Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 115

Like I said yesterday, time totally got away from me and I was unprepared to write a weigh-in post in the evening. So I just decided to weigh in today instead.

I like the shirt that I'm wearing in this photo--I bought it from a thrift store a while ago (when the fitting rooms were closed due to the pandemic) but I'd never worn it. I don't remember what my weight was at the time, but after I bought it and I tried it on at home, I didn't think it fit well and I was uncomfortable in it. (It's pretty sheer, which is unlike me to wear, but I don't think the sheerness is very noticeable because of the pattern on it.)

As for my weigh-in this morning, I was at 131.0.

I was at 133.8 last week, so I lost 2.8 pounds this week. I wish I could say that I intentionally worked really hard for it, but I have been extra busy this week and (still) feeling very overwhelmed. I eat for the nutrition, but my appetite just hasn't been there. I have been, however, deliberately eating extra-nutritious food to make up for my poor appetite.

Last year at around this time, I lost a lot of weight pretty quickly for the same reasons. I didn't realize that at the time, so I was a little stunned when my appetite returned with a vengeance and my weight rebounded. I gained 20 pounds back fast. That is the last thing I want to happen! Now that I know it's a possibility, I can prepare myself for it and hopefully prevent that from happening again.

This feels like a very comfortable weight for me. All of my clothes fit well and I think I look healthy at this size. It's interesting how much of a difference just a few pounds makes when I'm this size. When I was 253 pounds and started losing weight, it took a good 20+ pounds before I noticed any difference.

I started listening to the audiobook "Atomic Habits" again (I didn't get very far into it the first time) and I really like it. It makes a lot of sense here--when trying to lose weight, it seems like one healthy (or unhealthy) meal won't make any difference in the long run, but when you do it day after day, meal after meal, it adds up to something huge.

As I was writing this, FedEx delivered a package from Jerry's employer. Jerry told me to go ahead and open it; as part of an insurance wellness program at work, they sent smart scales to everybody. (Their objective is to make their employees become healthier so the insurance is at a lower cost to the employer.)

I thought sending a scale was a little odd, but I nearly died when I opened it and this is what I saw:

I literally laughed out loud. (The scale connects to an app, and your weight is sent to a "coach" every morning.) Of course I want to feel all of those things (don't we all?!) but I'm pretty sure that my weight being sent to a stranger every morning is not going to make me feel any of those things. Hahaha! It's either really good or really bad marketing, depending on who receives it, I guess. (For some people with eating disorders, daily weighing can be very triggering.)

I just googled the program, and it's more in-depth than I thought at first glance--it's a whole online membership. I'll have to read more into it, but it will only allow for the employee to use it, so I'll be sure to let you know if Jerry starts feeling all of those things ;)  (Or, better yet, he can write about it/review it in his "deep thoughts" posts. He's actually pretty excited about doing it.)

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Tomorrow

Today has totally gotten away from me and I just realized it's 7:00--I need to make dinner. I'm going to save my weigh-in post for tomorrow when I have more time to think and I don't feel pressured to hurry through a post.

I had a fun afternoon with the boys, though! We went to the movies to see Meg 2: The Trench. It was exactly what we expected--very over-the-top, "are you kidding me?!" moments, but entertaining. We saw the first one together at the movies and enjoyed it, so I wanted to take the boys to see the sequel.

It was my first time going to the movie theater since 2020 when Jerry and I saw four episodes of Friends! I had planned to go see "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." in May when it was showing, but the timing was bad due one minor catastrophe or another. (Part of the series of my family's unexpected events that seem never-ending at this point.)

Anyway, I'll do my weigh-in post tomorrow when I have more time to sit and think. Here is a picture of the boys and me and the movies today :)

By the way, I had no idea until I asked about it today, but the movie theater popcorn is vegan! At this particular theater for sure, but it is at a lot of others as well (you'll have to ask). The employee wanted to be sure, so she showed me the ingredients list. Both the popped corn AND the "butter" topping is vegan. Still not at all healthy, but if I'm ever craving popcorn at the movies, it's nice to know it's an option!

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Some FML Moments of the Week

Since Jerry is still working on a special project at work (it's tough, but a great opportunity for him--he's enjoying it) I decided not to even ask him about writing his "deep thoughts" post today. He likes writing those, but it usually takes him forever because he types with two fingers.

I remember taking typing class in the seventh grade, and I'm pretty fast at typing (on an actual keyboard--I'm the slowest ever at typing on my phone!). Jerry said they never had typing class at his school, so he never learned. Now, I'm sure there are a million programs online to help teach someone to type, but he doesn't care enough to do it ;)

Is typing class not a thing anymore? Like how schools don't teach cursive? (I tried writing in cursive recently and holy cow, it was so hard! I hadn't written in cursive since I was at least in high school, probably younger.) Anyway...

I thought I'd write a few "funny" things that happened this week. I put that in quotes because at the time, some of them weren't so funny for me! Unfortunately, I don't have pictures--if I'd have known I'd laugh about these later, I'd have taken pictures. Instead, here is an old photo of a not-so-funny moment that happened a year ago. I was brushing my teeth in the car (which sounds weird, I know; I must have been in a hurry). It sounded like a good idea until I realized I needed to spit out the toothpaste when I was done. There was no way I was going to swallow it.

I opened my window (making sure there wasn't a car behind me) and spit hard out the window. Then I got home and saw my car. BAHAHAHA. Needless to say, I never tried that again.

It was much harder to get off than you would think!

1) Yesterday morning, I woke up to the noise of the garbage truck on the street over from ours. Jerry usually puts the garbage out to the curb but he was at work. I'd completely forgotten that I had to do it. I was wearing a t-shirt and underwear (and of course, no bra) but I jumped out of bed and ran toward the side door.

For some reason on this particular week, our garbage bin was ridiculously heavy. It had also rained and there were little sticks here and there as I ran in my bare feet, pulling the heaviest garbage bin ever. As soon as I got to the curb, I could see that the neighbors' trash had already been collected, so I'd missed it! I had to drag the garbage back to the house. (I was curious if our security cameras caught it because I wanted to show Jerry, but for some reason, it wasn't picked up.)

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2) When I came inside, I started the morning routine--let Joey outside to go to the bathroom, feed him breakfast, bring peanuts out to the squirrel lunch box, etc. I realized Noah had forgotten to pick up more peanuts from the animal feed store (we buy 50 pounds at a time--unroasted, unsalted, in-shell peanuts).

Well, when our house/cat sitter was here while we were up north, she'd run out of peanuts. I'd meant to buy more before we left and I totally forgot. Thankfully, I left her some extra money in case she needed it. Long story short, she'd asked her mom to buy peanuts (just a small bag to hold them over until we got home), and her mom bought peanuts that are meant for birds (basically they are unsalted, chopped nuts).

Our sitter then bought the regular kind, so the bag of chopped nuts was still in the pantry. (I'm getting to the point, I promise.) When I realized Noah had forgotten to buy peanuts, I figured I'd have to use the chopped ones until the feed store opened. The bag was probably about the size of a standard paper grocery bag (except it was plastic). I cut open the top and went outside to fill the lunch box.

I was struggling to hold the lid of the box open and pour the chopped nuts inside--they were barely sprinkling out--and then all of a sudden, 3/4 of the bag just whooshed right out, missing the inside of the box, and flying everywhere. I had been awake all of 10 minutes at that point and just threw my hands up in defeat.

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3) A little while later, I was cleaning up the house and I went to go put a book on the top shelf in my closet. I'd recently hung up two of those tall cloth dividers (I think they're meant for shoes--there are six compartments, one on top of the other, and the whole thing just hangs up.) I was using them for my jeans (I have way too many jeans, and I'm sure the weight was far too much for the rack that I'd hung on the wall.) I'd screwed the rack into the stud on one side and I used anchors in the drywall on the other side.

I barely touched it while I jumped up to put the book on the top shelf next to it, and suddenly, the anchors tore right out of the drywall and the entire rack fell, even breaking the braces that had been attached to the stud. I was left with two large holes in the wall and a million pairs of jeans with nowhere to put them. I then spent a couple of hours reorganizing the clothing on my shelves to try to fit the jeans.

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4) I'd been trying to come up with a solution to store all of my craft stuff--I definitely need a whole room for it, but since we don't have a spare room, I thought of other solutions. I decided to paint a large cabinet that I'd bought a long time ago on Facebook Marketplace (with the intention of refinishing it). I ended up using it for tools instead and it was in the garage.

It seemed perfect for my craft stuff and after figuring out where to put it in the house, I removed the tools and I got it set up to paint inside the garage. There is a LOT of hardware on it (10,000 tiny screws, 2 million hinges, drawer pulls, etc.). I used a little plastic box with dividers (kind of like a tackle box) to separate the parts as I took them off. I figured it would be much easier to put them back on later.

I spent several hours prepping the cabinet (removing hardware, washing the entire thing with TSP, priming, and even putting the first coat of paint on some of the pieces. I was exhausted and ready to go inside, so I put the paint away to use the next day.

As I was walking out of the garage, I totally caught the side of that little box of hardware with my foot and punted it across the room. The pieces went EVERYWHERE. So much for making it easy to put back together! (I haven't gotten to that point yet, so let's hope I have all the pieces.)

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5) One of the blinds in our living room was driving me crazy because the little plastic stick that you twist to open and close the blinds broke off. It didn't just come unhooked; the piece holding it in actually broke. After a few days couple of months of standing on the couch to reach to the top and twist a little nub in order to close the blinds, I decided I would finally take the two minutes needed to just superglue the damn thing back together.

The superglue worked great--so great, in fact, that I realized I'd actually glued it in the wrong spot and it completely stopped turning altogether. Which meant the blinds were stuck in the open position. I couldn't believe I made such a stupid mistake!

Thankfully, I had two spare blinds in the garage from when Jerry and I remodeled the bedroom. We bought different blinds for the bedroom, but I kept the old ones for whatever reason. So, I grabbed one of those and replaced the entire thing--all because I superglued the plastic stick in the wrong spot.

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And finally, for the sprinkles on the icing on the crappy cake of the week...

6) I opened something that I'd ordered on Amazon--I don't remember what it was--but the manual for it was inside of a plastic bag and held in place with lots of packing tape. To get the manual, I had to just pull the tape off of the bag. Well, the genius that packaged it also taped two of those little silica gel packets (you know, the ones that say "DO NOT EAT") in just the right spot--when I tried to gently pull off the tape, the packets tore open and the silica gel balls flew all over the living room.

This attracted the cats, so I was trying to yell at them to get away while I rushed to clean them up--I was worried to leave and grab the vacuum because then the cats would surely eat them (or Duck would, at least). When eaten, they can cause intestinal blockage--and we all know how expensive that surgery is, don't we, Duckling? ;)

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So, it has been quite the "C'MON! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" kind of week. Several lessons were learned the hard way, hahaha. 

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How I Transformed My Thrift Store Overalls

As you all know, I buy almost every article of clothing I need (or just the fun things I want) from thrift stores. I hate spending money on new clothes (I do buy socks and underwear new, though). I find it so fun to go into thrift stores and look for items, never knowing what I will find.

I happened to see these overalls hanging on a rack outside the fitting rooms and my eyes lit up--I LOVED them! (Well, minus the wrinkles--I should have ironed them before taking a picture.)

When I got closer, however, I saw that they were children’s size--they were an XXL from Gap Kids. As an XXL, I thought *maybe* I could wear them. They were $3.50, so I bought them and hoped they might fit.

I was delusional.

Not only were they much too short, I couldn't get them over my hips--they were about an inch too small to pull them up. Later, when I eventually was able to pull them up, the straps were so short they gave me camel toe, hahaha. They needed a lot of alterations, and it would eventually be one of the biggest projects pains in my ass gratifying pieces of clothing I've ever altered (without using a pattern or even having a plan).

To see just how small they were, here they are next to a pair of regular jeans:

First, I removed the snaps on each side. There were two per side and they were *very* difficult to remove. I used two pairs of pliers and you can see the blood blister I got on my left index finger when I accidentally grabbed my skin with them, haha. (I told you, I never ever finish a project without hurting myself by some stupid accident. There were many, many bandaids I used throughout this project, due to the hand sewing.)

After removing snaps. I decided to worry about the holes later--or just leave them.

Next, I started with the issue of them being too narrow at the waist (and, likely, legs). So, I ripped the leg seams up the side--all the way from the hem to the hips. (When I say "ripped", I mean that I undid the stitching that held the seam together--it's a sewing term. Ripping is better than cutting, because you don't lose any fabric that way.) They looked like this after I ripped the side seams:

The left shows the seam I ripped; the right shows where the seam had been sewn together.

I wanted them to be a little on the big side--kind of a messy, working-around-the-house-and-yard kind of look. I doubted I'd ever wear them in public. I probably could have added only a couple of inches on each side of the legs, but I went bigger--I decided to add five inches to each side. I usually wear a 30-inch inseam, and when I measured this, they were obviously much too short.

I would have liked to make the legs full-length, so I laid out different pieces of denim to see if I could lengthen them somehow, but I just didn't like how it looked. Duck eventually gave me his opinion--to leave them the length they were and wear them as cropped pants.

After nixing the idea of lengthening them, I planned to add panels to the side that went from waist to hem, which would make the entire bottom half of the overalls bigger.

For a project like this, it's nearly impossible to find denim in an exact color match, especially with the unfinished hem (I love unfinished hems like that!) so I chose to do a drastic contrast in color and I used a very dark pair of denim jeans that were too small on me:

I *loved* these, but the taper at the knee made my thighs look like they were in a sausage casing. I tried to fix that by adding holes in the knees, but that made it worse. So, they went to my scrap pile.

Once I decided the length would be fine if used as cropped pants, I needed to cut two side panels that would go from the waist to the hem. The final length needed to be 30-1/2 inches; plus a little extra for a seam allowance, so I decided on 31 inches. (When you fold the fabric down before sewing, you need a little extra so that you don't have raw edges. Kind of like the hem--if you were to take the raw hem and tuck it under to sew, you lose some length.) I planned to leave the entire hem raw, but I needed the extra half inch at the top for sewing the waist. Better to have the panels be too long than too short.

The dark blue is the panel for the side of each leg. It totaled 31"x5" when it was done.

I cut the legs from the dark jeans to use as the side panels as long as I could, but they still weren't as long as they needed to be (I'm super bummed I used the hem from the dark pants on another project, because I think it would have looked really cool on these). I had to cut a small piece of fabric to add to the top to lengthen them in order to get them to 31 inches long.

After that, I learned I'd done the EASY parts. The waist band was going to be really tough! I really wanted to add snaps so that the overalls would be a little thinner at the waist when wearing them, but I couldn't figure out a good way to do that with the fabric I had to work with at the waistband. Also, I had never done snaps before and I didn't want to screw it up. I used what I could of the original band to cover the top of the dark panels, but it looked pretty terrible.

I *also* still had the problem of the waist not tapering a bit like I wanted. So, I took the waistband apart, stared at it for the longest time to try to figure out what to do--I even considered a small zipper!--and then decided on something I despise doing: darts. (A dart is when you basically pinch part of a piece of clothing and sew it together on the wrong side in order to taper it a bit--it's hard to explain. Let's just leave it at the fact that I hate them.)

In retrospect, I would have cut my side panels smaller at the top and wider at the bottom. But since I'd already sewed them in, I made a dart on one side of each panel, so it looked like this:

The dart made the top of the dark panel 2-1/2 inches wide (after sewing) and the lower part of the side panel 4-1/2 inches wide (after sewing--remember, I cut them to 5 inches, but sewing the seams makes you lose a little fabric). The dart was about 6 inches long (the yellow line on the left on the above picture). From the bottom of the dart to the hem, the dark fabric was 4-1/2 inches wide. In other words, I tapered the waist from the inside.

I tried them on at this point, and was happy with fit--however, I still had to make a finished-looking waistband. I also discovered the problem with the shoulder straps being too short.

I started with the waistband. I maneuvered the fabric so many ways I lost count, and I just couldn't figure out an idea. UNTIL... I came up with something a bit unique that I ended up absolutely LOVING.

I dug through my box of scrap denim and pulled out a bunch of belt loops...

The length of them was almost exactly what I needed for the "bridge" between the original waistband on the overalls. Since I've been loving embroidery floss lately (if you can't tell already), I wove the belt loops together to make a band for each side of the overalls.

The short edges were obviously raw, so I sewed (with my machine) along each of the side edges to keep them from fraying. They were also a tad too short (width-wise). I made a couple of strips of denim to cover the side edges, and then I sewed them where the natural waistband would be.

I made the side against the bib part (the side on the right in this photo) longer so that it would strengthen the seam transition (waist to bib). I don't love the way that part looks, but it's fine--I'm leaving it as-is.

After that, I tried them on and they were perfect--except for the straps. I knew the straps would be easy to lengthen, though. I ripped the seams that held the clasps (I want to say "hardware"--I have no idea what those are called, so we'll say clasps) and pulled off the clasps so I just had a long strip of denim. Even after removing them, the straps were too short to fold and sew, especially if I wanted to make them adjustable.

I decided against making them adjustable and just tailor them to fit me at the length I wanted. I for sure wanted to cover the "Gap Kids" part (I know it's not super noticeable, but it was easy to cover).

Again, I made a couple of panels... this time to add onto the straps. I had to basically cut a piece twice as wide as the straps (plus a little extra for sewing allowance), fold it in half with right sides together and sew the long edge. Then flip the whole thing right-side out, so that it was a "tube" (that way I didn't have raw edges on the strap). I pressed them with an iron, and they were the perfect size for straps.

Rather than sewing the two straps together, I used the "hardware" pieces from the clasp to connect the strap together, hiding the "Gap Kids" in the process. I just folded the fabric through the loops to cover it:

The backside wasn't pretty, but I wasn't worried about that.

After lengthening the straps and trying them on, I loved them! The fit was exactly what I wanted.

Since these were already kind of quirky looking, I figured I'd sort of use them as a canvas to add some more "happy trees" (fun stuff). I've gotten a little too happy with the embroidery floss, but I love it--it's fun to work with. I started by doing straight stitches down the entire length of the side panels:

I also cut the bottom to be a raw hem.

I wasn't sure if I should mend the hole in the side panels (that's where the knee was in the dark jeans) or if I should sew around it. I thought it might look kind of neat if I went around it. I could always cover it with a patch later if I want. (Looking at it now, I kind of wish I had mended it while sewing. But a patch would be fun, too.

I was in the car on my way up north at this point, and I wanted to put something on the front pocket of the bib. I decided on a cat silhouette. I found one on Pinterest and I tried to draw it on scrap fabric with pencil, but I was TERRIBLE at it. I asked Ava (Eli's girlfriend) if she, by any chance, knew how to draw. She said yes! So I gave her the fabric and a few minutes later, I was able to cut out the cat silhouette. She drew it with pencil on denim without having to trace it. I was super impressed.

Then I used a blanket stitch to sew it to the front pocket. I would have liked to use something to fuse it first to prevent fraying (is that what I'm "supposed" to do? I'm not sure.) But I made do with what I had with me in the car. If it frays too much, I can always take it off and redo it. (With Ava's help!) It was kind of hard to sew, though, because I didn't want to accidentally sew the pocket shut. Thankfully, I didn't do that.

My blanket stitch needs practice, but I've only just learned it!

Then I decorated the pockets a little, doing the same weaving technique I did with the waistband.

Then I improvised what turned out to be one of my favorite parts--a kitty peeking out of the pocket!

That was my first time using transfer paper (to outline the cat) and it was MUCH harder than I expected. But I'm kind of excited to practice doing more.

Finally, since the back looked kind of plain, I wanted to add something to the back pockets. I decided on a pig and a cow (two of my favorite animals). I started with the pig (again, using transfer paper) and it didn't turn out quite like I hoped...

I didn't want the flower designs, so I left that plain

Honestly, I don't love how it looks. I may remove it and try something else, or maybe I'll try to fill it in somehow, but I have no idea how to do that. I attempted some sort of weaving in and out of the backstitching to do the outline and I really couldn't get the hang of that. So, it is what it is. A barely-recognizable looking pig. 

I haven't attempted the cow yet because I'd like to practice a little more with outline stitching (as well as filling in empty space). Also, the transfer paper. HOW DO YOU DO THAT without tearing the paper (which is as thin as tissue paper) but pressing hard enough on the top paper to get it to transfer? If you have tips, please share.

Overall, I am so happy with how they turned out. I was very nervous to wear them in public, but when I did, I got SO MANY compliments on them. They ended up being a great conversation starter at a party where I definitely had social anxiety. Despite being challenging at times, they were super fun to make! Figuring out how to work out challenges is something that I actually really enjoy.

I've got an idea for my next project, which I'll write about on another post. This post is WAY too long and I've been working on it for probably as long as it took to make the damn overalls! Hahaha.

Anyway, here they are, all finished:

Front and back after (I swear to God I own an iron)

Front and back before

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Comfort Food: Jerry's Beans & Greens Recipe

Even if you aren't interested in my recipe posts, please still watch the video in this post. It's kind of perfect for this ;)  I'm definitely feeling better today than yesterday! My dad came over for help with a woodworking project and it was nice to talk to him for a while. Since I've been talking about Jerry's Beans & Greens lately, I wanted to share the story behind my comfort food and his recipe for this.

When people think of comfort food, I imagine them thinking of foods like macaroni and cheese, Mom's chicken paprikash, Grandma's meat pie, etc. Before becoming vegan, my favorite comfort food was "Jerry's Chicken Casserole Surprise"--I guess he thought that the name of the casserole had to have "surprise" in it because that's what we grew up hearing ;)  (Spoiler: There was no surprise.)

(You MUST watch this wholesome 11-second video clip at this point. Please.)

When I was very early in my pregnancy with Noah, I had some spotting and I was sure I was going to have a miscarriage. Being my first pregnancy, I had no idea what to expect. It was also the weekend, so my doctor's office was closed. I wasn't hemorrhaging, so I just spent the evening feeling sad and worried. Jerry said he would make dinner.

I think he took one of the heritage recipe books (remember the series I did on those in 2021?) and made a creamy chicken and noodle dish. (Everything turned out to be just fine when I saw the doctor on Monday.)

[Side note/funny story about that: The doctor did an ultrasound and he pointed out the gestational sac on the monitor (the sac just looked like a black spot the size of a grape). Jerry said with so much excitement, "Oh look! There's its eye! It's blinking!" I'm sure my doctor was dying inside, but he hid it well with a hint of a smile. I, however, burst out laughing. And now it's a story that makes us laugh. I'm sure my gynecologist shares that story when appropriate, haha.]

Anyway, Jerry's Chicken Casserole Surprise turned into a comfort food for me. I can remember everything about that evening: sitting at the dining room table, eyes red and sore from crying, the delicious aroma from the oven, the ambient lighting, and just a general warm feeling in our new home. (We had just moved in.) Even though the circumstances weren't good, I took comfort in those moments--and the food was a big part of it.

And thus, it became my comfort food.
Jerry and I watched that over and over and laughed and laughed. So sad and funny at the same time. (By the way, American Housewife--where I got the clip above--is the best sitcom of all time!)

Now, being vegan, I have new comfort food (that I like even more than the casserole)--Jerry's Beans & Greens. He was visiting a friend in NYC a couple of years ago and ordered it at a restaurant (I thought it was such an odd thing for him to order; I never would have guessed he'd pick that). He texted me to tell me just how delicious it was and he wanted to try to recreate it when he got home.

I'm not a "greens" person--I don't like salad and the only time I ever really ate greens was when I stirred spinach into a hot meal (even then, I would use about half the amount called for). Jerry found a recipe online and tried it--it tasted pretty good, but I definitely didn't like the greens (I think maybe it was kale?). I suggested trying collard greens, because I'd wanted to try them after going to a soul food restaurant in Detroit one time (they were popular). He switched out some other things and tried a second time.

The Beans & Greens were absolutely DELICIOUS. I never, in a million years, would have guessed that this dish would become one of my very favorite foods, let alone a comfort food. And now, when I have a bad day, he likes to make this. He loves that he has a dinner that he can make and I love. He's tweaked it here and there, but it only gets better each time.

I didn't do progress photos as he cooked, but I wanted to share his recipe. 

I put the recipe in a printable format, which you can find here!

Jerry's Beans & Greens

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots (diced small, because Katie doesn't like the texture of undercooked carrots)
2 celery stalks (also diced small, because Katie doesn't like celery if she can feel the strings or crunch)
3 cloves of garlic, minced (or more, because everything can use more garlic)
2 dried bay leaves
1/2 tsp. sea salt (plus more if needed after tasting at the end)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
3 cans of great northern beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp. white miso paste (found in the Asian food section of the grocery store in a little tub--even my Kroger has it, and they don't have much variety of anything!)
4 cups vegetable broth* (see note below)
1 small bunch of collard greens**
1/2 tsp. lemon juice, to finish

*Note about vegetable broth: We make our own vegetable broth powder ("chickenless bouillon powder") and we LOVE it. We use it any time something calls for chicken broth or vegetable broth. The recipe we use can be found at Plant Power Couple. The only "weird" vegan ingredient in it is nutritional yeast (thankfully, it can be found at most grocery stores now--even my Kroger--but I can't recall what section it is usually in. I *think* it's with the baking stuff, like cocoa powder, baking powder, etc.You probably already have the other ingredients for it.

We use so much of it that I buy it in bulk on Amazon. I do leave out the turmeric when making the powder, only because of the color--we use the powder when making seitan, and we don't want the seitan to be yellow). To use this for broth, like called for in the Beans & Greens recipe, use one tablespoon of powder for each cup of water. (So, you'd use 4 Tbsp. of powder + 4 cups of water in this recipe.) I wouldn't substitute this broth, because it's part of what makes it so good!

**Note about collard greens: I buy them in a bundle (not chopped in a bag) because I like to remove the the thick stem in the middle. It takes a little longer, but I cut each leaf in half, removing the entire stem that runs down the center. Then I stack all the leaves and chop them on the small side--about the size of a quarter--because they fit on the spoon easier when you're eating.

Directions:

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, heat the oil. Then add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook until they are soft, about five minutes (lower the heat if needed so they don't burn). Add the garlic and cook another minute or two (don't burn the garlic), stirring frequently.

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a slow boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it cook on low for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the collard greens are the texture you like. (If you like your collard greens on the firmer side, don't add them until after about five minutes.) Remove the bay leaves (it takes some searching sometimes, with the collard greens in there!).

Add the lemon juice and stir, then taste and add more salt if needed.

I really hope that you love this as much as I do! It makes me feel loved, and that's the best comfort food there is.

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One of THOSE Days

I'm just going to come right out and say it that today was a really, really bad day. The past few days, I thought I was starting to feel better, but today was not one of those days. It was one of those "When it rains, it pours" kind of days that just turned into, "When it pours, it floods."

Yesterday was such a great day! I was hoping today would be the same. I'd like to just go to bed early and hopefully wake up feeling much better.

I really hate writing negative posts because I've always wanted my blog to be upbeat and happy (with the bipolar emotions thrown in there for color once in a while, of course). I actually have a lot of photos to share for Friday Night Photos, but I think I'll save the post for tomorrow. I just don't feel like writing tonight. Instead, I'll share a couple of my favorite photos from the week...

Joey, so spoiled after his "vacation" at Jeanie's. He now likes to sleep under covers on my bed. And today, Duck decided to lie across him like a pillow. Joey didn't mind :)

I know it's not much, but I was very proud for cutting the grass all by myself. People do it every day and it's nothing special, but I felt really good about it. After my cold shower ;)

Hopefully I'll have a better post tomorrow!

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Three Things Thursday: Steps!

Today is August third, which means I've only been doing my 10,000+ steps per day challenge for three days. It's so much harder than I thought! I realized that most of the work I do around the house, even heavy duty work like when I was hanging drywall in the garage a couple of summers ago, the steps take a while to add up.

This morning, I "pruned" our apple tree in the front yard (I put that in quotes because I'm pretty sure I pruned so much that it will die). I'll have to take a picture of it tomorrow. I'd never pruned it before--I didn't know it was needed?--so I had no idea what I was doing. I watched several YouTube videos and checked out websites, but they all say different things (pruning in summer vs. winter was a big one; since ours was *really* overgrown, I decided to just do it).

It's kind of funny; when we planted this tree, we chose a Granny Smith apple tree because it was Noah's favorite apple. Now, nobody in the family eats Granny Smith apples, hahaha. So, if it dies, I won't be sad. I'll just plant another Asian pear tree and keep trying for that. Maybe by the time I'm 100 years old and have no teeth, I'll finally get some Asian pears, haha. 

I did prune that one as well, but I kept it *very* minimal. I really don't want that one to die! It's way too tall and probably has way too many branches, but I'll check it out in the winter and see what it looks like when there aren't a bunch of leaves on it.

After that, I went in the garage to work on painting a large armoire (actually, I think it's meant to be an entertainment center). I bought it ages ago from Facebook Marketplace and I was using it in the garage, but I *really* need a spot to put all of my craft stuff. So, Jerry and I figured out a place to put it, but now I want to paint it first. I had to clean it all with TSP, then prime it, and finally paint it. I won't be able to finish painting until it's dry (I have to turn pieces over). 

Anyway, after all of that, I only accumulated 2,000 steps and it was 4:00 pm! So, I took Joey for a walk and hit my 10,000 steps. I'm going to eat leftovers again tonight because I'm beat. With Jerry doing a special project at work, they're feeding him--and he's getting some good stuff! ;)

Well, that was a long intro for this Three Things Thursday post. I thought that since I'm doing this 10,000+ steps per day challenge, I'd write a few ways that I've gotten steps in. (I did this challenge way back in 2013(?) and had to get creative.) I'll try *not* to state the obvious ones like going for a walk or run. Here goes...

1. Put away laundry one item at a time. (Dishes work, too.)

Yes, I have gotten desperate enough to do this. Actually, I did it today! I put the hamper on my bed, took out one item at a time, folded it, and put it away in my closet. Over and over again. It sounds really boring and tedious, but I turned on a podcast and listened to that while I put the laundry away and I didn't mind it at all. If you're curious, it took about 1,000 steps to do one basket of laundry. When the kids were little and I did this, I got in a LOT of steps back and forth in the house.

2. Talk on the phone. (While on a walk.)

I didn't want to say "go for a walk" because it's so cliché, but today on my walk, I called a few friends. I never, ever make phone calls--I get super nervous about talking on the phone for some reason!--but I figured I could do two things at once. I could get in my steps as well as call a couple of friends that I've been meaning to catch up with.

I am working on a "favorite things" post, and my earbuds are absolutely one of my favorite things, so I will write about them on that post. They are amazing for talking and walking. I took Joey with me, and it was nice to put my phone in my pocket and have a real conversation while I walked.

I think talking on the phone is a great way to catch up with someone (even though introverted me finds it difficult to just dial the number). And why just sit on the couch and talk? I'm not sure how far Joey and I walked (I've been leaving my Garmin at home) but when I got home, I saw on my Fitbit that I'd reached the 10,000 steps mark. AND I'd called a couple of friends.

3. Mow the lawn.

I know I just wrote about this yesterday, but I couldn't believe how many steps I got just from the lawn alone! I pushed the mower for a while, then I took the bag from the mower (where the clippings go) walked them to the dike across the street and dumped them, then walked back to the mower and kept going. Our yard isn't enormous, but it certainly felt like it when I was mowing! Other ways to get in steps while doing yard work is to walk around and pick up stray sticks, weeds, poop scoop, etc.

Since I just wrote about mowing the lawn yesterday, I'll write one more as a runner up...

Runner up: Tidy up the house.

Basically, I just pick up one thing and move it to where it belongs, and usually I'll see another thing out of place, so I'll grab that and move it... over and over. This is how I end up cleaning my house, usually, too. I start with one task and then never end up getting to it because I notice all the other stuff while I'm doing it. The house winds up being tidy (and then I may vacuum and/or mop the floors for even more steps) and it adds up to a surprising amount of steps.

Well, I'm going to go take another shower; I already took one after painting, but I didn't realize how hot it was going to be while walking Joey and I definitely worked up a sweat. For those of you doing the 10,000 steps challenge, I hope it's going well for you! I give you credit, because it's harder than I thought.

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 114

I really like the way this shirt looks with these jeans I altered. It kind of balances the dark denim. And I've been wearing these headbands pretty much every day--I'm pretty much obsessed with them. They cover my gray hair when I desperate need to dye it, and when I have day-old oily hair, they come to the rescue :)  I have to say--I can NEVER EVER get headbands to stay on my head! But these don't budge. I'm amazed, truly.

I think I'm going to order another pack of different colors--they come in packs of four. (You can find them here on Amazon--this is an associate link, which means I may earn a small commission for recommending them, but I bought them with my own money and I love them.) I always wear them the tiniest bit over the tops of my ears, otherwise they make my ears stick out (just in case you have the same problem). Yesterday, they kept a shit ton of sweat pouring into my eyes...

So, on Day 1 of my challenge to get in 10,000 steps in August went great! I wound up with more than my goal, at 12,910 steps.

I have to say, this is going to be much more challenging than I thought! I took Joey on a walk in the morning to get a jumpstart. But for as long as you walk, it feels like SO many more steps than it actually is.

Jerry is doing a big project at work (it's a great opportunity for him!) but it's hard work. (This is kind of what I was alluding to yesterday.) So, I've wanted to minimize any sort of chores he normally does at home--like yard work. Including cutting the grass. I know that I have two teen boys who are MORE than capable of doing it, but I've been wanting to try it myself; it seemed like it would be relaxing to do the repetitive back and fourth motions. (We don't have a riding lawnmower, or a self-propelled one; just a regular old push mower.)

Yesterday, I decided to give it a try. I didn't think I'd ever cut grass before, but I found an old photo from 2011 when I apparently did it! Honestly, I probably quit after the photo, hahaha.

I cannot believe how hard mowing the lawn yesterday was on my body! I have blisters on my hands and feet, and my calves are killing me. I was POURING sweat and my shirt was drenched when I was done. In fact, look at how much water weight I lost in less than two hours:

Yes, that would be 2.2 pounds. I've never even lost that much from a long run! And that's *after* I drank probably about 12 oz. of water. Naturally, I took a couple of selfies to show Jerry just what I do to show how much I love him ;)

The lawn is much bigger than the small photo I posted of that part of the backyard.

The very first thing I did when I was done, before I even gulped down water, was head straight to the bathroom, turn the faucet in the shower to the ludicrous-cold setting (literally no warm/hot water at all) and after a couple of minutes of barely being able to breathe from the cold, it felt SO AMAZING. I could have stayed in there all day long.

Anyway, on to my weigh-in (which was kind of spoiled above). I was at 133.8 yesterday morning...

That's just 0.8 from what has been considered my "goal weight" for years. So, I'm still dropping weight consistently, eating *almost* consistently, and I feel good!

Today, I've been on the go all day, and I was surprised to see that I only have 8,000 steps so far! (It's mid-afternoon, so if I still need more later, I'll take Joey for another walk.) I had to return some things to Amazon--which apparently uses Staples as a drop-off now as well. It kind of sucks going from Kohl's, to UPS, to Staples--all for Amazon returns.

But I do love that they have a great return policy. I also had to go to FedEx for one of the returns because it was a third-party seller (I will never make that mistake again--it's been a headache, jumping through hoops with this company. I also walked Joey and went grocery shopping.

Now I have laundry to put away and thank God, we have lots of leftovers from last night's dinner. So we'll be eating that! (Someone asked about Jerry's Beans & Greens recipe--he's modified it some, so I'll type it out and post that soon.)

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Deep Thoughts With Jerry #22

I was planning to write a little about my day (getting in 10,000+ steps) but I am completely exhausted. It's 8:15 pm and as soon as I'm done with this post, I am going to eat a big bowl of Jerry's Beans & Greens. I've been eating that a lot lately because he loves to make it for me when he knows I'm feeling down. And since I've been in this depressive episode, he's had plenty of opportunities, haha.

Anyway, I *did* manage to get in my 10,000 steps today--and I worked like hell for it, too--so I'll write about that tomorrow for my Wednesday Weigh-In. For now, here is Jerry and his "deep thoughts". (I would normally add more pictures to this post, but I am having a hard time finding what I'm looking for. So here goes...

What do you think would most impress your 15-year old self?

Wow. If you told me in 1995 that I wouldn't have to rely on my Discman for music I would've shit a brick. "Noooo wayyyy", would be my response. I love music. It's my life force. Walkman->Discman->MP3 player->iPhone... insane when you think about having every song at your fingertips at a moment's notice. It's great!

What do you enjoy spending money on?

Where to begin... As I get older I tend to be a little tighter with money. I try not to spend money casually. So, when I make money and want something it has to be somewhat important to me. I love to play video games, particularly first person shooters. I love the Call of Duty games and currently I'm playing Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. I enjoy games that give me the best bang for my buck and have a high replay value. 

What is your useless talent?

Useless talent? LOL. Trivia. For sure. People assume trivia is just for the bars and trying to win money... false. It's to just randomly blurt out. Last weekend, we were at a summer party at Brian's and I made a Thomas J. reference when someone was talking about a bees nest in the woods.

Later on, I used a Home Improvement (the old TV show) reference.. they had cut their finger with a power washer. "Oh, it must've been the Binford 3000 power washer", I replied. Trivia comes in handy when talking to everyone and you can just slide it in to conversations. It's useless but handy at the same time. And it's fun to see who catches those little things.

What is the most awkward situation you have ever felt yourself in?

When we first moved into out house, we didn't know anyone in the neighborhood. One day while Katie was outside, a neighbor came over and introduced himself. He was Gary from next door. Gary was a quadriplegic and got around the neighborhood with ease in an electric wheelchair--everyone knew him. 

After Katie met Gary, she told me about about this nice neighbor she'd met when she was outside and that when I could, I should introduce myself to him. She mentioned the wheelchair, but she failed to mention that Gary was a quadriplegic and unable to use his hands.

I was outside the next day getting some stuff out the back of our van when Gary rolled up and introduced himself. I turned and told him my name and reached my hand out to shake his hand. At this moment, I totally realized that he was a quadriplegic and in an embarrassed panic, I still went for the hand shake. I grabbed his hand and shook it--I have never felt smaller.

I went about the rest of the conversation and came into the house to share my horror with Katie. She laughed and said that I shouldn't worry about it--he probably liked being treated like a "normal" person--but I still remember it all to this day.

What movie could you quote by heart?

Katie thought it was Forrest Gump... and she's right! I could quote it. But the movie I was thinking of is Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. LOL. Word for word, use phrases to this day to get through the day. I also learned a random fact about Katie last weekend. She knows the entire Disney movie Aladdin by heart--literally every single word. She said she hadn't see it since she was a kid, but she remembered it all. We both quote Forrest Gump all the time though, because we both know every line.

What is one question that you wish people would ask you more?

"Are you okay?" And then genuinely listen to the answer. It's a question that people don't ask people enough and if they would, it would make a world of difference in someone's life if they were asked. It would for me, for sure. People either feel awkward asking it or just flat out don't care. For the sake of having some sort of faith in humanity I will say most don't know how to ask it without feeling intrusive. I can tell you, at least for me, ask away. I (and I imagine most others) would appreciate it and knowing that someone cares enough to ask means a lot. 

What do you like that everyone else seems to dislike?

Professional wrestling. I am a huge fan. Wrestling is on Monday through Friday every week and I'm on top of it all. When people hear that I'm a fan they give me the "you know it's fake, right?"or the "you like men in tights rolling around with each other?" comments. To both of those I will always reply with, "go jump off a cliff".

People spend too much energy and time trying to crap all over everyone else's likes. I've been a fan since I was a little kid and it's lasted this long. There seems to be a sort of stigma associated with it. However, if it's not your cup of tea just let it be, there's no reason to slam others for what they enjoy. 

What is your definition of success?

Definition? Healthy family, well-behaved kids, happy wife. I don't put a monetary value on any of it, it all hinges on fulfillment. If everyones happy and good to go then that's great! We certainly aren't made of money, but we are a happy family (most of the time, LOL) and I think that's more important than anything. I'd consider it a success.

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How Do You Eat An Elephant?

This post almost didn't happen. It's nearly midnight already and I'm just getting started, so I'm going to make it super quick. ("Katie quick" is different than normal-people quick, as we all know, but I'll try.)

Jerry and Eli's softball team plays on Monday nights and I *always* forget about it until Monday evening. They play a double-header that doesn't start until 8:30 pm, so it tends to go pretty late. I almost stopped at the grocery store on the way home because we need a few things, but I was just too tired.

The next couple of weeks might be a little different/unusual as far as my blogging goes. I *hate* when people say cryptic things like this, but I have something kind of big going on and I won't be able to write about it until afterward. (It's not super exciting or dramatic or anything, I promise.) It definitely adds stress to daily life, but I'm hoping that I can manage.

I've always liked the saying, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." Even though I don't have anything as big as an elephant going on, I'm just going to work on all the smaller stuff I've got going "one bite" at time. Anyway, all of this is to say that I'm not sure how much I'll be writing or not writing, if at all on some days.

Anyway, tomorrow starts the challenge I made for myself--trying to get in 10,000 steps per day. I know it sounds like a bad time to start anything new, but I think this will be good for me, especially for alleviating stress. I may get up an hour earlier than usual and take Joey for a long walk in the morning. That way, I can get most of the steps out of the way early in the day. I guess we'll see how that goes tomorrow ;)

Eli promised me he'd go with me and we'd listen to the audio version of David Goggins' book "Can't Hurt Me". I *know* Eli will love it if he just listens to it, but his attention span is that of a teen who watches too much TikTok.

I have no pictures for this not-really-a-post post, so here is a selfie I took at the softball game.

I have gotten to the point where I actually *need* my glasses in the evenings now (mostly for driving). I'm so bummed! I had 20/20 vision for 20 years after my LASIK eye surgery, and now, at 41, my eyes are starting to age. I don't need reading glasses (yet) but I am due for an eye appointment so I'm sure I'll need a stronger prescription. These ones *barely* have a prescription and are mainly for the light from devices like computers and phones). Oh, and the halos around lights/signs on the road at night.

Getting old... fun stuff! ;)

For those of you who are going to try walking 10,000 steps with me tomorrow, good luck!

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