Hello! Remember me? The blogger who loves white? It’s been a long while, hasn’t it? Is anyone still out there?

How are you?

Really.

How are you?

I’m curious about how you’re doing. What you’re reading. What you’re doing. How you’re coping. What’s making you smile. What you’re thankful for. What you’re interested in. What activities you’re doing. And if you feel happy.

I’m curious about all of these things, dear readers! Please share!

As for me? Well, I’ve experienced some changes. For the better. Although there have been mountains to climb and very stressful days.

Today, though, I feel good. Great, in fact. Minus my sprained ankle which is currently elevated as I type from the comfort of my couch.

I don’t have a dramatic story to share about my ankle. I sprained it (light sprain, I think) playing pickle ball. You know that sport which is like tennis and which is popular among seniors in Florida? Yes, that pickle ball. I rolled my ankle. My beau carried me princess style to safety, so I could rest in the shade while the pickle ball tournament continued. A friend subbed in for me, so that my 12 year old partner could continue to play. So, yeah, that’s the short story of my ankle.

Beyond that, my major news is that after eight years of living in my own home (my first home!), I moved. That was major. Double major because my beau and I moved in together. Woah. Big news, yes. It wasn’t a smooth process, unfortunately, but we’re settling in just fine now. He cleans out the sink drain (one of my least favourite chores), so that’s handy! I’m even trying to learn to live with a touch of colour. He liked my red office chair in the new living room, so we left it. Luckily, he’s okay with white, too, and we have many overlapping images on our Pinterest boards. Yes, he has Pinterest boards. Luckily for me, he hasn’t pushed too hard for neon lights in his music space.

Like others, I’m tired of the pandemic news. Can we all get vaccinated and move on with life? Give me a third dose and a passport please, so I can travel. I miss travel. A lot.

We’ve done some local travel, though. Cottage life has been a nice reprieve. A week in Ottawa with friends was fun. It was great to be a tourist!

I haven’t seen my nephews and niece (and sister and brother-in-law) in two years. Two years is too long. I miss them. Everyone has changed. I barely know what they’re interested in. Facetime is fine, but it’s not sufficient. When borders open, I’m heading south. Or they’ll come north. Or we’ll meet in the middle.

Work life is great. I am so so so grateful for my job. I love it. I connected with students last year in ways that I never had before. Many of my students had such a hard year. So many challenges. Sad stories. Trauma. It was a lot. This was the first week of classes for the fall term, and I just hope that everyone has a positive year and that they learn a lot!

And blogging. Where does this fit in these days?

Obviously, it hasn’t fit in my life over the last few months. But I miss writing. I need to make time for it. I’m not sure when and how, but I need to. It makes me happy.

And I want to continue to do things that make me happy.

Oh so simple.

I’ll be back, dear readers, and I hope you will be, too.

Better late than never, right? Phew – how did June get here so fast? And leave so fast, too? Since I missed my May update, I’ll combine the two months into one update post.

How did you do this month with your 2021 goals?

Here’s where I’m at with my goals.

1. Eat more vegetables. I know I didn’t get enough veggies in me in May, and I was feeling terrible. I ate too much fast food and take out, and I didn’t make enough time for grocery shopping and cooking. I changed things in June, and I got back on track with lunchtime salads and veggies at dinner.
2. Travel. Still on hold.
3. Save money. Not quite. I had a major life change in May/June (I moved!), which meant that my expense tracking went out the window! Now that we’re in our new house, I’m back to tracking our expenses.
4. Pass on magazines/books/clothes/puzzles. Sort of. I did a major clean-out (on account of the move), so I had plenty of boxes for donation. It felt good to pass things on that are high quality but no longer needed.
5. Crochet a blanket. I made some progress at the beginning of May, then put it on hold. For now, I have a great child-sized blanket.
6. Reduce social media consumption. This one is still a challenge for me. I scroll Instagram for no reason.
7. Renovate my bathroom. This one is now off my list because, you guessed it, I sold my house.
8. Play games. Games have moved to the park these last couple of months – frisbee and soccer, mostly. I’m eager to break out the croquet set though!
9. Edit my magazine subscriptions. Getting there! I didn’t renew one magazine recently.
10. Read more. Yes! I listened to My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite on audiobook, and I really enjoyed it. I read Elena Ferrante’s The Lying Life of Adults, and I thought it was fine. It wasn’t nearly as good as her Neapolitan novels. I also started to listen to Barack Obama’s A Promised Land. He narrates the audiobook, which makes it even that much better! I made it through a few parts before my borrowing time was up at the library. I’ll request it again to continue to listen to it.
11. Blog. It was really tough to keep writing in May/June.
12. Bike ride regularly. Not quite. I took a pause from biking, for much of May and June, but now that my bike is at my new house, I’m using it regularly.
13. Cross stitch. No progress here. I may have to move this to my 2022 goal list.
14. Have fun! There have been some very stressful days these last couple of months, and it was tough to find time for fun. Move-in weekend, however, ended up being quite fun because friends came to help!

Previous updates: January, February, March, April