Thursday Randomicity

1. I feel a tiny bit badly about not caring more about the death of Queen Elizabeth. Everyone else is talking about Meghan Markle's bare arms, the corgis waiting for her to come home, and whether or not this is the official death of the Commonwealth and I'm all over here wondering when we can resume normal news programming. I don't know. It honestly feels unimportant to anyone outside of her family. Eh. I feel bad.

2. Some of you may recall my yoga studio situation from last year. The long and short of it is that I had a yoga studio I really loved and early on in the pandemic I loved it when the owner switched her classes to Zoom. But then she posted an anti-vax meme and I broke up with the studio. The studio has, as you might have anticipated, finally closed its doors. I have very mixed feelings about this. The loss of my business certainly wasn't the only reason, but I'm sure it contributed to the closure. I miss the studio I remember from pre-pandemic and I miss the absolute relief I got from some of those classes. But I'm also happy to see people with crackpot ideas facing consequences for them. I'm full of complicated feelings.

3. Dr. BB and I are each responsible for a bad habit one of our pets has developed. We know we're responsible and can exactly place when the bad habits developed, but here we are. When I was gone for a few days visiting my mother in the summer, Dr. BB fed Zelda the Cat tiny bits of chicken that we feed Hannah the Dog. Zelda had never had chicken before and she is an absolute addict. She has started pestering Hannah for some, jumping on the counters to get some (we had absolutely trained her NOT to be on counters!), and is just an utter brat about chicken. Dr. BB has admitted that this was a mistake on his part.

Meanwhile, over the last Christmas holiday, I noticed that Hannah the Dog LOVED to play with the brown kraft paper that came in the endless boxes we got from deliveries. Hannah rarely interacts with toys. I don't think she played with them much as a puppy (poor Hannah!) and while she'll occasionally chase a ball for two or three minutes, she's generally timid and unsure about toys. ANYWAY. She would utterly demolish the paper, tearing it and chewing it and having a grand old time, so I let her do this because it seemed harmless.

Cut to me leaving a file folder of papers on the floor next to my desk a couple of weeks ago. I left them there as a reminder for me to write up some of my notes to send to other people, but I went upstairs for half an hour to exercise and when I returned, the file folder and all my notes were absolutely destroyed and Hannah the Dog was sitting there, wagging her tail, blissfully unaware of how challenging she had just made my life. I thought it was ADORABLE and NOT HER FAULT, anymore than Zelda's obsession with chicken is her fault. We humans have made mistakes. 

She's really the cutest dog. Ignore the mess!  

4. My job will officially be over at the end of November. This is great news. The job search marches on and since this week I have sent all of two emails, there's plenty of time in the day for me to craft lovely cover letters and tweak my resume for each position. There's one on campus that I have my fingers crossed for, but I am no longer ever going to get my hopes up after the last heartbreak*. In the meantime, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I really feel better about life than I have in years. I'm going to take a First Aid/CPR class that has been on my to-do list for a long time. I'm slowly emptying my email inboxes. I'm taking extra long walks with the dog. I'm making sure that all the chores are done before Dr. BB gets home. I think that sometimes this week I'll clean all the stuff off my desk from this job and throw it all away. It feels like a vacation that I'm getting paid for. Sure, job searching is stressful, but it's way less stressful than that job.

*The woman who got that job I really wanted is actually really great and wonderful and she'll be a good fit for the position. I am still disappointed that I didn't get it, but I do understand why they made the decision that they made.

5. Yesterday I went to Costco with eight things on the list. I didn't find three of those things, but ended up purchasing way more than the additional five things on the list. My impulse buys included additional COVID tests, an advent calendar of jelly, a giant bag of chocolate chips, and a s'mores-based snack mix. It was the first time I've ever been at Costco without my husband hurrying me along and I enjoyed it a million times more without him. Obviously. 

Tell me a bit of randomicity in your life. What's new in your life? Have you taught your children or pets any new bad habits? What's your favorite Costco purchase?