Thursday, April 30, 2020

First World Mourning and Projects

The week is flying by.  I'm not going to lie, it's been a rough mental week as we should be packed and ready to leave for our anniversary trip tomorrow but obviously, that ain't happenin'.  We have made beautiful travel memories every year for our anniversary since 1999 so this is hitting me particularly hard.  Yes, I know it's a first-world problem given what we're all dealing with and people are going through much worse but it doesn't make me mourn it any less.  It's our tradition and we've been through a lot this year before this corona crap cake hit the fan and really needed that mental break.  This time last year we were making our way toward Montana for our epic Yellowstone/Grand Teton road trip and I am so thankful we did.  I have a feeling if we'd waited for this year, not only would it have been canceled but we would've said the universe was trying to tell us something and probably would've talked ourselves out of ever doing it.  It was truly a once in a lifetime adventure and it'll have to hold us over, I guess.  Next week is going to be a hard one so not sure how much I'll be around depending on my mood.

Saturday and Sunday, we did some stripping of the patio fence paint.  Do you ever start a project you really, really regret starting?


I was out there so long, I crippled my left leg to the point to I couldn't bear weight on it and only got 2 hours sleep that night because the pain kept me up.  I tried a paint scraper, stripper and the next heinous step on the pickets will be rough grit sandpaper when the wood is dry which at this rate will be Fall.


If anyone knows of a REALLY good exterior paint, let me know in the comments.  We used a PPG deck paint and it didn't even last one season so I'll never use that again.  I keep reading on Behr, Olympic and Valspar.  I just want something that is going to stick because I'm not doing this again in 3 years like we're having to do this time.  So irritating.

I did finally get my shelf hung and arranged temporarily.


I love that pic but the frame is a little darker than I wanted.  I'll have to research and see if super fine grain can take the tippy top layer off to my liking to be closer to the shelf below it.  I'll have more summery stuff in a week or two.

I got my raised paddle summer art piece from this place called Laurel Grove who beat all other places by $30.  Since we love to kayak and stand up paddle, it seemed fitting.  Then in the fall/winter, I can store it behind the Mr's dresser in the bedroom.


This is a pie safe that I got on an impulse buy and it was too bulky to put most places.  I had the Mr hack off the legs and put felt pads on the bottom so it would fit on our armoire.


That vintage marmalade crock is the last piece I bought BC (before Corona) and I wish I'd only known how much I should appreciate that antiquing trip.  I got the French biscuit tin by the teapot in at Calistoga Country Antiques (out of business) in Calistoga CA along with a French bonbon tin in wine country.  I always love being reminded of little antiquing trips here and there, especially on our travels.

On a side note, 26 years ago, the Mr asked me to marry him.  I so wish we could revisit that night and I wish I was smart enough to bring a camera.  At least I still have the ribbon from the dozen roses he gave me.  That'll have to be enough.

What have you been up to this week?

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Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Hump Day Poll: Back in the Day Reads


When I was a kid (elementary school), I always liked it when we got to go to the library.  My favorite genre were mysteries.  I loved Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew and ghost stories.

What genre of books did you like as a younger kid?


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Monday, April 27, 2020

Heart Pumpin' Playlist and We're Growing!

Happy Day all!  I hope you had a great weekend getting into a little mischief that's just a little bit more than the law allows. 

Friday, I put together a playlist for my battle ropes workout.  For some reason when we sync the tablet, my Anger Management playlist half disappears so I made one straight on the tablet hoping for better luck.  I got some good heart pumpers on there:

I'll Figure It Out - Lisa Marie Presley
Don't Need Rules- Kik Tracee
Break Stuff- Limp Bizkit
Dragula- Rob Zombie
Let the Bodies Hit the Floor- Puddle of Mudd
Bawitdaba- Kid Rock
Lash Out- Alice Merton
The Beautiful People- Marilyn Manson
Push It- Static X
My Way-Limp Bizkit
Idiot- Lisa Marie Presley
Enter Sandman- Metallica
Cult of Personality- Living Colour
Nookie- Limp Bizkit
We're Not Gonna Take It- Twisted Sister
People- The 1975
The Dope Show- Marilyn Manson
Personal Space Invader- Sugar Ray
Renegades of Funk- Rage Against the Machine
Darkside- Crazy Town
Blood in the Cut- K Flay
Sex- The 1975
Babylon- Faster Pussycat

I think there's a few more but you get the idea.  I got up to 165 and stayed there for a while and would have to do strength with the ropes to bring my heart rate down a bit.  I'd say burning 1860 isn't bad going through the whole 90 minute playlist.

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We started watching The Society on Netflix that night until about 1am then finally headed up.  Saturday we watched a few more episodes then I pulled the plug at 2pm so we could go out and start what should've been an easy project of peeling paint from the patio fence.  It was not easy.  We spent just over 2 hours doing that for not even a full board stripped.  So I've got a curbside order for Home Depot today for stripper.  This is the last damn thing we should have to do since we did this 3 years ago but despite using primer, which I will never do again, it cracked and started peeling after one season.  Now we have to pick a solid stain and set our sites on a stretch of decent weather days which seems next to impossible. 

On the bright side, all of the herbs have sprouted on the Aerogarden.


The basil is obviously the forerunner but I was very happy to see chives and thyme coming up.  Saturday night we finally got a dill and mint sprout.  I'm going to make a batch of mint chocolate chip ice cream when I have enough to harvest so I'm looking forward to that.  I have the cylinder of my ice cream maker in the freezer just waiting for the right hankerin' and occasion to strike. 

Sunday was a washout and we really didn't do much other than the usual chores.  I was irritated at not getting a burger Saturday so I made one that blew the place out of the water we were looking at anyway.  Top that baby with some bacon date jam and you can't find a better burger anywhere.  We settled in and watched I See You with Helen Hunt on Amazon Prime.

It might be sunny today so if we can get that order early on, I might be able to apply some stripper and get a little bit done before the next batch of rain moves in. 

What did you get into this weekend?

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Friday, April 24, 2020

What I'm Reading This Week #17

Happy Day!  (Why bother saying Friday, Tuesday, etc anymore.)

It's been a week, I'm sure we're all about there and not much more needs to be said about that. 

So let's just cannonball into...


30 Reasons Walking Is the Best Exercise   (It's what we've been relying on lately)

The 30 Easiest Organizing Tasks Ever  (Good, small but effective projects for when you want to say you did something but not too much.)

The Five Challenges of Staying at Home  (Only five?)

CoVid auto insurance refunds: Here's what you need to know   (Is your insurance company on the list?)

35 garage hacks that are borderline genius   (Wylie E. Coyote....suuuuuper genius.  Sorry...losing my mind.)

What Can a Buddhist Monk Teach Us About Panic and the Brain?  (I don't know...let's find out!)

Wit’s End: Stuck at Home? There’s a Meme for That  (But of course!)

What Does the Saying “Close, but No Cigar” Really Mean?   (The more you know...)

The Healing Power of Gene Kelly  (I can attest)

How Toto’s “Africa” Became the New “Don’t Stop Believin’”  (Pretty sure you can thank (or blame) Kristen and Dax)

20+ Pets That Are Just Tired of Being Good Boys and Girls  (Alternate title was likely "90% of cats are a-holes...but not yours, of course.")

It's supposed to be rainy all weekend so the patio project I hoped to do is a no go.  We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there...wait, that was Cannonball Run.  And that ladies and gents is called mental tap out.

(via Giphy.com)


Do you have plans for the weekend? 

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Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Hump Day Poll: Soggy or Crunchy?


That picture fills the Mr with glee and fills me with horror.   He floods his cereal to the point of asking if he'd like some cereal with his milk.  I add milk until the cereal just starts to float which is always about 6 ounces.  (I think this stems from being raised by a single mom and not wasting food.)  I like my cereal to crunch when I eat it.

Do you like your cereal crunchy or soggy?

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Tuesday, April 21, 2020

3 Ingredient Banana Bread Cookies



Anyone else play the game "do my most ill-fitting jeans still fit" and lose?

Just me?

Well, if you still need some comfort food whilst reigning things in a bit, these can do the trick.  There are only 3 basic ingredients needed but you can add a few others for extra flavor.

Ingredients
2 medium overripe bananas
1 1/4- 1 1/2 quick cook oats
1/3 - 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Optional Extras
1/8 tsp salt
Dash complimentary spice like cardamom, allspice, cinnamon, or nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350F/177C.

In a bowl, mash two medium overripe bananas, add 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of quick rolled oats (steel cut will not work for this), and stir until combined.  Add 1/3-1/2 cup chocolate chips.  (I used Ghirardelli 60% but regular Nestle bittersweet taste really good too) and stir.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or use a silicone baking sheet and make 6 cookies and mash down slightly with your hand or fork as cookies will not spread much as they bake.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until cookies are set up.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray. 

Never feel guilty about having a few cookies during this time for breakfast again.  😉




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Monday, April 20, 2020

Actual Productivity! Weekend Recap

Happy 4/20!  Smoke 'em if you got 'em or watch a Jay and Silent Bob or Seth Rogen movie to get the idea.

So many people I've talked to and articles I've read have talked about how they've been ridiculously unproductive with all of this spare time.  Doctors and psychologists say it's because of your brain shutting down parts for survival purposes.  Whatever it is, it totally blocked me the past few weeks since the dudes left the house.  I've had little projects here and there that still needed to be completed and there was no motivation to do them.

One of them was our coat rack.  We ordered a beam skin and some rustic looking hooks but the wood is ridiculously hard and the screws with the hooks, ridiculously cheap.  I checked with the dude I bought them from to see what the size of the screws were because two of them stripped and one broke off in the wood.  I was just going to buy some myself with the size he gave me but he was kind enough to send me better screws that thankfully, did the trick!




You have no idea how nice it is to have a coat rack again instead of laying crap around the house over banisters, chairs, etc.



We also got a valance hung in the kitchen and fixed an issue that the kitchen dudes left behind.  It was the last day of the reno when the shelter in place was going to go into effect and they did grouting and mortaring.  Well, they didn't grout the space at the top of the outlet thinking the outlet cover would hide the lack of grout.  It didn't. 




Guess what we had already thrown away?  Guess what we had to pay $60 for 2 tablespoons worth of product?  😡

I cut a piece of trim and spooned it into the gap and let it harden a bit.



I put the outlet cover back on and you'd never know.  Note to all y'all, never let the contractors leave until you've gone over it with a fine tooth comb.  I found a few other spots of white in the grout that were driving me nuts and I fixed those.  I'm keeping the grout until it hardens into a plant pot because I'm sure I'll find other things between now and then. 

Side note:


Anyone else tempted to grab their spouse's butt when they are doing something important?  Just me?

Movin' on.

But it does feel good to have those things out of the way because that along with the wall being painted were all thorns in our side.  We got used to walking around plastic wrap covered paint trays and paint poles on the landings at the top and bottom of the stairs.  Not a fun way to live but now they're behind us and we can not have those things mocking us. 

We rented Jumanji 2.  What a stinker.  We loved the first one but man, the follow up was not good.  I half paid attention and half went through pictures in old folders on the hard drive.  I found our next project which we both knew was coming.  We've got these horrible carpeted stairs that are impossible to get clean because they're 24 years old and have a lot of traffic going up and down them day and night.  We know we can't do anything about the second-floor carpet just yet but those stairs are getting tackled, painted and stained.  I found a picture I saved from a listing of someone doing just that to the stairs and it's basically what we'll be doing.


They'll be more American walnut and less shiny (likely matte) polyurethane but that gives you an idea of what our end game should look like.  It was a project I used to say and watch the Mr sweat but he seems to think it's time and is on board.  The only wrench is the 4th step from the top is kind of wonky where a friend body surfed down them by accident 15 years ago so I'm hoping we can find a solution for that on our own.  I'm hoping if I jam a painted shim in there, it will take care of it but who knows.  That would basically completely finish our first floor.  Now I'll just have to see when he wants to start.  :-)

We also watched Bindi Irwin's wedding and I bawled like she was my own daughter. 

Sunday we lazed around in bed scrolling and falling in and out of consciousness because what else was there to do now?  (Other than rip the carpet off the stairs but yeah.)   We ordered breakfast because we were in the mood for chocolate chip pancakes *pokes my doughy center* and knew it would hold us basically all day.  Too bad it was cold and gross because apparently, 15 other people had the same idea.  After that was done, we had a pickup order at Target across town then I wanted to walk the cemetery where four of my relatives were buried instead of rounding the hood for the night's walk.  Once of my favorite parts is always looking at the elaborate headstones some people choose from different times.


Spring is definitely in full effect and I feel like us all being forced to slow down is allowing us to actually see it this year.

My grandpa let us know within a few minutes he was happy we came by putting his favorite song on the radio.  I've had a lot of relatives let us know they're still with us which has been a big comfort. 

We came home and I grilled out some burgers and we wound down the evening.

What did you get into this weekend?


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Friday, April 17, 2020

End of Week Round Up and What I'm Reading This Week #16

FYI- Facebook pages is being a jerk and it's not resolving.  Not sure how long I'll be unable to post over there for anyone who might use that to click through.  Just swing over here until you (hopefully) see me pop back up in your FB feeds.  


The Mr and I agree that the weeks are flying by which is weird because our weeks really aren't much different than our non-lockdown weeks so not sure what's up with that.  By the way, y'all had some good side dishes for the hump day poll!  Now I'm ready for a cookout for sure!

(This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  Should you buy through them, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you to go toward blog expenses.)

Thursday we saw the ant infestation is a month early...thanks a lot mild winter.   Thankfully, Terro liquid ant baits take care of that pretty quickly.  Actually, we'll probably use the last of them with this so I need to do a reminder to myself in the Fall to pick more up.  I thought I had the problem solved when we saw a few in the basement on some warm days we had in February.  We noticed where the wall met the concrete floor it was separated almost all the way down the length of the wall.  I had some leftover mortar caulk from doing the front step and caulked the whole way but nay...they found their way in anyway.  Asshats.

Yesterday I got my 80th pandemic buy...this Aerogarden.  I got it for 20% off but of course, everyone had that idea so it took two weeks to get here.  I've always been interested in those anyway but this seemed like a good excuse to bite the bullet especially since I know nurseries are going to be swarmed.  I'll do a review on it as I get my doobage herbs up and running.  I bought a custom salad mix too to use after the herbs are established with romaine and arugula.   Between the herb garden and the morning glories, it looks like an illegal grow house in here.

Now let's look into...




You're not 'too busy' to stay active during quarantine: Health experts worry about blood clots, weight gain   (Get up and get fidgety.  You don't need to end up at the hospital for other reasons during all of this.)

Not Inspired to Work Out at Home During the Coronavirus? Here's What Finally Helped Me   (I plan around the weather.  Sunny days- 3 mile walks, crappy days- weights or ropes.)

Here's why you're tired after a day of doing nothing in lockdown  (I feel like a damn sloth!)

All You Wanted To Know About Those Tax Stimulus Checks But Were Afraid To Ask  (According to Forbes, you will not have to pay them back next tax season and other questions answered.)

Is Winning the HGTV Dream Home Actually a Nightmare?  (About what I figured which is why I never enter.)

You Can Now Read 82 Vintage Cookbooks Online for Free   (Get cookin'!)

Missing an Ingredient? Here Are Substitutions You Can Use Instead  (Just in time!)

10 Little Ways to Spruce Up Your Home—Without Leaving Your House or Buying Anything  (Good...I've done enough retail therapy the past month.)

Daydream Over These Photos of Idyllic Cape Cod  (Rude)

The Curse of Playing the Wicked Witch of the West  (Man, I loved her.  I bawled my way through that video toward the bottom of her on the Mr Rogers show.  So sweet.  The link in the article doesn't work anymore, I found one that does so I'd watch it before they yank it.  Your heart needs it right now.)

28 Things Literally Everyone Experienced As A Kid But Never Talks About  (My favorite was "smoking" the bubble gum cigarettes.)

40 Years Ago: The New Wave of British Heavy Metal Breaks in America  (For the Mr.)

The battle rope workout I did the other day really got my delts and shoulders and between that and the TMJ acting up, I've been nursing a pretty wicked headache for 3 days.  We did a quick TJ's run Wednesday and got through in record time.  I picked up two tubs of the coconut butter lotion my friend said she was almost out of.  She's coming over to pick it up from the porch this weekend and when we were talking about what kind of junk food we were eating over lockdown, she mentioned she was hankerin' for Nutella fudge.  It's a microwave fudge so it's easy so I'll make a batch and split it with her and put half of our half in the freezer so I have an excuse to not have it all in the house.  She'll be a happy girl!

Anything planned for the weekend within the long arm of the law?

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Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Hump Day Poll: Whatchu Bringin'?


Cookout season is creeping up on us soon and if you're lucky, you'll get to enjoy it with others.  You're asked to bring a side dish...what do you bring?

(I bring either my cheeseball or a dessert, like chocolate chip sea salt cookies or banana cream pie.)

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Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Top o' the Tuesday to You



Yesterday was a balance of stuff I wanted to do and stuff I had to do.  I finished off season two of Big Little Lies and I guess that's going to be it for that show.  I had to fast forward through some of Meryl Streep's scenes because her character absolutely infuriated me and I have no wick left to light.  I suppose that speaks to how good of an actress she is.  But I also hate when shows end with a "gee, I wonder how all of that worked out for them" kind of thing too.  I know life isn't tied up in a pretty little bow but I would like my escape shows to be, thank you.  I made the Mr and I some pasta for lunch with this weird pasta his mom gave us for Christmas and figured now would be a good time to use it up.  I sliced up some focaccia I bought in a bread hoard 3 weeks ago so now we only have a slice left which is fine because fully intact, it took up a lot of room in the fridge.

After that, I had some bananas that were on the verge of needing pitched so I made butterscotch banana bread with an open bag of chips I had from the holidays.

Banana bread can be such a good dumping ground for those things,  It kind of reminds me when the Mr had Hawaiian chef Sam Choy cook a dinner for our 10 year anniversary.  He had his wife bake her famous banana bread and he brought a pint of this Haagen Daaz they had at the time called Macadamia Nut Brittle.  He warmed up her bread and put a slice on a plate, a scoop of ice cream on top and drizzled it with caramel sauce.  OMG, it was the best thing I'd ever eaten in my life.  I remember having it for breakfast the next morning and was just as heavenly.  I suppose I'm going to start getting very itchy for vacation memories soon since we're not getting ours this year.  This is the first anniversary we haven't been vacationing somewhere and it bites because we're fighting to keep the $1500 the guy is trying to screw us out of.  We've talked to our credit card company and we have to wait two weeks before they move on anything on that front.  Thankfully, the lady in Cape Cod was very nice (well. mostly except for the day she had a meltdown but I'm not holding it against her.)  Still waiting for that refund as well but VRBO is backed up for weeks on it.  It's a clusterf**k.  Just so you know, travel insurance won't cover pandemics so even that won't save your vacation.  You can bet after this is over in a year or two that they STILL won't cover them.  They'd go out of business.

Anyhoo...

After the banana bread was done, I started painting the wall.   The Mr was kind enough to use the edger I got last week to edge the tall wall (affiliate link) going up the stairs because I'd never do it if it was left up to me.  Then the wall I slapped paint on a week ago to "force" myself was mocking me and I figured I should just get it done, which I did.  It does feel good to finally have that over with.  Somewhere in there, the bottom of my yoga pants dragged through the paint which was fun to clean off both me and the laminate floor.  Pfft.  Always something irritating when painting is involved.

We went down and did Turbo Fire Sculpt 30 then took the recycling over and put the trash out.  You ever open your trash can and almost barf?  That was fun.  We caught up on 9-1-1 and that about took care of that.

How'd your week kick off?

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Monday, April 13, 2020

Easter Weekend Recap

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend and Easter holiday for those who celebrate.

Friday night after griping there was nothing on, I remembered HBO was doing a freebie and I've always wanted to see Barry with Bill Hader.  So we started watching after seeing rave reviews.  I think we were three episodes in and almost ready to throw in the towel because Sally was so damn annoying we didn't care anymore but then it got interesting so we hung in.  We watched both seasons over the weekend and it was pretty good.  We started watching Big Little Lies and I feel about the same and I think the Mr doesn't give a crap if we finish it.  So those were the things we watched. 

Other than these babies...


I'm hoping these morning glories will work out but we're at least off to a good start.

We knew we were going to have crappy weather Sunday so we went to Grandma's grave Saturday and ate her favorite maple eggs with her.



We sat around talked for awhile about bad barfing experiences as children and then busted out laughing and apologized for the topic.  The Mr said she'd probably be shaking her head or getting right in on the conversation.  Oddly, it felt like one of the more normal Easter's we've had.

Sunday, the Mr decided to do some edge painting on the wall that I've been too lazy to paint because I LOATHE trimming.  While he did that I got our Easter linner together.  The Mr and I's Easter plans weren't changed any due to all of this lockdown stuff.  It was just going to be the two of us anyway so I got to work on the bechamel sauce for my scalloped potatoes thanks to the other grocery store having way more in stock than ours does for our Friday pick up.


I had the Mr take a shower since he was a sweaty mess and I made his plate.


It looked like any other traditional Easter plate which was nice because if there's one thing that makes me feel more normal, it's tradition.

I made baby banana cream pies for us as well.


We felt stuffed and decided to go for a 3 miler around the hood before the evening storms rolled in.  The Mr went back to painting a little and I fired up the last of season one of Big Little Lies.  Boy, Nicole Kidman's marriage is a cluster and got quite irritating to watch.  I'll have to decide if I care to watch season two or not.

What did you guys do this weekend?

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Friday, April 10, 2020

What I'm Reading This Week #15

Good Friday to you all.  I hope you had a great week full of productivity, rest, and personal grooming because if you're like me you've gone full yeti and need to shave.  We've bounced back and forth between sunny days and rainy days so on sunny days it's been walking around the neighborhood and everyone has been awesome about staying away from each other but still giving a smile and hello.  The poor dogs.  They want you to pet them so badly but we're not risking it for us or their owners.  Of course, you'll see the occasional person pet them anyway and is then in someone's personal space and you have to shake your head.  We're not the social distancing police.

Let's shake into...




Do You Really Need to Walk 10,000 Steps a Day? Experts Say No  (Still don't reach that number but get pretty close on walk days.)

Why Is It So Hard to Get Work Done During Challenging Times?  (Number 2 for sure.)

It Took a Global Pandemic, But Generation X is Finally Getting Love  (Yeah, we're coping a lot better than some.)

I Couldn’t Sit Still While Meditating, So I Tried Walking Meditation Instead   (Sounds good to me.)

Don’t Let Your Marriage Become Another Coronavirus Casualty — Communication Strategies During Quarantine

7 Ways to Use the COVID-19 Crisis as a Personal Growth Opportunity  (Alrighty then.)

The surprising truth about introverts and stay-at-home orders  (Just because I typically stay home doesn't mean I'm coping well with not being given the choice.)

We guarantee this image will make you relax — in minutes   (I've used this for years if I can't get out of my head.)

Get in on this- you just need three items from your home and boredom

Quarantined Dad’s Endearing Video Shows What It’s Like Working From Home With a Toddler  (Homeboy gets big props from me because by the end of that day, I'd just be starting her therapy fund and she'd have to deal with the emotional fallout in 15-20 years.)

Podcasts From My Favorite "Old Guy with Knife"  (I know I'm late to the Marc Maron adoration society after seeing him on the first season of GLOW and he's definitely for those who like a healthy dose of "realism."  I've been spending my evenings winding down with his live streams from lockdown but if you're looking for a fun podcast to listen to while disinfecting, his are it.    He seems to make it into my final dreams right before it's time to wake up so I consider him my alarm clock now.)

If you're not following comic strip Cathy on IG, you're missing out  (She is making lockdown bearable and relatable!  I particularly love yesterday's flattering the curve one.  SO TRUE.  Ack!)

It's Easter weekend and honestly, we're spending it the way we kind of wanted to anyway.  My family decided in January they wanted to go to this super crappy restaurant the day before Easter for our "celebration."  While a pandemic isn't quite what I was hoping for to get us out of it, I'm still glad we didn't have to endure that nasty place.  I already have the good ham slices frozen and they thaw fine for sandwiches.  So the Mr and I will have our own Easter like we were going to anyway.  We've got a grocery pickup tonight at a different location hoping that we will have better luck there for a few things for our holiday.  Our Easter baskets will double as comfort candy.

How are you spending your weekend/celebrating Easter?


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Thursday, April 9, 2020

The Argument FOR Exercise During Lockdown


During the reno, we had no workout space.  It was raining buckets outside so we couldn't exercise for the first week.  When they left, I painted until I crippled myself daily for hours on end which I counted as my workouts.  The following week I stress ate here and there but we walked every night for 3 miles until I crippled myself again because I wasn't smart enough to roll and stretch when we got back.  Then I started reading all of these articles talking about how "losing weight is not what you should be focusing on right now" or "the worst thing that could happen to you right now isn't that you gain weight."  True.  I bought into that too.

Is gaining weight at the top of my worry list?  No.  But I also have zero desire to work off a bunch of weight I gained using this pandemic as an excuse not to exercise.  I hadn't done strength in 3 weeks by the time I did it for the first time last Friday in a 30 minute session.  I didn't like the way I felt because even though strength training hurts sometimes, I also feel less soft which has zero to do with weight and everything to do with feeling strong.  For some reason, that "dude with a sign" guy got irritated and posted for people to stop posting their home workouts.  Apparently, almost 2 million people "liked" that idea.  I know one person who didn't, my Beachbody trainer Joel Freeman who posted his own response to that.

I understand that people are scared, I am too.  I understand that people want to eat cake and brownies without feeling judged for some comfort, me too.  I understand that somehow even though we have all of this time to work out at home now, some people don't want to and feel judged for not doing it.  Sometimes, I don't want to work out but I always feel better when I do, especially mentally.  Doing cardio whether going on a walk, run or doing an at-home workout isn't being done in this house for weight loss purposes, it's to keep our hearts pumping efficiently and our immune system boosted.  I think the worst thing anyone can do is get sucked into the old way of thinking that people only exercise to lose weight.  If you choose not to, that's fine.  (I hope you do just for your own immune system and overall health at least 3 days a week because really, there's only so much binge-watching you can do.)

But making people who are sharing their workouts into social media villains who should have their eyes rolled at them for focusing on what society deems "the wrong thing" at this time makes me shake my head.  These people are looking to connect.  They're saying "I may not be at the gym or my routine is different but I'm still taking care of myself."  A lot of those same people posting workouts are also talking about the weight they're gaining because they mix a workout with a pint of ice cream.  We've been doing the same.  We're living in unprecedented times and everyone is going to react differently.  It doesn't make it wrong, it makes it different.  I see a lot of things I shake my head at but I don't have to comment on it.  If we are all truly "in this together" then sit back and let people do what they do, boo.

Hopefully, we all come out of this on the other side with a lot of lessons learned in general and how we choose to take care of ourselves when the going gets tough says a lot about us.

Are you sticking with (or starting) your exercise routine?


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Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Hump Day Poll: Trapped!


If you had to be trapped for a month inside any TV show, what would it be?

(For me, Three's Company because John Ritter.   I mean who wouldn't want to be the object of Jack Tripper's affection?)



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Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Springing Into Color

This time of year, we're all itching to start digging around in the garden and break out of what some consider a winter lockdown.  By April, I always come to accept that even though Prince sang "Sometimes It Snows In April" that is super rare and not like we'll get to snowshoe.  Obviously, this year is different and after not only coming out of what everyone else is going through but a precariously planned kitchen/living room reno, I needed some life in this space.  I saw that some farmhouse bloggers were raving about Dollar Hydrangea about a month or so ago.  I thought that would be the perfect thing to treat us to pops of spring around the house.

These are typically used for bigger events like a wedding or if you have a huge house to style.  But after the reno, the Mr starting his new job and our new forced togetherness, this counted as a big event in my book.

I chose the Fresh Blue Wholesale Hydrangea for $57 for 25 stems.  This is how they arrive.


You might freak out a little to see them kind of smashed in there.  I know I did when I saw a blogger showing them off and they looked all sad and squished.


What she didn't do is fluff them up!  This is what the above stem looks like when you gently spread the petals apart a little bit.


I was excited and then it was time to fill up mason jars and cups to tuck into vases and baskets and get decorating.


It brought the perfect pop to the mantel.


The pass thru got a nice bit of color.


A couple of vases to take upstairs to the bathroom and the Mr's office.


Even the side of the fridge got some!


It's so nice to be settling in and look up and see a bit of Spring.  I love them so much.


We may not be able to wander the nurseries willy nilly right now but that doesn't mean we can't treat ourselves or send some to someone who is going through self-quarantine alone and needs a pick me up.



What have you done to treat yourself lately?

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Monday, April 6, 2020

Binge watching and Being Social at a Distance

Happy Monday everyone.  I hope you had a productive weekend.

We started our weekend by firing up the Netflix gift card and starting our Ozark marathon.  About halfway through the first episode, I decided I was not invested enough to give a crap about the Byrde's and the stress they bring.  So I began working on my DIY masks.



I took one of my old favorite designs from Crazy shirts and cut out my favorite designs as a little extra protection over the nose and we went on a drive Saturday and took them just in case.

The next morning I got up and saw my shelves I ordered from Wayfair came.  Too bad they sent me the wrong color.  😠  I had some varnish out already so I sanded a little bit off of the front and slapped a bit of stain on the front lip and it looks like it'll take.  I don't have it in me to go through the whole return and wait for it to come again and hope it's the right thing process.  So I'll just put on my big girl panties and sand and stain when the mood hits....sometime in the Fall.

I was getting cabin fever, tired of Ozark and it was a nice day so I suggested a drive in the country.  My friend lives in the country and I texted her but didn't hear anything back.  We decided to drive by just to see if their cars were there (they have a LONG driveway, about 1/4 mile) and saw the dude half mowing the lawn.  There was someone on our butt so we went up the road and flipped around then we drove by again.  This time my friend was by the road so we honked and waved.  She waved us into her driveway and she stood about 10' away and we started what we thought would be a quick chat.  Three hours later!  She obviously needed to talk and about some heavy stuff too so we felt like maybe we were guided there.  But then three hours of our day was gone and I had a Michael's order for curbside ready and by the time we left, they were closed.  We went home and had dinner and finished up Ozark by midnight.  Tom Pelphrey was the ONLY thing that saved that season for me.  I would say do to them what happened in the finale to someone else but man did he bring it.  I remember him from Guiding Light days and always liked him and knew he had it in him to be more than a "soap actor."  Kudos to him and thanks for the bagel eyes from crying.

Sunday was rainy and with the blackout curtains up, that means I slept until 10:30am after a brief 30 minutes up around 7:15am.  We went to Michaels and did our pick up and nothing sounded good to me for lunch.  I chugged some chocolate milk and an organic strawberry bar for brunch so that was holding me pretty good.  I did have some pretty crappy looking bananas I was going to have to do something with or throw away.  So I rummaged the bins downstairs and found "expired" Scharfen Berger chips.  I broke them open and they weren't bloomed and tasted fine to me.  I grabbed some of the vegan butter I had leftover from my friend's fiance's stint as a vegan.   (Nope, they're still not married...had to cancel a third time.  Everyone I tell that to says "um, maybe the universe is giving her a sign to which I smile and think 'glad I'm not the only one thinking that.')  I melted that down and made one of my go to quick banana bread recipes and threw that together.



I felt very drained and blah.  Not that I didn't have plenty to do but no energy to do any of it.  The Mr was antsy to get some things done so I had to haul my ass off of the couch and spackle and paint some crap.  We got some carryout for dinner from the steakhouse up the road since we basically didn't eat all day except for the bar and milk.  We caught up on some YouTube and DVR stuff and that was about it.

Thrilling.

What did you do this weekend?

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Friday, April 3, 2020

What I'm Reading This Week #14

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you've had a tolerable week and haven't rummaged through all of your DVR and lockdown snacks yet.  We had to chase down a delivery yesterday.  I really don't know how hard it is to deliver a package to the place listed but somehow FedEx consistently drops the ball.  Let's hope they don't do that today because my butt is counting on them to get this one right.

Let's wipe into...


Is Your Personality Stressing You Out?  (I didn't need an article to confirm this but still.)

We Went on Two Dates—and Then Moved In Together Because of Coronavirus   (This will be interesting to see where they are come fall.)

Hell Yeah, We’re Stress-Eating! And It’s Totally OK During These Times  (Oh good, I don't feel so bad about the S'mores ice cream,)

7 Entertaining—and Unique—Virtual Experiences to Try Right Now  (BRB, going to the Winchester Mystery House!)

80 Conversation Starters That Don’t Have To Do With Coronavirus  ("Anyone else have a five wiper when you're on the final quarter of the last roll of TP?")

How to Clean an Electric Kettle  (Gotta do that today.)

This Is Why Dogs Spin Around Before They Poop  (Hey, me too!)

Dolly Parton Reads Bedtime Stories  (I don't care how old I am, Miss Dolly can read me a bedtime story any day.)

I'm lockin' down with Ina  (Just have Jeffrey leave mine at the door.  LOVE her curly hair!)

This song instantly soothes me every time

I should probably get some stuff cleaned up this weekend but we'll see how that goes. 

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Thursday, April 2, 2020

Playing Emotional Catch Up

I guess I'll do a "trigger warning" if reading about people dealing with their new lockdown reality isn't something you want to read about right now.  You won't offend me.  I'm having to pick and choose what I read about these days too.  



I got some wood all polyed up yesterday which felt like a major win given how I've felt the past few days.

Not gonna lie, I've been a scattered mess.  The Mr and I are just starting to absorb everything y'all have had about two weeks to absorb so we're playing emotional catch up.  I'm trying to figure out if our reactions to things are overreactions or if we're about on par with how people are feeling.  I just know I can't keep breaking out into hives every day or having anxiety attacks with too much reading or I'm not going to make it mentally intact by whenever.

Last night after our walk in the hood and talking with some of our neighbors at socially acceptable distances, we saw that this is at the forefront of everyone's mind.  The one neighbor lady almost started crying and we told her where we lived if she needed anything.  She lives alone and I think the other lady does too.  The walks are the only thing that keeps us feeling normal these days.  Then the subject of the grocery store comes up and it just gets frustrating all over again.  I know they're doing the best they can but pick ups are a week out, delivery isn't even an option at some of them where I thought I was lucking out and that just leaves going into the store to expose ourselves.  I'm just going to ask...anyone else wearing a mask?  (Homemade or otherwise)  The Mr thinks we should be but I've only seen one person do that.  We hand sanitize the second we get to the car, then wash our hands when we get home.  I'm just curious what everyone is doing since no one really seems to talk about that.

We watched the 80's classic, April Fools Day because, well, you know.  We ate pizza and ice cream at my suggestion too...ask if I care right now.  I ate right the rest of the day so I'm not too worried.  During the movie, I looked up Deborah Foreman (the main actress) and saw her website and that it said "Philippians 4 6-7." 

I'm not a bible reader so I couldn't pull it up mentally so I looked it up and here it is:

(Source)

It helped me to read it and I thought I'd share it in case someone else needed to see it. 

Or if you're not down with that kind of thing, here's a puppy.

(Source)



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Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Hump Day Poll: Sleepy Time



Happy April 1st...foo!

Here's a fill in the blank poll for ya this week.

I sleep with _________.

1.  A Fan/White Noise Machine On

2.  Music On

3.  A Nightlight On

4.  The TV On

5.  Complete Silence

(For me, loud air purifier.)

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