Friday Recommendations, 11/21

1. Empties. Here's some products I've used up lately! And I'm not trying to play fast and loose with affiliate-linking here but I've bought most of these items multiple times and I can tell if they're seriously on sale for Black Friday. 

It physically hurt to save bottles and jars and bags I was done with because I love finishing a product and throwing it away, but I knew I'd forget to talk about any of these things if I didn't.

Some of this is worth it, some I would not buy again. 

 

I generally really do like Truly Free products. It's worth the box and the subscription!

However, this softening rinse...didn't do anything? I don't know. Apparently it was supposed to? 

In addition, I used their laundry detergent that I got in my last box but they forgot to send a jug for it so I mixed it up in this softening rinse jug once the rinse was gone. I didn't love it either. Sorry, I'll be Team Persil now because it just works so well. 

This is amazing though! I love the dishwasher soap. It's a powder, which I've never actually used before. Usually I go for the gels or liquids. 

If you find yourself ordering Truly Free, add this to the box for sure. 

I don't know what this was supposed to do but it didn't do anything. And I took it for the entire 30 days or whatever it was because I was insistent on using it up. I'm not saying the ingredients aren't helpful; I'm saying I didn't notice a real difference in anything. 

I love this natural deodorant. It does actually work! Its active ingredient is baking soda. My only complaint is that it doesn't last very long; like, I use it up pretty quickly for $14 worth of deodorant. Currently on sale though for Black Friday!

My favorite hand soap. The only place I can find it is Amazon, sadly. I used to buy it at Walmart (in Pittsburgh? 2019ish?) but they don't sell it in-store that I've seen lately. 

I usually buy lemon but the grapefruit is the one on sale right now. 

These are a great alternative to Crest White Strips. Perfect for sensitive teeth and cheaper, too. Usually they're about $22 for 9 days of strips. These are only $15 right now!

This was such a fortuitous find! It's light, has helpful active ingredients, and I put it on before bed and sometimes with my vitamin C serum in the morning. 

This is not on sale right now but you can do 30% off with subscribe and save (do I take advantage of that feature? all the time)

2.  Intensity by Dean Koontz. I read this book in 2 hours on Monday night. Here's the thing: it takes place in the mid-1990s and the ready availability of cell phones would have made this plot impossible to write post-2005. So..take that for what it's worth. I saw some reviews saying it was too wordy; yeah, I can see that, but this is a story that has two main characters so you're in their heads for most of book. (I read once that this is why they had trouble adapting Dexter to the screen--so much of the book was his inner monologue.)

Anyway, it plays out like a movie. It all visualizing and not a ton of dialogue. The first 35%, I think my hands were sweating a little bit because it's a definite thriller. Once you start, there's no point in putting it down. Like the movie 1917, this book is one continuous scene. I did guess the big "twist" at the end kind of early. It was the first Dean Koontz I've read and I only put it on hold in the Libby app because I saw a reel saying it was a thriller you may be able to get right away since it's older. I still waited two months. 

3. Landman is back. This is such a good show. It's interesting and FUNNY and kind of insanely dramatic. If you missed season one, it's worth catching up now. 

4. There is no way to segue from Landman to The Magic Treehouse but I wrote up this novel study for Wells. I tried a fancy, multi-modal novel study a few weeks ago with another book and what I realized is that I would prefer he read and retain the book, not do all the extra fluff I paid too much for from another website. 

Linking up for Friday Favorites!

Friday recommendations, 7/25

 1. Dexter: New Blood. This is exactly what I needed. We started Dexter: Resurrection but it's week to week since it's new and then I realized I'd never watched New Blood (Scott apparently had?) so we're making our way through it right now. It's so, so good. I know they say that there is no creativity out there and nothing new is under the sun but continuing on with this series is what we all needed. There are few arcs in the modern TV lexicon that flow as well as Dexter, so I recommend it all (minus the very last episode of the original show..ignore that). 

We're watching on Paramount+ on Amazon Prime. 

2. I posted my summer make-up on Tuesday. 

3. I can't remember if I've recommended this book yet, so I will just throw it in here. 

4. I do not recommend google photos for dog pictures. This is somewhere in Colorado 11 years ago :/ 

This was last night: 

5. Lastly, we went to Wonderscope yesterday in Overland Park. Military families are free through Labor Day!  

I could not pull her away from the painting. I think she needs an easel. 

We met another little boy named Wells, which is insane because that has never happened to us.

Bonus: Question for anyone military-adjacent..do I join PWOC? It seems like a big commitment, 2-3 hours a week in the morning.  

Friday recommendations 5/30

 The first Friday of summer. I've honestly been busier this week than I was last week. Water fills the space it's given and I do this awful thing where I fill up all my time with stuff if the space is given.

1. e.l.f Whoa Glow

I did not want to buy the SuperGoop Unseen Sunscreen this year because it's expensive. I generally have luck with e.l.f. products so I tried this. So good! It's works, it's less than $15 and it doubles as primer so I will just put this on to give a smoother look either under makeup or by itself. I have some very sensitive skin when it comes to cheap products (can't wear covergirl at all) and this works for me. 

2. We just finished Pulse on Netflix. It's good enough to binge. The main character is kind of annoying but when it comes to a medical drama, I liked it. Definitely similar to The Pitt but as someone who is not a fan of Grey's Anatomy, I'm picky about hospital shows. Then we started rewatching The Resident just because I like it. 

3. Just Ingredients Probiotic Complex. Scott bought this at...Scheel's? Maybe? I don't know? He goes to shooting competitions, stops at sporting goods stores (as you do) and comes home with random things...

It's amazing. Absolutely worth the price. It tastes like a tall glass of iced tea, believe it or not. Wells thought it was iced tea. I generally look for supplements for myself that aren't to solve issues but to elevate my health. I feel like I'm at a good starting point with no real problems but could always be better if that makes sense. I was taking the Arbonne Green Synergy pre/probiotic for months; this is better at like 1/3 the price. 

We also have their magnesium drink and their electrolytes (use in place of gatorade!). The mag drink will give you the best sleep ever. I was sick a few weeks ago and would mix the strawberry limeaide electrolytes powder in my water bottle at school. 

Friday things (and side thoughts), 5/16

I got hit by a dopamine detox (no social media on my phone) and some sort of sinus infection (eh, probably covid..who knows!?) all at once this week. Just coming off of FootGate, Sutton decided to stop sleeping again. Then, I could feel myself losing my voice by 3pm on Monday. Tuesday, no voice and a field trip. Wednesday night, the coughing started. Thursday, Scott said I really don't think you should be working today and I said It's not quite that easy and I bought Because of Winn-Dixie on Prime and a study guide for the movie on TPT. For only(!) $18, I had lesson plans for the day. (Ugh. It's a good movie. We'll watch it with the kids this summer now that we digitally own it.) 

Thursday during the day, the sinus headache started and the coughing intensified. I swear my vision blurred as I was trying to finish my report cards while I watched Winn-Dixie for the second time (remember, I teach the same thing to two different classes). I wrote my sub plans for today and strategically emailed for a sub because anyone could change my mind.. at 3pm. 

After school, I crawled into bed and paid Wells $2 (so he could buy ice cream at lunch the next day) to watch Sutton and Maverick. (Scout does fine on his own.)

Which brings me to this morning: 

I still had to take the kids to school. Wells forgot his $2 on the table, so I told him to go to my classroom and get $2 out of my desk, which brought on the tears and he was panicking because I wouldn't be at school with him today. This is why we're homeschooling next year too..I cannot stand the thought of throwing him into some random school. (Though, I guess it doesn't matter because Scott also went to look at some houses in Kansas this week and the prospects are so bad that I might as well unpack the few boxes I did pack up and we'll stay here.)

Other things:

I screwed up the reorder of Scout's prescription so I have to make a second trip to the vet this week. Errands with kids along are no joke. 

He didn't even match and that's a swimming rash guard. 

I was so sick I didn't even care on Wednesday. 

It's May so I'm dealing with the yearly influx of ants, putting cinnamon oil on the doorframes and taping down a few traps where dogs or kids can't reach them.

I did get a new Nespresso machine for a Mother's Day gift but I don't want to use it because my sense of taste and smell isn't there right now. (Our old one was a Mueller brand and it broke...we had for for about 4 years but only used it for 2 of those years off and on. Our Mueller brand Keurig-style broke too. Lesson learned.)

I've had to mute The Prosecutors' groups I'm in on Facebook because it's all Karen Read and all West Memphis 3. I think what happened to the children in the WM3 case is the worst depravity humanity has to offer. But I don't have an opinion on who did it and you can't make me. I will listen to their last episode to see what their theories are; they are currently on episode 11 of an unknown amount of episodes about the case. Maybe true crime has run its course for me...

I've also started muting or unfollowing accounts that talk about how important sleep is. I KNOW. Stop telling me to reset my rhythm and do this or do that, Alex Clark who has no small children. Yeah, I slept GREAT before 2018. Funny how that works. It just makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong. Sorry, sometimes I like coffee at 4pm, Dr. Josh Axe, and it doesn't always prevent me from sleeping. It's that middle of the night jarring wake up by a toddler (and this week, from coughing) that is ruining my sleeping.

Wells has been playing soccer with the 3rd grade boys during extra recess and it's super cute. He's in 1st but we have a lot of good 3rd grade boys so they let whoever wants to play, play. 

I will miss these kids. It's really hard when they start telling you they're going to miss you.  

I took Scout for a walk by myself the other day. Maverick was not happy but I was.

4 Friday things. 4/11

 

1. There were Easter egg hunts at school yesterday. I put stickers in Sutton's eggs and stickers and quarters in Wells' eggs. Each kid had to take in 6-8 eggs, so then when the class hunts for eggs, everyone has contributed. (I have been so completely and totally radicalized against candy lately, I didn't even consider putting it into the eggs.)

2. I put this sweatshirt in the Amazon cart the other day because Instagram told me it was $9.99 and I've had it on my wish list...only this very summery color is on sale...but Scott bought it when he was ordering something else so that was a nice surprise to come home to yesterday. I got a medium and I'm 5'6", for reference. It's brighter IRL!

Here's a few other things I've grabbed from Amazon lately. 

3. I've had what can only be a case of plantar fasciitis lately and I know it's from wearing 2-3 particular pairs of shoes without great support to school and walking on the hard floors all day. (One pair is from 2019 and I have literally worn these boots out. There's nothing left.) So I got new sneakers (it took 5-6 DSW orders) and I've been wearing those most days because that's where I'm at right now. I ordered these Adidas which go with pants, dresses, etc...they're more of a fashion sneaker. 

I love the pop of hunter green. Fun fact: each class gets class shirts for the end of the year. The teacher choses the color from a list of like 30 available..I chose forest green and the P.E. teacher, who is in charge, said he knew when he put that on the list that I would choose it. I think I give off a jewel tone vibe.

4. TV things real quick: The Pitt finale was kind of a letdown last night. Nothing exciting about. Glad season 2 is coming though! The White Lotus finale was better than any episode of the season but still, it wasn't a great season. I keep getting articles on my feed that are about the show and I do wonder why the people at these news outlets don't have anything better to write about than how awkward and weird parts of the show are...most of what they say is so obvious that I feel like they're writing satire. It also wasn't that interesting to begin with. I think Saxon was the most interesting character.

And now I'm floating out there without a TV show to watch...

Friday things. 11/1

 1. 

Started my week with one sick kid and a day off. 

2.  

We did not get to some of the Halloween crafts I wanted to do because of sickness over the weekend.

Thank goodness Wells is independent these days and can do things like this. 

3. 

I got this bag. I originally tried the Amazon dupe but I don't like dupes. There's nothing wrong with it because I saw it on a reel and it looked great! But in real life, I liked the quality of the Free People one for like $40 more. They always, to me, look and wear like dupes. And soon you have 10 dupes you don't love when you could have a few pieces you do love to wear. I don't think I've ever been satisfied with an Amazon dupe purchase, so they usually go back once I see them in real life.

4. That's all I've got in me today. I have lunches to pack before a day of post-Halloween school. Prayers appreciated.

Friday, Fri-yay (I hate that word)

 

I don't know if I'm going to replenish the Arbonne supplements. I do like the Green stuff though. 

Watching: I finished The Perfect Couple last night. It literally took me two weeks. I've never read an Elin Hildebrand book and I likely never will because if I wanted to, I would've by now. The show was fine but it wasn't so good that I kept going after each episode. I would like to think that Greer is what Nicole Kidman's personality is in real life. I just can't picture her as anything else for some reason. 

Reading: I have a few different books going and maybe I'll finish one this weekend. I did finish my first read aloud of the year: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and, honestly, I don't know that a more perfect book has ever been written. I moved onto The Boxcar Children (book #1) because I always enjoyed it and I feel like if I don't introduce kids to this simple way of life in a railway car with blueberries, pine needle beds (they didn't know what a pine needle was until we googled pictures), bottles of milk in a "refrigerator", and gathering dishes from the dump, I have no idea who will. I'm doing Little House on the Prairie later this year for the same reason. I get worried that they'll never read/hear these classics otherwise. 

Eating: Nothing interesting. I am placing a dinnerly order for next week because I can't handle the mental load of dinner and we need some inspiration. What I like about dinnerly is it is real, raw ingredients. It's not half-prepped food. It can easily be recreated if you save the recipe. It's also the most cost-efficient of the kits, I think.

Plus, Scott accidentally unplugged our deep-freeze so we lost a lot of convenience foods I had stashed away for "emergencies" (weeknights).

I have been packing both kids' lunches this week because I'm starting to deep-dive into ingredients (something else I don't have time for but I feel this is important) and I've noticed Wells isn't as hungry when he comes home from school now. Sutton, like with most things I try to make life easier, has shown no change. But I've been packing her lunch since school started. 

 

Wearing: I need to do a full round-up on false fall outfits. I have had the same tan booties since 2019 so I  had to buy a new pair for this year. I was torn between Dr. Scholls and Lucky Brand. The Dr. Scholls are more of the style I wanted: ankle boot instead of a really low-cut one. 

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Weekly recommendations, 6/14

1. Your Honor. Two seasons on Netflix. Such a good show! It starts slow and but then it all starts coming together and, sure, I see bits of Walter White coming out in Judge Michael Desiato. A perfect binge if you like thrillers. 

2. Wild Things by Stephen James and David Thomas. I have been pushed to the point of reading self-help books. Thomas is my go-to for parenting advice and I've read most of his books at this point. I searched him on Audible in a moment of actual desperation last week and this was "free", included in my membership. 

3. If you listen to The Lazy Genius, she did an episode on snacks last week, which was particularly fitting since it's summer and we are home all. day. long. I was wondering why I am at Walmart twice a week now instead of once a week (I hate it but it's the easiest one-stop shop), and it's because we are literally home all. day. long. No school breakfast or lunch or the hours in the classroom to break up the pattern.

But after listening to the episode, I am confident enough in my own children to know that I have either tried those tips before and they didn't work or they simply will not work. I gleaned nothing from an episode I was really hopeful about, sadly. 

THIS is the tip that works for me in this season of life. 

I buy individually wrapped snacks. 

I have tried a lot of snack options: Annie's...granola bars...fancy yogurts and applesauces...fruit leather...beef sticks...fancy crackers.

These are the only two things my kids will actually eat and the rest goes stale or Scott will eventually eat it:

The individual portions are a lifesaver because there's no bargaining. You get one a day. It's black and white. 

Anyway, that's the tip I'd have for The Lazy Genius community but it'd probably never be suggested because it's clearly the least environmentally-friendly option. 

They also love fruit. They make a fruit salad every day and we spend a lot of money on fruit each week. I suppose it could be worse. 

4. 

Grandpa Gus's Tick Repellent. We've used this for two years now and really like it. I just recommended it to a friend this week when I was asked about walking dogs and "what do you do about ticks?". Thought it was worth a mention! 

5.  

Linking up with Friday Favorites