Currently [Vol. 20]

It’s the end of June already? It has flown by and also taken forever – aka most of 2018. This month was great because I celebrated my birthday and my mom’s birthday, started a new job, and healed more from my surgery. I went from using 1-2 crutches 100% of the time to using 1 crutch 50% of the time. I read a lot. I kinda adjusted to my new schedule (I’ll talk more about that below). I was on a Patient Advisory Board. Basically

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Currently, I’m …

reading … A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain, The Wedding Date, The Black Book, Before the Fall – This was such a good month for reading for me. First, I finished the biography of Edward I of England. It was so interesting because Edward I had a huge influence on Britain as we know it. He was the king in the movie Braveheart, and he was responsible for Wales officially becoming an English territory. (His son was the first English heir to be called Prince of Wales.) This was a fascinating read. I then read Before the Fall, which is about a private plane crash that killed everyone but one adult and one toddler. It focused on the events leading up to the crash and the aftermath, which was such an interesting way to handle it.

Next, I read The Wedding Date. And by “next” I mean I read it in one day. It is such an amazing read. It’s fun and light, but has a can’t-put-down quality. It’s basically the definition of a summer beach read, and I think everyone should read it. Because I read that in one day, I had to buy another book to read on my trip home from Philly. I went to The Black Book because isn’t James Patterson meant to be read in an airport? (Maybe I’m the only one who associates him with reading on trips.) I went with The Black Book, and this is another one that deals with before an important event and the aftermath. In this case, the event is a double murder. The main characters come from a family of police officers, and this was another that I just couldn’t put down. I read it in two days.

My 2018 TBR List

feeling … excited about life but exhausted – I’m loving my new job, but there has been SO much going on, at least in comparison to my life before. Of course, it didn’t help that my first few weeks of working were also accompanied by lots of stuff happening in my personal life. For example, I started work on a Thursday, but in the first three days of the week before I had five medical appointments. Then I had my first four-day work week, and after those four days I had a thirty-six hour trip to Philadelphia for the Patient Advisory Board mentioned above. Basically, a LOT has been happening, so I’m exhausted.

watching … CSI, Riverdale, Tomb Raider, Thor: Ragnarok, The Post – I’m continuing on my CSI bingewatching, and I’ve finally made it to the 14th season. I’ll probably finish it next month! And I’m all caught up on Riverdale now. I started watching it in May, shortly before the second season was put on Netflix, and have now watched all of it. I thought it would be weird to watch a teen show, as I’m in my late twenties now (what???), but it’s really good. I also got to watch the new Tomb Raider with Alicia Vikander, and it was a lot better than I thought it would be, and The Post, which was just as good as it looked. I really liked that The Post tackled the sexism Katherine Graham faced as a paper owner in the 70s. And now that the newest Thor is on Netflix, I’ve watched it at least once more since it was put on. I love it!

hoping for … my recovery to go a bit faster and an adjustment to my new life – I’m officially ready for my ankle to hurry up and heal already. It’s one thing to know that the surgery recovery will be slow and long, and it’s something else to be in the middle of that slow and long recovery. I’m hoping to start physical therapy in July, and hopefully that will speed it up a bit. And I’m ready for my body (aka fatigue) to adjust to working four days a week! I haven’t done this since 2014, so it’ll probably take a bit to get there.

Also, not to freak you guys out, but this is my ankle x-ray. You can see where the fusion is happening at the spot(s) where my screws connect bones. There used to be a line with a black space – example shown by other bones on my foot that my surgeon drew arrows onto – but now there’s just a line. It’s not finished fusing, but it’s getting there.

listening to ... Dierks Bentley’s new album, my working playlist, and my M3 playlist – Dierks Bentley came out with a new album this month and I love it. He almost always has good music! And I’ve been listening to my working playlist even more than usual because I’m now working in an office. But most exciting to me is my M3 playlist. M3 is my third novel, and I’m about 8,500 words into writing it. It’s so fun, and I use the M3 playlist to get me in the mood to write.

How and why to make a novel playlist

thankful for … everyone who helped me raise nearly $1400 for the Arthritis Foundation and having a job – This year, I raised just about $1,400 for the Arthritis Foundation through the Walk To Cure Arthritis. That’s amazing! Thank you to everyone who donated. I know several of my blog/social media followers did, and I’m so grateful for all of you. And I’m so glad to have a job. After I finished my spring editing internship, it took about a month of applying to jobs to get one. I’m so glad that I do, but I’m also glad that it’s a) a great company that’s doing awesome things and b) a job in which I can use my education degree.

wearing … my favorite J. Crew pants for work, a new Madewell dress, a new Loft dress, my new makeup brushes – I bought my favorite pants for work in 2013, so I can’t find them on their website, but these are the most similar. I have them in 2 colors. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen that I’ve been posting OOTDs on my stories, so you may have seen some of these things already, in addition to my search for work clothes. Some new things I have for work include my new Madewell dress and Loft dress. As I continue my search for affordable work clothes, I’ll keep you guys updated! (And I have a post planned for next month about what I wear for work …).

I put these in the “wearing” category because I use them to wear makeup, if that makes sense. I’ve been wanting to try brushes like these for a while, so I figured my birthday was as good a time as any! They’re by MODA and were less than $25. They’re currently unavailable, but these ones are available and they’re prettier!

My skin care regimen, Everyday Summer Makeup

looking forward to … adjusting to my new schedule and getting out of my walking cast- Can’t wait until my body catches up to working again! For 1.5 years, I worked 2 days a week and went to class 2 half-days a week, which is basically my new work schedule. So I know I can do it, but I would appreciate it my body remembered that. Hopefully this will be the last post in which I complain about needing to catch up to work! The other thing is that I’ll hopefully be out of my walking cast by August. I was under the impression that I would be by the 4th of July. But I went back to my surgeon on Tuesday, and he said to take it slowly. I’m still experiencing “at least moderate pain” (his words), and the RA makes healing go slower. I definitely don’t feel that I’m at the point where I could get out of the cast now, but I was surprised that he said at least 4 more weeks. The plan is that, in approximately 2 weeks, I’ll start going without my walking cast for one hour a day. Every day, I’ll increase that by one hour as long as I can handle that .

Check out these posts:

All Currently posts, 2018 Recent Reads: January-March, Tips for Working from Home, The Best Fair Skin Makeup