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By kilax, December 29, 2017 7:54 am

Everyone knows about SMART goals, right? SMART goals are:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic/Relevant
Time Bound

Setting goals that meet these five criteria makes you more likely to achieve them because it forces you to actually plan out how you are going to meet the goal, instead of just daydreaming about it. It also forces you to make sure it’s, yes, attainable and realistic.

I’ve been thinking about it for a few months, and I have one SMART goal for 2018:

TO EAT A VEGAN DONUT

Guys. I have been craving a vegan donut for months. It is time to MAKE this goal happen in 2018!

I know I can do it, because I’ve done it before (but it’s been awhile, so I’m a bit unsure of myself). So, it’s attainable and realistic. It’s relevant, because I have an interest in donuts.

It’s specific. Eat ONE vegan donut. That’s all I have to do. And it’s measurable, at one donut.

Now comes the tricky part. Making it time bound. Eating a vegan donut requires travel to either Chicago or Milwaukee. Preferably to Holey Moley Doughnuts in Milwaukee. I was hoping I would meet this goal this year, if my in-laws traveled to Milwaukee airport and we stopped for donuts after, but alas, they went to Midway (in Chicago).

Will we really drive to Milwaukee, just to get donuts? I think yes, because we’ve done it before. But I am setting a high bar here, and saying we will do this by the end of January. I am counting on all of you to hold me accountable.

After I accomplish this goal, I will reassess and see if it’s something I think I can do again in 2018. Maybe eat more of them? Maybe have more than one a month?! Who knows! But I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

On to bigger and better things in 2018!

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By kilax, December 28, 2017 6:23 am

• A lot of my holiday wishlist was books and I am excited to have a stack to read! I’ve started with What Made Maddy Run.

• It’s so cold here, that the door hinges inside the house have frost on them. Ha. (That may be because this door isn’t insulated for crap, though.) It’s been in the negative digits (with colder windchills) when we wake up. I am happy to report Snow’s house is in the 40s on the first level, and in the 80s on the second level!

• I signed up for my goal 5K in April! My older brother said he and some of his family may do it too. Yay!
• I’ve been having a lot of fun at all the holiday (and other!) celebrations, but now I am a bit socialized out! My brain can’t seem to make much more conversation. I am looking forward to a quiet New Year’s Eve!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 160

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By kilax, December 26, 2017 12:10 pm

How is the holiday already over? I don’t want to go back to the daily grind <— said everyone.

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration with Steven’s dad and brother. We ended up getting a few inches of snow here Christmas Eve, then the temperature dropped quite a bit Christmas Day (and today!), so we stayed warm camped out inside the house!

A white Christmas after all!

I mentioned my brother-in-law, Andrew, and I had an ongoing joke that all gifts were going to be porg-related. After I saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi and thought the porgs were adorable, I said to Steven, “I hope Andrew actually does get me something porg-related!”

Oh, he did.

Porg poster, porg pin on briefcase, porg mug, and porg on board.

That poster was the first thing I opened, and I said my Christmas was pretty much complete, right then and there. What else could I possibly NEED?

I should probably actually put ornaments on the tree next time… it looks a bit bare!

Santa brought gifts for the kitties, too! Khali hid under the bed most of the visit. Sigh.

No porg-related gifts for Steven (or his dad)! I had been stoked for a few months to give Steven this custom illustration of our house I ordered from Cape Horn Illustration, and Steven really liked it, yay!

We had lots of jokes about eating porg too… we even did porg two ways at dinner! Hee hee.

In reality, we had a Tofurky roast and a ham, and the ham was a surprise hit. We made it with pineapple and weren’t sure how it was going to turn out, but we both really liked it! I was all about the mashed potatoes though. AND PUMPKIN PIE. Nom. We didn’t make a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, so I’ve been craving it since then!

Gah, just writing about this food, I want to eat it all again. It’s lunchtime as I write this and my stomach is actually growling, so that’s a good sign – I wasn’t sure I’d be hungry AT ALL today.

What a fun visit! And now it’s two and a half weeks until our next holiday celebration /William’s first birthday party, with my family. Yay!

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By kilax, December 25, 2017 7:55 am

Maybe next year, Snow will actually be in the photo?! Ha ha ha!

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By kilax, December 23, 2017 6:22 pm

Yesterday was Steven’s birthday! His dad and brother’s flight was on time*, and everyone made it to the bowling party. Yay!

Although, oops, I made one mistake when I booked the party, which you can tell from the photo below:

I scheduled the party during galactic/cosmic/whatever bowling hours! D’oh! We usually avoid going when they have the blacklights on because we can’t see the lane markers. Ha ha ha. <— such serious bowlers.

We all had a great time though, and it made me feel good to see Steven getting so much birthday love!

I was so pumped up from the party, and excited for Merry Fitness Boxing today, that I didn’t sleep much last night**! I’ve been prepping for this boxing class since last Christmas, when I bought some Santa hats on sale and decided to make goodie bags with them for all my students.

I wanted to include Christmas music in my playlist for class today, but didn’t want it to be ALL Christmas music – it’s hard to box to that! So I used a typical rock/metal playlist, but had some Christmas music thrown in randomly, and when it came on, I had the students take their gloves off and do core and cardio moves. It was fun (at least, for me, ha)!

And Andrew (my brother-in-law) came! It was my annual “trying to kill him” (his words, not mine) with one of my fitness boxing classes. Ha ha ha. Spoiler: he survived.

After class, Steven and his dad met us and Jen, Troy, and Declan at Wildberry, a very popular breakfast/brunch restaurant. Very popular, as in, we waited almost an hour to be seated, and we totally didn’t care because the food is so good.

It’s been a treat to have all these fun celebrations with family and friends! It’s all going by a bit too fast though!

*I mention this cause you never know in the winter! I had the party a little later to make sure they’d make it!
**And I had two cats sleeping on me…

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By kilax, December 21, 2017 6:23 am

• Happy first day of winter! The days only get longer from tomorrow until June 21!
• We saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi on Saturday. I didn’t love it, but was mostly entertained, which is all I can ask for when seeing a movie in the theater!

• We wanted to put presents under the tree, so the tree skirt is back out. I really hope Data leaves it alone!

• Oh my gosh, poor Snow. I think his “friends” are hazing him. Every morning (and sometimes afternoon) we find his food bowl in a different spot – often in the middle of the yard!
• A pet peeve of mine is when someone asks me a question once, and I tell them “no” or “I don’t know” and they ask again shortly after. It’s still “no” or “I don’t know.” Come on. Nothing changed in the last few seconds/minutes. I STILL DON’T KNOW.
• Someone must have recently given out my blog email address because I am getting several emails a day asking me to post about products or share information for “immediate release.” Spam and unsubscribe.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 159

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By kilax, December 15, 2017 6:39 am

• For a while we’ve thought it would be nice to have a small table in the foyer, and we got one this month, as a holiday gift for each other. Steven said we’re really adulting now, since we bought a piece of furniture for a room we don’t spend any time in (other than coming and going)! Ha!

• Wednesday’s quote of the day was a classic! And one I will be thinking of often as I get dressed for cold weather runs. Note: the fleece leggings I got from Amazon have been working well!

• It’s crass to discuss but I am going to say it – I am grateful for work bonuses in helping me pay off holiday gifts!
• Sigh. When I tell you I am sick, please don’t go straight to “Did you get a flu shot?” Pretend to have some sympathy first, before you go in to your flu shot lecture! (And what is the point of the lecture if I don’t have the flu?! Also, I generally keep being sick to myself and am NOT looking for sympathy, but sometimes you do have to tell people – like at work. And I do mention it in my training recaps, and life recaps, here.)
• I can’t believe Steven’s dad and brother will be here in a week! AHH!!! We have all the presents purchased (just need to wrap them), except stocking stuffers. We still need to grocery shop and clean the house. And decide if we are going to put up more holiday decorations – we kept it low-key this year.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 158

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By kilax, December 12, 2017 5:24 pm

Last weekend was my annual December trip to Dallas to see my otra familia – Gina, Steve, Luca, and a new family member, GINGER!!!

Steven didn’t come on this trip since he’s too busy with work in December to travel

Gina is fantastic at finding fun stuff for us to do when I visit. We did our annual trip to see Santa, tried Goat Yoga (!!!), and went to a “Holiday Balloon Glow”!

We ate at some of my (and their!) favorite restaurants – Silk Road Thai Cuisine and Mellow Mushroom.

Photo we sent Uncle Steven as we were leaving the Thai restaurant to let him know it was us turning off the holiday lights from afar…

Conversation with Luca at Mellow: “What is Uncle Steven doing right now?” “Draw me what you think he is doing!” (using a weed wacker)

We had some home cooked meals too (Gina found a yummy vegan frittata for me!), including these amazing nachos.

Ha ha ha. On Saturday night, we were talking about nachos for dinner, but decided not to have them. Then on Sunday Steve mentioned the Cowboys vs Giants game was going to be on at noon and we decided we HAD to have nachos for the game… even though we only watched the final quarter. Any reason to make nachos!

On Saturday we were on the go (running, Santa, goat yoga, shopping, lunch, hot air balloons). Sunday was quiet, which I needed, because the cough I had during the week got worse, and I was also dealing with chills and sweats (sweats at night only), and achy lower legs. I was run down. And bonus: I got a bloody nose at the airport (waiting to board the plane home), which was a bit of a disaster.

I’m a bit of a disaster right now. Ugh. I’m grateful I could make my annual trip but bummed my body wasn’t feeling 100%! And hopeful I kept all my crudiness to myself. Eek.

On a funner note, now it’s time to start planning our 2018 adventures! We reviewed our 2017 visits on Sunday – five visits (March, April, May, July/August, & December). That’s pretty good for living so far apart!

I know I’ve mentioned this many times but it amazes me that I’ve become close with people I’ve met online. It makes sense – you meet people who share your interests and are more likely to hit it off when you meet in person because of that, but I suppose the “luck” of it is what blows my mind. How is it that we met friends that are like family to us, and like family to my family?!

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By kilax, December 7, 2017 8:10 am

• The Lindsey Stirling “Warmer in the Winter” concert was FANTASTIC! Watching her play the violin and dance was just as impressive and fun as I thought it would be. The concert had a playful tone with some humorous bits (and sometimes serious story-telling). Stirling performed two non-Christmas songs – Elements and Crystallize. It was a holiday concert so I was surprised and excited to hear those songs. I’d love to see her again – especially to hear her other songs!!!

• Ugh, the opening act was painful though. An opener wasn’t listed when we got our tickets and I was hoping there wouldn’t be one. It was Stirling’s dancing partner (from Dancing with the Stars) and his wife’s group – Alexander Jean. I didn’t care for their style and got irritated listening to them. I felt like I was being forced to watch them, and just wanted Lindsey to come on stage!
• We had crazy high winds Monday night and a tree came down in our yard. It fell in the same spot as last time – right over the log pile. Ha. I am glad the trees know right where to fall – where they need to be chopped and placed anyway!

• Tomorrow is my nine year anniversary at work! Which sounds like a long time, but doesn’t even begin to compare to how long some people have worked at my organization!
• I ordered our holiday cards Monday and they are arriving this weekend, yay! I am looking forward to sending them out.
• I also set up a birthday party for Steven! His dad and brother are coming in to town on his birthday, so we’re going to have a little bowling get together with them and friends. I am looking forward to it!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 157

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By kilax, December 6, 2017 7:21 am

That’s how long we had the new tree skirt out before Data barfed on it.

Grrr.

Data is not an everyday barfer year round, just in December when he can’t stop chewing on Judy. Sigh.

Judy is the name of the garland

Why does he have to barf on carpet, or a rug, or other soft surface?! WHY?!?! THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER HARD SURFACES IN THE HOUSE THAT WOULD BE EASIER TO CLEAN.

I love our kitties.

Maybe we should leave the skirt off until Steven’s family arrives on the 22nd.

Khali looked so sad it was gone though, so I put her bed there. Aww.