I Am That (Old) Lady.

These are my current habits that I’ve been doing for the last couple months:

• I put on hand cream at bedtime.
• I also drink a ton of water at bedtime, but I don’t keep a glass or carafe on my nightstand. I’m so afraid I’m going to swing at the cup/vessel when I randomly wake at 4am and reach for my phone to check the time. I’m pretty sure I’d break something and worse, wake my partner.
• I drink a fruit smoothie nearly everyday. I love smoothies. Bananas give me energy. I buy a lot of bananas now.
• I get on the rowing machine for 10 to 30 minutes a day. The smoothies motivate me. On days I don’t row, I try to do to body weight exercises or stretches at least. I assume my joints need or will eventually need it. May as well get into the habit now.

What have I been up to since the last life update?

• I didn’t finish reading Crazy Rich Asians. TBH I didn’t even get to start it.
• We never hosted a summer cookout. Did some hangs with friends elsewhere, which was equally satisfying to the soul.
• Oooh, I never made those oat brownies.
• In July I took a 6-week intensive Accounting class. That’s why none of the above happened.
• In August I finished the class, and missed a trip to Maine with my family but stayed home with the dog to clean the house. It was only a little bit cleaner when my family returned. Right after that, my kid and I went to a Summer Music Camp for a week. Right after that, we had a “performance” and right after that, Aiden started school. We’ve never had so many things on the calendar in a summer before.
• Three days of school in and my kid brought home Covid. It took nearly 3 weeks for it to make the rounds in our house. The kid missed the second week of school. A week and a half after that, he brought home a cold and passed it onto me. Adam is also just down for the count; send help.
• I need to cleanse the house of germs and bad juju because I’m done with sicknesses!
• I just tore my Vogue magazine collection to pieces. They’re not preserved to gain financial value in the future, and I’m not some sort of fashion historian. How can I be with only 2 years worth of issues? Now they’re in the craft supply pile to make future serial killer-inspired art.

But anyways, when it comes down to it

• We’re all still good, we’re all still together.
• The kid and I are back to rehearsals with the Chorus of Westerly. Working on some good pieces for the November concert.
• I’m still working on my side hustle business, but doing occasional craft show pop ups with my sister which is fun.
• Adam is writing some sweet guitar parts with his band. I wish you could come to one of his shows. He absolutely shreds and I’m so honored to know an amazing musician like him.

What else is on my mind?

• I feel like everyone has a Substack. As a subscriber I like that I can get the emails or I can bookmark and read it when I remember to. I have a love/hate relationship with my email box, so I’ve been bookmarking (or keeping a browser tab open forever) and reading new entries when I get a moment. I like the energy in Substack posts and am tempted to create my own, but what else do I have to say to nobody? I think I should stay here. But if you subscribe to anybody on Substack, consider becoming a paid subscriber if you love someone’s writing.
• I did get myself a Notion account. I love to keep a paper planner and stayed away from digital organizers and calendars for the most part. Once I got started in Notion it’s the best thing ever. I can literally organize MY WHOLE LIFE and personalize it like a MySpace page. This is all I ever wanted. And I get to keep my paper planner because it’s not at all redundant.
• I see that Anne Hathaway is attending S/S 2023 NY fashion shows. I lowkey love seeing it, and I just may watch The Devil Wears Prada again later.

Happy Fall, y’all!
I always have to play this piece on the day of the Autumn Equinox as I step outside and take big, deep breaths of crisp air. Please enjoy, if you like this sort of thing.