Personal Check-In (In Case You Wanted To Know)

What I’ve been watching lately:

Once Upon A Time – Fantastic fairy tale drama. If you haven’t seen it yet, wait for a marathon on ABC and get it all at once, so you don’t have to suffer a week between episodes like me.

Sherlock – If you haven’t seen this BBC show yet, fire up Netflix and watch the first season. I’ve already watched both the first and second seasons and I’m now re-watching the first season. Ladies, I guarantee you’ll start out thinking the guy who plays Sherlock is kinda funny looking, but by the end of it you’ll think he’s downright sexy in his own way.

Political ads – I’m not at all happy about this. There are months left until elections, and I’m ready to petition to move it up sooner to get rid of the ads. My Tivo is on overdrive right now – I’ll even sit in silence for 30 minutes to wait for a program to record so I can then skip past the commercials.

What I’ve been listening to lately:

Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” – is anyone else as obsessed with this song as I am? I now have three different versions of it on my playlist. Including this amazing adaptation (thanks for pointing them out, Erin!):

Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” – total guilty pleasure here. I don’t want to admit I like her at all, but this song makes me want to dance and feel happy.

Way too much whining from my two kids – they sometimes make going out to do anything fun a real drag. We went to a Viking Festival yesterday, expecting to have fun. They saw the bounce house and could do nothing but sulk and whine about it, keeping us from enjoying everything else. When they finally started to behave better and earned a turn in the bounce house, they immediately began whining and begging for ice cream. So we left. The end. Moral of the story? Find a babysitter more often.

Construction noise – I’m so thankful that I’m no longer working night shift, because if so this little blog would suddenly have posts in all caps with no punctuation and probably no real words. The community directly behind us has started work on leveling the land for a huge apartment development. They were supposed to be single family condo homes, but thanks to the market and a paid-off city council (it’s apparently legal to promise the council money towards a park and new bridge that the city can’t pay for in exchange for a yes vote) they’re now building giant apartment buildings on the other side of my backyard. It’s loud. Very loud. And only beginning, guaranteeing no chance of moving from our house for at least, well, forever.

What I’ve been feeling lately:

Sick – I started last week with a UTI, forcing a quick trip to urgent care and now a strong regimen of antibiotics, and then ended the week with a cold, courtesy of Mira. I’ve been foggy headed and drugged up for the past seven days, making me very unhappy and not that pleasant to be around. I hope two illnesses in one week buys me at least a few weeks of health.

Nostalgic – Mira has suddenly found her singing voice, and just like her speaking voice, chooses to use it nonstop. However, I can’t bring myself to ask her to stop after countless repetitions of “You Are My Sunshine” because it’s adorable. She sings from the heart, reminding me of how fearless I was in showing off my talents as a kid, too. I’d put together elaborate song and dance routines and force my family to watch. Mira knows she’s awesome and doesn’t hesitate to shout it to the world. When did I lose that fearlessness?

Unsettled – This sounds negative, but it really isn’t. It’s the feeling I get when I’m suddenly possessed with the urge to do something new. Something creative. It’s building, but the spark hasn’t hit yet, so I’m left waiting for the feeling to reach the peak and find out what direction it will go. Maybe I’ll get back to sewing again, maybe the writing bug will hit in full force, maybe it’ll be something entirely new. I don’t like this nagging feeling of something being wrong, but I know that once it finally resolves, something fantastic will hopefully come out of it.

What I’ve been eating lately:

Baby carrots – I didn’t realize that when you buy a giant pack of baby carrots for your kids from Costco, there’s a 75% chance that your kids will suddenly no longer like baby carrots. So the dog and I are doing our part to not let them go to waste, which means a side of baby carrots with nearly every meal.

Yoplait Greek cherry pomegranate yogurt – I generally dislike yogurt. But I know it’s good for me (especially when taking antibiotics), so I’m often searching for a yogurt I can tolerate. This one? Delicious.

Girl Scout cookies – I’m listing this only as proof of my self-control. These cookies were purchased over two months ago, and they’re still in the house. I eat them slowly, taking only one “serving” at a time. I’d like to think there’s some kind of badge for that accomplishment.

What’s been on my mind lately:

Costuming – Thank you for your comments on my post about my husband’s costuming. I’ve been considering all of the advice you provided and I think the answer is I will join him in the hobby. Although I don’t plan to go headfirst down that rabbit hole – more like send a flare down the hole to scout for depth and then rappel down slowly. Not sure what costume I’ll do first, or how soon it’ll be done.

Party planning – Mira begged for a big birthday party this year. We normally never invite anyone except close friends and family, but she wanted to invite her class. She’s been to half a dozen birthday parties for those kids, so we agreed and she’ll now be having a big party with kids I barely know. We were smart and decided to not host it at home, but that still means getting invites together for over 20 kids and planning out the logistics of this party.

Budgeting – A smaller income equals a tighter budget. Suddenly I’m back to reading frugal blogs and clipping coupons each week as our checking account drops dangerously low. Although honestly, I don’t mind it that much. Sure, I’d love to go buy something without any concern for cost, but the trade off is that Aaron and I are both currently working in jobs we love, so I’m willing to set aside some of my wants for happiness. Besides, that stuff would probably just create more clutter to stress me out anyway.

What I’ve been wanting to do lately:

Home improvement – I may not be handy, but that doesn’t mean I’m not dreaming of new flower beds in front of the house and a kitchen island and new paint throughout the house.

Get my hair cut – Why do I wait so long for the most basic things? Every day I look in the mirror and see my hair reaching scraggly lengths, yet I still can’t find time for a simple cut? Must stop ignoring my own needs and make an appointment soon.

Laugh more – ’nuff said.

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And that, friends, is how you write a blog post when you can’t keep two connected sentences together in your head at the moment.