Drunken Owls and Other Delights

...until we officially move into our new place! I'm still trying to wrap my head around that. It's not helping that I feel like I've been putting off all the packing even though I've done quite a large amount of it (and tossing/donating) already. It's also not helping that the Day Job has had some of its busiest days in months these last couple of weeks. I'm deliberately running on half-speed to conserve energy -- I'm not as fast at work so I can keep some of that oomph to move boxes and bins over to the new place.

We've also been doing a lot of shopping lately, buying stuff for the new place. We've even gotten ourselves a membership to Costco after all these years! Not that we're about to buy Armageddon Preparation Size boxes of cereal mind you, just looking for good deals on things we frequently use and need like household stuff. We're also buying things other than bookshelves (heh) at Ikea for storage modules we will need. We're trying not to go overboard considering we're moving into a slightly smaller space and there's only so much space for storage, but being smart about the space we do have is important. I will be heading to said Costco later today to pick up some storage shelves for the garage.

And INTERNETS! As of yesterday we are all wired up at the new place so that's one more thing to cross off our to-do list. Yay!

I am a little worried about some of the stuff we're getting rid of, though I'm hoping that won't be too much of a problem. We'll be getting rid of our old Dyson vacuum cleaner which we've had for almost 20 years that STILL runs perfectly (not bad for a refurb at that) which I'm sure a neighbor will yoink. The living room couch is going to be tricky, though. It's the one we bought from Home Reserve, known for their really good durable furniture that comes in boxes that you put together yourselves. I want to see if one of our neighbors wants it first before I put it up on FB Marketplace. I'd rather someone take it because aside from a bit of wear and sun fade, it's still in great condition, but if we have to toss it, at least it's gotten sixteen years of use!

I'll be honest, what's bothering me the most is that I'm barely getting any writing work done. I'd packed all my notebooks and brought them over to the new place so I haven't done any journaling in ages. I might squeeze in a few pages of revision and editing on the trilogy remaster, but that's about it. I just haven't had the time. I'd expected this and I'm using the time as a bit of a vacation from all that, but I am SO itching to get back to it once we've moved.

On that note, I have today and tomorrow off and I'd better get moving. Still using pockets of time to rest and relax, but I still have a lot to do.

Our city is so ridiculously photogenic...

*ahem* ANYWAY, A had last week off, so instead of me being an unsocial lump hiding in Spare Oom, we went for numerous walks around various parts of the city, including the Presidio marching grounds/Crissy Field area. Far too many pictures were taken and I'm sure we got at least a dozen or so miles in over the course of those few days. And yesterday afternoon we streamed SF Ballet's Nutcracker, considering we've gone to it at the Opera House almost every single year we've been here. All in all, an enjoyable and rigorous vacation despite the lockdown.

So what did I *not* do over last week? Yup. I didn't do any writing. I posted a couple of sort-of fly-bys at Welcome to Bridgetown, but that's it. No revision, no new words, not even any daily words at the 750. Normally this lack of productivity this time of year would have been caused by Q4 madness at the Day Job, which would have annoyed and frustrated me to no end, but this time out it helped me remember that simply enjoying real life and the great outdoors is definitely a good (and healthy) thing as well.

So what am I doing today? Catching up, of course! Time to write some blog posts, do some revision, create some new words! (And somewhere in there, wrap A's Christmas presents.) Time to think about long-term 2021 plans for job searching and freelance work. Time to get moving again!

It's been kind of a weird week, switching from warm and clear to cold and overcast and back again. It's nice out today so hopefully I can get another neighborhood walk in there.

I've been doing some seriously overdue tidying up and updating of my resume and related job-search documents (and job search site settings). I've managed to shorten it down to a single page, realizing that I really didn't need to have complete sentences everywhere. I also redid the format from Fancy Template that took up too much space to Utilitarian But Easily Readable Word Doc that works so much better. Yay Editing and Revision Skills!  I've been applying here and there, so hopefully I should be hearing back soon enough.

As for writing...have I done anything lately? Actually no! I'm enjoying the overdue mental time off by not constantly thinking about any projects at hand and just enjoying life as it comes. We've been streaming TV shows and movies all this time during the evening, and I'm just fine with that. I sent out my submission of Diwa & Kaffi not that long ago so that's out and away and not currently on my mind. Am I going to start anything anytime soon, though? I'm sure I will, because I've been feeling the itch again. I think I might try out one of my recent new project ideas that I'd come up with in March and see where that goes. (I just need to grab the outtakes and notes from the old 750 Words entries for it, but that should be easy enough to do.)


In the meantime, hope everyone has a good weekend! :)