We have baseball tickets for Tuesday night, picked during our season ticket pool back in the spring. The way July laid out, none of August’s days were visible on my phone (without flipping forward) until today, which meant the game snuck up on me.

Honestly, I’m feeling a little ambivalent. Partially, it’s the depression; anything that requires any effort is hard. But it’s a hard that I have a lifetime of tools to overcome and I will get myself to the ballpark and will enjoy myself once I’m there.

Second, the Nationals just traded away eight players late last week, including my two favorite team members. I can name a handful of the players remain, and honestly it mirrors the changes I’m experiencing at work a little too closely for comfort.

Third, I’d hoped to go to the movies Tuesday night, which is discount night at our local theater. It’s a minor disappointment (world’s tiniest violin), and one I can get past easily.

Again, I’ll say that once I get to the game, I’m sure I’ll be glad to be there and learning the names of all the new players and enjoying the night. It’s just the idea of it ahead of time is terribly exhausting.

This shot is blurry, but simply reflects my desire to grab a quick pic and then turn my flashlight back on to join the others in the modern concert alternative to lighters. It was a good Rock Creek Kings show, even if the first half was heard from across the ravine in the garden.

I’ve been doing a bit of online shopping recently. A new computer battery for my work laptop (it’s been bulging for a while and I thought I should deal with it before it catches on fire) and some new work clothes arrived, just as skyrocketing cases and mask mandates make me question if we’ll be back after Labor Day or not. (If/when we do return, we’ve got a three-month experimental period planned where we can decide if we want to be in-office all the time, fully remote, or hybrid. Right now I’ve said hybrid, but it all depends on a number of factors, like where our new office space is, if our dress code relaxes at all, or how much I hate being around people I can’t just tell to be quiet because I’m on a call.) Tonight I bought a new cell phone case off eBay, because my old one is disintegrating and has already allowed my phone screen to crack. A few new casual tees are also on their way to me. Really I should take myself to a store, but it just seems like such an effort.

Some of it is depression buying, albeit with a gift card. But I think some of it might be coming-out-of-depression buying — taking care of things I should have done months ago. I emptied cat boxes today — and moved them to sweep behind, which is also an encouraging trend. Heck, I’ve even already changed the calendar to August. We’ll see what tomorrow holds. (Besides the farmers market, lunch with friends, and a call with my folks, of course.)

I just realized I lost track of the days and missed a friend’s birthday today, which annoys me to no end. I’m not always great about staying in touch, but I do at least usually manage the bare minimum of a birthday text/voicemail.

So, tomorrow, I’ll be reaching out to him with a belated birthday greeting.

I’m hopeful that I’ll also be able to have supper with some D.C. friends.

I’ll be going to the farmers market and the library. Otherwise, the weather looks gorgeous, so I plan to spend lots of time outside in the garden, at the pool, and in the park reading and knitting and relaxing.

What do you have planned for the transition from July into August?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Ninety minutes of playing volleyball.

2. A text from a friend whose kids are away at camp.

3. Snuggling back under the covers because I don’t have to get up yet.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

There was some actual unraveling a few seconds ago, as I went to take a picture of my knitting and realized I’d dozed off before finishing the row. I wasn’t at the end of the row, as I’d expected, but a couple dozen stitches before it, and I lost a handful of stitches in my handling of it. But I got it all righted, so phew!

I also lost the equivalent of a few stitches in listening to the audiobook of Becoming Duchess Goldblatt. I’ll wait until tomorrow to pick up those threads and figure out where I’d stopped being awake in the telling of the tale.

I’ve started Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev in paper. Her Austen-inspired series always start a little slow, but getting to follow the breadcrumbs she lays down (India and China’s last name is Dashwood, for instance) is always enjoyable, although I did eventually have to give in and look up what Marianne and Elinor’s youngest sister’s name is in the original, since it was distracting me from the book (Margaret, in case it’s now bugging you, too).

Head over to As Kat Knits to see what others are reading and crafting.

I’ve had “Joanna” by Kool & the Gang running around my head for all day. So now I’m sharing the earworm with you.