19 years.....Really?

 Somehow in the hustle and bustle of life I missed a very big milestone.  It wasn't the dogs 'adopted' anniversary on January 6th, although we did celebrate that with her.   No, I am talking about January 5th.  What big milestone am I talking about?  Why I am talking about my 19th anniversary of starting this blog.  My blogiversary.  One one hand it seems like yesterday but on the other hand it seems like 12 lifetimes ago!  But January 5th of 2006 that is exactly what I did....I started a little 'online journal'.

In past years I have gone all out, some years were just funny.  Other years were kinda...well..... they were their own unique creations.  Some years I even did repeat anniversary posts!   But hey, lets go through the anniversary posts together.

2013 I didn't acknowledge my anniversary until I was 6 years into maintaining this blog. There were two really funny things about that post.  The first is that I had the date wrong.  Clearly when I look back, my first post was on January 5th....yet on January 6th of my sixth year I wrote a happy birthday/anniversary post.    The other thing that made me chuckle is that I spoke about how it seemed like such a short time but how in terms of the blogging community 6 years was a long time!   Boy, I had no clue that 19 years later I would still be around! 

2016  I didn't mention my blogiversary/birthday/anniversary again until 2016!   Once again, I got the date totally wrong and celebrated it on January 3rd.  (Seriously, was I mental or something?)   Hadn't been writing a whole lot of posts,  I talked about how 10 years didn't seem possible...and how I had written over 1800 posts.  But I used the anniversary post as a means to walk through my journey from highest to lowest.  From success to failure.  I held nothing back. I lost the weight in pictures and I regained the weight in pictures.  I talked about my failed marriage, my new love, running and just about everything in between.  It was a pretty descriptive post if I do say so myself!

2017  Well what do you know, I actually got the date right in 2017!   It was a post similar to this, just looking back over the years and looking forward to the future.   I was still proud of that 10  year anniversary post and referred back to it!

 2018 Look at that, another year where I celebrated on the correct day! This was actually a really interesting post.  I actually wrote a post about things I learned along the way!   Very good stuff.  I also included some stats about my blog...stuff like how many posts, etc.   

2019  Well, I got it wrong again.   This year I posted my blogiversary on January 4th.  In this post I was honest with my success followed by failure.  But I also blatantly stole the post from the 2017, ten year anniversary post and just updated it a wee little bit.  (I'm so lame!)

2020  Hey hey hey, will you look at that, I actually got the date...WRONG again! Yup, I celebrated on January 6th! Even more lame?  I literally copied the previous years post pretty much word for word!   Shame on me!

2021 I got the date right and it wasn't a blatant copy! (Watch out, it's gonna snow!!)   It was a similar post though where I just catch up on life and all of lifes changes and happenings....and more of my history.  I actually talked about how my blog came into existence!

2023   I missed celebrating in 2022 but I came in strong in 2023 with a post that talked about what this blog means to me. (On the correct day to boot!)  And yes, I still agree.....this blog was my salvation when I needed a place to put my thoughts down.  

2024 I started to laugh when I read the opening paragraph of this post.  I actually talked about my misconceptions about when this anniversary really was!   But, I got it right and posted it on the correct day!  The post was another one that was so heartfelt.  It was my thank you to the readers over the years who have supported me!   

2025 is here and I missed the date and I"m celebrating on the wrong day....AGAIN!   But it doesn't mater because 19 years is an amazing accomplishment.  I remain thankful to each and everyone that reads this.  I appreciate your support. I don't plan on stopping....so 20 here we come!

The Stats

Years that I celebrated my anniversary - 10

Years that I celebrated my anniversary on the correct day - 5

Number of posts  2647

Year with the most posts 2008   (334)

Year with the least posts 2022 (41)

Goals for the New Year!

 Happy New Year!!!!

2024 was a rough one....it started rough with the passing of my mom.  It ended rough with being laid off due to a reduction of workforce.  (no fault of my own).     Admittedly, my health efforts fell to the backburner.    I know that is bad, but that is the way it is.  

I am not accepting this excuse of 'life is crap' any longer.  The new year is here and that means it is time to change.  I want my life to change and that means that I have to change!  With that said, in the last few months I have set some goals!    Here is the thing.....I set my main goals for 2025 about three months ago.  And then as I mentioned, I lost my job (as of December 31).    I knew that my goals may need a bit of a change.  So I pivoted and made some adjustments.   For this post, I will put the 'real goal' and then identify any adjustments.    SO without further ado, here are my 2025 goals.

*  Save money-  Specifically my goal was to save $2,000.  I want my personal savings account to have two thousand more in it at the end of the year.  This was a goal that I decided to adjust.   With the fact that I am unemployed here at the beginning of the year, for an undetermined timeframe, I know that saving may be difficult.  So while I still would LOVE to have the extra money in my account at the end of the year, I have adjusted it!  My adjusted goal is accumulate no debt in the year 2025 through this unemployment stage and to have no less in my personal savings account at the end of the year. 

* Take a real Vacation - Specifically my goal was to be able to go away for a week.  Somewhere, anywayer.  Just a real vacation since our last vacation was in October of 2021.     With the job situation, I adjusted this back to 2 days away.

*Mortgage Paydown -  My original goal was to pay an extra 6 months of of mortgage, in essence knock off 6 months.   I have adjusted this down to 2 months!

*Lose Weight - I set a goal to be under 200 pounds.  This was not changed.  There is absolutely no need to change this one!    

    - exercise 3 times a week

    - Water 64 ounces a day at least 5 times a week

    - Track my food at least 6 times a week

 

*Picture a day

 

 So you can see that my goals are pretty basic and simple.  But quite doable!   But when I got laid off I realized that I was looking at a potential long break from work.  So I have set some small goals for my time off.

 *  Steps   10,000 steps or more a day

*  Finish digitizing all of my family pictures (and my personal collection of pictures)

* get out and move the mulch pile (we had some trees cut at the end of the summer and I had them dump the chipped wood on our lower driveway)

*Exercise daily

*Get out of the house, even if just for a long walk every day!

* Get myself back on a routine for house cleaning (Ie floors on monday, bathrooms on tuesday, dusing on Wednesday, etc)

* Find a job!

So I am set for goals!   The last set of goals are short term...they could end at any moment if/when I get a job.  But it there is a bit of a delay, then they will help keep me sane and active!

 

 

 

    

A birthday like no other!

 I celebrated my 52nd birthday this past week.   I was looking forward to some time off of work.  I had plans for each day and it was going to be, well not epic; but a good day and week.  Little did I know what was coming my way

I started my birthday week on Monday and everything went well.  I roamed a bit and ran some errands.  I was busy but had a fabulous day!   I hit up some thrift stores, roamed through Hobby Lobby, took myself to lunch.  It was great!

Tuesday was my birthday and it was the day that I had planned to go visit an old Civil War Fort with my nephew.  (Jason had to work.). I woke up with a smile on my face ready to enjoy another day off of work and for our adventure.   We went to Fort Duncan. And explored the ruins of this old fort.  The weather was perfect for us.  

We even took a walk down the remnants of an old road and explored an abandoned household 

And we went to the graveyard and drove by a house that was reportedly used as a house of ill repute.

It was a perfect birthday morning.  And then it went belly up.my phone started blowing ip with texts from my coworkers.  Our team had been called into a meeting, the whole team…at the same time.  In a call center environment, it is rare and HUGE if they pull everyone off the phones at the same time.  Yet they did.  I was still out and about when the meeting went down.   My coworkers  kept me apprised.

‘Our team is disbanding as of December 31’

‘They didn’t find new teams for us’

‘We have all lost our jobs’

‘Not performance based, reduction in workforce based on business needs’

‘Possibly have one position that we can all apply for’

I was luckily heading home by that point.  But I held out some slim hope that maybe they were getting rid of everyone…everyone but me that is.  Yeah, I know how crazy and conceited that sounds now that I’m typing it. But that is where my thought was at that point.   

Within an hour I had my phone call.   I was too being laid off…blah blah blah (that is code for all the legalese stuff).  

I spent the rest of my birthday revamping my resume and getting password resets on websites such as indeed…and updating those sites to my current  address and information.   I sat and panicked about money and worked through figured in my head…constantly.

I was still off on Wednesday and I spent some time shopping for a few clothes at goodwill, I had gained weight and have/had no dress pants that fit and I realize that interviews will be in my future.  So I bought pair or two of versatile dress pants.  Mostly Wednesday was just me assimilating the information that for the first time in my life I was given the boot from a job.   For the first time in my adult life I would be unemployed  yes there were tears.

Thursday I was back at work….starting to work off my last 2.5 weeks of employment.

This would most decidedly be the worst birthday gift I ever got.  Not one I recommend at all.   I have started to apply at jobs already.  I am also preparing mentally to be out of work for a bit, hopefully not long….but the odds of me being able to start somewhere on January 1 is a long shot.  But I am prepared. I am making plans for those days off…vowing to job hunt at least 30-60 minutes a day. MINIMUM!   I also have some thoughts to finally be able to finish the picture digitizing project …even adding in my personal photos.   I have some graveyards that I want to visit.  I have some purging that I want to do.  I also want to try to spend some time away from the house daily to prepare the dog for  the possibility that I will not be by her side 24-7 in case I get an office position and have to give up the work from home gig.  Hello long winter walks….as money will be tight and what else could I do for free?

Shocked, stressed, worried.  But praying for a miracle of a job that I love and that pays what I need!

365 Pictures day 32 to 40

 I am still charging full steam ahead with my picture of the day project.  

Day 32       11.28.24 

    Yes, Breakfast was indeed pumpkin roll!

Day 33       11.29.24

    I managed to hit up the Bent and Dent Grocery store and picked up some great deals!

Day 34       11.30.24

    Jason ended up with a stomach bug......this was what he did all weekend.

    

Day 35        12.1.24 

    I finally got my test tube for my DNA test!  

    

Day 36         12.2.24

    This dog is so spoiled!  She does enjoy her Bully sticks!

Day 37         12.3.2024

    I tried my hand at making butter mints.  They taste good but look horrible!

Day 38   12.4.2024

    Zoey loves when we pull out the advent calendar.  Yes, you can indeed buy an advent calendar for your dog.  And yes, we did buy one! (we had one last year too)

Day 39        12.5.24

        We had a dusting of snow.   Not enough to even measure, but just enough to leave some white here and there.

    

Day 40          12.6.24

    I made a honey bun cake.  Seriously, one of the best tasting cakes ever. 

Time Is Flying By

 The last week or two have flown by in a blur!  It feels like it is still before Thanksgiving, yet here I find myself a week after Turkey day!   How can life move by so fast?

Thanksgiving was a good day.  We spent it with my brother and his family.  It is crazy how adult my niece and nephews are becoming (ok, have become as only one is still in high school).  The day after Thanksgiving, Jason woke up and was like, "I think I ate too much last night my stomach is flipping".   He had to work, so he headed out the door.  I spent the day working on some things around the house and I also went to the Bent and Dent Grocery store.  Yes, I got a lot of bargains!  It takes a bit longer to shop because I do check the expiration date on pretty much everything.  However, the deals are incredible.  I texted Jason at lunch to ask how he was feeling and his response came back as not good.   Apparently the stomach pains had escalated as he drove to work and by the time he was at work he was in full out stomach flu mode.  Throwing up, extreme exhaustion chills....  His boss was like "just go home dude"  and Jason said "I don't think I can even drive myself at this point."  so Jason curled up on the floor and slept all morning in their office/'warehouse and the boss went out and picked him up some medicine.  He stopped throwing up at about 1 and felt safe enough to drive home by about 3.  He arrived home at 4 and told me he was going to try to 'stay awake' so that it didn't mess up his sleep that night.   Yeah, that didn't happen.  He was over there snoring within minutes.  He slept all afternoon and evening.  He slept the whole night through and he dozed in and out all day Saturday.   By Sunday, his stomach was fine but he was just still so tired....so we spent another day just resting at the house.   We both went back to work on Monday.   He was thankfully just a bit more tired than normal...and he is now feeling back to 100%.

 I had a day off this past week.  I was super busy though.  Literally, I was on the go from the time Jason walked out the door to go to work until the moment Jason got home.  I had been tiptoeing around the house while Jason slept all weekend and stuck close in case he needed me.  Therefore, all my weekend errands and chores were pushed off until Tuesday. (I knew I was off on Tuesday so therefore I had made that decision on the weekend).   My food that day was a bit higher in calories, but I was ok with it. 

For the month of December I would love to lose weight. However, my goal is to maintain my weight.  I have a lot going on in the month.  Including a ton of time off...well hopefully.   Time off is more difficult for me eating sometimes.  Stepping out of the routine is difficult in terms of eating!  But that's ok.   December also brings Christmas...so more baked goods.  It also brings about my birthday and I do plan on making my filled cookie, the one that my mom made for me each year.   I picked up the tradition the first year mom was in a nursing home and I plan on continuing even though mom has passed.  The only difference is that I won't be able to share any with mom.     The cookies are a once a year treat for me.  Or should I say a once a year bake for me.  The last two years that I have made them, I have eaten a few and then I package them up into individual portions and freeze them.  I pull one out here and there and indulge.  Last year there were months that I didn't touch any...but then months where I had one a week!   But, I will say that I ate my last 2023 birthday cookie in October of 2024.  I plan on doing the same thing this year.  

I am still enthralled with the ancestry thing.  It is quite fascinating really. I flip back and forth on different people.  One day I will be looking at my mom's grandmothers family and the next day be looking at dad's adopted family but the next day I switch to looking at Jason's family.  Keeps it fun and unique.    I did get my test tube for  my DNA test.  I supplied my spit, packaged it up and it has been sent off.  They should have it any day now.    So I'm just in a waiting game for that.   I remain hopeful that we can prove one story of my possible grandmothers right or wrong.   We don't need much to prove it enough for me to be happy.  Basically, if I have a bunch of cousins or close family pop up in the UK then we know the story about the RAF pilot is true meaning the person that we are pretty sure is my grandmother is most likely the grandmother (even though she denied it to her dying day) and in that case we know that the other story is false.   (even though she perpetuated the story that she was until her dying day).  Best case scenario, enough key players in the story have done a DNA test at some point out of curiosity and I get straight answer.  But who knows.  I started doing the family tree just so that when I get my DNA results back that I can have a basis of family line so that I can quickly place any matches.   And who knew that it would be so fun!

Work has been stressful.  I typically plan my vacation out and save a few days to roll into the new year.  Up until a few weeks ago they couldn't confirm that we were allowed to roll days this year.  So I had to frantically start scheduling PTO days into a calendar that was already full.  This meant that I kept getting denied my requests.   I got everything but 3 days scheduled.  Luckily they finally announced that we could roll over time.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  But it was short lived.  I went into work after Thanksgiving and they had retracted 3 of my requests and told me that I was out of time....in essence shorting me about 6 days of time.  I was (and am) panicked!  I supplied a breakdown of my days....including screen shots from my paycheck that showed PTO balances and screenshots from our time keeping system to show that the days that I had recorded and planned actually matched those two records.  Then I had an email from my manager telling me that I had taken a week of PTO in February (uhhh my mother died..that was bereavement and not PTO...I forwarded them the obituary (weirdly enough I got PAID for bereavement and nothing was deducted from my PTO balance....but now they are saying that it was PTO).  So now I am waiting for them to right the wrong and give me my time and days off back.  Yes, I'm stressed.  Days off are like money!  I earned them!

So that is the scoop from here.....

365 Day 25 through 31

 A picture a day for a year.   I am glad that I told myself at the beginning that it would be ok if I missed a day or two.  That would be part of the story of my year.   It took me  30 days before I missed a day.  I honestly thought about the picture a few times, but always while I was busy doing something else and my thought was, 'right after I'm done'.  But well, right after never happened.    I wish I had been perfect in November, but I'm ok with not being perfect.  So here is the next week of pictures:

Day 25  Not an exciting picture, but a common sight for my week.  There must be a nest of something under the tree because this week all she wanted to do was sniff under there.  All. The. Time.

Day 26   The dog always steals the limelight in this house.  But we do have other pets.   We have a hermit crab.   We at one point had a few (they were rescues from people that were not taking care of them) but we were down to one.   They are an interesting creature.  They live in communities, but they also are a bit cannibalistic.  Just this week we decided to get old Hermie another friend.  Lets see how long they can coexist!.   (So here is the thing....when they molt they are very vulnerable and quite helpless.  But while they are molting, they are also apparently very delectable to other hermit crabs.   So we added another crab......it will either be a rousing success or a tasty treat.  Pictured is the original crab......maybe some day soon I can grab a pic of the new one.

Day 27 My view tonight.   The dog curled up beside me and the bird on the perch watching us.

Day 28   Time to wash the 'stinks' off.   Zoey is not overly fond of baths, but she gets one regularly.

Day 29  Mertz stays pretty much sequestered in my office.   This is her choice.  She has the run of the house, but won't get over her fear of the dog so instead basks in the sun on the bed in the office/spare room.  In fairness, she is a geriatric cat.    She loves my work days thought.  She will sleep an hour and then visit me on my desk for a few minutes before going back to the bed to sleep.  And she will repeat that cycle throughout the day.

Day 30  -  The day I missed.  It was a relatively normal day.  I worked.  I ran to the store.  Ohhh, I did create my Christmas Cards and had them printed.  Other than that, a normal day.

Day 31  My new obsession.  I have ordered a DNA test through ancestry.com.  This is in an attempt to prove or disprove the mystery surrounding my fathers parentage. (He was adopted....and there is two possible mothers and two differing stories).   While I wait for my test tube to arrive so that I can send in my sample, I decided to go onto the website and create my family tree.  Oh my word  How fascinating.  And honestly, I am not just fascinated because it's my family.  I am also putting together Jason's family tree and that is just as fascinating!  For example:   Jason's great great aunt must was married three times.  Her first husband died in 1901 in a tragic train accident.  (I've seen pictures of the aftermath).   Oh lets not forget the man who had a family and grown kids and was divorced.  And the census papers showed that he had a live in house keeper who had a daughter that lived there also.     And somehow a few years later this housekeepers daughter was the mother to his 'second' family and his wife.  The skeletons are coming out of the closet.   hahahaha  But yeah, to say I'm somewhat obsessed right now is an understatement.

So there you go, my week.   Maybe I forgot to get the picture on that day due to the fact that I was doing my necessary things and just hurrying to get to the computer so I could play with my family trees.  :-)

365 Days 16 to 24

 The picture of the day continues.  I feel as if my life is extremely dull and boring and thus my pictures will be utterly boring.  However, I am not going to let that slow me down.   Because dull and boring still gives beauty!   SO here we go with the next week or so of pictures.

Day 16

Day 17  I have been working on a lone star quilt that I am hand piecing.  Yeah, I know it would be more efficient to use my sewing machine.  But that would require me to drag it out...set it up and leave it up until the project is done.  It's much easier to hand sew and honestly, probably more rewarding!

Day 18  I have been so intrigued with drops of water lately ...they just catch my eye.

Day 19  I had the pleasure of spending the day with my oldest nephew at The Gettysburg Battlefield.  I don't know about him...but I enjoyed it!

Day 20  I worked diligently on the digitizing the family photos project over the weekend. 

Day 21  This dog is so nosy!

Day 22   The garden is done, we have marigold guarding the empty vegetable garden.

 Day 23   My ever present shadow.   She knew she would get in trouble if she were to sit beside me and paw at me but she didn't want to go far and wanted to make her presence known....so she went around to the other side of the table.....and sat there staring at me.

 Day 24  How is it that I am wrapping Christmas gifts already????