2020. I'm so sad that the final season of Shameless is starting soon. It's been my very favorite show of all time since it started!

I'm pretty excited to read this book! As you know, I LOVED The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. This book takes place prior to The Pillars. I very rarely buy books, but I didn't want to wait on this one to become available at the library! Besides, I had Amazon credits to use :)

I finished two more scrub caps for Jeanie. I figured out what I was doing wrong with the pattern, and corrected that. (I'm going to try to turn the pattern into a PDF for a couple of you that volunteered to make some caps! Hopefully I do that in the next couple of days.)

I was FREEZING in the garage, so I made a little sewing station near the heater that's on the ceiling. I had to rearrange some things, but I love that I managed to make a little nook for me to sew. I used to have to drag everything out in the house and take up the table space while I worked on things. Working in the garage is nice! The heater still doesn't heat the garage enough for me, so I bought a mini space heater to set on the table for my hands. It should be here tomorrow, I think.

My friend Jessica posted this on Facebook, and I laughed because it's totally true :)

As you know, I love memes--and this one seemed so appropriate. I feel so bad for the teachers trying to work things out while everything else just goes to shit right now!

Finally, we can play "find Duck" in this photo. The kittens are hilarious with the tree! They've broken God-only-knows how many bulbs and the tree is pretty much bare at this point. Bahaha! Thankfully, we've accepted that this is why don't have nice things ;)

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Winter Walking and Meeting People

Today is Day 137 of my walking streak. Not bad! I've walked five miles day since July 20th. 

Monday and Tuesday were brutal for outdoor walking. On Sunday night, it snowed during the night and by Monday morning, the roads were covered in snow and slush. It was also snowing/raining at the same time. And it was COLD. The picture below looks peaceful. But under the snow was frozen slush, and it started rain/snowing shortly after.

My feet were totally soaked by the time I got home from walking in snow/slush. It also wasn't fun when cars would pass by and throw slush up at me.

On Monday night, all of the slush and rain froze--so it was extremely icy outside yesterday morning. In retrospect, I really shouldn't have even attempted to walk it--I almost fell more than a few times.

After my walk yesterday morning, my calves were super sore from having to change the way I walk. I was basically tip-toeing around the ice the entire time. I just now looked at my Garmin stats, and you can see all the ups and downs in my pace.

So, I looked for some "walking boots" on Amazon--I wasn't even sure if such a thing existed! (By "walking boots" I meant something like "running shoes"--something comfortable to walk longer distances in.)

Since I'd been a runner, I never gave boots a second thought. But if I'm going to walk through the winter conditions, I'm going to need something to keep my feet dry and warm, not to mention comfortable, for a five-mile walk.

I ordered some boots that are supposed to arrive this weekend, so I'll let you know how they work out. I also ordered a pair of pants that are sherpa-lined. They were $30+, which is insane for me! I usually shop at thrift stores, but they have NO STOCK right now. If I like the ones I ordered, I'll probably order another pair (or two) to get me through the winter.

I really didn't want to walk yesterday in the ice, but I don't want to break my walking streak! I could always opt for the treadmill--I just feel bad for Joey, because he looks forward to our walks every day. This is one section of pure ice--I had to tread VERY carefully on the parts that had snow, which gave it a little traction.

I realized recently that walking has taken on a new meaning for me. It's not about the numbers anymore. I used to love looking at my data--my distance, time, pace, heart rate, etc. Now, I don't even look at it anymore. I don't even wear my heart rate monitor! I just save my walk on my Garmin when I'm done and forget about it. 

I have met a lot of people on my walks, and I love that! Because of the lockdown, I don't get much social interaction; seeing the "regulars" on my walks has become fun for me. This morning, there were several stops. First, I ran into my parents as they were driving out of their neighborhood. It turned out they were going to Kohl's to return something to Amazon. I had something that needed returning, too, so I told my mom it was in my car and they stopped to grab it and returned it for me. Awesome!

Shortly after that, I met a woman from Texas who arrived yesterday to visit a friend and she had her dog with her (a pit bull mix, I think). Joey and her dog checked each other out (which means a full three minutes of smelling each others butts and genitals) and the two of us chatted for a few minutes. I didn't pause my Garmin or anything--it's hard to dig through the layers of clothes and I honestly just didn't care what the numbers said.

We kept going, and when we got to Roomba's house (the black German Shepherd), Joey got super excited to see that Roomba was outside. The two have been friends for a couple of months now, so I asked Roomba's "mom" if she could play for a minute. I let Joey off leash and he and Roomba were running all over the place in her yard, having a blast.

I don't remember if I mentioned this, but Roomba's "mom" actually graduated in my high school class! I knew she looked familiar when I first met her and it drove me crazy until I asked her about it the next time I saw her. We were friends with different people, but our class was small, and I definitely remember her. I think she was one of the "popular" kids, and I, well, wasn't ;)  (I loved--and still love!--my small group of friends from high school.)

Anyway, I've talked to her a few times while the dogs played together and it's been so nice getting to talk to another adult! And I love that Joey has a friend to play with. Today, he ran down to the lake and into the water--I don't know how he could stand it, because it's freezing outside.

Then he found one of Roomba's tennis balls and pretty much tore it to shreds. The two dogs were tired out after chasing each other. (Well, Roomba chased Joey--she's so much faster that she literally lapped him while running around the house!)

They played for a good 45 minutes while I talked to Melissa. Then Joey and I headed off to finish our walk.

When I got home, I took off my gloves and pulled up my coat sleeve to stop my Garmin, and I saw that the distance only read 2.77--I'd walked our usual five miles! I have no idea what happened. I must have stopped it at Melissa's (although I don't remember doing so). But somehow, the Garmin still recorded the map of my entire walk? It's so weird. I corrected the time and distance, not that it matters, but I'm very curious how that happened.

I've really loved meeting people when I walk. I'm super shy and I'm terrible at small talk when I'm out and about. But on my walks, it's kind of easy to make conversation--especially if someone has a dog.

Whenever I took my kids to the bus stop in elementary school, we would see a couple of miniature Schnauzers in the yard next to the bus stop. Eventually, we adopted Joey and started bringing him to the bus stop, and he went nuts to see them. Whenever I'd go for a walk with Joey, he'd get excited to walk past their yard.

A few weeks ago, the man who lived there (I'd only ever waved to him when he was in his backyard) was in his driveway and we exchanged greetings as I walked by. Then, I went to Kroger after my walk and a man at Kroger asked me if I had a couple of boys--yes--who used to have a bus stop at such and such street--yes. Then I recognized that he was the owner of the Schnauzers! (Well, I'd only seen one Schnauzer for the past three years or so.) 

I learned his name is CJ and he and his wife live there. One of the Schnauzers had passed away a few years ago (so sad!) but he remembers my boys when they were so young and we waited for the bus. He couldn't believe it when I said that Noah is driving now.

Yesterday, I chatted with a woman who has a few dogs and one of them was outside--a Pekingese. I forget the dog's name, but she was very curious about Joey and I told her "mom" it was fine that they check each other out. Joey usually doesn't even look at the small breed dogs, but he seemed to like her. I chatted with her "mom" while the dogs said hello to each other. 

Anyway, all of this is to say that walking Joey every day has been great for both of us! I have come out of my introverted shell a little to chat with strangers and Joey has gotten to meet and greet several other dogs. I'm so glad that I started walking daily--it's been really good for me, mentally and physically.

Speaking of physically, I need to do an update on all that--intermittent fasting, weight loss/gain, etc. I will try to do that this week. I know it's cliché, but gearing up for the new year always motivates me!

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My December "To Do" List

Even though I didn't exactly follow my list last month, writing down some things I wanted to get done actually did help me. For this list, I'm going to print it and hang it on the fridge where I will see it frequently. And hopefully I'll get the full list done!

***Prep my goal planner for the new year. For the particular goal planner that I recently bought (Amazon affiliate link), there are a lot of pages to fill out about goals in all areas of my life and then mapping out how to reach them. I want to take time working on that and really thinking about what I'd like to accomplish.

***Empty my inbox! I am so so so bad at keeping up with emails. It would feel great to start the new year without feeling bad about taking so long to reply to people. 

***Buy some winter clothes for walking. Walking in the cold is so different from running in the cold! When I was running, I'd warm up fast and I didn't need to bundle up. It's not even winter yet, but I have felt miserably cold sometimes while walking. And I never know how to dress! It's odd that it's completely different from running. I just have to learn as I go.

***Touch up the paint in the kitchen in the spots that have gotten dinged here and there. This was on last month's list, too, but I didn't do it. I also need to replace the caulk. 

***Make a list of projects for 2021. I'd like to have things lined up so I always have something to work on. I love to work on projects, but after finishing the garage, I haven't been able to think of something that really excites me (other than building nightstands, but I've already written my problems with that).

***Deep clean each room of the house. From top to bottom, I want to make it feel like it did just after I was done remodeling. It's not filthy now, but I want to clean all the spots that usually get ignored for too long (like the ceiling fans, baseboards, nooks and crannies in the windows, etc.

***Read one book. I was reading a lot the past few months (the 10 pages a day goal helped me go through books quickly--usually because I'd get caught up in them and keep reading) but I haven't been reading at all the past few weeks. So if I can finish just one book this month, I'll be happy with that!

Okay, I think that's enough for now--the cleaning and the inbox alone will take up 90% of my time, hahaha. I'm going to plan out a schedule specifically for these tasks so that I don't forget about them or put them off until the last minute. I can chip away at them a little at a time!

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What I've Been Reading, Watching, & Listening To

I've really enjoyed writing my "Reading, Watching, & Listening To" posts and this one is far overdue. I feel like I've probably forgotten most of it, but I'm going to do my best.

I haven't been reading much at all lately (I just can't find a book that pulls me in!) but I've been listening to audiobooks and I've watched some interesting shows/movies. So here goes--what I've been reading, watching, and listening to... (I don't include spoilers unless I specify beforehand)

The Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that if you purchase through the links, I may get a small commission. But I encourage you to check your library, because that's where I get all of these!

Also, you can find me on Goodreads here. I *try* to keep up with what I've been reading and/or listening to.

Reading

'Open Book' by Jessica Simpson

This book was mentioned by several readers when I asked for recommendations. I love memoirs, so I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it! The problem with celebrity memoirs (for me) is that I really don't like the name-dropping. When Jessica Simpson wrote about Ryan Gosling and how he thought she was the hottest girl at the Mickey Mouse Club auditions, she just lost me. 

I may try reading this one again because it got a lot of praise from some of my readers. When I was reading it, however, my library loan expired and I just moved on.

'The Boy in the Photo' by Nicole Trope

This was a book that I had downloaded on my Kindle Paperwhite and I don't know why--maybe it was a Kindle First Reads book? (When you have Amazon Prime, you get a free e-book each month from a  short list.) 

I really enjoyed this! It's about a mother whose son was abducted by her ex-husband when her son was only six years old. As much as she tries to find him over the years, she is eventually forced to move on. She never gives up hope of seeing him again, though. 

At the beginning of the book, she gets a phone call that her son has been found and is at a police station waiting for her to pick him up. Her world changes, as you might imagine. As a mother myself, I kept trying to imagine myself if this situation and how I would handle it. There are lots of questions which she tries to find the answers to throughout the book.

Watching

'Good Sam' movie on Netflix

This is a nice family movie. A reporter takes on a story of someone who leaves bags of cash for people in NYC. It's a "feel good" movie--a far cry from my typical slasher films or documentaries! haha. 

'Many Sides of Jane' on A&E

My friend Sarah from Arizona sent me a text recommending that I watch this. It's about a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder. I wasn't really interested in watching this because I've always found DID to be... well, kind of unbelievable? Before you hate on me for saying that, this docuseries was very eye-opening! 

I never had interest in DID because it seemed so far-fetched and I just couldn't even wrap my mind around it. I almost didn't watch this show! But Sarah never recommends that I watch particular shows, so I gave it a try and I'm glad I did. It gave me an idea of how DID comes to be (usually from extremely traumatic childhoods).

While I'm still not sure what to truly believe about DID, it was very obvious to me that Jane was NOT faking her symptoms. As someone who loves psychology and is passionate about mental health, this was eye-opening and very interesting to learn about.

'Bully' Netflix documentary

This was absolutely heartbreaking. The documentary follows five children who are being bullied and their families. I desperately want EVERY child to be loved, to feel happy, to have friends, to "fit in" and to just generally enjoy their life!

I don't even know why I watched this, really. I hate to see any child feel left out or bullied and it kills me to to see them feeling upset. There is one boy who takes his own life after being bullied and just watching his parents, the funeral, makes my heart ache so badly. I won't get into much detail about the documentary except that I think school-aged KIDS should watch it. So that they can see that every child matters and that words can really do more damage than they might imagine.

'I Am Jazz' on TLC

This series on TLC has really educated me on the transgender community and helped me understand it so much better! Jazz (the transgender teen that the show focuses on) is SO likable and informative. I can't even describe how much I learned about what it means to be transgender from watching this reality show (documenting a family who has a transgender child). I adore the entire family featured in the show.

'Borderline' on kanopy

I know a LOT about various mental illnesses, and I thought I knew Borderline Personality Disorder pretty well... until I saw this film. It follows a woman with BPD who lives in NYC. Watching her day-to-day life, I was just stunned. Granted, her psychiatrist told her that her BPD was an 8.5/10 (in terms of how bad it is), seeing the effects of her disorder was mind-blowing to me. I'm very glad that I watched this--I feel like I learned a lot about BPD!

(By the way, "kanopy" is an app that is connected to libraries that allows you to borrow digital films--five per month. I only just learned about it when I watched this film! But I'm going to take advantage of it now. They have a TON of documentaries that I'm interested in (I haven't even looked at the other films yet). 

Listenting to... (audiobooks)

'Three Days Missing' by Kimberly Belle

I wish I could write about this, but I don't remember it! I did like it, though. A woman's son goes missing while on a school camping trip and she (like any mom) does whatever she can to figure out what happened to him and how to find him. I only gave it two stars on Goodreads, so I guess I don't recommend it! Haha.

'Stranger in the Lake' by Kimberly Belle

This is another murder mystery (basically the only thing I've been listening to!). I felt like it was very predictable, but I still enjoyed listening to it. Basically, a woman and her fiancé live in a house on the lake and the woman discovers a body in the lake behind their house. She recognizes the woman but wants to protect her fiancé, so things become complicated.

I felt like this was very predictable, but it was a good listen. There were some surprises at the end. I always looked forward to it on my walks!

'Dear Wife' by Kimberly Belle

This book kind of blew me away. I can't really write anything at all without spoiling it. It reminded me a lot of 'Gone Girl' for a while, but about halfway through, it takes off on its own. I will say that the narration on this audiobook was AMAZING.

This was one of those books that you think you figure out from the very beginning, but then you start questioning yourself, and you just can't make up your mind about whodunit. I gave this four stars.

'The Marriage Lie' by Kimberly Belle

This book literally had me crying for the first two hours or so of listening! I listened to it on my morning walks, so it was pretty embarrassing, but I couldn't help it. I just kept putting myself in the main character's shoes and it was rough.

Basically, a woman learns her husband was in a plane crash on a plane that he wasn't supposed to be on. She goes investigating to figure out why he was on the plane and what happened, which leads to all sorts of further questions. The more I listened, the more I realized that there could not possibly be a good outcome. But I kept listening, because I wanted to know what the story was! I gave this four stars.

'The Perfect Wife' and 'The Perfect Block' by Blake Pierce (part of a psychological suspense series)

I was VERY into 'The Perfect Wife'. The series focuses on a woman, Jesse Hunt, who is a criminal profiler (in training). This series reminds me very much of The Silence of the Lambs, with Jesse being Clarice Starling. I can't say anything more without spoilers. If you liked The Silence of the Lambs, you'll like this series! I started listening to the third book, but the narrator just wasn't meshing with me. I'll have to read the book.

'The Stranger Inside' by Lisa Unger

I REALLY like this book! The male narrator was fantastic and I loved the psychological aspects of the book. I couldn't really see where this was going until about halfway through, and I wish I could write more, but I don't want to spoil it. The general plot is that three kids were playing on their bikes and two were abducted. One was murdered and the other escaped. The one who was not abducted moved on with her life (sort of) and the one who escaped did not leave without mental issues. Meanwhile, there are some vigilante killings that may or may not tie into the abduction.

While this may sound like any other psychological suspense book, it was actually quite unique because of the in-depth psychological components. And did I mention the male narrator? I really love his voice!

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I actually didn't even mention a few things I watched, so I'll write them next time if I look back and find them worth mentioning. I need to make these posts at least monthly, if not bi-weekly. Since I've been walking for 90-ish minutes per day, I listen to a lot of audiobooks! (I always listen with the speed on 1.25x, which means I finish them faster.)

Are you reading/watching/listening to anything awesome? Please mention!

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Handmade Ornaments Are The Best!

We set up our Christmas tree today. Jerry loves Christmas more than any other time of year and he really looks forward to setting up the tree. We had plans of decorating the tree and making Christmas cookies with the kids.

I get anxiety on "Christmas tree day" now--ever since 2017 when Jerry broke down out of nowhere. It shocked all of us at how genuinely upset he was. I don't even know if the kids had ever seen him cry before! (I wrote the whole story in this post: A Very Personal Post I've Been Questioning Writing for 10 Months.)

For the past couple of years, I've gotten super worried around Christmastime because it reminds me of when Jerry had such a hard time with depression and anxiety a few years ago (even going to the emergency room during a panic attack thinking it was a heart attack). He'd never had depression before and it scared me. He's always been my stability!

Today was no different. I wanted to make sure that things went nicely and that Jerry enjoyed it.

After dinner, Noah and I got into a really good conversation. It's super rare that we have a "real" conversation anymore--our interests are totally different and I'm his uncool mom ;) However, he's taking Psychology 101 (a college course!) and I LOVE talking psychology. Psychology was my major when I went to Eastern Michigan University. I never finished, but I loved the courses.

Anyway, Noah has to write a paper and was given several topics to choose from--most topics were different mental illnesses. He had to choose one that he could somehow relate to. Surprisingly, bipolar disorder wasn't on the list. He actually emailed his professor to see if he could write about bipolar and was given the go-ahead. So he chose the topic of what it's like to grow up with a parent who has bipolar disorder. 

I was really excited about his choice, although a little nervous about facing anything negative he'd have to say. I told him that I didn't want him to hold back anything out of fear of hurting my feelings. I even said I wouldn't read it if he didn't want me to. 

We talked about his paper and different points he could make: the difference between bipolar I and bipolar II; why bipolar is frequently misdiagnosed for depression; treatment with meds and therapy; how bipolar usually coexists with some sort of addiction--food, alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, gambling, etc.; and of course, parent/child relationships as well as parent/parent relationships.

I assumed that he would focus on the negatives of growing up with a bipolar parent, but he brought up something that made me feel so proud of him--that having a bipolar parent who is very passionate about mental illness/health has made him more compassionate and understanding of those with mental disorders. 

I love that! And since he's going to be a nurse, it made me wonder if he might go into psychiatric nursing. He'd be great at it.

Thankfully, setting up the tree went well. It was actually really funny to watch the kittens experience Christmas decorations for the first time. Duck was all over the ornaments while Chick was into the box that the tree came in. It was nearly impossible to get a picture of Duck because he was moving so fast.

We got a new (artificial) tree this year; our old one was super nice but extremely large and when I was working on the garage, we decided to get rid of it for something smaller. I gave it to my brother, so it went to a good home :)

Even though I'm a Christmas Grinch, I really like looking at the ornaments for the tree each year. I like "homely" looking trees rather than the immaculately decorated, color-coordinated ones. The handmade ornaments from the kids are adorable--I have them from back when they were in preschool. 

Jerry chose a cookie recipe for us to bake, although he and Eli did the work. Noah and I were just taste testers ;)  They were delicious! The recipe can be found here. 

Here are some of the kids' handmade ornaments... I love them!

I love this one that Eli made because of the way he used to write his name! He was four years old when he wrote his name on it...

Thankfully, today turned out to be a good day. Jerry enjoyed decorating the tree and making cookies. I really enjoyed the conversation with Noah. I hope we'll talk more about stuff like that while he's taking this class!

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An Update on November's To Do List

Just a quick look back on my "To Do" list for November...

I periodically forgot that I'd even made a list of some random things I wanted to get done this month. Now, here it is, November 29, and I wanted to see if I completed some (or any) of the things on my list! (I really should write out a list to hang on the fridge or something to keep things at the front of my mind.) 

Buy the materials to build nightstands for my bedroom. I actually did go to Lowe's to get the materials (I was all set to finally do it!) and then I was told that they couldn't cut down the plywood I needed with their saw because it needs a special blade (for hardwood). I was frustrated once again. I really want to build nightstands!

I've been looking on Facebook Marketplace for a pair that I like in order to repaint them or something to make them a project--but no luck finding what I want yet. Jerry's sister, Laura, offered to meet me with her truck to get the boards home from Lowe's, so I may end up doing that. I just feel bad asking that of someone.

Mend some clothes. I was actually just working on this today! I did spend some time at least three times this month with the serger (which was my main purpose for wanting to bust out the sewing stuff). There are two pairs of black pants I stuck aside because I have to fix a seam on each and I forgot about those. I'm excited that I found them today because one pair was my favorite until the seam came apart on the side.

I was working on a light colored shirt today (I altered the sleeves a LOT and it took forever... I'll try to get photos to post soon), and I want to finish up the light colored clothes before changing the thread on my machine to black for the pants.

Make cuffs for my jacket. I haven't done this yet--but I think about it a lot, if that counts! Haha. I actually switched to a warmer jacket this month, so I haven't needed them as much.

I did find a size 3XL gray jersey-knit maxi dress at Goodwill for super cheap and I thought it would be perfect to buy for the fabric (taking the dress apart). The fabric feels like a super soft t-shirt and it's in great shape--and since the dress is a large size, I'll have quite a bit of the fabric to work with for other items as well. 

I definitely want to make a pair of sleeves/arm warmers(?) with long cuffs with thumbholes. It sounds odd, but when I walk in the mornings, they would come in very handy.

Clean out my closet. I haven't done this at all, and I wish I could say that I'd attempted it, but I have just been avoiding it. I'm just not sure what to do with everything. There are clothes that I LOVE and I hope to be able to fit into again someday; but I also don't want to hold onto the past and constantly strive to get back there.

Yes, I want to lose the extra weight. Clearly, I'm having a very hard time doing that. I haven't been able to fit into some of these clothes for three years, so how long do I hold onto them? I may pack up my very favorites and put them in the garage for a time limit of, say 18 months. If I can't wear them in 18 months, then I get rid of them. (Or something like that.)

I especially love these jeans. I bought them from Salvation Army (they were just plain denim) and then I used sandpaper and a seam ripper to make some (carefully crafted) holes. I also cut out fabric patches and sewed those on. I only wore them a handful of times, and I loved to wear them again! (This photo from was November 2017.)

Touch up the paint in the kitchen. I still haven't done this. I think of it EVERY time I am cooking, too. I need to set a day and time for when I'm going to spend the time doing it. It's also time to remove the caulk in the kitchen and bathrooms and replace with new. 

Organize the pantry. I did organize it very well at the beginning of the month, and it's still looking much better, but I could certainly tidy it up again. I really ought to just make this a weekly chore--it's "easier to keep it clean than to keep cleaning it" (something I always tell my kids about their bedrooms).

Start a gratitude journal. I haven't made an "official" gratitude journal, but I have been writing things I am grateful for here and there in my regular journal. I've been trying to think more positively in general (I really wish it was as easy as, "Hey, think nice thoughts and you'll be happy!" but we all know we aren't in control of how we feel). 

I think what I'll do about the journal is to buy a second "Some Lines A Day" journal (Amazon affiliate link) and use it just for gratitude. Then I'll think of three things every day that I am grateful for, rather than keeping a long list (so it doesn't get redundant). 

Well, I guess I didn't do TOO bad on the list this month. I can't believe how fast the month went by, actually. It feels like Halloween was just last week!

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A Funny Birthday Gift Story

This is a funny story that played out over a few days, and I just wanted to share. 

I went to Dick's Sporting Goods a couple of weeks ago and bought a basketball and some basketball shorts (they were a gift for an 18-year old boy). I stopped at another store to buy a box to ship them in, and there were a couple of choices on sizes. I didn't have the ball with me, and I had no idea how tall a basketball would be in inches, so I sent a quick text to Jerry to ask if a box that was 15x15x16 would be big enough. 

He wasn't sure, but then said yes, he's pretty sure it'd be a good size. So, I bought it. When I got home, I put the box together to get it ready to ship and I nearly died when I saw the size of it in the box. I was WAY off in my guesstimate! Clearly, a 15x15x16 box is way too big. 

I didn't want to ship it in that box (because who wants a gift box that looks enormous and then the box is half empty?) so I waited to get another. I rarely go out these days because of COVID, so I didn't pick one up. We get a lot of boxes from Amazon, and one arrived that would be a good size to ship the ball.

On Wednesday, I FINALLY got it packaged and ready to ship. I was procrastinating going to the post office (it's very out-of-the-way), but I knew if I didn't go on Wednesday, it likely wouldn't ship until Monday because of the holiday weekend. 

In the eleventh hour before they closed, I bribed Noah with $5 to drive the package to the post office (actually there were two packages--the other was just a smaller envelope for my sister). He'd never had the experience of going inside and shipping a package on his own, so it would be good for him to go anyways. I told him to just let them know that he wanted to ship it as cheaply as possible. I figured it'd cost like $20, which is a lot, but it's fun to get gifts in the mail!

So Noah took the packages and when he got home, he handed me the receipt. I nearly shat myself when I saw that they charged me $43.55 to ship a box that weighed less than 3 pounds! (This wasn't going to Australia or anything! Just the west coast.)

I knew there HAD to be a mistake and I inwardly thought that this is what I get for not going to the post office myself. But when I looked at the receipt, I saw that I had been charged $35.20 for "Sesame Street" (I didn't know what that meant, and neither did Noah). I kept asking Noah if they offered him Sesame Street stamps or something, but he said no.

So I figured that they accidentally charged him for Sesame Street stamps in addition to the postage from the packages. The receipt was a little confusing:

It showed $43.55 minus $34.80, for a total of $8.75 on that package. And then the random charge for 4 Sesame Street items at $8.80 each. Noah had explanation.

I was ready to take the receipt to the post office to explain that Noah didn't buy Sesame Street anything, but to save myself the embarrassment, I wanted to fact check before I went. Thank goodness I did.

Using the online postage calculator, I discovered that it did, in fact, cost $43.55 to mail the package with those dimensions and weight. (Crazy, right?!) I figured that the woman had just charged the postage differently for whatever reason, and the actual cost of shipping was not a mistake. 

I couldn't get over the shock of how expensive shipping was--the cost of the ball and shorts, after sales tax, was $70. And then shipping was nearly $45! I felt like I should have just bought a gift card for $100 and sent that instead. But, it was already paid for and done, so I just made a mental note to start using UPS or FedEx or anything other than USPS now. 

So anyways, the box arrived today... and NOW I know what the Sesame Street charge was for. BAHAHAHA, the whole box was covered with Sesame Street stamps!

I burst out laughing when he sent me the photo. He thought it was stickers that I'd used to decorate the box (odd choice for an 18 year old) but then realized they were stamps. 

So, the post office, for whatever reason, had Noah buy 4 books of Sesame Street stamps and then they put them on the box after Noah left. Noah, Jerry, and I were cracking up. At least the Sesame Street mystery charge to my credit card was solved ;)

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I Finally Did it! (well, kind of)

As I mentioned recently, my sister asked if I could make her some scrub caps with a ponytail holder on it to cover her hair when she's at work. (She's an occupational therapist and works closely with COVID patients.)

I said sure, and I was excited to sew something. It's been a while since I made all the masks, so I think I'm ready to look at the machine again ;)  

However, I have been having SUCH a hard time learning how to use the serger! I can thread it no problem, but I have trouble figuring out the correct tension on the threads (there are four threads and they each have their own tension). 

The pattern for scrub caps that I received from my friend/reader Gail said to serge all the edges before sewing them together. I was excited to get to use the serger! I felt ready to figure it out. I got an email from a reader who helped me troubleshoot a little, and then this morning after my walk I watched several YouTube videos about it.

After Jerry left for work, I went out to the garage and set up my sewing machine and serger, ironing board and iron, and a fabric cutting station. It was nice to have so much space out there! 

I spent about 45 minutes making tiny adjustments to the tension, trying to work out which thread's tension needs to be changed. Eventually, I found the sweet spot! I don't think it's PERFECT, but it looks much better than the piece I'd already tried. 

This was the first attempt:

See how messy it looks?! I didn't know what to adjust and I felt like each adjustment made it worse. But then today, after my reader's email and watching the YouTube videos, I made a much nicer edge today:

Since I got the tension to the correct adjustments, I then switched from the practice fabric to the actual pieces of the pattern. It went really well! I'd even watched a video on YouTube today about how to turn a corner with the serger (something that I couldn't figure out) and that was super helpful because I got to try it today.

Making the pattern was fairly easy. The instructions weren't very good so I had to do my best guess on parts. Anyway, I managed to figure out the tension for the fabric so now I can start doing more with my serger! And then I finally made a scrub cap for Jeanie, but when I tried it on, it was a little big, hahaha. I'll just consider it my practice one and maybe I'll try another tomorrow. 

This is what it looks like:

It has a cover for her hair and then you wrap the ties around it to make sure all of your hair is covered.

I'm excited to learn more about the serger and maybe make a few projects while trying it out. :)

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A Locked Down Thanksgiving

Like most families, we decided not to do a traditional family Thanksgiving dinner because of COVID. Usually, my siblings and I would get together at my parents' house. This year was a bummer for the whole family, but especially for my mom. She loves having everyone get together.

She did the most amazing thing for my siblings and me today. Since we couldn't all get together, she spent the last couple of days making a huge turkey dinner to portion out and deliver to Nathan and his girlfriend, Brian's family, and my family.

She thought of everything! Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole (my favorite!), stuffing (both homemade and Stove Top in case someone doesn't like homemade stuffing), corn, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie and whipped cream, and even some pumpkin spice cookies. I was so grateful--getting to eat an amazing meal that I didn't even have to cook? Yes, please!

Thanks to my mom's dinner, we had a very relaxing day and delicious food. (At one point, however, Phoebe snuck outside and we spent nearly two hours looking for her. Thankfully, she is home now.)

Despite having a nice day, I've still been feeling down lately. I think that the COVID lockdown is really getting to me. Back in the spring, I was fine with it--being an introvert and having to stay home away from people wasn't a big deal. I loved working hard on the garage and it made the time fly by. But fast forward months and months of this, and I miss the little things that I used to take for granted. 

I feel like this is never going to end and nothing will go back to normal. I think today was especially hard because of not being able to get together at my parents' house with my family. I worry about everybody else, too, and what this lockdown is doing to their mental health. My mom mentioned that cooking the dinner for everyone helped a little to take her mind off of it, but I know this is super hard on her.

I imagine that a lot of people are feeling the same way right now. When all of this (with COVID) first started, I never imagined it would still be going on so much later. Like everyone else, I just want it to be over! 

But I don't want to be too negative on a post about Thanksgiving. I am very grateful that my family has stayed COVID-free throughout all of this and I hope that it stays that way. I'm grateful that my mom took the time and energy to make dinner for us even though she couldn't have us over to eat with her. I'm grateful for the fact that even though the kids are schooling from home for COVID reasons, it gives me more opportunities to spend time with them. I'm grateful that Jerry still has his job and we haven't had to take a financial hit because of this pandemic. There are lots of important things to be grateful for, so I want to try to keep that in mind when I'm feeling down about all that is going on. 

I'm absolutely sure that when this is over, I'm not going to take little things for granted anymore! I rarely used to go out for date night to the movies or bowling or even to play Keno at the bar... but I miss those things now that they aren't an option anymore. I look forward to doing them again someday!

Anyway, I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. My only pics from today are actually of Duck! He's HILARIOUS in the way he likes to lie down. I know I've posted pics of him in a sploot position before, but this one is something even beyond that, hahaha.

And then he was chilling like this with his arms dangling down. He's so funny!

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Baby Laughs!

I don't really have anything to say today--it's been a busy day--but I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving! Here is a video of Luke when he was just a baby--three years ago already! You can't listen and NOT laugh--babies have a superpower! 

I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving tomorrow! :) 

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