I FINALLY got a few days in a row off for the first time this year. I took last Thursday, Friday, and this Monday and Tuesday off since everyone else has Wednesday and Friday around Thanksgiving booked, and I've been getting caught up on SO MUCH. My balcony is swept, sliding doors Windexed, and table, chairs, and plants I'm keeping are now indoors. Laundry is done, rent is paid, I got to the boardwalk for exercise by the ocean, and I have all of the ingredients for a pumpkin pie with a gingersnap crust which I'll make tomorrow. I can't do it today because the crust might get soggy by Thanksgiving, and Wednesday I'm back at work, so no time then.

Considering I had two and a half years where I wasn't working, I forgot just how much time a job sucks up from daily existence, plus I work 10 and a half/11 hours a day, so yeah. There were some season-ending things I needed to wrap up that I just hadn't gotten around to, and it's a relief to finally be able to do them. I absolutely appreciate having my own apartment, but all of the upkeep that it entails does take the remainder of the time I have available.

It's also because I tend to be a pretty clean person. Yes, mail may pile up a bit, it's not like I'm completely neglecting the daily chores. The deep clean stuff does have to wait until every month/couple of months though, and stretches like this are perfect for getting those things done. Hopefully it will be a happy Thanksgiving though, and the pie will be as big of a hit as it usually is. It's the first time I've tried pumpkin in this apartment's oven and every oven is different, but I'll just have to watch it and make sure it doesn't overbake (this oven runs hotter than the one at my parents). It will still be better than store-bought though, and the gingersnaps give a perfect complement to the pumpkin pie spices.