You guys. Since the whole world has lost its damn mind and it’s already March 7 over here, this is going to be a very half-hearted attempt, but I’m counting it as win because I considered forgoing the list altogether this month. And when I’m done, I plan to hit send without proofing – you’ve been warned.

1. I am late to the Game of Thrones bandwagon. I didn’t watch it when everyone else was because I was pregnant and couldn’t stomach the violence and if you’ve ever been pregnant, you know what I mean.
   
   I’ve been waiting for the right time to dig into it and that right time happened to be Christmas break. I am now on the final season and let me just tell you that I’ve never pedaled the exercise bike as fast as I have while watching Season 8 Episode 3 (battle w/ white walkers) of GOTs. Lord have mercy. And do not give away the rest of the season!
   

2) I did this puzzle for the second time in a row (I’m finding that the life of my puzzles is 2, meaning I can do them twice, and then I’m done with it, very rarely 3 if I love the image and sometimes 1) and my eyes are getting so bad that I had to use a flashlight at the end to figure out the different shades of dark. Super bummer!

3) My breast reconstruction recovery is….FINE. Things feel and look weird, but whatever, I’m alive, right! I somehow injured my shoulder though, possibly during surgery, possibly afterwards, I really don’t know but it’s definitely related to surgery one way or the other.

Had an ultrasound and it’s only rotator cuff tendonitis vs a tear, thank goodness, but I secretly wanted a tear for the sole purpose of telling my husband that see, I can be in extreme pain and be tough, too. Alas, I only have bragging rights for minor pain at this juncture. Will probably do physical therapy once or twice and then hopefully it will get better with time.

4) We took our annual ski trip to Crystal Mountain this month over President’s Day weekend. For the first time ever, they did not have skis to rent (and thank goodness we called when we did), so at the 11th hour, my husband had to scramble for skis for my youngest which thankfully he was able to find some and also thankfully he was able to sweet-talk the store clerk into giving them to him because initially they told him no, there’s not enough time to get them ready, etc.

ANYway, I don’t ski and tentatively planned to go snowshoeing again, but instead I simply hunkered down with books and Netflix and was perfectly happy.

5) As per my friend Erin’s recommendation, one of the shows I binge-watched during that weekend was Love is Blind Japan on Netflix. I’d never heard of the show before that (and I guess there is an American version as well, that I don’t know….may not be as good to me now that I’ve seen this one). It’s a social experiment slash game show slash reality show all rolled into one. Couples get to know one another by talking in pods, they don’t get to see one another until/unless they’ve chosen a life partner. Odd and intriguing.

Seeing as I know a bit about Japanese culture (if you grow up in Hawaii, it’s part of your life), it was super interesting to me. I found it funny that there were different translations for the sound “uhhh / ahhh.” The translations of these sounds ranged from “okay” to “I see” to “really” to “yes.”

6) As per my friend Ingrid’s recommendation, for exercise on the trip, I did some YouTube videos by The Body Project and they were perfect. You can use weights or not and the instructors have cute Australian accents and they are SO nice. I think I was teary-eyed after one of the workouts when he told me how amazing I was for showing up. Haaaaa. It’s sadly true. Working out is not my thing and it takes a lot to motivate me.

7) Speaking of love (aka #5), we celebrated Valentine’s Day at the London Chophouse, a Detroit favorite of ours. Just love the old school vibes and the live jazz music (I don’t love jazz, but I can appreciate it over dinner for sure). And if there’s one thing I love more than spending time with the husband, it’s spending time with the husband over a braised short rib. Delicious.

8) Our oldest turned 13 this month, what?!?! We celebrated during our ski trip with coconut cupcakes (courtesy of me per her request) and crab cakes (courtesy of the other family we were vacationing with). We finally caved and gifted her a phone. GAH! Which has been in my possession now for three days in a row because teenagers can’t obey the rules.

9) Our puppy had a birthday this month, too – he turned one! He has definitely mellowed out these last few months, although he is still very much a puppy.

10) Obi used to be scared of the car, so much so that he would not even go into the garage. Now, in the mornings when we are leaving for school, he will plow us down if we don’t get out of the way so that he can be the first one in the car.

11) I’m listening to a new podcast. It’s a murder mystery and investigation into a possible wrongly accused case. It’s really good so far and I’m super hoping there is a good ending to this because wrongly accused cases get me all upset.

12) The bookstore. It’s coming along, y’all, it is. Still slow going, but I’m starting to source vendors and placed my first supply order today (woo-hoo) for shopping bags, so that’s something. No opening date yet, but we’re getting closer to calling one.

Here’s our latest social media pic. Our limestone archways were apparently a bear to put up. They are pretty much done and then the crew will move to the front of the building to do the stonework there.

My goal for March is to just keep plugging along. I’m not even going to try to plug along with my head held high or with gusto or anything like that. Just simply plug along. We are starting to see glimpses of spring and I am grateful for those reminders that winter is nearly over. Which is actually pretty huge in my book. Winter is nearly over!! I can drink to that.

Until next month – ciao.