2024 - A new beginning?

 It's been an interesting few days. My pain threshold has been through the roof, physical therapy help a bit but in the end the pain has returned full force. Combine that with carrying lots of boxes down a flight of stairs, packing into the car, driving and then unpacking the car. Man the pain is real. Partly wondering how much of it has to do with all the pressure changes from the weather that can't make up its mind on what season it should be.  Either way, I'm where I'm supposed to be for being ready for my appointments the next few days. Hoping the weather is decent though, since it's been stormy all day. At least it looks pretty!

 The week's post is a little on the delayed side. In doing so there has been a lot of reflection the last few days. A decade ago today, Jan 24th, I moved from NY to VA. It was a world wind of firsts. Yes, I had already finished undergrad a few years before, had an adult job or two that was partially paying the student loan debt, and moved out of my parents and up to live with one of my sisters for about half a year. Moving to VA however, this was the first big adult step taken fully, I'd found a job, a grad program I was hoping to get into, an apartment, packed up most of my belongs (I have way too much stuff to fit into a one- or two-bedroom apartment so plenty in storage back in NY) and drove to VA to start living on my own. Since than there has been 1) 10 moves to 9 apartments (and a 3 month stay back in NY) 2) 2 internships 3) 5 jobs 4) Multiple trips to the National Zoo, National Mall (and the Smithsonian's), touring the monuments 5) Returned to school, earned a master...

 This winter I've been itching for it to snow even more than normal. Last week was spent watching the weather forecast and hoping the snow would truly come. Sunday double checked and notice it was now predicting snow for Monday into Tuesday instead of just Tuesday, though there was a winter weather advisory showing up on my phone. Therefore the appropriate response was to put the front window cover on my car and hope there was actually snow. Shortly after the flurries started, but the best part was Monday morning waking up to there actually being a dusting of snow! Monday morning: Monday lunch:  Got it in my head that hot cocoa was needed and what's better than cocoa with cookies, with a hint of artsy in there. Monday afternoon:   Monday night after cleaning off and shoveling around my car:      Tuesday morning it stopped snowing, but beautiful outside:    Tuesday evening, the sunsetting and snow having started to melt along with being blown out o...

 Over the last 14 plus days I've been working semi-diligently to get my apartment organized and cleaned up that I will be able to easily pack, and move come April/May. In order to do this, I can't be working 15 hours a day and on the weekends. Prior to this week, I had been doing decently well keeping work during working hours and having time to tidy while I wasn't working. This week however, I had to through some unplanned appointments into my schedule and making those adjustments while meeting my work hours, not my strong suit. Needless to say, I worked long hours going straight up until exhaustion hit and I was ready to crash for the night. It was brutal but honestly what I expect from this time of the year.  For accomplishing my to do list for the week pretty much what remains is tidying a few things that I'm not mentally ready to decide on, and some of my "fun for me" activities. I really hope that since I put in a few hours today, I'll be able to tak...

 Last week I set a couple of challenges to myself. Instead of New Year, New Me, which in my experience doesn't work, I'm going with New Year, Better Habits Me.  1) Signed up for 31 miles in 31 days challenge. So far, so good! 2) Get my apartment clean. Not quite there but way better than it was 2 weeks ago! 3) Start packing for the hopeful move. 5 medium Home Depot boxes packed and a bunch of tubs as well.  4) Better eating habits. I didn't nosh on junk food all day every day, well except for yesterday...but I did prepare food for this week. Ground beef and rice for homemade burrito bowls, Buffalo Chicken Dip (for putting on homemade pizza, mixing in with mac & cheese, or eating with crackers) and a double batch of pancakes which should last the week. Ran out of time to peel the carrots though but did pick up cheese sticks for a healthier than candy snack.  5) Get better sleep. Most nights I did manage to get to bed at a decent hour. Falling asleep or better yet ...

 It's January 1st, the beginning of a new year. This supposedly means a new year, new me, new outlook on life. Though I'm not that type of person, so it is more like: New year, same me, adjusting my outlook on life.  If you had talked to me last week you'd have heard a little bit about how I wanted to start the year off with a clean apartment. This is definitely not my strong suit (ugh who likes to clean, certainly not me), and when given the option, would prefer to convince mom, dad or either sister to come down and "help" me clean while they do all the work and I poke around pretending I'm doing something useful. However, that was not a possibility this time, so I started small. Start some laundry, wash the dishes, tidy the kitchen and clean up my office space, wait no actually I want to rearrange a section of my apartment. Next day tackle some more of the rearranging, more dishes (never ending!), and of course more laundry. Following day clean out my bedroo...