Planner Panic

Yeah.

I thought I had my 2027 planner system all figured out. My Traveler's Size planner arrived, the paper was beautiful, and I loved it and then I started adding information to the blank pages in back.

Suddenly, the book felt a little narrow for the additional details I wanted to keep track of in the book. Not the number of pages, the size of the pages.

This is my writing nuts and bolts planner. I was already sizing up from a Pocket to a Traveler's size. How much more room do I need?

First, I am straining at the seams on the Pocket planner that I need to get through 2026 with. I honestly am searching for space in the layout every day now as I use it for more and more things. It was fine until August. Since August, when I added the Inbox feature, it's been way too small.

Second, I can see me straining at the seams on the N1 before the end of 2027, too. If I can already feel pinched just setting it up?

So I panicked. I bought a larger planner. An A5, which is the same height as the Traveler's, but considerably wider.

And then later that night, I found another planner I wanted to test drive. I won't, though, not in 2027. With the A5 ordered, I'm already one planner over what I need. I don't need to have two extra planners. But it's on my 2028 list and I signed up for their newsletter so I'll know when the 2028 version goes on sale.

The A5 should have enough space. It should all be fine.

I hope. 

Exciting Adulthood

Being an adult can be so weird.

For example, air drying clothes.

I had a few things that either weren't supposed to go into the dryer or I didn't want to put in the dryer, but I didn't think about buying a drying rack.

Not until someone was showing a built in drying rack in their laundry room.

And I was like, yes! I want this! Until I considered how small my laundry room is and how there is no space for this drying rack. And then I added another drawback. I'd have to find someone to install it.

But it got me searching for drying racks for clothes.  

I found one that folds up for easy storage and also expands or contracts. It was actually sad how excited I was when it arrived on my front door, but it meant no draping clothes over the side of my tub because I don't want them to shrink in the dryer.

It was tempting to wash clothes early to try it, but I didn't. Then--finally--laundry day!

And my final verdict? It has less room than I thought it would even with it fully expanded, but it worked well enough for what I needed and I can drape a T-shirt on one set of lower rods, so I'm not limited to just the upper rods.

It was okay. It did what I needed it to do--keep clothes off the side my bathtub--and while it wasn't as big as I hoped, it fit enough.

Seriously? Being an adult is so weird. Who gets excited over a drying rack? (Me, that's who.) 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it!

The Search Continues?

Nothing in this post is sponsored. Just me, whining about my quest for running shoes that I like. 

The shoes in this picture to the left were the best shoes ever. I still mourn the fact that they were discontinued. And I had no warning so I couldn't buy up every pair I could find in my size before they were gone forever.

Next, I switched to the Adrenaline 22, which had a higher drop instead of the four millimeter drop of my favorite shoe, but I grew to love these, too.

And then I needed to replace them and instead of an awesome shoe that I loved, the soles were marshmallows! Too soft, too bouncy, too everything I couldn't tolerate.

I kept hoping they'd abandon the marshmallow foam, but apparently that's what's selling, so of course they won't.

So my search for a new shoe had been ongoing. Actually, it's been ongoing since the PureFlow was deleted from the company's lineup. I tried 4mm drop shoes from another manufacturer, but the interior was so rough and scratchy that I hated them.

After I lost the Adrenalines, I tried other brands with a similar drop, but they were all either rough or marshmallow and I was sad.

I finally settled into the ASICS Cumulus 27. They're fine. They're comfortable, but the heel flares out and I worry about catching it on a vine or twig or my accelerator while I'm driving.

Then something strange happened. Woot had Adrenaline 23s in one of their emails. Why is this strange? Because I haven't opened a Woot email in about forever. But for some reason, I opened this one. Even stranger? I have big feet, and in running shoes, I size up. They only had two sizes available in the Adrenaline 23s and one of those sizes was mine!

Whoa, baby!

Adrenaline 23 was the last version of the shoe before Brooks put in the marshmallow foam. The last version of this shoe that I will like was available in my size! I bought two pairs immediately. One in some navy blue adjacent color and the other in orchid, which is a pink/purple kind of mix. There was a third color available in my size, but it was orange and I have an aversion to orange. Long story. Off topic.

But my quest for a replacement shoe didn't stop with the Woot treasure. (Another two days until they arrive.) I found a new-to-me brand. Altra Running. Their Escalante 5. It has no drop. I've never had a running shoe with zero drop before, but low drops are better for your knees. I just ordered them literally minutes ago and I already cannot wait to get them!

Keep your fingers crossed for me that I have found my PureFlow replacement.

After years wearing the higher drop of the Adrenaline and now the Cumulus, I will have to work my way into zero drop because apparently it can cause calf and Achilles issues to go from the Adrenaline drop to zero drop, so I'll take my time.

I'm very picky about my running shoes. So picky. I'm expecting to be disappointed with my new find, but hoping for the best. At least I found a coupon and even better? Altra has a 30 day trial period where you can actually wear them for a workout and don't have to return them in pristine condition, so this will give me a good shot at figuring out whether or not they'll work for me.

I'm so excited. And also braced for disappointment. 

I Hate Cooking

I cooked.

Not my meal delivery service, which delivers all my ingredients pre-measured for me. Actually cooked.

I hated it. Every minute.

My meal delivery service had a week where there weren't three meals I wanted to order. The last time this happened, I ordered six meals the previous week and then put half of them in the freezer, but I didn't want to do that again. I decided it can't be that much harder to cook on my own, right?
Wrong.

I picked three recipes. Two were recipes from the meal delivery service that I'd made before (successfully) and one was a recipe that my dad used to make. It's a stew. If I buy everything pre-chopped at the grocery store, it can't be that hard.

OMG! I did have to slice jalapeno peppers for one of the meal delivery service recipes. I washed my hands twice afterward, but two fingers were still burning. I had to take dish soap and wash my hands with that to make it stop.

Second problem. Measuring. I needed two ounces of cheese for one recipe, but they don't sell two ounce bags of shredded mozzarella. Another recipe wanted one ounce of cheddar cheese. Don't even get me started about both recipes asking for small amounts of cream cheese.

Let's just say that the patience it takes to measure is not something I excel at. When I had a chemistry class in middle school, the teacher asked what experiment I was performing because my measurements were weird. Hey, close is good enough. Not for him, though.

These were the two easier recipes. I finally got them both finished and into the fridge. I cook all the meals for the week on one day because I am not putting myself through hell multiple nights.

Then it was onto the recipe my dad used to make.

It's on the stove, not the oven like the other two recipes. I hate the stove. It's gas. I don't like cooking with gas. Gas terrifies me.

I heated up the olive oil like the recipe said, added the meat, got spattered by grease, jerked my arm back, which meant meat landed on the floor. Guess it was too hot? I also got a burn on the inside of my forearm. Yea, cooking! Who doesn't love this?

The rest went better. At least I didn't injure myself again. The recipe didn't turn out as good as when my dad made it, but he cooked with love. I cook with irritation.

It also made one thing clear to me. Meal delivery service for the win. Having them send me everything I need in the pre-measured amounts is worth it. It's going to be a hell of a long time before I try cooking on my own again. Plus, all the leftover cheese and cream cheese. Sigh.