2021!

So this is the new year.     

On Thursday night, we rang in the big 2-0-2-1 with a bang! And by bang, I mean goofing around making pancakes in the shape of 2s and 0s and 1s.

Team work makes the dream work pancakes.

We attempted an "NYE," but that blasted N just didn't want to cooperate and stay n-shaped in the flipping process, so we opted for a smiley sausage to add a little extra pizazz!

Sopping in syrupy goodness.

Mandatory goof-ness

We also watched a few episodes of Taskmaster (the British version, of course), and toasted a little bit of sparkling wine grape juice in celebration. 'Cuz, y'know, this is the year of making it happen.

As I mentioned here, it was a cold, nasty day, so crawling into bed at 12:03am 'twas quite nice.  Also, no nasty hangover the next morning was a win-win-win.  (I feel like I've referenced this Office episode on the ole blogarony before, so if you know, you know.  And if you don't know, then you can get the hell out of here!)

Back to work it was today.  Or back twerk it. --whichever fits your fancy. (I swear I'm stone cold sober.  But it is 8:27pm, and mah brain stops functioning at about 4pm.) I remarked to Nate that this might be one of the hardest Mondays to go back to work since it's following all the many weeks of holiday funtivities coupled with practically no 5-day work weeks, but we survived.  Nay, perhaps even thrived.

Nah, just survived. :)

Make it happen, cap'n

Today I have an early release from work at 3pm, and you really have no idea how excited that makes me.

Source

It's not even that big of deal, but it's the little things sometimes, y'know.  It's being able to wear jeans on Fridays (although at my new office, it's only the first Friday of every month. blah. 😒). But again, it's better than nothing.

On top of my early release AND having tomorrow off for the kickass start of 2021, I am also teleworking today!!!! It's the perfect kind of day to be teleworking, too.  It's super cold, and it's been raining non-stop.  I feel sorry for all those mad foolz who had mad plans to shoot off some fireworks tonight because I'm pretty sure they won't be able to get them lit with all this rain.  Rest assured, mad foolz - all your fun shalln't be spoiled as the rain does not prevent you yourselves from getting lit!

Speaking of getting lit, Nathan and I crazily decided to kick off our "Let's get healthy in 2021!" on Monday, so we're 4 days in and have promised ourselves (and each other) that we're going to make.it.happen. this year!  To facilitate this, we've issued dollar amounts that we will either earn for every day of making.it.happen (i.e. sticking to allotted calorie amounts) OR we will have to forgo the moneymoneymoney to a cause or a person we wouldn't ever dream of contributing funds to (i.e. The Proud Boys, Mitch McConnell, Trump, etc.)

Pretty brutal, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Source

I was thinking about my post yesterday on my recent read, and I think I really left off a lot more that I wanted to say about the book, particularly how strong I found Lisa Brennan-Jobs to be at times and also how much it seemed she used her unique past and childhood to learn and grow into the person she is now.  It reminded me of the girl who wrote Educated (Tara Westover).  I don't know that had I experienced some of the things that these women endured, I would have come out in the way that they did:  a New York Times Bestselling author. :)  Kidding, but really...I feel really strong sometimes or proud of the way I come out after facing trials and adversities over these past 33 years, but other times I'm like "just give me the EFFING dessert, and let me donate all my money to stoopid Trump."

On an unrelated note, I had a dream that involved Nathan and me hanging out with my bestie T-Swift and her guy pal Joe, and I'm now convinced this was a premonition.  This could be because I've been streaming Evermore and also Folklore like a mad woman (😉) very, very softly with headphones while I work for the past 3 days.

The 12 Days of Shutdown and Weight-ing for Willpower

Source

I've had the workings of a song titled "The Twelve Days of Shutdown" bouncing around in my head all day.  It started after seeing on the TV at the gym this morning that we're entering the 12th day of the shutdown, and it's my first day of being furloughed.  So this song came about..

"On the twelfth day of Shutdown, the gub'ment gave to me....a day off in my pj's."

To back up a bit...the gub'ment shut down at midnight on Friday, December 21st when it came time to pass a new budget and Trump and the Reps demanded funding for "The Wall," and the Dems were like "no, ho, ho, way" (because Christmas was right around the corner and they wanted a few extra syllables for emphasis...naturally).

Source

I guess it's not really a big deal at this point because history has shown that when Congress and the POTUS finally do decide to get things up and working again, backpay is awarded to those who had to work without pay and those to got to vacay on the government's dime.  However, we're due for our first paycheck next week since all this started, and it will not be coming hell or high water if we're still playing this little game that "The Greatest Negotiator" started.

It's worth nothing that we were all given Monday and Tuesday off to overeat, over-drink, and I guess open a few presents here and there. 😉

Unfortunately, but spun ever so positively, I was informed by my supervisor on Friday, 12/21 that because I'm "one of the fastest workers," I would be reporting on Dec. 26th (Wednesday).  

Source (along with my mad Powerpoint 'Insert Text Box' skillz)

I was also informed that should The Shutdown roll into a second week, we would be put on a rotation with those who had the 26-28th off, so that everyone could be given a chance to "make a paycheck" should the usual backpay provision not be included in this budget.  

HOWEVER....things didn't really happen like that.  After working the 26th, the 27th, the 28th, and the 31st, I was finally told that I would be furloughed on 1/2, but would need to report for dooty duty on 1/3 and 1/4.

TLDR:  I'm complaining about just one day off with the five prior paragraphs and line of song.  Ain't the holidays grand?!? 😜

_______

We had a grandiose good time in Shreveport for the Good Ole' Grubby Christmas, as well as Baton Rouge for the Raunchy Roberts' Reunion, but boy howdy did Nate and I fail epically with riding the healthy eating train into the station.  It feels kind of weird to talk about this "publicly" since weight and weight loss and weight gain are a sensitive subject, but it's been on my mind a lot these past few days seeing how the 1st is a good time for a clean slate, as well as Resolution Galore time!

I'm not completely disappointed with myself seeing as how from January 1, 2018, to January 1, 2019, I've lost nearly 20 pounds (when you don't count the 4-5 pounds of water weight and such that falls off in the first week), but I did have much bigger goals and expectations for myself.  We all know this ain't my first rodeo.  I'm telling myself this is all the more gunpowder to fire off and away here early on and meet or beat my goals my mid 2019, but things get tough by about 3pm when you're like "@#$@ this $^#@! I'm about to go to Costco and buy a bin of clusters and start in a week or so!"

Source - the stuff dreams are made of!

Buuuuuuuuuuut, so far so good over here.  I've survived the 1st, and I'm more than halfway through the 2nd, and though it can be a rollercoaster of willpower and succumb-tion in these first 2-3 weeks (and lawd knows it's never really easy), I'm trying to focus on unlimited vegan cheesecake at the end my end goal and how I know I'll feel when I get there. 

*fingers crossed there is sooner rather than later.*

**that's all for now.  I had bigger plans of writing more and more and more, but I'm feeling lazy from sucky sleep and lack of calories and lack of sugar and lack of... clusters.