Currently (First Day of My Forties Edition)

Hello from this brand spanking new 40 year old. It’s my birthday, and it’s 2024. Whoa.

Just… whoa.

When I woke up this morning, my hair had moved itself into a side part, and I had three new zits. It’s like my body will always be a testament of my era. 

Now I’m working on making a schedule for all of my birthday freebies. I’ve already redeemed my free bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes (I’m going to eat it with my birthday dinner tonight). 

In addition to all that fascinating information, here’s the current scoop:

Reading: 

I’ve always been curious about how closely the show Virgin River follows the book series it’s based on. I grabbed the first book from the library the other day just to thumb through it a bit. It’s not really my kind of book, but I ended up reading it and enjoying it more than I expected. I saw that the second one was available on Libby, so I downloaded it and just started it. I’m not sure if I’ll read the whole thing or not. 

The verdict (for how closely the show follows the books): it’s about 50/50 - 50% true to the book and 50% creative liberties. It’s a really long series, so there are characters and plot lines that might turn up farther into the books, but I’m not planning on reading too far into the series. 

I will leave a word of caution that the books have a lot of descriptive sexual content, and I didn’t expect that based on the show. So I don’t really recommend them.

Sick of: Christmas food

Cooking: freezer meals. We’re eating from the freezer this week - tacos, lasagna, chicken noodle soup, pot roast, and sloppy joes.

Suffering from: a lingering cough. Number me among those who have been coughing since October.

Wearing: joggers that I cut off into shorts, and a Star Wars-esque shirt that says “May the Lord be With You.”

Embarrassed by: my double (triple?) chin and my never-ending bout of adult acne.

Happy about: the lack of snow in the valley. Other than the yucky air and potential for a drought. I am loving not having to deal with snow. 

Feeling: a little bit like I’m 40. I know there are a lot of upcoming age-related changes to deal with, so I’m trying to enjoy what I got while I got it, but dang. This body is aging. 

Saying: “I’ll be in the van.”

Listening to:

I have about two hours left. I was really excited to see what I think of this book because among my inner circle, there are very mixed opinions.

I can tell you one thing - this book makes me never want to write a book.

Also… this book has a lot of language, so I’m really not doing well at finding “clean” books. 

Buying: gas and food… and then more gas… and more food… but to break it up a bit, I got two new crock pots from DI last week. I didn’t intend to get two, but I bought one from the West Valley location, and then I went to the West Jordan location, and there was a crock pot with a divided insert for $5, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to own a thrifted crock pot that will allow me to serve two hot dips at once. I celebrated by taking queso and chili cream cheese dip to game night on Saturday. That was five dollars well spent!

Smelling: tacos. We had them for dinner last night, and the smell is lingering. It’s gross when you’re several hours past tacos.

Playing:

I did not care for our first play through, so we’ll see if it redeems itself at a later date. I’m willing to give it another chance, but it didn’t win me over.

Craving: a foot rub.

Thinking about: Flonase. For some reason, doctors are always talking to me about Flonase as if it’s a miraculous solution to every problem. I’ve had multiple doctors recommend it to me for my ears. No, not to squirt into my ears! I’m supposed to squirt it in my nose, like a normal person, and it’s supposed to help dry up the fluid that’s in my ears (I get extra validation from my doctors if I squirt it in my nose and then lay on my side for a few minutes, but who has time for that?) I’ve also had Flonase recommended for allergies and post nasal drip both in myself and in my kids, but I’m just not that impressed with Flonase. I use it because it’s so frequently recommended for what ails me, but I don’t notice any difference. 

Procrastinating: taking Zoe and Eva to the dentist for a round of serial extractions. 

Watching: 

This show is infuriating. It doesn’t help that I’m not a Joshua Jackson fan to begin with, and he plays a horrible, detestable doctor.

(If you’re curious if I’ve ever listened to the podcast this show is based on - I have not).

And as usual, I don’t recommend it due to sex and language. Just your annual reminder to not use me as a resource for wholesome books or shows. I’m sorry (but I always try to share my recommendations for clean entertainment when I do find it). 

I’ll never be able to have surgery now.

Needing: to drink more water. I’m quite dehydrated after my irresponsible December soda intake. 

Trying: to not set any New Year goals. It’s really hard for me not to. It’s just my nature. So I keep coming up with all these grand ideas, and then I want to write them on a list, and I have to go, “No, Britt! We are not doing that this year! We are just going to… be.” But then my inner voice says, “We don’t have to call them ‘goals.’ We could just make a ‘bucket list.’” “No! That’s goals!” And the whole exchange is very Gollum/Smeagol and OHMYGOSH this is where Zoe gets it from, isn’t it?

Huh.

Singing: “Shut Up and Dance.”

Building:

Another thrift store success! 

I haven’t finished a puzzle since March, so I’m quite out of practice!