6 bullets for Friday

I don’t want my last post to stay the most recent one, so I decided to do a bunch of random happenings right now, bullet-style.

•We are 3 weeks in to the new school year and so far, it’s been pretty good. In fact, it’s been a lot smoother than I expected, which is a great surprise. Even my kid going to Kindergarten transitioned extremely well. He has wanted to ride the bus, but due to our weird proximity to the school we didn’t have a stop close enough. We appealed for a new stop and we got approved yesterday, so he got to ride the bus home and was so excited.

•My best friend’s daughter has been living in Chicago for a few years now. She works on the set of a TV show, but that series is ending and she’s trying to get into the Union and get another gig before this one ends. She’s been really stressed and a bit lonely and kind of in a dark space right now. I’ve been racking my brain trying to see what I could do to help. I found a comedy show that’s in Chicago this weekend and sent her a ticket to go. She is so excited. I hope it’s a small thing that can help lift her spirits right now. My friend and I are trying to figure out a time we can take a quick trip to visit her.

•Things in my house keep breaking. Over the last month or so we have had our big freezer go up twice (my husband fixed it once and the same thing happened again), our kitchen sink had a leak, our kitchen fridge has a mysterious leak we can’t pinpoint, and a pipe burst and leaked into my oldest’s room in the basement. The only thing that got ruined was her bed, which was a very old hand me down mattress anyway. Her new bed just got delivered today, and it’s really nice and was a really great price. It’s called a serta Caldiero. I had her go over and lay on about 10 different mattresses and find the best one. I’m so impressed that I am going to earmark some funds from our tax return next year to get two more for my 2 other teens. And luckily my husband is a plumber so he has been able to fix all the leaks, but we are still working on the freezer situation because he’s never really worked on those.

•I had my yearly review at work and it’s probably the best one I have ever gotten. There were a lot of things going on the past couple years that created conflict and in turn I had to change how I responded to them, being firm enough to let them know my position and what I was and was not willing to do. It was more ancillary stuff vs how I actually perform my job in the clinical setting. But I sort of got my point across that I wasn’t going to be pushed around or be the fall guy or anything else. They seemed to take notice and have treated me with a lot more respect. I actually even got some days off I didn’t expect to get approved for. We don’t get merit-based raises, but there was just an across the board raise about a month ago, so I am very happy work-wise.

•I have a love affair with Trader Joe’s. It is my favorite store and my happy place. Right now there is SO MUCH fall themed stuff out. I can’t even keep up. I went there 4 times last week and couldn’t manage to get all the things. Last Friday one of my closest work friends and I met up there and shopped together and had so much fun looking at all the stuff. I’m not super into everything being pumpkin spice, but we bought a lot of stuff to share and try. The hold-the-cone pumpkin ginger cones were amazing as was the pumpkin ice cream. The pumpkin rolls (like cinnamon rolls that come in the pop-open can) were a big disappointment. Everyone I shared the Pumpkin Spice Rubiois tea with loved it (I don’t drink tea) and also the pumpkin spice K-cups. Actually, every coffee I have ever tried from TJs has been really really good. There’s just so much good stuff in that store.

•It’s Friday and I am feeling very content today. I don’t feel rushed or like I have a thousand things to do, the fridge and pantry are stocked and I have plenty of leftover food so I don’t have to cook tonight through this weekend. All of my reminders on my phone have been cleared off and handled. I just feel a sense of calm. I went our with my best friend last night  and laughed so hard I cried and couldn’t breathe and my stomach hurt, and my anxiety is non-existent today.