Week in the Life: Friday, December 22
I was inspired by Stephany & Beckett to do a week in the life series! Tune in (or tune out!) for the mundane!
4:58 am – I wake up right before my 5:00 am alarm. I did NOT sleep well. Whoa. I woke up after 1:00 to pee, then went and couldn’t fall back asleep for about an hour, then had bad dreams. Then I fell asleep but woke up and went through the cycle again. Ugh. I feel like garbage.
But I get up and get dressed and feed the cats and wrap one last birthday present for Steven (today is his birthday!!!!) then post my Thursday post. My watch recommends another rest day. That’s three in a row! What the heck!
5:35 am – I drive to class and listen to Winter Stroll.
5:45 am – Lower Body class. It’s a sneaky one – it looks easy enough but the moves are pretty tough.
6:43 am – I take my challenge photos. I’m doing a December challenge at the gym and we take photos each Friday. Marybel (our instructor) gives us cute hot cocoa cones when we leave.
6:46 am – I drive home and listen to Winter Stroll.
6:56 am – I arrive home and hear Steven cleaning up what I am sure is another cat thing. Sigh. It’s been stressful having Tywin in the office all week. Apollo has been acting out by peeing in the bathroom sink. This time he did a #2. Happy Birthday, Steven.
7:00 am – I bring up Steven’s birthday presents from the basement, make my shake (I try putting some pumpkin pie spice mix in it – it’s so so), then feed the cats their wet food. I wish Steven a happy birthday when he comes downstairs.
7:32 am – I post the Fake Meats Instagram before I forget for the day. It’s disheartening how few views and likes we get for the amount of work I put into it, but at least if someone visits our socials (it goes to Facebook too) there will be content there.
7:47 am – We let Tywin back outside and I take down all the baby gates and start to clean the office and bathroom.
8:10 am – I have second breakfast (PB & banana open face) then Steven opens all his birthday gifts (from me, Mom & Dad, my snis and her family, and Steven’s dad). I got him pajamas, socks, undershirts, a fancy flashlight for flying, a radio for flying, and the test book I wrapped this morning. We make plans to meet for lunch after Ned’s vet appointment.
8:37 am – I leave and forget the dispute form I need to mail and go back in the house for it and Tywin shows up and runs into the garage. Sigh. It’s been nice not having him outside to do that all week (we worry about hitting him in the driveway and him being trapped places).
But really, I have been so freaking off this week, and having him inside has added a lot of stress. I drive to the PO Box and realize I forgot Goodrs and have to wear the dumb sunglasses in my car. Sigh. At least I had any.
8:41 am – I stop at my PO Box on my way to my run and see a cat there! Always exciting to see a cat! It’s not like I see any at home (ha ha). I do my rock hide of the day.
Rock by danny_carpxsb of California
8:49 am – I run 10 miles, listening to Winter Stroll for most of it, then music at the end. I have two GUs and one package of Honey Stingers. I feel decent and wish I had time to run longer! I’m grateful to be wearing shorts in December. And that the rain didn’t start on my run.
11:00 am – I get back home and shower quickly, put some wash in the dryer and workout clothes in the dryer, then grab Ned and head out.
11:20 am – We drive to the vet and I call my aunt to see how she is doing. I eat a protein bar on the way.
11:42 am – I arrive at the vet and text them I am there. I’m a couple minutes late, oops. I respond to texts.
11:50 am – I go in with Ned and he gets his shot (he just needed a booster shot) and I talk to one of the vet techs I have been friends with for years (Brittani).
11:59 am – We head back home. I listen to Val’s Marco, record a response Marco, then listen to my book.
12:22 pm – I arrive home and Tywin runs in the garage again. This dude. Ha. I put on makeup and switch the laundry and set out the dishes to dry (from running the dishwasher this morning).
12:44 pm – I drive to the warehouse and pick up Steven and we go to Chipotle.
1:13 pm – We have lunch at Chipotle. It’s pretty meh, but nice to see Steven for his birthday lunch and hear how his morning is going.
1:50 pm – I drop Steven off and drive back home.
2:06 pm – I arrive back home, move laundry around and change into PJs for reading and a nap!
3:48 pm – I wake up from my wonderful nap right before the cats’ feeders go off (my watch tells me to wake up alert and not groggy, limit naps to 30 mins. LOL.). I get up to make sure Starbuck gets her food (I have to put it on the stairs for her) and am excited to see Tywin and Snow Jr sharing the cat house (especially since it’s been raining since noon)! Yay! It has room for three cats, but we’d only seen them both in there together once. We joke that they have a “credits” system they use to determine who gets to use the house. It’s a mystery how credits or obtained or redeemed.
I feed the outside cats, then straighten my hair (even though it’s raining) and put away laundry.
4:14 pm – I make a decaf chai, bring in a grocery delivery and put it away, cut the ends off that blanket and put it in the basement, put away dishes, vacuum, and clean out the bathroom while listening to Winter Stroll. I have a piece of vegan turkey too. So so good!
5:25 pm – Bobbi and John arrive to go to HuHot in Milwaukee with us for Steven’s birthday! John drives us up (thank you!) and we chat the whole way there, enjoy our HuHot and conversation at dinner, then chat the whole way back, and have cake at home. It’s so nice to spend time with them!!!
9:40 pm – I clean up our cake plates, clean the litters, feed the cats their dry food snack, then work on this post while Steven plays with some of this new birthday gifts. We both talk about how nice it is to have the office back and be able to walk through it.
10:23 pm – We go upstairs and get ready for bed. I read more of Wreck the Halls and fall asleep around 11:00.
Week in the Life: Thursday, December 21
I was inspired by Stephany & Beckett to do a week in the life series! Tune in (or tune out!) for the mundane!
5:12 am – Thursday is my sometimes sleep-in day, and I’m so excited! But Apollo wakes me up crying – it’s like, 8 minutes before your feeder goes off. Chill, dude.
I get up and use the bathroom and feed Snow Jr and Tywin, make sure all the cats get their food from the feeder, then try to go back to sleep, but my brain wants to do anxiety spiral mode. Lovely.
5:45 am – I look at my watch and am annoyed I’ve been lying there with anxious thoughts for that long, and do a running visualization that puts me to sleep, but then I have anxious dreams – that Steven and I were cycling and we take naps and when we wake up the sky is full of planes, and that Steven is going to Las Vegas Monday-Wednesday with my snister’s husband Will and they didn’t tell either of us. How odd!
6:45 am – I wake up to Steven rubbing my back and asking when I need to get up. Aww. I reluctantly get up at 6:55 and get dressed.
7:00 am – I start work and let Tywin out, then go about feeding them all wet food and feeding me, and putting my clothes in the wash (I only have one pair of long PJs that fit right now so they need to be washed!).
8:00 am – Work call.
8:58 am – I see my Factor X results came in early, and I measured at 22%, which looks like it’s close to the INR range they want me at. I’ll ask the pharmacist when I see them January 8th.
It’s a stressful morning with work stuff, some family stuff, and Tywin crying for most of it. I’m on edge.
11:00 am – I get a shoutout from my supervisor at work – she is on a national call and I got a mention for being so engaged on an internal platform we have for sharing client news and intel. That felt nice!
11:05 am – I post on the Fake Meats insta and change into running gear and make sure I have my rock to hide. I eat a fig bar on the way to the preserve. I turn on DND on my phone so my watch doesn’t buzz during my workout.
11:20 am – I film my hide (it’s not the real hide – I do this often – film with my tripod then leave the tripod in the car and take the rock with me) and my watch buzzes to tell me I should rest or take it easy today. I am not in the mood for that! I plan to run with music and run fast for me! I start my run and feel good, then get 5 minutes into it and realize I forgot to put Tywin in the bathroom and he’s in the office with only the gates between him and the other cats. I cut my run short to 2.33 miles (and hide the rock during the run) and head back.
Rock is from @happystones_netherlands from the Netherlands
11:50 am – I get home and Tywin is just chilling on the office chair. Phew. I take a quick shower, and get back to work at noon.
12:33 pm – I make a decaf chai and give the cats treats. They normally don’t get this many treats, but there is a high level of stress with Tywin in the house.
1:00 pm – I run a difficult call at work. I feel so relieved when it’s over. I review the minutes with the notetaker right after the call.
2:00 pm – I decide I don’t want a salad for lunch and make vegan fish, couscous, and broccoli.
2:15 pm – I get on another call for 30 mins.
4:30 pm – Work is over and I am off though December 26th! I drive to my manicure and listen to Winter Stroll.
4:45 pm – Lorena gives me a beautiful new sparkly manicure, and we chat and wish each other a happy holiday. She has a gift for me!
6:00 pm – I do a Walmart pickup, then go in for bananas and bread. Walmart was out of the one thing I did the pickup for (believe it or not, candy canes).
6:11 pm – I drive home and listen to Winter Stroll.
6:30 pm – Steven has made a delicious vegan turkey (and dressing and broccoli and potatoes) and we sit down to eat and watch The Other Guys. The cats are all on edge. Tywin peed on a towel in the bathroom and we wonder if they can smell it.
6:55 pm – We have a slice of cake!
7:15 pm – We clean up dinner, then go into the office area to hang out with Tywin (and clean up the bathroom and wash all the towels he’s using). Steven paid bills earlier and put a dispute form from my bank on my desk so I fill that out to mail in the morning.
8:10 pm – I get ready for bed, including getting all my pills for the week ready – Warfarin and Wellbutrin for each day. I put my workout clothes in the bathroom. I didn’t make my shake earlier – I’ll make it when I get home Friday.
8:23 pm – I read then fall asleep after 9:00.
Week in the Life: Wednesday, December 20
I was inspired by Stephany & Beckett to do a week in the life series! Tune in (or tune out!) for the mundane!
4:00 am – My alarm goes off and I pop right out of bed (and give Khali a few pets while standing up) – I don’t have a lot of time to get ready! I’m going to the office today but from a station in Waukegan that’s farther away (13 miles) and gets me to work earlier and home earlier. The train leaves at 5:05 am and I want to be on the road by 4:30 to make sure I have time to pay for parking and get on the right side of the tracks. Blah blah blah.
I straighten my hair quickly and get dressed, wearing my new green sweater for the first time. I do my makeup and wonder why I even straightened my hair since I put it in a bun with a cute headband my friend Lauren made me. Hmm. I skip waking up Steven to give him a kiss and say goodbye since it’s so early.
Outfit photo from work
4:24 am – I feed the cats their wet food, and grab my shake and put my lunch in my backpack.
4:31 am – I drive to the train and drink my shake while I listen to the newest Popcast episode – “The Overrated Things of Christmas Snake Draft.” I drive by the airport and see a plane flying the pattern and think of Steven (who has a lesson this morning). I text Stephany to tell her how much I am giggling over the Popcast episode.
4:52 am – I arrive and pay for parking and as I am walking to the train I see a festive engine all lit up for Christmas and feel joyful. I respond to texts and start to send a Marco to Val and Tiff then see the train is coming earlier than I thought (I always forget the 5:05 is the departure time, not the arrival time) and cut it short.
5:05 am – The train takes off and I review my Tuesday post and publish it. The conductor asks to see my ticket right away, which I appreciate – on the train I usually take the conductor waits until we’re almost downtown. I realize my watch thinks I’m still asleep so I tell it I’m not and it advises a rest day because I didn’t get enough sleep – you don’t have to tell me twice! I respond to more texts (with people in Europe and on the east coast) and start reading Wreck the Halls and have a fig bar. There’s hardly anyone on the train and I love that it’s so quiet. That is how I prefer my train ride to be.
5:52 am – I register for next week’s Wednesday 5:45 am WWM even though I don’t need to this early – it won’t sell out – but it’s a habit of mine to book my classes a week out (when they open up). I see the 4:45 am class already has 8 people signed up! That class is almost always full. I like the energy of the full classes best but am trying to prioritize getting enough sleep and regularly waking up at 4:00 am does not fit into that plan.
6:22 am – I walk to the office and listen to more of The Popcast. It’s dark out and I enjoy seeing all the festive lights.
6:41 am – I start work. This is my last day in the office (physically) until January 10th! It looks like a lot of people are going to be in the office today, which is nice – and how I prefer my office days (opposite of what I prefer on the train!). I see a pretty sunrise.
7:22 am – I decide to post to my rock Instagram account. I have very little interest in it these days, but I do have a little bit of art left to post! (I haven’t painted since December 2nd).
8:41 am – Steven texts me that he is on his way to the warehouse. I hope he chats me when he gets there to tell me how his second solo flight went!
8:55 am – For the second time this morning my computer is acting funky and typing 0s and won’t let me type anything else. My 0 key seems fine so I google what to do and it requires something with drivers, which requires IT, so I restart my computer again and call them… then they ask if I am hooked up to an external keyboard and I look over at the one I am not using and see my notebook sitting on the 0 key and feel like an idiot. Sigh. I thank them and hang up, and clean up all the google docs that got messed up with tons of 0s. How embarrassing.
9:19 am – Steven tells me his lesson went well. He did takeoffs and landings again – 3 with Josh and 3 by himself. I still can’t believe he is flying solo. So cool!
10:15 pm – I feel inspired by my coworker submitting his leave for the Tokyo Marathon so I submit mine for Europe – 7 days off! And I’ll have the Friday off before the Saturday we leave, and the Friday off after the Monday we get back (and I took Tuesday off too). Woo hoo! I eat a bruised banana to celebrate.
My morning consists of sending an agenda, meeting prep, creating a spreadsheet, contacting people to fill out said spreadsheet, etc. etc.
11:19 am – I feel hungry early (surprise surprise) and eat lunch (salad and part of last night’s burrito) at my desk and post the Fake Meats post for the day from my phone.
12:09 pm – I remember I need to do my rock hide for the day and leave (making sure the rock is in my pocket) for a short walk. I leave it at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Rock by @jenni.d.rocks from Oregon
1:00 pm – Last staff meeting of the year! We go the full hour, chatting about holiday stuff and telling stories. I tell them about my 00000 problem from the am and we all laugh.
2:00 pm – I pack up and order an Uber to go to Pie, Pie My Darling to pick up Steven’s birthday cake. (I had taken two hours of leave so I could leave early.)
2:30 pm – I pick up Steven’s birthday cake and order another Uber to the train. I have a lovely conversation with my driver about his family, why he and his wife moved here from Morocco decades ago, and his birthday next week
2:54 pm – I wait for my train, which is coming at 3:40. I decide to take the 3:10 train, which doesn’t go all the way to Waukegan but gets me closer. I figure out which platform is going north, then call my mom to talk about a family holiday photo she wants to take Sunday, the day we drive in. I ask if we can push it to Monday when we’re all already together and I won’t be getting right out of a car. I can’t stop yawning while I talk to her!
3:10 pm – I jump on the train and catch up on messages, then get out my Kindle to read.
3:30 pm – I remember to check my health provider app for my Factor II results and see that they’re “low” but have been in the past so I’m guessing that’s where they want to keep them. The Factor X results will be in next week.
3:39 pm – The train drops me off in Winnetka (it’s the last stop) and I walk around a bit and enjoy the holiday decorations then head back to wait for the train that’ll take me to Waukegan.
4:04 pm – I get on the train to Waukegan and get my Kindle back out. The train has quite a few delays and stops on the tracks for a really long time. I feel disappointed – I was excited to get home earlier than usual. I stop reading and scroll on my phone. The train gets to Waukegan 37 mins late. I’m not in a great mood.
5:19 pm – I drive home and listen to Nobody Asked Us with Des & Kara.
5:46 pm – I finally arrive home! I can tell by the cleaning product smell that something happened and Steven says Tywin peed in his cat bed. Tywin was locked in the bathroom all day and the soap container fell in his litter box and we wonder if that is why he peed the bed. Poor little dude. I feel bad he was in there all day.
I change and go to the bathroom and start to bring garbage down (it’s garbage night), then clean up my lunch dishes, help a bit with dinner, visit with Tywin a bit, open holiday cards, and open a package my friend Matt sent me. It’s a Blue Bell Foundation for Cats hoodie, pin, and sticker. What a nice gift! (We visited there with Matt in March.)
6:17 pm – We sit down to eat the dinner Steven made and finish 1994’s Miracle on 34th St. Meh.
We have another package to open, from Courtney and David, with a holiday card for us, a birthday card for Steven, treats for the cats, and for us. What a great surprise! I text her to thank her.
I give the cats some of the treats.
6:56 pm – We get into Steven’s birthday cake two days early, like we always do. It’s snickerdoodle and delicious! I work on this post and all the photos. I am tired and can’t stop yawning. But we still need to clean up and take out the garbage and I want to spend time with Tywin.
7:13 pm – My snister texts me a barf emoji response we got to the Fake Meats post on Facebook. It’s just a photo of food. I don’t get the trolls. I ask if she was there when I was reading our YouTube comments out loud two Sundays ago when we were at her house. She wasn’t. We were all dying (laughing) at how mean the comments were.
7:39 pm – We clean up after dinner, get all the garbage together, and take the garbage and recycling out, then hang out with Tywin for about 30 minutes while Steven tells me all about his flight lesson and solo landings and talking to the tower.
8:41 pm – I get into bed and read a bit of Wreck the Halls but don’t last long. I’m so tired! I fall asleep at 9:03 pm.
~11:30 pm – I wake up drenched in sweat! Ugh! This hasn’t happened in forever! Ned accompanies me to the bathroom (of course), I bring him back to cuddle, change into shorts and a shirt (I was wearing pants and long sleeves) and go back to bed.
Week in the Life: Tuesday, December 19
I was inspired by Stephany & Beckett to do a week in the life series! Tune in (or tune out!) for the mundane!
5:00 am – my alarm goes off and Khali immediately starts purring and comes over for cuddles. I slept better – only waking up around 1:00 and at 4:42. As I’m getting ready I remember I started laundry midday yesterday and never dried it, so I start the wash cycle again. Then it’s the same routine as Monday – feed the cats and myself (pb & banana open face) and drive to class. I stop and get the mail as I leave, and listen to “The More You Know” episode on The Popcast.
5:45 am – HIIT class. I feel good for rounds 1 & 2 and start to die a little on 3. I’m drenched in sweat when I’m done and take my shirt off and put my hoodie on so I don’t drive home in a soaking wet shirt.
6:45 am – I drive home and drink my shake and listen to The Popcast.
6:58 am – I start work. Steven tells me one of his employees called in sick and the Fake Meats holiday lunch that was going to be today is postponed. I go into my HR system to cancel the leave I took, then decide to keep it and use it to do a run at the local preserve at lunch break (which is early again today because I have a noon call). I feed the cats and put dishes away while they’re eating, and get ready for the work day (and I remember to hang up my laundry to dry!). Just a couple meetings today, woo hoo!
8:55 am – my work computer needs to restart for updates and that seems like the perfect time to make some oatmeal and put in a load of wash.
Here is a unappetizing photo of what oatmeal looks like
Tywin cries the whole time I’m working. It seems like he wants constant attention, or maybe he’s trying to tell me he wants back outside. I am already feeling bad about putting him back out (he’ll go out Friday if he is well (he seems like it!) and the weather is good).
10:00 am – I change into running clothes (it’s cold out – 22°F) and give the cats treats, and put Tywin in the bathroom and drive to the forest preserve. I’m in a bad mood so I turn off notifications so my watch won’t buzz while I run (I only have my watch set to buzz for messages when I have an activity going, but sometimes it’s really annoying to feel it buzz under my jacket sleeve and I know today will be one of those days).
10:16 am – I get my tripod out to do my rock hide of the day and cannot find the rock I set aside to bring with me and don’t have any backup rocks in my car. I’m pissed off. I don’t want to go back out again to hide a freaking rock after work. Gawd, I’m so sick of this dumb goal. Maybe I’ll find a rock on the trail to hide.
10:41 am – I decide to check a tree that I hid a rock at last winter and see if it’s still there to re-hide. I looked for it when I was with my dad in November and we didn’t see it, but I feel like maybe it fell. I look behind the tree and I find it! It was stuck in the mud!
11:23 am – I complete my 5.19 m run. It was a slow and steady day – I finished The Popcast episode and listened to the new Ali on the Run episode. I do my stupid rock hide and go home.
11:35 am – I don’t see Snow Jr in the cat house and am concerned because there was a dead animal on the road by our house. I put some food out for him and am happy to see him come down from the mezzanine level of the cathouse – I’m glad he figured out how to use it! But still very sad about the animal I saw.
11:40 am – I shower, post the Fake Meats reel, see the cats being cute and take a photo to send Steven, make today and tomorrow’s lunch, throw my running clothes in the wash, let out Tywin, then turn on my computer for my 12:00 call.
12:00 pm – I listen to the call while I eat my lunch. I go off mute to shout out a coworker who wasn’t getting credit he very much deserved.
12:34 pm – My call ends and I immediately make a decaf chai. I’m still cold from my run!
1:56 pm – I have an Ocho chocolate then remember we have fruit right after I eat it. Oops. Eh, I can have fruit later if I want something.
2:00 pm – I run a very brief call checking in on a big project between two regions. Not really my job but it needs to be done.
3:00 pm – Virtual therapy appointment. I feel like they’ve just been giant bitch sessions lately, but whatever, I need that. My therapist reminds me how overwhelming December is, and that is exactly how it feels. I’m so ready for a quiet week next week. Thinking about things being a little less busy in the near future, even if for a short period of time, comforts me. And I think about how I need to get over wanting to have a clean slate/empty to do list/feel caught up, because that is NEVER going to happen. NEVER. (At least I tend to forget about my to do list when I travel or spend time with loved ones, so that’s something). I schedule my next appointment for a month out.
4:07 pm – I lied about the fruit and have some pretzels instead. I send some Marcos to Val & Tiff and get to work on a blanket I am hand knitting (meaning not using needles – just using my hands). Seeing Val’s Marco back cheers me up.
5:24 pm – Steven texts that he is on his way home with dinner from El Famous (that is where we were going to get the work holiday lunch from). I get all the rows on the blanket done except the last one, and I pause to feed the cats and watch the video to see how to finish the blanket.
5:45 pm – We eat dinner (half a burrito and fries for me) and watch part of Miracle on 34th Street. The classic version is Steven’s favorite holiday movie and we decide to watch the 1994 remake (which is actually kind of cringe?!). Starbuck sits with me for a bit.
6:35 pm – We get up for dessert (ice cream!) and I cast off the blanket. It’s mostly done! I just need to knot and cut the ends. I bring my computer to the couch to work on this post. These posts are a lot of work! Geesh!
7:12 pm – I work on an image promoting gift cards for FakeMeats.com and email Steven 4 versions to review.
7:36 pm – We clean up after dinner then hang out with Tywin before putting him to bed. I prep as much as I can for the next day – I pack my backpack, get lunch ready, make my protein shake, and get the cats’ wet food all ready.
8:00 pm – I put laundry away and get an outfit ready for tomorrow and prep for bed.
8:17 pm – I get into bed to read (still reading The Nanny).
8:42 pm – I finish The Nanny (three stars) and return it to the library. I’m excited to start a new book on the train ride tomorrow! I fall asleep around 9:00.
11:44 pm – I wake up to pee and am super thirsty. Ned accompanies me to the bathroom and wants to merge. I drink two glasses of water and go to the bathroom then take him back to bed for cuddles.
Week in the Life: Monday, December 18
I was inspired by Stephany & Beckett to do a week in the life series! Tune in (or tune out!) for the mundane!
4:52 am – I slept fitfully and wake up before my 5:00 am alarm. Khali, Starbuck, and Apollo are in bed (on me) and when Khali sees me wake she immediately starts purring and wants to be petted. She does this every morning and I love it. Ned shows up and accompanies me to the bathroom and wants to cuddle (or “merge,” as Steven and I call it, since he wants to be RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR FACE). After I go to the bathroom I take my clothes off and weigh myself, change (I put my workout clothes in the bathroom the night before), brush my teeth, take my anxiety medication, put on deodorant, and am ready to go!
5:14 am – I feed Snow Jr (outside) and Tywin (inside) and cuddle with Tywin a tiny bit.
5:20 am – The indoor cats’ feeders goes off. Almost every morning Starbuck sits there and watches everyone eat until I pick up her bowl and put it somewhere private for her, usually on the stairs. She is such a diva. She has trained us (me?) very well.
5:24 am – I make myself the same first breakfast I have every morning – peanut butter and banana open face sandwich. Surprisingly, it never gets old and I look forward to it every morning.
I will only subject you to this photo once!
5:33 am – I drive to class, and listen to my audiobook, Winter Street.
5:45 am – Upper Body Class at WWM. I just did the Saturday Upper Body Class since I missed Monday last week and wonder if I will be horribly sore and am thankfully not. What’s sore is my butt when I sit on a bench from riding my bike Sunday! Surprise surprise!
I’m pleased that the assisted pullups feel easier. Progress! And I’m pleased to see Bobbi in class!
6:50 am – I drive home, listening to my audiobook, and have my protein shake.
7:00 am – I arrive home and feed the cats their wet food and start work. I had taken Friday off and am pleased to see I only have 27 emails and no surprise 7:30 am meetings (like last Monday). In fact, it’s a magical day with no scheduled meetings, and I have the afternoon off for an appointment with my vascular doctor, so I am feeling pretty good about this Monday! I take a quick shower (upstairs). And I let Tywin out into the office with me, because he was crying in the (downstairs) bathroom. Aww.
8:20 am – Chai time! I basically worked and listened to Tywin meow all morning. I wonder if the wind had him worked up.
10:30 am – I make lunch and eat it (a little on the early side!) since I have plans for lunch break. I have a salad and leftover taco from Saturday night. Tywin kept jumping on my desk to try to eat my lunch!.9,<– he even added that message for you – “.9,” must be code for something.
11:00 am – I use my lunch break to post a Fake Meats reel, then I put Tywin back in the bathroom, and go on a 3 mile run on our street. It’s so cold and windy but I’m glad to get some miles in – I hadn’t run since Friday. I listen to more of Winter Street.
11:58 am – I drive to Steven’s warehouse to go to my appointment together, and yep, more audiobook time.
12:24 pm – Steven drives us to my appointment. When I checked the time that morning it said it would take 40 minutes but we get there in under 35, so we’re a bit early.
1:00 pm – I check in and they call me back around 1:10. Steven comes with me to the exam room. My blood pressure seems high, again (it was at the dentist last week too). It’s 135/93. I’m usually around 120/80.
1:20 pm – I go to a different room to have my INR tested. 2.8! In range! The pharmacist recommends I test my blood for Factor II and Factor X, explaining that when you test these three together, you get a good picture of how my body is handling blood clotting. I got back to the exam room and hang with Steven until my vascular doctor arrives.
1:50~ pm – The vascular doctor arrives and asks how I’m doing – I feel great! He says I’m doing well and staying stable, and don’t need to see him for another year unless the Factor II and Factor X results look bad (they won’t) or if my INR ranges start to get wonky. We talk about:
- How my left leg (the leg the clots were in) is larger. He says that’s normal in the clotting leg but it’s possible I have May-Thurner Syndrome if I want to do a CT scan to check. I pass. It’s a cosmetic thing.
- I ask if my high blood pressure is related to being on Warfarin. He says no, but he does not want his patients to have high blood pressure, and mine is likely high from situational stress. He says trust what it measures at at home (120/80)
- I ask about traveling to Europe. He says to get my INR tested before and after I go, and to follow whatever medication the pharmacists recommend while I am there. And to wear my compression socks, drink a lot of water, and move as much as possible on the plane.
2:03 pm – I make an appointment with him for December 19th next year. I think, surely I won’t have any work meetings on my calendar for a date in 2024 – yet, there are four.
2:19 pm – They draw my blood to test for Factor II and X. Then Steven and I drive to Starbucks for a treat!
2:33 pm – We order a Peppermint Mocha and Salted Almond Chocolate Bites (him) and Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai (me). We sit and chat for a while, which is a treat and feels so indulgent in the middle of the day!
3:06 pm – We leave and I do my rock hide for the day, then we drive back to the warehouse. We chat and I have a banana at some point.
This rock is by @meka.rox from California
3:46 pm – I drive back home and finish Winter Street. I arrive just after 4:00 and feed Snow Jr (the indoor cats’ feeder went off at 3:50 pm), feed Tywin and let him out, then come over to my computer to work on this post.
4:30 pm – Remembering to write that I had a banana makes me realize I’m hungry so I get some pretzels, then finish my book recap and publish it.
4:48 pm – I do some Fake Meats work – trying to figure out why an Illustrator file is RGB and not CMYK. It’s easy to switch the color profile to CMYK but then I need to re-embed images and make text paths in the file, then organize how the files are on the drive blah blah blah. It takes some time!
5:28 pm – I go over to Meta to see if I have anything I want to respond to on Instagram (comments or DMs).
5:38 pm – Ten minutes was enough of that and I leave the office to play with our cats that have been neglected and shut out of the office most of the day. I bring in a package, feed the cats their wet food (Steven comes home while I am), put away all the clean dishes, cut up a pineapple, and heat up leftovers for dinner (leftover homemade mac n cheese, add broccoli, and vegan chicken nuggets).
6:30 pm – We sit down to eat and finish watching The Family Plan (bad, but entertaining enough). Apollo keeps me company. We have pineapple for dessert.
7:30 pm – Steven and I work on Fake Meats blog post and social media ideas (I have an Ocho mini on the way to the office).
8:40 pm – I clean up after dinner (note, I’m usually in bed by this time, ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!), take out some trash, and make my shake for the morning
9:01 pm – I take my warfarin, go to the bathroom, brush and floss my teeth and wash my face, put my gym clothes in the bathroom, then change into PJs and read a bit of The Nanny while doing KST (Khali Special Time). I fall asleep between 9:45-10:00 pm.
Reading Update (2023 #68-70)
[68] Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Fiction / Coming of Age, recommendation from Val, audiobook
Synopsis: Lara’s three daughters are living with her again because of the pandemic, and as they pick cherries from their Michigan farm and go about their slowed down lives, Lara tells them the story of a famous actor she had a brief relationship with in her youth.
Review: I tend to love Ann Patchett and her slow meandering character driven stories. And that’s what this is – just a slow story about a woman and her youth and her relationships and what her family means to her. Meryl Streep was perfect for narrating this.
Recommend? Yes, if slow meandering character driven stories narrated by amazing actresses are your thing (I wonder how it would be in written form?)
[69] The Honeymoon Crashers by Christina Lauren
Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, part 1.5 of The Unhoneymooners, audiobook
Synopsis: (warning: spoiler from first book, but not really because it’s a romance) Ami’s twin sister Olive is eloping in Maui, and told their large close family not to come but Ami knows better, and organizes for everyone to fly down and for herself to plan the wedding. Olive and her fiancé Ethan insist that Ethan’s childhood friend Brody help Ami, but she is determined to do it all on her own, until she realizes how fun (and well connected on the island!) Brody is.
Review: This is a novella, and was a very short listen – maybe around 5 hours? So we aren’t getting deep with these characters and I don’t really understand why they fell for each other, other than physical attraction and how fun Brody is. All that being said, I still enjoyed it. It was a fun listen. I was surprised by the narration style – it had a lot of narrators and even had background noise at times (phones ringing, music, the ocean, birds, drinks clinking).
Recommend? Only if you read the first book
[70] Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand
Fiction Women, was looking for books by Hilderbrand I hadn’t read yet, audiobook
Synopsis: Kelley Quinn just wants a nice Christmas with his family at the bed and breakfast he owns in Nantucket, but on December 23rd he walks in on his wife making out with the man who plays Santa at their annual holiday party. She leaves him (with Santa!) and he immediately reaches out to his ex-wife (a famous news anchor), his oldest son (who is dealing with insider trading issues), his next oldest son (who has a secret of his own), and his daughter (who is NOT happy her boyfriend left for the holiday). Add the stress of his youngest being deployed to Afghanistan and Kelley is losing it.
Review: I really enjoyed this. It was entertaining and short (under 7 hours on the speed I had it on?) and I was pretty into every character’s story (okay, not so much the insider trader bro, wah wah). This is book 1 of 4 and I’m excited to listen to the rest.
Recommend? Yes
Ball-less and flawless
Yesterday was Tywin’s surgery – he is now ball-less and flawless (neutered)!
Tywin is an outdoor cat that lives on our street – I am not sure if someone dumped him, if he is a stray, or if he is someone’s indoor/outdoor cat. But he was NOT fixed and he needed to be (in my opinion). I am counting the cost ($600+) of getting him neutered as my Christmas gift to myself.
I was anxious about Friday. Not about the appointment itself, but about getting him in the carrier, driving him there, and how scared he would be. I wanted to minimize his fear as much as possible.
I gave him two Gabapentin (with the vet’s approval) with his small breakfast, and didn’t have any issues getting him in the carrier, and he was quiet the whole way to the vet. Because he was drugged the hell up.
Everything went well – the vet’s office called in the late morning to let me know the exam went great and they were proceeding with the surgery. Then the vet himself called me after and said “I have some good news and bad news.” Er… okay? He told me surgery went well and Tywin is ball-less, but that he has FIV – feline immunodeficiency virus, similar to HIV in humans. FIV attacks the immune system, leaving the cat vulnerable to infections. In our minds, this explains why Tywin sometimes gets so skinny, has a loss in appetite, and had a horrible scary cough last month.
There is no cure for FIV, but FIV cats can live normal life spans if they survive the infections and don’t get feline leukemia virus (he does not have that). It’s only transmitted to other cats via deep bites. Ideally FIV cats live in single-cat households.
Poor little dude.
Tywin is not going to live inside with us, but he will convalesce in the downstairs bathroom for 10 days (then go back outside). I was also nervous about him wanting to get the hell out of the bathroom, but he seems chill and happy in there with his food, water, litter box, toys, and towels.
We will go in many times a day to hang out with him!
He’s just such a happy little dude. I wish he had a permanent inside home.
Random Thoughts Thursday 434
- I saved RTT for Friday because I wanted to share that Steven was finally able to have his stage check flight yesterday and passed! And he did his first solo flight last night! I’m so proud of him! ALL THE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!
- He did four landings with Josh (his instructor) and they weren’t going great and he wasn’t sure if he still wanted to solo that night, but decided to go for it. He felt really nervous sitting on the runway, but once he took off everything clicked – he realized whatever happened it was 100% on him to figure it out so there wasn’t room to feel anxious. He did two patterns and two landings at the airport. He’ll continue to fly with Josh (his instructor) and add solo time in now too. He’s aiming to have his pilot’s certificate (license) in the spring.
- It’s tradition to cut the tail off of the flight student’s shirt after their first solo flight and write the details of the student’s flight on it, so they did that after the flight. This tradition honors a time in flight history when they didn’t have communication systems like we do now and the instructor told the student what to do by tugging on the tail of their shirt. So I imagine cutting it off signifies the student no longer needs as much instruction? We’ll frame it and hang it somewhere!
- We celebrated by getting dinner with Jen and Troy!
- Here’s the mani I got last week with Lorena!
- The day after Thanksgiving I participated in a free class at my gym where we all had balls wrapped around our waists to stimulate working out while pregnant, since our instructor is pregnant. It was a riot, and she posted the reel from it this week:
View this post on Instagram
Stitch Fix #17
I’ll post Random Thoughts Thursday tomorrow (on Friday).
I wasn’t feeling very excited for this fix when I saw my preview last week – it was 5 pairs of jeans and 5 sweaters. I did ask for jeans and sweaters, but didn’t like much of it, so I picked out two pairs of jeans and asked for cozy sweatshirts. I was thinking “this will probably be my last fix!” but then I really liked the tops I received. And the jeans are decent too (I just need to figure out what kind of shoes to wear with them). Anyway! Here is what I got:
STUDIO BLUE Kenova Mid Rise Skinny Roll Cuff Jean
Ha, ignore the sock look!
I usually avoid jeans that hit at the ankle but thought I would give them a try. What shoes do you think would work with them? The profile card shows them with a high heel mule – I definitely don’t have anything like that! I could do flats or sneakers, right? No? HELP ME.
STS BLUE Ellie High Rise Finished Hem Ankle Skinny Jean
Just a millennial, still wearing skinny jeans. I love skinny jeans but hate how my compression socks make them cling to my lower legs.
LETY & ME Alaia Long Sleeve Hooded Sweater
I love hoodies and stripes. Sold!
MARKET & SPRUCE Perine Pocket Hooded Knit Top
Another cozy hoodie? Yes, please. It has a fun detail on the back too.
STACCATO Carson Crew Neck Button Detail Sweater
Ignore the bad jeans pairing! I will wear these with a dark wash.
I just love button shoulder details. My last fix had one and one of my fave original sweaters from them did too!
So yeah, I was pleasantly surprised. I will do at least one more fix for our Europe trip in the spring.
The long way there (and back)
We were in Kansas City this past weekend for Steven’s friend’s visitation and funeral. I’m glad we could go, especially to hear everyone share stories. Steven has been friends with these folks since kindergarten, and they have a really special bond. I love being a periphery member of the group and getting to spend time with them.
And that’s all I am going to write about that! It feels crass and disrespectful to talk much about it.
INSTEAD, I am going to tell you all about getting to Kansas City and back home. Because it was an adventure!
We wanted to fly private (meaning Steven would fly us and we’d have an instructor with us). Commercial flights were stupid expensive and actually comparable in price (it didn’t end up that way but more on that later), then add in driving to the airport, parking cost, all the time you waste there, blah blah blah. I felt like this was the ONE time that flying private might be the same cost?!
Steven’s instructor Josh wasn’t available, but Josh asked around if anyone else wanted to go with us and another instructor said she would. Yay!
So then Steven was watching the weather all week to see how feasible it was for him to fly. We didn’t know we were flying ourselves there until the day we left! Not knowing how we were getting there was a really good exercise for me to learn to be more chill.
Gosh this is already too long. Yikes.
We got to the airport around noon on Friday and Steven checked the weather again (when I say he checked the weather I don’t mean he went to accuweather.com – he looks at a bunch of different reports and sites. Maybe when he reads this he will send me more details on what those are and I will update this section), then did preflight on the plane, then we did an hour long weather debrief with the instructor going with us. It was clear where we were in Chicago, but there was weather sitting over Kansas City that had the potential of creating storms. So we planned to head that way and reroute if need be. There was LOTS of contingency planning.
We left at 2:33 and I instantly had that dumb grin on my face I get when we fly. We had planned to go up to 6,000 feet but we had to stay below the clouds so we did most of the flight at 2,500 feet which meant I had my face plastered to the window for most of the flight.
Flying through a break in the clouds – only to come back down later
Crossing the Mississippi River
About an hour outside of Kanas City they checked the weather and saw clouds on the radar they did not want to try to fly between to get to Kansas City, so we diverted to an airport north of Kansas City in St. Joseph. Womp womp.
Landing in St. Joseph
I called the St. Joseph FBO (fixed-base operator) at 4:58 to see if they could get us a rental car and they said Enterprise closed at 5:00 but they would see what they could do! Eek! But they delivered. We landed at 5:26 and a rental car was there waiting for us. (I still think it’s so cool I can text and call from the plane at low altitudes.) So after we did all the post flight stuff we drove down to Kanas City – a 50 minute drive. Ugh. Ha.
When we flew in Friday the weather looked promising for leaving Sunday, but then it got iffy Sunday due to temperatures and a low cloud ceiling that created an icing risk on the plane.
We drove up to St. Joseph Sunday morning anyway – we wanted to fly from there to Kansas City (MKC) so Steven could see what landing there was like since he plans to in the future. And we brought his dad along for the ride! We left at 11:36 and landed around 12:05.
This flight was unique because the tower let us fly through the Bravo airspace around the Kansas City International (MCI) airport (not the one we were going to – we were going to the downtown airport – MKC).
The downtown Kansas City airport is pretty cool because it’s right by the downtown (derp) – so there is a neat view from the ramp and when you take off.
Steven’s brother, him, me, Steven’s dad
Flight instructor, Steven, me, Steven’s dad
We had time to kill because of weather and the icing risk, so we went to lunch then came back and took off at 4:11.
We flew right over the city. It was so neat! I’ve been visiting Kansas City since 2002 when Steven and I started dating so I recognized a lot of what I saw.
Our plan was to head toward the Quad Cities in Iowa then reevaluate if we could go all the way to Chicago or if we needed to stop somewhere to wait for weather to clear up. When Steven and the instructor checked the weather, there was still a low ceiling and icing risk, so we rerouted to Waterloo, Iowa (ALO) where my snister would pick us up and we’d spend the night there. It’s another airport Steven plans to fly to in the future, so even though we would have liked to fly all the way home, it was good to get the experience.
Landing at ALO at 5:55
Note – my snister was also in Kansas City for work this weekend, with her husband and kids, and our parents. I actually got to see her and her husband briefly at the Saturday visitation (they were friends with the friend who passed too) but didn’t see the rest of the family and we were all kind of bummed about it, but it made absolutely no sense to try to fit it into all of our packed schedules.
Snis and me
So it was a wonderful treat to spend the evening with them all! Oh! But I was going to say, my snis got home around 4:40 then left a little over an hour later to pick us up at the airport. When I get home after a trip I just want to unpack and relax, not have people in my home, but us staying the night on such short notice did not phase them at all! Thanks so much snis and fam!
We did another weather check before we left ALO to make sure if made sense to spend the night and it did. We felt better when we talked to another pilot who was doing the same.
So yeah, we hung out at Christina and Will’s and got to see everyone! Yay!
Dad, me, Mom, Steven. My poor parents – they got back to my snister’s and just stayed there. They must have been so beat too.
We were planning on being home early afternoon Sunday, but also knew there’s always a possibility your flight plans can change so we had what we needed to stay an extra day and work a bit (and I was able to set up cat sits and cancel my strength class). Even when we do a day trip we take what we need for a potential overnight. This is just the first time we’ve executed that backup plan!
I started work at 6:30 am Monday (Ick! I wanted to just take it off but had a 7:30 meeting I only saw the night before when I emailed my supervisor at 11:00 pm) and ended up being on calls until almost 9:00, then wrapped up, hung out a bit with the fam and we left for the airport around 9:45.
My snis has been sending us a Christmas Countdown pic each day and I got to be in this one with Ella!
The weather looked good to go, yay, so the FBO got the plane out of the hangar (we put it in there so it wouldn’t have frost on it – it was already starting to frost over when we landed Sunday night), Steven did preflight, and we left at 11:12.
Snister loaned me a blanket – the heat is either ON or OFF in the Cessna 182 and it was cold when it was off
It was really neat to fly out over my hometown and see a lot of familiar landmarks, and my childhood home, etc. I will spare you those pics because they only mean anything to me, ha.
Crossing the Mississippi
The instructor had filed an IFR (instrument flight rules) plan for this flight. The other three flights were all VFR (visual flight rules). They used the IFR most of the way there then canceled the plan and went to VFR. The sky was clear until we got to scattered clouds around Chicago.
Landing at UGN
Back at UGN!
We landed at 12:46 and did all the post flight stuff and I was back home and at work at 2:00.
And kind of exhausted and over it.
I’m still glad we went this way though. We learned a lot about flying in cold weather. A LOT. And Steven got to practice with an instructor that has different techniques than Josh.
It’s just too bad that all those diversions added up quite a few extra hours and made it a lot more money than we predicted! (We rent the plane per hour it’s running). Oops. We learned about that too, ha ha. (also, *cry*)
Hi! I’m Kim, a 40-something-year-old living in northeastern Illinois with my husband Steven, and our cats, Khaleesi, Apollo, Starbuck, and Eddard aka Ned. My current main hobbies are running, painting rocks, flying, reading, and eating. I follow a vegan lifestyle and work in an account management role. I write about a variety of topics and consider this a “life” blog – a place I can share anything that’s on my mind. Please visit the “About” page to get a better idea of who I am! 🙂
