Not that it's felt like a tunnel, but I can see the light at the end of it.
Meanwhile, my latest dopamine hit came in the mail:
It's wrinkly because I took it straight out of the package and put it on, but this is the $12 pre-owned bamboo-fiber dress I bought on Ebay yesterday morning. Fastest shipping ever, and also about the cheapest shipping I've ever encountered on Ebay, so double score. The dress is super soft, comfortable, flowy, drapy, made of natural fibers . . . and I'm pretty excited about it. Apparently all the marine-blue Rowenas are stuck on a container ship at sea, so I am jazzed to cross that one off my wish list.
Obviously this dress plays well with bare legs and sandals –– I think it will be a great spring and summer addition, at least until the weather gets really hot. It will be fun to dress up with tights, boots, leggings, and layers for winter.
Meanwhile, although the weather's warm today and I'll probably take it off, it layers nicely with Camellia as a jumper over:
The bamboo dress also has pockets, by the way. They feel a bit odd under the Camellia's pockets, but not bad. This is a great alternative to a bamboo slip, and I could see it as a layered, thermal-regulating winter look, with something on my legs and a cardigan over.
It's Abbey fall break, and we're going hiking later on. I'm feeling rough after a bad, sleepless, allergy night, when I got desperate enough to take half a Benadryl around 3 a.m. BUT I think getting out of the house and into the sunshine and fresh air will do me good. The walls have really been closing in lately, which is at least part of the whole dopamine-hit-chasing business. As much as I like solitude and my rounds of work and housekeeping, the sameness of it all is starting to get to me. I miss my kids. I miss my dog. In fact, we had a big talk about a new dog this morning, because I think I need some company during the day and somebody to school. I am also less inclined to go for walks by myself, as I have discovered. Our old dog had not been a real walking buddy for a long time, thanks to his arthritis, so I had already been missing the motivation to take long walks daily and the companionship on those walks. Having done senior dog for years, I'm really looking forward to a little youthful energy –- which may be famous last words, I know. Youthful energy that eats your throw pillows (if Ruby the Beautiful is an exemplary).
Going to do a few things around the house, eat something, and get ready to go hiking. I'm not sure where we're going, though I sort of hope it's not anywhere too strenuous today. Linville Falls sounds nice, honestly: a stroll in mountains, rather than an out-and-out hike. But we shall see. Again, just being outside in the mountains on what looks to be a beautiful day all over North Carolina is an attractive prospect, and a nice way for Camellia to celebrate this nice round ten, the last before the last.