Happy Monday morning. 🌻 I mean, I didn’t start writing weeknotes with a pure intention of writing them on the weekend, necessarily. I was going to write something last night but we were watching Back to the Future Part II, which Nick hasn’t actually seen. 😱 Back to the Future is actually my favourite movie. I like the series as a whole but the original is certainly the best.

Now I’m sitting on the couch with my 2015 MacBook Pro and not really enjoying the keyboard as much as I should. Hahah. I use an external keyboard most of the time, and with long nails, the keyboard on the 2015 MacBook Pro is a bit tricky to type on. The keys feel rather small.

I caught up with my friend Monica yesterday, after having not seen her since, well I think before lockdown. We have probably seen each other twice in the past two years. 🥴 It was raining yesterday and I was able to take my new shoes for a spin, so I ended up walking the full three kilometres to the cafe we were meeting at. My friend Geoff recommended Canadian brand Vessi, who makes waterproof shoes, and after some time I ended up getting a pair. I usually get white sneakers but Nick suggested I try a blue pair for something different. I must admit, it’s nice not to have to worry about stepping in puddles and getting wet socks. I think it was a success as it was raining quite heavily and the rain made it onto my jeans, so they felt damp when I got home, but my socks were very dry.

I did clean my shoes from the dirt that was on them, but I think that running them under enough water while cleaning them does make them a little bit damp from the inside, because the fabric absorbs all the water. They are machine washable but I didn’t want to go that far, and it would take some time to dry, obviously. I guess the point is that you would be stepping in puddles and submerging them in a bit of water for not very long, so it’s not like you are literally pouring a stream of water on them for some time. And for that, the material does appear hydrophobic.

I had some bad days recently. Actually, I wouldn’t even really call them bad days. Just moments of feeling depressed, feeling like crying, and feeling rather worthless. As I’ve described a few times before, it’s like my emotions want to be in some state of equilibrium. Events in my life are generally positive, and bring me joy, and I am doing things I enjoy, but every now and then I just feel like I need to have a cry. I was definitely feeling unmotivated on the weekend but I pushed through what I needed to do. I do think some things make me happy only temporarily, in the grand scheme of things, but sometimes it’s hard to tell. I think that cheering myself up is worth the effort, but it’s often in the form of keeping myself busy, and not in the form of blatant “cute dog pictures” or things like that. In fact, I find that blatant cheering up makes me aggravated when people try it. I don’t know how many people feel the same way about this.

I don’t think I have slept exceptionally well in the past week; early Sunday morning the fire alarm was going off in our apartment block for what feels like no apparent reason. “Stand by for further instructions”, the alarm instructs, but there were no further instructions. Last week our neighbour woke us up at 3:00am, twice, talking loudly on the phone on loudspeaker on the balcony. And then threw a cigarette butt on our balcony. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I don’t understand how some people can be so inconsiderate. She obviously has family on the other side of the world (she has an Irish accent), but is it really that difficult to take a phone call inside when it’s the middle of the night? And then go smoke your cigarette at a separate time? Just be a nice human, damn it.

I had a day last week where I just logged off work early and watched some Netflix in the afternoon. I watched an episode of This is Pop, which Chris recommended. I enjoyed randomly watching some telly in the afternoon on a weekday. Something about it is actually oddly relaxing. Then again, I don’t watch Netflix frequently and I don’t have any strong binge-watching habits.

So I’ve almost run out of the beforeyouspeak coffee I usually buy, and I’m holding out for the Black Friday sale to buy some more. I actually want to get into my own filter coffee setup at home, but it’s a bit of a barrier for me to learn how to make coffee at home and dial it in and all that fun coffee nerd stuff. For now, I’m enjoying filter coffee by purchasing it from local cafes. We don’t have a lot of room at home for a huge setup, but I think I can manage having a V60 around, and we should have space for a small coffee grinder. I just need to educate myself and get past the barrier of knowing what I need to know, what to do, and what I need to buy. 😅

I’m going to start my morning by going to the gym and then doing the usual work-from-home thing. I started my second program with my trainer last week and it’s been quite fun so far, so I’m looking forward to today’s workout. I am feeling strong. 🏋🏻‍♀️

I said that Back to the Future is my favourite movie. I’m not a movie person, and it took me until I was in my early twenties to feel like I was able to choose a favourite movie, because frankly, I don’t like anything. Geoff and I discussed my dislike for movies in our tenth episode of our Toast & Roast podcast.

I say that, but then Deadpool came along several years ago. And while I was watching it, I thought, “hey, I really like this movie. I love this movie!” I am looking forward to watching it again.