Back to It

When I went abroad last year (oh my GOSH how was that nearly a year ago?), I let myself fall out of a blogging routine so I could soak it all up. When I came back, I figured I would get right back to it.

Well, in the last 8 months, I’ve had almost no routine at all. I do similar things most days, yes. I eat. I work out. I take care of a pup, and sometimes two pups. But all those things happen at different times depending on my whims.

It has been weird, and hard in its own way, and that very notion of what in the world do I do when I don’t have to do anything deserves its own post. It’ll get it, in time.

And it’s about to come to an end, and I’m conflicted about that.

As of a few weeks ago, when we came back from the Outer Banks, I was 99% full of negative vibes toward my job. I’m a little afraid of not liking it at all but staying forever because it’s stable. I’ve seen that and heard it a lot, but I recognize that it’s getting ahead of myself. I have always been absolutely grateful to have such a great opportunity secured before graduation, but I was so unexcited about getting back into a routine and the whole feel of corporate life that if I hadn’t already spent a bunch of my signing bonus on apartment stuff, I was kiiiind of considering running off to an island. True story.

For a bit, I fell hard for the idea of working on a beach and potentially being as relaxed all the time as I was for that week. I’d still be working hard, you know, because everyone from the people who man the ropes course to the people who set up the cabanas in the morning are working like crazy. But being near the ocean and sand dunes suddenly sounded appealing enough to make up for the manual labor and reduction of income. There may have also been a personification of this ideal in the form of a guy. You know.

So, yeah. I was negative vibes all the way for a while. I opted to honor my contract and my lease, though, because two years is really not that long, and it is the objectively right thing to do. If I could do UChicago for more than two years, I figured I can totally do two years at a job that doesn’t necessarily thrill me from the start. I’ve talked to a lot of friends who feel the same way about starting “adult life”, so I figure my short-lived desire to bolt was fairly normal.

And somewhere around a week ago, I started to switch to being excited. I like being good at things. I like having things to do. I like learning. It’ll be good. In the event that it isn’t, it’s only two years, and I’ll have two years of experience and savings to help me do whatever is next. But I’m willing to let it be good, and from the people I’ve talked to, I think it will be. 

I’ve since moved into my apartment with Ben. Tears have been shed many times because this feels like ACTUAL adulting at last, and also because moving is exhausting. I assume it’s a little less awful when you don’t have to either put together or wait for every single piece of furniture to be delivered in a 2-hour timeframe. Also when you don’t have to get almost all new spices and oils and ingredients in general. To be honest, it was kind of fun most of the time; it was just tiring, especially since I live at the top of the building. It’s only three floors, but… still. Apartment tour coming after my family “housewarming”/graduation party this weekend! I’m really happy with how it turned out.

So now I’m trying to get back into a routine (possibly with the exception of tonight and tomorrow because I am about to stay up way too late watching a movie). I haven’t been cooking much lately and need to get back to it. My workouts happen anywhere between 6am and 11am, and probably need to move between 5am and 6am. I have some projects I want to work on, a few nagging errands that need to get done, and finally the desire to start blogging again. I want Ben to get used to the apartment and my coming and going. I want to be able to trust him to be out and by himself, at least for long enough for me to take a shower.

Odds + Ends

To follow up on the whole wrist vs. clip-on fitness tracker thing, I ended up getting a Fitbit Versa. Before my One died, I did a side-by-side comparison for a few days and they had super freaking similar step counts. I was impressed, and now I love the Versa a whole lot.

I boarded Ben while we were in the Outer Banks and I got a changed pup back. It was incredible. He’s absolutely not perfect, but he’s a lot calmer and better at listening after having 12ish hours a day to play with mostly older dogs. He stopped nipping almost entirely for a while, but he’s back to teething so he wants to nip a little more these days. Still, changed pup.

A few days after we came back from vacation, my mom and I drove up to Cleveland to see Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour, and it was excellent. The Columbus stop was while we were in North Carolina, so we made a mini road trip of it. I don’t always want to see many musicians over and over, but I’d 100% see her shows again.

The guy doing my nails the other week asked me what grade I’d be in this school year. When I said I wasn’t going to school, he said, “Not even college?” So I said, “Yeah, I’m done with that, too.”

I got an email from a blog reader two days ago, and a few others over the past week or two, and it made my day every time. They were basically asking where I’ve been and hoping I was well, but HOW SWEET ARE YOU GUYS?

I know I talked about learning to live without a real routine, and it’s true that I’ve done it. That said, you can’t take the planner out of the girl. I was so freaking thrilled to finally start putting stuff back in my planner yesterday. My mom asked if I’d use it for work as well as personal stuff, and I cannot believe she’d ask such a silly question. I will be using that planner for everything.

Books I’ve read (okay, listened to) and loved lately include Something in the Water, The Great Gatsby, Educated: A Memoir, The Hate U Give.

I need to sleep, but I just discovered that Sweet Home Alabama is on and I feel the need to watch it. Says the girl who only wanted TV channels for sports.

Your turn:

Tell me what’s going on with you! What’re you reading/watching/cooking?