Shining Moments – January 12th – 18th, 2020

Can you believe we’re already halfway through January 2020? Weren’t we JUST watching the ball drop and celebrating a new year is here? This week was mostly about work (my full time job and Ubereats) and the stress regarding work was mostly about obtaining hours this week and the upcoming week.  Even as a little stressful it was for me, I’m still in the practice of trying to find the silver lining in things. In no particular order, here goes!

Shining Moments

– Was able to secure a full weeks hours (40 hours, usually 5 shifts) in at work and only had to use up one vacation day

– Have hours for the upcoming week – still trying to decide if I should use a vacation day to make sure I have 40 hours – bills, bills, bills man

– A wellness committee that I’m on at work just celebrated our 1st year anniversary and I got a free hat (worth $22!)

– I also got a Diamond Dollar (reward for good work and above & beyond recognition) for my work as the email coach for the recent Maintain Don’t Gain Challenge (when I get 5 Diamond Dollars, I get to go to HR to redeem for a $20 gift card, so with this year so far, I’m almost halfway there)

– Was able to partially save the day using our incoming phones system via Chrome on my cell (again) when phones/internet/email/computers went down (yay Techy Thursday!). The normal phone system came back up fairly quickly, so it was just using my cell to accept the calls to be able to route through the main console so it would ring – it sounds more complicated, but it was still a pain in the butt, but IT had a HECK of more “fun” than I did, so I win

– One of my local Facebook group member’s trailer and tools got stolen right before Thanksgiving back in 2019, he just let us know that it was found!

– Found 3 long sleeved (and comfortable!) shirts at Walmart on clearance for $5/each – it looks like these shirts are about $15/each usually and perfect for our upcoming dip of colder weather (high of 40-45, lows in mid 20s). I know, that isn’t cold compared to other places, but for here in Charleston, it’s a bit nippy for us – especially since we had a high of EIGHTY this week, wtf January?!

– Was able to watch Seacoast Church online Sunday and The Hope Project‘s replay of Monday night service on Thursday since I couldn’t make it

– Got to watch a Live on Facebook by the lovely Mary England of Uncustomary on her Uncustomary Babes Group (I unfortunately tend to miss most of these because I’m working) and it was great

– Sarah Steckler of the Mindful Productivity who just announced that her amazing podcast has 100,000 downloads! That is amazing!!!!!! At the time of writing this post, she has 98 episodes! She’s soooooo close to 100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

– I was able to share info with a friend about her favorite comedian who is coming to town (and we had just talked about him a few days prior to the announcement/ticket email that went out)

– While shopping at Walmart, I indulged in one of my favorite dessert treats – their Cookies n Creme mousse in their Bakery section – always a good $2 spent 🙂

– Went to Aldi’s and got some food for the house and only spend $31. (I LOVE ALDI’S)

– Made mushroom filled ravioli in a 3 cheese spaghetti sauce (I was out of Marinara sauce and broke) with canned mushroom pieces/stems thrown in, let the sauce thicken in the pot before adding the ravioli back in. I added some canned mixed veggies on the side (I may be broke but trying to eat a little healthier.) However, I miiiiight have killed that with a generic brand of Cheddar Cheese biscuits (like from Red Lobster), but I did end up not putting on the garlic butter stuff and it was still delicious #ThankYouCheeseAndCarbs

– Drank more water and apple juice than my beloved Dr. Pepper this week

– Had a decent Friday night and an AWESOME Saturday doing UberEats. Saturday was 15 runs and I actually made triple digits in pay. I haven’t done that in MONTHS!

– While driving back home from UberEats, I got to see a really cool teal blue Mustang (old school style)

– One of my last runs for the evening put me near a location that holds very good memories – it made me very happy to relive those memories but also very sad for a few reasons too

– Got to see some of my repeat (or newly repeat) UberEats customers. I still find it crazy of the connections that I’ve made by simply being nice + sending my “Hey, I’m Jenn your UberEats driver. I am on my way to you now. See you soon [happy emoji]” text + dropping off food + simply just working a few hours a night over the course of 2 years (I’m presently at 2064 deliveries as of last night since December 2017 – so 2 years and 1 month now). People are like 80% nice, we have a short and quick conversation, and I almost always get a tip of some sort.

– Also got to see a cute Golden Retriever and a Chocolate lab while doing UberEat runs

– Circle K usually has a food promotion to go with their fountain drinks – this week/time was buy a drink and get a certain size Buggles or Chex mix for $1 – yay for cheap snacks, especially while doing UberEats haha

– Since I unfortunately needed to take some time off doing UberEats this week (you know, that adulting game of “how much gas do I have for the week and how to spend it wisely?”), I watched some new movies and rewatched a comedy special this week: The Tourist (featuring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie – action/adventure/spy/crime genres – REALLY good, like I would buy it if I found it somewhere), The Kitchen (Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Moss – action/crime/mob/drama – also really good, definitely kept my interest!), and Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable (I absolutely ADORE Ellen and I love her 2018 special. It’s only available here on Netflix, but it’s always worth the watch!!!)

– I got 2 loads of dishes done (various, odd sizes) – I hate doing dishes and since I’m gone from the apartment so long, it can pile up sometimes. My times to do dishes are late night (after 11 pm and after a long 2 hour commute + 8 hour shift + 4-6 hours of driving UberEats) or on the weekend (before doing UberEats) – so I usually procrastinate until there are no more forks left haha

– Part of my 2020 goals is to read 2 books minimum a month. Since my favorite author, Patrica Briggs has a new book coming out this year in March, my go-to series (Mercy Thompson) will now have 12 books within the series – so that’s 1 per month. I’ve already finished Moon Called (book 1). Mercy is a woman mechanic who works mostly on VWs living in the Tri-Cities (Richland/Pasco/Kennewick) in Washington State, who can turn into a coyote, has to put with an Alpha werewolf living next door but ends up falling in love, but on HER terms. This is NOT your typical, aka lame, paranormal/werewolf romance – add in fae, vampires (especially one who loves Scooby Doo), and other “fun” creatures. Patricia Brigg’s style of writing is wonderfully paced, well-written, fully immersed and developed characters, funny and serious and NEVER boring. The Mercy Thompson series (and the Alpha & Omega series) are books I never get tired of reading, so with the 12th book coming out, it as perfect to fit into my book reading goal. Check out this link to see all of her books/graphic novels/anthologies

– Found Star Wars: Queen’s Shadow – it’s a young adult (teen) read, but it covers the backstory between wheen Queen Amidala/Padme Naberrie left after her Queen term and her Senator years. I love the character of Queen Amidala from when I first watched Stars Wars The Phantom Menace back in 1999 when I saw it on the big screen that year with my parents. I always loved the first trilogy and was ESCASTIC when the new (well, new at the time haha) trilogy was being done almost some 25-30 years later. Natalie Portman did a wonderful job portraying a Queen of 14 with her planet being blockaded. I can only imagine the pressure and anxiety of having to escape your own planet, try not to get captured or die so that you, a teenager, can go before the Senate of the entire galaxy to plead your case to have them do something. No pressure, no pressure…

But seriously, who didn’t love all of those dresses?!?!

I was very disappointed in her (SPOILER) death in the Revenge of the Sith – the doctor robot even said: “There’s nothing wrong with her, she’s simply lost the will to live.” Granted, you just found out (again, SPOILER) that your husband just became a Sith, killed Jedi children and is now for the Dark Side and tried to kill you because he thought you had brought Obi-Wan to kill him (Anakin in hindsight: oops, my bad Padme), but you just gave birth to twins! Where was that mother instinct to protect, to provide, to keep your kids safe?! I’m not saying that she didn’t have a lot to process while pushing out 2 kids, but come on… but that’s story writing for you… if she hadn’t died, Anakin probably wouldn’t have 100% committed to the Dark Side because he had nothing left (he probably thought their kids died too with her, but this wasn’t mentioned in Revenge of the Sith to Darth Sidious/Emperor at the time… again… Hollywood story writing). So I am glad that there is a book (even if it is canon, but by the Disney-Lucasfilm Press) now (and another one called Star Wars: Queen’s Peril)

 

Reflection

No in-depth reflection this week besides sometimes you do what you have to do (like when I had to plan out my gas accordingly). Sometimes when you’re forced to do something, look at how you can make the best of it. While I was very bummed I didn’t have the gas (or money to get gas) to do UberEats, I was able to do some self-care by making a thought out meal (not one out of a can and into the microwave or through a drive-thru window) and I was able to watch some movies and a great stand up comedy. Once I got paid on Friday, I had gas again and had a great weekend, so some of the money that I had to use (when I really didn’t have it) has been put back in and I still have Sunday to go!

Wishing you a beautiful week ahead and as always, let’s shine bright together