Hump Day Poll: For My Gardeners

Given the state of things around these parts, I'm considering gardening to help out a little.  Obviously, I need to be super frugal and I've only truly grown herbs and some stuff in hydroponic Aerogardens which have sadly gone out of business this year so in about 6 months their parts/pods will be sparse.  (Though I'm sure I can use coconut coir for pods)  I've been looking stuff up as much as I can but I thought I'd check with my peeps and see if anyone has any tips for a new frugal gardener with zero room for much more than maybe a raised bed and a few containers.  I'm thinking some spinach, hopefully arugula, peppers and anything else you think would be helpful.  (I know for sure I'll need to make some nets because we have bastard squirrels and munks like we breed them.)

Any tips? Tricks?

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Tuckered Pups Weekend Recap

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Happy Monday everyone.  I hope you guys had a good weekend and are well rested for the new week.  (And if so, please remind me what that feels like! 😜)

We were so close y'all.  I thought this weekend was the one we were going to be "done-ish" with the bathroom to be able to hand off the final step of measurements to contractors for the sink install.  (It's an undermount that has to be made into the countertop we order.)  Well, that was the end goal if the painting of the door didn't crap the bed which obviously, it did.  I know we should've sprayed it but I've seen about as many horror stories about clogging, splotched wasteful paint sprayers as I have about horribly rolled doors.  I had to choose the one that didn't cost us more money.  The Mr took the door up two flights only to see when you close the door, the interior door surface looked like little rolled paint shavings everywhere.  We don't know how it happened.  I don't know if when it was flipped over any remaining moisture in the paint made it chafe for lack of a better word as the other side got painted or what.  Back down to the basement, uninstall the hinges then two sands, a wipe down, a blow off with canned air, and a repaint with the foam brush.  

The medicine cabinet door that threw every friggin' obstacle it could both by circumstance and us, was finally hung.  

It is one of those deals that I would never give a tutorial on because I would never want anyone to go through it and I stopped taking pics early on as it gave me issues.  I threatened to burn that thing more times than I can count and the only reason I didn't was because 1) we didn't have the money to replace the canvas and 2) it can't remain open because you don't want to see all of your products out on display.  It's so annoying.  It doesn't even really work functionally because of the light we got.  The light hangs down too close and doesn't let it open all of the way.  We don't think it'll impede our ability to get what we need out of there but haven't tested it yet because we're too scared to.  (Plus still need to be brushing teeth in the kitchen for now which is a treat...not.). If that's not enough, the bracket hangs just far enough on the bottom that it scrapes at the point we wouldn't be able to open it.  Almost like a pre-danger zone warning we'll be close to the bulb so slow down partner.  It's mind effingly comical.  So  remember all of that some year when we're finally able to do the reveal.

A project I thought I had to scrap was really making me angry about being forced into cutting it.  It was to be the finishing piece of the whole project.  Then I remembered stuff I already bought for some of it and it was like if I scrapped the project then that not cheap purchase would've been for nothing and we're past the return window thanks to the buffoon bathroom contractors.  So I did a lot of internet searching for cheap ways to do this project and found one.  I could do it for just over $100 which is about $400 less than most people spend for the real thing.  I also know with certain changes that go into effect tomorrow, a lot of us are about to get some new sticker shock on items and I don't want the price to go up so I waited until Saturday to order all of the parts needed.  Let me tell you I already know this project has 20 different ways it could crap itself.  I know I'll be cursing it but the idea of cutting the main thing for circumstances out of our control pissed. me. off.  I have birthday money I've been squirreling from my mom and his over the years so screw it.  

If you read yesterday's post, you know of the overwhelm I've been dealing with and being stuck in functional freeze.  I discussed still having the tree up.  We've just been doing too much on the daily to block off time to make it a priority.  I thought maybe I'd do it yesterday but it turned into the food prep day of hell.  I made our actual lunch which was thrown together after discovering a bunch of crap Aldi was apparently out of that I didn't know about including our Brussels sprouts so chickpea mac and cheese with BBQ shredded chicken on top it is while I made a turkey meatloaf.  Then made 6 burritos with brown rice, fat free refried beans and chicken in protein tortillas for lunch over the next 3 weeks.  Six tomato basil protein+ penne with ground turkey bowls for the next 3 weeks.  We usually have meatless meatballs with our Wednesday night pasta but those aren't on sale and not a whole lotta protein in the scheme of things so I made meatballs from 93/7 ground beef and I'll get twice as much out of that for a dollar more than I'd get from the Gardein meatballs.  (I added an egg, 1/2 cup panko and some garlic powder and Italian seasoning.)  I used the leftover bits to sauté the yellow pepper for the four steak and potato bowls I already have made for the next two weeks.   I made four Asian pork bowls with a bag of Asian steamed veggies and a bag of cauli-rice with orange marmalade mixed in and the teriyaki pork tenderloin I had going in the crockpot with 1/2 cup of water to last the next two weeks.  Three friggin' hours of cooking and I swear the kitchen looked like I was cooking for a summer camp.  My back was killing me.  While I was doing all of that the Mr was swapping out the other door knobs and the hinges and cutting the trim for our final project.

I cleaned up the kitchen by about 65% and made dinner and I was totally pooped.  I stopped long enough to watch the "I Got Rhythm" number from An American in Paris and declared myself physically and mentally out for the night.  We got some hot cocoa and went up to watch the first three episodes of Extracted before conking out.

How was your weekend?  

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(Hopefully) My Plan This Week (3/2)

I think I've been staring at this screen for 10 minutes trying to figure out what the heck to write.  Having a plan seems so laughable given how life has thrown so much at us this year like a silverback gorilla throwing poo at the zoo at unsuspecting passersby.  The last two weeks my plans have kind of gone rogue, well I guess the week before last more so and last week was veering back on track but then just so mentally through the wringer that I was frozen.  Every day trying to get closer to some semblance of done with this damn bathroom and having another 10 obstacles thrown in our faces was demoralizing.  One step forward, four steps back almost every. single. day.  As I type, the objects around me on our armoire are shaking with each tap the Mr makes on the HVAC below.  That water alarm I mentioned Friday?  A pipe from the HVAC cracked and while it looked like an easy fix, he's now in the position of having to be incredibly careful or one wrong move will cost us hundreds in a service call and repairs that we do not have to be doling out right now.  Another cortisol/adrenaline spike for the day?  Check.

Do you know that as I type, I'm also staring at my Christmas tree.  Still up.  The bin to do the ornaments has been upstairs for 2 weeks and I have good intentions and then the other stuff creeps in and I have zero motivation to move forward.  I know it would help us both but it is a state of overwhelm so far beyond what we already have that I can't take it.  We are being swallowed by clutter.  The dining room table?  It's been covered with our old temporary shower curtain liner as a drop cloth for painting trim and other stuff for weeks.  I don't remember a meal that I'm not moving wood shavings, painted this or that or Mod Podge all of February.  Just as I thought I was ready to put that stuff away, I found a way to make a project I had to scrap work so I've got another 7-10 days with the shower liner as our tablecloth.  The workout space?  There's a card table and drop cloth over it for painting the bathroom door which doesn't look great to me but I'm not doing it again.  

Since nothing in our lives is in our control, I think of things I can control... then internally giggle like someone about to go mad in an old movie just before they lock someone up.  

I already pre-made two steak and potato bowls for lunches over the next 2 weeks.  (Shaved steak from Aldi and a 24 oz bag of little yellow potatoes tossed in olive oil and baked cut side down in the oven for 30 minutes and divided by 4 bowls.)  I have chicken thawed and protein wraps for the chicken burritos which I'll probably make today but mix the ingredients together first for the next 3 weeks.  I got organic tomato basil pasta sauce from Aldi to split between some chickpea pasta bowls with ground turkey.  I have a $5 teriyaki pork tenderloin I'll probably chuck in the crockpot to get to shred consistency for some Hawaiian caulirice bowls.  Not when I want to be doing food prep but ohzee wellsy.  

Water has suffered and I've gone back to not drinking it before getting out of bed so I need to restart that practice today.  

We've been keeping up our walking last week and I got in 10K steps almost every day.  I'd like to get back to 12K if possible.  

Lymph works went into the shitter so literally one session would be better than the week or two before.

I want the Christmas tree down this week.  Not that I don't enjoy it all but I want space to move back.  So I'll sit here with the lights off and enjoy it another day and hope the spirit moves me to hele on as they say in Hawaii.

I wish I had a little more rah rah to offer but it's all I can muster right now.

How about you?  Any goals for the week?

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What I'm Reading This Week #9

Hey all.  I hope everyone had a good week.  

Sorry I was absent this week.  I feel like just re-read last weeks stuff regarding the bathroom but apply it to painting the door and the medicine cabinet door fighting us and the work front, the horror continues and you've got the posts I would've posted this week.  

I've never identified with a meme more in my life:

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I can't believe February is over in some ways but in others it feels way longer than January because of everything going on, the constant panic, the constant having to reevaluate everything and every move you make.  The residual financial trauma that comes up from childhood days of "gee, will Dad be an asshole and decide to not send child support this week?" Is kicked up hard, the endless budgets of working and re-working every expense like my mom did was basically my life this week so the Mr wouldn't have to think about it.  Working out how we can take a little time off after having cancelled our trip this year because we are mentally f**king TAPPED and need a few days away.  So I worked out something that won't cripple us monetarily but get us the hell out of here in a few months because this year is running second to the year I lost Mom and we're only beginning month three.  I'm tired of feeling like I'm going to puke all day, every day.  Sleep isn't really restful because even if I happen to get 5-6 hours, I wake up with lock jaw and/or sore teeth.  

For an extra spike of cortisol yesterday morning, the estrogen cream that I got filled 2 years ago and needed a refill on went up by 10X the price.  TEN.  Let's see...keep cancer at bay or pay $100 for no apparent reason which sent me into a 20 minute tailspin.  Thank God after talking with the pharmacy tech, she was able to run it through their savings system which is a few dollars better than GoodRx and got me down to just under $26.  My therapist got hacked by another country which I won't name but it wasn't until I'd already given my password to log into her system and thankfully got the prompt to 'save password' and saw the .com was dot something else that I immediately asked the Mr and said I should change my password.  He agreed.  I contacted her and she said yes she was hacked and had secured it now.  Oh, I guess I should catch you up...I can't do therapy anymore.  I blew through the money from my MIL from Christmas in 3 sessions so I had to cut her loose in January because she was going to be $150 per session.  Nope.  I sent her a few books that I could get for $15 (the previous cost of the session)  and she agreed with both.  Do you think I've had time to crack either one open after this shitshow despite saying "I'm going to take the hour I would've spent in therapy once a week to read a chapter?"  Nope.  The only thing I'm consistent on is my inconsistency.    So now you see why I didn't bother posting this week.  It's not fun over here.  Not an uplifting place to be and I don't know how to share any of it without people being like "unfollow."  

Yeah.

Let's get to:

I'm a Coach and These 11 Walking Tricks Actually Burn More Fat  (Good to know and I think we time ours pretty close to this.)

Eat the peel: Why you might be throwing away the best bit of your fruit  (Interesting concept)

Can Cleaning the House Count as Daily Exercise? We Asked the Experts  (I need to remember to set my watch if, err, when I do big cleanings.)

What Is A 'SIT' Workout?  (Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with sitting.)

Are Your To-Do Lists Torturing You?  (Yes )

Why Women in Pain Are Still Begging Doctors to Listen  (Doctors no longer care.  They don't, especially about women.  Why?  Money.  (Just like everything else on this effing planet.)  They may have gotten into it for the right reasons but corporate greed with time limits on how long they can spend with a patient and the amount of paperwork per patient is longer than our appointments.  I clearly have no opinion on this subject.)

Social Media’s 10 Worst Pieces of Mental Health Advice  (It has normalized some serious consequential actions for people.)

Radon: Unseen Risk  (I can't stress this enough TEST YOUR HOME!!!  It's cheap!  It can be in an old home, newer home, apartment, townhome.  Radon doesn't discriminate and is the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer.  We bought this to monitor our levels.)

This Coastal Destination Is Called the 'Cape Cod of the Midwest' — With Charming Small Towns and Beautiful Views  (Gorgeous!)

A new Android feature is scanning your photos for 'sensitive content' - how to stop it  (Oh HELL NO!!  Uninstalled and don't worry it's coming to the other system as well.  Uninstall it if you don't want AI thumbing through your personal pics!)

When I Was 9, Lara Flynn Boyle Was My Father’s Sweetheart—and My Best Friend  (A really interesting perspective and so heartbreaking for her.)

If I have to spend one more weekend on this stupid ass bathroom, I'm going to lose it but not like we can just drive around with no destination or get crap out to eat without going into a cold sweat over money wasted doing so.  I guess at this point the plan is nothing and whatever happens happens.

Edit:  Right on schedule the water alarm for the HVAC went off at 11pm last night.  

FML  🤬

Tell me you have something fun planned for the weekend.

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What I'm Reading This Week #8

Hey y'all.  Happy Friday to you and yours.

We got some progress done on the bathroom.  A lot of hurry up and wait with painting and such because of our limited space.  A lot of fixing, cutting, repainting and the like.  The 'upgraded' model of the brad nailer went back because it cannot be counted on.  As far as the plan I had for the week?  Completely out the window on basically all fronts.  We had to cancel our anniversary vacation because the constant threat of financial chaos on the daily has forced us to come up with contingency plans.  Lots of tears, lots of anxiety and terror and some serious budgeting that hasn't been needed since we were first married.  So at this point, I just want to get the bathroom done.  It'll have to be sans what I considered the crown jewel of the project but we can't justify it right now so maybe in the future.  It's not hard but a part of it is a little pricey so swirling down our new toilet it goes.  

Now let's swirl into:

How to lose fat and gain muscle within a month, according to experts  (We'll see. 🤨)

You Should Be Doing Hamstring Stretches Every Day—Here’s Why  (I agree.  It sure as heck doesn't take much for mine to get tight AF anymore.)

Study Finds Some Protein Powders Contain Cancer-Causing Toxins  (The worst offenders were a shock.  Guess we'll be gaining some space under the sink... not like we use it anyway.)

‘We Walked Off 947 lbs!’: Real Women Share Hacks Proven to Help Walkers Double Fat Burn  (These are some seriously inspiring stories!)

How to Keep Your Bones Strong—and Even Make Them Stronger  (Get to steppin' or pumpin' a little iron)

Vibration Plates: Do They Actually Help You Lose Weight?  (I need to use mine more for lymphatic drainage and bone strength.  Plus my legs just feel refreshed after.)

Why Tiredness of Life Has Become a Phenomenon   (This article broke my heart but I also get it.)

Are you flushing your water heater? Failure to do so leaves your home at risk of contamination, poor flow and even damage  (Hey Mr, aren't we about due?)

The Death of Patience  (This is so true.  I can't sit through credits at the beginning of a show and don't get me started on the fabricated BS at the beginning of House Hunters.  Fast forward until they're in the car because no one is allowed to want the same things in a house and I don't care how you met or why you're moving.)

Why do we enjoy listening to sad music?  (I wouldn't have gotten through high school without The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Depeche Mode!  If you haven't checked out the new Cure album, you totally should.)

The goal is to get everything spackled, caulked and painted.   Then hopefully installing the medicine cabinet door and maybe the mirror.  If we happen to get that done, we might see if we can gently remove the countertop from the....shit...nevermind.  I'll need to see how much paint is left on the satin quart because I may need to slap a coat over the urethane coat due to the crap chipping that happens with it.  So we'll see what we get done.  I know I'm getting to the point of being SO mentally done and I can imagine the Mr got there about a week or so ago between that and everything else.

Whatchu got going on this weekend?

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Anyone Got a Genie Lamp I Can Borrow? Weekend Recap

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It's Monday.  I have no plucky pun, just the facts today ma'ams and good sirs.  I hope your weekend was good and those in the path of any storms are comfy cozy.  

I need to rub a damn lamp and let Barbara Eden or Robin Williams or Bret Hart jump out of the bottle and finish our effing bathroom...now.  EVERY. EFFING. THING. fought us this weekend.  All of it.  There was not one thing that went smoothly, as planned, etc.  Let's see, where to start.  

Okay, let's start with the Valentine's day gift I ordered 3 weeks before Valentine's Day to ship on the 10th, had to follow up 3x only to never get a response until Friday when I saw the label was still just sitting there and nothing had shipped.  I fired off a nasty email telling them to cancel the order, they ruined Valentines Day so thanks for that and I'm using this email along with the other three attempts as proof with my credit card company to dispute the charges if I didn't receive a refund by the end of day.  Two hours later I had a refund on the card and some lame excuse response I never read.  My therapist would be proud.  So the Mr didn't get his gift of white grapefruit which he loves and we can't get ever.  I had a few back up gifts and two cards so there's that.  He got me some flowers from Hawaii which are beautiful.  But that's how the weekend of love started.  The next day we didn't have luck with the new pizza place that got rave reviews so saving up for five weeks for our first restaurant take out was a pisser as well.  Might as well set us up for what's to come.

Let's see, what else.  I was basically a painting machine all weekend.  Trim, baseboards, veneer, panels.  All of it.  We have very little room so I couldn't paint as much as I wanted and we had to wait a few hours between coats.  While I was down in the basement painting panels, I was listening to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours on 8 track (yep) and could feel Mom with me thinking it was cool I was doing that.  Then Songbird came on which I haven't heard since her service the day we buried her and I was rolling my tears in with the paint.  It's been a very grief bomb week.  So when I say blood, sweat and tears went into this stupid room by the end of it between that moment, my bloody mess last weekend and the Mr sweating all over every aspect of it, it will be true.  The Mr got the door trim on and there's a delightful haunted house squeak on it now which we can't rectify until we put on the new hinges which we can't do until I wood fill and paint the door which is not on the list right this second.  Then we thought we'd slide the medicine cabinet in since the trim was ready and I hear the Mr say "you might want to look at this."  (Code for 'obstacle 4627')  I go up and the medicine cabinet sticks out an inch from the wall.  Why did we not know this, you may ask?  Well, the previously attached trim was angled and protruded which we thought was a fashion choice.  Turns out it wasn't.  You know that $25 on trim we spent?  Well we got that particular one because the 1/2" of the medicine cabinet that needed to be covered allowed me to get the fancier trim.  Now I was losing that 1/2" and the trim was no longer going to fit.  I looked at it for a second and walked out of the room to curse.  I grabbed a piece of the trim and put it against the medicine cabinet.  Turns out it butted up perfectly to the cabinet that stuck out.  Now the pisser was because I didn't plan on the edges of the medicine cabinet seeing the light of day, they were shabbily filled and painted and that area would now be exposed.  Okay, fine.  I grabbed some veneer I had laying around for a project (which I still don't remember what it was for) and ironed that onto the edges.  Then I cut the excess with an exacto knife and wood filled the joints.  Of course before that, the Mr had to take out the shelves in the medicine cabinet for me to work on and in doing so, that frigging 'sapphire' paint chipped on the sides and back with little effort just like on our vanity on hatch trim.  Here's a fun story for you.  Just the day before, he got a refund for said paint after leaving an honest review on it.  He'd already been grilled about how we used it, how did we prep, blah blah blah like we were tweens wielding our first rollers.  They wanted some conference with him to which he declined and said the only solution as far as he was concerned was a refund which they agreed to.  He then went in for said refund only to be RE-grilled, basically accused of user error (because clearly it couldn't be THEIR product) before refunding him.  When the story was relayed, I told him to email the people that he didn't care for being accused of not knowing how to friggin' use their 3 STAR reviewed paint and clearly this is not an isolated incident.  Yet another one the therapist would be proud of.  Needless to say, my stress eat gene was reactivated on the day we had extra treats in the house so I hope the body enjoyed the plethora of calories I made available to it.

Anyhoo.  I primed and painted the veneer and repainted the sides and back of the inside with a satin version of the same color.  Painting the inside grooves of paneling sucked but it got them at least to the place where it could be suitable to be hung on Sunday.  We both woke up with headaches so we had to shovel in a big bowl of cereal and coffee and get on with it.  I put some more paint in grooves and the Mr wanted to install the baseboards.  Of course, the taller the baseboard, the more potential for warping and were WARPED on the first half.  We have ZERO room for error on this because we can't be wasting money right now.  He had to make relief cuts on the back and pray it would bend just enough to go flush with the wall.  Oh, I forgot!  Our brad nailer decided to die before we even got into the meat and potatoes of it.  He bought a new one and it worked fine on the baseboard even though it still feels like it could pop off at any moment to me but ask me if I care right now.  Then the time we'd been waiting for...the panels.  Once we finally got the cursed construction adhesive out of the tube and onto the panels, it was time to fire the brad nails in.  I say...it was time to fire the brad nails in.  The brand new nailer wasn't working.  Me sitting there against the bowed wall with fast drying construction adhesive I'm trying to not dry into little balls on the back and it was 4 minutes of the Mr wrestling it like Snoopy wrestling the beach chair.   He finally got it to fire and put 96 brad nails into a 48" panel and we walked away cursing.  Then it was time to cut the other panel, you know, the one the guy at Home Depot cut in half for us.  The panel length is 96", you cut it in half, you get 48".  The first one had been installed, the other one cut to width and then the Mr comes down talking about how it isn't the same height and thank goodness the trim will cover it.  Uhh, scuzi?  The trim is going to sit on top of it. 

"Oh."  

Insert freak out and 623rd pivot.

I had him measure the other ones, the ones not yet painted of course and he found one the exact same height.   He cut that and I got paint on it.  We figured out how we could use that screwed piece which was basically raise it to the same height as the other ones in the back of the vanity and cover it and call it a day.  No one will find it until we're long gone and ask me if I care anymore.  NOPE.  Then the medicine cabinet shit the bed in so many different ways that I can't even list them all without starting to cry for all of the time, work, money, etc I put into it and having to hack it all up and REDO everything to make it hopefully work. 

Oh good, let's cut off the bottom of my canvas art.

I decided to leave a message of hope for anyone in the future who decides to rip out our medicine cabinet to find on the back.

The Mr needed to go back to HD and I needed to talk to my friend before harikari commenced so I called her crying and we bitched about everything under the sun for over an hour and that made things better.  She told me not to do anything else related to the bathroom because I need to step away from it so I decided to take her up on it.  There's a new Project Fear so we headed up there and I'm friggin' done until today when we see what fresh hell awaits sweet, harmonious delights await us.

How was your weekend, my pretties?

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My Plan for the Week (2/16)

Good Sunday mornin' to you.  I hope you're doing a little something for yourself this weekend.  

Let's review my hits and misses of last week, shall we?

Workouts 

Sun - walk (6000 steps)

Mon- bike/ walk (11,500 steps)

Tues- bike/walk (15,600 steps)

Wed- (bike/walk 14,600 steps)

Thurs- (bike/walk 16k)

Fri- (bike/walk 15,500 steps)

That was like walking/cycling 5 1/2 miles per day average.  As you can see, a lot of anxiety pedaling happening last week.  Again, no strength training. 😐  Between my hand injury and then needing to have a place to lay our panels flat, the workout area was the only thing available.  Sigh.  I guess that's going to have to be an end of month goal.  I'm not even going to stress over it because it is what it is right now. 

Water started out not great but still over 100 ounces per day between water, coffee and tea.  I caught the pattern early in the week.  Wednesday, I drank my upstairs water bottle before I got out of bed which triggered a whole day of peeing like a race horse.  (Where the hell did that saying come from??  Do race horses pee a lot?  Inquiring minds want to know!)  I know it's good for me, I'm getting in extra steps by running up and down but damn man.  So I guess I have to drink my upstairs bottle before I haul out of bed every morning if I want a chance at 64 oz of pure water which I did from Wednesday-Friday.

Lymph work was fair, maybe 3x so room for improvement for sure but I need to start wearing my compression socks on the daily.

My victories?  My steps continue to average over 10k per day and I have to tell myself doing it is better than not regardless of the end result.  I did some good food prep like making pumpkin muffins for snacks.  I also did 6 high protein burritos that turned out decent so we get one a week for lunches.  We'll have enough to last this week and next.  I think next time I would mix all of the ingredients because the chicken tasted dry to me.  No Evol burrito but it'll do for the burrito itch.  I need to find some sites for high protein recipe ideas.  My brain is too fried to come up with it's own right now.  Might be paint fumes.  I also didn't give in to the stress eating monster when new work and money horrors threw me back into childhood child support trauma hard.  

I feel like it wouldn't be wise to throw any new goals on when I clearly haven't mastered my original ones yet.  Otherwise my brain will say "awesome, look at what else you failed at!"  Ahh, nothing like the bully in your head. 😑  

I'd like to do equally good or better on lymph work.  My brain says "say strength training again" but it will only be a bonus if we're able to fit it in.  I'm not committing to it this week.  I do need to get the turkey meatloaf made and should probably whip up more muffins by tomorrow.  I'll need to let the batter sit overnight though since I'm using einkorn flour because the muffins are dry.  Or I'll need to add some banana or buy plain yogurt to add in.  Actually I have a big azz banana waiting to be chucked so banana it is.

Any health goals you're hoping to hit this week?

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What I'm Reading This Week #7

Well hello you!  Happy Valentine's Day...sung in the key of OutKast.  The Mr and I play it every year or else Cupid doesn't show up.  I hope you had a good week and are ready for the weekend and ensuing shenanigans.

It's been as productive a week as my hand and our mental faculties with a new week of work terror would allow.  I worked on the medicine cabinet door which obviously has three parts that have to work in unison and it pooped the bed on some level.  Then I showed it to the Mr, who couldn't see the figurative poop, so I proceeded.  We went to the big orange home store to get the panels we need as well as various trims.  Getting it loaded and unloaded was a treat since I couldn't grasp the thin board well but unloaded trim like a champ.  I don't know what made the Mr check but you know how someone approaches you and you can see it's not good?  The store put the wrong damn trim in the wrong damn place!!!!  So the seven pieces we got weren't going to work.  No worries, he'll run them up the street.  Oh, I'm sorry, despite saying they had 70 in stock, they had ONE.  So he had to drive to the one 20 minutes away in rush hour traffic and the trim we were planning on wouldn't fit.  Awesome.  I found a door kit that looked like it would work.  It was not at all what I would've chosen initially but I think it might add pizzazz.  Of course because SW enamel paint is the absolute devil, we knew we were going to have to buy a quart of the trim paint in satin for durability.  That'll be your first born second cousin, please. 💰💲  Why does EVERY aspect of everything we try to do fight us?  Seriously, y'all have been around long enough.  You've seen it, you've commented, you've told me I am the reason you don't DIY.  I'm sick of the "zings" from the universe!! 🖕

Now let's flip to:

Exercise ‘sweet spot’ for maximum weight loss revealed  (Totally doable even though it's twice the amount we've always been told 🙄)

Flexibility Is a Key to Longevity. Here’s How to Improve Yours, According to Experts  (I need to prioritize this, like now)

What Counts as a 'Rest Day' and How Often You Need Them  (Good to know)

Strength training may take 8 years off your biological age if you follow this one rule, new study reveals  (Hmm, I'm working up to it)

Even small diet tweaks can lead to sustainable weight loss—here's how  (Courtesy of the Mr)

When Evidence Says No, but Doctors Say Yes  (This is terrifying)

2 ‘Marriage Lessons’ Most Couples Learn The Hard Way—By A Psychologist  (So true and I really need to work on #2 (hee hee) because I've been in survival mode too long and effort has been minimal.)

10 Small Habits That Have A Huge Return On Life  (These are some great ones and some not too hard to integrate into your schedule.  I literally have 7 "good intention" books from the past few years so I need to work in that hour at some point every day after I get my other habit established.)

How to Deep Clean Your Mattress Quickly and Easily  (Definitely something I need to do more and didn't even think about using our steamer.)

The Seven Key Milestone Ages in Retirement  (Regardless of your age, take note!)

While we technically shot for today to be our done date for the bathroom, twas not to be.  I think we can get a good majority done this weekend though barring, you know, the usual unforseen crap that seems to plague us.  I mean, yippee skippy... we're in the home stretch!  

We have not had lunch and dinner out since Vermont and you can bet your sweet bippy we're treating ourselves this weekend.  That is literally the longest we've ever gone and I'm getting the itch for a cooking break.  I'd say 5 weekends of no restaurant food is sufficient.

What's up in your world this weekend?

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A Bloody Victorious Weekend Recap

Friggin Monday... how did that happen?  I hope you had a great weekend.  Apparently the super bowl was yesterday.  Never watched it... we're a "record the Puppy Bowl and fast forward through the 87,452 commercials" household.  Anyone remember when it was just basically a camera set up in a stadium setting with a ref occasionally stepping in and nothing else?  I miss those days.

It was quite the weekend in these parts.  Before the weekend started, we had to pick out a new toilet.  We decided on a Kohler and it was a one piece that should be easier to clean.  Problem is, that mofo was HEAVY.  We got it loaded into the SUV and carefully removed it from the back onto a canvas to drag it to the stairs.  We grunted it up the three stairs where it sat in the living room.  See, we have ONE bathroom so that's why this reno has been a wicked pain in the butt.  Never take brushing your teeth and washing your hands post bidness for granted again. 

We ran into an issue Thursday with discovering some water damage on the corner of the subfloor.  After showering, there was always this rando water trail on the outside of the caulk of our tub that looked like it was just shedding a single tear that our time together was over.  Well, over 20 years, that's a lotta tears and it apparently went under our previously installed vinyl strip flooring. The Mr wood filled, sanded then primed it before gluing the old floor back down to be ready for installation Saturday.  There was also a new 1" gap between the old subfloor and the shower system that had to be filled in so he cut some plywood, at the 11th hour when I inspected it from the throne, I saw it wasn't level so it needed to be torn out and recut using different wood.  Then it was finally ready to roll.

The bathroom is barely big enough for one.  It's the kind that would be mocked on House Hunters so two people being in that space wouldn't be conducive to getting anything done without ending up like two feral cats in a bag.  So the Mr did the floor alone while I did the dishes, some meal prep and waited to see if he needed anything.  He certainly got his workout in running up and down the stairs to make cuts.  If we had the saw inside, we would've been breathing in tiny vinyl pieces forever.  The Mr masked up and cut as needed.  It didn't take him long to get to the toilet so he turned off the water, flushed the tank empty, removed extra water with a big sponge and we syphoned out the rest.  We used some gel stuff for what was left but I don't know it reached as far back in the pipe as we needed it to.  He grabbed a construction garbage bag and we lifted the toilet off of the bolts and bagged the bottom of the toilet to minimize water dripping.  We used press and seal to cover the sewer hole which works like a charm.

We had to walk the toilet down step by step and into the garage where the next day it would seek revenge for being given the boot.  That awkward angle was enough to do my back in.  Somewhere in there we had lunch, homemade burger and fries by request.  He finished the rest of the flooring and of course the last row is always the pisser.  Once that was done, I had him take a break and it was time to figure out how to get this monster toilet up there.  We opened the box and got the toilet seat and tank lid out but as we lifted, we felt like maybe it would be okay to try to move out of the box instead of in the box with moving men straps and my brute force pushing on the bottom.  We slowly walked it over to the stairs and step by step got it hoisted up there, which was a relief.  The Mr had been psyching himself out all week about the installation and how it would line up over the bolts and installing the wax ring.  It was fine.  We got into the best position we could, making sure not to hit the new shower doors, and lowered it just fine.  The poor man was a sweaty, beaten down mess so we cleaned up the area a bit and he got a shower and I made dinner a little later.  It's so nice to not have that hanging over our heads and thankfully we have a good amount of planks left so we'll keep a few back and get rid of the rest.  

Sunday I grabbed a shower, went down and made brunch to thank the Mr for all of his hard work.  After an episode of a show he has no interest in, he headed out to the garage to break up the toilet.  Bulk pickup wasn't clear if they did toilets and some redditors said no they didn't but break it up and do trash pick up.  He broke it up with a hammer in the construction bag and scootched it into the trashcan (my idea instead of trying to get it in there whole and then break it up) while I started work on the medicine cabinet door.  He said he needed my help to get the trashcan standing up because all of the weight was in the front and he couldn't get leverage on it.  So I was going to push up while he pulled back.  As that attempted to happen, the weight of it threw me off balance and I fell into the broken up pile of porcelain.  You know how you're like stunned and you know there's some damage and you're scared to look?  The Mr came over to try to get me up off of my knees.  Blood was dripping down the top of my hand and knuckle.  I ran it under cold water and told the Mr to get the Blood Cease we used the other day on his bloody nose because it wasn't stopping.  He said there were blood drips on the floor and he asked if I was cut anywhere else.  I looked down and my shirt was bloody.

I looked at the bottom of my forearm and it was split open and bleeding pretty bad.  The Mr got me an ice pack for under the paper towels and I sprinkled Blood Cease all over.  It took a lot for the top of it to stop bleeding but I got two band aids on it to keep on for a few hours before I could clean it up and put liquid bandage on it.  I'm going to have to put rosehip oil on it to reduce the redness because there's absolutely going to be a scar from it. 

An inch the other way and I may not be here to tell you all about it.  So that was fun.  Of course when I ball up my fist (like you'd have to do to, you know, lift a weight), it hurts like hell.  I'm sure today will actually be worse because I could just feel the soreness setting in yesterday.  Then I did a little food prep with a glove on, made dinner and we got a walk in because I don't think I could've done strength training and I'll have to see how today goes to see when I can add it.  Any force, like me cutting the veneer I needed for the medicine cabinet and my wounds were opening back up.  

Good times.

What did you do this weekend?

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My Plan for the Week (2/9)

Hello there, sassy Sunday people.  I will update last week's plan and tell you, it was rough.  Not a single strength session in sight, water suffered, sleep was pure crap, a funeral to attend and emotional turmoil at the Mr's job that seems to have no end in sight.  

Despite those things, ways in which I would tell myself I failed in the past, I find the small victories.  We still got in a workout every day and never considered skipping even if it wasn't the ones we hoped we'd do.  We didn't give in to the 'eff it' monster and get dinner out even though a few nights cooking was the last thing I wanted to do.  After doing some diligent planning, my calories averaged out to where the TDEE calculator said I needed to be after factoring in last weekend's high cal day, for what that's worth.  I got in some of the lymph work I wanted to including one or two vagus nerve sessions.

Here were our workouts.

Sun- Walk (5300 steps)

Mon- bike/ walk (11,700k)

Tues- bike/ walk (12,500k)

Wed- bike/ walk (11,500k)

Thurs- walk/ bike (10k)

Fri- bike/ walk (11k)

I had to back off of the barefoot thing.  It was crippling me because obviously I go full steam into everything and after seeing it can take 1-2 years to properly transition.  I can still use them for strength training and formal workouts downstairs.   I will need to make foot strength and digging out these damn calves my priority.  Then I can work on transitioning.  

Woof.

This week, I didn't buy any Healthy Choice for lunches, which usually comprises 3 lunches per week.  So I took some of our favorites to see how I could make a similar version.  The turkey lasagna bowl, I precooked some ground turkey breast and spread that between 6 bowls, with 1.5 oz chickpea pasta and 1/4 cup Silver Palate low sodium marinara and a bit of leftover zucchini.  That should bump up our protein by a few grams and reduce our sodium by about 350mg which is a big win.  I bought some flour tortillas with the intent of making burritos to replace the Evol ones we dropped but I still need to figure out the portions on that one.  While the Mr was installing flooring, I got the rice together to assemble them yesterday.  I have the dry mix together for pumpkin muffins so I need to make those and then figure out where the heck they're going because the freezer is full.  I bought a big thing of chicken for the crockpot again and I know turkey meatloaf has to come into play too but that might be next week.  I made strata to get rid of the frozen half loaf of Dave's Raisin bread I had in the fridge. 

I would like to get the strength back on track since we have the bathroom flooring wrapped up. (MAJOR PROPS to the Mr, he did that all on his own.  I helped with uninstalling and reinstalling the shitter, does that count?)  

I want to continue the lymph/vagus nerve work as well.

I know I need to do better on the water so I might need to get the watch alarm involved.  I already did better Friday on my own but I can't count on that to carry through into this week.  I couldn't do as good yesterday because we didn't have a working toilet.  

Oh yeah, our 🎄 is still up.  Yep.  Absolute record for us and I think I'm ready to gain some space back.  We'll see it all again in 9 months and the Mr brought up the ornament bin for me so I'll get to work on that.

Any heath goals for the week for you?

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What I'm Reading This Week #6

Good Friday all!  I don't know if it's just me but the week seemed long.  I was a tick toward productive when I caulked around the shower system surround.  The Mr was psyching himself out so I grabbed the tubes and got to work, so glad to have that out of the way.  We unfortunately had a funeral to attend yesterday.  My friend I've known since third grade, her dad passed away.  He beat a 9 year cancer prognosis back in the day to live 28 years longer.  My friend was there for me when Grandma and Mom passed so I wanted to be there for her.  I will admit, I still get bitter when I see how much more time other's get with their parents than I got with Mom.  Nine.  It's one of those shameful emotions you don't want to admit but it's human and therefore normal.  I don't think I'll ever not feel that way.  The Mr is going through immense daily work stress now and I feel powerless to help him.  Please send all of the good vibes you can.  My daily tears aren't enough to do much good and it looks like that vow for this to be a less stressful year for our health won't be coming true anytime soon.  To cheer him up a little, after I heard him talking about this PrestoMagix on a video he saw, he was talking about how he never got one as a kid.  I hopped on Ebay and found an unopened Return of the Jedi one and thought I would get it for him.  He was happy and I was even happier that a 40+ year product actually worked!

Now, let's get to:

This Type of Exercise Cuts Women’s Heart Disease Risk in Half, Study Finds  (I started incorporating these into my floor bike sessions while eating breakfast)

7 Ways To Lose Weight Without Exercise, from a Doctor of Obesity Medicine  (We need to work on #4 especially when it's out of habit.)

7 Snacks to Help You Poop That Aren’t Prunes, According to Dietitians   (Some interesting choices here)

I Drank Lemon Water Every Day for a Week—Here’s What Happened  (Thought about this anyway since I have a hard time drinking water alone but good info for digestion and heartburn stuff)

You don't need to run or do burpees to improve your fitness—just this 15-minute low-impact cardio Barre routine  (Ooh, I want to give this a try)

How to Recognize and Combat Medical Gaslighting  (There's nothing worse than someone you're supposed to trust making you feel crazy or like crap because they're a douche nozzle.)

Effective mood management means stopping overthinking before inflammation  (I need to get this under control.)

Doom scrolling is linked to worse mental health and life satisfaction (In case you need another reason to stop focusing on the dumpster fires you can't put out.)

9 Life-Changing Makeup Swaps I Made When I Turned 40  (I can vouch for this exfoliant.  I LOVE the way it makes my skin feel and no scrubbing.  I've got sensitive skin to boot and no issues for me.  Always patch test first before slathering it everywhere.)

Caffeine can disrupt your sleep — even when consumed 12 hours before bed  (Great news. 🙄)

BBC Archive 1976: Lindsey Buckingham on joining Fleetwood Mac and working on Rumours Album (Super interesting especially if you know how things ended up and his answer about Stevie)

Well, I guess after reading a few forums, I'm going to have to pull back on wearing barefoot shoes on the daily for walks and should focus on strengthening my feet first.  Some people say it can take over a year walking on soft surfaces to be able to transition to hard ones.  Uhh...twas not in the brochure.  

We'll be doing bathroom flooring this weekend which also means switching the toilet.  I know he's nervous but we've done this before and the biggest thing is remembering to have the tongue in the flooring facing the right way before cuts because this flooring was special ordered and of course not available anymore.  So measure 8x, cut once!!  Lord it'll be nice to get those boxes that have been there for 2 years out of the office!  I think this is our 'over the hump' project so fingers crossed!  Oh crap, I still have to make the medicine cabinet door.  🥴

What do you have planned this weekend?

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Hump Day Poll: Anyone Else...

Howdy y'all, I've gotta question for you.

Anyone out there wear barefoot shoes?  Specifically, I have the Lems 3 which is supposed to be the widest, I think.  Before I invested in those, I got these which are still good but much less expensive for workouts downstairs.  

I'm fine for workouts since it's on a cushioned floor but the hour long 2 1/2 mile walks on sidewalks and asphalt the past two weeks have been doing me in.  If I thought my foot pain was bad before, welcome to the seventh circle of hell.  I'll be your hostess.

I wasn't sure if anyone out there has transitioned to zero drop barefoot shoes or not and if so, did they also feel like a railroad spike was being hammered in with each step.  If so, when does that end?

I'm sure I won't get any responses on this one but figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

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Get posts sent straight to your inbox on Follow It. Some posts may contain affiliate links that help keep this blog running at no cost to you.  See the Disclaimer page for more info. All posts copyright Success Along the Weigh. All rights reserved.