World's Worst Blogger

I am officially the world's worst blogger. Life has just been really busy, and time flies. Since I last wrote, I have basically finished up my dissertation. I just need to format things and proofread for typos and other mistakes. I will probably turn it in to my chair in about a month, and I should be finished completely shortly thereafter as long as my committee doesn't want me to make a bunch of changes. Dan ran all my statistics for me, so I will need him to explain everything to me before I defend, but it shouldn't be too hard because I have a pretty good idea of what is going on. I am pretty excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel :)

In about the middle of January, we started tearing into our floors, and I am happy to say that after a couple months of mess, my house is pretty well back to normal. We have a couple of closets to do, and Dan has to reinstall the quarter round around the baseboards, but those are minor projects. I also need to paint most of the house, but we decided to wait until fall. I want to enjoy the summer and not be fixated on home improvements, and Dan worked so hard that he really deserves a break. Since I am permanently remote, I decided to turn the room that was the bird room before Ben moved out into my office, and it turned out really nice. I painted the walls a neutral beige color and it made the room warm and inviting. I bought a couple of bookshelves and a printer cabinet, which make it feel like an office. Now I just need to hang up a couple of pictures and I will be finished.

After almost three years of living in Alabama, Dan and I finally found our gumption and got back on the WFPB wagon for good. We had so many false starts over the years. The only advantage to the false starts is that I didn't let myself completely go, but I never could make it past a month or so before I caved and we went out for Mexican food and margaritas. My last margarita was on February 19^th, which was my year anniversary back to work. The next day, I started eating healthy and I never looked back. Once I realized that I was in this for life, I decided to sign up for a holistic nutritionist certificate program, and I started last week. I probably should have waited until I am finished with the dissertation, but I have six months to finish it, and because I care about it, I shouldn't have any trouble keeping myself motivated. I have been coaching my supervisor. She finally decided that keto wasn't working for her, which was my opportunity to tell her about WFPB eating. She was desperate enough to try it because of some health issues, and she is completely ecstatic about the results so far. She thought she would add a little meat back into her diet after about three weeks, but she is feeling so good that she has no desire to eat it now. I am so stinking proud of her. I do whatever I can to encourage her, and I think she really appreciates it. It has definitely helped us bond further, too.

Aside from all that excitement, I have three pieces of recent news. Two are not that exciting, but I am pretty excited about one of them. First, I got my COVID vaccine last week. I got the J&J vaccine just before the paused its administration. I am not too concerned about adverse side effects. Aside from feeling dizzy right after I got it, I had no pain in my arm and no illness. My kids got the Pfizer vaccine yesterday and they both felt a little rough today, but I think they are feeling better now. Second, on Wednesday we drove to Pensacola and watched a hockey game. I went to a couple of hockey games about 25 years ago, and I forgot how much fun they are. I will definitely go see more games next season. Finally, at the beginning of May, I will be adding a new addition to my little family.

At work we have a message board, and a lady posted that she has six kittens that need homes. April has been wanting to add a new female kitten to her home, so I sent her the lady's contact information and she sent an inquiry, but she didn't get a response, so today I reached out to the lady and they started texting back and forth. April sent me some updated pictures that she got, and I fell in love with this little girl. I asked Dan if I could get her and he finally relented, lol. We may get to go meet them on Sunday afternoon. I haven't settled on a name yet, but on my short list is Charlotte (Charleigh for short), Olivia (Livvy), and Theadora (Teddy). I was also considering Delilah, Dinah, Bella, Chloe, Kiki, and Thomasina. Maybe when I see her, I'll just know what her name is. Right now, her name is "Eclair." :D

Well, that is about all I have for now. With my track record, I'll just say that I will see you all again in about six months, lol.