Stephany Writes

Categories: Life

The Last Day of November

It’s the last day of November, which means it’s the last day of NaBloPoMo!

It’s always bittersweet to say goodbye to NaBloPoMo because it’s so fun writing posts every day and connecting with others who are doing the same. But I am also ready for a break from blogging every day! And I really need to catch up on blog reading.

This year, I felt like I wasn’t as structured with my editorial calendar as usual. Typically, I plan out the entire month’s worth of posts and stick to the schedule I’ve created. And I did that but then I kind of… didn’t follow my plan. Sometimes, it was because I had a busy day and didn’t have enough time to write the blog post I had planned. Sometimes, I felt the need to write something else (like, “We’re Supposed to Be Upset.”)

I didn’t keep up with blog reading like I had hoped. I’m still a few days behind on my feed and I know I won’t get to everyone’s posts before I leave for my cruise on Monday. It’s hard to balance it all – the blog reading, the blog writing, the commenting… alongside my other hobbies and work and life happenings. I tried my best, but sometimes I just wanted to veg on the couch after a long day of sitting at my desk working. It’s hard to get myself motivated to sit at my personal laptop at the end of a workday and read blogs.

I was apprehensive about tackling NaBloPoMo again because it’s a lot of work, but I’m really glad I did. I think it’s a good exercise for me that not every blog post I write needs to be long and perfect. Sometimes I can write something short and sweet and that’s fine. It may even get more engagement than my longer posts!

I’ll probably do the same thing next year – hem and haw, and ultimately, do it again. And it’s about more than the challenge of writing 30 blog posts in 30 days. It’s also about community and finding new voices in our personal blogging space, people I’ll continue to follow and who made this experience that much sweeter.

So, that’s a wrap on NaBloPoMo 2024. The blog will be dormant next week while I’m on my birthday cruise, but I’ll be back on December 9th with a trip recap!

 

Categories: Life

Things I Say to My Cats

A few months ago, I watched this Instagram Reel where this man was just fawning over his cat. The cat wasn’t doing anything overly cute. He was just sitting on a counter, but this man couldn’t get enough of him. All of the comments on the post were so charming, and I especially like this one:

After watching that video, I started writing down all of the crazy things I say to my cats throughout the day. Keep in mind: I live alone so I’m saying all of these things out loud to nobody but my cats. This could be the most embarrassing post I write but whatever. I am obsessed with my cats!!

“Look at Lila! She’s so pretty!”

“That was so cute, Lila! The way you were just lying on the ground!!”

Walk by Lila. “Hey, cutie pie!” Walk by Eloise. “Hey, other cutie pie!”

I wake up and see that Eloise has jumped up on the bed next to me. “Are you sleeping with me? You make me so happy!”

“Hi Lila Bear! Are you a baby bear???”

“Look at you guys hanging out with me! You guys looooove me!”

“Look at my babies! They’re just hanging out with me!”

Eloise is sleeping on the couch. “LOOK AT YOU! DAT’S SO CUTE!”

“Hi babes! I love you! You guys are my best friends!”

“Aww look at her. She fell asleeeeeep.”

Anytime I leave the house, I tell them exactly what I’m doing and when I’ll be home, and then I end with “Be good! Don’t get into any trouble! I love you!”

And when I come home, I always enter with, “Hello, my loves! Mommy’s home!”

Eloise jumps on the table next to me after eating. “Was that yum-yum-yum in your tum-tum-tum?”

“Ugh, Lila, it’s illegal to be this cute. I have to call the cute police!”

Anytime the girls are together. “OMG! SISTERS!! Are you guys loving on each other?!”

On the phone with my mom. “Want to see the cutest thing you’ve ever seen in your life?” Inevitably it’s one of the cats sleeping and my mom HAS to tell me how cute they are or else she’s in trouble.

“Hi, muffin. I love you so much! You’re my bestest friend.”

Are you as ridiculous with your pets as I am? If you don’t have pets, what’s something ridiculous you say on a regular basis?

Categories: Life

Where Do You Keep That: The Kitchen Counters Edition

I’m continuing the “Where Do You Keep That?” series with some insight into my kitchen counters. Elisabeth talked about her kitchen counters on one of her WDYKT posts, so I figured I’d just be a copycat and do the same! I have a typical apartment kitchen: it’s a galley-style and space is at a premium. I try to keep my counters as clean as possible because clutter makes me anxious. Here’s what they should look like when everything is in its proper place:

This is the left side of my kitchen when you’re facing the back wall. There’s my oven with the microwave and a small counter area. Beyond this counter space is my pantry and then my stackable washer/dryer. I use this small space to house my knife block; a utensil holder for spatulas, big spoons, an ice cream scoop, a pizza cutter, and some other utensils; and the girls’ wet food. I just received a new shipment of food so I keep it all stacked up on the counter because that’s the best place for it right now. I also have a jug of spring water that normally wouldn’t be there. I bought it in October when we were under a boil water advisory after the hurricane and wasn’t sure how long that would last. Now I’m using it to fill up the girls’ water bowl.

(You may notice some steak knives are missing from my knife block. I do not know where they went and I am the only person in this apartment. It’s one of the great mysteries of the world.)

Now onto the right side of my kitchen! We’ll start with the sink area, since that’s the area closest to me if I’m standing at the front of my kitchen.

(You can tell that I scrubbed down the left side of the sink but not the right side. Sigh. This is real life, I guess? Water lines and all.)

I have a double sink (very common in apartments!) and I use the left side for stacking dishes before they go into the dishwasher and the right side for my dish drainer, which isn’t used as frequently as it used to be. But I keep it around for those non-dishwasher friendly items. The little silver tray with a sponge should be suctioned to the side of my sink, but the suction has stopped working (I have a new organizer coming today, and I’m very excited about it!). I also have some dish soap, hand soap, and odds and ends like a sink stopper, pan scrapers, and a special sponge for my glasstop stove. There’s a random water bottle on the corner that hasn’t moved in years. Should we see how long I can leave it there without moving it?!

And here’s the other side of this counter, which is the most counter space I have in this kitchen so I try to put it to good use. I love the two-shelf organizer that I bought from Amazon a while ago. Here’s what on each shelf:

  • Top shelf: sugar packets for coffee, melatonin, bupropion prescription (that I stopped taking because it makes me sleepy but I have it on hand for emergencies), gabapentin prescription for the girls, and a butter crock (to keep butter fresh and at room temp)
  • Bottom shelf: glass jar with k-cups, vitamin D, Advil, magnesium glycinate, Lexapro, multivitamin, and probiotic. The green item in the front is my day-of-the-week pill organizer

Next to this organizer, I have a Starbucks reusable cup that is too tall to fit on my shelf in the cabinet (even without the straw!), treat jars for the girls (Temptations and Greenies), and then my Keurig. I also have two half-eaten bags of chips, which aren’t always there. You can also see all my fun magnets from vacation destinations, postcards for sweet bloggers, and some fun photo magnets from Kim. The front of my fridge is not magnetic, which is annoying, because it means I have limited space for all the postcards you guys send me! Maybe I need to just add them to the fridge with tape.

I also have this raised counter that is also used as a landing zone for all sorts of things; typically I use it to place things I need to bring with me the next time I’m leaving my apartment (library books, reusable bags, mail, etc). I also have a small organizer that houses a few things: a pair of scissors, a lighter, a pet hair removal brush, my passport (which is usually in another location but I needed it to check in for my cruise and I decided to keep it nearby so I can pack it when it’s time), and sometimes mail I need to deal with. My pet camera is also set up here—it’s the perfect location as I can see all of the living room from this spot.

And that’s my kitchen! Thanks for coming along for the ride today. 🙂

Curious about where I keep anything else in my kitchen (or my home as a whole)?

Categories: Life

We’re Supposed to Be Upset

I feel like I need to address the fact that I’m still struggling about the results of our presidential election. We’re all still struggling, right? I know we have to find ways to cope and sometimes that means stepping away from the news and the podcasts and the doomscrolling. And I’m doing that. But as one friend said to me this week, “We are supposed to be upset.”

We’re living in the scariest timeline. This isn’t going to be like it was in 2016-2020, even though that felt like living in a dark timeline (the pandemic notwithstanding). This time, Trump can have unchecked power. He is already filling his cabinet positions with MAGA loyalists, he has a majority on the Supreme Court (and will get to fill at least two more seats), and will appoint even more federal judges that serve for life. Checks and balances? Those don’t exist anymore. Not when the Republicans (most of whom are fiercely loyal to Trump) control the presidency, House, and Senate.

I know people are saying “it’s just four years” and “we’ll take things back in 2028.” But will we? Are we even going to have a democracy after this? I think that’s where the most of my panic stems from. Trump wants to be a dictator. For fuck’s sake, he staged a coup when he lost an election and his supporters wanted to murder the vice president for certifying the results of the election. That’s not normal politics. A peaceful transfer of power is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. And the fact that we rewarded this by giving him another four years makes me want to throw up.

I’m mad. I’m sad. I don’t know what to do. I’m scared for immigrants who are here legally and may get deported (because yes, that’s his plan). I’m scared for kids with disabilities and kids in poor school districts who are now no longer going to have the funding they need because Trump wants to dismantle the Department of Education. I’m scared of how unregulated our food will become once RFK Jr. steps in as head of Health and Human Services. I’m terrified for myself as a queer woman and as a woman who could get pregnant—my rights are already being stripped away and what more could happen? (I’m grateful to live in a very blue county in a red state, though.) I want to throw things against many walls when I think of Matt Gaetz as attorney general.

I listened to an episode of the 5-4 podcast yesterday, and it was both maddening and enlightening. The hosts (who are left-leaning but also criticize the Democractic Party quite regularly) broke down what happened in this election and where Kamala’s campaign went wrong. I don’t agree with everything they said, but it was helpful to better understand what happened, how we failed so miserably, and what needs to happen moving forward (that is, if Democrats can even gain power again… that remains to be seen).

I don’t have any tidy bows to wrap up this post. I just needed to get all of this out of my head. Things are going to get very dark and very scary for America, and I just hope we can make it through.

Categories: Life

5 Things I Did This Week

1) On Monday, I met up with two friends for dinner. Both of these friends are really going through it. Their homes took on multiple feet of water during Helene and they lost just about everything. They’re dealing with insurance craziness, FEMA issues, living in temporary housing for months (both are married, one has a dog and one has a dog and a two-year-old), and just the all-around PTSD that comes with losing your home and having to rebuild. I’m glad I could be a listening ear at dinner!

2) On Monday, I also enjoyed watching the Dolphins win their first game in seven weeks (one of those being a bye, but still). It’s been a hard season and it’s unlikely we’ll make the playoffs, but a win is a win. I’ll take what I can get from this heartbreak team.

3) On Tuesday, I went to a very hard HIIT class. This HIIT class was with a different trainer and he really puts us through the wringer. I don’t love his classes as much because he rarely offers modifications and I feel a little left behind in his workouts. But Mom and I couldn’t make it to our regular Wednesday evening HIIT class so this one had to do. Did I love it? No. My back was aching a lot during this workout. But am I proud I got through it? Hell yes.

4) On Wednesday, my mom and I volunteered with Feeding Tampa Bay. This food bank is trying to eliminate food insecurity across our community and it felt really good to do something small to help their cause. We worked the morning and afternoon shifts where we sorted all different kinds of foods and supplies in their warehouse. It was an intense day (these two office ladies were not prepared for being on their feet all day and carrying heavy boxes!), but we enjoyed our time so much that we’re planning on volunteering at least once a quarter.

5) On Thursday, I had a fun afternoon at Top Golf with coworkers. Since I’m fully remote now (we used to have an office in Tampa but they got rid of it once we all became remote workers during the pandemic), I don’t often get to see coworkers face to face. Most of the people who showed up were people I used to see daily in the office, so it was nice to catch up, play some silly golfing games, and snack all afternoon on bar food. I had a great time!

What’s something you did this week?