August Recap

I remember how excited I was when August began, and how quickly I wanted it to pass because I’m just sooo anxious for my move! And, whew, August did not let me down in how quickly it passed. I can’t believe we’re in September and I’m just days away from my move. Eeks!

Before I get too excited about this month and all the fun changes it is going to bring, let’s discuss August!

READING

I read 12 books in August and hit 100 books! It’s looking more and more likely that I could cross that elusive goal of reading 150 books this year. We shall see! Here are my top three books from August:

• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, a very timely story about family, identity, race, and more
• The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord, a really sweet YA love story that gave me all of the happy feels
• Applied Electromagnetism by Susannah Nix, a super fun romance that combined the tropes of enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity

WATCHING

• The Floor Is Lava (Netflix) – This game show is completely ridiculous, but I loved every second of it, haha. I miss crazy game shows like this! The basics of this show is that people have to make their way across a room, jumping on tables and couches and other random objects to do so. All of these objects are surrounded by lava so if they miscalculate a jump, they could easily fall in and thus, they’re out of the game. So fun!
• The Baby-Sitter’s Club (Netflix) – I finished season 1 (and I’m praying so hard for a season 2). I loved every second of this series and the changes they made to make it more diverse and inclusive. Give this one a watch, for sure!
• Golden Girls, season 4 (Hulu) – Still working my way through Golden Girls and I love spending a few evenings a week with these ladies.
• The West Wing (Netflix) – I’m still on season 1 of The West Wing as I only watch one episode a week. Still thoroughly enjoying it, although I find the way the characters talk to the president to be highly unbelievable (it almost feels disrespectful?? Hmm).
• Big Brother 22 (CBS) – YASSSS. The only show I watch in real time is baaack. I was so thrilled when CBS announced they were going to do an all-stars season, and curious how it was all going to happen with COVID. The contestants went under a two-week quarantine before the show began and I’m pretty sure they get regular COVID testing while in the Big Brother house (but don’t quote me on that). Happy to have this super fun reality show back in my life!

LISTENING TO

• Folklore by Taylor Swift – I have been listening to Taylor’s new album here and there, usually when I’m driving around, so I have only listened to it all the way through once. I didn’t fall immediately in love with it during my first listen as I did for Lover, but as I’m relistening, I’m realizing just how much I love this album and its quieter style.
• Rob Has a Podcast – One of the reasons I am so behind on my podcast queue is that I started listening to Big Brother episode recaps from Rob Has a Podcast. Each recap is at least 90 minutes long and with three episodes a week, that’s, well, a lot of listening time! But it’s been fun to follow along with the RHAP team this season.
• Behind the Bastards – I added this podcast to my feed this month and I’m currently working my way through the archives. Each episode is about an hour long, discussing a bad person from history and some of the bizarre factoids of their lives.

BUYING

• Dining room table ($400) – I already mentioned this last week, but I bought a dining room table for my new place! My new dining room won’t be terribly large so I didn’t want something that would take up the whole space and I think this cute set will be perfect.
• Bath containers (3 @ $20/each) – I love these containers so much that I now have four (my mom gave me one that she had but never used). They operate on a lazy Susan and are rather large so they can fit a lot of stuff into one container. I have two that I use for all my cleaning supplies and two I use in my bathroom.
• Plunger ($15) – Such a boring adult purchase, but necessary. Earlier this month, my toilet clogged and I had to call the emergency maintenance line to have it fixed immediately. All he had to do was plunge it, and I decided I needed to get my own plunger so I didn’t have to worry about calling for such a simple request! Since I bought this plunger, I’ve had to plunge my toilet twice so I guess it was a good purchase!

MOMENTS

• I went on a nice long walk around a nature preserve on a Sunday morning and it was exactly what my soul needed. An hour to be in nature, move my body, and listen to a podcast was perfect.

• I celebrated seven years at my job! I can’t believe I’ve been there for so long. It’s nice to feel like one of the “OGs” of my department, though, and I’m thinking about ways to expand my role and open new avenues of growth for me. I had my annual review with my manager and director, which went wonderful, and they seemed keen on the ideas I proposed for growing my role.
• I went to poll worker training! I learned so much and I’m looking forward to helping out in November’s election. (Quick note: Being a poll worker is not a volunteer position. I thought it was, but it is actually a paid position!)

• All that said, I don’t know if I’m cut out to be a standby poll worker. I had so much anxiety waiting to be called in! And of course, I did: This is not the best scenario for someone with social anxiety. I didn’t know if I was going to be called in, where I would be working, who I would be working with, what I would be doing. I went through the training and read the manual and watched the videos, but actually WORKING at a precinct is an entirely different ballgame. My stomach was in knots while I waited and it took at least three days afterward before the anxiety fully left my system. (I’m even feeling anxious as I write this bullet point and remember how I felt!) I didn’t sleep well and was super distracted all week. So, next time around, I’d like to just be assigned to a precinct. I can’t do the waiting game again!
• A dear friend sent me the coziest cat blanket for my new place (but of course, I’m already using it – how can I not?) I love it so much!

• Kamala was announced as Biden’s VP pick and I couldn’t be happier about it! No, Biden is not my first choice (Kamala wasn’t either) but none of that matters. Our country is in crisis and Trump has shown time and again that he doesn’t have what it takes to be president. We need someone who is, and that someone is Biden.
• My mom and stepdad officially moved into their house this month, finishing all of their pre-move tasks in the nick of time. 🙂 To celebrate, we had game night with my brother and older nephew! So fun!

• I met up with some friends at a local park one evening, which was so lovely and filled up my cup! Officially, it was our ten-year book club anniversary but with everything going on, we just met for a picnic and chit-chat!
• One of the sweeter moments of August was discovering that Lila will allow me to hold her now! She used to stick her ears back and get out her claws the minute I tried to pick her up, but she’s grown comfortable enough with me that she’ll let me hold her and snuggle her. It makes me so happy! (Now, if she would only let me administer her flea/heartworm medication, sigh. It’s a topical treatment and she fights me so hard on it!)