The high of my week was watching my older nephew at his baseball game. He has gotten very passionate about baseball in the last year. He put himself on a strict diet and workout routine, only looked at high schools that had good baseball programs, and asked for all sorts of baseball equipment for Christmas. It was fun to see him at his game! He even got to pitch for an inning, which was thrilling. They lost 15-0 (eeks) so he was in sad straits afterward, but I hope I can see more of his games this season.

The low of my week was the saga of the valet trash. And what a saga it has been! Like most apartment complexes these days, we have valet trash. So, all I have to do is set my garbage bag inside the specific container and set the container outside my door. It gets picked up every night, Sunday-Thursday. Well, for the past two weeks, it has not been picked up. Last week, my garbage sat outside for four days before it was finally picked up. When it happened again this week, I called the office and was told that the company they use for valet trash is having staffing issues which requires them to utilize staffing agencies like roumain travail en france and wouldn’t be able to come for… who knows how long. (They couldn’t give me a timeline.) So then, I left a support request with the valet trash company and they said that they weren’t aware of any staffing issues! So now I’m just very confused and unsure about what’s happening. In any event, now I have to take my garbage to the trash compactor at the back of the complex, which entails putting it in my car to take it and driving to the compactor. Ick. (Also, yes, this is very much a first-world problem, but it’s very nice when those are the most difficult part of a week!)

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was taking pictures of my bedframe and posting them on Facebook Marketplace! My bedframe is up and hopefully it gets sold quickly.

I’m currently reading The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark (thriller) and Lucky Star by Susannah Nix (romance). I’m very much enjoying both!

A podcast episode I enjoyed was COVID-19 Time Capsule from The Girl Next Door Podcast. This was really interesting to listen to, now that we’re almost three years past the original COVID-19 lockdown. They talked about what they were up to in March 2020, the good and bad of the early pandemic days, getting vaccinated, and more. There was something very cathartic about listening to their episode, and reminded me how far we’ve come since 2020.

An Internet find I loved was this Tik Tok of a cat fitting into all kinds of boxes. What a perfect little kitty!

The best money I spent this week was $35 on a mirror to hang above my new key hook shelf. My entryway wall transformation is complete! (Once I hang up the mirror, that is.)

My plans this weekend include nothing much tonight (other than watching episodes of The Traitors Australia because yes, I cannot get enough of this TV show and now I’m watching other versions of it, ha), recording podcast episodes with Bri and having a writing date with Mikaela on Saturday, and attending the knife skills class at Sur La Table with Amber on Sunday. A fun, full weekend where I get to see so many friends. What a delight!

What are your weekend plans?

The high of my week was having dinner with my cousin and her family on Monday. We haven’t gotten together for dinner since November! It was so nice to see them and catch up about life.

The low of my week was getting my Ubereats order canceled. Oh, I was so excited about this order and so very disappointed when I got the alert on the app that the delivery driver could no longer deliver my order, so it was canceled. NOOOOOO! I ended up having popcorn for dinner. What a disappointment!

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was mopping my floors. Why is this task the one I dread the most? There is just something about the process of getting everything off the floors, letting my robot vacuum zip around my apartment for an hour, and then going back to mop the floors and let things dry before putting everything back in place that drives me crazy. But then, my floors look SO GOOD when they have been freshly mopped and I promise myself I will not let another month lapse between moppings (LIES). My mom got so tired of mopping that she bought a robot mopper. I am very tempted to do the same.

I’m currently reading three books! On audio, I’m listening to The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya. My romance book right now is After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez and I also just started Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng yesterday.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Favored or Forsaken: Marriage on The Bible Binge. I felt so seen and validated in this conversation between Jamie, Erin, and Evan. Jamie and Evan are part of the “never-married” group while Erin has been married for 17 years. Marriage and singleness can be a fraught topic when it comes to the church setting (most churches don’t really know what to do with single adults over the age of 25, honestly), and I really loved the discussion they had. Marriage isn’t for everyone, and it’s time we come to terms with that. (My favorite part of this conversation is when Jamie was talking about how married people look at single people and say, “Oh, but you’re such a catch! It’s such a shame you’re not married.” And Jamie said that she often looks at married people and thinks, “Oh, but you’re such a catch! It’s a shame you got married.” HA.)

An Internet find I loved was this hilarious Reel a woman did about her “rules” for her funeral, using Barbies. I laugh every time I watch it!

The best money I spent this week was $15 on a key holder shelf. This is part of one of my 2023 goals to upgrade my entryway wall with a new shelf/key holder and mirror. I was originally planning on buying a different key holder shelf that was $30 from Target but it’s out of stock and I’m not sure when it will be in stock. So I’m taking a chance on this option from Amazon. I hope it works out!

My plans this weekend include all of the things! Tonight is book club. We’re having a pajama/nacho party at a friend’s house, and I am very much looking forward to it! Tomorrow, I am recording podcast episodes with Bri and also meeting up with Mikaela for a writing date. And Sunday is my younger nephew’s birthday party. He turned eight on Tuesday! It will be a busy weekend, but all things I’m looking forward to.

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was having a fun afternoon with my mom on Sunday. We went out for lunch and then popped into Homegoods and Target for a little bit of shopping. It was a really nice time!

The low of my week was having anxiety episodes. I started my new regimen of 30mg of Lexapro over the weekend, but of course, it’s going to take some time for my body to adjust. My mind, meanwhile, wants things to be okay right now, and since I’m not, my anxiety has been thrown into hyperdrive. I’ve also started taking melatonin again at night because I’ve been having a lot of trouble sleeping and tossing and turning when I do fall asleep. This has helped a lot! I’m trying to be patient with myself and knowing I have a psychiatrist who is dedicated to helping me feel better has helped a lot while I struggle through anxious days and nights.

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list this week was hanging my wall clock! I received this beautiful wall clock for Christmas and it has been sitting in its packaging since then, eeks. It was one of those tasks that I thought was going to be really complicated and the clock was going to be really hard to hang, but it took me less than 10 minutes! And now I have a beautiful clock in my apartment. (Unfortunately, I just realized it’s about 4 minutes slow, which is going to aggravate me, so my new nagging task is to take the clock off the wall to fix the time.)

I’m currently reading only one book right now, which is The Fine Print by Lauren Asher. It’s a contemporary romance that Meredith of Currently Reading raved about, and since she is very picky about her romances, I knew I had to pick it up. I’m not very far into the novel, so I can’t give an opinion just yet. In other reading news, I was struggling through The Idea of You by Robinne Lee. This book has gotten phenomenal reviews from so many friends, but I was so stressed out about the romance! (It’s about a 39-year-old woman who starts dating a 20-year-old member of a boy band.) I was reading maybe 20 pages a day of the book but was never excited to pick it up, so I finally decided to abandon it yesterday. I feel very relieved, which is a good sign!

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Sasheer Was Scared to Leave Nicole Stranded in the Middle of the Ocean on Best Friends with Nicole Byer and Sasheer Zamata. In this episode, Nicole and Sasheer recap their trip to the Bahamas and I need them to write a script based on their vacation because this is the movie we need in the world. It started with an Airbnb house from hell and ended with Nicole’s jet ski running out of gas while they were in the middle of the ocean. And that’s only part of their insane adventure! They still have 3.5 days to recap for us! Please do yourself a favor and listen to this crazy story (and then listen to part 2 when it drops next week). It’s hilarious and awful and amazing!

The best money I spent this week was $6 on three salad plates. I like using smaller plates for snacks and the like, but for way too long, I have only had ONE salad plate. One! I don’t know if I only bought one to begin with, or if I bought two and misplaced the other one. But it was a real annoyance because if I used the plate earlier in the day, I would have to wash it to use it later on. I finally decided to just buy more plates. They are these cheap, white salad plates from Target, nothing fancy, and I was just so delighted by myself when I bought them.

My plans this weekend include nothing much! My Friday night and Saturday are free (I may wind up doing a karaoke room with some friends, but I’m still debating if I want to do that, ha). Sunday, I have a writing date with Mikaela in the morning and playoff football in the late afternoon. So sad that there are only 3 football games left this season! Wah.

What are your weekend plans?

The high of my week was having a four-day weekend! I scheduled Friday off to give myself a long(er) weekend, which was much-needed because I spent last week in tons of meetings and I was worn out by the end of it. I didn’t do much this weekend; it was just nice to be able to relax, sleep in, and get some stuff done.

The low of my week was completely flubbing dinner one day this week. I tried to make this BBQ chicken recipe from Budget Bytes, but the chicken I used was way too large and took forever to cook through. I was cooking the chicken on medium-high heat and I finally bumped up the heat to high, which caused my entire kitchen to get smoky. I had to turn on the vents and open my patio door to air things out. When my chicken was finally cooked through, I realized I had messed up the seasonings and the chicken was way too salty as a result. Live and learn, I guess!

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list this week was cleaning out the litter boxes. Did you know that you’re supposed to clean out the litter boxes weekly if you have multiple cats? That’s not happening around here. I scoop the litter regularly and add fresh litter when needed, but doing a full cleaning (dumping out old litter, wiping down the box with soap and water, and adding new litter) does not happen as frequently as it should. But I did it this week and I’m going to try to get into a habit of doing it monthly.

I’m currently reading The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain (audio; our January book club book, which I am enjoying), Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson (print; it’s okay, nothing too exciting), and Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian (e-book; enjoyable so far).

A podcast episode I enjoyed was my own! The Friendship Paradox kicked off its third season this week with a long (for us) episode on dating. We try to keep our episodes under 50 minutes, but this one is over an hour because we were chatty-chatty! This episode would have been even longer, too, because we were still working through our outline when we realized we had already been recording for an hour. We had to cut out some questions to make sure we didn’t make a 2-hour episode, ha.

The best money I spent this week was $16 on new bowls and a placemat for the girls! I needed to order more litter and wanted to hit that “free shipping” threshold on Chewy, so I decided it was time to replace their food supplies. I know I will be much more excited about these supplies than the girls.

My plans this weekend include nothing too exciting! It’s another weekend of the NFL playoffs so I will be spending the majority of my weekend at my mom’s to watch the games (and rooting against Buffalo, muahaha). I also plan on watching Glass Onion tonight and I have a writing date with Mikaela planned for Saturday morning.

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was our belated November book club meeting. I got to pick the restaurant, so I chose my favorite local pizza place, and we had a fabulous time chit-chatting, talking about the book (The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry – one other person didn’t care for it, so at least I wasn’t in the total minority!), and going over some changes we want to make to our book club meetings in 2023. I also got showered with gifts, which was super fun!

The low of my week was the news that Stephen “tWitch” Boss died by suicide this week. I have never been more shocked, more saddened, more distraught over a celebrity dying. I’ve never cried when a celebrity died, but I have shed many tears this week over him. It just doesn’t feel real. It feels like I’m living in this alternate reality. He was such a light, such a joy, such a hopeful, positive person. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he is truly gone from this world. My heart breaks for his wife who lost the love of her life and his three children who lost their father just days before Christmas. My heart breaks for tWitch and the immense pain he must have been in to see no other way out. We truly never know what other people are going through. I hope he’s at peace now.

An Internet find/blog post I loved was this really powerful video from B Mo the Prince. I cried for 5 straight minutes after I watched it.

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list this week was cleaning out my robot vacuum. I usually dump out the dustbin after each vacuuming job, but I’m really bad about taking out the rollers and cleaning them out. So bad that when I removed all the hair from one of my rollers, I could have easily made a toupee for my stepdad. Eeks! There’s no way my vacuum was cleaning effectively! (In fact, I know it wasn’t because my dirt event count for my last cleaning job was 6 and today, it was 181. LOLZ.)

I’m currently reading Three Nights with a Scoundrel by Tessa Dare (historical romance, nearly finished!), The Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin (contemporary fiction, the light-hearted book that I need right now), and The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson (audiobook).

A podcast episode I enjoyed was True Crime: The Phantom of Heilbronn on Stuff You Should Know. You guysssss. This episode was amazing. I literally gasped when everything was revealed. It was so unexpected! I need everyone to listen to this episode. I’m not even going to tell you a single thing about it. I just want you to listen to it and report back what you thought.

The best money I spent this week was $5 on a peppermint mocha that I drank while strolling around Target on Tuesday. Such a simple joy!

My plans this weekend include lots of fun Christmassy stuff! Tonight, I’m going to Bri’s to record a few podcast episodes. Tomorrow, I have a writing date with Mikaela, pictures with Santa Paws with the dogs, and the annual visit to Robert’s Christmas Wonderland (a wonderful little Christmassy shop!) with my mom. Sunday is football and we’re going to do our annual Christmas cookie decorating night! A fun, full, happy weekend, and my heart needs it.

What’s the best money you spent this week?