I love our neighborhood. We walk almost everywhere and the metro is just down the street for longer trips. The National Zoo is our neighbor. For the majority of the year, this is fine. Yeah there are tourists, but we can take side streets to avoid the worst of the crowds. But, a few times a year, the zoo hosts nighttime events and the streets turn feral. Right now, it's ZooLights season. The display is great and draws tons of people. This is good for the zoo and local businesses. I 100% support it. The downside is the traffic. The zoo charges a steep parking fee. People don't want to pay so they park in our neighborhood. During the day, we are zoned for a 2-hour limit unless you have a residental permit. That stops at 6pm. So, we (*cough mostlymyhusband cough*) are left circling and circling for spots if we don't luck in to one of our building's few lot spots. It's rather annoying. Now, if parking was the only problem, I would tolerate the inconvenience and move on with my life. But, it's not. Parking is so difficult that people park illegally all over the place. They park in front of hydrants, the park overlapping driveways and crosswalks, they park in our private spots, and they park in no-parking zones meant for busses and loading. It's like the rules no longer apply. If there is a space, a driver will cram a car in - no matter how poorly. On top of this, drivers are frustrated which makes them more aggressive. More people drive through red lights, unexpectedly change lanes or make turns, and slam on the gas when they break free from traffic or see an open spot. It's scary when you're in a nearby car. It's terrifying when you're walking with your preschooler. This year, we're going to try to pick up our kid by metro as much as we can simply to avoid the chaos. It's less convenient, requires one of us to leave work early, and takes longer - but at least we stay off the roads.
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I was out of town with my family and yesterday was a travel day. This is going to be a short issue. Have a great Sunday!
On Tuesday, we received the last delivery from our farm share. It was our first time doing this and it turned out to be a rather tasty experience. It also was an education. This week, I wanted to share some things we learned over the past few months:
Have you ever had a farm share? What did you learn?
I always knew we lived in a wonderful community, but that was never made clearer to me than on Monday evening. I arrived in Indianapolis for a work conference earlier that day. After FaceTiming with my family, I saw some concerning news come across our building's email list-serv. I alerted my husband since I knew he was doing bedtime routine with the kiddo. It turned out that there was a fire in our condo building. Because of the attention and quick actions of our neighbors, the fire department arrived quickly and was able to extinguish the fire without it spreading too far. (No one was hurt but the building is dealing with the aftermath and mitigation of the impacted area.) I called my husband as soon as they evacuated. While I knew my family was physically safe, my mind raced trying to figure out options of where they could stay and what they would need if they were not allowed back in the building. It was agony not to be there in person. I deal with tough situations by focusing on what I can do to resolve the situation. There was literally nothing I could do in this case. I couldn't even get a flight back home that night. My family had to remain outside for two hours while DC Fire ensured the fire was out and the building was safe to reoccupy. Our kiddo was nonplussed by the entire event. She got extra time on her tablet, was able to see lots of pets, and even enjoyed a snack. A woman who lives on the street behind us walked around offering pouches and other kid treats to those who wanted them. One of the firefighters talked to our kiddo about Daniel Tiger. Once my family was allowed back in the building, kiddo went to bed as if nothing happened. I am grateful to live among neighbors who watch out for each other. While I am, admittedly, still dealing with anxiety around this, I know that our community is there to help.
Last week, a friend shared a cute video of a woman turning herself into a fairy based on an illustration. The illustration reminded me of artwork this same friend once had on her wall. This led us down a rabbit hole of discussing websites we used to go to all the time but haven't visited in ages. I graduated college in 2006. The "world wide web" had taken firm hold but "Web 2.0" was the new thing. Smart phones were just a glimmer in the distance. If you wanted to enjoy online stuff you had to use a computer - most likely a desktop. These were the days where I could be online for less than an hour and see everything I wanted to see in a single day. If you want to join me in nostalgia, these were the websites and tools I thought about:
What early websites are you nostalgic for?
Today, I have my cheering voice on. The husband, after many many months of training, ran (is running?... not sure about the timing of when this posts versus where he is...) the Marine Corps Marathon. While I will never understand his drive to complete such a painful physical feat, I am more than happy to support his hard work. The training regimen is no joke... and then you actually have to run the race! And this is his second marathon! It's impressive. After his first marathon, he told me he would never do it again. I think it took all of four months for him to start training again. I have a feeling this is probably not his last marathon.
When the husband and I were first starting to get serious, I was clear that there were a few things I would not make mental space more. This wasn't an actual discussion we had. It was just the expectation we set from the get go because I simply did not take on these tasks. First, while I happily put his family birthdays on my calendar, I do not handle any of the gift or card shopping. Same goes for the holidays. He handles his family and I handle mine. That way, we both carry the mental load. (Also, at Christmas, the husband wraps all the presents. He's really good at it.) Second, I do not, in anyway, pay attention to when his "stuff" needs replacing. I will happily buy whatever is on our shared shopping list, but I don't pay a whit of attention to when his toiletries run out or if he needs new clothing. Finally, anything that is "car." I don't do "car." I don't like driving and, until our kiddo came along, the only relationship I had with our car is that it conveyed me from place to place. The husband handled everything and anything "car" related. Now, I've had to back away (just a bit) from that last one. Now that I'm squiring the kiddo about and running a few driving errands on my own, I do need to pay (some) attention to "car." Generally, that just means keeping an eye on the fuel gauge. Right now, however, we've got a slow leak in one of our tires. It's not enough to ever go flat, but it does mean we need to add air to it once or twice a month. Until this week, that was still the husband's territory. On Thursday, after dropping the kiddo off at her art camp, the low tire pressure light came on. Normally, I would have just texted the Husband and let him deal with it. But, he was at a work thing all week. Since I wanted to drive out to a CostCo, I knew that I should fill the tire. This terrified me. All "car" things give me anxiety. But, I tracked down the air pump we have, read the directions, and put air in the tire. Took 10 minutes. I then texted my husband this GIF because it was an accurate depiction of the pride I had in myself. I even put gas in the tank on my drive home from CostCo. But that's as far as I'll go. "Car" is still his territory. What do you not make mental space for?
I think joy snacking is a lovely concept. It's essentially putting small nuggets of happiness in your day to bring more joy to your life. You don't have to do anything huge. It can be an actual snack, listening to a song, watching a short video, looking at flowers - whatever brings you a brief moment of joy. I was reminded of this while reading one of my many Washington Post newsletters. This newsletter now ends each issue with the contributors listing one of their recent joy snacks. It was a lovely little bit of happiness in a week of heavy news. Joy snacking is something I do without thinking about it. I nibble on two pieces of chocolate after lunch in the office. I rock out to the theme song of Dungeons & Daddies every time it comes on. I take a deep inhale when we first light one of our scented candles. I hold my coffee mug with two hands to let the heat warm up my fingers. I go through the photos on my phone at the end of the day. None of these things takes more than five minutes, but those are five minutes of pure joy. I think I'm going to find a few more intentional ways to add joy snacks to my life. It would be a fun way to end work projects or chores. A list of joy snacks would make for the perfect collection to add to my bullet journal. Making those pages would be a joy snack themselves! What are your joy snacks?
Our family tries to eat dinner together most evenings. This has led to some rather random conversations with our preschooler. Sometimes she gabs nonstop and we have to remind her to eat. Other times, we get side-eye and she says, "I don't want to talk." This week, in order to jumpstart the conversation, I asked her what her favorite thing of the day was. She said, "I don't know. What was your favorite thing?" Now, she often throws questions right back at us like this, but I paused this time. What was my favorite thing? That day, my favorite thing happened to be working on some graphic design. I love my job so I really had to think about it. While I could answer, in this instance, what my favorite thing was, my brain went even further. Why don't we focus on doing our favorite things more? This reminds me of Marie Kondo's "sparking joy" idea. I want to be able to say that most of my day was a favorite thing. I want that kind of satisfaction in my life. I think, from now on, I'm going to try to set my priorities by what is my favorite. That way, I can be productive while increasing my happiness. Sure, there's always work we need to complete by necessity, but shouldn't we try to fill our days with favorite things?
It's lap blanket season! Now that fall is here (*ignores the 80 degree temperature we hit this weekend), it's time for me to bust out the lap blankets. I've got them stashed everywhere and don't you dare try to take them away. Now, there are fancy lap blankets you can buy, but I like anything that keeps me warm and folds up nicely in my seat. In my office cubicle, I've got a freebie Washington Capitals fleece giveaway. For my desk at home, I have a lovely sheep's wool square blanket that I swiped from our kid. (She doesn't care.) On our bed, I have a boucle style throw. And, finally, on the couch chaise (it's my seat - get out), I've got a knotty throw with some tassels. When I'm going to be sitting for more than 15 minutes, I like to burrito my legs up in one of these lap blankets and settle in. They are one of life's joys. They keep me warm without overheating plus they create a hygge feeling that makes me feel extra productive. How do you stay cozy?
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