So. About those goals.

 I set some goals for this year.  And then I almost immediately regretted it.  And since then I've been ignoring them entirely.  

It's a bit flummoxing.  I mean, I absolutely rocked my goals last year, finishing 20 goals by the end of June.  And if ever there was a year with a good excuse to give up on goals, it was 2020.  But I didn't give up last year.  And I did give up this year.  Or actually, I didn't give up, I just avoided, which is probably worse.  I am not willing to admit to myself that I made a mistake, so I'm just not.  Not anything.

It is actually not at all confusing or perplexing, y'all.  I am spent.  All of the emotionally energy required to make it through the past 15 months, supporting and loving my family well, has emptied me, and I got nothing left*.  There is no more emotional energy to care about completing goals that I don't actually want to complete.

Anyway, it's not all bad news.  Or even any bad news.  Just news, I guess.  I may or may not complete any or all of my original 2021 goals, and that's ok.  I have given myself permission to not stress about it (which does not mean that I am, in fact, not stressing about it, but whatever.  Baby steps).

Well.  I'm glad I've got that off my chest and out there into the universe.  So how about an update**?

You guys.  I am so close to achieving a Superstar or better rating on all of the Extreme versions in Just Dance 2019 and 2020.  I am one song away.  What?  Who am I?  A superstar, that's who. (That was ironic.  There is no way on this earth that I would actually call myself a superstar.  Ha.  The very thought is preposterous.) 

I'll keep you posted.

Or not.

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* Are you as annoyed as I am by how dramatic I'm making it sound?  I mean, it feels dramatic, but also the human system tends toward homeostasis, which means we can become accustomed to anything, so it's not actually all that dramatic.  It just is.

** I believe what you just experienced is known colloquially as whiplash.

Random Thoughts with Scarlet

It's time for another round of Random Thoughts with Scarlet.  Enjoy!

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One of the things I do on Fridays is declutter my email inbox.  I try to take action on everything that I've been keeping in there for the past week as reminders.  As I am typing this, it's Friday, and I'm going through those emails.  But the people keep sending me emails!  This is taking much longer than it ought to be taking.

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I was right.  There are parallel Just Dance World Dance Floor universes, at least there were as of Wednesday.  I bought Just Dance 2020 because I knew that the price wouldn't go lower, at least until JD2021 comes out, and I figured I could then defer my decision about whether to open and use it or return it until later.

I got some good advice from AKD, who told me that generally people move on to the new edition of a game when they have beaten the old edition.  I suppose that beating Just Dance looks like getting a Megastar rating on every song.  I don't think I've quite reached that goal, but I have at least gotten 5 stars on each song.  The children encouraged me to move on to 2020, so I did (because in his encouragement, one of the children opened the game, rendering it unreturnable).

Anyway, there are separate World Dance Floors for 2019 and 2020, which makes me wonder if there are also World Dance Floors still going for previous years.

I didn't fall immediately in love with 2020, probably because I was so completely enamored of 2019 immediately.  No way could I replicate that excitement of dancing to my first song.  But it's growing on me.  I have a few songs that I love to dance to, and I'm sure I'll discover more favorites along the way.

In the end, I decided that I needed to try something new, and that I should continue to try something new.  I have heard that dancing is something that staves off dementia.  Dancing makes us use our brains and bodies in new ways, which creates new neural pathways, which apparently keeps the brain working well.  I had reached the point in the 2019 game where I was rarely surprised, almost always anticipating which moves came next.  Challenging myself to learn these new dances will, I hope, yield brain benefits.

I do have to say, however, that visiting the 2019 World Dance Floor is good for my ego... I'm a superstar over there.  Not so much on the 2020 WDF.

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I made the mistake of telling my super-curly-haired boy that he shouldn't necessarily wash his hair every day, in the presence of my not-as-curly-haired boys.  I, myself, wash my hair once or twice a week, and my curls thank me.  The not-as-curly-haired boys seemed to have missed the whole curly-haired requirement, and my statement has caused one of my other children to decide to wash his hair just once a week, which is probably ok, and my other other child to decide to wash his hair... never.  Ugh.

I think--I hope--I've finally convinced the other other child that he should wash his hair more often than never, because he has washed his hair two days in a row now.  Please join me in crossing our fingers that he continues.  Who knew hygiene would be such a slog?

We need one of each: Random Thoughts with Scarlet

Speaking of Just Dance...ok, we weren't.  Just go with me, here.

Y'all!  Not only did I finish 1st in three different songs the other day, I also finished first in a tournament (which is three songs in a row--highest cumulative score wins).  Eek!  My theory is that all the really good dancers have moved on to Just Dance 2020, but that doesn't make me any less geeked when I see my name on top of the leader board. 

So if the really good dancers have moved on, does that mean that there's another World Dance Floor out there, where all the really good dancers are dancing to 2020 songs?  How long will my 2019 World Dance Floor continue to exist?  Dunno.  I'll keep you posted.

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People!  Rocky laid an egg.  What. Is. Going. On?  I am not prepared for these already-molted chickens to lay eggs again until spring(ish).  I am not complaining, because eggs are delicious; I'm surprised.

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Speaking of chickens, I could spend hours looking at chicken breeds online.  I know that I could, because I do.  Some of them have feathers on their feet and/or legs!  Some of them have crests, muffs, or beards!  Some of them have five toes!  Five!  Some of them lay blue eggs, or chocolate brown eggs, or pink eggs!  Pink!  They're all so wonderful--I'll take one of each, please.

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Speaking of wanting one of each, the other day Hubby said we needed more chickens.  I couldn't agree more.  We're gonna need a bigger coop.

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I've mentioned that I've distilled my Warm Me Up Sausage Quiche down to the four essential ingredients, and I try to always have those four ingredients in the house.  I almost always have those ingredients, but they're not always in usable form--the sausage is raw and frozen and the cheese is ungrated, in blocks.  Well, yesterday I decided to cook a bunch of sausage and grate a bunch of cheese, so now I have three bags of cheese and sausage in the freezer all measured out and ready to be made into quiche (along with a baked quiche in the fridge).  I'm so excited to have streamlined the quiche process even more!  Batch cooking to the rescue!

Here's my current recipe:

• Mix together 6 eggs, slightly beaten, 8 oz shredded cheese (I usually use sharp cheddar), 6 oz breakfast sausage, cooked and crumbled (about 8 oz raw), and one 7 oz can diced green chilies.
• Pour into a greased 9" square baking pan and bake in a preheated 400°F oven, for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through and no longer jiggly.

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The Just Dance 2019 World Dance Floor still exists.  In addition to all of the accolades mentioned above, I've become Dancer of the Week for three songs!  That means that I achieved the highest score for each of those songs in the past seven days.  Of course, my titles were short-lived, but it was super exciting to see my name up there.

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I've been making lots of Cricut projects, but I haven't been very good at taking pictures of them.  Whoops.  Here are a few of the projects you haven't seen yet:

 This is actually a reversible sign.  I took the "gather" picture before I put the frame on.

 I love these pantry labels.  Side note: who else has four or more different types of flour in their pantry?  I actually have six, but only four of them are in labelable containers.

My Cricut project list just keeps growing, so stay tuned!