Running Into Joy

I woke up in a bad mood on Saturday. Well, really, I woke up still in a bad mood. Reader, I had a week this week.  It's been snowing and icing basically every day here in PA, and while we certainly don't have it as bad as some places, it's been a challenging winter nevertheless.  On Tuesday, my pain reached a fever pitch and I had to take a day off to sleep, drink water, and avoid screens as much as possible. Wednesday morning rolled around and my car tires had literally frozen to my parking space out back, which meant I had to salt the area and hang out at home for the start of my day.  Then I got to work and realized I'd forgotten my laptop charger.  It's just one of those weeks where nothing truly bad happens, yet a bunch of little irritations snowball (literally).  And then Saturday morning I had to make good on the promise to myself that I had to go to the DMV to get my PA license. I've been putting this off due to an identity crisis wherein I do not want t...

Today, I embarked on a journey I have long awaited and feared.  Today, I made my first cake roll.  As you may have noticed, I took last week off from baking. Originally I planned only to take weeks off between sections. Then, I got the opportunity to volunteer at (and attend) a local virtual writing conference. Rather than squeeze in the bake and make it feel like an unpleasant chore, I opted to wait on Week 12, instead.  Somehow, one week off felt like months.  I'd love to say I raced back in eagerly, but I'm in the midst of an occipital neuralgia pain flare so my level of enthusiasm in general is a little bit muted.  It doesn't help matters that Azula smacked the already affected side of my head with her bone, adding a bruise to my already painful head.  Still, I try not to let pain flares get too much in my way, especially when they go on for several days like this one has. I took some ibuprofen to help dull the pain, and got on with it. Grumpily.  ...

It's time for another installment of Things I've Been Enjoying Lately, where I generally round up what's been making the rounds in my personal self-care routine of late. The month of January went by quite slowly for me, and yet somehow I'm also surprised we're already in February.  As the weather shifts towards my least favorite form, at below 20 degrees Fahrenheit for several days in a row, I find myself hiding inside a bit less than in prior years, thanks to my energetic pup Azula, who still needs her morning walk every day. In spite of that, I feel called to cozy nights curled up under the blankets with a book or (increasingly) my Nintendo Switch.  Maybe it's just me, but as the "unprecedented" lack of access to many of my typical small joys stretches on, I sometimes reach the end of my workday without much of a sense of how to fill my evening hours. Here's a few of the things I've been up to recently to make the most of that recharge time. ...