The 12 Challenge

I really got back into reading this year after about 20 years of NOT reading. (I aimed for 12 on the #goodreadschallenge2022 and am likely finishing with 80!)

I very much enjoyed reading my friend suggestions when I did The Trevor Project fundraiser this year so when I saw this challenge come across my timeline I knew I wanted to do it in the new year!

I took the first 12 books listed by 12 different people in the comments. I can’t wait to get started! #goodreadschallenge2023

Pysanky on the River 2022

We were up early this morning to hit the Ukrainian Museum Archives in Cleveland. Surprisingly the bathroom lighting was pretty good—I love Hampton Inn!

I bought a new necklace there (because I broke my necklace on the way here).

With my mom at the museum.

Then it was off to State Meats and eating lunch at Mama Maria’s Ukrainian Kitchen!

Pierogi, potato pancake, and a slaw.

Then we visited a Ukrainian cathedral (to see the gold spires in the sun), grabbed a donut across the street, and then some ice cream at the Honey Hut!

Then it was back to the hotel to grab our stuff to setup for the event!

OMG all the “naked eggs” for sale… Typically you’d have to blow them all out yourself and it’s not complicated but it is a lot of work. These were already blown out and cleaned! And on sale! For less than it would cost to even buy them in the store! Turns out the vendor was getting out of the egg business and just wanted them gone. Stay tuned to see just how many I ended up buying!!!

And then I bought my Christmas present! A goose egg from Pysanky Master Lorrie Popow! It’s absolutely stunning. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it!

I asked her how she could even see to do that and she said “When my eyes were younger!” I eventually looked through her Facebook page to see if I could find it to see when she did it…and it was 2012!!

Lorrie Popow: LorriePopow.com and on Facebook

Life with a 9 year old

Nine is ungrateful. Minutes after returning home from a playdate, Nine will beg to have the next door neighbors over. When you explain why that’s not possible tonight, in a ridiculously kind and patient manner, Nine will sigh loudly and snidely mutter something about life being unfair. No matter how many toys or friends or things Nine has, it will never be enough.

https://www.scarymommy.com/this-is-9-year-old

I’m giving myself 19 months.

Okay, friends. Be gentle with me. 🥰

This is completely embarrassing to post because it shows my failure. And the before pictures are awful. 🤮 But I’m hoping that my journey might help inspire some of you here as well so…

I was soooo proud of myself back in 2015-2016 when I lost 141#! I was on top of the world! 🌎

I was finally thin for the first time in my life. I swore I would keep the weight off because it had been technically easy to lose and the process was easy enough to maintain.

Until it wasn’t.

A few pounds here, a few pounds there. It’s okay, I told myself, I’ve still lost 130#! Then 120. Then 100# is still amazing! 🤦🏻‍♀️ The saying is true—you can’t gain 20 if you don’t gain 10.

But it continued. A PCS (military move), no friends, a new lifestyle, excuses, no exercise (I missed my most awesome walking trail through the woods). But I was still able to wear the clothes I had (I had kept a single size above my lowest weight).

But then we had friends! YAY FRIENDS! And we were always having dinners and parties and cookouts and drinking and all the things.

🦠And then COVID. And we drank even more than we used to. And didn’t exercise. And ate even more. I tried halfheartedly a few times and would lose 10-15 but would then immediately gain it back.

But about a week ago I decided it was time to get serious. My acid reflux is back with a vengeance (I totally forgot I used to have that), I’ve had to obviously buy fat clothes again, I’m winded by the easiest things, I have arthritis in my knee, and my skin feels tight all over because too much fat is stuffed in there. 🐖

I think my body knew I needed a serious reset as I got struck with a stomach bug that kind of jump started my new (old) lifestyle. I haven’t really been hungry in a week so I’m enjoying it while it lasts. And I’ve started walking again (which I posted in here the other day). 🚶🏻‍♀️

🎯My goal is to lose EVERYTHING again by the time I’m 50… which gives me 19 months. And I’m posting publicly so I will have major accountability. And to ask y’all for support, whether it’s via your thoughts, your keyboard, or in person. This is much harder this time around but I know I can do it. I HAVE TO DO IT.

HERE WE GO!

#MeetMyDogChallenge

Hello!
My name is: Maggie
My nicknames are: Maggers, Peanut, Stink butt
My breed is: Boston Terrier
My age is: 16
My favorite food: Steak
My biggest fear: rain and storms
My favorite thing to do: sleep (I’m old)
My favorite toy: I don’t do toys anymore (I’m old) but maybe a monkey arm now and again
Do I love car rides? Yes because I get wrapped in a blanket in Mom’s lap
Do I snore? YES!
Where do I sleep? Wherever I want because I’m old. Mostly with Mom and Dad.

ARE YOU HELPING DATA MINERS?!

Re-re-re-posting this very good advice— please read all of it. It’s looong but very important!

Friends, let’s talk about data mining and identity theft. I learned today that even giving fake answers is not good. I’ve stopped answering all of these on random public Facebook groups and you should, too!

I copied and pasted this from someone else’s post.


Written by Paul Belserene

How account hacking works on facebook:

  1. You see a fun little question pop up in your facebook feed that people answer in the comments. This isn’t a question from one of your facebook friends, it’s from a public account, maybe an account supposedly belonging to a radio station, but not one in your part of the country, where you definitely recognize the station. Maybe it’s from a public account called something cute like “just for laughs” or “no biggie” or “memory lane.” Maybe a facebook friend of yours has already answered the question. It seems harmless and trivial: What food would you never eat? What was the first concert you went to? You answer the question in the comments.
  2. Because of the way facebook’s algorithm is set up, answering this question, or even just giving the post a like means Facebook will show you more content by this facebook poster and more content by other, similar posters. You see more and more little quiz questions by facebook accounts who are not your actual friends.
  3. Also because of the way facebook’s algorithm is set up, your actual facebook friends can see the post you responded to and your answer to the little question. If they respond to your comment, or like your comment, or answer the question themselves, they also begin to see more little quiz questions from this facebook poster and more similar facebook accounts with other little questions.
  4. Some of these questions really are probably harmless, but the more you answer, the more you see, and sooner or later you slip up and answer one or more that help a data miner begin putting together pieces of information that help them steal your identity and get into your bank accounts. “One of these has to go” with a list of four types of candy bars isn’t helpful to anyone, but the more you get used to answering questions, the less carefully you scrutinize the questions. One day you answer one that gives someone your birth year: “how old would you be if the digits in your age were reversed.” A week later you’ve forgotten about that, but the information has been harvested and filed away and you answer another question that gives them your month of birth: “your birth month determines which celebrity you marry, are you happy?” with a bunch of pictures of famous people laid out in a calendar grid. Some questions are straight up complete answers to common security questions: maiden names, grandparents’ names, where you vacationed as a kid, what was your first car, what was your first pet’s name, what was the name of your elementary school.
  5. When the data miner pretending to be a harmless fun facebook account or radio station has enough pieces of the puzzle put together they can either get into your bank account, sell your information to someone else who wants to get into your bank account, or remotely lock your accounts or take over your whole computer or phone and force you to pay a ransom to get access back. They can impersonate you and steal your tax refund. They can commit social security fraud, pretending to be you, and disappear with the check while you are left to prove it wasn’t you.
  6. The worst thing about these social media predators is that the more you comment on these information gathering quizzes, even if you just comment to tell a friend that they have potentially given away the answer to their own security question, the more they spread. All your facebook friends will see more of these quizzes as a result of your comment, and be more likely to comment themselves, and sooner or later one of them will give away important information, even if you never do.
  7. So DO NOT COMMENT. Not even to the ones that really don’t share any important information. They post many innocuous questions for every one that actually gathers information, but even the seemingly benign ones help them figure out what style of questions generate the most responses, work the algorithm to get them on more people’s facebook feeds, and lull you into a false sense of security that this is good clean fun. Do not give it a thumbs up or an angry face. If you see a friend post in response to one, talk to them in person about how these work, or call them, or send them a private message, but don’t reply back to their comment on the actual post. That just helps these things spread.

Chinese Sauerkraut or Pickle Fish?

Soooo on our anniversary we stopped at an Asian grocery store and I splurged on like 10 different bags of awesome sounding potato chip flavors. Except… Some don’t have names on them—just photos.

We tried this nameless flavor tonight that we decided was some type of soup with broth and mushrooms and peppers…? They were definitely yummy but I really wanted to know the flavor. I reverse image searched and googled to no avail so finally went to friends on Facebook and learned that the translation must not be exact because it was listed as both Chinese Sauerkraut and Pickle Fish. But others translated the actual language on the bag and got salted fish and Laotian pickled cabbage fish flavor.

Then there was this exchange:

THOSE AREN’T MUSHROOMS!!!

Lordy, taking a closer look—no, those definitely aren’t mushrooms!

But I liked them so all was well, whether they were salted fish or Chinese Sauerkraut!! I can’t wait to taste the other flavors!

The bar has been named!

We have been trying to think of a name for our bar since we moved in. (Granted we hadn’t given it that much thought, but we would throw out random names.) Nothing was right.

The previous owners called it the Long Bar—I thought it was because it was a long bar…but it was their last name (LOL). Doh!

So I posted on Facebook and TiVo and got some good suggestions!

Hudson Bar
Time Flies
The Dirty Secret
The Dirty Habit
The Dirty Major
H³ Bar – Hudson Happy Hour
Major Bar
Barry McBarface
Bartholomew Drunkins
Hold My Beer
Pub Club
Ground Control
Major Tom’s
Major Tom’s Retreat
The UMF
Peep Bar
The Jolly Major
Oohrah Inn/Bar
Semper Fi Saloon
Major Intoxication
Major T’s
FU Bar
At Ease
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

AND THE WINNER IS…

Ground Control! Yes, lots of Ground Control to Major Tom references were made and suggested and Tom liked that one the best (and the bar is going to be his “me room” with all of his military memorabilia).

Lake Forest, Day 4

9:27a — I was in pretty good spirits initially since I thought this would go quickly but everything is moving so slowly and the drugs are starting to wear me down and I’m just exhausted, hungry, have a headache that won’t go away (I just want to curl up in a fetal position and cry and they only gave me Tylenol), and I just pulled a muscle in my groin trying to sit up. I didn’t even want any visitors since I was so miserable. I couldn’t even look at my phone or the TV for more than a few minutes so I tried to sleep as much as I could.

11:52a — Surgery tomorrow around 1! Which means I had to get another Covid test (since the first one was only good for 72 hours). I was pretty sure I hadn’t picked up Covid in the hospital but I guess they had to be sure. Unfortunately, this one went to the brain.

12:56p — I heard our Ring camera go off so I checked and it was Katie. Our friend Jen was coming to get the kids to take them to the pool and she was waiting outside. So I surprised her and talked to her via the doorbell.

4:23p — Still have a killer headache. Even tried an ice pack…and more Tylenol. Nothing was helping.

6:22p — The doc finally came in and SURPRISE! She said it’s a hunger headache and I should have been on a sucrose drip this whole time since I wasn’t eating! Plus she gave me Tordol and sleeping meds. I’m happy things are going to get better but I kind of feel like they should’ve known it was a hunger headache since this was my third day of fluids only.

Soooo. It’s possible I’ll be released tomorrow. But also possible they keep me another day to do the actual gall bladder removal surgery. I’m actually hoping for the latter so I don’t have to repeat any of this.

My liver readings are still a little high and she said the surgeon likes to have them more normalized before doing surgery but it’s also silly to go through all this again.

But on the bright side…they brought me a salt packet with my broth. It’s the little things.

Maggie puppy in watercolor!

A Facebook ad strikes again! I kept seeing the PAWS ad on my feed for awhile now where they take a pet photo and make a watercolor out of it. Yes I know apps can do the same thing but it was only $5 so I thought I’d try it. It is cute and I’d say worth the $5 but it’s nothing super special. But damn Maggie was a cute puppy.

The original, 2005

I’ve got a little secret.

I posted this on Facebook and it was hilarious. Someone guessed it was a pillow. Someone said I didn’t have nail polish on. Someone said I had a ton of unread notifications.

But look at my tiny hands! The kids got these creepy rubber things in their stockings. They love them. They’re really weird. Stay tuned for more fun with them that I’m sure will come soon…

This is great advice for anyone struggling.

THERE ARE NO RULES. Run the dishwasher twice.

RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE.

“When I was at one of my lowest (mental) points in life, I couldn’t get out of bed some days. I had no energy or motivation and was barely getting by.

I had therapy once per week, and on this particular week I didn’t have much to ‘bring’ to the session. He asked how my week was and I really had nothing to say.

“What are you struggling with?” he asked.

I gestured around me and said “I dunno man. Life.”

Not satisfied with my answer, he said “No, what exactly are you worried about right now? What feels overwhelming? When you go home after this session, what issue will be staring at you?”

I knew the answer, but it was so ridiculous that I didn’t want to say it.

I wanted to have something more substantial. Something more profound. But I didn’t.

So I told him, “Honestly? The dishes. It’s stupid, I know, but the more I look at them the more I CAN’T do them because I’ll have to scrub them before I put them in the dishwasher, because the dishwasher sucks, and I just can’t stand and scrub the dishes.”

I felt like an idiot even saying it.

What kind of grown-ass woman is undone by a stack of dishes? There are people out there with actual problems, and I’m whining to my therapist about dishes?

But, my therapist nodded in understanding and then said:

“RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE.”

I began to tell him that you’re not supposed to, but he stopped me.

“Why the hell aren’t you supposed to? If you don’t want to scrub the dishes and your dishwasher sucks, run it twice. Run it three times, who cares?! Rules do not exist, so stop giving yourself rules.”

It blew my mind in a way that I don’t think I can properly express.

That day, I went home and tossed my smelly dishes haphazardly into the dishwasher and ran it three times.

I felt like I had conquered a dragon.

The next day, I took a shower lying down.

A few days later, I folded my laundry and put it wherever the fuck they fit.

There were no longer arbitrary rules I had to follow, and it gave me the freedom to make accomplishments again.

Now that I’m in a healthier place, I rinse off my dishes and put them in the dishwasher properly. I shower standing up. I sort my laundry.

But, at a time when living was a struggle instead of a blessing, I learned an incredibly important lesson:

THERE ARE NO RULES.

RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE!!!”

Author unknown

I don’t think my room was ever this bad.

I know I’m not supposed to care what their rooms look like but I CANNOT handle this. I am ready to clean it all out myself. As in empty it.

There were basically two schools of thought on Facebook:

  1. It’s her room. Let her live with it.
  2. OH HELL NO.

It’s just so frustrating. We’ve tried random and various rewards and prizes and money and everything is glorious for 2-3 days and then it stops. We’ve tried chore charts and boards and tokens and iPhone apps. Nothing works. Part of it is we just don’t have the energy to police everything. We also do it strong for a few days and then we miss a day and then it all goes to hell.

We do make them pick up their rooms every so often—they are supposed to do at least 5 minutes a day but they don’t even do that. Her room was decently picked up less than a week ago. 🙁

I have also bought a nice kid book that tells HOW to clean it. I have walked her through it (and done it with her) multiple times. She knows. And every time I try to help her or guide her, I get “I KNOOOOOOW MOM” but she doesn’t do it.

She did recently have a totally clean slate as we just moved in two month ago. But it’s pretty much looked like this since Day 3. I have told her she will not get a nice pretty new girly room (we are prepped to totally Pinterest her room) unless it gets and stays clean. And again, it works for 2-3 days and then…this. We moved at least five garbage bags of stuff we removed from her room already that she literally SOBBED over but hasn’t given a second thought to since.

Owen HAS lost everything in his room one time already (at the last house) and his isn’t quite this bad but it’s bad enough. But they know I’m serious when I say I WILL do it.

I lost a margarita!!!

Tonight I called on the power of posting on Facebook to help me find my lost margarita earring. I had it at 8pm before I went to visit a neighbor for a driveway drink… (I checked my photos and I had happened to take a pic before I knew I was headed over.) I’ll look in the street tomorrow but I don’t have high hopes.

I was pointing out my ombre lip color for a post in the makeup workshop I was participating in.

After three hours of visiting and walking the neighborhood with her…

I joke about margaritas but they really are my thing. Check out my workshop bio.