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Friday Five Things 10/15

~ kofriedery ~ Leave a comment

“In the entire circle of the year there are no days so delightful as those of a fine October.” – Alexander Smith

Can you believe it’s already halfway through October? Maybe because it’s only just now really feeling like fall around here, with snow starting to show up on the forecast, that it hasn’t quite seemed like October. I guess I’d better start thinking about what to get for the 5 or so trick or treaters we get every year…

  1. Harry Legged Jerry. Last week I mentioned the Halloween decorations in the neighborhood where I walk Bama. Over the weekend I passed a family who were in the process of putting out their decorations. And I overheard their daughter yell out to her friends next door that they had named their spider Hairy Legged Jerry. Jerry wasn’t out yet when I passed by, but I did get to see him the next day. He’s a giant fuzzy purple spiders with big googly eyes and I love him. So now every day we get to walk by and say hi to Hairy Legged Jerry.
  2. Cactus Friends. An old friend of mine called me her cactus friend this week and while I can be prickly at times, that’s not what she meant. She was describing how we can go months, maybe even years, without talking to each other or putting energy into maintaining our friendship. But then when we do get back in touch we’re just as healthy and strong as ever. We started texting this week after she sent me a funny headline she found and I sent her one back that I had seen last week (and at the time had actually planned to send it to her!) We caught up a bit on life and vowed to keep in better touch. And I really hope we will. But I also feel confident that if things do fall off again, we can always pick back up where we left them.
  3. Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese. Guys, this might have been my favorite mac and cheese that I’ve ever made. The squash adds flavor but it isn’t overpowering. I made a few swaps/changes because I rarely ever can just make a recipe straight! First of all, I read through the comments ahead of time and ended up doubling the amount of pasta. I’d say either do that or cut everything else in half because it makes a lot of sauce! Other changes: -Added fresh rosemary with the sage -Used heavy cream and 2% milk (we didn’t have half and half and whole milk!) -8oz of cheddar cheese instead of 10oz because I didn’t check the size of the block when I bought it… -made my own purée with a bag of frozen squash -Stirred in some shredded chicken at the end because I had some left over. Yes, that’s a lot of changes, but no I don’t think it materially made a difference to how good this recipe is! Well…except maybe the using heavy cream… Anyway, make it and enjoy!
  4. James Bond. I went to see the new James Bond movie, No Time to Die, this week and really enjoyed it! It’s a long one, so bring snacks! I would also recommend watching at least the most recent Bond movie before this one as there are plot points mentioned from it. It won’t ruin the movie if you don’t, but I wish I had just so I was a little faster on the uptake with a few conversations between characters.
  5. Essie nail polish in Rocky Rose. I just repainted my nails with this color for a second week in a row and I’m so in love with it. It’s the perfect fall color if you lean more towards neutral/nude colors. It’s like a rosy terracotta color and it’s just so pretty.

Friday Five Things 8/27

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“Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

I think recently I’ve been making happiness my goal. And this week something shifted that allowed me to let that go and focus on other things, which has actually brought about happiness as a by-product. So I guess my encouragement is that if you are striving after feeling happy, let it go for a bit. Focus on other things that take your time and focus. See if happiness shows up along the way.

  1. A little break from the smoky air. Weather patterns have changed over the last week and we had several days of wind which brought some relief to the bad air quality around here. From what I’ve seen, the smoke will return shortly. But it’s been nice to have a break. I’ve been able to spend time outside without feeling it in my lungs!
  2. A garden that keeps giving. Some how, despite the heat and smoke and wind we’ve been having, my outdoor plants are still thriving and producing! I even got to harvest my first cucumber this week! I’ve been able to shop my yard for tomatoes, zucchini, kale and herbs all month and so far it isn’t showing signs of slowing.
  3. This recipe. Making these zucchini fritters will help use up any squash your garden might still be churning out, like mine is! I think it would work just as well with yellow summer squash as it does for zucchini. I made these and ate them with some tzatziki sauce. They would be great for a very light dinner, otherwise I’d serve them as a side to some grilled salmon.
  4. 40,000 words written. I just crossed 40,000 words written in my novel manuscript! For reference, that’s probably about 150 pages of a typical novel. My goal is 90,000 words by the end of the year and now that I’m past 40,000 it feels so doable! I’d love to be able to finish my first draft by mid-December, take a break for the holidays, and then hit the ground running with editing in January!
  5. Exercise and movement. I pretty much stopped working out in August. It wasn’t intentional but the weather started to get too hot for hikes. And the dog only wanted to go for short walks. And the air was so smoky I didn’t want to spend much time outside. And there was so much other stuff to do! So it just eventually stopped being a priority. And then I stopped putting it on my daily list of things to do. But this week I’m making more of an effort to get outside and move my body for at least 15 minutes every day. So far so good and it feels great!

Friday Five Things 8/6

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“Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light.” – Frida Kahlo

Whew! It’s been a busy week and I almost forgot to write something to publish today! My sister and her family have been in town, so we’ve had a lot of good family time. Lots of fun and laughter.

  1. The best pet sitter in the world. A couple years ago I asked people for recommendations of pet sitters and a coworker/friend recommended her good friend. She has been ah-mazing. Our timid dog LOVES her. Our scaredy cats will snuggle her on the couch. It has been such a help and relief to have someone we know takes care of our animals when we are gone as well as we would, or even better! And as a bonus, she’s become a friend as well!
  2. My niece and nephew. I love all my nieces and nephews so much, but this week I got to spend a whole day with the two oldest. It was the first time that I’ve watched them by myself for an entire day, from wake-up to bedtime. And it was an adventure! We went to two playgrounds, did some shopping, sang silly songs, ate Red Robin, played outside, played a game, went to Dairy Queen, read books, rode bikes, ate dinner, and watched the Olympics! Whew! I was exhausted but so so happy.
  3. Cooler weather. Not only had the weather been slightly cooler at home at the end of last week, but we once again escaped to the mountains for cooler, crisper weather. My absolute favorite weather is when I need a sweatshirt and long pants in the mornings and evenings, but then can wear shorts and a t-shirt during the day. And that’s been the weather in Breckenridge so far this week.
  4. Writing progress. At the end of July I felt myself starting to get into a slump with my writing. But instead of giving into the block, I tried something different instead of just trying to write the next scene. I went back to my outline and wrote out a quick summary of where I want the rest of the book to go. In doing that, my writing just started flowing again and I’ve written over 2,000 words just this week!
  5. Really good sleep. I’ve been having a streak of really good sleep and not waking up during the night at all! It’s such a great feeling to feel really refreshed when you wake up and I am not taking it for granted this week.

Friday Five Things 7/16

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“Stay close to any sounds that make you glad you are alive.” – Hafez

Hello again! I actually got my act together and wrote my blog post on time! I also have a couple ideas for some one-off posts, so I’ll scatter those throughout the coming weeks on non-Friday days. As far as weeks go…this was a pretty good one.

  1. Catching up with old friends. Over the weekend I had the opportunity to see a high school friend who I haven’t seen, or talked to really, in about twenty years! She was visiting a mutual friend who I do see regularly and the three of us got together for some drinks and a stroll around town. It was so fun to hear everything that’s been going on in her life recently and to see that she is doing so well. A good blast from the past to be sure. Later in the week I also had a good phone catch-up with another long distance friend.
  2. Taking care of nagging tasks. I crossed two of those annoying, nagging tasks off my list this week! You know, the ones that come with being an adult that you really just want to ignore? The first was taking my car to the tire shop. I’ve had a very slow leak in one of the tires and refilled it with air probably one more time than was responsible before taking it in. Turns out the tire needed to be replaced and luckily I had bought a warranty when I got the new set a couple years ago and the replacement was free! The other little nagging task was to file some mail and papers that have been stacking up in our office. Nothing important, but just stuff that shouldn’t be throw away just yet. I have a bad habit of adding to the pile rather than filing right away, so the stack was getting bigger and bigger. I finally set a 20 minute timer and told myself I’d get as much done in that time as I could. As is usually the case, it took much less time to go through everything than I had thought and now…no pile! At least until I bring in the mail tonight.
  3. Afternoon thunderstorms. Colorado has a very dry climate, even in the summer. Humidity doesn’t really exist here. But this year we have gotten about 50% more rain on the front range than we usually do by this time of year. While my animals may disagree with me here, I love when an afternoon thunderstorm rolls in. First of all, it means my plants will be wet and happy without my daily watering. Second, there is just something so cozy about being inside while the tempest is raging outside. And third, it usually cools things down for the evening and makes my house just a little more comfortable for sleeping.
  4. Loki. Guys, Disney has been hitting it out of the park with their Marvel series this summer. I loved WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and now Loki. It was a smart, funny, and heartwarming journey for one of our favorite antiheroes of the Avengers. And Tom Hiddleston does such a great job of playing the character! You can tell he really loves being in this role. Again, these might not be the best shows for you if you aren’t already an MCU fan and don’t have a working knowledge of the characters. But, also, what better time than now to get rolling on the whole franchise!
  5. Roasting garlic and jalapeños. I made cheesy grits for a dinner one night this week and I added canned corn along with roasted garlic and jalapeños. I decided to try roasting them in my air fryer/toaster oven on just the bake setting and it worked! All in all, it was much faster from start to finish than if I had used my big oven. And it didn’t overheat my whole kitchen!

Friday Five Things 7/2

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“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” – Sylvia Plath

Hi friends and happy Friday! I know I’ve been a bit negligent about posting every Friday, but things are getting busy around here! I’m planning to put out my Book Report for June on Monday and then resume regular Friday posts for the rest of the summer.

  1. Freedom to adjust expectations. For most of May I was writing a lot most days of the week. Then in June my creativity seemed to dry up for some reason. I spent the first few weeks trying to force myself into the same routine from May before I remembered that I have the freedom to adjust my expectations. So I made a shift to only asking myself to write 300 words every day. The result is that I added to my manuscript much slower this month, but I was able to actually get words on the page every day instead of sitting for two hours without any progress. Reducing the expectation on myself for a single writing session freed up the block I was having, if only a little bit. For July I plan to continue the 300 words per day and see where the rest of the summer takes me.
  2. The ability to escape to the mountains. After a few weeks of super hot weather where we live, we decided to escape to the mountains and it was definitely a cool down! A little too chilly at times to be honest, but after several days of 90 degree heat I didn’t mind a couple mornings with a fire in the fireplace. We are super lucky to have a free place to stay when we head up there and live close enough to do it on a whim. On the way up to Breckenridge this weekend, Tyler planned a little side excursion to hike up to St. Mary’s Glacier as a surprise for me. Bama loved it, rolling in the slushy ice of the glacier especially. We also did a half day Jeep trail on Friday morning and had a little lunch picnic above tree line. Nothing big, just little adventures out of our normal routine that bring me joy.
  3. Physical wellness. I’m not what anyone would call “in great shape” but this morning I was hiking and was so grateful for what my body can do for me. There have been several stark reminders in my life recently that you can’t take wellness for granted so I am going to take joy from the fact that I can hike four miles in the morning and still have energy to vacuum the whole house in the afternoon.
  4. BLTs (with avocado). No hidden meaning here…just very thankful to live in a world with ripe tomatoes in the summer for delicious BLTs.
  5. Luca. New Pixar movie released on Disney+. It isn’t a huge epic musical Disney movie, but it is so sweet and so magical. I loved watching it and I’ve been recommending it to everyone. I won’t say anything else to avoid any spoilers…but it’s just so darn adorable!

Friday Five Things 6/18

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“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” – Anne Lamott

I’ve needed some time away from routine and schedule for the past couple weeks, which has included deadlines for this blog. It has been HOT here and that kind of heat always affects my motivation and focus. So I just kind of went with it and got little things done around the house, read a lot, and had small little burst of productivity. It has been good for me and I think I’m ready to get back to my regularly scheduled programming.

  1. My garden is thriving! Both my wildflowers in the front yard and my herbs and veggies in the back are doing great. I’ve had a couple harvests of spinach and kale already and I love not needing to buy it at the store every week, especially since I’ve been into salads recently.
  2. Summer salads. I’m not a big salad person, especially making them myself at home. But this week I made two really delicious salads that I’ll be making again! The first was sliced cucumber and red onions marinated in a vinaigrette (like this). Then I had that over top of spinach (obviously) and torn pieces of fresh mozzarella. Soooo good. The other salad was spinach again, sliced strawberries, goat cheese crumbles, chopped walnuts with a homemade basil vinaigrette (this one is so good!) Both of these were really simple to put together and really refreshing in the heat this week!
  3. Monday morning walks. A friend and I went for a walk on Monday morning and it was so lovely we decided we should do it every week! Now I have something to look forward to at the beginning of each week and hopefully it will act as an anchor in time for kicking off the week the right way!
  4. Painting our house. Like, the outside! We have a red house and the exterior paint is super faded. We’ve tried to find another red that we like, but in the end decided to go with a blue/gray color called Adirondack Blue. And it’s going to be my summer project to do the painting! I figure if I really screw up badly, we can hire someone to touch up trim and stuff, but hopefully we don’t need that. Also really happy we don’t have an HOA because this isn’t something I’m going to get done quickly. We’ll have a partially painted house for awhile…
  5. Character breakthroughs in my writing. In the past couple weeks I’ve really started to get to know the main character in my novel and figure out some of her motivations and neuroses. It’s been fun to write a scene and know exactly how she is going to react to something! Still figuring out some of the other characters, but feeling good about where things are headed.

Friday Five Things 5/28

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“Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, will all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell.” – William Saroyan

May Book Report will be published mid-next week! I’m almost finished with a couple books that I want to include for May. In other news, we had a pretty productive week around here and I’m feeling really excited about this summer!

  1. Balance (or lack thereof) – I’ve talked a bit on here about different time/energy management techniques I’ve tried. Time blocking by days so different activities happen at different times. Time blocking by week so different activities happen on different days. Trying to match my daily energy highs and lows with different tasks to be more efficient. Etc… What has been working for me best recently is to let go of the idea that each day or week is going to look and feel the same. So I’ve been spending time Sunday evening or Monday morning plotting out my week with daily to-do lists and then each morning planning out my days based on what needs to get done. For example: Mondays are usually a day that I need to finish up some chores, grocery shop, and run other errands to places I avoid on weekends. I also like to get a long hike in on Monday mornings. So I don’t put writing on my to-do list and just focus on getting other stuff off the list for the week. Then I have writing on my lists for Tues-Fri. Another example is that I don’t always work out at the same time every day. For hikes, I like to go earlier in the day when it isn’t too hot. But I prefer late afternoon neighborhood walks and midday for strength exercises. Just another example of how things that are best practice in general might not be best for specific people! My days aren’t all balanced with each other, but overall I feel that I’m working towards a more even existence.
  2. New back deck furniture – Well, it’s just one piece of new furniture but I rearranged everything into a configuration that is making me want to spend more time out back! When we first moved into this house the back deck was literally falling apart, so we knew it needed to be rebuilt. Tyler put in a lot of time and effort to design and build a gorgeous back deck that really extended our living space outdoors. We got some chairs and a table and he put in some built-in benches around a little fire pit, but it just didn’t feel like a place you wanted to spend time. So I made it a priority this summer to utilize the space more and figured out a solution to maximize our space with only purchasing one new item! I moved the dining table over to the benches and it fits perfectly with them as seating. Then I moved the fire pit to where the table was with the leftover chairs and purchased this outdoor couch. We ordered it from Lowe’s on sale but I’m not seeing it on their site anymore. It’s pretty spacious and the armrests can lower to provide even more bench seating if necessary! Since I set it up we’ve come out here almost every evening and I’ve been doing my daily planning and journaling out here. Mission accomplished!
  3. Garden updates – Last week I finally purchased all my little veggies plants and got them into the dirt. Since we have chickens we don’t plant in the ground, everything is in containers or a table height raised bed Tyler build a few years ago. We’ve already had to fashion a cage of sorts to keep the squirrels off the strawberry plant and I’m assuming we’ll do the same for the peppers and tomatoes eventually, but so far so good! We have spinach, kale, zucchini, cucumbers, jalapeños, bell peppers, two kinds of tomatoes, strawberries, mint, sage, basil, and rosemary! I might still get a few more herbs but for now I think we’ve covered the things we eat most in our house. Also, when we were buying the veggies I saw two little red and white columbines on the clearance shelf and bought them for $4 each. They’re in the ground and coming back to strength nicely. Excited about my ever growing flower collection in the front yard.
  4. Hiking – I found a new trail that might be my new favorite! It’s right up next to the mountains but still had a lot of open meadows space with wildflowers. I also like it because it’s a perfect length and incline to really make it a workout for me, but I can finish it in under 2 hours. I hiked it twice this week, once with my dog (Bama) and once alone. And I’m sure I’ll be going back more in the coming months!
  5. Journaling – Since last fall I’ve been journaling pretty consistently every day. Sure I miss a few days here and there, but the point isn’t perfection. I feel like this habit has really paid off this week as I’ve had some not-so-great feelings swimming around in my head. Just articulating what is bothering me and getting it out on paper has been so helpful! I also think, as a writer, that it helps to start every day getting words on paper, no matter what those words are. “Morning pages” are a thing I’ve learned about and fully support!

Thoughts on a Monday

~ kofriedery ~ Leave a comment

Happy Monday everyone. Sorry I haven’t been very consistent in posting this month. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster. There have been some really high Highs and some really low Lows. And a whole heap of self-reflection.

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, my grandmother passed away earlier this month. That, on top of a few other fairly serious medical issues in the family, made for a difficult year already. Paired with the fact that we passed the one year mark of Covid in the US…everything just has been feeling heavy. Then the shooting happened in Boulder last week, at a grocery store that my parents sometimes go to. The grocery store that I went to as a teenager because it was the closest to my high school. Where many of my parents’ friends and my friends’ parents live in the nearby neighborhoods.

So even though there have been really bright moments of joy in the last week (watching silly panda videos with my youngest nephew, skiing with the older two, lots of laughter around the dinner table with my whole family, more friends and family getting vaccinated) it didn’t feel appropriate or authentic to post about any of it last Friday.

I guess I’m writing today because I want to acknowledge that things get heavy. And even though it isn’t always the right move to put on a happy face in a public forum, there are still good things happening in the midst of the pain and sorrow. Even as Boulder is dealing with individual and collective heartbreak after last week’s events, it has been heartwarming at the same time to see my friends post memories of selling Girl Scout cookies at the King Soopers. To see community members come together in different ways to show their support and love.

Even though things aren’t always good, you can always find good things.

Friday Five Things – 3/19/21

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“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” – Margaret Atwood

I missed posting my Friday Five Things last Friday due to some personal stuff that came up. But I have still been finding joy in the little things. Hopefully you had some sunny moments in your week, both literal and figurative.

  • Spring weather in Colorado – For those who aren’t familiar, Colorado can have pretty extreme weather swings in March and April. So while the beginning of last week we had beautiful sunny weather with temps nearing 70 degrees and I was working in the yard, over the weekend we got almost 2 feet of snow at our house. Crazy! I kinda like it though. The snow was already half melted by Monday afternoon, but there’s another storm on the horizon for this weekend.
  • Journal prompts – A blogger I follow, Grace Atwood (thestripe.com) shared a link to 11 journal prompts to help you define your personal values. While I think I have a pretty good idea of those already, it’s been interesting to go through these prompts day by day and write about things I don’t usually think about. Check out the list here. So far I’ve discovered that I place a much higher value on things being ‘peaceful’ than I would have thought!
  • New caulk on my bathtub – For a few months I’ve been saying I need to recaulk my tub and I finally did it! I was mostly motivated by procrastination of other things I needed to do. But, once you strip off the old caulk there’s really no going back on the project! I’m proud of myself for doing that little home improvement project on my own and it looks nice and fresh!
  • A clean kitchen – I’ve been taking a few minutes every (well…most) nights to clean up my kitchen and ‘put it to bed’ before I put myself to bed. It started as a little stress reliever, both in terms of feeling productive and mitigating a messy sink in the morning. It has now become part of my nighttime routine that signals to my brain that the day is done. And I LOVE waking up to a clean kitchen with clear-ish countertops. We don’t have a big kitchen or a lot of space, so getting all the dirty dishes into the dishwasher or hand washed every night makes a huge difference.
  • And finally, my Neeno – My grandmother, my mom’s mom. She passed away last week after declining health and some physical setbacks. We never lived close by and in recently years I’ve only been able to see her a few times, the most recent being for my PawPaw’s memorial service in the summer of 2019. She was a smart, opinionated woman. She was so so creative and I think I get my love of storytelling from her. I remember she once wrote a short story about some stuffed animals and their friend Chester Drawers, which was what my uncle called a chest of drawers when he was little. She knitted numerous sweaters and hats and scarves over the years. I still have at least one sweater and a couple hats from her. She will be missed, but I believe she is at peace now and happily reunited with my PawPaw.