Personal Journal – September 2024
September started out with another round of COVID, so that’s no fun, but it’ll end in New Mexico, so let’s stay positive!
September 4th 2024
Work:
Work is going okay. I was all ready to go live with my two applications next week and was just thrown a curve ball today so I’m trying to work that out.
I haven’t made much progress on my other projects yet, but I’m hoping to find some motivation here soon.
Personal:
Unfortunately, I caught COVID again and actually got really sick so for about a week I quarantined in my room so that Jay wouldn’t get sick. Because I was sick, we unfortunately had to miss out on Jay’s cousin’s birthday party in Austin this weekend and I was pretty bummed about that.
I have been doing really well keeping up with writing my blog posts lately and that feels really good. My traffic isn’t really improving, but I feel good about the content so I’m staying positive about that. I’ve got a list of blog topics for upcoming posts too so I won’t run out of ideas and can just keep trucking along.
My recent trip to Anaheim, CA resulted in a bunch of new content for me to write about. By the time I get through this content, I’ll have new content from my New Mexico trip and will do the same thing with that trip. I’ll make a little mini-series of posts around my trip experience.
I tried something new this week and decided I want to start running so yesterday I got up before the sun and ran for 2 minutes, then walked for two minutes until I reached 40 minutes. I was exhausted and today I am super sore, but it felt so good. I’ll just be doing some stretching (maybe yoga today) and then tomorrow I’ll get back out there for another run.
My Relationship
The weather is getting cooler, which means we’re able to be outside more! Jay and I had a little game night on the patio this past weekend and it was really nice. We got a bottle of wine and I made a little charcuterie board and we just spent some much-needed time together.
We’ve been watching Prison Break on Netflix and I’m really liking it. We just finished the first season last night!
🐕🐕 The Dogs 🐕🐕
The dogs are also very happy for the cooler weather because they can be outside a lot more. Since I’ve been home sick they’ve got a lot of outside time which they’re loving.
Boone and Bentley tried sardines for the first time this week. I saw on Instagram that you can feed dogs sardines and it’s good for their skin and coat so I figured why not, it’s a cheap additive to put in their dry food so I did and they gobbled it right up!
I haven’t done many Rover sits recently due to wanting to take a slow-down break but then also because I’ve been sick. My last check-in was for a dog I’ve watched multiple times and I had to break up with them on Rover and it was so weird. hahahaha. They have an adorable little puppy. Their adorable little puppy has super sharp puppy teeth and stresses me out every time I visit her because she bites me and this last time she bit a hole in one of my socks and my shirt and I just decided it’s too much for me right now. I’m on Rover to make some extra money, but I don’t NEED the money so I decided if it’s not bringing me joy, I needed to stop. I told the owner I didn’t think I was a good fit for them and I felt really bad, but thankfully she was really nice and that was that.
I accepted a request for this weekend, which I’m regretting because the weather is supposed to be perfect for camping and I wish I was going out camping instead. I didn’t think that through before accepting the request.
📖 Book Club/Reading 📖
I received an offer of a free book plus small compensation to read a book and post an Amazon review, so I took the offer and the book is actually pretty great. It’s called “Odyssey of High Hopes: A Memoir of Adversity and Triumph” by Cyrus Ansary. I’m about 80% of the way through it, reading it on my Kindle.
I don’t really want to start another book when I’m done with this one because I want to throw myself into a photography course of some kind to really try to learn as much as I can before I head off to Albuquerque at the end of the month. I want to take the best photos I can.
✈️ Travel ✈️
As mentioned above, I’m be heading out to Albuquerque, NM at the end of the month for a work conference but I’ll be extending my stay for personal travel after. I’m working on the planning parts of the trip now and it gets me so excited! I have a whole bunch I want to do and not a lot of time to do it all. I know I’ll be exploring old town, Nob Hill, doing a brewery tour, taking the Sandia tramway, and getting some hiking in, but that’s all I know for now! Stay tuned (:
September 11th 2024
Work:
Eh. Work has been a bit stressful lately. My biggest application of the year goes live on Friday and every time I think I’m done someone wants something changed or a link randomly breaks. I’m just not feeling 100% about it and it’s adding some stress to my life.
Also, people. I wish people who were unhappy at work would take the initiative to leave and I wish upper management held people accountable for poor performance.
Personal:
🐕🐕 The Dogs 🐕🐕
Boone is really growing up and I am so happy about it. We have left him out of his kennel every time we left the house this week for 2 hours or less and he was chill. Nothing was destroyed, no accidents in the house. He just napped and looked out the window.
I have also taken him on 4 walks so far this month which is amazing. We’ve only done about 1/2 mile and he’s still pulling and distracted, but not continually to the point where I’m just being dragged along. Now that we’re in a place we can work together, I think he’ll start taking to the training. I can’t wait to take him around with me.
I do feel a little bad that I haven’t taken Bentley on any walks lately because I’ve been doing my couch to 5k, which requires me to run and Bentley doesn’t run and I’ve been trying to train Boone on walks too. That hasn’t left a lot of time for extra walks.
I’ve picked up a few Rover sits lately even though I said I wasn’t going to. It’s so hard to turn away money especially when I’m planning a trip! Anyway, I watched these two little babies last weekend that only weighed 2 lbs each!
This weekend I’m heading back to a repeat client to watch Kaiser, who I’ve written about before. I’ll spend the weekend with him. That’ll be all I do before I leave for my trip.
📖 Book Club/Reading 📖
I finished the book that was sent to me “Odyssey of High Hopes” by Cyrus Ansary and I liked it. It got a little dense at the end when his career in politics and legal work got heavy, but the overall story was good.
My work book club is back up and running and I just got my e-book today so I guess I’m starting A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson!
✈️ Travel ✈️
This weekend I’m house/ dog sitting, next weekend I’m flying out to Albuquerque, NM!
Nothing Right Now. 
Odyssey of High Hopes: A Memoir of Adversity and Triumph - Cyrus Ansery
