Five Things: Issue 241
Five things with KD ?
Knock, knock! It’s me.
Less regular than I thought I would be, but not yet ready to give up. That’s how I feel about the newsletter right now.
Life is good! When folks ask about married life, my go to response is “so far, so good.” I love being married to Chris, and it’s unbelievably nice to have someone who I’ve sworn to honor and cherish to wake up next to in the morning.
The wedding was a true blast in every way. While spinning on the dance floor during “Dancing Queen” I said out loud, “this is the best moment of my whole life,” and meant it. Our Honeymoon was fabulous.
I’m committed to Katherine Duderstadt loving writing for the sake of it as much as Katherine Corliss was. But as with all things, we’re holding it loosely.
I hope today is beautiful for you! Here’s my affiliate link for Divi which I really do think helped when my hair started to fall out from wedding stress (not major fall out but more than the usual sheddage).
Number One: books I’ve liked lately:
Manhunt - It was fun on the Honeymoon to say, “babe, I gotta get out of the pool and read about Lincoln’s Assassination.” If you liked Destiny of the Republic, or other Candace Millard, you’ll like this one. It moves at a nice pace and it is fascinating to think about pre-internet nationwide news distribution.
Demon Copperhead - I had placed a hold, borrowed, and then let the lend lapse on this audio book at least three times before I finally got into this book. It took the book club assignment to get me there, and I’m grateful. It’s so sad, but also gave me so much to think about especially regarding privilege, the foster care system, the opioid epidemic. It reminded me of reading Hilbilly Elegy in 2016 but without the explicit political undertones.
The Rumor // The Perfect Couple - I love an Elin Hilderbrand every once in a while. Easy. Breezy. Abrupt endings. Good pool reads.
Number two: started running, maybe gave up; did exactly one Pilates class
We got back from the Honeymoon, and I just had this wild hair, like, what if I started running again? Long time readers of this newsletter will remember that I gave up running in 2020 because I realized I hated it. Something about pounding the pavement just started to sound nice once I had another ring on my hand.
I went on exactly five runs in the last six weeks, and my “Garmin Coach” is starting to lost confidence that I’ll be able to run a 5k in 10 weeks because I just sort of stopped. It’s hot outside. The dog needs to be walked. I don’t know. Maybe I am just a walker?
But what I do know is that Saturday morning I went to a Pilates Reformer class near me and it was so fun. I thought it would be like the first time I tried Barre: I would seriously consider faking an injury to as to leave early. But I felt so strong. And it went by quickly. Part of it is that really since I stopped running I started strength training, and doing 100 air squats is doable when I can also do 36 squats with heavy-for-me-weight on my back, ya know?
It reminded me how much I love a fitness class; I love being told what to do. It wasn’t cheap, but I went while Chris golfed, and it was cheaper than golf. Make gender dynamics work for you, that’s what I say! I signed up for a four pack of classes. I told Chris if he kept golfing, I’d keep going to Pilates, and then I’ll have the tightest butt in town, and it sounds like that may backfire into a lot of golf for him.
Stay tuned, I may have gained a whole new personality.
Number three: Abilene Paradox
I recently learned about this collective fallacy and I keep thinking about it. It’s basically when people “go along to get along” but no one wanted to go along in the first place. I feel like I’ve seen this in restaurant picking for a group so many times. Don’t fall prey to it! Speak your mind!
Number four: Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker
We got so many beautiful, wonderful wedding gifts. And it’s funny to me to think of the things that I thought would change our lives, but haven’t really (stainless steel pans). And the things, like this Ice Cream Maker, that I thought we would use occasionally but have become a full-on hobby. My rule right now is that I’m only allowed to make ice cream once a week, like I said, Pilates is not cheap. Otherwise it would be almost daily. But I don’t need that much dairy.
It’s my sourdough. You gotta start 24 hours before you want the finished product. There are ways to customize, flavors to try, techniques to perfect. No preservatives, so it’s gotta be at least a little healthy, right?
Number Five: Things I’ve texted myself since last I wrote
The instructions for unlocking the church doors the morning of our wedding
A dresser, won’t buy, but I like it
A Kelly Latimore Icon I’m thinking about
Sunday morning church attendance numbers
Ingredients list for Butter Chicken
“conditioner, Gatorade, envelope, appetizer?”
A sectional (I know) we’re thinking about
Sunday morning church attendance numbers
My Natural Cycles referral link to send to a friend, but now I’m sharing with you too
“Brake light” (BY THE WAY, the mechanic charged me $45 in labor to replace a brake light that I bought from Advance Auto Parts and thought, hey while I’m getting an oil change, I’ll have them replace the brake light since last time it was kind of cumbersome to do myself (read: had guy friend replace))
Sunday morning church attendance numbers
A print I’m thinking about for the living room