The end of a year and the beginning of the next mean that I write a lot of summaries and a lot of goals. There is something about a new year that feels so nice! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Being the 29th, there are only a couple of days left in 2022. And I am going to make it count by doing a few last-minute things so I can start 2023 without having them on my nagging list of to-do's.
The nagging list is basically made up of things that I should have gotten done by now but I just put off for whatever reason. Either I'd rather be doing something else or I'm just too lazy to get them done. And then they nag at me, over and over, until I finally just do it!
So, here are three things that I want to get done before the new year rolls around. Yes, that's two days from now.
1. Dye my roots already.
My gray hairs are probably a good four inches long right now. The last time I colored them was in early August! I notice them more and more by the day and they almost kept me from going to a friend's get-together last weekend. That's really bad. So come Sunday, my grays will not be gray anymore.
Maybe you can't see it well here because of the selfie-quality photo, but they are glaringly obvious to me!
2. Finish the shelves in the bathroom closet.
I would have been done with these a while ago if not for the router on my router table breaking down. I've had to find a work-around for a lot of it and it's taking much longer than it should. I worked on the shelves for a while today and then got to the point of needing the router again. I think I'll work on that tonight if it's not too cold in the garage. Once I finish installing the shelves, I have to paint them. I don't think I have enough paint, so I'll have to make a trip to Sherwin Williams tomorrow to pick some up. But I *will* get these shelves done before the new year!
3. Sort and organize my tools and hardware.
Since remodeling the bathroom and bedroom, I have tools everywhere. It's a completely chaotic mess and trying to find what I need is a nightmare. I also have a catch-all for random screws and little pieces of hardware, so I want to sort those and put them in their respective containers. I just want everything to be organized and in one place again instead of all over the house and garage!
There it is--short and simple, but three things that are super nagging. I remember reading somewhere that all of the little things that nag at you every day cause more stress than one or two big things. For example, you have a snag in your rug and every time you walk over it, you think, "I need to cut that"; it eats away at you over and over again, sometimes for months on end, until you FINALLY do it, even though it would literally take less than 90 seconds to grab the scissors and cut the loose fiber.
While my list has a few things more time consuming than snipping a snag, they are things that I should be able to knock out really quickly if I just DO IT ALREADY. I will feel so much better once those things aren't on my mind! (And yes, as vain as it sounds, my gray roots have been taking up mind space.)
When this posts, I'll have 50 hours until the new year. Ready... set... GO!
I have no weigh-in today for my usual Wednesday Weigh-In. Until this afternoon, I was absolutely sure that it was Tuesday!
My schedule and routine has been thrown off so much this past week--not only from Christmas, but the kids being home from school and Jerry being off work. You could have told me today was Saturday and I would have believed you.
It's probably a good thing that I forgot today's weigh-in (well, at least for the sake of facing the scale) because as I predicted, it was very difficult to have good eating habits. Being at home and hanging out with the family, watching movies and playing games, we snacked a lot. We basically grazed all day, while throwing a meal in there for good measure as well.
I ate way too much on Christmas, and I haven't felt that full in a long time! I made vegan pancakes for breakfast, which ended up being delicious. I added pecans to mine and they reminded me of when I used to love getting pecan pancakes from Cracker Barrel after my long marathon training runs. These tasted every bit as good as Cracker Barrel's! Also, I didn't run before eating them, haha.
Then for dinner, I made seitan "ham", mashed potatoes, and stuffing. I made the seitan on account of Jerry, who asked me to because he always loved ham for Christmas when he was growing up. We'd made plans to go to my parents' house for dinner (I was just going to bring our vegan food with us) but Noah was sick starting on Christmas Eve. It wasn't COVID, but he felt awful for a few days.
Since I hadn't been sure which "ham" I wanted to bring over there, I actually made two totally different ones. One was made with tofu and the other was a seitan loaf (similar to the "turkey" I made for Thanksgiving). I ended up cooking the seitan one for Christmas dinner, but marinated the tofu one as well, figuring we'd eat it for a snack later.
Well, we were totally full after dinner and we didn't even dare touch the tofu later on. But the next day, I tasted it and was blown away at how good it was. It was delicious, even though I didn't have a glaze for it--I'd burned the glaze into the pot so badly that it ruined the pot, never mind the glaze!
I'm going to write a recipe review for the seitan, but the tofu recipe I used can be found here. The marinade was SO GOOD. (For the glaze, I skipped the whiskey and used peach jam instead of apricot, but I can't even tell you if it was good because I don't know.) I definitely wouldn't call it a substitute for ham--it didn't look or taste like ham--but it was amazing tofu.
Anyway, when I went to bed Christmas night, I felt like I weighed a million pounds. All week long, I didn't eat my usual breakfast or lunch, either. Those always make me feel good and energetic, and changing up my eating habits for the week definitely matched our lazy days. We had a lot of fun! But I am for sure ready to get back to the usual. The kids are still off from school, but Jerry went back to work today.
Since I missed today's weigh in, I'll do it next week and hopefully by then I'll have several days under my belt of being back in my routine. And I won't feel so heavy.
I want to work hard to finish the bedroom and bathroom completely over the next few days. I didn't work on it as much as I'd planned to over the last week, and it would be great to get it done and start the new year with a new bedroom and bathroom!
Having a few days off from blogging was nice--I constantly felt like I was forgetting to do something, though! Jerry has been off work for a week (using up his vacation time), which has been super relaxing and feels kind of like a vacation. We've had a lot of family time, which is rare these days because at least one of the four of us usually has something going on.
Since Jerry is off work tonight, we decided to turn my blog post into a sort of "date night" questionnaire. I grabbed some fun "Who is most likely...?" questions from this webpage and we went through and answered them...
1. Who is most likely to die in a zombie apocalypse?
Katie. We both agree that I would die pretty much immediately because I wouldn't even try. When the brain is in fight or flight mode, mine chooses option C: "curl up in a ball in the corner and close my eyes".
2. Who is most likely to surprise the other by bringing home a kitten?
Jerry. Absolutely Jerry. Being bipolar, you would think that it would be me, but I'm the one who overthinks EVERYTHING and I would talk myself out of it even if it was super tempting.
3. Who is most likely to have the funniest relationship stories?
Katie. We both agree on this. I am a good storyteller; I make sure to talk slowly and explain the backstory if necessary. Jerry gets so excited to tell the story that he leaves half of it out and then I end up having to explain it all again, haha.
4. Who is most likely to forget a name for someone they know?
Katie. Jerry and I laugh about this all the time because I am SO BAD with names. We've been watching a couple of shows for YEARS--Grey's Anatomy, for example--and I still don't know the names of the main characters. I always describe them as something like, "you know, that girl that was on Private Practice and had a baby with anencephaly?" Sometimes, all I have to say is "that one girl who was on that one show with what's-his-face" and Jerry knows who I'm talking about.
5. Who is most likely to steal most of the covers while in bed?
Jerry says it's me and I say it's him. I don't have any room to even move when I'm in bed! All of the cats sleep around me and I feel too bad to move them, so I am stuck in the same position all night. (And I wonder why I have insomnia...)
Now just add Phoebe next to my left thigh, because she wanted in on the fun.
6. Who is most likely to lose something in the house?
Katie. Jerry says, "Katie. 100%. And I always have to find it." I lose everything, but mostly my phone. I never carry my phone around, so I'm always looking for it. And somehow, Jerry always knows where it is, even without calling it. And calling it probably wouldn't do any good either, because I always forget to turn the ringer back on when I wake up!
7. Who is most likely to cry during a movie?
Katie, without question. I am one of the most emotional people on the planet, probably. Jerry will never let me live down the time that we went to the movies and I got choked up during during the pre-previews. I looked on YouTube for a video of it, but it's not there (which is probably a good thing, because it would be very embarrassing). I cry for all things happy or sad--it's a curse!
8. Who is most likely to burn dinner while cooking?
Jerry. He admits that he always burns onions and garlic (true). Funnily enough, though, there is a pot in the sink that we've been soaking for two days because I accidentally left a glaze in there to reduce on a low heat (for a tofu "ham"), and it burned to that pot until it became part of the pot itself. We've tried everything--dish soap, boiling water, vinegar, baking soda paste, elbow grease, you name it. It's a nice pot that we got for our wedding 19 years ago, and it's seen a lot--but I think I ruined this one.
9. Who is most likely to leave clothes all over the bedroom floor?
We can't really agree on this one, so we'll go with a movie quote that we use all the time: "I think maybe it's both." (Forrest Gump)
10. Who is most likely to watch funny cat videos on the internet all evening?
Jerry, hands-down. He just said, "That's weird, you would think that it would be you. Why is it me and not you?" I think it's because I'm more likely to get sucked down the meme rabbit hole than I am cat videos.
11. Who is most likely to be grumpy when they’re hungry?
Katie. Jerry said, "Is that even a question?" and then proceeded to mock what I sound like when I'm hungry. He's right... I am NOT the person you want to talk to or be around when I'm hungry!
I spent way too much time looking for this picture, but I *knew* I had it and it was perfect for this! I was super hungry one evening and I was pissed--I just kept staring at the pantry, waiting for something to cook itself. Jerry thought it was funny and took my picture! I was so irritated, but I'm glad I have it--because it's funny and it definitely captured my mood.
12. Who is most likely to tell the best jokes?
Jerry says that he is, no contest; I disagree. He's quick with one-liners, but as he's gotten older, they are more groaners than anything. I think he'd be funnier if he stopped laughing so hard at his own jokes before he even finishes getting them out of his mouth!
Jerry. 100%.
13. Who is most likely to go to bed before 9 pm?
Jerry falls asleep at the drop of a dime--it would definitely be him. I happen to be a night owl AND a morning person, so I stay up late and get up early every day. Not by choice, though--if my body and brain would let me fall asleep before 9 PM, I would be thrilled!
14. Who is most likely to ask for permission to do something?
Jerry. He says, "Because I'm considerate." But I hate that he asks my permission for things! And he knows that I always answer, "Why are you asking me?! I'm not your parent." We joke about it, but I'm not actually complaining; I am definitely glad that he doesn't go out and spend all kinds of money on big purchases without talking about it with me first (I do all of our finances, so I know what we can and can't afford).
15. Who is most likely to be sappy?
Jerry, for sure. I have all sorts of love notes and drawings and things to prove it! I love how thoughtful and creative he is--he's done this since we first started dating. The stuff he comes up with is super cheesy, but that's what makes it so good! (And it rubbed off on Eli, which I think is awesome.)
16. Who is most likely to win a thumb war battle?
Katie. Jerry says, "You can do that in your sleep!" I said, "Why? Because I'm stronger than you?" and he replied, "Yes! You're a carpenter." BAHAHA. He's right, though, I always win at thumb wrestling. I don't even know why he bothers, and at the most random times. Sometimes he'll grab my hand and start pretend thumb wrestling with me until I feel bad for not playing along, and then I pin him. (I have very large hands, which I'm sure is why I always win!)
17. Who is most likely to watch a horror movie on their own?
Katie. I love horror movies as much as Jerry loves Christmas movies. I especially like the B films made of a young-20s cast playing teenagers who are usually driving for a weekend trip and decide to take a "shortcut" because the creepy guy at the gas station told them to and then they start getting picked off one by one by a killer until there is only the brainy girl left and she gets away. Those are the best.
18. Who is most likely to get annoyed by the other’s music?
Jerry says, "Psh! You. You hate my music. Even if it's music you like, you won't admit it." He's right--I hate his music. I can't really say ALL of his music, but there are some bands that I will never understand. They just yell at the top of their lungs and you can't even make out any lyrics.
19. Who is the most likely to wash up after you’ve eaten?
Jerry. We have a deal--I cook dinner and he cleans up. I would much rather do the cooking than the cleaning! (I'm sure he probably wants to renegotiate this now, after working on that pan with the burnt glaze.)
20. Who is the most likely to make children laugh? Cry?
We're actually arguing about this right now, hahaha. I guess it depends on the kids' ages. I'm TERRIBLE with babies--they do not like me for some reason, and it's pretty much a guarantee that if I hold your baby, it's going to cry. When Jerry holds babies, they adore him. I think he's better with kids of all ages--kids are drawn to him. The only thing I'm better at is doing creative things with the kids--probably because I put way too much thought into everything--but definitely not making them laugh. Jerry's spontaneous and much more fun, so I think he's definitely more likely to make them laugh.
21. Who is most likely to get injured doing something silly?
Katie, absolutely. I don't have enough fingers to count all the bruises and little cuts or scabs I have right now--and all of them are likely from doing something silly. Yesterday, I was hanging a picture and I tripped over my own foot, knocking over the step ladder and stabbing myself with my own fingernail.
This was a bad bruise I got when I was painting the hallway. I was standing on a kitchen chair and lost my balance. My shin slid right down the front of the seat of the chair, leaving me with this beauty:
22. Who is most likely to come off social media altogether?
Katie. Jerry agrees that it's totally me. I avoid social media like the plague--which is interesting, considering I'm a blogger. Jerry is actually doing a challenge for 30 days right now; I dared him to delete the Facebook app from his phone for a month. I was so tired of hearing him complain about how people think they know everything and they have to post it all over Facebook, etc. I told him that's why I don't look at Facebook! It always gets him riled up and I told him he'd be a much happier person without reading all of that stuff. So I challenged him to get rid of Facebook for 30 days, and it was VERY hard for him to agree, but he's doing it! Today is Day 4, and I think it's killing him, but he won't admit it.
23. Who is most likely to shave all their hair off?
Jerry. But not for the reason you may think! I just wanted an excuse to share this video again, because it was hilarious.
25. Who is most likely to lose their wedding ring?
Jerry. We don't wear wedding rings now--they just seem to get in the way--but we wore them until a few years ago. Jerry actually got VERY lucky shortly after we got married. He went to an Incubus concert with our friend Lance and he was fiddling with his ring--which was very new to him, considering it was literally about a week after our wedding--and he dropped it. It started rolling down the slope of the balcony. This was before cell phones had flashlights (and probably apps to find your ring after alerting you it's not on your finger), but somehow, he managed to find it a couple of rows in front of him!
26. Who is the most likely to want to swim with sharks?
Nope nope and nope. Neither one of us. I hate the water and Jerry just doesn't see the appeal of swimming with sharks.
That was fun! Some of the questions sparked some fun conversation (and arguments). We both agreed on almost all of the "who was most likely" for each question, though!
Just a few pictures again, so I can take a break from the computer and spend time with Jerry and the boys. Merry Christmas!
When I was looking through my photos, trying to decide what to post, I was laughing at some of the pictures of Duck after he came home from having his emergency surgery. It was such a horrible time for me and I didn't appreciate the humor then. Now that I know he's totally fine and back to his normal self, it's fun to laugh at him ;)
I'm going to take a couple of days "off" from writing in order to spend some quality time with the fam. So I'll just share a photo or two!
These are a couple pictures of my favorite reaction to a gift I've given to one of the kids for Christmas.
Eli was five years old, and in school his teacher was reading the class a book from a series called Junie B. Jones. He LOVED the book and he asked for them for Christmas. I was able to find the whole series (with a little tote to hold them) on E-bay.
He was SO EXCITED to get them! It was his favorite gift that year, by far. I thought it was so funny that out of all the toys, he chose those books as his favorite. And on Christmas night, he wanted to sleep with his Junie B. Jones books next to him. Best reaction ever! <3
Holy smokes, I can't even describe how cold it is right now! A few days ago, everybody around here started talking about the weather this weekend--that we were going to get a monster snow storm, super high winds, and ridiculously cold temps. Also, the electric company started warning that we may lose power.
The current conditions (as I type this):
A RealFeel of -29℉, dropping to -35℉ tonight! The wind is SO strong and has been all day. Poor Chick is terrified of the noise from the wind, so he's been alternating pacing and hiding all day. Meanwhile, Estelle is staying toasty warm because I set the cat bed in front of the fireplace heater in my bedroom.
Jerry, the boys, and I played Monopoly all afternoon. I love board games, but Monopoly is at the bottom of the list, right along with Scrabble and Uno. It takes SO LONG to play. Noah loves it, though, and he's been asking to play it for a while. So, I bought it last week and promised we'd play it this weekend. I bought the 1980s version--which is like the "original" version for me, being an 80s kid.
I actually read through the rules and realized we'd always been playing all wrong (for example, you don't "win" anything when you land on Free Parking--we'd always made a pot in the middle of the board that you could win if you landed on Free Parking). Playing by the rules actually made the game go by faster. Even though I really don't like the game, I had fun playing with the fam.
Eli, who didn't even want to play, ended up winning. Jerry was almost bankrupt and while Noah and I were talking, Jerry made a deal with Eli--he sold Eli the third card he needed for a set for only $60! Eli immediately put four houses on them and the game moved quickly after that. I went bankrupt first, then Noah, then Jerry.
This picture was from last week when I put together a pair of nightstands for our bedroom. When I opened the box, I couldn't believe how many pieces there were! I was very impressed with how they were Tetris'd in there, though. I LOVE putting things together, so it was very exciting for me, hahaha. Jerry turned on Friends and I worked on the nightstands for a long while.
This is what they looked like when they were done:
The quality is definitely not awesome--you get what you pay for!--but we'd been needing nightstands for a long time. Redoing the bedroom was an excuse to finally buy some, along with a bed frame. When I'm finished with the bedroom, I'll post pictures of everything. I still have to paint the closet door--I'd forgotten about it when I painted everything else!
A few days ago, I was trying to write a blog post and Duck wanted attention, per usual. I made some paper balls for him to play fetch, which kept him busy for a little while. Then I realized he hadn't brought me a ball for at least 10 minutes or so, and I wondered what he was up to. I looked in the kitchen and saw this:
He knows where we keep the rubber bands, and that he's not allowed to have them--so he decided to try to get one himself! I keep them sealed in a container, so he wasn't able to, but he certainly tried. He didn't even look guilty when I caught him.
The other night, Jerry and I were on the bed working on craft projects and I looked next to me to see Duck inside of the hamper. He wasn't doing anything--just sitting in there. Cats have been doing that since the beginning of time, but I still find it so funny that whenever they see a box or container of some sort, they have to get inside. It's a compulsion. (I still have to hang the picture that is behind him; I love it! It's a cow wearing glasses. I bought it in the summer, but it's been sitting in the garage waiting for me to hang it. Now that the walls are painted, it's ready.)
When I say that Jerry and I were working on projects... I was busy with the project for Luke and Riley, while Jerry was doing his own thing. He told me he was making tags for Christmas gifts. (I've mentioned before that Christmas is Jerry's "thing"--he's obsessed all month with all things Christmas.)
This is what they looked like when he was done. I couldn't believe how much effort he put into those! I think it's cute that he made them, though.
I posted this yesterday, but these are the crafts I've been working on recently. First, the "books" for Luke and Riley. This made a huge mess on the table.
I'm cross stitching a black cat (it reminded me of Duck).
And knitting a hat that is done in short rows (aptly named "Short Row Hat")
Noah got his ears pierced last week. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to take him like I took Eli, but his girlfriend wanted to do it for him for Christmas. So she sent me pictures.
Last night, Noah asked me if I would shave his head! I said no, that he had to think about it and if he still wanted me to do it in the morning, I would. And when he woke up this morning, I asked him what he thought; he said he was glad he didn't do it. He was just frustrated with his hair at that moment last night.
I knew exactly what he was talking about! I remember going for a run one time and being annoyed that my ponytail braid was slapping against my back. In fact, I was SO annoyed that I ran straight up my front steps, into the house, grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen, and cut off my braid. BAHAHA! That was before I was medicated for bipolar ;)
When my mom saw my post about Mark, she told me that she always thought of him when she got out her Christmas decorations each year. She showed me this magnet that Mark made her at church. I love it!
Finally, a cute picture of Phoebe. She's been super cuddly lately and has been sleeping on my bed next to me.
Well, Noah's girlfriend is here now and we're all going to play a game. Have a great holiday weekend! xo
I've been working on a fun project pretty much all day, which is what prompted me to write this post for Three Things Thursday. I am always in the middle of various projects, but right now I just happen to have several going at the same time... in addition to working on my bedroom and bathroom.
I mentioned a couple of these on my Wednesday Weigh-In post yesterday. I have been trying to keep my hands busy at night to keep from snacking, so I started a couple of crafts.
1. Knitting a hat.
When I decided to start a knitting project, I knew immediately that I wanted to make this hat. I made it once before and it requires a lot of concentration and counting (if you miss a stitch, it's really confusing to go back and fix it). So when I work on this, I don't have room in my brain to think about snacking. I'm not very far into it, because I've been working more on the other projects, but this is a good pattern to do in small chunks at a time.
Here is what it looks like so far...
I haven't used this kind of yarn before, so I don't know how the colors will end up looking in the end, but in the picture below, you can see what the hat looks like when it's done (with a different yarn). I love the colors of this previous one I made, but it's wool--so not only is it not vegan, it's super itchy. I like the colors of the acrylic yarn I'm using now, so I hope it looks cool when it's done.
2. Cross stitching a black cat.
Jerry and I were in Walmart for some reason--I think it was in the summertime--and we had this spontaneous idea to buy small cross stitch kits to work on together that night. Jerry had never done cross stitch before and I had never actually finished one, but we thought it would at least be fun to give it a try.
It ended up being hilarious. It took us forever to make a single stitch because we were trying to get organized and figure out what we were doing. We had to be SUPER careful with the string because the cats were watching it, just waiting for an opportunity to grab it. It was tied to some cardboard, so I felt better that if they grabbed it, at least it would be attached to that--making it harder to eat!
When we were putting things away, however, I noticed my cardboard piece was missing. We searched all over. Finally, we found it in the living room, and it had clearly been taken by the cats. We spent the next 48 hours or so watching them like hawks because we obviously didn't want to end up at the vet for emergency surgery again. Thankfully, all was fine. And now, looking at the cardboard piece makes me laugh!
Here is the progress I've made on it. I feel like I've been working on it forever, but when I look at the paper, I have so much more to go. I am determined to finish it, though.
3. Gifts for Luke and Riley.
I'm SUPER excited about these! I got the idea from a "card" that Mark received when he was sick. It was the most creative card I'd ever seen and I knew I'd want to make one someday. It's made of several brown paper lunch bags that are glued together in a way that allows you to turn pages like a book; and because of the way it is glued, the pages work like an accordion folder and you can put things in there.
For Mark, a company called Mars Advertising (I looked up their web address just now and it's no longer there--but if any of the employees are reading this, I LOVE the card and I thank you for the idea!) used a space theme throughout the "book" and in each of the slots between pages, they put individual cards for Mark.
For Luke and Riley, the book itself will have questions and answers with the kids (e.g. What is your favorite food?, What is your favorite thing to do?, Who is your favorite person?, etc.). In the accordion slots, I have envelopes with different sorts of cards in them labeled with categories: Say Cheese! (a card with photos); Fun Facts (kids' trivia questions); and [chuckles] (kids' jokes).
It's been time consuming, but super fun to work on. They are done, except for the actual writing of their favorite things on the pages. That shouldn't take very long once I get the answers from Becky. I love how they look so far and I'm excited to give them to the kiddos!
And that's it--three projects I have going right now. Today, I worked on the kids' books pretty much all day. It was fun because Noah is working on a scrapbook for his girlfriend, so the two of us sat at the table with scrapbooking stuff spread out everywhere. We listened to the Stuff You Should Know podcast while we worked.
Now I've got to go make dinner--I marinated tofu in a fajita marinade, and I'm going to make a southwest salad. Hopefully it turns out good!
