Reading and Eating!
Hooray! A good old fashioned reading and eating post, like I always used to do on Wednesdays. My reading slowed waaaay down in November because of NaBloPoMo- but I did finally finish this book: From the book jacket: “The international literary sensation about a boy’s magical journey through the secrets and shadows of postwar Barcelona in search of a mysterious author whose book has proved as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget.” Unfortunately I didn’t love this book as much as everyone else seems to. It was interesting; there was some beautiful writing; I did want to keep reading to the end to see what happened; but there were too many plot points that I would describe as “fairy tale-ish.” Like, lots of people falling in love at first sight and “knowing” they would never love again. Or, someone dedicating their entire life to getting revenge on the person who “ruined” them. I just want to shake these characters and say “You only have one life! Stop wasting it with these foolish notions! Move on and make your life worthwhile!” You could say this is a pet peeve of mine, so I guess this type of book isn’t for me. Next up: I know. You might be thinking, “Jenny. You’re criticizing a book like The Shadow of the Wind and then reading Tied Up in Tinsel? Well… yes, I am. I love old-school murder mysteries, and Ngaio Marsh is one of the masters of the genre. This one takes place in an English manor house! At Christmas! I’m excited for some light, fun reading. On to eating. I made enchiladas! I used this recipe. If you go to that website, you’ll find a picture much prettier than mine, as usual. I used enchilada sauce from a jar (obviously- I’m not MAKING THAT) and drizzled on some of the Miyoko’s liquid mozzarella (left over from our pizzas.) As I was getting ready to serve them, I noticed the recipe said “serve with desired toppings.” Oops. Er- toppings would have been nice. But they were delicious as they were. Have you read The Shadow of the Wind? Did you like it? I’m looking for other books that take place around Christmas. They don’t have to be mysteries. Any suggestions? Top photo by Mahendra Kumar on Unsplash
How Are You Coping?
I just wanted to check in and mention that, in spite of the fact that I’m writing cheery posts about holiday cups and cats, I AM still upset about the election. It’s hard to strike a balance. On the one hand, I don’t want to rant and rave every single day about how much this sucks. No one wants to read that! On the other hand- it feels kind of weird to keep things lighthearted all the time. Stephany and San have recent posts about their feelings on the subject. For what it’s worth, here’s where I’m at: I literally haven’t watched or read ANY NEWS AT ALL since I woke up on November 6th and looked at the results. After the initial blow, I stopped caring. I mean, I care what happens to our country. But in the short term, I don’t care about any more news. Voldemort appointed WHO to WHAT? Eh. That’s exactly what I expected. In the short term, I’ve lost all hope. It’s all bad and only going to get worse. Even in the best case scenario where we vote again in four years, a lot of really bad things are going to happen in the meantime. I’ve accepted that. In the long term, I do have hope. That’s just something that’s hardwired into my psyche- I always veer toward optimism. I think things might have to hit rock bottom before they get better, but they WILL get better. My son sent me this video, “It’s not over until 2030.” We could be in the middle of a cycle, or the final “turning” before hitting the next high. I could be wrong, of course. We could have a nuclear holocaust. OR, maybe the Republicans are right! Maybe the economy will be SO GREAT that we’ll stop caring about immigrants, women’s rights, or the environment. Money makes the world go around… apparently. I’m not saying I’m going to bury my head in the sand until 2030, happily going to football games and buying peppermint soap. There will be a time again for action. I’m just not ready yet. In the meantime, here are some of my coping strategies: I’ve started swearing more. The other day, we were watching football and the opposing team scored a touchdown on a close play. I exclaimed, “GODDAMMIT!” My husband looked at me in astonishment. “I thought you didn’t swear!” Yes, well, I’ve decided to start. Did you know that research shows swearing can actually boost your mood in stressful situations? I have to admit… it feels pretty good. I’ve started drinking more. I don’t mean drinking to excess, but I was having less than one drink a week. I’m going to up that to at least one drink a week. I’m only listening to lighthearted podcasts. Like this one: I’m also listening to The Girl Next Door. The last couple episodes have dealt with heavier issues, but I still listened. I’m also listening to old episodes, like this one about holiday gift giving strategies. When Kelsey explains that she gives her garbage collectors a gift card and small edible gift from Trader Joe’s, Erica says “But how do you give it to them? Can I just leave it on top of my trash can?” Kelsey replies “The fact that you’re asking that question is concerning.” Ah, I love them. How are you coping these days? Please share! Top photo by Tracey Hocking on Unsplash
I’ve Changed My Mind
For years, I’ve been adamant about NOT starting Christmas festivities until after Thanksgiving. However, lately I’ve been re-thinking that. Today a Christmas commercial came on TV and my husband exclaimed, as he always does, “It’s too early!” Well- yes. If all you have to do is sit back and wait for Christmas to appear, you can wait until after Thanksgiving. But if you’re the one, ahem, in charge of putting up all the decorations, sending all the cards, baking all the cookies, buying all the gifts, and wrapping all the gifts, then waiting until after Thanksgiving can be kind of stressful. I’ve decided to treat the month of November as kind of a Thanksgiving-Christmas mashup. For example, this morning I drank my tea out of my Thanksgiving mug, but I added this delicious creamer: I took down my orange lights- I usually leave them up through Thanksgiving, but they were starting to look kind of drab- and replaced them with white. Much brighter and happier! And, of course I would NEVER wait until after Thanksgiving to drink out of the Starbucks holiday cups- that would be sheer insanity. Ever since my son started college, we’ve been decorating the Christmas tree on Black Friday. This year, we may have a high school football game on Black Friday, and my son leaves on Saturday. This means we may have to decorate the tree on Thanksgiving. Or maybe even the day before! I’m totally on board with this. How about you? Are you in Thanksgiving mode, Christmas mode, or both? (or, neither?) Top photo was taken from Lisa’s blog. She spotted that decoration in her neighborhood!
Weekly Rundown- So That Was Weird…
Well, it was an interesting week. When we left off last Sunday, I had just run the Treasure Coast Ultra (race recap here.). I was pretty happy with how it went. During my last loop I tripped over a root and fell, but got right back up and was able to keep running. No harm done (I thought…) Cue the ominous music and let’s start this Weekly Rundown! (As always, I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Rundown, and this month I’m joining San for NaBloPoMo.) Sunday It was the day after my race, and I slept in and took it easy. I did a couple errands that involved some walking (returned something to the mall) and my quads and hips were very tight and sore. Pretty much what I expected. Monday Still sore, but motion is lotion! I got out for a 2 mile walk. Once I got started, everything loosened up and I felt pretty good. After the walk my Garmin told me I needed 47 hours of recovery, though (ha!) Perhaps sensing some residual fatigue? Work was a little challenging. My right side and right arm were sore from the fall I took during the race. Nothing I couldn’t handle though, and it can only get better from here on, RIGHT? Tuesday GAAAAHHHH! I can’t even explain what happened, but I woke up around 4 am and the pain in my side was TERRIBLE. I guess I slept in a funny position??? It hurt to move and it hurt to breathe. I lay there wondering how I would get through the day. Finally I got up. UGH. HOW did I make this so much worse BY SLEEPING? I decided to go out for a cautious walk (motion is still lotion, right?) It hurt to move my arm and it hurt to breathe- but I walked 2 miles. Work was almost impossible. The pain is right below my right breast, just to the right of my sternum. This sucks. Wednesday I slept all night on my left side without moving, and it actually went pretty well! I woke up still in pain, but it was a little better. I decided to increase my walk to 3 miles. In lieu of another walking photo (they’re so boring) here’s the sunrise. In all the excitement, I don’t think I’ve raved enough about how happy I was to turn the clocks back! It was a day off of work, phew. Lots of rest and again sleeping only on my left side. Thursday All right. Side still hurts but everything else felt back to normal, so I tried running. 2 slow miles. The main problem is, it hurts to breathe. But it hurts to breathe whether I run, walk, or lie down, so I might as well run, right? Work was a little better- I made it through the whole day, but it wasn’t easy. Sigh. Friday Let’s see what kind of strength work I can do… deadbugs? Nope. It hurts to lie on my back and it also hurts to raise my arm above my head. I ended up doing my hip stability exercises and some bodyweight squats, and called it a day. Saturday 3 mile run! Everything feels good other than my broken rib (if that’s what this is) AND it was only 64 degrees! Woohoo! So…. I’m pretty bummed out. If it weren’t for this side injury I would be good as new. I’m thinking it’s a cracked rib, but I don’t know how it was so mild for three days and then got 100x worse while I slept on Monday. Bodies are mysterious, and mine is even more mysterious than most. However, I’m happy I don’t have any injuries that are keeping me from running (my injury is just keeping me from breathing, ha ha.). This will heal, just like everything else. Have you ever had an injury like this? Should I hightail it to the ER and get a body cast?