What I'm Reading This Week #17

So long April, we hardly knew ye!  It was one of those weird months that went by both fast and slow.  I'm just hoping temps stay mild for a little while longer and nothing drastic temp wise until June.  (Unless it wants to stay cool, then I'm cool with that but yeah, no flop sweat and bugs on walks kind of days yet please.  I don't live in the South for a reason.)  

Now let's flop into...

73 Healthy Packed Lunches To Get You Through The Workday  (We are in a lunch rut for sure!)

Does Iceberg Lettuce Really Have No Nutritional Value?  (I know it's not as nutritionally fancy as spinach but dang there is nothing better than an old school iceberg salad with Catalina French dressing and soy bacon bits like Ponderosa style.)

9 Chair Exercises That Will Light Up Your Entire Body  (This is an awesome workout for those with mobility or balance issues but also a good travel workout.)

10 Short, Simple Steps to Having a Cleaner Bedroom (Pretty sure my solution involves matches)

Why You Need to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication ASAP  (Do it.  Lotsa bad stuff circulating right now)

How to Get Rid of Gnats in Your Plants for Good  (One of the main reasons I don't do indoor plants.)

The Best Way to Apply Foundation, According to Beauty Experts  (I swear man, I feel like I cannot catch up with all of the this and that crap that you need to do in order to just put on a face.  I watch beauty tutorials (for mature skin now.  When the F did that happen!?!) and sorely miss the days of slapping on whatever was cheapest on my face and not having to worry about ingredients, layering, serums, blah blah blah.  I can almost still smell the Covergirl foundation with cosmetic wedges now.)

Should I get a smart lock? The pros and cons of going digital on your door  (Not for us but I get why some people would want one.)

How to lock down your Twitter data, or leave, before Musk takes over  (I have a Twitter I don't use but deleting it anyway.  That platform is full of so much hate it's not funny, it doesn't need help swirling the drain with that dude taking over.)

Woman Discovers Neighbor Secretly Playing Fetch With Her Dog Through The Fence Every Chance He Gets  (Oh my heart, this is so sweet!)

I found a pic of that mouse I wrote about in Wednesday's post:

It's not from the best angle and I guess it kind of looks more like a shark so I had Baby Shark going on long before it became an annoyance!  But it's still cute and I love it's 80's style and more importantly what it stands for.

The computer hard drive bit the weenie with relish after only two years and I had a site issue for well over an hour that induced quite the butt pucker moments earlier in the week.  We're getting antsy from those stressors and others, so a long drive is in our future.  We haven't done a good one in a long time so we're due!  Other than that, nothing set in stone.

Any road trips in your future?

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Hump Day Poll: Those Who Made an Impact

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What teacher made an impact on you as a kid?

I was in 4th grade when the rug got pulled out from under me with my parents divorcing.  I was deathly afraid that my mom was going to leave me too and I would be alone to fend for myself somehow.  I would break down and cry almost every day. Kids would stare at me and not know what to say.  

My teacher that year was not a warm and fuzzy lady.  She wasn't mean, just kind of awkward and no real sense of humor.  She would sometimes allow me to eat lunch in the classroom if my crying jag was particularly bad that day.  Many times they would have to call my mom to calm me down either over the phone or in person to which that eventually got old and I was told that I couldn't keep pulling her from job especially now that hers was the only income we were going to have.  

Sensing my desperation and need for something to comfort me, my teacher kept me for a few minutes after school and gave me a big stuffed mouse that her friend made.  It looked like an apple doll I had carved earlier in the year that ended up in the paper before my life exploded.  She told me that I couldn't tell the other kids and she could get in trouble but she wanted me to know that someone cared and if I was lonely (I was also a latchkey kid) I could hug the mouse and feel less alone.

Almost 40 years later, I still have that mouse and I will never get rid of it despite it being probably a good 20" tall.  That mouse reminds me that in our darkest hour, someone can step forward and be the hero you need in a place you never expected to have one.  Thanks Miss G!  Your kindness to a quivering heap of a kid has lived on for decades!

What teacher made an impact on you as a kid?

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Dis and Dat Weekend Recap

Last week after getting rid of the lamps in the bedroom and installing the new ceiling fan, we knew we needed to go with some wall lamps.  The ceiling fan is nice but we're used to boob lamps which while not very stylish anymore, did put out an even layer of lighting whereas the new one is more almost spotlight centric and doesn't radiate out too far.  Enter these wall lamps:

I know, a little hotel-y looking (and feeling) but they work perfectly in the space.  For under $65 (at time of publishing) I got two lamps for half the price of one that I had before so that already felt like a win.  Then having lamps not taking up valuable nightstand tops was a double win.  I was able to clean off and *gasp* potentially use the morning tea maker I put out two years ago.

Oh and fun fact:  we may have radon.  I would not in a million years have thought to check for it because our townhome was built in the late 90's and for some reason I just didn't think it was something we needed to worry about.  I only checked because I came across some rando's blog talking about buying and selling tips and to make sure you check for radon because two of their four houses had to have remediation.  I decided to get one of these home tests that you let go for a few days then send in and get the results emailed to you.  We got the email and it was 5.8.  The EPA standard for safe levels of radon is 2-4.  Research showed us sometimes the charcoal tests can be a little off so we got this radon monitor as a follow up measure as well and started the process of looking for potential remediation people with good reviews.  Initially, we put the monitor in the living room to see what it said for where we spend most of our time.  It came back around 2 for 18 hours of monitoring which we were relieved by.  Then I said we needed to put it downstairs where the original test was and of course it started going up.  At one point we were at 4 but then it started going back down again to mid 3's.  We're going to do a month long monitor of the area to see if we need to go ahead with remediation or not.  We'll likely have the company we're talking with come out to do a 'peace of mind' test if the levels are too close for our liking.  So if you've never done a radon test, I would seriously consider doing at least the charcoal one because radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer.  When you hear people talking about having it and never smoked in their life, they could've been exposed to radon.

The Mr kicked butt and got the garage basically finished up enough to put stuff back.  We haven't gone through and whittled down stuff on the shelves he just put back up but that'll come soon.  So the walls and ceiling are all painted.  I have to say, if you have an old garage with flat paint, use it as an excuse to take everything down and get some satin paint on the walls.  The paper from rolling the paint was rolling off in chunks and made for a lot of patchwork.  I dealt with it a little on the wall I did but he got a lot of it from the ceiling as if that wasn't awkward enough to deal with.   Future you will be very glad you did it.  We just have to hope that the new paint holds the sheetrock together.  😬  We'll probably get some floor paint for the garage to do in a few weeks since it's been about 15 years since we painted it.

After he finished that up Friday, we headed over to Grandma's and put yellow roses (her favorite) on her grave and did 2 laps around the cemetery.  We had to end the night giving each other mutual massages because the painting got to him and apparently walking gets to me.  

Saturday we tried a new to us place that actually had a good burger.  Holy crap that never happens!  So that was a good way to start the day.  We drove around a bit but everyone and their mother was out since it was going to be in the 80's.  We both hit a wall and it was time for a nappy nap and sadly, that really about did us in for the day.  Not interested in hanging out in blazing sun and while we should've been cleaning and doing other crap, the procrastination took hold as it always does.  

Random thought: do you ever social media peep people you were friends with in high school on occasion?   You see the crap they post about such as being "tired of other people's crap, disrespect and how people are always doing them wrong" for YEARS on their page.   Then you remember what they used to be like in school and wonder "have you ever thought potentially you're the problem?"  Man, sometimes you just think "I dodged a bullet letting that one fade out of my life!"  Just me?  As you were. 

Sunday we lazed around until we got our grocery delivery then time for lunch.  Then I got the message I've been dreading.  One of my good friends (the one I gave the bedroom lamps to) who has just about every co-morbidity you can list may have Covid after potentially being exposed either at his partner's Easter celebration (which he did NOT want to go to for that very reason but didn't want to be the 'bad guy' anymore) or the next day at his dentist who friggin' took of HER mask while working on him despite it saying everywhere that masks are required.  He's going in for testing today and will continue to home test since the newest strains can take up to three home tests after onset of symptoms to come up positive until there is a heavier viral load.  Now I get to sit here and pray that he makes it 1) not just through the infection but 2) that he has no long term effects that are immediate or pop up months from now since his body is basically walking inflammation.  If you're a praying bunch, please throw out a few for my other boo.  I've known him since I was 14 and would be devastated if anything happened to him especially this way.   (I know I don't have to say this for my regulars but anyone tempted to throw in an unempathetic BS comment on this subject and how I'm blowing it out of proportion after knowing of three people who died and others with life threatening long Covid, it will go straight to the spam folder.)

We got in a somewhat early workout while we whirled some laundry and watched the real Wonder Years from the 80's and that put a fork in our weekend.

Did you do anything fun/productive/relaxing this weekend?

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What I'm Reading This Week #16

Happy happy Friday to you sexy beasts!  Did you have a good week?  

We enjoyed the lower temps before this weekend came along which will be in the 80's and you all know the hate/hate relationship I have with anything over 75.  I do think it might give me a boost to pull dead plants from last year that aren't popping back up.  I'm always surprised by a few annuals that come back the next year like the ones hanging on one wall out there so I've learned not to pull them.  But I know mulching is happening soon so I've got to get to pulling weeds or they'll just dump it on top of them or skip it altogether and we'll have to call them back to do it and they'll purposely do a crappy job.  

tenor.com

Now let's experience...

(oh hey!  Did you know that my overused ellipsis marks unnerve Gen Z because it makes them feel like "they're in trouble" according to the interwebs.  Look...we had ellipsis long before it meant someone was texting you back then decided not to and left you on read.  We also had the pound sign (#) before you called it a hashtag thinking you created something new.  Oops, I'm letting my Gen X show! 😇)

As I was saying...and now...let's experience...

Health Benefits of Einkorn, the ‘Mother of All Grains'  (I use this flour to bake our 'snack' muffins.  I've made carrot/banana/pineapple muffins and blueberry muffins and use a 1:1 ratio and have never had a problem with dryness.  Gluten sensitive people tolerate this very well because it hasn't been effed with like everything else they sell us.)

These 6 Calf Stretches Will Ease Tight Calves and Relieve Tension  (The second stretch is literally the most important stretch you can do for your body.  It connects EVERYTHING!  It doesn't hurt to have a yoga strap by your desk too to give a stretchy stretch during phone calls.)

The 18 Best Natural Remedies for Headaches  (We do a few of these especially the peppermint oil and this neck wrap is a life saver to the point we have one we take when we travel.  We always prefer natural remedies if possible.)

10 Easy Shoulder Mobility Exercises That Ease Pain and Improve Range of Motion  (Keep those shoulders untweaked!)

How Bad Is It to Never Deep Clean Your House?  (I suck at this.  This is for the others that suck at it too.  Actually the part about the dust mites is so gross, I immediately wiped down everything next to my bed the next morning.)

How to clean glass shower doors – so they are streak-free fast  (I should probably get on this.  Luckily I've got the ingredients on hand and you probably do too!)

How Much Can You Actually Save on Electricity by Unplugging Appliances?  (Isn't that potential $165 better in your pocket than someone else's?)

How to Tell If Your GE Refrigerator Was Just Recalled  (Check those model numbers!)

Nostalgic Photos Show Fashion Styles of Young People in the 1980s  (You know, when I was around 7 or 8, I couldn't wait until I was old enough to dress similarly to those in pic 10 in an angora sweater, jeans and pumps (because that was dressing up) to go to the bar at Brown Derby.  By the time I was old enough, the style was sloppy flannel, no makeup and straight ass hair.  Thanks a lot Seattle for ruining two things at once.)

“This Is My Life Now”: 50 Funny Pics Of People And Animals Accepting Uncommon Situations  (OMG, these are hilarious!)

We have so much to do this weekend and not a ton of time to do it.  

(tenor.com)

We need to clean the house in there somewhere too.  Where are elves or the correct cleaning genes from previous generations when you need them?  

What's on your plate this weekend?

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Hump Day Poll: What's Yours?

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What do you consider your best physical feature?

I've always felt my smile was my best physical feature.  I very distinctly remember meeting Lorenzo Lamas in the 80's at some promotion he was doing.  Oh, you don't know who that is?  

Let me refresh your memory for those alive in the 80's:

(The jock from Grease  (tenor.com))

and

(some bounty hunter dude apparently but I knew him from Falcon Crest.  Try to find a Falcon Crest gif in 2022!  (tenor.com)) 

So I went up to get his autograph and we smiled at each other and he did a double take and said "WOW, you have the most beautiful smile!"  You could tell he was genuine and not just some schmaltzy reply he was using because he didn't say that to anyone else there.  (There wasn't a huge line so you could hear everything he said.)  Then I proceeded to take a picture with him that looked like I'd just eaten an 8x8 pan of edibles because I was still swooning at the tender age of 12.  I didn't need him to tell me that though, I was blessed with straight teeth that people always accused me of having braces to get it, which is weird.  Like, "people!  I have this ONE thing, let me have it!  It's not sorcery or braces!"

How about you?  What do you consider your best physical feature?

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Productive Easter Weekend Recap

(tenor.com)

Hello Monday!  Hello beautiful people!  Happy Easter food hangover day!  Actually we did that Saturday.  It was just going to be us again and while I made an effort the first two Easters of Covid to attempt to make things special, now we're just like 'get the ham slices out of the sleeve."  I didn't even bother to clean off the table all the way.  So yeah, we're cemented in it now.  😆 

As I mentioned last week, I started cleaning up my nightstand.  I got the organizers for the drawer and was able to divide things up so that all of the crap left after a mini purge of the drawer and top were all able to to fit in there nicely.  You can see by the top pic that everything is wrangled but it probably looks junky to someone who doesn't use the drawer.  The bottom pic shows the way the dividers are in there with the left side being closest to the bed.

The stuff I use most often like lotion, potions, sex toys, foot files, etc are in the biggest bin that I can just reach in there and have it at my fingertips.  Then lesser or rarely used things the farther from my reach.  It's really nice to have some calmness where that's concerned as it's the first thing I see every day and not a good way to start the morning or end the day.  

Then there was what to do with the lamps that were on the nightstands.  They're pretty but I know there is an impending bedroom redo and the colors no longer match what I want.  More than that though is they take up about a third of the surface of the nightstand.

We were already going to be dropping off some belts we got for a friend and I asked him last minute if he had any use for these lamps.  I didn't know that they were his style but they were Pottery Barn and I didn't really just want to donate them if he could use them.   He said they would gladly take them and I was so happy.  He was also the recipient of a special lamp my grandma got me that really went with his décor when I was changing mine that he features prominently in his living room so he's my light guy.  We went to his place midday to drop that off (with some Easter treats) and then went to a local beach to just talk and look at the water.  

Then we went back home and watched a bunch of crap.  

The night we met my friend last week, when we came home and were about to go upstairs, the A/C came on and we heard what sounded like a broken fan blade meeting rocks.  I turned it off but just before I did, the noise stopped.  The Mr went out to see what the damage was and it turns out with the construction going on continues to drive field mice our way and Mickey went on his final tilt a whirl ride.  The next day he was buried at sea and we ordered this cover for the top of the unit.  I have never liked that when we replaced the HVAC a few years ago that the top of the unit had a pretty open cage over it.  We could easily stick our hands down there if we wanted to and I always worried about something bigger getting in there despite us having a "critter" barricade around the bottom of our fences but obviously they still find a way in.  The Mr put it on Saturday when it arrived so that will hopefully keep everything from taking any final whirls into the afterlife.

Sunday we got up and around.  I made some sloppy joe's which we sometimes had at Grandma's, not necessarily for Easter but I grabbed some Manwich on a whim at some point and throwing it in with some 93% beef seemed like it would be good on Easter day.   We went to Grandma's to walk and we enjoyed her favorite Russell Stover maple egg to celebrate the day with her.  Then we came home and it was time to get the new ceiling fan up in the bedroom.  This is what we were replacing:

Your typical "boob lamp" ceiling fan.  (Actually, you may remember it's sister who got the DIY treatment 10 years ago whose time is coming this week for replacement.)  I wasn't even in the market for one but some dude was talking on his site about redoing a room in their new to them home and had a flush mount ceiling fan on his mood board and suddenly I'm on Home Depot ordering it.  It just pushed me after the past few weeks lamenting that I felt like I was going to get my fingers clipped off when changing my clothes after workouts or in the morning.  I got one that doesn't really match right now but will eventually and I get an extra few inches of clearance.  

These are the choices of blade color for the new fan:

Apparently, some ceiling fans don't even have light bulbs anymore!!

There are three modes to choose from on these LED's.  Blinding daylight with that blue cast (output 5,000K), soft white (3000K output) and what I chose, warm white (2700K output).  There's also a remote so you can just click the light or fan on or off and there are three fan speeds with the highest setting being called "Dutch oven dissipater."  (Maybe not but it should be.)

Here's the before and after:

That was our big weekend.  Thanks to the Mr for standing uncomfortably on the bed whilst installing the fan!

How was your weekend?

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What I'm Reading This Week #15

Happy Friday all!  Hope it's a good one for you.  Those who celebrate Easter will see what I did there and give it a hearty 

(tenor.com)

We had all cold weather last weekend so no painting was accomplished since it never got over 40 degrees.  But the Mr did work on that yesterday so there was progress made.  I actually cleaned off my nightstand and threw away stuff so I could use organizers to get things in some kind of order.  We did go to my old elementary school last weekend and it was just really sad.  A big warehouse is being built not too far away and the country won't be country much longer.  There is truly nothing worse than watching your whole life be erased.  I rattled off a list of things that were gone from my childhood (including most of my schools and this one is waiting to be torn down) as well as our dating life and it was friggin' depressing.  We were both swirling the drain all last weekend so it was better not to do a weekend recap of any kind because no one wants to heat about that crap and I didn't care to relive it or try to bedazzle a turd of a weekend.  We did meet a friend of mine there Tuesday night for a 3 1/2 hour chat in nice cool temps.  It was good to see her especially since she's been having a rough year.  I do wish I weren't such an empath though because dang, there was a lot of emotions to absorb and try to wring out of my sponge self that night and all of the following day.

Now let's follow...

Why Sourdough Bread Can Boost Your Longevity, According to a Registered Dietitian  (Yes please!)

People who don’t drink enough water each day ‘at risk of killer disease’  (*chugs from my mondo water bottle upon reading*)

Prebiotics vs probiotics: differences, benefits and foods  (Always good to get a variety in all the time but especially if you're trying to rebuild your immune system after antibiotics)

11 Benefits of Stretching That Will Make You Want to Move Your Body  (My body is in CONSTANT need of stretching but I only do it after a workout or while brushing my teeth.  Might need to keep a yoga mat in the living room for some nighttime stretching)

Psoas Stretch: 3 Hip Flexor Stretches & Anatomy  (OMG, mine are SO tight and I highly recommend these over having an LMT dig at it.  If you're fat and they go digging, they could actually hurt you.  I've never been so close to smacking mine a few years ago and I said "don't ever touch me there again, that HURT."  So yeah, do these instead!)

5 Tips for When You Can’t Fall Back Asleep After Waking Up to Pee  (Gee, I don't remotely know what this is like *hard eye roll*)

Your Ex (And Everybody Else) Can See You Looking At Their LinkedIn Profile  (I don't use LinkedIn but this is scary especially when you see how the chick got busted.  Change your settings if you think you're being stealthy checking people out or create a scroll account for Seymour Butz or I.P. Freely)

Why You Should Stop Calling Things You Enjoy ‘Guilty Pleasures’  (I say this to anyone who tries to call something I like a guilty pleasure.  Actually I say "no guilt, all pleasure."  My friend loves to dump on the movie Staying Alive (the sequel to Saturday Night Fever) and I always proudly tell her it's one of my favorite movies ever.  That movie got me through countless forced visitation as a kid and is like a security blanket to me.  Plus anyone who can't see that it's a story of a man who finally grows the hell up and puts his future in motion with a rather bangin' bod to admire can't be reasoned with.  With 4 1/2 stars on Amazon, I'm obviously not alone.)

Kurt Loder on infamous 1998 Jewel interview: 'I've been ashamed of having done it ever since'  (I'm not a Jewel fan but this is an interesting story behind the meaning of her first hit.  Incidentally, I remember this clip and I never could stand Kurt Loder because he was such a pompous ass and brought down MTV's vibe.  His opinions were always wrapped in a bouquet on condescension that made his face figuratively "very punchable" as they say.  I hope he truly has been ashamed of the way he spoke about her and isn't just ashamed because she called him out.)

Guy Shares 27 Things He Wished He'd Known Before Hitting 30  (There's actually some good stuff in here!  Hey Mr, we should probably do #8 pretty soon and soak them in CLR.  Didn't know #12.  Now I want to drive a freeway and I'll be doing #17 soon!)

We are ready for the Easter bunny over here.  (Any other adults still do baskets?  No?  Just us?  As you were.)  We've got some ham to pick up tonight after work then going to keep it relatively simple with ham sammies, beans, mac and cheese and a baby cheeseball.  At some point we'll drop off something to my friend and that's about all we have planned.  Might drive over to Grandma's and have a Russell Stover's maple egg in her honor but other than that, same ol' poo.

Any plans for the weekend/holiday?  If you celebrate Easter, what do you usually have on your Easter table?

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Hump Day Poll: Thank you Easter Bunny...

If you answered "bock bock" you are officially awesome.  If you have no friggin' clue what I'm referring to click here.

(source)

Hump Day multi-question Poll.

Do you still get Easter bunnies?  Solid or hollow?  What flavor?  Is that what you've always gotten or have your tastes changed as you got older?  Do you bite off the ears, butt or just go for it wherever the teeth land?

For me:

Yes

Hollow (Lindt) though I prefer solid but you know, calories delicious points.

I flip back and forth between dark and milk.  This year it's milk.

I went through a few years as a tween that I wanted white chocolate but that phase is long gone.

Nothing like a good piece of tail so that's where I start if I'm feeling sassy.

Your turn.

Do you still get Easter bunnies?  

Solid or hollow?  

What flavor?  

Is that what you've always gotten or have your tastes changed as you got older?  

Do you bite off the ears, butt or just go for it wherever the teeth land?

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What I'm Reading This Week #14

Sup y'all?  It's Friday again and you know what that means.

(tenor.com)

This week has been a learning experience on what my body will and won't allow exercise wise.  Sunday when we walked the historic district which is all uneven cobblestone sidewalks from the stones and tree roots, I felt a point where my hamstring was kind of like "I hate you.  Imma make you pay."  We got home and actually remembered to roll and stretch so I was all proud of us.  Then we did a pretty kick butt Juice and Toya strength session the next day and I was sore but not as sore as I thought I'd be.  What did I do Tuesday?  Hey, let's throw in an old school Tae Bo and this time I'm going to kick like I mean it and I'm also going to do the leg portion at the end that we usually skip.  (This leg portion is like hydrant lifts and oh hey, I found it on YouTube, it's this part.)  So I did that part as best I could which is always hard because my legs are so heavy.  So that's a lot for my butt and inner thighs to do.  I rolled really well afterward...except I forgot my inner thighs.  As we were getting up for bed, my left inner thigh decided to cramp.  I had horror flashbacks of the Great Valentine's Debacle of 2018 and remembered how the doctor told me I was probably about to have a literal stroke from the pain as so many people do.  I breathed out and grabbed The Stick which was right beside me and began rolling.  I had the Mr massage my calf.  I hopped up and got myself upstairs, slathered on the Epsom salt gel, took a Canadian ibuprofen (the good stuff) and the Mr got the heating pad going and I just tried to lay as still as possible all night.  I attacked it again the next day with some rolling and despite doing an upper body workout Wednesday, my legs were still VERY tight.  I had the heating pad on it, dug into it with my fingers as well as that little myofascial release tool I shared a few months back.  Relief would last about 45 minutes before everything tightened back up again.  If you looked on the previous Vday post, you can see I did two or three workouts where I had some kicking going and was making sure I kicked high.  Apparently, my body doesn't care for me going from kicking at 8 o'clock to 10 o'clock whilst skipping 9 o'clock.  Perhaps one day I shall learn this.  For now, I get to look like a cheetah from all of the digging.  Aces.

Now let's dig into...

Loosen Up Already: Try These 9 Glute Stretches for Tight Muscles  (My Lord I've been a tight @ss for like 2 months now so I desperately need these.)

This One Yoga Pose Releases Tight Hips and Tension in Your Pelvic Floor  (Also called "foreplay's over.")

4 Reasons You Should Brush Your Tongue and How to Clean It Properly  (It still grosses me out to think people don't brush their tongues.  It's like putting cooked chicken back in the marinade you used for raw chicken.  GROSS!  Even better, use a tongue scraper/brush in between brushes!)

Why "I Don’t Want to" Is an Acceptable Answer (No is a complete sentence.  Explaining yourself takes away your power and nothing you say is going to be good enough to the person you're explaining to unless you bend to their will.)

How to Recognize Your Partner's 'Bids for Connection' and Maybe Save Your Relationship  (These are one of the first things we learned in our marriage therapy.  It's a crucial first step in making things better.)

How to optimize your bedroom for better sleep: 4 easy Feng Shui changes to make tonight  (Sorry but I live in a shoebox and I've seen too many Criminal Minds episodes to do #2.)

Puppy dog eyes are a manipulation tactic, study shows (I don't think there's a dog owner alive that would find this news.  We never fell for it and would ignore.  Then she'd inch closer every five minutes, nudge a hand to see if we'd bite and if we didn't it was climb onto the gut for a full neck hug with her tail sucked into her butt.  Okay...forgiven.)

A woman went viral on TikTok for sharing how she told her now-husband that she hated (she didn't say that) her engagement ring (Okay, I have to speak up here as someone who almost fell into the same situation.  The Mr's mom somehow thought that she would choose the rings for all of her daughters in law to look just like hers like we were some lady mafia.  Her ring is fine...for her.  Her middle son had her go with him to pick out his girlfriend's ring and it is basically identical to his mom's.  Thick gold intricate band with a marquis cut.  That's fine but not remotely what I wanted.  When the Mr told me the story about that about a year into our dating, I was like "that is not cool and this is something she's going to have to wear for the rest of her life.  You're spending a few months salary on it to not even know if she likes it for real  Then if she confesses she doesn't, she looks like a bitch.  FYI- not to be presumptuous but I don't like your mom's ring!"  😂  He got the message and I basically designed my own ring on a post it note and when we saw it in a jewelers a year later, I had them write down the info along with size and cut for future reference.  I love it now as much as I did then and am SO glad I didn't have to get stuck with my MIL's ring even if she got her undies in a twist over me knowing what mine would look like.  So women, speak your minds on your ring preference if you have one.  I have two friends who reaaaally tried to talk up how much they loved their 'unique' rings their dudes picked and you can tell they choked on the words every time like they were trying to convince themselves in addition to others.  Thanks Mr for listening and going against your mom in your ear on that one!)

Dashed 'Dreams' and Broken Hearts: Inside the Tumultuous Making of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours  (Still one of the best albums ever made)

No clue if we're doing anything this weekend.  I do know we need to get some stuff cleaned up because apparently next weekend is Easter.  I suppose I should look into some ham slices or something from the good ham place.  If not, pizza with ham and onion it is.  😄

Anything going on for you this weekend?

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Hump Day Poll: Whatchu Need for Zzz's?

1 and 4 for me.  

(My white noise is an air purifier.  Since it's too big to travel with we made a playlist of it so I can sleep on vacation.  Provided the bed I'm sleeping on isn't a crapshow that prevents me from sleeping.  😆)

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Marvelous Monday Weekend Recap

Happy Monday all!  I know one person who is having a particularly happy Monday.  My bestie's last day at her job is tomorrow and I wish I lived closer to her so I could grab some Portillo's and we could eat at a park with her pups and celebrate proper.  So it's a marvelous Monday for her.  Happy butterflies for her I'm sure!

Friday night we made a very quick Target run and when we got back we watched The Bubble on Netflix.  (Judd Apatow's newest flick)  It. was. horrible.  Like if we weren't in a townhome, it made you want to burn your own house down bad.  The kind of movie that makes you start rearranging your personal worst top 5.  So yeah.  Good times and if you choose to watch it, don't say you weren't warned.  As with most of Netflix's crap, the bar is set so low they know you'll watch anything because it's different and by the time you realize it's crap, you've already wasted those hours of your life.  I kind of sorta have Bridgerton on in the background sometimes but I'm so bored with it that I don't care if I finish it whereas last season I burned through it in 18 hours.  (Actually, I just hopped online and read spoilers that aren't really spoilers because you know in episode one where it's going to go.  There, now I don't have to bother.)

We got our new shelves for over the garage door and the Mr got to it in getting them hung so we could start freeing up space.  

It took longer than expected, like everything in life, but when it was done we got to loading up!

All of that stuff was on our floor, other shelves, etc so it has freed up a good bit of space and was an instant pay off for the hard work on the Mr's part.  I hope he feels the same way.  Each shelf holds 150 lbs of "where do we put this?"  While he was doing that, I filled in the gaps where our 26 year old caulk disintegrated out of the wall with new caulk so it's all sealed up now.  The left side of the door looks really bad but if we end up drywalling that side then it'll get covered up anyway.  I'm not super worried about it at this point.

The a-hole neighbor decided he would come out and smoke his cigar in attempts to annoy us.  Guess what you're getting?  Maneskin's Italian songs blasting at ya, jerk.  That took about a song and a half before he stomped off.  Literally every time we open the door to go to our garage, he purposely goes out there and hocks, coughs and whatever other demon noises he can muster.  Welcome to townhome living.  It REALLY sucks that I've only known two years of life not attached to other people.  If I knew we could move to a neighborhood with actual land that wouldn't be taken over by imminent domain and build houses close enough to hang out the window and touch your neighbors house, we'd move.  Literally no land left here that isn't in constant threat of being taken away.  I've watched them kick people out of houses they've been in for decades just to knock the houses down and let the land sit there for six or more years and for what?  Sorry, I got off track.  So unlike me.  😁

Anyhoo...

Sunday morning we just chilled in bed and caught up on the DVR.  I made brunch and we decided to go for a three miler in the historic district and we met a lot of puppers along the way which was nice.  We got home in time for our grocery delivery after we rolled and stretched.  We're so bad at that after walks but after walking on cobblestone sidewalks, it's mandatory or I'll be crippled the rest of the week.

Then we had dinner and watched a little Chateau DIY and chilled the rest of the weekend away.

How was your weekend? Anything fun/productive/otherwise?

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What I'm Reading This Week #13

Good Lord fools, how are we in the first Friday of April already?  I hope people are smart enough not to prank people today.  The last two years (and counting) have been prank enough without breaking someone's last straw.  

This week has oddly gone by fast and slow.  The Mr kicked butt on the garage on the days we were able to get paint going.  I painted the wall and he got the trim and such.  He hung the massive Elfa system we got years ago rehung and actually into studs instead of relying on failing molly screws.  Nothing will ruin your day more than 3/4 of your garage contents falling onto your car so I'm glad we avoided that disaster.  I guess we can thank Hyundai for that one with not being able to park the car in the garage so we had no more excuses except for laziness.  We chucked some stuff along the way but most stuff that came off went back on except you know, in an order that isn't "throw it and see where it lands."  I spied some unused space above the garage door that might be able to fit coolers and such so we ordered these shelves to make some breathing room.

Now let's breathe in...

Vibrating platforms could have some of the same benefits as exercise  (I guess we should pull ours out from under the pantry shelves in the workout room.)

What To Know About Bananas' Sugar Content  (Pretty sick of people demonizing FRUIT.  Diet culture at its 'best!')

What Is Functional Medicine? Here’s Why It’s Worth a Deeper Look  (Pills are not always the answer.)

11 Reasons Your Teeth Hurt—And What To Do About Each One  (I'm hoping the Risewell I bought will help a bit too after blasting my enamel off with a new toothbrush head that was like a jackhammer.  This stuff is comparable price/ingredient wise.)

How to Hang a Barn Door  (Our tip:  Don't!  This may seem like a real space saver and it might be for something like a closet but if you respect your family or your guests, you won't use this for a bathroom.  ZERO privacy.  You might as well just crap with the door open because everyone in 25ft is going to hear you anyway.  But if you really want one, here ya go.)

Artist Makes Sense Of Her Depression And Anxiety By Creating Witty Comics  (SO spot on!)

Google issues emergency security update for all Chrome users, zero-day  (Don't forget to restart and update when available, especially right now.)

Person Wonders Why Nobody Asks Men What Their Favorite Flowers Are, So This Twitter User Did And Got 35 Colorful Answers  (I'm a little embarrassed to say I think the Mr's are carnations or roses but I don't know that I've ever asked in 30 years!  *shame*)

‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ Defined the 1980s. And Then It Wouldn’t Let Go  (No other song will turn me to a puddle in three notes.)

Dog owner dressed up as dog's favorite toy and his reaction was seriously adorable (Watch all of the videos...society needs this right now)

Our garage shelves will come tomorrow so I'm sure those will get hung and then move some stuff over to them.  Other than that, we'll try to get out of the house a bit until people tick us off and send us back to the cave.  

Any plans for you this weekend?

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