Now that the holidays are finally done and dusted, turn on your favorite Spotify playlist, and let’s get back on track. Happy New Year!

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Hi, Again, Dear Readers:

Mail carriers, UPS drivers, and others who deliver packages are glad that the holidays are over and we can all get back to our normal lives. I thought I’d drop in and do a quick blog post to say Happy New Year! Because the last year wasn’t all that great, and neither were a couple of others.

I’m almost finished with the second blog on the rest of our Houston trip. . .in 2022. Now it’s 2024, I just need to upload it and install the pictures, which are minimal in this blog.

In With The New. . . .

Don’t give me that “New Year, New You” stuff. It implies that there is something wrong with the current or old you. Unless there is something badly wrong, you don’t need to “fix” anything, just make some adjustments to get what you want. Admittedly, that comment sells a lot of products to the American public, doesn’t it?

Yes, it’s 2024, and there are all kinds of things to help you with your “New Year’s Resolutions!” That would not be me, of course. If you want to clean up your diet, which is always a good thing, I’m always going to try and find (and make) healthy food for us. Sometimes you’re out or on vacation and that goes by the wayside.

Most of us know that resolutions usually last from one to six weeks into the new year. Few people actually accomplish them as intended. But it’s not for lack of trying for a few days. Real life comes back with a vengeance and throws the proverbial bucket of cold water at you. Then, that new routine you’d planned just doesn’t fit. Or whatever goes wrong. Been there, done that, as we all have.

Reading And Exercise Are Fundamental

One of my actual real resolutions is to read more this year. I have a couple dozen books stacked on my coffee table that I want to get through. Included is Suzanne Somers’s last book, A New Way To Age. I bought it and several more recently after watching AWAI’s annual Copywriting Bootcamp. These were books either referenced or written by the speakers. I have others I’ve bought elsewhere, and they’re all mostly business books. I also want to go back and watch the replays of several of the sessions.

During a recent power outage, I managed to finish reading two books that I’d already started. They weren’t terribly long reads. The first was one for copywriters and their clients by Kim Krause Schwalm, and one was on ChatGPT, which I’m still learning. But I want to make sure these books don’t just collect dust, I need to know what’s inside all of them.

It’s also a good time to get back on my previous resolution, the Sunny Row & Ride #077, which happens to be under $100 at the moment.

It’s a great piece of equipment. . .when I use it. (Source: Sunny Health & Fitness website.)

I’m not saying you need a Row & Ride. (They actually have three versions of it now.) I wanted one for myself after seeing a commercial for something more expensive, and I’m glad I bought mine. Sunny Health & Fitness is a good company, too, and has its own YouTube Channel with free workouts that don’t all require equipment.

Getting Fit Isn’t Expensive

You do not need to join a gym or spend too much money. Remember:

• If you have a bike, you can ride it, even in the house with a bike trainer stand in front of your TV. Mine came from eBay several years ago.
• If you can move and have sidewalks or other available safe amenities in the area, you can walk.
• If you can’t walk, or have limited mobility, even light weights are good for strength training.
  • An inexpensive bike pedal exerciser is also great for getting movement. Walmart has these too. 
• YouTube has millions of exercise videos for every level of fitness, most for free, just find what works for you. From gentle yoga to the most difficult weight and kettlebell workouts, it’s available 24/7 at the touch of a button. Pick one and start. Don’t like it? Find another one and save it–the choices are endless.
• Your local public library likely has exercise videos you can borrow for free to see what you like, whether it’s yoga, Pilates, weightlifting, kettlebells, or anything else. This is especially true of the Freeman Library in Clear Lake, where they can get you seemingly endless things on VHS, DVD, and on-demand online. For many libraries, you can request them online and pick them up at the counter.

Amazon is the perfect place to research something you’re thinking about with info from both the manufacturer and people who bought it, even if you don’t buy it there. Furthermore, you may find something equal to the thing you’re considering but a less expensive model. That’s how I came across the Row & Ride. Heck, Five Below has plastic push-up stands for $5 right now, just like these from Amazon for $10.

Just make sure you don’t buy something with which to hurt yourself. Self-inflicted injuries are not a great way to start your new year.

Buy Sustainable, Buy Used

If you want a new exercise bike or other fitness equipment but don’t have a big budget, check out Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, (exercise care with these, and don’t pay in advance) eBay, or local thrift stores run by nonprofits.

People buy things with the best of intentions, and after dusting them multiple times, eventually want them out of the house. Some have been used once or twice, just like sewing machines. Now’s a great time to score something for less than you’d pay retail for new, and help someone clear out their space or who needs a little post-holiday cash. Use Amazon as a research site and go from there.

Sitting too much and being sedentary just isn’t good, because one day moving might not happen anymore. I was told that a long time ago by a lady right after her knee replacement.

Motion Before Motivation

Sometimes you’ll hear someone say, “I’m trying to get motivated.” Or someone is just sitting and waiting for the motivation to come to them like this woman waiting forever for divine intervention. Well, you could be waiting for years for that or to get motivated to do something. I have a suggestion: just get started and the motivation will come to you.

How I know this is a self-help book I need to re-read myself: Motion Before Motivation by Michael Dolpies. Someone mentioned it one day in a Facebook group for copywriters, and I bought the book on February 2, 2016. (Thank you, Amazon for that bit of data.) Get started doing it, whatever it is, and the motivation will come. That’s the theme, although there’s a little more to it than that. Just pulled it from my bookshelf and will be adding it to the coffee table stacks.

If I had one of those fancy, expensive Peloton bikes with a book rack on it, I might be reading it on that. Truth to tell, you can find an exercise bike for much less—even Aldi has a foldable one for under $75.

Our Holiday Week

We’re still here and getting on each other’s nerves, as I like to tell people. For Christmas, I made BF some comfy pajamas out of a modal knit I found at Girl Charlee Fabrics called Unimpressed Bear:

They came out great, and he loves them.

They’re warm and comfortable, although I need to take the pants up a little for him. When I saw the fabric in July, I knew it would become pajamas for him, because he hates cold weather. It didn’t last long–right after I bought some, it sold out completely.

Otherwise, our holiday period wasn’t always joyous. Many things went sideways, and I ended up throwing in the towel Christmas Day on cooking after two finger cuts, a burn, and a hard nibble from TigerCat, aka, furry little terrorist.

TigerCat And Broccoli Stir-Fry

There she is, a little puddle of fluffy orange fur.

Twice, this orange beast walked outside on her own for a grand adventure. 

Isn’t she so cute? She’s small and fast, too. I was hoping the open window would get her back inside.

The first time she stayed out all day, roaming the property like the Norwegian Forest cat that she is, with Broccoli Stirfry keeping a close eye.

BF was going to try and catch her when he got home. He texted me when he was leaving work, and asked me to bring the dog inside. When I did that, she walked back into the house with the dog like she was returning home from work.

Yesterday, she slipped out unnoticed while I was dealing with the dog. When she discovered it was cold, about 32 degrees, she loudly howled at BF to be allowed back inside. We think she was outside two or three hours before he found her on the patio.

Back To Cooking

Anyway, BF finished the Christmas Day cooking, and we ate that afternoon. I didn’t bake any cookies this year, either. Plans for a keto copycat version of Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars also didn’t happen. I may do that next week because I have everything I need, including the Sugar-Free Dried Cranberries that I made in the Dash dehydrator.

You can do this yourself, the recipe explains how, either in the oven or the dehydrator.

And I didn’t get a real CBB because three different Starbucks stores I visited said they sold out of them very quickly long before Christmas.

Blog post on this one of these days too.

Dash’s entire website is 20% off sitewide through the 7^th if you’re interested in one of these or any of their other little appliances (code “NEWYEAR.”)

Our New Year’s Eve involved some cocktails (he had no alcohol), some delicious cheeses, and crackers in front of the TV. But that’s OK, too, we had some nice quality time on New Year’s Eve, and we both enjoyed our cocktails. Need to find more drinks like that.

Out With The Old. . . .

Everything changes, yes? Sometimes it happens in the new year, sometimes it just happens.

I mentioned that we had guests for Thanksgiving, following a visit in July. Both times it was someone from Houston I know for a long time. Well, they won’t be returning, like, ever, nor appearing in this blog again.

On New Year’s Day, I received a text message from Miss Alice, visiting relatives in Florida, telling me that she did not want to continue our friendship. Like she was canceling a Netflix subscription. I said, “OK, Good luck” and proceeded to ensure that she would not see me on social media or my phone number again. Didn’t think fast enough to say “Bye, Felicia.” She’s not on the blog email list, and I removed her email from the back end of the site. However, there’s no stopping anyone from locating and reading the website and blog on the open web. Not that I care, really, and I doubt that will happen. Good luck, God bless ya.

BF has been very supportive since we saw this stunning text. Conversations with The E Man and nearby friends J&B reminded me that I do have friends like them, plus Rafael, Aunt Ruth, Aunt Kathy, and so many others. YouTube videos by funnyman Jeff Dunham also helped.

One thing I’m thinking about in the new year is to either start a new blog or a podcast and call it, “What The Hell Is Wrong With You People?” BF and I read and hear so many stories about people who may not qualify for the Darwin Awards but show that they could indeed be in the running. Finding one person to highlight for a weekly podcast would not be difficult, just read the news. I’ve already downloaded podcasting software and tested it, so don’t tempt me.

It’s Coming, Honest

The pictures are what will take the longest to finish up the blog on our trip. I hope you’ll see it as worth the wait.

Meantime, we go forward in the new year because there’s no going back, not yet. If there was, I’d be heading back to my 16^th birthday with some serious warnings to my younger self.

Happy New Year!!