Well, I did not expect to take most of the week off from posting. I was pretty tired and somehow felt jet lagged again. It seems that I could use some time off from regular blogging — so I’m going to take a little “bein hazmanim break” through the start of Elul (I do plan to beH continue posting a weekly update on Fridays).
I hope you had a meaningful Tisha B’Av — I actually worked 9-5 (from home) which wasn’t a bad idea for me as it helped me through the day. I’ve shared before that I don’t really connect to all the Tisha B’Av programming around at this point…it feels like too much for me right now. So I had a more low-key kind of day.
This week I booked a trip with my cousin for after Simchas Torah — as mentioned last week, I realized that I could use something to look forward to on the calendar for after the Yomim Tovim, and my credit card informed me that the flight I had set an alert for was at the cheapest they thought it would get. So we booked. We also booked relevant train tickets, a day tour, and an Airbnb (this will be a first for me). And that’s pretty much everything that needs to be pre-booked. On the ground, we’ll have some more local transportation costs, food, and entry fees, but I think this trip will be reasonably priced when all is said and done. BH.
In my life coaching session this week, I shared that I often feel a sense of anxiety and guilt when I book a trip, even though I know I’m not doing anything wrong. It’s like a part of me believes I’m not supposed to be enjoying myself in this stage as much as I am. Or that I’m too self-indulgent and that’s somehow immoral. Or that I should be saving more of my money (I do save what I think is a responsible percentage of my money, but I could be saving more; I spend money pretty generously on myself at this point, and often grapple with a level of shame in that). Her perspective was that it’s actually terrific that despite the challenges and frustrations of my current life situation, I have found a way to give myself what I need. I appreciated that reframe. I am curious to hear your thoughts about this!
Over last Shabbos and this week, I read:
the Kirsten series (American Girl)
Sarah, Plain and Tall and its sequel, Skylark
Trouble River and The Whipping Boy, two whole-class novels from my school days (as I continue to work down the stack of these books)
These books are all very short and I do have some longer ones on the stack, but pretty much all my many library books right now are children’s chapter books. It’s been quite a lovely interlude and I hope to extend it for awhile. And next I want to immerse myself (back) in the world of picture books! More on that when I get into it.
I hope you have a wonderful Shabbos Nachamu, and I plan beH to check in next Friday with another weekly update.
Good Shabbos.
