Life Update

Life has been lifing lately. This is the first time in 2026 that I am sitting down and blogging. I have not blogged since mid November. A bunch of things have happened and I’m not going to get into all of it right now. I may not share publicly what happened. 

In December we had a good Christmas. It was small but small is good. Some years we can do more financially than others. In January Wyatt turned 9 years old. In February Elijah turned 17 years old. It’s his last year of being a child before officially being an adult. March is just beginning but I did buy Elijah some lavender plants and we did get new internet and new smart TVs in my room and my mom’s room.

I am looking forward to having a garden. The weather has been up and down. Today it’s going to be close to 90 while tomorrow is going to be 70 and Tuesday in the 50s. Good grief. It’s going to storm tomorrow and depending on when it storms I may plant some of my cooler weather things like the leafy greens and cabbage and broccoli. IF I can’t get it planted tomorrow I’ll go out on Friday. I did upgrade my spider plant’s pot that I found at Ollie’s. 

Mom is on day 2 of house sitting which means I don’t have to cook on a daily basis. Before I leave the house to go get Wyatt lunch is going to be either the beef bites and rice that I made in the crockpot for dinner or mahi mahi fish tacos depending on what time I get hungry. I had a later breakfast of 2 egg and cheese muffins. It’s only 11:35 right now and Wyatt gets done with school at 2:30. I’m fine with eating leftovers for lunch and cooking dinner later.

I am still crocheting but in a bit of a crafty funk. Nothing is selling in my shop on the Tedooo App which is disappointing. Somebody posted on there that they have been listing items and have not sold anything and they have been using Tedooo to sell for a year. A lot of people are moving from Etsty to Tedooo because of the fees on Etsy.

In December I did my first interview with a news station. It’s not a station near me but in the state of South Carolina. I’m still on EBT, aka food stamps or SNAP, and the interview was about the bans that some states, including South Carolina, are doing. Right now the ban on soda, sugary drinks, energy drinks and candy doesn’t go into effect in South Carolina until the end of August. A lot can happen between now and then. How does it affect my family? Wyatt was diagnosed with level 3 autism in June and he doesn’t eat a variety of foods. One of the foods that is on his safe list is Reese’s cups. I can probably make them myself but he won’t get the different seasonal shapes like he would when we buy them in the store. I have a YouTube channel that I had fortunately posted a haul the day before the interview and I gave the guy permission to use clips of. He did use the most recent Food Lion haul where it shows all of the meat that I had bought on manager’s specials and ingredients to make spaghetti, including the bell peppers, and the only “junk” food that was on there was 4 small bags of muffin mix. I’m glad that I did the interview. I’m glad that tens of thousands of people saw clips of my Food Lion haul video and the food that I bought. I don’t buy a lot of junk food. I don’t drink energy drinks but Elijah enjoys them from time to time. I tell my kids that things like candy and chips and cookies are snack foods and are not a meal. I buy things to make meals. I had to stop looking at the video on the different social media platforms because of all of the negative comments that were left. People were commenting that I am an overweight white lady and my oldest, who is 6 foot tall and over 200 pounds, is overweight and he should get a job and that I should buy boxed cake mixes to make the kids for the birthdays instead of buying a cake from the bakery. They were commenting that I was in my bedroom. They completely missed the point of the Food Lion haul video where it clearly showed that I buy clearance meat and ingredients like spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, and bell peppers to make spaghetti sauce. If I was a skinny black lady they would also have a problem with me being on food stamps. Being on the internet I do expect the negative comments. There’s no getting around them. Cassie Ho from Blogilates quit uploading really amazing workout videos because she was getting negative comments that she works out and doesn’t have 6 pack abs or a bubble butt. She’s thin like you would expect a fitness person who posts workout videos would be. Everybody’s genetics are different. I am so sick and tired of the negative comments. After the interview I almost let the negative comments win and almost stopped uploading my grocery haul videos. I’m still uploading videos to my YouTube channel.

I have not been exercising consistently. I don’t have the energy levels lately. One of the reasons why I stopped using my rowing machine was because of the amount of work just to use it and it was becoming more frustrating than good. Since getting and setting up my TV I have started decluttering a section of my bedroom at a time. WE have mostly been keeping up with the work that we have done around the house. There’s still more work to be done around the house. Tomorrow could be the day that I work on another section in my bedroom and clearing out the area where my rowing machine is. The ultimate goal is to move my bed because I’m a little tired of where my bed is placed. I plan on moving it back to where it was along the wall instead of in front of the window. There’s some cleaning that needs to be done first. I’ve managed to keep the first section clean. 

My weight goal is to still lose close to 40 pounds this year and get closer to the 200 pound mark, if not under it. Decluttering is going to help with the mental aspect and that’ll help with the physical. 

I have found a way to take my collagen peptides on a daily basis. There’s a brand on Amazon that is EBT eligible. It has 20 servings per container for less than $18 and I get 2 a month. I have finished the first container and started on the second and ordered 2 more containers of it. The plan is to order 2 containers when I get my food stamps each month and not have the mental load. I have seen the benefits of taking it daily. My left shoulder and upper arm are not hurting like they were and my hair has gotten thicker. I am so happy that I am able to get the collagen peptides.