September in review: A month filled with celebrations and family

Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could.

~Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum: A Novel

September highlights & happenings

celebrated another trip around the sun
enjoyed a delightful birthday dinner at Sons & Daughters
completed many activities for upcoming Evening for Animals event
attended our first Valkyries game (and loved it!)
got my annual flu and COVID vaccines (and a special “treat” of COVID arm)
hosted mom and nephew + played tourist with them
spent lot of time with family + attended cousin’s wedding
enjoyed two trips to the botanical gardens for Flower Piano
finally got to open a letter the hubs had written me on my birthday five years ago
Friends of SFACC board meeting
had a blast hanging with Docusign employees for a corporate volunteer day at SF Animal Care and Control
fun meetup with friend at Flower Piano
successful second meeting of the TBD Book Club
movie night out with friends
last Giants game of the season
quick trip to LA to see family + attend memorial service
struggled with stress of not getting Denver house rented
whittled down my Instagram follower list from 4000+ to under 1,000
continued simplifying closet + selling clothes
completed quarterly net worth + investments review
survived many very warm days
read three books
active 26 of 30 days (37+ miles walked/ran; 1 ride)
live Peloton birthday ride
one post on Trajectory of Life
added new game to daily mix: Pips
continued daily Connections + Wordle + Mini Crossword + Strands