Sentence a Day (Best & Worst Edition): August 2018

8.1 Best Thing: I discovered today, when I pulled the July page off my calendar, that August is a three-paycheck month for me! With my payroll schedule I have two such months each year and I keep a running list for six months at a time, of “things I need/want” and then I wait for that extra paycheck. The first is always in March or April (depending on how the calendar year falls) and the second is usually in October or November. I don’t know what aberration of days caused this early miracle of sorts, but YIPPEE! Other Best Thing: Had a near perfect evening out with a friend. I’m usually reluctant these days to go into Brooklyn or the city on a weeknight (cuz old), but I read about an interesting art event that I just couldn’t resist. One “that worked out well” thing just rolled out after another: no traffic in, found a parking spot as soon as we turned onto the block where we were going (#NYmiracle), the event was free, it didn’t matter that I’d left our tickets in my printer at work, free appetizers and wine, cute giveaway tote, interesting exhibits, awesome interactives, an astounding meditation session (tears streaming down my face much?), a shop where I found a lovely birthday gift for my niece (6 weeks late but), excellent dinner right across the street and an easy drive home at night. BAM. If I must name a Worst Thing, it was so so so hot. Still 90 degrees at 9pm and like 95% humidity.

8.2 It would be fun to say I took crazy drugs and have zero recollection of the day but the truth is I just forgot to do this AND have zero recollection of the day. Cuz old.

8.3 Best Thing: Got home from work, put on the aircon and my nightgown and lay on the sofa for a Last Tango in Halifax marathon (just started Season 3 and really enjoying it). All evening. AND got a complimentary email from someone in upper management at work about the blog I do there. Worst Thing: Peeing every 7.6 minutes all night from drinking so much water today.

8.4 Best Thing: Not getting my head shaved like I did a year ago today! Worst Thing: Finished Last Tango in Halifax, boo.

8.5. Best Thing: Did a great awesome amazing kitchen clean-out and it’s so good now! Worst Thing: Never really got out of the house today as I’d wanted.

8.6 Best Thing: Went to dinner with a friend. Worst Thing: Seemed like way too much money got pulled out of my checking account after paying bills, gonna have to look into that. “Looking into things” is one of my least favorite parts of adulting.

8.7 Best Thing: I brought a bunch of radishes home from an organic farm where some of our adult clients work. I love radishes but hardly ever buy them cuz the ones at the market are teeny tiny and high maintenance. Worst Thing: The radishes (which were quite large) were too mealy to eat, boo.

8.8 Best Thing: Got my hair cut. Worst Thing: It’s shorter on top than I wanted.

8.9 Best Thing: Major cuteness at Sibling Day at work, Worst Thing: Near heatstroke from running around taking pictures in the sun all day at Sibling Day. Don’t feel well. Passing on dinner with friends. Going to bed early.

8.10 Best Thing: FRIDAY. Worst Thing: A good thing at work has come to an end. PLUS, I’m waiting, but dinner ain’t making itself.

8.11 Best Thing: Met up with friends for dinner. Remained sociable for more than three hours! Worst Thing: Still feeling residual negativity from work yesterday. Wish I could better learn how to LTSG ($5 Starbucks gift certificate to first one who guesses the acronym correctly!).

8.12 Best Thing: Breakfast sandwich. Worst Thing: Was uncharacteristically disappointed in being so unproductive today. And #SundayBlues.

8.13 Best Thing: Got home from work, put on my nightgown (it was 4:30, folks), got on the sofa and watched a movie. Didn’t even pretend to do work. I needed that. Worst Thing: Land-friend’s smoke alarm is beeping, she’s away and I’m not a big fan of going up high on step-stools to replace the battery. So. BEEP.

8.14 Best Thing:  THUNDER & LIGHTNING STORM!!! Worst Thing: After two weeks of no McDonalds sweet tea AND no chips (except one snack size bag at Sibling Day cuz heatstroke)…I’ve GAINED a pound! That’s just not fair. Beep.

8.15 Best Thing: After several nights of just going straight home after work and not seeing the light of day again til the next morning, I went out with a friend to try to shoot the Milky Way. This is not really my jam, but the thought of just going to the beach in the evening sounded pretty good. We got deli sandwiches and sat at a marina…the food was good, the conversation was good, the air was fantastic…but the milky way shooting did not pan out. Too cloudy. But it was still a lovely evening. I didn’t really care about the pictures anyway. Worst Thing: What’s that military acronym for when everything gets effed up? I know, me, the queen of acronyms, should know this. And I do. I just can’t recall it at the moment. Anyway, THAT. At work today.

Beep. I’m afraid to go up high on the step-ladder by myself to try and change the battery. I can push the button with the broom handle and the beep stops for…some number of hours, I’m not sure cuz it starts again while I’m asleep or at work, I don’t know. 

8.16 Best Thing: Yesterday’s work stress got sorted out and we survived. Worst Thing: I broke down and got a McDonald’s sweet tea. It wasn’t even as great as I’d expected, but I was out and needed a drink and it really irks me to pay for a bottle of water (I’m a tap water gal).

Beep.

8.17 Best Thing: Went out with a friend to live music in the park. The day had been hot and humid but the breeze (aka near hurricane wind) off the harbor was delightful. We had ourselves a little pic-a-nic and white trash cocktails (orange soda + peach vodka + orangecello + maraschino cherries in plastic water bottles) and listened to a whole array of professional and amateur musicians giving us their all. It was delightful.  Worst Thing: Watched the series finale of Casual, a Hulu show I’ve really enjoyed over the past three years and now it’s over. Sadface. Why is it so hard to find a nice show about nice people??

8.18 Best Thing: Had a nice quiet day at home alone. Oh yeah, and my land-friend came home and changed the battery in the smoke detector. No more beep. Worst Thing: With much sadness, I cancelled my MoviePass account. It was great while it lasted – $9.99/month to see unlimited movies at theaters. I saw 8 movies in the 5 months I had it. That’s more movies than I’ve seen in the last 10 years! But because they keep losing money, they keep changing the plans to save them. The most recent one is $9.99 for three movies a month, which still works for me as I was only seeing 1-2/month as it was, BUT – THEY select 6 movies a day for you to choose from. And I’m not a “main stream” kind of movie person. I’m not interested in adventure, action, suspense, sci-fi, super-hero, animation and even most comedies. That leaves very little. Pickins in the “nice people/nice story” genre are extremely slim. And that doesn’t seem to be what’s going on their “6 movies of the day” menu. So. I’m out. Boo. It was really nice while it lasted, but.

8.19 Best Thing: Had fun day with friends in Brooklyn – found a thing (charming Mondrian greenhouse) I’d seen on Instagram and have been wanting to photograph. Worst Thing: There was a truck in the way of getting the composition I wanted of said mondrian greenhouse, grrr.

8.20 Best Thing: Last day of work before vacation. Worst Thing: One more day of work before vacation.

8.21 Best Thing: VACATION!!! No Worst Thing on the first day of vacation.

8.22 Worst Thing: Found out today that I was broken up with on New Year’s Day…he’d just neglected to make that clear TO ME. Really really sad. Spent afternoon binge movie watching, crying and day drinking. No Best Thing.

8.23 Multiple Worst Things: Still so sad. My heart hurts. My chest hurts. My eyes hurt. Sunflower field not going to happen. Again. Not sure exactly why universe is so whole-heartedly against me doing a sunflower field photo shoot. Come on, Universe, couldn’t you throw me one little bone today??  Best Thing: I did get out with friends today. I feel a little separate from everything. But I did get out. When I’m with people I’m not in my own head so much, but…eventually I come back here alone and the bad thoughts start seeping into every part of my body and the unanswered questions and reliving the conversations over and over again and making up new conversations and…yeah.

8.24 Best Thing: got out for the whole day with friends, saw a cool installation I would like in my living room…and I feel like I’m processing You Know What as well as can be expected. Worst Thing: I am so so so so tired. My brain and my body. I can barely hold the phone up to type this. But I guess that’s a good thing as hopefully I will sleep through the night.

8.25 Best Thing: Did an engagement shoot for a really lovely couple. Worst Thing: Didn’t do anything else.

8.26 Worst Thing: The time is getting away from me and I have absolutely no recollection what I did on this day.

8.27 Best Thing: I met two online friends in the city – one I met once, 12 years ago, and the other who I’ve never met and they were lovely. Worst Thing: The restaurant where we met was SO LOUD I couldn’t hear a word either of them were saying, they could have been talking about crushing puppies and I wouldn’t have even known.

8.28 Best Thing: Went to the beach with my bestie. Worst Thing: Nothing bad about that.

8.29 Best Thing: Spent a couple hours in a friend’s pool, just bobbing and chatting. Worst Thing: Watched The Worst Movie Ever – promise me you will not waste your time. “I Remember You.” Not the Icelandic horror film. Worse. PROMISE ME.

8.30 Best Thing: Socialized. Worst Thing: Socialized. Ha ha. I’m a freak.

8.31 Best Thing: I’m done with this project. This will be my last Sentence A Day, I really didn’t feel it was serving me or anybody else yet was taking a good amount of time. There are other things I’d rather do – other things I’d rather write or create. Worst Thing: Last day of August. Tomorrow is September, then there’s no avoiding the fact that summer is, truly, coming to an end.

See you in September!!!