Life: It Goes On - January 20

Early this past week, we started hearing about a snow storm coming. We might have gotten anywhere from 2 to 7 inches of snow. Instead we got ice while we worked Friday. My office closed early for only the third time ever. The president of the company was out salting the sidewalks as we left; the third in command was escorting women through the parking lot to their cars (great company, right?!). Kudos to the city crews - they had so well prepped the roads and kept them up that, until I reached my neighborhood, the streets were only wet. The best part of all of that? For a change, I didn't panic, I didn't worry. I accepted that I was not in control of what the weather would do and that I would just have to go with whatever Mother Nature gave us. 2019 me might turn out to be great!

Last Week I:

Listened To: I finished Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between The World and Me. Still working on Elaine Weiss' The Woman's Hour; hope to finish it by Thursday.

Watched: Westworld, Point Break with Keanu Reeves, The Post with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, and, of course,  football.

Read: The Water Cure by Sophie MacIntosh. Today I'll start In This Ground for a TLC Book Tour.

Made: The Big Guy grilled steaks one night and pork chops another, we baked yams and made smashed potatoes, I turned the leftover potatoes into baked potato soup, and Friday I made two of Miss H's favorites, goulash and rice pudding. Today I'll bake bread and, maybe, finally actually cook something in the Instant Pot I got for Christmas. I finally worked up the courage to test it today so I understand how it works.

Enjoyed: Finally finishing up my CD project. I'm pretty stoked to have gotten more than 300 CDs into two binders! Today I'll be able to move record albums, which have been living in my office for several years, back into the entertainment center. Two empty shelves in my house from that project. And another in my closet after I Marie Kondo'd my clothes! You know I go through my clothes regularly so you can imagine my surprise to find that, by sorting using her tips, I got rid of four kitchen garbage bags of stuff.

This Week I’m: 

Planning: On getting some furniture painting done this week. Miss H found a desk she wanted to redo for a dressing table. We bought it for her for a birthday present and I will get it reworked for her, along with a mirror. While I'm at it, I've got an end table and a stool I want to paint. 

Thinking About: Tackling the books. There's no way I'm dropping down to Kondo's suggestion of only keeping 30 books (and, again, I go through them regularly), but I do feel like I at least need to get them reorganized.

Feeling: So happy with my new prints from See-Nile Photography. I've got a frame in my kitchen that I've decided will have a revolving series of prints in it and these will work for winter, with just enough color to remind me that spring is coming.

Looking forward to: Seeing the Keira Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice in the theater tonight, a rescheduled book club meeting, and BG's birthday celebration next weekend. 

Question of the week: I'm still wrestling with my "One Word" for 2019. Do you pick a word for the new year? If so, how have you done with staying with it through the year?