December Goal Update!

This year K-State gave us the week between Christmas and New Year's off, so Happy Holidays to us! Seeing how I completed most of my yearly tasks in November I didn't have a whole lot of motivation for this month. So I relaxed, enjoyed the Christmas decorations, went to the gym and spent couch time with my Purl. The house is a little bit of a wreck but that might be a sign of a good holiday. 

Next post is 2021 goals! I had to make them a little more challenging, I don't need to be coasting into every December. LOL 

2020 Goals 

Read 12 Books: DONE SEPT.  2020 13/12 

After starting a couple of books and never finishing them I did finish a book this month. I read Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia. It was a clever piece of fiction that had some juicy twists and turns. It was what I needed after trying to be good and read some non fiction. Every once in awhile you just need a haunted house story. It is what it is!  

Knit 4 Things (and no new yarn!): DONE Oct. 2020 9/4

I ended up making one more hat this month for my niece's Christmas. her school color is purple and I knit up my favorite pattern for her! I was afraid it would be too big but I actually could have made it just a touch larger. She takes after the rest of us and has a big noggin. 

Make 2 Quilts :DONE May 2020

Run 600 Miles:  DONE NOV 2020 668

Dec. 2020 727

I ran 59 miles this month! I expected my mileage to fall off but it never got really cold like it usually does. I didn't do long weekend runs but I was able to run 3-4 times a week. I also kept up with my gym classes. So I ended the year with 727 miles! That is 127 miles over my 2020 goal. I'll take it! 

 

Save 2,000 Dollars: DONE April 2020 

I was able to save 108 dollars this month. I looked back at 2019 and I only saved 50 last December. I was a little disappointed with this number because I had purchased all of my Christmas gifts in November but then the microwave broke. So, I had to allocate funds to a new microwave. When I think about that, I'm glad I was able to save as much as I did. Now all I need is a new fridge to have all new appliances in my kitchen! 

I ended the year saving 3,500 dollars! 1,500 over my goal! 

5 House Projects: In 2021 this will be money projects. A few things for the house and a few other things that I've been needing to take care of. 

Put in a ceiling light in living room:  Done May 
Put in a ceiling light in my bedroom office
Get a new stove: Done Feb
Remove a scraggly tree Done September 
Plant two new trees  Done October 

Almost 200 more miles than last year and 30 seconds faster on pace! Whew! 

I need to get longer arms so I can get all of Daryl in the picture next year! 

2020 Christmas

 It has been over for a couple of days, but the Christmas hangover is starting to clear. I'm wearing my new slippers and ready to blog it out. What a great holiday to end the year. Food (check), Presents (check), Family (check) and remembering to put out the trash(). So you can't have everything! 

Christmas morning the boys got to open their presents form me and Santa. I think the favorites was the Gravy Cat Man merch for Alex and the Muck Boots for Daryl. I got a Mom mug from Alex and a Dunder Mifflin hat from Daryl, so my Christmas was fantastic! My present to me was an amazing Shark vacuum that I've wanted for years. Buy the expensive vacuum people, it's worth every penny! 

Then the Stiles and Browns joined us for more celebrating. It was so much fun that I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. It has been a year since we have been together and I missed all of their faces! Another Christmas in the books, next post will be New Year goals! I can't wait! 

The original gang! 

The Dino hand puppets were also a hit! 

Gravy Cat Man! 

Check out those boots! 

I love my mug, Grandma Rosie helped him go get it! <3

This is fitting since we watched The Office a lot this year! 

Henry is going to be taller than me next year! 

Why don't people dress for dinner anymore?

I was so proud of how Purl handled all the company! 

My buddy Charlie! 

A Christmasy Weekend

 It's been hard to pin point why Christmas has snuck up on me this year. But looking through old blogs I realized we are missing big things that put me in the spirit. The big one is school programs. I love seeing the kids at school with all their friends, dressed for the holiday. There is usually a work Christmas party and a few friends parties. So this weekend we elevated the Holiday Spirit! 

On Friday, we popped pop corn, made hot chocolate and headed out to Lake Shawnee for Winter Wonderland. It is always great and this year was no different. We took the long way home and looked at lights on the way back. 

Today, we broke into our gingerbread train kit. I was kinda expecting it to fail, but we followed the directions and it stood! The boys did a really good job and they ate it the minute after I took pictures. 

This week the first medical professionals in Topeka received the new Covid vaccine. I watched it happen on Facebook live and I let out a sigh of relief I didn't even know I was holding in. If we can get through Christmas and New Years hopefully we will all be back together for the 4th of July! What an independence day it will be! 

Meerpohl Express!

I made the engine :-) 

I think ours turned out better than the box!

 

It's Been 12 years!

 I know people are busy, but I haven't gotten one card for my Blogaversary today. LOL! Meerpohl Manor had it's first post 12 years ago (http://meerpohlmanor.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-first-blog.html). It is officially the longest relationship I've ever had.....LOL! 

I haven't had much to post about lately. The boys are on remote school, so they never leave the house. With it getting dark so soon, I don't want to leave either! We did do a thing over the past two days. We made gingerbread cookies. I realize this doesn't take the average joe two days but when the recipe needs you to chill the dough, you are just asking for me to forget about the project! 

Alex helped roll and cut out the cookies. We all frosted! It was a lot of fun and yes, they taste as good as they look. I'm the kinda mom that makes Christmas cookies with her kids, that's new! 

I hope you all are doing well out there, in so many ways, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! 

Here's to 12 more years of documenting this crazy family of mine! 

I think they turned out great! 

Daryl frosted one cookie, ate it
frosted another, ate it....you get the picture!

Alex also made cupcakes this week, he would bake every day!

I did a self portrait of me yelling. It's my baking aura.

Happy Thanksgiving and Goal Update!

Like most people the Manor stayed home for Thanksgiving. Grandma did almost all the cooking, meaning she ordered a family Turkey dinner from Dillons! :-) I did make a pecan pie and a Jello salad because there are just a few things that you have to have. We all colored some placemats and enjoyed our meal at the table. Daryl was excited to then watch Football all afternoon. That made a very nice background for my traditional Thanksgiving nap! 

It was small and I missed my brother and sister and their families, but it was still a good day to stop and think about all the things I am thankful for. 

2020 Goals 

Read 12 Books: DONE SEPT.  2020 12/12 

Knit 4 Things (and no new yarn!): DONE Oct. 2020 8/4

My yearly goal was to knit four new things and I actually knit four hats this month! I did buy some new yarn but it was at Joann's and I had a coupon. So eh, what the heck. I finished one Barley hat that I had started but ran out of gray yarn, I finished it with Yellow. This actually turned into a trend. I made one half black and half gray hat and another gray and yellow hat! I also made a rainbow stripe hat out of some sock yarn scraps for my friend Morgan! I have to keep my friends' warm! 

Make 2 Quilts :DONE May 2020

Still working on quilt number three......

 Run 600 Miles:  DONE NOV 2020 668

I ran 70 miles this month! I actually got my goal on Nov. 1st with my half marathon. But I'm enjoying all the progress I'm making with my running so I didn't want to stop. I even did three long runs (after my half) on the weekends. The last one with the encouragement of my friend Laura. Hopefully running with friends will keep me going during the winter. That has always been the hang up for me about running. It just gets boring when you are on the treadmill all month. 

 

Save 2,000 Dollars: DONE April 2020 

Saved a whopping 60 bucks this month! Yay! This is actually an accomplishment because Christmas is paid for all with cash and we still had 60 dollars to spare. This means I should have even more to put away next month and that seems weird...but when you plan ahead I guess you can still save money in December! 

5 House Projects: I didn't do a house project this month and I won't for the rest of the year, but I did clean my gutters and hang Christmas lights. Grandma helped me with the ladder and even the boys got up there to grab some leaves. It took Daryl some time to screw up his courage but Alex just flew up the ladder, leaned off of it further than I liked and flew back down. I would say Daryl might be afraid of heights but he has always just been more cautious. Once he saw Alex climbing the ladder he took a deep breath and did it. As a family we got it done! 

Put in a ceiling light in living room:  Done May 
Put in a ceiling light in my bedroom office
Get a new stove: Done Feb
Remove a scraggly tree Done September 
Plant two new trees  Done October 

Our Thanksgiving Table! 

Who did the best on their placemat?

This is Daryl's but all he colored was the hair on
the two girls. I did the rest! 

Grandma's!

The sock yarn hat that I made for Morgan!

Yes, I have about 10 hats, but I'm keeping this one anyway! 

Make your happy!

 Today Grandma Rosie, Daryl and I put up the Christmas lights. Because time doesn't matter and months don't exist. One thing that will happen is it will get super cold and I wanted my lights up before that! I also needed to clean the leaves out of the gutters and I only wanted to get the ladder out of the garage once. 

I will wait to put up the inside decorations but these lights outside are making me happy. I need some happy as it is getting darker earlier, getting colder and I still can't be with all of the people I want to be with. So, I'm still doing the things that I can that lift my spirits. Running, watching The Office and now decorating for Christmas! 

As COVID rears it's ugly head again I would encourage you to find the things that you can do that make you happy while you stay safe. Knitting hats works, I have a lot of friends and they all need a hat. If you need me I will be home, knitting, maybe drinking some wine, probably watching the office! It will be easy to find my house. It has the penguin (Pepe), Llama (Lenny) and Flamingo (Maria) having a party out front! They will be there till February. 

Two Races and Two Hats

At this time last week, I was freezing in Kansas City waiting to start my second half marathon for the year. If it has been this weekend, the temperature would have been perfect! But it wasn't snowing and on Nov. 1st you have to consider that a win. I drove myself, ran my race and took my tired butt home. Having someone to watch me finish is nice but I can do things by myself too!  

My race in Manhattan I lined up with the 2:15 pace group and felt that they really helped me not go out too fast. I chit chatted most of the time and was laughing and having a good time. Since that race I have been running faster on my own so I decided to leap frog the 2:10 pace group and I lined up with the 2:05 group for this run. I have never spent the majority of a race trying to keep up with my pacer! There was very little talking and when the pacer told me at mile 10 "If you feel good, you should just go!" I said, "I don't feel good." LOL 

I ended up speeding up at mile 12 and finished with a 2:04 time! My PR is from May 2014 and it is 1:56:28. Not sure I will ever get back there but getting under 2 hours will be the goal for 2021! 

Daryl ran a political race last week. He decided to run for 6th grade rep for Middle School Student Council. He had to record his speech and all the 6th graders watched the speeches and voted. His speech was right out of a 1950's presidential campaign. I gave him a hard time for ending his speech, "God Bless You! and God Bless America!" I told him I didn't think that was going to resonate. But he proved me wrong and was elected one of the three reps out of six running. Way to go buddy!  

For some reason I caught a knitting bug and I have been turning out hats like crazy! After finishing my fingering weight hat last month I casted on with worsted weight. I was so giddy about how fast it was going I finished it in five days! Then I gave up looking for more gray yarn and finished another half done hat with yellow yarn. On Friday, I cast on another fingering weight yarn hat because I need to slow down a bit. LOL! 

GOING TO KNIT ALL THE HATS! 

39 degrees and here we go!

Two Hours later I was ready to go home! 

Photo Credit to Ariel, she takes great photos!
Pattern: Barley Yarn: Universal Worsted and some scrap yellow 

Pattern: Christian's Hat Yarn: Paton's Wool

Newly Elected Daryl enjoying a celebratory steak dinner!

October Goal Update

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday. I really phoned it in this year. We did decorate and I got the boys costumes but today's activities were all planned and executed by our family friends' Morgan and Jordan. They created an amazing scavenger hunt that had the boys running around two yards for 90 minutes. They were solving puzzles and finding clues. It was amazing! We ended the evening around a bonfire and had hot dogs and smores. Alex said we should do that again next year! They didn't miss a thing not trick or treating. 

Can't let this day go by without a look at the monthly goals. I knocked another 2020 goal off of the list this month! 

 2020 Goals 

Read 12 Books: DONE SEPT.  2020 12/12 

Knit 4 Things (and no new yarn!): DONE Oct. 2020 4/4

While I was looking for some yarn to finish a project I found a hat that was half done. It is a great hat knit with sock weight yarn in a rib pattern. It is a hand dyed handspun so the colors do wonderful things. I'm not sure when I started it but I finished it this month! So that give me four knit things this year. If you think completing my knitting goal with a half finished project is cheating, you are very judgy and should work on that! LOL  


Make 2 Quilts :DONE May 2020

Still working on quilt number three......

 
Run 600 Miles: 598

I got  86 miles this month! That is my most miles in one month for 2020. I only missed one long run and on that week instead of 10 miles I ran five. So I didn't skip a long run, it was just cold and windy so I hit the treadmill. However the next weekend when it was still cold I got out there and I ran my 11 miles. So I am ready for my half marathon on Nov. 1st. I even get an extra hour of sleep! 

 

Save 2,000 Dollars: DONE April 2020

This was a three paycheck month! Yay! So, I got to spend some money on Family pictures, my tree and some clothes and shoes for me and the boys. Even with that I got to save almost enough to cover Christmas. So in November I will start my Christmas shopping with real cash money, no credit cards. Don't put Christmas on a credit card, it will only make you sad in January. :-( 

5 House Projects: With the help of Ariel and a desperate search of two nurseries I found one Chinese Fringe tree to plant in my yard. I wanted two but I thought maybe only finding one was a sign. The sign being that I would be lucky to get one tree to grow! I think this will be it for my house projects in 2020. I have a tentative list for 2021 and am ready to hit the ground running in January! Extra funds will either be put in savings or spent on holidays! 

Put in a ceiling light in living room:  Done May 
Put in a ceiling light in my bedroom office
Get a new stove: Done Feb
Remove a scraggly tree Done September 
Plant two new trees  Done October 

The Boys are a Revolutionary War Officer and Ant Man.
They got to also wear them to school on Friday! 

My 4th finished knitting project for the year. 
Pattern is Headsock, yarn was some fingering weight handspun. 
Already have another hat on the needles! 

Add Cat Delivery Person to my Resume

 I'm not sure I have told the story of Cheeseburger on my blog. This summer, in the middle of the pandemic, a cat showed up at our office. She didn't just wonder around outside, she yelled at us from the door. We deducted that she was hungry and Jo had a cheeseburger from Sonic so, the cat got half of it. She LOVED it , hence her name. 

Well, we had to get cat food because Cheeseburger decided to make her home in front of our office. With no customers to help, she was a welcome presence for all of us. If we got stressed or just needed company we could go outside and Cheeseburger wanted all of the pets we would give her. She does not like being picked up. I have science'd this. 

A couple of weeks into our new office cat we were trying to figure out if Cheeseburger was being over fed or if she was pregnant. It was the later and at the end of July she showed up one day with a wet butt and just as skinny as she could be. For the next week we all searched high and low for the kittens that had to be somewhere. Cheeseburger did not spend a lot of time with them. It seemed like she was still always outside of our door. Some of us were wondering if they were even alive. It might have been four weeks later when one of the kittens got brave enough to follow mom to our office. Then a week later two kittens started following her. Pretty soon all four were hanging out at our office. They were very skittish. 

Cheeseburger is a part of our office now, but we couldn't really be finding homes for kittens all the time. So we had Cheeseburger fixed and sent the kittens to a rescue because they had some health issues that needed to be cared for. 

Here we are almost three months later and a few of the kittens still needed homes. My sister in law joked about wanting one and my brother said no. A week later I messaged my brother and said the Kitten his wife wanted was still available. He said he would get it as a surprise for her! So this weekend the boys and I took the kitten to Omaha and my brother came from South Dakota to meet us. It was a total surprise for Diane and that was really fun! The boys enjoyed having a kitten for two days, so now I just need to figure out how to make kitten transport a profitable career. LOL 

Purl is happy the kitten is gone. She has been very clingy to me today! LOL 

He likes Youtube! Perfect Kitten for Alex. 

If I wasn't allergic I think I would have kept this kitten. He is soooo cute! 

Catty Mahommes is not too sure about all of these hand offs! 

Can you see the family resemblance? 

The boys have decided the best condiment is a milkshake.
They are weird!  

Yes, I will take your last tree.

 This weekend was beautiful and I got some things done! Not everything I wanted to get done, but enough. Alex had not one but two soccer games on Saturday and they won both! Yay! The second game of the day and the fifth game of the season it seemed like something clicked for Al. He stopped looking scared when the ball was close to him and started getting in the middle of the scrum! He was making big kicks and actually passing the ball. He still has a lot to learn but him not being afraid of getting kicked is a big step forward! 

Before soccer games I completed a nine mile run then I was on the hunt for two Chinese Fringetrees for my yard. They are beautiful trees and thanks to all of the help I got from Ariel, my local Horticulture Extension Agent I am confident I can get them to grow. (She has already reminded me today to mulch and water!) ((Donut mulch not volcano!)) 

I went to one nursery and their Chinese Fringetrees were tiny. They only grow 10" a year, so I passed on the itty bitty ones. I went to the only other nursery that might have them and they had one. It was leftover from 2019 and currently doesn't have leaves. But I was assured that it is alive and it should be ok. I thought about it for probably too long before I said I would take it! 

I wanted two trees, but I only got one. Maybe that was the world saying I can only take care of one tree? Daryl helped me dig the hole and is going to be on water duty for these first few weeks. Please don't die tree, you are the only one like you in Topeka! 

On Sunday the boys and I took family pictures. I can't wait to see how they turn out with our amazing fall backdrop. Our wonderful photographer told the boys if they did good for the pictures they could go say hi to her mom's horses and donkey. That motivation made for their best session ever! Thanks Shelbi! 

I hope this tree loves being in the ground and gets to be 20 feet tall!

It had become quite friendly with its pot. I had to cut the pot off of it! 

Our prize for smiling nice in the pictures. I got to feed the animals too! 

Soccer Time!

 Alex has been "mostly" patient waiting to try a new sport. Last spring when we signed Daryl up for baseball Alex said he didn't want to play baseball he wanted to play soccer. That season started before summer baseball so we got him signed up. 

The same week we got his shoes and shin guards, his season was cancelled. He was bummed but with school also going virtual he understood. Then here comes summer and Daryl does get to play a shorter baseball season. Alex had to come to every practice and game for Daryl and just watch. He had made a choice and he was living with it. 

Fast forward to this fall and him FINALLY getting to play. He also got another pair of new soccer shoes because for the life of me I can not find the pair I bought for the spring season. I have torn my house apart twice and could not find his "never have been worn" soccer shoes. Oh well, we went to Academy and he said he likes these ones better anyway. Still a little salty about that...... 

He has now had three games and I have made it to one and a half of them! For my fall schedule that's not too shabby. I don't know what to yell at him from the sidelines, I have never played soccer. So I just listen to his coaches and repeat what they say, but louder. :-) Daryl has been repaying his brother's patience and has been very good about going and watching every practice and game. 

I don't think I've achieved soccer mom status yet, I think you have to sit through some sleet or below 20 degree temp for that! LOL 

Is it too much to ask for one runner? Just one?! You know something I could actually help with?! 

September Goal Update

Meerpohl Manor is cruising out of September right on track. It's the last day of the month and we even have $24 left in our eating out envelope. Does that mean I get some fancy coffee this week?? I might just put it away for the giant pretzel I'm planning to eat on Sunday. This is adulthood kids, I'm four days away from eating a giant pretzel and that will get me through this week. 😂  

Remember my last post when I begged for a school routine? Word on the street is the middle school is changing next week. Not even a full week before we started this new schedule. The universe is testing me, I'm trying here! 

The boys are doing really well with all of the bouncing around, it's really just mom that is struggling. But that's ok, fancy coffee and giant pretzel here I come to self medicate! 

2020 Goals 

Read 12 Books: DONE SEPT.  2020 12/12 

So I did a silly thing last month and I forgot that I did finish a book. So with the two books I finished this month this goal is toast! With three months left to go that means this one needs to be bumped for 2021. 

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah, This is the book I finished in August and it was great. It is about growing up in South Africa and not being black and not being white in a country where those are the only two races. Because it is Trevor Noah he finds the funny in all things, but he grew up in a world that was not that funny. It also talks a lot about his mom and she is a force. If you can get your hands on this book, read it. 

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green, Jaime lent me this book and it is one of those that grabs you and doesn't let go. It is Sci Fi in the lightest sense of the genre. You almost forget it is Sci Fi then 3/4 of the way through the book you think dang, the major character is an alien robot. Ok, Sci Fi book, you got me,  I'm still hooked. :-) Very much enjoyed this one and am waiting for her to finish the next book in the series so I can read it and resolve the cliff hanger!!!

American Dirt  by Jeanine Cummins This is another one of those books that introduces me to a life I don't consider that often. What is it like being an immigrant from Central America or Mexico and deciding to flee north to the United States. The decision doesn't come easy and you are just as likely to die as you are to make it to the border. This fiction tale will also make you realize death may not even be the worst thing that can happen to you. It will make you feel, think and hopefully consider how lucky you are just because of where you were born. So much of our future is determined by nothing more than the zip code we were born in, not by our goodness or any potential we might have as people. Let that sink in a little......

 

Knit 4 Things (and no new yarn!): 3/4

Might make a fourth hat, might make some mittens, might be looking at cowl patterns right now. My last project for the year could be anything, well except for a vest. I'm not finishing that damn vest. 


Make 2 Quilts :DONE May 2020

I am going to re commit to the towel quilt I started a few months ago. If it gets too cold to be outside, that is the perfect time to sew. I have two strips of six sewn together. So at the very min. I need to have three strips done my next month's update. 

 
Run 600 Miles: 512

I got  75 miles this month! Started the month off strong with my first half marathon in a year. Had a most excellent time of 2:10! Got so pumped I signed up for another half in November. All was good until this week, I'm running in 45 degree weather. Ummmmm that's not fun. I only have to tough it out for October and then I can hang up the running shoes for the winter. Brrrrrr

Save 2,000 Dollars: DONE April 2020 
I didn't put anything is savings this month and I had to pull a little out to have my tree removed from my driveway. That was all planned and my savings is still in great shape! 

5 House Projects: Bye Bye tree that blocked half of my driveway. I'm not sad to see you go. Your friend the pampas grass will be joining you soon on the burn pile. So glad to have this done! 

Put in a ceiling light in living room:  Done May 
Put in a ceiling light in my bedroom office
Get a new stove: Done Feb
Remove a scraggly tree Done September 
Plant two new trees 

Didn't run as much as I did last month, but I got faster! 

I do have a garage, you just can't see it. 

Alex likes to use my hair dyer. I'm not complaining. 
Wonder if he could use the curling iron.....