You guys 2017 is here. I love the New Year. Planning and organizing and tidying just might be my love language.
But here is the thing with this year. I ordered my planner in early December and the darn thing just arrived yesterday. Clearly one can not plan without a planner and now I am ready to sharpen some pencils and get some goals going for the New Year. 😉 Finally.
So do you guys have a few minutes for a coffee? Are you trying to ditch the holiday muffin top? Let’s hit that Juice Bar instead of Starbucks today ok? I really need to cram my poor sugar laden body with as much good stuff as possible. You know things have gotten bad when you send this message to a friend from the gym: “Hey is it bad to be looking up chocolate chip cookie recipes on the treadmill?”
I am so glad we can sit down and catch up for a few minutes today- it feels like it has been forever since we had a little chat! How is the New Year going for you? Any big plans for 2017? Trips or changes? I feel like we are doing the same old same old. Kids are busy with all their stuff and chugging away on house projects and blog stuff and that feels like about it. We have a scary secret that we are starting to kick around. You won’t say anything right? We have been searching for our forever home for forever and just not finding anything we love. Or even like really. So now we are starting to think about building our own home. The entire process intimidates me but this year we looked at our budget and plan to just save like crazy and maybe 2018 will be the year we build our dream home. Let’s dream big ok?
I always like to tell you what I am reading, watching, listening to lately and hope you share the same with me! So I took my little mini to see Hidden Figures last weekend and we loved it! Lots of stuff I had to explain to her (like what NASA is and what that monstrous machine was they kept calling IBM) and some big topics like what “colored” means since all the signs everywhere said colored. But all in all she got the heart of the movie and it was just really well done. And Octavia Spencer? I want her as my BFF or maybe my big sister. She is awesome.
Ok so on the topic of Hidden Figures- have you read the book? I started it and gave up on it. Sigh. I hate giving up on books but I found it so dry and boring. I really wanted to love it. I am thinking maybe it wasn’t meant as an audio book and I listened on audio so if you pick it up let me know what you think and maybe I will try it again.
What am I liking? Ok so as you know, on TV I save super engrossing shows for the treadmill at the gym time. It makes the 40 minute uphill climbs so much nicer for me. I just went through the entire season of Good Girls Revolt and loved it. Now there are some super graphic parts that didn’t seem that necessary to me but whatever. I would have liked to watch this one with my daughters but definitely not a show to watch with kids or on a large screen at the gym where people are walking by and wondering what that lady is into on TV. Lol. Thank heavens I just had my tiny iPhone screen.
I am reading two heavy books- On Fire (from my 2017 reading recs) and Better Than Before, Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin so I wanted something light and easy in between those heavier books. The Dollhouse I am liking. In fact, I am having a hard time putting it down so give it a shot and see what you think. It is the same era as Good Girls Revolt so good timing there to just check into the 50’s and 60’s all at once.
Can we talk about dogs for a second? Good grief. Dogs are making my hair turn gray. So you know we have a sweet little old man at home, Milo? He celebrated his 12th birthday in October and means the world to us. He might possibly be my favorite person in the entire world. (Besides you of course. Oh and my husband. And the kids. And Octavia Spencer.) Our vet has been gently and not so gently reminding me that his life can be counted in months now and not years anymore. I am firmly in denial on the entire topic but anyhoo- long story short Milo decided to chase a squirrel and wanted to heave his old body over a fence to get to it and tore his ACL. After a small fortune at the vet, he is doing well and on bed rest at the moment. We are praying for a full recovery for him because losing a dog… Well. Talk about ripping your heart out. Can you say a prayer for Milo? He really does mean the world to us. Fortunately he is a stubborn old guy has been hobbling around on 3 legs just fine.
We did get a second dog months ago in the hopes of bringing a little company to Milo and pep in his step. A pound puppy that was so beautiful and sweet at home to us and dang if he wasn’t sharp as a whip. Turns out the pound puppy did not like other dogs. After three scary incidents with neighbor’s dogs and the dog park we were pretty much forced to return him to the pound. The saddest day ever and we all just sat and cried for days. On Christmas Eve we unexpectedly had a chance to adopt a tiny little lab puppy though and he has brought a ton of joy back into the house! We named him Bosley (as in Charlie’s Angels) and he won’t stop peeing in the house and chewing on stuff but he is darling and sweet tempered and just melts your heart. We all love him except Milo. Milo finds him annoying and has been a bit rude. We are hoping once his leg recovers and he feels better he might come to love Bosley or at least tolerate him. 😉
How was your juice? Do you feel energized and peppy now? Much better than croissants and lattes right? Lol I know. A croissant sounds amazing to me too but seriously we gotta get our diet on track so green juice it is. And I am doing self talk to convince myself I love it and don’t want the carbs.
I should probably run. I have been rambling on for ages and you probably have a million things to do today. Guess what? My beloved camera (this one) has been dropped on the ground one too many times and now the focus is totally off. My photos the past two months have been making my heart hurt because they are out of focus and (I think) look terrible. So I have retired my beloved Canon Rebel and just upgraded to this beauty. I have to dig it out of the box and read the manual and start learning how to use it. Hopefully my photography gets a big leap forward with this beauty. Whoo hoo!
Happy January my friends. I hope this year is crazy big and full of scary stuff and big dreams and little pleasures for you.
XOXO,
Charlene
Bobbi Wiethoff says
Thank you for the TV recommendation. I’ve been trying to find a show that will entice me to get back on the treadmill
Cori says
Fun post! Congratulations on new puppy. I also like Good Girls Revolt, but felt there were unnecessary parts as well. Happy 2017 and speedy recovery to Milo.
Charlene says
Hi Bobbi- just have a towel ready because there are some really, really adult scenes. The storyline is so good though! I hope you like it 🙂
Charlene says
Thanks so much Cori! Isn’t it so sad that one isn’t renewed for a 2nd season? Stupid TV executives. 😉
Diane says
Hidden Figures book just came last week to my house. I have not started it yet. I love ‘This is Us’ on TV. Well, I am a TV addict, so I could watch all day long and read my book during commercials!
No juice for me – but, I will have a cup of tea! Lol Visited Nautilus Tea on Fair Oaks last week. Cute little shop!
Charlene says
Oh I love that one too Diane! So glad they are back after that break 🙂