Where have I been?

Hey there!  I'm not really sure where to start here but I wanted to pop in and give you guys an update on where I've been and why I've disappeared.  Really, there wasn't a specific reason for me abandoning my blog for the better part of the last year and I honestly didn't mean to.  Time just got away from me....time flies when you're having fun, I guess.  It's been so long that, as I'm typing this, I'm having to figure out how to use Blogger again.  But I want to come back if you guys will have me!  

House Time

The first thing that sucked up my time over the last year was my new house.  As a first time homebuyer, it was a tad intimidating and, holy, there are a lot of things to take care of!  Luckily my family was great and willing to help out with anything I couldn't take care of myself (especially my dad with all his handyman skills).  Now that I've been there a year, the house stuff is calm now and it's mainly just shovelling that I need to stay on top of.  

 

The main thing I wanted to accomplish with the house this year was to repaint the deck.  I love how big the deck is but the paint was TERRIBLE and peeling off in whole chunks after last winter so this spring I sanded the whole thing down and painted it the brightest shade of white.  With the plants that my mom gave me, it became almost mini tropical destination for me this summer.

Covid Stress

I'm sure I mentioned in my last post in the spring that Covid-19 pretty much had me losing my mind.  I've always had a morbid fascination with pandemics but never thought I was going to live through one.  When it first hit and everything shut down, I was watching news almost 24/7.  Thankfully, I have slowed down on the obsession but it's coming back a bit.  Alberta (the province I live in) really kept it under control through spring and summer with low daily case numbers but that is not the case anymore.  Our cases are over 1000/day lately (which is a lot for us and our 4 million person population) and our government doesn't seem to be doing anything about it which is frustrating.  With a sister and a mom in healthcare and a sister teaching high school kids in person, this has the potential to hit very close to home.  I'm back to having nightmares about Covid so I hope we get it under control soon.  Stay home when you can, wash your hands, wear your mask, don't touch your face...do it all and hopefully we can all stay safe and healthy.  

Lake Time

We went back to work in May and after the extended lockdown I didn't feel like I could take all my holiday time this summer but I did manage to get to the lake on many weekends and for one full week in August.  But even the lake was stressed this year.  The water levels were so high that many of our family friends were flooded with lots literally full of the tree trunks that come into the lake from the rivers that feed it.  Where the lake would normally be shin deep, it was now neck deep with much larger, more dangerous waves.  The water was receding the last time I was there in October though so hopefully next year will be better.  

Relationship Time

I think the biggest change over the last year has been a change in my relationship status.  Without going into too much detail, there is a very handsome, funny and smart man (and his 2 adorable kids) who I get to spend much more time with now.  I don't often paint my nails when he's around since the smell almost kills him.  I can't blame him there.  I'm immune to the fumes after so many years of constant exposure but I can understand how a normal person might hate it.  

New Hobbies

While I have been keeping my nails painted this whole time (just without always taking photos of them), I have discovered that I kinda like plants.  Maybe it was being stuck inside during this pandemic, but I find myself collecting plants.  I've always just been a plant murderer but I'm doing better this time around.  I even had a little garden box that my dad built me...I did murder that though by overwatering so bad that the bottom fell right out of it.  But I haven't killed any houseplants lately (knock on wood) so I think I'm going to go to a couple of local plant shops to buy some more this weekend.  I really want some trailing plants.  Below is one of my favourites, a mimicry succulent that I call my butt plant.  I didn't even know this things could flower but mine did this fall.  It was pretty cool!  

So there's my update.  I'm hoping to get back into the swing of blogging next week by slowly getting through previous press samples that I bailed on.  I even spent the last couple of nights swatching stamping polish that I was sent a million years ago.  I don't want nail polish to turn back into feeling like a job since I don't like the stress but I definitely want to get back to my little corner of the internet.  

'Til next time...