What can I say about Wednesday?

Middle of the week already and the last day of November! Moving on to December and in just 25 days it will be Christmas. I have so much I want to get done for Christmas but the main goal to accomplish is to find gifts everyone likes. Plus, keep it all fair and equal. I have a few other want to do if I have enough time. Bake cookies and share them, make my own wrapping paper, print photos for my yearly calendars I make for myself and family. Plus, keep the house clean. Not too much to do, right?

 

It sure doesn't feel or look like December will start tomorrow. We have zero snow and it's actually raining a little today. I'm in a tank top running in close to 40+F temperatures. Perfect running weather, although that does not prevent me from working up a good running sweat!

 

 I made more gingersnap cookies this morning and added in 1 cup of sugar instead of 1/2 cup. The extra sugar was just what they needed. I want to look around for that pearl sugar to use on top instead of granulated sugar.

 

 

I'm off to work for a few hours. I have some afternoon errands to run and then I'm home on the couch. It's Survivor night and I have to catch up on Below Deck. The kids and I saw the new Harry Potter like Movie, was it Strange animals? Something like that. We all didn't like the movie. Celina slept through 99% of the movie and I could have missed it all too and been just fine. Good thing it was $5 Tuesdays at the Movies. We'll see the new Brad Pitt movie next Tuesday.

 

I just upped it!

That's right, my title says it all. I upped my side planks going from 1 minute each side for a total of two minutes to just doing a whole two minutes on one side. One minute longer then I normally hold a plank. I just wanted to be done with my morning planks. I just wanted to do the whole two minutes all at once instead of splitting up the time and you know what? It didn't kill me. In fact, I was more then ready to increase my plank time. I still struggle with the two minutes for a normal bent arm and straight arm plank. I think its more just the time required to do nothing other then plank when my mind is running a million miles per hour on what else I need to do this morning, like go run!

I wrote down some life long goals or I suppose a life plan for the next few decades. What will I do in my 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's? Exercise is #1 on my list and so is spending time with family. After that I need to keep working at least part time to have a purpose and to keep earning money. Although, I did say I am not working in my 80 and 90's. I have travel plans to. I want to see as much as possible and that might mean living in a tiny house to do that. If it's just Steve and I, we can do that if we live in a warm climate were we can extend our living space to the outdoors. I'm all about less is best, except when it comes to our sport equipment, then more is better! I'm looking forward to having more life experiences then stuff in my life. My goals are also to pay off debt. We are well on our way to being mortgage free in a few years. Once that is paid off we'll have the money to pay off the other debt and invest in travel, maybe a new business and more fun in life.

I might not be into the whole dog clothes buying thing, but I am into the cute hats for dogs. I did crochet Kendra's dogs each hats with pompoms a few years ago when I learned how to make a hat with yarn. I think the doggie hats turned out better then the hats I made our kids. I'm not sure Zoey loves her Santa hat I purchased last night for $2, but she's a good sport and wears it with out trying to get it off or chew it up. She definitely likes her reindeer antlers better.

I'm in the holiday baking mood. I normally bake cookies for my customers every week. Sometime, I get lazy and just dip pretzels in almond bark because it takes like two minutes. I decided to make some gingerbread cookies off the molasses jar. They turned out soft and delicious. I might have to make these and give them to family. I have a list of cookies I want to bake this year and maybe some new ones too off Pinterest.

Here is the recipie I used, if you want to make some up. I rolled the cookies in sugar before baking. I think it needed the extra sugar.

Little by little I'm making diet changes. I had some yogurt with raspberries instead of Ice cream. It's not the same as my vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce but about the same size portion. It's a work in progress. As is running, a work in progress.

 

 

After one more slice of Pie

I am really going to start watching more carefully what I eat. Well, that's after the last slice of pecan pie is gone. I plan to eat that tonight. I do need to stop making poor food, pie choices. I am doing my swap it out again for a better choice food like Greek Yogurt and Raspberries for 80 to 100 calories.

I have to stop eating white anything and fried foods. Better yet, just eat a lot less of it and don't make anything completely off limits.

Zoey running training is going a bit better. She is still pulling me while we run but its getting better. I'm sure the more I run with her, the better she will get at not pulling. At least this is my hope. She is a pretty good dog and smart so I have high hopes for her to be a good running dog.

 

She is learning that when the running shoes go on, it's time for her to go out with me. She is more then happy to run 1.5 miles and then watch me run the other loop while she rests by the window.

 

It was tree decorating time Sunday night. Logan is taking over the light job. I forget he is taller then me now. I got reminded of this when we were out shopping yesterday afternoon and a woman asked for help reaching a shirt that was hanging high up. I got up with Logan and realized that Logan would have an easier time of getting it down for her. Sure enough, it was easy to reach up and get the shirt down. I told that woman he grew about two feet since last summer and I forget he is taller then me now.

Zoey is pretty easy going to have all this stuff put on her head. It's her first Christmas with us. She was born on the 13th and we didn't adopt her till January. I could tell she is pretty excited for Christmas!

The kids and I did a lot of Christmas shopping on Sunday. We started off going to Menards with Steve to get trim for the upstairs bathrooms. We needed to finish the kids bathroom trim and replace ours with wide white base trim. This is how Celina and I entertained ourselves while we waited for Logan to try on some clothes.

 

Because it was a long weekend, I was able to talk Steve into painting our master bathroom. He had left over gray paint from a customers house. I figured, might as well use that color. It's just paint. If I didn't like it, we can easily change it and it's far better then the grass green we have on the walls. Well, it's still looks like a gray-green to me but it's all fresh and new. I had some major dusting to do in the bathroom while Steve painted. We took down the lights so I could wash them and then I dusted on top of the cabinet where no one can see or reach normally. Plus, we took the wood blinds down and I washed those and the window. After 16 years it was time to do some work in there. Once you fix one thing, then you have to change something else. We are going to re-do the shower. I want a new glass door surround, change out the tile and add a built into the wall shampoo/soap shelf. Steve also want to raise up the vanity higher and replace the countertop with granite and the sink. We might save this project for after the holidays. I painted the window trim white since it was ugly oak. Love how it freshened up the bathroom to make it bight and clean looking. I can't wait till he adds the new white base trim to the walls. At least we have it and it's ready to go. I'll have to take a better photo once its all done.

 

While we were out shopping, I saw this gray fabric covered chair at Pier Imports. This is my inspiration chair to re-cover our dining room chairs. Got to start some where!! I'm paining the table a dark gray first then will cover in gray fabric. I'll try one chair and see how it goes and the cost to do this with all those large nail heads and fabric needed.

 

Some one is waiting for me to go run.. My stomach is just not feeling it right now. For some reason I woke up and kind of felt sick. I hope it's not the stomach flu. I have a few customers that had kids sick vomiting last week. I don't want that!

My Turkey Day

I have to say, this was probably one of the better Thanksgivings I've had. The food was all perfect, we played games, everyone was on time, and we ate early at 3pm on the dot! Not to mention we combined Thanksgiving with Kendra's 30th birthday. She didn't want to celebrate turning 30, but we did it anyway.

 

The human head photo.

 

Evan and I were at dinner even though you can't see us.

 

Kendra didn't get her white chocolate, raspberry cheese cake with a chocolate cookie crust for a cake this year. She got a pumpkin pie instead made by Celina. I probably should make a cheesecake for Christmas this year to make up for the not so birthday cake like celebration!

 

We did buffet style serving, since there is 11 of us, we all just fit around the table. I'm not sure what we will do when Celina and Logan have families. The table is going to have to grow a bit bigger!

 

 

 

 

 

 Steve cooked the turkey perfect this year. It might not have been golden brown because he cooks it in the roasting pan, but it sure was tasty and so juicy! I found out people do want to eat the golden turkey skin. It's just not going to be me!

 

 The turkey with the sides. So much food! What is even better, the next day left overs. There was no pecan pie left over so I had to buy one at the store just so I could have another slice today. I'm keeping it frozen in the freezer so I don't have to eat the whole pie all in a few days.

 

I don't have photos from our game of Apples to Apples we played for two hours. It was fun. Next time I think we need the Games for Humanity for Christmas. Might as well make it more funny.

It was good seeing my little buddy again. I always tell him that I missed him soooo much. He said it back to me to with a huge hug and kiss. Evan is the best!

 

 

I don't have photos to prove that Celina and Logan along with Zoey joined me the last two days in a row. They all did the 1.5 mile, 1 time loop around our neighborhood with me, then I did another loop alone to get in my 30 minutes of cardio and 3 miles for the day. I'm doing the minimum of exercise you need per week 5 days per week for 30 minutes. I do want to change that and workout longer but I just can't convince my brain to want to do anymore. Guess the minimum is better then nothing.

 

Zoey is pulling a lot on her leash while we run. I'm trying to train her not to pull, but it's difficult. She just wants to run as fast as she an and drag me along. I was reading some springer info and it looks like there is a trainer type harness you can purchase to teach them not to pull. I'm ready to try something else. Might have to Google some suggestions of what to purchase!

Work Crunch time.. before Tday!

I have a very busy work short week. Well, I should say my Tuesday is Extremely BUSY!!! Not sure what I was thinking when I was planning out my work week. Lets just hope the weather holds up on that day because I heard we could get snow/rain mix and that does not mix well with traveling all over the place to work!

This must be my trying to stay positive outlook on working this week. I don't have Friday off either, I'm working for about an hour late in the afternoon. I'll still be able to hit up those Black Friday store specials if I choose. Not sure it's worth going out to do that??

 Celina finished up making her three pies for thanksgiving. She made pumpkin, sweet potato and pecan pie. They all look so good. She put them in the freezer to keep and will thaw them out the night before Thanksgiving. We were all tempted to just eat one pie and re-make one later on.

We really should make pies more often then buy them in the store. They are so easy to make and the taste is 100% better then store bought! I told Celina it might be her job every year to make the pies.

Logan was busy working on a school project, building a website for a class project. He spent a lot of time working on it and finished it up late last night.

 

 I had to borrow this picture of Evan on FB. He was seeing his first show of Paw Patrol. It's his favorite! So cute that he brought along the dog from Paw Patrol. I sure do miss my Monday buddy!

 

I found a old stuffed Webkinz bunny for Zoey. She loves her new baby. Probably a little too much since she wants to keep it so close to her. She loves to chew out all the eyes and then there goes the inside stuffing.

 

It's that running time with Zoey. I'm still stalling because it's only 24*F this morning. I'll run 1.5 miles with her and then do one loop of running by myself to finish up 3 miles for the day. I'm taking a Tuesday running break and then will be back at running the rest of the week with Zero excuses! My running miles are super low every week. I only managed to run 13 miles and I need to start upping it! I suppose I'm waiting to ski and get in miles that way instead of running miles which I haven't been loving. I'd rather do something I enjoy then something I'm just doing... just because. I'm not sure how to get past the not loving running this entire last year. The main point is that I'm not giving up. I'm finding other forms of exercise I do enjoy and doing less of what I'm not loving.

 

Not making the most ouf of a Saturday.

I had a very lazy, unproductive Saturday. I had all these plans to paint our inside window trim and two chairs. I did nothing. I did my three mile run, took a shower, fixed my hair and then took a nap till 1pm. Even after my nap I did little with my day other then to go shopping with the kids. We picked up all the ingredients for Celina's three pies she wants to make today for Thanksgiving.

I'm still not loving my bangs but at least I am able to style my hair and make them look some what okay. On the plus side of having short bangs, they don't get in my eyes like long bangs do. Plus, I really did hate my straight hair when it was down out of a pony tail. Steve said I look younger with bangs. Not sure about that, but I'll take the complement. Time to get over my bangs and just deal with them.

 

I hope to make more out of my Sunday. We have breakfast plans to eat at the Buttered Tin. They make really big pancakes with chunks of thick bacon on top with maple butter and real maple syrup. They are the pancakes you only get one and share it. I'm kind of in the mood for scrambled eggs and hash brows with a shared plate of pancakes.

 

I was up around 2am this morning unable to sleep. Do you think it had something to do with me sleeping Saturday morning till 1? Probably! I got up and went down stairs to sleep with Zoey. I don't think she was happy I woke her up and after I did that, I wasn't happy she wanted to go out side at least three times during the night.

 

 

The last month of our Zoey being a puppy. I realized this when I scooped out her food this morning and noticed she has a little less then half a bag of dog food to go. We'll need to mix it now with regular dog food until it runs out. Bye, bye puppy stage. Of course now I'm thinking puppy again? Maybe not. The first few months its a lot of work. I've heard it's easier with two because the older one teaches the younger one the rules of the house. Does that mean less accidents? I'm not sure and I'm not ready to test out this theory. I'll just puppy look and enjoy our own Zoey.

 

I like how Zoey always is waiting for us in the window. She loves to run with me but also likes to watch me run home from her couch spot.

 

I hate my new bangs!

My new bangs are way to short and messed up. I took a photo of what I wanted my hair to look like and she 100% screwed it up. This is what I get for going to the beauty school. So much for thinking my hair couldn't be messed up. I know it's just hair and it will grow out. I'm trying to work with this mess of bangs. Not happy face!

 

 I'm not saying my non bangs hair was any better but I was expecting to at least be able to do something with my hair.

 

I'm going to have to suck it up and know my hair will grow out in the next year!

On a positive note, ran my three miles in the new winter air, around 31+F this morning with a snow dusting on the ground. The wind was pretty gusty too but I just got out there to run.

A change in Weather.

As they say on The Games of Thrones "Winter is coming". We are getting the first big storm and with it, colder temperatures. I suppose we are now into the middle of November and that's to be expected. Its just hard going from a super nice fall and yesterday almost 60+F to the outlook of 30's and snow. While I love cross country skiing. I'm not ever excited to get snow or have it cold enough to have snow. I'd much rather stay in warm weather all year round. We will someday move to a warmer year round location.

I made a hair appointment to get a new style. I decided after looking at Pinterest that I need long layers and bangs back in my life. I know my ponytail habit won't like the changes because I'll have hair falling all over the place. I'll just have to fix that with bobby pins. Time to start doing more fix up in my life. That should probably include some new makeup or at least wearing some. I sure miss my eye lash extensions.

Some mornings Zoey can be a royal pain. She wants to go out, then come inside, bark at me for no reason (probably to play) while I'm in the middle of my morning planks. I know... first world problems. I just need to stay on track while doing my morning workout. For all these planks I do, 12 minutes total, I know some where under there is a six pack. I need to work on getting my fat % down. I just keep putting it off.

This cabinet looks pretty similar to ours and I like it painted white or light gray. I've got a lot of painting projects to do around our house. I'm pretty tired of the look we've had for 15 years. It's time to mix things up and freshen up the house.

I know Zoey probably wants to go on a run today. I'm not even sure if I do! It's raining but I know no one ever melted from a little cold rain. Time to just get out there and do this running thing! And no, I have not increased my miles. Still stuck at three for a  quick 30 minute workout.

Today is my Friday!!!

I haven't had a Friday or Monday off in a long time. Today, Thursday is my Friday because I have zero work on Friday! Sure I'd like to be busy with working at least a few hours but I sure do like the fact that I have it off. I'll more then make up for it next week, our short Thanksgiving week. It's extra, extra busy for working. I won't even have off next Friday.

I am definitely getting more relaxed  now that I'm in my 40's..approaching the 50 year mark in a few years.  I don't seem care about fixing my hair. Some days I don't even brush or wash my hair. Makeup? A little and if I sweat it off, I usually don't put any more on. Or I just don't put makeup on since I take a late afternoon shower after working.  It is lazy or that I just don't care as much any more. I probably should care and try harder. Something to work on!!!  

Zoey has been enjoying going for a run with me. She gets so excited when I pull out the leash and ask her if she wants to go run. Plus, I have to admit, it's kind of nice getting the extra running help when she pulls me along at a faster pace. I can tell that I go a lot slower on my second loop around the hood with out her.

This is how she spends a big part of the day. Wanting to play and me to give her a massage. Yep, my dog loves a good massage. I started this when she was a puppy and she absolutely loves it.

Back to running with my buddy!