This week is going to be a hot one. So far, I think we've been blessed with pretty good weather, all Midwestern summers considered. Summer is definitely my least favorite season. It seems to pass in a haze of booze and socializing these days, and of course, work work work.
Summer usually bests me for pacing.
But now it seems like things are coming to a new, much better rhythm. Work has still been really nuts, but it looks like I'll be working on the weekends less. That's one way that June really kicked my ass - and so far, July hasn't been too bad. But with Dancing in the Park, it's been its own kind of intense.
Last night was Matt's and my housewarming party. We spent most of yesterday in a frenzy of cleaning and bringing the house into a state that most people would describe as "normal." Matt's office is finally put together, and I finally got the last of my shit out of boxes. The party itself was very lovely (if extremely warm.) There weren't too many people - many of our friends weren't able to make it - but the people that did come were absolutely lovely, and everyone said they had a good time. Poor Wednesday ended up hiding under the bed for most of the night, but he did at least say hi to Mel, April, and Chris. But now it really feels like a home. We have everything in a semblance of order, we've had a group of people over, pretty much all the "jobs" that I was still coming home to are done.
And it feels fantastic.
I think it's funny and difficult that my depression has been so severe lately, when things are going (relatively) well. But that's just a testament that mental illness isn't only related to what's happening in your life - it's a chemical imbalance. I think I also tend to take on a lot of the melancholy of people around me, worry for their happiness, and have been having issues keeping my empathy in check.
Other than working on that, though, I think there are some things that I could do. Ever since my life kind of turned upside-down in the move, I feel like I've been eating out a lot, and kind of turning to comfort foods more than I would like to. So I'm going back to a more plant-powered diet, going to focus more on utilizing the wonderful veggies I get in my weekly CSA.
I've also been wrestling with finding the time to exercise. It seems like, when I take the lightrail to work, it means I have a three hour commute. The hour-and-a-half travel time in the morning is fine, but in the evening it means that I don't have any energy to exercise. So ... basically, I need to figure out a better system for that. I HATE using up all the carbon when I can use perfectly good public transportation, not to mention the issue with the gas, but WOW. It's a lot. So ... I need to get into another rhythm with running, because I know I will feel much better when I'm exercising.
The other major time struggle is finding the time to work on the novel. When I come home from work during the week, I'm usually so exhausted that I can't spare the extra energy for creative work. And now it's been so long since I worked on the novel that starting it up again feels like some kind of huge undertaking. It's like ... reconnecting with that friend you haven't had regular contact with in 6 years. You were once really close, and ... now it just seems ... like there's too much ground to cover, too much catching up to do. I was talking about it with Matt over dinner, and we both kind of landed on setting aside a day to work on the novel. Or maybe two days? I think I need to work on getting caught up. Even if I just set aside three hours on both Saturday and Sunday for writing, it will feel like a huge accomplishment.
Word count goals help, too. I remember you, NaNo.
Ugh, 10:45! I need to get to sleep.
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