Returning & a New Spooky Layout

Hello friends 👻

It's been nearly a month since the last time I've produced content and honestly this month off has been so stinkin' needed. My mental health this year has been garbage and it has been really unfair for me to push myself to continually put my life out on display when I felt so horrible. I've done a lot of healing over the last few weeks which has been so great, and I'm feeling like I'm in a place where I can start producing content again. I'm a little nervous to be getting back to posting because I've been feeling really great during my time away, but I do really miss it and I want to get back to it. We'll just see how it goes.

As a fun way to get back to blogging, I updated my blog layout to celebrate the fact that we're getting into one of my favorite times of year - the spooky season! I've never really thought to do this before, but I think changing up my layout with the seasons would be a fun way to keep things ~fresh~. I'm trying it out with some Halloween colors and some spooky bats for the month of October, and I'm thinking I'll probably do some festive changes for November and December as well!

This is the way my blog has been looking since 2017.

...and here it is all dressed up for Halloween! 

Every year when I decorate something with bats for Halloween I always think of the scene from Bob's Burgers of Linda Belcher decorating the restaurant with more ~realistic~ bats:

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This weekend I have a 3 day weekend (Saturday-Monday) and I'm looking forward to some downtime. Work hasn't slowed down at all since the students have come back so I'm really savoring my off time. Here's what I'm hoping to get up to this weekend:

1. Finish reading a few books before the end of September. Right now I'm in the middle of a few that I'd like to finish up before the end of the month, and I want to get to a couple of others that I haven't started. The titles I'm hoping to read this weekend include:

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
(I'm about 35% through)

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
(it's thriller season! 🖤)

A House for Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi (18 pages into this and need to finish it for a book club my colleagues and I have)

Fullmetal Alchemist, vol 19-21 by Hiromu Arakawa
(because it's been too long since I've picked up a manga)

2. Go on a couple of mid-distance runs (in the 4-7 mi range. Maybe a 10 mi? I'm currently tapering for Newport so we'll see!)

3. Hang out with some friends on Saturday night and Brett's family on Sunday.

4. Somehow make time to journal and craft, and catch up on the new episode of The Challenge, Jersey Shore, and The Good Place.

It should be a great weekend and hopefully it's a precursor for a more relaxed schedule ahead. I'm looking forward to October -- marathon #12, start of my first indoor rec volleyball league, Brett's birthday, horror novels, and cozy baking galore.🦇 I'm hoping this return to blogging will be a positive one that will fill my bucket rather than drain it. Either way, my focus is on my well being and doing what feels good. ✌️