Friday, January 4, 2019

Coffee Talk

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Happy New Year! I can't believe that the holidays are over and we're already into the first weekend of 2019. That also means it's time for our monthly catch up over coffee! What will you be having? I've got some Starbucks Holiday blend in my cup, with a spoonful of GLG Collagen Hydrolysate (in fact, I just restocked) and some half and half.

Tell me what's new in your world?



If we were having coffee, I'd have to talk about my upcoming trip to Mobile to run the Mobile half marathon. I'm excited to spend the weekend with Holly, but also Teresa and Karen, who joined in at the last minute! I won't lie, I'm a little nervous about running the race. I injured my back at CrossFit this week and haven't run since Sunday. I'll share more about the injury on Sunday's Weekly Wrap post and hopefully, by then I'll have tested it out on the road.


If we were having coffee, I'd talk about the holidays. I was pleasantly surprised at how I felt like I had everything under control. Usually, by the time Christmas rolls around, I'm completely overwhelmed and stressed out. Sure, there were some bumps in the road, but for the most part, everything fell nicely into place. We were gifted with some mild temperatures too. A white Christmas is totally overrated. A mild, sunny Christmas---now we're talking!

A rare family photo on a beautiful sunny Christmas Day!
If we were having coffee, I'd admit that I always feel a little melancholy around this time of year. The holidays were always so much fun when the boys were little. This year, I had to wake them up by 10 to open gifts. No one gets excited about their presents anymore. I did hope to do a family outing downtown to see the lights on the Merchandise Mart and grab dinner, but it never came together.

I am so glad he wasn't a thing when the boys were little. 
 If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that medical group where I work decided to go-live with a new electronic medical record program on December 1. I'm sure there's a reason they did it this time of year, but it sure added an unneeded level of stress for everyone during the very busy holiday season. How many more years until I can retire?


If we were having coffee, I'd ask you if you made any New Years' Resolutions or Goals. I don't do that. It always seems like a good idea, but why not just develop good habits and maintain them all year? Although the thought of a whole new me sounds like a great idea! No wrinkles, no gray hair, no RA...that's the stuff I'd like to change!


If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that in 2018, I read 73 books, which is the most I've read since I started keeping track via Goodreads. My favorite book was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. My unexpected favorite, a there-was-no-hype book was She Rides Shotgun, which I purchased as an Amazon daily deal.  Other notable books included: Educated, An American Marriage, Castle of Water, Everything Here is Beautiful, Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties, The Woman in the Window, All We Ever Wanted, From the Corner of the Oval Office, The Great Alone, and The Music Shop. So many books, so little time! Hover over the titles if you want to learn more about any of them. I borrow a lot of books from my library's e-lending program, but I recommend subscribing to Amazon's Kindle Daily Deals Newsletter. There are often some excellent deals and surprises in there. I rarely pay full price for a book.


What would you tell me over coffee? How were your holidays? Hectic or chill? Did you get any interesting gifts? Anyone else feel sad around this time of year? Resolutions or goals, yay or nay? Have you read any great books this year? 

I'm linking this post with Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date and with Fridays with Fairytales and Fitness.



56 comments :

  1. The holidays were hectic and then slowed way down. My daughter went on vacation with my sister-in-law and family, so my husband and I watched their dogs.

    I’m doing more of an action plan than resolutions this year.

    Hope your back is feeling fine and running in Mobile is a great experience! I’ll be looking for your recap.

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    1. I like the idea of an action plan! I'm heading over to your blog to read more.

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  2. I'm with you on a warm Christmas. Helps to be Jewish, though, and not have any holiday expectations.

    I don't really feel sad this time of year, just tired. The short days & lack of sunshine kill me.

    I hope your back cooperates! Sounds like such a fun weekend!

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  3. The holidays were ... interesting. Daughter drama (it'll never end), missing 2 grandkids, my husband wantwa able to come home (he flies in today! ��), I'd been sicks, and I was way stressed about my project. Ugh. My hubs and I opened gifts together over video chat. �� Actually, it was sweet but I definitely want him home next Christmas!

    I'm sorry about your back! I hurt my back a few opens ago (lots of heavy deadlifts) and that's hard because even running is uncomfortable. I hope it doesn't give you any problems in Mobile! ��

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    1. We had some drama too. I swear, these adult kids are way more trouble than the kids (or teens) ever were.

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  4. OMG, 73 books??!! I made it through 10 - and finishing the last one was an accomplishment -- it was well-written but no compelling story line. I did enjoy An American Marriage, and am reading Educated now. I think I'll get Becoming for my flight to San Diego next week.

    Jealous of your running meet-up -- I hope your back cooperates!

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    1. I was surprised at the number too! I do love to read and have been stockpiling books on my Kindle app...maybe it's the pressure of having all those books?

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  5. We had a very warm (and brown & a little muddy) Christmas, too. I don't think we've ever taken pics on the front porch, let alone without jackets, on Christmas Day. I had to finally rouse the two (at-home) kids around 11:00, so we could do our stockings and I could get in the shower....

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  6. Hope your back's OK for your running meetup and race - how annoying. My Christmas was even more quiet than usual as I got my cold on Christmas Eve and it's only just going now (It's not on my chest honest, I can run, runs, coughs, repeats). And now my poor husband has it! I didn't get to see my best friend and her kids as I usually do - they're 19 now so they had so much else on plus work, it didn't work out. But I'll be seeing her in two weeks and we only saw each other last on 13 December so that's about OK.

    No resolutions, just resolved to manage my ultra and the marathon I've booked for before it. Then a long rest from racing, I think!

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    1. It seems like everyone is sick! And all I do is wash my hands. I hope you're feeling better. Glad you're able to run through it.

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  7. I hope your back cooperates for your trip and race. Nevertheless the get together will be fun! I did appreciate the mild Christmas weather. May it continue!

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  8. Good luck in your race! I hope your back is ok

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  9. Nah on the resolutions for me either. I am with you on developing healthy habits and keeping them going. Ouch on the back pain-it's the worst. Take it easy this weekend at the race. It's going to be so much fun to hang out with all of the girls. Look forward to hearing more about it.

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    1. Oh, the race is actually next weekend! I'm glad because I need a little more time to heal.

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  10. Your holidays sound great. I am usually not a resolution-maker either. I didn't make any this year either, but I did decide to focus on a word this year (for the first time) - balance. It kind of found me. Good luck on the half this weekend. Can't wait to read a race recap!

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    1. You'll have to wait one more week...the race is next weekend.

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  11. LOL at the "real scroller". Also loved From the Corner of the Oval. So amazing to think that job existed so recently
    Your injured bitmoji is too cute, but I hope you're on the mend.
    I feel you on mild christmas. We quit opening presents on Christmas day a few years ago. For a while it was the night, now it's the next day

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  12. Our Christmas holiday was great but very hectic. We did a family trip (sans one son and one daughter-in-law) the week before Christmas, then did Christmas early because my oldest son and said daughter-in-law left for Florida on 12/22. It was a rush to squeeze things in before they left, but we did it! I'm so sorry about your back. I really hope it cooperates for you. I'll be watching for a positive Sunday post! No resolutions for me...just keep working on stuff to improve things all around. Happy new year!

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    1. I'm glad to hear that your Christmas was fun! I love your flexibility so you could squeeze it all in!

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  13. My kadults are still silly over Christmas morning; we had to tell our oldest that we wanted to sleep until 7:00 am because otherwise he will come bouncing on our bed way too early. And yes, he's 31. So they do have that, but I had to give up on them wanting to decorate the Christmas tree quite a few years ago, which is something they used to love. Sigh.

    Ack to hurting your back - I hope you are feeling better really soon!

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    1. That's so funny about your kids! How fun that they still love the holidays!

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  14. Have a great trip and I hope your back feels better and you are able to run the race. <3

    Today, they just did a HUGE migration of our work computers... email... back up storage... everything. Yeah, during the work week they do this. And obviously it is not a smooth transition, stuff isn't working, things are lost, teachers (including me) don't know how to use the new software, passwords aren't working.... EVERYONE IN MY BUILDING IS LIVID TODAY. It's really hard to teach when you don't have your files!

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    1. It's also hard to see patients when you don't have your files. It's been a really tough transition.

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  15. Mellow holidays for us. I quit trying to get family to come visit a few years ago and I pretty much let all guilt go about not going to them, so it was just Les and me. We walked our neighborhood on Christmas Eve, looking at all the lights. It was a calm 50 degrees and we loved it.

    We're kicking off the new year with a new refrigerator. Les bought our current model when he moved to California in 1987! We weren't planning on this purchase, but now it will match the dishwasher we bought last year.

    No resolutions for me, but I do love resetting my numbers to zero and seeing how far I will go this year.

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    1. This is us...excited about new appliances! I'm the same way. Actually right now, I'd be happy about new furniture.

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  16. I too had my shit together for the holidays and it was such a great feeling! I'm sorry to hear about your back and hope you're recovered enough in time for your race in Alabama. All is good here and we have been skiing non-stop. Now if I can just shake this cold I picked up...

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  17. I don't do resolutions, that way I am not disappointed in myself when I don't reach them. I need to read more, maybe that could be one of my resolutions I make. My holiday was super chill, I had all my gifts bough and wrapped the beginning of December. So much less stress.

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  18. I completely understand your melancholy feeling about Christmas. My kids are 13 and 15 years old and even at that age there just isn't that "little kid" excitement that there was back in the day. I do really miss that! (oh, and the kids being excited about a big $10 toy . haha!) I think my family just needs to make some new traditions to spark some excitement back into the holiday. We did not have a white Christmas either, but I love snow, so that was a bit of a bummer!

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    1. I tried to get them to go downtown with me--the boys actually wanted to go but we couldn't get my hubs to join us. Maybe next year!

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  19. 73, damn girl! You beat me by more than 10 and I thought I read a lot. Oh, it's probably your no-TV thing... that's what gets me!

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  20. So man books! Are you in a book club? I read Educated too (thats the only one from your list we have in common)- it was incredible. My mom is a trainer for a medical-records program and leads the go-lives a lot, she also thinks it's bad timing for the holidays!

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  21. Good luck in Mobile! Hope the race goes smoothly for you and you have a good time.
    Wow, what a great accomplishment reading 73 books last year. I really need to get back into my reading, as I used to be an avid reader.

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    1. I love the ebooks--between the Kindle daily deals and my library, I'm pretty set!

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  22. I don't know why my comment posted as Unknown. OOPS!

    -Shannon @GirlsGotSole

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  23. I'm a goals kind of person. That said, I suck at actually tracking anything. I read a ton of books last year, but have no idea what and how many...

    -MCM Mama

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    1. You should use Goodreads! I love to check out the other readers' reviews before I read and it's a great way to track your books.

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  24. I hope you had an awesome new year! <3! I'm glad things fell in place for you for the holidays--they can definitely be a stressful time!

    I'm sorry to hear about the EMR thing--which one are you using now? When I was on my OB rotation 2-ish years back, they had just switched EMRs when I started my rotation so everyone was too stressed out to work with me, so I learned how to fix problems from listening to the go-live team and then everyone wanted me to work with them, hehehe. :D

    I don't do resolutions either--I just have a billion ongoing goals all the time, haha. Major props to you on reading so many books! I've been listening to audiobooks on my walking commutes (e-lending programs are the bestttt), but definitely didn't make it to the 70's!

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    1. We're now using Epic, which everyone says is Epic. I definitely see the benefits of it and once I figure out a flow, I'll like it better. But it's so different from our previous EMR and the training was not very good, so it's kind of a figure it out as you go thing.

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  25. we don't do much for holidays and I am actually always a bit meloncholy/ sad this time of year; it's really the only time that I miss "home". The food, the smell of pinon and juniper burning in fireplaces, the amazingly crisp cool air and clear sky... I don't miss the busy-ness of it all, I don't miss all the spending and stress, but I miss the feeling of Christmas that I just have never had here in the Netherlands. The kids (+boyfriend) did come over for Christmas Eve so that was nice.

    I sure hope your back feels better by the time you run your half marathon!

    so... 73 books!! I gotta ask - how do you do it? you work, you train, you do yoga, you run, you are a busy blogger and on top of that you read 73 books??? I can't even find the time to read one...

    as for goals, etc. I am kind of with you, though I think re-setting and /or claiming what my goals are is just more for me to remind myself what I want my habits to be. Like the "no junk at work" thing. I want that to just be something I do (or don't...). Same as with water, taking my vitamins, etc. In my mind setting goals or resolutions is just another way of getting into a habit. If that makes sense. I mean, if I could quit smoking 10 years ago, surely I can create a habit of taking the stairs instead of the lift? I don't know, maybe I'm just rambling now!

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    1. I completely agree with you about goals--they are more about making habits! I'm sure I do this all year long, I just don't declare it. Like reading a lot of books! I don't watch a lot of TV, so that's when I blog. I go up to bed early and usually read for about 30-60 minutes every night. I LOVE to read. Always have.

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  26. It was nice to have a relatively chill holiday - but I do agree that excitement of when my boys were younger. Sigh.

    You inspire me with all of those books you read. I keep saying I'm going to make time to read more. Perhaps this will be the year...

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  27. Oh no! I hope your back is feeling better by now! Our holidays were very nice and low keyed, and you're right, it's not quite the same as when the boys were little. Pablo was pretty excited about his gifts, though! :D

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    1. Cocoa found her ball in the grocery bag before I could unpack it! Dogs are funny.

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  28. I love the Kindle daily deals, too! I just finished The Great Believers. It was so good! I want to read Michelle Obama's book. I have The Great Alone on my list, too. I liked Educated and Nine Strangers (Liane Moriarty's new book).

    I hope you feel 100% by the Mobile run. You'll have a blast with your friends.

    Holidays were busy but really fun. I got a cold when we came back from California - just overdid it, I think!

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    1. I loved Nine Strangers but it definitely got weird in the middle of the book. I kind of rewrote it the way I would have liked it to play out. I've heard great things about The Great Believers and The immortals.

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