Sound the Octo Alert

When we're not watching puffins, or counting numberblocks, another go to, Netflix available, show we watch is Octonauts. This show is well written and super educational. A rag tag group of oceanic anthropomorphic animal explorers (the eponymous Octonauts) explore the deep seas of the world while cataloguing their episodic encounters with different marine life. Each story ends with a Creature Report, which not only lets me know the episode has ended whilst I am completing tasks around the house, but more importantly summarizes some notable characteristics about the episode's featured animal, in delightful song and rhyme.

There are four seasons including 65 two part episodes of Octonauts available to watch, that's 1,495 minutes of marine biodiversity packaged in cute and consumable portions. Just this year, two new Octonaut features were released as well, Octonauts and the Caves of Sac Actun at 1 hour 12 minutes (which is honestly a little too long to keep tiny attention spans) and Octonauts and the Great Barrier Reef, an easier to consume 46 minutes, featuring delightful new songs and characters.

The team, led by Captain Barnacles, a polar bear, includes Kwazii, a pirate kitten, Peso, a medic penguin, Dashi, a techie dog who also serves as the team's photographer, Dr. Shellington, an otter marine biologist, Tweak, an engineer wunderkind rabbit and Professor Inkling, an octopus that seems to be have no trouble getting around out of water.

And then there are the Vegimals. Half vegetable, half fish, all cute. They, like Professor Inkling, seem to have no trouble transitioning from water to air and gravity doesn't stop them from hoping around on their tail fins like they're fishy feet. There are quite a few episodes where the Vegimals either have their own side story full of slapstick antics, or on occasion, they even save the day when the animal team get into trouble. Tunip, the turnip tuna, is the lead Vegimal and often included in the Octonaut team. Some of the other vegimals include Grouber the ginger grouper, Codish the radish coy, Barrot the carrot bass, and Tominnow, the tomato minnow, among others. The Vegimals even get an origin story reveal in one of the holiday specials.

In addition to the vast animated content, there are also some wonderful Octonauts books. Unlike Puffin Rock, the Octonauts books came first and actually feature stories that are not shown in the television series. The first book we came across was The Octonauts and the Frown Fish, which is absolutely delightful.

I'm glad we (the adults in our house) enjoy the Octonauts, because I do believe they will be living in our home for at least several years to come.

Always, Always Order Extra

Sometimes, what feels more often than not, it's just easier to order lunch. Today was one of those days, only it took until about 4:30 PM for me to realize I was not going to be fixing myself a sandwich. Lunch today was delivered at 5:17 PM by a woman named Barbara who is an Uber Eats driver (because I'm all about that found money). In my default notes, I offer the gate code to our neighborhood and a request to not ring our doorbell. Barbara followed these instructions, making my very late lunch a little easier on my nerves.

I ordered Chinese, from a place in a strip center near my house that I've never felt compelled to order from before. I opted for something that could be delivered fast, as I had barely grazed throughout the day. With my hunger aiding my decision making, I ordered a combo plate of sweet and sour shrimp, which was to come with rice, an eggroll or fried wonton and a cup of soup. I chose the fried wonton and a cup of wonton soup. I also ordered a cup of hot and sour for my husband, knowing he would likely come home from work hungry, and an order of vegetarian steamed dumplings.

This is more food than I thought I/we would consume, but I figured I'd take the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Well, my soup didn't make it into Barbara's car, and the fried wonton was filled with a very dry meat (flip a coin for beef or pork, I genuinely couldn't tell). It wasn't terrible, because I was starving, but I wouldn't order it again if given the chance. The steamed veggie dumplings were fantastic, they had water chestnuts in them, giving them a surprising crunch that redeemed the order entirely.

I was interrupted whilst inhaling my sweet and sour shrimp, with a hungry, crying baby, so I ended up eating two separate sittings and before I knew it, my 8 shrimp and scoop of rice were gone. My husband came home during said inhalation and as predicted drank the hot and sour soup on the spot. He said was so good that he wants to order it for dinner, I'm still starving so I'm game. Plus I need something to take for lunch tomorrow.

All this to say, order something extra when you order out. Plan on knowing it will be used to make all or part of a second meal. I always order extra sides or appetizers, knowing I can cook it into a larger meal, or at least make a meal from leftovers. I didn't know my soup wouldn't make it to our house, but I could honestly care less now that I'm well fed and back to getting shit done around the house.

The Holy Trinity, of Life Coaches

So, I previously mentioned that when I found out I got pregnant, I fiscally got my shit together. Or, at least started in the right direction. In addition to listening to Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover, since the girls have been born, I've listened to Gary John Bishop's Unfu*k Yourself, quite a few times. This is the book to read/listen to when you need a swift kick in the ass, a reminder to keep moving forward and let the bullshit fall to the side.

Unfu*k Yourself is brutally honest, sobering and enlightening. None of the information is new, but the delivery is what get's you. Gary John Bishop doesn't hold any punches, he tells it like it is. Whether it's the small(ish) goal of losing some vanity weight, or a lofty goal of making a career path switch, he reminds us that life is too short. Tomorrow isn't promised. We shouldn't worry about making time to seize the day, we need to unabashedly seize each and every moment.

As you noticed, the title of this post references three life coaches. My third go to is Marie Kondo. I started reading about the KonMari method back when the whole country was crazed with it in January of 2019. What feels like decades before our current politically charged-pandemic laden-burning to the ground-world came to be.

I, like most, was introduced to Marie Kondo via Netflix. I binged the entire series in one sitting and got to work in my closet. I donated so much. And like for most, that satisfied a temporary itch and I moved on. At least in the practice in purging my home (let's be real, I'm not a minimalist, I'm an artistic hoarder). I was still conceptually in awe of her methodology and bought and binged her books.

Her underlying theme, of "does this item spark joy", "does this item make me feel like I'm holding a puppy" has stayed with me in an invaluable way of impacting how I shop. Before I buy anything, whether it's a t-shirt for myself, or a canister of sprinkles from the baking aisle, I ask myself "where will this live?" and "will I actually make use of this item?". I apply these questions to both in person and digital shopping, along with the puppy question. This, coupled with Dave Ramsey acting as my personal financial Jiminy Cricket, has truly impacted the way I spend.

Ultimately, between the three, I'm constantly listening to or reading any of the aforementioned books. They've all taught me keep mindfulness in my actions. I'll likely continue to listen/read their works repeatedly, long after I achieve my goals, for many of these themes become easy to ignore if not consistently applied.

Do you have a favorite inspirational author or book? Let me know in the comments, I'm always looking to expand my library.