I need to figure out what it is in my personality that drives me to go on kicks. I get a wild hair and I'm off either organizing, cleaning out, making homemade almond milk or painting a hallway.
When I start, I can't stop. Except oftentimes I become extremely frustrated because I can't find the right paint color or rug or blanched almonds to get started. So, then, I stop. I freeze. I cannot make a decision. I keep looking and looking and looking. I recently scrolled through over 2000 rugs on Wayfair with the filters area rug, thin or medium thickness, blue/gray/yellow/green/cream and under $250. I went through 67 pages. I found a few I liked and popped one into my shopping cart. Guess what? It's still sitting there.
I've also looked at the Target options, the Home Goods choices and even ventured into the aisles of Home Depot to look for rugs.
It's an area rug, not blood needed for a transfusion.
I have 'find new living room rug' on the Spring Break project list. I've scratched out two -- 'fix necklaces' and 'hem batik fabric for table runner.' I have half on two items completed 'new hallway light fixtures' without painting the hallway and 'paint the alcove' without the new light fixture installed. Good news is the alcove will have a new light fixture Monday. So, that item will be completely taken care of and marked off our projects list.
Our list. OK, it's really only mine.
Gervais is helping with one of the big items - new bedroom flooring. He's handling the measurements, the calls, the ordering and scheduling the laying of the new floors. Whew.
With all these projects and home improvements, I become quickly overwhelmed and decide much more needs to be changed which requires much more than is in our bank account. We divvy the projects up according to the budget. I think I'll pay someone to paint the hallway -- too much to tape and too many corners. I think I'll also pay someone to paint some a couple of ceilings in already painted and new light fixtured rooms.
Ikea is now in San Antonio to finding the light fixtures was easy. They are so simple and inexpensive. They match what we are going for in this soon to be looking better home.
The rug. That isn't simple. When I change the living room rug, I need to change the side chair and ottoman. I then need to change the paint color and the bar stools. That leads to changing up the kitchen and knocking down the bar to make one level of lovely butcher block which means I won't need the 30-inch bar stools I would have already ordered. And, then I would need to change the counter tops throughout the kitchen and the back splash will need to be replaced. Oh, and the cabinets.
Let's just write about it and not make any decisions right now. That calms me.
Maybe I'll make some chai. Never mind, I forgot to go to Whole Foods and buy the ingredients to make my own and store it in a mason jar.
I have three cookbooks from the library encouraging me to Whole 30 while going grain free and eating a plant-based diet. I told y'all I go on kicks.
All maintain homemade almond milk and almond butter is the direction I should head.
'Alexa, add blanched almonds to the list.'
I follow a woman on Instagram who I am obsessed with -- kicks, I tell you. Her dad happens to be Mike Singletary -- one of the greatest linebackers ever and he happened to play for Baylor back in the day. I don't follow her for that reason, instead, I follow her because she lives a grain-free, plant-based meal life where she paints and homeschools her littles. That is so me, right?
Well, maybe not the grain-free, plant-based meals and painting as a hobby. But I did develop a homeschool curriculum for the girls when they were little. And, I made homemade baby food.
Let's get real. If I introduced a grain-free, plant-based diet around this house, I would be cooking for one. Nutella, cheese crackers and fish (we've loads of it in the freezer) would be out the door along with my people. We do like to eat healthy-ish (there's a cookbook by that name, too). We also like to go to the candy store and bring home bags of sour gummy bears and Bit-o-Honeys. (For the kids, for the kids.)
I'm on a kick though and really want to change my diet. I know dairy is not my friend so I switched to store-bought almond milk a couple of years ago. I need to embark on the vegan cream cheese and butter (where in the world do you buy that stuff -- what's this Thrive market I keep reading about on all my plant-based diet friends Instastories?). I would like to rely less on processed and focus more on cleaner, less additives, make it at home foods.
A few ingredients are already in stock as I do have a clean smoothie each morning (OK, 80 percent of my mornings). Chia seeds, hemp hearts and flaxseeds, along with spinach and almond butter (store bought, heavens me) are always on hand. That would be in my first chapter of my cookbook titled 'Who am I kidding? From healthy to chocolate cake in a few pages."
Along with blanched almonds, I need to add nutritional yeast and coconut manna to my pantry. Why? Who knows? I read in one of these cookbooks, I need those items so yeah, I'm on a hunt.
'Alexa, add coconut manna to the list.'
Alexa responded with something along the lines of that doesn't match up with some of my other items such as Cheetos.
I think coconut manna is like butter. Oh, wait that's ghee.
'Alexa, add ghee to the list.'
(She's losing her mind right now.)
Maybe it makes my hair shiny or helps my gut. Apparently, our guts are out of whack and they need to be normalized. I know mine is so I drink a cayenne-based kombucha, which I love. I also add turmeric to my smoothies -- keeps inflammation at bay.
Yes, I want shiny hair and clear skin. I want less pounds on my body. I care about the outside way more than my inside, but as I age I need to be thinking about my insides more.
Am I to bathe in coconut manna? I already use coconut oil to remove my make up which could explain some of the clogged pores. It's fat. On my face.
'Alexa, add collagen to the list.'
I read I'm to add collagen to my smoothies, or rub it on my face or take a pill. Anyway, collagen. Yep, that's the secret.
My two kicks I'm on -- changing my diet and changing my house -- seem to be colliding into one heap, right? Figuring out paint and rug colors is like figuring out smoothie ingredients. How will they work in natural light or bathed in light from a bulb hanging from a beautiful new fixture? How will my skin look without an Insta-filter or skin primer?
I read articles about how kids used to play outside in the 70s and they loved it. There was no cable television or internet to distract us. We just rode our bikes and played. We listened to the radio and had to pull the one family phone into the bathroom to have a private conversation. I think we knew about vitamin C because we didn't want scurvy and we drank milk for calcium so we would have strong bones. My mom used Ponds and Oil of Olay.
I'm not going to go back to the 70s, even though I dig the fashion. I find new skin products and treatments fascinating. I am thrilled whenever there's a new discovery that can lead to glowing skin and less brown spots (using Skinceuticals right now for that). I am a researcher at heart, always searching and trying to find information.
The Internet works for me. I love social media and really enjoy following pretty people on Instagram. I enjoy the art of it. I usually don't get the FOMO feeling, but I do get the 'hey, I should try that' feeling.
That's HISTT which almost reads hysteric.
Which rhymes with kick.
It all runs full circle.
Circles, maybe that is the pattern for the rug. That lessens the search to about 157. I like other geometric shapes, too so maybe diamonds? Or stripes?
I think I need a snack. Should have ordered the makings for grain-free granola from HEB.
