Weekly Mileage #196 and Christmas 2020

I kinda feel like this tree with all its tentacles is 2020

Monday the kids got to decorate their gingerbread trees. We did this last year and it was such a hit that it'll be an annual thing. Last year I helped Ocean frost his cone, but this year he did it all himself.

he decided he needed to add more after he'd finished

Honestly, this is the perfect activity: the kids can do it themselves, it doesn't need lots and lots of candy, it takes just long enough to finish before they lose interest, and they can eat them when they're done without having a huge sugar crash.

After the kids went to bed, I wrapped most of the presents. It still takes longer than I think it should, and I stayed up later than I'd planned.

Despite the lack of sleep, Tuesday morning Max and I went for a trail run and worked some hills into the mix. It was cold, but not super cold. Unfortunately, later in the day I started feeling a little off. 

some beeswax candles I ordered

this nativity is also made of beeswax, with cinnamon mixed in to give it an antique look- it smells so good!

Wednesday I didn't go for a run. For the first time in almost a year I feel like I'm fighting a cold. The late night + the cold air in my lungs (which is always dicey) + germs from shopping on Monday?

My boxes of tool kits arrived from China finally! They were delayed a week or two because of the high volume of holiday shipping, but they weren't super late.

Thursday I didn't go for a run again. I was feeling better, but still a bit off, plus it was raining the entire day. A little sick plus running in cold rain and getting soaked would make me a lot sick.

I took it easy. I made frog eye salad and some treats, but didn't work downstairs and only had my computer open for recipes. It was a nice break.

Friday was Christmas. I thought about taking Max for a run before we opened presents, but the boys wanted to open presents and the temperature was supposed to drop throughout the day, making anything still wet from Thursday's rain an icy mess. So I decided it was better to just stay home.

I don't usually do matchy-matchy pjs for everyone, but I was able to find a line that had the right sizes for everyone, including a bandana for Max. The boys (including Jeremy) got onesies, and Sunshine and I got pants and t-shirts. I erred on the side of too big for Jeremy's onesie, and it's a tent on him. Oops!

photobomber!

After we opened presents and while the kiddos were busy playing with their new toys, I spent a little time unpacking my tool kits. Half of them arrived with damaged carrying cases (the plastic boxes with hinges and latches), and I need to inventory all of them to see if they have all the pieces they're supposed to, since they ended up floating around in the cardboard boxes. I need to prep a list to go back to the company with- in addition to the damage and potentially missing pieces, I ordered 50 kits, but only received 49. I'm really glad I didn't start with a larger order. I'd much rather work out the bugs on a smaller order.

We got a couple snowflakes on Christmas day! That's the closest we've gotten to a white Christmas the entire time we've lived here. Some areas did get enough to cover the ground, but not at our house.

Saturday I finally took Max for another run. It was below freezing, so we ran on frozen mud on the trails. If it had been warmer, we would have had to run on the paved path- the trails were still pretty wet from Thursday's soaking.

pretty normal for us: me with fogged up glasses, Max staring intently at something in the distance

so cool when the water in the ground freezes and pushes up like this

Max: are we going to stand here all morning, taking pictures, or are we going to go already?

After our run, I spent some time reworking the kitchen door gate. It's still not where I want it to be, but it's better (ie, more sturdy) than it was. But I just used scrap wood we have on hand, so it's kind of ugly, and it won't hold the hinge bolts, so it's just temporary.

I got thoroughly chilled in the cold and wind since I was working without a hat and jacket. Silly me. I definitely felt worse on Sunday.

During our YW lesson about testimonies and growing them, the teacher made a comment about people losing their testimonies, then asked the girls how we can strengthen and grow our testimonies so we won't lose them. Before the lesson I'd spoken a bit about the 2021 youth theme and some of the challenges they'd faced this past year. Between the two, I got to thinking about the challenges we face and whether we allow them to strengthen our testimony, or to tear it down. It can go either way.

I've been spending time on my Biomat every evening, and I think that has helped ward off whatever bug has been trying to take hold. It hasn't gotten rid of it completely, but it also never fully developed into a full blown cold.

Weekly Mileage

Monday- 1.90 miles run and hiked

Tuesday- 2.95 miles run and hiked

Saturday- 2.01 miles run and hiked

total- 6.86 miles

2020 totals

70 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

273.05 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
310.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
605.55 miles total

Sunday Funny

On Thanksgiving, I had the kiddos push cloves into oranges to make pomanders. Ocean needed help, but River and Sunshine did fine.

Unfortunately, the boys didn't quite understand the project. They thought they got to eat the oranges after they finished, instead of letting them sit out and dry. It took a day or two to convince Ocean that it was no longer edible. I'm pretty sure they feel that this project was a waste of good oranges :)

I wanted some pictures of them with their oranges (though the one of Sunshine seems to have disappeared), and this is what River gave me, in the order they were taken.

Weekly Mileage #195 and an Acrylic Project

detail of the etching

Monday was cold and rainy. I had planned on taking Max for a run, but decided not to. I enjoyed staying in bed a little longer, then got going on tasks for the day. 

I engraved a cutting board, then figured out how to buy shipping labels for two packages through my site. This took longer than I wanted, but it was good to play around with the backend and see that I actually need to set up my shipping settings better. 

Playing with engraving settings also took awhile, then I did a full test engrave on a tester cutting board, which is when I found out that the full engrave takes an hour. I still had the final engrave on the nice cutting board, which took another hour. Since the engraving took a lot longer than I anticipated, I didn't make it to the UPS store until after 5, but they were still open, so still a win. 

After dinner I finished uploading and editing past posts and am finally caught up. I need to stay a little more on top of things- I ended up losing mileage data for two weeks because I wasn't pulling it off my Garmin for the posts. Everything else was ok (I jot notes about each day on a daily basis), just that data was missing.

frozen puddle on our run

Tuesday I went for a cold trail run with Max. It was below freezing, but the soggy trails were already thawing out, so it's good we didn't go any later in the day. I'm sure they were pretty muddy by afternoon.

After music lessons and speech therapy I did the grocery shopping I didn't have time for on Monday since the cutting board took so long.

That evening I cut up oranges, lemons, and apples with the boys and put them in the dehydrator to make a dried fruit garland.

Wednesday we woke up to wet, icy conditions, which ditched my plans to run before the snow started. I had no desire to drive on icy roads. We ended up with a very wet, icy snow/sleet mix that day. The forecast called for 2-4",  but I think we only got about 1/2".

Max thought the snow was great

as did the boys, of course

River insisted on strapping on his snowshoes (Christmas present last year) and heading outside. He didn't care that the snow wasn't deep enough and was way too wet, he wanted to try them out!

After my accountability call, I worked on my course. I'm still finalizing projects and steps for the tutorials I need to write up. As I work on those, I'm making sure the tools are correct and materials are correct.

leather for the projects

Thursday we still had icy conditions. The roads were fine, but the ground was slushy and icy and not great for running on. I worked some more on the course projects, refining the order of instructions and other details.

We did get a little bit more snow during the night, but not much.

Ocean had a blast playing in the melting snow and making a mess, as he does. 

Our YW activity that night was to make salt dough ornaments via zoom, which was pretty fun, all things considered. I used wheat flour since gluten free flour is too expensive to be using in salt dough ornaments, but it made me a bit paranoid about touching anything, like my computer. 

Friday I finally sorted the boys clothes. They've been wearing shorts that needed to be put away till warmer weather returns and they've also been wearing pants that were too small. They just keep growing!

I finally got a non-blurry picture of Max!

I also worked on a custom notebook cover. I totally forgot that I had agreed to do it and it needed to be delivered the next morning. It was a pretty straightforward order, so I was able to get it done in plenty of time.

Saturday morning I went for a run with Max after handing off the notebook cover. The buyer was a nice guy who's made an effort to buy gifts from local makers this year, and he was heading out of town that day, which is why I needed to hand it off that morning.

There was still a little snow on the ground, as well as some frost.

That afternoon I worked on acrylic designs for light covers for my sister. I had a little bit of a learning curve while trying to cut them so they'd jigsaw together, but I got it to work. Eight designs took most of the day. The prep work on the images to get them ready to cut, then cutting each design twice- first from colored acrylic, then from clear acrylic. A couple also had a third cut from a different colored acrylic. And the clear acrylic sheets had to be cut down into four pieces before the shapes could be cut out of them. Time consuming, but not super difficult. Eventually I'll do three more of each design, but after a couple more tweaks I'll send these ones out to her to make sure they fit properly on her lights and look good.

My two favorites (with their paper backing still on):

I totally forgot until late evening that we'd planned on helping lay wreaths at a veterans cemetery. It was on my monthly calendar, but not my weekly calendar pages, and it'd been a few days since I checked my monthly calendar pages, so it was totally not on my radar. That was frustrating. Sunshine was supposed to use it for some of the service hours that she needs for rank advancement. It's hard to find service hours right now- everything has so many limitations.

Sunday I went for a hike with Max, though afterwards she still had a lot of energy from not enough exercise this week.

the fog was burning off by the end of our hike, but it was still pretty

After online church, I dropped off some treats for my ministering sisters, then relaxed a bit, which is highly unusual for me these days. 

I also finally got around to working on our ornaments to send to family members. It's been on my list for weeks, months maybe? I just haven't had time. They'll definitely be late this year. With everything that's been going on this year, I didn't do Christmas cards, either.

Jeremy got called up for jury duty. In our county, jurists are called for a one month period. He was given specific dates to contact the court house within that time frame to see if he'll be needed that day. His first date was Monday the 21st, but they didn't need him then. In reading through the paperwork he got last week, if I ever get called up, I'll have to get a doctor's excuse to not serve. You have to sit, pay attention, and not eat, drink, or have a cell phone during the proceedings (which makes sense), but those are all things that I employ to stay awake when just sitting. I'd be asleep so fast or struggling to stay awake and missing most of what's being said. It's sad, since I do think it's a civic duty we should be willing to take on, but it just wouldn't be physically possible for me.

Weekly Mileage

Tuesday- 1.62 miles run and hiked

Saturday- 1.50 miles run and walked

Sunday- 2.01 miles hiked

total- 5.13 miles

2020 totals

67 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

266.19 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
310.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
598.69 miles total

Sunday Funny

Max being funny. Leaning over the edge of the couch and resting on the table behind it, feet on the couch. But if you look closer in the picture above, her feet are crossed!

Weekly Mileage # 194 and Business Stress

 

Monday we got a skiff of snow that melted pretty quickly.

snowflakes on a cobweb!

I went for a trail run with Max. She didn't seem to notice the snow since it wasn't on the ground- just on the leaves and tree trunks.

I worked on some small leather projects. I'll add them to my online shop and I'll be using some of them in the course I'm writing.

Tuesday I went for a hike with Max before music lessons.

I also finished the small leather projects. Small things go so quickly! A couple more tweaks and they'll be ready for pictures, shop listings, and tutorials.

I also worked some more on my course outline. I'm just about ready to start practicing my videos.

My doc called while I was finishing my hike. All my blood work is normal, which is good, except there's still no cut-and-dried explanation for why I'm having the issues I'm having. For now, we're operating on them being caused by my PCOS and will be working to treat that (I've been ignoring my PCOS for years) to see if that helps. She could refer me to an endocrinologist, but we're going to try this first. We're going to hold off on doing hormone testing until/if I go to the endocrinologist, since they'll be better able to interpret and treat any issues there and insurance may not cover getting them tested twice (which would inevitably happen). 

Wednesday I skipped my trail run with Max because I went in to get more blood drawn to test my cortisol levels, and it took way longer than I anticipated (the lab people were not in a hurry). Long enough that the pharmacy was open and I was able to pick up the prescription for the meds we're trying out. 

Benefits of smart phones and apps and all that: I received my blood work results on Saturday and Sunday and my doc messaged me about them on Sunday. My cortisol test results were available by mid-afternoon. They're fine, surprisingly enough. I was sure they'd be elevated since I get such crappy sleep and have midsection weight I can't lose (supposedly indicative of cortisol issues). So, good that I don't have cortisol issues, but frustrating since we still don't know for sure why I have such a hard time losing weight. PCOS can definitely cause weight issues, which is why we're focusing on it for now.

After my accountability call, my order of bamboo magnifying glasses arrived from China, so I finished assembling a bucket and took pictures of my nature journaling bundle. I also edited pics and got the listing written and IG posts up. Then I edited my original bucket listings to try to eliminate some potential sources of confusion. 

one of the pics I added to my listings

Thursday I went for a below-freezing trail run with Max.

When I got home, I checked my Instagram and torpedoed my day reading a direct message. The writer accused me of ripping off her product sources and research with my nature journaling bundle. Now, I did ask her where she got the watercolor set she has in hers (just an art supply site that I could easily find with a google search), but I sourced everything else myself. Yes, they are similar, but they're not the same. She has a kid-size messenger bag and binoculars. I have my waxed canvas bag and a magnifying glass and an eraser. We both have colored pencils (different brands), watercolors (same brand), and a small canning jar for water. I'd had friends suggest an art or nature bundle in my buckets before I ever found her on IG. Was there some inspiration from her? yes. Was it copied? no.

I read the message then had to head out and run some errands, and all I could think about the whole time was her accusation. I'm a non-confrontational person and hate dealing with this kind of thing. I got a message written finally- trying to balance explanation, denial of ripping off, while not being totally on the offense. I managed it, but only appeased her because I also deleted my IG posts sharing my nature journaling kits (my choice, because I didn't want this to explode into something messy). 

This is someone who I've exchanged several messages about leatherworking-related topics, she's got a much, much larger following than I do, and I didn't want her burning me on her account. I can't afford that kind of bad publicity at this stage in building my business. 

My take-away from this? There are a lot of creators who tout the "community, not competition" line, but she is clearly not one of them. She obviously feels threatened by my product (which is much better quality all around, IMO) and can't handle the competition, despite the fact that there is more than enough space for both of us to market our products. It's rather sad, actually. But you have to choose your battles and this isn't one I'm willing to impale myself on. It's not worth it at this stage in the game. 

So, I won't post about them on IG, but I still have them on my site and Etsy and I'll see if the consignment shop is interested in carrying them, as well. I only bought enough pencils and watercolors (the most expensive parts) for three bundles, so I'm not too worried about it. Just frustrated.

It doesn't help that I'm feeling off because of the new meds I'm on. Not horrible, just a bit off (which is why I hate taking meds- most I've tried over the years make me feel not myself to some degree or another, and I hate it), and it's making me more tired. When you're already always tired, more tired isn't a good thing. Supposedly it will help with energy, concentration, hormone issues, and so on, but it can take awhile to get there. But when combined with all the stress of this situation, it jacked up my anxiety levels and I was just a bundle of nerves and emotions.

In the artist/maker world there's really no such thing as an original idea. Everything is always inspired by something else, and has been for centuries. My waxed canvas and leather buckets were loosely inspired by a canvas tool bucket I saw at Harbor Freight. I'm sure at some point someone will replicate/copy/adapt my design. It's a fact of life when you're a creator. Am I going to tell them to stop? No. there's enough room for all of us, and it's not worth the hassle. I'd rather direct my energies towards creating things, not tilting after wind mills. So while she's sitting there claiming this is her idea that she's been developing for several years, that's just not the case. I talked to a friend about this and she said she gets sent similar things all the time to review and promote (she's an Instagram influencer in my target market <outdoorsy, interest led homeschoolers> who I know in real life and work with in YW).

I finally managed to calm myself down enough to focus on fixing my Facebook pixel (so everything integrates properly between my shop, instagram, and facebook). I found the issue a couple weeks ago, and tried to figure it out then, but ran out of time and brain power. I've been putting it off, but it had to be done sooner, rather than later, so it was past time to take care of it. Unfortunately, I still can't figure it out, so I'm going to have to hire someone to do it.

That evening, I had a Stake youth planning meeting for Stake Standards Night in February, followed by ward council. Both meetings were online, and by the time everything was said and done, I was just exhausted.

Friday I walked with Max while my sister and I vented to each other about our issues. We had park day in our back yard, which was less stressful than going somewhere, and just what I needed.

Thankfully, I was also feeling better and the side effects weren't nearly as bad. One thing about the nausea and lack of appetite from the meds is that it's made it a lot easier to get back on the low carb train. So one positive from dealing with this mess.

In the late afternoon, we all headed into the big city for a virtual Tacky Light Run we'd signed up for. There was 5 or 6 different courses this year so people could spread out, and we chose the shortest course, which also happened to be the closest one. Unfortunately, when we got there, we found that the neighborhood we were supposed to be walking through had no sidewalks (and no roads were closed, but I knew that part). We'd brought lights, but not enough for walking down the street in the dark. So we just drove the course, looking at the cool lights, then went to get dinner and the stuff for Sunshine's trail snack.

Saturday morning Sunshine and I helped man the Scout Christmas tree lot. It was much nicer than last year, when we did it in the dark. It was still cold, but there were others to talk to and we actually sold some trees.

After our shift was done, we went home to change and grab stuff, then headed back out for a Scout hike. Sunshine needed to prepare a trail snack for her cooking merit badge, otherwise we probably wouldn't have gone. But it turned out to be a really nice day for a hike (it warmed up to the mid-60s, and sunny) and we hiked 6 or 7 miles around a local reservoir. My Garmin said about 6 miles, the trail map claims about 7 miles.

There were a couple chain saw statues along the trail. I got a picture with this owl one since I'm in the owl patrol at Wood Badge.

I've realized I don't actually like hiking in groups that include non-family members. It's super awkward when you get stuck at the back of the group and those in front of you are going so slow. Thankfully, that only happened for a bit, then we were back out in front. Sunshine surprised me by being one of the scouts to lead out- she set a good, consistent pace and was able to keep it up pretty much the entire time.

Sunday I walked Max before virtual YW class, in-person church, and virtual ward youth council.

I worked on catching up on previous posts that were started, and even had the photos uploaded, but never received their final polish/edit so they could be published. I need to upload photos to another group of posts before I'll be truly caught up. I like to do it on Sundays (since it's my version of journaling), but Sundays are so busy with all the meetings that I don't always have time or energy to do it, which puts me further and further behind.

Weekly Mileage

Monday- 2.53 miles run and hiked

Tuesday- 1.88 miles hiked

Thursday- 2.05 miles run and hiked

Friday- 1.27 miles hiked

Saturday- 6.11 miles hiked

Sunday- 1.52 miles hiked

total- 15.36 miles

2020 totals

65 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

261.06 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
310.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
593.56 miles total