Novembering - I think I’ve forgot how to do this

It seems like I check back into this blog about once a year…

There are times when I honestly think I have forgotten it, then  I’m surprised when I pull it up and it is still here, I’m also surprised about the last updates and I am surprised I remember how to do this.,,,, 

So what looks like my yearly update…. (Although I’m going to attempt to come visit my long lost site more. Maybe.)

Here’s how I’m Novembering 

After one teenage boy, one 9 year old boy, several headaches, backaches and heartaches, the latest addition to the family is a girl,  an 8 month old Golden Retriever Named buttercup. Already spoiled, already claimed the couch, already only listens when she wants. So energetic. So chewy.  

What did I do? 

One thing I can thank Little Miss Buttercup for is, my daily step count has gone through the roof. I used to walk around the neighborhood once, twice, sometimes three times a week. Now, it’s forced March once, twice sometimes three times a DAY.  

One thing I love about the small neighborhood is about dusk, a gathering of ladies appear in the streets and walking with Different ones falling in and out. Almost everyone with a dog. The dogs visit, the ladies talk about the trauma/drama of their day and decompress.

Now the walking is not optional. I’m doing a great deal of it.  

My new goal is 8,000 steps a day. I’m killing it. 

I am still working at home and, I must say, I have the hang of it. So much so that I don’t think I could go back to working in an office every single day. How did I do that? Tackle that traffic? There are certainly some drawbacks to manage, but overall, I am very very happy and thankful and have no plans to return to an office.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching and it’s finding me without a plan…. Do I want to host/cook? Can I do so with a welcoming attitude? Do I want to try and go away for four days (YES), the reality is  My husband may not even be here for thanksgiving….  It looks like my husband might be working out of town over Thanksgiving. Do I want to cook and invite his work mates to Thanksgiving?  So many questions. I have no answers. 

Have your eye on anything specific for Black Friday? This is what I have been stalking  at Sam’s Club. It says it’s going to be on sale on Black Friday. However it doesn’t tell you the price. I’ve been looking about twice a day

I’m also Only interested in the white. With the gold handle. Of course it says it is out. But if it really goes on sale on Black Friday how can it be out? Again. I have a lot of questions. I have no answers 

I’m also stocking this cookware stand. For my cast iron Dutch oven collection that is coming along. However, they are pricey. And I have not seen them go on sale at all. I did tell my husband I want it for Christmas. We’ll see how that goes…

Rescued the last few survivors

I have 10 rosebushes and they currently have zero roses in total.

These are the last remaining three.

It’s been a combination of a lot of rain, and a lot of gray days. The roses, that started out this season healthy and plentiful, are now just sparse, bare and pitiful looking.

It usually takes a lot longer than this for the rose garden to go downhill. It usually happens around the end of summer, when the roses just kind of give up. It takes all their energy just to survive the hot days.

This weekend, or whenever it stops raining so much, everyone’s going to get a little peptalk ..... come on. You can do it. Let’s get some more blooms going.  A pep talk in the form of some fertilizer.

The last 4 Sundays

This Sunday was full of weeding the Rose beds, power washing the front and side porch, mowing and catching up on laundry.

A work day at home was needed. Because three out of the last four Sundays have been dedicated to the little Sunday road trip. 

These little road trip‘s grew out of a real desire to travel, and a real dilemma of not being able to travel. Our vacation was canceled. Like I’m sure everyone’s vacation was canceled. And what else are you going to do during the height of the lockdown? Thus, The little day trips, and I do mean little.... and then we just continued. 

We mfound a petting zoo and historical museum two hours away. Funny story, this was an accident. We stopped at Wendy’s for lunch and parked in the parking lot to eat, and the zoo just happened  to be behind the Wendy’s.

A different Sunday, about an hour away, we found the smallest church in the world! Never even knew it was there!

Another Sunday, in a different direction, and an hour and a half away, after we thought we were lost, we found what we were looking for- this old courthouse and Downtown area. It’s the oldest courthouse in the state of Louisiana that is still in use. It was built before the Civil War. The little office buildings in the downtown district were also built in the late 1800s, and still occupied by mostly lawyers.  It was very interesting. Beautiful grounds. People were taking graduation photos on the grounds and there were three food trucks set up. It was quite a little unexpected party. 

Revlon colorstay in rich raspberry

I’m impressed. Or should I say I am re-impressed. Or maybe I should say that I just remember that I am impressed with Revlon Colorstay. 

My old standby. I have used this for… How many years? I can’t even count how many.

I pulled this, one of my very favorite colors, off the shelf last week, to give it a whirl. Again. 

And I’m experimenting with things that I should’ve been doing all along. Like wearing gloves when I wash the dishes, and added another clear top coat every other day. Its hard to get in the habit.

But I think it clearly helps. This is a picture of my polish on day nine. No kidding. This is nine days with polish on these nails. And I am not gentle with my nails.

But, the sad news is this entire line has been discontinued in favor of the “new” gel polish.  Looks like my days of grabbing my old favorite might be coming to an end. 

 

Saturday morning.... errr.... afternoon

Saturday morning is getting a very late start this weekend thanks to a Friday night staying up until 2 AM doing a deep dive into… Of all things… Van life.

It seems like the hot new thing to do. So many YouTube channels. Last night, me and my husband stayed up watching the YouTube channel where is Tiffany? It’s just so interesting to see someone who just travels around and lives in their van. And she was visiting a lot of places I’m interested in, in north California- Oregon -Washington-Montana area. So just seeing the scenery, and the national parks, is just a plus.  

When the world opens up again, I’ve got plans.

So, am I thinking about selling everything, Becoming a minimalist and living in a camper van? No indeed. But I am thinking about renting a van/RV and going on a driving vacation. 

Then, this morning, instead of getting up and getting started, we laid in bed watching more YouTube videos but this time the ones discussing the characteristics of each of the camper vans. Some of those motorhomes look like a real house inside and cost more than a real house would..... a whole lot more.

But, I can only do that for so long. After a late breakfast and a long hot shower, Saturday morning is about the fly lady routine. Am I still doing this? Yes indeed. Stronger than ever. I even became a Patreon member of the Flylady Kat group.  Excessive? Perhaps a little. But it keeps my mind focused on what I ultimately want to do, and that is to stop letting this house get away from me. Live in a tidy, organized, clean space.

Seems silly, but heck. This is just what I like to do. 

In fact, One of my favorite things to do was refresh the laundry room. I did that a couple of weeks ago. Got a little slim metal cart that fits between the washer and dryer, and cleaned everything out well. Rearranged. Got a new light fixture in because it was always dark in that little room. And today, the husband is painting the laundry room.  

I love to see progress. 

Hello again ?

 It feels like I’ve been gone from this space a whole lot longer than I have been. 

Has it only been two years?

Of course, it’s Impossible to try and catch up. There is no catching up. So I guess there’s just starting where I am and sharing. Or not sharing? 

I kind of miss this little spot of mine. 

Let’s see if I missed enough to keep it up again?

Sephora Play- Monthly Box- February

I am pretty excited about trying out the Wander baggage claim eye masks but most excited about the Clinque eye pencil. It feels so creamy.

Everything else was kind of … blah. I've already had samples of this perfume and it is ok.  I had already tried the Bite brand lipstick and find it to be drying, and every color they send me is a very dark one. This one looks the same. I've also tried the Clinque lotion before, I think I am going to get my husband to use this sample.

I'm seriously considering cancelling the beauty box subscriptions again. Taking  a little break. See how I feel in six months or so...

Flylady routines update

We hit a really busy week where we were both working long hours, falling asleep on the couch by 8p, with the 5 to 10 plan ignored, and the Flylady routines forgotten for more than a few days. No laundry getting done, no routines. Its clear they are working for me because it was VERY clear when they are not working.

Even the husband noticed and remarked, it gets dirty around here awful fast.

Although I was quite tempted to do an all-out- stay- up- half- the- night- get-everything- cleaned- at -a- frantic- pace- spree then forget it all again for a week or so,  the flylady system is the opposite of that mentality that I keep wanting to slip back into and  I am trying to embrace it, retrain myself and actually work this system of doing a little, often. Because clearly it works, if  it is actually done.

Its Saturday, and I am jumping back into it with both feet and trying to do it joyfully...…  and with a lot of coffee.

I did not go back to bed when my husband left for work at 5:45a like I wanted to, instead I wrestled with the kitchen and got yesterday's dishes into the dishwasher and got that started,  took a pork roast from the freezer for dinner tonight, started  a load of laundry and wrote a grocery list for a trip to Walmart later this morning.

And as always, I was surprised at how fast it really went. In 20 minutes or so, I felt pretty accomplished.

Now, the weekly home blessing.

My basic plan:

These videos have been pretty inspirational as well, here 

Scripture Sunday

mani Monday- you dont know Jacque

An oldie but a goodie- Opi You don't know Jacques

One of my favorites!

Opi is a lot like Essie- really great colors but its not one that is known to be long lasting. At least not on me. I find it chips pretty easily.

wiw- casual cold day

Where:
Cold day staying in the office.


What: 
Light blue and white striped sleeveless top from Talbots.
Black wool V-neck from Banana Republic
Cropped jeans from Laurie Felt 
Tory Burch flats
Sweater cape from Talbots

flylady weekly home blessing hour- little and often

I feel like I've been somewhat fighting against the flylady system more than embracing it.  Embracing the little and often method and leaving the marathon cleaning session mentality - its been a job and the flylady is trying to rewire my thinking.

The flylady weekly home blessing hour system is one system I had been avoiding putting into place, although now that I've been doing it I don't know why I was so reluctant to start it. 

The system is designed to all work together, and since I knew I wasn't doing the entire system, and I'm feeling bad about that, I didn't think this sprucing up would work to make a difference. I guess the only way we'll know is to start doing it and we will see.

So, I am already spending time questioning the system instead of spending time just working the system. This is the exact reason I need the system. 

I also wrestled with exactly when to implement this weekly home blessing. I finally settled on Saturday morning which is what she advises anyway. 

The basic system is in  this video  (and here is another example).

The system is a 60 minute time frame to:

• strip the bed and start washing the sheets (I usually do this on Mondays)
• clean all mirrors 
• empty all trashcans
• vacuum all floors
• mop the bathroom and kitchen (I ended up doing the dining room, entry way and bedroom as well)
• dust (my least favorite thing to do)
• pick up books and magazines

Of course, I had trouble with following directions. I added a few things and wanted to add a few more and had to stop myself.  The whole point is to do these little things often, (little and often) not to turn it into a marathon all day cleaning and exhaust yourself and keep you from doing it again next week. 

I did end up adding to the list filling all the outside bird feeders. It seemed like the right time to do this each week. I also added mopping all the floors and not just the bathroom and kitchen. Because it goes pretty quick with a fabreeze swifter, and when else am I going to do it?

I wanted to add  doing laundry, clean the bathroom and clean the kitchen but I know theses things are included in other routines, one of which (the morning routine) I have not started yet.

But I have started this one and the little and often continues on....

Black Fridy- the damage

No horror stories for me on Black Friday, my shopping adventures were pretty tame. I even had time to run into Whole Foods for some fruit and Joanna Gaines magazine.

I started late Thursday night when I hit up Sephora on line. I am not foolish enough to go to the Mall on Black Friday where the actual store is, and I know from years past, by the time I got there all the things I want on the deep discount sale would be gone.  Some of the things I wanted were still gone by the time I  hit the checkout button, but I still found plenty to do some damage.

I didn't find the crowds to be bad at all. It was a pretty pleasant afternoon. I hit Ulta, Talbots, Banana Republic, the Gap, Loft, Whole Foods, Michaels, TJ Maxx and a consignment shop.

I ended up with seven Christmas presents, two for my best friends (Kim and Pam), two for my secretaries at work (Kim and Ashley),  one for my oldest grandchild (by marriage) and one for the husband.

For myself, I bought three sweaters- all on sale for 50% off- from Banana Republic. I got one top from Loft - also on sale for 50% off.  I also got three tops from the consignment store. Not really on sale, but always cheap. I also got a few makeup items myself from Ulta. My favorite lipstick was on sale, so I picked one up as well as a few other things.  

sephora play monthly box for November

It was a good month for the Sephora box. Its hard to pick what I am most excited about, because I was happy to see all the samples.

I was really excited to try the Light Blue perfume and I love it. Its sweet and fresh, but in a grown up way. 

I already use and love the Purity Made Simple cleanser from Philosophy, so this will be my travel size.

I was also excited to try the Laura Mercier Powder. I hear a lot of good things about it. 

When its really really cold out but you still have to go to Court and look cute

The high temp was 43 and it was a bitter wind blowing. Going to Court means finding a parking spot and walking 6 to 8 blocks (sometimes more). When braving the elements, simple seemed best.

A black wool turtleneck from Banana Republic seemed expensive at the time, but I've had it for a few years and when the cold weather hits, its been handy to pull out, stay warm, and look good all at one time. I wore it over a cuddleduds undershirt, which I wear almost all winter, it seems.  And a jacket from Target, the third of the three new things I bought from this new line, and I have been very impressed with everything.  Black pants from  Talbots.

A heavy coat  topped it all of off. 

Note to self. Wear gloves when it is 43 out.

2019 devotionals

Hanging out in the Portland airport book shop was very enjoyable and productive and introduced me to one of the  new  devotions I have picked for myself in 2019.

What if God Wrote your to-do list  has 52 short little chapters which I plan to read one chapter a week, the whole point of this devotion. This one looks pretty light. The first chapter is to make your bed daily, which is usually what I do anyway. 

Something not so light is the other devotion I have for 2019. Its also a weekly devotion, Living the Christian Year. Its not so light reading. Its based on the liturgical year. I'm not quite sure this is the right book for me (a non-catholic) but I’m going to give it a try. It’s also a 52 chapter cook and set up as one chapter a week. 

2019 I'm ready for you

2019 planner has been chosen. 

Getting a new yearly planner is the adult version of getting new school supplies. It was my favorite time of the year! Everything was so crisp and clean and new. That's how I feel now. I love a new planner. I plan to celebrate with some new pens (my favorite ones here).

This is the first year I am going with  a recollection planner from Michaels. I actually went to Michaels to get the happy planner, but liked this one better. Its a knock off of the very pricy and popular Erin Condren planner, but its  $17.99 (not $57),  so it is hard to beat.   An added benefit is I love it and think I will be very very happy with it.

Over the years, I've used a lot of different planners. Some expensive, and some not so much. I've used the happy planner (twice), the Christian planner, The Best is Yet to Come planner, Blue Sky planner from Target, and even created my own with blank notebooks, long before bulletin journals were a thing. This year, I used the She Plans planner. I liked them all to varying degrees, but have a few complaints about each one of them too.

I also picked up a set of the 2019 Powersheets, a goal setting workbook. I've been using these for the past 5 or 6 years. Sometimes, I don't buy the set, I just follow along with the prep on this blog.  I have tried other systems,  last year it was this one (which is free right now), but I always come back to the Powersheets.  They are really the best and are by far, my favorite. But I have to admit, I can do it without the book, but it is a lot easier to keep up with when you actually buy the book and have the exact tools. I'm excited I got it again this year. It was the right choice.

Now, I am picking out my devotional books I'll follow along with in 2019. More on this later.

Being blessed in the long run- Fly Lady Evening Routine- the 5p to 10p plan

She calls the evening routine, the most important part of the system. My pastor calls it the 5p to 10p plan. The flylady suggest you put this into place first. My pastor says its not going to just fall in place, you have to actually put it in place. I have not done this. Instead, my routine is struggling along. 

I do typically clean the kitchen before bed, but one day last week, as I was unpacking some boxes from my husband's last home, looking for a place to put things, and had dishes, glasses, and silverware everywhere, I just went to bed and left the kitchen a disaster.  I woke up to a mess. 

Remembering  that feeling of starting the day already behind is enough for me to finally turn my attention to get this system up and running.

My evening routine, it sounds like a lot, but in reality it gets done pretty quick:

Come home and feed everyone (Jack the cat included). 

Sometimes this happens at 5:30p, sometimes at 6:30p, and occasionally at 7:00 or later. My husband asked me recently, don't you want to sit down and rest first?  No, in fact, I do not. That is the last thing I want to do, because I wont get up and start anything else.  So I am learning how to best approach this. I need to start immediately.  I've also learned that after working all day, I usually do not want to cook much. I depend heavily on having leftovers or something in the crockpot, or something very fast and uncomplicated. Tonight we had hashbrowns, eggs and sausage. Last night we had chicken breast and baked potato, the night before we had cereal. Tomorrow, its soup in the crockpot.


If I have really been on the ball about it, on Sunday evening, I have cooked and planned  and shopped and only have to consult the planner for the week and wont have to fret much about it. Most of the time, its not that easy. Except for Jack the cat. He always get the same thing.

Fill the ice box with drinks from the garage. I like to keep the top shelf full of cold drinks ready to grab.

Put the husband's lunch box away (in freezer for tomorrow) and empty out the Tupperware containers from my purse into a sink of hot soapy water.

My husband will usually sit in the beakfast nook visiting then we eat together.    

The dishes go in the dishwasher and it gets turned on for the night. 

The kitchen gets a  good wipe down and all counters are clear. Sometimes I do this and sometimes he does this. We don't take turns, its mostly whoever feels like doing it at the end of the night.

Schedules in day planner are checked.  Where do I have to be in the morning? Is there a court appearance to dress up for? Do I need to leave earlier than usual? Will I be leaving from home to the office or to an appointment? Will it be rainy and cold? Do I need a jacket?His schedule is checked as well.

While dinner is cooking, lunch and dinner tomorrow are being planned. Something is taken out of the freezer or I sit down and make an online order from Walmart or Sams, or if I did my Sunday routine work, I just check the planner and the fridge. Left overs from dinner are packed for lunch the next day.

Same goes for clothes, when I figure out what I have to do, then I figure out what I have to wear to do it. Most of the time, I just leave it as an idea living overnight in my head.

On the rare occasion, I can actually plan ahead and get something laid out, just like a third grader. These are the days I always look the cutest. When I take the time the night before to find my outfit and just put it on in the morning, it is always a win. My goal is to always have this out and to have a designated place in a nice organized closet (when it gets built) to put my next day outfit, like Diane in Denmark (here)  and Dominique Sachse (here).

I am suppose to do my 15 minutes fly lady routine here, but, this is hit and miss......

Currently reading before bed 

A hot bath, my skin care routine (Mary Kay anti-aging), and reading and relaxing and in bed by 10p.

That's the 5 to 10 plan atleast.