Happy Sunday, friends!

I have a concert to play in this afternoon, so I should get up, do a little exercise, shower, and run through a couple of the songs, BUT NATURALLY I want to procrastinate by writing this post.

I’ve been trying to do these little monthly summary blogs, but the last time I did one is ::checks notes:: July. So let’s just do a catch up post, shall we?

tl;dr Version

Work, freaking out over my tattoo, COVID, work work work, tattoo, work work work work, work work work, work work work

August

August is a very intense month for deadlines, but we squeezed in a quick trip to Chicago (which is where I’m 99.99999% sure we got COVID from*). I’d never been to Chicago before, and we had a great time. You all already know that the other half of the month was spent in my house recovering from COVID, so we can skip over that part.

What I miss the most about living in a bigger city is the access to culture. In Chicago, we explored a really cool bookstore called Exile to Bookville (Liz Phair reference?) We had delicious restaurants to choose from at every corner. When we were walking back to our hotel one night, we heard an amazing ensemble playing big band music. There were many people dancing swing/lindy hop outdoors, and I felt a lot of nostalgia for my swing dancing days. Husband and I danced outside while the band leader told us we’d never forget that August night along Lake Michigan. I don’t think that I will!

And the Art Institute – it has spoiled me for life. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a collection. So many Monets under one roof! And every time you turned a corner, there would be another famous piece. I was floored how big the Seurat painting is -it’s huge, which makes it even MORE impressive.

September

Got my tattoo (which is healing nicely). Work work work. At the end of the month, I spent a weekend in Indy with some friends. One of them is moving back to her home state, so it was a celebratory weekend for her. We went to a drag burlesque show (which was so much fun) and the Harvest Festival at Newfields.

October

Spooky season! I really do love fall, though my seasonal depression is just waiting for me around the corner. It’s much chillier now than it was last year at this time, which is a bummer. But the leaves are turning beautiful colors, Kiki and Jiji are visiting us daily, and we are enjoying all the benefits of fall in the Midwest (HAUNTED CORN MAZES Y’ALL).

I’ve done a LOT of things this year, and now that the season is transitioning, I’ve been reflecting a lot on what I want and how I want to spend my time, both professionally and personally. I quit a project last week – I have never quit a project in the nearly 15 years I’ve been employed. I love technically challenging projects, but this project was challenging in…other ways, and I decided I wanted to focus my time and energy with people who appreciate the value I bring to their projects. I’ve also been thinking of streamlining my portfolio and what I want to accomplish with the next year in my career. I’m grateful to have a supportive team leader who wants me to pursue *my* interests and not necessarily what the next rung in the career ladder *should* be.

Let’s move on to some other things keeping me busy.

Writing

I had a piece published in Microfiction Monday Magazine! This was published a couple of days before I tested positive for COVID (hah!) I wrote this piece for the NYC Midnight 100-word Microfiction Challenge last year. I’m really happy with how it turned out, and pleased it was able to find a home.

Crafting

I’ll be honest, I haven’t been feeling too inspired with crafting lately, but I did finish a couple of things!

I finally stopped being a terrible friend and finished a baby blanket for my friend’s infant.

I also found this sashiko kit that I bought in Hawaii during my honeymoon – talk about crafting from your stash! It was so much fun to work on and I’m really glad I found it in my stash. I’m going to gift this to Husband since he loves octopi.

Books

I’ve read so many good books lately!

My favorites from this stack are Gender Queer, The Romanov Sisters, and I’m Glad My Mom Died. I will admit that’s a really provocative title, but if it’s off-putting to you, I encourage you to reconsider. The author’s narcissistic mother forced her into Hollywood at six and taught her to start restricting her food at eleven so that she wouldn’t develop breasts. It’s a heartbreaking read but there’s a lot of humor too.

Okay, I’ve procrastinated long enough. I need to get up and do all the things I should have done an hour ago. Apparently the concert time on social media was advertised incorrectly (i.e. the concert is at 2, but the advertising said 3), so who knows if anyone is showing up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ We are starting off with a really difficult song so MAYBE THAT IS FOR THE BEST.

Happy Sunday, Happy Spooky Season!

*If there is a heaven and I get to the pearly gates, St. Peter or whoever will greet me and say, “Child, before entry, you can have one mystery from your life answered. Think carefully because you can only ask one -”

“DID I GET COVID FROM THE SHEDD AQUARIUM?”

“Yes, child. Yes, you did.”

And then I will enter Heaven feeling massively disappointed that I asked a question I already knew the answer to.