I love some of the euphemisms that we use in English. Like, "Boy, today has been A DAY." Well, yes, every day is a day. But we know that it means it's been a remarkably bad day.
In that vein, June has been a month. It has been/is one of those times where it might be okay if one area of life wasn't exploding. We talk about work/life balance, but really, isn't work part of your life? You're lying to yourself if you say otherwise. Even I, who very diligently does not speak much about work outside of work, do things in my time away from work specifically because of my work obligations. I plan meals, childcare arrangements, time off, allocate funds, and so on.
Well, lately that balance has been hanging on by a thread. My job has been very busy and life at home has been a bit busy. I'm thankful that everything going on now did not happen during April/May when I was swamped with grad school work so I do have more time than I did last month to take care of things.
I hate being vague because 1) it annoys me immensely when others do it and 2) I'm not very good at it, but I really can't go into detail with what's been keeping us busy at home. My marriage is fine, my family is fine, our collective health is fine, so it's nothing big like that - just an ongoing annoyance and distraction. I think we're getting close to being done with it, though, and I will be extremely grateful to move on from what has been a mentally exhausting stretch of time.
I have better hopes for July, though I know stating that here is equivalent to going outside and yelling, "Wow, my life is going to be SO GOOD now! Nothing can go wrong!" and having something fall on me as I walk away. My life isn't going to be SO GOOD. But it's going to be better. It's not as good as I thought it would be three, five, seven years ago, but it'll be better than it's been this month.
On a seemingly lighter note, the one really great thing to come out of June has been Songza. Are you on board? It's my absolutely favorite music app ever, by far. I have it on my iPad and iPhone and listen to it at work every day. It's a "concierge" music app, meaning it offers you selections based on the time of day and what you indicate you're doing.
I got to what I'm listening to right now by choosing Work (with lyrics), Pop, Safe For Work. And so far the playlist has been 80% music I actually already own or know and like (R.E.M., Natalie Merchant, Radiohead, Coldplay, Ben Folds Five, U2, Mazzy Star). Like Pandora, you give songs a thumbs up or thumbs down so Songza learns what you like. I really, really love it. It's available for iPhone/iPad, Android, and Kindle Fire - and it's FREE. Go get it, seriously. It seems like such a light note, but good music can really make a difference when everything in life is meeting you with the resistance of gale force winds.
