It’s warmer now at 8 degrees at 9am than it has been for a few days. It’s been Minnesota cold here, not something I’m used to anymore (not that I ever was). Thankfully the cold doesn’t typically last very long here. Today totally still calls for the cup of cozy cup. (One of Ashlynn’s new cups from Christmas)

The last few days both Scott and I tried to stay warm… the heat hiked, fire constantly on during the day and warm pjs/sweats and fuzzy socks or slippers. And yet still had issues staying warm.

Add in yesterday’s mishap of driving at 6:40 in the morning with the drivers window stuck open… yeah, warmth evaded me most the day. Also why I kept moving most the day cleaning and baking for our family Valentine’s dinner tonight.

So anyway today… warm cozy coffee, fire, blankets, book and a movie. Yep. Then tonight… dress up, make dinner together as a family, eat by candlelight, open Valentine’s cards and presents and then our yearly selfie photo shoot.

Hoping you all are staying warm and enjoying your morning coffee.

Ah, spa day! It’s Valentine’s Weekend so naturally I figured I’d give myself a spa day… kindof. Remember last week when I said I may have a small sliver of glass in my foot? Yeah, still there. My trusty black salve helped but I still couldn’t get it out.

I’m on Day 2 of soaking my feet in the footspa with epsom salt. I’m doing it twice a day… and it’s getting closer to the surface, still can’t find it with the tweezers though.

The plus side is my feet feel very smooth… the tops. The bottom of my feet… well, I still have a ton of calluses (walking barefoot most my life does that). But they definitely feel smoother than they have in a awhile.

So, here I am chilling with my coffee and feet soaking… watching a movie. My living room smells relaxing from the epsom soak mixed with the smell of my coffee.

I’m thinking I should paint my toes too since my feet are soft. Maybe I should wait until I don’t need to soak my feet twice a day though.

Happy Friday Cups my Friends. What are you going to do to treat yourself this Valentine’s Weekend?

Some mornings I’m distracted by my phone. Today the camera…

This is about as mischievous as I’ll get today.

Sometimes you just need to make faces…

… because being silly is awesome and gives you smiles.

What goofiness will you come up with for your mid day cups? Me… probably more silliness.

After getting back into the flow of writing last week I slacked over the weekend… kindof… I accomplished things… just not writing.

I’ve had a few days of enjoying and or holding my cup.

Saturday I was able to meet up with a friend for coffee and fun conversation even if the wind was cold. And we have plans for craftiness soon. Yay!Plus she introduced me to a coffee place I had been meaning to try. Thanks Jessica! I was able to grab some goodies for Valentine’s Day while I was there too.

Sunday, after not good (and short) sleep I was zombie like with my cup for some of the morning before Scott and I settled to watch a show early afternoon. I had fleeting thoughts of making a creation for Caleb’s birthday greeting but Zombie Rini wasn’t having it. The intent was there… now I feel I owe Caleb coffee. I was able to hop on my family zoom call and glad I did as I miss my extended family tons and was able to spend some time texting a cousin. Scott and I spent the evening with wonderful friends “watching” the super bowl. Thanks Dan and Jen!

Yesterday also brought a Zombie Rini and a cup that I never could finish. I emptied and poured coffee several times with a fresh cup. By afternoon Zombie Rini was gone and Ashlynn and I had a nice late lunch at Panera where we aren’t just mother/daughter but also think alike… we ordered the exact same thing.

I started tackling my long list of projects and craft ideas. I sorted through photos for the frames in the diningroom and reminisced of times past. Yesterday was also my sister’s birthday… Happy Birthday Kelli! My brother-in-law had put together a birthday video… this was our little exert from it.

Now today… coffee forgotten a few times as I’m busy doing some online shopping and cleaning. Sometimes my coffee feels neglected.

Grab and cup… and get to it.

Warmth. I write a lot about finding warmth in my cup.

Today it isn’t about the caffeine. I need warm… to hold warmth.

To smell it (steam rising).

I slept hard last night. My joints are stiff and I’m apparently cold, freezing in fact.

Snuggles under blankets with the fire roaring holding my cup close is my morning.

Happy Friday Cups

Sometimes coffee is interrupted by the ramblings in my brain and consequently me acting on such things. Hence this morning.

So it’s now just after 11 and I think I’ve probably finished maybe a cup and a half (I refill when I’m around the coffee pot).

And now I’m going to sit and folds all the laundry and drinks all the coffee. Unless my brain goes on down another rabbit hole and I do other random things (I wouldn’t mind not folding the laundry).

Yep, and then I’ll reward myself by doing crafty things later.

Happy Thursday Cups My Friends

Today’s coffee gets my fun cup about friends. I’ve had it since high school and still love the sentiment.

Today I got to celebrate one of my besties. My coffee loving and yoga motivator friend. Unfortunately no selfies, as our coffee date was cut short as his work pulled him away.

I’m very grateful that this hippie drummer hired me way back when. Who would have known then that my boss would become one of my best friends a little later in life. And because of that hire I’d find friends and because of those friends I’d meet my husband. Life is funny that way.

Happy Birthday Chris (a little early)

Happy afternoon cups my friends and reach out to a friend to have a cup with… Because friends are like donuts… ?☕

Ever hurt yourself and someone tells you something like, ‘I can punch you and then it won’t hurt as bad.’ Or something to that effect. Never meant as a serious thing and just a saying, right? Ha, ok… here’s my anecdote.

Last night while cooking dinner I felt something dig into my foot. I’m guessing it’s a piece of glass. The closest I can guess is that I had broken a Christmas goblet candle holder while packing the last of Christmas dishes a couple weeks ago. I tried to salvage it by supergluing it back together. Maybe there was a sliver that made it on the floor… and maybe that sliver evaded the broom, dustpan and vacuum which have all been done several times since. After trying to dig it out with tweezers I opted for black salve and a bandaid and went back to finishing dinner… limping, trying not to step on that part of the foot.

I finished up dinner and as I was getting the broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken out of the oven the baking sheet tipped and fell and got stuck between the door and the oven. Still have no clue how that happened. Trying to salvage dinner and get the pan unstuck I grabbed the baking sheet with my gloved hand and grabbed the other side with my ungloved hand. I became British as I burned two of my fingers. Scott comes running knowing something is wrong because I only yell like a Brit when I really hurt myself. So he salvaged the chicken while I nursed my burns. I ate dinner with my fingers on an ice pack.

The rest of the night I kept my fingers on ice but completely forgot about my foot.

This morning a new day and my fingers have nice burn lines on them but don’t hurt but you know what does… yep, my foot. I was going to hang up some things in my office today maybe I’ll swing and hit my thumb with the hammer. Just kidding (maybe)

Moral of the story… I don’t got one… just some amusement for your morning.

Happy first cups

It’s been 6 months or more since I took out my mat. I’ve thought about it several times. Last week, I finally took it out. I started my favorite video and found it surprisingly easy to center and calm myself in the deep breathing. My video starts with 5 mintues of centering mind and body. The rest of the video kicked my butt and I had to modify most poses (I was expecting that). Then because I wanted to show myself I could I proceeded my 25 minute yoga video with a 30 minute dance video. I was sweaty. It felt awesome. The next day brought me lots of shaking off the rust pain. I did take out my mat but knew better than to try and do a video and did loving body stretches instead. The next day I got my mat out and did my video… modifications are my friend and will be for months to come. I was happy that even after some mental hiccups that morning I still came back to the mat.

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So this is where I have a habit… my body rebels. Timing has never been my friend. Having a teenage girl in the house means my monthly cycle can sometimes be way off. I thought I had 2 more weeks to form a routine before resting a week. Ha, nope. So I have been mostly immobile for the past few days. When my cycle is early or late it also tends to be more painful and knocks me down more than it already does. Thankfully I can take time and be nice to my body. Heat, weight and motrin. Sometimes also a husband who pushes a hand into my lower back to relieve some pain.

Today I’m starting to feel like I’m on the other side. I’m eyeing my mat in the corner and wanting to get back to it. Patience. I need to wait another day or 2 so I don’t hurt myself.

Today I’m Celebrating the Small Victories. I am eager to start practicing yoga again. I may have only had 2 (3ish) days of yoga but my mind is ready as soon as my body says it’s okay. I’ve learned that I need to listen to what my body is telling me. I know my journey is long and I will falter and that’s okay.

So here’s to listening to the beat of my own body.

Happy mid day cups