December in Review

December 1 we had dinner at home. I watched This is Us while Matthew played games or something in the other room. 

December 2 I had mold on my Built Bar which was gross. They gave me $6 off. We went to Shake Shack after work, and Matthew went on a rant afterward about how much he hated it. 

December 3 I got my name changed on my license. Matthew made us poutine using cheese curds from the Beaver Creamery. I also did a Calligraphy class online through Yelp. I'm sure it all just takes practice, and I don't like my writing. So I have nothing noteworthy to share from it. We watched a Christmas episode from The Office and started How I Met Your Mother, which I have yet to really get into. 

December 4 we went on a date. The Chili's wait time was crazy, so we tried Texas Roadhouse and then ended up at Outback Steakhouse, which had a pretty limited menu. For dessert, we got The Chocolate (we had a deal on our Female Foodie card), and right after that we went to the Scoop to get Matthew some Graham Canyon. We came home and watched Mandalorian and part of Home Alone. Earlier in the day I started my home refinance through the loan officer Matthew works for, so that's exciting. 

December 5 we got the dent fixed on our friends' truck. I opened the door into a hand rail I didn't know was there. We also went to the mall for the Bath & Body Works candle sale. And we picked up our kit for the dessert taste off. That night, we had Harrison over to do the taste off with us. It was fun. We liked the peppermint brownie from Schmidt's the best. 

December 6 we went to church. And I got video of my cat falling off the dryer while trying to get into a box, so that was the best thing ever. We also went to Chad & Jordyn's house for baby Georgia's blessing. I don't know what I did either Saturday or even Friday (if the pain took that long to set in) maybe during a workout, but I pulled my side muscle and was dealing with a lot of pain that day and that evening. 

December 7 was my dad's birthday. I also had some incredibly bad neck pain that rendered me basically immobile for a while. Matthew was so patient and helpful. I did go to work still, but I got an appointment with a chiropractor for the next day. With my side and my neck together, I felt pretty miserable. Matthew cooked dinner and made me get in the tub for my issues. 

December 8, I went to the chiropractor. It's also the day that we booked our honeymoon! It happened way faster than we expected. But the deals and prices change so fast with travel that we got what we could. We are doing five nights at El Dorado Seaside Suites in Cancun from Jan 25-30. That evening, Matthew picked up Olive Garden, and we took it down to my grandma's house to have dinner with her on her birthday. It was nice to visit with her. 

December 9, I spent the work day getting Christmas cards ready. It was a much bigger ordeal than expected. But I got them done. I also decorated the break room at work. That night, Matthew made some burgers and fries for us, and we had Jim over. We watched Muppet Christmas Carol. 

December 10, I went back to the chiropractor. We went to Cross E Ranch for drive through Christmas lights and donuts. I had heard a lot about their donuts, and they did not disappoint. The lights were so cute, and the donuts made it even better. Afterward I watched Call the Midwife while Matthew studied. 

December 11, a Friday? You guessed it! Mandalorian! We got Megaplex popcorn for it, and afterward we watched E.T. I think it holds up pretty well! I still liked it. 

December 12 I spent the morning doing all the normal things - workout, laundry, cleaning. But I also spent a good chunk of time getting some tacky crap off the ceiling that my last tenant left there from glow in the dark stars. It was pretty obnoxious. That night, we ordered Wing Stop and watched Schitt's Creek and Jingle Jangle. 

December 13 I learned how to play Silent Night on ukulele. I practiced for the next several days, but now that I'm writing on 12/21, several days have passed with no practice. I'll practice tonight. I also watched a black & white movie called My Man Godfrey. It was fun. I needed to check it off my 20 for 20 list this year. We also watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Mixed Nuts, a Steve Martin Christmas movie. And we watched part of Christmas Vacation. 

December 14, I felt much better and started back to regular exercise. Unfortunately, I was up at 5 to lift and get to plasma on time, but forgot that my plasma appointment was the next day. For dinner, Matthew made us some mushroom ravioli from Trader Joe's. He cooked with reindeer antlers on, so that made me giggle. 

December 15, I got dinner with Brittney and Kristine at Twigs in Farmington. It was a year and 5 days after the last time we had dinner there together. It was the day Mucus Lucas invaded my face, actually. That day was a struggle for me because I had some hard things come up in a lifelong friendship of mine. My last post deals with this in more detail. 

Just real proud of my wrapping this year

December 16, my boss and his wife gave me my Christmas gift: a couples massage and pedicure package. That was super nice! I've already scheduled it!

December 17, Matthew used pizza dough from Trader Joe's to make us a pizza. I had a massage, so he baked it while I was gone. My massage therapist actually went too hard on some areas of my body; and she was talking a lot so I couldn't really ask her to use less pressure without interrupting. I felt bruised the next day; sad day. I got an unexpected Christmas delivery that evening from Rachel. She sent me Ethel M. Chocolates. We went on a tour there back in 2017. It was super unexpected, and I loved it so much!

December 18, we ate at home and then had ice cream down at Thanksgiving Point for Jace's 2nd birthday. He belongs to our friends Kevin & Brionna - whose truck I dented. It was fun to get together with them. We came home and watched Mandalorian, of course. 

December 19, we did all our normal adult stuff (cleaning, laundry, groceries). Our grocery trip was actually a lot bigger than normal. We went to Winco and shopped for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals. We had a date to Mint Sushi and the tree of life in Draper. But we also stopped at Rebecca's chocolates to check it out (I had never been), Crumbl, and Pirate O's. It was a fun time. 

December 20, we watched church at home because my neck pain came back with a vengeance. I probably pushed too hard on Friday - did assisted pull-ups in my workout, and Saturday went to Orange Theory. I baked from 11:30am to about 7:00pm without breaks. I made sugar cookie dough first, then oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookies, spritz cookies, muddy buddies, and Chinese chews. Then I rolled the sugar cookies and baked those, and I made frosting so we could decorate some. 

I'll let you guess which plate Matthew did

December 21, I donated plasma in the morning, and wasn't wrapped tightly enough afterward. I posted this story on Facebook: This morning after donating plasma, they didn’t wrap my bandage tight enough. I got in the car and realized too late. I had 6-7 drops of blood all over my cream colored sweater and dark red leggings (I wanted to look nice and festive today). I went back inside and got rewrapped. Then I proceeded to call my husband and cry to him about my sweater. (I know this is first world problems; don’t judge me.) I hurried home, rushing to change my clothes. Matthew was there waiting. He took my clothes from me as I cried like a baby, and rushed them to the sink to try and address the stains. He told me he would take care of it and told me to go to work, even though he also should’ve been leaving for work. I am grateful for this man who doesn’t give me a hard time even when I cry for silly reasons. I’m grateful he gives me a soft place to fall. And I’m grateful that when it counts, I know he will take care of it. Sorry for the mushy post, but it was a rough morning made smoother by my life partner. I love you, Matthew. Thanks for being the best.

That morning, I sent over the obituary that I wrote for my grandpa the previous week. I had a few tweaks to make before sending it. And I found out afterward that I was given bad info regarding one of my grandpa's brothers. So I had to email again and ask them to update it on online platforms. Thank goodness they could. 

That evening, Matthew made us spaghetti. He studied, and I practiced ukulele. But we also got to see some planets on our neighbor's telescope! So that was fun. 

December 22, I was able to wear my outfit from December 21 because the blood didn't stain my sweater! Yay! I was still battling neck pain and took it easy on the elliptical in the morning. I had to pick up our Honeybaked Ham after work; I forgot to do it on Monday! Holy moly I wish I had gone on Monday. That night, Matthew and I worked together to get his mom's 65" TV mounted to the wall. It was a lot of work, and the studs weren't centered with anything else in the room, but it looks good. 

The line at Honeybaked Ham

December 23 was a standard day. I took a box of food to Harmon's for the Food Bank. But I had a big ordeal at my plasma center. My appointment, normally 60-75 minutes, was two hours long and full of stress. They were trying to say that I shouldn't have donated on November 30 given my COVID test results on November 19, and said it's grounds for permanent deferral. I felt accused and attacked and defensive. I had called on November 25 to see if I should or shouldn't come in on the 30th, and she told me to come in since I was asymptomatic. Anyway, they still let me donate, but I was pretty upset at them. I may find a new place to donate. 

December 24 I was still struggling with neck pain. With all of these neck issues, I just kept getting better throughout a single day, then I'd sleep and mess it up and back to feeling awful when I woke up. We had my grandma over for dinner. Matthew made pork loin, buttered pecan cauliflower, potatoes, and wedge salad. We each opened up a present that night. I gave him some lingerie for me to wear, and he gave me a box of See's Nuts & Chews. 

December 25 was just super quiet. We did stockings first; he gave me some gloves, insulated socks, and cute ankle boots that are too big (the size was mislabeled). Matthew made us breakfast - potatoes, eggs, and bacon. He wrapped up some gym socks for me in three separate packages, making it look like I had a lot of things. He's funny. He also gave me some new Altra shoes; my old ones are a disaster. I gave him some new cologne, Lord of the Rings Chess, a Marvel t-shirt subscription (and the first shirt), and a jalapeno corer. It was a quiet day. Matthew made his cereal wreaths then he napped, and I Face Timed my mom and family. I made salad, ham, potatoes, stuffing, and green beans. It was super good.  We watched a lot of movies: Harry Potter, Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, and Lord of the Rings. 

December 26 I went to Orange Theory. We saw Wonder Woman 1984. I watched Hamilton for the first time on Disney Plus. And we watched Soul on Disney Plus. I loved it! I slept on the couch hoping it would help my neck. Nope. 

December 27 I went and got Duck Donuts. We tried to watch church online, but the first half the sound wasn't working. We put away Christmas and had an otherwise quiet day. I tried to propagate a pothos plant I've had for a long time. Matthew put up our TV in the gym for me too! 

December 28 it was back to work for both of us, with lots of leftovers for lunches. That evening I had therapy, and Matthew studied.

December 29 was another work day, but I replenished a few groceries. We ate leftovers, and Matthew studied while I read a book. 

December 30 we went down to Lehi to see Matthew's brother Stanley and his wife Melinda. Stanley had some presents to give to his brothers. 

December 31 we found out in the morning that my family was getting together. So Matthew picked up some food for us to bring to my aunt's house. I went by myself because the dog was stressed about the fireworks. My mom also got back in town for a couple of days, so it was good to see her. I went home by 10:30, but we did make it to midnight.  

Books I read in December:

The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player by John C. Maxwell (audiobook)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (took me almost a year)
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (audiobook)

I surpassed my reading goal for 2020, but not by much. And I didn't diversify as much as I wanted. I only read a handful of fiction books this year. I got stuck by Little Women, feeling like I shouldn't read another fiction book until I finished that one, and that made it impossible to start other books. 

Anyway. On to January and hopes of a better year.