Pamela: 0:00

I got really wine drunk one night. Like, really wine drunk. And I woke up the next morning and had an intermittent fasting app on my phone.

Josh: 0:11

Yeah, I got this text message. It was really funny to get.

Pamela: 0:14

It was like, oh, okay, I guess I'm intermittent fasting now. So I guess wine me makes some still makes some good choices.

Josh: 0:22

Yeah, and you're so responsible.

Pamela: 0:24

I am. You're listening to premeditated opinions because yes, we thought about it, and then we said it anyway. I'm Pamela.

Josh: 0:39

And I'm Josh, and we are two people who somehow share a brain and decided to weaponize our brains with microphones. Each week, we unpack anything from politics and religion to carpool dread and everything in between.

Pamela: 0:52

You know, it would really help us a lot if you followed us on Instagram and YouTube. Giving us a like and a follow is probably the best thing your thumbs will do today.

Josh: 1:00

We are not experts. We are just way too confident in our own opinions. With all that being said, let's get started. Well, Merry Christmas after Christmas, everybody.

Pamela: 1:11

Post Kwanzaa, post Hanukkah. Hanukkah, yeah. Post all the things.

Josh: 1:15

Yeah. If you're a holiday celebrator, it's probably behind you at this point. So we are recording on New Year's Eve right now.

Pamela: 1:23

Yep.

Josh: 1:24

So in our timelines in the real world, it is uh, you know, we're just past Christmas. We're in that weird week between Christmas and New Year's where you're just sort of confused on what day it is and full of cheese. Um and uh and then starting tomorrow is the new year, and so we have that little bit of break. And then really, both for you and me, we kind of hit the ground running for the new year.

Pamela: 1:47

All right, y'all, a lot has happened.

Josh: 1:49

A lot has happened in the last and is happening, yeah.

Pamela: 1:52

Like we got lots of exciting things to to talk about.

Josh: 1:56

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But um, so when you hear this, dear listener, um, it is probably going to be like the second week of January by this point. So by this point, happy new year!

Pamela: 2:07

Yeah, yeah, that's right, because we are taking off the 6th.

Josh: 2:10

We are, yeah. So and thank God we made that decision. Right. That's what we did. But anyway, um, yeah, so we uh we've had a lot of transition in our lives, and and uh we're there there's a lot of it still pending. Um, but yeah, it's it's there's some exciting things to come into uh with 2026. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, how was your Christmas? What did you do? Like tell me some give me some highlights.

Pamela: 2:36

Honestly, like it was just a very normal, boring day. Like just with lots of presents. Yeah, like we Josh and I were really excited the night before for the stuff that the kids were getting. Um, my son got an electronic drum set, which he was not anticipating. Uh so it's it's cute because we moved it upstairs and all you hear is the tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Josh: 3:04

Yeah. It's like drum ASMR. Yeah.

Pamela: 3:08

But he's up there playing. Uh I pulled up a couple of YouTube videos um because we had it downstairs right in front of our living room television. And so I pulled up just a couple quick YouTube videos and kind of got him started, which he struggled, but even though I'm not a drummer, like I know the basics.

Josh: 3:27

Sure.

Pamela: 3:28

And so I was able to kind of get him started on just a basic, you know, beat. Um, and then there's like a demo feature. So he's been just trying to play along with that. So I'm I'm excited for y'all. So the Millers are coming over to our house um today. Today. Today, yeah. We're all celebrating New Year's together, so that'll be fun. Um, and I am anxious for you to go up and maybe show him a couple of little things.

Josh: 3:55

Oh, I'm planning on it. So I for the uninitiated, um, I was a percussion major in college um and played drums and percussion all through junior high, high school, college, and then into my professional career, I was a drummer for an indie rock band here in North Texas for a little while. And that was kind of my last regular gig, but I still do some like subbing on drum set and stuff like that just to fill in for people and friends and whatever. Um, and so I actually did have a season in my life where I taught drums um and really enjoyed it. And so when he when he got that drum set as a good I was like, yes, I will play with that. Um and so yeah, he'll have to kick me off it at different points. But no, I I'm I'm excited for him. It's it's fun to sit down and smack on stuff.

Pamela: 4:44

And uh I don't know if he's gonna be more excited to see your son or if he's gonna be trying to pull you upstairs to top.

Josh: 4:53

Let's do it, man. Yeah, but no, I'm excited. I I I I'll have a lot of fun with it. And I love playing drums. I actually miss playing drums more. I I wish I did.

Pamela: 5:01

This isn't actually a terrible set. It was cheap. I got it on Amazon. Sure. Um, but it came with everything you need. It had the the drum throne, the sticks, headphones. Yeah, headphones aren't great, but uh, and then yeah, like the like three cymbals and four drums or whatever. It's got two two pedals. And I mean, it's for a beginning set because again, I didn't want to spend a lot of money because I didn't know if he would stick with it, but now he's really I think he wakes up and that's the first thing he does when he gets out of bed.

Josh: 5:33

Hey, look, that's that's not a bad thing. When when I started playing guitar regularly, that was kind of how I was. Like I was I was right around his age. I I got my first guitar when I was 10. I bought it off of my cousin. Um, and that's what I would do. I I would I would wake up and I would noodle around on my guitar until I got fussed at to get ready for school. And then when I got home from school, especially in my younger days, I would actually sit on the floor of my bedroom with the radio on. And I would just because we didn't have Spotify, ladies and gentlemen, like I had to listen to the radio with a cassette tape in my studio where if a song came on that I really wanted to learn, I would hit record. Yep. And and I would get just the tail end of the of the DJ going, and now here's blah blah blah blah, you know, and then I would listen to the song, but now I had it recorded, and so I would just play these songs over and over and over. And I was actually it's it's funny, like I wasn't planning on telling any of this story, but um so I was recently in California seeing some family. I'll get to more of that in a second. It was really cool. But um my uncle who lives out there has this uh Sirius XM radio station that he loves called um oh shoot, it's called Lithium.

Pamela: 6:53

Oh, yeah, yeah. It's like indie rock.

Josh: 6:55

Yeah, it's like 90s and early 2000s. Alternative rock station. Yeah, he picked me up from the airport and like Pearl Jams on. We also had Sound Garden on the way home, all this stuff. Wow. And it took me back to sitting on the floor of my bedroom learning to play these songs because that's how I started playing guitar, was just mimicking what I was hearing. And so I say all that to say that that one of the things I used to tell students a lot whenever I was teaching music was I don't really want you to just practice guitar, I want you to play it. And what I mean by that is I don't want you to feel like every single time you pick up this instrument, you have to have a super regimented thing that you're working on. I just want you to play it to enjoy it. Yeah, you know, and so for Logan to get out of bed in the mornings and go sit down and goof around on that thing, that real those really are some of the first steps of learning an instrument. It's just sitting down and enjoying it and letting yourself sort of experiment and play. And you have to be willing to sound terrible before you will ever sound good. And so, um, yeah.

Pamela: 7:54

That's a good point. That reminds me a lot of some of the philosophy I've had with with my kids, you know, when it comes to reading. No, you know, yeah, there are things that they they should be reading at their reading levels and all of that. And we would take them to the bookstore, and you know, my daughter would pick out something that was like way below her reading level, but she enjoyed reading. And sometimes we would kind of fuss at her about it a little bit, like you should really be. But then I was like, no, you know, if you enjoy this, like read it because you enjoy it, not because it's necessarily like challenging or you know, a growth thing. Like, I want you to enjoy reading, I don't want you just reading things because this is what you should be reading or whatever. Right. And I've also that brings me to also with my daughter playing violin. Um, while she does, I don't know that she necessarily just kind of messes with it. Um, I'm definitely probably gonna encourage her to do that a little bit more. Just just just play something, like just make something up. But um her violin teacher or instructor, she has private lessons, will pull out music pieces that she wants to play. So like Harry Potter, uh Pirates of the Caribbean. Uh so I I appreciate that because it's not just the normal stuff that she's playing in class all the time. Like, yeah, they work on those things that she's struggling with, but she also like gets to have fun, yeah. Like and play things that she wants to play. And yeah.

Josh: 9:27

Well, and I I love that for her. And and for her to have a teacher that is sort of leaning into making it a bit enjoyable, it it just it's the smart path. And you know, I I taught guitar the longest, so I taught on and off. Let's see, um, that would have been 2005 probably to 2010, 2011. So five or six years, I I taught pretty consistently, and then I would take just one-off students here and there after that. But one of the things I loved the most was sort of capturing a student's fascination by teaching them music they actually wanted to learn. Yeah. And the amount of times that I taught songs that I personally couldn't stand, but I knew it was going to be a huge hit um for the person in front of me. You know, it I did that a ton. And so I really think that's a key factor in keeping kids interested in music at all. But so your son got the electronic kit. That's fantastic. What was there a sort of a big line item for your daughter? Or is it just a lot of small? Because uh honestly, this year for our kids, it was kind of a lot of small.

Pamela: 10:35

That's yeah, that's pretty much what this year was. He he did get like the big gift, but she got more kind of medium gifts, I guess.

Josh: 10:44

Yeah, totally.

Pamela: 10:45

So I she probably in volume got a few more things, but I don't think either one of them felt like gypped this year.

Josh: 10:54

No, I I what our kids actually sent us this year was a list of the medium and small stuff. That's just what they wanted, you know. And so there was one thing for my daughter that we didn't get because her birthday's coming up, uh as is your daughter's. Oh, yeah, yeah. Um and so we I held back on a couple of things because they're gonna be birthday gifts. But um, but yeah, I mean they they were pretty happy, and then so we opened gifts here on Christmas um and then that afternoon we went down to Christas family's place, which is about an hour south of here, and we did Christmas down there with um most of my nieces. Uh I have yet to have any nephews, but um all of my nieces but the littlest one uh were there. And it that's kind of fun because something's happened in the last like year-ish, where my two nieces uh so it's Krista's brothers' daughters, um uh my two nieces have just started paying attention to me for reasons that I can't really explain, other than I've always kind of paid attention to them, but they weren't super interested in Uncle Josh.

Pamela: 12:08

Uncles are the best, they're always so much fun.

Josh: 12:11

I something in the last year, they have just been interested in Uncle Josh. It's real fun. Oh yeah, Krista's brother Clint uh has two girls and they're adorable, they're great kids. Um, and one of them is fiery. Um yeah, she she is God help her teachers. Um but she's also awesome and is probably gonna be president someday or something. Like she's she just has this attitude that like you cannot get anything past her. And she's seven. Um, but yeah, she's really, really fun. They both are, but yeah, we went down there and there were presents galore, and um, and then we tried to kind of do a white elephant exchange, but there weren't as many people there as what they initially planned, but we decided to do it anyway. Okay, and then I think we all kind of wound up with something we didn't want.

Pamela: 13:05

So anything from the anti-gift guide?

Josh: 13:07

Um, so nothing directly from the anti-gift guide, mostly because we were trying to get away get get rid of just some of the stuff in our own house.

Pamela: 13:14

Oh, so like old socks and pretty much, yeah.

Josh: 13:18

Just used up clothing. Um, yeah. Actually, what was really funny was we old dish towels.

Pamela: 13:24

Right.

Josh: 13:25

Uh that I've used to clean out my smoker, so they're just nice and black. Um uh broken cast iron. But no, we we had um these these uh little karaoke machines um that we were given when we went to that Taylor Swift.

Pamela: 13:41

Oh, yeah.

Josh: 13:42

So those were our white elephant gifts. So for for people who don't know what I'm talking about, we we went to this event. Um, our families kind of went together, and we went to this event where there was a Taylor Swift cover band, and for whatever reason, they were giving out door prizes. I don't know why, but but we got like hot cocoa mugs and there's still one in the back of my truck. Yeah, I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised at all. But one of the random things they gave every single person who came in was this little battery-powered karaoke machine with two microphones. And we definitely don't want that in our house. So we gave them, we brought them as white elephants.

Pamela: 14:22

I don't know. Did we did we bring it any in? I don't know. I don't know where ours went.

Josh: 14:27

Well, because we you and me walked them back to the car. Yeah. So I know that they at least. But no, we we uh we took that and managed to offload a couple of um those karaoke machines, and my in-laws were not impressed um with those gifts, which is perfect. And then um we also got uh I don't even remember what we wound up bringing home, but no one was overly happy with the gift that we left with, which is fine. That's kind of the idea of white outfit to some degree. But um, but yeah, we did that, and then uh and then my dad, um, as his Christmas gift to his kids and grandkids, he he very generously um rented a gorgeous cabin um up in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, which is in the southeast corner of Oklahoma. It's right inside the Wachita National Forest. Um and so this cabin sleeps like a bazillion people. And he just invited um his kids and grandkids and some extended family, and and I'll be honest, there there was a side of me that was a not concerned going into it, but just like how's this gonna go? Uh but it was it was a lot of fun. It was it I will own that it was more fun than I expected it to be.

Pamela: 15:47

Nice. Um and then my uh I know we barely heard from y'all.

Josh: 15:52

Well, and I part of that was self-service, but but another part of it was like it I did feel to me.

Pamela: 16:00

That just tells me that you guys were present. We were like you were present, you were in the moment, you were enjoying time with your family, and I was like, hey, we'll hear about all the fun things that you did when today. Right this way, you know, when you guys come over.

Josh: 16:14

Yeah, yeah. And so, and there's plenty to share, but we got to see some people who I don't get to see very much, which was also kind of fun. Nice.

Pamela: 16:20

Um, and people you enjoy, yeah.

Josh: 16:23

Okay, um my brother who got married a couple years ago, him and his wife came for a night, and it was a blast to see them and hang out with them. They are very busy folks socially, and so uh it's it's sometimes it's just hard to kind of be in the same place at the same time with them. So that was great. Um, had a lot of interesting conversations with my dad and some of my siblings, and um my brother-in-law Shane, uh, who I've always gotten along with really great. So he he works for Epic Games, which is the the company that uh makes Fortnite and Rocket League and so. Okay. So he's in IT for them. Wow. Um yeah, and he's just one of the smartest people. Like I I I love talking to him, but at the same time, he's just exactly our kind of people in that he is a nerd. Well, yeah. Yeah, so but he bed tracks, yeah. But he he's just great people, man. I I I I wish I got to see him more. And Becca, uh, my sibling, he's married too. Um, no, they're they're all just fantastic. So yeah, we got back uh Monday because Krista had to work Tuesday. Um, and I kind of did too, really. Um and yeah, and as we sit here right now, it's New Year's Eve, and we're coming up on 2026, and a a lot of new, a lot of change, I think.

Pamela: 17:44

Um add, like normally we will fly back to Kentucky this week between Christmas and New Year's, but we didn't do that this year, so it's it was a little different. But the kids really they just they wanted to stay here and just I guess play with their stuff. And you know, my daughter was hanging out with some of her neighbor friends this week, and I don't know, they just it it was odd because normally they cannot wait to get back. And this is the first time when they were like, Can we just stay here?

Josh: 18:21

Interesting, yeah.

Pamela: 18:22

So so we stayed here this year. Uh I am kind of like this year was a little bit different. I know we're gonna get into you know, kind of looking back, but I used to fly home like if not every month, every other month. Like several times a year, and this this year not so much. So I am kind of kind of itching to get back. The last time I went was when we went in October. Um, but yeah, it's it's been a minute. We almost made a last-minute decision, but honestly, flight prices, yeah. You know, and you this was the last year we had companion pass, so because we would travel so much throughout the year, my husband and I, we one of us would end up with the Southwest companion pass, and so we would take one of the kids with us for free. And my son was our companion pass this year, and I don't even think we used it, like, which is kind of unfortunate. But with the changes that they've made to the program, like that was actually that was exactly what I was about to say.

Josh: 19:25

Southwest is actually making it a lot less accessible than than it was, and that's a bummer. Um, you know, I was actually kicking around the idea of like, okay, if I if I'm so I have a personal Southwest card, um, and then actually my primary business card is also a Southwest card. Um, and so you know, there's some points availability there, but with all the changes in Southwest programming and things like that, I I've actually been kicking around the idea of like, do I need to switch loyalties here?

Pamela: 19:55

Like I move over to an American and it's tricky. And I know we've talked about this before, but part of it is Love Field.

Josh: 20:04

Right. Oh, 1 million percent.

Pamela: 20:06

I really don't want to fly in and out of DFW. If you've ever seen DFW at the holidays, particularly Thanksgiving. But it's a nightmare. I mean, you have to get there early, not because of TSA, but because of the traffic.

Josh: 20:24

Yeah.

Pamela: 20:24

And the construction is making the traffic even worse because they're getting ready for the FIFA World Cup. I think it's coming in April.

Josh: 20:31

Yeah. I think it's yeah, that's right. I think it's late April is when it starts.

Pamela: 20:35

Yeah. And so they're trying to get the airport. I don't know what they're doing.

Josh: 20:38

Well, they're building a new terminal. So they're not going to be able to do that.

Pamela: 20:40

They are building a new terminal, but they're doing more. They're also like upgrading a lot of the existing terminals. So it's just, it's a nightmare. Yeah. So I really I'm torn because yeah, I would probably switch because I'm like, if you're going to be just like everybody else, what why should I remain loyal?

Josh: 21:00

Right.

Pamela: 21:01

I just, I just don't know if I want to deal with DFW.

Josh: 21:05

Yeah.

Pamela: 21:05

And maybe Southwest is leveraging that a little bit and the fact that like people are probably going to stick with them because of that.

Josh: 21:13

I think so. And I think the the thing that I think about with regards to like airline loyalty is amount of destinations. And and like Southwest, where they have some trouble is they just don't fly to anywhere near as many destinations as American does, especially nonstop. And so that's where I do feel that pull of American, but the pull is still not strong enough to get me out of Love Field. Like Love Field is still the Trump card.

Pamela: 21:42

Um well in the service level.

Josh: 21:45

Yeah.

Pamela: 21:46

Every time I've flown American, it just feels like it's just not as friendly.

Josh: 21:53

Yeah, it's a step down.

Pamela: 21:54

And it it's it feels very pretentious.

Josh: 21:57

Yeah.

Pamela: 21:57

Like they are very proud. Like, and I I don't know. I just I've never had a a great, it's never been a bad experience, but it's just never been a great experience.

Josh: 22:08

Yeah, no, I'm with you.

Pamela: 22:09

I used to fly Delta when we lived in Kentucky, but now there's no direct flights from here to Louisville on Delta. I have to I have to go through Atlanta. And I just I don't really don't want to do that either. So I don't know.

Josh: 22:26

Yeah, I just flew direct. Um, so this not this last weekend, but the one before that, I um flew direct to Southern California to see some family out there. So I've got an aunt and uncle um out there who my last living grandparent lives with them. So I try and get out that way at least once a year. I'd love for it to be more, it's just tricky. But um I had an opportunity to go out and see my grandma who lives out in California. I crashed on my aunt and uncle's couch, and then my sister drove down from Northern California, um, which is quite a long drive, actually. She she lives like on the absolute opposite side of the state. Um, she's you know, way closer to Oregon than where I was, and so it was like a 15-hour drive or something like that.

Pamela: 23:14

Yeah, like California, and I'm gonna get hurt for this. I'm gonna get stabbed, but California and Texas are a lot alike in that, and that like because they are such big states, you don't realize you you're driving through multiple like Midwestern states and you're still in the same state, you know, as far as uh distance.

Josh: 23:35

Yeah, no, that's you're absolutely right. And so yeah, I went out there uh uh this is the weekend before Christmas, um, and uh I had a great time. I I I love seeing that side of my family. Um, it's just easy and and very, very uh warm and friendly and loving and um and this is your biological dad's family, yeah. Correct, yeah. And so um we we ended up hanging out for I was only there for like three nights. Um it was a little bit of a quick in and out, but um we had a good time. We actually we got invited out with uh my aunt's co-workers. So my aunt is a teacher, and um she has these these coworkers that uh somebody put together like a a Christmas pub crawl.

Pamela: 24:24

Um and so yeah, you mentioned something about this.

Josh: 24:27

Yeah, and so we get out uh like we're gearing up to to go out to this pub pub crawl, and she checks in with her coworkers, and it turns out that they were someplace that she just didn't want to go. Um, and so we did our own pub crawl, and and we ran into them at at I think the last place we were at, we ran into a group of her friends. Um, but yeah, we ended up going out and making some questionable decisions, and uh I drove us home. Oh God, was that the questionable decision? No, I was fine actually. And I kind of was reading the tea leaves a little bit and realized, like, oh, I am the most sober one at this table. So I'm gonna stay the most sober one at this table. Oh yeah, which you of all people can attest to the fact that's not usually my choice, but um, but I I was in this environment, I was like, I'm happy to just kind of take it a little bit easy. Yeah, um, but we had a great time, and it's funny. Uh my my sister who listens to this podcast, I know um, she uh it was so funny like being out with her because she's she's kind of like a Disney princess anyway. Like, yeah, okay.

Pamela: 25:36

So this is the one who coordinated your Disneyland trick.

Josh: 25:41

So she's she kind of gives like Disney character vibes just in her regular life.

Pamela: 25:47

Okay.

Josh: 25:47

Um, and then you get a few drinks in her, and she turned into Elf. She turned into Will Farrell. It was hysterical. Nice, like we we would just be walking, like we'd be leaving one pub on our way to the other walking, and she we'd pass a group of people, and she'd be like, Oh my god, I love your sweater! Oh, Merry Christmas! And she was the most enthusiastic, and it's so endearing and hilarious. And watching people react to her is just theater, man. It's so fun.

Pamela: 26:24

Um, I can get like that in certain environments and vibes. Like I can, I can get kind of like that.

Josh: 26:31

Oh, it was it was hilarious.

Pamela: 26:34

Um, but yeah, we that sounds like so much fun.

Josh: 26:37

It was, it really was, and I I am very grateful for that side of my family and all the various hijinks that we get up to. And um, yeah, for the most part, we just kind of hung around their house and and spent time together. I don't get to see them very much, and so you know, when I'm around, something that I say to them all the time is like, don't entertain me. Like, I'm just I'm just here to be involved in whatever you're already doing. So don't feel any pressure to like, oh, Josh is here, we have to go do all these things. No, like I just want to jump in. And so um, that's largely what we did. I mean, we cooked together, we ate together, we hung out around their house. We uh they live in Redlands, about an hour east of Los Angeles, and um my uncle loves a good brewery, um, and he took me to a brewery that I haven't I haven't been to before that was it just had this gorgeous view from the patio. It was like this um uh this outdoor spot that faces this small airstrip. And so we were watching these small planes take off and land the whole time. And there's a mountain backdrop behind that, and so you just have this amazing view, and I'm not even like a huge beer drinker, but when I'm with him, I am. Um and so yeah, we we had a great time. Uh and then I came home like the day before Christmas Eve, and then I played several services on Christmas Eve, and then yeah, I I had a pretty, pretty active week that week, but now I'm kind of in that mode. I think we all shift into of like, okay, next year is tomorrow.

Pamela: 28:17

And that's wild.

Josh: 28:18

Yeah. Do you do like any sort of New Year's resolution kind of thingies? Or do you how do you like to how do you like to approach the new year?

Pamela: 28:26

Um, that's a good question. I think every year's a little bit different. Last year I had a weird spark of motivation that I don't normally get, but I'd had a rough fall in 2024. And I woke up a couple days before the new year, and I was like, I'm getting my shit together this year. Like I'm I I was going through a lot of like grieving process for some pretty major changes that had happened in my life and just trying to figure out what was next. And I decided that you know, starting, I think it may have even been the 31st, it may have been New Year's Eve, that I figured tomorrow I'm gonna wake up and I'm gonna have a different outlook for the year. And I mean, it wasn't like a resolution, it was just uh kind of uh like an encouragement or some motivation, and I was just going to say yes to pretty much everything.

Josh: 29:31

Right, yeah, yeah.

Pamela: 29:32

And we talked about this a little bit early in the when we started this podcast, but I just I don't know, I I was kind of done wallowing, I guess. Yeah kind of done grieving. Because I at some point I was like, how long am I going to feel like this? Like feel like crap. And I decided that that was the last day.

Josh: 29:52

Yeah.

Pamela: 29:52

And so that was pretty much just a kind of a mindset shift. Um I I I don't know. I'm not great at resolutions because I think my problem is when I'm motivated to do something, I don't want to wait.

Josh: 30:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel that.

Pamela: 30:08

So even I don't know, it was like a month or so ago, I woke up on a Saturday and looked at my husband and I was like, let's go to the gym. I didn't have a gym membership.

Josh: 30:18

Yeah. He did.

Pamela: 30:19

Yeah, and he was like, okay, and that's just how I operate. Like, if I'm motivated, I don't want to wait. Especially if I don't have to. Like, why would I wait till like Monday or whatever? And I adopted that mindset, I don't know, a couple years ago of just case in point. Um, this this water here is a big part of uh impulsive decision.

Josh: 30:42

Right. Hey, I get it.

Pamela: 30:44

I I okay, so one of my I guess self-care things, I love to take a bath. Yeah. And I'll have my glass of wine or bottle of wine and like a book or my iPad or whatever. And I got really wine drunk one night. Like, really wine drunk. And I woke up the next morning and had a intermittent fasting app on my phone.

Josh: 31:10

Yeah, I got this text message. It was really funny to get it.

Pamela: 31:13

I was like, oh, okay, I guess I'm intermittent fasting now. So I guess wine me makes some still makes some good choices. Right.

Josh: 31:21

Yeah, you're so responsible.

Pamela: 31:23

I am, and so I've been intermittent fasting for like, I don't know, a week and change now. And then I mean, I don't know, we'll see how long it lasts.

Josh: 31:32

Um no, that's that's awesome. So not not to dovetail us too hard because I I love talking about New Year's stuff, but like the I have gone through times of of really successful intermittent fasting, and you can kind of argue that I still do it kind of off and on. So there was a season in my life where I was eating the keto diet, and I unfortunately for some health reasons, I can't do it anymore. But um I would combine keto with intermittent fasting, and that was when I was at some of my most fit, was when I could eat keto, but but eventually work my way down to where I was only eating six hours a day. And and then there was one season in particular where I worked all the way down to where I was only eating dinner, like I it wasn't even about a time window anymore. It I I basically over time tapered it down. And I will say that that's that's not super realistic for me to to eat only that meal. Part of it is just my body chemistry and and size and all that. Um, but then part of it is my professional life. Sometimes I don't have a lot of control. Like if I'm on site with a client, I don't really have a lot of control over a what I'm eating or b when I'm eating. And so and when I'm on site, I'm typically in higher stress environments, and so I need to eat. Like I I I don't do the job that I need to do as well if I'm not eating as if you're hangry, yes.

Pamela: 33:05

That was one thing I was afraid of with this, is like I'm not pleasant when I'm hangry, but it actually hasn't been as hard as I thought, and maybe because I just started. But I drink a lot more water when I start feeling hungry. I drink water, and that does work. Um, I mean I've lost like four pounds of I mean it's water weight, but still take it in. Um, and I did we were talking about mixing up Amazon packages. Um I got so our Amazon delivery person for whatever reason has mine and my neighbor's addresses mixed up. I don't know why, but the last two packages have been flip-flopped. Anyway, uh the last one of the last packages I ordered though was keto strips. Oh, yeah, the ket the ketone strips, yeah. Um, because when I was uh pregnant with my son, I had gestational diabetes. And so I basically had to be on a keto diet, like a diabetic, like low carb, high protein, high fat. Um, but I would have to pee on keto strips um and check my ketones because you don't want them to get too high.

Josh: 34:16

Right.

Pamela: 34:16

Your body produces ketones when it is burning fat for fuel instead of carbs. And so that's great. And weight loss, because obviously you want to burn fat more than you want. So your body's gonna burn up carbs first, and then it's gonna go into your fat stores, and that's when you start to lose weight. But if you are burning too many fat stores and your ketones go up, it can actually cause um what's that called? Diabetic ketosis.

Josh: 34:47

Yeah, yeah.

Pamela: 34:48

Yeah, and and then you're you're dealing with your body not producing insulin and that causes a whole problem. So, anyway, not not that I am a medical professional, right? But I know a little bit about this. So um, but I was just curious if it was working. And so, yeah, I got some of those ketone strips, and I mean, yeah, I'm I'm getting into that like kind of fat burning range. So that's awesome. It's working, but I I again the the early stages, a lot of it is just water weight to begin with. So I'm not really counting these as super wins, but it is kind of nice to step on the scale and be like, hmm.

Josh: 35:26

Yeah, absolutely. Well, and yeah, the the small wins are still wins. And one of the parts of keto that that men have to really keep an eye on is for some men, eating keto will spike your cholesterol hard.

Pamela: 35:40

Yes.

Josh: 35:41

And and so I remember going to the doctor once when I it was probably my second round of eating keto. I I went to the doctor just for regular stuff. I I don't I don't think it was any, I don't think I was there for any real purpose. I just hadn't been in a while. And they did a blood panel, and I remember my doctor coming in the room and goes, Okay, what are you doing? Your cholesterol is through the roof, man. Yeah, and and so I explained, Oh, I'm eating keto and I'm eating kind of a high fat diet right now and things like that. And he actually at the time gave me a restriction of, okay, you're I don't want you doing this longer than 90 days. He goes, I want you to do 90 days and you need to take at least 30 days off. He's like, because we gotta watch the cholesterol part of it. And so I did, I made some adjustments and I started eating leaner proteins and you know, trying to focus on healthier fats. That's just a lot of work, to be honest. It's a lot of work. And you know, when I'm the primary cook in my house, too, I I can't ask everybody to eat what I'm eating. Yeah, and so then I was cooking like two dinners every night and and having to do all these modifications, and so I ended up stopping, uh, but I I dropped like I'll never forget the first, I think it was the second time I did keto the first week that I was on it. I dropped 14 pounds. It was all water weight. Yeah, it's all water weight because carbs help you retain a lot of that water, and so you you have this massive win at the front end of it, you're like, oh my god, look at all you know, and then it slows way down after that, which is good because your body can't sustain that kind of loss over time. You'll go into survival mode and and you won't lose anything, um, which I did that on accident once, but um, but I learned a lot about like just how my body likes to process different carbs, fats, proteins, whatever. And unfortunately now, because I have rheumatoid arthritis, uh a lot of the triggers for RA are things you would eat on keto. So even if I was to go back to a really low carb approach, I would be very restricted in some of what I could eat. And so it's just it would just be slower progress. It would be slower progress. But honestly, like I truth is I really don't mind eating pretty healthy. I really don't mind intermittent fasting. I I I've done it successfully a lot. Um, and so I don't I wouldn't even call this like a resolution because this this no this has started for me, you know, months ago, me thinking about how I how I can improve my own physical health. But I I think I just have to really prioritize activity again. Um, because that's that's really the path to me feeling a little bit better about the things my body's doing. And I love I love lifting weights. I love like hard resistance training.

Pamela: 38:31

Yeah, so the thing I like about this app that I drunkenly downloaded is that it it tracks your macronutrients and not calories.

Josh: 38:41

Ooh, I like that.

Pamela: 38:42

So it does like proteins, fats, fiber, and I think I think it does carbs. And yeah, it does. But I appreciate this app because one, even if you break your fast or you eat something with high sugar or whatever, it doesn't discourage you. It's like, hey, you indulged. That's you know, great part of balance. You know, let's have a lean protein snack next. And and and it's all AI based. So you can talk to the AI coach and say, hey, I need help with a snack. Like this is what I have in my pantry, and like the you know, it's AI, but they can kind of guide you and help you if you get stuck. Um, but it never makes you feel bad for the choices that you make. And the little character, so that it's this is not sponsored, but it's it's called Simple, Simple App. And there's like a little character called Blinky, and he's very dramatic. And so if you're not like part of it is they want you to keep logging, yeah, because logging creates routine, re creates habit. So it wants you to be logging your water, your snacks, your foods, your weight, like it wants you to be consistently logging. And so if you don't, like he, this little character gets mad at you and is like, you've abandoned me and will like pack up his bags and like the whole thing. But it's like you you want he's so cute though. So you want to keep him happy.

Josh: 40:16

I love this like a Tamagotchi for weight loss.

Pamela: 40:19

That's what my husband calls it. Yeah, but it's it's I don't know, it's fun, and the psychology behind it is fun. Like I like things that are fun and joyful, and yeah, but kind of going back to the resolution thing, I don't think I ever have resolutions, but I do think I like to go into a new year, like with a positive mindset or like an encouraged mindset, a hey, you know, let's let's try to go in positively, let's try to, you know, ride a high for as long as we can and and try not to let the the bumps and snags, you know, take us down. Um but I don't know, I'm going into this year, like not on a high and not on a low. Yeah. You know, I'm just kind of going into it. I've got a lot. You and I both have a lot coming up in January. Um, we are still trying to figure out podcast things. Like we want to keep this rolling and shaking. So, so you may see some changes to the way that we do this, some format changes. Um, but we definitely still want to prioritize.

Josh: 41:29

Oh, for sure. And and this has become one of my very favorite creative outlets, and and you know, I'm I'm not ready to let it go. But at the same time, you know, to your point, we do have to be a little bit realistic about just our bandwidth and and things like that. And I think some of this is gonna come into clearer focus within the first couple weeks of the year. Um, and so we'll we'll keep everyone, you know, informed on on the changes and stuff that that we need to make. But really, like for the for 2026, I I am gonna borrow a word from the great Sarah Stuart Holland at Pantsuit Politics. Yes, I never shut up about them. You're just gonna have to love me through it. I don't know what else to tell you. But um, dear listener, if you're not listening to them, you just you should you should just go ahead and listen to them because you're gonna hear about them for me anyway. Um, but they uh so Sarah has kind of a word that she's bringing into the new year, and I had already been kind of thinking down this path anyway. So when I get to a new year, I really like to take stock of what happened what's happened over the last 12 months, and I try and be really honest with myself about the the pros and the cons. Like I want to look reality in the face a little bit and be like, you know, what what what has actually worked and what is just baggage at this point? And one of the things that I realized in starting to reflect um about this last year is some of my favorite moments and experiences that I had over the course of this last year happened without any screen involved. Like the the interactions, the relationships, the like when when I really reflect on some of my favorite parts of the year, those moments were all pretty analog. And so that's kind of the word that I'm taking in to 2026. And and I she is not listening to this podcast, Sarah Stewart Holland. Um but I know that's your word for 2026. I was already kind of thinking down uh like I was already thinking in terms of like, I don't know, how do I how do I say I want to limit my electronics usage and things like that in ways where it makes sense? And then you said analog, and I was like, well, that's it. That's exactly what I'm trying to say. Yeah. Um but I don't know, like I am at a place professionally where there's no escaping the screens. Like, like that's that's just a part of my professional life. That's part of all of our professional life.

Pamela: 44:05

Yeah, I I think I think maybe the key there is moderation.

Josh: 44:09

Yeah.

Pamela: 44:10

You know, I and I feel like a lot of people, especially millennials, are feeling that. Yes, I completely agree. We are realizing that they're that screens have taken over our lives for the last 20 years.

Josh: 44:23

Yeah.

Pamela: 44:23

You know, I that I've had Facebook since 2015, or I'm sorry, since 2005.

Josh: 44:28

Wow, yeah.

Pamela: 44:29

Yeah. And it's become an extension of who we are. And I think we're realizing it's not serving us, especially this past year. It has really come to light. Well, even in like the last two years, well, probably even more than that, of just how toxic it can be. Especially if you are not intentional with use and you're not creating boundaries for yourself with your social media use. You know, I still have moments when I just get frustrated online and and I never ever make good decisions in those moments. Like, and I always feel like crap. And I'm like, why do I do this? So I think I think we're starting to see a shift in technology and social media with phones and screens. And I think too, a lot of our time spent away from phones was in the pool.

Josh: 45:26

Yes.

Pamela: 45:28

And playing games.

Josh: 45:30

Yeah.

Pamela: 45:30

You know, I we bought we have bought four party games since the last time we saw you. Yeah. Like four or five. And even our kids, like I finally found uh like the original. I didn't know they didn't really make this anymore, but the original apples to apples party pack, I had to buy it off uh Facebook Marketplace. Some lady like down the street. But you know, we played that with the kids. Uh, we took the kids to Barnes and Noble, and Logan was like picking up other like party games, and we have had a blast as a family, like no screens. I know we do the jackbox thing, but again, to me, that's not even that's not necessarily screens.

Josh: 46:13

Yeah, I I totally agree.

Pamela: 46:14

It's still interacting with each other. The purpose is still interacting and having fun with each other, it's just that's the means, right?

Josh: 46:21

That's the vehicle that we're using to get there for sure. I can I a million percent agree.

Pamela: 46:25

And and you know I like how we say this with our iPads, right?

Josh: 46:30

Within within arm's reach, and my phone sitting here. No, in fairness, yeah, I I am who I am.

Pamela: 46:37

Um but the again, I think it comes down to the moderation. Like we're not ever going to be able to let go, but I think we can definitely reduce exposure, yeah, and and and prioritizing relationships, yeah, and and fun and and getting back into, you know, I don't know, enjoying each other again.

Josh: 47:04

Well, yeah, absolutely. I I I realized, I don't know, I actually probably realized this a few years ago, and it's something that stays in the front of my mind, but I am very good at having fun, and I have not done a good job of being intentional about creating fun and creating creative moments. And um I the last few years just feel professionally like I have just had nonstop things to do, and and I almost feel a sense of guilt around choosing something fun versus choosing something productive. And I need to let that go. Like it's important to who I want to be as a human being in this next phase of my life, to let go of some of that that sense of guilt and uh placing unrealistic expectations on myself. And so, you know, even as I'm kind of coming into 2026 thinking I want to live slightly more analog, I also within the context of that, and I'm gonna straight contradict myself here to some degree, but like I would kind of love it if I found a video game this year that and I know I just said that I want to be less on screens, but to me, it to me, finding a video game that I enjoy is so much less about the screen. It what it is is an indicator of the fact that I'm finding fun, that I'm prioritizing something for leisure, because I just I don't do that. And uh even when we were in Oklahoma with my family, like the the tractor beam of my laptop was so strong, man. Like I just I kept feeling pulled towards this thing. It's like, no, you don't need to do that right now. Like, like that, everything is fine, leave it alone. Um and so that's that's more what I want is just to find some fun again, and you know, hopefully with a whole bunch of people.

Pamela: 49:06

Yeah, because I can tell you, I don't think I've ever had as much fun on a screen as I have in person with people. Like, and I even with the rise of AI, which again, I think we need to be conscientious about the usage of that, because if you look into how AI is powered and how much water is going into simple AI searches, I don't think it's a bad thing for us to start kind of putting down the technology and and getting back to creativity and ourselves and and relationship building. And I think that there might start being a trend into our phones, and it this may be generational, you know, generational specific, but we're gonna get back to these are to use your term, vehicles for information, right, not connection, not fun, not you know, I I have my games that I play on my iPad. That to me isn't fun, right? It's just kind of a a nice brain break or or it's it's time for me to tap out, like for my brain to just take a break and tap out, but I wouldn't say it's a source of joy. Right. It's not fun. It's not that it's not fun, it's just I I don't I don't open my game and think, oh, I'm gonna have fun. Like it's just kind of a means to an end.

Josh: 50:38

Yes.

Pamela: 50:39

And I think that's what a lot of this is gonna turn into. I'm curious to see where social media goes. Uh, you know, they're starting to put more rest age restrictions again, whatever that means, you can bypass age restrictions, but it it is a step in the right direction, I think, of you know, restricting children, adolescents from you know, being able to get social media accounts. Yeah, at least just making it more difficult. I know it's not gonna stop anything, but um, yeah, hopefully we can get back to more in person, which is so bizarre for me to say because I am anti-people most of the time. But I love being around my people, yeah. And I like spending time and having fun with my people, and so maybe maybe we'll start a party game revolution.

Josh: 51:28

Hey, look, I I look dice games. If you're listening, um yeah, we're we're here for what you're making. Oh, yeah.

Pamela: 51:35

So we played some of those with our kids and had a blast. We played this or that, yeah. We played Pick Your Poison because there's a family. That one was still pretty family friendly, but we had the family expansion pack. Um we just got one, it's like our family is so weird. And so we figured out that whoever had the most cards was the weirdest family member, and that was my son. To surprise to no one.

Josh: 52:01

Yeah, that tracks.

Pamela: 52:02

Yeah, um, but yeah, we had a blast. Um, but getting to video games too, I did we whipped out uh Mario Kart on the Switch.

Josh: 52:12

Oh, heck yeah.

Pamela: 52:14

And we had fun, and my daughter's friend came over, and and it was the four of us and her, and we played Mario Kart for hours, yeah, and had so much fun.

Josh: 52:24

Um I love that. Well, and as we're heading into the new year, like I I I know that all of us, uh all listeners, certainly the two of us, we're we're kind of in a place of looking forward, looking ahead, you know, considering what can be left behind, considering what we want to take with us into this next year. And you know, as you're listening to this right now, I know that that new year has turned over. Um but it's still early. And so there's still time to consider all these things. And I don't, you know, for me, New Year's Day is not some hard deadline, it's it's more just a season of of you know consideration and and trying to think a little bit about what was and what can be. Um, and so yeah, we wish for y'all um the kind of year that brings you some fulfillment. And regardless of how good your 2025 was, I hope 2026 is even better. Yeah, um, and so we've got it's definitely gonna be an interesting year. Yes, for a lot of reasons, socio-political and yeah, like there, there's just a lot going on on this space rock right now that we're all flying around on. And so I'm very curious as to how a lot of things are gonna shape up through the rest of this year. Um, but but yeah, I'm excited and and I feel like for the first time in a little while, I've got some cool things to to look forward to. Um and yeah, there's there's a lot of change on the horizon, uh, even in my own family for this year, and you know, things that would usually make me nervous right now are just making me excited.

Pamela: 53:52

Yeah, and so for sure. So and we want to know like what are some things that you're looking forward to this year? Like, are you a resolution person or not? What did your 2025 look like? You know, let us know down in the comments. We love to read about those things and hear about what you all have going on. You know, we we kind of talked about ours, so does it align with yours?

Josh: 54:16

Yeah, if you've got a word, if you've got a resolution, if you've got you know, just intentions or whatever that you're bringing into 2026, like we we would love to be a space where you feel like you can share those things. Um, it's never too late to go over. Yeah, oh yeah, and that's that's a that's also a little bit of the energy that I'm bringing in 2026. And so, yeah.

Pamela: 54:36

You know, if you need to reset in March and August, right? Do you do you?

Josh: 54:41

Yeah, yeah. But hey, thanks for joining us. We're so thrilled um that you're here. And uh yeah, we've got some more content coming your way um, but you know, right after this. And and yeah, we hope you'll continue to enjoy this ridiculous thing that we're putting together that we've come to love an awful lot.

Pamela: 54:58

And we hope that you've joined us over on Substack. Yes. If you haven't already, we've got some stuff getting ready to drop. So I've been teasing a few things over there. But uh yeah, we hope you guys had a wonderful New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and look forward to 2026.

Josh: 55:15

Yeah, we'll chat with you soon.

Pamela: 55:17

Well, that's it for premeditated opinions, where the thoughts were fully baked and only mildly regrettable. If you enjoyed today's episode, congrats on having truly excellent taste in podcasting opinions. Following us on YouTube and Instagram is a quick and easy way to support us. So if you liked literally anything about today's episode, please like and subscribe.

Josh: 55:40

Also, send this to someone who needs to feel seen, dragged, or both. We'll be back next week with more unsolicited insight and emotionally responsible spiraling. And until then, please stay hydrated and behave yourself in the comments. But if you don't, at least make us laugh.