1. Do you have a word for the year (WOTY)? If so, and you’d like to share, please share. How do you decide on a word? If you don’t have a word are you still on the hunt for one for 2024? 

Are you asking what MY word for the year is, in terms of my goals and intentions? If so, then I’m going with “steady.” Slow and steady wins the race; stay the course and I will find success.

2. January 23rd is National Pie Day…will you celebrate? Do you like pie? What’s your favorite? 

I love pie but have to say, I don’t particularly care for traditional crust. I’d prefer graham cracker. My favorite pie of all time is mandarin orange. My mom used to make it with mandarin orange yogurt and cool whip then put the little canned mandarins on top. I make a cookie pie which is literally just Chips Ahoy soaked in milk and layered in cool whip. I doubt I’ll be eating any pie today (I am writing this on Tuesday) since it’s my Mexican lunch day and no drinking or eating later.

3. Tipping. What are your thoughts, expectations, as to who, when where? Do you appreciate a store/restaurant giving a ‘suggested amount’? Have you ever left an extravagant tip? 

To be honest, when I learned a lot of other countries don’t tip, I think a lot less of it. I typically divide by 6, which makes it roughly 18%. I give more if I like the place. I give A LOT less if it’s a card tablet kiosk thing and it defaults to 20 or 25. No thank you; I won’t be forced into tipping, especially at places where they didn’t do anything extra for me, like when I pick up a pizza. I don’t think I have ever left a ridiculously high tip. At the brewery that allows us to use their back room each month, I probably do 25% but it’s only on two beers max every time.

4. Share with us one household ‘tip’ that works for you. 

Hmm, this could be a lot of things. One I recently learned actually works is one cup of white vinegar poured over 1.5/2 cups baking soda in your toilet. Really works to get nasty stains off if you have hard water.

5. Influencers on social media are people who’ve built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a particular subject. Do you follow any influencers online? Have you made a purchase or tried something new because of that ‘influence’? If there’s one you particularly enjoy tell us who they are and why you enjoy them. 

Not that I can think of but I guess you could say I follow some health guys like Max Lugavere and Tom Delauer. I suppose I did buy the LMNT electrolyte packets based off Delauer because they’re good for while you are fasting.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The cold moved out and the rains are coming but man is my head stuffy. I’ve felt dizzy all morning. Stupid pressure. I woke up, however, feeling very…positive. I need to be because I can tell my husband is in a mood. Work pissed him off and then my son’s school decides to call every single time a teacher can’t figure out who’s in class or not so they mark him absent when he’s literally right there. Ash hates getting a phone call at work so now he’s mad. I get it; I call BS too but it’s one more thing in a huge stack of stupidity surrounding school now. The older I get and the further into school my kids get, the more I hate the entire system. It’s broken, teachers don’t care anymore, they’re continually bailed out by the Union, and it’s just… bad. Maybe I’m being irrational about it but sometimes I think that beyond maybe 8th grade, you just don’t need it.

Anyway, Wednesday now and I feel a lot better equipped to handle life today. A lot going on such as in-office deadlines, the Safelite people finally coming out to fix my cracked windshield, and on top of that, Sleep Token tickets go on sale at 10. We’ll see if I can manage it all!