Category Archives: Celebrations

It’s My Birthday! (or Starting Off My Last Year In My 30s)

Posted on August 9, 2022 | Comments Off on It’s My Birthday! (or Starting Off My Last Year In My 30s)

It’s my birthday today! I’ve been someone who celebrates throughout the month, but the past few years have been harder for celebrating. I haven’t been able to do a big party because of the pandemic or my lack of organizing something. I still don’t know if I’d want to do a big thing because of the risk of getting sick. I’ve tried to keep up my birthday traditions however I can, but it seems like there are fewer traditions I’m keeping these days so my birthday celebrations don’t take up as many days. But I do still love to celebrate my birthday even if I’m not doing much for the actual day.

For today, as far as I know, I won’t be doing too much. I have my usual work routine plus I am doing a workout this morning even though I normally don’t go on Tuesdays. I don’t have plans after work, but I know that could change if I decide to do something or if a friend reaches out to me to see if I want to get dinner or something. But even if I don’t do much other than work, that’s ok. I have my other traditions that will happen on other days and I’ll be able to feel like I’m celebrating then.

I don’t usually feel my age, and I think knowing that I’m turning 39 now makes me feel even more disconnected from my age. I know that what other generations were doing by 39 doesn’t really mean much for what I should have in my life. And I know that I don’t look how I would expect 39 to be. Of course, I think so many people of my generation says that as we age and look at what our parents or grandparents were doing at our age. And I’m lucky that there isn’t any pressure from friends or family to be at any specific lifetime milestones so I don’t feel like I’m missing out. There are things that I wonder about and if I’ll have things in my life, but it’s not really a feeling of sadness or missing something. It’s more of a curiosity.

And I do love that everyone my age is redefining what this age means. I remember when I was younger and people were talking about getting close to 40 or turning 40 and how they were old and over the hill. And yes, I know that I could be past the halfway point of my life, but I also don’t see it that way. I see getting older as something interesting now. I don’t fear my age and I don’t lie to people to seem younger. I’m proud to be 39 and there’s nothing wrong with not having kids, being single, or anything else that is happening in my life right now.

Just because I feel good mentally about being in the last year of my 30s doesn’t mean my body is the same. I do have more pain now than I did before. I notice certain foods affect me in different ways and if I’m not sleeping well it takes longer to recover. But that just means I need to be more aware of what I do each day and accept that sometimes I might not recover from something crazy the way I used to. That’s nothing to be too upset about, just to be aware of.

I think I had a much harder time as I was getting closer to 30 than I am now. I didn’t really write about things when I was turning 29 about worrying about being 30, but I do remember being a bit more nervous about leaving my 20s behind and what my 30s would bring. And while there were negative or sad moments in my 30s so far, there were also some really great things that I never could have imagined. My life isn’t what I thought it would be, but that’s not always a negative thing. I have to celebrate the unbelievable things that have come my way as well. Even a year ago for my 38th birthday, I had no clue that the place I had been living in would be sold and I would be moving.

So much can happen in a year, and I’m excited to see what comes in my last year of being in my 30s to kick off a huge milestone birthday next year!

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Default ThumbnailA Milestone Birthday (or I Have A Feeling 35 Will Be Awesome) Default ThumbnailIt’s My Birthday! (or This Is 36) Default ThumbnailHappy Birthday To Me (or So This is 33) Default ThumbnailHappy Birthday Mommy! (or The Past Year In Review) Default ThumbnailGoodbye 31 (or Hello 32!) Default ThumbnailI Really Don’t Feel Older (or Doing A Double Take With My Age)

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A Full Decade Of Blogging (or I Do Love Milestone Anniversaries)

Posted on July 15, 2022 | Comments Off on A Full Decade Of Blogging (or I Do Love Milestone Anniversaries)

I know it’s a day early, but I’ve been blogging for 10 years! It’s crazy to think that it’s been a decade since I put my first post out on here. Since I typically write the day before the post goes up, that means that 10 years ago today I was writing that very first post.

I know I’ve said this so often, especially on blog anniversaries, but I still can’t believe I’ve been able to keep this up for so long. I know I wanted to keep this up as long as I could, but I never knew what amount of time that would be. Obviously, I’m glad that I’ve been able to write for 10 years now, but I know if I was able to keep it up for a few months and then stopped, I would have been proud of myself for the work that I was able to do.

10 years of posts means that I have written about a lot of things and a lot has changed in my life. I have written about so much that I’ve learned about and how I have figured things out that work and don’t work for myself. When I started this blog, I was in a very different situation. I was not in a regular fitness routine. My day job situation wasn’t as stable as it is now. I lived in the same place for almost the entire time that I’ve been blogging, but I have written about condo hunting over the years, even before we really got serious about it. And now, I live in a much better place than I was in before.

I’ve written about a lot of fun things and adventures that I have gone on in 10 years. I love finding fun (and sometimes random) things to do around LA. One thing I love about living here is that there are always things you can go out and do. I don’t always go out and do them and I’m working on that, but whenever I want to find something to do and I feel motivated, I know I will find something to do. And it will usually make a fun post on here. I haven’t been able to travel as much as I would have liked, but I do love getting to write about a place I haven’t been to before or a place I haven’t been to in a long time.

And I’ve written about some tough stuff over the past decade. I don’t think anyone would expect that they could go 10 years without some sadness. I think I’ve been lucky because I haven’t had to deal with too much hardship over the last decade. There have been hard things I have gone through and that I have watched others go through. But for the most part, the people in my life have been able to stay safe and healthy.

Because the pandemic has been going on for about 2 1/2 years, I guess 25% of my blog has occurred during a pandemic. I wrote about some of my struggles with isolation and my fears around getting sick, but I have been lucky and I have been ok so far. And now, I have this record forever of going through a historic time and what I was doing and thinking. I don’t know if I would remember as much if I had to just rely on my memory and not my past posts.

And I have used this blog as a record when I can’t remember when something happened or a specific point about an event. So when I want to look up something, I can search my past posts. It is a bit weird sometimes to think about it, but it’s also really cool. And I have tried to be as open and honest about the good and the bad so I have an accurate record of my life as I have been writing.

10 years of blogging and just over 2600 posts is a lot. But it’s also amazing. And I am so grateful that there are people who read this blog. I love knowing that others enjoy these posts and I’m not just writing into a void. I have gotten support from people who have read my posts and that is always incredible. And again, having a record of what I have gone through in the past 10 years can also provide help and advice if someone looks up an old post.

I’ve said this over and over again, but I have no intention of stopping my blogging. I’m sure at some point, I will stop or cut back on how many posts I do a week. But I don’t have a plan for that just yet. 10 years ago, there was no way for me to know that my life would be the way it is. And there is no way for me to predict where I’ll be 10 years from now. But I’m excited to see what happens and I will be sharing about it on here just like I always do!

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A Pretty Traditional Holiday Celebration (or Still Pretending To Run Through Sprinklers)

Posted on July 5, 2022 | Comments Off on A Pretty Traditional Holiday Celebration (or Still Pretending To Run Through Sprinklers)

Normally on the 4th of July, I go to the same party each year. The party isn’t always on the 4th, depending on what day of the week it is, but it’s always around that day. This year, it was a few days before so the party was on the weekend. And since the pandemic, things have been a little different, but they have been getting closer to normal.

Last year and this year, there was still a party, but it was a much smaller group than it used to be because of the risk of getting sick. Obviously, any gathering can be a risk, but keeping the numbers lower and making sure everyone is vaccinated and not sick helps. And I think knowing everyone at the party I go to helps because I can feel like everyone is taking all the precautions that they can. Some people still wore masks, but not everyone did. And nobody made a big deal out of anyone who did wear a mask, which was nice to see that it was normalized. I can see wearing a mask in the future if I’m about to see people who are immunocompromised or if I felt like the risk was higher. And I’m glad that I’m friends with people who don’t mind that or think someone is overreacting.

And it was a pretty standard summer party. A few of us discussed how weird it felt celebrating when so much is happening in this country. But I think all of us also were just glad to be hanging out together and didn’t think too much about it being the 4th of July. It is always nice to be together and able to catch up. And of course, enjoying a bunch of food. I have made drunk watermelon in the past, but this year I didn’t get the ingredients in time and I couldn’t make it the day of. But I hope that there will be another summer party so I can make it for that one.

And as it seems to be at parties, I didn’t take a ton of photos. I was more focused on being present with my friends. But there was one photo that I knew we would need to take. In 2014, it was really hot and a few of us ran through the sprinklers. We took a really funny photo and it’s become a tradition to take the same photo again each year. We’ve never had the sprinklers on except for that first year and the photos always come out awesome. And this year’s photo didn’t disappoint.

And I love how all the photos look together.

When I was putting together the collage, we were looking at all the past photos. We knew why we didn’t have a photo for 2020, but we were all confused about why we were missing one for 2019. We couldn’t figure it out and I thought maybe I missed the party that year. But I then realized I should look at my past posts and that’s when we realized they didn’t have a party that year since they had just gotten their dog. But considering we’ve done this since 2014, only missing 2 years isn’t that bad! I did think this year about how I should have asked everyone in 2020 to take a photo alone pretending to run so I could combine them. Too bad I didn’t think about that back then, but missing the photo will always remind us of going through the pandemic.

Even though the party was a few days before the 4th, there were still people setting off fireworks in the area. Some of them were right on the other side of the fence and the sparks were coming toward us. I had one get my arm, which stung, but it wasn’t too bad and didn’t even leave much of a red mark. And it was nice to see some fireworks since I wasn’t sure if we would.

I always try to stay at these parties as late as I can, but I’m also always mindful of my drive back home and how other people driving might not be the safest. So I usually leave before it’s too late. This time, I left around 10, which was later than I was planning but I was just having a good time with my friends and lost track of time.

I felt like this was the perfect way to celebrate the 4th. I didn’t really feel like celebrating, and doing something a few days earlier felt better. On the 4th, I didn’t really do much, which was fine with me. I had some errands to run and I took advantage of having a day off and being able to do them. And even though I didn’t do much on the 4th, I still got all my traditional 4th of July things in a bit earlier and I didn’t miss out.

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5 Year Anniversary Of Being A Medical Miracle (or Somehow This Feels Like The Last Big Milestone)

Posted on April 20, 2022 | Comments Off on 5 Year Anniversary Of Being A Medical Miracle (or Somehow This Feels Like The Last Big Milestone)

5 years ago today, I was supposed to have my liver surgery. Because I seem to be a medical miracle and my tumors shrank, the surgery was pushed off. I think originally we thought that we would see what size they would stabilize at and then plan for the surgery. Obviously, the smaller the tumors are, the easier the surgery would be. And because of how my tumors are stuck in my liver, the smaller the tumors would be when I had surgery, the more of my liver I could keep. I know livers are weird and can regenerate, but it’s always better to not have to regenerate as much. Originally, I think we were thinking that I would lose 20-30% of my liver in the surgery. But if the tumors shrank and I only had to lose 10%, that would be a much easier recovery for me.

Even with how much the tumors shrank within the first 6 months, I never expected that the surgery would be completely put off. But every time I went in for my MRIs, the tumors seemed to get smaller and smaller. And at one of my last in-person appointments with my liver surgeon, we discussed that my situation was now where they wouldn’t recommend surgery for me. The tumors were small enough that they were no longer as life-threatening (although there are still things that could happen that would be more dangerous for me than for others because of them). And the placement of the tumors would actually be harder to remove than when they were at the biggest size. It would be more of an issue to remove them than to leave them there. So the plan was that I would do one more MRI and as long as they didn’t grow I wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore.

My last MRI got pushed off by a year because of the pandemic. But it worked out just fine because at my last appointment my surgeon said I could do the next MRI in 1 year or 2, so I was still following the recommendations he gave to me. And as I wrote in my post after the MRI, the tumors were the same size they were 2 years prior. Of the 3 tumors I had originally, only 1 could be seen and it was 10% of the original size. I didn’t even have an in-person follow-up with my surgeon after the results. He let me know the tumors were stable and that I no longer needed to be monitored.

My last MRI was 5 years to the day from my first MRI, and that made the 5-year mark feel extra special. And since today marks 5 years since I didn’t need surgery, it somehow feels like the end too. I won’t have future MRIs to check on things (unless things take a drastic turn) so I won’t be celebrating the tumors shrinking or being stable. And I know I can continue to celebrate each year that passes after I didn’t have to have surgery, but there’s something about knowing I had the last MRI that makes this non-surgery anniversary feel like it’s the last one too. Then again, I still celebrate how many years have passed since my hip surgery, so there’s a good chance I’ll continue to celebrate this too.

And maybe this feels a bit like the end because I’m moving away from the place I was living the entire time I dealt with the tumor saga. I had a similar feeling when I moved away from the apartment I lived in during the time I had my hip surgery, but it wasn’t as strong. But my hip issues continue to this day versus the tumors which really don’t have to be something I think about all the time.

Whether or not I continue to celebrate this medical miracle anniversary, I love knowing that I’m 5 years past the date that I was supposed to have major surgery. And while for a few years after it was a little stressful not having the surgery and still being worried about the tumors, I’m still grateful I didn’t have to go through that and I have been told by my surgeon that I can move on and not think about this anymore.

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A Very Fast Trip To Santa Barbara (or Getting To Celebrate My Nephew’s Birthday A Little)

Posted on April 6, 2022 | Comments Off on A Very Fast Trip To Santa Barbara (or Getting To Celebrate My Nephew’s Birthday A Little)

This past weekend, my nephew Rory turned 2! I was excited his birthday fell on a day I had off so I could go to the little party my brother and sister-in-law were going to have for him. It was just going to be a party with family, so it wasn’t going to be a big gathering. But it was still a nice day I could spend with family.

And I was so excited to give Rory his gift. I had let my brother and sister-in-law know about the gift in advance, but I got him a balance bike! I wanted to make sure he wouldn’t get it from someone else and that they would have a helmet ready for him, so I couldn’t make it a total surprise. But at least it was going to be a surprise for Rory.

Since I couldn’t wrap the gift, I knew I had to get a really good bow for it. I found a bow that is supposed to be the type you put on a car if you give someone a car as a gift, but I figured a ridiculously big bow was the right choice. And when I put the bow on it, it was almost bigger than the bike!

The plan for me was to drive up to Santa Barbara that morning, spend the late morning and afternoon with my family, and drive back to LA in the late afternoon or early evening. It’s pretty much what I do every time I go up there since I just go for the day and not spend the night. And that morning, I was preparing to get into my car and make the drive when plans changed quite a bit.

Unfortunately, some of my family was exposed to Covid and things weren’t going to be able to happen the way we had planned. Because I wasn’t with my family while they were likely most contagious, I wanted to try to stay as safe and healthy as possible. But I wanted to still give my nephew his bike and try to celebrate him a bit. So I talked to my family about it and we decided that I would drive up to give Rory his gift, but I would stay at the end of the driveway so we would be outside and I would be at a distance. It’s not what I wanted to do, but it was what needed to be done so I could see everyone that day and also not put myself at extra risk.

The drive up to Santa Barbara isn’t that bad, and I’m glad there wasn’t really any traffic so it was a very simple drive. And I was able to bring the bike to their front porch before walking back so I could keep a bit of distance from my family. But I was able to stay there for a little bit so I could see Rory getting his bike and I think he liked it!

He didn’t like the helmet he needs to wear while riding it, but he was checking out the bike and I think that he’ll get more excited about it the more he gets to play with it. And I know he loves seeing kids at the park on scooters and bikes, so now he can join in too!

I didn’t get to see Presley because she was napping while I was there, but I knew since I was only going to be there for a few minutes that could be a possibility. I wish the timing worked out better, but it is what it is. I was glad that Rory seemed to be warming up to me more. I know I don’t see him that often so he can be a bit shy. But this time he was much more smiley and happy while I was around. He did still seem a bit more excited to wave goodbye to me, but that might have been because they were going into the house to play with his other new toys and he was just more excited about that.

I wish I could have spent more time with my family and gotten to celebrate Rory’s birthday more, but I also know we are still dealing with a pandemic and there was no need for me to be exposed. And staying safe and healthy now makes sure that I can celebrate more birthdays in the future so missing one isn’t the worst thing. And fortunately, Rory is young enough that he probably won’t remember that I had to miss this birthday with him.

And I am grateful that it seems like my family is going to be ok. This is the first time my family has been this affected by the pandemic and I know that we are very lucky that we have gone so long without having to worry this much. And we are very fortunate that even with this situation we are not as affected as so many others. This might not be the way we all wanted to celebrate my nephew’s 2nd birthday, but at least we did get to celebrate together (at a distance) in a way.

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10 Years Of A Union (or I’ve Been A Part Of A Lot This Past Decade)

Posted on March 31, 2022 | Comments Off on 10 Years Of A Union (or I’ve Been A Part Of A Lot This Past Decade)

Yesterday marked 10 years since SAG and AFTRA merged into one union. I remember the merger vote so clearly. I wasn’t a member of SAG or AFTRA when the vote was announced. I had been a member of AGVA, which is a sister union, and was planning on joining SAG soon. But when the vote was going to happen and it seemed very likely that it would pass, I joined AFTRA so I could be a part of the newly merged union. I did it that way because it was less expensive, but if I had to join SAG to do it, I would have done the same.

During the merger vote, even though I wasn’t able to vote, I was very lucky to be invited to different events that were discussing the merger and I learned a lot before I was a member. And I got to meet a lot of people who were in union service and so many of them were happy to discuss things I should know as a new member. It was really an amazing introduction to the union even before I joined.

When the merger passed, I was so happy because I knew that I was automatically a member of SAG-AFTRA, which was my goal. And even though I didn’t start my union service right away, I was making sure I was informed and learning from the moment I joined. And it was only a few years later that I was asked if I wanted to be a part of Unite For Strength and run as a delegate in the election. From that moment on, it seems like I have only gotten more and more involved in SAG-AFTRA and it’s been an amazing journey!

I know that I’m very lucky that I’ve been elected as a delegate 4 times now. Even though I haven’t been elected to the local board yet, I’m grateful I can run and I do get votes each time. And one day, hopefully, I will be elected. But even without being on the local board, I have been able to do quite a bit. I have been on different local and national committees. I’m a vice-chair of a national committee now. I have participated in a lot of different events through committees that I’m not necessarily in but are open to all members. And I have found ways to help other people to get involved as well.

The past 2 years have been tough for me since I have felt very disconnected from my acting career and the industry in general. But my union service has helped me feel involved and like I am still a part of something that I love so much. Things are continuing to return to how they used to be, but I know they are going slowly because we aren’t sure yet if things will have to shut down more again. But I think everyone is ready to get back to the old normal and I hope that I can get back to how I used to be involved before. But even if it takes time for that to happen, I know I’ll get back to doing that again one day. I’ve only started with my union service. Just like the union has only just started.

10 years down, and so many more to go!

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2 Years Of Movie Club (or Another Pandemic-Related Anniversary)

Posted on March 18, 2022 | Comments Off on 2 Years Of Movie Club (or Another Pandemic-Related Anniversary)

As I said before, there are a few different dates that can be anniversaries for the start of the pandemic. For me, the last “normal” day is a big one. Also, the last date I worked out at Orangetheory before the studios shut down for over a year is something a remember a lot. But I also have a positive anniversary connected to the pandemic. Today marks exactly 2 years since the first movie I watched with online friends through Teleparty which was the start of what we now call Movie Club.

I love that I have a screenshot of the first post that I posted in the Facebook group announcing our first movie together. Things have changed quite a bit since that first movie. Now, we have a separate Facebook group just for Movie Club although everyone in it is still a member of the group it originated from. We do movies on Saturdays and a tv show on Wednesdays. And most of the women who are in Movie Club have become some of my closest friends even though I have never met any of them in real life.

I wish I had been able to meet them this past weekend when the others were able to get together, but I know there will be another opportunity to meet up with everyone. But to think that about 2 years ago I didn’t really know anyone that well and now we are always talking and texting is pretty incredible. Most of us knew each other a bit through the other Facebook group we were in, but we didn’t become close until we were meeting each week in Movie Club.

I think everyone has a lot of negative thoughts about what happened during the pandemic, but many also have a few bright spots of what the past 2 years brought. Some people had the opportunity to spend more time with their families. Some lost their jobs but ended up finding their dream job or even creating their dream job. I think almost everyone can say they were able to find things they valued in their life and tried to focus more on that and less on the things that didn’t matter. Everyone had to reevaluate a lot about their lives since 2020, and I’m glad that a lot of people got positive things out of that. And I was lucky enough to not only have that chance but also have all the wonderful things that Movie Club has brought into my life.

I have said many times that making friends as an adult is tough, but this was the perfect way to form friendships. I don’t know if we would have been able to do this if we created Movie Club during normal times when we weren’t all isolated from others. There was something special that came together and allowed us to find a way to come together. We have all talked about how lucky we are and how this might not be able to have been done if we had tried any other time. Everything had to be aligned for it to work out the way it did and I’m so grateful for that.

I have a feeling that Movie Club will continue to have our movie and tv nights for a while. We may eventually have them less frequently (we have been skipping a few Saturdays and might go from every week to every other week one day), but I think they will still be a regular part of my life for a long time. And even if the official group eventually ends, there is no doubt in my mind that I have made lifelong friends from Movie Club that will always be a part of my life.

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Celebrating My Niece’s Birthday (or Another Santa Barbara Day)

Posted on February 22, 2022 | Comments Off on Celebrating My Niece’s Birthday (or Another Santa Barbara Day)

During the pandemic, I’ve gone up to Santa Barbara for day trips quite a few times. It’s usually because of a celebration (like to meet my nephew and niece) or a holiday. And this past week, my niece turned one! So of course, I knew I’d be headed up there for the day again.

My niece’s actual birthday was on a Friday, and because I couldn’t take off work I couldn’t be there for the little family party they had (it was just immediate family so it was small). But I was able to take time off on Saturday so I could go up for the day then and still get to celebrate a bit!

And since I was going up for a birthday, I had to find a present! Getting gifts for babies can be tough, but I asked a few of my friends with little kids and a couple of them mentioned that at their kid’s preschool they had stacking dolls. It’s good for motor skills plus they can be fun. And I thought that sounded like a great idea. My niece’s room has a llama theme, and I found a set of stacking dolls that had different animals on them but the biggest one had a llama! So that seemed perfect!

Since my brother and sister-in-law had my niece’s party the day before, when I went up it was just a casual hangout. We went to the country club that they belong to so my nephew and niece could splash in the kiddie pool and we could hang out and have lunch. My sister-in-law’s parents were also there, so it was awesome to get to see them too.

My parents hadn’t seen the work done to the condo yet in person, but they had seen photos and been on FaceTime with me so talking about the renovation was a big topic. The last time I had seen most of this part of my family was at Thanksgiving which was right after we bought it and we hadn’t started to plan the renovation yet. Fortunately, I take a ton of photos so I had a lot on my phone I could show everyone.

And of course, it was awesome to see my nephew and niece. They haven’t seen me a ton, so I’m still a bit of a stranger to them. But they have both warmed up a bit. My nephew was trying to give me half-eaten bits of hot dog, which is one of the best compliments a toddler could give you. My niece smiled at me a bunch and was giving me high fives.

The only downside to this day trip was that I didn’t really take any photos. I wasn’t focused on doing that, which is good. But I wish I had some. I did get some photos from the day before that my mom took, so that makes it a bit better.

Once it was nap time, I went back to the rental house my parents were staying in to go over some condo things. My parents were going to come to LA the next day, so we didn’t have to do a lot. But we planned out what we needed to accomplish and also went through some catalogs to get ideas for what things I want to look for in stores when I’m getting more things together for my move.

I didn’t stay too late since I knew I’d see my parents again the next morning. Normally when I drive back to LA, it’s already dark. But this time, I got a pretty nice view as I was headed home!

But I’ll be back in Santa Barbara soon because in a little over a month my nephew is turning 2 and I’m very excited about the gift I’m giving him!

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My Usual Non-Plans For Valentine’s Day (or It Seems Like A Lot Of People Felt This Way)

Posted on February 17, 2022 | Comments Off on My Usual Non-Plans For Valentine’s Day (or It Seems Like A Lot Of People Felt This Way)

I don’t normally do anything for Valentine’s Day. I can only think of one Valentine’s Day where I had a date, and that was not something that was planned. It was someone I had gone out with a few times, we planned our next date, and the day of we realized it was Valentine’s Day. So in my mind, that’s not really a Valentine’s Day date.

While I don’t want to be single forever, I also don’t really mind not doing anything for Valentine’s Day. There is a lot of pressure to find the right thing to do and it’s nice to not have to think about it. And this year, I didn’t do anything special for Valentine’s Day just like I pretty much always have.

And it seems like so many people felt the same way. I don’t know if it was because Valentine’s Day was on a Monday or it was the day after the Super Bowl, but it felt like most people didn’t do anything crazy or extravagant this year. Even with one of my day jobs, Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest days for us. The shows we do are typically Saturdays only, but a lot of the locations will do a show on Valentine’s Day no matter what day it falls on. And for most years, that show has sold out weeks or a month in advance. But this year, while a lot of locations sold out, we had a few that had a few tickets left the week of. The shows were almost all sold out by the weekend before, but it took longer to sell out than it has from what I remember from every other year.

I did have a few things that made Monday not just a normal Monday. One of my jobs sent all the employees in my department a gift, so I got a box of nice cookies which I appreciated. And I did a Zoom hang out with my friends since none of us had plans that night. The Zoom wasn’t necessarily Valentine-themed, but it was a good opportunity for us to schedule a time to have a hangout for our group.

And also, the podcast episode that I recently recorded was released on Valentine’s Day! This interview was an update on some of the dating stories I had shared before on the Secret Life podcast. It was fun to share these updates even if they weren’t necessarily happy or positive stories. But I don’t feel like I need to ever hide the negative stuff that happens in my dating life. I know that when I hear other people sharing crazy stories I feel less alone. So sharing my stories hopefully makes other people feel less alone.

I think not being surrounded by a ton of people talking about elaborate Valentine’s Day plans also made me feel less alone. I don’t feel like I missed out on anything even if I still feel lonely and wished I wasn’t single. This year, it seemed like everyone had the same feelings about the day as I did. It was something to remember was happening, but not necessarily something that you had to make a huge effort to do something special for. And I’m aware that I might have very different feelings about things if I was in a relationship, but at least this year it felt like nobody was really celebrating and I’m ok being a part of the majority.

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12 Years At One Place (or My Last Anniversary At My Current Place)

Posted on February 15, 2022 | Comments Off on 12 Years At One Place (or My Last Anniversary At My Current Place)

Exactly 12 years ago today, I got the keys to my current place. I set up my lease so I would have 2 weeks to move from my last apartment to my current house. I remember how excited I was to move here. When I was searching for a new place, I really wanted to find an old bungalow that would be the perfect size for me to live alone. At my last apartment, I was in a 2 bedroom place and had a bunch of different roommates. But I was excited to live alone and wanted to find the perfect place to do that.

I felt so lucky when I found my current place. It was exactly what I was looking for. The rent was a good price for me and even though it was pretty small, it was going to just be for me and I knew I could make it look like it was much bigger.

And for the past 12 years, I have been pretty happy here. There have been times when it wasn’t perfect and sometimes I wished I had more space for things I wanted. But considering the goals I had for a place, this place fit exactly what I had really asked for. I love having my own space and no roommates, I love how my place has character and doesn’t feel like a generic apartment, and I love the neighborhood I’m in. And for a long time, the idea of leaving here for another place really made me sad.

But things have changed over the past few months. Obviously, I’m so excited to move into my condo when it’s done. We had a small setback that may delay my move by a week or two, but nothing too bad. But things are moving along and I should be moving pretty soon. And with my new landlord and the issues I’ve been having at my current place, I’m counting down the days until I start my move!

I do still have some sad feelings about leaving this place soon. It’s been my home for almost 1/3rd of my life! The only place I lived longer was the house I grew up in. I love a lot of the features such as not sharing any walls with any neighbors. I will have to get used to that when I move, but I will be gaining a lot compared to the things I will need to adjust to. I’m also sad knowing that it seems like my new landlord will be tearing down this place in the near future and turning it into something else. I don’t like thinking about that because this place has been so special and I would love for someone else to be able to live here for a long time and also know how amazing this place will be.

But I know that is out of my control and I understand why the new landlord would prefer to have 15 upgraded apartments compared to 8 tiny and outdated ones. So I’m just going to be grateful that I’ve been able to spend the last 12 years here and I will be moving to an amazing place that I’m really turning into my home. And even though I’m not moving right around my house anniversary, I do love that I did make it to my 12 year anniversary here. Something feels just right about that idea. Like how there are 12 grades in school before you graduate. I have 12 years of renting here before moving on.

And maybe I’ll be at my condo for 12 years or longer! You never know. I didn’t think I’d be at my place now for 12 years, but at the same time, I couldn’t imagine moving before now. So I guess I will just have to wait and see.

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