book club 57 - the cabin at the end of the world by paul tremblay

 2023-57

 

book club 56 - claimed by jr ward

 2023-56

 

book club 55 - between by jessica warman

 2023-55

 

book club 54 - it happened one summer by tessa bailey

 2023-54

 

last costco trip of 2023 - december 18

 

veggie tray, perogies, cheerios, goldfish crackers, maple syrup, cheddar, butter x 2, pico de gallo, dark chocolate and nut bites, antipasto, popcorn, chips x 2, meat tray, croissants

$172

book club 53 - silent child by sarah a denzil

 2023-53

 

book club 52 - the kind worth saving by peter swanson

 2023-52

 

book club 51 - the psychology of money by morgan housel

 2023-51

 

limping into 2024

 happy new year!  as shocked as i still am at how quickly we raced through 2023, i am always glad for the fresh start of a new month, or a new year.

2024.

crazy.

i had hoped to arrive in the new year a bit more organized, a bit more together and with it, but the last 2 weeks of december walloped me.  both kids got sick, i got further and further behind at work, no matter what i did, my mental health started to decline and then BOOM.  i didn't just get sick, i got SICK.

from the 22nd to the 30th i was knocked on my ass by illness.  

i did not enjoy it.

i'm still not all better, but better enough to be bitter that i have to start back at work tomorrow.  i feel like i missed my days off because i was too sick to do anything, but at the same time i am thankful i was off for them and didn't have to take sick days and fall father behind.  but still a bit bitter.  

in addition to not doing anything fun with the family, i didn't get any of my cleaning, organizing, cooking or figuring stuff out for 2024 done.  oh well.

here's some stuff that happened in december

i joined an actual book club.  very exciting.

deli turkey, cream cheese, pickles.  MMMMMMMMM

my menu planning was one of the first casualties of december, but this was a tasty mongolian ground beef noodles from early december.

baked crescent roll sandwiches and pureed veggie soup from that same week.

art with the kids

the girl and the mister made a little charcoot plate for my online book club meeting

another pantry clean out

a chicken stew that i added too many peas to

pear struesel cake

car wash

this was our christmas breakfast - egg and cheese biscuits with fruit and meat and cheese.  i had to lie down after i took this photo to recover from helping the mister get it ready.

we had gumbo for christmas dinner, with chicken and sausage and shrimp and scallops, and the girl had kraft dinner.  again, i could hardly sit at the table for a few minutes with the family before i needed to go collapse in the living room.  it was not my favorite holiday season.

i'll have the last of my 2023 book club reads this week so i can do my recap, and then we'll move on to new stuff in 2024!

happy new year, happy monday.  xo

merry merry

 

book club 50 - ankle snatcher by grady hendrix (ebook) (short story)

 2023-50

 

2 trips to Costco - what am I, made of money???

 november 27

coffee, chicken, frozen mango, granola bars x 2, lettuce, chips x2, beef jerky x 2, hazelnut latte, raspberries, tomatos, sausage, kitchen towels, 2 books for christmas gifts, hot chocolate, crab meat, mayo, socks, stew meat, tuxedo cake for a birthday, pears, batteries

$388

 december 2

a toy, oatmeal, peanut butter and hot chocolate for a christmas hamper donation, raisin buns, plums, cheese x 2, pita bread, tortilla chips, eggs, breakfast burritos, pickles, naan, a book for ME, some clothes for gifts

$298

book club 49 - the final girl support group by grady hendrix

 2023-49

 Dying isn't the important thing.  It's nothing more than the punctuation mark at the end of your life.  It's everything that came before that matters.  Punctuation marks, most people skip right over them.  They don't even have a sound. 

menu planning

 i cooked all of last weeks meals in one form or other.  the meatballs were excellent, if a little sour cream heavy.  i forgot to make the meatloaf and put it in the crock pot, so the mister just made a turkey meatloaf and cooked it in the oven.  i had no panko, so the shrimp were breaded in crushed cornflakes with the sauce on the side.  the pork tenderloin i went with a combo sort of recipe from both recipes.

everything was good.

here's what i found for this week - 

Creamy Tuscan Chicken

Mongolian Ground Beef Noodles

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps

Ham and Cheese Crescent Roll Squares

book club 48 - the wall of winnipeg and me by mariana zapata (ebook)

 2023-48

 

book club 47 - the manor house by Gilly MacMillan

 2023-47

 

a quick note

 That this coffee from Costco is really really good.  Like really really.

menu planning - this week and last weeks honey garlic chicken

 lets menu plan!  i'm doing this from my cozy chair in the living room this morning.  everyone is still asleep.  it's dark and quiet in here.  laundry and cleaning and cooking looms ahead of me for the day but we'll ignore it right now and just relax for a bit.  and since my phone is on the charger and i can't scroll tik tok, and i have no lights on so i can't read, that means menu planning.

last week we had a birthday celebration one night (Red Robin burgers) and a quick dinner of ham and eggs before we went to see the Shrek musical (amazing!!!), and made a crock pot pulled pork that will do double duty as sandwiches that night AND feature in tonights Sunday dinner, and a very very good honey garlic chicken that i added grated sweet potato and spinach to which was truly excellent.

So here's what i'm thinking for this week - 

Swedish meatballs - god I miss Ikea

Slow cooker meatloaf 

Bang Bang Shrimp - or sub out chicken, but I think we have some shrimp in the freezer

Pork tenderloin - probably either this one or this one, depending what I have in the pantry.

Happy Sunday.  Don't forget to drink your water.

 

30 day challenge - challenge 1 - drink more water

 because i am just as good at charging headfirst into a new idea as i am at abandoning it quickly, i have decided to incorporate 30 day challenges into my life.

i am truly hoping that this is something that sticks, this life could definitely use a turnaround about now.

so our first challenge is a super basic one, but one that has become more difficult for me over the past while, drinking water.  i used to be pretty good at it, but a switch has flipped and i struggle to drink fluids of any kind, including water.  i know i am dehydrated and i know this is not good, so lets change it.

so the challenge is, drink a minimum of 8 glasses of WATER a day, not any old fluid (hello iced coffee and ice tea) but water.  

coincidentally i am going to try to start using a planner today, and it happens to have a daily water tracker, and i already have a water app on my phone (that i ignore).

so who's with me???  let's do this thing.

book club 46 - Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton (ebook)

 2023-46