Unemployment over

My week of being “in between jobs” is coming to a close. Only one short weekend lies between me and the exciting-yet-terrifying frontier of The New Job. I think I’m excited for what’s ahead, but I’ll miss the luxury of being a stay-at-home dog owner and accomplishing important things like …

• Buying, arranging, and photographing surprisingly pretty supermarket flowers
• Taking about 600 pictures, in the hopes of salvaging around 30 not-too-blurry ones, at two volleyball matches
• Taking Ted to the vet for the first time — my first time, not his
• Making meatballs from scratch
• Walking about 18 miles between walks with Ted, retrieving my car from the mechanic, and a morning downtown
• Savoring the snap and rustle of the first fallen leaves under my feet
• Watching Ted chase rolling acorns on the sidewalk
• Baking our first “fall dessert”: a pumpkin spice cake, a great excuse to slather on cream cheese frosting
• Completing three New York Times crossword puzzles on my own!
• Getting my car inspected
• Spraying down many items with flea repellent stuff, after getting an e-mail from JG about being on “full assault mode”
• Doing four loads of laundry
• Trying very hard not to feel itchy
• Gorging myself on episodes of Barefoot Contessa and Design on a Dime
• Typing up this list with Ted on my lap

I think I’ll be appropriately nervous on Monday, but I’ll try not to think about that yet. For now, the weekend is for relaxing.