Love: After living mostly separate lives for our entire marriage, more often than not in separate states, it is still a giddy-excited thrill to spend a weeknight with Mr. Blue Eyes. 
Hate: Our default activity is Netflix and chill. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that, but we are both looking to find something we can do together. Any suggestions? (For now, it’s gonna have to be an indoor activity, it’s just too hot to spend hours and hours outside in the blazing sun.)

Love: My recent weight loss has opened up a whole new section of my closet!
Hate: Working from home means the vast majority of those clothes are not going to be worn anyway.
Hate: The other half are not weather appropriate for hotter-than-hell Arizona weather.

Love: So far this year I have managed to keep up my reading habit (59 books and counting), as well as my writing habit (an average of 3 posts per week here since January, a huge accomplishment for me!)
Hate: Writer’s block. I get anxious about something–anything–and the rest of my emoting brain clams up. I get stressed about work and I can’t write, or paint, or do anything creative for WEEKS. I then get stressed and anxious about my self-imposed writing goals, which adds another layer of anxiety about writing. Come on, brain! Can’t you just calm down!

Love: Audiobooks. I finally figured out the Overdrive app (I know), specifically for listening to audiobooks while I work out. I love love love that I can turn them to 1.5 or double speed, which keeps my pacing at a very nice clip and keeps my mind from wandering too much. Music or–horrors–nothing in my earbuds means then I get bored with the gym and start to hate it after about 4 minutes, but it’s 300 degrees outside, so, no. If I’m to exercise, I need to not hate the gym.
Hate: Books that wrap up too neatly in the last 30 pages. I mean, I understand that after 300 pages you, the author, may be tired of this story, but the cop-out ending REALLY bothers me. Stop it.

Love: Eating lunch at home during the week. I get a step-up from tupperware’d leftovers, but very rarely have to spend more than a few minutes cooking or preparing anything. 
Hate: Eating lunch by myself every single day. Sigh.

Love: Diet Dr. Pepper, my preferred combo is a 12 oz can of soda and the juice of a whole lime. I limit myself (most of the time) to one can of soda per day with my lunch, it’s my favorite little indulgence.
Hate: That despite 12 oz/day being a huge step for me in the Limit Soda!! direction, my doctor still raises her eye brows at me when I confessed my DDP habit. Lay off me, will ya!? A few months ago I was drinking 44 oz or MORE every day! THIS IS PROGRESS! IT’S NOT LIKE I’M INJECTING HEROIN WITH DIRTY NEEDLES!

Love: Cyber-stalking friends and strangers via social media.
Hate: How much hate and fear and coverage of said hate and fear is spread via social media. I have to clean up my friends/those I follow on the regular…but then I also don’t want to be actively avoiding “real life stuff” just because it makes me uncomfortable.
Hate: That this back-and-forth gives me anxiety no matter which back or forth I’m leaning towards at any given moment.

Love: Fresh pineapple; roasted, salted, PRE-SHELLED pistachios; carrot sticks–not the baby carrots, but full-size carrots chopped down to a manageable size, they taste SO DIFFERENT and SO MUCH BETTER than those slimey baby carrots, which I can never buy again.
Hate: Green smoothies. I tried, and just, no. I’d rather eat a salad followed by a milkshake. Thank you.

Love: Having a dishwasher! After more than a decade without one, I am still permanently dazzled about this magic machine that will clean my dishes for me. Ditto washer/dryer.
Hate: When flatware ends up fork-tine or knife-blade UP in the dishwasher. I flay my cuticles open every single time, and I can’t imagine the forks get any cleaner; the sprayer for the forks is on the BOTTOM of the bottom rack, not underneath the top rack which has zero sprayers…plus, I don’t usually wash my hands before putting away the dishes, but now my (bleeding) dirty hands have to touch the fork tines and knives that will touch food…fork-tine up is an all-around terrible idea.

Love: Traveling and adventuring and discovering new places. It’s like a drug for me.
Hate: I have zero adventures on the horizon. Well, at least zero traveling adventures. There are lots of legit reasons for that, but it still makes me sad.

Love: Political coverage and commentary on the Presidential election.
Hate: Political coverage and commentary on the Presidential election.

I 100% cannot take credit for this format, “Love and Hate Friday” is the brainchild of the lovely Janet from many years ago, resurrected for this, your Wednesday pleasure. What do you love and hate lately!?