Episode № 56 : Tiny Thanksgiving
Welcome back everybody!
Lady Jupiter Podcast is the audio accompaniment to LadyJupiter.com a lifestyle blog where I write about my family’s military life, our home life, and other tiny details that I just like to share. I’m happy that you’re here with me.
In this episode I’ll share an update on our life as affected by the U.S. military, continue with a blog update, then wrap up with my most recent domestic diversion.
Today in our military-affected lives I have nothing significant to update.
We’ve just been busy as expected. Last week a general was visiting our installation. I had coffee with a group of spouses (I also brought my surprisingly well-mannered toddler), and later Mister Jupiter had lunch with the uniformed other halves. Then he woke up at 3am for a chat with other parts of the world, and we had just enough downtime to do laundry and order some takeaway margaritas before his next adventure.
Oh! Since we last spoke he graduated some of his students! I tried to go to that ceremony (because I love graduations), but the childcare timing didn’t work out like that. I was able to join some of them for lunch though, so I got to meet Mister Jupiter’s boss. Then later we took the speaker out to an Irish pub for dinner, and had a great time.
For today’s LadyJupiter.com update…
Very similar to last episode, I have put up some notes, and updated my outfits of the day post. I decided to switch that particular post to four quarters instead of astronomical seasons because climate change is shifting my expectations of each season, and I suspect that I’m not the only one who perceives shorter springs and autumns, and longer summers and winters. But I know a lot of that has to do with geographical location, so either way I decided to move to quarters, so I updated my Q4 outfits of the day post which happens to cover October November December.
Also behind the scenes, I have been changing my analog content calendar that I use for ladyjupiter.com. I’m sure that on the outside it looks over complicated and fuzzy, and maybe it is, but the way that I am dividing my content, organizing it and using physical pen and paper makes everything FEEL organized, and that’s what really matters to me. It will probably always be a work in progress, and I might change how I keep these notes again sometime next year. No rush.
And now for my most recent domestic diversion
I am caught up with laundry - including most of the folding…and most of the putting away too - It’s kind of a miracle, but I know exactly what happened. So I typically write and edit in the evenings after putting Kid Jupiter down to bed. Well, this past week I simply haven’t had the motivation to write. This is both good and bad.
Good - because I don’t feel like I’m boiling over, too full of words that MUST GET OUT. And bad because I actually enjoy writing and editing. Either way, instead of torturing myself to sit and write I just listened to some audiobooks while cleaning the house at night…and got more active on Reddit. It’s funny that I had the time and space to keep on top of the laundry last week, because I was unable to menu plan like I usually try to.
I prefer to make a menu plan on the weekend, then pick up all of the Groceries on Monday…but I could not do it last week. It was as if the idea of menu planning was forbidden. I would start to think on it, and suddenly my brain slipped gears and said “menu plan?! No. You need to check the junk mail, eat some cashews, wash your face with soap, finish Ted Lasso, change those light bulbs, change the programming on that one light, empty the vacuum, give away that birdseed, work on the continuity binder and information sheets, buy the kid more socks, and did I preorder Amy Webb’s new book?”
Then all of a sudden it’s the next day. Thank goodness I keep a well-stocked pantry so we had plenty to work with, but planning our dinners a week at a time is perfect for our changing schedules, seasonal vegetables, and knowing which fish to thaw. Oh well. Maybe this week will be better? If nothing else, I have easy access to grocery stores and can buy what we need when my brain can sit still long enough to make some fleeting decisions.
Oh - and I have some bike updates to follow through from Episode 55.
- One; the bike is mostly fine - my motor connector just needed a basic disconnect and reconnect. I have had one random power loss while riding, but I wasn’t going uphill, so I was able to turn my bike off and on again while riding.
- Two; Kid Jupiter is slowly warming up to his new sidecar. Initial attempts to get him in the sidecar at all were met with maximum resistance. But after a month of seeing it in the garage, and a few rides, he’s kind of okay with it but hasn’t asked to go on a ride yet.
- Three; my car is too small to fit everything. Ugh. Remember - everything is the folding bike, the sidecar, and my child who isn’t allowed to ride up front with me. I would be fine if I could fold down the backseats, but that’s not an option. Similarly I ride in the front passenger seat often, so removing that seat isn’t an option either. So now I need to install a hitch, get a bike rack, and probably some extra lights to mount on the rack because the bike will surely obscure my brake lights. Booooo. But oh well. If I do it all right the first time I won’t have to replace it, so let’s hope that I get this next round of surprise purchases right.
And lastly I want to thank you all for listening. If you weren’t here I really would just be shouting into the void, but since you are here I am happy that I can chat with you once in a while. This year for Thanksgiving we are not traveling and just going to a friend’s house to share dinner. Originally we were just going to have a favorite dinner - our big cutting board covered in fruit and cheese, with a few crackers, jams, and olives on the side - we were invited also to a quiet food-fest with one family. We can eat fruit and cheese later, so we accepted the family meal invitation and are excited to join them.
I suspect that football watching may be involved, so hopefully I’ll get to use that time to zone out and menu plan for the weekend. My interest in sportsballs is probably the same as other people’s interest in reading technical manuals for recreation. Give me a detailed manual and I can do anything, but if you give me a sportsball I’ll sit on it like a mother hen to avoid having to do stuff with it.
When I was in junior high I took tennis as my sport elective for one year. Our final was to identify which object in a suitcase was the tennis ball. Sure - it was an obligatory final that was being met…but that was a sportsball test that matched my level of interest and passion. This commentary is just reflective of me of course. I’m happy that so many people have the shared interest in sportsballs and such. It’s just not for me.
And that’s it for today’s brief episode.
Show notes and transcript will be available on LadyJupiter.com/podcast - scroll down to the link for Episode № 56 : Tiny Thanksgiving.
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I will talk to you when I can record next - bye for now!
