sure. wait. what?

I totally dropped the ball on blogging these past couple of months, didn’t I? Let me try to pick it back up.

I’ll start with the mini goals that I set in my last monthly log:

• I want to limit my credit card expenses to under 1,000 CAD — didn’t do it.
• I want to draw at least three new images using Procreate on my iPad — didn’t do it.
• I want to run a 5k — nope. Didn’t do it.

It’s like I didn’t even try lol.

May and June were hectic, that’s why. I bought a house, I packed my things, and I moved to said house, all while juggling multiple deadlines at work. I’d say dropping the ball on blogging is understandable, but because I didn’t do my monthly logs, I forgot about my monthly goals too. Boo.

Money

Savings Bucket	Savings Goals Met %
Long-Term	83%
Travel	50%
Gifts	100%

So, okay. I had some extra dollars in May, which I tossed into the Long Term bucket on top of my usual deposit. But in June, I didn’t add anything at all. So, over the last two months, I only hit 83% of my goal.

I also skipped the Travel fund in June, so I hit only 50%. I don’t even know if travel is still a priority this year, but we’ll see.

Among the three buckets, only Gifts is automated every month. It will always be at 100% no matter what.

My investments are also not automated, but I was still able to invest some extra cash in the last two months. At least there’s that.

Fitness

This is another Big Oof. I barely worked out in the last two months but, to be fair, before you give me the side eye, I wasn’t completely sedentary. L refused to hire movers, so we packed and hauled our stuff all by ourselves. It was physically exhausting!

Exercise Days	5
Walk	3
Run	2

Five workout days in two months is tragic though. I didn’t even go to a single barre class. I played Just Dance a few times on Switch, but still. Tragic.

Hopefully I start working out again in July, especially now that I have finished moving, and most of my major work deadlines are already out of the way. Woot!

Reading

I didn’t meet my savings goals and I failed epically on my fitness targets, but, somehow, I managed to crush three books in May and June.

Selma Blair’s Mean Baby is a celebrity memoir, my go-to genre for busting reading slumps. There is a wistfulness to Selma’s tone as she discusses her childhood traumas, her alcohol addiction, and her MS diagnosis. Reading it was like watching someone tend to their own wounds, although I almost DNF’d the book when I learned about Selma’s previous comments against Islam and Muslims. To write tenderly about one’s own pain while wishing suffering on other people, especially those who are already living under siege, is icky.

Next I read Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West. One night I was in the mood for magical realism, specifically one that’s not from Latin America, and I ended up with this book. It’s about two people who fall in love in an unnamed war-torn country in a world where doors can turn into portals to different countries. The novel frames war in contemporary times. In the book, people dodge bombs and bullets while messaging each other using their smartphones. The magical element feels more like a side character, a convenient plot device to usher the story forward but, that said, it also kind of works. By removing the usual logistics of immigration like passports and visas, the novel beautifully paints the emotional and existential weight of displacement among refugees without getting bogged down by bureaucracy. Lovely book for sure.

The most recent book I read is Hildur Knutsdottir’s The Night Guest (translated by Mary Robinette Kowal). This one’s mid. It’s alright. It’s not bad, but it’s also far from being a favorite. It’s horror, but I wasn’t terrified. It’s short too, although I’m not sure if it would benefit from added length. Ehh.

Social

Almost all my friends had plans of going out of town this summer (partly to avoid the festival crowd lol), so we gathered as often as we could before everyone scurried off to wherever they were going.

One time we went out for brunch, and our table got hailed on. Pellets of ice literally fell from the sky and through the thin slit in the ceiling.

Another time, we had Korean barbecue at Y and Y’s place and I completely forgot to add water to the “smokeless” grill. When I finally remembered, I didn’t realize how hot the grill had gotten, so a grease fire broke out. There was smoke everywhere! I kept apologizing to Y because her main floor now smelled like cooked meat, but she just laughed and said, “Honestly, it’s not a bad smell.” She even invited us back the following week for an outdoor barbecue and thank goodness the smell was completely gone by then. Phew!

L and I also went to R and R’s place for dinner a couple times. We ate hotpot, sang karaoke, and fed the bunnies. Fun!

Finds and Firsts

There are many, many firsts for me these last couple of months, but the biggest one is buying a home (there’s a very close second, but I don’t feel like writing about it now). The cost of homeownership hasn’t fully sunk in yet — some days I feel anxious about it, some days I’m like, pfft, there’s no point in worrying at all. I’ll always find a way somewhat, somehow.

Fails and Flops

I still need to get my full professional license, something that my boss recently reminded me about. I don’t know why I’m putting this off — maybe because I don’t quite see the benefits of getting it? But then my boss mentioned that they could move me to different pay group once I have it. Hmm. That’s enough motivation for me to go get it, isn’t it?

Anyway, I don’t know. We’ll see next month (or whenever).

Looking Ahead

I’m just excited to be living in my own place now. It would be nice if I won the lottery too so I could pay off the mortgage right away, but maybe that’s too much to ask. There’s only one way to eat an elephant, they say. One bite at a time, Self. One bite at a time.