What's making me happy this week

Okay Pinterest. Hold your horses. Despite what Starbucks might tell you, fall is not here, well, at least not in Kansas.

I did mentioned in a previous post that we were stuck in the grey area between summer and fall because it was being both and neither at the same time. Well, this weekend, Kansas decided to go back to being summer. 90 degree weather. Pass. No wonder the only things growing in my spinach bed are weird vines and bermuda grass.

How many blog post can I write about longing for the next season? Not enough. That's the answer.

Ever since I started doing more gardening, my love of fall/winter has grown. Don't get me wrong. I still hate being cold but it seems that only in cold weather can I ever convince my weekend self to cozy up on the couch and lose myself in my book for hours. That's how I really want to spend my Sunday afternoons. (But since the weather is warm today I spent it making quiche/dumping some of the raw batter on to my carpeted kitchen floor. cool).

Oh well. It'll be here soon.

In the meantime, I will focus on the things that are making me happy this week.

1. The Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast: I listen to a lot of podcasts in the summer, thanks to road trips, piles of dishes by the sink and hours spent bent over in the garden pulling weeds. Eventually, my usual stockpile of subscriptions does not keep up with my demand for them. Thus I go hunting for more. This summer I started listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour. It took me several weeks before I decided I liked it, especially since I thought (and still do think) it's just a bunch of pretension people sitting around, finding new ways to sneak the word "sensibility" into sentences. However, it has grown on me and I now I find myself looking forward to the latest episode hitting my iTunes on Friday. I usually listen to it when I am cleaning or making something in the kitchen. This week was no different….

2. Double chocolate chip cookies: I go through food phases - like binge-worthy food phases. Often that manifests itself by only eating the same thing for breakfast for weeks and then never wanting to eat it again. However, my latest craze is to always have cookies in the freezer. Levent and I just finished off Joy the Baker's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pecan cookies (minus the pecans simply because I didn't have them on hand). So it was time for a new one. These double chocolate chip cookies did not disappoint. I know. I fan girl hard over Joy the Baker's stuff. But seriously, her blog is always so consistent. You should probably be "fan-girling" her yourself.

3. The Internet: More specially funny lists people put out on the internet. (I could spend hours going down the rabbit hole on BuzzFeed). This specific list (though not BuzzFeed) is a spoof of comments found on recipe blogs. Hilarious. Also very true. As a rule of thumb, I try and not be this person. My rule now is that I will not make a recipe from a food blog unless I can find at least one comment from someone who actually tried the recipe (didn't change it) and loved it. Surprisingly, this narrows things down really quickly (and has helped me clean up my pinterest boards significantly). I also now try to be the person who gives quick feedback on recipes I've tried, whether I liked it or not.

4. TV shows that stream online: Levent and I spent most evenings relaxing on the couch while streaming something on the internet. (Hey we live in rural Kansas, what else is there to do)? We often end up watching comedies together, especially since I like watching "light" tv and not dark. Occasionally we will watch a drama together (like when we watched Breaking Bad) but mostly we stick to comedies. Thanks to Netflix, we can avoid the TV-schedule programing altogether. We just finished watching The IT Crowd. I had my doubts at first since I don't always get British humor, but I loved it and feel a little sad it's over.

Levent and I have also been watching this crazy/amazing (craz-amazing) show called Orphan Black from BBC America. OH MY WORD. Someone else watch it please so I can talk to you about it! I've been looking for a show (well, a drama) that I would like as much as I liked Breaking Bad and this is it.

5. Budgeting: What? Seriously? Yeah, I know. It sounds awful (and it's not necessarily making me happy) but it's been really good for me this week. My car needs some work and I need to order contacts and so BAM! It feels like I need to give all of my money away. Right now. FREAKING OUT MOMENT.

That's how I have been functioning. But my financial guy at Everence helped me set up a monthly budget worksheet, which I fill out here and there, but nothing consistent. This weekend, I finally sat down and filled it out so I knew exactly where I am. It's amazing how seeing real numbers and percentages actually makes me so much more rational about money. (and that yeah, maybe I should make coffee today instead of going to the Perk). It's not the best having to fork over a ton of money to doctors and mechanics but that's being an adult I guess. And my head is safely above water. I just need to remind myself to fill out my budget worksheet every month. (I'm also going to an Everence Lunch this week called "Investing in your future." I feel better when I am well informed. So hopefully this lunch seminar helps with that).

And that's what is making me happy (and rational) this week.