Happy Friday! Today is National Lemon Juice Day (my mom used to wash my hair with lemon juice as a kid to make it blonder), National Chop Suey Day (rarely happens, but I truly I have no comment on this one), and the first evening of my staycation. I’m off until September 8. If it seems like I’ve been out of the office a lot, trust me — I feel that way too. I’m burning off the last bits of PTO that I can’t carry over to next year. After September 8, my next day off is in October for a weeknight wedding. My nose will soon be returning to its regular position at the grindstone.
In case you’re jealous, my only firm plan so far is to steam clean my sofa and downstairs carpet.
While I prattle on about inconsequential life details, please know I’m fully aware of the terrible things that are going on. But as a teacher’s wife, sometimes the best way I can keep myself sane is to prattle on about inconsequential life details.
Yesterday I cancelled my Photoshop subscription. Adobe announced they’re raising the price of the Photography plan from $9.99 to $14.99 a month, and I finally decided enough was enough. I mainly use it to bulk adjust and resize photos for the blog and to create some graphics. The Wordless Wednesday end-of-year collage may look a little different this year, but I’m not paying $14.99 a month for that. I switched to Pixlr, which was $16.09 for the entire year and does a perfectly passable job on photos.
This week’s Friday 5 theme is Me-time and it couldn’t be more timely. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but I’m rarely alone and alone time is something I thrive on. Once WM heads back to school I’ll have quiet mornings before I log into work. But even then, I can’t exactly walk around the house in my underwear or blast music from every speaker.
- What symptoms indicate you need some me-time?
I become very short on patience. - When did you most recently have to plan ahead for me-time?
I had my last “Kim Day” in June, and I planned a facial and a massage. My birthday is next week so I hope to take myself out on another Kim Day. - What is likeliest to interrupt your me-time?
(chuckles) Nah. Nope. Not answering this one! 😉 - When someone says me-time, what do you immediately think of?
I’m not sure what I think of, but I’m immediately envious! - How will you take some me-time this weekend?
I’ll relax in my hammock and read. But even then, the neighbors might be mowing then lawn, splashing in their pool, or my phone will buzz with a text. I know I sound bitter and I don’t mean to, but I’m never truly alone.
I hope you have a fantastic weekend, even if the misery that is September is just around the corner. I’ll be back on Monday with a post about my August cards!
Although it took me a lot of time (most of it getting over the bitterness), I did learn to use the GIMP for most of my everyday photo-editing tasks. It’s got its quirks for sure, but it also does a few things better, like handle HEIC files with no problems or plugins. I say “I wish I was doing this in Photoshop” far more often than I say “I wish I was doing this in GIMP,” but I do say the latter once in a while! And, you know. It’s free.
Enjoy your staycation. It sounds like it’s coming at a good time.