Well hi there and happy Saturday!
Today is the first weekend in a while that we don’t have anything to do or any place to be, so I’m looking forward to leisurely doing all the things I need to do to keep the house from getting buried under pet hair because OMG, there’s so much of it now!
What I want to do most, though, is wear stretchy pants and read. It’s weird, when I don’t get enough reading time in, I start to feel kinda funny, like my brain isn’t getting enough mental food for thought.
Anywho, after chipping away for months at “Lessons in Chemistry,” I’m going to finally finish it this weekend. I’d also like to restart “The Covenant of Water,” which I’ve stopped and started a couple times over the past few months.
Speaking of the last few months, I realized recently that my six month anniversary at the new job at the college is coming up in June, which is CRAZY to me. In regards to work, I’m in a good place now that I’ve been there for a while, but the other parts of my life, oh my goodness and LE SIGH! I don’t feel anywhere close to balancing everything else.
I feel like I’m pulled in so many directions all the time and that something always suffers.
Like with MBB, for example. I don’t have the same amount of time to cover things the way that I used to, and a part of me feels guilty because I want to be able to take pictures and swatch and do all the things that I know I can do, but part of me also feels like, “Well, this is your life evolving, and this is a chance to do something different.”
I’m trying to view the challenge as an opportunity to find another way to still keep writing that is creatively satisfying, but dang. It hasn’t been easy, as you could probably tell.
Or the house. Is it as clean or as organized as I know it could be? NOPE! I try my best to sneak in whatever cleaning or tidying I can, but it never feels completely clean. I’m trying my best, though.
When I run into other people around here, especially the moms, I wonder sometimes if it’s just me that is having a hard time juggling it all. I don’t know if it’s a Bay Area thing, but a lot of people here seem to present themselves as having it all figured out. Sometimes I feel like I’m nowhere close to that, and I wonder if showing my vulnerability is a flaw. Hmm. I’m probably over thinking this.
Anyway, it’s gonna be me and these books for a few hours today. I’m certainly looking forward to that!
Have a good weekend, and take good care of yourself, OK? Try to get some reading time in if you can.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
The “Bay Area Thing”? It’s an act. Trust me, all the women I know are lying through their teeth about some part of their lives. I’ve decided I’m not one that can do it all, so the house has gone to pieces since Dear Daughter was in school and I don’t care.
I’ve slowly started “Swedish Death Cleaning” to get rid of all the accumulated stuff of 34 years of marriage. A couple of weeks ago I threw out a pair of paddock boots I assumed were mine with dried out leather and stretched out elastic. Then Dear Daughter calls and says she’s finally doing the Iceland riding tour she paid for just before the worldwide pandemic lockdowns and can I dig our her helmet and paddock boots and breeches. And whoops! That’s when I realize that was the last pair of paddock boots in the house and they were hers. So now I need to pay for new boots, half chaps, a new helmet (because I said I would because her brain cells mean a lot to me) and a pair of breeches.
I know we think we have to do everything perfectly but that’s not possible so I try to prioritize and do what’s most important. And one thing that’s important is having some me time so I’m not stressed and ready to kill my child, her cat or my spouse.
Enjoy the books. I loved “Lessons in Chemistry” more than the TV show. Used to love Abraham Verghese’s writing. Wonder if I’d like the new book.
Have a great weekend.
I’m 100% agreeing on this. I’d rather have an imperfect life than lie about my life being perfect.
Enjoy your reading time. It’s the “calm before the storm” time. We’re here with you whether it’s makeup related or reality related. We’re your friends.
If you have any interest in knitting or crocheting, you can save the pet hair (especially dog hair) to make yarn with. There’s even a book about it, called “Knitting with Dog Hair.” One of my regrets is that I didn’t save enough of my dog’s hair to make anything, without having to add other fibers.
If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about trying for perfectionism in life. Taking on the new dog was bound to be a stressor, especially since she will need a lot of exercise. It’s a pretty safe bet that those who act like they have it all together, really don’t, especially if there’s more than one kid in their family. At my work, almost all discussions about people’s kids over the years were about how stressed out their kids made them, and how much they couldn’t wait until their kids moved out (and these were “professional” level people, upper-middle class, two-income types I’m talking about). The important thing in life is to maximize how much happiness you can get out of it. As I am approaching the last stage of my life, and I see how unhappy I’ve been through most of it, I see that I should have done more to improve my life, but fear, and lack of money and looks, made that extremely difficult. I’ve spent most of my life just trying to minimize risks and avoid suffering. It’s a conundrum – especially for women – how to get any joy in life without also putting a lot, including your own life, at risk.