July 2019 Reflections

July has been interesting as I try to adjust to a new job.  I do not really have time to write my blog this month.  It has been a struggle to get much done in the evenings, and I am also going out of town this weekend.  I am determined not to skip posting this month, but I admit it is going to be a bit on the skimpy side.  Here is a very short rundown of some of my activity and thoughts from the month.

New Job

I started the new job halfway through the month.  So far, I have mixed feelings about it.  I am very unmotivated, and I already wake up not wanting to go to work.  It is not the job; it is the very fact I have to spend all day at work after having so much freedom.  The job itself has been off to a slow start.  I have not been given many tasks and very little training, so I have slowly been going through old files and documentation to try to figure out how to do the tasks I have been assigned.  I alternate between being bored and being frustrated because I cannot ask anyone the questions I have.  Supposedly, things will be changing around next month, and I will be getting more tasks with people assigned to train them.

Aside from actually working, I am trying to settle into new routines.  I have done a decent job of keeping up an exercise schedule, getting up early a couple days a week and using the weekend for longer activities.  Evenings are a struggle.  By the time I get home, eat, see my husband, clean up the kitchen, and maybe do one thing, it is time to head upstairs to get to bed.  I have been trying to keep a period for winding down (skincare, maybe reading, ASMR), and then turning the lights out before 10.  Everything else is falling to the weekends (chores, errands, socializing, trying to do something fun for me), which does not really work and has never worked.  I am not stressed by my job yet, but all the other struggles are already there.

Hiking

It was a good month for hiking.  I did two hikes on the Bull Run Occoquan Trail.  The whole trail is 18 miles long, which is more than I can do in a day.  I have been starting from the various parking areas to go out & back over a 3-4 mile section at a time.  I am hoping to cover the whole thing by the end of the year.  These two hikes plus a couple I did earlier in the year bring me to the half-way point.  I think I can finish it in 3 more trips.  I also went out to Shenandoah National Park before going back to work.  I hiked the Hawksbill Trail loop which takes you up to the highest point in the park.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day when I went.  Skies were clear and sunny, but temperatures were only around 70 in the mountains.  My hiking will now be confined to weekends, but hopefully I can complete a few more before the end of the year.

Game Night

I only had one big social event this month, a second game night at the same friend’s house as the first one.  This one was a bit smaller than the first, so we were not split into as many groups.  All of us together played a game which I think was called Unstable Unicorns.  It seemed like it could be a lot of fun, but it felt a bit chaotic.  None of us knew how to play since the hostess had just bought it.  Plus there was a baby causing commotion and side conversations happening.  In all, I felt a bit confused about what I was supposed to be doing, but I would definitely give it another try.  After a round of unicorns, we split into guys and girls.  The guys played some kind of complicated board game that I did not really pay attention to what it was.  The girls played two trivia games, Smart Ass and Jeopardy.  Smart Ass is actually a game my sister bought me for Christmas a few years ago, and I have never played.  I think I dismissed it because of its name as being based on juvenile humor.  However, it is a pretty straight forward trivia game, and I really enjoyed it.

Personal Products Project

In July, I used up/trashed 7 items – 1 pack of makeup wipes, 1 perfume, 1 hand cream, 1 exfoliating body lotion, 1 deodorant, 1 bath salt, and 1 conditioning spray.  I bought 4 things – 1 Native Deodorant in Cucumber Mint, 1 Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Hand Cream, 1 CeraVe SA Lotion, and 1 Suave Max Hold Hairspray.

I had been planning to start doing one category a month to discuss some of my product usage insights and thoughts from doing this purge.  However, this is going to have to wait until next month.

Books

I managed to get a few books read before going back to work.  I have been working on the same book the entire two and a half weeks since starting, finishing it only yesterday.  It was pretty hefty at 700 pages though.  I have no doubt my ability to plow through books is going to be greatly reduced now that I am back to work.  Anyway, here are the books I read during the month with my ratings (1-Awful, 2-Disappointing, 3-Decent, 4-Good, 5-Amazing).

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison – 4 stars

The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson – 3 stars

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard – 3 stars

Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick – 4 stars

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown – 4 stars

There you have it, my month in review.  Hopefully as I settle back into a working woman life, I will get my time and energy management under control.  It was never my strong suit though, so we will see.

See you next month!