January, etc.

I was going to start this post with the phrase where did January go? and then I looked at my calendar and realized it's nearly halfway into February, so .... scratch that.

January was rough. My parents were taking turns bouncing in and out of the hospital (everyone is home now!) and I was juggling work and family and just general life maintenance, which sounds efficient, if tiring, but actually means that I feel stressed when I'm with my parents instead of at work, guilty when I'm at work instead of with my parents, and nothing in our apartment has been properly cleaned in so long that I'm starting to view it as a lifestyle choice.

Needless to say, there has not been a lot of picture taking.

Random updates:

Circe continues to behave oddly when she's left at home during the day, despite enjoying her adventures with her dog walker.* We finally gave up on trying to prevent her from jumping on our credenza and instead just focused on teaching her how to jump off of it. Success? I feel 50% less guilty now that I don't have to worry about her stranding herself without food or water for hours on end. She still opts to spend most of her day scratching up our credenza.

We're contemplating another move, mostly so that Circe either has some outdoor space or is close enough to one of our offices that we can slip out and walk her at lunch. Also to try to reduce my commute, which has slowly been draining the life out of me. Apartment hunting is just as discouraging as it was a year ago, I'm sorry to report. I gnash my teeth and look at our budget and try to figure out how to quantify "quality of life" amenities. Let me tell you, this time I am not going to opt for an apartment building that doesn't have a washer and dryer somewhere on the premises. The privilege of being able to throw a load of laundry in while you make dinner on a random Tuesday night cannot be overstated. We've only been in our current place for a little over a year and part of me hates to leave because it's cute and we've put a lot of work into it, but it just isn't working for us now. There's no point in living in a great neighborhood if you're exhausted by the time you get home and then you just have to go sit in the laundromat anyways.

I did a two week gluten/sugar/dairy free thing to try to get rid of the insane sugar cravings I was having after seriously overdoing it during the holidays. Don't worry - there was no juice involved! I'm not that crazy. I don't normally eat much sugar on a day to day basis, but if I get into a bad cycle it's bad. I think the two weeks off helped, but then again, I did eat a giant slice of pie last night, so who knows? I think I'm just going to blame January for this situation (mental note - it's February now, get it straight).

We purchased pricey yoga memberships back in November, when we were on a high following a very successful one-month-unlimited Groupon situation. We were going 3 - 4 times a week! Obviously we could sustain this forever! We should invest in our health! You know how this story goes. I've been to exactly one yoga class in the last two months. So now I get to feel guilty about not working out and guilty about the wasted money. If guilt burned calories and stretched out my lower back, I'd be golden. I will go to at least one yoga class this week even if it kills me.

Super excited that Broad City is back.




*Circe's dog walker leaves us a report card every day describing what they did. Dustin and I both lunge for it the second we walk in the door each evening because it's basically the cutest thing ever. This is actually pretty low key for dog walking services around here. One of the ones I was looking at will actually put a camera on your dog so you can see everything they did on their walk (even as person deeply obsessed with my dog, this sounds like the most boring footage I can imagine). Another one uses a little GPS device so you can check on your computer and see exactly where they walk each day. Things are crazy out there, guys.