Also, cookies and writing.

Leaving the house at 4:00 a.m. combined with the rapidly changing seasons leads to some very dark roads. The mountain passes that I commute through aren’t exactly bright and well lit. Honestly, I am stunned at how peaceful it is; there are almost no other drivers out at that time.

The only movement is see is deer, which I am extremely paranoid about running into. I am always keeping an eye out for them, while still marveling at exactly how much wildlife runs freely around North Idaho.

Work

People are starting to seem a little offended when I ask if they want their drinks iced or hot.

The early morning temperature dropped from 65 to 40 in a week, and people are definitely less inclined to choose an iced beverage at that time of day.

(Personally, I adore cold drinks regardless of the temperature, but that’s just me. I drink nitro cold brew year round, even as the temperatures plummet into the negatives.)

Hot chai lattes, hot chocolate, and hot pumpkin spice drinks have definitely picked up quickly. Out of my own curiosity and enthusiasm for business, I definitely have been keeping a bit of an internal log of how much hot verses cold products are being sold. As of right now, hot drinks sell early and cold drinks sell in the afternoon.

I’m guessing that’s going to change again as the winter blows in.

This Week On Praxis

Talk about a lot of writing.

This week has been a huge challenge for me, in best possible way.

We wrote and sent of five blog posts total, and completed two writing exercises. My tendency towards trying to perfect everything I do definitely held me back this week. I spent such a long time on the first two posts that the end of the week snuck up on me.

In other words, I’d like to apologize for sending out five emails in two days. I got a little too dedicated to the first couple assignments, to say the least.

Regardless, I feel accomplished. I can firmly say I got a lot done this week, and I feel like it’s made me a better writer in a very short period of time.

Art

I have absolutely no idea where to start with the holidays.

For me, the last four months of the year are a huge deal. It’s when I push myself the hardest and do the most work. I usually have at least three side projects I maintain seasonally, and I am trying to gauge exactly how much I have time for this year.

Christmas ornaments are a must; wood burning is very relaxing too, so it’s bordering on being a self-care effort to start that project.

Last year, I ran a fairly successful home bakery for about two months. It was a blast; I may bring that back for November and December again as well. Outside of that, I’m thinking I’ll put the other projects on hold for a little while in order to put more focus on work and Praxis.

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Looking Into Next Week

Hopefully, this week of intensive writing practice will improve these newsletters as I send them out. I feel like I am learning more with Praxis than I have in years. It’s much more reminiscent of my homeschooling experience and nowhere near as tedious as my time in college.

I can’t wait to see what comes next.