Today is the last day of the Slice of Life challenge, and I obviously did not post every day of the challenge. In fact, my last post was twenty-one days (three weeks!) ago. Things just got very hectic around here, so I wound up tapping out,

I will be honest and say that my all or nothing brain did briefly kick in when I realized I had missed posting on March 11 and therefore broke my streak. But I talked myself out of that only to get overwhelmed by work and other things that were happening. So for today’s wrap-up(ish) post, I’m going to borrow from living queen emoji Meg Cabot and do a Good, Bad, and To Be Determined to get current.

Good: I got the opportunity to go on a four-day writing retreat with three of my friends. It was lovely and amazing, and I can’t wait for the next one. Also, since it was billed as a writing bootcamp, it counted toward my professional development for the year.

Bad: I had to get a sub, which meant writing sub plans, which is why–along with regular getting ready to go out of town prep–I didn’t have time to blog in the two days leading up to the retreat. And then all the retreat things (which were amazing) also took up blogging time. So the retreat was not bad for life or my fiction writing, just for the SOL challenge, to be clear.

Good: Lots of theater! So much theater! Beetlejuice, Spamalot, Death of a Salesman, Kim’s Convenience! 

Bad: Death of a Salesman was SO uncomfortable and SO real that it was almost too much. My friend and I were both t r i g g e r e d, let me tell you.

Good: One of my friends from my comedy class was in town because she took the level two class, and they had their showcase. So me and another former classmate went to her show, then over the weekend had brunch and then ice cream with her. She wanted to do something woo woo and very California, so we got our auras photographed.

Good: Another birthday, this time with a birthday party down near San Diego. Hung out with old friends, met some new people, caught up with a friend on the drive down.

To Be Determined: The visiting writer I invited had to be rescheduled for a very good reason on her part, but the when is still up in the air.

Bad: Behind on everything.

Good: Got one set of grading done.

To Be Determined: Will I get the rest done in time?

Good: I won the lottery to see Alvin Ailey! I did not have the best experience last time I went (my daughter was a bratty, underfed teen who complained the whole time), so this time I went ALONE, and it was glorious. Even more glorious is that I ran into a friend during intermission who invited me to sit with her in the second row (!) for the last part of the show because her date stood her up, so she had an extra seat. Bad for her date on multiple levels, very good for me.

Bad: I have spent way, way too much money on merch in the past three weeks. Way, way, way too much.

To Be Determined: I have zero regrets, but my bank account thinks otherwise 😩. Hopefully, all of the spending won’t bite me in the butt too much.

Good: A friend of mine wants to do Pilates and since I have ClassPass, we’ve been trying out different studios. The good part is that it’s built-in accountability.

Bad: Sometimes I say I want accountability, but that doesn’t mean I mean it. I’m mostly kidding.

To Be Determined: We’ve found two we like, so that’s good. One has terrible parking, though (because LA). We wanted to go back to the one with good parking but, alas, tomorrow’s class is not available for me to book. We’ll see how this Lagree method class works.

Bad: My fridge died dead.

Good: I bought a new fridge.

To Be Determined: I realized I could submit it as a property loss with my rental insurance. Fingers crossed they’ll cover it. Also, I won’t get the new fridge until April 7.

Good: My neighborhood Buy Nothing group on Facebook is the best. I posted a request for a loaner mini fridge, and someone let me borrow a five-foot fridge with a real freezer.

Good: My mom finally (finally!) listened to us and let me get her an Apple Watch.

Bad: FedEx left it outside of her locked gate (instead of dropping it over and/or calling her to let her know they had a package for her), and someone stole her package.

To Be Determined: She will get another one. Someday. Soon.

To Be Determined (but I know it will be Good): I’m taking my mom on a cruise for spring break because she needs a real vacation.

Good: Wrote a post!

To Be Determined: Like everyone and their mother, I now have a Substack. Blame my retreat friends. So many of the people who stopped blogging are now blogging over there (even though they call it a newsletter 🙄), which makes me so, so happy. Also, they said my blog is already chatty enough to be considered a newsletter (because a newsletter is a blog–I will die on this hill). Anyway, long form is back, baby! So, you know, consider subscribing! And tell me if you’re over there!

(Also, you’re welcome for the earworm.)