Snow Day!

We finally got snow! I was skeptical this morning when it was mostly rain. I took the morning off to celebrate my birthday and when I left my house around 9, I did not think we would truly get much in the way of snow. However, when I came out of the first store, my car was white. And it's been coming down ever since. 

I got a cute little bud vase and found some flowers for it.

My original plan had been to take the morning and drive to Salt Lake to some indie bookstores, but then I decided to stay around town. It turned out to be a good idea. I ended up with a new pair of walking shoes and a tall plant stand for my bedroom. It's white, but I got a can of spray paint at Michael's as well so when it dries out, I can change the color. My plant is now much higher up and closer to the window where it can get a lot of indirect light. I had my birthday Dr. Pepper at lunch and I have tickets to a play this evening. I think the snow will be stopped by then. 

I may still hit up some bookstores this weekend. I've got a few I'm looking for. We'll see. I've got a ton of laundry to do. I'd like to find a pair of water shoes for water aerobics so the pool doesn't keep taking the skin off my big toes. I'm loving water aerobics, but that part is annoying. But with that, I think I'm about done with birthday shopping month. 

And the snow is still coming down! This makes me so happy. 

Something different

Almost a year ago, my sister gave me a birthday gift of one of those small little rooms that you put together.  No idea what they are actually called. A diorama? When I see them in the stores, they are super cute, but I don't have any use for them. I truly don't enjoy knick knacks, or what what I call "dust collectors".  

I figured it was something I would put together on a rainy day, but that day never came. I finally put it together this week. It wasn't hard, but it is not the kind of thing I like to do. It's not like a puzzle where you fit the pieces in. It's more like putting together IKEA furniture and you have to follow the diagram. Plus, I hated dealing with the little tiny pieces. They are not in any kind of order (they just all had to fit in a finite space) so if you break them out early on accident, it would be a mess. 

The funny thing about this one is that there are so many details that I had to put together that you actually can't see. I mean, I guess I know they are there, but it's kind of dumb if you ask me. At least the lights work? Anyway, its now put together and I put it on my bookshelf. LOL I have to use precious space for it but oh well. And now when I see them in stores, I can smile at them and pass on by without a thought.

Happy Birthday to Me

This has been a much better day than last year. I miss mom though. But I just got back from a quick road trip to Sedona, AZ and mom would have loved it. Sedona is fun! And so beautiful this time of year. I can’t believe how crowded it was in February, but we were there over a holiday weekend as well. We’ve already decided that it’s a place we’d go back. It was a long drive home but sleeping in my own bed last night made it worth it. 

We came home to snow. Finally snow! The sun was really great, but I’m not going to complain about winter hanging on a bit longer. Spring will come. I’ve been running errands and cleaning out my car. Bought myself clearance Valentine’s flowers. Then went to lunch with my sister and niece which was really nice.  LOL It’s a good day to turn 50. Don’t know how it happened but happy to be here. 

One Year

Hard to believe it’s 1 year since mom died. It’s been eons and the blink of an eye at the same time. We’ve navigated through family dinners, birthdays, holidays, and even vacations without her. When dad died he left a big hole in the family, but he was the guy in the background with the funny sense of humor, especially after his illness started. Mom was the one in the trenches who went everywhere and was always doing things for us. (Not that dad didn’t, but in different ways). Sometimes I just don’t know how to feel. That’s ok, it’s just how life is. So I guess I’ll pass this milestone and keep on going. Not sure I feel like celebrating my birthday, which is fine since I can do it any way I want. Might just sit at home with a book and some cocoa. Maybe a Dr. Pepper. Sounds like a good day to me.  

October 4th

It would have been my mom's birthday today. 76 years. I'm a little weepy today, that's for sure. And it's ok, I'm allowed to have my feelings today. I think I've been having them all week actually, because I have bought so many things: new shirts, more air plants, perfume, and a puzzle. I most definitely did not need any of that and now it has to stop!

I've got a list of things I need to get done for work, and then I think I'm signing off. I have vacation available and if I get my job done, nobody cares if I leave early.

I got my Halloween decorations out. All 4 of them. Ha ha...  The 4th is this cat on a wooden plate. My mom made it when I was young and it's been part of Halloween my whole life. When we cleaned out her house, I just couldn't see it going to a thrift store, even though I have no use for it. So it's sitting on my table. If I decide to put candy on it, it will have to be the kind I don't like, otherwise I will eat it. 

It's conference weekend and I'm looking forward to a more relaxed few days to be at home and just enjoy this time of year. I've got some projects and things to work on while I listen to conference. I'll get through today and things will be fine. 

Birthday Shopping Month 2024 Edition

Well, so far I was doing ok with the not spending money thing. I made it through January. Kind of. I went on a Georgette Heyer used book buying spree and ended up with 5 books.

But now it's birthday shopping month and I bought myself some presents already. 😇  I got myself 2 different 3-month subscription boxes. The first one is a "pamper yourself" type of book box and the other is body care/scent. Both things I love. I have a small list of things I'm out of cosmetic-wise that I'll be buying. And I will be going on a book browsing trip near my actual birthday. I've already pre-ordered the 2 books out this month that are must buys. So we'll see what happens with the book browsing. I'm sure I'll find something, but I'm trying to call that good. I'm still in the mood to not have a bunch of crap in my house and have another pile of things to donate. I'll make that a month goal as well, to get it out of my house. 

I also booked a mini vacation to San Diego in March, but that is up in the air now. My mom wanted to go and since she is not feeling well, I think we may be pushing that one out a little bit. Maybe we can go for her birthday this fall. We are waiting to see what the doctor says later today. I think I've pretty much decided that even if we don't go, I'm still taking the days off. 😊 I have plenty of vacation and it's already in my head that I won't be working. 

Life is good and hectic and fast and slow and just life. I'm happy to complete another rotation LOL.

Birthday Month

Wow, this month has flown. Hard to believe it's almost over. I spent a week of it in Charlotte, NC for work. It was a nice trip and Charlotte was in the 60's so it felt like spring. Then I came home to cold and snow storms. Oh well... it is technically still winter. 

I took some time off work around my birthday which was nice. I made it to SL to go to a few book stores. This year I let myself buy anything that even sounded interesting so a few of the books I bought I had never even heard of. 

Then on President's day I was looking at my library and didn't know where to put the new books, and decided I could fit one more of the thin Billy bookshelves from Ikea in there. So my nephew and I made a quick trip to Ikea and I picked it up. I'm very happy with that purchase and now I have empty bookshelf space! Let's see how long it takes me to fill it up.

And the other morning I woke up to have a very pretty view out my window. Fresh fallen snow is really beautiful. Of course, now the wind has blown and its all crusty and gross. But soon to be covered again with fresh snow, if the weather reports are correct. 

I'm planning on a relaxing weekend. I have a few projects I wanted to finish in February so I better get started on them. I'm still not in the mood to spend much money so I don't feel like shopping. I am very happy with my books and impulse bookshelf and I think I'll just stick with that. 

Hello February

Birthday shopping month is here! And since I’m still trying to keep my goal of not buying stuff just to have more “stuff” (books, excepted) I don’t really have much I want to buy myself. I do plan on going on a book buying trip to local-ish indie booksellers but I know I won’t buy that many books. I need a new black skirt, but in that case the old one will go. It’s possible I will get myself a new phone. I’m into year 3 with my current and the battery has really started to die quickly. Still undecided on that one. One of my favorite things to buy is bath/body/perfumes but I’m not even in the mood for that right now. My shelves are full and I just don’t want to add more to it.

I have gotten a little bit of my home clutter picked up and took some things (old office chair being one of the things) to be donated. I’d like to keep the momentum going. There are spots that I’ve cleaned up and look so nice right now. I’ve noticed other piles of things that are either out of the way or technically “put up” and I think I’d like to tackle those as well. It’s funny how much lighter I feel with even a little bit of mess gone. So yeah, if I can keep this going for even half the year I’ll save myself some money and be much more in control of the clutter. I’m kind of liking the idea. 

Birthday Subscription Boxes

My birthday presents to myself this year were mostly subscription boxes. I wanted to try a couple new ones. The first one was a bit of a bust. I got 1 month of Finders Seekers, which is a type of mystery game where you look for clues in the items in the box. I thought it might be fun to play with my family. We’re not that kind of family, I guess. We used the hints on every clue and did solve it, but we did it mostly to just get it over with. It’s similar to the Outfoxed board game, which is more for kids and my family loves, and prefers, to what this box had. Oh well, we tried it and now we know. 

The second box was from Introverts Retreat. I did this one on a whim at the last minute and had very low expectations. Book subscription boxes always look fun, but I am very picky about my books and rarely read mainstream or literary fiction. I absolutely loved this one. I got to choose my drink (hot chocolate) and genre (romance, which I picked because I figured it was a throw away book anyway and mysteries I don't pick myself never work out). The book they sent was a Georgette Heyer that I don’t have and will absolutely read. And the treats and candle are just fun. I was only going to do one month of this one but I’m going to do another one because I liked it so much. A win, for sure.

 

And finally, I got myself a 3 month Succulents Monthly subscription. I get a little plant in the mail along with a pot and soil. The first one came and it looks like it might be a fun little box that I will be happy to get. However, the succulent was frozen and all of the little leaves had fallen off. Are they even called leaves on a succulent? I contacted the company and they are sending me another plant. That’s really great of them. Now that I’ve seen the type of plant I’m supposed to be getting, I really want it. I’m hoping for better weather in March and April so hopefully my next couple months of plants survive the shipping. 

So another great birthday month is over for the year, but the presents will still be coming. Ha ha ha

Closets

I cleaned out my closet yesterday on a whim. I had been thinking about what would happen when I had to start traveling for work again. My corporate office is business casual and my normal office is just plain casual. I wear t-shirts and jeans every day. I was wondering if I even had any nice clothes left that fit. In the past few years, I have only bought t-shirts. So I started going through everything and trying things on. I ended up with a huge pile of clothes to give away. Some have never even been worn. I got rid of everything that didn’t fit or things that I didn’t like how they fit or looked. I even ended up with a pair of pants I forgot I had that do fit and I haven’t worn them, plus found some jeans I haven’t worn in a long time. I also ended up with one pair of nice black trouser pants and maybe 2 nicer shirts I could wear with them. I’ve decided to start early to get some nicer clothes so I’m not scrambling if the time to travel comes sooner rather than later. I should probably add shoes to that as well. I can’t wear dressy flats any more so I need a nicer shoe that has some support. I think I will also go through my puzzles this weekend before I take everything to the D.I. I know there are some I can get rid of. It feels good to lighten my closets up a bit.

I’m trying to not go too crazy for birthday shopping month so I won’t fill them back up again. Its fun to shop a bit, but I don’t need so much “stuff”. So far, I’ve settled on some eye friendly make up from Sephora, a couple books, and 3 subscription boxes that I wanted to try but won’t keep going. And that’s good enough for this year. I’m more interested in saving money for the things I need to do to keep my dry eyes happy. That includes a fish oil supplement which is crazy expensive.  But I’m willing to do what it takes and if they help then that’s where I’ll spend my money. 

Birthday Month

The kids helped my mom decorate my cake this year, which is why I ended up with eyeballs. :) I'll take it. 

I ended up inadvertently sharing my piece with my 18 month old niece as she crawled on the table and stuck her spoon and then hand in it. Still, it was tasty. 

Febrary Odds and Ends

It’s February so birthday shopping month can officially begin. I want to get it done early since I scheduled my (hopefully) last oral surgery for 3 days after my actual birthday and then I’m going to be miserable and won’t be able to eat anything. I’ve decided on 3 or 4 places to donate some money and then I think I’m going to buy myself a new bed. It’s time for the old one to go. I think I’m going to go to a few bookstores with my niece also. I’ve already gotten myself a few puzzles. The bed is kind of major so I don’t know that I’ll do too much more but that is definitely plenty.

In other news, after my trip last December I decided I needed a change in my hairstyle. I didn’t want anything drastic but still wanted it to be enough different that it was a change. So I grew my bangs longer, then had my stylist cut more bangs so they go back a little bit farther. LOL – that was a bit of a shock to get used to, even though it was what I wanted. Then I kept the layers and cut it back to shoulder length. There has been some growing pains trying to figure out how to style my bangs but I’m happy with the change. On days like today where everything worked and I like the way it looks, I’m so happy I went with it. I have had a few complements, but I like it and that’s what matters to me.

Finally February

Yay! January is finally over and it’s birthday shopping month! So far books and perfume are on the list but my carry on size luggage broke last month when I used it so I’ve got ideas about replacing that too. I’ve also got some local and not so local charities to donate to. I’ve been looking at cheap flights to places for a weekend but nothing is really jumping out at me. I’ll have the stiches out of my mouth next week so I’ll be able to eat normal again. And I haven’t had a Dr. Pepper since last August so I’m splurging and getting one for my birthday. LOL – the carbonation will probably kill me because I haven’t had it for so long.  I went back to spin class last week after my illness and mouth issues were finally over. It is nice to be back (still sucks to get up in the morning) and even though the seat is still hard, it’s not like starting all over. A little thing I am grateful for.