Life Lately | July 2023

You guys, I'm 35 now and I have a new lease on life. That's how I felt anyway, yesterday when I finally called the skin doctor and made an appointment. I've had this on my to-do list, a physical list that I write out every week, for months. This is not an exaggeration. Crossing it off felt like I'd personally moved a mountain. 

"Yes," the nice lady said, "you are a patient, but it's been six years, so we'll need you to bring your license and insurance information." Wow, I think, 2017 - seems like a long time ago, but its not even the worst bit, it's actually the dot on my nose that inspired me to make the appointment. That dot appeared in 2020 - I've been carrying around this to-do item for 3 full years. And if the dot is something to be concerned about, I've really let it fester. 

I'm high on completing a task, and so I'd like to pretend otherwise, but I know I haven't learned any lessons - I'll do this a million more times with every not-even-that-uncomfortable call I need to make for the rest of my life. The fact is, if it is mildly inconvenient to pick up the phone, I'll just go ahead and not. I'm sooooo busy. 

Good news though - July was much more fun and interesting than me managing to make one geriatric appointment. Lots of beaching - duh, my birthday, my baby sisters bachelorette, and in general, bombing around Benzie County, making up accidental alliterations all over the place! 

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Let's start with my birthday so I can put the aging thing to bed until next year. It was good! I woke up a little melancholy, as I always do on my birthday, but the "happy birthday!" texts started rolling in early and since I'm a sucker for attention, I was downright jovial by 7am. 

I worked as usual, but snuck out a little early for a birthday dinner that Ryan arranged. Nothing too crazy, it was a Tuesday, after all, but margaritas and queso makes for a good birthday in my book. Afterwards, Duke and I ate strawberry shortcake on our deck and I feel asleep a little after 9pm. Listen, they're not all ragers, but this one was nice. 

Here's my cake. It was good. I whipped that cream, but not by hand because I don't hate myself. 

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Speaking of ragers, my sister is getting married in a few weeks, so we had a little bachelorette weekend that kicked off in Traverse City. I mean, we're basic, so it was all the normal wine tasting, and running around from bar to bar, before landing back at my house for a bonfire. 

I slept for two days after that. Seriously. I just can't hang like I used to, but dang I sure try. 

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Listen, I'm very proud of my propagating this year. I grew those tomatoes and the basil, and if I could grow mozzarella, I would have done that too. Summer salads is such a wonderful season. 

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Still reading my way through the works of David Sedaris, but no longer voraciously. This is a strategy because I'm nearly done reading every book he has published, and I'll be kind of sad when there's nothing new to read. So now, I am savoring,  reading one essay in between the other books I'm reading. 

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Other nice things we're enjoying this July - 

Our spot at the river. We have a small dock and I put a patio table down there so I can read while Duke swims in a little hole nestled in the bottom left of those tree stumps he's tightrope walking in the picture below. I'm honestly always a little nervous we'll meet a bear down there. So far, no, but I always ask Ryan to listen for us when we go down here. 

Cherry Festival fair rides. 

The dogs. Always finding the most convenient places to perch. 

A houseful for the 4th of July. Maybe it's because I grew up in a big family with siblings and their friends all over the place, but there is just nothing nicer to me than packing everyone into one house for a holiday weekend. I love planning for it and grocery shopping, and stuffing extra packages of hotdogs in weird places in the fridge. I like waking up and finding people sleeping in every room and on all the couches. I like all the shoes piled at the front door and the cars in the driveway. It feels very cozy and homey to me. 

Usually I run around the house, flipping off all the lights in rooms nobody has been in for hours. I swear, I'm the only person in my house who does this, and this photo serves as evidence, but she looks nice all lit up. So I repressed myself. For 30 minutes max. 

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Summer is hitting its late season stride and with it comes the melancholy. 

I'm feeling very inspired to tighten up my routine again. Everything's a phase, right? There's a time to be loose and a time to be more rigid. I feel like I've indulged my whims for a while, and probably because I needed that, but now I need to straighten up. Do hard things. Feel some accomplishment, perhaps more significant than making a doctor's appointment, eh? 

I don't mean to be vague, but there's been some challenges this summer that I'm just not willing to repeat. I self-soothed my way through them this year as a means of survival, but moving forward, I really feel like I need to develop an escape plan. I don't know what that will be, but I suppose I recognize myself sitting idly by and behaving as if I'm stuck here. But of course, I'm not. We never are, are we? 

If nothing changes, nothing changes. No risk, no magic. Etc etc. 

A couple of years ago, I did the keto diet and I lost 17lbs in about two months. I have since gained it all right back (bread and wine, you just can't keep me away), but I remember that sense of accomplishment. And more, the way I felt like I'd taken control and steered my own ship. Thing things we are capable of if we just make a decision!

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Happy August friends and cheers to the dog days. May they be long.