Juliana Moves

It feels like fall weather here! I just had to get that out right away. Again, I am in no way rushing summer’s end, but how can you not revel in this glorious weather?! The last two mornings I’ve enjoyed my coffee outside and our windows are open.

The only hitch in my giddy up is that I am SICK. I am loud and proud about never getting sick, but on rare occasions, once every few years, the germs catch up to me. It’s obnoxious for many reasons, one of which being that I was supposed to start my Richmond Marathon training block this week! Whomp whomp. It’ll have to wait until next week, I suppose.

Being sick during my week of funemployment is not ideal but I have gotten stuff done around the house and have been drinking a lot of tea. Yesterday I ate a ton of wonton soup so that was nice.

Anyway, with all my free time, here’s what I’ve been…

…Reading: Run by Ann Patchett and Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. I’ve never read anything by Patchett before, so I’m enjoying exploring her writing! Packing for Mars is nonfiction about the details and history of space exploration, which is right up my alley. Going to space does not sound fun.

…Eating: Homemade Skratch cookies! Maybe a year or so ago, Skratch was selling their cookie mix in packages for a limited time. I got some on sale and loved it! They don’t sell it anymore, but they did post a recipe to their website. It’s not a groundbreaking cookie recipe, and it is made with whole wheat flour, but I enjoy that it satisfies my sweet tooth and has some element of fiber.

Also on the menu this week (if you need some inspo…):

• Thai Spring Roll Pasta Salad (w/ chicken instead of shrimp)
• Korean Turkey Bowls w/ broccoli (we double this to have lots of leftovers!)
• Mexican Street Corn Kale Salad (w/ grilled chicken)
• Baked Potatoes with BBQ Chicken
• Homemade pizza… in Patrick’s new Ooni!!!
• And I’ll be prepping these Jalapeno Cheddar Breakfast Biscuits (for the freezer)

…Wearing: A long sleeve in the morning. As previously mentioned, the weather has been glorious here, especially in the morning. There are very few experiences that beat drinking a delicious cup of coffee outside in 60 degree weather. When I wake up, I’ve been throwing on a long sleeve shirt over my pajamas and going outside immediately. (2024 Alexandria Turkey Trot shirt, if you’re curious.)

…Listening to: I Told You Things by Gracie Abrams and Buzzcut Season by Lorde. I am 12 years late to Buzzcut Season, but wow, it is a fantastic song. I Told You Things gets so beautiful, and slightly haunting, around the 1:15 mark and I want to choreograph something to it so badly. I’ve listened to both of these songs enough times in the last 5 days that I may be getting sick of them already. Worth it!

…Trying: To read more long form articles and content. I think I am going to write a whole post about this as I am trying to improve my attention span again (shouldn’t we all?). I find that unless I can dedicate time to reading something, it’s really hard for me to read something longer than a paragraph. In my defense, I also can’t focus on reading a book unless I know I will be undisturbed or if the disturbance is predictable. Reading on a loud metro with stops? I can do that! Reading on the couch while Patrick is roaming around and may speak to me at any moment? No way.

…Celebrating: Bringing a bunch of clothes to the dry cleaner! Earlier this summer I wrote a list of all the things I’ve been meaning to do but procrastinating. Taking a bag of work clothes to the dry cleaner wasn’t even on the list because they’d been sitting on my floor for so long that I forgot about them. I paid a lot of money for those clothes, I should be wearing them! Plus, we have a dry cleaner not even 0.4 miles away from us… Anyway, I finally took them on Monday! Yay!

…Excited For: Volunteering at The Ring this weekend! I simply refuse to believe that I’ll still be sick by then. We’ll be doing a long shift at the finish line and I am pumped. I love running on trails and being a part of the trail community, which means giving back and volunteering at events and for trail work as much as possible!

I hope you are having a wonderful week! I don’t have COVID (thank goodness), but I know it’s going around and so is general ick. Check when your doctor’s office will have flu shots available and the next round of COVID boosters. Drink some orange juice and get some sleep!

Love,

JN