Long time, no see. This won't be long because I've been waiting around two weeks, I think, to play AC Odyssey again and I'm beyond ready to get to it!
The family trip back home has been completed and was another goal marked off the list for 2018. Saw both parents in the same year this time around! That almost never happens! I hadn't been home for four or five years and I was able to do, and watch my kids do, lots of things I used to do when I lived there. I'm fortunate to be able to get my city boys out of the city sometimes. They thrive out there and my oldest did a lot of thinking and talking about it. That kid may end up in the country someday. Anyway, saw lots of family, ate yummy food that I didn't have to cook or buy, and made it back in one piece.
Yummy homemade food everywhere!
Treasures found like some of the corrective shoes I was made to wear as a kid
Perhaps my very first pair of Adidas shell tops?! Not quite but close ;)
On the flip side, the stress and anxiety were insane, I feel like I lost a year off my life, and I was sick the entire time with a cold... Ah, that's life though. There will always be some good and some bad to everything. Right? Right! Moving on!!
Things coming down the pipeline:
I have my new 2019 planner in which will be written new goals for 2019. Hmm, what will I aim to crush this next year? ;)
I'm currently searching for a new book. Finished the zombie one and it was hilarious all the way to the end. Will let you know what I end up in.
Christmas tree and decorations will more than likely be going up this weekend.
Master bath renovation is coming to an end very soon and I'm excited to be able to mark this off the list of goals as well.
Still saving for a new TV but with Christmas around the corner and the way sales go, I think it might be best to buy after Christmas. Sitting on the money for now and adding little by little to my stash :)
I've, of course, run across some quotes I liked while gone and you're going to hear them!! ;)
"You will always be too much of something for someone: too big, too loud, too soft, too edgy. If you round out your edges, you lose your edge."
-Danielle LaPorte
"When it hurts--observe. Life is trying to teach you something."
-Anita Krizzan
Finally, three things I'm grateful for:
The strength I've gained from working out for I'm able to climb trees again!
Having enough money to live comfortably. I've come a long way from mustard sandwiches, $10/week grocery budgeting, and counting quarters to be able to get enough gas to get to work that day.
My best friend who is truly a jack-of-all-trades, one of a kind, and my MVP.
Whale helloooo there! I'm sitting here listening to the sound of various tools ripping apart all parts of my bathroom. It's the beautiful sound of renovation, don't get me wrong, but I can do nothing even remotely productive while that's going on. Video games? Tried but can't hear or concentrate. Cooking? Tried but just kept standing in the kitchen and forgetting what I was doing. Painting? Too much dust in the air and I'll be in the way. I was resigned to just sit on the couch with my dog and stare but then I remembered you! So I'll try this. :)
Let's see, what's happened. I suppose it comes down to my basics: cooking, reading, music, projects, and randomness.
Cooking:
I finally got the birthday cake I requested this year! It was about a week'ish late but it came. Its called a blackout cake. Basically, it consists of a chocolate layer cake with chocolate pudding in between the layers, chocolate frosting, and more chocolate cake crumbles covering the entire thing. Don't let me stop you from Googling it. ;) What can I say? I like chocolate and wanted something I'd never had before. It was a toss up between this and a Tres Leche cake. You can Google that, too. Maybe I'll do that one next year. Anyway, I was surprised with this when I got home from work one day. They'd tried their hands at homemade pudding and frosting and added Oreo wafers to the crumbles on the top. The cake was dripping everywhere and maybe wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing thing to look at but it tasted good! Cracked me up.
Blackout cake
My blackout cake
I broke out the grilled cheese cookbook the other night for another edition of "Crazy Grilled Cheeses" and found one that fit the bill. It was supposed to be pimento cheese mixed with celery on buttered egg bread. However, I made the mistake of sending my spouse to the store for the bread and he "just picked one" so ours became pimento cheese mixed with celery on buttered rye bread. I HATE rye bread! Gross. Luckily, the crazy that was happening inside the sandwich completely overpowered any rye taste from the bread and it was edible. The kids wouldn't go near it, I ate only half of one, and the hubs chowed down. Go figure.
Things coming down the kitchen pipeline? I've been very in the mood to make borscht again AND I came home with a pho cookbook the other day, which I'd like to try my hand at, AND I've been craving homemade radish kimchi. I need some quiet mornings to get lost in the kitchen but it might be a couple weeks before any of this happens.
Reading:
Hmmm, reading has been a little sporadic but I've managed a couple audiobook adventures. First, I listened to a thirty minute lecture (lecture #39 of 48) on the welfare state that's part of a sub-series called Economic History of the World Since 1400, which is part of a larger series known as The Great Courses. Look it up here if you like and don't ask me how my brain got there. Lol The lecture was called The Welfare State: From Bismarck to Obama, I learned lots, and then went out in search of more info. Perfect outcome!
Currently, I'm listening to a ridiculous book that's been making me laugh out loud in my car...alone. This guy, James Breakwell, wrote a survival book for the zombie apocalypse called Only Dead on the Inside but the twist is that its for parents. He has the sickest sense of humor about kids and parenting and its hilarious! At only about four hours its short, funny, and fun.
Projects:
So I tried to build something; the first in a very long line of things I want to try to build. ;) I got all these boards and have been trying to construct a butcher-block style tabletop for a computer desk.
I'm having a blast, learning a lot, and some things are going great and others, mmm, not so much. Good stuff! Here's a "before" pic. We'll come back to this another day.
Randomness:
I've been going to a pelvic floor specialist for a few weeks and Kegel's have become my life. Pelvic floor PT is a crazy ride!
I watched the most beautiful rain storm the other evening at work. The sun was setting so the sunlight was hitting all the rain drops falling and it had that sound. You know the one. That calm rain sound. It was amazing and I had to stop working just to watch and listen for a bit. I'll show you but it won't do it justice. Still, I'd like to remember it so I'm putting it here.
Oh! I ran into this cool, huge leaf bug (?) and was almost late to work because, of course, I had to take pictures of it and ask it questions. Why am I so weird?! But I'm sorry, it wasn't scared of me and I got REALLY close. I mean, am I not going to talk to it?!!?!? Your face is a point and you look like a leaf...can I pleeeeeeease see what you feel like?? ;)
Music:
I'll leave you with some music. These two have been in heavy rotation the last few days and I've been killing those car concerts! Really digging Jidenna so far.
Yes, its a brag song, of which there are too many, but I like it! First few bars once he gets going are my favorite and I love the video! Killing it!
"Cockroaches and the rat shit
Hand me downs with the patches
Mama put a little money in the mattress
Taught me how to make a silver spoon out of plastic
You can either sink, swim or be the captain
Get the last word I'mma get the last laugh in
Now they say "Jidenna why you dressing so classic?"
I don’t want my best dressed day in a casket
You can either lead, follow or get out the way
Make a fuckin' move it would make my fuckin' day
Got a 100 year plan you jus' think about the today
Always been about time more than been about pay
Can't rump with me
Usain couldn’t run with me
Chief come to find you
You don’t come for me
At best you can run a lil company
N**** at worst, I could run the whole country"
This is the live version of this song but I like the energy better. I get goosebumps every time I hear him yell, "True friends stab you in the front!" Could be taken in different ways. Nice!
Sigh. Its 2am and I'm sitting here thinking, reminiscing on good times and bad, and trying to figure out this little life of mine. I don't have time for this shit.
Paulo Coelho said that, "Tears are words that need to be written."
I'm keeping my feelings to myself tonight so I'm dropping a few tears here instead while the rest of my small world sleeps. Tomorrow is coming regardless though and I must sleep so goodnight and "annyeong" for now.
