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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Sweet 16

As I start this post, it was exactly 16 years ago that I was in the hospital being induced into labor to deliver Noah. Tomorrow night at this time, it'll be 16 years to the minute that I was in hard labor. It was a Tuesday--I only remember this because I did not want to miss watching The Shield which was on FX at 10:00 pm on Tuesday evenings. Haha!

The Shield was playing on the TV in my hospital room, although at some point I stopped even trying to watch it between pushes. Noah was born at 10:46 PM. Thankfully, my labor wasn't horrible. My pregnancy was complete misery. I had "intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy"--ICP for short--which is a liver condition that basically makes your BLOOD itch.

My entire body was so itchy that I was going crazy. One night, I begged Jerry to cut off my feet (and I was serious). I even became suicidal toward the end, and that's why my OB doctor finally decided to induce my labor two weeks early.

Jerry and I were so young when we had Noah--he was 23 and I was 22. We had only been married for 11 months when he was born, so we didn't even really have time to be "newlyweds" before I was pregnant. But we were so excited!

I remember thinking, while in the hospital, "Ohmygod. We have a baby now. There is no going back. We can't just "return" him if we suck as parents. This is 100% permanent!" Haha! It's not that I was regretting it; I was just realizing how permanent this life change was.

(It's funny... a couple of years later, when I was in labor with Eli, I remember telling the doctor that I quit--that I just didn't want to do it and I was done. Forget it.)

Jerry had been working the night shift when we brought Noah home, and he had two weeks off, but he maintained that schedule. So, it was convenient--I was awake with Noah all day, and Jerry was awake all night. (I was physiologically unable to breastfeed--my boobs are broken--so Jerry could do the nighttime feedings with formula.)

After two weeks, it was time for Jerry to go back to work, and it was a pretty humorous situation. We realized that we'd been holding Noah for two weeks and with Jerry going back to work, Noah would have to sleep in his crib. It felt so weird! We'd been spoiled (or spoiled him?) by holding him almost constantly for two weeks. Haha!

Noah was the cutest baby (of course, every mom says that). But when he started talking, his voice would just melt your heart! Eli was born when Noah was only 18 months old, and Noah was the best older brother. He was always doing what he could to make Eli laugh.

He bonded with Jerry from the moment he was born. Jerry has always been his favorite parent (although he won't admit it, because he doesn't want to hurt my feelings). Jerry has always been such a "big kid" which made him a great dad. He did all the fun stuff!

As he's grown, Noah is much like me--I understand him so well. And I love that he has always been so open with me about his feelings and about what's going on in his life. He tells me everything! Someday, I'm sure he'll be embarrassed by the things he's told me, but I would never betray his trust and I always validate his feelings.

Tomorrow, July 13th, Noah will be 16 years old. That's so crazy to me! When I started this blog, Noah was 6 years old. He was one of the reasons that I started my blog in the first place. I remember him telling me one day in kindergarten that he had a "fat" mom. I love that kids just tell it like it is!

When it was time for him to learn to ride a bicycle without training wheels (at age 5), I physically couldn't do it. I was too out of breath and out of shape to be able to run alongside his bike. And I felt like a horrible mom! I vowed that when it was Eli's turn to ride a bike, I'd be able to do it. (And I did, a couple of years later).

Anyway, here are some of my favorite pictures of Noah through the years :)  (These aren't in order... I tried, but the file names got confusing!)

I'm so lucky to have such a great kid! :)

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