random thoughts – Day 1,510 – (Tuesday) – stress and relief

Another first Tuesday of the month, another rejuvenating Boozy Book Club meeting. The book (Salvage the Bones) was a bit heavy, as in, definitely not a lighthearted rom com, but well written with likeable characters.

Beer and book.

I like that book club meetings are relatively predictable with a start time, an end time, and a designated topic. All my social interactions might benefit from that structure. There is a core group of us, and I always look forward to seeing everyone. Sometimes, like tonight, the group is larger, and it is fun to have more points of view and meet a few new people. 

Whatever the group size, the conversation is always sure to be interesting and the food is always delicious. Tonight we shared sweet potato fries, fried pickles, tater tots, and two flatbread pizzas (vegetable and Margherita). Yum. I planned ahead for the snackage by having a salad for lunch. My beer selection for the evening was a dark and delicious Whoopie Pie Stout from SoMe Brewing Co. 

The brief but enjoyable hour of book club was the perfect antidote to a busy and frustrating workday. Short-notice requests are blowing in like a sandstorm, and few of them have an earlier model that can be updated quickly. It was suddenly feeling overwhelming. 

By noon, it felt like a full week had passed and I was wishing I could just run away from my desk. Like, tie up my debit and credit cards in a red bandanna on the end of a stick, start whistling a tune (first, I need to learn how to whistle), and hop a train or a plane or a bus to anywhere but there at that block of head-splitting time. 

Book club washed off all that grit and dust. There is stress relief to be found, and it doesn't have to be expensive or complicated. Sometimes you just need to show up for the scheduled diversions.