NJM #7 - Day in the Life in These Foolish Things

I’m over here staring at the screen, wishing something good to write about would just pop up.

One of the prompts for NJM this year is to describe a DitL (Day in the Life), but my days are not really normal for me and haven’t been for a while.

But maybe I’ll describe a typical Funemployment Day, eh?

I either let my body wake up naturally or the alarm goes off at 6:30am, whichever comes first. I get up and take my thyroid medication because I have to take it an hour before I can eat/drink/take my other drugs.

Then I crawl back in bed and snuggle on the dog, check email and go over my calendar to prep for interviews or networking for the day. I might do Wordle, cruise Instagram and Facebook and even TikTok for a while and I’ll even turn on the TV and watch some news. I do this for a literal hour and then take the rest of my meds (baby aspirin and BP meds for the aneurysm).

Then I get up and get dressed to take Martini out on our Long Walk of the day. Sometimes, but not always, I’ll do a good workout and stretch beforehand (must get better at doing this daily - I used to be soooo dedicated). I make my tea for my tumbler without fail. I do not put on makeup and I barely brush my hair and I hope that I don’t run into anyone on our walk, but I always do - ha!!

We walk and walk and walk - and about once a week, I take Martini with me to Target on our walks. There’s a sign on the door at Target that says “No Dogs”, but they let me bring Martini inside because we are badasses (and I carry her). We have a favorite employee who is at the self checkout area, and he always, always loves on Martini.

I normally grab a bunch of bananas because they are so awesomely cheap, though they went from $0.19/each to $0.25/ea the other day (fucking inflation). And I may grab some other smaller items as needed. I don’t do a whole Target run because I have to walk 2.5 miles back home with the dog and whatever’s in my Target bag.

Get home and it’s time for what I call My Favorite Time of the Day. That’s when I make my oatmeal and my big ass decaf latte. OMG, I have fallen in loooove with my daily breakfast (that I take between 11am and noon). In my oatmeal, I’ll mix in whatever fruit I may have on hand and either almonds or walnuts, cinnamon, pour in a dash of flavored creamer and a splash of almond milk, throw everything on a big tray and take it outside to sit on the balcony of the Treehouse.

At that time, I do something similar to a prayer, I guess, and just thank God/The Universe for providing the day. I’m so happy to be here EVERY FREAKING DAY.

My afternoons are either filled with preliminary interviews (talking with recruiters) or even REAL interviews, or networking type things or filling out applications or webinars or running errands of some sort or working on some kind of presentation to hopefully show a prospective company. I do something to keep things rolling every single weekday.

And then my evenings are some kind of easy-ish dinner - tonight was salmon filet, quinoa and broccoli; some nights it’s a giant salad of some sort; some nights it’s nachos with ground turkey. Wash down with sparkling water or a lemonade concoction. Sometimes another tea or decaf coffee.

Then evening walk with Martini. We have now been through three seasons during Funemployment: Spring, Summer, Autumn. It’s soon to be Winter. Our walks are not as long in the evenings now that it’s dark so early again. Boo.

I call my mom nearly every evening. But lately, she just doesn’t want to talk anymore. She’s having trouble finding words and it’s hard for her to talk on the phone. It’s much easier face-to-face. I will see my parents this Thursday and make up for our lack of talking.

And then I come back inside and turn on the balcony string lights, light some candles and make it cozy.

Martini settles in and puts herself to bed by 8pm.

I might turn on the TV, talk on the phone, text peeps or figure out what to write here. Sometimes I catch up on emails if I’ve missed some earlier.

By 9pm, I’m in my nightie and ready for bed.

I tuck Martini and myself in and click around the socials and the TV for a while. Then one by one, I turn off the lights and then the screens (bad habit, I know), and sleep. Sometimes I’ll sleep through most of the night, but most nights I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and end up turning a screen on just enough to get tired again and go back to sleep.

And then we do it all over again.

I’ve really enjoyed these days. Maybe I’ll look back on this time with real fondness. In fact, I know I will. The slow days of Funemployment have been quite peaceful and restful.

I’m grateful.

But so ready,
GS