joy: week 16

master shredder

Let’s cut to the chase this week: my biggest joy was filing for retirement, which I already wrote about here. Few things are going to beat that. Maybe the day I walk out of that building for the last time will. The feeling of freedom, the thought of not being tied to my job anymore far outweigh the financial stress I am putting myself under.

Speaking of finances, I am going to be looking for writing work, whether a part time work from home situation or freelance gigs. If you are an editor, hit me up. If you know editors, please pass my name and this substack on to them. If you are here, you know what I write about and what I am capable of.

Back to joys. My sisters and I did started doing Monday Motivation Meetings on Zoom. We meet after dinner and we talk about our to-do lists and our projects. We all have executive dysfunction issues and procrastination comes with that. So we motivate each other and give each other ideas and advice and just lift each other up. And it worked! Tuesday morning I got the brand new shredder out of my car trunk, where it’s been since Christmas, set it up by the couch, and tackled the monstrous pile of mail from my health providers and insurance companies, all my sick leave adjacent papers (I scanned everything), junk mail, and miscellaneous scraps and old pay stubs. I can’t describe the feeling of seeing that pile shrink, of hearing every piece of junk that was causing me anxiety simply by existing in my personal space get shredded to bits. I might have cried where I looked at the place where the pile had been. I couldn’t wait to tell my sisters about it. And doing this made me want to do more. It was the first step I needed to move forward in cleaning a house that hasn’t been properly cleaned since I first got sick a year ago. Big check in the win column.

Next up: I was looking at the records on my want list a few days ago and I mentioned on twitter that a vinyl copy of Milo Goes To College by the Descendents was over a hundred dollars, way out of my price range. I put this one in my “not a chance” column. About ten minutes after I tweeted that I got a DM from an old blogging buddy from back in the early 2000s. He had a copy of Milo he was willing to part with for me. He asked me to accept it as a retirement gift. I have very kind and generous friends and I will never forget how that kindness and generosity were shared with me.

I started driving again this week. I haven’t driven since the end of June and it was getting to the point where I was feeling confined and isolated and too dependent on people for my needs. My leg is feeling much better, the fracture seems to be healing nice, so I drove myself to a blood work appointment on Friday and a cat scan on Saturday. It felt so good. I am back in control. I have a little independence back. And the weather was so gorgeous last week, just driving down Hempstead Turnpike at 8am on a Saturday with the radio blasting made for an abundance of joy.

I have a lot to look forward to this week. Family Day is less than a week away, my sister and family will be here Friday, and, best of all, Natalie will be here tomorrow (she is staying a week). Things are looking ok. Hope your week was joy filled.