We're currently into the second half of August, but never mind that. Here's what I've been up to of late:
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| Red Mountain Trail No. 159 |
loving - When Keizo and I have the same days off of work. After a couple of weekends where he worked both Saturday and Sunday, he had both days off this past weekend. We met friends for brunch, went to the library, checked some things off of our to-do list, and cooked dinner together. Then, on Sunday, we took a day trip to Flagstaff for some light hiking and a late lunch at Mother Road Brewing Co.
looking forward to - Cooler weather. Like in the 90s's / low 100's. Pants and sweaters seem like a real stretch, but being able to be outside more in mornings and evenings without completely overheating would be great.
starting - Fall trip planning, including our first camping trip of 2023 and a trip to see Keizo's family in Japan.
thinking - How nice it was two weeks ago when I had just 2 or 3 meetings a day, instead of > 4. I got to spend some time thinking about things and it was much easier to wrap things up at the end of the day. Working on multiple projects with multiple teams, it's hard to feel like I have a lot of control over the number of meetings on my calendar, but maybe there are some I don't really need to attend...
wearing - One of my two pairs of Birkenstocks, pretty much all of the time. I have a pair for indoors and a pair for outdoors. Then a few times a week, I put on socks and sneakers for my aerobics class or other workout.
Best of July
- Access to a pool - We've been seeing more of my parents lately with at least weekly trips to use the pool. Gotta take advantage while swimming weather lasts (for another month or so, I'm told)!
- Surviving the hottest month - While I won't be buying the "I survived July" shirts the local NPR affiliate is selling on their website, I am taking comfort that while it will still be hot for a while, we're likely through the worst of it. In some ways, I feel like I've moved to the southern hemisphere, not just the southwestern US - summer and winter have switched! Being cooped up indoors this summer felt a lot like being cooped up inside during a DC winter, and passing the hottest days of the year feels a little like passing the winter solstice and knowing days will just get longer.
- In-person networking - After a few conflicts with previous events, I finally made it to my first large, in-person networking event at the end of July. I was certainly a bit nervous on the way, but everyone was very friendly, and I got to talk with some very interesting people in the field of transportation.
