Moving, Musicals and More!
Just like a year ago, I ended my school year to head right into packing up an apartment to move onto a new one. This time, though, I went from no roommates to one and a half. My younger sister was looking to find a new place as she has been spending the last several months living with our aunt and uncle who were insistent that she can stay as long as she needs, but she started to feel like she was overstaying her welcome. As a result, we decided to move in together and although she doesn't want it to be because she needed help, it definitely was initiated by her life path. To be fair, I will also be saving a few hundred dollars a month now that rent has significantly decreased! And for those wondering, the half refers to her boyfriend who spends the night from time to time.
Besides the seemingly deceptive moving process that I faced last year, we are both now settled in our new place and we are happy. It's big enough for each of us to have our own space and the shared rooms are open enough where we don't feel trapped. A lot of what was in my old apartment was just brought over and we recently bought a bookshelf, coffee table and bathroom shelf. I experienced Facebook Marketplace for the first time and both interactions were pleasant and we definitely got a good deal from both.
Slowly but surely, I am starting to become familiar with my surroundings (still waiting to try out the nice walking trails right by the river that is super close to us). My new commute has nearly doubled from last year but that was the one downside of this area which I was very aware of before signing the lease. So far, it's been okay with minimal traffic luckily but I am still comparing it to what I used to have and miss it in some ways. That being said, I have no other complaints and the leasing office is extremely friendly and they finally fixed our fridge/freezer!
The other reason July seemed exceptionally busy this year was because I was working on my second community-theater production as an adult. With a different company than the first, I had a lot of learning to do and had to make even more connections. Thankfully, my director and I got along instantly and we are very similarly minded which helped as we moved forward with our cast, who were all consistently eager and talented. The process was truly so fun from start to finish and since it was one of my all-time favorite musicals (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), I didn't want it to end! Going to rehearsal each day truly felt like a privilege rather than a job or requirement and now my evenings feel empty. It looks as though the cast hopes to stay in touch beyond our production which helps the post-show blues but I still cherish the time we had creating something truly magical. Overall, the musical seemed to be successful with the executive director claiming he was very pleased and only heard good things from those involved as well as those who attended.
Another part of my summer that I have been enjoying since last year is working at my district's extended year program. Although I believe that students deserve the summer months off from school since they work so hard during the fall, winter and spring, I also see the value in attending an hour a week to maintain the skills and abilities! The majority of students on my roster do not show up but for those that do, I feel like I am supporting them and having fun in the process. There's one student in particular that I met last year and the parents loved me so much that they requested we work together again. This student is so clever and has so much to offer, but doesn't always know how to apply it so I simply just give him the time and space to express his thoughts which seems to make a difference. My assumption is that the busy nature of the school day and year as a whole is overwhelming to him as he is aware that he's different but not yet ready to cope with it. We have some really meaningful chats and I can sense that even with his tendencies to get up in the middle of a lesson, he respects and cares about me like I do about him!
And of course, we also had our annual Fourth of July party earlier this month where the weather was a little more cooperative and I was able to catch up with a lot of my relatives! Then we headed out to Maine to see the other side of the family, go out on the lake and run a 5K! This was my third year running it and my time stayed about the same but I continued my streak of keeping a steady pace without slowing down! It reminds me of life in a way where we are always forced to move forward, whether we want to or not but it's best to keep your head up and stay strong!
Looking ahead, I have two more weeks of summer school and plan to sprinkle in some tennis playing with a friend which has been good to keep me active! Then, in the middle of August, I head down to Florida to visit my parents' home that is the definition of relaxation. Just walking through the door makes me feel at peace, not only because it's a perfectly quiet, cool place to put my feet up but it's also 1,000 miles away from any sort of work or stress. I am arriving a few days before my siblings which gives me some time to catch up on reading (which I am trying to get better at!) and to get used to the humidity. We have a Disney trip planned which will be the first time we are all together in the parks in 6 years! We have already started mapping out what to do each day and I think we each have our own list of what we want checked off before our time is up.
The Validating Channel is still very much alive and well over on Instagram as I continue posting weekly reels, however, the YouTube channel has been lacking. I have been wanting to get back into podcasting but I have now had three people express great interest, we set up a time to record, and then they back out. Of course, I am understanding as we all have our own lives and conflicts but what's difficult is when they don't seem eager to reschedule. And again, I take no offense to it as I know that it's not for everyone and especially the way I do a podcast is a little unusual HOWEVER it makes it very hard to then create content without a podcast partner. I still love vlogging exciting life adventures and editing continues to excite me, but it's not always easy to take out a camera and start filming. Just typing this now, though, does remind me that Season 3 of The Validating Podcast started in August so maybe Season 4 can too... stay tuned!