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A sort-of-weekly check-in where I go over the good and bad parts of my week. Credit for the idea goes to Havi Brooks. Join me?

The Hard:

Restlessness and discontentment.

The Hounds of More kept telling me that I wasn’t in the right place, doing the right things. Whatever I was doing, it seemed like there were about sixteen other things that needed my attention.

Homesickness.

I love our new apartment, but I really, really miss our Kansas City neighborhood. There were quiet streets filled with little bungalows. A crazy scrap metal sculptor who lived around the corner from us and sat welding odd creatures in his driveway in the evenings. Small front yards filled with gardens that people tended, not mowed. Sidewalks everywhere! Neighborhoods with crazy-fancy estates that you’d never want to own, but were sure fun to look at. I feel a little stranded in suburbia right now.

A wild blood chase.

Despite informing the blood donation center in Kansas City that I’d moved to St. Louis, they still called to see if I wanted to schedule an appointment. I assumed the address they gave me was in St. Louis, so I drove around for 45 minutes looking for a nonexistent street address (unless you’re in KC). I called to complain (nicely), which was not as satisfying as I’d hoped.

Money stresses. Which mostly got resolved/alleviated, but are never fun.

The Good:

Employment!

I’ve all but gotten the job at the St. Louis Art Museum that I applied for! It’s a part-time assistant mount-maker job; just enough hours to keep me occupied and engaged, not enough to lead to burnout. Plus, new learning curve + new people = good for Julia.

Books!

Even though the sidewalks here are sporadic, I can walk to our bank, two grocery stores, a few restaurants and…the library! I got my St. Louis County library card yesterday and a few books. I haven’t read in so long. Time to dive into something yummy and get lost for awhile.

Two artist dates.

I went to the botanical gardens and the zoo this week, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. I started taking pictures again and I feel like my creative well was refilled. Plus, hanging around animals always = good. The zoo here is free, can you believe it?

My overall physical well-being is better.

I had a horrible day last week when I ate too much gross Chinese food too fast and then wished I could take it all back and cried when I knew I couldn’t. I said “NO MORE” and so this week I’ve been a lot more slow and conscious about how/what/when I eat. I’ve also been (gently) active almost every day; I seem to be having some success in dealing with my overdoing-it-and-then-spending-three-days-recovering pattern.

A lovely and restful weekend to all.