When I started blogging back in late 2002, it was just me keeping a diary of what I do. I think until I get my groove back, I’m going to revert to that type of journaling.

This morning I managed to get out of the house early enough to have my fancy coffee Friday at Elixr. I had a Rophi pourover (black) and a yogurt parfait while I addressed cards for Postcards for Voters. This campaign is to inform Florida’s Democratic voters that they can register to vote by mail and have ballots sent to them. I … am not the biggest fan of voting by mail. I think it’s far too easy for ballots to be lost or “lost” but I have to put my tinfoil hat aside from time to time. For the greater good and all.

Work was great. I put the finishing touches on a data import project that was a few months in the making. And I also did the first run-through of a presentation that I’ll be giving at a small regional conference in December. It’s slated for an hour, so I want my slide deck to come in at 45 minutes which will leave plenty of time for questions and to let people out early so they can hit the bathrooms before the next session. I am equally terrified and excited about it. Volunteering to speak in front of strangers for an hour is something I never thought I would do, but I feel compelled to do it. In my gut I feel like this is a skill I’m going to need in order to advance my career.

I was able to reserve the large conference room for my ‘rehearsal’ because it’s super-quiet in the office on Fridays. Many of my coworkers choose to work from home on Fridays. My work from home day is Monday, which I ADORE because it’s an easy entree into the workweek. Plus, it’s easier to schedule home maintenance tasks on Monday than Friday.

Tonight we had Chinese food for dinner. I washed my face with Lush Dark Angels (my Friday night ritual), washed my makeup brushes, tossed a load of towels into the washer, and settled down in the living room for the night. WM’s in his chair, Murphy and I are on the sofa, and Ollie is passed out on the floor. We’re watching “Crikey! It’s the Irwins!” on Animal Planet. They are the sweetest, most wholesome little family. It’s televised cotton candy. While Robert is going to eventually look and sound just like Steve Irwin, I feel Bindi has all of his mannerisms and enthusiasm.

It’s not the most exciting life, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Summer was the best and then House Russell slammed into Sad Girl Autumn with the ferocity of a Super Dave stunt.

Yeah. Like that.

I’m going to start with good things..
> I had a birthday!
> WM and I went to see Hamilton in Philly and it was everything I’d hoped and more
> Mom and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas and it was amazing
> Nephews A and B are still the world’s greatest kids
> Ollie and Murphy continue to bring joy and destruction
> I still enjoy my job!

And now, the rest…

My mother-in-law had a health emergency (ugh)
> But recovered (yay!)
>>However has some more hurdles to go through (ugh)
>>>Including multiple surgeries (ugh)

WM’s school moved into a new building (yay!)
>Which is great because the high school population was split among 4 buildings (ugh)
>>But the moving was stressful (ugh)

My father had a health emergency (ugh)
> And had surgery (ugh!)
>>But claims to be fine (yay?)

I had a routine mammography (no big deal)
> And was called back for more scans (ugh)
>>And had a mammogram assisted breast biopsy of suspicious tissue (holy shit wtf?!)
>>>Which turned out to be benign! (ohthankgod yay!)
>>>>Yet, I am still mind-fucked by the whole thing. Still. (sad ugh)

Ollie had a cough (ugh)
> Which is resolving with meds (yay)
>>But he’s also a scabby mess because of seborrheic dermatitis (ew!)
>>>Which should calm down eventually (yay)
>>>>With frequent shampooing (ugh)

Our refrigerator died (Jesus wept)
>But the freezer still works (yay!)
>>And we had the money available to buy a new one (yay!)
>>> But man every time we get a savings account going something breaks (boo)
>>>>Literally, the money has been draining from our lives since the $900 car repair in August…

Harry-the-fish-who-Lived died (weep!)
>Along with every other goddam fish in his tank – like, within minutes of each other (WTF?)
>>Except one fish, who now has a grizzled war-vet look to him. He’s seen some shit. (okay?)

Alex Trebek is likely going to die soon. The country is a mess. And tonight, Molly the Jeep threw up a Check Engine light.

We are in a season of malaise. It feels like our household has a low-grade fever that isn’t going away.

Aren’t you glad I started blogging again?