Quick reminder of TT

I'm not going to write a post today--Jerry and Noah are both off of work, which is rare these days! So we are going to have a family movie night. We watched a Godzilla movie last time, and we're watching a King Kong movie today. Getting prepped for the new Godzilla vs. Kong movie :)

However, I wanted to mention Transformation Tuesday...

If you have a transformation to share, please email it to me as soon as you can! I only have a couple in my inbox for tomorrow. Remember, it can be a before and after of anything at all--even something you may think is boring will probably be fun for others to see (I love seeing even the simplest transformations).

Just email a before picture and an after picture (in the highest resolution you have) to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Include a description of the transformation, your name, location, and what you like to do (or if you want to be anonymous, just let me know).

Have a great night! (I love this "before and after" graphic... so cute!)

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Affirmators! Week 5: Playfulness

Affirmators! are cards with positive affirmations written on them. My friend John sent me a deck of them and I've been drawing one from the deck each Sunday. I hang it on my bathroom mirror to keep it in the front of my mind and try to work on that topic through the week. That's what this Affirmators! post series is about.

Last week, the card was about about "Connection"--connecting with other people, even strangers. I'm super shy and introverted, so it's extremely difficult for me to connect, but it's something I definitely want to work on. I didn't really get a chance to do that this past week (or this past year, really, with all the social distancing!). But I'm going to continue to work on it when I find opportunities to make a connection with someone.

Here is today's card: 

Playfulness

I am a playful participant in life, and I always have the option to make something a fun game rather than a heavy burden. Mary Poppins puts sugar in the medicine for a reason. That lady really knows how to party.

This is a great card! It's probably my favorite so far.

I used to be extremely playful--particularly with Jerry. We joked around all the time, and our friends always said how much they loved our relationship because we would banter and play around.

I haven't turned into a total dud, but I've definitely lost a lot of my playfulness. I thought of this a few days ago, actually. I was in the closet getting dressed, and I had my shirt off. Jerry was going to walk past me to his side of the closet and as he brushed past, he "accidentally" bumped my back against the wall--which, if you remember doing that as a kid for fun, is FREEZING. (If you've never done it, try it right now. Take your shirt off and then press your back against a wall. I promise you will gasp and jump away quickly, haha.)

Anyway, Jerry did this to me and then I gasped and was trying to slap at him while he ducked away. It was playful! We used to do that to each other all the time. Over the past decade or so, I started getting annoyed or mad when he would play a joke on me. And then he just stopped doing them. I don't want to lose our playfulness!

We do have this one fun thing that is totally ridiculous but it always--ALWAYS--makes us laugh hysterically. If you're familiar with the Wii Fit, there is a skiing game where you stand on the balance board. You bend your knees as your Mii character gains speed going down the ski hill, and then on cue, it's time to make your Mii jump as high as it can. To do this, you don't actually jump on the board, but you go from bent knees to standing stiff and leaning slightly forward as fast as you can, and then holding that position for a few seconds. You try to balance like that (standing up, as stiff as a board, and leaning forward) while your Mii flies through the air. (It's actually kind of hard to keep your balance!)

ANYWAY, it would make us laugh when we'd watch each other play the game. But then one day, out of nowhere, one of us (I can't remember which) did it randomly during a conversation. We were just talking and then bam! Ski jump position: Stiff as a board, completely straight body.

Ever since then, we'll do it every so often. We want it to still be a total surprise out of nowhere, so we don't do it frequently (maybe once a month) but it makes us crack up. I even did it during sex one time, and we laughed so hard we cried.

Jerry has always been extremely playful. It makes him a great dad--kids are always drawn to him because he acts goofy. His playfulness is one of my very favorite things about him. And I'm sure he'd love it if I was as playful as I used to be, so this week I'm going to try to do some of the goofy things we used to do.

The card's affirmation message was more about finding ways to make mundane or burdensome tasks more interesting or fun. I feel like I already do this pretty well, but I'll try to think about it during the week and see if there are some burdensome tasks that I can make fun in some way.

If this Affirmators! card goes well, this week should be great :)

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Boy Cookies and Girl Cookies

About a month ago, when I was going through the heritage recipes in my cookbook trying to find one to make for that week, I came across a recipe from my Aunt Mary Jo (my mom's sister). I didn't post it that day, but ever since, I was been waiting for a good time to do it. 

A few years ago, Aunt Jo was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. You may already know that Alzheimer's is my biggest fear. I watched my grandma (my mom's mom) go through it until she passed away in 1999. It's a horrible disease--and it's a disease that is as hard on loved ones as it is on the person who has it. It's heartbreaking to watch how confused and frustrated someone with Alzheimer's gets. I remember my grandma would always ask when "D" was going to be home (referring to my grandpa)--and he had died when my mom was only 16.

This is a photo of my Aunt Jo and me, taken shortly after I was born...

When I heard that my Aunt Jo was showing signs of Alzheimer's, I was devastated. When I was growing up, she was one of my favorite people--I loved spending time with her. It was especially fun to spend time with her, my Aunt Mickey, and my mom. The three of them were so funny and they got "the giggles" frequently--where something small would make them crack up and then they couldn't mention it again or they would laugh until they cried.

My Aunt Jo had a cabin up north and we would go up there to visit for a few days (I don't remember how often we'd do this--I was very young). We would go to the beach and we had a blast climbing up and then running down "Angel Slide"--a steep sand dune that is shaped like an angel.

Aunt Jo reading to me on the beach. Yes, my mom toted that very portable
crib to the beach! Luckily, the "play pens" have come a long way since the 80's.

I came across this photo of my Aunt Mickey, my mom, my little brother, and me running down Angel Slide. Then in the next photo, you can see my mom face-planted into the sand. (My Aunt Mickey--in red--had apparently already fallen.) I was dying when I saw this picture! I'm sure this was one of those moments that gave them the giggles when thinking about it.

We all know how much I love squirrels... well, it was actually my Aunt Jo who sparked my interest in squirrels. The squirrels up north were people-friendly and you could feed them out of your hand. I always thought that was so cool! She'd named one of the squirrels Stubby because he was missing half of his tail. I had completely forgotten about that until last week when Nancy (my cousin, Aunt Jo's daughter) sent me a picture of a letter I'd written my Aunt Jo. She found it when she was going through her mom's things. Apparently, she'd saved it all these years--I wrote it when I was just 10 years old!

As embarrassing as it is, I'm going to share it here. Of all the things I could have written to her about, I chose this horrible story--haha! (I'll type it out below the picture so you can read it more easily)

"Hi Aunt Jo!
Guess what?! We have a Stubby now too! I have a ball that I can put the gerbils in. I was taking the black gerbil out of it and into the cage when the kitten jumped in the cage. He grabbed the brown one's tail and lifted it into his mouth. I pulled the gerbil out but his tail came off. So we changed his name to Stubby.

My mom got a job at Mazda. She helps to build cars.

Jeanie is really excited about her shower and wedding. Are you coming? She really wants you to. 

I can't really think of anything else to say.

Miss you,

Katie

P.S. Our gerbils had another litter (6) of babies. (They were fine)"

Isn't that hilarious? Apparently, I didn't know the date or bother to check when I was writing the letter, because I left it partially blank.

I remember one time when Aunt Jo took me to a little shop that sold ceramic figurines and you could buy them and then paint them yourself. I picked out this bear and painted it back at the cabin. I think I was probably about 10 in this picture, so I must have written that letter shortly after this visit up north.

As I got into my teens, I saw Aunt Jo less frequently--typically just once a year at our family Christmas party. My grandma would host a Christmas party with all the kids, grandkids, and great grandkids--I always looked forward to it because I'd get to see my aunts, uncles, and (so many) cousins. (My mom was one of six kids, and she and her siblings each had 3+ kids.)

Jerry loved seeing my Aunt Jo because he said that she (as well my Aunt Mickey) would give the BEST hugs--"real" hugs, where you are genuinely squeezing someone, and not just the token "hello, good to see you" hugs. (Jerry is a hugger, and loves genuine hugs)

Aunt Jo demonstrating how to wear your mask! ;)

After my grandma died, I saw my extended family less and less frequently. When I saw my Aunt Jo a few years ago, I was stunned--she looked so small and frail since the last time I'd seen her. I was afraid I would break her if I hugged her too hard. And even though I expected it, it was sad that I had to explain who I was (while trying not to make her feel bad for not remembering me).

A few weeks ago, my mom told me that Aunt Jo wasn't doing well. Her health seemed to decline very quickly, and then her family made the decision to put her into hospice care. I went with my mom and dad to the group home where Aunt Jo was a patient--it was very nice and not at all a "hospital-like" setting--and I knew it would be the last time I saw her.

I was terrified of what to expect. Like I said, Alzheimer's is my biggest fear, and it's very unpredictable. Aunt Jo was lying in bed, awake but with her eyes closed. I could tell she could hear us talking to her, because she would try to reply, or the corner of her mouth would go up just a little like she was trying to smile, and she squeezed my hand when I held hers.

The following Saturday morning, I decided I was going to make my Aunt Jo's cookies for my heritage recipe that day. I texted my Aunt Mickey and my mom to ask what they could tell me about the cookies. My mom replied that my Aunt Jo had just died a couple of hours ago. 

Although I hadn't known, my timing about the cookies was terrible. I decided to wait and post it another time. Even though my aunt's death was expected, the finality of it was just... sad. I was very glad that I'd gone to see her one last time, but I wished I had made more of an effort to see her over the years. I was busy with kids, she was busy with grandkids... and time flies.

Last week, I asked my cousin Nancy (Mary Jo's daughter) if she knew the story behind the cookies in the heritage cookbook.

It turns out that she didn't know about the recipe in the cookbook (for oatmeal cookies), but Aunt Jo was famous for her chocolate chip cookies. She used the classic Nestlé Toll House recipe (does anyone else read that in Phoebe's voice/accent from Friends?) but according to Nancy, she'd perfected it and people lived for her cookies!

Aunt Jo used to say that she made both "boy cookies" and "girl cookies"--with nuts and without nuts ;) Hahaha!

My Uncle Tom (her husband) was a football referee--from a Back Judge official to the Division 1 Mid-American Conference, officiating games in Michigan, Illinois, and West Virginia (if I sound like I know what I'm talking about, it's only because I asked Nancy--I know nothing about football!).

Aunt Jo would bake chocolate chip cookies and send them to the games with Uncle Tom in a coffee can that she'd decorated with black and white stripes to look like a referee uniform. She did this every Friday during football season for years, and the guys would eat them up at the post-game meetings.

Aunt Jo was always so fun. Again, I wish I had made it a point to keep in close contact with her through the years. She was so funny when I was a kid, but I imagine that I would have loved her humor as an adult even more. My cousins (her kids) are very funny and enjoyable to be around, if that is any reflection!

I did not bake the cookies for this "recipe" post--it would have been a disservice to Aunt Jo if only for the simple fact that I am (ironically) terrible at baking cookies--but I wanted to share a little about my special aunt. In Nancy's words, "I think it was the love she put into the cookies that made them so good."

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Friday Night Photos (Pets and Projects)

Since injuring my knee (and not being able to go for walks or bike rides while it heals) I've had quite a bit of extra energy. Or maybe I have the extra energy because of my light therapy lamp...? Regardless, I've been in a great mood and have been working on fun projects. Nothing major (well, until today...)

Anyway, here are some photos from throughout the week (pets and projects is all I have!):

Well, I do have this one photo of Amish Friendship Bread. I baked it from the starter that I'd made, and I gave away the other starters. I still have a bag of starter that I've been "feeding" because the family loved this bread so much--I can make it more than once every 10 days.

Now for pet photos...

I was reading in bed, and Chick and Duck were lying by my feet. I hate that you can't see them well in this photo because they (especially Duck) were SO CUTE.

Jerry, Eli, and I were watching a documentary about squirrels (yes, I know) and Duck was totally fascinated. He watched almost the entire 50-minute film.

Estelle and Duck... sleeping next to each other... and even touching a little! Estelle is warming up to Duck. It's impossible not to like him ;)  (Duck is the one who laid down next to Estelle. He was so cautious and once he realized she wasn't going to hiss and growl at him, he gingerly reached over with his paw and barely touched hers with it. 

Estelle looked so comfortable using the remotes for a pillow...

I noticed that Estelle has one wonky whisker--it's white and it curls in a different direction than the rest of them. It was driving me crazy! I was dying to pull it out, but I left it alone.

I have NO idea why, but the pets were following me around one day like I had bacon in my pockets. Chick was around, too, but not in the photo.

And some projects I've been working on:

I wanted to make a comfy blanket (I ALWAYS have a blanket on my lap when I'm sitting down--I feel naked without one!) and I found a really nice duvet cover at Salvation Army. I actually thought it was Brooklinen brand at first because it looks and feels so similar to the Brooklinen duvet covers I have. I figured I could use the fabric from the duvet to make a good throw blanket. 

I had a faux-cashmere blanket from back when Jerry and I got married (the cream-colored one in the top pic) and it it wasn't in nice-looking shape anymore (there were a few little stains). So, I used that to make the cozy blanket--I cut the edges off of the cream blanket, and cut the duvet down to the size of the cream blanket. Then I sewed all three layers together for a super comfy blanket!

At Salvation Army, I checked out the throw pillows--if I find any that have a good-quality insert (feather-filled) then I sometimes buy them with plans of re-covering them. I found three at the store last week--a large reddish colored one with a gold design and two that were covered with pink ribbons. I took the covers off of all three and then made new covers. For the large pillow, I used leftover pieces of the duvet cover to quilt into a basketweave pattern.

For the pink ribbon ones, I actually used a single standard-size pillowcase to make two covers. I found the pillowcase at Salvation Army and I LOVED the fabric--so the reason I bought it was to use the fabric for something one day (this was about a year ago). And these pillows were perfect!

I was going to cut off the edge of the pillowcase and just cut four squares, but I realized that if I folded it a particular way, I could use the edging of the pillow case down the center of the throws. I love how they turned out!

And finally, I am SUPER excited about my newest project that I started today. I found a Pottery Barn coffee table and media console on Facebook Marketplace (they were from the Rhys collection, which is no longer being produced--but I discovered that the table retailed for $700 and the console retailed for $1200!).

The pieces are not in great shape (well, the console is actually in pretty good shape, but the coffee table definitely needs refinishing). They are great quality pieces. I got both of them for $100 and I'm going to refinish them. Today, I cleaned them with TSP and sanded the heck out of them to get most of the finish off. I was debating whether to stain them or paint them, and I decided to paint them white. Hopefully I'll have them done this week! (I'll save the progress photos for later)

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A Road Trip Adventure

I've been writing my blog for nearly 10 years, and I've probably written as many posts about our couches. Haha! We have a history with couches. I'm not even going to get into it (again), but Jerry and I have gone through several couches in the 17+ years we've been married.

When I remodeled the house, I was THRILLED to find an amazing orange couch on Facebook Marketplace--it was built in 1976 and the retro look fit my personality perfectly. It was in great condition and I was so happy to buy it. 

What could make me even happier? A chair to match! It was seriously uncanny--the fabric and look of the couch and chair were IDENTICAL. What are the odds?! So I loved the set and it looked great with the gray floors and walls in my living room.

I loved it so much that I actually ended up moving it into my bedroom. I searched and searched on Facebook Marketplace for living room furniture. My ideal find would have been an orange leather sectional. I really missed having a sectional! We got rid of it when we remodeled the house--it was old and very worn and definitely time to go.

I looked into buying a brand new couch, but to get a really good quality one, you have to pay a pretty penny. I did all my research and learned about what to look for and what to avoid. I just couldn't bring myself to pay several thousand dollars for a couch. I decided to keep looking on Facebook Marketplace and hope that the right one would come along.

Meanwhile, though, we found a crazy good deal on a (temporary) couch and loveseat--they were gray (faux) leather and only $110 for the set! There was nothing wrong with them, so we bought those to use in the living room while I continued to search for the perfect couch--a leather sectional, either orange or gray, and good "bones"--hardwood, glued and screwed.

I've been looking for a while, but we weren't in a huge hurry. I was being patient, knowing that I would eventually find one that I loved as much as I love the orange couch in my bedroom.

Well, on Monday, I found IT.

It was totally meant to be. A leather two-piece sectional, made by Bova... and ORANGE. I checked out the company online to read about their furniture, and I was shocked when I saw just how much the sectionals cost--upwards of $6,000! This one was custom ordered from Italy.

The best thing about looking for an orange sofa is that they aren't exactly in high demand. It's a color that not many people are into ;)  It was listed at $1500 on Facebook Marketplace, but after chatting with the woman, she said she'd let me have it for $1100. I was so excited!

The only caveat was that she lives near Cincinnati, which is 3-1/2 hours away. So, Jerry and I made plans to road trip down to Cincinnati to pick up the couch. We were excited--not only about the couch, but about taking a road trip together.

We had to rent a cargo van from Home Depot so that we could haul the couch back home. It was cheap to rent, but not exactly ideal for a "fun" road trip, haha. It started raining as soon as we left home. It was also extremely windy. And I mean EXTREMELY. Having the cargo van meant more wind resistance (because it's big and boxy) and I was sure that the wind was going to tip us over. Jerry said it was a big workout just gripping the steering wheel and keeping us on the road. For 3-1/2 hours. Each way.

When we got to the neighborhood, my mouth dropped open when I saw the houses. They were huge, beautiful three-story mansions. Jerry and I were embarrassed to be driving the Home Depot cargo van, but what can you do?

We pulled into the driveway, put on our masks, and rang the bell. When we went inside, I was just so stunned. It was gorgeous! And as soon as I saw the couch, I knew I was in love. It's super comfortable and the quality is amazing. The couch is six years old, but it looks and feels brand new.

Jerry and I looked ridiculous carrying out the pieces (I was so nervous I was going to bump into one of the walls) and I had to stop several times because the couch is much heavier than it looks. Once we got it inside the van, we were trying to figure out how to best position the two pieces so that they wouldn't be bumping around inside the whole way home. We ended up taking both pieces out and basically playing Tetris while we figured out which way to put them inside.

We finally headed home. The ride home was even scarier than the ride down there, to say the least. The wind and rain were horrible. But we made it! We'd left home at 9:30, and we didn't return until 5:00--it was a very long day. We still had to take the old couches out of the house and then bring in the sectional. We had to rearrange a few things for the best set up. But it's finally done, and we absolutely love the new couch!

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Results of My COVID Pandemic Poll

Wow. I was going through the results of the poll I wrote up the other day, including the written-in answers of life changes that happened during the past year, and I am truly humbled. I'm actually in tears as I write this.

When in lockdown, or quarantined, it's easy to live in your own little bubble. You are aware that there are terrible things going on due to this horrible disease, but unless it affects you personally (either yourself or close loved ones) it's easy to distance yourself.

I think that if we could actually SEE what's happening in hospital settings with COVID patients, it would have a huge effect on those of us in our bubbles. It's not that I wasn't aware of people being on ventilators or having to say good-bye to loved ones via Zoom or Facetime; I knew that was happening (and still is). But I think that if we could see a documentary that truly shows what is happening, people would take it much more seriously.

When I saw the first two episodes of The Good Doctor this season, I was a little in shock. I have no idea how accurate it was as far as what hospital settings look like now, but it made the whole pandemic feel more REAL to me. It was scary to see, and it made me want to see the real life happenings. Not in a "train wreck" kind of way, but in a compassionate way--I want to know what front line workers are going through, what their typical day is like working with COVID patients, and how it has affected their mental health.

This gave me an idea for a series of posts (yes, I've been all about series lately!). I'd love to feature first-hand accounts from people in several areas via guest posts:

• doctor
• nurse
• occupational and/or physical therapist
• teacher
• stay-at-home mom
• COVID patient who was in serious condition
• someone whose loved one passed from COVID
• high school student who had to adjust to virtual learning
• funeral director
• someone who is single, living alone, and had to quarantine
• anyone else who was seriously affected by the pandemic

If you are reading this and would like to share your experience, please send me an email at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. 

I'll share the results of the poll below, but first I just want to list some of the answers that people wrote in for the "other" section in Major Life Changes. These are what brought me to tears...

Relationship struggles 

Grandma died, not from COVID, and had to attend her funeral virtually

Mom died, not from COVID

Spouse diagnosed with a major illness

My adult sibling moved in with me for 9 months. Love him but stressful at times.

The unexpected addition of my children “going to school” at home has been life-saving in some positive but more negative ways. It’s been very hard for my kids and myself. 

Lost my wonderful dad. Cause of death was not formally COVID, but COVID did have an impact on his passing.

My husband passed May 2019. Within a year I lost my 2 dogs. I was very aware that my heartbeat was the only one in my house. I've since adapted.

My husband deployed.

Became an empty nester.

Death of my grand father, not related to COVID.

We are going to have to really fix the house or sell it and move. The four of us at home, every day, all day, during a whole year has taken a toll in the house. Everything looks much older, dirtier, wore down.

Teacher - from home.

Kids moved home from college because of COVID.

Spouse left us.

My daughter experienced a very traumatic event in September which affected me in many more ways than the quarantine.

My daughter went through treatment for an eating disorder.

Family issues because of differing opinions of COVID.

Had to leave job due to lax COVID protocols.

There was a shooting at my husband's work - extremely traumatic.

Switched jobs..I am a teacher which has been super stressful--both in-person with masks and online

Loss of two family members, not from COVID. Hard to grieve at a distance.

My husband is working from home (in the laundry room!).

Even though my school went back in-person in September, I am my campus's 4th grade remote teacher. I have hated it every single day.

Became a stay home teacher to two elementary school kids.

Marriage separation.

Grandmother passed, not from COVID, and we had to wait forever to do a service.

Mom was sick with bladder cancer since July 2020 and died in Feb 2021 - miss her so much.

In February 2020, my husband had a heart-attack and double-bypass open-heart surgery, then was on a feeding tube for several months. The first four months of the pandemic were all about this. It feels like I've been playing "catch up" since.

My mother-in-law died of cancer.

Lost my mom.

Elder care of sick mother.

Experienced COVID myself! Lost my sense of taste and smell.

Lost a pet :(

My father died during lockdown (not COVID)

My partner's mother moved in with us last month.

Lost three of my in-laws - not COVID related.

Mom diagnosed with breast cancer and unemployed for six months.

Husband’s hours got cut, I went to working fully remote, and we all had COVID.

Lost mother to cancer and I was also diagnosed with cancer.

I'm so sorry for all of you that have gone through something traumatic (big or small). With the pandemic, I imagine a lot of other hardships were overlooked which must have felt invalidating. Not all responses were hardships, however--here are some "feel good" ones:

Adopted two kids and took in a foster child.

Re-kindled my relationship with God (may really found it for the first time)

Graduated nursing school

Got married after 10 years together!!

Graduated with my PhD (and have been intensely job searching since then--August 2020)

Down 64 pounds, 20 to go.

Got Married

Changed careers--became a fitness instructor and in the process of becoming a personal trainer.

Changed jobs and so did husband but those were good changes

Recovered from an illness...staying home helped!

I retired

I started working with a health coach in October of 2020. I am currently 23 pounds down from my highest weight. The focus is on movement.

I value time with loved ones more.

Started Noom November 30 and 75 Hard January 1. Today is Day 75 and I’m down 16 pounds and finally feel in control after gaining a lot of weight the last two years!

Promotion!

Totally rearranged our house and did a ton of upgrades.

Got engaged, sold a house, bought a house, got married - in less than 10 weeks this past Fall.

I work at school, so had March to August off with pay and unemployment. Really enjoyed my time off.

Went from working in an office every day to working from home full time and hope to continue past the pandemic!

Here are the numerical results from the poll. I wasn't surprised by a lot of them, but some of them did surprise me--like the number of people who adopted pets! I think it's awesome. (These results were current as of about 5:00 PM today. I've left the poll open for anyone who still wants to do it, so the numbers may change. Once you submit your responses, you are able to view the results.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the poll! This past year has impacted all of us--on a large scale or small scale, good or bad. Let's hope that this will be over soon. Until then, stay safe, Friends!

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Transformation Tuesday #18 : Home Revamping!

Since I started my obsession with DIY'ing home renovation projects, I can't get enough of before and afters of renovations/redecorating. It's SO amazing what a little paint can do, or replacing flooring, or simply rearranging furniture. I find that my mood is so much better when I enjoy the way my space looks, too. I'm sure my orange furniture and ginormous wall clock aren't to everyone's taste, but they make me feel good ;)  

I'm going to share SIX fun transformations today... enjoy! (And please keep sending them--after today, my folder is empty of transformations. See bottom of post for how to submit your transformations.)

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I wanted to update my kids’ bathroom on a budget, so I painted everything! Including the walls, cabinets, trim, sink (technically a glaze) and countertops (bought a kit). We used leftover flooring from when we redid our floors on the main level. And I kept the same fixtures and cabinet hardware. Our only new purchases were the toilet, mirror, shelf, shower curtain, and window shade.

- Melissa, amateur home remodeler from west Michigan

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Recently we took out a window and replaced it with a slider. It has added so much light to our living area, and now we can enjoy our backyard while watching the sunrise from our chairs. Our cats also like it!

- Rhonda

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I had this ugly green carpeting on my stairs for years. I wanted a more updated look. I am retired now and have plenty of time, so I wanted to try to do some projects myself. I am a “hire a person” type because my husband and I are NOT handy!

I ripped out the old carpeting, who knew there was such things as tack strips and that they tacked down carpeting with a bazillion tacks! It took a while and when it was all done I thought I could just wipe it down and it would look brand new. It was a lot more banged up than I realized. I also didn’t know that the backs of the steps were not oak which means I couldn’t refinish the backs. I refinished the treads and then painted the backs and molding.

- Sue

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My husband and I bought a new house in December and it’s beige beige beige, the most boring color (to us, anyway). We finally got around to adding some fun color, starting with - your favorite - orange! And yes, that is a white pumpkin on the red stool (we have a pumpkin patch every year, that was our favorite pumpkin from the 2020 season, and it’s still in great shape)!

- Amy

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I wanted to submit my quarantine reupholstery project for transformation Tuesday. This is a Norwalk Furniture couch that was stamped May 7, 1970 on the inside.

- Peg

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We repainted our bathroom!  In the before picture (from the realtor pictures online) you can see the wallpaper border and off-white walls. What you don't see is that the previous owner did a quick fix with flat white paint to cover the nicotine stains in the bathroom!  After we bought the house it only took a few showers to see those stains again. 

So we picked out a lovely light grey paint and cleaned, applied two coats of Kilz primer and repainted the bathroom. It looks brand new! The downstairs bathroom also needs an upgrade; I will make sure to take pictures of that too (there is red shag carpeting....).  

Shannon - Idaho

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Holy smokes--I LOVE these transformations this week!

Melissa, I am in love with your entire bathroom remodel. The shower curtain is the best! 

Rhonda, that was such a good call with the window--what an awesome place to put a glass door so it's not hiding the (amazing) view.

Sue, I am SO impressed that you did all that yourself with the stairs. It's scary when things don't go as smoothly as we expect (like when I tore out the crown molding and saw that the drywall seams weren't finished underneath them--ugh!). The stairs look professional!

Amy, you captured my heart with the orange wall. LOVE it!

Peg, I am so jealous of your upholstery skills--I tried it once and it was so much more complicated than I thought and I gave up. What a great couch! I love old furniture--the quality back then was amazing. 

Shannon, the update you gave that bathroom is stunning! And now I am dying to see the red shag carpeting in the bathroom downstairs--oh, lordy. Haha!

Thank you thank you thank you for sharing your transformations this week! To send in a transformation, just email a before photo and an after photo (of anything at all) to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Include a description of the transformation, your name, location, and what you like to do. Depending on how many I have to post, it may be a week or two before it's up, but I will definitely post it!

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How the Pandemic Affected My Weight, Eating and Drinking Habits, Exercise, etc.

On March 11 of last year, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. It's crazy to think that it's been a whole year! SO MUCH has changed in that amount of time, even though it feels like days have been the same for weeks and months on end.

I've been very curious about how the pandemic and social distancing has affected people's health and wellness--mentally and physically. It's definitely changed my habits (good and bad) and from what I've read, it's changed a lot of others' habits as well.

I'm hoping that I can write this post without people judging me. There are several things I should have done differently, but I had no idea how long this was going to be going on, nor could I predict anything that was going to happen in the future. So I write this just because I'm curious about others' experiences, so I might as well share mine.

One of the first things that changed was my grocery shopping. Because we were told to stay home as much as possible, I went to the store far less often (at most once every two weeks). This meant that we had didn't have fresh food beyond a week or so before we started eating from the freezer and/or convenience foods from the pantry. We were eating a lot of frozen pizzas!

I stayed extremely busy and active while insulating and drywalling the garage. I wasn't doing formal exercise, but I was working REALLY hard lifting drywall and climbing up and down the ladder over and over again. Nothing sounds better after a sweaty day of work than a cold beer--and after not drinking at all for 2019 (it was a challenge I made for myself), I started drinking again in 2020. All the beer companies make hard seltzers now, and those tasted amazing when I was done in the garage for the day.

That turned into a bad habit. I knew I should quit, so the 75 Hard Challenge happened to come up at just the right time (alcohol is not allowed during the challenge). After the challenge, though, I went back to having wine or hard seltzers at the end of the day. I made a couple of attempts to quit again, but I didn't really feel the motivation to put in the effort.

(Recently, though, I did quit--today is Day 30, actually. It's made a huge difference in my energy levels, so I remind myself of that every day.) Anyway, I know that the pandemic played a role in alcohol consumption.

I'm sure that alcohol played a role in my weight gain, also. I was doing pretty well with intermittent fasting, planning to have nothing but water after dinner until I went to bed. But I'd usually cave and have wine, so it ended up being a wash. 

I haven't kept good track of my weight at all in the past couple of years, but I believe I was at 179 at the start of the pandemic and now I'm at 185. I'd lost 13 pounds during the 75 Hard Challenge, but gained it back.

For the whole year, I have been doing really well with the intermittent fasting--until nearly bedtime. It's ridiculous, really--I need to just go to bed early. But I've always had something to look forward to at night--when I was losing weight I had some sort of dessert every evening, sometimes popcorn, then for a long time I had a small glass of wine and a Dove Promise, and eventually just wine. But regardless of what it was, I always looked forward to it. I wish I could say that a cup of tea or something would do the trick, but it just doesn't have that same effect. I'm still trying, though! I've been making Sleepytime tea and reading or playing Best Fiends to relax at night.

I will say that I drank a LOT of water over the last year--I was always thirsty while pouring sweat in the garage, and then I did the 75 Hard Challenge (having to drink a gallon a day). I definitely didn't get enough water late last year because of the weather, but for the last several weeks I've been drinking a gallon every day. (My sister challenged me to do something for 100 days, and I chose drinking a gallon of water.)

Some good to come out of not going to the grocery store very often is that we used up a ton of what we had stocked in the pantry and freezer. I got creative with throwing things together, even when we got down to the bare bones of groceries. Another bonus is that we saved a ton of money. Whenever I go grocery shopping, I end up buying things that aren't on my list, so it costs a lot more. When I'm only shopping once every 2-3 weeks, it eliminates all of the extra spending.

The biggest change of all during the pandemic was my exercise. I went from zero intentional exercise to 90 minutes a day, 7 days a week, from July until just a couple of weeks ago. I did mostly walking--at first, I did 45 minutes twice a day; eventually, I did the whole 90 minutes once a day. I put hundreds of miles on my shoes and listened to dozens of audiobooks.

And now I am injured (unrelated to the exercise--I wrote about it here). However, the months of exercise lit a fire under me and it made me WANT to do it. I was really excited about getting back into running (and I still hope to be able to do that once my knee heals).

As far as current eating habits, I'm still not grocery shopping nearly as much as I did before the pandemic, but I'm going a little more frequently. I've been cooking almost every day (although we always have a couple of pizzas in the freezer, just in case. I have been cooking a heritage recipe every week which has been really fun to discover new (old) recipes.

Oh! Another bad habit? Wearing black stretchy pants every day instead of jeans! I can't be the only one, can I? ;)

After airing all my dirty laundry about my bad pandemic habits, I am SUPER curious how the pandemic has affected other people--so I'm going to post a poll. This is completely anonymous (Even I won't know who you are). It will just tally up answers and I can share the poll graphs in a few days. Remember, it's totally anonymous!

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Affirmators! Week 4: Connection

Affirmators! are cards that contain positive affirmations. My friend John sent me a deck of them and I decided that I'll read one per week and then try to utilize that affirmation. So that's what this Affirmators! series is about.

Last week, my card was about authenticity and being true to myself. I don't have too much trouble with that one, especially as I get older and I care less and less about what others think of me. (Of course I want people to like me, but only if they like the authentic me--I don't want to change who I am just to please someone else.) I don't expect everyone to like me, just as I don't like every person I meet. I think that everybody should be their authentic selves, which will make them draw like-minded people to them and form connections. Which leads me to this week's card...

When I drew today's card, I was tempted to replace it and draw another. However, it really is relevant to me and actually very relevant with all that is going on with this COVID pandemic. Today's card was about Connection.

In case you can't read it, here is what it says:

"I'm connected to the multitudes, and I can access their support at any time. Even a stranger offers a sense of comfort when they smile at me or make a dumb comment about the weather. Everyone is waiting to connect... all I need to do is open myself up and pay attention. (Not to self: work on witty banter about weather-related stuff.)"

As an introvert, I have a VERY hard time making small talk with people. It's something that has bothered me my whole life. I've always wanted to be one of those people who naturally just thinks of things to say and start up conversations with total strangers in the grocery line or waiting for a bus or something. I usually just feel extremely uncomfortable while I try to think of something to say.

I'm also very shy. If I do manage to say something, I think about it in my head over and over, wishing I'd said something different or wondering if it sounded dumb.

Last week, I reached out a bit--out of my comfort zone, anyway. I have an app called 'nextdoor', which is a little social media bulletin for our neighborhood (and surrounding neighborhoods). Most of the time, people use it to bitch about everything--dogs running loose, people driving too fast, loud music, etc. It's really negative and I've thought about deleting it, but I do like to see if anything is going on in the neighborhood.

When I was walking every day, I noticed that someone had thrown a mattress in the canal. WHY, I have no idea. But it's trashy! People dump their old furniture in the canal so they don't have to deal with it (all you have to do to get rid of it is to call a phone number for a pick-up). Anyway, someone posted about it on 'nextdoor', complaining about how trashy the neighborhood is, etc. People complain but nobody ever does anything about it.

A woman named Monika said that she has a truck and would anyone be willing to help her haul it out of the canal? I volunteered to help her (it sounds like such a little thing, but it made me nervous because I didn't know her). Anyway, we agreed to meet that morning, and I rode my bike over there. Monika was super nice!

The mattress was like a giant sponge (it was a memory foam mattress) and SO SO heavy! The water smelled terrible, but we heave-hoed and inched our way up the embankment with the mattress. We managed to load it into the bed of her truck. She offered to take it home and call the number for a pick-up.

As simple as that, the mattress was out of the canal--and it only took a week's worth of people bitching about it. Another woman who had seen the post asked if anyone would be interested in doing a neighborhood clean-up day. The thought of that makes me nervous, too, because it would be lots of people I don't know (or who knows, maybe only a few of us would show up) but I said to count me in. I'm trying to get more comfortable with meeting new people and with making small talk.

I really like this Affirmators! card today. I do need to work on witty banter about weather-related stuff, haha. Or at least something other than, "I just wish this pandemic was over already." (Same thing everyone says to each other now.)

I do try to keep in mind that maybe other people feel the same way I do and they are trying just as hard to come up with something to say. It's not that I don't WANT to talk to people--I just never know what to say. I would love to make a connection with people of all types, even if it's just for a moment in the grocery line. :)

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On This Day...

I've not had a good day today--at all. I'm feeling very sorry for myself about my knee because I want to walk and ride my bike and even run! I'm not looking for sympathy, just saying that I'm having a bad day. Usually on Saturdays I post a heritage recipe, but I didn't even attempt to make one today (I did some cleaning though, so at least I was productive).

I don't really want to write, but I had an idea that might be fun. I searched my photos for "March 13" and I figured I'd post some photos from this day through the years...

2006: Nathan came home on leave from serving in Iraq and we surprised my mom at work (she had no idea he was coming home). Jeanie came in from Illinois, Brian came in from Minnesota, and I was there, of course. First, Jeanie walked into the office and my mom was surprised to see her, but not totally shocked. Then Brian came in--and she was definitely bewildered. Then I came in. And finally, Nathan. She was SO surprised (and thrilled, of course!)

2007: I have no idea why I took this picture, but my kids were eating grapes.

2010: I did my first "long walk" to train for the Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon. I walked 5 miles on the treadmill, and I was pouring sweat. But very proud.

2015: Early in the morning, Noah was reading out loud to Eli and Joey.

2015: Jerry and I were training for the Detroit Free Press Half-Marathon. We got in this run/walk before I headed to the airport...

To go to Portland for my first time!! Thomas, Laurel, and I had drinks and then I had to check out Voodoo Doughnut. Definitely didn't live up to the hype, but I think it's something most tourists try ;)

2017: The nightmare of Noah's splinter. You can read the whole insane story here. 

2018: Jerry and one of my most favorite cousins, Shannon. Unfortunately, we were at my cousin Jeff's funeral, but it was really nice to see so many cousins!

2018: My mom wanted to get a photo of us because we were dressed up.

2019: Eli feeding Tuck, our original "pet" squirrel. He died last year, but he is the squirrel that made us REALLY fall in love with squirrels.

This was actually a fun post to do. A way to go down memory lane!

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