What I Wore to Work Last Week

FRIENDS! REGISTRATION SEASON IS OVER!! Yes, that does deserve all caps. July is a slow month at work, so I'm getting pumped up for that. Meanwhile, I enlisted my co-worker's help to take photos of me last week. Here's what went down.

Monday - The day between events. I was mostly just in my office all day inputting appointment summaries from an event on Friday and preparing for Tuesday. I'm wearing a tank I bought at Macy's approximately fifteen years ago and some linen pants. 

Tuesday - Registration event. I need to be prepared to walk across campus, complete my presentation, kneel on the ground, and move furniture. I'm wearing a Happy Earth dress from several seasons ago (love this dress) and a bolero from Ann Taylor about ten years ago. It can range from boiling to frigid on building across campus, so I have to be prepared. 

Wednesday - You guys. It was cold and rainy. I hate that. On the plus side, the rain does fabulous things for my hair. I have on a Passion Lillie dress and I spent most of the day wearing a duster from Rowan Grey Clothing.

Thursday - Last registration event of June. Woot woot! Another Happy Earth dress. The white tank is from H&M like a billion years ago. It has held up quite well considering its origin. 

Friday - We had another event on campus for prospective students. *sigh* This was less intensive work, but I still had to be prepared to move tables and cart half our office across campus. It was also quite cool. The shirt is from LL Bean and was a FANTASTIC purchase at the beginning of the summer. The pants are more of the Athleta linen pants. The H&M tank is in play again.

Accessories: I wore Mephisto Helen sandals all week (on the rainy day I had Vionic flip flops in my bag), a silver bracelet from Twisted Silver that I got from Dr. BB as a present before we were married, and my two little purple bracelets from Tobias. I'm still rocking my permanent bracelet that I got in Seattle and my permanent anklet I got with my niece. I have a pair of sapphire earrings and Hey June hoops. LOOK, I like my jewelry. 

Outtakes: Sometimes I think I sound like I am NOT FUN on this blog. But here is proof that I am an utter goof.

Full credit to my co-worker LB who took each and every one of these photos when I would barge into her office with my phone outstretched. 

The Chew, Part I

I'm going to do a mini-series about food this month because work is dumb right now and I'm exhausted and out of things to blog about. Surely everyone likes to chat about food. I'll do one food post a week for the next few weeks. 

What’ll you be having for breakfast/lunch/dinner today?

Breakfast: Greek yogurt with homemade granola, grapes, tea

Lunch: A "salad" made of tomatoes, mini peppers, cucumbers, and carrots; tuna; guacamole; pretzels; a LaCroix

Dinner: Indian Butter Chickpeas with rice

Do you usually cook at home, eat out, or get food delivery? Or a mix of all three? 

We cook at home the vast majority of the time. I think I have had lunch/dinner out maybe half a dozen times this year? Because of my husband's food restrictions, eating out just doesn't make sense for us. 

What was your favorite food as a kid?

Ice cream! I mean, if I'm completely honest, it still is.

Do you share your food with others? Why or why not?

No. Get your own.

Do you like to cook? Why or why not?

It's fine. I can listen to a podcast while I cook, so it's not so bad.

Have you ever had an accident while cooking or baking?

I have burned myself a number of times and have cut myself with knives more times than I can count. But I've never set the house on fire or anything like that.

Which foods are you allergic to?

KNOCK ON WOOD I am not allergic to any food. There cannot be another person in the house with food weirdnesses. 

Do you have a gluten, lactose, or other intolerance?

No, but my husband does and it makes a big difference in what I can and cannot eat at home. 

What food reminds you of family? 

Are you familiar with green bean casserole? Canned green beans (shudder), cream of mushroom soup (double shudder), and crispy fried onions. If you're not familiar with it, let me assure that it is as revolting as it sounds and it was served at every family holiday I ever went to with my family of origin.

But I could pound some mandarin orange Jell-O salad, so I'm not judging your family's favorite disgusting side dish. 

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What was your favorite food as a child?

Five (Plus One) for Friday, Edition #41: The Gallimaufry Edition

1) The ghost: I think our house is haunted. Let me explain. There was THIS DAY. Here are the events that unfolded on THAT DAY.

• When I walked Hannah in the morning, the back door was locked when I got home. I swear I didn't lock it, but I'll grant you there was a slim possibility I did. But it was probably the ghost.
• The doorbell didn't work when I tried to ring it to get Dr. BB to let us in. I had to wander around the house banging on windows looking like a burglar. This, it turns out, is because the doorbell battery was dead, but I think the ghost did it.
• When we got home after work, our front door was WIDE OPEN. And I think it had been open ALL DAY when we were not home. I mean, Hannah would have murdered anyone who tried to get in, but we very rarely use the front door. How was it open? (Hypothesis: Dr. BB left it open when he was fiddling with the doorbells. I mean, maybe. Or it was the ghost.)
• When Dr. BB went to take a shower that night, there was stuff all over the bathroom floor. The squeegee we use to clean the shower door, a washcloth, and my towel. On the floor! I had just been in that room to clean the litter box and nothing was on the floor, but obviously the ghost had a beef. 

2) Passwords: I recently had to change my password at work and I realized that I've never talked about my password strategy. I go to the last note I've made in an ebook and I use that as a guide. The last thing I marked is from the book The Martian Contingency and it's the following line: Purim is easily the most fun of the Jewish holidays. I'm pretty sure I marked it because I've never heard of Purim (because I suck).

Anyway, if I were going to make a password from this (I am not because I already changed my password recently), I'd make it something like Pizez!!!mostest1001 because 1001 is the location number on the Kindle. And then I'd think about that book every time I type my password, which is dozens of times a day. I had a password from the mediocre book Zazen for a time and I always sort of wished it was from a better book. But the password I currently have is from a book I actively disliked, so that's even worse!

What's your password creation strategy?

3) It takes a village/I am THAT NEIGHBOR/are the boys okay?: Two incidents in my neighborhood have me concerned that I am the neighbor other neighbors talk about.

• There's a "rustic road" that I take to get to the next town over. It floods at least once a year, has potholes the size of a VW Beetle, and is sort of hilly, so the sightlines can be tricky. It's also a popular place for people to cycle, walk, and run, so you have to stay alert. Constant vigilance, as Mad-Eye Moody would say.  I was driving Hannah to get a bath and I noticed a person in a black hoodie sitting on the side of the road with their back to it - their back to a road with bad sightlines and no shoulder. I pulled over, threw on my flashers, and went to see if the person needed help. It was a teen boy and I asked if he was okay, thinking maybe he'd fallen on a run or something and he started laughing and said they had problems on a boat (who's they? what boat? I don't know) and he was waiting for someone to come pick him up to take him to the truck so he could pick up his brother. I was very confused by this description of events, but just as I was about to ask if I could drive him to the truck, an ATV pulled up and he got in.

• This next one, though, this is the one that's keeping me up at night. I was walking back from the community center on Monday night and I noticed two little boys PLAYING ON A ROOF. TINY BOYS. ONE WAS ONLY WEARING A DIAPER.  (A lot of houses in our neighborhood have porches/additions with flat roofs that you can access from windows/doors on the second floor. Our house has this exciting feature. This is what they were playing on. Not a pitched roof. It was only one story up and flat, but if a baby falls from one story, they can STILL DIE.) Another man was headed in my direction and he asked me "did you notice those kids on the roof?" and I said "did you do anything about it?" and he just shook his head. Meanwhile, there were THREE OTHER ADULTS across the street yelling at the kids, but not doing anything.
  
  You know what I did? I marched to the house, knocked on the door, and when a lady answered, I asked her if she knew her boys were on the roof and she said A LOT OF SWEAR WORDS and ran upstairs. I heard the older boy say "she's telling mom on us" as I waited below the porch with my arms out (liked I'd be able to catch one?) while the mom corralled them back inside. That lady was mad and I heard her say a bunch more swears as I walked home. Why did any of the other FOUR ADULTS who noticed this before I arrived on scene not do something? I had a nightmare that night and the adrenaline from seeing those kids on that roof is not something I ever want to relive. 

4) Wherefore art thou green beans? - I had all the stuff for my green bean salad except for green beans. EZ. Go get green beans and have a salad ready for lunch all week? Don't mind if I do. Except I went to five stores and four of them had ZERO green beans and one of them had DISGUSTING green beans. Is there a green bean shortage I am unaware of? 

5) CBWC - April is Cool Blogger Walking Club time! Elisabeth sponsors it and it basically just asks that you do at least ten minutes of intentional movement every day. Who's in? 

6) It's gawk at dangerous weather time! - I'm currently helping a friend so I am not at home. Last night there was a tornado watch/warning/watch at my home and Dr. BB was home alone with the girls. He laughed about how all the neighbors were out stormwatching, but then was no longer laughing when the sirens were going off and he had to somehow get two four-legged creatures into our asbestos-filled basement. They both had to be carried down and I have to admit that I am a bit concerned that my chronic rhabdo having husband carried a presumably squirmy 50-pound dog down the stairs.

Let tornado season begin!

In the meantime, my friend is mostly sleeping and I have been able to get a lot of work done (when you're not at the office, you get shit done because no one is stopping by to irritate you) and read a lot. I even did a short yoga thing. I'm "helping," but it actually sort of feels like a vacation? 

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Have you had an adrenaline raising situation recently? Ever "saved" children on a roof? Who's in for CBWC? Are there too many capslock in this post? 

Five for Friday, Edition #40: The Random Photo Edition

1) The cat is queen of the house. Have we discussed how Zelda has taken over poor Hannah's kennel? 

2) I'm going to get a new office chair! I was actually given a new office chair (see below), but it turns out they sent the wrong chairs and I'm actually going to get one that's fancier than this one, so now you know just as much about the chairs as I do. I had the use of this one for one entire working day (Wednesday). 

3) Library books! As of Saturday, I only had four library books and I was freaking out because that's the number I had when the library closed because of the pandemic and I'm NEVER going to be unprepared for a library shutdown ever again. I immediately ordered more books from the library than I could ever read. 

Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon - currently reading

We Lived on the Horizon by Erika Swyler - I have started this one twice, but it doesn't hold much interest. It gets one more shot and then I'm returning it. 

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda - IRL book club pick. 

 

The Way We All Became The Brady Bunch: How the Canceled Sitcom Became the Beloved Pop Culture Icon We Are Still Talking About Today by Kimberly Potts - I borrowed this to fulfill a Pop Sugar Reading Challenge Prompt, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to really read it.

Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi - This sounds depressing as hell. It might not be a great fit for this time of year.

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler - Mindless YA? I don't mind if I do.

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum and translated by Shanna Tanj - Cozy Japanese Korean literature? YES! (Thanks to the Anonymous commenter who pointed out this error. I'm sorry. It's not a great mistake to make.)

Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence—and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process by Irene M. Pepperberg - It will not surprise anyone that Pepperberg was on an episode of the You're the Expert podcast, would it? 

Running While Black: Finding Freedom in a Sport That Wasn't Built for Us by Alison Mariella Désir - For a Pop Sugar Reading Challenge prompt. I usually despise running/athlete memoirs, but this has a 4.55 Goodreads rating. Surely it's good? (I suspect I will not read this one, either.)

On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz - This book was cited in Humor Me, so I ordered it immediately. 

By the Sword (Valdemar saga) by Mercedes Lackey - I enjoyed the last installment of Valdemar so much I ordered the next one. 

The next couple of photos are brought to you by me trying to document things that make me laugh.

4) Ted and the Giant Carrot - In this sequel to James and the Giant Peach, we try to figure out why the carrots at our grocery store are the size of melons.

Look at those carrots!

5) This dog. If you are ever driving around my town and you see this dog in the terrace rolling around, just know that she is loved and cared for. I mean, look how clean those teeth are. I laughed so hard at her.

Have you read any of those books? What's on your to-read list next? If you had to pick one of my books to read next, what would you read? 

The Great Ornament Search of 2025

Every year I buy a new Christmas ornament and make my husband unwrap it when we open our presents and say it's from "The Ornament Fairy." Here are some of them. 

Here's are some I considered this year.

Custom message ornament: Maybe "This Year Sucked." Or "I Cried A Lot." Or "My Mom Died and I'm Doing Just Fine with That." What about "My Relationship with My Sister is Complicated." It was a consideration.

Or just this? 

Or maybe this?

Or, hey, what about this?

Okay, fine. I didn't do that. Enough with my pity party.

Serious consideration was these cute snowmen. It seemed even more appropriate after our snowstorm a couple of weekends ago.

A Subaru ornament to celebrate our new purchase? That seemed like recency bias. 

I desperately want this custom book ornament. But that would really be about me and not the two of us, so that's a big no, but next year I'm going to seriously consider this as a present to myself. Pick out my top ten books of the year and put them in there. It's a perfect ornament for an occasion that isn't me acting as The Ornament Fairy. 

In the end, I went for a fairly safe choice. 

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Are you buying any new ornaments this year?

Five for Friday, Edition #33

1) Update on an update: We did it. We bought a new car. I might have cried when we drove by the Hyundai for the last time. We bought a Subaru Outback (if you want the details it's a Limited trim with a turbo engine). Is it really an SUV? Yes. Do I feel like I've let myself down? Sort of. 

Her name is Lucy and she has heated seats and a heated steering wheel. Since the high topped out IN THE SINGLE DIGITS yesterday, I have made use of these features. 

I would show you a photo, but I literally never see her in the daylight. Maybe you'll get a photo in May.

2) Let the season begin: We have finally joined all the festive people. Lights are up and the advent puzzle has been started. The holiday market is tomorrow and I'm hoping to do most of my shopping by the end of the weekend. Cards have been ordered. Tickets for the Rotary Gardens light show have been ordered. Let's GO. 

3) Workity work: You know how work has been insane and I said things will slow down? I mean, that hasn't happened yet. The software launch has been a disaster and I'm still the point person for that. We have a new hire which will eventually mean less on my plate, but now means MORE on my plate. Eh. You know what? Who cares? It's fine. Just don't look at my work calendar.

4) Midwesterners must talk about the weather: If you follow other Wisconsin/Illinois bloggers, you might already know that last weekend an entire planet's worth of snow was dumped on us, followed by more snow, and then the temperatures plummeted so that the high yesterday was in the single digits. What does that mean? It means that snow ain't going nowhere and Hannah is by turns delighted by the snow and horrified by it. It also means my time outdoors stat is not doing well right now.

5) It's Spotify Wrapped time: The best of time of year is when I am yet again reminded that white trash stays white trash. YES, Tanya Tucker is one of my most listened to artists of the year. Do yourself a favor and listen to her cover of  "The House that Built Me" and follow it up with "Lizzie and the Rainman." If you want deeper Tucker cuts, consider her version of "The Thunder Rolls," the sad story song "What's Your Mama's Name," my karaoke song "Delta Dawn," or the super romantic "Two Sparrows in a Hurricane." I am a basic white bitch and I intend to stay that way.

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Any big updates in your life? Do you want to talk about the weather? Do you have a song recommendation for me? Do you want to brag about any of the top artists on your Spotify Wrapped?

Update #3: The Yoga Bags

The brand is Magnilay. 

I now have TWO yoga mats and two yoga bags. Since I do yoga at the student union twice a week, I have a bag at work that includes two blocks, a strap, my mat, and leggings. The bag can fit a blanket, but it's really tight and hard to repack, so for now, there's no blanket. This has worked out well for me. I leave it at school most of the time, but if I am going to a yoga class somewhere else, I bring it home with me. 

Then I splurged and bought a new yoga mat for home so that I could leave the other bag at school. I have a blanket, bolster, and another set of blocks at home. I could probably use a strap for home use, but I mostly just use a tie or a PT resistance band. I had a different yoga mat at home, but it was not very good quality and was constantly shedding tiny pink pebbles everywhere. So now I have a good quality mat at home and the whole set up seems seamless. 

While I was buying my new mat, I bought a bag just for the mat. I take that with me to the community center when I go to my fitness classes and just throw some hand weights into a bag with my water to do those classes. This system is pretty new - I've only had the new mat for a couple of weeks - but so far this system is working for me!

My set up for fitness classes. It's a Manduka mat and bag. 

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Do you have an exercise bag? Were you choosy about picking it?

Update #2: The Silent Auction Wins

A few weeks ago we went to a fundraiser at the local community center. I think I've mentioned in the past that I have never actually paid to go to these fundraisers, but there's a board member who always pays for my tickets. Well, that happened AGAIN. Now that I not underemployed anymore, I can actually probably afford to pay for my own tickets, but this year I just forgot to buy them (I am overwhelmed by other things, as you can probably guess) and she emailed me that she put our names down for tickets. I am grateful to her, but I really need to start paying my own way.

ANYWAY, because of this, I felt obligated to actually donate money while I was there and one of the things I sort of went crazy on was the silent auction. 

I won two items. 

1) A monthly scone subscription! Every month I get three scones from a local bakery delivered to a small business just down the street. I get to choose the flavors and then just go pick them up. HOW FUN. My first order came in while I was in Michigan, so Dr. BB picked them up for me and I had a scone for breakfast for three days when I came back!

Blueberry lemon in November!

2) A decorative, handmade plate. Do I need this plate? No. Do I have any way to display this plate? No. Did I bid on it thinking someone would certainly outbid me? Yes. 

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Have you ever won a silent auction item? Did you ever win when you thought someone else would bid higher than you?

Update #1: The Great Car Search of 2025

I have a series of updates that I originally thought would be a good Five for Friday post, but that post got unwieldy and long. So I'm going to do shorter posts with updates and then resume my regular sporadic posting about books and nonsense.

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We have been test driving cars for months. On one hand, we're in a good position because it's not like our old Hyundai is actually out of commission. On the other hand, we'd like to actually make a decision before the snow falls. (NOTE: Snow fell last Saturday. We're already past our self-imposed deadline.)

Here's the situation. We technically have a two car garage, but only if those cars are pretty narrow. Right now we drive two compact cars and we're still squeezing in and out, so we can maybe extend the width of a new car by three or four inches, but then it's going to be super duper tight/impossible. We currently have a 2010 Hyundai Elantra that has served us well, but is on its last tires. We also have a 2019 VW Golf Sportwagen. We don't have  his and her cars - we both drive the cars in equal amounts. The VW is basically for Hannah since she fits nicely in the back. 

In 2019, when we bought our Sportwagen, I essentially fell in love with it from the test drive. If they still sold Sportwagens in the US, we'd just buy another one. Unfortunately, 80% of the market in this country - man do I wish I was buying a car in Europe - is pickups and SUVs. Sedans are a rarity and compact sedans are even rarer. And, honestly, there aren't any wagons sold in our price range anymore - if we want a wagon that isn't electric, we're looking at Audi ($45,000+), BMW ($100,000+), Mercedes ($76,000+), and Volvo ($70,000+). Would I love a Mercedes or Volvo wagon? YES. Is that price range appropriate for us? NO. 

Wagons are great for our lifestyle. We can put the dog in the back and it's perfect for when we go on road trips and there's a place for us to put our cooler. But wagons are so expensive that we eventually settled on test driving the few remaining compact cars left on the market because, after all, we're replacing a sedan. 

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The logistics of life are hard, too. We would ideally like to test drive these cars in the daylight. That leaves weekdays off the table since the sun has set by the time we get home from work these days. Most dealerships are only open on Saturdays on weekends. But our Saturdays are often filled with non-car shopping things. So, as you can imagine, this has made all of this a bit more protracted than is ideal.

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I want to fall in love with a car again. Or at least I want one of us to fall in love with a car again. Here's what we've test driven so far.

VW Jetta - Look, it's fine. It's a safe car. If someone put a Jetta in our garage right now, we'd be fine with that. But that's it. Just fine. Also, it doesn't come with a spare tire or floor mats and I was sort of annoyed by the nickel and diming situation. 

Subaru Outback - This is an SUV crossover that sometimes gets called a wagon. In the 2026 model year, they're truly going to be an SUV because they are moving up its chassis size, so this might be our last chance if we want a Subaru, or frankly, anything close to a wagon in the future. But do we want one? It's big, barely able to fit in our garage. It accelerates like a dog and is no fun to drive. It's a little on the high side of our price range. It's FINE. The financing deals are great. It has all wheel drive. We also test drove a Legacy (sedan) and it was also fine. We *seem* like we should be Subaru people, but I don't know if we really are. 

Honda - We test drove a Civic and an Accord. We test drove Hondas in 2019 when we brought the Sportwagen and I almost had a panic attack because I was so claustrophobic in them. Nothing has changed. Those cars are like caves. I know Honda has its fans, but I am not one of them. (We drive compact cars and I'm used to tight spaces. I was reeeeeally annoyed with the car salesperson who asked what I expected since we were looking at smaller cars. Well, Bob, I guess I was expecting you not to have your interior fabric in dark colors and the windows tinted so it seems like we're belowground.)

Hyundai - We test drove an Elantra (an updated version of our beloved Hyundai) and a Sonata. Frankly, the cars are ugly and look like they've already been in an accident with weird sharp juts and angles. There's a weird gearshift thing. They are fine to drive, but not very exciting. The warranty is very good.

Mazda 3 - I liked this car a lot more than my husband. It's zippy and fun. The financing deals aren't great and my husband thought the engine whined a bit more than he would like. The road noise bothered Dr. BB a lot, too. The warranty is shit. There is a 2026 model that has AWD and we might test drive that one, but then the price isn't as good because it's a new model year. 

Toyota - We test drove a Prius. I refuse to tell you how excited I was about the Prius. I thought it was going to solve all our problems. The sightlines are sort of terrible. The regular rearview mirror has a very limited range, so you can turn on this newfangled camera thing and then you have a wider view, but it also made me nauseous. This one had a whine in the engine that irked me and the turn signals made a sound that was like nails on a chalkboard to me. I know that seems silly, but if I had to listen to that noise multiple times a day, I might not survive the drive. 

Genesis 2025 G70 AWD - Are you familiar with Genesis? It's the Hyundai luxury brand. It comes with the Hyundai warranty and this one is deeply discounted, which is the only reason it's vaguely at the upper-end of our price range. My husband really likes this one and I'm pretty sure we'll probably end up getting it. 

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What's next?

Well, the Genesis got sold, so that's off the table.

We're going to test drive an Outback with a better engine. My husband thinks that's what's going to make me fall in love with it.

We're going to test drive a 2026 AWD Mazda 3. 

So the choice is probably the Outback and the Mazda 3. I'll be sure to let you know when and if we figure any of it out.

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Anyone want to just tell me what to do? Do you like car shopping? Do you make decisions a lot more quickly than we do?

Five for Friday, Edition #27

1) Once again, a huge shoutout to all of you for the continued outpouring of cards, packages, texts, emails, and everything else.  Your support really has meant everything to me. I vow that I shall pay all of your kindness forward.

2) I am probably not going to do a recap of my trip to California because, to be honest, it wasn't a great time for me. I was so worried about my mom and then my mom died WHILE I WAS AT THE WEDDING RECEPTION, and then we were there, but I was wishing I wasn't, and it wasn't great. There were highlights (the happy couple! the ocean! meeting J!), but I wasn't at my finest (a very public apology to J for not getting me at my best - in another time, I absolutely would have wanted to go to the beach to watch the kite surfers and search for seashells and done more than just a couple exhibits of the museum). 

If I'm being honest with myself, I do not know that I'll want to think much about this trip in the future. But here's a picture of me being me at the beach so you'll know I really was there.

3) Let's talk about my leg. Have you ever seen the x-ray? Let me find it and show it again. I had recent ones taken, but I don't know how to get a copy of those.

This injury took place in 2011 and over the years, as with the frog in the boiling water, I have started to have more and more problems with it.

I talked with an orthopedic surgeon who suggested two basic things: 1) remove all the hardware that is currently there, which would be a surgery more invasive than the original surgery, and then put in NEW MODERN hardware or 2) fuse the ankle so that it didn't it move. As you can imagine, neither of these options were appealing to me, so I set up some physical therapy appointments.

They haven't been magical, but they have been helpful. I no longer get out of bed and nearly fall over because the pain in my leg is too great. I am no longer taking Tylenol multiple times throughout the day. Can I run? Still no. Can I jump? I mean, sure, if I don't mind chewing Tylenol the next day. But as long as I don't do crazy impact things, I can do all the things. Let's call it a win.

4) I'm taking a page from Elisabeth's blog here and giving you some things that have made me happy recently. 

a. I had a giant, all day long presentation (in front of 100 faculty members of my college) on Wednesday and it's done. It went mostly well, but they were working on the HVAC system in the student union, so it was boiling in our room and I was sweaty upon sweaty AND SO WAS EVERYBODY ELSE. But it's done! And I never have to do it again.

Yesterday a lot of people came to my office to say that the training was super useful and helpful and that our team did a great job. I also had a few emails. I'm coming up on two years in my current job and I'm finally starting to feel like the faculty realize that I'm helpful AND I'm starting to feel knowledgeable. Our team is great, too. I was going to post of picture my boss took of me at the event, but there are too many other recognizable faces in it, so just imagine me looking like a boss lady (drenched in sweat) holding a microphone and having a hundred people staring at me. 

b. On Wednesday after that presentation I went to a yoga class at the community center and it was a mat class! No standing poses! Perfect since I'd been on my feet all day!

c. My SIL called me. That's it. That's the happy thing. She's really one of my favorite people in the world.

d. Birthday presents from my husband including some new earrings and a new yoga bag! A bit ago, I asked people for advice on a yoga bag that would carry my mat, blanket, two blocks, and a strap. Basically, people told me it was impossible and I gave up on my search. When I was at a class recently, someone had a PERFECT BAG and I asked them about the bag and then I asked for one for my birthday. (NOTE: That's an Amazon link. The company that makes the bag is a small business and when you go to their home page and try to buy directly from them, they send you to Amazon. I have accepted this as reality. Please don't throw eggs at my blog.) I have a blue bag. It is everything I have ever dreamed of in a yoga bag. (Okay, fine. Yes, I would prefer if it had a fun print or color, but you get what you get and you like it.)

You can wear it as a backpack or just have one strap slung across your back messenger bag style. 

It has a blanket, a mat, two blogs, and a strap, and you'll notice there's still room at the top. When I take it to campus to do yoga, I add my leggings to the bag. PERFECTION.

e) Zelda the Cat recently went on strike and refused to eat her food. I researched and researched and we started her on a new food and she loves it and I refuse to think about how expensive it is. But now both Hannah and Zelda are eating WITHOUT ANY ISSUES and this has been so rare that I'm loving every meal time. 

5) I'm just going to leave a photo collage of the last several days here with no explanation, in the style of Allison.

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When's the last time you were at a beach? Do you have a recent purchase that makes you happy?

Tuesday Tidings

I'm leaning into the dark these days. Hannah and I have been LOVING our morning walks in the pitch black. It's just me and her and I like to just let her sniff and enjoy the world. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's nervous as all heck and jumps if so much as a leaf falls near her, but at least I'm having a good time. 

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On our walk on Sunday night, I even took the holiday cards to the blue mailbox and dropped them all in (except for my five Canadian cards - I have yours sitting next to my goal journal all stamped and ready to go out as soon as the strike is over, Canadian friends) and whispered happy travels for them. I ordered my cards through Minted again, despite the fact that I literally have never been 100% satisfied with my orders from them.

One year, we did not get any envelopes. One year, we actually got two orders sent our way. One year some of our envelopes were duplicated, so I had to go through and make sure people only got one card from us. This year? This year some of the addresses were addressed incorrectly. The number 3 became the number 8.  Apartment numbers were added where apartment numbers did not need to be added. The abbreviation MN became MI. Now these are all things that could be blamed on me, but MY SPREADSHEET HAD THEM CORRECT. So I stuffed all the envelopes, but then had to go through each address VERY CAREFULLY to make sure things were correct. (If there is a handwritten correction to your address, I did that!) 

And let me tell you, I am not a detail lady. I am a lady who doesn't notice things like MN is MI. This took me a long, frustrating time. I don't know if I'm going to stick with Minted again. (Also, our card is HUGE. Like 5x7? This is on me, though. I just didn't look at the dimensions because I thought it was normal card size. I was wrong. I'm SORRY, friends. I'm bad at holiday card sending, I guess.) 

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But, in more cheerful holiday news, my Secret SANta gift arrived from Jenny! If you don't think that dog ornament went right on my tree, you don't know me very well!

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Also, we went on our annual trip to see the lights at the Rotary Gardens.

I did not ask my friends if I could post their photos, so I am protecting their privacy. Not my husband's though. If you see him around, maybe don't mention you saw his photo on my blog? 

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Last week, the dean of our college did a "Cookies & Cocoa" event. His partner made like a million cookies and all the leftovers made it to the kitchen on our floor and every time I go by the kitchen, I eat more cookies. The eggnog shortbread cookies are AMAZING, but I have to admit that I have not been making good choices re: sugar this December. January is going to HIT HARD.

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Speaking of cookies, do you know what my husband sent me a photo of today? 

A new KitchenAid!!! My beloved KitchenAid finally gave up its battle. We looked into fixing it (of course we did) and it was $200 to fix it and about $300 to get a new on, so Dr. BB took the plunge and bought me a new one! Who's going to make chocolate chip cookies tomorrow? This girl. (Yes, I'm going to make cookies despite the fact that I've eaten my weight in eggnog shortbread cookies this week. Don't judge my December baking decisions.)

(As part of the November/December hemorrhage of money, why not buy a new kitchen appliance? Fortunately, this came out of my husband's budget. He also paid for an oil change and the cat's trip to the emergency vet last week. Yes, all three things should have been mine to pay for, but that's how the cookie crumbles when you have a six-week winter break and your wife has to actually go into the office.)

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Have you sent out your holiday cards yet (sorry, Canadian friends - your turn will come soon!)? What's the last kitchen gadget you bought? 

Black Friday

Normally what Black Friday means to me is absolutely nothing except that I get to sit around and read my book all day. But things happened this year that forced my hand and meant that I made my way to a fucking outlet mall on the day after Thanksgiving. If you are not American, you probably don't understand exactly what this entails, but it's the busiest shopping day of the year and there was so much traffic and so many people, but I made it out IN ONCE PIECE.

Here's what happened. 

I went to walk the dog in the morning. It was COLD, like real feels in the single digits. I went to zip my eleven-year-old winter coat AND THE ZIPPER PULL BROKE INTO THREE PIECES INTO MY HAND. This poor coat. I ripped it mere months after I got it and a couple of years ago the inside lining started disintegrating, but I sewed it up and kept on keeping on. But this was the final straw. My husband looked at me and said, "you're going to have to get a new coat." 

I wore my heated vest under my insulated raincoat and froze my thighs off on my walk with Hannah and admitted that my husband had a point. Also, my winter boots, after five years of hard work and daily dog walks, had developed a leaking problem and the last time it wintry mixed, I almost got frostbite. 

So I went to the Columbia store at the outlet mall down the road ON BLACK FRIDAY. 

I scored some boots (what I think are a replacement for my old ones, right down to the fun shoelaces) and a cool weather jacket, but not a winter coat. I went to the Lands End website when I got home and ordered a new winter coat for half off. I ordered holiday cards. I ordered the dog and cat more probiotic. AND as money was flowing out of my checking account like water, I also made an appointment to go to the tire store today to get new tires for our older car and then I'm going to be an adult and go to the Verizon store and buy a new phone to replace my 5-year-old phone that only kinda sorta works sometimes. 

I'll get into this if I ever do a November recap of my spending, but it has been OUT OF CONTROL. In the last week, here's what I've purchased:

Gift for a student who helps me with my freshman seminar
Gifts for student workers in our office
Grow lamps for my office because someone at work gave me a plant from the greenhouse and I don't have a window and this plant needs to be loved
A ton of food at Costco two days before Thanksgiving, including for the salad at Thanksgiving and some staples for us
Gift for my Secret SANta Swap partner
Probiotics for the girls
A jacket, a winter coat, and winter boots
Photo prints for my freshman seminar students
Holiday cards

And today I'm going to buy new tires and probably a new phone. Where do I think all this money is coming from? Egads. 

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Speaking of holiday cards, if you want a card from me, you can fill out this form and I'll get you one! If I already have your address, though, don't worry. You're already on the list. 

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And that is a wrap on NaBloPoMo. I have really enjoyed reading everyone's posts this month. Let's hear it one more time for San and her amazing organizational skills and keeping this blogging tradition alive. 

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What have you purchased recently? Have you ever had a zipper break apart in your hands?

What's In My Purse?

A couple of days ago I did this with my work bag, but let's look at my purse. I rarely actually bring my purse anywhere these days, except to the grocery store. I have to move my wallet from my work bag to my purse when I use it.

This is a Fossil bag I purchased years and years ago. My husband I were trying to do the math on it, but maybe it was even before we were married? So it's probably between 15-20 years old. They don't seem to make this one still, so I can't just give you a link to it, which is too bad. I like that it is both structured (it doesn't just sag when you place it down) and unstructured (it is just a big open space in the middle). I like that there is a tiny pocket on one side for things like my phone and grocery list. I really like this bag and here's the real real - I've never done anything to properly care for it. It's never been treated with any leather things. I've walked with it in the pouring rain. An entire tube of sunscreen once exploded in it and the liner is none the worse for wear. I do not want to ever replace this purse.

1. Wet Ones - Why do I have so many? Well, my husband has undiagnosed OCD and we use them regularly if he has to touch something at a store. 

2. Pens - So many pens.

3. Lotion - Eczema relief, my left foot. It won't come as a surprise to you that this exacerbates my eczema, will it? (It's CeraVe, Vanicream, or Cetaphil for me, friends. Most other lotions I've tried feel like my hand is on fire. I obviously haven't tried EVERY lotion out there, but I feel pretty good at saying I need to stop trying new ones.)

4. A ball marker (for golf) 

5. A "I'm COVID vaccinated" button

The ball marker is from a country club in Iowa. My husband and I love that crow logo and he got it for me once when he was golfing. I've literally had that button in my purse since I was first vaccination and have never once used it for any purpose. Nonetheless, I put both of these items in my purse after I took this photo. 

6. Lip things

7. Two empty eyeglass cases and an eyeglass wipe - I purchased new eyeglasses, but I'm having some issues getting them to work properly, so they've been sent back to wherever they go and I'm waiting for them to come back. The other empty case is a mystery and I took it back to where it belongs after I took this photo. 

8. A lot of earplugs - The green ones are the best. Now that I have noise canceling headphones, I don't use these as much as I used to, but I used to wear them almost every time I went somewhere with music (stores, coffeeshops, etc.). 

9. Notebook - This has been in my purse since 2019 when I took Hannah to an obedience class and we were supposed to keep track of our progress in this notebook. It has never been written in.

10. Hair ties - Every pocket I looked in had another hair tie.

11. A jewelry case that holds a pair of earrings That's been in there since August and after I took this photo, I actually put it away where it belongs.

12. My wallet - I purchased it at the same time as I purchased the purse. The zipper pull has recently broken on it and since they don't seem to have this color leather anymore, I honestly am rather paralyzed about what to do. 

13. A mask - Hey, are other people still carrying around masks like I am?

14 A grocery list 

Grocery list up close. I divide the list into sections of the store (aisles, produce, dairy, gluten-free/beverages) and we cross them off as we move on. The other side is our list for dinner for the week. Is this even remotely interesting? 

15. A price tag (read: trash) - I threw it in the trash after I took this photo. 

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So, this is for everyone who thought my work bag was organized. Here I have a random ball marker, eyeglass classes, and trash. How do you organize your grocery lists?

Advent Calendar Search

Last year I failed to do my advent calendar search until it was too late and everything was sold out and I did the exact thing this year. Here are my options, which are very limited because everything is sold out. *sigh*

1) Book Lovers ($30 from Uncommon Goods)

2) Jigsaw puzzle calendar ($28 from Uncommon Goods)

3) Different jigsaw puzzle ($19.99 from Amazon)

4) Popcorn ($36 from Wayfair)

5) Licorice ($59.99 from Amazon) - This, unlike the popcorn, is labelled gluten free!

6) Should I invest in an advent calendar that I can fill myself for my husband? This feels like a good idea RIGHT NOW, but is it just another holiday chore I will find myself responsible for in the coming years? ($59.95 from LL Bean)

7) I waited too long again this year and we're not getting an advent calendar once more? 

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What would you do, oh wise internet collective?