Back at the start of the year, I said that I was going to try to do at least a post a week, thinking I should be able to come up with something bloggable that frequently without too much difficulty.
Then the pandemic happened, and most of the things that are interesting enough to talk about went away- travel, concerts, going outside a lot… each of these things vanished and I spent more than half of the year (so far) in my apartment, without anything interesting happening. The blog posts have fallen off as a result.
Enter Nanopoblano! Nanopoblano is “the Internet’s least-official November blog challenge.” Basically, it’s a bunch of people who commit to following one of several paths- some people will post every day for thirty days, some will commit to engaging with the other participants. The recommended way forward is “10 days of posts, 10 days of reading/commenting, and 10 days of sharing posts through any other platform.” I’m going to go my own way a bit and try to do the 30 posts in 30 days route. It might be the kick I need to make blogging a habit again. I might suck at this too, but I’m at least going to try.

Now that I’ve got the Team Tiny Peppers housekeeping out of the way, I can detail some of the myriad ways that I’ve been spending my time since I arrived via the Amtrak Auto Train in the last post. The last post which was nearly 90 days ago.
- I’ve been setting up my apartment, more or less, once the movers brought my stuff. There are still lots of things to do.
- I’ve been exploring my neighborhood.
- I’ve updated my voter registration and been to the DMV.
- I’ve been working a lot, naturally. I enjoy my job- it’s challenging and busymaking and really doesn’t require more comment than that.
- I’ve been ordering a LOT of GrubHub- like too much. Seriously it’s so easy, which is very empowering for a wannabe agoraphobe.
- I’ve explored a few local monuments and touristy things and taken lots of photos- I’ll make a post out of these because I’ve got pictures.
- I had a houseguest for one weekend a while back when my longtime friend Lorrie visited. We went to some of the aforementioned local touristy things and even had lunch with another friend who went to high school with us.
- I purchased and returned an uncomfortable, inadequate sofa. This is also going to get its own post because I have analysis, lessons learned, and – of course – photographs.
- I’ve been to a crazy number of different grocery stores since my arrival because I still haven’t quite settled into a preferred grocery option. Long time readers will remember that I had the same problem with grocery shopping when I got to Germany. It’s really tough to top Publix. This is probably going to get its own post as well.
- I’ve been having at least one meal out every week or so with one of my local friends, but I haven’t gotten to see everyone I know around here because some of my local people are skittish about going anywhere during a pandemic. I don’t blame them for being more cautious than I am, but I miss seeing them. I did have dinner once with my cousin but then got wildly side-tracked with things- I definitely need to share more meals with her now that we’re geographically close for a change.
- I went to an actual concert in an actual venue with an actual live act and an actual audience. And it was actually weird.
And that’s pretty much it! I nearly traveled to Florida for a family thing, but did not. I’ve had lots of canceled events and trips, and it’s just been day in and day out of the same stuff, most of the time. There are seeds in the above list of longer posts that are going to be coming throughout the month, but this is where I’ll leave it for the moment.
See everyone back here tomorrow! Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
How have you all been for the last 90 days?
22/52 (and 1 of 30!)
Hi Steven, looking forward for all those pictures. And, I really enjoyed your “geekitude”. Happy Peppering.
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Thanks, and likewise!
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Nice Day 1 NaNoPoBlano post. I just signed up.
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Good luck on your Peppering!
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I am impatiently waiting for the chance to travel to an area with seasons again. Looks like I completely missed out on autumn but that means a longer chance to experience a winter weekend somewhere.
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Happy Pepper season! I’m the same with grocery stores. It takes awhile to find the right one. 🙂 Looking forward to posts of couches and concerts and other shenanigans. 🙂
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Happy Pepper Season, Rara! Shenanigans for all!
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🎉🎉🎉
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Nice one! Looking forward to a full grocery analysis 🙂
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The grocery store thing will be up in a few days. I already have my topics for the first few days of NanoPoblano. 😀
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Thanks for the hello and like the 1/30 at the bottom of your first post. That’s fighting talk and looking forward to the journey!
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Hello! The 1/30 notation helps me keep track of things, without taking up a lot of real estate. I like the subtle reminder that there’s more to come.
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1. I’m with you on doing Nanopoblano as a kickstart back into blogging!
2. Excited for your sofa analysis post.
3. Shopping around for the best grocery store might be one of the adultiest things we ever do. 🙂
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I find that the most exhausting part of being an adult so far has, honestly, just been the neverending stream of decisions about what to eat for every meal forever until the end of time.
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Felt that in my SOUL
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Looking forward to the sofa post…It’s always enlightening to learn from someone else’s experience, and I might find myself in need of a sofa soon.
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The sofa post is up tomorrow morning! I’ll be interested to see if any part of it is actually helpful to another sofa-seeker. 😀
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Wow! Sounds like you’ve been busy! 😅 Of everything you wrote of, I’m going to have to say that the “uncomfy sofa” is what stuck out the most to me. They always feel so wonderful in the store and then once you get it home you find yourself wondering if somewhere along the packing and moving process perhaps did someone get it mixed up, 🤔😅 They just don’t always feel the same once you get them home! I hope the new one works out for you and I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts. 🙂
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Thanks! Busy is a relative term- I’ve been so very still and uneventful lately by my own standards. I feel like I barely ever leave the apartment.
And yeah, the floor model sofas always feel different, always. It’s bonkers!
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Hello again, fellow Pepper! Really enjoyed reading through your post – loved the list and looking forward to seeing the posts that may develop from it. I keep finding myself wondering how we will look back on this year, that has been various levels of hard for so many, but then…I hope we will never forget some of the joys it has brought too. Even though strange, I can see you have managed to find the joy – I hope – too. Happy Peppering!
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