Hailey Hudson's Blog, page 8

Blogmas 2023 Day 10 (Hallmark movie?!)

Whew! I was awake at 4 AM this morning, throwing up and wondering how on earth I would survive today. But somehow, I did. Let’s keep this short because my body and brain are very done!

I went to church in the rain this morning and enjoyed getting my baby/toddler fix; sitting in the service; and speaking in a meeting afterward.

Usually I don’t do anything on Sunday afternoons/evenings. But today I took an Uber to Atlantic Station to see a friend. We Christmas shopped, sat at a burger restaurant and visited, and found a public piano that of course we had to hog for a while. The whole day felt like a Hallmark movie. Again, though, it was the kind of day that’s mostly for my journal or memory… or ask me in person and I’ll be happy to tell ya more details.

I Ubered home and got back close to 10, with burning and weak legs that are very ready to rest. What a long day… but it was so very good!

Today I’m grateful for: Finding out that one of my favorite families is pregnant!

Check out Blogmas Day 10 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2023 Day 9 (you can’t make old friends)

Today was a rainy Saturday and I was impossibly tired, but I had been looking forward to today for weeks! After some peaceful reading and journaling, I put on my impeccable getting ready dance party playlist and got dressed, and Joshua picked me up early afternoon. 

We drove to a familiar town about an hour away to see close family friends who are like siblings. Emma had a dance recital, which was a lot of fun to watch! I was impressed with the older kid choreography, and the younger kids were cute.

Afterward, the five of us kids split from the adults and headed downtown to a cute little taco place. We lingered at the table for hours talking and laughing about 15-year-old memories, our current life updates, our future plans… lots of special moments that are just for my journal or my memory, but it was the absolute sweetest. These are my people and I love them so much.

It was one of those nights you don’t want to end. But we all had long drives home (because somehow we’re all grown up now and live in different places with different lives), so eventually we got on the road and headed home through the fog. Spending time with them makes my heart overflow and makes me emotional (in the best way) about how much life we’ve lived together and how wonderfully we’ve all grown up! 

Today I’m grateful for: Unexpectedly seeing other old friends, too.

Check out Blogmas Day 9 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2023 Day 8

I woke up at noon today feeling like my body was on the cusp of one of the “weakness episodes” where I’m comatose in bed for days with profound exhaustion, muscle weakness, and heart issues. This really stressed me out, because I have an insanely busy weekend coming up and I also have work I need to get done.

Eventually I was able to get up and finish some small client projects. I ended up feeling pretty good, but tried not to overdo it; I sat on the couch and wrote a solution page about data migration templates, and an article about SSA disability reconsiderations. Then I did some light yoga, watched Kiara Madisen’s new YouTube video, fell asleep for two hours, put away laundry, did the dishes/cleaned the kitchen, and washed my hair. (Lol, I don’t know what happened to not overdoing it.)

I’m wide awake because I woke up from my nap at 8, so that’s great, but I’m now eating peppermint hot cocoa gelato and going to bed with a book. Overall, I had a nice mixture of rest and productivity today–and I’m feeling very excited for a special and fun weekend! (Fingers crossed my body holds out…)

Also, please look at these screenshots from a video I sent my mom last night demonstrating how I pick up my cat, because I think they’re absolutely hilarious and deserve to be seen.

Today I’m grateful for: A client project getting pushed to January so I don’t have to think about it this month.

Check out Blogmas Day 8 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2023 Day 7 (voice lessons)

Thursdays are my busy day because I take music lessons all afternoon. I was in a bad mood today for some reason and didn’t feel like doing everything (or anything!) I had to do. But I worked on a blog post about enclosed trailer brands even though it made me want to scream at somebody (idk what’s wrong with me today).

At 2:00 I had my Zoom voice lesson. We worked on the Phantom piece and the Sondheim. I can recognize that my voice really sounded fine, but I was yet again extremely frustrated throughout the whole thing (although by this time I’d figured out why lolll, it won’t last).

I went to my music studio for my 4:00 songwriting lesson. By this time my brain felt weirdly numb and dissociated. On the way home I picked up a Walmart order and swung by the library.

This evening a friend asked if I was free to talk on the phone. That put me in a much better mood. Now I’m ready to shower and get in bed with a book. And that’s the saga of my brain being a weird rollercoaster today, thanks for following along.

Today I’m grateful for: Illustrators and cute seasonal art on Instagram and Pinterest. (yes we are digging deep today y’all)

Check out Blogmas Day 7 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2023 Day 6 (Bible study)

My sleep schedule has been screwed up lately. Today I slept from 2 AM to noon, which meant that by the time I was actually functional enough to get out of bed, get dressed, set up IV fluids, read my Bible, and get started with work, it was 2:00. Not ideal, but what are ya gonna do?

I wrote an article about veteran disability benefits for a client that connects SSDI/SSI applicants with lawyers to help them win disability benefits. Then I kind of collapsed with exhaustion, facial pain, nausea, the works. I did eventually manage to work on some songwriting before I had to leave.

Tonight I went to Bible study at church. There were only two other people there, but they’re an older mother-daughter duo whom I am close with and love, and it was really nice to spend the evening visiting and catching up.

Today I’m grateful for: I ordered a gift from Daily Grace Co. and they sent me a free necklace with it.

Check out Blogmas Day 6 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2023 Day 5 (Bible study)

My sleep schedule has been screwed up lately. Today I slept from 2 AM to noon, which meant that by the time I was actually functional enough to get out of bed, get dressed, set up IV fluids, read my Bible, and get started with work, it was 2:00. Not ideal, but what are ya gonna do?

I wrote an article about veteran disability benefits for a client that connects SSDI/SSI applicants with lawyers to help them win disability benefits. Then I kind of collapsed with exhaustion, facial pain, nausea, the works. I did eventually manage to work on some songwriting before I had to leave.

Tonight I went to Bible study at church. There were only two other people there, but they’re an older mother-daughter duo whom I am close with and love, and it was really nice to spend the evening visiting and catching up.

Today I’m grateful for: I ordered a gift from Daily Grace Co. and they sent me a free necklace with it.

Check out Blogmas Day 6 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2023 Day 5

My body was very glad to have a slow, quiet day at home today. And I was excited to start new Bible studies! I’m now doing Even If: A Study of Habakkuk, and starting to work through this gorgeous Theology Handbook (which I am so obsessed with) (both of these are from Daily Grace Co.).

Today I had edits to do on three separate pieces for a new client (a sales automation tool for IT providers). For two of those pieces, the edits were fairly simple and fast. For the third–a blog post on CPQ software–the revisions were more extensive. I will admit that I poked and procrastinated my way through all of it. When I finally finished, I scheduled December social media posts for all of our Diamonds Conference accounts (follow us on Instagram here!). Reels, carousel posts, Stories… I didn’t even schedule as many posts as I sometimes do, and my head was spinning!

This evening I put away a few weeks’ worth of clean laundry. Then I started The Artful Dodger (new Hulu show with Thomas Brodie-Sangster), but got bored very quickly, so I ended up just watching The Amazing Spider-Man 2 instead.

Today I’m grateful for: Getting a replacement shipment for a $60 Christmas gift that I’d never received.

Check out Blogmas Day 5 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2023 Day 4 (basketball game)

A sunny, windy, cold Monday! I woke up disoriented from weird dreams, which in turn made me feel grumpy and stressed. Eventually I got moving and started the work week. I don’t do much work for local clients these days (and really never have, honestly), but today I had an article to write for a local website about the best Atlanta pet sitting options.

The article was straightforward and interesting. When I finished, I had to go back to bed and rest for a little bit. I eventually forced myself to get up and get dressed, choke down some extra meds, and practice voice. In voice, I’m working on Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from Phantom of the Opera and Children Will Listen from Into the Woods. In songwriting, I’m working on fleshing out the structure of a song called Ahead of Myself (lol, my life lately). I’ve been in a major songwriting rut lately, so it felt really good to actually write some music. (Also, these pictures are not staged–my cat jumps on my lap anytime I sit down at the keyboard to sing.)

This evening I decided to go watch my pastor’s youngest daughter’s basketball game. I think this was the second basketball game I’ve ever been to in my life? It’s not the sport for me, haha; it was very chaotic. But I enjoyed visiting with my pastor’s family.

On the way home I swung by my parents’ house to bother/argue with my dad about my current theological/philosophical fixation. I ended up staying for a couple of hours talking with my parents about that, and my love life (lol), and my Christmas shopping misadventures (anybody need a room diffuser?), and all kinds of things. Overall, I had a really good day today!

Today I’m grateful for: Parallel Universe by Katelyn Tarver, which I’ve been playing on repeat. And just everything in my life.

Check out Blogmas Day 4 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2023 Day 3 (church)

If you watched the weekend rhythms vlog I put up in September, you know that I do three things on Sundays: go to church, take a nap, and get ready for the week. Today was no exception. Annabelle picked me up at 10 for church (I tried layering a sweater over a dress, and I think it worked really well!).

I slept badly again and felt horrible, but it’s always so good to be at church and see everyone there–especially this little guy, whom I had not seen for two whole weeks! One of the best things to come out of 2023… and last year at this time, we didn’t even know to expect him. Funny how life works like that.

Our pastor was unexpectedly out today, so the service was kind of thrown together, but it was good. We looked at several verses in the book of Matthew as we were encouraged to be prepared for the Lord to come.

I was very glad to come home and crash straight into bed. I didn’t really feel any better when I woke up late afternoon. But I managed to plan out my work week, tidy up/lightly clean my house, write in my journal, and change my central line dressing. And now I feel ready for the week!

Today I’m grateful for: Finding out a new Italian ice place opened less than 10 minutes from me! This is very exciting because Italian ice is one of the only/best things I can eat by mouth (it’s a clear liquid), but the closest one to me has always been ~25 minutes away. I’m going to live at this new location next summer!

Check out Blogmas Day 3 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. What did you do today?

Blogmas 2023 Day 2 (wrapping day!)

It was another rainy, foggy (yet warm) day, and I had a crappy night of sleep. I did manage to get up and write some letters before I had to get ready to go.

This year, Kenna and I decided to start a new tradition that I’ve been super excited about: wrapping day! First, we made a trip to Paper Source, a glorious stationery store that’s my absolute favorite place in the world. (I only go once or twice a year because I can drop hundreds of dollars all too easily.) I’d never been at Christmastime before, and it was just as magical as you’d expect! I love the wrapping paper and other items that I got.

Next, we came back to Kenna’s place to make peppermint bark tea, turn on Elf, and start wrapping. I love wrapping gifts and it was extra fun to do it with a friend. I don’t know why we’ve never done this before! It was peaceful, productive, and perfect.

I was in pain and exhausted when we finished, but I made myself go by my parents’ house, the pharmacy, and get gas. Then I could finally come home and crash on my couch to doze and scroll through TikTok for the rest of the evening.

Today I’m thankful for: Christmas dog wrapping paper; the feeling of being almost home; and reassurance.

Check out Blogmas Day 2 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. What did you do today?