Progress

Okay, I did some things around here! 

First off, it dawned on me that I needed an easier goal race. If a person has lost aerobic fitness, she should not set the same kinds of goals she used to set for herself! This is not rocket science! After lots of dithering about whether I could swing the 5-mile race or whether September would give me enough time to get ready for the half-marathon, I said to myself, "Self, we're going to start small." I registered for an August 5K.

I am thinking about doing the women's running group that I had so much fun with in 2012 and subsequent summers, twice as a participant and maybe three times as a leader. These are the things that kept me from signing up today: (1) I need to talk it over with Elwood, since I'll be gone regularly for evening retreat meetings this summer, (2) it hurts my pride to feel like I'm starting over at the beginning (but is it better to sit on the couch instead of starting over? no, it is not), and (3) its home base is a local running store owned by a guy who gets mansplain-y when he talks to the women's running group. Which-- no. Just no. Do the benefits of the group offset the mansplaining given my sub-basement-level tolerance for mansplaining these days? Undecided.

Second, I cleared off my dresser for the first time in ages, HUZZAH. You guys, I think I was so far out of the blogging groove in the winter that I didn't even tell you we had our downstairs bathroom remodeled, but: we had our downstairs bathroom remodeled. We have a pretty new vanity in there now, but I have still not adapted to the storage situation. I used to keep makeup and skincare products in a drawer; now we have no bathroom drawers. Today, after literal months of thinking to myself on a loop "I need a storage solution for the bathroom or should I get rid of all the makeup I never wear but I like to have some makeup just in case but I need a place to put the makeup where should I put the makeup I need a storage solution for the bathroom" -- literal MONTHS of this, it dawned on me: if I go to Target and get a little plastic dealio with little plastic drawers, I can put my makeup and skincare items under the bathroom sink instead of leaving them in a laundry basket in my crowded bedroom.

Third, I drafted posts in preparation for selling some clothing. Since I bought my first Wool& dress in late 2022, I have become a total wool convert and now I wear wool almost every day. (Yes, even in this heat wave. Temperature-regulating, for real!) There is a thriving secondhand market for lightly used wool clothing (or even heavily used wool clothing -- sometimes it seems like people will buy anything, in any condition, with a Wool& label). I have some things I want to sell but I have not quite been able to organize myself to write the descriptions and take the pictures and post them at a time when I can get to the PO quickly. It should not be a big hassle and I will be happier when the things are winging their way to new homes.

Fourth, I gathered up all the CSA vegetables and the backlog was not as overwhelming as I had feared. I cooked all the greens in a quart of V-8. This required a giant pot, but of course they cooked way down. I am going to make them into a soup with white beans and Italian sausage. Nothing like a steaming bowl of soup on a 92-degree day, am I right? I went through all the rhubarb and eliminated the slimy bits, and cooked it all down with sugar to make an ice cream sauce. The last batch of rhubarb sauce was very popular, so let's hope people like this one too.

Fifth, I have had some clean laundry awaiting my attention for a while now. As in, a long while. [Picture my embarrassed face here.] On Easter Sunday I took my own tablecloths to the facility we rented. Right away, on Easter evening, I spot-treated the greasy places and laundered them. But then they sat in a spare laundry basket in an out-of-the-way spot until JUNE 21. Better late than never, I guess.

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This last paragraph has nothing to do with the rest of the post except that it happened today and I want to remember it. Alex has excellent taste in clothing and he sent Elwood an amazing sweater for Fathers' Day. Today I texted him a picture of Elwood trying on the sweater (briefly, because today is not the day for an alpaca-silk sweater, no matter how beautiful it may be) and commented on the luscious knitted fabric. He texted back, "They’re for real my second favorite maker of knitwear." I wondered to myself what fancy little high-end Manhattan boutique had the top spot. I envisioned highly curated shelves full of eye-wateringly expensive knits. I thought I might just take a peek at their website, and so I texted again to ask where it might be.

Isn't he a sweetie?