howjoo do

It's Halloween today.

I say this, not because I have anything particularly Halloween-y to contribute, but mostly because I've now lived through 13 days of unemployment. The days kind of blur together a little-- they go by so quickly and at the end of the day I kind of step back and ask myself, "It's 11:45pm already? I've watched how many episodes of Mad Men? I've eaten how many oreos?" And at the same time, it's only been 13 days. Very interesting.

So yes. Today is Halloween-- October 31. I feel like it's been Halloween for weeks and weeks. We don't have major plans tonight aside from our yearly Ghost Hunters Live Episode party with Thai food, and we're going to see our friends perform Macbeth at midnight. I'm kind of done with Halloween lasting all month. I'm a fan of autumn, and I like pumpkins and fall, but Halloween is a holiday to me, not a season. I was raised trick-or-treating on a single night, not five times a week at 1000 Halloween parties. Costumes are exhausting to me this year.

And I get it-- the exhaustion probably stems from the amount of effort it takes to dress up and go to parties and all that, and I'm just so spent putting forth effort in my "real life" that effort for Halloween just isn't there.

Except to eat a pile of individually wrapped Twizzlers last night. But that's easy.

It's interesting how my perceptions have changed since being unemployed. I have so much time to spend with myself, and time really does kind of just pass by if I'm not careful. I've started making To Do lists that include items like:

1. Make the bed.
2. Put away the dishes.
3. Take a shower.
4. Do not eat oreos.

It's all to easy to waste away the day, which makes me feel pretty badly about myself. Writing these lists and then being able to cross off the items---

WAIT A SECOND. I must interrupt myself because the funniest little red cat just climbed on top of me to snuggle for a moment, of her own accord! She is so cute! LOOK AT LUCILLE 2!!Pardon me.

As I was saying, writing lists for myself and then being able to cross off the items on the list makes me feel like I'm actually accomplishing something. Last week I had lunch with my family at the BYU MOA Cafe, so I got there an hour early and spent an hour looking at art. I LOOKED AT ART. I felt refreshed and happy and inspired like I did in all those museums in Europe.

And today, while I have been watching Ghost Hunters repeats all day on SyFy, I also ate a whole back of Honey BBQ Flavor Twisted Fritos AND I went outside. More importantly, I've been indexing census records and easing myself back into a genealogical mindset. Tomorrow I plan to begin reading The Official Guide to Ancestry.com, and maybe I'll work on the gallery wall in my living room, and also start decorating for Christmastime (because Christmas is a season, like the phrase "the Christmas season," and I'm not going to get a Christmas tree yet, but I need it to be Christmas, okay?).

I'm going to have sparkly silver and aqua-colored trees this year. Is that weird? I don't care if it's weird.

So I mean, I'm making strides in my unemployment! I'm fulfilling myself with art and history and ghosts in the midst of job application rejections and a lack of motivation to exercise! It could be way worse, right?

Yes. Because I have a really nice and cute husband, and a snug little house, and two snuggle cats, and a smart brain.


So how' is your life during my unemployment?