Long time, no talk in Everyday life

I have an iOS reminder set up for the second of every month.

1. Flip my calendar.
2. Write in Prosebox/OD.

I go in fits and starts about complying with the notification. Since I moved (more on that below), the calendar flipping hasn’t been needed. The journal writing … meh, I just haven’t felt like writing. For someone who once made a living out of writing it’s weird, and I know it.

I moved in with my girlfriend at the start of August. We’ve been dating for more than a year now and it’s clear she will be a major part of my life going forward. She is a great partner for me, serving as a support through work nonsense and personal nonsense. Whenever I’m down, she picks me up. I worry about me reciprocating, because being my personal cheerleader can be exhausting and overwhelming. But she’s still here.

Her apartment (a one-bedroom) is relatively small. We’d initially talked about waiting until her lease expired in the fall and then getting a new place, but my old landlord kept hemming and hawing about selling her place. I wanted to nix the uncertainty, so I jumped a bit early.

For the past few months we’ve been looking to buy, mostly because it’s a lot cheaper. (We are making a life together.) But is it? Everything is stupid expensive now, and you have to put close to $400k in to get something decent — decent as in a 35-year-old townhouse that doesn’t show its age. She’s a teacher and we live in a state that values education, so she’s doing OK. I have a job, but it’s not permanent. Yet the people are great. And it’s been a nice change of pace from the years of uncertainty in journalism. Working from home for the past few months have been a mixed blessing; I do miss the collaboration that comes out of interactions with others, but working from home has allowed me to be more comfortable as I grow into the job.

There’s not much else to report, other than I need to go grocery shopping for my mom in a bit. I don’t need to, but it makes me visit her every week or two, even if only for a few minutes. I live 20 minutes away, the least I can do is pop in every so often.