A 2020 Christmas Eve

Today feels "different"--not at all like Christmas Eve. COVID has really made the holidays not feel real this year. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Christmas, actually.

I took Joey for his usual walk this morning, and holy cow--it was SO COLD. Yesterday, the temps reached 55 degrees and it was great. Joey and I stopped at Roomba's house and the dogs played for a while outside (Joey even ran into the lake). Then today, the "real feel" was 12 degrees with the wind at 25 mph. I dressed with a lot of layers and I'm sure I looked ridiculous, but dang. I was freezing!

Walking along the lake (the majority of my usual five-mile route is right next to the lake) makes the temps feel even colder--the wind blows harder and it always feels about 10 degrees colder than it does at my house (which is about half a mile inland from the lake). I think I'm going to start putting Aquaphor on my face before my cold walks. I did that once in a while when I was running--it helps a lot against the cold wind.

When I got home, I took a shower and then put on pajamas. We had no plans for today, so I figured I might as well get comfy. I wrapped Christmas gifts, which I always put off until the last minute because I hate wrapping--I'm terrible at it and a lot of the gifts we bought the kids are awkwardly shaped. The kittens discovered what I was doing and went crazy in the wrapping paper. Tomorrow should be fun when the kids open their gifts!

Jerry was very excited about today because he planned to make three different types of Christmas cookies. I've mentioned before that Jerry LOVES Christmas and even though this year doesn't feel very Christmasy to me, he has really managed to get into the Christmas spirit.

He talked for a long time about wanting to have ham for dinner so he made a made a list of ingredients to have ham, cheesy potatoes, and green bean casserole tomorrow. Then he stopped at the store yesterday and bought everything for the dinner and his cookies.

This whole thing makes me laugh--I've always been the one to cook in the house, and lately the boys (mostly Noah) and Jerry have been wanting to cook. I'm more than happy to let them! ;)  My mom said she'll make a couple of side dishes to bring over for us and we can give her some of our food to take home and have dinner with my dad.

I had a relaxing afternoon after I wrapped gifts. I watched a movie and played Best Fiends while in my pajamas. And Jerry played Christmas music on his headphones while he baked cookies, hahaha.

Noah made BLT's for dinner (yum!) while Jerry and I played Pandemic. I'm not sure what to think of the game just yet--we've only played it a couple of times, so I'll have to play a little more to really decide.

I really want to play Catan--I read the entire instruction book a couple of days ago (which literally took me an hour and a half to go through!) and was totally ready to play. I started setting it up on the table to try to figure it all out before actually playing, and then I realized that you need 3-4 players and you can't play with just 2. So, I might just have to pick a day to make the kids play with Jerry and me. It looks like an interesting game!

After dinner, we all sat down to watch a movie together. We decided that we'd each pick a favorite Christmas movie this year to have a movie night for each one. Joey feels SO special when the boys let him lie on the couch between them during a movie!

It's been a really nice Christmas Eve. For years, we used to go to my aunt's house for dinner on Christmas Eve and it felt special. I always looked forward to it. We haven't really had a tradition since then, and this year is just not at all "normal". But we had fun doing our own things during the day and then spending some time together this evening.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas tomorrow, considering the unusual circumstances!

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Wednesday Night Photos (Friday Night Photos #3)

I'm going to do my usual "Friday Night Photos" post today instead of on Friday (Christmas). Some random photos from my cameral roll this week... (Just a warning, there is going to be a gross blister photo, which I'll save until the end so you can skip it if you want! I'm not posting it just to be gross--there is a reason for it.)

Chick loves getting his belly rubbed, and the other night, he was sitting on the couch with Jerry and me. We were giving him lots of attention and he wound up in this position! 

Last week, I posted a photo of a big snowman that someone had made... and the next day, I saw this tiny one and I couldn't stop laughing! It's so cute but sad at the same time. I cropped with Joey's nose in the picture so you can see for size reference. The nose of the snowman (a baby carrot) fell off and was lying on the scarf. It looks like the snowman is just sadly holding his nose in his hands. Haha!

We were out of groceries and I REALLY was not in the mood to write a list and go grocery shopping. I finally just told the kids to go grocery shopping for me and they could buy anything they wanted! I told them to go crazy--pick out whatever they wanted for a week--and just put it on the credit card. I went out for my walk and when I got back, the kids were already home and putting away groceries.

Without any prompting from me, Noah had gone through my recipe book, picked out dinners he wanted to make, wrote out the ingredients he'd need, and the boys went shopping for all of it! I was completely stunned. He wrote everything out on little Post-Its and put them on the fridge. The kids didn't even buy junk food. Maybe they just thought, "Oh, man, Mom's going crazy, let's tread lightly!" ;)  Their grocery bill came to half of what it is when I go shopping!

I was working on my never-ending hat and Chick was DYING to play with the yarn. I felt bad, but he just stared at me like that all evening while I was knitting! (If he wouldn't swallow it, I'd give him yarn to play with, but I've tried that.)

A blog reader, Cathy, who has been a reader for years, thoughtfully sent me this ornament for our Christmas tree. I love it!

A rare photo of Phoebe. She keeps to herself a lot since we adopted the kittens and I am always trying to get her to feel more comfortable. She loves having her temples rubbed and lately, she's been sitting on my lap more often.

I finished my never-ending hat! I started this in 2014 and it was SO boring to knit that I just did some rows here and there, going months (and even a year or two) in between. I got really determined to finish it, so I worked on it a lot this week in the evenings and it's done! I can't say I love it--I really wish I'd chosen a different color--but I guess my tastes have changed since 2014, hahaha. 

And finally... my gross blister photos. So I mentioned that I'd gotten a blister after wearing boots on my walk. It was really painful (it was small, but it tore open during that same walk, so it was raw skin). I bought some Hydro Seal Band-Aids (specifically for heel blisters) and followed the instructions exactly. It says to leave the bandage on until it starts to peel at the edges, and for me, I think that was about three days. I loved the Band-Aid! Once I put it on, there was zero pain when walking and I didn't even notice it.

Until it started to itch. BADLY. The edges were starting to peel a little, so I decided to remove it. And I felt like I immediately smeared poison ivy on my skin or something. I was dying! The itching was horrendous, but I didn't want to scratch it because the blister looked like it hadn't healed at all. (You can see the pic where I removed the Band-Aid--that's what it looked like.)

And then I got a rash where the Band-Aid had been. By the next morning, it looked red and bumpy. And the itching was making me so crazy. (This is probably when I sent the boys to the store for me, haha.) It just seemed to look even worse the following day. Right now, it's still really red but it's not itching anymore. (I used hydrocortisone cream on it.) Has anyone else had a problem like this with these Band-Aids? I am not allergic to anything at all, and I was totally shocked at the reaction this caused on my ankle. 

Okay, I'll leave you with those blister images ;)  Jerry is off work for the next week, so we are having a Christmas stay-cation!

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

I feel like I just wrote one of these posts, but I'm starting to lose track of my thoughts on each item, so I'm going to post them more frequently. These posts are actually helpful for me to remember things I've read or watched, because my memory is terrible!

The links to Amazon are affiliate links, meaning that if you buy them through the link, I may get a small commission. But check your library! I almost always get my books--ebooks and audio--free from my library.

Reading

I still haven't been doing much reading, but I am about 3/4 of the way done with a book right now. I made it a goal to read at least one book this month and I just picked a random one that was downloaded to my Kindle Paperwhite. I think it was a free First Reads book from Amazon. It's called 'One Last Second' by Sam Vickery.

Here is the synopsis from the publisher:

"When Madeline’s six-year-old daughter Tilly collapses one Sunday night, Madeline’s world is turned upside down. Racing to the hospital, she imagines the worst scenarios in her mind, but when they arrive the doctors say that Tilly is fine.

Madeline’s ex-husband Adam and her best friend Laura think Madeline is being overprotective, that Tilly fainted because of her fussy eating. But Madeline is sure something is seriously wrong with Tilly. She can feel it. And she believes that a mother’s instinct is never wrong.

Adam and Laura begin to believe that Tilly would be safer in their care, but Adam has no idea about the secret Laura has been hiding. And then Tilly’s symptoms worsen, and Madeline realizes that she may have to risk losing custody of Tilly to have any chance of saving her life…"

I'm not done with this one yet, so I really can't comment much on it. So far, though, it hasn't been a "can't put it down" type book (if it was, I would have finished it a couple of weeks ago). I feel like it's kind of dragging on--almost like reading the same chapter again and again.

However, it has really great reviews, so it's probably just not my type of read. It's kind of funny--I have been listening to nothing but psychological thriller audiobooks for months and now, reading this "women's literary fiction" book, I'm constantly theorizing about the whodunits and the plot twists that are yet to come. So I think I'm just expecting twists when there aren't any! Hahaha.

Watching

I've watched a few things lately that I made sure to note because I wanted to mention them here.

All the Bright Places - (Movie on Netflix) - (The link goes to the trailer on YouTube) A drama/romance about two teens who are kind of misfits for different emotional issues. Both are very likable, and it's such a feel-good story (but heart-breaking at the same time... I don't want to spoil it). I really liked this because it deals with mental health/illness (and I'm a sucker for teen drama/romance!). When I looked this up just now, I discovered that it's based on a book of the same name by Jennifer Niven. 

Recovery Boys - (Documentary on Netflix) - (The link goes to the trailer on YouTube) This was an interesting documentary about an unconventional drug/alcohol rehab center. There are four men that live and work on a farm while recovering from drug/alcohol abuse. This one really stabbed me in the heart--one of the guys' kids were taken from him and put into foster care, and just before leaving for rehab he learned that his three-year old daughter was molested while in foster care. He was really upset and angry (of course) and he blamed himself (...if he hadn't been doing drugs, she wouldn't have been put in foster care, and then it would have happened). I can't even imagine how helpless he must have felt upon learning that. Anyway, I really like documentaries about addiction (I love Intervention and shows like that) and this one was good!

Diagnosis - (Docuseries on Netflix) - (The link goes to the trailer on YouTube) This was SO interesting to me! Each episode focuses on someone who has some sort of illness that doctors haven't been able to diagnose or treat properly. They've all been to see numerous specialists who just can't give them answers. The host of the show (a medical doctor) posts their stories and asks for help with diagnoses through "crowdsourcing"--lots of specialists from around the world as well as regular people who may have similar/identical symptoms and have found answers. Finding people who have the same illness/symptoms can be a huge relief when people feel alone and like doctors aren't taking them seriously.

Cristina - (Short documentary on Netflix) - (The link goes to the film's website) This was only 40 minutes long, but it had such a big impact on me. A 37-year old woman is battling terminal cancer (while not giving up on being cured). Her love of life was overwhelming and it made me think of all the things I take for granted. It really made me want to change my way of looking at things and situations. 

Grey's Anatomy - TV show with ALL the seasons on Netflix - I've been watching Grey's since the first episode, and each season, I wonder why I am still watching it. It's a ridiculous show! But Jerry and I started rewatching it from season one a few months ago and I find that I'm liking it a lot more this time around. I really like some of the characters I couldn't stand when the show first started. And then I realized that I'm a completely different person than when I started watching the show--it was 2005!

I had a one year old baby, was the heaviest I'd been in my life and I hadn't yet gone through all of major life changes of my weight loss, my blog, my bipolar diagnosis, etc. It's funny how much my thoughts of the show have changed since then! But anyway, you've all seen or heard of the show. Just a medical drama--heavy on the drama--and lighthearted and fun to watch :) 

Listening To

Little Pretty Things - Lori Rader-Day audiobook - I really loved the narrator's voice of this book! I even searched out more books that she narrates after listening. I should mention, though, that I listen to books at 1.25x speed, so the voices may sound a little different than if I listened at 1.0x speed. Anyway, this was a good suspense book! I didn't write down any notes on this one, so I can't really remember my thoughts about it. The general synopsis is that a (very likable) woman working a dead-end job at a shady motel encounters her best friend/rival from high school, who she hadn't seen in 10 years, when her friend gets a room at the motel. The following morning, her friend is discovered to be murdered and she becomes a suspect in the murder. 

Tell No One - Harlan Coben audiobook - A man receives an email that appears to be from his wife who was kidnapped and murdered eight years earlier. It's written in a sort of code that only he would understand, so he begins a journey of trying to find out if she's somehow still alive (despite the fact that her body was found just days after she'd been kidnapped). The ending wasn't what I expected, and I always love that!

In The Blood - Lisa Unger audiobook - This book had the most shocking twist of any suspense book I've read/listened to in as long as I can remember. I don't want to spoil with much information, but I was guessing throughout the book about how the characters were somehow intertwined. I'm usually pretty good at guessing these things, but I did NOT see this one coming. (I believe it was about 8 hours into the audiobook.)

Confessions on the 7:45 - Lisa Unger audiobook - After reading the previous Lisa Unger book, I immediately downloaded this one. This one would have been much better for reading than for listening to. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and I found myself questioning who was who over and over again. There are three characters whose names I kept getting confused--Selena, Stella, and Geneva--so I would probably have to read or listen to the book again to truly put it all together. It was a good story, so I think that reading it would be the way to go versus the audiobook.

I'm going through audiobooks so quickly because of all of the walking I've been doing. I'd like to focus on reading a little more, though. I go through phases where I read all the time and then I won't read a book for months. Right now, I just haven't gotten into any books--I've started and stopped probably ten of them in the past two months!

Anyway, I'm still really loving the psychological thrillers :)

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Goodbye, Fall

Sadly, today is the last day of fall. I feel like we didn't even really get fall weather! It was really hot and then REALLY rainy and now very cold with accumulated snow last week. (The photo above was a sunrise during one of my walks, and it was actually pretty perfect that day.)

As you may remember, I set up a Cookies Fall Challenge. A lot of people like the summer challenges that I post each year, so I thought I'd try out one for fall (I actually made three different ones to choose from). I don't think it worked out as well as I'd hoped. This is a hard time of year for everyone to do challenges like these. I should have kept it simple (not "easy", but the simplicity of one fun challenge like the summer checklist).

I wish I'd been more attentive to the Facebook groups for the challenges but, because I quickly realized I wasn't going to attempt all three challenges myself, I stuck with the one that I knew I'd be able to make myself do. I did the Cookies Fall Mileage Competition--basically just racking up miles either running or walking and posting a group leaderboard each week.

I'm in awe of how many miles some people run or walk each week! I always had around 35 (walking 5 miles a day, 7 days a week). I was consistently in second place on the leaderboard among the walkers each week (I separated walkers and runners because runners tend to get more mileage in general). Jessica, you are tough competition ;) 

Some quick stats of mine from the challenge (which went from September 22-December 21):

Number of walks: 102
Miles walked: 475.02
Time spent walking: 136 hours and 56 minutes (that also means I listened to 136 hours and 56 minutes of audiobooks!)
Calories burned: 44,275
Average speed: 3.5 mph (17:00/mi pace)
Longest walk: 8.42 miles

I actually didn't do a single walk on the treadmill during the entire challenge! Not that there is anything wrong with using the treadmill; I probably would have used it here and there if Joey wasn't expecting to go for a walk with me every day.

I have seen SO many things throughout the 475 miles walked this fall. I've already written about that a couple of times, so I won't get into it. But I really loved doing this challenge--now that I have a streak going (today was Day 156) I don't want to quit my streak. It's going to get hard to continue throughout the winter, I'm sure, when the temp is in the single digits and there is a ton of snow. 

A few weeks into the fall challenge, Amazon had a sale on the Kindle Paperwhite (which, I'm sure you know by now, is one of my most favorite things ever!) so I bought one to give away. I decided to give it away to someone in the mileage challenge--not the person who racks up the most miles, but via a random drawing for anyone that walks or runs 100 miles for the final 8 weeks of the challenge.

We have 24 people that participated regularly every week. Since today was the last day, I'm going to give them a couple of days to submit their miles and then I'll draw a name for the Kindle. It's been a great group!

As far as the other two challenges (the Fall Hard and the Fall Checklist), I had planned on doing them as well, but I failed early on and it was clear that I wasn't going to focus on it. I'm going to have to check in with the Facebook groups to see how everything went with those challenges.

Moving into winter, I'm not "challenging" myself to do anything--I plan to continue my walking streak as long as I can. I've been writing in my three-month goal journal (Amazon affiliate link) and I'm excited to start working daily on that in January.

The journal is very introspective--the first 10 or so pages are all about achievements and ideals, and then you break it down into smaller sections and eventually a path to meet goals. As you know, I love setting goals! I fail many more times than I succeed, but I continue to set them to always be working on bettering myself.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the fall challenges--I hope you accomplished something you wanted to or at least had fun trying!

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An Afternoon With Shelby

This weekend went by far too quickly. It was such a relaxing few days!

Jerry's sister, Laura, and her husband, Chris, brought Shelby (my littlest niece!) over today. Shelby just turned one, and it was great to see her. Because of the social distancing regulations this year, we haven't seen much of them--or anyone--at all.

Shelby's birthday was on December 2 (which is actually the same as Laura's) so we had a birthday present for her. And we also had a couple of Christmas presents to give her. For her birthday, we got her a little chair/bed similar to one that Noah had when he was little (it was his favorite thing for a long time)--and then we got one for Luke and one for Riley. So naturally, we had to get one for Shelby :)

Chick totally thought it was his after Shelby opened the box...

Shelby was fascinated by the cats. Duck is absolutely terrified of children (no idea why--but he's a HUGE scaredy cat of pretty much everything). Chick is curious about kids and he's not scared of them. I just have to be careful not to let him "play" with the kids because he likes to play by rabbit kicking and grabbing things with his paws (i.e. claws).

They visited for a couple of hours and it was fun to play with Shelby--her smile is SUPER heart-melting. 

It was great to have a relaxing weekend because the kids go back to school tomorrow. Michigan has reopened a lot of public gathering places over the last couple of days. I think it's a little ridiculous that the kids go back to school tomorrow because their Christmas break starts on Wednesday. So, they'll have school for two days and then they'll be off for two weeks.

As of right now, these are the new guidelines:

I'm glad that the COVID cases are decreasing, but I hope that this doesn't cause it to spike again. I'm surprised that things like movie theaters, bowling alleys, and gyms are open. 

Once the kids go back to school after Christmas break, they'll be going in-person for four days a week. I've gotten so used to them being home every day, it's going to feel so odd! I like having them home, but I really miss having time to myself to clean--I used to deep clean/organize their bedrooms every once in a while and I can't even remember the last time I did that. (Yes, I make them clean their own rooms, but it needs a "mom cleaning" now and then!)

In other news, I bought a winter coat today :)  After yesterday's post, someone commented with a link to a coat on Poshmark that looked very similar to my old coat. Then I just fell down the rabbit hole that is Poshmark (how did I not know of it before?).

I found several coats that I liked (similar to the one I posted yesterday) and eventually picked one and bought it. I'll post a photo once I get it. I'm just excited to have a winter coat that fits me! The one I've been wearing during my morning walks is an old one of Jerry's--it's really big and boxy. I like that I can fit a bunch of stuff in the pockets and I can wear heavier shirts underneath it, but it's not very comfortable. Let's just hope that the one I bought today fits well!

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A Lazy Day and Winter Coat

Jerry and I had a verrrrrry lazy day today! (Other than my morning walk.) And it felt great.

He had last night off work, so we stayed up late (like, really late! 3:00 AM for me, 6:00 AM for him). I wish I was able to sleep in until noon like I could in college, but I was up at 7:30. While Jerry slept, I took Joey for his walk.

My joints were hurting quite a bit during my walk, especially my knees. I think it's because I've been walking so carefully on the ice and snow and it's been causing me to use different muscles. I still need to get some boots, but I managed to find a really good deal on warm pants at a local store. They had Polo brand fleece joggers and hoodies for 60% off--I bought two pairs of pants for $14 each! I thought about getting a couple of the hoodies, but I decided that I would rather find a good winter coat.

I desperately wish that I still had my favorite orange Columbia coat that I'd gotten at Salvation Army about a decade ago. It certainly wouldn't fit me now, unfortunately, but I loved it. This is a picture from 2011 (yes, the coat was old, but it was in great shape).

When we first adopted Joey, he chewed things up when he was home alone, and my coat was one of the things he chewed :(  Thankfully, once he realized that we would be coming back and we didn't leave him forever, he stopped the chewing habit and never chews things now. But I miss my coat!

A couple of nights ago, I was feeling nostalgic searched and searched online to see if I could find that same coat somewhere--I found a similar one on eBay, but it was a medium and I'm sure I need a large. Orange is my favorite color and that coat was so warm and comfy! I'd like to find some warm winter clothes for walking at the thrift stores, but the stores are so empty of clothing right now (I think because of COVID).

Anyway, enough about that. Basically, I'm just totally unprepared for walking in the winter (which officially begins on Monday). It's hard to believe that it's technically still fall right now, considering we have ice and snow on the ground.

My walk today was uneventful, and when I got home I put on some sweats and worked on knitting my hat. Since I started on it again yesterday, I feel determined to finish it before 2021. It's about damn time--I started it in 2014--so I need to finish it or just pitch it in the trash.

When Jerry woke up, we turned on Grey's Anatomy (a couple of months ago, we started rewatching it from Season One for God-only-knows why). I had intentions of playing our new board games, but once we sat and watched some Grey's, Jerry said sitting around doing nothing but binge-watching a tv show sounded perfect to him for today. Fine by me! ;) 

And that's exactly that we did. We are actually still watching it while I write this. The day went by so quickly. I also just got done ordering some items for the nursing home residents. I spoke with someone from the home today to let them know to expect some packages from Amazon for the residents and they sounded very grateful.

I'm so excited about the whole thing--what a great idea from the woman in my neighborhood. I'd like to do it again next year, regardless of the pandemic. Thank you to those of you that sent something! I am so excited for the residents to get their gifts--even though I won't be able to see their reactions, I can imagine they will love them :)

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Friday Night Photos #3

I actually really look forward to my Friday night posts now that I started doing this Friday Night Photos theme. I literally just scroll through the photos on my phone from the past week and post pictures that I didn't have a reason to share before (or I just forgot about them).

So here goes...

At first, it was cute. But good grief, the kittens are REALLY taking a toll on the Christmas tree! Hahaha, here is Duck, determined to replace the star on the top (you can't even see it anymore!).

We have a chalkboard on the side of our cupboards in the kitchen, and usually I'll write things that we need from the store on it. I noticed a few days ago that Jerry had written me a love note ;) 

I couldn't believe how rough Lake Erie was when I took Joey for our daily walk the other day. I was trying to capture a selfie with the rough waves. (This was the day that Joey desperately wanted to go in the water.)

Just a selfie of Riley and me when we were watching Home Alone :) It's so funny--as soon as the kids see a camera (or cell phone held up, ready for a picture) they start saying "cheeeeeese". And then they want to see it! Totally different from when my kids were little.

I couldn't believe how much the kittens were in sync while sleeping on my bed yesterday! They looked so much alike with every movement. I wish I had a better picture, but I knew if I moved, they'd get up.

Noah's friend came over today because they had to work on a presentation for school, and when I started talking to her, she mentioned that she knits. Talking about it made me want to knit something! When I looked at my stash of yarn (which is next to NOTHING now, because I got rid of it all when I stopped knitting/crocheting very often) I decided to pick up this hat I've been working on... since 2014! Hahaha. It's super boring to knit, so I usually only do a few rows at a time when I'm on a flight or something. It's a slouch hat (which was probably popular in 2014?), and I think I'm almost at the point where I can start shaping the top to finish it off. Woo hoo! ;)

Jerry and I bought two more games that several of you recommended. We haven't played them yet--hopefully tonight!

This showed up on my Facebook memories a few days ago, and it made me laugh, so I took a screenshot of it. I thought it was so funny!

While I was out for my walk this morning, I saw that someone had made a pretty big snowman. I love seeing things like this! It's rare to see kids playing in the snow anymore, and this reminded me of making snowmen when I was a kid. It's a terrible picture, but I was trying not to get noticed while taking a photo. I always feel embarrassed taking pictures of random things like this.

This was one of the roads on my walk today. This one wasn't great (as far as how slippery it was), but wasn't terrible either. Trying to walk on the ice today was miserable! I'm going to check out the suggestions that some of you recommended on my post about my boots. I need SOMETHING because walking in my regular running shoes on the roads like this is really difficult. It was solid ice in some places and the only safe place to walk was where there was snow (it was the sticky type of snow that you can actually grip with your shoes).

This is the "before" photo of my back yard where the squirrels run from the tree to my back deck. I always feel bad that they have to run in the snow, so I use a snow shovel to clear a path for them--they are so spoiled! Hahaha. 

And here is the "after" photo. The squirrels will be very happy!

And speaking of squirrels... 

Earlier this week when I came in from working on a project in the garage, I told Jerry that I wanted to get a clock for the garage--the time just totally gets away from me when I'm out there. I'd forgotten about it until a couple of days later when I went out there to use my sewing machine. THIS was sitting next to it! BAHAHA, I love it! It's hideous and awesome at the same time ;)

When he told me the story behind it, it was even better...

By coincidence, shortly after I mentioned needing a clock in the garage, the first listing on Facebook Marketplace to pop up on Jerry's feed was for this squirrel clock. (SERIOUSLY.) So he messaged the seller to arrange to buy it.

When he went to pick it up, the seller told him that he checked to make sure it was working (it was) and Jerry said, "Thanks, my wife loves squirrels!" and the guy asked him if he wanted a lamp, too. Jerry got excited and said, "A squirrel lamp?!" and the seller said, "No, I got a lamp with fish on it." Jerry politely told him no, that the squirrel clock was good.

I am crying laughing while Jerry and I are discussing this story right now, hahaha. 

And that's all I've got for this Friday night! Have a great weekend :)

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Bringing Joy to Someone Who Needs It Most This Christmas!

This is going to be rather short, because I'd like to get it posted ASAP. It's already December 17th, so there isn't much time, but when I saw this I just had to share it!

I have an app on my phone called 'nextdoor', and it's basically a social site for neighborhoods to connect. I live in a pretty rural area, and as I've mentioned before, there are four neighborhoods directly on this peninsula (I walk the perimeter of them daily). 

To join the app, people in the neighborhoods can send invitations (the app sends them through snail mail at no cost)--you literally just click a couple of buttons and it sends invites to all the houses you select (or you can just "select all" and it will send an invite to houses that haven't gotten one yet). It's kind of surprising to me how many people have joined!

Usually, people complain about things--dogs pooping in the park, people driving too fast, etc.--which is kind of annoying, but sometimes people post positive things, too. And today, a woman in one of the neighborhoods where I walk posted something that I thought was such a great idea--I wish I'd thought of this sooner!

It also reminded me of Mark. I don't even have to explain why :)

Here is her post (I asked permission to share it)...

"My family and friends have adopted a nursing home this year. If you would like to donate some new or like-new items, please let me know. These people aren't allowed to see their families [due to COVID] and some don't have anyone at all. 

...So please, if there is something you are not using anymore, and could help, please let me know. We will be dropping off supplies to them next week."

She included a list from the nursing home that has a "wish list" from the residents (I'll post below). I literally cried when I read this--I want to buy EVERYTHING but I simply can't afford it all. But how fun would it be for the residents to have the most amazing Christmas ever during this awful year that is 2020?

Even if you can only send a card, I'm sure it will be well loved. Just think of Mark--he got cards from all over the world, and they made him SO happy. If it wasn't for you all, he never would haven't gotten a single card during the holidays or just to wish him well.

Here is the list for the nursing home (there are a few typos, but I'm sure you can understand it). Just click to make it larger:

(Make sure you note that they cannot accept food from anywhere except businesses. And because they can't share items, any games sent should be for one person to play solo.)

The initials are for each resident (obviously they aren't including their names for privacy reasons). If you want to buy for one particular resident, I imagine you could address it like this:

To: (insert initials here)
c/o: Aberdeen Skilled Nursing Center
5500 Fort St.
Trenton, MI 48183

Or if you want to send a generic gift (the adult coloring books, pencils, cards, etc) then just address it to the nursing home itself, writing "Resident" in place of initials.

This would be very easy using Amazon because then you don't have to worry about shipping it yourself and it would get there faster. If I had time, I would create a wishlist for them to make it easier, but I want to post this ASAP.

Another idea is to find a local nursing home to YOU and ask them if they are accepting gifts for the residents. I just love this idea so so much! It breaks my heart when I think of the residents that don't have family members (and the residents who aren't able to see them at this time. This holiday must be so hard on them!

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Ornament Fail!

Another busy day! Well, the morning was, at least.

Last night, Luke slept in my bed with me (Jerry was up all night because of being on night shift). Luke likes to have someone there with him if he wakes up, so it worked out good. And Riley is the opposite--she likes her own room, own space, and no interruptions. So, we gave her Noah's room, and Noah stayed the night at my parents' house (he was totally fine with that).

In the morning, Luke woke up at about 6:45 and was ready to start the day. We still hadn't made the Shrinky Dinks for ornaments for their parents, so I worked on that with him. I traced his hand and wrote "Luke - Christmas 2020" and then he colored it. When I put it in the oven, I watched carefully and it happened so quickly--it sat for about a minute, not shrinking, but then all of a sudden the whole thing just shrank within half a second--and the fingers of his handprint all curled in.

I snatched it from the oven and tried to flatten it, but you get about 1/10 of a second of pliability, haha. So, it was kind of a fail. We tried again, and the second one turned out even worse. But hey--he's three years old and someday I hope he laughs at the disaster it was ;)

At around 8:30, I went to check on Riley--I hadn't heard a peep from her--and when I opened the door, she sat up in her pack and play and said, "Hi! It's not dark outside anymore!" She'd never called out to me that she was awake or anything! Becky told me that she actually likes chilling in bed for a little bit.

When she saw what Luke made with his handprint, I helped her make one, too. Her's was even more of a disaster! I wish I'd taken a picture of it. A couple of the fingers folded down in half and it was very curled. I don't remember Shrinky Dinks being like that difficult when I was a kid. BUT, we wrapped them in tissue paper and put them in little gift bags for mom and dad.

I made some decaf coffee because I was cold, and I was SO BUSY with the kids (they had me running around getting this and that) that when I finally took a sip of my coffee, it was cold. Haha! They wanted GoGurt (I remember when my kids loved that stuff!) from the fridge, then from the freezer, then back to the fridge. They picked out cereal and ate that as well. And we made some grape juice popsicles last night which were frozen and ready to eat this morning. There was stickiness everywhere!

It was funny while I was wiping off their hands and the countertop after they ate their popsicles, Luke was looking at some of the memes that I have embedded in the epoxy countertop, and he asked me what this one said:

Couldn't have been more perfect in that moment! ;)

It started snowing a little while later, so we got on coats, hats, and gloves to go play outside. Almost as soon as we got out there, though, my brother arrived to pick them up. We loaded everything into their car and said good-bye.

It was SUCH a fun 24 hours, but I can't even describe how exhausting. I USED TO DO THAT EVERY DAY. My kids are 18 months apart, and once upon a time, they were 2 and 3 years old like Luke and Riley. How on earth did I do it everyday?

I desperately wanted to plop down on the couch with my heating pad (and fresh coffee), but I was already dressed for outside, so I took Joey on his walk. I wanted to try out my new Columbia boots since we had freshly fallen snow (and it was still snowing). The streets were slippery, and I hoped the boots would help. Unfortunately, they were in my car at my parents' house (Noah had driven it over there the night before).

So, since my parents' house is on my route a mile into my walk, I just walked there and then swapped my shoes for boots. They were super comfy and warm and waterproof. I even walked through the park (all grass) and they didn't get wet.

The lake was SUPER rough--I haven't seen it like that in a long time--and Joey was dying to run in. I have no idea why! The waves were monstrous and there is no beach right there--only boulders. If he jumped down there, there'd be no way to get him out and I certainly wasn't about to go in after him. So I just kept telling him no, and he looked at me like, "Mom, WHY can't I just go play in the water?!"

At around mile three, I felt a very sharp pain in the back of my right ankle. It was on the skin, nothing inside. It felt like maybe there was a sliver or something in there. I was starting to limp because it hurt so bad, so I stopped to adjust my sock (not easy while holding a leash, wearing a big stiff coat and gloves. I retied the boot and kept walking. The pain was still there.

I hoped to just walk through it for the next couple of miles, but not even a few minutes later, it was really bad! I stopped again and took my boot off completely, and then my sock. On the back of my ankle was a blister that had torn open, leaving a circle of raw skin. Goddamn boots. I didn't even feel a hotspot coming on when I was walking--it just happened out of nowhere.

After that, I tied the boot more loosely and just did my best. Half a mile later, my feet really started to ache. My toes felt cramped and the entire bottom of my foot felt really sore. I knew it was the boots.

When I got home, I took them off and inspected my feet. I had the broken blister on my right ankle and a forming blister on my left. The bottoms of my feet felt like I'd just walked a half-marathon. I'm bummed because I really liked them!

I'm going to see if I can return them. They're really nice boots, but they just don't fit my feet well. I've always had a hard time finding shoes that work well for me because I supinate when I walk (under-pronate) and there aren't a lot of shoes that are made for that. Much less boots!

A lot of people mentioned getting Yaktrax, but I've already had them and they don't work well around here. If I was trail running or something, they'd be great--but here, there are sections of concrete as well as just a light dusting of snow (like today--there was enough snow to be slippery, but definitely not deep enough for Yaktrax). 

I really need to find good, comfortable boots that work well for my feet--if such a thing even exists! I don't want to take my walks to the treadmill when it snows. I can't imagine 90 minutes on the treadmill right now.

I a little nervous for my walk tomorrow, considering the state my feet are in, but hopefully the snow will be melted by then. We didn't get much today.

Okay, I really need to read some of my book and then go to bed. I can't even begin to describe how exhausted I am!

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Is It Really Still Today? (Aunting for the Day)

Ohmygosh. I feel like it should be at LEAST midnight right now, but it's not even 8:00 PM. It's been such a crazy busy day.

I knew Luke and Riley (my three-year old nephew and two-year old niece) would be coming over at 2:00, so I got up at 7:00 this morning to finish getting things ready for them. Since I was giving them their Christmas presents, I wanted to finish making Riley the little pillows and blankets for her Lil Woodzeez animals (I just keep calling them "critter things").

I also had to take Joey for his walk, which takes 90 minutes. And I still needed to get one more thing for Luke for Christmas (I'd gotten him a popcorn maker, but it wasn't going to be very "fun" to open because it wasn't something he could play with right away).

At 7:00, I went out to the garage. It was only 17 degrees outside this morning(!!!) so I wore several layers of clothes along with my warmest wool hat and gloves. I turned on the propane heater for about 20 minutes and the little heater next to my sewing machine and serger. 

Then I worked for three and a half hours making teeny tiny blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows, bahahaha!

They weren't pretty, but the good thing about making stuff like that for a two-year old is that they don't notice the flaws. Those pillows are one inch by one-and-a-half inches, by the way. Much harder to make than you would think.

The second I was done, I realized it was almost 11:00 and I needed to get my walk done. Thankfully, I was already dressed really warmly so I just threw on my fleece jacket, grabbed Joey and his leash, and headed out. 

To Joey's dismay, I just walked with a purpose--and that was to finish as quickly as possible. Usually, I let him stop and smell the roses pee on bushes and I let him off leash during a couple of spots (walking through the grass slows me down), but today was all business.

As soon as I got home, I let Joey inside, grabbed my purse, and headed to the store to buy Luke's gift. Sadly, I only had time to either hit up Kroger or Family Dollar--so I chose the latter. I remembered that Becky mentioned he wanted a remote control car, and they happened to have several. I figured the quality wouldn't be great, but at least it would be something fun he could play with today.

As soon as I got home, I had to wrap all the presents and take a shower before they got here. They arrived a little early, and I had barely gotten a chance to breathe, but I was so excited for them to come over. They were dying to open their presents, of course, so that's what we did first.

When Luke opened the remote control car, he said, "I always wanted one of these!!" in the cutest way ever, and it totally melted my heart.

Riley, on the other hand, was totally underwhelmed by the little blankets and pillows I made for her--HAHAHA! Becky told me she'd been asking for them for at least a month, but I didn't know just how much she loves pink and purple--so, I made the wrong color choices, I guess ;) She loved the treehouse, though! (I found it on Facebook Marketplace, new-in-box, for less than half of retail price!)

I don't remember the order or even everything that we did today, but it was a LOT. I feel like we did a month's worth of activities in a single day. I'd bought the game Perfection that is made for young kids, and I was really impressed with how good they did with it. Luke did the whole thing before the timer was done, and Riley would have if her fingers weren't sticky from a sucker--making the pieces stick to her fingers instead of staying in the slots! Hahaha.

We ended the evening by popping popcorn in the "special" popcorn maker (this was Riley's first time!) and then we all watched Home Alone.

It definitely wasn't without interruptions (the kids wanting to play with their toys, etc), but I actually welcomed them. I love kids at this age (two and three years old) and getting interrupted during anything as an aunt is somehow different than it was when I was a mom. I wish I could do everything over again with my kids--but since I can't, this is the next best thing.

I played hard today--I played like a toddler. And I loved it! I'm exhausted, but in a really good way ;) (I'm not going to read this over for grammar/spelling, so I apologize in advance. I'm tired!)

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