Before This New Year Gets Away From Me, Let Me Share My Bookish Resolutions!

 I'm joining Because Reading's Bookish Resolutions Challenge for 2023. You can still join via this link. 

You pick what you are resolved to do in 2023 as far as books go.  Here are the rules that Berls and Michelle put together:

Rules:

1. Create between 5 or more resolutions related to books/book blogging/writing (there are examples below but you can make up your own)(you can have as many resolutions as you would like, there is no limit) 
2. Create a signup post and add it to the Linky on this post (sign up before Feb 28th)
3. Since this is a year-long challenge we ask that you pick goals with some longevity. Pick a goal that will take you no less than 6 months to complete.
4. Once your goals are set you cannot change them.
5. Three times a year we will have an update to see how you are doing. March 1st, June 1st, and September 1st. The last update will be the wrap-up post.
6. For each goal you complete, you get one entry into the giveaway that will be in our wrap-up post on December 31, 2023

 I've tried to make my goals for the year simple for me so that I am able to stay on track. 

Resolution  1:  Read/Listen to one non-fiction book each month (this is done for January, yay!) 

Resolution 2:   Read 60 books in 2023

Resolution 3:  Read and review 1-2 Netgalley books each month

Resolution 4:  Post all my reviews on Goodreads, not just here--

Resolution 5: Go to at least one book signing in 2023 (In Person) 

Okay that's all I am ready to hold myself accountable for 2023. I think these resolutions are manageable and fun- 

How about you? Any Bookish Resolutions for 2023? 

#bookishres2023

Is Winter Winding Down?

Gosh I hope so!  One of my goals for this year was to not get too bogged down in my dislike of winter. If I can rate myself here, I give myself a 3.5 out of 5 on not spending too much time being annoyed by all things winter.

This year I did spend all of January doing weekday radiation so that definitely proved to be a distraction from dwelling on the cold. Plus radiation gives you hot flushes, so well timed on my part--better to have one's internal temp rise in January than in July!

Once February arrived, our house spend the entire month with at least one person sick with some virus.  Was it Coronavirus? I don't think so, but who knows! To round out the month, surgery for me.  Medical interventions not winter blues were the order of the day! Now here is March coming in like a warmer than usual lion; so far, our temps have been decent and the sun has been shining.

The nice weather has lead to a certain BFF of The Man tracking mud into the house several times a day.  Keep your fingers crossed for us as we are crunching numbers and hoping to get wood flooring on our main floor ASAP. If  all goes well, 2020 will be the year of home renovations and me having many more celebrations and fest to attend than doctor appointments!

*Accountability* - How did I do with my February Goals?

Not great!  The cold I had really knocked me out for most of the month!
I did reach my blog post goals and I did achieve the most important goal: Lastly, have a very uneventful laparoscopic preventative surgery and celebrate being done with medical interventions for hopefully ever. (not including routine tests)

Actually as I re-read it.  I have not celebrated having a routine surgery w/clear pathology. So I'm due a celebration. Note to self plan some celebrating!

Noom was the best app I ever bought

If you listen to podcasts or watch TV you've probably seen ads for the app Noom. Last year their ad campaign was basically, Noom is not your mom's Weight Watchers.  I have news for you Noom, my mom never did Weight Watchers, but I  did after Anna was born and it worked short term. 

By March of 2019, I was ready to make a change in my diet but I wasn't sure which way to go.  I knew that in the past a diet that makes some foods forbidden never worked  out for me past the first two weeks of food restriction. I knew a keto diet, which seems to have been very popular with people on my social media, wasn't going to work for me. I also didn't want to do Weight Watchers again because in my experience I was good at cheating the system. This was obviously stupid and hurt no one but me, but that's the reality of it.

I did some research, read some reviews and completed Noom's online evaluation. Noom gave me a price for 4 months of their program and I decided the price was decent, but I wanted to line up my two week free trial with my paycheck. So I waited another week and then I joined.   Because I am someone who likes to get my money's worth from goods and services I purchase, I followed every step of the program. I weighed myself daily, I logged all my food, I read all the articles, and followed all the instructions therein.

And it worked. I lost 43 pounds over five months and I have kept it off for five months. Theses days I am in the healthy BMI range. 

But wait there is more to the story!

You have to consider that I started Noom in March and then in May I found out I had cancer. Now I had a serious reason to continue Noom or a great excuse to throw in the the towel. I decided to stick with Noom and now my goal was not about feeling better about wearing a swim suit. Now I needed to get down to healthy BMI before starting chemo.  According to the research I read, a healthy weight and regular exercise and the best things you can do to avoid cancer. Among the stress of shitty diagnosis and a major surgery, I reached my goal, and again I was at a turning point.

 Food and chemo don't really mix.  Either your taste buds have gone on strike or you a flirting with vomiting.  Eat healthy? exercise?  Ha!  A great time to give up on using Noom- or a really good time to use Noom as a major tool in my arsenal to slay chemo.  I chose to slay. :-)

 I completed chemotherapy without gaining weight and I exercised,either walking, running or riding a stationery bike,  almost every single day ( I skipped about 7 days over five months). The gentle nagging of my notifications and the curriculum  Noom provided was a life saver for me in 2019.

I didn't know what I was in for last year, and I am very glad I had Noom to help me get through some very turbulent times.

Want to check out Noom?  This is my referral link.

#WednesdayWisdom Are we still talking about Life Hacks? And it's #WineWednesday

Apropos of nothing, I was wondering the other day if BuzzFeed is still doing 'life hack' lists or if we have all moved on to a post life hack life.  My own personal life hack is to put on my socks before my pants because then my pants slide on faster.  You're welcome. 😏

I could use a life hack to get through riding shotgun for Bmo's 50 hours of required drive time to get his license.  Does stress burn calories?  We only have 46 more hours to go. Lucky for me, I'm hosting a wine tasting tomorrow night so I can stock up on post driving wine. My friend is a representative for The Wine Shop at Home and we will be trying their Renegade wine sampler.

(The Wine Shop at Home doesn't mess around, look at those medals!)

Since it is summer, we will be trying more whites than red and these will be chilled for the most part.  I like a nice chilled glass of wine after a day in the backyard or with a dinner salad.  I will report back about what we try and how the tasting goes tomorrow.   I hope the Rosé is tasty!

If the weather is nice we will sip outside, and in that case, what wine pairs well with OFF?  Seriously, are there any natural mosquito deterrents that work? They eat me alive.

Wait, what if there was a wine that repelled mosquitoes?  Now that would be a life hack! If  we can put a man on the moon, we can do this people! 

Happy #WineWednesday!

xoxo

PS On the writing front, I was at the hospital with my oldest yesterday and then took middle driving.  I was completely mentally drained and ate nutritionally empty food and didn't write.  Today's goal 500 words.

Gardening at Night

Not really but it is the song title of a good REM song that was released 26 years ago.




Me and the Man have been gardening by day.  Last weekend it was cloudy and the temps didn't get above 55,  and this weekend we are in the 90s!  Look, one thing Chicago weather  can be counted on for is its unpredictability.  This however is beyond the typical fluctuations.

 I hope my plants aren't too upset about being planted in this heat.  Some people think you can communicate with plants, I don't see any harm in talking to them so if you seem me mumbling in the garden , I'm just trying to raise happy plants. I haven't had a backyard garden in eight years, so I want generous plants that provide us with tasty yields of cherry tomatoes, squash, and orange heirloom peppers.

On writing, I am closing in on a scene that will take place in a local library.  I need to go visit the library so I can refresh myself with the layout and general vibe. However, I don't see myself making it over there until next Friday at the soonest.  What I have decided is the best course of action for me is to keep writing daily and not wait until I actually go  the library. I can add in details and switch things around as necessary after my visit. Otherwise, I'll use my upcoming library field trip as an excuse to skip writing for the next week. I'm quickly learning writing is much easier if I write something, anything daily, versus saving up until that magic moment when I have "extra time".  I know myself well enough to understand that I am incredibly good at finding other things I *must* do instead of writing!

Happy Tuesday!
xoxo

Above Average Temperatures

Checked out the old weather forecast and it looks like the next 7 days in Chicagoland will continue to be above normal.  Rain is supposed to show up on Tuesday and Wednesday so I'll have to remember not to wear sandals on those two days.  Sandals in October?  Yes.  I'm going to keep on wearing my sandals until the daily temps go under 60.  Why not right?  Plus I need to buy a new pair of black boots and have not gotten around to doing that and right now since we are paying for 2 kids to go to Disney on school trips in 2018- I'm trying to put as much $ toward getting those trips paid off as possible as quickly as possibly.

All this warm weather does make it rather hard to remember Fall is here.  The trees aren't bursting with gold, orange and red leaves, and you can leave the house without a jacket. I am sure this will change shortly, but for a bit longer I'll stick with my warm weather clothes. 

That being said I do realize Halloween is fast approaching.  I have amassed a collection of glass jars that I am trying to prioritize DIYing into cute Halloween décor.  I did my Googles and found this blog called Crafts by Amanda-easy craft tutorials for adults and kids.  My plan is to follow through and get crafty the weekend of 10/21- 10/22.  My goal is to get at least one of the kids to make the crafty luminaries with me.  Wish me luck!

Countdown to Halloween...3 weeks from tomorrow!