December 15, 2023
1. I finished the buying and “wrapping” of 21 presents. 3(?) More to go! Fabric bags, I am loving how using them speeds up the gifting prep. Also I love the “less trash” aspect of it.
Update: 24 gifts done, one more on the way! So many teacher cards to do now!
2. I had things together enough to remember to order some gifts for my furry niblings this year. Treats for everyone!
December 9, 2023
1. Oops it was such a hectic week I forgot to put down anything.
December 1, 2023
1. I channeled my sadness into getting a whole lot of stuff done on the weekend.
From the sale clothes I’d bought: one sweater’s going back. Two jeans might go back unless they can fit someone else. Only two of them fit me comfortably but the price is so good that I’d like them to be worn if they can be instead of returning them.
The kids and I dropped off four large bags of film / plastics for recycling.
I finally found children’s Sudafed after checking at three pharmacies. I really hope this isn’t another shortage like last year. I am learning my lesson after last year’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen shortages when the shelves were literally empty. We’re stocked up on Robitussin and Sudafed for JB, my medications, and Sera’s. There’s not a good time of year to be out of meds but running out at the end of the year feels so much worse given all the other pressures of the season.
Oh also, it turns out I already bought the Ziploc BIG BAGS (for storing clothes) that I’d put on my shopping list again, months ago in fact!, and totally forgot about them. They came out this week to store JB’s shoes and WOWZA they were not kidding! That is a BIG BAG. I think I fit in that bag… ! They hold 9 pairs of biggish children’s shoes, laid flat instead of stacked. Stacked, I bet it could hold twice as many pairs. But they wouldn’t fit in the small storage space we have that way.
2. Making better choices (for me, for now): It’s too late to try to make cloth gift bags for the holidays. I gave in and ordered some cloth bags as a second best option. I picked the slower shipping option for a digital $1 reward. While I should have enough to get myself a free Kindle book soonish, it turns out my patience stinks. I want them here right now so I can pack up all the gifts and cross that off my list. If only this had been made earlier, self.
November 24, 2023
1. My favorite person is here and that’s the best.
2. Finally found jeans for myself, first jeans I’ve bought since 2016.
October 20, 2023
1. No idea if I’m doing this right but I twisted off the sprouts from the sweet potato and put them in water to root them. The potato goes back into the plastic bag to encourage it to grow more sprouts. If these sprout roots, the kids and I will plant them on a weekend. Update: they are sprouting rootlets! This is exciting!
2. I had no idea that growing something that’s essentially a weed requires this much reading and maintenance. I may have chosen poorly, as a low effort preference gardener. We’ll see.
Challenges this week: The days, they were so very long.
October 13, 2023
1. I am cultivating patience by cultivating my garden. The berries will take months to grow to the point of fruiting. The potatoes will do what potatoes do until they’re ready. The onions are (I think) growing day by day under the soil. There’s absolutely nothing I could do to rush anything and it’s forcing me to take more deep breaths.
2. I’m also having to be patient with my attempts to make friends with the blackbirds. The crow army doesn’t visit daily like they used to and the pairs are far more wary of people than the army is so I have to bide my time. It means I catch bits that I might miss in my rushing about, like watching a neighborhood raven run while I plotted ways to leave a treat for it that it would notice. A raven’s run is delightful.
3. The Hermits Union is still racking up the miles for charity. Just a couple days left to get that match. If you’d like to contribute to our team’s efforts with cash, we still have another $4500 available match dollars.
Challenges this week: All of them. The world. Work. Home. Everything is feeling extra hard.
October 6, 2023
1. I spotted our crow gang hanging about and offered them a few bits of Sera’s 🐶 treats. They snatched them right up as soon as I turned to walk away! Making new animal friends makes me so happy.
I’m not generally a bird person but I love corvids. Maybe because they’re so interesting and I’ll never try to make one a house pet.
2. We’re all vaccinated against the flu! One down, one booster to go. Smol Acrobat recovered fairly quickly but the achey twinges were very upsetting for them a few hours later.
3. I started Saturday with a 14 item checklist of things to do, and closed out the day with just 5 things left! Not bad. I did, of course, do all the easy things first, so the last few are likely to be more time consuming than the first 9 things.
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