Better Living Through Literature
Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
We’re just…going on with our lives while we get used to living without our boy, I guess. I’m trying not to rush out and adopt a dog and to actually let myself grieve but it’s hard; the house is awfully empty.
The googly eyes on the sign in Millcreek made me actually laugh, though. And everyone has been so kind–people delivered dinner, sent flowers, wrote sweet notes, cried with us. It’s nice to know everyone loved Toby like we did.
A few weeks ago, I started getting Instagram ads for saunas/bath houses in Salt Lake City. I had no idea there were so many (with increasingly weird names): Hot House SLC, Glow, Perspire, Plunj, Sweathouz (ew), and Sauna Public. Sauna Public was the closest to us with a traditional heated sauna vs. infrared, so we checked it out yesterday.
Photo above is from Google, but you can get an idea of the layout: the door in the tile leads to the sauna with two heaters and three levels, and you can see the showers out in the open to rinse off between sauna and cold plunge.
And here’s my photo, looking the other way out into the entrance and reception–it’s not a big space. That cold plunge pool looming ominously in the foreground was SO INCREDIBLY COLD. I thought I was tough sitting in the stream in Millcreek in the height of summer, but this was even colder. (It didn’t help that the open showers and the private showers in the changing room didn’t get hot at all–I think the water heater was having a hard time keeping up.)
The vibe was definitely more public pool than luxury spa, but clean and chill. Every guest besides us was an athletic guy in his 30s and they seemed to be subtly trying to out-stay each other in the cold plunge. I guess I was expecting more of an “old European guy” vibe but it makes sense that the bros would be all over hot/cold therapy for recovery.
Will we go again? I might try it alone to really see how much I can cook myself in the sauna, but I might be more of a sento/hot springs person. Or a backyard sauna person, someday, where I can make my cold plunge an indulgent 60 degrees versus 45.
Look at me paying people to do the basement instead of just committing to DIY. I bought some sweatpants ready-made and then started shopping for fleeces at Old Navy?! I’m even considering eating chicken again after 25 years as a veg/pescetarian. (It’s SO hard to get enough protein for lifting and I’m just over the struggle.)
WHO AM I? WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Hot Unsettled Summer shook up a lot more than our new house plans, I guess. 
My sewjo is understandably non-existent right now–all my energy is going towards organizing, looking at flooring, etc. I also think part of the problem is I want to sew “outside” clothes but work from home and pretty much just go to the gym. I just don’t think I’d reach for a pair of corduroy flares or twill barrel-legs, but that doesn’t stop me thinking, “You have fabric already, just get them cut out.”
You know it’s going to be a wild weekend when you break out the cleaning chemicals:
Or spend your Friday night at the flooring store:
Or get really excited about finally fixing that one low spot in the garage:
I have a lot of conflicting feelings about the Utah Valley University shooting yesterday; this is all I’m going to post about it:
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It was a busy weekend but it was full of nice things: Making birthday pies, giving Mr. Proper Paws lots of pats, being driven around in Doc’s new car, and playing with the IKEA room designer to see what I want to do in the basement.
As I’ve been cleaning out my sewing room and the basement, every little notion or big scrap of fabric or leftover building supply or piece of melamine-covered plywood has to get really CONSIDERED before I decide if I need to keep it or not.
Because the desire to have less stuff and have that stuff organized is directly in opposition to the desire to save something just in case you need that EXACT thing someday.
I’ve seen this happen more than once with my own dad (minus the rolling around on the floor in glee, of course). You never know when you might need that random thing!
I stress-organized under the bathroom sinks a couple weeks ago when all of Doc’s car stuff was going down, then moved on to the basement after we decided to do a new car instead of moving. I’d just been dumping things onto shelves for a few years and hoping for the best, but I had to move the shelves to assess the plumbing rough-ins so everything came off and I sorted through it all.
I’m not sure how we ended up with FOUR camping air mattresses or five different sizes of insulated tote, but now I know where everything is and a contractor can get to the pipes. We even have a free neighborhood dumpster coming next Thursday to get rid of all the junk behind me in this picture, lol.
Well, so much for trying to hold on to the idea that everything will be okay... Doc’s car had to get towed last week and we were waiting on a repair estimate, which came in over the weekend. It’s, uh, two to three times what his car is worth, so we’re going car shopping today.
We ended up agreeing that we have a house already but Doc doesn’t have a car, so let’s let that take priority and put the new house off for a few years. I was already worried about my job long-term and about upsetting Toby’s routine, so waiting just makes sense. (And honestly, the decision feels like someone canceling plans: Sure it was a fun thing you agreed to, but suddenly not having to do it? Hooray!)
Plus! We already secured a HELOC with a great interest rate to act as a down payment (so we wouldn’t have to show and sell the current house with Toby in it before we bought a new one; the things we do for our old man) so now we can use that to FINISH THE BASEMENT and I’ll be able to get a guest room after all.
This feels like the right decision but truly, everything that’s happened this summer has me like this:
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