I felt more focused on work over the last week than I have for a while. I applied the revelation that came to me while hiking on the 25th about not making work harder for myself. And work was, overall, easier on me. Which helps with my overall mental health. I’m not helping myself by agonizing over work, and, as I reminded myself, this work is easy for me.
I had a nice time at the hot springs on Wednesday. A man who had been there the prior week with a female companion came back and struck up a conversation with me. We were both also talking to others in the hot tub, but then the others disappeared and he began flirting with me, in ways unsubtle enough that I could recognize them. He wanted me to meet him at the bar after the hot springs, but I like an early bed time. And I wasn’t going to go to a bar wearing sweatpants, a sleep shirt, and a pink bathrobe. That’s hot springs attire only! But it was nice to have some bantering conversation.
I got to see one of my step-mom’s nieces on Thursday at family zoom since the niece was in town visiting from the UK. I suggested that they should visit Goblin Market, but I’m not sure if they made it or not. I hung up the mushroom print that I bought from Goblin Market last time I was in town, and I showed that off in the zoom.
Friday night, I went over to a friend’s place to watch a movie. This friend and I had been talking about getting together for a movie night for about two years by this point; she recently moved into a place at the hot springs, so when I saw her there Wednesday night, we just dialed in and agreed to do it this past Friday. I met her kitties, and we watched Coraline, which she has seen many times, but I hadn’t seen before. I’ll be honest, I’m not going to say that I’ve seen it quite yet, because we did a lot of talking during the movie. I will be rewatching it on my own so that I can honestly say I’ve seen it. I think we’ll do that again sometime, and hopefully not wait two years to do it again.
I went for a hike on Saturday. I decided to do the Hitt Mountains this time. I drove up to the trailhead for Sturgill Peak and headed out. I didn’t feel very good physically while hiking. It was very cold, but I was prepared for that, with my neck gaiter and long underwear. Still, my body didn’t feel great, so I stuck with doing two 50 minute segments up and then home. MapMyRun failed to track my distance, though it did track my time okay, so I turned on my GPS at my turnaround point to get a good idea of the mileage, about 5.1 miles total. And less than 2000 feet of gain, but I didn’t pay attention to exacctly how much less.
I didn’t have any particular revelations on this hike, but I did start composing some songs. I think they’re for the musical version of the book I’m writing about Ambrose’s death. I really need to figure out how to write the rest of the songs in my head. I hear the accompaniment in my head and it’s amazing, but I have no idea how to get it out of my head to where others can hear it.
After the hike, I went home and got to work on doing chores. I had to get cleaned up and eat lunch first. Then it was time for trash. I decided to go ahead and pick up what my contractor had left, and that actually delayed me quite a bit because I was trying to pack up all the stuff. I got to the transfer station with less than ten minutes to spare before they closed, but I made it. Then a quick stop at the local grocery store and home again for exercises and dinner.
I went to bed relatively early Saturday night so I could get up relatively early on Sunday morning and get my exercises done. My Sunday morning plan was to get myself to Ontario to go see a movie. I haven’t been to a movie since before the pandemic, I think. Ambrose and I used to go to movies on a semi-regular basis before the pandemic. Usually the cheap seats. The closest theater is in Ontario, and it isn’t the cheap seats. $9 for a Sunday matinee seems wildly expensive to me, but this was for my birthday so I also treated myself to a large popcorn and a blue raspberry Icee. I saw Street Fighter at 11:30 am on a Sunday morning with three other people in the theater. The seat reclined nicely and featured a little swingable table surface to put things on in addition to the cup holder. It was a fun movie and I had a good time.
I did leave the house a bit too early for the movie though, so I also stopped in at Waremart for a few more groceries and Marshalls to see what they had. I ended up getting a can opener and a pair of chenille socks at the Marshalls. My old can opener was falling apart, so I’ve been looking to replace it for a few weeks now. The socks were just so soft inside and out, I couldn’t resist. I didn’t find what I’ve been looking for, which is a shoe rack, but maybe I’ll find something at one of the holiday markets this month.
At choir today, we finalized the female solo for the Grinch song. I will get the back half of the female solo, and we’ll practice that next week. I talked with my flute ladies and we’re going to practice together tomorrow after work. I’ll vote after that. If Hugo’s isn’t in town or is gone once I’m done voting, then I’ll get something at the pizza place or the Saddle Rack. Or the bar if they’re doing food. I also have some winning lotto tickets I need to redeem. Thirty-six whole dollars just waiting for me to redeem them.
I’m trying to get myself to post these on Sundays instead of Mondays since finishing them means I stay up way later than I prefer. Maybe next week. Or maybe I’ll go to twice a week to get myself to change things up. Thursday/Sunday?
