1. This girl turns 13 early next week. I would be telling the truth if I said it never even entered my mind that that made her a teenager -- until my 20-year-old reminded me, “mom, she’s gonna’ be a teenager, duhn. duhn. duhn…” Egads! Does saying “egads” show that I am a long ways past being 13 myself? She’s my baby, the youngest in the house, and 13 is far too old for her to be!
  2. A little personal mini-goal set and reached. I joined a gym this past summer with the goal to eventually lose 100 lbs. Yup, that very big number is daunting, but I am really good at short-term challenges so every 5% bodyweight lost or every 10 lbs. or every size-smaller pant is what I aim for. And when I hit one, I aim for the next small goal in line. Currently down 25 lbs. and four pant sizes. Last Friday I stumbled out of bed, late for work, (it was the day after Thanksgiving, after all,) and pulled my jeans on from the floor where they’d landed the night before. They seemed a tad short, but being in a rush and still sleepy, I pushed it aside and headed to work. Later that morning I realized I was not wearing my jeans. I was wearing one of my daughter’s jeans. Jeans that were a size I hadn’t worn in years. And they were skinny jeans. Not that I really have much business wearing skinny jeans, but this was huge for me because they were skinny jeans from the normal-size section of the store, not the plus-size section. Being as they were her favorite jeans, she wouldn’t let me have them, boo, so I bought my own pair. I own a pair of normal-sized skinny jeans! Baby steps.
  3. This pillow from Ikea, the 365+ Fast, is for “side-sleepers and back-sleepers.” It’s really firm, but made of some kind of memory foam, so it’s soft, and is nothing short of life-changing. Well, sleep-changing, which IS life-changing in my book. Only $20 and I have slept great every night since. No more constantly shaping and plumping and punching and pushing to get my pillow comfy. It just fits, right next to your shoulder and the roll is the perfect size to support your neck while your head cradles in the center. The two sized rolls are for side or back sleepers, one for each. When I roll over, I just roll over. I don’t have to start the pillow dance again to get comfy.
  4. This is a very cool site I stumbled upon. It lets you enter either a stride (Beats per minute or BPM) or speed and then it returns a playlist of music matching that tempo so you can keep your pace. GENIUS! You can further narrow your search to just a specific genre of music too. And add any or all of the songs you want into your own playlist. You can hear samples of each song too, and there are several links to purchase the songs individually from multiple vendors (iTunes or Amazon, for MP3s.) I knew I was on the right track when I entered 8:00 mile and several songs on the list were ones I already listened to on the elliptical. I added a few more from the playlist and now have lots of stuff to keep me motivated. I do MUCH better with music
  5. This is a new patterned illustration I made and added to my Society6 shop. A graphic interpretation of my Grandma’s blanket. I grew up always having at least one of these chevron crocheted blankets on the couch and always think of both my grandmas when I see it. One taught me to crochet and the other always made the blankets. Love in every stitch, right?

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