If I haven’t blogged in a bit, which would be the case now, I usually start by reading my last post. It’s like when you run into an old friend, and you spend the first five minutes of the conversation figuring out where you both left off. And so, in the interest of picking up from there….I ran my marathon!

It went great! My chip time was 4:04:39, which was about 9:20/mile and definitely faster than I thought I’d be. Despite some hiccups—the biggest being a severe anaphylactic reaction the night before from a deceptive peanut butter cookie (yikes, I know)—I couldn’t have asked for a better first marathon experience. The weather was ideal for running (i.e. cool but not cold), and best of all, my family was there to cheer me on. As you could see, we even brought Coconut!

Afterwards, I kept saying that I’d never do that again, it was too painful, absolutely no way. But now that it’s been a minute and I’ve had a chance to recover….maybe? We’ll see. 😉

That was a little under 2 months ago, and so much has happened since. A few days after the marathon, I went to NYC to visit my sister and brother-in-law. Coconut had a blast looking at the horses in Central Park; I got to see one of my old college roommates; and we went to the Renaissance Faire!

Afterwards, I spent the next few weeks crossing a lot of things off my fall bucket list. Though I never managed to go apple-picking (eh, who needs apples anyways), I did manage to consume lots of cider donuts, go to a haunted farm, and start reading a ~sPoOky~ book. And speaking of books, my book club’s been going really well! The last meeting was our best one yet—after a big PR push (aka posting in my apartment’s Facebook group and resident portal), we got a handful of new members. I hosted the last discussion at my place now that we’re able to do in-person meetups, and there was a great turnout. Fingers crossed that we keep up this enthusiasm!

In other news, I’ve also picked up knitting. I used to when I was younger, but I never made anything too impressive. I’d actually planned on taking up knitting again about a year ago, when I first saw the gorgeous but ridiculously overpriced Hope Macauley cardigans taking over Instagram. The yarn used is super bulky, so there aren’t actually that many stitches in a single piece—I found myself thinking, “If I knew how to knit a cardigan and had the right yarn, I could totally do this…and quickly!”

But of course, knitting takes practice, and yarn of that weight is expensive. So until I’m confident in my knitting abilities—as in, I’ve made at least one sweater for practice—I won’t attempt to recreate a Hope Macauley cardigan. But I’m getting there! I recently knit this neat, quintessentially-fall-colored scarf, and I just bought a giant skein of pink yarn for a pullover (hopefully).

Lastly, a Coconut update! He’s been doing really well, though he recently developed a teeny bump on his eyelid. Apparently this is pretty common for older dogs, and it’s unclear whether it could be harmful or not (most likely it’s not). I’m honestly more concerned about the state of his dental health—I’ve been making it a point to brush his teeth daily, but there’s still significant plaque on his molars.

Because of his age and heart condition, I’m hesitant to put him under anesthesia, which would be required for any sort of dental cleaning. When he gets his next echocardiogram, I’ll re-evaluate. Even though it makes me nervous, I also want him to have a good quality of life, and his teeth could be getting in the way of that. According to my vet, dogs chew so differently from us that we usually can’t tell if they’re in pain while eating. Many owners don’t even realize their pets were suffering until after a dental cleaning, when they notice a marked (positive!) difference in their dog’s behavior. It definitely gave me something to think about.

Anyways, that’s all for now! I plan on spending the rest of the day reading, cleaning, and possibly doing a bit of writing (I have an idea for a spooky short story). Until next time! 👋