1.  Lookee here, we’re knocking at the weekend’s door again. This month is flying.

2.  Basically the first two weeks of January were a black hole.

3.  Week three I was clawing my way back to semi-focused writing.

4.  Here we are in week four and I’m finally visiting some of the blogs I enjoy.

5.  Which is why I just now stumbled upon Christine’s goodbye post. I’ll really miss her voice out here in the blogosphere.

6.  Her blog will stay up until March; I highly recommend dropping by to read a bit if you haven’t yet had the pleasure.

7.  I’ve been working my way back into cooking, too.

8.  I started with really easy recipes, ones that wouldn’t require me to be on my feet too long but still counted as homemade.

9.  My stamina’s increased so I tried two new recipes over the last week or so.

10.  The first was Hamburger Soup. Warm, hearty, a good basic recipe to have in the arsenal.

11.  BrightSide loved it but neither kid was a huge fan — guess it looked too much like veggies to tempt them.

12.  I also made an Apple Crisp with Caramel Sauce. Mmm.

13.  I’d planned to make this Christmas Eve but then BrightSide brought home all these sweets from the office. Add those to the ton of goodies already in the house and this got bumped.

14.  Then I caught The Covid™ so apple crisp kinda slipped my mind.

15.  Last weekend I realized those Granny Smiths were close to tanking so I figured what the hell, let’s give it a shot.

16.  Boy, was that a terrific gamble. Warm, delicious, and that caramel sauce? [chef’s kiss]

17.  Hey, did I mention I got a mandolin? I think I brought it up when we were talking about potatoes au gratin.

18.  Anyway, this thing makes slicing fruits and veggies a breeze.

19.  Not only that, the mandolin makes it possible to keep slices uniform. I used to just eyeball stuff but accuracy is a game changer for certain dishes.

20.  Let’s see, what else…

21.  I’m in hardcore pursuit of curly hair solutions.

22.  I dipped my toe in the water by picking up a Denman brush — if you’re a curly girl you know — and now I’m ready to take it to the next level.

23.  My browser history is full of searches like “white girl frizzy hair,” “curly hair care,” and “curly hair frizz.”

24.  At least my results are more helpful than those useless CRT searches but I’ll tell you what, curly hair is a deep dive.

25.  There’s a whole movement called the Curly Girl Method that teaches how to evaluate your hair then give it what it needs.

26.  Bear with me as I take a giant sidestep here: the whole reason we have a “Curly Girl Method” splashed across the internet is because the white community does not teach our babies how to care for their hair.

27.  Seriously, the Black community has passed down generational knowledge forever, teaching their daughters and sons how to care for their hair and skin.

28.  I NEEDED THAT AS A TEEN, PEOPLE.

29.  Anyway, guess at fifty-one I’ll just be out here getting schooled on the internet.

30.  Okay, that sounds kind of sleazy when I read it back but oh well, truth is truth.

31.  I’ll be trying a clarifying shampoo this weekend that supposedly strips out any styling product buildup.

32.  The rest is a combination of gel, oil, cream, and maybe something else, I’m not sure.

33.  Plus I started using a sleep cap a while back. I don’t wake up with perfect springy curls or anything but my basic curl pattern is still intact so if I spritz on a little water I’m (mostly) good.

34.  I’m taking any and all suggestions in the comments. Products, information, websites, good curly girl accounts to follow — in the sake of curly solidarity pass it along, people.

35.  I’ll let y’all know how things are shaking out. Or not, as the case may be.

36.  The kids are getting their covid boosters today so fingers crossed it’s smooth sailing.

37.  I’ve hit another period of not sleeping so great and it is a Grade A Pain in the Ass.

38.  There’s something about feeling like the walking dead that puts a real crimp in my day.

39.  In good news, I managed to finish folding the basket of laundry that’s been around for…well, for over a week. Of course that’s bad news for the cats since they seem to love napping in piles of recently washed clothing.

40.  The dogs have been extra snoozy, the cats extra zoomy, and I’m hoping for a relaxing weekend. Hope you all do the same.