1) Settling back in
I am slowly but surely settling back into normal life after my long vacation and two weeks away from work. This was the longest vacation I’ve ever had! We were gone for 9 full days, and I think that’s about my limit when it comes to being away from my girls. I missed them! (Although I loved my cat sitter and will definitely book with her again. She even got pictures of Lila!) Eloise has been very snuggly and even more Velcro-y than usual, and I don’t mind it a single bit.
Coming back to work after such a long break was difficult, but I also felt really refreshed. And good thing because there are some big-time changes happening within my department. They will give me lots of opportunities to try some new responsibilities and grow my skills, and I’m ready for it!
2) NaBloPoMo
It’s almost NaBloPoMo time! Every year, I think about sitting it out because it’s a lot of work and I feel guilty for clogging up everyone’s blog readers. (It’s the Enneagram 9 in me.) But I can’t help myself, and I will be participating this year. I totally understand why NaBloPoMo is not everyone’s jam, but I am very much looking forward to it. And, this year, I’m going to take a page out of Julie’s book and do an A-Z challenge! I’ve been collecting ideas for each letter, and I’m challenging myself to write 500 words or less on each subject. It’ll be mostly personal anecdotes, some of it about my childhood and some of it just about me as a person, and I think it will be a great creative challenge for me!
3) Falling for falling back?
I have a long-standing feud with Daylight Saving Time. I hate falling back and love springing forward. When it gets dark so early, I lose any sort of motivation for evening plans. However… I might be coming around to this falling back stuff. I’m already noticing how the days are getting shorter, and I’m kinda digging it? Here’s why: When I moved to my new apartment last fall, I implemented a cozy “wind down” routine once I logged off work for the day. I close my laptop lid and tidy up my desk, close all of the blinds around my apartment, and light a candle. The cats would get dinner, and I would get in my jammies early and start making my own dinner. Then, once DST started in the spring, that wind-down routine sort of fell apart. After all, I’m not closing my blinds at 6 pm when there are still hours of daylight ahead! I’m starting to see the benefits of earlier sunsets, and I can’t say I’m dreading falling back like I usually do.
(I’m also saying this as someone who lives in Florida and our time change isn’t as severe! It would be another thing if it was getting dark at 4PM.)
4) Chip and Lucy
After all of the drama of trying to find the perfect caretaker for Chip and Lucy (my mom’s dogs), I think we found a winner with the boarding place! Chip and Lucy did well, and we got to see cute videos of them twice a day via a secret Facebook group.
Chip seemed to struggle a lot more socially than Lucy did (when we thought it would be the opposite). In every video, he stood at the door to the big open area where all the dogs were playing, like he was guarding it or wanted to leave. He also came back noticeably thinner, so we’re thinking he didn’t eat much. Poor buddy. He also nipped the workers a few times, which we warned them would happen. But he didn’t get kicked out, and they said they would be happy to have him back! (Phew.)
Lucy was a little social butterfly! In every video, she was running around with the other dogs. (I saw this video once that said dachshunds walk like they’re late for work, and that’s all I think about when I see Lucy walking around, ha.)
5) Weekend plans
This is going to be a quiet weekend for the most part. I have a writing date with Mikaela tomorrow morning, book club on Sunday morning, and football with the fam for the rest of Sunday. I may try to catch some of the World Series since our very own Tampa Bay Rays are in it! I’m not a baseball fan and find it very boring to watch a game, but having it on in the background while I do other things could be a cozy way to spend the evenings. We’ll see!
Are you doing NaBloPoMo? What are your weekend plans?
Oh good grief PLEASE CLOG MY BLOG READER. You should only feel guilty for not posting! (I’m kidding of course, everyone should blog as much or as little as they want to). NaBloPo was a one and done for me, but I love getting the goodies from everyone else.
I don’t love the dark mornings and dark nights, but right now the position of the sun is blinding in the late afternoon, so I’m all for shifting the clock to help with that (not sure how it helps, but I assume that it does).
We used to take Doggo to a doggy daycare place with cameras, and I loved watching her play with other dogs and schmooze the caretakers for treats. Now we take her to a fancier boarding place with fewer dogs where we get pictures and short videos, which is also fun.
My weekend starts today! I mean, technically weekends are every day since I’m retired, but I still follow a loose weekday/weekend schedule. I’m going hiking and meeting up with a friend for dinner.
LOVE the idea of a cozy wind down. I am DREADING the time change (darek and cold at 4pm, etc), but maybe a reframe is just what I need.
A 2 week break from work is a long time and it would take a bit for me to get back in the swing.
I’ve done NaBloPoMo a few times. 2 or 3? I’ll be sitting it out this year. Not enough time to blog 2x a week translates to no time to blog daily for a month.
YES YOU HAVE TO DO NABLOPOMO!!! We all love your posts!!! I do know what you mean though- it can get to be too much. But- everyone can read as many or few posts as they want. I think people will be VERY happy to have daily posts from you.
Glad to hear all the pets did well while you were gone. I always stress about leaving the cats. When we went away in July Sylvie did not do well. The pet sitter said she never saw her, which means she barely ate since the other cats hogged the food. Plus, SOMEONE peed all over the carpet in one of the bedrooms- i’m 99.9999% sure it was Sylvie. Sigh. That’s the only downside about going on vacation!
I LOVE turning the clocks back and hate turning them forward! I prefer lighter mornings, and- as you are now thinking- it feels cozy when it gets dark earlier. But as you pointed out- this is all easier for us Floridians. I don’t think I’d be happy if I lived up north and it was getting dark at 4 pm. Eek.
Go Rays!!!!!
Yay that you’re doing NaBloPoMo! I am doing it as well, for the second time. I’ve been trying to plan some posts to get a head start. I decided that I’m going to have comments closed, but have polls instead for a quick response, and then I can focus on reading and commenting on other blogs! But I only have 6 posts drafted so far, so I feel behind already! I can’t wait to read yours and find out more about you!
I’m so glad the boarding experience went well and that Chip is welcome back. Phew!
A 9 day vacation! I love that you got such a nice, long break! And 2 weeks off from work can be wonderful (the re-entry is not so great but worth it usually). I can’t wait to hear more about your vacation!
I’ve never done NaBloPoMo and since I put a lot of pressure on myself to comment on blogs, it is not my favorite month… but I try to tell myself that no one is keeping track of how often I comment and like grading my comments. LOL. But as an upholder, I put a lot of expectations on myself!
That is exciting about the growth at work!
I think our limit is about 9–10 days away too. When our friends visited from Germany they were with us for a week and in the states for four weeks. I was like 🫨
I am glad you are excited about NaBloPoMo!!! Crazy it’s almost Nov! Eek!
Your cozy routine sounds great! I like the forced coziness of the early evenings. But it is hard when it sets at like 4:30 LOL.
I am glad things went well for Chip and Lucy! It’s hard to see them smaller when you come back. That happened to us one when we left for 5 days and Ned ate all the dry food.