1) This weekend is moving weekend for my mom and stepdad! They are moving into a new, one-bedroom apartment that’s not very far away from where they’re living now. (Only now my mom will be within walking distance of her favorite running path, which is pretty cool.) I’m having some feelings about the change because I realized this would be the first place she’s lived without me, and that feels weird. Our lives have been so closely connected, so intertwined, that it’s strange for us to be living somewhat separate lives now. The good news is, her new place is still only about 20 minutes away from me, so I’ll still get to see her as much as I want/need.

2) Today is Day 6 of NaNoWriMo and I am sitting pretty at 8,345 words. Whee! I actually failed to meet my writing goal on Monday (I only wrote 450 words), so I’ve spent the past three days trying to catch myself up. I think I forgot how time-consuming this crazy project is. Writing 1,700 words a day is no joke and typically takes me 1-2 hours to complete. It means I’m spending the majority of my evenings camped out in my room, typing away furiously. This is after a full day of work, where I write for a living. Oy vey. But I am truly enjoying the process, having a ton of fun with my story, and I’m committed to finishing.

3) Next week, I’m going to document my life in a set of daily blog posts called “Week in the Life.” I did this last year around the same time, and I really enjoyed the process, so I’m doing it again this year. Sure, my life isn’t very exciting and not everyone will want to read these posts, but I like writing them and looking back on what I was doing during some random week in the year. I’ll be publishing the first post, detailing what I did on Monday, on Tuesday, so be on the lookout for that!

4) It’s been so hot in Florida, and I’m over it. I don’t necessarily want cold weather, but maybe some lows in the 60s? I know, I know. This sounds silly, but folks, we’re still seeing 90-degree days here. It’s quite ridiculous. I’m praying for a cold front!

5) Weekend plans? Not too much! I’m helping my mom and stepdad move into their new place, need to do some deep cleaning at my apartment, and I have a goal of writing 6,000 words of my novel. Hopefully, it’s a relaxing weekend!

What’s the weather like where you are? Any fun weekend plans?

1) It’s Halloween weekend! I’ll be the first to admit: I have very little love for this holiday. We didn’t really celebrate it when I was a kid. (I dressed up and went trick-or-treating as a young child, but stopped after age 11.) But my office likes to go all out for Halloween (we do a cubicle decorating and Halloween costume contest!), so I try to get in the spooky spirit. I will be dressing up today (look for my reveal on Instagram!) annnd… that’s about it. Ha. No Halloween parties and since I live in an apartment, no passing out candy for cute trick-or-treaters. Fine by me!

2) Do you find it easy to abandon a book you’re not really enjoying? I usually have a difficult time, especially if it’s a book that’s gotten good reviews from everyone I know. I just had this happen with Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. I thought I would love it, but I was having a hard time getting into the story and when I went an entire day without reading it at all (I can’t remember the last time I went a full day without reading!), I knew it was time to just give it up and move on to something I would enjoy more. Now I’m reading a fun romance novel by Kristan Higgans – hooray!

3) Apparently, Dutch can only last a few months between vet visits. This is the fun of having a senior dog, I suppose! Early Tuesday morning, he got very, very sick. Throwing up, diarrhea, panting, shivering, lethargy – the whole nine yards. Even though he’s been in and out of the vet this year, he hasn’t been sick like that. It was terrifying, especially because I had to deal with it all on my own. (Like I said last week, this adulting thing is for the birds.) I considered taking him to an emergency vet, but he calmed down enough to sleep a little bit, so I decided to wait for my vet’s office to open. At the vet, they ran some tests and he was diagnosed with a bacterial infection. Poor dude! He was given meds and within 24 hours, was back to his normal self. So very grateful! Tuesday was such a scary day for me. Being a pet owner can be such a roller coaster, sometimes.

4) I’m slowly starting to get back to my exercise groove. Motivating myself to exercise used to be easier than it has been in the past few months. But the only way to get back into the habit is to do it, so I’m doing it. And it’s especially nice that my apartment gym is totally empty in the morning (I go at 5am), so I have the entire space to myself. I’m hoping to get into more of a routine with my workouts, but for now, just getting myself to the gym and sweating it out for 30 minutes a few times a week is enough.

5) I don’t have much going on this weekend. Tonight, my mom is coming over for pizza and a movie. Tomorrow, I’m meeting up with a friend to write and then taking it easy for the rest of the day (chores and errands will have to get done, but other than that, nada to do). And Sunday will be a day full of football and family. Happy weekend!

Do you have trouble abandoning books? What are your plans for this weekend?

1) I seem to go in spurts with my Friday posts. Sometimes, I want to keep it simple with a TGIF update, and other times, I want to write longer-form lists about what’s going on in my world. Right now, I’m feeling more of the latter. It’s probably because when I go through a difficult time, all I want to do is write about it. Writing is my safe place, it’s where I can get all my thoughts and feelings down in one place. So this is what I do. I write. I’ll just keep writing until I can make sense of things.

2) I’ve come to terms with the fact that I will not finish the Book Riot reading challenge. I only have five categories left to complete, but they are five categories I really wasn’t looking forward to completing, and I never want reading to become a chore. I’m on the fence about this reading challenge because I’m glad it made me read some books I’ve been meaning to read (Americanah and The Outsiders come quickly to mind), but I also slogged through books I only finished to mark a category complete (like The Pearl that Broke its Shell and Olive Kitteridge). I’m not upset about not finishing the challenge because, frankly, I’m excited to get back to my TBR list and reading the books I’ve been looking forward to reading. Bottom line: reading should be fun! And for some people, reading challenges are fun, and for others, they are not. Do what feels good for you!

3) I cooked twice this week! I’m very proud of that because cooking hasn’t been my thing lately. (It really never has been. Cooking is a necessary evil for me.) On Monday, I made turkey meatloaf and had the leftovers for lunch this week. Then, on Tuesday, I baked Italian chicken (easiest recipe ever: marinate chicken in Italian dressing overnight, then bake it!). I’m trying to eat at home more (weekends are a mess, so I’m trying to focus on weekdays), which means cooking more. Sigh, this adulthood stuff is for the birds.

4) New shows I’ve tried: Scream Queens (not for me, gave me terrible anxiety!), Life in Pieces (I love this show mostly because Colin Hanks gives me heart-eyes, but it’s pretty funny, too), and The Grinder (not as funny as I was hoping, but I adore Rob Lowe so much). Other shows I’m taping but haven’t gotten around to watching: Code Black and Quantico.

5) This weekend is going to be a busy one, but I’m glad about it because last weekend held a bit too much alone time. Alone time is wonderful, but too much of it just leads me to feel lethargic and lonely. Introverts crave social interaction, too! Anyway, today, Roomie and I are having a fun day together where we’ll carve pumpkins, make pizzas, and watch The Nightmare Before Christmas (I’ve never seen it!). I haven’t had solid girl time with my Roomie for weeks, so this day is much needed. On Saturday, I’ll catch up on chores and errands, and spend some time with my mom (it’ll be her first time seeing the apartment, now that we’re all moved in and unpacked!) And Sunday will be filled with the usual – football and family. Happy weekend!

Do you like reading challenges? What are your plans for this weekend?