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| My hand giving you a close up look at my tear. Yikes. |
I stole that 'shipped my pants' line from an ad shown
during the Superbowl a few years ago. My fam LOVED that ad. (ad:
for shipping things easy, but the catchy phrase had us all dying. Try to
say it 10 times fast). The verbiage is not a perfect fit here, but I
enjoy tossing it around. I did not SHIP my pants,
(I also did not soil myself) but I DID split my
pants.
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| Piece of paper shoved in the pants to show just where the unfortunate-ness happened. |
A couple weeks ago, I was racing to go to one of Mini's b-ball
games. I pulled on my favorite black Eileen Fisher jeans. They are
skinny jeans (that I got on sale for those of you who know how pricey
Eileen's dang clothes are) so I have to wiggle them on usually. I
crouched down to rush the process but they were not quite up high enough and
they ripped in the butt. Ouch. In every imaginable way.
First, favorite jeans. Second, I FEEL like I have put on a
few pounds since I hurt my knee . . . evidence, perhaps? Third, my poor
ego. Fourth, FAVORITE! (did I mention that?)
Admittedly, I have owned these jeans for probably at
least 5 years, so they were probably ready to be replaced.
(softly weeping). Lest you freak out on my behalf, I am a shopper and I
have been on a mission to update the wardrobe so new items are already being
added to my closet.
Speaking of freaking out, while I have been thoroughly enjoying
my blogger friends' year end recaps and even decade-in-review posts . . . I
just do not think I am all that organized to delve into the past decade or even
the last 12 months. Hats off to you (or in this case, ripped pants off to
you) . . . I will share a few highlights from the last year - although
since my last post was of epic length, I am gonna try to keep this brief:
BIGGEST CHANGE: 2019 marked Ed's college search and
then his departure for college. He landed somewhere awesome, but it was a
HUGE focus of the year. And it is still so weird for him to be
gone.
Biggest anticipated change of 2020: What Lad
will do and where he will land once he graduates in May. I do not think
having him live with us will be a great fit, but not sure what other options he
might have.
There is another potential big family change that I have eluded to
a few times that has caused some stress this past year, and we are hoping that
2020 is the year that we sort it out and THEN I will share all
the details. It's all good (not divorce or death or moving out of state
or anything) - nothing you would be able to predict, so don't even
bother. Hold tight, friends.
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| This is tough to see, but Coach is scraping my knee with a PT instrument. This is after a workout when I was wearing black leggings with a white stripe down the side. |
BIGGEST PAIN: My knee injury (but there were some
other health issues that ranked pretty damn close- some of which that I still
need to share, some of which will actually make you chuckle . . . stay
tuned). I am hoping that the knee continues to improve. I have gone
back to most of my high intensity classes, but there are some exercises I am
still unable to do. Sometimes by the end of the night I am hobbling
around like a horse that needs to be taken out and shot. Glad I am not a
horse. Oh, and I am now completely dependent on reading glasses.
Boo hoo.
In 2020 I hope that no other part of me comes unglued so
drastically, but 'hello, aging' guessing that is a pipe dream.
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| Mini drew this pic of me in the b-day card she made for me. I am sitting on my workout ball in front of my computer. Side note: my hair never looks this good. |
BIGGEST PROGRESS: I made some bold new
changes in my approach to writing. I would like to thank that one crazy
family who cancelled my babysitting services last minute and cost me some
serious dinaro. Their clueless actions catapulted me into wanting to
force myself to stop TALKING about writing a book AND
DO SOMETHING. I mean I can write stories all day long, but now I have
joined two different writing groups. I am getting great feedback and feel
like it is a step in the write (unintentional typo - that made me laugh, so I
am leaving it. . . . should be 'right'!) direction. I struggle with being
overly wordy. That might come as a shock to you.
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| Nuf said? |
BIGGEST TRAVEL: Vancouver was definitely a great,
adventurous trip - totally amazing. I blogged about it a little,
member? I might, however, rank our spring break road trip to Florida as
more enjoyable because it was just so dog-gone RELAXING.
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| Coach and the 6 littles Yellowstone. 2010. |
We are also driving to Yellowstone from Chicago mid June.
This is our favorite National Park - and the first that we visited 10 years
ago.
Minutes after we return from Yellowstone, Curly and I will head to
Nashville. Curly will dance in Nationals July 4th week there (that's the
competition we went to Vancouver for last year). I am thrilled that I do
not feel compelled to drag the entire family to Nashville, because that place
is accessible to all of our offspring. Not to mention when they were
really little we all went for another Nationals competition, but only the boys
competed that year. Proof that it was a long, long time ago.
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| The kids ACTUALLY cleaned up the kitchen and family room Sunday night while Coach and I were out to dinner. So, they ARE capable! |
Also, I am thinking about possibly, maybe trying to cook
fish. I do NOT like fish, but I am thinking of trying to find a way to
like it. If you have a suggestion here, or you were a fish hater who
transitioned to a fish tolerater/lover, please share. Recipes would be
appreciated (reminder: I have celiac disease).
Thanks to all of you for visiting here in 2019 and before. I
value your input, your support, and your willingness to share in what I hope
are usually funny looks at life. I really enjoy living in the moment, but
know that the opportunity to share all of life's little adventures with those
of you who I mostly would not otherwise know is very fun for me.
Happy New Year!
Wishing you all the best in 2020!!
(and just like that this post is longer than I intended)
13 comments:
Happy New Year, Ernie! I don't cook so I have no recipes to share but salmon - I love it! Just don't overcook it (this is The Husband's advice). Catfish is also good; but it best fried. Also, shell fish is a favorite of mine.
Thanks, Gigi. I will let you know if I dive in and give it a try.
I like fish but I don't like cooking it because then the house smells like fish for three days and I don't like the SMELL of fish when I'm not EATING fish, and I have an overdeveloped olfactory sense, so, yeah, no help at all here, sorry. And I always overcook salmon because I hate slimy salmon. I didn't mean to talk about fish so much. So happy we blog-met in 2019 - I feel like you've given me a bit of a boost after a couple of years of blog stagnation. Best wishes for 2020 (how many times will we write the date down wrong before we start remembering? The eternal question).
Bibliomama - I believe I have the same olfactory in overdrive issue as you. Have you read about our Vancouver travels?
http://www.nosmallfeetblog.com/2019/10/what-is-wrong-with-people-who-else-is.html
or
http://www.nosmallfeetblog.com/2019/10/cursed-by-good-sniffer-patience-spent.html
No pressure, but I wonder if we are related. Bad smells are hard for me to handle. I do remember wanting to move when my mom cooked fish for my dad a couple of times a year as a kid. I might need to rethink this whole fish thing.
I, too, am glad we met thru blogging. You always make me laugh. I have meant to do this for weeks now, but I just added your blog over there to my list of fav blogs. Not sure why it seems like such an undertaking whenever I do that, cause in reality it takes all of 1 minute. I guess I equate it with something computer-related, which I am not good with. Then I add a URL and I am like 'Oh, look at me. I totally know what I am doing!'
Happiest of New Years to you and yours! Looking forward to sharing more laughs in 2020.
Oh, and wanted to say . . . everyone is talking bout fish. I knew that would happen if I left it dangling there at the end. Feel free to notice how incredibly cute my kids were when life was easy and our biggest parenting challenge was finding a potty in time during our long road trip. Parenting teens (and adults!) is hard, also - they CLEANED my kitchen. Doesn't that island look way better since the last photos that I shared of it? OK, carry on. Comment about fish if you prefer.
We cannot do road trips, because the middle kid has motion sickness. She's just so miserable, it makes everyone else miserable, and then who wants to go on a trip?
I find white fish to be less fishier than other types- like a cod or a haddock. I like it baked/steamed. I put a blob of butter, a few squirts of lemon and wrap in tinfoil. Throw into the oven, and cook at 400 for about 15 minutes. I do not like Salmon. I will eat tuna as sushi. That's about it for me.
Hmm - fish sounds sooo easy! Still not sure I can enjoy it. Mini got elevation sickness when we were in Colorado once. That was unpleasant. My kids can read, sleep, play games, etc on a long road trip with no issues. Thank goodness because if we had to fly everywhere we would be broke.
I came back to reassure you that if the jeans were five years old and your favourites then for sure it was wear and not weight that caused the rip. But yes, your kids are very cute (and there are SO MANY OF THEM and you kept them all alive this long, mad props) and that island is a thing of beauty.
I feel your pain with the ripped pants. That's a tragedy!!
I love your recap-I wish I could do that. Maybe I'll take a stab at it, but probably not.
Yes, I noticed the clean counters!!
We eat quite a bit of fish here because, hello, Florida and the coach loves to fish.
My favorite is sea bass though; he doesn't catch that one, I have to purchase it. It does not smell fishy and is great with just butter, garlic and lemon/pepper seasoning seared on both sides, then finished off in the oven for about 10 minutes. Then I drizzle fresh lemon juice on top.
I can't believe my Bloglovin' page didn't show this post. I was thinking you were being quiet, but it wasn't YOU at all. :)
Happy 2020 to you and your family!!
Arghhhhhh your favourite jeans! The worst! I get very attached to my clothing so I feel your pain! Happy New Year, all the best in 2020!
Bibliomama- I do NOT think those jeans were ripped due to weight gain BUT since they ripped I have tipped the scales at the highest freaking number ever while not pregnant. I decided it is a combo of the gluten free bundt cakes I stored in my fridge so I would have a treat during various parties and still not working out at my best level. I hope I did not shame you into leaving another comment, but thanks for the praise in having kept my small people alive (and generally happy and well fed I might add). I enjoy a cleaned up living environment but admittedly I am easily able to ignore a big mess for way too long which is probably where ny peeps get their messy traits.
Suz- I am rarely quiet. I have been bamboozled to discover that I miss a post from someone here and there. Just when I thought technology was a beautiful thing. My weak recap of 2019 pales in comparison to Bibliomama's. Holy heck was that fun? We were at the Bulls game last night and it was nice to cone home to a partially clean kitchen cause we did not eat at home.
Nicole- those jeans will be sorely missed as they circled through my rotation at least once a week. I do enjoy a shopping challenge though so I will persevere! Also I sorta feared that they were looking discolored with age and I was totally unable to see the truth through my love for them. Thanks for visiting!
Oooh! Can't wait to find out about what's going to change. I'm so nosy!
Also looking forward to reading your book some day!!
And if you get any help with the fish, let me know. My husband, who was born and raised in Boston, hates fish so I never cook it. At this late stage of the game, I just don't think there's anything that will change for him though.
Beth - Well, look who is getting caught up on her reading! ha. Guessing your kids went back to school today. Mine are still home today. You will get a signed copy of my book - fingers crossed it gets to that point!
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