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Archive of ‘Ultimate Blog Challenge’ category

Snow stories

mailbox in the snowSnow plow – 1
Mailbox – 0

We had back-to-back snowstorms this week. The first one resulted in about three inches of snow, which isn’t too bad. The roads were pretty covered so we waited until the snow plow came in to clear it.

They cleared more than the road. They took out my mailbox, too. Interestingly, the trash cans went unharmed during this collision. Fortunately, my mail is still being delivered, but it is not easy to retrieve. The mail slides into the back of the box, and I have to reach pretty far in to grab it.

I’m waiting for a call back from the Public Works department to have it replaced. I’m giving them a little grace because today’s snowstorm was worse than the one on Tuesday. I understand if my mailbox is not top of mind for them right now. But I would like a new one soon.

Snow Fall

Dog curled up on the couch with a blanket.This morning, I took Chloe outside to do her business and proceeded to fall right into the snow.

Yes, I was already dressed for a networking call on Zoom at 10:30 am. Yes, I had to dry off and change all of my clothes. ‘

And no, the Ring camera did not record my not-so-graceful fall onto the sidewalk. However, my husband had a front-row seat from his office window. It’s a good thing I wasn’t hurt and found the humor in it all.

As you can see, Chloe felt no remorse whatsoever.

Have a good weekend, everybody. Stay safe and read good books.

XO,

Elisa

My iPhone addiction

“You are on your phone too much.”

“You aren’t listening. Put your phone away.”

One might think these are the words of a mom fighting an uphill battle with their kids about screen time. But in my case, you would be wrong.

Recently, the tables have turned, and my kids have called me out for being on my iPhone too much. And they aren’t wrong. Even my husband has mentioned my slow response time when he needs me. I don’t have the heart to tell him sometimes that’s due to my selective hearing. 😉

Did you know the psychological term for this is nomophobia. While I’m not disagreeing with this diagnosis, I don’t think I need to seek professional help just yet.

My therapist and family may disagree.

While it is true that I am guilty of watching too many Reels, I also have a hard time unplugging, even for just a few hours. Something always sucks me back in. Let’s face it—my entire life is on the damn thing. There are so many things in life to juggle, and the nice thing about the iPhone is that so much of it can be managed at my fingertips. However, the iPhone tends to be super-glued to my hands, and I can’t shake it off no matter how hard I try.  Just look at some of the things I’m doing on my phone when I’m not watching clips of cute dogs being well….cute.

I start my day playing Wordle and Connections while drinking my coffee, and then I have breakfast.

I log my meals and calculate the Weight Watchers points in the app after breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I check the weather before going outside to walk the dog. How cold is it? Does she need her little grey fur coat, or can she go without it?

I take several photos of her wearing her fur coat in the snow and send the best ones in the family group chat.

I answer all the messages that come through.

I read Facebook posts, scroll through Instagram to see what my kids are up to, and check LinkedIn for the latest job postings.

I post and then comment on other people’s posts.

I look to see what time it is even though I have a Fitbit on my wrist. Then, I check the Fitbit app to ensure my steps are synching properly with my device.

I text.

I e-mail.

I Google.

I Venmo.

I make grocery lists.

I track my StitchFix order that was supposed to arrive two days ago.

I read the reminders for doctor’s appointments and then log in to fill out all the forms.

I check my email for the passcode to verify it is really me.

I listen to podcasts.

I look up recipes.

I write notes to myself.

I set alarms so I don’t miss any appointments.

And the list goes on and on.

The point is that I can’t just put it down and walk away. I hate being so reliant on this device. I lost the Notes app this week and nearly had a conniption fit. And then I realized I had no idea what I saved there anyway, so one less thing to check.

On the other hand, I don’t want to miss out on conversations. I want to be present and notice the world around me. Books are waiting for me to read. Carving out time to exercise is essential. My list of 24 things to do in 2024 needs to be tackled.

These are the things I know my iPhone can never deliver.

XO,

Elisa

Reading on a Budget

Since I’m not working right now, I have to reimagine my spending habits, especially when buying books. Hopefully, my situation will change soon, but I have to get a little creative for now. So, I asked myself how I’d satisfy my cravings for new books without going broke.

First, I must control the ways I hear about shiny new books. I’m a huge fan of book podcasts, and there are so many of them. Every time I listen to one, my TBR list grows exponentially. This doesn’t mean I rush out to my local indie and whip out my credit card immediately. However, the titles are on my radar, and it is tough to shut off the constant pinging to my amygdala—the part of the brain that generates desire.

So, I went through the book-themed podcasts I listen to on Spotify and unfollowed most of them. Not all of them. I kept the ones that not only have recommendations but also take deep dives into reading topics (like this one about budgeting). I’m staying away from the ones that were primarily lists of book recommendations and nothing else. This required me to make some tough choices. Against my better judgment, I will continue to follow Zibby Owens’ podcast, Moms Don’t Have Time to Read.” Her wonderful podcast includes author talks as well as quality book recs. She is a talented interviewer, and I am always in the mood for advice from seasoned writers.

Other bookish podcasts were easier to unfollow. One is hosted by two women in their 20s who talked too much about #adulting and their upcoming milestone birthdays of 25 and 30. 🙄 Oy! I hope this doesn’t sound like reverse ageism, but I couldn’t take their banter for one more minute. I have children their age, and I respect their opinions. However, as a 50+-year-old empty nester, I will also honor the stage of life I’m in, and book tastes evolve with age. And if these women have good recommendations, I’ll hear about the book from someone else. As the kids say, there is no FOMO here. (IYKYK)

Another way to curb my book spending habits is all about timing. Last year, I participated in No Book Buy July, which encouraged me to revisit the books I own or take advantage of my local library. I am confident that I saved around $350 by borrowing books instead of buying them. I had the pleasure of reading them without having to make room on my shelf. I also prioritize reading library books before others because I know people are waiting to read them when I’m done. The ones I own aren’t going anywhere, but library books have a deadline attached. If I don’t want to go back to the end of the line in the holding queue, I need to finish them.

The library also tells my amygdala to calm the f**k down. The shiny new book I heard about is probably at the library, and I’ll get to it when I get to it. There is no rush. We have plenty of other titles to keep us company—which brings me back to timing.

Instead of declaring book buy bans on myself, I want to pick months when I will buy books. I will choose these months based on special occasions. Whenever I plan to do an indie bookstore crawl, that will be a book-buying month. I’ll also give myself a grace period if I discover a new indie bookstore and want to support it within reason. It’s also my birthday next month, and I usually treat myself to a Boston Kreme donut and a trip to the bookstore.

Shit. I’m starting to see how this plan is already falling apart. Well, I tried. 😀

Okay, lightning round time. Here are a few more (realistic) ways I’ll curb my spending.

  • Consider my Kindle as a platform to read digital books, not download more books.
  • Borrow books from my friends! Lots of them are readers who have books I want to read.
  • Cancel my Audible account, which kills me, but I can always come back to it later. I have enough audiobooks to listen to, and I don’t need to add any more.
  • Treat myself to the books I’ve already purchased (see my pretty bookshelf photo above). Clearly, I was excited about them at one point. Time to remind myself why I bought them in the first place. I know I’ll uncover a lot of backlist gems there.
  • Order bookish gifts online and ship them to those I love. This is an idea from a few fellow bloggers, and it’s a good one. Why else do I have that Amazon Prime account?

In what ways do you curb your spending for something you love? It doesn’t have to be books. It can be anything—crafts, jigsaw puzzles, scented candles, trips to Sephora, etc. Let’s help each other out. Share your ideas in the comments.

XO,
Elisa

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