Thoughts

Life Lately | Mid-January 2018

+In My Head
Well, 2018 has started with a bang! Almost two weeks ago (tomorrow) Forest came down with a fever one evening and was feeling rather awful with runny nose, coughing, etc. Considering the flu has been horrible around here this year I was worried we were heading that direction. After all was said and done I’m not sure if we had the flu or a very bad cold, but either way I came down with it the following Monday evening and subsequently took 4 days of PTO. I was going to take three but that Friday Forest was cranky again and we both stayed home because we were definitely not 100% quite yet. I haven’t taken 4 days of PTO for being sick in for-ev-er. It really knocked me out and all I wanted to do was sleep. Forest went to daycare on most of those days that week but for Tuesday and Friday he was with me. Thankfully I persuaded him into a nap on Friday. We are better now with some little bits of snot here and there.

And then we got this awful freeze again. So, four days off work last week, two days off this week, and then an unexpected balancing act between Chris and I when we found out daycare was closed yesterday because they had a burst pipe from the freeze. Thankfully daycare was open today because I didn’t want to be eating more PTO!

With all of that said and done, I am ready for spring. I’m ready to clean up the yard, ready for warm weather, and I’m just tired of being cold all the time. Let’s get back to our regularly scheduled winter conditions, alright?

+Watching
I’m still on my Charmed binge on Netflix. I’m about a quarter of the way through season 7. There’s one more season after this. So at this point it is 2004-2005 and several years after 9/11 and there are still some well placed American flags all over the place. A flag on the fridge, a well-placed pillow in Phoebe’s work office. Oh, and the incorporation of Homeland Security. I just find this very interesting, the before and afters of 9/11 in pop-culture. Still loving the show even though it has evolved. I didn’t catch a lot of these later episodes in real time so some of them are new to me.

Victoria on PBS has started up again. I loved it last season and having just finished the latest season of The Crown in December this is the perfect thing to get your British monarchy fix. I like seeing how much she had to battle sexism while being the sovereign of her country, particularly in regards to her role as a mother. She had 9 children!

This is Us is back on and I’m still on board the train for this show. Love it! Still can’t decide if I like Kevin.

The Big Bang Theory is still great and I always laugh. I’ve seen some criticism that the show needs to end but I think it has a few years left in it.

There are some things on Netflix I want to watch but just haven’t been in a movie mode lately.

+Outside My Window
Bleak, brown, mid-winter.

+Making
Not much, aka: nothing. I know my word for this year is strong but I also feel like it is very much also a Marie Kondo type year, which means I’m ready to start purging all of the stuff. I’ve been slowly selling baby stuff and maternity stuff, which I mentioned the last time I did one of these. I’ve been having some trouble with some of it and finally ordered a cleanout kit from ThredUp to send in the best maternity items. That got mailed yesterday. The rest will get donated. I’m finally at the point that if I have tried selling something at least twice it is going into the donate pile.

What all of this means is that I’m also going to be working on cleaning up our storage areas where a lot of this stuff is located. Some of it is extra baby items but some of it is just crap we need to go through. I’m also sick of looking at the shed so I’m going to have to get Chris on board with cleaning that up soon as well as taking a hard look at his closet, which is where we store our luggage, backpacking gear, and important paperwork.

One area at a time but there is something to be said for the extra crap in the house having an impact on your own mental health. So, how is this involved in the Making section? Well, part of this has to do with my studio. It needs to be cleaned out, and cleaning out the storage area that is behind my studio (through a door, kind of an extra attic space) is also involved with my studio. If I can clean that up I can move some stuff that is in my studio awaiting storage into there.

+In The Garden
See recent posts.

I think most of the edible garden will pull through just fine with just a bit of minimal loss. Only time will tell on the flower garden.

+Reading
I’ve read two Jane Austen adjacent novels this month. One was The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen which was a delightful little read. The second was The Jane Austen Project which was even better and unlike any of the Austen adjacent books I’ve read before. I definitely wanted more. I read this during my sick stupor last week.

I’ll do a book report at the end of the month because I’m hoping to finish up at least one more book this month.

+Loving
Whole bean, ground to my liking, decaf coffee. All of the flavor and taste of a good cup of coffee without the shakes and jitters after.

I’m a convert.

I have had the worst time finding good decaf coffee and finding whole bean decaf is even harder. I bought some from the bulk bins at Sprouts right before Christmas and just ground it a week or two ago and I don’t know if I can go back to regular coffee. I feel much better having the decaf, which was kind of a reason I went off coffee last fall for a few weeks. It was making me a little nutty after drinking it. I have one bag of fully leaded coffee in the pantry and after I drink that I think I’ll be keeping up this decaf whole bean business. One of my problems with pre-ground decaf is that the grind is too fine and I find it produces a bitter brew. I’ve found a rougher grind is much tastier and really makes a better brew. Having the ability to grind it myself is something I’ve come to find immensely satisfying when creating that perfect cup every morning. I like drinking tea but it isn’t a morning drink for me, I much prefer having it in the afternoon. So when I thought I was going to have to switch to tea eventually because of the jitter issue, I wasn’t thrilled.

So, problem solved!

What’s up with you?

2 Comments

  • Lisa

    Ooh, I like your whole bean decaf coffee idea. I stopped drinking coffee a few months ago because I wasn’t feeling well from the caffeine, and often miss the flavor and comfort of a daily cup. I haven’t cared for decaf before, but maybe I’ll buy some beans the next time I see some at a natural foods store and try them out. Thanks!

  • Patrice La Vigne

    After much debate and deliberation, we just started watching Bloodline on Netflix. Have you seen that one? Only 2 episodes in, but like it so far.

    I have watched about 6 episodes of This Is Us, and I’m probably going to get it from Netflix when Justin is recovering in Denver. It’d probably be a good emotional release!

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