This week I am participating in Ali Edwards‘ Week in the Life project. It is a seven-day documentary project taking a deep dive into the details of our everyday lives through words and photos. This year I hope to share most of my words and photos from each day here on the blog. For each day this year I am using a different story lens to guide my storytelling and I’m aiming to end up with 13 or so photos for each day.
Thursday’s story lens was “For the love of…” and I found that I had so much to say for this particular prompt. This was a new prompt for me, but definitely one I will use again. Here are some of my words and photos for Thursday.
For the love of getting outside first thing in the morning. Getting outside for a walk or a run first thing in the morning is what keeps me going. It’s the best way for me to start my day and makes me feel great. This morning Ruby and I took a 2mile walk together, and it definitely wasn’t our best. Ruby was distracted by every bird or squirrel or scent and I tried out a new hands-free leash that was elastic and just didn’t help with correcting her distracted behavior. I came back feeling pretty frustrated, but after some time (and food!) I felt really grateful for the pleasant weather and the opportunity to move my body outside.
For the love of a day with no plans or obligations. Today is a day that is wide open for me! I have no tasks on my to-do list that HAVE to be done today and no outside obligations or appointments and it feels good, if a little unnerving. I’m pretty hard on myself and how I spend my days. Without a job to report to every day, I feel a lot of pressure to show that I am being productive and try to quantify how I’m spending my days. This is completely an internal pressure, but present nonetheless. It’s something that is taking some adjusting to and re-learning how to manage myself and what to do when my paying work doesn’t require daily attention.
For the love of fast shipping options. Shawn got an email this morning saying that my Switch has shipped and is expected here tomorrow. I guess if there is anything on my to-do list that I want to get done, I should do it now because I predict a lot of my weekend will be spent playing Animal Crossing!
For the love of our sweet Ruby girl. We have recently been discussing and debating whether or not to get another puppy. We each kind of want another one, but there are also lots of reasons for us not to do it. We decided a few weeks ago that it is not the time for us to get another dog and that we are really blessed and grateful for Ruby girl. There may be a time in the future when we make a difference choice, but for now, she’s our one and only. Since making the decision, each day I’ve noticed the things that make me really happy and grateful for Ruby. Like today, when she so cutely grabbed her giant semi-stuffed LambChop and stole Shawn’s seat when he got up during lunch and proceeded to sit there as if it was her spot all along. She just has so much personality and is a perfect fit in our family. She makes our lives so much better and we could not love her more.
For the love of leggings. I have never been a huge leggings wearer, but this stay-at-home time has really made me a convert. I just want to be comfortable and feel like I am ready for any opportunity to move my body that comes along. Something about wearing leggings and “workout gear” just makes me feel more fit and better in my body right now. So I’m leaning into it.
For the love of my current role as “domestic goddess” (as Shawn calls it). Being let go from DHF last year was incredibly hard for me. For both of us. To feel like I gave a large part of myself to that organization and be tossed out so dismissively and disrespectfully really took a toll on me. I decided that if I’m going to be that giving of myself to anything else, I’m going to have ownership of it. So I decided to start my own business. It’s still really a huge work in progress and not really off the ground, but I am actively thinking about it and spending time on it. Additionally, I’ve picked up a little bit of contracting work that requires sort of a part-time or less than commitment from me. Otherwise, my time is mine to do with it as I see fit. It’s still a really uncomfortable fit for me, despite it being what I want. I’m used to working. I’m used to pouring all of myself into my work. I’m used to having so little leftover that I can’t really take care of myself or our home. Now the tables have turned. I’m in exactly opposite the situation and I have the opportunity to design a life I love. And I am so blessed to have this opportunity and so grateful that Shawn’s new job supports all of us. Being able to work because I want to, not because I have to has been a game changer. And I have been loving the messy process of figuring out what that looks like for me.
For the love of Chick-fil-a. It’s no secret that we are big CFA fans around here. We are grateful that they have remained open during the stay-at-home order for curbside pickup and drive thru. During this time we have gotten food from CFA at least once per week via curbside pickup. Curbside allows us to interact with a single person rather than 2-3 in the drive-thru. It was so yummy for lunch today!
For the love of Some Good News with John Krasinski. This is a weekly YouTube show that John Krasinski started from his home back in March after we all entered quarantine. The goal of the show is to highlight stories from around the country featuring only good news. We have really been enjoying it and every. single. episode. moves us BOTH to tears. Globally, the daily news and headlines are depressing and harsh and full of ignorance, hatred, death, and conflict. I generally despise the news and tend to stay away from it, but during the pandemic the bad news has been amplified and multiplied. But on a micro level, there are tons of stories of how good people are and how well they are treating each other in every day life. This show selects a few each week and elevates them and shares them broadly to shone light on the fact that at our core, people are still good and doing good in the world, even if we aren’t hearing about it in the headlines. It’s so necessary and such a source of positivity and love and I’m so grateful for this little show. I only hope it continues even after the pandemic is “over”.
For the love of Shawn working from home. Shawn started this new job in December and we were all just starting to get used to our new roles and new day-to-day situation of working apart when the stay-at-home order was issued. At that time, Shawn started working 100% remote as a non-essential employee. As of now, it sounds like his company will be operating this way for as long as possible and when they do re-open their offices it will be on a volunteer basis, at least for some period of time. Either way, it has been a joy to have him home everyday. It has certainly been something we all needed to adjust to, but we have settled into a pretty good routine over the last few weeks. I love getting to see him throughout the day and eat meals together and not have him commuting 2 hours each day. It has given us more time together, which I am always grateful for.
For the love of Rosie, our robot vacuum. I love that the majority of my vacuuming is something I don’t even have to think about anymore. I have a programmed little robot to do that for me. We run her on the main floor every week day and I am to have her run upstairs once per week. She’s very handy to have around.
For the love of choice. It was announced yesterday that the Stay-at-Home Order will be lifted beginning Friday (tomorrow) at 5pm. I have so many reservations and anxiety about this that I’ve been trying to identify and work through for the last couple of weeks. Mostly, I don’t want to go back to ton of obligations demanding my time and attention. I have really enjoyed this time at home and the slower pace of life. I don’t want that to end. I do want to see the people I love who live outside my house and be able to spend time in person again, but I do not want to go “back to normal”. Shawn and I were discussing this a little bit today and he reminded me that it is my choice. I get to decide what this means for me. I get to decide what I want to go back to and what I want to leave behind. I get to decide how I spend my time regardless of what changes in the re-opening phases. I am grateful for the privilege of having this choice and I am trying to remember that just because this order lifts tomorrow, nothing is going to change for us right away. We are still going to be staying mostly at home, we are still going to be social distancing from our friends and loved ones, and we are still in control of the demands on our time (more or less).
For the love of light. My favorite thing about this house is how large the windows are and how much light they allow in. Right now, it is such a treat to pull the curtains open during the day and wait for the light to flood in in the afternoon.
For the love of Animal Crossing. I know I probably sound like a broken record this week, but I am seriously in love with this game. It’s super fun, calming, and feels productive because of all the different quests, activities, and tasks there are to chose from each day. It’s crazy how much joy this tiny little game and our developing deserted island brings us both.
For the love of ice cream. On my weigh-in days I like to splurge a little on my meals and treats. Tonight that included ice cream delivered from Friendly’s. Shawn got a sundae with chocolate and Hunka Chunka Peanut Butter ice cream with Reese’s Pieces and I got cookie dough ice cream. It was so yummy!
For the love of a quiet warm evening. Tonight I took Ruby out for her bedtime potty break and it was sprinkling rain, but so warm. The frogs were croaking so loudly in the pond and definitely had Ruby’s attention. It’s so quiet around here all the time now, it’s so peaceful.
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