Monday, July 18, 2022

Whole Lotta Nothing (But With Photos!)

Wow, 2 months have gone by! Looks as though this blog is phasing itself out, which is a shame, since it is the only way I have to remember what is happening in our lives.

But since nothing much is happening, maybe it doesn't matter? I don't know.

After searching for a decent editing job for 2 years and coming up with nada, zip, zilch, NOTHING, I managed in June to land a part-time job at The Container Store (and I probably only got that because I had an employee referral from Rachel). I'm grateful, because yikes, I was bored out of my skull and needed something, anything, to do. So now I get paid $15 an hour (plus 40% discount) to move boxes, open boxes, empty boxes, discard of boxes, etc. 

40% discount means I can afford to buy the special trash bags for my beloved, yay

The job is sort of soothingly repetitive. It's also a buttload of exercise (hello, 15,000 steps on truck day!), so that's helpful, too, in a self-care sort of way. I start early in the morning before the store opens, 3 days a week, and it suits me fine not to be waiting on customers for the entirety of a 6-hour shift. I mean, I'm sociable, but I'm not THAT sociable.

And then I come home and do not much again, but I don't feel guilty about it. Sometimes I even cook dinner. Also, I do yoga videos and such. And look for full-time jobs, of course.

I'm still bored, is what I'm saying.

Before I started work in June, Susie and I were able to take a brief sojourn to the Jersey Shore (courtesy of my friend and her lovely beach house with the scary rooftop deck). We ate the requisite ice cream and hoagies and pie, because who would go to the Jersey shore and not enjoy all the good Jersey food? That would be downright rude, IMO. 

Obligatory ice-cream-at-the-beach photo

We also paraded merrily to the beach the first day with all our gear, only to realize that the Jersey shore waters in June (i.e., pre-Gulf Stream shift) are COLD. And, since it was midweek before school let out, there were no lifeguards. So, yeah, we didn't need those boogie boards we made Larry fetch out of the attic the morning we left and that we dragged 4 blocks to the beach (and 4 blocks back).

Still, it was the Jersey shore and it was lovely. 5 stars, highly recommend!

Obligatory sunset-over-the-bay photo

Here at home, however, the weather (OMG, am I reduced to talking about the weather? I'm sorry) has been - and will be for the foreseeable future - disgustingly humid, even when it isn't terribly hot. Larry made me go on a 2-mile walk Saturday, and I complained the entire way. Everything smells bad and the overwhelming amount of moisture in the air saps me of the will to live.

This is not hyperbole.

So Larry and I are planning to drive Midlife Crisis to a campground in the Catskills (upstate NY) next weekend, just to escape that circle of hell otherwise known as Virginia in July. We'll be gone only a few days, but hopefully that respite will be enough to get me to August, when I am driving with Susie to the Adirondacks (even further upstate NY) to visit friends who managed to escape this semi-tropical latitude by moving permanently to Lake Placid, which is apparently the land of cool summer evenings and moderate midday temps. 

Upstate New York, that Shangri-La of no humidity

Those of you well-versed in The More, The Messier lore might recall that we visited these same friends at their place in Lake Placid almost 6 years ago, a visit during which I came down with the head cold from hell that turned into the month-long coughing fit from hell. Ever since, I've entertained the irrational notion that I will get sick and ruin the visit if we dare to go up there again. COVID didn't help, of course, because what more could a gracious host want than to be stuck indefinitely with a quarantined, plague-ridden guest? 

But now - NOW - I will be bravely facing my fears, because I am a rational human being and of course I won't get sick and I want to see my friend and what are the odds, anyway, and...and...look, this needs to go well, just pray for me, okay? 

14 comments:

  1. I will begin the job search process next month since both kids will be in college. I have no idea what I want to do but I'm already bored out of my mind. I feel like I will also be working retail.

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    1. I have no idea why I expect the kids of all the bloggers I read to stay little, while mine are growing up and moving out, but there it is - I'm in shock that you will be an empty nester "already"! I guess I've been reading your blog for a very long time.

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  2. Lovely obligatory photos of "the shore"! That's what my mother and aunt called the NJ beach towns they vacationed at during their childhood and adulthood. I was amused to discover that there is a town in the middle-of-nowhere, Pennsylvania called "Jersey Shore." ... I was going to say life has got to be pretty good if one has friends in the Adirondacks, but but but not if one gets sick! I hope all goes well. ... I would blog more often but the only things I have to say now are political and I'm so angry I could spit and other people say all that stuff much better than I can. So I post about books.

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    1. In NJ, there is no "beach," there is only "shore"!

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  3. Vicky in VirginiaJuly 18, 2022

    I love your photoes of upstate NY it looks like home. I enjoy hearing about your adventures. Be brave Lake Placid awaits

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  4. I've described mid-life-crisis to Coach. I want one. The hotels near Ed's college charge an arm and a leg for the graduation weekend. Plus we needed a new car, but it didn't happen.

    That ice cream has me wanting to go to the Jersey Shore, but my guess is they have places here with similar delicious treats. Our trip to Yellowstone was cancelled, AGAIN. We've been trying to visit there for 5 consecutive years. So perhaps we should head in the opposite direction.

    Imagine all the organizational stuff you can snag with your discount. The front hall closet better brace itself. Sounds like there's about to be a redo.

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  5. AnonymousJuly 19, 2022

    I hope you don't phase your blog out before I finish reading your Archives I'm in 2009. You have made me laugh out loud so many times. Have wanted to comment on a few posts, but that would be a little weird. It is like reading a good book.
    It is interesting to read what was going on in 2008-2009 you talking about inflation, gas prices, recession and here we go again.
    I found your Blog from reading your comments on Jennifer Murch blog, where I found her from Hundred Dollar a Month blog. So I have been going down the rabbit hole.
    So many questions, but I will keep reading to see how everything, and everyone turns out.
    I'm in the middle of packing and moving to a different state and I stop by here when I need to take a break.

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    1. I have made it to your last entry. Again thanks for letting us into your lives. Not sure what I'll be doing now that I finished reading your archived stories. Made my move and here it is end of Oct. and I have still not been able to unpack. Waiting on some needed renovations.

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    2. I'm glad I could help you pass the time!

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  6. You have written exactly why I am tempted to take a job like that--feel productive, get some movement, not bring it home with me. I think that sounds healthy.
    The Jersey Shore sounds like Lake Michigan--if you go too early, it's like trying to swim in the Arctic Ocean. Still, glad you are enjoying your travels and HOPEFULLY the next trip is just as lovely!

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  7. Rocky Mountain Yogi GirlJuly 24, 2022

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  9. You should come this way, the humidity is totally gone now. And the leaves are beautiful.

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