Because I miss writing here and still have lots of little things on my mind, I’m really feeling the desire to just get some of it out. I have somewhat unstructured time in my office today (and hence, time at my desk/computer), so I am going to attempt another post filled with a mix of random small items. If I get a moment here or there to add to it, I will. I’ll post whatever I have when it’s time to pack up.

Thing One (file under “Not-So-Awesome Day of Domesticity,” also “Let Us Never Speak of This in Person; Seriously, If You Bring It Up I Will Pretend I Don’t Know What You Are Talking About”): Pantry Bugs. Oh yeah, that’s right. We had pantry bugs. On an otherwise idyllic Sunday morning (sleep in late, stay in bed a while, make a big pot of coffee, start making eggs for breakfast), we found a whole disgusting host of tiny little speck-like bugs had invaded our pantry and were having themselves a bountiful feast made up of all our dry goods. Just-purchased bag of flour and canister of oatmeal, we hardly knew ye.

So, we spent the entire morning and afternoon cleaning everything out and re-organizing. We wound up with a very neat and clean pantry and we didn’t lose anything we were too heartbroken about — with the exception, of course, of our lazy, cozy, idyllic Sunday morning. We’ll never get that back.

Thing Two (file under “A Not-So-Awesome Thing We Turned around and Made Awesome”): We’ve been living in our rental house since last July, shortly after we got engaged. For the most part, it has been lovely and we are really happy here (although we are both looking forward to buying a house in the hopefully near future). The one real issue we’ve had with the place is the landscaping. When we leased the house, we were under the impression that we would be in charge of all the lawn and garden maintenance, but our company told us they actually provided lawn mowing, etc., included in our rent. Which would be fine, except they hardly ever actually do these things. We thought it was supposed to happen every two weeks, but this summer it’s been more like every three weeks. The grass gets SO LONG, y’all. It’s embarrassing. (See post header photo.)

When we had friends over for a BBQ last spring, we found ourselves self-consciously apologizing for the super-high, itchy grass. When CW’s parents came to stay with us this summer, we were wishing and hoping (and finally calling on the phone to beg) for the lawn guy to come mow before our family could see how horrible the yard looked. (They did — the lawn got mowed just hours before my in-laws’ arrival.) Every time the grass starts to get really long, we dither back and forth for a couple of days, starting with “Should we call and complain again?” and leading to “Should we just buy a lawnmower and do it ourselves?” and eventually stopping at “Well, they should be here tomorrow, they said, so let’s see.” Finally, we managed to stop the cycle at “Should we buy a lawmower,” at which point we decided that yes, we should, so we did, and my husband is SO HAPPY. The man loves his new lawnmower and the lawn is mowed and WE are in control of our own destiny and the birds are singing and we aren’t hiding from our neighbors in shame anymore.

Thing Three (file under “I Was an Idiot and Now I’m Sad”): I bought a few new pieces of clothing at Gap before school, started and I wound up with $50 worth of “Gap cash” to spend during a specific range of dates this month. I knew exactly what I was going to use it on (a blazer like this one, but which I can’t find on the site). In between then and now, I wound up having to buy a car all of a sudden and I decided that my new resulting budget did not have room for any more clothing purchases this fall, and I was fine with that. A self-imposed shopping freeze is often a good thing for me. I would not buy any more new clothes. I did not need any more new clothes. Except maybe that blazer, which I really wanted, and for which I had basically a $50 coupon. Maybe I would buy that. So I bided my time and waited for the date when I could use the Gap cash and I went to the Gap and guess what? I had read the stupid date wrong and my cash had expired and I couldn’t even bring myself to go inside the store without it because I wasn’t even supposed to be buying clothes in the first place. Womp wommmmmp.

Thing Four (file under “Getting Older Stinks Sometimes”): I registered for that 5K I mentioned, which should be awesome and fun and way too hot on that morning to really race it, which is OK because it will be fun and my friends are doing it with me and yay, 5K. Except on Tuesday as I was doing some speed intervals through my neighborhood and I got all spun up at my goal race pace, I got a weird, unidentifiable pain in the back of my knee that just would not shake out. It wasn’t like a pulled muscle or any kind of impact pain. I don’t even know how to describe it, but it sucked. I had to cut the run short and now I haven’t worked out all week. The pain never came back, so I’m hoping it won’t show its face again during Saturday’s race. Stupid knee, you are on my list (keeping company with my hip, skin, hair, gums, reproductive system, and flora). Aging. Ain’t it grand.