Posted on : By : Michelle Posted in : Uncategorized

Just As I Promised…

Hello Friends,

I promised you last weekend that I would be here this weekend, and here I am! Not sure what I’m about to write, but here goes…

The last several days have been full. We are in one of our quarterly busy times at work, and the load I have been given is pretty enormous. I thought I would have to put in some significant overtime (which I wasn’t really looking forward to but there are some pieces of clothing I could purchase guilt-free if I had a little overtime cash in the bank…) but it looks like that won’t be necessary. One of my teammates has stepped up to help me out – she has a full docket herself so isn’t able to do any super heavy lifting for me, but the amount that she has been able to offer has made a serious quality-of-life difference for me during this time, and I am eternally grateful to her.

In other work-related news, I was given the official word that my company wants me to continue to work from home until the end of September. They have actually asked me to temporarily move all of my things out of my cubicle until October because they have been in the enviable position of experiencing great growth during the pandemic and have hired so many new people that they will be expanding into additional office space in our building (which won’t be ready until October). I have mixed feelings about extending my work-from-home status, especially now that I am fully vaccinated. I have some dear colleagues that I miss so much. Still, I’m going to look at this time as a gift and appreciate all that it has to offer.

We had about 3-4 inches of snow last week. It was pretty crazy to wake up and see all that snow piled up on the hummingbird feeder – I’ll bet some of those early travelers are regretting their haste to move north – but I quickly knocked all the snow off just in case. The snow was gone by bedtime (replaced by another dusting the next day), but I still have no hummingbird sightings of my own to report. Soon (I keep telling myself)!

As you can see from my photos above, we have had some fox sightings lately. The little guy/gal cuts through our back yard regularly, sometimes carrying a small furry or feathered meal in his/her mouth. One of the “meals” looked very much like a baby rabbit, and I had to hum “The Circle of Life” to myself in order to stem the tears. 😉

I’m writing this missive from the couch of Sam’s apartment in Cincinnati. I drove down here yesterday in order to drive him to his second Covid shot, and I’ve stayed the night in order to do some serious mama-level-comforting in case he feels like crap today. The jury is still out on that, as he is still asleep. I might have to wake him up soon, because I’ve already cleaned his kitchen, taken out the trash, and tidied up his living room, haha. I do have to say that he keeps a very tidy apartment, which is amazing since he inherited slob genes from both myself and his dad. There must be a recessive trait at work here.

Well, gang, I think that’s all for now. You take care, and I’ll see you next weekend.

Love,

Michelle xoxo

Posted on : By : Michelle Posted in : Uncategorized

Catch Up

Yikes! It’s been four weeks since I’ve last written here. At the beginning of the year I promised myself I would write in my blog at least once a week – it was part of my one word theme for 2021 – “Tend.” The idea was to tend to all of the things that are important to me – family, friends, my health, my photography, my writing.  Aye-yi-yi. I’ll spare you any excuses and just say I’m brushing myself off and getting right back on the wagon.

Although I’ve been absent from my blog, it’s been a fruitful four weeks for me . I’ve done a lot of reading – some favorites have been The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner (gentle and lovely) and the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch (magical cops and river gods – super fun). 

I’ve been faithful to my yoga. I’m up every morning practicing with Adriene, of “Yoga with Adriene” fame (here’s her YouTube channel). I’m definitely noticing a difference in my strength, balance, and general physical confidence after practicing daily for three and a half months now. In recent years I’ve found myself getting more tentative physically, and I don’t like it. Last summer Sam and I walked on a massive rock wall along the seashore, and I hated the feeling of fragility I experienced as I picked my way along the wall. “Don’t fall and break your hip, for goodness sake,” some new inner voice warned. Ugh. Yoga is giving me the physical tools to be able to reply to that voice, “Yes, I’ll be careful – but I’ve got this. Don’t worry.”

Spring is most definitely here (although we continue to have some chilly days – this morning was 32 degrees as I worked in the garden). I haven’t gotten down to my park at the end of the street basically since my last blog post, but I’ve been out walking the neighborhood with Chris a couple of times a day, and I’ve of course been observing the birds in our back yard every day. Robins are everywhere, bob-bob-bobbing-along, and I’ve noticed several nesting pairs of various bird species gathering nesting materials.  

Soon it will be hummingbird time! I’ve been following the spring migration through this website, which collects hummingbird sightings from ordinary hummingbird-lovers like me. I put the feeder out last week, as there have been a few ruby-throated hummingbird sightings in Ohio since early April. So far I haven’t had any visitors that I’ve noticed, but it’s only a matter of time.

I’ve got a spring/summer project of revitalizing the flower beds around our house. I am not a natural gardener – I tend to start strong and then totally lose interest around early June, letting the weeds take over. Part of the problem is that I’m not a big fan of being out in the sun these days, but I’m starting a routine of going out either first thing in the morning on the weekends or in early evening right before dusk during the week. I took some “before” pictures, and I will let you know how it’s going a couple of times this summer. That should give me some motivation to keep it up!

I got my second Covid shot last Wednesday! The day after my shot I had a bit of a fever (up to 101) and a constant headache. I have a very low threshold for headache pain and so I spent the day in bed alternating between sleeping and taking in fluids. By Friday morning, I was back to normal. I am so grateful for the scientists who developed my vaccine (and for Dolly Parton for helping to fund its development!) and am looking forward to a life slightly more normal this summer. 

Sam graduates from University in two weeks. He can’t wait, of course, and I am blown away (not for the first or hundredth time these days) by how quickly time goes by when you reach a certain point in life. I am so proud of his hard work, especially during his senior year when he has been so isolated due to Covid. In order for him to have some human contact, I encouraged him to get a part-time job, and he has been getting up at 4am three days a week and walking 20 minutes to start his 5-10am shift prepping food at a restaurant. Sometimes when I wake up at 6:30 bleary-eyed and wanting more snooze-time I think to myself, “Sam’s already been working for an hour and a half!” That gets me going. 

As I write this I am sitting in what I like to refer to as “my cozy spot” – it’s a Chesterfield love seat in our front room, loaded up with soft pillows and a snuggly blanket.  It’s my favorite place to hang out – I like to sit here typing and watching people pass by with their dogs and/or babies in strollers (and there is one woman who walks her dog IN a stroller), neighbors working in their yards, and cars zooming (too fast) down the street, most likely on the way to little league practice in the park at the end of the street or some other emergency. Usually Sunday afternoons hold the dreaded “Sunday Anxieties” for me, but I’m feeling pretty chill right now. 

I hope you have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you here next weekend (I promise!)

Love,

Michelle xoxo