The chocolate hummus wasn’t great.  It wasn’t bad. I might make it again, with less smoked olive oil and a ton more maple syrup.

The past several months have been different. My oldest nephew moved in with me in January but left a month later. The plan was for him to enroll in college here, but we had a paperwork issue, so instead he enrolled in twelve online hours at a different college. He was also going to find a job here, but he’s up against an older, more experienced workforce so that didn’t work out, either.  He ended up sitting in my apartment all day, working on his classes and playing video games.  Since he can do that anywhere he decided to move back home.

I miss having someone in the apartment. It was weird, coming home and having a person in the house who expected me to actually carry on a conversation.  Plus Ryan is fun.  We cooked together, and sat at the table and had actual dinner conversations.  Since my grocery budget suddenly doubled, I had to stop eating out and cook meals at home.

One small side benefit of having Ryan at home is that since he was taking online classes I had to purchase an Internet plan, so now I find myself writing again. And, as always, I’m writing to help relieve stress.

Work hasn’t been good. The department’s administration team made some decisions that aren’t in my best interest, so I’m doubling down on the job hunt.  I’ve applied all over the Dallas area, even short-term contract work.  Moving from academia into the normal workforce is going to be challenging, but I’m hopeful.  I haven’t felt challenged in a long time, so I need to shake things up and test myself.

But it’s also a little stressful, which is showing up in my diet. I hardly ever eat sweets, but right now I’m downing chocolate like it’s tequila. And pizza, OMG, pizza! The ultimate convenience food. Hot, comforting, and delivered.  Who could ask for more? I’m eating a pie a week, a trend that has to stop.

Today I’m celebrating the college’s two-day staff Spring Break in two ways:

1) By launching a new project — packing my apartment. I know the move is coming, and today I have time to pack, so leisure time and bubble wrap are colliding in my living room.  And

2) Cooking healthy meals to eat next week, so I don’t have an excuse to order pizza.