I sleep like crap. It takes me a long time to fall asleep and then I just feel like I wake up frequently throughout the night and can’t ever seem to get comfortable. Is it existential dread? My terrible nighttime routine this week? Just a bad night? I don’t know.
My alarm goes off at 5:25 a.m., and I am very unhappy about it. I snuggle with Lila for a few minutes and then get up and get ready for the gym. By 5:45, I’m out the door. Today, I signed up for a 6 a.m. HIIT class and I’m very sad when I arrive and my usual instructor isn’t there. The sub for the class is fine, but I find some of the workout to be repetitive. (In this HIIT class, we have 7 different stations and then in between every station, we do a 60-second cardio round and a 45-second core round. We did so many sit-ups during the core round and the cardio rounds were a bit lackluster. Meh.)
I leave the gym around 6:45, place an order at Einstein’s, and am happy when it’s ready to go when I arrive. And then it’s home sweet home! I feed the girls, eat breakfast, finish up yesterday’s post, and then read a few blogs before getting my workday started.
My morning flies by in a flurry of emails, content editing, and Salesforce mumbo-jumbo. I take a few breaks: once to clean and vacuum the kitchen and once to dump out my shredder so I can shred a whole stack of mail and bills and such that have come in over the past few weeks. Oh, and I get a call from my *new* psychiatrist because she needs to reschedule my appointment. She tells me these intake appointments usually take 60-90 minutes but Zocdoc always schedules them for 30 minutes. There’s also a whole bunch of intake paperwork that I must have missed and I need to fill out. We set up a time for the intake appointment next week.
Around 11:15, I order lunch and then schedule an appointment to get my Covid and flu shot. There’s lots of availability so I select a time tomorrow afternoon. (For the past two years, I’ve gotten both shots at the same time and only experience a bit of arm soreness. Let’s hope that’s true for this shot!) While I’m waiting for my food to arrive, I hear a knock at my door. But it’s not my food! It’s my Book of the Month box! I haven’t ordered anything from BOTM in a few months but November is my birthday month, which means I get a free book. So I bought four books this month because I have no chill.
Once my food arrives, I do a bit of work and then wrap up my workday while I’m eating lunch. (I usually work a little longer on Fridays, but this week has been shit and I slept terribly and I just need some rest.)
After lunch, I take a two-hour nap, which was so rejuvenating. I scroll through Slack messages and emails when I get up, but there’s nothing pressing I need to respond to. Yay! I clean up a bit around my apartment, vacuum my living areas, and wipe down my bathroom. I have some friends coming over tonight and there’s nothing like people being in my apartment to inspire me to clean, ha.
Around 2:45, I leave and head to my mom’s house. They are meeting with someone about putting solar panels on their home, and she wanted me to be there to ask questions. (Since my brother and I would get their house in the will, I like to joke that all house upgrades need to be approved by us. For example, when my mom and stepdad got a new fridge recently, I said, “Did Mark (my brother) approve this purchase?” I’m a delight, I know.)
Anyway, the solar panel consultation is a long one but the salesguy is very thorough and helpful, answering all of our questions easily. He’s not super pushy, either, which is much appreciated. Their house is in a good location for solar panels, except for one part of their roof that gets a bit more shade than is advisable (they’d need to cut back a big oak tree that’s in their neighbor’s yard). They schedule a site inspection for tomorrow. Fingers crossed for them! (And for me and my brother, har har har.)
I return home a little after 5 p.m. and sit on the couch, playing on my phone, while I wait for my friends to arrive. I also order Domino’s for dinner – we are obsessed with their hand-tossed pizza and cheesy bread. Yum! Amber and Katie arrive right around 6 p.m. and the pizza is delivered shortly afterward. We eat while chit-chatting and then we get down to business and the real reason they are here: dyeing my hair! My friends did a fabulous job on the color, as always, and once I had rinsed out the dye, we all celebrated with bundtinis! I had a delicious red velvet bundtini that hit the spot.
Afterward, we all headed out to a local bar to get some drinks. Aside from a very drunk man who may have been in a relationship and was trying to pick up my friend, it was a fun night. (Don’t worry – we made it clear we wanted him to leave and he did.) We had two drinks ($11 total with tip!) And my friends also tried to get me to talk to a guy I thought was cute, but I was way too shy to do that. Maybe one day I can be brave enough to chat up someone in a bar, but last night was not that night.
We left the bar a little before 11 and then Katie came back up to my apartment because she needed a few more minutes to loaf before she was ready to drive home. We mostly scrolled on our phones but also talked a bit about chatting up people in bars. The key is to not have any expectations and not care about being rejected. It’s always my worst fear that I’ll start talking to someone and they’ll be like, “Ew, gross, get away from me,” which is not likely to happen (or so my friends tell me). It was an educational night!
Katie left around 11:15 and I Facetimed my mom. We talked for about 20 minutes but I was very tired so I don’t think I was much of a conversationalist! When we hung up, it was quickly to bed for me!
friday in the life: 2023, 2022, 2020, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014
2 drinks for $11!! As a wine drinker, one glass of wine is typically $12-14. Sometimes if it’s happy hour I can get it for less but I refuse to drink anything but sav blanc so HH often doesn’t work for me. I was terrible at making small talk at bars, too. I didn’t have the confidence to go up to people.
My sleep has been bad this week as well. Sigh.
I was SHOCKED when I got the bill. I was expecting each drink to be at least $10, if not more.
I would need a lot more alcohol in me to go up to someone in a bar, haha.
Let’s hope we can get our sleep back under control. It was just a very, very bad week.
Oh that sucks- you got up early to go to the gym and then your favorite instructor wasn’t there! BUT, it does feel good to get it done first thing, right? I know a lot of people go to the gym after work, and that would be SO hard for me.
Look at it this way- if you talk to someone in a bar and they reject you, it’s more about them than you. Granted, I haven’t been in that position for a long time- I would probably be scared.
I do prefer to get my workout done first-thing! But I’ve been successful at after-work workouts, too. I think it’s because I work from home so it feels good to get out and be around people in the evenings!
You got up in time to be at the gym for a 6am class??? OMG, I admire you for this. NOT EASY. Sorry that your favorite instructor wasn’t there, but still…YAY YOU.
I’m sorry your sleep has not been good. It’s not been good here either. My daughter’s anxiety is pretty high, and that worries all of us. She’s working to manage it, which is good. I’m thinking we all may need therapy to get through these next few years.
Yay on your books! I really liked The Wedding People, I haven’t read the others. I’m reviewing a book a day on my blog for NaBloPoMo, and it will make an appearance.
I’m glad you had fun with your friends. The only time I ever approached a guy at a club, I was playing wingman for my BFF, who thought a guy was cute. So I asked his friend to dance. I was completely non-stressed about it for 2 reasons only. 1. It wasn’t for me. 2. It absolutely wasn’t for me, I was engaged to my husband at the time. That took all of the pressure off! Meeting people is HARD, and much harder if you’re fearing rejection.
Thinking of your daughter! This is a very scary time. I hope she’s in therapy – I think that’s what’s going to help us through these next few years indeed. I feel for all of the therapists and the mental load they will be carrying for us!
I think I would have fun being a wingwoman – it’s hard being the one who’s LOOKING for someone!
Two drinks for $11!!!! I need to go to FL ASAP!
It sounds like a great day!
I was SHOCKED by the bill. You can’t find an alcoholic bevvy under $14 these days!
That sounds like a lovely night with your friends! I have not gone out to a bar in a while, and have not talked to a person at a bar in even longer! I usually meet guys by being in some sort of friend group (running, work, travel) and it just escalates at some point. But actually, I did meet a guy in a bar when I was in Jacksonville FL and he was very nice, but he was in the services and was shipping out and that was not really what I was looking for at the time. However, I can’t remember, but probably he approached me… ? Sometimes if I have had a couple of drinks I get a little braver, but usually I just stay in my corner.
11$ for two drinks is great. One of mine last night was double that price…
I am sorry you slept so badly but how great that you can just decide to finish work early and take a nap.
The hair looks great. I could not chat up someone in a bar I think. I am shy and scared. Luckily the husband and I met in amore natural environment (at work) and happened to have conversations. One day you are brave and do that. Good thin your friends are there to cheer you on and support you.
Hi friend, thank you for taking us along as you go through your days. I’m sorry you’ve been struggling with sleep. My days have been kind of marred with unease since I got sick last week, with something that sounds like bronchitis.. Hugs.
Woohoo! I am amazed you signed up for a 6 am class! I know it’s hard to get up but didn’t you feel so accomplished afterwards? 🙂
Happy you had some girl time in the evening with friends.
Wow. Slept like crap AND still got up for early HIIT class? AND talked to your new therapist on the phone? I hope you realize how amazing you are, with all the changes you have made.
I have never, ever approached anyone, anywhere in public. Except, you know, people in retail and customer service whose help I need. 🙂 The very thought is terrifying!
Hang in there. Thinking of you.