Loving… the slow packing process. Gosh, I love packing. And I love it because a) I’m only packing up my own stuff and b) it fulfills something deep within my organizing soul. Right now, I’m not packing up much. Every day, I pick a few things to pack away (mostly things on the walls or kitchen items I know I won’t need anytime soon). I’m also going through the difficult process of culling my book collection. It needs to be done and it means there will be room on my shelves for MOAR BOOKS, but it’s a hard process.
Loathing… high electric bills. I just paid $271 for my electric bill in September, which makes me want to throw up. Almost $300 for a 715-square-foot apartment! It’s never been this high, even during the height of summer. Yes, I keep my AC running hard (70 degrees at night, 73 degrees during the day), but even still, this feels excessive. I did some research on my past bills – in July 2024, I actually used more energy (by 154 kWh) but paid almost $10 less. This year, the energy charges have increased by 35% and boy, am I feeling it. I found this thread on the Florida subreddit and it makes me feel less crazy.
Reading… a few books. I’ve picked up Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, which I can tell is just going to make me feel bad about my sleeping habits. Since that’s a dense nonfiction book, I’m putting it down every 50 or so pages for a romance, and right now, I’m reading Any Trope but You by Victoria Lavine. I’ve only read about 30 pages, and I’m not sure if I’m going to stick with it. And on audio, I’m about halfway through Hestia Strikes a Match by Christine Grillo. It’s good, but I’m kinda tired with the narrator. Basically, my reading life is GOING GREAT.
Watching… football. It’s going to be a bad year to be a Dolphins fan. We look embarrassingly bad, and I don’t think our head coach is going to make it very far into the season before he’s axed. I’m trying to figure out what other team I’ll be rooting for this year, since the Dolphins have failed me so spectacularly. Maybe the 49ers, since they’re my brother’s favorite team. Or maybe I’ll go rogue and root for the Eagles. (It is Superman’s favorite team, after all, and I’m still obsessed with him.)
Listening to… Teaching Texas. I feel like someone in this blogging community recommended this podcast to me, but I can’t remember who. It is so good. It’s the story of how textbooks come together, and how a couple with zero experience in education somehow became big players in that world. They had a very specific Christian worldview and wanted things like slavery and the Holocaust whitewashed. What’s wild is that this directly impacted me because these were the textbooks I was learning from as a child! I still remember the day I sat in a college classroom, learning about the truth behind Christopher Columbus, and someone in class raising their hand to say, “Why weren’t we taught this in school?” I think the host of this podcast does a fantastic job of explaining the impact of this kind of rhetoric being infused into textbooks and not letting any of her interview subjects off the hook.
Anticipating… a very busy October. It’s going to be quite the month for me! First, there’s the London trip. My mom and I leave in THIRTEEN DAYS! Yesterday, my mom asked if it was too early to start packing. Ha! We are so excited! And then when I come back from London, I’ll be spending the rest of the month packing and moving! I was able to get my move-in day switched from September 27th to October 8th, which I’m really happy about. We fly back on October 7th, so I’ll be able to get the keys and check out the space the day after I come home. No post-vacation blues for me! And then I’ll do a slow move-in process throughout the month. I’ll probably do the full move-in (furniture and boxes) the last week of October, which will give me two weekends to clean my old apartment before it’s time to turn in the keys.
Thinking about… my budget. I’m having some anxiety about my increased living expenses (the increase will be around $350) and a little bit of, “Who do you think you are to rent a two-bedroom apartment? You are not Ms. Moneybags!” I know I will have to get a bit stricter with my budget, but there are so many easy ways to cut down expenses. (Hello, how about I stop spending $200 a month on takeout?) And honestly, when I think about the pros and cons of staying put, there is only one pro on the list: cheap rent. And while that’s a very important reason to stay put (and the reason I’ve stayed for more years than I planned), it’s not enough for me anymore. I know I can afford these increased living expenses, and it’ll be good for me to follow a stricter budget, I think.
Buying... little things for the new apartment. Mostly the boring purchases, like toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, etc. It’s the stuff I’ll want to have at my apartment during the slow move-in process. But you better believe I’ve been spending a lot of time looking up coffee tables and nightstands and bathroom decor. I need to be careful (see above!), but I think I can allow myself a few new things.
Grateful… for tiny joys. Things like mini chocolate ice cream cones, Facetiming with my mom, a cat jumping up on my desk and asking for pets, wood wick candles that make my apartment so cozy, pumpkin spice season, time blocking, the Happy Color app, and Marco Polos with Mikaela.
What are you currently anticipating?
Yes- this is going to be a hard year, football-wise! I also root for the Bears, but they’re not doing well either. Well… you never know. Maybe we can turn things around- starting tomorrow night when we play Buffalo (insert crying/scared face emojis…)
I have that book, Why We Sleep, and I’m afraid to read it because, like you, I think it’ll make me feel bad. Which is SO STUPID- I need to read it! I need to sleep more! Arg.
You have lots of exciting things coming up! The trip and then the big move. I’m sure once you’re in your new place and paying the new rent, you’ll be motivated to cut down in other ways. Oh, and our electric bill was almost $400!!!!!! What… I can’t even… sob.
I’m glad we did not get demolished by Buffalo! So that’s positive progress. I’ll take what I can get at this point, lol.
So far, the best news I’ve gotten from Why We Sleep is that napping is actually a very good thing that our bodies need, even after getting 8-9 hours of sleep (which I am NOT getting, lol). More to come!
I need our weather to COOL DOWN DAMMIT so we can enjoy some lower electric bills. It’s crazy right now!
PLEASE DO NOT CHEAR FOR THE EAGLES. HOW COULD YOU!! (We hate the Eagles.) How about the Lions? I feel like they are kind of an underdog team. Or the Bills? Minnesota is likely going to have an awful season as our rookie QB is not adjusting to the NFL well at all. It has been incredibly painful to watch. He did have one good quarter against the Bears and we managed to win, but I envision a lot of losses this year… It doesn’t help that so much of our offensive line is injured!
The increase in rent is rough but having more space and an extra room is going to be luxurious. I had a 1Bd + studio when I lived in Minneapolis and it was so nice to have that extra space! My piano went in that room.
Sorry to hear about your reading being rather meh. I just started Atmosphere by TJR which is our November book club book. The host for that meeting read it and hated it! She said she feels like some of it was written by AI! But I think you loved it. And so far I am liking it, although I JUST started.
Everyone is telling me to cheer for the Bills, but I cannot! They’re in my division so I get a secret thrill every time they lose in the playoffs. Muahahaha! I just really love Jalen Hurts and their coach had some choice words to say to the NFL when the organization decided to do away with their LGBT-themed gear, so I have a soft spot for them! But I totally understand – my brother also despises the Eagles and gets mad at me for cheering for them, ha! It must be an NFC thing?! They don’t bother me as an AFC girlie!
Gosh, I hope you love Atmosphere! I didn’t get the AI angle at ALL while I was reading it.
ROOT FOR THE IGGLES! We’ll take you! We welcome everyone! 🙂
(Sorry, Lisa…:>) (I am also following the NFL – and sports in general – much less, so I have more time to doomscroll. I need to rethink this choice…)
Also – you are ON YOUR TRIP as we speak and I cannot wait to hear more about it. Also excited to see how you navigate your move, since I failed so spectacularly at mine…
I have never heard anyone say they love packing! You’re the very first!
I’m so excited for you and your new apartment, on top of your trip to London! So much excitement. A new space – it’s going to be so lovely, Stephany! I mean, yes, increased expenses but I’m sure you will adore your new space.
We leave for our big trip in ten days! I’m not packing quite yet but I am making my pack list!
I have to caution that I like packing because I am only packing a small one-bedroom apartment and only MY stuff. It would be much different if I had a bigger place/extra people to pack for.
We’re going to be on our trips at the same time – wahoo!
Birchie is coming back for a little tiny visit this weekend and Kae and SHU are coming to visit me in October so those are big things I’m anticipating.
I’m also anticipating fall, but DREADING winter.
More space will be so nice. Living in a confined space can really get to a person over time and I think you’ll love having a dedicated office space! Plus, sometimes a change is as good as a rest. It can be fun to set up a new place and make new design decisions.
I think it’s so fun to have a fully blank slate to work from when it comes to moving! I’m looking forward to having some new routines, and cannot WAIT to get off the busy road I’m on. My apartment faces it so I hear all kinds of traffic/sirens/etc every day. My new place will be so QUIET!
I love that you love packing, Stephany. That is so charming and something I cannot relate to AT ALL. I am having a stress reaction just reading about your move, because my move was too recent to have fully recovered from. Your move sounds awesome, though, and I love that you have focused on ways to shift your budget so that you can have the extra space you need. As a work from home-er myself, I feel so strongly that it’s important to have dedicated space for your work. Mainly so you can LEAVE IT BEHIND. I think you are already much better about this than I am, though.
Why do books always come in clusters of good ones or bad ones? So frustrating when you hit one of the mediocre batches. I am kind of in that space myself, and have tried and moved on from several audiobooks. The one I’m listening to now isn’t really captivating me either, so I might move on from this one, too. Ugh.
When it comes to packing, it helps that I am only dealing with my own stuff (and a one-bedroom apartment) and can take it verrrry slowly. It would be a much different story if I had a lot more things to pack than I do! I just love coming into a fresh, empty space and being able to organize it however I want!
I love that you love packing. It will make the whole process so much more enjoyable and what a gift that is. I really appreciate the podcast recommendation — I’m just now learning the history behind who drove textbook content coming out of the civil war. I think I’ll really enjoy Teaching Texas!
It does help that I enjoy the packing process – makes it all a lot less stressful!
Teaching Texas will be very valuable to you, I think! It was a pretty interesting podcast series.
I am just so excited about your upcoming trip and move! Yes for slow packing and slow moving. I’ve had to rush both before (like finding out a few days before it was time to pack up the whole house and move) and it’s not ideal!
Ughhhh… a few days?! I would die. I mean, I would figure it out but that would be so stressful! I like the slow moving process and just packing a few things at a time. I’ll need to kick things into high gear after our trip, but I cannot WAIT to be in my new space!
1) Slow packing is the way to go! I get so overwhelmed with moving/packing, and I need to be able to do it in very small increments. However it almost never works that way!
2) Join us over here on the Eagles side! It’s fun 🙂 I really like the TikTok clips I see of the Dolphins coach’s personality so, sad he will probably not last but that’s how it goes!
3) I pushed through Any Trope But You – I think it ultimately ended up fine but I barely remember it? I am just so tired of “tribute to romance readers/meta stories about tropes” I am going very hard on romantasy lately because…*gestures at state of country/world* and I am not enjoying my latest one. Blah!
4) Yay London! You two are going to have so much fun! I too have an international trip coming up soooo soon. I’m soo excited but also I keep picturing the magical moment when I arrive home from the trip, haha. I want to see the world but I hate traveling/am a homebody lol.
Cait, once again, I feel like we are the same person! I am the SAME WAY about traveling. I am excited to go to London, but I will be READY to come home by day 5, probably, lol. A week away is pushing it!
I, too, get overwhelmed with packing so I like doing just a little bit at a time. I would struggle with a last-minute move!
Wow, when it rains it pours. October will just zoom by!! I am also having some issues with books, in that none of them are wowing me right now. But you’ll have lots of time to read on the plane and while packing so I’m sure you’re due a good one soon!!
I hope so! I’ve been thinking about the books I want to bring with me to London – not that there will be MUCH reading time while there, but at least on the flight. Hoping for some good reads!
I am super-excited for your trip to London and your upcoming move. You’ll have a very exciting October indeed!
It’s going to be a wild and crazy October! I’m looking forward to it. 🙂
That some excitement heading your way. It will be fun following your move.
I agree sometimes it is just not enough anymore to stay because it is cheap. Hope you can work out your budget so it’s not a stressful ting.
I loved Why we sleep when I read it a few years back. Very educational.
I am currently anticipating some slow down… not sure when it will happen but I hope it does. I am tired, anxious, stressed. My country weekend with my friend was just canceled from her side and I am heartbroken because I really needed it. No I am think I do a solo weekend. Maybe make it a reading retreat or a craft retreat. Not sure yet.
I hope you get some rest and slow-down time! I’m sorry your country weekend was canceled. That’s such a bummer. 🙁