Things

Some old geezer somewhere has spent the last 20 some-odd years sitting in a wheelchair because when I was born I stole his back. It's a family tradition. My older sister and older brother also have old man backs. We have been justly punished. "My back!" Yeah, that happens in my life.

To counter my old man back problems, I've done some research and now have a routine of back exercises and stretches that I do in the morning. The idea is to do them at night, too, but, "My back!" Let this be a warning to you: don't steal old man backs.

Because I've been focusing on strengthening my back, I've stopped running and strength training. My back is a little sensitive these days and can't take such rigorous activities.

I ate banana cream pudding and zucchini bread for breakfast. It was a mistake. I really should have stuck with vanilla pudding.

I am the worst plant owner ever.

I have five folders on my desktop with pictures from my New York trip. That one that happened a few months ago. It will be documented. Who thinks I'll get to it by Thanksgiving?

I have an old hotmail account. Gmail prompted me to confirm that my hotmail account was a good location to send forgotten information. I thought it would be prudent to ensure I could get in to my hotmail account before confirming. It took me four tries. There were nearly 2000 emails in the inbox. ANXIETY! I spent the next couple of days clearing out my inbox in such a way as to keep it from filling up again. I've been logging in every other day or so to make sure it stays cleaned up. In the past two weeks, three emails have showed up. They won't show up again. I've also been going through the folders and deleting, reorganizing, and refiling. Why does my hotmail account that I haven't used in years need to be reorganized? It's mine and it will be tidy and uncluttered.

My hotmail account is not the only virtual organization I've been engaged in. I'm currently reorganizing my pinterest boards because I pin too many recipes and I want them organized in such a way that they are easy to find.

Our garden is full of delicious vegetables and we don't have a kitchen to cook them up in. Tragic.

Beautiful Idaho

These lovely ladies and I have been buds for about two decades now. They've been a significant presence in nearly every part of my life. We've gone through elementary-age, parent-supervised sleepovers, to walking 'off-campus' (across the street) for lunch in Junior High cause we were just that cool, to boys and dates in high school, through college and classes and degrees, to grown-up things like jobs, marriage, and home-buying.

It was about 1:00am on the last night of the weekend that we were spending together. We were sprawled across the couch and the floor and were talking about everything and nothing as if we hadn't just spent the past 36 hours talking at each other with hardly a break. It occurred to me then that these ladies and I are tied together for life, mostly because that's what we've chosen for each other.

And then I felt really lucky.

Live Brilliantly

July was official breakdown month of 2013. Literally, the whole month I was cranky, crabby, headachey, and pretty much unable to deal with my life.

The first weekend in August I took off to spend some time with my besties from public school. It was a perfect weekend. We did nothing but hang out, watch movies, eat food, and talk until the wee hours of the next morning. I came home feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on August. August was going to be perfect. Less than six hours after I got home, July was back. Except in August. I spent the next two days feeling overwhelmed and overdrawn and completely unable to deal.

Well, I'm over it. I woke up this morning and decided enough is enough. Official breakdown month 2013 is over and done with.

I have a whiteboard in my room. In high school I worked out my calculus problems before copying them onto paper. In college it served as a scheduler and a means to keep important life things from getting lost. After college it collected magnets from my travels. Now, it's more a reflection of my state of personal growth. I use it to remind myself of things that are important, my goals, my intentions, the things that are going to help me to be a better me.

As of this morning I have a new reminder to myself. Live Brilliantly. It's written in eye-catching purple. It's placed so I can't help but notice it as I walk out of my room. Each time I see it out of the corner of my eye I smile. Yes, thank you, I think I will live brilliantly.

I've got this.

Reading in French

Reading in French is tedious. I don't actually know French, which necessitates frequent word look ups. It takes a very, very long time.

I've come up with a new strategy which probably actually isn't new and I ought to have realized it was a thing and implemented it a long time ago. I'm reading the French version with the English version right beside it. Brilliant, I know. And now you all know why after 10 years of semi-consistent (read: not consistent at all) study of French, I still haven't mastered it. I'm a little slow.

I'm currently making my way through Harry Potter. Next up, Chronicles of Narnia. For reals. Also, I like to read it out loud so I can practice making the sounds. This probably means I'm practicing poor pronunciation. (Wait! I can solve this problem! I think this might be a necessity in my life.)

Someday I'll graduate to reading actual French works in French, like The Hunchback of Notre Dame or The Three Musketeers. I might even make it to Les Miserables. Or not.

I may have started wishing I could read classical works in their original language, which means knowing Greek and Latin. I swear, going kitchen crazy does not bode well for my life.

A Visit to the Library

I visited the library on my lunch break. It totally counts as my first visit this week since for my not-real, first visit the library was closed and I was returning materials through the book slot. So technically it was my first visit of the week.

Some time ago I told myself that I couldn't leave the library with more than two books at a time. Today I came home with four. One of them is for my book club so that one doesn't count. The other extra one I've no excuse for.

I feel good about my selection which gives me good reason to not feel bad about breaking the rule.

This post probably should have been called "The Ways in Which I rationalize My Book Habit."

Black Cherry Milk

Seriously, this happens in my life. It's pretty much the best thing that's happened to me since, well, since my doctor told me all those headaches I was getting were actually atypical migraines and that caffeine would help.

Have I mentioned how much I despise milk? Unless of course you hand me an ooey-gooey brownie. Caramel swirls optional.

But black cherry milk? It's creamy, delicious, full-up with protein, and caffeinated.

Pink perfection in a paper cup.

Things Are Getting Desperate

I've been without a kitchen for a week and a half and things are not going well. The kitchen is coming along just fine. I am not going well. I am seriously getting desperate. I need a peanut butter pie. It's practically a health food with all that protein in it. And I believe in being healthy. So I need one.

Yesterday, I visited the home of a sweet friend and I swear if I had brought my purse I would have stolen her lemons. They were so pretty and yellow and, oh my goodness, these lemon meringue pie bars? I must make them. I must!

I'm turning into a crazy person here.

Must.bake.something.delicious.

Only three more weeks to go.

Do you think reading cookbooks will help or hurt? I'm on the fence.