December 11, 2024 • 36 mins
In this reflective year-end episode of Enthusiastic Encouragement and Dubious Advice, hosts Patricia and Nicole look back on their achievements and lessons learned from 2024, sharing highlights like their marshmallow-making traditions and their social escapades, including the Wicked movie and a Ren Faire visit. They discuss the challenges and successes of maintaining their podcast and personal goals amid a busy year, while emphasizing the importance of accountability and self-compassion. As they look forward to 2025, they encourage listeners to cherish their wins and remain kind to themselves.
Mentioned on the show:
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Bookshop Affiliate Storefront (links below are affiliate)
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Gift our Patreon! patreon.com/eedapod/gift
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Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
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Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
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Falling Back in Love with Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls by Kai Cheng Thom
Find the full show notes and official transcript on our website: eedapod.com
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Sound editing by Jen Zink
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Music (00:00):
[Intro Music]
Patricia (00:15):
Hey there, sugarplums!
Welcome to Enthusiastic Encouragementand Dubious Advice, the podcast for
folks who would rather curl intothe fetal position than lean in.
I'm your host, Patricia Elzie-Tuttle.
Nicole (00:26):
And I'm now at least 10 percent peppermint and glitter.
Nicole Elzie-Tuttle.
We are recording this showon December 2nd, 2024.
Patricia (00:35):
Would you like to explain the peppermint and
glitter for our friends out there?
Nicole (00:41):
Well, I mean, it's not sugar and spice, so.
Patricia (00:44):
I'm made of salt.
Both (00:45):
[Laughing]
Nicole (00:46):
We've started on our annual marshmallow making extravaganza.
Patricia (00:53):
Yeah, so making marshmallows is something we started a couple of
years ago, and we, we have the processdown really well, although every year
there's a learning curve because wedon't write down exactly what we do.
But especially given that we arebuying fewer gifts this year, so
we're giving more marshmallows, and Itinvolves a lot of confectioner's sugar.
(01:18):
It involves a lot of glitter.
Edible glitter.
Nicole (01:22):
Edible glitter.
Patricia (01:22):
Edible glitter.
And it's also, like
Nicole (01:27):
Airborne.
Patricia (01:28):
It's air...
I have glitter lung.
Nicole (01:30):
Yeah, the glitter gets all in the air and all over everything.
Patricia (01:35):
Yeah, so there was glitter on my pan I used for my eggs this morning.
There's just glitter everywhere here.
But also, marshmallows, I think they'refairly easy to make once you get it down.
It just takes a lot of labor.
It's multiple hours, and then they haveto sit overnight, and then it's another
(01:58):
couple hours on the back end, too.
Nicole (02:00):
We've got a single recipe down to under an hour in the front end.
Patricia (02:05):
Yeah, I think so.
I mean, it's true.
It takes us so many becausewe make four pans at a time.
Nicole (02:10):
Yeah.
Patricia (02:11):
Because that's the number of pans we have.
Nicole (02:13):
And four pans ends up making 48 one and a half inch square marshmallows.
Patricia (02:20):
One pan is 48 marshmallows.
Nicole (02:22):
Yes.
Patricia (02:22):
So it's 48 times 4, yeah.
Nicole (02:24):
Yeah.
Uh.
Patricia (02:26):
No, don't try to do the math.
Nicole (02:28):
Okay.
Patricia (02:28):
I see you thinking.
Nicole (02:28):
[Laughing]
We make a lot of marshmallowsright now and that means
there's a lot of confectioner'ssugar and glitter in the air.
Patricia (02:36):
But it also, we have to taste test all of them.
Nicole (02:39):
Well, yeah.
And also half of them we make peppermint.
Patricia (02:42):
Yes.
Nicole (02:43):
Flavored.
Patricia (02:43):
Half vanilla, half peppermint.
Nicole (02:44):
Which is like the best flavored marshmallow so far.
Patricia (02:48):
But we, of course, have to do quality control, so it also
Nicole (02:51):
yeah
Patricia (02:51):
means we're just consuming a lot of straight sugar, which is
delightful and I could smell colors.
Nicole (03:00):
Well, that means we have to make more hot chocolate to
float the marshmallows in toreally understand their properties.
Patricia (03:07):
Mmm
Nicole (03:08):
This is Marshmallow Science Hour with Patricia and Nicole.
Patricia (03:11):
[Laughing]
Well, one of my ideas, which we may ormay not do, you can let us know if you
want it, is maybe setting up a videoand y'all can hang out with us while
we make some marshmallows sometime.
Nicole (03:24):
You have to be nice.
Patricia (03:25):
You have to be nice.
We'll probably put it up on ourPatreon or something like that.
So we'll keep you posted.
We also recently saw the Wickedmovie on opening weekend.
Nicole (03:36):
Wicked part one.
Patricia (03:38):
Wicked part one.
I cried through most of it.
Nicole (03:41):
Yeah.
Patricia (03:41):
Yeah, I'm glad I brought tissues.
I'm glad no one in the theater sang.
Nicole (03:46):
Oh, that would have been, I'd have been so mad.
Patricia (03:49):
Yeah, I don't know if I would have been my best self
if someone started singing.
Nicole (03:53):
Yeah, because you could sing louder and better than them, I'm sure.
Patricia (03:57):
Possibly, but also, like, no one paid like, tickets for this
movie to hear me sing, no one paid tohear any of the audience sing, and I
considered bringing a spray bottle.
Nicole (04:10):
Now I just have this, like, vision in my head, though, of someone
trying to sing along in the movie theater.
And you, singing louder and morein key, but also changing the words
to, like, sit down and shut up.
Patricia (04:24):
[Luaghing]
Yeah, I don't know.
But, we didn't have to deal with that,because everyone was well behaved.
A lot of us were too busycrying through the whole thing.
Nicole (04:37):
Did we hold space for the lyrics to Defying Gravity?
Patricia (04:41):
Well, we work in queer media.
So yes.
Nicole (04:44):
[Laughing]
Patricia (04:46):
Anyway, onward.
We have a Patreon.
If this is not your first episodelistening, or first time listening
to us, you know we have a Patreon.
It's patreon.com/eedapod.
You can gift a Patreon subscription to ourshow, which is patreon.com/eedapod/gift.
(05:06):
But fun fact, any Patreon you want togift to, just add backslash gift to the
end of their Patreon URL, and you cangift any Patreon and support any creator.
So I just wanted to put that outthere, you know, you don't always
have to buy something physical.
Nicole (05:25):
Yeah, you can Oprah Patreon subscriptions.
Just you get a Patreon gift.
You get a Patreon gift.
Patricia (05:31):
[Laughing]
The other thing is we have a bookshop,you know, last show we talked about some
of the best books we read in the year.
And we link them all in our bookshop.
Our bookshop is linked onour website, eedapod.com.
It's also always linked in our show notes.
So you can shop books there.
Also, I heard that Bookshop is workingon a way for us to buy ebooks through
(06:03):
Bookshop so that you can supporteither us or independent bookstores or
whoever has a Bookshop affiliate site.
And that is really exciting.
I don't think it's out yet.
I imagine it's going to be somethingmore like an app that you use on a tablet
because they definitely don't want youbuying, you know, a Kindle or supporting
(06:26):
that other site that is not a bookstore.
So I think that is coming down the line.
So I will definitely.
I know we have some readers listeningto this show, so we'll definitely keep
you posted once we hear more about that.
Nicole (06:41):
Yeah, that sounds real exciting.
Also, if you want to give us a giftand make our season jolly and bright,
you can share our podcast withsomeone who you think would love it.
And, or leave us a review oniTunes, or Spotify, or YouTube,
(07:04):
or somewhere else that you getthe show that allows for ratings.
Patricia (07:08):
Yeah, since we last checked, we found we have two
reviews that we haven't seen.
Nicole (07:15):
Two new reviews in Apple Podcasts.
Patricia (07:19):
One from the amazing MarkAbulous, who definitely
made me cry happy tears, andyes, this is someone I know.
He's a long time friend, butmost of my happiest memories
from college involve him.
(07:39):
We used to make music together, so,you know, it's always, great to hear
friends supporting, and new friendstoo, and people we don't know yet.
We also got a review fromandrea.reyna, which was also an
incredibly kind and heartfelt review.
So, thank you both.
(07:59):
We check as often as we can.
We read each review, andit means so, so much to us.
And thank you for listening.
Nicole (08:09):
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for the review.
Means a lot.
Patricia (08:13):
I'm also, like, thinking about, you know, I still have a
number of friends from collegeand childhood and stuff like that.
And I hear people say, like, I have enoughfriends and I'm just like, couldn't be me.
Nicole (08:25):
No,
Patricia (08:25):
[Laughing]
Nicole (08:27):
come hang out with the show.
Be our friend.
Music (08:30):
[Transitional Music] So, our last show of the year will drop on December
25th, so that is not only Christmas,but it is the first night of Hanukkah,
and that will probably be a short show.
(08:51):
So today's episode is our last fulllength show of the year, so we're going
to take the opportunity to reflect onthis past year, see some of our lessons
learned and goals accomplished or notbefore flinging ourselves into 2025.
Nicole (09:07):
Okay, so we had to actually sit down and go through
our calendars to remind ourselvesof what we did this last year.
There were some things we definitelyplanned, and some things that went
as planned, and other things thatwere unexpected and or derailed.
(09:27):
Or
I guess we should say we had to adjust.
Patricia (09:31):
We had to adjust.
Nicole (09:32):
We did have a rough and unexpected start with some family
stuff, but we gave ourselves a startover when we celebrated Tết, the
Vietnamese New Year, with some friends.
I admit, I cheat andcelebrate many New Years.
I'm constantly givingmyself a fresh start.
One of them is growing up in theBay Area, where Lunar New Year, and
(09:58):
specifically Chinese New Year, hasalways been a part of my consciousness.
I have family who live in the neighborhoodright next to Chinatown in the city,
and so I'm so used to just being inthe city around January and seeing the
Chinese New Year decorations going up.
Like, that was justalways part of my life.
(10:19):
So I'm like, yeah, it's New Year.
Like, yes, January 1st is NewYear and also then Lunar New Year.
And if I'm feeling I need anotherfresh start, Astrological New
Year starts on the Spring Equinox.
So I'm like, yeah, sure.
New Year.
It's all made up.
It's all
It's all made up bysome old European dudes.
Patricia (10:41):
Well, not necessarily European.
Nicole (10:43):
Well the, the standard calendar.
Patricia (10:44):
The old standard calendar, yeah.
Nicole (10:46):
Yeah, you don't have to abide by that.
You can start the year whenever you want.
Patricia (10:49):
Yeah, every month.
New month.
Nicole (10:51):
I do recommend not starting it on a Tuesday, though, if you can avoid it.
Patricia (10:54):
Oh my god.
Nicole (10:55):
Yeah, we're still doing that.
Patricia (10:57):
I'm like, what does New Year's start on?
Wednesday this year?
Nicole (11:00):
Yeah, it starts on Wednesday.
2025 starts...
Patricia (11:03):
Is a Wednesday fine with you?
Nicole (11:04):
Eh, it's, it's, it's a round day of the week.
It's okay.
Patricia (11:07):
It's a round.
Oh my gosh.
Nicole (11:10):
So one thing we did do this year is we were more social.
We went to a friend's wedding.
We even had people overand cooked for them.
And I want to be clear, we were moresocial and did things while still
trying to be as COVID safe as we can.
Anytime we are out of the home in public,we still wear masks indoors everywhere.
(11:36):
This included at our friend's wedding.
Patricia (11:38):
This included at our friend's wedding, we actually, I reached out
to my friend because dinner was beingserved and I said, hey, is there going
to be outdoor seating for dinner at yourwedding or should we plan on like, eating
beforehand and, and then like hanging outindoors with everyone with our masks on.
(11:59):
And she was really grateful to hear that.
And there were a number ofpeople who wanted some outdoor
seating, so she made it happen.
Nicole (12:09):
Yeah.
And this is, this is because we countindoor restaurants as indoors in
public, and we just don't eat indoors inrestaurants if it can at all be avoided.
Patricia (12:21):
Right.
And it's really about harm reduction,which I feel like I have, like,
a lot of knowledge about harmreduction, but maybe we should
talk about it in a future episode.
Nicole (12:31):
Yeah.
Patricia (12:31):
Um, and really figuring out how much risk we want to take.
Nicole (12:37):
Yeah.
Patricia (12:37):
So eating indoors is a no for us.
Uh, being indoors without a mask is ano for us, but eating outdoors is fine.
And if we're in a crowded place andit's outdoors, like a festival or
something, sometimes we'll put a maskon too, depending on how crowded it is.
Nicole (12:53):
Yeah, some other things we do, do to manage this is when we have
friends over and everyone is unmasked.
If we can, we can get, wetry to get everyone to test
beforehand and typically after.
I know we at least test after,but we will open all the windows.
We have air filters injust about every room.
(13:13):
And, like, our living room's a big, open,living, dining, kitchen space, so we have
multiple air filters in there to try tokeep the air as clean as possible, or as
fresh as possible, with the windows open.
Patricia (13:25):
Yeah, and then we also did a lot of like we said,
outdoor hangs with friends, too.
We did our annual cherry picking.
Nicole (13:33):
Yeah.
Patricia (13:33):
Which I'm going to do until my legs don't work anymore.
I will cherry pick until I drop.
Nicole (13:40):
Yeah, because cherries fresh off the tree and sun warmed are amazing.
Patricia (13:46):
And we also made some new friends this year, too, which was
really cool, and I'm looking forwardto hanging out with new folks, too.
Nicole (13:53):
Yeah, new friends are great.
We went to the Ren Faire this year,which was another outdoor activity.
Patricia (13:58):
Which was another outdoor activity.
We had learned at the wedding inMay that some of our friend group
had never been to a Ren Faire.
So we're like, you know what?
We're making the Ren Faire happen.
Nicole (14:11):
Yes.
Patricia (14:12):
We also took a photography class.
Which was great.
And I found I really likedus taking classes together.
Nicole (14:23):
It was a lot of fun.
Patricia (14:24):
Yeah.
Nicole (14:24):
We've done a couple others in the past.
You mentioned, uh, we did amozzarella making class one time.
Patricia (14:30):
Yeah, you bought that for my birthday one year.
Nicole (14:32):
That was so much fun.
Patricia (14:33):
But yeah, I don't know.
I think there's something particularlylovely about learning with you.
Nicole (14:40):
I make it fun.
Patricia (14:41):
You make learning fun.
Both (14:42):
[Laughing]
Nicole (14:45):
We started an herb garden this year.
Patricia (14:48):
We did.
The basil, hit and miss.
The rosemary...
Nicole (14:52):
I did make you make pesto, one year.
Well, at least once.
Patricia (14:55):
Yeah, I did.
Yeah, I did make pesto once.
Uh, the rosemary, thriving.
Nicole (15:00):
Oh, the rosemary's so excited.
I think we need a better placefor the, the basil, maybe.
I think it gets too hot right there.
Patricia (15:06):
It might get too hot right there.
The thyme, also thriving.
Nicole (15:09):
I'm in love with the way your thyme looks.
It looks like a tiny tree.
Patricia (15:13):
It does.
The mint, chaotic.
Nicole (15:15):
That's what mint does.
Patricia (15:16):
But that's what mint does.
Nicole (15:18):
Yeah.
Some of the sages have done all right.
Patricia (15:21):
Yeah, they have, actually.
Nicole (15:22):
I'm hoping we can, again, maybe find a better spot for them.
I think they need more sun.
And maybe they'll grow more nextyear if they survive the winter.
Patricia (15:31):
Yeah, but we're learning, and it's cool.
Nicole (15:33):
Yeah.
Patricia (15:34):
We got to see some musicals this year, which, that always fills my cup.
We got to see the tryouts ofGalileo, A New Rock Musical.
Nicole (15:46):
[Laughing]
Patricia (15:47):
We got to see Company, which is a show that's really important
to me, but it's gender swapped andthe lead was a black woman, which I
never thought I would see in my life.
Nicole (15:58):
I can't imagine Bobby
Patricia (16:00):
Any other way?
Nicole (16:02):
Not being a Black woman now?
Patricia (16:04):
Well, now I'm going to have to show you, they did kind of an all
star, almost concert version of it,where Neil Patrick Harris was Bobby.
Nicole (16:14):
Oh, that's not Bobby.
Patricia (16:16):
[Laugh]
I also brought you to see Wicked the stageplay a month before we saw the movie.
Nicole (16:24):
Yes, which now I have two different voices in my head
that are not Idina Menzel and
Patricia (16:34):
Kristen Chenoweth.
Nicole (16:34):
Yeah, Kristen Chenoweth.
Patricia (16:37):
And we also went to the ballet.
Nicole (16:39):
You went to the ballet.
I think I like fell into some bizarretime travel abyss situation where
we entered a theater and sat downand I walked away very confused.
Patricia (16:52):
I mean, same, but I think it was good for me.
I think it was good for me to sit downat something where I was like, wow,
I am completely out of my element.
Nicole (17:01):
Yeah, no, it felt, it was a very bizarre experience.
Patricia (17:05):
I feel like it built character.
Nicole (17:06):
Oh yeah, no, I'm not mad about going, I'm just, I still,
like, am reeling from that.
Patricia (17:14):
So, I think one of the big lessons we learned this year is that
we don't have the kind of life orspell slots that can make good use of
a CSA, which is the Community SupportedAgriculture box that we purchased
(17:39):
for, like, a spring summer this year.
Some of the fruits and vegetableswere amazing, delightful, loved them.
But we are just not peoplewho will sit and plan a whole
week's worth of different meals.
Nicole (17:59):
Y'all, this is such a struggle in our home, and we've tried this before.
We even subscribed to a website fora while that, like, you could enter
some of the ingredients you haveand it would help pick out meals.
Patricia (18:13):
And it'd spit out a grocery list.
Nicole (18:14):
And it'd spit out a grocery list for what you also needed.
And you could pick recipes onthere and save them and stuff.
The amount of effort it takes to plan,like, five different dinners in a week.
We just can't do it.
Patricia (18:27):
No, and I think this year, I think I reached the point of acceptance.
Nicole (18:32):
Yeah.
Patricia (18:33):
Like, just not meal plan girlies.
Just not.
Like, we do better if I make a bigpot of beans or some kind of bean dish
on a Sunday that lasts multiple days.
Nicole (18:47):
Yeah, some sort of soup or something.
Patricia (18:49):
Yeah, like we'll eat the same dinner multiple days in a row.
Nicole (18:53):
I'm perfectly fine with that.
We have different things for lunch.
It's not like we're eating itthe same, like, every meal.
Patricia (18:59):
Three meals a day.
Yeah, yeah.
Even if we were, whatever.
But yeah, I think it's, it's a patternthat I know I'm not alone in is you try
really hard to do this aspirational thing.
Whether it's meal plan, whether it'sbeing a morning person, uh, right?
(19:21):
And then you just beat yourselfup over not doing that thing that
you think you should be doing.
And I think it's, it's okay tofinally just like, stop fighting.
I'm, I'm not a meal plan person.
Nicole (19:33):
No.
Patricia (19:34):
No.
And so, instead of spending energylike, being down on myself for not
being that, like, we'll just move onand lean into what I do like to do.
Nicole (19:44):
Yeah.
Patricia (19:45):
I think the other lesson we learned, it feels like a lesson
we need to, like, learn every year.
Nicole (19:53):
We need to, like, make a sign or something.
Patricia (19:55):
We need something.
Maybe we'll write it in our next planner.
We do better with accountability.
Or a class, or otherwise ascheduled thing, when it comes
down to whatever it is we're doing.
Nicole (20:13):
We need something with external accountability
for some of these activities.
We, we're not good if it just relieson each other to be accountable for
say, like, regularly going for a walk.
Patricia (20:28):
No, we run a real loose ship here, for some things.
Nicole (20:32):
For some things.
Patricia (20:33):
For some things.
Nicole (20:33):
Like, we, we are consistent with podcasting and stuff.
Patricia (20:36):
Absolutely.
Nicole (20:37):
But some things, we're just really, we're not
very firm with each other.
If someone's like, I just do not feel likeleaving the house today, we're like, okay.
Patricia (20:46):
Okay.
Nicole (20:47):
All right.
I love you and support you.
Patricia (20:49):
[Laughing]
So, let's look back at some of our goalsthis year, and I think it was a mix.
I want to start off with, like,I'm proud of what we did this year.
I'm proud of what we do every year,but I'm proud of what we did this year.
A lot of things shifted due to work orthe political climate, and so, you know,
(21:13):
as we said, sometimes your goals inJanuary aren't the same as they are in
April or July or October or what have you.
Also, full disclosure, maintainingthis podcast took more spell
slots than I anticipated.
I am very spoiled with my Book Riotpodcasts, where I don't do as much.
Nicole (21:40):
Yeah, and you, I think both of us, because you do the bulk of the
script writing ahead of time, and I makesure we have a transcript available,
Patricia (21:51):
yeah
Nicole (21:51):
and the subtitles to go on the YouTube videos, and everything.
Patricia (21:57):
Yeah, and then I do the artwork and the posting everywhere
and the uploading and the scheduling.
Nicole (22:03):
And maintaining the website.
Patricia (22:04):
Yeah.
Nicole (22:05):
Yeah, no, you do a lot of work for this show.
Patricia (22:08):
So do you with the transcript.
Nicole (22:10):
I mean, yeah, a single episode can take like four hours.
Patricia (22:14):
Yeah, and I think that is more time than we anticipated.
Nicole (22:17):
mm hmm
Patricia (22:18):
We love it.
We're not going anywhere, but it's alsoone of those things that's like, yeah, I'm
not going to get to some of these goalsthis year because podcasting is priority.
Nicole (22:28):
Yeah.
One thing that I know we were veryexcited about at the beginning of the
year, it was I think our first majorgoal that we like, just, yes, checked off
the list, was we got our noses pierced.
Patricia (22:40):
Good job us.
Nicole (22:41):
It was, that was an easy one and done.
Patricia (22:44):
Yeah, I think, if anything, like, I recommend an easy win.
Nicole (22:48):
Oh, it was such an easy win, and we did it in, like, February?
Patricia (22:52):
Yep.
Nicole (22:52):
So it was, like, second month of the year, checking stuff off
our, like, goals list for the year.
Patricia (22:58):
Hitting it out of the park.
Nicole (22:59):
Yeah, it was great.
Patricia (23:01):
So I had some cooking goals, which was like I wanted to keep making
beans, which I kind of fell off the beanwagon that I got back on because again,
our schedule in this podcast, I kind ofneeded to figure out the way in which
things fit together in our schedule.
We did make pasta a few times.
Nicole (23:20):
Yes.
Patricia (23:21):
I look forward to more of that.
Nicole (23:23):
So do I.
Patricia (23:25):
I also wanted to really get good at making pizza
from scratch, which I did not.
But I realize what the problem is, whichis the dough I want to make, you have
to make 24 hours in advance and wheneverI would think of making pizza, it would
(23:46):
be the day that I would want to make it.
And so it involved, again, more mealplanning than I was interested in doing.
So I think we're going to lookfor a different dough recipe.
Nicole (23:59):
Yeah, I think there's one in the bread machine book that we should look at.
Since we have that bread machine, itmay be something that you can like
throw together and it'll do it for usand then like in a couple hours we have
the dough ready to make pizza with.
Patricia (24:16):
Maybe, we'll look.
Nicole (24:18):
We did start out really strong this year with the snail mail.
And then about a third of the way throughfor me, things just went sideways.
Primarily to like, forme, it was a lot of work.
Um, my work really shifted and Istarted going into the office more
and it took up more of my life andspell slots than I was hoping for.
(24:40):
And I know there are some otherthings in our life as well that just
Patricia (24:44):
yeah
Nicole (24:44):
took up some of our spell slots.
Patricia (24:46):
Absolutely.
Nicole (24:47):
I also had really high hopes of, like, dialing in this kind of
crafty snail mail experience, andthat hasn't happened yet either.
We talked a little bit about this.
I think part of it has to do with, like,I kind of have an end vision in mind,
but I haven't done the intermediatesteps to help me get there, and those
Patricia (25:09):
yeah
Nicole (25:09):
don't seem as satisfying, so I'm hesitant to work on them.
But, I think maybe I'll, maybeI'll build myself like a skill
tree situation or something.
Patricia (25:18):
Ooh!
I wanted to be better at writing reviewsand by better I mean actually doing them.
I don't know if I was better at it.
I did write some reviews.
I have a long backlog of reviews to dolike the place that like does your shoes
or like the person, the tailor thatwe've been going to and stuff like that.
(25:38):
So, but I did get betterat giving compliments.
Which not just thinking someone iswearing a cute outfit, but actually
telling them, like, I like your outfitor I like your shirt or whatever.
But this also involves sometimes replyingto the newsletters I subscribe to and
(25:59):
telling the writer that I liked that issueor I found something in it really helpful.
And sometimes it's also justreplying to people's Instagram
stories with more than just a heart.
Like, actually telling them, thankyou for sharing this, or this is
hilarious, or something like that.
(26:20):
And really trying to give feedback.
You know, everyone, especially creatives,especially with the online landscape,
we're just all kind of putting stuffout there and not knowing how it lands.
So I'm really trying to givepeople positive feedback.
Nicole (26:34):
Maybe that's something I put on my list next year.
Patricia (26:37):
It's that, uh, enthusiastic encouragement.
Nicole (26:41):
Oof.
I'm, I'm better with the dubious advice.
One thing we did not do well this year,or, or the year before, or even the
year before that, was the decluttering.
Patricia (26:55):
Yeah, just not good at that.
Nicole (26:57):
I think this is another one of those things that's like, you know,
taking classes, doing more movement.
We don't have any external accountabilityfor it, so that's like the least fun
sounding thing to do around here.
Patricia (27:11):
Yeah, I think we're at the point with certain areas of
the house, though, where I'm justlike sick of my own nonsense, so
Nicole (27:19):
Yeah.
Patricia (27:20):
I'm optimistic looking forward.
Nicole (27:22):
We, uh, one thing we did do, we had it on our list to
take some nice photos together.
We did do that, but not how we planned.
Our plan was more in the realm oflike, romantic photos together,
something to maybe hand out in placeof our wedding pictures or something
(27:45):
like that, to kind of update those.
We didn't do that, but we didtake some fun pictures together.
They were just more headshot,business oriented podcast.
Patricia (27:55):
They were still fun though.
Nicole (27:57):
Oh, it was a lot of fun.
Patricia (27:58):
And I already updated our, uh, EEDAPOD website.
Nicole (28:01):
Yeah, with one of the pictures.
It was a lot of fun.
The pictures were great.
The photographer wasexcellent, but I don't know.
I still want to take some fun,like, romancey pictures with you,
Patricia (28:12):
But speaking of the podcast, we have maintained the podcast and also my
newsletter is coming up on its five years.
Nicole (28:21):
Wow.
Patricia (28:21):
Over 260 issues.
Nicole (28:26):
That's definitely enough for like a solid book.
Patricia (28:29):
Oh, probably.
Nicole (28:30):
Yeah.
We also used the planner together.
We did good at maintaining the planner.
There were a couple weekshere and there that I forgot.
But I was able to pick back up with it.
And, like, I saw the areas thatwere really helpful that I fell
off of, and other areas that werereally helpful that we maintained.
And we're definitely carryingthat through to next year.
(28:51):
We already have next year's planners.
Patricia (28:54):
Yeah.
One of the things I wanted todo last year was read Octavia E.
Butler's works, and I didn't readeverything, but I read Parable
of the Sower and Parable of theTalents, and maybe next year
we'll pick out another series.
Nicole (29:10):
And you did get a lot of other essays and stuff.
Patricia (29:14):
I know.
I know.
I want to get more to that next year.
Nicole (29:18):
I did manage to revisit Falling Back in Love with
Being Human by Kai Cheng Thom.
It's a short book.
I revisited it on audio, and thisis a book that I think I need to,
when I revisit it, like in thefuture and stuff, I need to do
with the paper version, because itneeds to be done in small chunks.
(29:39):
It's not a book for justlike plowing through.
It's a book to take yourtime with and chew on it.
We also did good at book tracking.
I know I did.
I got all my books in.
Patricia (29:50):
Absolutely.
We should, I know we've mentionedour StoryGraph accounts, but we
should link them in the show notes.
Nicole (29:55):
Yeah, I know you got, we got some bookish fans out there
that would probably enjoy that.
I also did good atpressing flowers this year.
You got me a flower press for thewinter holidays last year, and
I've pressed a fair bit of flowers.
I'm looking now, there's a bunch thatare actually still in the press from
summer that I probably should pull outand put away because those are also part
(30:18):
of my plans for my snail mail projects.
Patricia (30:21):
Yeah, I had some grand plans for learning to crochet and sitting
back down at the piano and gettingmore movement in my life and I didn't.
[Giggle]
But I'm rethinking my tactics and I'mthinking specifically about what I said
we learned this year, which is we dobetter with accountability or a class
(30:44):
or definitely if something is scheduled.
And so I'm already looking at crochetclasses for after the new year.
Nicole (30:52):
Yeah, I'll do that with you.
Oh, gosh, but can we, like, get acouple extra days in the weekend for all
these classes and things we want to do?
Can we talk to the calendar people?
Who's the manager of the calendar?
Patricia (31:06):
You want to talk to the calendar's manager?
Nicole (31:08):
Yes.
Who designed the year?
I want to talk to them.
Patricia (31:11):
Uh, Gregory?
Nicole (31:13):
Oh.
Patricia (31:14):
Sorry.
Nicole (31:16):
Some old...
do I have to learn Latin to do that?
Patricia (31:19):
Yes.
Nicole (31:20):
Oh, no.
Patricia (31:21):
Gotta bump up your Duolingo.
Nicole (31:24):
[Sigh]
Patricia (31:26):
I had a very specific plan about making Instagram Reels this
year, and I didn't follow that plan,but I have made more Reels than in
the past, and I also finally caved andjoined TikTok, so I'm on there too.
Nicole (31:43):
I like watching your stuff.
Patricia (31:45):
Thanks.
Nicole (31:46):
I'm a big fan.
You do great.
Patricia (31:48):
Thanks.
Thank you.
I also did step up my activism a bitthis year with a couple of projects.
And I'm looking forward to doingmore of that in, in the coming year.
And really trying to focus on whereI can again, build community and help
(32:09):
people and really share our resources.
Nicole (32:12):
I think that's going to be a bigger focus for me this year also.
Patricia (32:15):
We are not going to talk about our next year's goals today,
so we'll talk about them during ourfirst episode after the new year.
I want to start 2025really gently and smoothly.
Nicole (32:31):
Oh, God, I am, I'm not ready to think about that yet.
Patricia (32:36):
So, for my takeaway today, if you take the time to
look back over your 2024 goals,remember to be gentle with yourself.
If something didn't happen, maybe,sit with that and think about why
it didn't happen, and maybe thinkabout what you learned about it, or
(32:56):
if it's something that you're justgonna have to delegate to the floor.
Delegate to Oscar.
Nicole (33:01):
Delegate it to Oscar.
I would love for you to take awaywith the idea that any success
should be counted with a win whenreflecting back on your goals.
Really make sure you pay attentionto the things you did achieve,
not just the things that turnedout to maybe be not as important.
Focus on your wins, too.
Music (33:22):
[Transitional Music]
Nicole (33:30):
Okay, Patricia.
We're coming down to the end of the year.
What, in recent time, hasbeen filling your cup?
Patricia (33:38):
Definitely the Wicked film.
My little theater kidheart just is so full.
Nicole (33:43):
Even though you didn't get to spray bottle anyone?
Patricia (33:46):
Even though I didn't get a spray bottle anyone.
That's I don't think the spray bottlingthat's not my theater kid heart
that's my little chaotic demon heart.
Nicole (33:56):
That's true.
Patricia (33:56):
But but I hear there are going to be wicked sing alongs at the theater.
So, you know, we'll see.
And the other thing that isfilling my cup was getting to
see a bit of family last week andspending time and always laughing.
That was really fulfilling.
How about you, Nicole?
What's filling your cup?
Nicole (34:16):
I think right now making the marshmallows is, even though
I'm going to get glitter lung.
Patricia (34:22):
Glitter lung.
Both (34:22):
[Laughing]
Nicole (34:25):
And loaded up on sugar.
It's doing something away fromcomputers, away from screens.
When we get good at things like this,we kind of develop a little dance in the
kitchen together, the way we move aroundeach other, and I really like doing
things with you in tandem like this.
So I think doing that all togetherhas been really filling my cup,
(34:45):
even though I get very tired.
Patricia (34:46):
Yeah, that too.
We're like making candy tothe point of exhaustion.
But no, I like it, and I also lovedoing our kitchen dance, and I also
enjoy, yeah, you can't really be onscreens when you make marshmallows
it takes all your attention.
Nicole (35:05):
Yeah.
Patricia (35:06):
So, that's our show for today.
We'd like to thank ourawesome audio editor Jen Zink.
You can find her at loopdilou.com.
We'll leave a link tothat in our show notes.
Nicole (35:15):
You can find the full show notes and transcript at eedapod.com.
That's E E D A P O D dot com.
There you can also find a link to ourPatreon, our Bookshop link, and a link
to the ongoing Enthusiastic Encouragementand Dubious Advice newsletter.
You can also find us on Instagramand BlueSky at eedapod and
(35:36):
email us at eedapod@gmail.com.
Patricia (35:39):
We are nothing if not consistent.
Nicole (35:41):
We would also appreciate it so much if you would subscribe and rate us
on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or whereveryou get your podcasts that allow ratings.
It goes really far inhelping other people find us.
Also, special thanks to Apple users,Mark.Abulous and andrea.reyna for their
written reviews on Apple podcasts.
Patricia (36:03):
We would also appreciate anyone who can subscribe to us on Patreon.
Support is going to help us keep thisshow going, especially without ads.
You can find us at patreon.com/eedapod.
In the meantime, we hope youfind ways to be kind to yourself,
drink some water, and read a book.
We'll be talking to you soon.
Nicole (36:25):
We did it!
Patricia (36:26):
We did it!
Nicole (36:27):
A year of full episodes.
Patricia (36:29):
Wow.
Nicole (36:29):
Good job, us.
Patricia (36:30):
Good job, us.
[Intro Music]
Patricia (00:15):
Hey there, sugarplums!
Welcome to Enthusiastic Encouragementand Dubious Advice, the podcast for
folks who would rather curl intothe fetal position than lean in.
I'm your host, Patricia Elzie-Tuttle.
Nicole (00:26):
And I'm now at least 10 percent peppermint and glitter.
Nicole Elzie-Tuttle.
We are recording this showon December 2nd, 2024.
Patricia (00:35):
Would you like to explain the peppermint and
glitter for our friends out there?
Nicole (00:41):
Well, I mean, it's not sugar and spice, so.
Patricia (00:44):
I'm made of salt.
Both (00:45):
[Laughing]
Nicole (00:46):
We've started on our annual marshmallow making extravaganza.
Patricia (00:53):
Yeah, so making marshmallows is something we started a couple of
years ago, and we, we have the processdown really well, although every year
there's a learning curve because wedon't write down exactly what we do.
But especially given that we arebuying fewer gifts this year, so
we're giving more marshmallows, and Itinvolves a lot of confectioner's sugar.
(01:18):
It involves a lot of glitter.
Edible glitter.
Nicole (01:22):
Edible glitter.
Patricia (01:22):
Edible glitter.
And it's also, like
Nicole (01:27):
Airborne.
Patricia (01:28):
It's air...
I have glitter lung.
Nicole (01:30):
Yeah, the glitter gets all in the air and all over everything.
Patricia (01:35):
Yeah, so there was glitter on my pan I used for my eggs this morning.
There's just glitter everywhere here.
But also, marshmallows, I think they'refairly easy to make once you get it down.
It just takes a lot of labor.
It's multiple hours, and then they haveto sit overnight, and then it's another
(01:58):
couple hours on the back end, too.
Nicole (02:00):
We've got a single recipe down to under an hour in the front end.
Patricia (02:05):
Yeah, I think so.
I mean, it's true.
It takes us so many becausewe make four pans at a time.
Nicole (02:10):
Yeah.
Patricia (02:11):
Because that's the number of pans we have.
Nicole (02:13):
And four pans ends up making 48 one and a half inch square marshmallows.
Patricia (02:20):
One pan is 48 marshmallows.
Nicole (02:22):
Yes.
Patricia (02:22):
So it's 48 times 4, yeah.
Nicole (02:24):
Yeah.
Uh.
Patricia (02:26):
No, don't try to do the math.
Nicole (02:28):
Okay.
Patricia (02:28):
I see you thinking.
Nicole (02:28):
[Laughing]
We make a lot of marshmallowsright now and that means
there's a lot of confectioner'ssugar and glitter in the air.
Patricia (02:36):
But it also, we have to taste test all of them.
Nicole (02:39):
Well, yeah.
And also half of them we make peppermint.
Patricia (02:42):
Yes.
Nicole (02:43):
Flavored.
Patricia (02:43):
Half vanilla, half peppermint.
Nicole (02:44):
Which is like the best flavored marshmallow so far.
Patricia (02:48):
But we, of course, have to do quality control, so it also
Nicole (02:51):
yeah
Patricia (02:51):
means we're just consuming a lot of straight sugar, which is
delightful and I could smell colors.
Nicole (03:00):
Well, that means we have to make more hot chocolate to
float the marshmallows in toreally understand their properties.
Patricia (03:07):
Mmm
Nicole (03:08):
This is Marshmallow Science Hour with Patricia and Nicole.
Patricia (03:11):
[Laughing]
Well, one of my ideas, which we may ormay not do, you can let us know if you
want it, is maybe setting up a videoand y'all can hang out with us while
we make some marshmallows sometime.
Nicole (03:24):
You have to be nice.
Patricia (03:25):
You have to be nice.
We'll probably put it up on ourPatreon or something like that.
So we'll keep you posted.
We also recently saw the Wickedmovie on opening weekend.
Nicole (03:36):
Wicked part one.
Patricia (03:38):
Wicked part one.
I cried through most of it.
Nicole (03:41):
Yeah.
Patricia (03:41):
Yeah, I'm glad I brought tissues.
I'm glad no one in the theater sang.
Nicole (03:46):
Oh, that would have been, I'd have been so mad.
Patricia (03:49):
Yeah, I don't know if I would have been my best self
if someone started singing.
Nicole (03:53):
Yeah, because you could sing louder and better than them, I'm sure.
Patricia (03:57):
Possibly, but also, like, no one paid like, tickets for this
movie to hear me sing, no one paid tohear any of the audience sing, and I
considered bringing a spray bottle.
Nicole (04:10):
Now I just have this, like, vision in my head, though, of someone
trying to sing along in the movie theater.
And you, singing louder and morein key, but also changing the words
to, like, sit down and shut up.
Patricia (04:24):
[Luaghing]
Yeah, I don't know.
But, we didn't have to deal with that,because everyone was well behaved.
A lot of us were too busycrying through the whole thing.
Nicole (04:37):
Did we hold space for the lyrics to Defying Gravity?
Patricia (04:41):
Well, we work in queer media.
So yes.
Nicole (04:44):
[Laughing]
Patricia (04:46):
Anyway, onward.
We have a Patreon.
If this is not your first episodelistening, or first time listening
to us, you know we have a Patreon.
It's patreon.com/eedapod.
You can gift a Patreon subscription to ourshow, which is patreon.com/eedapod/gift.
(05:06):
But fun fact, any Patreon you want togift to, just add backslash gift to the
end of their Patreon URL, and you cangift any Patreon and support any creator.
So I just wanted to put that outthere, you know, you don't always
have to buy something physical.
Nicole (05:25):
Yeah, you can Oprah Patreon subscriptions.
Just you get a Patreon gift.
You get a Patreon gift.
Patricia (05:31):
[Laughing]
The other thing is we have a bookshop,you know, last show we talked about some
of the best books we read in the year.
And we link them all in our bookshop.
Our bookshop is linked onour website, eedapod.com.
It's also always linked in our show notes.
So you can shop books there.
Also, I heard that Bookshop is workingon a way for us to buy ebooks through
(06:03):
Bookshop so that you can supporteither us or independent bookstores or
whoever has a Bookshop affiliate site.
And that is really exciting.
I don't think it's out yet.
I imagine it's going to be somethingmore like an app that you use on a tablet
because they definitely don't want youbuying, you know, a Kindle or supporting
(06:26):
that other site that is not a bookstore.
So I think that is coming down the line.
So I will definitely.
I know we have some readers listeningto this show, so we'll definitely keep
you posted once we hear more about that.
Nicole (06:41):
Yeah, that sounds real exciting.
Also, if you want to give us a giftand make our season jolly and bright,
you can share our podcast withsomeone who you think would love it.
And, or leave us a review oniTunes, or Spotify, or YouTube,
(07:04):
or somewhere else that you getthe show that allows for ratings.
Patricia (07:08):
Yeah, since we last checked, we found we have two
reviews that we haven't seen.
Nicole (07:15):
Two new reviews in Apple Podcasts.
Patricia (07:19):
One from the amazing MarkAbulous, who definitely
made me cry happy tears, andyes, this is someone I know.
He's a long time friend, butmost of my happiest memories
from college involve him.
(07:39):
We used to make music together, so,you know, it's always, great to hear
friends supporting, and new friendstoo, and people we don't know yet.
We also got a review fromandrea.reyna, which was also an
incredibly kind and heartfelt review.
So, thank you both.
(07:59):
We check as often as we can.
We read each review, andit means so, so much to us.
And thank you for listening.
Nicole (08:09):
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for the review.
Means a lot.
Patricia (08:13):
I'm also, like, thinking about, you know, I still have a
number of friends from collegeand childhood and stuff like that.
And I hear people say, like, I have enoughfriends and I'm just like, couldn't be me.
Nicole (08:25):
No,
Patricia (08:25):
[Laughing]
Nicole (08:27):
come hang out with the show.
Be our friend.
Music (08:30):
[Transitional Music] So, our last show of the year will drop on December
25th, so that is not only Christmas,but it is the first night of Hanukkah,
and that will probably be a short show.
(08:51):
So today's episode is our last fulllength show of the year, so we're going
to take the opportunity to reflect onthis past year, see some of our lessons
learned and goals accomplished or notbefore flinging ourselves into 2025.
Nicole (09:07):
Okay, so we had to actually sit down and go through
our calendars to remind ourselvesof what we did this last year.
There were some things we definitelyplanned, and some things that went
as planned, and other things thatwere unexpected and or derailed.
(09:27):
Or
I guess we should say we had to adjust.
Patricia (09:31):
We had to adjust.
Nicole (09:32):
We did have a rough and unexpected start with some family
stuff, but we gave ourselves a startover when we celebrated Tết, the
Vietnamese New Year, with some friends.
I admit, I cheat andcelebrate many New Years.
I'm constantly givingmyself a fresh start.
One of them is growing up in theBay Area, where Lunar New Year, and
(09:58):
specifically Chinese New Year, hasalways been a part of my consciousness.
I have family who live in the neighborhoodright next to Chinatown in the city,
and so I'm so used to just being inthe city around January and seeing the
Chinese New Year decorations going up.
Like, that was justalways part of my life.
(10:19):
So I'm like, yeah, it's New Year.
Like, yes, January 1st is NewYear and also then Lunar New Year.
And if I'm feeling I need anotherfresh start, Astrological New
Year starts on the Spring Equinox.
So I'm like, yeah, sure.
New Year.
It's all made up.
It's all
It's all made up bysome old European dudes.
Patricia (10:41):
Well, not necessarily European.
Nicole (10:43):
Well the, the standard calendar.
Patricia (10:44):
The old standard calendar, yeah.
Nicole (10:46):
Yeah, you don't have to abide by that.
You can start the year whenever you want.
Patricia (10:49):
Yeah, every month.
New month.
Nicole (10:51):
I do recommend not starting it on a Tuesday, though, if you can avoid it.
Patricia (10:54):
Oh my god.
Nicole (10:55):
Yeah, we're still doing that.
Patricia (10:57):
I'm like, what does New Year's start on?
Wednesday this year?
Nicole (11:00):
Yeah, it starts on Wednesday.
2025 starts...
Patricia (11:03):
Is a Wednesday fine with you?
Nicole (11:04):
Eh, it's, it's, it's a round day of the week.
It's okay.
Patricia (11:07):
It's a round.
Oh my gosh.
Nicole (11:10):
So one thing we did do this year is we were more social.
We went to a friend's wedding.
We even had people overand cooked for them.
And I want to be clear, we were moresocial and did things while still
trying to be as COVID safe as we can.
Anytime we are out of the home in public,we still wear masks indoors everywhere.
(11:36):
This included at our friend's wedding.
Patricia (11:38):
This included at our friend's wedding, we actually, I reached out
to my friend because dinner was beingserved and I said, hey, is there going
to be outdoor seating for dinner at yourwedding or should we plan on like, eating
beforehand and, and then like hanging outindoors with everyone with our masks on.
(11:59):
And she was really grateful to hear that.
And there were a number ofpeople who wanted some outdoor
seating, so she made it happen.
Nicole (12:09):
Yeah.
And this is, this is because we countindoor restaurants as indoors in
public, and we just don't eat indoors inrestaurants if it can at all be avoided.
Patricia (12:21):
Right.
And it's really about harm reduction,which I feel like I have, like,
a lot of knowledge about harmreduction, but maybe we should
talk about it in a future episode.
Nicole (12:31):
Yeah.
Patricia (12:31):
Um, and really figuring out how much risk we want to take.
Nicole (12:37):
Yeah.
Patricia (12:37):
So eating indoors is a no for us.
Uh, being indoors without a mask is ano for us, but eating outdoors is fine.
And if we're in a crowded place andit's outdoors, like a festival or
something, sometimes we'll put a maskon too, depending on how crowded it is.
Nicole (12:53):
Yeah, some other things we do, do to manage this is when we have
friends over and everyone is unmasked.
If we can, we can get, wetry to get everyone to test
beforehand and typically after.
I know we at least test after,but we will open all the windows.
We have air filters injust about every room.
(13:13):
And, like, our living room's a big, open,living, dining, kitchen space, so we have
multiple air filters in there to try tokeep the air as clean as possible, or as
fresh as possible, with the windows open.
Patricia (13:25):
Yeah, and then we also did a lot of like we said,
outdoor hangs with friends, too.
We did our annual cherry picking.
Nicole (13:33):
Yeah.
Patricia (13:33):
Which I'm going to do until my legs don't work anymore.
I will cherry pick until I drop.
Nicole (13:40):
Yeah, because cherries fresh off the tree and sun warmed are amazing.
Patricia (13:46):
And we also made some new friends this year, too, which was
really cool, and I'm looking forwardto hanging out with new folks, too.
Nicole (13:53):
Yeah, new friends are great.
We went to the Ren Faire this year,which was another outdoor activity.
Patricia (13:58):
Which was another outdoor activity.
We had learned at the wedding inMay that some of our friend group
had never been to a Ren Faire.
So we're like, you know what?
We're making the Ren Faire happen.
Nicole (14:11):
Yes.
Patricia (14:12):
We also took a photography class.
Which was great.
And I found I really likedus taking classes together.
Nicole (14:23):
It was a lot of fun.
Patricia (14:24):
Yeah.
Nicole (14:24):
We've done a couple others in the past.
You mentioned, uh, we did amozzarella making class one time.
Patricia (14:30):
Yeah, you bought that for my birthday one year.
Nicole (14:32):
That was so much fun.
Patricia (14:33):
But yeah, I don't know.
I think there's something particularlylovely about learning with you.
Nicole (14:40):
I make it fun.
Patricia (14:41):
You make learning fun.
Both (14:42):
[Laughing]
Nicole (14:45):
We started an herb garden this year.
Patricia (14:48):
We did.
The basil, hit and miss.
The rosemary...
Nicole (14:52):
I did make you make pesto, one year.
Well, at least once.
Patricia (14:55):
Yeah, I did.
Yeah, I did make pesto once.
Uh, the rosemary, thriving.
Nicole (15:00):
Oh, the rosemary's so excited.
I think we need a better placefor the, the basil, maybe.
I think it gets too hot right there.
Patricia (15:06):
It might get too hot right there.
The thyme, also thriving.
Nicole (15:09):
I'm in love with the way your thyme looks.
It looks like a tiny tree.
Patricia (15:13):
It does.
The mint, chaotic.
Nicole (15:15):
That's what mint does.
Patricia (15:16):
But that's what mint does.
Nicole (15:18):
Yeah.
Some of the sages have done all right.
Patricia (15:21):
Yeah, they have, actually.
Nicole (15:22):
I'm hoping we can, again, maybe find a better spot for them.
I think they need more sun.
And maybe they'll grow more nextyear if they survive the winter.
Patricia (15:31):
Yeah, but we're learning, and it's cool.
Nicole (15:33):
Yeah.
Patricia (15:34):
We got to see some musicals this year, which, that always fills my cup.
We got to see the tryouts ofGalileo, A New Rock Musical.
Nicole (15:46):
[Laughing]
Patricia (15:47):
We got to see Company, which is a show that's really important
to me, but it's gender swapped andthe lead was a black woman, which I
never thought I would see in my life.
Nicole (15:58):
I can't imagine Bobby
Patricia (16:00):
Any other way?
Nicole (16:02):
Not being a Black woman now?
Patricia (16:04):
Well, now I'm going to have to show you, they did kind of an all
star, almost concert version of it,where Neil Patrick Harris was Bobby.
Nicole (16:14):
Oh, that's not Bobby.
Patricia (16:16):
[Laugh]
I also brought you to see Wicked the stageplay a month before we saw the movie.
Nicole (16:24):
Yes, which now I have two different voices in my head
that are not Idina Menzel and
Patricia (16:34):
Kristen Chenoweth.
Nicole (16:34):
Yeah, Kristen Chenoweth.
Patricia (16:37):
And we also went to the ballet.
Nicole (16:39):
You went to the ballet.
I think I like fell into some bizarretime travel abyss situation where
we entered a theater and sat downand I walked away very confused.
Patricia (16:52):
I mean, same, but I think it was good for me.
I think it was good for me to sit downat something where I was like, wow,
I am completely out of my element.
Nicole (17:01):
Yeah, no, it felt, it was a very bizarre experience.
Patricia (17:05):
I feel like it built character.
Nicole (17:06):
Oh yeah, no, I'm not mad about going, I'm just, I still,
like, am reeling from that.
Patricia (17:14):
So, I think one of the big lessons we learned this year is that
we don't have the kind of life orspell slots that can make good use of
a CSA, which is the Community SupportedAgriculture box that we purchased
(17:39):
for, like, a spring summer this year.
Some of the fruits and vegetableswere amazing, delightful, loved them.
But we are just not peoplewho will sit and plan a whole
week's worth of different meals.
Nicole (17:59):
Y'all, this is such a struggle in our home, and we've tried this before.
We even subscribed to a website fora while that, like, you could enter
some of the ingredients you haveand it would help pick out meals.
Patricia (18:13):
And it'd spit out a grocery list.
Nicole (18:14):
And it'd spit out a grocery list for what you also needed.
And you could pick recipes onthere and save them and stuff.
The amount of effort it takes to plan,like, five different dinners in a week.
We just can't do it.
Patricia (18:27):
No, and I think this year, I think I reached the point of acceptance.
Nicole (18:32):
Yeah.
Patricia (18:33):
Like, just not meal plan girlies.
Just not.
Like, we do better if I make a bigpot of beans or some kind of bean dish
on a Sunday that lasts multiple days.
Nicole (18:47):
Yeah, some sort of soup or something.
Patricia (18:49):
Yeah, like we'll eat the same dinner multiple days in a row.
Nicole (18:53):
I'm perfectly fine with that.
We have different things for lunch.
It's not like we're eating itthe same, like, every meal.
Patricia (18:59):
Three meals a day.
Yeah, yeah.
Even if we were, whatever.
But yeah, I think it's, it's a patternthat I know I'm not alone in is you try
really hard to do this aspirational thing.
Whether it's meal plan, whether it'sbeing a morning person, uh, right?
(19:21):
And then you just beat yourselfup over not doing that thing that
you think you should be doing.
And I think it's, it's okay tofinally just like, stop fighting.
I'm, I'm not a meal plan person.
Nicole (19:33):
No.
Patricia (19:34):
No.
And so, instead of spending energylike, being down on myself for not
being that, like, we'll just move onand lean into what I do like to do.
Nicole (19:44):
Yeah.
Patricia (19:45):
I think the other lesson we learned, it feels like a lesson
we need to, like, learn every year.
Nicole (19:53):
We need to, like, make a sign or something.
Patricia (19:55):
We need something.
Maybe we'll write it in our next planner.
We do better with accountability.
Or a class, or otherwise ascheduled thing, when it comes
down to whatever it is we're doing.
Nicole (20:13):
We need something with external accountability
for some of these activities.
We, we're not good if it just relieson each other to be accountable for
say, like, regularly going for a walk.
Patricia (20:28):
No, we run a real loose ship here, for some things.
Nicole (20:32):
For some things.
Patricia (20:33):
For some things.
Nicole (20:33):
Like, we, we are consistent with podcasting and stuff.
Patricia (20:36):
Absolutely.
Nicole (20:37):
But some things, we're just really, we're not
very firm with each other.
If someone's like, I just do not feel likeleaving the house today, we're like, okay.
Patricia (20:46):
Okay.
Nicole (20:47):
All right.
I love you and support you.
Patricia (20:49):
[Laughing]
So, let's look back at some of our goalsthis year, and I think it was a mix.
I want to start off with, like,I'm proud of what we did this year.
I'm proud of what we do every year,but I'm proud of what we did this year.
A lot of things shifted due to work orthe political climate, and so, you know,
(21:13):
as we said, sometimes your goals inJanuary aren't the same as they are in
April or July or October or what have you.
Also, full disclosure, maintainingthis podcast took more spell
slots than I anticipated.
I am very spoiled with my Book Riotpodcasts, where I don't do as much.
Nicole (21:40):
Yeah, and you, I think both of us, because you do the bulk of the
script writing ahead of time, and I makesure we have a transcript available,
Patricia (21:51):
yeah
Nicole (21:51):
and the subtitles to go on the YouTube videos, and everything.
Patricia (21:57):
Yeah, and then I do the artwork and the posting everywhere
and the uploading and the scheduling.
Nicole (22:03):
And maintaining the website.
Patricia (22:04):
Yeah.
Nicole (22:05):
Yeah, no, you do a lot of work for this show.
Patricia (22:08):
So do you with the transcript.
Nicole (22:10):
I mean, yeah, a single episode can take like four hours.
Patricia (22:14):
Yeah, and I think that is more time than we anticipated.
Nicole (22:17):
mm hmm
Patricia (22:18):
We love it.
We're not going anywhere, but it's alsoone of those things that's like, yeah, I'm
not going to get to some of these goalsthis year because podcasting is priority.
Nicole (22:28):
Yeah.
One thing that I know we were veryexcited about at the beginning of the
year, it was I think our first majorgoal that we like, just, yes, checked off
the list, was we got our noses pierced.
Patricia (22:40):
Good job us.
Nicole (22:41):
It was, that was an easy one and done.
Patricia (22:44):
Yeah, I think, if anything, like, I recommend an easy win.
Nicole (22:48):
Oh, it was such an easy win, and we did it in, like, February?
Patricia (22:52):
Yep.
Nicole (22:52):
So it was, like, second month of the year, checking stuff off
our, like, goals list for the year.
Patricia (22:58):
Hitting it out of the park.
Nicole (22:59):
Yeah, it was great.
Patricia (23:01):
So I had some cooking goals, which was like I wanted to keep making
beans, which I kind of fell off the beanwagon that I got back on because again,
our schedule in this podcast, I kind ofneeded to figure out the way in which
things fit together in our schedule.
We did make pasta a few times.
Nicole (23:20):
Yes.
Patricia (23:21):
I look forward to more of that.
Nicole (23:23):
So do I.
Patricia (23:25):
I also wanted to really get good at making pizza
from scratch, which I did not.
But I realize what the problem is, whichis the dough I want to make, you have
to make 24 hours in advance and wheneverI would think of making pizza, it would
(23:46):
be the day that I would want to make it.
And so it involved, again, more mealplanning than I was interested in doing.
So I think we're going to lookfor a different dough recipe.
Nicole (23:59):
Yeah, I think there's one in the bread machine book that we should look at.
Since we have that bread machine, itmay be something that you can like
throw together and it'll do it for usand then like in a couple hours we have
the dough ready to make pizza with.
Patricia (24:16):
Maybe, we'll look.
Nicole (24:18):
We did start out really strong this year with the snail mail.
And then about a third of the way throughfor me, things just went sideways.
Primarily to like, forme, it was a lot of work.
Um, my work really shifted and Istarted going into the office more
and it took up more of my life andspell slots than I was hoping for.
(24:40):
And I know there are some otherthings in our life as well that just
Patricia (24:44):
yeah
Nicole (24:44):
took up some of our spell slots.
Patricia (24:46):
Absolutely.
Nicole (24:47):
I also had really high hopes of, like, dialing in this kind of
crafty snail mail experience, andthat hasn't happened yet either.
We talked a little bit about this.
I think part of it has to do with, like,I kind of have an end vision in mind,
but I haven't done the intermediatesteps to help me get there, and those
Patricia (25:09):
yeah
Nicole (25:09):
don't seem as satisfying, so I'm hesitant to work on them.
But, I think maybe I'll, maybeI'll build myself like a skill
tree situation or something.
Patricia (25:18):
Ooh!
I wanted to be better at writing reviewsand by better I mean actually doing them.
I don't know if I was better at it.
I did write some reviews.
I have a long backlog of reviews to dolike the place that like does your shoes
or like the person, the tailor thatwe've been going to and stuff like that.
(25:38):
So, but I did get betterat giving compliments.
Which not just thinking someone iswearing a cute outfit, but actually
telling them, like, I like your outfitor I like your shirt or whatever.
But this also involves sometimes replyingto the newsletters I subscribe to and
(25:59):
telling the writer that I liked that issueor I found something in it really helpful.
And sometimes it's also justreplying to people's Instagram
stories with more than just a heart.
Like, actually telling them, thankyou for sharing this, or this is
hilarious, or something like that.
(26:20):
And really trying to give feedback.
You know, everyone, especially creatives,especially with the online landscape,
we're just all kind of putting stuffout there and not knowing how it lands.
So I'm really trying to givepeople positive feedback.
Nicole (26:34):
Maybe that's something I put on my list next year.
Patricia (26:37):
It's that, uh, enthusiastic encouragement.
Nicole (26:41):
Oof.
I'm, I'm better with the dubious advice.
One thing we did not do well this year,or, or the year before, or even the
year before that, was the decluttering.
Patricia (26:55):
Yeah, just not good at that.
Nicole (26:57):
I think this is another one of those things that's like, you know,
taking classes, doing more movement.
We don't have any external accountabilityfor it, so that's like the least fun
sounding thing to do around here.
Patricia (27:11):
Yeah, I think we're at the point with certain areas of
the house, though, where I'm justlike sick of my own nonsense, so
Nicole (27:19):
Yeah.
Patricia (27:20):
I'm optimistic looking forward.
Nicole (27:22):
We, uh, one thing we did do, we had it on our list to
take some nice photos together.
We did do that, but not how we planned.
Our plan was more in the realm oflike, romantic photos together,
something to maybe hand out in placeof our wedding pictures or something
(27:45):
like that, to kind of update those.
We didn't do that, but we didtake some fun pictures together.
They were just more headshot,business oriented podcast.
Patricia (27:55):
They were still fun though.
Nicole (27:57):
Oh, it was a lot of fun.
Patricia (27:58):
And I already updated our, uh, EEDAPOD website.
Nicole (28:01):
Yeah, with one of the pictures.
It was a lot of fun.
The pictures were great.
The photographer wasexcellent, but I don't know.
I still want to take some fun,like, romancey pictures with you,
Patricia (28:12):
But speaking of the podcast, we have maintained the podcast and also my
newsletter is coming up on its five years.
Nicole (28:21):
Wow.
Patricia (28:21):
Over 260 issues.
Nicole (28:26):
That's definitely enough for like a solid book.
Patricia (28:29):
Oh, probably.
Nicole (28:30):
Yeah.
We also used the planner together.
We did good at maintaining the planner.
There were a couple weekshere and there that I forgot.
But I was able to pick back up with it.
And, like, I saw the areas thatwere really helpful that I fell
off of, and other areas that werereally helpful that we maintained.
And we're definitely carryingthat through to next year.
(28:51):
We already have next year's planners.
Patricia (28:54):
Yeah.
One of the things I wanted todo last year was read Octavia E.
Butler's works, and I didn't readeverything, but I read Parable
of the Sower and Parable of theTalents, and maybe next year
we'll pick out another series.
Nicole (29:10):
And you did get a lot of other essays and stuff.
Patricia (29:14):
I know.
I know.
I want to get more to that next year.
Nicole (29:18):
I did manage to revisit Falling Back in Love with
Being Human by Kai Cheng Thom.
It's a short book.
I revisited it on audio, and thisis a book that I think I need to,
when I revisit it, like in thefuture and stuff, I need to do
with the paper version, because itneeds to be done in small chunks.
(29:39):
It's not a book for justlike plowing through.
It's a book to take yourtime with and chew on it.
We also did good at book tracking.
I know I did.
I got all my books in.
Patricia (29:50):
Absolutely.
We should, I know we've mentionedour StoryGraph accounts, but we
should link them in the show notes.
Nicole (29:55):
Yeah, I know you got, we got some bookish fans out there
that would probably enjoy that.
I also did good atpressing flowers this year.
You got me a flower press for thewinter holidays last year, and
I've pressed a fair bit of flowers.
I'm looking now, there's a bunch thatare actually still in the press from
summer that I probably should pull outand put away because those are also part
(30:18):
of my plans for my snail mail projects.
Patricia (30:21):
Yeah, I had some grand plans for learning to crochet and sitting
back down at the piano and gettingmore movement in my life and I didn't.
[Giggle]
But I'm rethinking my tactics and I'mthinking specifically about what I said
we learned this year, which is we dobetter with accountability or a class
(30:44):
or definitely if something is scheduled.
And so I'm already looking at crochetclasses for after the new year.
Nicole (30:52):
Yeah, I'll do that with you.
Oh, gosh, but can we, like, get acouple extra days in the weekend for all
these classes and things we want to do?
Can we talk to the calendar people?
Who's the manager of the calendar?
Patricia (31:06):
You want to talk to the calendar's manager?
Nicole (31:08):
Yes.
Who designed the year?
I want to talk to them.
Patricia (31:11):
Uh, Gregory?
Nicole (31:13):
Oh.
Patricia (31:14):
Sorry.
Nicole (31:16):
Some old...
do I have to learn Latin to do that?
Patricia (31:19):
Yes.
Nicole (31:20):
Oh, no.
Patricia (31:21):
Gotta bump up your Duolingo.
Nicole (31:24):
[Sigh]
Patricia (31:26):
I had a very specific plan about making Instagram Reels this
year, and I didn't follow that plan,but I have made more Reels than in
the past, and I also finally caved andjoined TikTok, so I'm on there too.
Nicole (31:43):
I like watching your stuff.
Patricia (31:45):
Thanks.
Nicole (31:46):
I'm a big fan.
You do great.
Patricia (31:48):
Thanks.
Thank you.
I also did step up my activism a bitthis year with a couple of projects.
And I'm looking forward to doingmore of that in, in the coming year.
And really trying to focus on whereI can again, build community and help
(32:09):
people and really share our resources.
Nicole (32:12):
I think that's going to be a bigger focus for me this year also.
Patricia (32:15):
We are not going to talk about our next year's goals today,
so we'll talk about them during ourfirst episode after the new year.
I want to start 2025really gently and smoothly.
Nicole (32:31):
Oh, God, I am, I'm not ready to think about that yet.
Patricia (32:36):
So, for my takeaway today, if you take the time to
look back over your 2024 goals,remember to be gentle with yourself.
If something didn't happen, maybe,sit with that and think about why
it didn't happen, and maybe thinkabout what you learned about it, or
(32:56):
if it's something that you're justgonna have to delegate to the floor.
Delegate to Oscar.
Nicole (33:01):
Delegate it to Oscar.
I would love for you to take awaywith the idea that any success
should be counted with a win whenreflecting back on your goals.
Really make sure you pay attentionto the things you did achieve,
not just the things that turnedout to maybe be not as important.
Focus on your wins, too.
Music (33:22):
[Transitional Music]
Nicole (33:30):
Okay, Patricia.
We're coming down to the end of the year.
What, in recent time, hasbeen filling your cup?
Patricia (33:38):
Definitely the Wicked film.
My little theater kidheart just is so full.
Nicole (33:43):
Even though you didn't get to spray bottle anyone?
Patricia (33:46):
Even though I didn't get a spray bottle anyone.
That's I don't think the spray bottlingthat's not my theater kid heart
that's my little chaotic demon heart.
Nicole (33:56):
That's true.
Patricia (33:56):
But but I hear there are going to be wicked sing alongs at the theater.
So, you know, we'll see.
And the other thing that isfilling my cup was getting to
see a bit of family last week andspending time and always laughing.
That was really fulfilling.
How about you, Nicole?
What's filling your cup?
Nicole (34:16):
I think right now making the marshmallows is, even though
I'm going to get glitter lung.
Patricia (34:22):
Glitter lung.
Both (34:22):
[Laughing]
Nicole (34:25):
And loaded up on sugar.
It's doing something away fromcomputers, away from screens.
When we get good at things like this,we kind of develop a little dance in the
kitchen together, the way we move aroundeach other, and I really like doing
things with you in tandem like this.
So I think doing that all togetherhas been really filling my cup,
(34:45):
even though I get very tired.
Patricia (34:46):
Yeah, that too.
We're like making candy tothe point of exhaustion.
But no, I like it, and I also lovedoing our kitchen dance, and I also
enjoy, yeah, you can't really be onscreens when you make marshmallows
it takes all your attention.
Nicole (35:05):
Yeah.
Patricia (35:06):
So, that's our show for today.
We'd like to thank ourawesome audio editor Jen Zink.
You can find her at loopdilou.com.
We'll leave a link tothat in our show notes.
Nicole (35:15):
You can find the full show notes and transcript at eedapod.com.
That's E E D A P O D dot com.
There you can also find a link to ourPatreon, our Bookshop link, and a link
to the ongoing Enthusiastic Encouragementand Dubious Advice newsletter.
You can also find us on Instagramand BlueSky at eedapod and
(35:36):
email us at eedapod@gmail.com.
Patricia (35:39):
We are nothing if not consistent.
Nicole (35:41):
We would also appreciate it so much if you would subscribe and rate us
on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or whereveryou get your podcasts that allow ratings.
It goes really far inhelping other people find us.
Also, special thanks to Apple users,Mark.Abulous and andrea.reyna for their
written reviews on Apple podcasts.
Patricia (36:03):
We would also appreciate anyone who can subscribe to us on Patreon.
Support is going to help us keep thisshow going, especially without ads.
You can find us at patreon.com/eedapod.
In the meantime, we hope youfind ways to be kind to yourself,
drink some water, and read a book.
We'll be talking to you soon.
Nicole (36:25):
We did it!
Patricia (36:26):
We did it!
Nicole (36:27):
A year of full episodes.
Patricia (36:29):
Wow.
Nicole (36:29):
Good job, us.
Patricia (36:30):
Good job, us.
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