Crafting From My Stash

It’s That Little Souvenir of a Terrible Year

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Good morning friends!

Oh, how is it already August? The days are both very long and short. I can’t believe another client deadline of 8/31 is nearly here but on the other hand – did my brother really get his kitten only three weeks ago? I thought he had her for two months now. What is time?

Work has been going terribly and weighs on me constantly, so I’m trying to find joy elsewhere. It’s hard to since a lot most of my validation comes from my job, and if something is not going well at work, then I feel like an all-around failure. So healthy, right? This made me feel better.

It’s not something I can put in my email signature or anything, but I feel better knowing that everyone else is trying their best to wade through this shitty year like I am. And pandemic or not, I feel better knowing that it’s completely human to stumble and make mistakes.

I haven’t had the energy to work on much else other than my Speckled Squares blanket. I’m almost done with the fourth row!

I still want to buy more yarn for this, very badly, but I’m waiting to see how far my current stash can take me. I think I have enough for at least a few more rows. The issue then is that I am probably bound to get the same colors to continue with the blanket – or I could completely mix up the colors and take it to a new direction. I don’t know. I don’t feel like making a decision about it yet, so I’ll just keep going with the current stash until I run out of it.

This weekend we went to the Fort Harrison State Park in Indianapolis. We’ve been trying to do more of our hikes in the city. We live in a teeny suburb about 30 minutes outside of Indianapolis, and it feels pretty rural at times. The Facebook page for the neighborhood HOA is full of posts like WHY IS FACEBOOK TRYING TO HIDE THE TRUTH ABOUT HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE, so it’s nice to remember that we are pretty close to a big city that actually accepts, you know, science. Fortunately a mask mandate was passed for the entire state starting on July 27, but Indianapolis had already put their mandate in place well before that.

We chose a 2.5-mile moderately-rated trail. The park was pretty crowded at first, so we kept our masks on while we tried to find our trail, which wasn’t well-marked. But once we found our trail, it was very quiet and we only encountered two other families. The forest was so still and quiet, and was a perfect setting for me to detach from my worries a bit. Plus, I don’t think I’ll ever stop being amazed at the summers here. We can go hiking in mid-August at 3 pm, and the high is only 84 degrees? As I write this post, it’s 10:30 AM in Texas, and the heat index in Austin is already at 95 degrees.

This weekend marked a very slow return to normalcy for me. After months of ordering Instacart, I decided I’d go back to the grocery store myself. Having the state-wide mask mandate helped me feel more comfortable, along with studies showing that the virus isn’t as easily spread on surfaces. I chose a grocery store in a larger suburb than my town, since I don’t think anyone is going to follow the mandate where I live. I went to the store at 7 AM Friday, and it was very quiet. Other than one man proudly walking through the store without a mask, clearly looking for someone to challenge him, everyone else complied with the mandate.

I had to laugh at how differently this year turned out – at the beginning of the year, I was trying to get some international trips scheduled. And now here I was, excited about being in a Meijer again. Later that night, we got our first takeout since March – pizza! I usually have a 4-slice rule to keep my body from feeling sad, but I broke that rule and ate the entire 10-inch pie. There was a lot of regret about my life choices following that meal, but I’m happy that we’re getting a little bit of normalcy back.

I hope you all are safe and healthy and able to enjoy a wee bit of normalcy as well.

Categories: Crafting From My Stash, crafts, crochet, Current Events, Hiking, Life, Motivation, Self-Help

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16 replies »

  1. I love this Jenny – the Sundays song lyric and the link you shared. My work life feels like it’s gone off the rails lately too and I have been beating myself up about it so I really appreciate the link you shared.

    Love the blanket. Be kind and loving to yourself. ♥️

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    • Thanks so much Sara ❤ I'm so sorry to hear that work is not going well for you either. I'm really glad the link is helpful though. I love these posts on IG – they make me feel a lot better about myself and remind me I'm not alone. Big hugs.

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  3. I just had to laugh about your local HOA Facebook posts, I can relate so much!
    Just recently I watched a government update on COVID situation in Ireland and made a mistake of reading the comments. It’s all New World Order coming! And they are preparing us for the Sharia law with the masks! CONSPIRACY! I must admit I’m not very patient with people like that, I might have had a few arguments in the past with friends who told me they were anti-vaxxers or believed that pink Himalayan salt cures everything because “it contains every element known to us” (I hope not if they use it for cooking, I for once wouldn’t like my food to contain polonium, but what do I know…)! Nowadays I just walk away from these discussions, they are nothing but an exercise in futility.

    And thank you for sharing your beautiful photos, this lake looks absolutely wonderful and so peaceful!

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    • Oh Kat LOL, I can relate so much to that. My husband is a chemist and it drives him crazy to hear anything advertised as “all natural” because it’s still all chemicals! It’s pretty depressing to know that even when the vaccine is released, people are not going to want it. I’ll be the first in line! Hahaha!

      The stuff I see on social media about COVID makes me so mad. I don’t understand why people don’t take more than 2 minutes to read or question something before sharing it. I don’t respond because like you said, i’tll be an exercise in futility, but I seethe silently.
      ERRGHH.

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      • But is someone confronts the “facts” they post, their reply is to DO YOUR RESEARCH! By which they mean, go watch some weird conspiracy YouTube video or two.
        And I understand your husband’s frustration! I recently bought a coffee spices mix which is delicious but the CONTAINS NO CHEMICALS on the box almost made me throw it away LOL.

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      • LOL I am going to have to tell him that and see his reaction. Omg I hate that so much. Why would I trust what one fringe doctor says over, you know, THE REST OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY?

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  5. Oh Jenny, you’re so not alone. I’m also really unhappy with my job, and I’m having issues with my kids, so I’m not getting much validation in either area. I do wonder if my mindset would be any better if the world weren’t in the current terrible state that it is. I’m glad you’re finding little pockets of joy where you can; the hikes seem perfect for that. And so does pizza!

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    • Thank you so much Bonny. I’m so sorry to hear that things aren’t great right now. 😦 I definitely think the current state of the world magnifies everything and makes it harder to be optimistic. Big hugs!

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  6. Oh I am totally with you on feeling like your job defines you. It largely feels like my job is the thing that I’m best at, the one place where I really excel and am not just dabbling in it, so any struggles there are totally magnified. I’m glad you got a slice of normalcy, and here’s to better times ahead.

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