The high of my week was dinner with my girlfriends on Monday night. It was so nice to get together with them and chat about how we all were doing following the storm. They kept me sane during the hurricane and I don’t know what I would have done without them!

The low of my week was feeling uninspired. It’s been a weird week for me emotionally. Maybe I’m still recovering from the emotional turmoil the hurricane put me through (which makes me feel like a whiny baby when I see what Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria have done to Puerto Rico). But I haven’t felt like working out, and even going to spin class feels like a chore. I haven’t felt like cooking or eating healthy. I haven’t felt like being around people. I’m just this gray ball of gloom right now. I’m trying to give myself grace and just let myself be gloomy and moody, but I’m really hoping I snap out of this funk soon.

I’m currently reading Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. This is the September pick for my work book club and it’s been a book that I’ve been wanting to read for a while, but I don’t think I would have gotten around to it anytime soon, if not for book club. I’m only about 50 pages in so far, but I’m enjoying it!

A blog post I loved was this post by Girl’s Gone Child. The post was everything to me. It was about raising feminist children and being a feminist and fighting for what you believe in and rape culture and speaking your truth even when it hurts. Please go read it.

Guilt will not absolve us of our crimes, of course. We must work together to change the narrative. We must fight against our own implicit bias. We must recognize our shadows and face them head on. We must be willing to break our children of their innocence so that across town, children in REAL DANGER can be safe.

We must be willing to call ourselves out…

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Episode 0: Genesis by Good Christian Fun. This is a brand-new podcast hosted by Kevin T. Porter, he of Gilmore Guys fame, and I think it’s exactly what I need. This podcast explores Christian pop culture, something I am super familiar with. As most people know, I grew up in the church and Christian pop culture was all the rage in the 90s/early 2000s. In my house, we solely listened to Christian radio (even knowing the lyrics to a Britney Spears song was blasphemy) and a good chunk of the books I read (especially in my late teens and early twenties) were Christian based. So, I think I will find a lot to relate to in this podcast and I can’t wait to fully dive into the episodes!

The best money I spent this week was on the new iPhone 8! I probably wouldn’t have bothered getting a new phone just yet (I have the 6S), but my current phone doesn’t last more than 3-4 hours before the battery dies. My plan was just to get a new battery for the phone since it works fine otherwise, but I realized that I also need a phone with more space (my phone only has 16gb and let me tell you, that is not enough space, even for someone who doesn’t use a ton of apps!). So I bit the bullet and got the iPhone 8 with 64gb and it should be delivered sometime next month. My plan is to keep that phone until it dies a tragic death – hopefully, four or five years from now, ha.

My plans this weekend include a writing date with my friend, M., and my nephew’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon. He turns NINE on Monday, which is crazy to me. How did he get so old? Other than that, the weekend should be fairly low-key for me, which is exactly what I need. Hoping it’s a rejuvenating one for everyone!

What was the high of your week? What are you currently reading?

The high of my week was taking my older nephew to a Rays game. Over the past few months, my nephew has morphed into a Serious Baseball Fan. He knows stats and players and could tell me all of the injured Rays players and how they got their injuries. So it was especially delightful to take him to a Rays game with my mom to experience baseball through his eyes. The Rays lost and my nephew was definitely bummed, but he had a blast!

The low of my week was coming home from that Rays game to a poopsplosion from Dutch and no electricity. My nephew wanted to stay for the entire game, so I didn’t get home until after 11 and all I wanted to do was wash my face and go right to bed. Unfortunately, life had other plans. First, I came home to a little “poopsplosion” from Dutch, which was all over my kitchen floor, and then after dealing with that, I realized that my electricity was off (it was still on in my bedroom and bathroom, but the living room and kitchen were power-less). Thankfully, I was able to charge my phone and call my electric company to report the outage (I wasn’t the only one affected), and then I proceeded to sleep not a wink that night, mostly because I didn’t have AC and I need an ice-cold home to sleep. While I was able to use my ceiling fan for some of the night, I woke up around 4am to discover the ceiling fan was off and I had lost total power. Fun! The electricity finally came back on a little after 8am, whew.

I’m currently reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. My work book club picked this for June after a coworker raved about it. Likewise, just about every person in my other book club has read this book and raved about it, so I think I’m settling in for a fantastic read!

A Internet find I loved this dating profile from 1865. Somehow, I need to adapt this for my own dating profiles.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Are Election Laws Designed to Suppress Voters? by Stuff You Should Know. This was the kind of episode that had me saying out loud “oh my god” as I listened to it and I really liked how amped up Josh and Chuck got about it. I would encourage anyone to give it a listen to become informed about all the ways we have tried – and are still trying – to suppress peoples’ right to vote.

The best money I spent this week was $10 on Starbucks breakfast on Tuesday morning. Starbucks breakfast is always a “treat yoself” sort of thing for me. On Tuesday morning, after barely sleeping all night, I knew I need to treat myself and so I did. No regrets!

My plans this weekend include some workouts, including a spin class on Saturday morning. Potentially finally getting my book tattoo on Saturday, game night with my family on Saturday night, a writing date on Sunday morning, and a fun DIY class on Sunday afternoon with some friends. Whew! Let’s hope I emerge from this weekend with my sanity intact!

What was the best thing that happened to you this week?

The high of my week was celebrating my grandpa’s 75th birthday on Sunday. I was worried that the day would be melancholy for him since it’s the first birthday he’s celebrating without grandma in nearly six decades, but he was in good spirits. We enjoyed lunch out at one of his favorite restaurants, and my nephews came, which was wonderful! I’m so glad I was able to spend time with Pops on his birthday!

The low of my week was some work stress and not having enough downtime this past weekend. But, honestly, if that’s all I can name as “low points,” then I think I’m doing A-OK! Life is pretty good right now, I must say.

A blog post I loved was Let Your Frustration Be Your Fuel by Dee on Stratejoy. Oh, boy, was this a powerful and inspiring essay from Dee. Haven’t we all been there – deep in the trenches of trying to conquer a goal, the place where everything seems too hard, and giving up feels like the better, safer option? I know I have, and Dee’s post spoke to me.

So isn’t that life, really? Working one day at a time, and sometimes even one breath at a time to get our asses up this fucking hill that is called growth, one (sometimes) painful step at time?

(And, isn’t there a Miley Cyrus song about this?)

It really doesn’t all have to be amazing and exciting. It can really suck but we can do things that suck. We can find ways to work through the parts that suck. We can stay in motion with our tiny sparks still lit.

I’m currently reading The Senator’s Wife by Sue Hill. I bought this e-book a year ago when it was $1.99 on Kindle because the premise was intriguing, so I’m excited to dive into it. The books I’ve been reading lately have been a little meh, so here’s hoping this one breaks that cycle.

The best money I spent this week was on ingredients for baking cookies for my grandpa. He loves my cookies, so when my plans for Friday night were canceled, I decided to bake cookies and surprise him on Sunday. It’s the little things, sometimes.

My plans this weekend include all of the things! Oh, boy, will this be a busy weekend. Tonight, Roomie and I are doing pizza and games with some friends. On Saturday, I’m going to the happiest place on Earth (The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!) with a group of friends, and then later on, Roomie and I have dinner reservations with some of her friends at Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Then, on Sunday, I have an early morning writing date with my writing partner, as well as lunch planned with my mama. And then? I will nap so hard. 🙂

What was the highlight of your week?

I haven’t done a TGIF post in months and looking back on my last one made me super sad, but I’m happy to bring this series back to give some little updates into my week and life. Let’s talk about some highs and lows, shall we?

The high of my week was seeing my brother for the first time in six weeks (!) on Saturday. It was just him, me, and my mom, and we spent the time watching old episodes of The Office, eating pizza, and playing Clue. Another highlight of the week was lady date night with Roomie! We went to Cinebistro and saw Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (loved!).

The low of my week was dealing with the aftermath of a crummy dating situation. It hit me harder than I expected, but I’m over it now. It was just hard because I was sad all weekend, and this was the one weekend my roommate had friends in town, and they were so nice and I was such a lump. I wish I could have been in a better mood for them, but they understood and let me be my lumpy self. 🙂

An Internet find I loved was this video that compared how Trump and Obama talk about women. It’s as disgusting as you might expect (obviously on Trump’s end; Obama made me want to stand up and cheer). How is it possible that we could go from a President like Obama to a vile, misogynistic, racist bully like Trump? It’s so frightening.

I’m currently reading Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari. I love Aziz’s voice in this book and it’s been a really fascinating read so far. I’ve laughed out loud multiple times at Aziz’s humor because he goes off on these silly tangents when quoting research. Books based so heavily on research (even interesting research like dating!) can be very dry, but Aziz’s writing style keeps it fresh and fun.

The best money I spent this week was on my movie ticket last night! The place I went to – Cinebistro – is a little more expensive than a regular movie theater (about $4 more), but it’s so worth it for the big comfy seats and full dinner menu to select from.

My plans for this weekend include book club tonight (we’re playing shuffleboard!). On Saturday, I am meeting my writing partner for a few hours of working on our novels, and then my mom and I are meeting for froyo. And then Easter Sunday will be spent seeing My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 with my mom and then taking my grandpa out for lunch. Busy, fun weekend in store!

What was the highlight of your week?

The high of my week was my grandma’s successful surgery. A few weeks ago, my grandma had a PET scan and found out the chemotherapy she’d been on for the past months and months had not been working. (Her tumor had not shrunk at all.) Her options were surgery or a more aggressive form of chemo (which, with the way the less aggressive chemo she had been on had affected her wasn’t really a viable option). So, she opted for surgery, which was yesterday. Her tumor was wrapped around her pulmonary artery, so it was very likely that the surgeon would go in and find out he couldn’t remove the tumor. Thankfully, though, the surgeon was able to remove the tumor, but he had to do so by removing her entire left lung. So that’s a little scary, but it was the best option and hopefully, once the recovery process is complete, my grandma is back to her old self!

The low of my week was dealing with a stuffy nose every morning! I don’t know what’s going on, but every single morning this week I have woken up with a completely stuffed-up nose. I even bought some nasal decongestant spray because it’s been so bad. Just a few sprays completely clears me up… until the next morning. I don’t know what’s going on because I don’t have a cold… I’m not sure if it’s just the new place and getting used to new air? (Is that even a thing?!) I hope it clears up (ha) soon because it’s very annoying to deal with.

I’m currently reading Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. I’m reading it for the poetry category for the Book Riot reading challenge, but I’m not really enjoying it. It’s beautifully written, but I’m just not a poetry person, I guess.

An article I really enjoyed was this story about a man who has built a train for his rescue dogs. I mean, really. Could this story be any cuter? The video slayed me.

The best money I spent this week was $12 on a hook rail to hang up keys and Dutch’s harness/leash. My roommate and I needed something to keep that stuff in one convenient location, so I’m very happy with the purchase. Bonus: it’s super cute!

My plans this weekend include a pedicure and dinner date tonight with my roommate and her friend that is coming into town this afternoon. Tomorrow, I want to spend some time at the pool, finish decorating the apartment, visit my grandma, and have dinner with my mom and stepdad. And then Sunday, I’m meeting up with my friend to write and spending the rest of the day watching football with my brother. Happy Friday!

What was the highlight of your week?