What I'm Reading This Week #5

The last day of jerky January.  Let's hope for the three other people out there that like winter like I do that we'll have a flake-laden February and not of the human variety.  I finally took down our Christmas cards.  I'm still really upset I can't find last year's Christmas cards.  It had the final two cards from my friend's family that passed last year and I KNOW I wouldn't have thrown them out.  There's one other place I'll have to check.  I'm perusing decorating sites to try to get ideas for how I want to decorate our walls.  The art we have is Hawaiian and while that's fine, it's just not what our space is anymore.  I can get 75% there when I remodel a room but it's those details I have such a hard time with.

But enough of my decorating conundrums lets get to...

(This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  Should you buy through them, I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you.  Teamwork makes the dream work- or something like that!)

15 Simple Fashion Upgrades That Make You Look Expensive  (Good tips!)

14 Pro Tips for a Stress-free Renovation   (HA!  Ain't NO such thing!)

The Secret to More Refreshing Weekends Is the Exact Opposite of What You’d Expect  (Interesting stuff.)

The Narcissistic Mother: One of the Most Frightening of All Personalities  (The signs may have been in front of you all along.)

If You're Working Out 5 Days a Week to Lose Weight, Here's What Experts Want You to Know  (Basically, if you're like me, you might not lose a friggin' thing!)

The Ultimate DIY Hacks   (Some seriously good tips in this one even if you're not doing a big project.  #17 is seriously genius and I'll be doing it soon.)

17 Ways to Assert Yourself More This Year   (I've been doing a good job at this goal so far this year because of #13.  Also Re: #7...is double middle fingers what you mean?)

'The Biggest Loser' has no winners — except people who love to fat shame others   (I really don't know why they're bringing this show back.)

3 Tips to Strengthen Listening and Communication Skills  (#3 is always so hard.)

6 Moves Every Workout Routine Should Include  (Absolutely!)

We Are the World: 10 Things You Didn’t Know  (I think everyone wondered why Aykroyd was there)

Photos Of Sleeping Pups In A Puppy Daycare Center Are Taking Over The Internet   (Mr...you know the noise I'm making.)

It's going to be a busy weekend here.  Our friend's husband is coming to take the old couches off of our hands.  I'll be spending today vacuuming them, shaving them.  giving them a good spritz with my favorite long-lasting linen spray then we'll wrap and tie them in plastic drop cloths to keep them safe during transport.  It'll be sad to see them go but I'm hoping both of our backs improve because they went to crap once we got those things.  Never again Pottery Barn...not on couches anyway.  And lest you think I'm passing off our back problems to someone else, they are currently sitting on a mattress on the floor and can't have people to their house because of it so their back problems are worse than ours right now.  Then we'll clean up and ready the house for delivery of the new couches Monday which we will promptly be Scotchguarding.

Any plans for the first weekend of February?

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What's Everyone Got Against Gwenyth?

Gwenyth Paltrow.

Just saying her name can elicit a strong response and more often than not, that of the eye-rolling variety.  Many think she's a spoiled little rich girl and because she's been with the likes of Brad Pitt and Chris Martin that even though those didn't work out, what could she know about problems?

(Source:  Giphy.com)

When she started Goop back in 2008, you could almost feel the collective eye roll from the world.  "What does she know?  She's promoting woo woo crap!"  (Talking about steaming your vagina probably didn't help matters but you do you, boo.)  But really, what do any of us know but what we experience and the path we're on to try to make ourselves better people?  (Hopefully)  Growing up in Hollywood has to have pressures and drawbacks that balance or even tip the scales to outweigh the privilege most of us can't understand.  She relates her experiences which aren't in line with what most of us have, so to many she sounds pompous when discussing problems or sharing something from her wellness routine.

I'm neutral where she's concerned.  I've never seen Shakespeare in Love or really many movies with her in it other than 7even.  I think she's got this natural beauty that is almost calming just to look at for me.  Even though I wouldn't pay $75 for any candle, I think if her 'this smells like my vagina' candle of "geranium, bergamot, and cedar with hints of rose" were about $40 cheaper, I'd get it and just turn the label.  (She said it as a joke btw but apparently, the perceived elite aren't allowed to joke.)   😏

It's no surprise when the Goop Lab series popped up on Netflix that the sharks began circling to attack her for "promoting pseudoscience."  I had no plans to watch it but the backlash was so loud, I ended up having it on in the background...and liked it.  I couldn't relate to the polar plunge episode so I didn't watch that one all the way but watched the rest.  I didn't see anything that should have people up in arms other than the fact it's presented by her.  One article talked about "what she got wrong about mental health."  First off, at the beginning of every episode, there is a clear notification that it is for entertainment purposes and shouldn't be a substitute for medical advice.  The episode that the article is referring to is when some of her staff tried this MDMA-assisted psychotherapy (mushrooms) in a controlled environment as a tool for healing grief and PTSD.  Many of these people said traditional therapy hadn't worked for them.  That is an important statement that seems to get swept aside just because therapy does work for many people.  Sorry, but if the FDA recognized the benefits of the therapy then it shouldn't be dismissed for those who still need help.  If people try various forms of therapy without success, there's no harm in trying a less conventional one.  If those people poo poo traditional therapy it doesn't mean it's trying to persuade everyone to do so as well, it just means that was their experience.

There are other things to jump on like the episodes about mediums, anti-aging methods like diet and varying facials from acupuncture and vampire varieties as well as cryotherapy and energy healing.  All things considered a little "out there" by those still clinging to old school medical mentalities and let's face it, what we don't know or what isn't proven, we're skeptical of.  I'm the first person to give a healthy dose of side eye.  Watching Julianne Hough getting "exorcised" from her booty by an energy healer, has people freaking out.  Would I ever do it?  I kind of have.  It did zero for me but I think a lot of it had to do with the woman had just gone on for 30 minutes before going into Reiki about her boob rash and keto and it pissed me off.  The only energy being released that day was when I punished her with a carb fart on my way out and shut the door.  For some therapies, the mind has to be completely open and I do believe the body has an ability to heal itself given the right circumstances.

As far as what's presented, the best episode, in my opinion, was "The Pleasure is Ours" because it has a very powerful message about women's bodies that we all need to hear.  Just like one of the women says, "intimacy is hard" and it is.  You can be vulnerable and tell your partner all kinds of things but it's hard to really feel yourself sometimes, especially if you have body issues.  It's also hard to do something as simple as keeping eye contact with someone saying nothing and feel exposed in a way that has nothing to do with sex.  I want to be Betty Dodson when I grow up!

In the end, the decision is ours if we want to do what is currently considered alternative therapies.  If we find out about it from Gweynth or a Google scroll, so what?  If Julianne wants to have whatever bad juju she was storing in her butt realigned, she's got the money to shell out and it brings her relief whether real or perceived, WTF do I care?  Given traditional medical communities have personally failed us in certain situations, the Mr and I are very open to alternative therapies in addition to traditional therapies.  I don't care how I find out about them.  I don't care if the person is rich or poor or if I like them or not.  It's my job to research it to see if it's something that would help me/us on our journey to wellness.  If all we get is lighter in the wallet, lesson learned.  But for some people who didn't know these alternatives existed, they could be lifesaving.   People who don't buy into those therapies shouldn't mock those who do.  You don't get it?  Fine.

I'm sure Gwenny doesn't need the likes of this lady defending her but I'm so tired of this mob mentality culture looking for chum in the water.  We all live our lives differently and that doesn't make us wrong, it makes us different.  I actually bookmarked Goop and while some of the things are unrelatable to me, other things are.  If they continue to crank out content I like then I might just start saving up for that candle.

What celebrity do you feel gets targeted unfairly?

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Hump Day Poll: Life Imitating Art?

My brain was fried so I was perusing blog question sites, not even gonna lie.

One that hit me was "which TV family is most like your own?" 

I guess despite being an only child with no sibs, One Day at a Time (original, not the Netflix version reboot thankyouverymuch) would have to be as close as it gets.  Divorced mom trying to provide for her kid with little help from the dad.  While I didn't have the sibling dynamic, it was me taking care of myself while mom worked and back then we had a similar dynamic to Ann Romano with her girls.  We could talk about a lot and probably a lot more adult conversations than I should've had early on.  But being that close to her at that point in my life meant I didn't have a problem going to her for my first gynie appointment when the Mr entered the picture.  😂  I appreciate that I could have that type of relationship with her back then.

Now it's your turn, which TV family (from childhood or now) is most like your own?  

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(Re)Face Off

Settle in Mary, you're gonna like this one. 

Thursday afternoon we had the first of a few kitchen cabinet refacers out to get a ballpark of what it would cost to update our kitchen.  It's going on 17 years since we remodeled it the first time and it's showing its age.  The cabinet frames are perfectly fine and the granite is only 8 years old and in great condition, so refacing is the least expensive option given our circumstances.    I did a little research online about what we could expect to pay for such a project and the national average is about $6000-8000.  Well, they don't have a shoebox for a kitchen so we thought we'd come in on the low end for sure.  I have to tell you, I loathe the whole "sales" experience and inviting the enemy in and serving him water feels completely foreign to me.  In a car buying situation, I have zero problems expressing my disdain (shocker) and the Mr can tell when I'm checking out and when it might be time to leave for the safety of all involved.  In this situation, you've just gotta hope they either get your vibe and pack up or when you say "how dare you...get the eff out of my house!"

(via GIPHY.com)

This company has an online reputation of coming off as sexist because some women reported that they wouldn't talk directly to them at the consultation or sometimes not even show up if a woman was the sole homeowner.  (Didn't see that until after the appointment was booked.)  The one thing I hate more than anything is some dude pulling up his britches by the belt and implying you let the menfolk talk while you bake a turkey pot pie.  Thankfully, our guy didn't have that issue.  He measured and such and I made it clear we weren't signing any contracts today so he could skip that part to which he said he understood.  Yeah, we'll see.  We had to listen to the schpiel about their company on his little tablet and then a testimonial which featured a mom and her 14-year-old daughter who looked like appearing in the video was part of her grounding after sneaking in from her first rager the night before.  I could focus on nothing else but the daughter and almost wee'd myself trying not to laugh out loud.  I didn't hear one word of the testimonial.  Then he showed us before and afters.  After about five of them, I'm thinking "uh, are these "afters" about 10-15 years old because those look like they need to be refaced!"  He shows the styles available and I'm really struggling to find one I like but conferred with the Mr and we agreed on the same one.  Of course, he didn't have that one with him but showed us two others he had.  One had a slight texture to it which I knew the Mr would give a hard no to because it would be like going back to the builder-grade ones we got rid of almost 2 decades ago.  I was right.  The other one was nice and while similar to the one we both liked, I just wasn't super impressed.  I loved how he said, "we don't use MDF...we use ground down oak, cherry and four total hardwoods compressed into this dense board."  My mouth was open to say "so fancy MDF?" but I caught myself.   He slid us a piece of paper that talked about our savings if we signed that day, we read it, I slid it back and said "give us the "we're not signing anything today" prices."

We were getting priced for refacing the cabinet doors and a backsplash.    We both asked each other before he got there what the other thought it would cost.  He said $7000 and I said $6500.  (Again, basing this off of like 20 different websites telling us what the average cost was.)  So after his presentation, he's all "hey, let's play a fun game!" and hands us his business cards and says "you guys write down what you think this will cost and see how close you are to each other!"  The Mr's like "yeah, we already played this game before you got here."  "Oh, so what'd you say?"

"$7000"
"$6500"

His face read...

(via GIPHY.com)

Do you have any guesses?  This is for 14 cabinet doors (three of them very small) and 4 tiny drawer fronts and 20 square feet of backsplash in a 10x10 kitchen in which two people fit uncomfortably. 

Mull it over.
.
.
.

Remembering what I said about the research I did prior.
.
.
.

Remembering we're keeping our solid wood frames and have our own hardware to be installed.
.
.
.
Got your guess?
.
.
.
On the count of three, yell it out and I'll tell you.
.
.
.
1
.
.
.
2
.
.
.
3....

$11,500.

That is literally what we paid for the whole kitchen, design services and crown molding in the whole kitchen.

This...no lie...was literally my face.

(via GIPHY.com)

This was the Mr's though not literally but close.

(via GIPHY.com)

When I say we sat there in silence.  I mean we looked at each other and sat there for three solid minutes in silence while he wrote some stuff down.  That doesn't sound like a long time but I assure you when all oxygen has been sucked out of the room and you want to say "how dare you...get the eff out of my house!", it is an eternity. 

Then it was "if you sign today, the owner will take off $879.  We have a $500 gift card good for 30 days so it can actually be yours for the low, low price of only $10,100 if you sign today or basically $11K if you wait."  I asked about removing the backsplash from the price so I could get an idea of what they were charging for labor.  $2200.  Well, the dude that put up our mantel was seriously bragging about his tiling skills and I can email his boss and get a quote for it.   I'm betting it's half that.  "So if you remove the backsplash, we're getting closer to that $7000 you were talking about."

(via GIPHY.com)

Then began the "let me ask you a question...just out of curiosity..." bullshite that makes them lose all credibility with me.  Don't give me your sales tactics.  I've told you twice I'm not signing today and we don't care about your $900 that your boss will give us off for doing so today.  That just means if he wants our business he'll be willing to meet the cost if we called back because he's obviously marking it up enough that he's still making at least 15% with all of your "discounts."  When he saw he was getting nowhere, two hours later, he finally left. 

The Mr's like "what did you think" and I said "I think I never felt the air leave a room so fast!  We just sat there awkward and silent for like five minutes with none of us saying anything."  We both laughed because I think the dude didn't know what to say either but say SOMETHING.  The Mr said "I have to ask myself how I'd feel if we'd just signed with him and I wouldn't have felt good about it.  I think I'd instantly regret it."  That was that for that company.  We at least had one estimate to go off of.  I learned two things.  1) Say you're remodeling to sell in a few years  I think the fact we said we weren't planning to move ever played against us.  I could be wrong but still.  2) get an ejector seat installed before the next person comes out.

(via GIPHY.com)

Let's hope round two with a more promising company I found last week goes better this afternoon!

What was your estimate?  

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Up and Down Weekend Recap

(Source)

Guten Monday Morgen.  My how da weekend flies, doesn't it?

Friday night I found out we're not really having Easter this year.  We're going to a restaurant (that I hate) the day before in an event room.  Seriously?  There are some crappy reasons behind it that I'm not going to go into but the one they're telling everyone is so the host isn't stuck in the kitchen cleaning up instead of enjoying time with the family.  Funny because 1) we use paper plates and disposable cutlery and 2) the hosts CHOOSE to spend basically the whole time in the kitchen doing the pots and pans and chatting with each other instead of being out there with us.  Sorry, Grandma...one more tradition down the shitter.  So yeah, I had a lot to digest then let go of over the weekend.  The Mr and I will just have our own little Easter...pffft!

(GIPHY.com)

Saturday morning we got up and around trying to figure out what sounded good for lunch.  We decided it was a fish and chips kind of day so we grabbed some of those.  They had a "spicy" option and when I confirmed it wasn't sriracha, we both got it.  I should've gone with my instinct to get one plain and one spicy.  The spicy had no flavor and all heat so I'm assuming it was white pepper which is good in small doses but is sure to leave you with a small bonfire burning in your gut until it reignites you on the way out yo' butt!   Not pretty, or comfortable.  Lesson learned.  We headed to an antique warehouse and ugh, so much junk.  I don't know if the hipsters grabbed up all of the good stuff when the first vintage craze came around almost 10 years ago but it's hard to find quality stuff.  I'm obviously going to have to go to a higher quality place (Midland Antiques in Indy comes to mind) or finally make it to Brimfield's show.

We stopped by a lumberyard to see the reclaimed wood section.  I was showing the Mr what I want on the ceiling to hopefully ease his mind.  (I can picture things in my mind and see the finished product.  I tell him and he can't see the vision, breaks out in a cold sweat thinking of logistics and does a mental "la la la...I don't hear you.")  When I asked if they recommended any contractors for what I want to do, she said they did and mentioned a company we're having come for an appointment in two weeks.  We were both glad to hear that and she answered a question or two...the rest being a solid..."I'm new on this side."  Well, you've worked there a year and when we saw you at a trade show you blanked out then too sister.  Training, please.

I took a nice long nap on the couch whilst the Mr watched Star Wars.  Then we finished up the Kevin Hart Netflix special we started.  Interesting.  Helluva work ethic but I wasn't crazy about when he seemed to imply that because his friends weren't with him in Vegas to keep him in line is why he cheated.  Allegedly and all of that stuff.  Just own it, dude.  You didn't trip and fall into a vagina because your friends weren't there to catch you from its steely jaws.  😒

I don't know about any of you but I was in utter shock to hear about Kobe Bryant and his daughters passing yesterday.  The Mr recoiled and said "holy shit!" and showed me a headline that said "Kobe Bryant Dead" and I said that wasn't funny.  (He reads some websites that are known for off sense of humor in the past so I thought that's what that was.)  He said it wasn't a joke and I looked it up and just sat there stunned.  I'm not a basketball fan so not a fan of any player, but I still respect what he brought to the sport and the millions he inspired.  So sorry for those hurting from his loss from family, friends to fans who have that void from losing their hero.

Sunday we had brunch and chilled a little.  I was trying to arrange for some friends to come to pick up our old couches since our new ones are coming next week.  We ran up the street and got our oil changed in both cars since we were a little overdue.  Then it was the last grocery store and time to come home and work out.  My inner thigh was giving me some issue and you all know I'm not pushing that one.  I tried to roll and release as much as possible.  Today I'll massage the heck out of it so I can get any scar tissue loosened up.  Then I made burgers for dinner while the Mr cut my veggies for the week and we watched the Grammy's.

What did you get into this weekend?

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What I'm Reading This Week #4

For some reason, I wanted to write " # fooooooore" but I don't golf and this blog isn't about golf so I thought I might confuse you but then you all know me so it probably wouldn't confuse you at all.  You'd just be like "Mrs' Friday Vibes yo."   Sorry, I'm in a weird mood, the thing I ordered from Antique Farmhouse that I carefully measured for before I ordered it doesn't fit and I'm trying to figure out if 1) I can repurpose it elsewhere that I don't have room for 2) that I cut off the legs and make it fit (likely) or 3) next time light $62 on fire.

But enough of my ill-measured misadventures, let's get to...

How to Undo the Damage of Sitting & The Forgotten Art of Squatting  (Hmm.  This does feel pretty good when you do it.  Now I need a squat alert on my email...to ignore.)

Here's How to Fall Asleep and Stay Asleep, Even When You're Stressed to the Max   (Good tips.  I'm the worst at the last one.)

The 6 Best Probiotic Foods for Your Gut That Aren’t Yogurt  (Well, at least I like half of them.)

Are "Smart" Contacts The Future Of Combating Dry Eyes?  (I sure hope so!  I might actually be able to wear them!)

16 Fast-Growing Vines to Add to Your Garden This Season  (That reminds me, I have morning glory seeds I need to plant.  We're also going to try wisteria, build a DIY arbor and hope for the best.)

How to Clean Walls so They Sparkle  (I don't need sparkle, I just need "oh, you spray your hair product in this area, don't you?" off the walls.)

9 Things You'll Regret Keeping in a Safe Deposit Box  (Good information to know!)

Middle-age misery peaks around age 47, economist says   (So I've got that going for me, which is nice.)

35 Ways to Use Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways  (We used slide 6 for hardening leftover paint to be able to dispose of it.   Works like a charm and there's something satisfying about stirring it in and not getting roped into buying hardener from Home Depot.)

25 Best Things to Do on Valentine's Day With Your Special Someone  (Cute ideas!)

No big plans for the weekend that I know of.  Might pop in an antique store or two.  It's supposed to be rainy so maybe we'll get some board game playing in there somewhere.

What's on your agenda for the weekend?

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Then It's Forced Upon You

You know those days when you've got stuff to get done but you know you're going to get distracted and it's going to pile up on you?  That's what I was feeling Tuesday morning.  I knew there were things I needed to get done around the house for an impending contractor appointment today.  I woke up and told myself to take the advice of a vlogger I follow and tackle one spot in the kitchen at a time.  I was about to make the Mr some rice for his lunches and put on a kettle of tea when the power went out.  There's construction going on about 1/4 mile up the road and I assumed it was them.  Then about 10 minutes later we heard a buttload of sirens...I should say maybe two more than we usually hear on a normal day so we figured there might've been an accident.  I said a prayer for the person/people whose lives may have been changed and surveyed what was now forced upon me since distractions weren't going to be an issue.

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Instead of the oatmeal I was going to have, I had to grab some shredded wheat and a banana.  The Mr came down and he drove a few blocks up to where there's a light and saw it was out and came home.  He wanted to make sure it wasn't because we'd just switched electric carriers a few days earlier and they somehow screwed us.  I opened all of the doors and windows to let some light in, turned on the fireplace to keep the house warm then after breakfast I worked on my one little spot in the kitchen and got a good amount of that cleaned up.  The rest of the stuff required hot water and I didn't want to use what was in the tank if it could wait.  I grabbed a book the Mr got me off of my wish list for Christmas.

I got two full chapters in before the power came back on.  The journey of self-discovery, healing, and all that jazz continues.  I definitely saw a lot of things I could relate to with both parents so I'll be looking forward to how I can undo some stuff and get my mind right.  I figure five stars from 700 reviews aren't shabby so expectations are high.

I had to keep up and down to a minimum because my legs were SOOOO shot.  Apparently, my lower half does not appreciate the Joel/Autumn combo.  Thankfully on sleigh day, my legs were good all day until that night when I had spasms that were reminiscent of the incident.  I dug in with my Graston tool while watching Police Academy, used my jackhammer, and used my heating pad.  Despite my efforts, I was still a hot mess so I knew I couldn't be quite as productive on my feet as I'd hoped and would have to limit bathroom breaks to blue and purple because my legs couldn't handle the speed required for red.

(Not gonna lie, got within 5 minutes of red...err...yellow once.)

I got a few more things done then started making the Mr's lunch for Wednesday while we had electricity.  Red, black and brown rice made with bone broth, scallions, broccoli, and BBQ jackfruit.  About 20 minutes after I was done we went out again for about 15 minutes.  It just made it feel like we couldn't count on anything the rest of the day.  I thawed some roasted turkey and knew I could use the grill for dinner if I had to for baked potatoes and veggies.  Thankfully I didn't have to and the power stayed on.  We had turkey, baked fries and green beans then settled in for Police Academy 2 on the couch with the tree on for the last night.

The Mr went into the office and I got to work on this post and then the household stuff I needed to get done.  We've got a sales appointment today and I figured I probably shouldn't still have the tree up.  Sigh.  I put on some picture frame fasteners on the back of the pics in the bathroom since the tabs in them had metal fatigue and were breaking off.  I switch out pics in there for fall and Christmas so that seemed like the better solution but I also had to drill into all of the frames which I'd been putting off.  I got that done and the frames rehung before putting away all of the Christmas stuff from the shelves and taking down the crusty greens I refreshed a month ago.  I am so buying preserved cedar so I don't have to mess with that again!  I kept up the Christmas cards because why not.  After our Turbo Fire 45 workout, I packed away the ornaments.  We got the lights off and the tree unfluffed and I'll be damned if that thing didn't fit into the original small box it came in!  We'll get some space under the stairs again!  Woot!   I'll see if my aunt wants our old one since hers has fallen over twice the past two years, this year breaking her husband's ornament she made him the year they got married.  :-(   If not, we'll donate it.  I'll be sad to see it go but the new one did afford us a less claustrophobic experience neither of us could deny.

Scintillating few days at the homestead.  I'll report back what one company thinks it'll cost to reface our cabinets and put up a backsplash.

Have you had anything forced upon you lately?

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Hump Day Poll: Spring Break

Spring Break is in the not so distant future.  I was thinking back to my own breaks as a kid.  Since it was a one-income family from age 9 on, we couldn't go anywhere on a consistent basis but a few times we did go to Florida. 

Once with my parents and aunt/uncle driving in a van with me sleeping on a bean bag.  The other, a few years after the parent's divorce to Florida again but to stay with my great grandparents for a cheap but much-needed vacation.

Where is the farthest you went for family vacations as a kid?  Did you fly or drive or both?  Is there somewhere you wished you went but didn't get to?

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Sleigh All Day

Yesterday I mentioned how we saw a few flakes here and there.  When all was said and done, I was less than impressed.  I mean look at that pithy spittle on the patio...

(Still up)

I was over it.  Earlier in the year, I looked everywhere for sleigh ride farms within 4 hours of us because we just don't get any snow unless we go out of town.  A few places had notifications if they were running sleigh rides and I got one Sunday morning...mama was down.

We did a super early morning workout, grabbed a pre-packed lunch and got on the road.

We were getting a little worried but finally started seeing the white stuff.

When we got there I about squeed myself.  Just enough snow on the ground, still falling and two big ol' horsies ready to yank our butts around the woods and a field.

I think the Mr had to chisel the smile off of my face.  The jingle of the bells, the soft flakes floating on us. the dude letting us just enjoy ourselves and not forcing small talk.

The snow continued to fall for the duration of our ride and stopped when we did. 

We stopped at a small park close by once we saw the flakes were huge and fluffy.  I stood in it for a few minutes and said "all for ME!!!!"

To put it into perspective, I need winter like 98% of you need summer.  Imagine you only got one summer-like day this year and the rest was 45 degrees and no sun.  That is what winter feels like for me this year. 

While it sucked for the Mr driving, I do appreciate it so much.  It was the perfect way to spend the day, for me at least.  My heart was beyond happy and it did my soul so good.  I know I will likely get no snow the rest of the winter so I will savor that day. 

Then I went home and plugged in the Christmas tree.  😁

What does your soul good?

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This and That Weekend Recap

Happy Monday you fine folks!  I hope you had a great weekend!

At the end of last week, we blew through the final season of Grace and Frankie in two days which was pretty easy with 30-minute episodes.  Sigh.  It was okay and better than previous seasons but not a super satisfying ending on our end.  I feel they missed a real opportunity not to cast Dolly Parton in the role of Taneth played by Casey Wilson.  It would have essentially amounted to a cameo.  I know they're going to be together in the 9 to 5 movie but let's be honest, at their ages, the contracts can be signed but only the universe gets to decide if they'll get the band back together again.  These movies are delayed all of the time and I think the five minutes of screen time would've been well worth it.  But, what do I know?

(The following contains affiliate links for your convenience.  Should you buy through them, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you to keep the blog up and running.)

The Mr's work decided to push an update to refuse to let Apple watches pair with their work phones, basically bricking his $400 less than a year old purchase.  He used it to track his heart health and would run EKG's on it.  They won't make medical exceptions so he got screwed.  I was ticked because I just bought him a new dressy band for it for Christmas that he got to wear once.  I sent out an email to family/friends seeing if anyone wanted to buy it and an old co-worker said her hubby would take it.  So $250 later and he's at a $250 loss for the watch and accessories.   I feared that would happen and the morning it happened I even had the thought about what would he do if they ever took that option away...two hours later.  Must've gotten a "new CIO douchecanoe" vibe in the air.
Then, of course, because of the way it was wiped without permission, there were issues with the new owner being able to use it.  So for any of you Apple watch owners out there, if you sell yours, you have to go through a bunch of steps before you wipe it to make useable for the next owner.

Saturday, the Mr took his test and passed!  Thanks for all of the good vibes!

We swung by Walmart to grab some MCT Oil Powder.  I got some a few weeks ago when we were there on a whim and have been using it for creamer in my tea.  It made me a little more regular which I'm sure will stop now that I've said it out loud.  

We grabbed lunch then went out to get some stuff we needed.  We found ourselves close to a pet store and stopped in for some puppy time.  Instead, we got a ball of lightning that wanted nothing to do with us.

We went out to a fancy dinner to celebrate and upon our return, the Mr binged The Mandalorian since it was his treat for passing.  We'll watch the rest of The World According to Jeff Goldblum and cancel our Disney + subscription because there's nothing else on there we're interested in.  

Sunday I went down to switch clothes and saw it was spitting a few flurries but that lasted about 10 minutes if that.  I plugged in the tree to pretend it was actually winter.  Oh, wait.  In a further attempt to pretend it's winter, I made grilled cheese and soup for lunch.

We watched a few episodes of Jeff Goldblum's show before heading down to have our butts handed to us from Joel and Autumn.  L4 Full Body HIIT then Dirty 30, physical therapy and rolling/stretching.  We were done by 5ish which is when we're usually heading down.  We needed to pick up a few things at the store for the week and we got to enjoy a nice little spittle of steady snow on the way in.  For the 40th time, I picked this up.

I've always wanted to make "scrambled eggs" and said I was going to and had until March to do it.  The Mr gave me a sideways glance that said, "I'll be throwing this away again in March."  Internally, I accepted it as a challenge.  I asked him if he wanted breakfast for dinner because the mahi I had thawing just didn't sound good.  Because I watched a recipe with Ina Garten making her bran blueberry muffins, I got both of those things.  I thought I'd mix 'em in with some oat flour and make blueberry oat pancakes and a tofu scramble.

I was sad I needed to use a little salt to finally make them taste good but was still happy with them and am bummed I wasted so much tofu in the past.  I will definitely be making both in the future!

We got in a few more episodes of

(via Giphy.com)

Then we enjoyed a warm beverage before calling it a night to gear up for the adventure that is Monday!

What did y'all do this weekend?

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What I'm Reading This Week #3

Happy, happy Friday all!  I hope you've had a wonderful week and are looking to get into some mischief for the weekend!  We completed the first week of our Joel/Autumn hybrid.

Sun- 3 miler around the hood
Mon- 21DF Total Body Cardio/L4 wk4 Back and Bi's
Tues- 21DF Cardio Fix/L4 wk3 Chest and Tri's
Wed- 80DOb Booty (I've never cursed a trainer more)
Thurs- L4 wk 4 Shoulders/Abs
Fri-  L4 Legs

Le broken.

The Mr was in his final push this week for studying so that's always fun.  He took Thursday and Friday off to study so he's as ready as he can be.  Keep everything you have two of crossed for his test tomorrow!

Now let's test out...

This Is Why You Wake Up at the Same Time Every Night  (3:13am...like clockwork.)

Vigorous Exercise Can Greatly Reduce Your Risk of Cancer, Heart Disease  (Gotta love that!)

Stop Apologizing For Being Yourself  (I think I spend more time apologizing than just saying 'eff it.'   Something else I'm working on this year.)

If You Have a Slow Metabolism, Here Are 5 Doctor-Approved Ways to Burn Belly Fat  (So basically nothing new here anyone whose been trying to lose weight doesn't really know.  I've actually been diagnosed with it on my BodPod scans and it's maddening, to say the least.)

The Older You Are, the Less Narcissistic You Tend to Be  ("Tend to be" is the operative phrase.  I know a few who buck the trend.)

Why your debit card is the least secure way to pay for goods  (We don't even have one and you'd never catch me using it if we did especially these days.)

Too Much Stuff  (Getting rid of things, it turns out, is a lot harder than acquiring them in the first place.)

How to Let Go: Learning to Deal With Loss  (Not the way you think.  A must-read!)

An Ode to Middle Age  (A good read for both those who are there and those who aren't yet but need to be given the 'what's up' on what you're in for should you be lucky enough to get there.)

The Stowaway!  (Courtesy of the Mr.  I believe the phrase the stowaway is looking for is "hoooooly shit guys!!")

The Mr has his test tomorrow morning then I think our day is pretty open. 

How are you going to spend this glorious weekend?

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Scrollin' with the Homies

Sorry for my horrible wordplay off of the famous Clueless scene.

giphy.com

Man, Jeremy Sisto was a fetus!  Always hot though....rawr.  I highly suggest if you happen to be a fan of him, you go on YouTube and just enter his name.  He is known for doing some friggin' hilarious NSFW YouTube vids as favors for his friends.  I Know Sisto comes to mind but it's not for prudes and the last scene always makes me cry laughing because it's super random.

Anyhoo...

I was in my browser and saw a folder of bookmarks from a laptop transfer from about 8 years ago or so.  I decided to see what kind of stuff was bookmark worthy back then if the links worked, which a lot of them didn't.

Caveman's Crib.  This was a page on Geico's website purely dedicated to the cavemen they used to use for their commercials which the Mr and I LOVED.  (Then they tried to make it into an actual show and ruined it.)  But this is still one of our favorite commercials ever with the awesome Royksopp's Remind Me as the perfect song.

Speaking of which, I also saw the AdTunes bookmark which we used in the golden age of awesome music used for commercials from about 2005-2009.    It's still up and running so if you see a commercial with a song you like and can't find it in a regular Google search, check there.

ELance is now Upwork.

Essence Furnishings is apparently defunct and I was bummed because I saw I bookmarked a sofa so I wanted to see what my style was then.  After scrolling through a list of hard no's with the same name, I stumbled upon this and it jogged my memory.  When we were turning the guest room into an office, I looked at this as a potential purchase to still have a place to sit while having the option to futon down for guests.  Our hatred of houseguests won and if you want to stay with us, I'd say "sofa city, sweetheart."  (Points if you got the reference.)

Sadly, Mr. Pineapple.com where I used to get Maui pineapples is kaput.

I remember when we had a skunk issue and I bookmarked this.   Our HOA used the same thing to release him "in a field."  Mmm-hmm.  At least his last meal was Lucky Charms that I fed him.

OMG, I can't believe these people are still renting and that website format hasn't been updated!  I bookmarked this one for the 2 bedroom on the left.  It's the condos we usually stay at when we go.  Hmm, next year is our 25th.

I remember when I was super into bentos and I used this site for lots of great ideas.  It's not updated but a fun source especially for parents and grandparents who want to make the kids lunch fun.

I have zero idea why I bookmarked this (the link to the specific person was dead) but I was stalking some celebs outfit, I guess.  Don't ever remember doing that, I must've stumbled upon it somehow but cool if you want to try to dress like your favorite celeb (some of the stuff is actually quite affordable!) or curse the amount of disposable income they have.  More importantly, how the hell do people find out every aspect of a person's outfit?  I'd go insane doing that job!

I guess I dreamed of being a caretaker at a posh resort at one time???

A really sad folder to look at was the 25th-anniversary one.  We were going to renew our vows at the church at Coco Palms where Elvis got married in Blue Hawaii.  That has been tied up in litigation, squatters and shitty investors for over a decade now with broken promises of "soon."  Well, even if they broke ground today, it wouldn't be soon enough to be ready for us next year.  I was lamenting the other day with my friend who is getting married on Kauai in a few months how our generation got screwed.  We grew up with big parties thrown for couples celebrating their 25th anniversary.  Granted, it was usually thrown by their kids but still.  We just always assumed we'd have one.  Now, times have changed.  No one gives a crap about going to a party like that and I haven't even heard of one in well over a decade when my aunt and uncle had theirs.  I have zero desire of draining our bank account to throw a vanity party.  I always envisioned we'd renew our vows, film it and play it for a reception we'd have back here where we'd enter in the same outfits we wore that day.  But the people I'd want to party with are scattered across the country, there are complicated relationships between people we're close friends with and ignorant family members and it just wouldn't be a good time.  Couple that with people who would be all butthurt they didn't get an invite because we can't stand them.  Sigh.  We can't really go anywhere big because we'll be a few months back from VT and wouldn't be able to save up to do what we want.  I won't say dreams change, I'll just say shit happens, you get screwed and all that really matters is the Mr and I made it to 25.  (Assuming we do and the world hasn't blown up by then.)

Movin' on...

I totally forgot about Collage Video!

Oooh, I have some bananas that are ready!  This is in my future!

HA!!  There was a link to my shady ex-SIL's now banned eBay account.  She was selling family heirlooms and stuff the BIL didn't know about.  Nutbag.

Forgot about this too.  If you have too many tees that you have attachments to or a loved one has passed and you don't want to just donate their t-shirts, this place does T-shirt quilts.

Well, that's enough for one day.  I hope I haven't bored you and maybe inspired you to go back through your old bookmark folder and get rid of dead links and laugh at some stuff when you think "why the hell did I bookmark that?!"

What's the weirdest/funniest thing you've got bookmarked?

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Hump Day Poll: My Younger Self Would Cringe

It's funny when you're like 16 years old or so and you're on that cusp of legal adulthood and think your style will remain the same.  I got a bedroom set of black lacquer with gold veneer on it and thought I was the shizz.  It looked similar to this...

I thought I would always be a modern girl and love black, white and red like we had at our wedding.  I think about the potential kitchen design we're about to inquire on and think of how my younger self would be like "who ARE you!?!"

I've always loved old, hand hewn beams, New England style and stuff like that but never thought I'd decorate with it.  (These days it's interpreted as "farmhouse" but unless you're decorating with a bunch of farm animals, I don't consider it farmhouse.) 

What has changed about you as you've gotten older that your younger self would cringe over?

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Is It Me(me)?

That moment when you realize it's 11:50pm, your proofreader is in bed and you haven't done a post yet because you got sucked into your favorite farmhouse on IG.  Whoops!

Because my day was exceptionally boring, I thought I'd go to a meme page of people who think they have it in them to create the next viral sensation and thought I'd share the ones that actually made me chuckle/cross my legs laughing and not roll my eyes.

All images from Meme.com's Instagram.

Dude is a friggin' dog hero.  This is the stuff of dog lore.

Yep...me also.

Aww, sweetness!

Every single time.  It's still never helped me land the shot I called.

Yep!  Loving Is Easy by  Rex Orange County.   When it starts fading out, I restart it because it's too short...like I just did. (Language)

 I'm pretty sure this clown got fired from Krispy Kreme because this is about the caliber of any "special edition" donut we used to try to buy.

I couldn't stop laughing...the struggle is real.

And finally...

I hope you got a chuckle or guffaw or two!

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Vents, Impending Wardrobe Malfunction and No Kisses Please

Good Monday morning all!  I hope you had a great weekend and took some good 'you time' and are ready to tackle another week.  Friday, I replaced our register covers downstairs.  I noticed when I put the tree skirt down that ours looked a little rusted here and there.  I wanted something a little more vintage looking so we got this one.

We blew through Trader Joe's in record time as well as Target so we had the superfluous stores done by 9pm Friday night.  Saturday we tried a new to us restaurant that was pretty good but the service was slow just like the reviews said and that was with five other tables in the whole place at 11:15am so we won't likely go back.  We had coupons with us but didn't spend enough to qualify so we left the smaller one on the table with the drink menu and gave the $10 one to the people in the booth behind us.  They seemed quite happy.  It was a rainy, record-breaking high kind of day so we headed downtown.  There was a kitchen show going on so we stopped in.  Boy, those have really gone downhill over the years.  I remember expo-y kind of shows that you'd have a huge bag of crap to go through when you got home but there was barely enough to fill an eighth of the bag.  One of the places we talked to that I actually had bookmarked was a hard no.  I got a bad vibe from what the kid was telling us and I mean KID.  I'm assuming he needed a note to get out of middle school intramurals to be there.  There was one we signed up for an appointment that was using the Home Depot name to lure people in.  I looked to see the subcontractors that would actually be doing the work and they got atrocious reviews.  All talked about being duped by the Home Depot name and how HD said they wouldn't get involved.  That was enough for us to cancel the appointment.  There's one other place we will likely set up a quote appointment with along with a mom and pop refacing company.  Just curious what that will cost now that we've gotten an idea of the process.  Prices will only go up so we want to see what we're in for.   

We saw there was some cosplay event in town so we wandered in.  I didn't think to take pics but here's an idea of what we saw.

(Source)

There was one very robust woman who used cosplay as an excuse to literally wear the dumpiest, most ill-fitting bra and ratty panties in public.  You know the ones you wear in shame at home but think "eh, I'm gonna let the boobs flop with minimal support because I'm in my castle."  Nope...homegirl went for it, and only ONE hook was latched on that bra.  I didn't want to be anywhere around when the floodgates let loose Lake Boobawatchee.

Sunday the Mr studied until his brain fried.  We walked 3 miles around the hood for exercise then straight into our final two grocery runs for produce and yogurt.  He saw this cereal and we both agreed it looked NOTHING like Kisses.  We had a pretty good take on what we thought it looked like.  Tell us what you see.

On our way out, the Mr excitedly spied these...

I told him to grab them and I have to say...they tasted very...vanilla.  I hate vanilla ice cream so this was a bit of a loser for me so he can have the rest.  But it was nice to see him light up over them.  I could almost see 7-year-old Mr in that moment.  When we got home and ate dinner, he cut my veggies for the week while I started on this.

Riveting, isn't it?

What did you get into this weekend?

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What I'm Reading This Week #2

Good Friday mornin' to you.  (Or evening if you like to unwind from your day with me!)  We are ready for the weekend like the rest of you.  It was our first full week back on full workout rotation.

Here's what our workout week looked like:
Sun- 3.15 miles around the neighborhood
Mon- 2.65 miles at the park
Tues- Turbo Fire HIIT 15/ Liift 4 Shoulder wk 3
Wed- Liift 4 Legs wk 3
Thurs- 21Day Fix wk1 Dirty30/Liift 4 wk7 Full Body HIIT
Fri- 21 Day Fix wk2 Total Body Cardio/LIIFT 4 Back & Bi's

Boy, were my muscles sore but that's a good thing.  I'm glad to be back to doing PT again as well since we both agreed that it did help.

But enough of our workouts, let's flex into...

Here's What You Need to Know About the Calorie Counts on Your Apple Watch   (For the Mr and his Crapple.)

When You Don’t Know What to Do, Make Tea  (True dat)

10 Things to Know About Winter Power Outages   (Good info.  Our power blipped the other day, then this popped up.  They're watching....)

40 Best Weight Loss Tricks for People Over 40   (Not sure why people over 40 were targeted since they're good for ANYONE.)

The One Thing Women Need To Stop Eating  (Amen, girl!  Why are most of us like this, intentional or not?)

40 Handy Hints for Cleaning Every Nook and Cranny of Your House   (They said nook and cranny and now I want an English muffin.)

How to Get Over Design Paralysis  (I'm trying!)

100 amazing storage hacks you have to see   (Oooh, some good ones!)

15 Tricks That Squeeze Every Inch Out of a Small Closet   (Trying to do #2 (that's funny) hence the poon height dresser mentioned yesterday.)

Cable lost, but streaming may be bleeding out   (Sooo, this leaves us where??)

A Popular Skincare Company Has Pulled A Face Mask After Women Said They Had Horrible Reactions  (Just in case ya'll have any from your stockings!)

Quit Your Job And Live Abroad: 10 Places So Cheap You Might Be Able To Stop Working   (I was about to say "gurl, bye!" but they're all hot places.  No thanks.)

Prince Harry and Meghan the 'half royals' - how will it work?  (As if I couldn't be a bigger fan of these two.  He'll never be king, his cousins do the same thing without anyone batting an eye so why not him?)

Couple's adorable 60th-anniversary wedding photoshoot goes viral  (Mr...you and me...2056.  I'll book Amy.)

I'm sure the weekend will involve a little getting out of the house along with a little staying in for good measure.  The Mr has his test next weekend so its crunch time for him but he seems to be doing well as I quiz him every night.

Crap, it's grocery weekend.

Whatchu doin' this weekend?  

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