Author Archives: sara

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About sara

i live in michigan with my teenage daughter, my partner, and our three cats. i am a paralegal, legal manager and corporate governance specialist, and when i'm not reading contracts or maintaining the dusty archives of our arcane corporate history like some weirdly specific librarian, i enjoy knitting, books, running slowly, making candles, and bird-watching. i started blogging way back when I was an expat living in australia and in recent years have tried to be more diligent about keeping this space up to date and as a creative outlet for the things in my life that inspire me and balance my 9-5.

friday five: last night i dreamt i went to manderley again

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  1. We went up north last weekend and had a wonderful autumn weekend in my happy place with many of the people I love best. Brandon & I had a nice hike at the Treat Homestead in the Sleeping Bear, we ate like kings thanks to my mom, we laughed endlessly with my dad, and it was just what I needed to fill up my bucket til the holidays.

2. I have to make a couple of conspicuous consumer-type recommendations. Firstly, I recently splurged on a very well-reviewed brush-hairdryer combo that I love. I wash my hair every day, but usually just blow-dry and put it into a messy pony or bun, or if I have to go into the office or somewhere public I will actually use my ceramic straightener. This dryer gives me the option of a nice blow-out without the damage of the straightener and I’m pleased with it!

3. Not for the fellas – I shied away from the recent “bralette” craze because I usually – [ahem] – require a bit more support. But at $14.99, I decided to try one of these from Target and I ended up going back for 2 more. I can’t see myself wearing anything else (as long as they hold up in the wash) – well, at least until the days of “return to office” when an underwire will be required. They are super comfortable and flattering.

4. Although Brandon & I are halfway through our 21 Days of Horror binge, I took a break to watch Netflix’s Rebecca. This book holds a lot of sentiment for me – in high school, I was placed in an Honors English class during freshman year, and we spent 4 years together with different teachers exploring all types of literature. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier was one of the first novels we read together as a class and as such, I have vivid associations with it. We later went on to read things like ‘Julius Caesar’, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, and ‘Lord of the Flies’ together but I will always think of ‘Rebecca’ fondly. And this interpretation by Netflix – well, it blew me away. Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas are EXACTLY how I envisioned the second Mrs. de Winters and Mrs Danvers – to the letter, to the note, to the hairstyle and the lipstick. So perfect. And Armie Hammer – who has never really done anything for me – is wonderful as Maxim de Winter (and might I add – RRROWRRRR!!). Spectacular all around.

5. Bringing things down to reality. Our school board voted this week on a proposal to bring secondary students back to face to face classes as early as November 30. This comes on the heels of a vote approving elementary kids to return on November 9. We were a bit on tenterhooks about this, and as you can imagine, everyone had differing viewpoints on the wisdom (or lack thereof) of returning to f2f, even a hybrid model. Miss L’s dad & I had basically agreed that there was no point in sending her back – assuming we would have a choice – until after the holidays, but the district and parents were thrown into chaos by the vote and the debates. Ultimately, our district has voted to keep secondary kids remote until at least January 25 – while sending elementary kids back – which is a relief as it takes the decision out of our hands. And Miss L – being a strong-minded and self-driven kid- has done well with the remote model. But the application of different sciences & logics for elementary and secondary remains a bit mysterious to everyone so I really do feel for parents of younger kids who are in a quandary with decisions about health of kids and their family, quality of education, socialization, safety, etc.

Lastly – my typical reminder to vote and if you are on the fence as an undecided voter, please consider that Mr Biden has put together an excellent, high quality plan for economic stabilization while the orange disaster continues to churn vitriol, hate, fear, and bile with no plans whatsoever. Think about who will leave a better future for your children and grandchildren. But most importantly, VOTE on Nov. 3.

Have a lovely weekend, all. xo

friday five – early october edition

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  1. I had a good old -fashioned sick day on Tuesday. Having a home office means that even when I feel less than 100%, I usually end up logging on and working for the day, simply because the commute is manageable – if I can make it down the hall, I usually feel like I should get to work. But Tuesday I had a migraine of the sort that I haven’t had in a few months, with dizziness and difficulty focusing. I slept all morning, woke up and ate some lunch, and then went back to sleep. By evening, I was feeling a bit better, and by bedtime I felt the relief of impending normalcy. I felt a little guilty for taking the day off but it was the right thing to do.
  2. We’ve officially started our month-long “21 Days of Halloween” horror movie marathon. This concept was born a few years ago when I felt disgust over the “25 Days of Christmas” schlock on some Hallmark or Lifetime channel and decided to spend the month of October swimming in the macabre. I quickly realized that 31 days of horror movies – and then 25 days of horror movies – were unsustainable for a healthy mental outlook. 21 days is a sweet spot of reveling in the morbid and decayed whilst still maintaining a productive and optimistic energy level for day to day social adjustment. I’ve decided not to do the periodic posts of detailed reviews of our viewing and will instead post a list of our full viewing for the month on Halloween, along with a few starred reviews. So far, I’ll tip you off that we seem to be favoring the 1970’s horror genre which means heavy on the moody and atmospheric (albeit slow-moving) narratives.

3. We decorated the lawn – Miss L did a nice graveyard of styrofoam tombstones yet I could not bring myself to take down the Biden sign so perhaps sending the wrong message? The same day this photo was taken, the wind picked up and blew most of the tombstones over so I have to go back to the drawing board with embedding them more firmly – any tips?

4. The hummingbird feeder is finally down, washed, and stored for the winter. I have fallen in the the rhythm of refilling the feeders and birdbath every morning (after nightly deer and raccoon raids). I can usually hear the chickadees in the trees waiting for me to finish up, flitting with delicate and inquisitive flutters and sawlike calls, but the other morning it was an entirely different sound in the neighbor’s tree – a restless, shifting organism made up of a hundred birds. I was barely inside when the dark cloud descended on the feeders like a gang of rowdy drunks at a free bar. European starlings – probably 150 of them, and it only took them a few minutes of tussling and gorging to clean my feeders out. There were a few more the following day, but I think they’ve finally moved on, to the relief of my typical crowd of sparrows, cardinals, titmice, jays and finches and cardinals.

there were at least another fifty at my other feeders, further back.

5. I’m still working on my Halloween socks but had a setback this week. I’d turned the heel and was working on the gusset and feeling not happy with the heel flap, which was done in-pattern (the Minecraft sock pattern by Heather Cox, available on Ravelry). In addition, by time I started on the gusset, I had somehow forgotten that the pattern was written for circulars and I was using double-pointed needles. This resulted in mistakes and so I had to rip back anyway, so I decided spontaneously to rip the flap all the way back and instead of doing it in-pattern, replace it with a simple slip-stitch heel flap. I think I’m going to like this better but I did lose a couple of days on it.

Obligatory Pot Roast picture in my home office

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I’ll be busting on my socks, taking lots of naps, and reinforcing my tombstones against gusty autumn breezes.

Obligatory reminder to vote blue: it’s good for the economy, according to Moody’s and Goldman Sachs, and reduces the likelihood that your governor will be the target of a domestic terrorist extremist kidnapping plot!

friday five

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What a week. I almost didn’t show up in this space today but I do have five things and I’m enjoying this little weekly exercise, so without further ado, let’s jump right in.

  1. So did we need ANY MORE PROOF that Trump is a criminal, a liar, a bully and a racist who defends, protects, and promotes white supremacy? I didn’t. He’s been showing those things via his actions for years. The minute he appointed a poster boy for the Breitbart alt-right to his administration, that was all I needed to know, and by the time he defended white supremacists in Charlottesville (“very fine people”), the horse was waaay out of the barn for me. The fact that he could not wrap his fat mouth around the simple words condemning a fascist, alt-right, Holocaust-denying organization is no surprise to me – but when people tell you who they are, believe them. The sad thing is that his base doesn’t care. His time in the White House has given credence and a voice to a segment of the US population that should be living under rocks, in the boondocks, being generally scorned by the civilized public and allowed to die a toothless death on a sagging couch under a stained Confederate flag wall-hanging. Instead, our President, our Commander in Chief, has them on standby when he refuses to accept a peaceful transfer of power. What the ever-loving FUCK, people. (Although I did love the suggestion from one Tweeter that said that if he were Biden, he’d open the debate by putting a tin cup in front of Trump and flipping a quarter into it.)
I will always be here for the Biden / Barack bro memes. 🙂

2. If you are on IG and NOT following Quentin Tarantino’s account @quentin.quarantino, you are missing out on some extremely funny shit from someone who hates MAGA and the right-wing and has an amazing sense of the bizarre, the incisive, and the hilarious. Also some great merch in his shop, and I think he donates some portion of the profits to charities although I can’t find any verification of that (I think I remember him posting a Story about it?).

3. On a complete 180, I’ll move into television entertainment and say that we were excited to see a new ep of The Great British Baking Show on Netflix. It is more subdued than previous seasons, but Noel, Paul, and Prue were a breath of fresh air and although we miss Sandi, Matt Lucas seems like he’ll be a fine addition. It’s such a nice show to have for family viewing times with Miss L and when she’s with her dad, Brandon & I have been dipping into Season 2 of The Boys which is just as totally off the hook as Season 1 with just as many crazy “WHOA” moments.

4. I am making hay while the sun shines. Working from home has given me no excuse to get my shit together so this week I made dentist appointments and flu shot reservations for me & Miss L, went to the doctor for a physical and a prescription refill, had the chimney swept, and bought firewood. My car is completely up to date with service, and I am going into the winter with a new furnace and water heater. And yes we broke down and turned the heat on yesterday. Bring on the winter.

5. I’m hoping to get my Halloween socks finished to wear for Halloween but although my progress has been steady so far, I know that my sock-knitting productivity can take mysterious hits at any given time, so I am really trying to (see above) make hay while the sun shines. These are Ravelled, but just as an FYI I”m using Less Travelled 757 sock yarn in the Slutty Pumpkin colorway and using the Minecraft pattern by Heather Cox, which is also on Ravelry. This is resulting in a very satisfying knitting project and the Less Travelled yarn is lovely to work with.

I hope you’re all getting ready for a lovely weekend full of fall fun – pumpkins, woodsmoke, yummy treats, warm blankies and leaf piles. I’m going to be decorating the yard for Halloween with a variety of tombstones and a scary pumpkin-headed ghoul (that Miss L, in withering 12-year old fashion, thought was “a little tacky”). DON’T CARE – BRING ON THE GHOULS. xoxo

friday five

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  1. Getting the majority of the griping out of the way up front (although I can’t guarantee there won’t be more), I’ve been super tired and unmotivated this week. I didn’t run, I barely accomplished the most critical items on my ‘to-do’ list, and I felt like I was in a state of torpor until midway through Thursday. It may be the weather (much cooler at night) but I just feel like I could sleep for hours.
Pot Roast

2. Brandon, however, has NOT been feeling tired – he’s still furloughed but he is up every day a bit before seven, watching the Tour de France on his streaming subscription, then hitting up the local skateboard park for a couple of hours with the old thrashers. He’s also been repainting our hallway, foyer, and stairwell, which is leading to a complete revamp of that area. We are swapping out some older pieces of furniture for a bench to go next to the door and I ordered a new foyer light fixture from Pottery Barn. I’m looking at new rugs. And we made the decision to paint our stairs, which is no small undertaking. We’re going for this kind of vibe.

But of course on a much smaller scale because I only have a few feet of exposed stairway rail and no wainscoting. I’ll keep you posted as to how it goes!

3. I read a super inspiring book this week (YAY for our libraries being open!) and although I should wait to share this for SUYB, I have to mention it because if you’re a maker, it’s worth checking out. It celebrates all different kinds of artists who work with their hands, on everything from dyeing to stencilling to metalwork to fiber arts to glass to ceramics to fashion – EVERYTHING. I liked it so much I put the picture on IG and, in a bit of a fangirl moment, the AUTHOR HERSELF Melanie Falick commented on it. So cool. Every time I opened it to read another essay, I found new inspiration and new IG accounts to follow. Highly recommend!

4. I tried out a new recipe last week and it got two major thumbs up from Brandon. This chicken caprese skillet from Skinnytaste was definitely a hit. It reminded me of my favorite summer salad, with tomatoes and basil and balsamic and fresh mozzarella, didn’t take very long in my cast iron skillet, and I served it with orzo and garlic bread.

5. This is worth more than a friday five mention, but the passing of RBG hit me hard, and this subsequent week in politics has been particularly arduous. I have tried to simply keep gratitude for the amazing work she did for equal rights and not get overly emotionally embroiled (any more so than I am right now) in the repugnant response from the right, but it’s hard. Don’t even get me started on what a completely unredeemable and non-value-added human being Mitch McConnell is. And to top it off with Donald Trump giving the impression that he would be the first American president not to respect the peaceful transfer of power and throw our country into a violent, unsettled constitutional crisis is beyond egregious. And should be considered sedition. I cannot believe that even the most ardent Republican could be unaware of what this represents and the absolute Pandora’s box of true anarchy (TRUE anarchy – not the fascist, racist conservativism complaints about BLM and other protesters exercising their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS to assembly that Trumpsters CLAIM to be anarchy – I guess they only care about the parts of the Constitution that THEY want to defend, such as the right to bear arms, hypocrites) they would allow to be opened if they do not speak out against this. Do they really want a Dictator for Life?

On that dismayed and sour note, I apologize and wish you a happy weekend. I may be curating my social media, I will be exploring my “maker” side, I will be eating a big messy burger from the Rolling Stoves, drinking some wine, and I will hopefully be getting my running mojo back a bit. Be well and enjoy. xoxo

friday five

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  1. The mailman has been so good to me this week. I received my copy of Nomadic Knits issue 7, featuring our beautiful Mitten State. I haven’t read it thoroughly yet but just browsing through it, it’s full of beautiful patterns and stunning photographs. I think my next sweater project (after Pink Memories) may be in there.

But first, I need to pick a pattern on cast on for my very first pair of Halloween socks – using one of my other bits of happy mail this week. Two preordered colorways from Traveling Yarn came – Turning Leaves (the pink tones) and Slutty Pumpkin (who can resist that name???)

2. Miss L was very disappointed not to get placed into an art class at her middle school this semester, so I signed her up for a small, socially distant weekly community ceramics class. It’s held at a local park which is the site of an historic homestead, a beautiful old house, stables, barn, a forest with several trails, orchard, a nature center, etc. The art studio is in the old stables and while Miss L threw some clay, I rambled around the trails, admiring the hazy sunshine, thickly overlaid with high altitude smoke from the West Coast, and did some knitting. It was a very peaceful way to spend an hour, watching the archery class and martial arts class meet outside, six feet apart. I can’t wait to see these trails in a few weeks, when darkness rises and fall color blazes.

3. For someone who very rarely paints her nails, I sure love nail polish and look of a beautiful, shiny manicure. It’s one of the first things I notice and admire in women. I ordered a Cookies & Creme polish set from Olive & June and did my nails this week. The colors seemed to go on a bit thin, but I’ve been overall pleased with them, and they’ve lasted 4 days without chipping so far, just using the Olive & June topcoat (usually I use Orly topcoat, which is the only thing I’ve tried that can preserve my manicure). I’d love to get back into the swing of having painted nails.

4. This week’s only real spot of bad news is the water heater. See last week. Sure enough, the diagnosis was imminent death. So Monday was essentially spent with a plumber. I’m out a nice wad of cash, but it is undeniably pleasant to have hot water whenever I turn on the tap without having to run down to the basement to relight the pilot.

5. I went into the office yesterday. I’ve gone in about once a month since the pandemic hit, but the mood yesterday was different. I’ve had some tough moments working from home this summer, even though I prefer it overall to being in the office. But this time the sun was shining and the leaves turning, and I had a feeling of wistful nostalgia walking up the stairs, unlocking my door, smelling the office smell, turning the calendar another month. Will we ever be back? The office is comfortable; it makes me remember that I’ve got this. Things that feel like a huge deal sitting alone in my home office slash spare bedroom are shrugworthy in the office. Being there reminds me that I have a pretty good track record of handling shit and a pretty strong emotional bandwidth, even when I am not sure that I can take one more thing when I’m on my own during a pandemic. I feel alone sometimes but in truth, I’m not. Two of my colleagues were also in, and we chatted behind our masks. They reinforced that they’d had the same moments of self-doubt, malaise, isolation, and loneliness. It was so nice to see them, to laugh about the fact that we couldn’t hug after six months, share our stories, catch up, and then go our separate ways with best wishes until we meet again. I needed that boost because, as my colleague said, it will be dark soon. Winter will bring the darkness, the days of grey will come, the cold will come, and it will be hard again, here; short days and long nights and a second wave. He’s worried about how we will all deal with that. But somehow, yesterday, being in the office reminded me that we are all in this together and will get through this and although our politicians and our bad actors will continually try to point out how different we are, how much we should hate and fear, in my experience, the people in my circle, work and personal, even with ideological differences, want to come together and find a middle ground and do right by each other as best they can. I hope you have those people in your circle as well and I hope wherever you are this weekend, you have a moment of remembering them, not just in your mind but in your heart and your soul. xoxo

five things friday

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Happy Friday friends. Just a few thoughts to round out this week.

1. Why do short weeks almost always feel long? A four day work week is usually no bargain for me as I end up feeling like I have to fit five days of tasks in.

2. Fall feels like it has settled here in SE Michigan. The weather has been damp and dreary and downright cool at night. No leaf change yet, though. The birds are all over the feeders and I’m still seeing my very territorial female hummingbird at her feeder. But for how much longer?

3. This article- we need crime fiction – was an interesting read and will be my new go-to when someone asks me why I like to read / watch true crime and horror.

4. The water heater has been on the fritz and one of my joys in life is a blazing hot shower or bath so the plumbers will be here later today. If I’m lucky (extreme sarcasm) then 2020 will be the year of a new furnace and a new water heater! So much for expendable income when you are a homeowner.

5. Cooler days have me already decorating the mantle for autumn and stocking up on multiple fall candles in pumpkin, vanilla, and apple cider scents. Our local Fresh Thyme grocery store also stocks pine cones scented with maple pecan and pumpkin which you can literally smell as you are walking across the parking lot. I had to buy them too. Usually I stick with Bath & Bodyworks or whatever brand they stock at Target but this year I also found som cute yummy ones at Michael’s when Miss L & I went to restock her art supplies. My house smells like a boutique but the dessert smells make me hungry – which is probably why I pressured Miss L to make chocolate chip cookies last night after dinner.

Today of course is the anniversary of 9/11 and it’s not right to let it go without a mention. I remember where I was on this day as I am sure most of us in the US do. On this day I remember and honor all those who lost their lives in the attacks and those who showed the best of themselves to come to the aid of others in a time of great darkness.

I hope you have a great weekend! xoxo

show us your books! august reads.

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Linking up with hosts Steph and Jana for another month of bookish show and tell.

It was a doozy of a month so I’d better just jump right in.

The First Mrs Rothschild by Sara Aharoni was a Kindle Unlimited rec for me – not my fave, it dragged in parts but provided an eye-opening look at life as a Jewish woman in the Frankfurt ghetto. This was more interesting to me than the financial machinations of the Rothschild family.

A Cold Trail, Robert Dugoni (Tracy Crosswhite #7) brings me up to date with the Crosswhite series and I am eagerly awaiting #8. In this offering, Tracy, her husband Dan and baby Dani are back in the small town where they grew up. Tracy is dealing with being a new mom and making decisions about her career and in the meantime, investigating the unsolved murder of a teenage girl years before. I love Tracy.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton – A murder / suicide at a grand old decrepit British mansion during a weekend party? Yes please. But not straightforward, as this story unfolds in a Groundhog Day sort of way, with the protagonist being placed in different characters as the day repeats. I liked this, and I liked the characters and the mystery, but the plot grew increasingly outlandish. Extra points for an ominous Plague Doctor making creepy appearances.

Abandon by Blake Crouch was also hard for me to put down. A journalist attaches herself to a group of hikers (including her long-distant father) striking out to explore the ruins of a gold mining ghost town in the mountains. What caused all the inhabitants of this town to disappear without a trace? The supernatural elements build with questions and atmosphere. I liked where this story was going and was totally hooked when Crouch did the bait-and-switch. (No spoilers.) I didn’t love where the story went as much as I could have if it had continued to develop a more supernatural / ghostly explanation but I tore through it, on the edge of my seat throughout.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata was a quick read and a good breather from more tense books. Keiko is an outsider in her Tokyo culture, and can only find a place for herself, a sense of self-esteem and purpose through her job at a convenience store. Her family and friends do not understand her lack of interest in marriage and children and her contentment in what is considered to be a lowly, dead-end job (not a “career”). This is a bit sad but also funny and daring for a Japanese female writer who shrugs her shoulders at traditional expectations & expressions of female sexuality and independence. Interesting to me as I have been to Japan and work in a Japanese company, so have seen some elements of the culture that are described here.

Verity by Colleen Hoover was another suspenseful read. An introverted writer takes the seemingly-golden opportunity to step in for a very successful author and finish her popular series after she is badly injured. She quickly becomes embroiled with the author’s sexy husband and with the author’s hidden journal, full of horrifying secrets. I didn’t like the ending, which felt like a ripoff, and although I was fully absorbed, it loses points when I don’t like any of the characters and can’t find a sympathetic viewpoint.

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol – Miss L likes graphic novels so I bought her a handful of them for her birthday. I picked this up after she was done with it and thought it was well-done – a teenage girl from an immigrant family struggling to find her place in her private school becomes involved with a ghost who seems pathetic and eager to please, but quickly turns Anya’s life upside down. I liked the overall messages in this book (being true to yourself, the traps of popularity, loyalty to friends, etc) and enjoyed discussing it with Miss L when we were done.

Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang was recommended by a bestie and it was my favorite read of the month (saying a lot in a month of overall great reads). In turn-of-the-century New York society, Tillie Pembroke’s older sister has wealth, beauty, heart, and an excellent match – and then she turns up dead with two puncture wounds in her neck. Tillie – younger, more headstrong, always in her sister’s shadow – sets out to find the killer, using Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” as a guidebook. Along the way, she develops addictions to heroin and morphine, and, at a cost, breaks all the molds that her family and society have set for her, finds love and a purpose in life. I liked this book so much – the characters, the atmosphere, the mystery, the setting, and definitely plan on reading much more of Kang’s work.

The Sound of Rain by Gregg Olson is Nicole Foster Thriller #1 and another absorbing, suspenseful read. Nicole Foster is a former homicide detective who’s hit bottom – thanks to her terrible taste in men and a rampant gambling addiction, she’s lost her home, her dog, and her job on the force. She’s also haunted by the case of a murdered child and a terrible family life, starring a vicious and narcissistic younger sister. Nicole has to go all the way down (which is hard to read) in order to fight her way back and work through the case – which has crazy ties to her problematic personal life. It’s always hard to read a book where none of the characters are appealing and Nicole is certainly a very ambivalent protagonist. It’s hard to root for her until about 3/4 through and even then, her choices are really not good. But she claws her way out and it’s quite a ride with an absolutely bananas ending (that seemed a little “huh” to me). But I’ll read the second Nicole Foster and hope she’s in a better place.

I hope your reading month was as excellent as mine was!

five things friday

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  • I get a lot of “standard bird” visitors to my feeders – sparrows, downy woodpeckers, chickadees, cardinals, finches, etc. – but this week I’ve been excited to note a “newbie”. I get white-breasted nuthatches but I’ve been seeing many red-breasted nuthatches this week too! Apparently, they are going to be a more common sighting in the Midwest due to poor cone crops on spruce and fir trees in the boreal forests of Canada.
  • I’ve been watching Sandy by the Lakeside’s vlog for awhile now and was thrilled to snap up one of her large project knitting bags during her last shop update. They sell out fast and I am so happy with it – super fast shipping and beautiful workmanship. I can’t wait to cast on some new socks to put in it.
  • I finally got library books after almost six months without. I’ve been solely relying on Kindle reads and old paperbacks and finally had a couple of “must-reads”. My library will return to a limited in-person service next week but in the meantime, the curbside pickup was very convenient.
  • I’ve had a hormone headache all week and since it was also the first week of remote learning school, the timing was not ideal. Miss L is very independent and very efficiently navigated all the new technology – I was only called on to offer tech support a couple of times. I feel very thankful for all of the hard work that our teachers and school staff have done to start the kids off with new platforms, build relationships, and manage stress levels. I also feel enormous gratitude for a kid who loves to do things on her own. The tech has had some issues and glitches this week, and we’re still trying to manage our wi-fi connections here – we currently have all 3 of us at home and trying to juggle bandwidth for work, school, and Tour de France streaming (ahem BRANDON ;)) But all in all, a solid start and now thankfully the kids get 4 days off over Labor Day to recharge.
  • I think I finally have a day planner that’s going to work for me. I started out the year with Hobonichi and they just didn’t work. Too small. Not enough space. I’ve learned that an electronic calendar paired with a simple notebook works best for my work organization and I got a big discount on a Commit30 planner for the remainder of 2020 and a new one for 2021. I love the construction, the layout, and the size of the days even in the compact version (although I did get a full-size for 2021). And yes, fun stickers and colored markers do motivate me.

Very happy now to have a holiday weekend to try to shake this headache and enjoy my birds, library books, and knitting. Wherever you are I hope you also have a peaceful and recuperative weekend! xoxo

another week / august end

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So it’s been another week. A pattern of storms bounced us from high temps earlier this week to a Saturday morning that feels almost autumnal. Everything enjoyed the heavy rains, including Bunter the yard rabbit who sat out in the downpour almost all Wednesday morning.

Bunter is the little brown lump in the lower left.

There are a few bright red leaves on the admittedly stressed maples in the front yard. I’ve been reading up a storm and my home office was peaceful and productive this week except when I had Skype calls and then the jokesters I live with would try to entertain me.

Brandon keeps asking if I want to hang this up anywhere and I think he’s only half-kidding…

School starts on Monday and no one is happy about it. Teachers are stressed and I have enormous sympathy for them. Parents are stressed because the instructions, schedules, and learning platforms seem confusing, and in some cases have only just been released / received at the end of last week. Miss L is not best pleased although I’ve tried to get her excited through a concerted effort to clean and reorganize her desk in her room, creating a dedicated space for learning, and school shopping for supplies that she may not need right away. We had a joint session doing our day planners together with some fun stickers, marking off the holidays and days off we know about. We’ll all just have to do our best and give each other lots of grace.

I’ve been knitting a lot and am excited to say that I am about to embark on SLEEVES for the Pink Memories sweater!

Very poor quality picture of a crinkly pre-blocked mess of a WIP – but it will soon have SLEEVES!

And the Log Cabin blanket that is now a several-years-old WIP continues to meander along at its own pace, mostly for mindless television knitting as it’s just garter stitch, garter stitch, and more garter stitch. Someday I will decide it’s done and bind it off and start a new blanket but I have a lot of rows left in me for this one, I think.

I hope you are well on this Saturday wherever you are – I have no plans except to at some point wander out into the yard and put up the birdfeeders that were raided last night and left on the ground empty, no doubt by our yard raccoon or a squirrel gang. Maybe a nap later.

Be well and enjoy. xo

Reminder! 🙂

calendar year

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My boss gave me a heads’ up that I should be prepared to work from home for the rest of the calendar year. Given the recent decisions by most school districts in our area to start the year with “remote” classes and the overall numbers and autumn forecasts for Covid-19, I was expecting this, but when it became “sort of” official I still had a moment of startled ‘whaaa?!’

I like working from home and if you’d asked me a year ago, I would have said that having a home office would be a major life improvement. And in many ways, that’s what I’ve found it to be. My life feels way more balanced – no commutes, and the gains in my physical health are undeniable. I’m taking better care of myself, I have more time to spend with my daughter and with my partner, and more time for my own needs.

Every time my company has pushed out the goalpost of “back to the office”, I’ve been relieved. But even though it’s not really a surprise, and it’s the right / sane choice, this is the first time I did not have that secret “yay / whew” feeling. Instead I felt very unprepared and conflicted. The end of the calendar year? That means I’ll be sitting in this home office when the leaves outside the window are drifting off the trees, and when darkness starts to fall in the afternoon. I’ll be sitting in my home office when kids in Halloween costumes come kicking down the street (if there is a trick or treat this year) and I’ll still be sitting in this home office for the first snowstorms. I won’t be worried about snowy commutes but if I take time off around Christmas, my computer will be right down the hall so will it really feel like time off?

In general, I do feel more anxious now than I did at the beginning of the pandemic. I don’t know if this is a delayed reaction, or whether my recent work stresses have had more of an impact than they usually would, or if I just worry more because it’s harder to compartmentalize with everything under one roof – work, love, education, family, pets, finances, chores, entertainment, escapism, etc. I worry about yet again trying to balance Miss L’s educational needs in a remote school scenario with my work responsibilities. I worry that I’m not as good of an employee as I was when I had to show up at an office every day. I worry about distractions and I worry about keeping all those plates spinning. And there’s an undeniable sense of isolation. Even as an introvert, going into the office exposed me to other working parents, juggling the same concerns I was. And there was a sense that I was keeping my head above water the same as everyone else. Skype meetings are not enough to replace that.

I also feel guilty for having conflicted feelings about this. If I had to go back next week, I’d have major problems. The good thing is that among all those worries, I don’t have to worry that I’m being called back to a workplace where I don’t feel safe, and that I can be here for Miss L. Those are very good things indeed, and as far as the rest, I’ll just have to figure it out as I go.