The Lazy Genius Podcast - Bonus: The Lazy Sisters Answer Your Questions

Episode Date: January 19, 2023

Kendra is joined by her little sister Hannah to answer your questions, many of which are about how to foster connected relationships between siblings. The sisters also talk about their current favorite things, including a Kindle accessory that could revolutionize the world. Helpful Companion Links Billy Summers by Stephen King The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Solace House by Joy Ellis (narrated by Richard Armitage) Hannah’s Stanley Cup Kindle Holder Kindle Remote Tiny Target Lamp No transcript for this episode since this is a casual conversation. Thanks for understanding! The links above are affiliate links, meaning if you click through and make a purchase, I may earn a tiny commission at no added cost to you. This podcast is hosted by Kendra Adachi and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello there. You are listening to the Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. Today is a bonus episode. It's everyone's favorite bonus episode. My sister Hannah is here. That's all I'm going to say. Hi, Hannah.

Hi. How's it going? We had a, just a moment ago when I tried to record the intro, we had a Miss World France moment where I was like, hello. If no one else has seen, if you have not seen the, the Miss France introduce herself and the Miss World pageant, y'all, it's a sight to behold. It really is, wait for it, truly. It's worth waiting for it. Anyway, so we have a lot of questions from people. I asked on Instagram what you guys wanted Hannah and I to talk about. and there were a lot of questions about how is our new relationship rhythm going? Because we talked last time about there were airplane.

We needed airplane texts and we had the sands of time. And we basically got out of rhythm with each other. And then we live, I was about to say live action. That's not correct. No. And live stream isn't either. We just talked about it. We just had a conversation.

We just had a conversation while it was being recorded. Right. Which is a very normal thing to do when you're talking to someone. about how to kind of get our rhythm back because you got a full-time job. And we just weren't talking to each other in the same way. So we are doing our Tuesday phone calls still. We are. What did we learn last week with our Tuesday phone?

Last week was a really fun week. So you called me in the afternoon. I looked at it. I was in the middle of a meeting and I was like, well, dang it. Yep. And then I called you at the worst time. Oh, I knew it was. It was like $6.50.

It was $6.50. And I was like, she's not going to answer, but I'm going to still call her because maybe it'll work out. Maybe so. And then you called me later. And then we talked for like an hour. Yeah, it was a long time. It was a really long time. And it was like the best part of my week.

Yeah, it was so fun. So just keep trying. Moral of the stories, keep trying. And I realize, we realized then too, that it's better to call and see the person's name come up on your phone and know you can't answer, then not see their name at all. Yes. It was like, even if we're calling and we're like, I don't think she can talk right now. It's still worth it.

It still does part of the thing that we want it to do. Absolutely. So we're still having our Tuesday phone calls. And sometimes they're five minutes at lunchtime. Sometimes they're an hour at night. It's just there's no rhyme or reason, but it is on Tuesday, which is so lovely. And then we went out to lunch a few times. We have to get, now that we're in 2023, we have to get some of those on the calendar.

Yes, we do. We had calendared ourselves up through the year. And now we need to get them back on. And the Sands of Time example. You like asked me if I'd watched Andor yet. Right. That's what our texts are. Yeah, exactly.

Big flyover easy things. Which by the way, guys, I'm here to tell you, even if you don't like Star Wars, and Hannah has not seen Andor yet. So we're not going to talk about this extensively. It's been on my list for a long time. I'm just telling you.

I still have two episodes left. It's 12 episodes in the first season. I still have two left. It is such a good show. If you hate Star Wars, you'll still love it. And turns out we both like kind of have a crush on Andy Circus. I know.

and didn't know it about each other. I didn't know. I was kind of afraid to admit it to anybody. And then when you ask me, I felt so relieved. I know. When he's the, when he's like the bad arms dealer and Black Panther? Oh my goodness.

Like even this. Yeah. I think that's actually, that was actually what kind of started it for me. Which was terrible. Oh, he was a terrible person. He was terrible. Yeah, he was awful. But he's in Andor.

He doesn't come until like, you know, like midway through the season. But he's in Andor. Okay. Well, sign me up. You guys need to watch it. Anyway, okay, so we, I asked on Instagram some of the questions. You guys wanted an update. There's your update.

And then there were also a lot of questions. I would say half of the questions of the hundreds that were asked were about various sister relationship things. So we're just going to do like a relationship segment. One of the first questions is that I think is a good place to start is what did your parents do to foster your close relationship. Lull. Okay. This is very important, everyone. This is why we're starting with this. You as a parent, I don't know that you could do much of anything. No, you really couldn't. To create the kind of relationship that you might want your children to have.

You have no control over this. No. You have none. No. You have none. I do think it's worth mentioning that our childhood was... I'm very excited to hear what word you're going to use. You know, there was definitely trauma involved. Yes. And I think that when you have trauma involved, you gravitate towards... Yes.

You know, like either I think you move towards the person or away. And we did... Because you don't talk about it. Exactly. And I think we did both, honestly. I agree. Yeah. And I think as we got older, we gravitated towards each other.

Yes. But yeah, there was never like a, like, I don't remember mom ever being like, y'all have to sit together or y'all have to do this or you guys need to get along. She was just very like, like, if we were fighting, it was like, y'all need to figure this out. Like, you know. Which leads to another question. And it leads to another question of what our, somebody asks what our age difference is.

It's almost seven years. Yep. Little less than seven years. So I think that's part of it too is that the age difference in your kids. Like if you think about it, when you were six, I was seven, I was 13. You know,

like that's a big difference. Like that's a babysitter. Yeah, that's a huge difference. So that's another thing too is to remember that relationships are going to go through, your kids relationships are going to go through various stages. And you, like,

really don't have any control over that. No, you don't. I also don't remember mom ever saying anything like you guys are each other's best friend. Oh yeah. There was never, she never put any like relational pressure on us to get along. Yep. To like each other. Yep.

The only expectation was don't be awful to each other. Right, right. Just be like be a decent person. Just be a nice person to your sister. Yep. And that was the only push. And I can say with my personality, I think if she had push, like, Kendra needs to be your best friend, I would have done the opposite on purpose just because I was being told to do something. We both know a set of sisters that are like in college right now.

And one time someone asked them, is your sister your best friend? And because they would do everything together. And they said, no, we're sisters. it's almost like you can be incredibly incredibly close with someone with a sibling like incredibly close but there is a dynamic of being sisters or brothers or siblings that sort of transcends friend labels it's like not the same thing like you can be incredibly close with someone but if you sort of put that friendship label on siblings first then it almost takes away the I don't want to say the power of the sibling label but it's like it it's it it eliminates you

it's part of what exists in siblings. Does that make sense? Yeah. So no, our parents did not do anything specific to foster this, nor can you as a parent. I just don't believe you can. I don't believe you can. You can do your best to create like a, you know, like a loving, a loving home and you respect each other and all of that.

But like, there's no formula. You're not missing anything. Parents, you're not missing anything. Nope. Nope. So stop trying so hard. is what I wanted to tell you right now. Don't try hard.

It's okay. Another thing, another question was, do we tell each other everything? Mm-hmm. And I thought this was a fascinating question. Yeah. You know, it's interesting when you, when you mentioned it, it took me a second. Mm-hmm. I was like, wait, do I?

Mm-hmm. It kind of makes me think of the friend label that you were just talking about. Yes. Like, to me, this question kind of. of is the same thing almost. Like just because I, and I don't tell you everything, but just because I don't tell you everything doesn't mean that you aren't like transcendental to me.

You guys, when we did have our conversation on the phone earlier this week, it was pretty great because the last few minutes you just started gushing and you're like, maybe I should just go. This is turned into a gush fest. I guess it's time. I was literally just like, I mean, and you're just so amazing and you're so great at everything you do. It was very sweet. But no, yeah, it's like that, I don't know, they feel like they're not even connected to each other. Like just because I don't tell you anything does not indicate the closeness of my relationship with you.

Right. It's just, it's not an indicator. And I don't think that this is a rule across the board, but that question do you tell each other everything? I don't think from a logistical practical standpoint, I don't think there is anyone that I tell everything to. There's no. Yeah. Now, could I tell you everything?

Yes. Do I feel safe enough to? Yes. Do I feel safe enough to with my husband? Yes. Do I feel safe enough to with my best friend? Yes. You know, like we have those people in our lives.

Like, of course we feel safe enough to. But asking another person, our mom said this for years, and you cannot bear the weight of another person's soul. You just can't do it. And so if you try and make one person be sort of the catch-all for everything in your life that you're going through, then it's like a lot of pressure on them, but it also sort of eliminates kind of the gift of lots of other relationships. Like I think Laura Tremaine talks about this really well, where she says her husband is not her best friend. Like Jeff is not her best friend because she doesn't want Jeff to have to hold all those things.

And she has different kinds of friends who can hold all of these different types of conversations. And that's what her next book is about. Like all the 10 friends every woman should have. Like I think that's a really wise way of looking at it. That you can have people that you're safe enough to tell everything to. But you don't have to. And it's not, like you said, it's not an indicator of the closeness of the relationship, like at all. Yeah.

Jadaday Jenkins. Did you ever? I know that name. He wrote, I can't remember the, it's a very pretty looking book, but it's something about like journeys or something like that. Right. Anyways, he has lots of very famous friends. Okay. And he has a really lovely way of talking about his very deep friendships in that each friend holds a key.

And that key unlocks a part of himself that no other friend can unlock. And just because some people have more. keys on their key ring or certain keys like it doesn't invalidate what room they enter in together or you know the parts of him it's like that's the beauty of friendship um and i just think that's a really lovely way to think about it yes absolutely so so again you cannot manufacture your kids being friends you cannot nor if you uh are a sibling or you have children or you have children children, multiple children who are siblings, them being like telling each other everything is not an indicator of that relationship now or later. Correct. It's just not. It's okay. It takes a lot of the

pressure off. But I think that there is part of us that does want for there to be closeness in our, of course we want to be close with our family. Yeah, you want your kids to like each other. Of course you do. But you're not going to, again, you can't force that. And that's up to them. As they get older and they become adults. Like one of the questions I actually didn't write down, What happens if your, if your sister or your sibling makes a choice that you don't agree with? How do you maintain the relationship? And it's kind of like, well, aren't you in relationship with people who do things that you don't agree with? Like we all make choices that are different, whether it's like, like how people spend their money, how they spend their time, like all of that.

But that doesn't keep a relationship from working because that's usually not what a relationship is based on. It's based on respecting each other and trusting each other. and trusting each other and loving each other and knowing that that safety exists, right? And so I just think, I think we just put a, moral of the story, I think we put too much pressure on trying to create great adult friendships

now when our kids are like six and they're punching each other in the hallway and you're like, they're never going to like each other. Like that's not, those are two separate things. Yeah, yeah. Very separate. We'll be right back. Aw, isn't something we need to travel for.

it's something waiting for us in everyday life, whether in a city street or a moment with a work of art. I'm Dr. Keltner, host of the Science of Happiness podcast. Join me for Cities of Aw, a special series on how our public spaces can spark awe, wonder, and enhance the quality of public life. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Okay, this question when I read it, it made me laugh out loud. The question is, do we get along with each other's spouses. And there was a follow-up of like, how do you help? Like, there were lots of people actually who asked, how do you help your spouse get along with your family? Now, those are two separate things. Those are two separate things. And it made me go like, oh, man, there are some, there are

some, like, dud husbands out there who aren't talking to anybody, apparently. That's like what it felt like. So I'm sorry. But also thinking about like, man, how do you get along with your sister's husband? And both of our husbands? Are the easiest, literal human beings to get, to get along? Like, it's so funny. It's so funny. So they're also very similar. They are.

We married very similar people. I mean, they're very different, but also very similar. Right, right. They're both. Their vibe is similar. Yes. They're both, if you're an Ingram person, they're both Enneagram nines. There's just like an, they're both so almost annoyingly content all the time.

Yes. Both of them. Yeah. And they're very quiet. They're both very funny. Very funny. In their own way. Yes.

I don't know. Like, I mean, I met cause when I was young because you were a child bride. You were a child bride and you were also in love with them when you were a teenager. When I was in high school, yeah. And so, I mean, I remember the first time meeting him and being like, you do? Oh, yeah. Where was it? In the modular building.

In the modular building at the church. Yep. In the modular building at the church. Yeah. So you would have been what, like nine? 10? Okay. Yeah. And it was before, like, it was like a, it was like a band practice. Sure, of course. I always loved it when he would show up at band practice. Yeah. And I just remember, he was so nice to me. And, you know, he was just cause. And I just remember being like,

that's, okay. All right. Here we go. Here we go. Like, it made a lot of sense. Like, he was just so nice and genuinely so. But no, I mean, I remember him. So, I mean, I've known cause my whole life. Yeah. That's weird. I hadn't really thought about that. But I love cause. I mean, I just, I always have. I think that probably one of my favorite things was when we started going to the same pool. Yes. And I actually got to hang out with cause because I feel like whenever our families hang out, you know, me and you are just obnoxious and generally just talk to each other. And it was great because of the pool. I actually was able to hang out with just him. Yeah. Because that would be working. Yeah. Like he was taking the kids of the pool.

And when I got my full-time job, one of the first things I thought about, I was like, Oh, no. Oh, no. I'm not going to have any more pool time with cause. Like, it made me so sad because I just genuinely like being with cause. Yeah. He's great. Yeah.

It's pretty great. That's one of the things that's been nice for me about you getting a job is that I get to see Luke more. Yeah. Because Luke is the stay-at-home parent. Yep. And so you're like coordinating with him. I'm coordinating with him. I'm coordinating with Luke.

Do you need anything at Trader Joe's? I'm not asking you that anymore. Yeah. It's pretty great. So, but it did make me laugh. Like, do you get along with you? Yes, we do. Because they're literally the easiest people on the planet to get along with.

They seriously are. They're both pretty incredible. If we, one question. What did we fight about these kids? I just feel like I tried to terrorize you. I think you did. We would fight about like, I mean, legitimately, all of our fights were just about me terrorizing you. Like, there was no.

topic or subject. I mean, it was just, everything was fine until it wasn't. Right. And it was because I did something to terrorize you. And then I would get so mad because I like things to be a certain way. Yeah. And you would, and you were like the little sister. And so mom would come in and you'd be like, turn on the waterworks right away.

Oh, right away. And I'd be the one getting in trouble because I yelled at you even though you started it. Yeah. I remember resenting that, resenting you for that a lot. Oh my gosh. Yeah. No, I was, I was manipulative. The best, the best example of that, which we have shared, you know, forever ago for OG, Lazy Sister listeners. I have had for sure, but still have a terrible fear of sharks.

Oh, I thought you were going to tell the shut up story. Oh, that's a good one. Oh, there's two of them. So basically the shark one was, I'm terrified of sharks and you got a shark calendar. It was a national geographic. So think about like, the most national geographic, big open mouth, great white shark photo, like iconic. You walked up to me with your hand behind your back and you stuck the shark picture in front of my face. And I, well, no, no, I was more manipulative than this, Kendra. I had it behind my back.

And I said, hey, Kendra, look. And then I put it in your face. You know what you were doing. I shoved it in your face. And I'm pretty sure I hit you. Yeah. Well, you didn't hit me. You slapped the calendar away.

You slapped the calendar away, which hit me in the face. And I got in trouble. I said that you slapped me in the face for showing you a picture of my national geographic calendar. Yes. No, I was awful person. And then the shut up story. I forgot about the shut up story. Yeah, I was two.

You were little. Yeah, I was like two years old. Yeah. Because we were still at the old house. Yeah. So mom, the way that our house was, was like an L shape. So mom was coming down the hallway

and she heard me just looking at Kendra, like Kendra was sitting on the floor and I was standing over her just going, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, like into her face. Mom comes around the corner and mom said that as soon as she went around the corner and I heard her footsteps,

I stopped and I turned around and I started singing, Jesus loves me. I mean, I was, I mean, honestly, I could have been like, there's a little bit of like sociopathic for sure. Which again, like hearkening back to what we were talking about before when it, when you're worried about your kids getting along. Right. Even just like when your kid is showing like sociopathic tendencies, like I am the so deeply empathetic. Oh gosh.

And like care about people. and I mean the thought of being that manipulative in relationships makes me want to crawl in a hole and die. Like how your kids act when they're little is not indicative of the type of person they're going to be when they get older. Or it's almost like, like I think that you still, it's like your well of empathy runs so deep that as a four-year-old, you didn't know how to process that. But you wanted to connect so much. Yeah. And so your way of connecting with me because there, How you don't know when you're like a first grader that you can be like, how was your day,

Sister Kendra? You know, you're not going to do that. You're going to be like, I want her to pay, I want her to pay attention to me. And so I'm going to, I'm going to get her attention. Yeah, I'm going to get her attention. Yeah, it was just getting negative attention. Exactly. Yeah, because I just needed attention.

So, yeah, we did, we did quote, quote, fight. No, it was just, no. We did. What was your, when I saw this question, your favorite game to play? play as kids. We did not play this with each other, which that wasn't the question. But it made me think of when I used to play Rapture. Uh-huh. With Crystal across the street. Yes. I, you guys, I played a game called Rapture. It was best played on a, like a stormy, like a cloudy afternoon. Yes, for sure. And I would pretend that Jesus was coming back. I would pretend to hear trumpets. Uh-huh.

I would like what a vibe yeah yeah what a vibe I played rapture by myself where I would like put clothes on my bed yeah like flat yeah flat on my bed and I would like lay on top of my clothes and then I would quote unquote hear the trumpets and then roll off the bed underneath my bed and then like pretend somebody would come in the door yeah and then like start crying because they got left behind. This is so dark. It's so dark.

Like it's so problematic. It is. On so many levels. But yeah, like, unfortunately, that was kind of. That's the game I remember playing. It was a favorite game as a kid. It was play Rapture. Yeah, the only other game I remember us playing together was bonkers.

Wait a minute. The board game bonkers. Right. What was bonkers? Bonkers was kind of like. I remember playing bonkers, but I have no concept of what the actual game was. It was kind of. It was kind of like, it was very basic.

Like it was almost like a candy land basic. Oh, okay. You know, like you just draw a card. There's a skill. Yeah. But then there was, what's the, it's not parchezy, but it's like a very uniquely shaped board. Shoots and ladders? No.

There's like a timer or something where like there's popping things, but it's like a, you know, like those little jacks that have. I can't remember what that game was called. I can't either. But it was kind of like. People are saying what it is right now. Yeah, they are. It was kind of like that game. Sorry.

Sorry. Sorry. Yeah. It was like, sorry and Candyland had a weird, like very neon colored baby. Got it. Because Bonkers was very neon colored. It was like super 90s. Like.

I remember playing. I just don't have a concept of what the game was. Yeah. We also really liked Scategories. Yes. We played a lot of Scattergories. I went to a game night, like a grown up game night last year. And I was hoping.

I was like, I was so excited because I was like, oh, we're going to play Scatigories. we're going to play outburst, we're going to play balderdash. We're like, we're going to play all these like word games that we play. Catchphrase. You were going to play catchphrase. And it was like the whole like,

no, we're playing like a four hour strategy game. And I thought, oh, this is not my scene. I just want you to say an animal that starts with the letter C. Like that's what I wanted. Yeah. That's because that's what we played a time. I feel like we played that a time. We played like all word games.

All time. Oh, so fun. Okay. What was. Okay. Let's transition. a little bit. This is our last like sort of sister related question. What is our dream vacation together? Ooh, that's a good question. I know. I think I have an answer. What's your answer?

I want to go to London. Yes. I want us to go to London together. Yeah, I can't, you know, I can't think of anything better. I was definitely in the, well, I guess we could decide between going to Asheville or Wrightsville Beach. Dream big. Dream big. Dream big. No, dream bag. That would be the dream vacation is if we would have so much fun. I would, I think I would die of happiness. I still have. I'm pretty sure I still have.

I'll check on my phone right now because I went to London, what, 2017? I think is when I went. And the whole time, the whole time, I was take sisters in London, 2018. I wrote down all the things that we should do. Oh, my goodness. I still have it in my notes at. Oh my gosh. The first one is the Jane Austen tour with, I want it.

I want you to see. an even song service at Westminster Abbey. It's like, I have all the things. The CS Lewis Tour, like all the things. I, yes, that's it. That's it. There we go. It'd be so fun.

There we go. Okay, let's do a couple more questions. What is your Hogwarts house? Hufflepuff. And mine is, what's the nerdy one? Ravenclaw. I want to be Gryffindore. Yeah, I want to be Gryffindore too.

The thing about Hufflepuff, like, I feel like we kind of get like, pooped on a lot because you do and it's not fair because it's like oh this is just the dumb house with all like the leftover people right I don't know like that's not true at all I I really I'm proud to be a hufflepuffe so if anybody like feels weird about it don't yes own your huffle puffy energy Ben is my son Ben who you are obsessed with yes um he to be fair I'm obsessed with all of kids or children Ben and I just are similar you're similar We're similar. You are.

You're similar. But he said, you know, I think I'm a Hufflepuff with a little touch of Ravenclaw. So I think I'm a Huffleclaw. And I was like, that sounds about right, buddy. That sounds about right. He's got a little nerd in him. But he's like, if we had a world without Hufflepuffs, it would be anarchy in no time. Yep.

It would be a broken place. Yep. Hufflepuffs are like the gravity to keep everything together. You got to have some Hufflepuffs around. You got to have them. Okay. This is no thinking. rapid like real quick okay who who's on your current crushmore are we doing just for whatever you

want and it could be just like i know it's this one person but it's not anyone else our mount crushmore is the four faces carved in stone of celebrities that we have a crush on that's just that's been like a thing that's been a fixture of our episodes since the beginning of time yep um mine's still james and uh and timetay timetay is like like up is making his way. Yeah. Fassie is still there. Yes.

Michael Fassbender. Jamie Lee Curtis. Of course. And then I would say my kind of rotating two right now are going to be Henry Cavill. Interesting. Are you watching The Witcher or something? Well, no.

I mean, I watched The Witcher when it first came out. But I always had a thing for big. baby Henry Cavill, like in the Tudors. Okay. Uh-huh. And that was the Jonathan Rees guy. Yeah. Like on Showtime.

Yes. Yes. About King Henry. It was kind of like my Ryan Gosling. Like, you knew him before he became. Like he was so little then. So little. But there was something about the Witcher.

And when I watched the Witcher, I was reading Throne of Glass. Sure. And he was so Rowan. So Rowan. There's no one else who could be rowing. And I think that that's what it is for me. It's like, it's not necessarily Henry Cavill as anybody because like I started rewatching the Tudors and I was like, oh, baby Henry Cowell. I just love him. Have you seen Anola Holmes? No, I have it because I really don't, I don't love Millie Bobby Brown, which I feel bad about. I don't either. And I loved Anola Holmes. It was really dear. But all that to say when I was watching the Tudors, I was like, this is just a Rowan thing,

which is hilarious because he's never even played Rowan. Right. And then Florence Pugh. That's one of mine too. I don't know that she'll ever not be on it anymore. I think it's like it's James, it's Temitay, it's flow, and then it's whoever else is around at the time. Yeah.

It's just the way I guess. Like a rotating tap. We'll be right back. A couple more questions before we go. Okay. If you had to choose another place to live, where would it be? Like just another. state.

Anywhere. Again, dream big. Because you're like, we're not going to write to beach. You would move to Scotland. See, there you go. I would move to Scotland. I was going to say, I was going to say Alaska. I wondered if you would say Alaska.

I, um, I love Alaska. But I, I really want to live not in America. Sure, sure. That's never been something that I've ever done. And I just, I don't know. I just really want to live in Europe or somewhere else. and beyond those cliffs and beyond the cliffs and then like hop over to ireland and see those cliffs i know so many clans there are cliffs in england too there's so many pretty cliffs it's just an it's a world of

cliffs i really like that idea of like pastoral living is that a thing that pastoral living right yes absolutely um i i just i've always felt like i should have been born at a time where i only survived till i was 22 and i died of the plague and so i would like to revisit that yes absolutely yeah That's exactly your vibe. It's very much so my vibe. You'd be fine. Yeah, I think I would do either England or Sweden. Oh, yeah, that's a good one.

I think I would really... It's the food. That's the thing in either of those places is the food's not super great. Yeah. But I know how to cook. I just have to procure the correct ingredients. Yes. Okay, one more question.

And then we're going to do some rapid fire favorite things. Okay. What are your favorite activities when you're hosting? a family gathering. And the person says, I hate board games. Which I feel like that's like tough, right? If you don't like games.

A lot of times when we'll go to moms for things, she'll have a puzzle out. Puzzles are perfect. Puzzles are perfect. Put them on a separate table. You can, and she has like a couple of like cookie sheets. Uh-huh.

So you can like pass them around. Yep, the pieces. Yep. And it's night. The puzzle is great because you can sit at the table and do it. for however long you want, if you want to walk by and just do like a couple pieces. Like it's just very low stakes, but it's an activity. And it's fun because people will filter in and out.

Yes. Which is great because then you have different types of conversation and blah, blah, blah. So yeah, I puzzle for sure. I also think, which we don't necessarily do this, but I think depending on the group and the family, I think having like coloring stuff out. Yes. Like coloring books or printed coloring sheets. like grown-up ones, kid ones, markers, you know, whatever.

Like, I just think people like to color. I went to a, like, a girls weekend. And there was a whole table of those, like, adult coloring books and, like, really pretty pens. And everybody just flocked there. Like, it was just a really nice, like, oh, this is, again, it's low stakes. And it's in and out at your own thing. Maybe that's why board games are hard is you feel like you have to gather everybody up. And then you have to commit to a time.

And there's different, um, low. levels of competitiveness amongst the people. And so if you can think of things that are just like, yes, that are low stakes and don't have a time limit on them. That feels like a good. Yep. Okay. Let's do a couple of rapid fire current favorite things.

Great. Favorite book that you read in 2022 last year. Billy Summers by Stephen King. Mine was the grave-rored book by Neil Gaiman. So good. There's not going to be another favorite. No, there's not going to be another favorite. If that's what you read that year.

That's what you read that year. That is your favorite book. What I'm talking about? What about so far in 20203? Favorite read of 2023? A Salas House by Joy Ellis. I've never even heard of this. So it is a procedural series.

Jackman and Evans. This was like book nine, I think. But Richard Armitage is the audiobook narrator. It's an audible special. They have them on, I think they were like free initially. And I started listening to those. They are great books. Oh, that's fine.

Richard Armitage is such a good narrator. He actually just bought the rights to the book and they're making a show and he's going to play the lead. And it's, I mean, y'all, these books are really, really good. I'm excited. They're awesome. I'm very excited about that. Mine is, I just finished it yesterday. It's Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourne.

And it's about like old lady assassins who retire and then a hit goes out on them. And they have to. So it's like very like oceans. Uh-huh. Which I love oceans and born. and like I love that stuff. That was my favorite. And Jamie Curtis was the lead.

And she was fantastic. Of course she was. She was cast her as lead. Because she's perfect. Okay. Your favorite thing to drink out of? Y'all, I was influenced hard by TikTok and I got a giant Stanley Cup. I really did not anticipate being this hydrated.

But you guys, it really did make a difference. I realized that I had not had water. I mean maybe like 10 ounces of water over the course of like two days. Oh, that's not a lot of water. No, y'all, I'm so dehydrated. And so one night I was like, okay, fine. I'll just get a Stanley cup and see if that makes a difference. Y'all, I am filling this thing up like three times a day.

Wow. I am so hydrated. Why? I don't know what it is. It's so big and bulky and you would think that it's annoying. Right. But the handle is like really comforting. And then when you're sitting on the couch and you're playing a puzzle game, you can

like rest it and it's so tall that the straw is like right at your mouth and you don't like have to think about it and then it fits in cup holders I see that it fits in your car cup holder which is you can take it everywhere and it keeps things very very cold and I did realize this about myself I only drink water if it is ice ice ice cold interesting got it and I'm not one of those like just quite a little lemon in that no no I don't like that no I don't like that I just want it very cold I want either water or like something that's not flavored water. I want it to be like a drink. Yeah, I either want water or I want a Dr. Pepper Cream soda. Exactly. Exactly. I'm still drinking out of my Oala water bottle. I love my Ovala water bottle.

But I also have, I have slowly been collecting like really pretty glasses from like thrift stores. I always check the glass section when I go to Goodwill and stuff. And just like really pretty etched tumblers and big glasses. And so now our glasses are like a little bit mismatched in that regard. drinking out of like a like a made in 1947 glass that's incredible you know I love that that's my favorite um your favorite way to not get the winter blues zo loft um I love my prescription of zoloft I also have started something Target has these tiny tiny little desk lamps that are like ten dollars okay um I think they actually recently up the price because everybody found out about them at the same time.

They're like, oh, he could charge people more. Oh, my gosh. But they're all, they've got, um, they've got like black cream, like a pretty sage green. Okay. And then like a wooden version. I'm looking them up because I want to see what they look like. And they're, they're all like spheres or like cylinder type shapes. Like they have some structure.

Uh-huh. They have texture on them too. Okay. And they're just tiny little desk lamps. And they are magical. Is it this? Is it this one? No.

It's not. That is not it. No. We'll find a link you guys. We'll put it in the show now. But I put a lamp in my kitchen. I put a lamp like I just added a couple of lamps and I don't have any overhead lights. And so at nighttime I light I light my lamps.

I light my candles. I turn on my lamps. And for some reason I just feel less depressed. Yeah. It's like the fireplace. show and candles and lamps like have all of that stuff on have all that stuff on and then also leaning into the the cozy parts of winter blankets and soups and slippers and stuff like that I think it really really helps okay so as we as we close what's saving your life right now and mine is ironically

light related what is it it is light bulbs cool white light bulbs because I don't like the yellow gold like golden glow of just like soft white light bulbs. So specifically cool white. Okay. Because it just feels like it puts an Instagram filter on your on your living room. Okay. What's yours? So mine is a Kindle holder that you can, it has like an extendable arm that you can

attach wherever so you can read your Kindle without having to hold it. Oh my gosh. I need this immediately. And then I have a clicker so that I attach this tiny little thing and it's like a remote control that I just hold my hand and I just click it and I don't even have to get out from underneath my blanket. To turn the page. Oh my gosh.

It's incredible. I need this immediately. It's incredible. It's saving my life. Yeah, it is. And I'm going to buy it today. We'll put all the links for all these things in the show notes. But, um, okay.

Well, this was a delight. I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for all the questions. Yes, you guys. Thank you so much. And until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra. She's Hannah. I'll see you next week. Have you ever felt like you were living just a B or B plus life? It's so dangerous to live that.

More dangerous than a B minus or a C plus life? Because when you're living a B or B plus life, you don't change it. You think it's good enough. Is it? I'm Susie Welch. I host a podcast called Becoming You. People think, okay, an A plus life is not available to me, but there is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves. Listen to Becoming You wherever you get your podcasts.