Currently: September Edition

Happy Friday!  I've been in Chicago for work for the last 2 days and am heading out to my brother's tonight to see my niece and nephew. I can't wait to spend some time with my brother and his wife and kids! Here's what's currently going on in my world!

Reading: Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho. I am reading this for the "read the first book in a series by a person of color" category of the Read Harder Challenge. I have heard so many great things about this book from people at Book Riot so I am so excited to dig into it. 

Loving: going to body pump classes. I didn't have a membership to the Y when I lived downtown since there was a gym in my condo. While it was nice to not spend money on a gym membership, I really missed being able to take classes like body pump. If you aren't familiar with body pump, it's a 60-minute strength training class that works every major muscle group in your body. If weight lifting intimidates you, this is a fun way to add some strength training into your workout routine. 

Frustrated: with some of the crazy things people say - like comparing Syrian refugees to skittles??  What has this world come to? I think I just need to live under a rock and avoid the news until the election is over.

Thinking: about what to do with the vacation time I have left. My company has a "use it or lose it" policy so I need to use those days up before year end. I realize that this is totally a first world problem and a problem I am lucky to have, though.  I'll come up with a plan but I keep changing my mind about what I should do!

Feeling: back to 100% again!  Phew, that was a long stretch of feeling like crud. It's been so nice to get back to a more active lifestyle and to not cough and cough and cough!

Anticipating: seeing my niece and nephew tonight. It will be a quick visit as I fly back home tomorrow afternoon but I'm glad I was able to squeeze some family time into this trip!

Watching: "This is Us" on NBC. Ever since the show Parenthood ended, I haven't watched any network shows, but this new show by NBC was marketed as the "new Parenthood." We watched the first episode last week and I really liked it and plan to continue to watch it!

Working: on my winter hat. It's been nice to work on a knitting project that comes together so quickly! 

Sad: about the state of the U.S. It's hard to watch the news and see all of the violence that is happening. The footage from the recent riots in Charlotte is just so sad and heartbreaking.

Grateful: for health insurance. Last time I checked, my year-to-date medical claims that had been submitted totaled $81k!! Granted about half of that is my RA injections as they cost about $1k/week (I only have to pay $10/month, luckily).

Listening:  to "In the Dark" which is a new podcast that looks into the investigation of the abduction of Jacob Wetterling. He was abducted (and killed later that night, according to the confession made by his abductor/assaulter/killer, Danny Heinrich, earlier this month) from a small town in Minnesota in 1989. I've followed this case for many years since I grew up in a town that was about 3 hours away. The subject matter of the podcast is obviously very disturbing and chilling, but it's so well done. I am especially impressed by this podcast because it had been in the works for 9 months and then just weeks before it was slated to begin, Danny Heinrich took a plea deal and confessed and led authorities to the grave where Jacob's remains were. You would never guess that this podcast had been completely reworked to reflect the fact that the guilty party confessed. They must have put in some late night in early September to re-work things!

Wishing: for a nice, long fall with beautiful, sunny weather!

What are you loving, watching, and grateful for these days?