WEBVTT
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.680
I really had to use the bathroom, and I didn't move.
00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:10.560
Because there was a cat just below my face, another cat on my husband, and my dog at our feet.
00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:14.400
It was a long weekend morning and everyone was just there.
00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.640
All of us together, completely unbothered by the world.
00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:22.079
I thought, this is a meanwhile, right here.
00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:26.480
This exact moment I almost missed because I had to use the bathroom.
00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:27.120
Okay.
00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:28.079
Hi.
00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:30.000
Welcome back to Meanwhile.
00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:32.399
I'm Dominique, episode nine.
00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:39.840
This one is a check-in, a September check-in, because somehow, somehow, it's already September.
00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:41.600
I have feelings about that.
00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:42.799
Let's go.
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.640
So September.
00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:47.840
I keep saying it every year, and I'll say it again.
00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:49.520
Time is fleeting.
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:51.840
It feels like it was just April.
00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:58.399
My husband and I had just come back from the most amazing trip through the Southwest, Arizona and New Mexico.
00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.240
Highly recommend, by the way.
00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:01.840
Absolutely stunning.
00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:08.159
Now it's Labor Day weekend, summer is over, and there are only four months left in 2026.
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:09.439
Four months.
00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:11.519
I'm not saying that to be dramatic.
00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:13.599
I'm saying it because it's a reminder.
00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:19.680
A September, meanwhile, reminder that the year is still happening, that there's still time.
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.280
Things you said you'll do, you still have time to do them.
00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:24.959
So let's talk about that.
00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:30.000
I have some things I want to hold myself accountable for before December 31st.
00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:32.319
First, the 5K.
00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:35.040
You've been hearing about this since episode one.
00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:38.719
I signed up mentally approximately a hundred times.
00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:40.400
And then life happened.
00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:41.920
It kept happening.
00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:46.159
My sister shared something called making strides against breast cancer.
00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:49.680
A walk, a meaningful one, for an important cause.
00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:52.560
My brother is also joining and some friends.
00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:55.599
And we're signing up in just a few weeks.
00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:00.640
I want to say this is what a meanwhile looks like when it finally gets its wings.
00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:01.760
It took a while.
00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:04.319
It looked different than what I thought it would.
00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:06.400
It's not a race I'm running alone.
00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:10.319
It's a walk I'm doing with people I love for something that matters.
00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:12.319
I think that's better.
00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:14.240
Second trips.
00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:18.000
I want to take two before the end of the year.
00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:27.919
One with my husband and my dog, somewhere fun, somewhere new, a little adventure for our little family, and one big one: abroad to see my husband's family.
00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:29.919
We talked about this in episode five.
00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:31.919
It's important and it's time.
00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:36.159
Meanwhile, the world is waiting, and so are the people we love.
00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:47.280
Third, and this one is important, your health checkups, the appointments you've been meaning to make, the ones sitting in the back of your mind that you keep saying you'll get to.
00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.719
Get to them now, before the year ends.
00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:57.599
Your physical, the dentist, dermatologist, and ladies, don't forget the OBGYN.
00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:58.879
Don't skip it.
00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.039
Don't reschedule it for the fourth time.
00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:02.080
Just go.
00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.879
And this goes for everyone, men included.
00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:06.560
I'm talking to you too.
00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:15.199
The physical, the checkups, the things you've been putting off and avoiding because life has been busy, and you're feeling fine, and there's always tomorrow.
00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:16.479
But that's the thing.
00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:19.280
There isn't always tomorrow, not to be morbid.
00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:21.280
That's the whole point of meanwhile.
00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:33.360
Your health is the foundation of everything, every adventure, every trip, every walk, every morning in bed with your pits and your person and the morning light coming through the window.
00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:37.360
You can't enjoy your meanwhile if you're not taking care of yourself.
00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:44.639
So add it to your September list, make the appointment, show up for yourself in the most fundamental way possible.
00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:47.199
Fourth is Dummel.
00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:50.080
All right, I'm gonna be really honest with you here.
00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:52.319
Daml fell off completely.
00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:54.000
I'm not gonna sugarcoat it.
00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:56.960
Life got busy and it slipped and I let it.
00:03:57.280 --> 00:03:58.879
Here's what I'm doing about it.
00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:11.360
I received a bunch of elementary Dummel books, actual physical books, and my goal for these last four months is to get through them, to learn some phrases, to be able to have a small conversation.
00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:17.040
And while I'm at it, I also want to keep up with my Spanish and French on Duolingo.
00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:19.600
Sixth, the podcast.
00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.759
Nine episodes, nine weeks, just over two months of meanwhile.
00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:25.839
I'm very proud of myself.
00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:42.399
Not because of the numbers, though I would love to grow and build a little community of meanwhileers one day, but because I showed up every single week, even when I didn't know what to say, even when life was full and busy and complicated, I showed up and continue to do so.
00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:48.240
I've received such incredible support and encouragement from people around me, and that means everything.
00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:55.120
Meanwhile, it is still here, still going, still figuring it out in real time, just like me.
00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:59.439
And here's what I'm looking forward to: fall.
00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:03.920
I know not everyone loves it, but I'm a fall person through and through.
00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:12.000
The cooler weather, the cozy sweatshirts, apple picking, farms, the great jack-o'-lantern blaze in Westchester.
00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:15.839
If you haven't been added to your list, the leaves.
00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:25.040
Oh, the leaves are so beautiful when they turn red, orange, yellow, brown, and the whole world just looks like it's on fire in the most beautiful way.
00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:36.560
That's a meanwhile, the changing of seasons, the reminder that everything moves, everything shifts, everything becomes something new, and I'm here for it all.
00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:40.720
Here's what I keep coming back to as September starts.
00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:52.959
I am grateful, genuinely and deeply grateful for my health, for my husband, for my family and friends, for my cats, who I realize I have never properly introduced on this podcast.
00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:54.240
We have two cats.
00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:59.920
They were very much part of this morning's bed situation, alongside my dog.
00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:04.879
All five of us just existing together on a long weekend morning.
00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:08.399
I almost missed it because I had to use the bathroom.
00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:13.759
Don't miss your meanwhile, even the small ones, especially the small ones.
00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.800
We are still working toward some big dreams.
00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:20.079
A house of our own, a family of our own.
00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:27.759
And while we work toward those things, while we wait and hope and plan, length is happening right now.
00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:30.000
That's the meanwhile.
00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:32.240
That's always been the meanwhile.
00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:33.759
Four months left.
00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.680
Let's make them count.
00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:38.240
What's your September, meanwhile?
00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.959
What are you still holding yourself accountable for before the year ends?
00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:44.879
I'm Dominique.
00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:46.160
This is Meanwhile.
00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:47.759
Until the next meanwhile.
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.680
I really had to use the bathroom, and I didn't move.
00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:10.560
Because there was a cat just below my face, another cat on my husband, and my dog at our feet.
00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:14.400
It was a long weekend morning and everyone was just there.
00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.640
All of us together, completely unbothered by the world.
00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:22.079
I thought, this is a meanwhile, right here.
00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:26.480
This exact moment I almost missed because I had to use the bathroom.
00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:27.120
Okay.
00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:28.079
Hi.
00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:30.000
Welcome back to Meanwhile.
00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:32.399
I'm Dominique, episode nine.
00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:39.840
This one is a check-in, a September check-in, because somehow, somehow, it's already September.
00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:41.600
I have feelings about that.
00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:42.799
Let's go.
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.640
So September.
00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:47.840
I keep saying it every year, and I'll say it again.
00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:49.520
Time is fleeting.
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:51.840
It feels like it was just April.
00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:58.399
My husband and I had just come back from the most amazing trip through the Southwest, Arizona and New Mexico.
00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.240
Highly recommend, by the way.
00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:01.840
Absolutely stunning.
00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:08.159
Now it's Labor Day weekend, summer is over, and there are only four months left in 2026.
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:09.439
Four months.
00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:11.519
I'm not saying that to be dramatic.
00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:13.599
I'm saying it because it's a reminder.
00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:19.680
A September, meanwhile, reminder that the year is still happening, that there's still time.
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.280
Things you said you'll do, you still have time to do them.
00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:24.959
So let's talk about that.
00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:30.000
I have some things I want to hold myself accountable for before December 31st.
00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:32.319
First, the 5K.
00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:35.040
You've been hearing about this since episode one.
00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:38.719
I signed up mentally approximately a hundred times.
00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:40.400
And then life happened.
00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:41.920
It kept happening.
00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:46.159
My sister shared something called making strides against breast cancer.
00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:49.680
A walk, a meaningful one, for an important cause.
00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:52.560
My brother is also joining and some friends.
00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:55.599
And we're signing up in just a few weeks.
00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:00.640
I want to say this is what a meanwhile looks like when it finally gets its wings.
00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:01.760
It took a while.
00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:04.319
It looked different than what I thought it would.
00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:06.400
It's not a race I'm running alone.
00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:10.319
It's a walk I'm doing with people I love for something that matters.
00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:12.319
I think that's better.
00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:14.240
Second trips.
00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:18.000
I want to take two before the end of the year.
00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:27.919
One with my husband and my dog, somewhere fun, somewhere new, a little adventure for our little family, and one big one: abroad to see my husband's family.
00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:29.919
We talked about this in episode five.
00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:31.919
It's important and it's time.
00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:36.159
Meanwhile, the world is waiting, and so are the people we love.
00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:47.280
Third, and this one is important, your health checkups, the appointments you've been meaning to make, the ones sitting in the back of your mind that you keep saying you'll get to.
00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.719
Get to them now, before the year ends.
00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:57.599
Your physical, the dentist, dermatologist, and ladies, don't forget the OBGYN.
00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:58.879
Don't skip it.
00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.039
Don't reschedule it for the fourth time.
00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:02.080
Just go.
00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.879
And this goes for everyone, men included.
00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:06.560
I'm talking to you too.
00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:15.199
The physical, the checkups, the things you've been putting off and avoiding because life has been busy, and you're feeling fine, and there's always tomorrow.
00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:16.479
But that's the thing.
00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:19.280
There isn't always tomorrow, not to be morbid.
00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:21.280
That's the whole point of meanwhile.
00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:33.360
Your health is the foundation of everything, every adventure, every trip, every walk, every morning in bed with your pits and your person and the morning light coming through the window.
00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:37.360
You can't enjoy your meanwhile if you're not taking care of yourself.
00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:44.639
So add it to your September list, make the appointment, show up for yourself in the most fundamental way possible.
00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:47.199
Fourth is Dummel.
00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:50.080
All right, I'm gonna be really honest with you here.
00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:52.319
Daml fell off completely.
00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:54.000
I'm not gonna sugarcoat it.
00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:56.960
Life got busy and it slipped and I let it.
00:03:57.280 --> 00:03:58.879
Here's what I'm doing about it.
00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:11.360
I received a bunch of elementary Dummel books, actual physical books, and my goal for these last four months is to get through them, to learn some phrases, to be able to have a small conversation.
00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:17.040
And while I'm at it, I also want to keep up with my Spanish and French on Duolingo.
00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:19.600
Sixth, the podcast.
00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.759
Nine episodes, nine weeks, just over two months of meanwhile.
00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:25.839
I'm very proud of myself.
00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:42.399
Not because of the numbers, though I would love to grow and build a little community of meanwhileers one day, but because I showed up every single week, even when I didn't know what to say, even when life was full and busy and complicated, I showed up and continue to do so.
00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:48.240
I've received such incredible support and encouragement from people around me, and that means everything.
00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:55.120
Meanwhile, it is still here, still going, still figuring it out in real time, just like me.
00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:59.439
And here's what I'm looking forward to: fall.
00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:03.920
I know not everyone loves it, but I'm a fall person through and through.
00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:12.000
The cooler weather, the cozy sweatshirts, apple picking, farms, the great jack-o'-lantern blaze in Westchester.
00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:15.839
If you haven't been added to your list, the leaves.
00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:25.040
Oh, the leaves are so beautiful when they turn red, orange, yellow, brown, and the whole world just looks like it's on fire in the most beautiful way.
00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:36.560
That's a meanwhile, the changing of seasons, the reminder that everything moves, everything shifts, everything becomes something new, and I'm here for it all.
00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:40.720
Here's what I keep coming back to as September starts.
00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:52.959
I am grateful, genuinely and deeply grateful for my health, for my husband, for my family and friends, for my cats, who I realize I have never properly introduced on this podcast.
00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:54.240
We have two cats.
00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:59.920
They were very much part of this morning's bed situation, alongside my dog.
00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:04.879
All five of us just existing together on a long weekend morning.
00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:08.399
I almost missed it because I had to use the bathroom.
00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:13.759
Don't miss your meanwhile, even the small ones, especially the small ones.
00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.800
We are still working toward some big dreams.
00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:20.079
A house of our own, a family of our own.
00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:27.759
And while we work toward those things, while we wait and hope and plan, length is happening right now.
00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:30.000
That's the meanwhile.
00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:32.240
That's always been the meanwhile.
00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:33.759
Four months left.
00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.680
Let's make them count.
00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:38.240
What's your September, meanwhile?
00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.959
What are you still holding yourself accountable for before the year ends?
00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:44.879
I'm Dominique.
00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:46.160
This is Meanwhile.
00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:47.759
Until the next meanwhile.
