It has been a while! And, to be honest, at first I was left scratching my head to come up with demerits or gold stars. Apparently I’m out of practice?
But once I put my thinking cap on, I had a list in no time.
DEMERITS
- Not making smoothies. I have all the equipment, the frozen fruit, and smoothies are nutritious and quick to pull together. But for some reason they feel like too much work lately? But they’re not that much work? Why the hold-up?
- Sleep. Sleep has not been consistent this summer/early fall. There are all sorts of reasons why and probably not that much I could have done to prevent it (e.g. being on prednisone, jet lag, sick family members) so it doesn’t technically deserve a demerit…but still. I guess a concrete demerit would be blowing by my arbitrary bedtime night after night to fit in reading time.
- Not using my electric toothbrush. My teeth feel so much cleaner when I use my electric toothbrush and I own one! I get impatient brushing my teeth for two whole minutes (to be fair, I likely brush my teeth 4 times/day), but I need to get back into the habit of using my electric toothbrush more regularly.
- The Grade 8 debacle. A huge demerit to our school for releasing class lists less than 24-hours before the start of the term and for failing to acknowledge how hard this is for the one class (which happens to include my daughter) that is separated from the rest of their peers.
- Not framing art. We bought a few pieces of inexpensive art in Barcelona last March and a few more pieces in Portugal in August…and none of it is framed. We’ll just buy standard frames from IKEA, but I haven’t prioritized getting them despite some opportunities to do so which means the art is sitting on a closet shelf looking lonely and forgotten.
- The Case of the Missing Blundstone. We buy most of our clothing and footwear second hand but one exception is Blundstone boots. They are a great option in our climate and work year-round for hiking and everyday walking. They are so rugged and hardy that they rarely show up on thrift-store shelves (people “wear them into the ground”). Our habit has been to invest in a new pair for Belle and then hand those down to Indy. We’re on our second round of this arrangement and things were going great until Indy came home from summer camp with ONE Blundstone. Not two. Not none. One. One shoe of a pair is absolutely useless but more frustrating – in a way – than losing an entire pair. I wrote the camp. I talked to a friend that works there and had her check the lost and found repeatedly. Someone in the region has THREE Blundstones (one of which is labelled with my son’s name) but we have ONE. Argh. Lesson learned. Do not send good footwear to camp. After looking on eBay and buy-local websites without any success, we finally coughed up the money and bought him a new pair yesterday. Sadly he’s now in ADULT sizes which are almost $100 more than kid sizes. Sigh.
- Fingernails. I have not stayed on top of painting my fingernails. It’s unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but it makes me happy.
- Blog issues. The “reply” function in my comments section has never worked since launching this new site. (As the moderator, I can reply from within my WordPress dashboard, but readers can’t nest comments.) The company I purchased the template from is no longer responding – I’ve been trying to sort this out since APRIL – and I spent an hour last week trying to adjust my blog code with the help of ChatGPT. I was getting more and more confident and then I got a very ominous error message. That was enough to scare me away from any further action. Better a functioning comment section without nested comments than no comment section. Also, Feedly. It takes about 10 hours to pull my posts but it is taking DAYS to retrieve San’s.
Let’s move on from doom, gloom and regret toward lighter topics that offer reasons to celebrate.
GOLD STARS
- Yoga classes! I am going to yoga once or twice a week at a local studio. It works out to about $15/class (I buy a bulk package to save money) which makes me swallow hard – paying to do yoga? it’s free to follow along on YouTube! – but it has been a wonderful experience. Especially yin. Where has yin been all my life?
- Insurance. I spent some time calling around to get better prices on our home insurance. I’m not sure if we’ll actually switch brokers, but it helps to shop around and I loathe making “unnecessary” phone calls so it was a big hump to get over.
- Deep cleaning. Our bathroom ceiling needed to be mopped. I put it off for months and kept eyeing the water spots. It took about 2 minutes to get the job done and weeks later I still feel very self-satisfied! Ditto with the toilet makeover and rusted light fixtures.
- Older kids. I have never appreciated my kids’ growing independence as much as I have this summer and fall. Being able to leave Belle and Indy home for short periods alone is literally life-changing. Having the kids be responsible for their lunchboxes is glorious. Lots of things get more challenging as they age but, in general, life seems to flow more smoothly.
- Starting our photobook. All the gold stars for this decision. It feels AMAZING to be finished with a draft up to the end of September. January Elisabeth is going to be oh-so-grateful to September Elisabeth for this early effort.
And that’s my recent list of Demerits and Gold Stars. Any demerit or gold-star worthy behaviour in your life lately? What’s the last household item you deep-cleaned? Do you have a gym or fitness class membership? Tell me the most frustrating Lost Item story in your life.
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Coree
Last year, T’s teacher from the previous year returned a single shoe to him that she found in the classroom (they switch shoes for PE)… so 3 sizes out of date, and only 1 shoe. And it drives me bananas… they were quite new and I can’t even donate them. I share your agony. I also once bought a pair of shoes while travelling and didn’t realise the sales person had put 2 different sizes in the box.
And your love of in-person yoga. I was hot yoga 2-3x a week prepandemic and basically stopped with the pandemic and only got back into it in late 2022 when I realised there was a studio 5 minutes walk from my work city flat. Online just doesn’t work for me – I notice dustbunnies under the furniture and wander off when things get hard. Now I’m back to 1x a week hot vinyasa and am getting my strength back. 2025 is going to be my year of the plank and the shoulder stand.
Elisabeth
Two different sizes in the box of new shoes. *Screaming into the void* That is a nightmare and, I assume since you were on the road, you weren’t able to return them.
I literally see dust bunnies under the guest bed sometimes and have to pause the video to go get a vacuum to get them up. Yes! For me at least, exercising at home is very, very distracting.
Jan Coates
We had a brand new pair of Blundstones come through the Lily Ann Thrift Shop recently – we sold them for $25! Somebody snapped them up, of course. And I’m still doing yoga with Adriene, thanks to you! And I’m sure the 24-hour window was very purposeful on the school’s part. I hope she’ll make some new friends as a result, but it’s tough to be separated from your people, especially at that age.
Elisabeth
What a great deal for Blundstones (I’ve seen a pair at Jane’s Again before, too).
I’m so glad you continue to enjoy the Yoga with Adriene videos. I think I will use them more in the winter when it’s a lot less appealing to clean off the car, dress warmly, and drive on snowy roads to get to a yoga studio…
Nicole MacPherson
*raises hand* As a (former?) yoga teacher, I think it’s a really good idea to at least occasionally pay for classes. Yes, you can follow along, but sometimes a teacher will have adjustments or recommendations based on your own body and your own needs. I had some students for whom standard postures were not appropriate, and by evaluating them I could recommend a variation of the posture that would work better. Also, there is such a wonderful sense of community created by being in class.
I just had to pay a company to fix an issue with my blog and that was frustrating. It feels like I spend a lot of $$ on this hobby of mine! I guess that’s typical of a hobby, but still.
Elisabeth
A video is very static, so it’s nice that an in-person teacher can “read the room” and make suggestions based on what she’s seeing for modifications. I have REALLY appreciated this.
I just got back from an hour of yin 🙂
I need to hire someone to fix a few issues with my blog but it’s not something that comes naturally to me so it’s hard sit down and articulate what I want/need. John said he’d take the lead on it, so I need to follow up about that…
I still think blogging is a VERY inexpensive hobby compared to most?
Birchie
I’ll defend you for not making smoothies. My experience is that they are kind of a lot of ingredients, and it’s kind of a pain to clean the blender afterwards.
It’s true that there are challenges with older kids but there is also so much good stuff that comes when the tiny humans aren’t so tiny anymore. I’m just so curious to see what the boys do as they get older (spoiler: the oldest is a carbon copy of my husband so I feel like I know how that story is going to turn out, but I have no prediction about the youngest besides that he is going to have a great life).
Elisabeth
I think it is the cleanup that I dread. And also pulling all the different ingredients together. I’m sure I’ll hit another phase of eating and enjoying them, but it isn’t right now.
NGS
Gold star to me for using my blog roll instead of Feedly! It’s a little bit more work, but I don’t miss any posts! I have been making smoothies when I’m home on the weekends and am slowly using the frozen blueberries that my husband won’t eat. I hate making them because I don’t really love them and cleaning the blender annoys me, although my husband showed me a trick that you just blend in some soapy water and it makes it a lot easier to clean. Yay!
Demerit because I need to call the vet to make a (very expensive) appointment and I just don’t wanna. *sigh* I will do it today. That is my goal.
Elisabeth
I should start a blog roll…Feedly is so hit and miss (I used Old Reader for quite a while, but I had issues with that, too). Come on feed readers!
I am going to make a goal of having ONE smoothie by the end of October. Gotta start somewhere, right? I think, too, now that I ponder it more it might be because I am loving my current go-to breakfast of cottage cheese. I tend to get fixated on one meal and then eat it on repeat for a long time. Then I get tired of it eventually and move on. That’s happened for me with salads (I had a salad every day for probably a year and now rarely have salad for a meal).
I wish you didn’t have to book this vet appointment, but hope that it helps Zelda feel better oh-so-quickly.
Lisa's Yarns
My son would totally come home from camp with one shoe. That is totally his energy. The most frustrating thing that has been lost in our house is a VERY NICE Osh Kosh winter jacket. It was a hand-me-down that was basically like new and Paul somehow LOST IT last spring. We checked everywhere – lost & found at school, bus, bus company, etc etc etc. He must have left it on the playground and someone snatched it or something like that. But how does one lose an entire freaking winter jacket? I’m still mad about this if you can’t tell! 😉
I haven’t deep cleaned anything lately that I can recall as embarrassing as that is. But I have some days off this fall and I plan to spend one of them going through all the shelves of our window seat. So much stuff piles up on those shelves and I need to do a good purge when no one is around!
Elisabeth
Indy lost not one, but TWO winter jackets last year at school. We eventually found one, but sheesh. The other thing to regularly go missing are gloves. I cannot begin to count how many pair of mittens and gloves we’ve only had one of over the years. It’s to the point that if I see a good pair at a thrift store I just buy it because I know with 100% certainty at least some of them will go missing.
Stuff accumulates so quickly. Yesterday I did a quick run-through of Indy’s room and could not believe how much stuff needed to come out.
Jenny
Ooh, I can feel your frustration over that missing boot! Let’s see… I have to give myself a demerit for not fixing my blog issue yet. It’s just me not wanting to deal with it, but it’s bugging me and I can’t leave it this way forever.
About the electric toothbrush- sometimes I don’t want to brush my teeth for two whole minutes either. But I just use the electric toothbrush and turn it off when I’m done. I agree, you do kind of feel obligated to go the two whole minutes, but you can rebel sometimes.
Elisabeth
Blog issues are so frustrating. I need to hire someone to do a few things but then I’d need to sit down and categorize and note everything and pay for it and then what if something goes wrong. GAH. Why can’t I just speak to the computer and have it do exactly what I want; no code needed, just verbal or written instructions. Is that too much to ask? Can you tell I’m frustrated?!!!
I sometimes shut it off early too, I just always feel like someone is going to come and reprimand me. Of course they aren’t…so I need to work on my subtle rebellious streak.
Elinoora
Gold stars:
I walked/cycled/exercises at least 30 minutes every day so far in October
I called the vet, got an appointment and took the cat to said appointment – it’s fleas 😭 but at least his vaccinations are updated?
I booked our hotels for our holiday in Japan next year (I know I’m early but we’re there during golden week)
Demerits:
Didn’t fold the laundry, I was too busy getting the hotels sorted
Haven’t called yet to get curtains measured, or figured out which fabric we want for the blinds, as I was going to use my bonus. Which usually comes end of October, but will now be November.
Didn’t remind (or help) husband to hang the new fire alarms (we are legally obliged to have one on each floor).
Also OMG on that shoe, that would have driven me bonkers too!!! And yay for yoga! Assuming I’m not sick, I’m going to my aerial Yoga class again tomorrow. It’s been ages!
Elisabeth
Crossing accommodations off a travel checklist feels AMAZING. Gold stars indeed.
Aerial yoga? I am very intrigued…
Suzanne
ONE MISSING BOOT. Noooooooo!!!!!! If it makes you feel some solidarity, I sent my kid to a camp overnight with a brand new pair of pajamas — in a bag, labeled with her name AND the pajamas were labeled with her name — and they disappeared before she needed to change into them for bed.
I think the issue with the smoothies is that there’s a lot of hoopla involved. Lots of ingredients, lots of parts to wash. But I encourage you to play around with your smoothie game until you find something that works. I have a three ingredient smoothie (frozen cherries OR mangoes, yogurt, skim milk) every morning and it takes five minutes (only three ingredients, plus I use a stick blender so the cleanup is minimal and fast) and I love being able to get 30g of protein first thing in the morning with so little effort.
I have the same electric toothbrush demerit. Why do I just ignore it??? It does a better job! It ensures I brush for the requisite two minutes! It’s easy! And yet…
I also have a demerit for continuing to put off making a call to a utility company about a billing error. It will be the second time I’ve tried to address this error so I am not looking forward to it. Phone calls are the worst.
Elisabeth
There is a lot of hoopla. And because of you I bought cherries earlier this week hoping it will jumpstart my smoothie game because I really did love it with cherries. I might use some water, silk cream, cottage cheese, walnuts and cherries for a smoothie tomorrow?
SHE LOST HER PJS the first day??! How do these things happen?
Solidarity on the phone calls.
M
Your gold stars are great! And I’m specially impressed about the photo books! I need to put together a small one for a special occasion and I’m dragging my feet — and it’s already a few months late!
One boot!! That is maddening. And specially when replacements are so expensive!
Same here about smoothies. I want to get in a habit of drinking a green smoothie for dinner. I buy all the ingredients (mostly spinach and avocado with yogurt and a splash of oat milk or almond milk) but I hate cleaning the blender so I don’t. The blender gets used often by my 2 here so I bought a brush that makes washing it so much easier — and yet, I still dread using it because it means I have to clean it afterwards! Argh!!
Elisabeth
Photobooks ALWAYS feel so onerous to start. Once I get into the rhythm it becomes quasi-enjoyable, but I drag my feet before getting going!
Diane
I’m with everyone who says cleaning the blender is a huge roadblock to smoothies! My kids want smoothies all the time- maybe I should make them wash the blender themselves.
Also- I don’t think giving up sleep for reading time is a demerit! Making time to read is always a gold star!!!
I don’t know if it’s a demerit per se, but our County has made all the gyms/fitness rooms in the rec centers free to county residents this year and I keep meaning to go, but I never do. I even have the card. I think I’m just intimidated by exercising in public.
Elisabeth
Thank you for giving me permission to change my reading demerit to a gold star. It is a slippery slope where sleep is involved though…!
That’s amazing about the exercise classes. But this might not be the right “season” to attend? You have SUCH a busy life and adding something else is unlikely to be easy. Plus, you incorporate a lot of movement into daily life.
Sabine
The one-shoe-problem: this would also make me really mad. I know it from when the kids were little and they would randomly take of a shoe and throw it out of the stroller (and the parent only notices later). But luckily not recently (probably jinxing it now).
Your gold stars are great.
But I have a question: mopping the bathroom ceiling…? I have to admit I never thought about it and I am curious about it.
As for smoothies: everyone likes them, but I also find them too much work (in terms of cleaning) and we usually do not have enough suitable ingredients at home (and only a small freezer).
Elisabeth
I saw a blankie on the sidewalk yesterday and was pretty sure a toddler had tossed it out of their stroller. Hopefully it wasn’t so beloved sleep couldn’t happen without it?
We lost several things that way with our kids (but one time drove our walking route after getting home and managed to find the missing shoe!)
Just last week at the grocery store Indy picked up two socks off the ground that a baby had pulled off and dropped without their parent knowing!
We had some water spots on the ceiling – not leaks, just some residue. I prepped my mop as per usual and after it was well wrung out, reached it up over my head and mopped the ceiling! It worked like a charm. I’ve used mops to wash walls before, too!
A Day in My Life: Monday, 7 October 2024 - The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist
[…] felt low-level ennui all afternoon. I had tentatively planned to take Indy to get new Blundstones, but I just couldn’t summon the energy to leave the house. It was surprisingly hard, despite […]
coco
gosh what a great idea to start photo album now than January when it’s too much to handle.
I wish electric toothbrush is smaller so I could carry it everywhere. I like the idea of brushing after meals.
I lost a piece of jewelry 10 years ago, a favorite piece, but actually it is good because then I let go of needing it for the rest of place. it is a cartier bracelet from my ex-husband, I thought of re-buying it in my 40s birthday and then realized I don’t needed it anymore.
Elisabeth
I know they do make travel electric toothbrushes! John used to take his with him (his toothbrush actually came with a travel case), but now just uses a manual toothbrush when he’s on the road.
It’s sad to lose special items but sometimes they might represent certain seasons of life or even “baggage.” I’m glad you made peace with its loss.
Ally Bean
You know I’m totally smitten with your gold star and demerit idea [yes I know you talk about them in the reverse order, but I like to focus on successes]. I’m with you about using my electric toothbrush more and am inspired to get back into yoga.
Elisabeth
It makes me feel encouraged to know that others struggle with the electric toothbrush use. I have been trying to use it every few days, but should have a system. Maybe my mid-day brushing is electric but morning and night are manual? I will report back.
San
I only have an electric toothbrush so I always use it LOL (I have a regular one for traveling, but it stays in my travel bag).
I think I need to thank you for playing around with ChatGPT to fix your own blog issues. Is that when you came across the plugin that might have solved my Feedly issue? Either way, I love that you also tinker with your blog and learned something along the way that helped me. THANK YOU. <3
Elisabeth
That is when I came across the plugin suggestion. I hope it keeps working for you. I installed it on my site today because Feedly is quite laggy with my posts.
I think I’m going to have to pay someone to do the few things that need doing. I’m worried if I keep “tinkering” I’m going to end up ruining other things and I’ve been down that road before! I thought I could do the fixes myself, but even with ChatGPT, I think it’s above my proverbial pay grade.
Marcia (OrganisingQueen)
It is well worth you paying for the yoga because you will probably go. I have a good gym story – a million years ago (2003) I paid (now about half of the price of the monthly gym membership) a once-off fee. Here’s the best part – I never paid anything again and never will provided I go 3 times a month. I had to get special dispensation while pregnant (bleeds at about 25 weeks after an IVF pregnancy) to not go to gym and they gave me exactly 6 weeks to return after the babies were born. Well worth it because I’m still on that free membership and of course now, even with my cancer treatment, I somehow made it 3x in July, August, September and October. Just have to get through November and then I’ll be into my schedule again.
BIG BIG gold star for your photos – I would feel very smug if I were you!
Elisabeth
Wow – that is the most incredible fitness deal I’ve ever heard of! And I can’t believe you’ve kept up visits during cancer treatment. That is so brave but I also expect it boosts your energy and spirits so all the gold stars to you for that.
Heather Mar
I changed my smoothie life with…an immersion blender! I made sure to get one powerful enough to blend frozen fruits and ice. We have an insulated tumbler that our HVAC company gave us when we replaced our system and it fits perfectly. All I do is make sure to rinse the bottom part right when I use it, and there’s barely any mess.
Gold star to me because I got my whole to-do list done this weekend!
Demerit that I spent time worrying yesterday instead of doing something nice like reading a book.
Elisabeth
We have an immersion blender but it’s not nearly powerful enough to make smoothies. But that would be a lot less mess. We have a mini blender so can drink out of the blender cup, but I’m still dragging my feet.
I bought some frozen cherries last week which are my fav fruit for smoothies so I’ll try to get a smoothie made for lunch some day this week. I know I’ll enjoy it once I do it.
Heather Mar
Delicious, enjoy!!