Jen FitzGerald's Blog, page 13

Miscellaneous Monday

 

Well, here we are, properly into the new year. Christmas decorations put away. Fully back at work. Ready to face to new challenges. Get started on new projects...

But first, some quick thoughts about preparing for Christmas--a short mission de-brief, if you will...

Now, this may come as a surprise to exactly no one, but I keep track of Christmas gifts using a spreadsheet. After forgetting that I'd bought a couple of gifts during the year, I decided I should probably create next year's spreadsheet sooner rather than later so that I can log any gifts bought throughout the year.

Then I thought, after a decade of spreadsheets, that I needed a template. So I set that up.

You know what I added to it?? A budget line item for having lights installed along the roof of my house. I don't want anything fancy, but I can't do the lights myself anymore and I do miss having them. I'm gonna call for a quote come the end of September.

I did find the gifts in time, by the way, and both recipients were pleased with them. :0)

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In other news, National Pizza Week started yesterday, January 8th. Sooo...make sure you have some pizza this week. Last year, we covered National Pizza Day in February, but apparently there's a whole week and it's happening now.

According to the site...while pizza's been around since the Greeks and early Egyptians, pizza as we Americans know it didn't really come to fruition until post WWII when soldiers returning from Italy brought the recipe home with them.

It was tweaked from its original version of flat breads topped with olive oil and spices, to the saucy, cheesy variety topped with meats and veggies Americans love today.

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Teeth Update

I've been mostly happy with the bottom set of teeth I now have. The serve their primary function of allowing me to talk and smile without feeling self-conscious.

They do have their drawbacks, however, such as being a trap for food while I'm eating. After being such a stickler for keeping my teeth clean for so long, this is a bit annoying. As a result, I tend to take it out when I'm at home.

Also, the "claw" on the right side that holds the device in place tends to pop off when I'm chewing (putting pressure) on the claw on the left side. I don't have molars on the upper right side, so I haven't been able to chew on that side for close to a decade, although...

A couple of weeks after my last post about my teeth, I got the top set of teeth--the aforementioned back molars. Unfortunately, I can't wear them until I revisit the dentist. The faux-gum on the outward-facing side is a few millimeters too high, so when I chew, that hard substance jams into the top of my jaw space where the bone meets the cheek. Not fun.

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Jack Ryan, Season 3

Image courtesy of Amazon.

DD and I plowed through Season Three of Jack Ryan and WOW. This season had me on the edge of my seat pretty much through all eight episodes. The writers did a super job. We enjoyed season one and I wasn't overly impressed with season two, but they came back and knocked season three out of the park.

I'm looking forward to season four, and I'm half-tempted to seek out some of the original novels in the mean time.

* * * * *

You might be expecting my 2023 fresh start goals... I've usually shared them by now, but I'm still pondering and/or planning some of them. They are coming. >pinky promise<

I read last week that 80% of folks who make resolutions give up by mid-February. I think I've proven over the years that I'm in the 20% even though there are some goals that I may not complete to the fullest extent of expectation. But I didn't give up.

One of the reasons cited right at the beginning of the article as to why people fail is because people don't implement the right habits to achieve said goals.

Funny enough, I read Atomic Habits by James Clear at the tail end of 2022 and have been working on a post about what Clear has to say about developing habits. Look for that in the next month or so.

I hope your new year has gotten off on the right foot. Take care and we'll talk on Thursday.

 

Buc-cee's ~ The Gift That Keeps on Giving

 

Y'all should know my love for Buc-cee's by now. If you've never been there, you don't know. If you have, you may not harbor the same feels, but you understand. I hope you do, anyway.

I spent New Years Eve, as I have for more than a decade, selling fireworks. Well, less selling for me these days and more catching up with friends and playing cashier.

If you don't know, Buc-cee's is a mecca of gas pumps, delicious food, clean bathrooms, tourist tchotchkes of all kinds of varieties including Buc-cee's own merch...

I collect magnets, even from Buc-cee's...

For a bit more info, here's a post regarding one of my first trips to Buc-cee's. Now it's a destination unto itself. DD and I are hoping for a Buc-cee's centric road trip during her spring break.

If the stores themselves weren't enough, the billboards are amazing as well.

Anywho, on the drive to the store and home again on New Years Eve, I saw at least a dozen Buc-cee's billboards -- each way! I got a good chuckle both directions. Some were tried and true slogans that I've seen often, but there were a couple of new ones. Specifically: "Brisket. Beavers. Bathrooms. XXX Miles."

I couldn't get pictures since I was driving and alone. I Google-searched, however, and found a few images. Hopefully they'll garner at least a smile if not a giggle. Have a great weekend. Catch you Monday.

 

2023 ~ The Year of Abundance

 

Image courtesy IMGBIN.

Happy New Year, my dear followers. Hope your weekend was what you needed and wanted it to be. Mine was.

I'm not heading right into my specific goals for 2023 just yet. First, I'm gonna talk about some general tenets I'm going to adopt.

So...

Over the course of 2021-2022, I read the book "Remembering Wholeness" by Carol Tuttle. My Amazon order history shows I ordered it at the very end of 2020 (!!), and I probably started reading it right away because I do remember practicing some of Ms. Tuttle's recommendations.

But somewhere along the way, I put the book aside. Then 2022 happened and there was no time or brain power until the last few months of the year. But I kept seeing it on my shelf and kept thinking I needed to finish it. Eventually I pulled it off the shelf and started reading again.

 Let me preface the rest of this post with some backstory. A dear friend of mine has had various struggles most of the years I've known her, which is better than a decade now. She's a beautiful woman inside and out, and these struggles were through no fault of her own. At some point, however, she realized she needed to take control of her destiny and that of her family.

So back in 2018/2019/2020, utilizing some of Carol Tuttle's recommended practices, mostly regarding various types of prayer, my friend was able to turn things around. Since she read the book, she's realized all her original intentions and has, of course, moved on to bigger and better goals and new intentions.

I was impressed and envious and asked her how she made things happen. She pointed me to the book and so I bought it.

Now a caveat--Carol Tuttle is woman of strong faith, so most of her recommendations are faith- and prayer-based. If prayer is not your thing, then this may not be a book for you. It's also a tiny bit of an infomercial kind of thing. She has (had? it's an old book) some sort counseling practice going on that she mentions. And the technique she practiced sounded a little "out there." But who am I to judge? I, too, march to the beat of my own drummer.

Some of her stuff was a little too odd for me, but, on the other hand, some of it resonated strongly.

In writers circles, there's a saying, especially in regards to advice or editorial suggestions: "Take what works for you, and ignore the rest."

Although I made a lot of notes along the way, I applied that advice to this book. When I asked my friend about it, she felt the same. Use what works, and don't worry about the rest.

I should probably go back through my notes and see how many of those things still resonate.

There were a couple chapters there at the end that really got me, and one of those is where the title of today's post comes from.  "The Universe is Abundant." Ms. Tuttle's belief is just that. There's enough of everything for everyone. Even enough money.

One of the recurring threads of the book is that the universe only gives one back what one puts into it. So, theoretically, if someone complains about about a bad situation, they're going to keep experiencing that bad situation because they keep putting it out there in a negative way. Conversely, if someone puts good, positive thoughts into the universe, then they would get good, positive things back.

Nothing's free, of course. You do have to do some work. My friend went back to school and got a new job in her quest for a better life and a better income. But the universe aligned the cogs to help her make those things happen. She's even a homeowner again.

So all that to say, I'm putting putting positive things into the ether this year. I'm going to be grateful for:

An abundance of  TIME.

An abundance of  LOVE.

An abundance of  MONEY.

An abundance of  FAMILY.

An abundance of  ENERGY.

An abundance of  SUCCESS.

An abundance of  HEALING.

Here's to an ABUNDANT 2023.

Take care and I'll talk you soon.

Happy New Year Dear Followers

Image courtesy of IMGBIN.
 In my rush to get posts written and scheduled to post on time, I forgot to do a post-Christmas follow-up.
Christmas Eve with DH's family was lovely as always. A good time was had by most. Unfortunately, one sister-in-law had some weather-related issues to handle for her job, but otherwise, we all enjoyed the evening and the gifts that were given / received. I received many wonderful things, but I was most excited for this lovely Dala Horse ornament. I'd forgotten it was on the list, but was super excited to open it and then hang it on my tree once we got home.
 
Other than that, there's not much to say much here but Happy New Year. Thanks to all of you who've been following along for months or years.
Here's to a blessed and prosperous new year.
Best wishes to each one of you.
See you in 2023!

Fourth Quarter Goals Review

Image courtesy of IMGBIN. 

I probably could have written this in November or October for that matter.

My attempts at getting back on track with most of the non-writing goals were thwarted.

I struggled more with mental health (as a result of Mom's death) this quarter than I thought I would. I never felt sad, per se, but I had periods of days when I just really felt blah.

I've also been in learning mode and taking in a lot of information and processing it. It took me some time to realize that that had/has also contributed to my feelings of blah and general tiredness. 

There were some external stresses that contributed to my struggles as well, so making extra things happen took a back seat to getting the basics taken care of.

One of those external things was learning that my shadow aka Rayna had cancer. Needless to say, some of my focus turned to making sure she has a good end of life experience. As of right now, she's still with us. However, I think she's taking a turn and it's not going to be much longer before we say our final good-byes. 😢

Even before her diagnosis, I'd planned on taking some half-days off to do yard work once the weather changed. Post-diagnosis, those days became even more important. Rayna likes to be outside but often won't spend a lot of time in the yard without me. And I'm not always keen on being out there.

But after being house-locked for most of the summer when being outside was a break from the stress going on inside my house, I looked forward to fall and cooler temps. Also, once Mom passed, I'd vowed to throw open all the windows and air out my house once the weather turned. I never got to do that as fully as I had hoped. Maybe in spring.

All that to say I spent a lot of time keeping my sanity in check and very little time doing chores, exercising officially, or cooking healthy meals.

But this post is supposed to be a review, so let's review the final quarter of 2022. I'm going in order of the list on the right side...

1) Grandma continued to receive missives from me. I'm all that's left of her daughter, so yeah. I'm even getting more consistent with it. Finally.

2) No exercise other than upping my average daily step-count and doing yard work, although that tapered off after the first real cold snap. I'd hoped to get back to yoga or riding the elliptical, but I just couldn't carve out the time, and I didn't really have the energy these past couple of months.

3) Honestly, I don't know how long cooking & eating healthy lasted this year. And once Mom moved in, that fell completely by the wayside in favor of more carb/calorie heavy meals. She needed them. After that, food was a comfort. Thankfully, I only gained about five pounds. Then lost a few and gained a few. *sigh*

4) Housekeeping just never really got off the ground for me, no matter how much I wanted it to.

5) I kept up (mostly) with my writers group duties. There's a lot of improvement there to be made here, but I think a list of tasks will help.

6) My one book got published and once Mom passed, I worked consistently on the next hockey book. But consistency was mainly wrought in five-minute chunks just so I could "stay in the manuscript" (on a daily basis) as the saying in writer circles goes. That faded the farther into December we went.

7) I didn't spend a lot of time on learning the craft of writing. I spent money on virtual conferences where I can go back and watch at my leisure, but not much time doing so.

8) I added a few things to the Etsy inventory, but didn't double my stock as I'd hoped/planned.

9) The one thing I have done and will always do is READ. Reading is almost as necessary as breathing to me. In fact, I read about 80-ish books this year.

10) I got back on the Goodreads horse somewhat right after Mom passed, but then slowed down again. I don't think I solidified anything really.

This year (2022) will always be the year that everything was knocked off the rails by Mom's move to Texas, her illness, and her death, so I don't know that I can rightly grade myself. Especially for the third and fourth quarters.

I did what I could when I could, and I made it through the year. That, in and of itself, is a success.

As I've mentioned in a couple of previous posts, it's time to rethink writing and to decide what my plan is going forward.

As I've done for the last umpteen years, I'll post my fresh start goals at the beginning of January.

Have a great week and I'll catch you Thursday.

Merry Christmas!

 Image courtesy IMGBIN. Just a few days hence and it'll be Christmas. Sadly the whole of the holiday falls on a weekend and we get no extra days off work. On the other hand, clients usually quiet down this time of year, so time can be spent working on projects rather than tickets. And, as per usual, Christmas will be hosted by one of my sisters-in-laws, so, thankfully, I haven't had a whirlwind of cleaning and cooking to accomplish on top of working and the baseline of Christmas activities.
But I'm definitely looking forward to seeing everyone and, of course, seeing their reactions to the gifts I bought them. For some I have to buy straight from the Giftster list. For others I can go off book a little and buy them something based on past conversations or known interests. Anywho... I hope your Christmas is exactly what you want and/or need it to be. Take care and...   

My Failed Experiment

Image courtesy of IMGBIN.

 

I've been trying to be as "green" as possible for a while now. A couple of years ago, I switched to taking totes and such to the grocery store and trying to use the plastic store bags as little as possible. I'll use one if my package of meat is a little too messy, but otherwise nope. I even bought washable mesh bags for produce, which I rarely use.

These days, I am also on the hunt for food packaging--aside from the usual water bottles, aluminum cans, and paper--that is recyclable. Certain types have to be dropped at the store rather than put in your recycle bin, but those containers are usually at the front of the store. Things I've found to be recyclable: plastic bags containing bread, plastic wrapper around bottled water cases, and now toothpaste tubes! Recycle-ability may vary by brand, but look for the symbol on the packaging.

I think I mentioned in a Miscellaneous Monday post a few weeks ago that only about 10% of items that can be recycled actually are being recycled. That's a shame. There are even some states that don't have a recycling policy at all. Indiana, I believe.

There are at least two states (OR and CO in 02/23) that charge you for those plastic grocery bags, making it even more expensive to go shopping; behooving you to keep a stash of totes in your car.

My failed experiment, however, is in regards to paper. I tried to reduce my need for a physical list on my desk. About a month ago, maybe a bit longer ago, I created an electronic list. All I had to do was open it on my (computer) desktop each day and go...

But it's just not the same. It's nice to have a sheet there to jot down a random number or quick note rather than dig through the documents open on the computer--if that to-do-list doc is even opened. Unfortunately, a few things have slipped through the cracks.

So last Wednesday I dug out a stack of six to seven sheets of notebook paper and happily jotted down those things needing my attention. With the notes right there on my desk, staring at me each day, things will get done faster, I bet. That messy jumble of notes will encourage me to get that stuff accomplished sooner rather than later so that a) I can cross it off the list and b) it won't have travel to the fresh sheet of paper when I have to move/update the list.

How about you? Do you  recycle?

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Sonshine

This Saturday marks the 27th birthday of my son ~ the one, the only... Sonshine.

He's living in the Seattle area still and doing well, according to himself. I wouldn't know otherwise with him being so far away as well as being social media averse. I have to take it on faith.

It's gonna mostly be pics in this post, so feel free to check out now.

Have a great weekend!

The above pics, while the most recent, are still a few years old... and below are just random selections from the blog over the years.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SONSHINE!!

Today is National Gingerbread House Day!

 Remember this??

 My redneck gingerbread house and G.I. Snow? Over time, they became a little more elaborate than this basic version.

I really miss making the redneck gingerbread house, but it's more fun as a multi-person activity and, alas, my partner in gingerbre-- er... graham cracker crime...

 ...is far far away. How about you? Are you fan of gingerbread cookies or of decorating gingerbread houses?
Have a great week. Talk to you in a few days.

Before and After: New Chompers!

 

 Image courtesy of IMGBIN.

I finally have some new chompers-- er, new teeth, that is!

Just over two years ago, during the height of pandemic mask wearing, I had three teeth at the front of my mouth pulled. I figured "why not?" No one would see my smile for a while.

The plan then was to get implants. A bone graft was done to support the posts for said implants. But as time went along, I felt less and less comfortable spending $10+K on three or fourth teeth. And, no, I am not kidding. Implants are not cheap.

But I finally reached a point where I was done being without teeth. I considered pulling all my teeth and going with full dentures, but at, say conservatively, $250 for pulling teeth, plus the cost of a full denture, that was still a pricey prospect. And my teeth are in decent shape, so no real need to pull them all out.

I went to see a denture specialist and for 1/10 the cost of the original plan, I now have a partial denture filling out the gap on my lower jaw. And no more insecurities about my gap-toothed smile.

Forgive the awful pictures--selfies are not my strong suit...especially not at 4:30am when the after pic was taken.

Before:

After:

What do you think?

Just in time for my writers group holiday party in person. I don't have to take them out to eat as I have had to do with my little spacer appliance. Won't that be nice?

Now if only I'd bought that box of hair color...

Have a great weekend.