Loving… Daylight Saving Time. I know, I know! This is not a popular opinion, but I can’t help it: I love when we turn the clocks forward and suddenly, it’s 7:30pm and still light outside! I love having more daylight and if that means the sun doesn’t rise until 7:30, so be it. I don’t know how I feel about being on permanent DST (I just can’t see how it would work for people in northern states), but I wouldn’t be too bummed if Florida decided to do so.

Loathing… working from my dining room table. And I’m so glad I don’t have to do it any longer, as my new sit/stand desk arrived on Wednesday and on Saturday, the guy I hired off TaskRabbit came by to put it together. He did it in under an hour and he saved the day, since the manufacturing company forgot to include dowels in the packaging. Thankfully, my Tasker had some on hand to easily complete the job. Whew! I am really happy I hired someone to put it together and I’m even happier to start working from my desk this week. Working from my dining room table was not fun, as my chairs are not designed to sit in for hours and hours at a time. Plus, I couldn’t really spread out like I’m used to; with three monitors, it was pretty cramped for a while!

Watching… a lot of shows this month!

• Brooklyn 99 – Still trucking through my rewatch. I’m on season 7.
• Love is Blind – Season 2 was just as crazy as season 1, and I loved every minute of it. The reunion was WILD, too.
• Abbott Elementary – I watched a few episodes of season 1, but then stopped watching. It’s not as funny as I’d hoped (mostly it’s just a sad indictment of the school system), but I do love the cast so maybe I’ll go back to it.
• Survivor – Season 42 is looking to be a good one! I have a few favorites already.
• The Bachelor – Clayton’s season was remarkably boring, but I made it through thanks to The Popcast’s weekly episodes reviewing the show.

Listening to… Pod Save the World. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t follow global news as closely as I should but with the war in Ukraine, I wanted to receive updates about what is going on from people who are highly intelligent about world politics. Pod Save the World it is! They release two episodes per week discussing the war and I have learned so much. It keeps me informed without feeling like I’m drowning in doom-scrolling.

Grateful… that my mom’s worrisome bump on her chest just turned out to be a cyst. Oh, you guys. I have been through the gauntlet of emotions this past week. My mom noticed this troublesome bump on Monday. Thankfully, she had a doctor’s appointment already scheduled for Tuesday and her doctor was quite confident it was a cyst (it had a ring of redness around it and was quite tender, which is uncommon for tumors) but scheduled her for a breast ultrasound just to be abundantly cautious. She had the ultrasound on Saturday morning (I went with her) and the radiologist told her it was a cyst. What a friggin relief! I’ve been trying to think positive thoughts but that’s just not how my brain works. I’m a catastrophizer—it’s just who I am, and I thought all of the worst-case scenarios. What would it be like to be someone who just imagines nothing bad could ever happen to them? I’m over here thinking why wouldn’t the worst happen to me?

Anticipating… a punch biopsy next week. Sigh. Remember that mole I had biopsied in February and said it came back benign? Apparently, I had missed a few calls from my dermatologist’s office. (I seriously don’t know how I missed them!) The mole actually has markers that indicate it could turn into skin cancer, which means I need to get the whole mole removed as a precaution. I’ve had a punch biopsy before and they’re not very pleasant (I remember the spot hurting a lot after the numbing agent wore off), but at least we found it early, my dermatologist was cautious enough to biopsy it, and it will be all taken care of with a quick office appointment.

Researching… therapists. While I had a therapy appointment in January, it was more of an intake session. And this was back when I was told that one of my benefits through my work-sponsored health insurance was 36 free therapy sessions through a specialized app. During the appointment in January, which I thought was going to be free, I learned that each session was going to cost $73. Quite disappointing! (Long story short: There was a law in effect that gave certain health insurances money towards mental health services during the pandemic but it expired in January 2022. My company was unaware of the expiration, so they promised us free therapy but had to take it away from us. I’m still salty about it.) Since then, I haven’t gone back to the app for therapy since I was assessing my options. I’ve decided to try to find a therapist on my own, even though it will cost more than the $73 per session. The reason for this is that I’m looking for long-term therapy. The app is more of a short-term solution, with most people only using it for 4-8 sessions. I have an intake session scheduled with a new therapist next Monday, and I’m crossing fingers and toes she’s a good fit for me!

Planning… to buy the girls a very lavish cat tree for their upcoming birthdays. Ooh, I am so excited about this present for them! They both turn four this year (Ellie at the end of April; Lila at the beginning of May), and I’ve decided to upgrade their current cat tree. They’ve started using it more and more, and the little scratching posts have been torn to shreds, so it’s time for something new. I wanted something with at least one cave to hide in and one hammock to sleep in, as well as a few tall landing pads for Ellie (she loves sitting on them to survey her kingdom!) and lots of good scratching areas. I have my eye on this one or this one, and I’m excited to surprise them with it soon! (<– Only for them to ignore for, oh, 6-8 months before they decide to try it out. CATS.)

Thinking about… how to get back into the workout groove. March has been an abomination in the workout department. I think I’ve only logged two Peloton workouts total! Oof. There have been so many mornings when I wake up early, put on my workout clothes, and then just decide I do not have the energy to do a workout. So I sit on the couch, play on my phone, and curse myself for waking up early and not doing what I said I was going to do. I don’t know what is going on with me! I am contemplating doing a 30-day workout challenge in April where I have to do some form of exercise every day just to get myself back in the swing of things. Sometimes it’s easier for me to work out when I know I have to do it every day no matter what than it is to do it just three days a week.

Needing… a new purse. It’s about that time of year where I’m on the hunt for the perfect new purse. I’ve been using my current purse for about a year now (maybe a little longer) and it’s time for an upgrade. I’ve been using a smaller purse in the interim and it just does not work for my needs. I’ve hit up both TJ Maxx and Target multiple times, but haven’t found the perfect purse just yet. I’m getting a bit restless, but I’m still holding out hope that I’ll find “the one” soon.

Buying… so much nail polish. I’ve started painting my nails on a semi-weekly basis and I love it! I used to keep my nails bare, but one day, I just decided to paint them with an old nail polish I had in my closet and it was such a lovely little experience. I like to sit down with a show on Friday night and paint my nails. It’s become a sweet little ritual in my life. Now, I tend to add a new nail polish to my Target cart every week or so. I have a good assortment of colors now, and I can’t stop myself from buying more every time I’m in Target! Olive & June seems like a cult favorite but I have to say that I think I’m more partial to Essie. I’m also on the hunt for the perfect fast-drying topcoat that will keep my manicure looking good for a week. (I’ve tried Olive & June Dry Drops and they do not work!)

Feeling… more and more settled in my new role. There have been a few growing pains, as I expected. It’s been weird to go from feeling like I never have enough time to get everything done to feeling like I have all the time in the world. It does feel good not to be crazy stressed right now, although I’m sure I will get there in time, haha. Right now, I’m not handling the training of new hires yet, so when I’m ready for that, it will significantly increase my workload! But it’s been fun to be involved in the hiring process, to take the lead on some new projects, and help ensure the people on my team feel supported and encouraged.

What are you currently grateful for and planning?

Loving… my new role at work. It has been quite the change to shift from a writer to a manager this month. After 8 years of working on deadlines and writing taking up the majority of my tasks, I’ve relished having different tasks to accomplish and settling into my role as a manager. At the beginning of the month, I spent a whole day engaged in hour-long conversations with each person on my team (I have five people), which was exhausting but also really exciting. There is so much potential on my team, and I’m really looking forward to helping each of my team members grow. There is a lot I have to learn about how to be an effective manager, but I’d like to think I’m well on my way to that.

Loathing… new job jitters. I really didn’t expect to go through the rigamarole of new job jitters, considering I’m not at a new company but whoa, did they hit this month! While I am still as busy as I was when I was a writer, I’m busy in an entirely new way, in a way that makes me look back at the end of each day and wonder if I accomplished anything. I know I did, but it’s hard to measure my accomplishments the way I could when I was writing full-time. I’ve also had these random anxiety spirals that I’m going to get fired at any moment, which is fun! Now that I don’t have any writing tasks to show proof of my value to my company, I’m all “do I provide any value at all anymore?!” which is just DUMB all around because hello, I was promoted because I provide a ton of value! It’s so silly, but that’s how my brain works.

Watching… The Olympics! Well, I watched the first week of the Olympics and then I lost interest. I’m not sure why. I think I just wanted to do something else with my evenings than watch Olympics coverage. But I did get to see Nathan Chen and Chloe Kim win gold medals, and I really enjoyed the men’s snowboard half-pipe. There were some truly astonishing tricks!

I’m also still working my way through Brooklyn 99 (halfway through season 6!) and Younger (nearly finished with season 3).

Listening to… Mall Talk. It’s a podcast all about the mall, nostalgic memories of the mall, and the stores we shop in. While I don’t spend a lot of time in malls these days, this podcast has brought back so many memories for me! The mall was just the place to be when we were young, wasn’t it? I’m diving into the archives of this podcast and enjoying it a lot!

Grateful for… a benign mole. When I went for my skin check earlier this month, my dermatologist found a mole on my lower back that was a little worrisome to her so she took a sample to biopsy. Thankfully, it came back benign and all is okay! I think that I’ve had to get a mole biopsied every single time I’ve had a skin check (my back is very mole-y) so this is standard procedure for me, but I’m always relieved when nothing worrisome comes back. And this is just another reminder of how important regular skin checks are!

Anticipating… a four-day weekend next week. My mom and stepdad are going away and asked me to watch the puppers for a few nights, which I am so excited to do! The two of them haven’t gone away since they got Lucy, so it will be my first time with both dogs and I can’t wait to spend copious amounts of time snuggling them and getting covered in dog kisses. I always sleep over at their house when I’m dog sitting since it’s easier than bringing the dogs to my place (my girls would be MOST unhappy!) and I just decided to give myself a little work reprieve while I was at it. Why not?! I don’t have anything planned for this weekend, but I’m sure I’ll find plenty of ways to fill up my time.

Researching… sit/stand desks, still. I am definitely going to buy one, and probably soon! I have my eye on this desk from Amazon, which has nearly 8,000 reviews. It’s only $240, too, which feels so cheap for a sit/stand desk (why did I think these desks were thousands of dollars?!) Plus, I think I could sell my current desk for a pretty good price to offset the cost of the desk.

Planning… our Niagara Falls vacation! I love the planning phase of a vacation, and I am having a blast developing our itinerary. Our tentative plans at this moment involve flying into Buffalo on a Wednesday and driving right over the border to Canada. We’ll spend three days at Niagara Falls (probably longer than we need, but we love slow-paced vacations where we only do a few things during the day and have low-key evenings), one day in Toronto, and one day in Buffalo before flying home on a Tuesday. If you have any recommendations for restaurants or things to do in any of those locations, I’m all ears!

Thinking about… Ukraine. The photos and videos coming out about what’s going on there are horrifying and scary. I feel so helpless when I watch the news and see what these people are going through. The uncertainty of what’s to come has to be terrifying. Jessica Yellin posted this really sobering clip of a subway station in Ukraine being used by citizens as a bomb shelter. Her caption was really poignant: “You’re going to hear a lot about Putin, Biden, sanctions, world oil prices and more. Let’s also remember the lived reality for Ukrainians. Yesterday was work, school and life. Today, bombs, checkpoints, and praying for safety seeking shelter underground in the subway.”

Wishing… that our cool weather had stuck around for just a bit longer. Ugh. It’s now officially “too hot to take a walk in the middle of the day” weather. We’re regularly seeing temps in the mid-80s, which would be a nice cool down in September or October but in February, it just feels wrong. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted, right? And I know many of you are wishing for sunshine and warm weather, so I shouldn’t complain too much.

Buying… a floor lamp! I was at Target last weekend and was shocked to find that the floor lamp that I’ve had my eye on and has been out of stock for months was back in stock! Whaaaat. I had an alert set up on my Target app, but it never let me know. Unfortunately, when I put the lamp together and placed it in a corner of my living room, I… kinda hated it. It’s a little too short and doesn’t give off as much light as I’d hoped. I’m going to return it and get this one instead. I’m hoping it meets my needs better!

Feeling… relieved after a period of my blog being down last night. I think I was just trying to access it during a time when GoDaddy was renewing my domain, but it threw me for a loop! I was furiously looking up my domain registration on Google and logging into HostGator (where my blog is hosted) to figure out what was going on. And then I decided to just step away from it for the night and believe it would all work itself out. Of course, I also started spiraling a bit, wondering if this was it for my blog. It was all going to be gone forever. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t a big deal, I could start a new blog if the worst came to worst… or maybe I would just stop blogging entirely. Maybe this was a sign. But the palpable relief I felt when I pulled up my blog and everything was working fine was the actual sign that this blog means the world to me. I’m so glad it’s up and running again. Whew.

What are you currently loving and loathing?