Good Stuff
Less anxiety. Oh, it feels so good to be at a place where my anxiety feels stable and manageable. I am so glad that I’m now seeing a psychiatrist who recommended simply upping my dose of Lexapro from 20mg to 30mg, which has seemed to do the trick. Of course, sometimes I start spiraling that it seems like every few years, I need to up my Lexapro dose by 5-10mg. What happens when I can’t up it anymore? But that’s a bridge I’ll cross if I come to it.
Jim Gaffigan. It was so much fun having a night out with my mom and brother to see Jim Gaffigan live. Netflix was actually at the show to film his standup for a new special, which was cool! He was hysterical, as always, and we were all in tears.
Super Bowl Sunday. The Super Bowl was so great, wasn’t it? (Well, unless you’re an Eagles fan.) We had a great party with lots of good food and really, really enjoyed the game. My older nephew has been a Chiefs fan his whole life, so this was a great game for him.
Amazing book club experiences. We had two really wonderful book club meetings this month (we had to push back our January meeting to early February due to scheduling issues). Our January meeting entailed getting permanent jewelry. I love having a tangible reminder of my friendship with these ladies! Our February meeting was last weekend and we had a pajama party/nacho night at my friend Amber’s house! Honestly, I think it might have been my favorite book club in a long, long time. The nachos were delicious, I was crying from laughter during a game, and I just felt so happy being around my friends.
Galentine’s Day. Bri and I have been doing a Galentine’s Day celebration for 8 years now! Usually, we order pizza and snuggle on the couch watching a rom-com. This year, we decided to take things up a notch and get dressed up and have dinner at The Library, a super-cute restaurant downtown. It was a good time and we both mentioned how we have gotten out of the habit of our monthly lady dates because we are doing the podcast. We are determined to get back to our lady dates this year!
Hard Stuff
Lila gaining 2 lbs in a year. Eeks. I know Lila is very, very fluffy but I was rather shocked when she clocked in at 14.3 lbs at her annual vet visit. (For reference, Eloise is usually around 9 lbs.) It’s time to start taking a look at what/how she’s eating to see if I can get her down to a manageable weight. I think her body trends toward fluffiness, but I’d like to keep her around 11-12 lbs if possible. The girls are free feeders, which means they always have access to their food 24/7 and I know that’s an easy change I can make. Right now, I’m cutting off food from 9pm-7am (I have a strong suspicion that Lila is a middle-of-the-night eater) and working on limiting treats. They still get their treats, but just a few fewer nibbles than usual. Hopefully, that does the trick for my fluffy lady!
Scalp problems. I have been dealing with quite the annoying scalp issue: itchiness! There are two spots, right above my ears on my lower scalp, that have been so, so itchy. I don’t know what’s causing it. It’s not dandruff. I think it might be some weird eczema flare. Right now, I’ve been using a very gentle shampoo/conditioner that is supposed to help with scalp eczema (it’s also sooo very expensive, ugh) and making sure I wash my hair every other day. Thankfully, I was able to snag an appointment with my dermatologist to have it looked at.
A disappointing tax refund. I got my lowest tax refund in years. Wah! I know I can’t complain because at least I got something. My refund was $80 and since I had to pay TurboTax $40 to file, it was really only $40. Oh, well. It could have been worse, next year I’ll be doing a finance company registration so hopefully it’s a lot better.
Stuff I Recommend
- Jewelry organizer ($27) – I mentioned on Monday that I bought a new jewelry organizer that’s working really well for my earring collection. This is the one I have. It has so many more holes for earrings than my other jewelry organizer! I just need to figure out a better system for organizing my ring keeper necklace uk necklaces and I’ll be set.
- The Climb – My mom found this reality TV show on HBO Max about a group of rock climbers who set out to find out who is the most well-rounded rock climber. They do all sorts of different styles of rock climbing and it was super interesting, even to someone like me who is not a climber and does not desire to be one. It was just cool to learn more about the rock climbing community and enjoy the competition aspect of this show.
- Lazy Susan caddy ($22) – I’m using this caddy to keep things organized on my dining room table, which is used less for eating and more for blogging these days, ha. I keep a bunch of things organized in this caddy so they’re easy to access. Stuff like my phone and Fitbit chargers, mail I need to deal with, coasters, etc. I wish some of the slots were bigger, but overall, it’s working out.
Bookish Stuff
- # of books/pages read: 9 books (3,198 pages)
- Favorite book of the month: Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon
- Least favorite book of the month: Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade
- Books I abandoned
- Unwinding Anxiety by Judson A. Brewer – I was reading a chapter a day of this book, but it started becoming mostly about habit formation than it was about anxiety. It started off so good and I was taking pages and pages of notes, but then it just devolved into stories about people who “overeat” or chain-smoke and how he helped them form better habits. Blah.
- My Lovely Wife by Samantha A. Downing – This could barely be called a DNF because I only read about 20-30 pages when I realized I didn’t care to be in the head of murderers.
- Format breakdown: print books (2), e-books (3), and audiobooks (4)
- Genre breakdown: Romance (4), nonfiction (2), historical fiction (2), thriller (1)
- Most recent book acquired: Maame by Jessica George and Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn, which were my February Book of the Month selections
Goal Stuff
- Go for a walk every day (17/28) – I did 2 fewer walks in February than I did in January, but we also had 3 fewer days so doesn’t it all work out the same in the end?
- Drink a bottle of water every day (10/28) – I’m at a -3 with this goal, as I had 13 days of drinking water in January. But again! A short month! Ok ok, fine. This should be much higher and I’m working on it.
- Complete 100 Peloton workouts (16/100) – I am one workout short of my goal but considering I had to take a few days off when I hurt my knee (falling in my bathroom, lol), I’m okay with where I’m at. March is a long month and I am feeling good about getting 9 workouts done this month.
- Watch 6 movies and 6 standup specials – I’m counting seeing Jim Gaffigan live toward one of my standup specials, so I’ve watched 1 movie (Glass Onion) and 1 standup special so far.
- Redo my entryway – In progress! I have acquired a new key hook with shelf and I am planning on buying the mirror that will be placed above the shelf this weekend. Then I’ll be good to go with this goal, yay!
Tell me a bright spot of your February!
Sounds like a brilliant month all in all! Less anxiety and so many fun times with friends and family. I am glad the pajama party was such a success! And the jewelry, what a fun idea.
Barkley once gained five pounds in a year, which was 10% of his body weight. We discovered my younger son, who fed him in the evenings, was giving him a little “extra” with every bowl, because he loved him so much (this was many years ago, I think my son was 7 or 8). Anyway, just cutting back to the prescribed amount of food did the trick and he was back to his regular 50 pounds. I hope it’s an easy fix for your kitty!
That is the CUTEST story about Barkley and your son! How sweet. I’m hoping that cutting off nighttime snacking will help Lila. Eloise usually sleeps in the bed with me all night long, but Lila jumps up and down throughout the night and I think she’s sneaking in some food during those nighttime missions. 😉
Jim Gaffigan is so funny; I have never been to a live comedy event. I think this should be one of my goals for 2024?! So fun!!!
And a pajama party for adults is brilliant. I have had a few PJ/movie birthday parties for my kids and they are amazing, but should totally host one for my adult friends. To be fair, each Christmas my bestie and I watch White Christmas together and we usually wear our PJs.
Jim Gaffigan was so, so good! The first comic was a little on the raunchy side, which was surprising to me since Jim’s comedy is very clean and there were lots of kids in the audience! But it was a fun time nonetheless!
Yay for all the fun things you did this month!
I am sorry for repeating this story if I’ve already told it to you. In 2019, Zelda had her regular kitty checkup in the fall and her weight, while sizeable at about 11.5 pounds, was steady, and the vet didn’t say a word about it. Later on that year, she had bladder stones and the vet who operated on her said something like “I had to use *two* layers of staples – she could stand to lose two or three pounds” and I was instantly defensive about my poor kitty (FRESHLY OUT OF SURGERY) getting fat shamed. (We put her on a diet where she gets 1/3 of a can of wet food twice a day, and about 20 pieces of kibble throughout the day. My husband feeds her a bit of boiled chicken about once every two weeks when he makes chicken for the dog. She gets no other treats and her weight is down to just under nine pounds. She also cries for food incessantly around mealtimes. It can be done to get kitties to lose weight, but it’s not fun.)
You have not told me the story about Zelda! That fat-shaming! How dare they?!
I am really hoping I don’t have to go to drastic measures for Lila. They seem to eat the same, but I’m wondering if Lila has been eating more at night than I realized. She doesn’t really sleep on the bed with me while Eloise does, and Eloise doesn’t move all night long. So hopefully cutting out that nighttime feeding will help!
Our dog weighed in at 52 lbs last spring, his vet said she wanted him under 50. So I stopped rounding his scoop, stopped giving him bread. He lost about 3 lbs, was 49 lbs. The vet said he was good. Then he got lymphoma, and lost 7 more pounds going through chemo. Now the vet says he is PERFECT. (Different vet actually, that was his GP before, now the oncologist says he is at a better weight) I wonder what his GP vet will say when she sees him this summer? I have read that his breed is prone to diabetes, so I guess it is in his best interest to keep him a little leaner. He sure misses his bread treats, though. I give him baby carrots instead, which he LOVES.
You got your taxes done already? That’s a huge WIN in my book! I haven’t even looked at mine yet. I’m worried we will owe, we owed last year. My daughter owed for the first time last year, and she was definitely NOT happy about that.
Yeah, I want to try to keep Lila around 11-12 lbs if I can. It’s still a little fluffy but I definitely don’t want to have to deal with kitty diabetes!
My taxes are SUPER easy to file so I get them done quickly, as I usually get a nice little tax refund. No dice this year!
I enjoy Jim Gaffigan; I have only read one book of his (Food: A Love Story) but there were some points that I so related to and I did think he was pretty funny. I bet the show was good! I have not been to a lot of standup but I did go and see Jerry Seinfeld ages ago…and he was funny. I was never really a die hard Seinfeld watcher but I did enjoy seeing him live.
Kudos for you for doing your taxes already. I am in NO HURRY as I always have to pay, but this is something I know and do on purpose as I would rather owe them than they owe me, so I organize my deductions so that will be the case. But this now means that I normally do my taxes on April 10th! I mean, I am a planner so I definitely do not wait until the 10th to start but I will likely begin them mid March but not finalize them until mid April. I am not going to pay the government until I have to!
Ohh, that is very interesting, re: your taxes! I always enjoy getting that little lump sum at the beginning of the year, haha. It’s never very much (usually just a couple hundred!) so it’s not that I’m giving a ton extra to the government throughout the year. But it is very, very nice not to have to worry about owing money at least!
Oscar is a heavier cat, too. We used to let her free range eat but that got nipped in the bud when she hit 14#. When she lives with us, she gets 1/4 c of food at breakfast and dinner time. I think she more so gets to free range eat at my MILs… Phil has told his mom that we need to watch her weight and not be so generous with her treats… I don’t know how well my MIL abides by that, though. Phil is very defensive of her weight, though. The first time her weight was described as problematic, Phil was like – ‘she’s a very fluffy cat’ and the vet was like – no, I can feel fat rolls. Lol. It was sweet that he was so defensive of her, though!
That is crazy about your tax refund being so low – it is probably good that you had more money to use throughout the year, but it is nice getting that nice big chunk of money at tax time. That’s how it was before I got married. Now? Not so much. We always end up having to pay in. I used to have my taxes done in January before I got married so I could get my refund ASAP. Now we don’t get all of the forms we need until mid-March or later so we file very close to the due date.
The highlight of Feb was definitely hosting Kyria for a weekend. It was fun that her visit fell on my birthday, too!
Awww, Oscar! I love how defensive Phil was about her!
It’s really nice to get a little chunk of change at the beginning of every year, but it seems to continue to get lower and lower every year. I guess that’s good, though, since it means I’m not giving too much away to the government throughout the year!
I love it so much that you have a group of girlfriends… a pajama/nacho night sounds amazing. I wish I had a group of girlfriends nearby. Sigh.
I also love to hear that your anxiety has been more manageable again. As you know, Jon has anxiety too and it’s so hard to see him struggle sometimes (but it’s all phases).
The jewelry organizer looks great. I am looking for one with less space for earrings (as I don’t have any – never got my ears pierced).
Awww, I wish you did, too, San! There is something very calming knowing I have a group of friends available when I need them. It has helped me through a lot of periods of loneliness/anxiety! Have you considered joining a book club near you?
I am so so happy the new dosage is helping! And yes, they will be able to help in the future if you need to make changes again!
The Superbowl actually was a great game! Exciting and nerve-racking!
Your PJ/Nacho party sounds absolutely delightful! Did you do the thing where the nachos were all over a table?
I hope those changes help Lila too! You’re a good cat mom and you will help her get to a healthier weight!
I know that sucks re: your tax refund but it means the government didn’t have much of your money all year when you could have been saving or investing it… it still sucks though if you were hoping for a chunk of change to use!
A bright spot of my February was my Girls’ Trip to Tucson! I had a ton of bright spots though. It was a good month!
OMG, we did NOT do the “nachos over the table” thing. We are all wayyy to neurotic to be able to handle that, hahaha. It was sort of like a nacho “bar” where everything was portioned out in separate bowls and we could load up our chips with whatever toppings we wanted. 🙂
Stephany, I love that you have such a wonderful, fabulous group of friends. Like San, I am envious. To find that “tribe” – those people who will be there for you no matter what, no matter when. What a gift! And I also love that your anxiety is better. It sounds like this is a doc you can trust (unlike, ahem, some others) and who has YOUR best interests at heart. <3
<3 It took me so long (or so it seemed) to find these girlfriends, and I feel so lucky to have them in my life!