Let’s see… where was I?  Just busy.  I’m pretty immersed in business stuff right now, which isn’t really of interest.  We’ve been eating easy meals like the tomato soup with added pasta and I also had some frozen turkey burgers. I haven’t had those in so long and decided I don’t really like them that much. It’s way better to get ground turkey and make my own. Sometimes convenience pays off, sometimes it doesn’t.

My insomnia seems to have gotten a little worse lately. Waking earlier. Today I was up at 3:30 and when you don’t go to bed until 11:00, that’s just not enough sleep.  I need lots of coffee.

Maybe I should triple up on melatonin. My PCP had told me to double my dose and that seemed to help for a while. I’m getting in exercise every day as well. Sigh.

I have had my uber camera out working on product photos. I took some editorial shots and was pretty happy with how they came out.  Here is my set up – don’t laugh!

I didn’t use my light box because I wanted a background. The base is also extra cork floor boards from our kitchen remodel 😀

Out of many, many shots, I got one that I liked and it was just the soaps.

Here is the finished picture:

The colors really pop. I was holding a light over my shoulder in one hand and clicking the shutter with the other. I couldn’t find my remote shutter control, of course. It sure would be nice to hire someone for these. And I will never complain about photographer fees – they earn every penny. This stuff is hard to do, especially when you don’t really know what you’re doing!

Here’s hoping for a good night’s sleep tonight. I’m due for a crash and burn 🙂

February is almost over and winter seems to be making another appearance. However, the temperatures on Saturday were quite warm. There was rain forecast for the afternoon, so John and I suited up for a ride after breakfast.

Ah yes, washing my fleece tights with other clothing items and It’s lint city. Oh well 😀

The roads were a little drier than the other day and we decided to check out the path and see how it looked.  Oops

Started okay, but then got too sloppy to keep going. So, road riding it was. After about 9 miles or so, it seemed the wind was really starting to pick up. It was quite a head wind for a bit. That was the start of the cold front moving through and the rest of the day was soooo windy. Good thing we went out early or I would not have been a happy camper.  We ended up with about an hour of riding, which was pretty awesome!

Having a weekend day with no work and no projects meant getting out for the day. We went down to Saratoga and had lunch out. I don’t remember what restaurant closed, either TGI Fridays or Pizzeria Uno – some chain restaurant, whatever, but in it’s place went a Red Robin.

We haven’t been to one in years. We used to go somewhat regularly when we lived in Colorado and Illinois (I think?) It’s funny, I remember either the evening of our wedding or the day after, we had dinner at Red Robin. 20 years ago LOL! I seem to remember my hair being done up, but wearing regular clothes. Anyway, it hasn’t changed all that much. My favorite burger was still on the menu, the bleu burger:

This has steak sauce, blue cheese and little crispy onion strips on it. It was really good. John got a burger, but substituted a veggie patty and he was a happy camper with that.

The fries there are bottomless, but honestly they are just kind of meh. Certainly not on par with 5 Guys or BurgerFi, so no point in having more brought out. Not worth the calories. Also, the burger was really filling. It ended up being the only meal I ate the rest of the day!

We did stop for a treat later, though. A ginger cookie with lemon buttercream.

I guess this was dinner LOL. Seriously – I think this is my favorite cookie. It’s usually devoured on a long ride day. Of course, we only did an hour of biking and a few miles of walking. Not really enough to balance out the burger and the cookie, but the food was good.

We walked around downtown Saratoga and into some of the nearby neighborhoods. I love the architecture there. Actually, I love it all over our area. This is a group of buildings called Franklin Square. They are mid 19th century and Greek revival style.

Some of the buildings house offices and retail and others are just apartments.

They are quite impressive.  I just love looking at old buildings. Makes you wonder what stories they could tell.

Thinking about that burger I ate and how full it made me, portion sizes just are too big most of the time.  I have to share this ridiculous item I saw while grocery shopping this morning. These are muffin tins.

Jumbo muffin tins and they aren’t kidding. Look at how deep they are:

That’s a good 4 inches deep. That’s not a muffin. It’s pretty much mini cake size. A muffin that big would probably run 700-800 calories easy. Who needs one that big? I guess you could share, but if I want a muffin, I don’t want to share it LOL! I’d rather just have a smaller one.  Just when you think maybe people will be more conscious of portion sizes and this product comes out.

It sure doesn’t feel like February lately. We got all that snow around Valentine’s Day and now it has been very warm. Temps got into the 60s!

I’ve been working at paying more attention to my eating again after our Mardi Gras party. I just love food. That’s what makes it hard. Yes, I stress eat, but I also just really like food LOL!

Breakfast of cream of wheat with a mashed banana and eggs whites cooked in topped with PB&J.

450 calorie breakfast.

There are still some leftovers, particularly the red beans and rice.

This is one of those dishes where the leftovers are better than the original day.

On Thursday, it was just so nice that we had to get the bikes out. That meant uncoupling mine from the trainer and dragging it down the stairs. Of course, I am not going to put it back up there now, so it’s out to stay.

Normally the first ride of the year has a lot of starts and stops as you get the equipment (and yourself) going, but this ride was super smooth in that department.

The good thing about riding the trainer is that it keeps my sit bones conditioned for riding. It doesn’t help my hill and endurance legs, but at least there’s that.

The roads are pretty clear now. The shoulders are another story.

Some places there was snow in the shoulder or standing water. This road was dry, but the shoulder is covered in sandy grit, which can lead to flat tires as it works its way under the rims.

There were a lot of spots where the roads were quite wet with melting snow and we ended up getting a lot of spray. My bike (and my legs) were filthy after the ride.

That was on the front of my legs, too. Ick.  It was a great first ride, though. 12 miles. Woo Hoo! Not sure when the next ride will be, but can’t complain about getting out in February!

My garden has something peeping through the snow:

This area gets snow slide off the roof so this was really buried for a while. Can you feel spring coming?

The other thing with warmer weather is the bugs start waking up. I posted this on FB, but Pixie was having fun chasing a stink bug around.

Seriously – where do these things come from?

That warmup finally got over to us this weekend. Now the snow is starting to melt, although there is a lot still.  One thing when a lot of snow comes at once, people actually get out and clear their walks. When snow comes in dribs and drabs, walks don’t get shoveled. Then they melt and get icy and just are difficult to walk on.  After the last bunch of snow, people were out and clearing.  Much of our walks were like this:

Amazingly clear – unlike last winter. It was great to get out and do a lot of outdoor walking. I was so tempted to get my bike off the trainer and ride on Sunday, but there was a lot standing water in the shoulder from melt and the bike paths, of course, were not clear at all.  So walking it was. It feels so much like spring. It’s hard to believe we are still in February!

Both John and I  worked on Saturday and we punched out the last bit of things in my parents’ kitchen on Sunday. It was then our time to relax, have some coffee and do a little shopping! There was a warehouse sale at Peter Harris (one of my favorite shops for clothes). I got a pair of slacks for $2 and this coat for $20!

It’s dry clean only, which made me put the coat back at first, but then I decided I wanted it. Plus John liked it.  I don’t know how people take mirror selfies and show most of a whole outfit without looking like a dork.  

I think I was impulse shopping a bit. We stopped at Target so I could get some hangers and I came home with a lamp! I needed a lamp for my new desk since it’s in the corner. I’ve been poking around in a lot of places lately and not finding anything. Then stumbled on this lamp, which has 2 of my favorite elements – copper and marble!

Plus it has the pull cord, which is fun.  Don’t you love the top of this desk? I’m hoping I can restore the luster of it when I get to work on it…

It’s nice and bright. Now I can see to color in the evenings:

This is why a desk was needed. I sprawl and take up too much space with this stuff for it not have its own home. It can be left just like this, too, without getting in the way.

Monday we are having our Mardi Gras party. A little earlier than usual, but coordinating schedules and all that. So a little meal prep is in order for tonight.

Did you get out and enjoy any good weather this weekend?

Thank you for all the comments on my parents’ kitchen!  It was not a hard project. The hardest part was having to do it spaced out with a few hours here and a few hours there.

John and I were both up early this morning. I seem to have a 5:30 alarm in my head, no matter what time I go to bed. John also seems to have caught the insomnia bug, which I am sorry about. Insomnia sucks.

Getting up early does allow for making breakfasts that take longer.  John made up some protein muffins for us:

These were banana/chocolate chip. Super hot, too. We both burned our mouths!

I feel like I am slowly getting my footing taking over the scent business. It’s been so many years since I’ve really been involved and stuff has changed. It’s good to inject some fresh ideas, though.  I’ve also been really working at growing my soap business. I’m now working with a wholesale consultant group that has experience in my industry. That will be interesting. Go big or go home, right?  I’ll have to think about future employees and all that.

I have a wholesale trade show next month so production is in higher gear now. I sliced into some lavender soap and thought the pattern was quite fun:

I love flipping the mirror images next to each other. This looks like eyes or something, don’t you think?

John and I have a running joke about pink flamingos. I really want one, but John basically says divorce if I get one LOL!  So I saw these the other day and had to text him a picture.

These things were probably 4 feet tall. I want one 😀

Lastly, a picture of Ms Pixie.  She was sitting so very patiently waiting for me to clear my lap so she could be there.

Or maybe that isn’t a look of patience…  She is going to turn 10 next month, can you believe it?

Here’s hoping for a little warm up this weekend!

As you know, I have been really struggling with my computer.  It finally got to the point where I was unable to take a phone order since it wasn’t working properly. Can’t have that, so I broke down and got a new one. Well, it is a refurbished computer. I wasn’t really wanting to get a refurbished, but there is that whole budget thing. It was done by a Microsoft official refurbisher, which is a good thing. It’s a Dell Latitude and is quite the upgrade from my Lenovo.

Of course, I had problems setting it up from the get-go.  We couldn’t get it connected to the wi-fi in the house and we thought for sure it was defective, but it turns out the wi-fi switch on the side was turned off (derp). Now it works and tonight is going to be spent transferring my programs and files over.  The old computer was causing me too much stress, so this should be good. It’s got a lot of memory and platoons of storage space.

I have to say that my eating has been a bit all over the place lately. I’ve gained 2 pounds, so I have to get myself motivated to get back to basics. I have at least logged food every day, but sometimes not the whole day because I just get sidetracked.

Back to my usual breakfast blintzes

This time with applies instead of blueberries.

I need to sit and plan out the next day’s food. It’s a lot easier to eat when you can look up and see what is planned. Snacking is really the problem, and that has been a problem in the past as well, so it isn’t anything new. I tend to eat when I get stressed about stuff. It’s been my coping mechanism and I really don’t mind that it still is that way because now I am able to shut it off before it gets out of hand. Honestly, I doubt that stress eating is something I will ever be free of. Acknowledging that allows me to not feel bad about stress eating, which in turn makes it easier to stop.

Now it’s time to work on that new computer!

I have to be honest. This year I don’t care much about the Super Bowl. My Broncos aren’t in it and I am really tired of the Patriots.  Of course, that doesn’t stop us from having a get together 😀

.

Too much food, as usual ?

The game unfortunately ended poorly for the Falcons. Gahh!

—–

We are pretty close to wrapping up my parents’ kitchen. Just the last few details. I’m looking forward to having some down time. 

I finally broke out my coloring books again:

Coloring is very soothing to me. I need to buy a lamp so I can color at my new (old) desk at night.

This guy has come back around. We haven’t seen him in a while, so it was good to see.

He was really close to the house. I’ll be continuing to make our property a haven for birds and pollinators this year. Spring is coming soon, right?

I am still having computer issues. I  was able to get it up and running again after many hours, but there is obviously something wrong with it. The USB ports only work sometimes and when I try to transfer photos, it crashes. It also just randomly locks up and is really slow, even in safe mode. Not sure if it is worth trying to fix this computer or get a new one.

I’m doing this post on my phone again. Excuse the choppiness, but at least it’s something!

I had all these plans to do meal planning and getting other stuff done, but working, the computer issues and being at my parents’ house kind of put the kibosh on that. (Did I spell that right?)

I did get a project done earlier this week. I really wanted a chalkboard for my work area, so I picked up some of this:

I taped off a section of wall and painted:

2 coats. Next day I had a working chalkboard!

Fun stuff!

Later in the week, John left for a 4-day trip, so I spent the weekend tiling at my parents’ house. All the tile is up and it just needs grouting.

It’s turning out quite nice. My mom is happy with her choices, which is all that matters 😀

I’ll keep this short because typing on the phone is really annoying LOL!

Seems my computer is taking a break. It boots up, but I can’t do anything with it. I’m typing this post on my phone, which takes forever Lol. I don’t have any pictures to share since most of them are on the computer.

It’s a good opportunity for doing this again 

That’s the only photo on my phone that’s new ?

Hopefully it won’t take long to fix.