Another word vomit diary post because lately all of my posts have been either vacation recaps or monthly recaps. This summer flew by—like I blinked and it’s already the middle of August. And this past month, like since the middle of July, has been so busy. We went on two vacations to Maine in two weeks, experienced a loss of a family member, and had other family obligations, and all I want to do is take a deep breath and not talk to anyone for a few hours.

I don’t want to jinx myself, but I finally feel like this will be a “normal” week, meaning Josh and I are back on our normal work schedules, we don’t have anything really planned in our shared Google calendar, and I can get back to running. I signed up for the Hartford Marathon 5K (the same one I did last year), so I’m officially in “training” mode, I guess. But also getting back into an exercise routine gives me something to look forward to and gives me an outlet for any anxiety I have. But most importantly, I can get back to reading before bed.

When life gets hectic like this, I try to stop and remind myself of what I can actually control and make sure the important things are taken care of, like have I eaten, showered, slept, etc. I knew I could make it through the week, well, more just like power through, and I made sure we were eating and showering and sleeping.

I also know that, as the self-proclaimed Queen of the Introverts, I need time to recover after socializing. And there was a lot of socializing. Today was nice to work from home alone, go for a run after work, make dinner by myself, and now, as I’m writing this, sit outside on my balcony since the weather is perfect. (Thankfully, Josh understands my need to recharge and will let me have my time until I want to talk again.)

I want to enjoy the rest of the summer before we get into fall. It’s hard not to think about the fun fall activities coming up that we do every year, so I’m keeping those in the back of my mind for now. My goals for this week are to get outside more, read more, and just enjoy running—no matter how slow I might be.

One fun thing Josh and I did recently was go to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford for my last summer Friday. We went three years ago as part of our one-year anniversary activities, and we thought it’d be fun to go back again.

Edit at 8:00 pm: So I spoke too soon. Josh now has whatever cold his niece had when we saw his family yesterday. Well, the optimism was nice while it lasted.