Peeps who have owned a Cricut machine for more than a year (@relysh): do you still use it like you did that first few months? Is it still worth having around? I’ve been thinking about getting one, especially since my son loved using a Silhouette machine at science camp this week.
Back Downtown
Since Connor is attending a science camp downtown this week, I decided to request a temporary cube and work from the actual office instead of driving to and from downtown twice every day. Most of my team is now permanently remote, and the few of us who will be going back in-person a few days a week need to wait until our floor is fully renovated in September.
Facilities sent me a layout diagram and marked the cubes I could choose from, so I picked the cube closest to my boss’s boss. That totally paid off, as I got a tour of one of the renovated floors that’s identical to what ours will look like when it’s done. It actually looks… workable. But we’ll see.
Over my lunch break, I enjoyed an iced coffee outside (and finally used some of the birthday coffee funds from N)!
After work, I walked across the street to pick up Connor from camp, then we slogged through the heat and humidity to get back to the parking garage. On the way, we saw this great view of the High-Level Bridge, framed by the Junction building, and Connor convinced me to take a picture.
So… the last time I actually worked a full day downtown was October 2020. It surprises me to say, but it was satisfying to be back in a more formal work environment after working from home for so long.
It’s the Little Things
The handle on the toilet in the half-bath had been wonky for months, not quite catching right when pushed down. I took it upon myself to order a new flush handle assembly from Amazon and install it before the old handle stopped working entirely.
It was much easier than I’d expected, and having a fancy toilet handle that matches the other fixtures is icing on the cake.
Wellness Wheel
I saw a therapist for the first time in my life this week — not because anything in particular is weighing on my mind, or anything tragic has happened, but just because my primary care physician (and the mental health community in general) assert that antidepressants work best in tandem with talk therapy.
After a few years of stalling, I finally did it. Even so, my opening argument of sorts was, “I feel like I shouldn’t be here.”
The first session was, as expected, a getting-to-know-you session, with a combination of brain-dump from me and required questions from her (e.g. “Are you in any legal trouble?”). As it happens, we found enough in common (including our love of Studio Ghibli and our dark senses of humor) that it wasn’t nearly as awkward as I expected. The outcome of our first one-hour session was a realization that journaling/blogging is an important factor in my mental health, and that I need to get back into the habit of getting my thoughts and feelings out of my head so I can recognize them and acknowledge them.
She also gave me some homework: a “Wellness Wheel” to fill out. I’m supposed to rank my satisfaction with each of eight areas of my life from 1 to 10. The instructions specifically say, “Go with your gut on this one,” so instead of first analyzing each one carefully with positives and negatives like I normally would, I’m just going to throw some numbers out there.
Me being who I am, though, I will present the results using an Excel graph instead of coloring in the worksheet she gave me.
| Category | Description | My Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Health | Eating well, exercising, quality sleep | 8 |
| Mental Health | Healthy mindset and emotions | 7 |
| Relationships | Feeling connected to others | 4 |
| Finances | Budgeting, saving money | 9 |
| Career | Satisfaction with work | 9 |
| Spirituality | Personal growth, seeking understanding | 7 |
| Home | Safe and comfortable living space | 7 |
Now for some details.
Continue readingStatus: June 28, 2021 at 07:28AM
Just dropped my kid off at summer camp knowing that he has a runny nose and a cough, just because it’s a field trip day. Hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in a little while.