Life By Kristen

5 On Friday (#1)

Even with a holiday on Monday and a snow day on Wednesday, this week seemed oddly long.

1. I’ve not been great this week ( well mainly Wednesday) about feeling at peace with the chaos that is my life right now. Things have mellowed out in terms of things needing to get done from my Dad, but still a few things looming that I haven’t had the energy or focus to start on. I sort of feel like I’m on list overload at the moment both at work and home. I dropped the ball on a few errands this week which I realize is fine, but on Wednesday when the man and I were home for a snow day, I realized my laziness of not running errands/going grocery shopping, were all coming to a point and things were getting a bit lean in the household supply department. I freaked out a bit about being a bad adult and feeling like I had no focus/control. I’m being far too hard on myself I know. No one expects me to keep it all together and I’m doing alright so far, so I should stop worrying. I just keep repeating “peace.”

2. The funny ( funny weird, not funny haha)thing I’m ( and my entire family, most of Dad’s friends/people) learning about grief is how it can come out of nowhere and for the strangest reasons. One night I found myself in tears after hearing some random tv show character say “Hi Dad.” A few days ago it was reading a news item and saying ” Dad is going to have something to say about this.” It’s easy to prepare oneself for missing a person on the expected days ( holidays, family Sunday dinners, etc.), but the small moments where you would have called that person are really where it hurts the most. Again “peace.”

3. I tend to be pretty quiet on here about my love life and that’s something I’m going to stand by fairly adamantly, but I will say that cohabitation with the man is going really, really well. I especially enjoy the thoughtfulness of coffee in the morning, someone else to worry about dinner half the time, and a shoveling buddy.

4. I was out of work for 2 weeks for my Dad and that time away just sent me off kilter enough with my deadlines ( all personal) that even though I’m focused with what needs to get done, the motivation is often lacking. I work on so many long-range projects and exhibits, it’s hard sometimes to get going on something until it feels more immediate. Maybe because of the time of year, the extreme cold, and the desire to just be under the blankets all day, but I have to try really hard every day to get my tasks done. Again “peace.”

5. The weekend includes sleeping in, errands, a first birthday party for a special little boy, and family time on Sunday. I’m also hoping to get back into my Sunday cooking habit to stock the fridge and freezer because as I said before, things are getting pretty lean!

Happy Friday to you all!

5 on Friday

1. I’ve never needed a three day weekend from work as much as I do this one. Maybe it’s the less than stellar weather this week in SE Mass/RI or just some weird work karma going on right now, but I’m looking forward to an unplugged weekend with those that matter the most to me.

2. In that same vein, I’m having a hard time believing I was in Amsterdam almost a month ago. It seems like we just came back yesterday and yet, I definitely feel the need for another vacation soon.

3. My excitement for planting and yard work combined with the gross weather brought out some nasty allergy stuff this week for me- totally knocked me on my butt. Still have a horrible cough and all stuffed up. My ears finally popped this morning and I screamed with excitement like I’d won the lottery. Seriously, they’ve been blocked for like a week, you’d get pumped too.

4. Twice this week I’ve given out career advice to former interns or younger museum folk. This makes me feel old and awesome at the same time, but mostly in disbelief that I’m at the point where people ask me for advice considering I still feel like a 16 year old most days. I’ve been at my current position 5 years in September ( how the HECK did that happen!??!) and still sort of feel like the new girl, when obviously, that’s definitely not the case anymore. Sometimes I think that’s a bad thing to have been at a spot that long, but mostly I’m in disbelief that it’s been that long since it feels like no time at all has gone by, but in these 5 years I’ve had A LIFE and this job has been the constant rock and frequent refuge from all the junk that was going on with my personal life.

5. I’m not huge into shopping at a store unless I’m in the mood to hunt for a bargain at Marshall’s or a thrift shop, but I’m a huge supporter of online shopping ( seriously I think it might be one of the best 20th century inventions). During the reorganization year of my life, I pretty much banned myself from shopping unless it was absolutely necessary ( like in holes in my shoes). In the past few months I was bad and bought a lot of random tops and things with “special sales” ( I can be such a sucker for a good email marketing campaign). I ended up returning a fair share of things, but I’m working on being very disciplined with my clothing and accessory spending. I’ve done it before with books and have been very successful. I only buy new books if  they are purchased with a gift card, and severely limit my purchase of used books- in fact in 2012, I think I only purchased 2 used books. I’m thinking with clothing the new rule is going to be buying only to replace things I need. For example, my go-to black heels that are both work and going out appropriate kicked the bucket last week with a hole right through the sole. I wore the shoes for at least 5 years ( I think probably more like 7 though) so replacing them with another good quality black heel will serve me well in life.  Part of the clothes buying discipline is not just budget, but also because I realize when I did my seasonal closet change over that I have so much stuff I rarely wear or use, but I still buy anyway. Definitely looking to kick this bad habit in the bud this season!

Hope you all have a wonderful long holiday weekend- take a moment on Monday to remember our veterans like my grandfather who was in the Army during the Korean War.