Is it possible to take a retreat from other people's opinions entirely? I find myself responding, recently, to any opinions expressed in absolutes or generalizations or in any way expressed as if they were objectively True (as opposed to "What I liked about X was..." or "I find myself drawn to the candidate because of their position on Y") with an immediate, visceral "Who the hell asked you? Keep it to yourself, you old gasbag!" I've never been a fan of the conversational style in which people make grand, sweeping statements or smirking, overconfident pronouncements or folks who express unsolicited opinions instead of asking illuminating questions, but this is a whole new level of complete and utter lack of patience with it. I wish I could lure everyone I know (back) over to the slower-paced world of blogging (not that the world of blogging is free of gasbaggery, but it seems to have a lower percentage of it). [note: this is not a reference to any individual -- it's the internet as a whole, right now]
In other news, my life overhaul is proceeding apace. I've been tracking it with various paper journals and photos. Perhaps this weekend I'll put them together into a post here.
Short form: Got the house back to baseline; morning routines are going well, evening routines have been overhauled and the new ones are *excellent*; got in 2 of the needed medical visits (they're all general checkup things, other than 2 root canals); anxiety and other perimenopausal stuff continue to be a struggle to deal with; seedlings are thriving and it's time to get them in the ground; stumbled on my plan not to volunteer for any more tasks at work (volunteered to work on the hiring committee because it felt like an important part of responsibly wrapping up my time at the school) but I think I can limit that job to about 15 hours of work, which is acceptable; this weekend I expect to wrap up processing the pile of paperwork so I can flip it from "in progress" to "maintenance". I want to make more time to see friends and finish up the kitchen and paperwork stuff so that I can get to the next layer of tasks.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
I can almost see Spring from here
Reading: Neuroscience articles. It's obnoxiously difficult to find articles on our best guesses about consciousness or cognition that are at an appropriate reading level for the kids in my class and that also make their case at all persuasively.
Listening to:
Two of the songs we've been singing in Glee Club:
Watching:
Loads and loads of Top Chef. It's been the background noise to our evening reading and gaming, recently. Hail, Caesar, which was a whole lot of fun.
Doing:
Planning for next year -- both at school and at home. Visiting my parents in the North Country, going to the Schenectady Science Museum and playing Scrabble. Starting nearly from scratch with getting back into all my good habits.
Eating/Cooking:
Geez. Absolutely nothing interesting. We went to a pretty nice Thai restaurant in Schenectady. At home we've been eating whatever was easiest to make -- lots of pasta and salad.
Something that went particularly well, recently:
Last week we had a visit from an elder in the free school community. My classes have been going well. We had friends over to make music. I had a lovely visit with A. And a wonderful visit with Grandma.
Something that went less well:
The house is a wreck. I can't seem to get myself back on track with stocking the fridge. Some symptoms of depression and anxiety that I'm tracking, to see if they're an anomaly or the start of a trend I need to reverse. A bit of a stomach bug, this week.
Something I'm grateful for:
Confirmation of my continued good health (went for a stress test onaccounta some annoying symptoms -- everything looks good).
Something I'm thinking about:
A variety of ways to simplify my life.
Something I'm looking forward to:
Feeling better. I'm tired of feeling queasy.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Planting seeds
A few weeks ago I let my colleagues know that I won't be returning to the school next year as a staff member. I've known since August that this was the right choice for me and my family, but it's... To call it bittersweet doesn't do it justice. The last three years have been among the most intense and most meaningful experiences of my life. I love my colleagues like family, love the school, love the kids, love the entire community. But after devoting the majority of my time and energy, these last few years, to the work of building and sustaining the school, I'm feeling the need to spend some time focusing those same resources on my family.
One of the sweetest bits of the bittersweetness is the anticipation of finally getting to all the projects that've been shunted to my Someday/Eventually list, over the course of these last years. I've been whiling away some of these dreary winter afternoons by dreaming of what the warmer weather will bring.
I use a combination of GTD organizational approaches and Flylady's habit-building when it comes to my work life. I've been enjoying -- to a truly ridiculous extent -- turning that approach to the rest of my life (I've done it to some extent for years, but this is a more focused effort).
Here you can see my GTD-inspired collection of priorities and associated projects:
And here you can see the space where, over the next months, I'm going to be spiraling out into a really solid foundation for our home life and my own life out in the world. Starting tonight, of course, with a Shiny Sink!
One of the sweetest bits of the bittersweetness is the anticipation of finally getting to all the projects that've been shunted to my Someday/Eventually list, over the course of these last years. I've been whiling away some of these dreary winter afternoons by dreaming of what the warmer weather will bring.
I use a combination of GTD organizational approaches and Flylady's habit-building when it comes to my work life. I've been enjoying -- to a truly ridiculous extent -- turning that approach to the rest of my life (I've done it to some extent for years, but this is a more focused effort).
Here you can see my GTD-inspired collection of priorities and associated projects:
And here you can see the space where, over the next months, I'm going to be spiraling out into a really solid foundation for our home life and my own life out in the world. Starting tonight, of course, with a Shiny Sink!
And here, of course, are all the literal seeds I'll be planting this Spring:
Friday, January 15, 2016
Antisocial Friday Five
I haven't done the Friday Five in years, but I never did take it off my feed, and this week's questions spoke to me, so here we are. :)
1. What makes it easy to talk to someone?
Someone who asks questions, listens without interrupting, and speaks... I don't know if there's a term for this, but I enjoy talking with people who say things like "I've noticed, among my friends" or "I tend toward thinking that X, although of course that could be because Y" instead of speaking in absolutes, generalizations, or as if their opinions are objectively true. I like speaking with people who are receptive to new ideas, new experiences, and who are curious about the experiences of the people around them. People who are more interested in a mutual exploration of ideas than a debate.
2. What percent of the day do you spend talking?
On work days, I talk a lot. On home days, while we enjoy talking to each other, we enjoy being quiet together just as much, and without the need to answer lots of questions or lead any classes I find myself talking quite a bit less than on work days.
3. Who, in your opinion communicates better: men or women?
When I was a teen I thought that men communicated better because my experience was that boys said exactly what they were thinking and were very laidback about etiquette while girls had all sorts of unspoken social expectations and were more demanding about etiquette (etiquette I was often unaware of until I'd run afoul of it). As an adult I find that I mostly prefer talking with women, because my experience is that they listen better, ask more insightful questions, and are less likely to jump in with their unsolicited opinions and less likely to assume that they're right or that they're more informed than the people around them. But both of those things are really about how people have been socialized, and are generalizations. One of my few conservative friends, someone I like and respect, is a guy who genuinely listens to the other side and who disagrees by asking questions more than by making broad, inflammatory statements. Some of my female friends are very good at saying exactly what they mean and letting me know upfront what their expectations are. So it really depends.
4. What topics do you avoid when talking to a stranger?
For the most part I only talk to strangers about light stuff -- how long the line is taking, how the hors d'oevres are, how they know the bride and groom. I'm not interested in other people's opinions on my life or decisions and in my experience way too many people think that being vegetarian or a homeschooler or any number of other things about me give them the right to poke their noses into my business. I can tell them to mind their own business if I need to, but I'd rather just keep them at arm's length and limit our conversation to inconsequentials. That said, if the stranger in question turns out to be a conversationalist along the lines of what I described in question 1, I'm happy to discuss anything and everything with them, regardless of how short a time we've known each other.
5. Do you like to eavesdrop on other people's conversations?
Not especially. There's a guy at the library who has a deep, resonant voice and who obviously loves being the center of attention. He likes to sit and talk with his friends, very loudly, in the cafe area, about various musicians and artists and historical figures. It's really unpleasant. I want to say to him, hasn't anyone ever told you that it's unforgivably rude to dominate the space like that? I started carrying headphones to the library because of him -- so that I have the option of tuning him out at least a little. I don't want to know about his opinions on anything, I don't want to know about those two old ladies' health problems and their friends' health problems, I don't want to know about the teenagers' dating woes, I don't want to know about that other old guy's political opinions. I want to sit and drink my tea, read my book, and maybe talk quietly with a companion.
1. What makes it easy to talk to someone?
Someone who asks questions, listens without interrupting, and speaks... I don't know if there's a term for this, but I enjoy talking with people who say things like "I've noticed, among my friends" or "I tend toward thinking that X, although of course that could be because Y" instead of speaking in absolutes, generalizations, or as if their opinions are objectively true. I like speaking with people who are receptive to new ideas, new experiences, and who are curious about the experiences of the people around them. People who are more interested in a mutual exploration of ideas than a debate.
2. What percent of the day do you spend talking?
On work days, I talk a lot. On home days, while we enjoy talking to each other, we enjoy being quiet together just as much, and without the need to answer lots of questions or lead any classes I find myself talking quite a bit less than on work days.
3. Who, in your opinion communicates better: men or women?
When I was a teen I thought that men communicated better because my experience was that boys said exactly what they were thinking and were very laidback about etiquette while girls had all sorts of unspoken social expectations and were more demanding about etiquette (etiquette I was often unaware of until I'd run afoul of it). As an adult I find that I mostly prefer talking with women, because my experience is that they listen better, ask more insightful questions, and are less likely to jump in with their unsolicited opinions and less likely to assume that they're right or that they're more informed than the people around them. But both of those things are really about how people have been socialized, and are generalizations. One of my few conservative friends, someone I like and respect, is a guy who genuinely listens to the other side and who disagrees by asking questions more than by making broad, inflammatory statements. Some of my female friends are very good at saying exactly what they mean and letting me know upfront what their expectations are. So it really depends.
4. What topics do you avoid when talking to a stranger?
For the most part I only talk to strangers about light stuff -- how long the line is taking, how the hors d'oevres are, how they know the bride and groom. I'm not interested in other people's opinions on my life or decisions and in my experience way too many people think that being vegetarian or a homeschooler or any number of other things about me give them the right to poke their noses into my business. I can tell them to mind their own business if I need to, but I'd rather just keep them at arm's length and limit our conversation to inconsequentials. That said, if the stranger in question turns out to be a conversationalist along the lines of what I described in question 1, I'm happy to discuss anything and everything with them, regardless of how short a time we've known each other.
5. Do you like to eavesdrop on other people's conversations?
Not especially. There's a guy at the library who has a deep, resonant voice and who obviously loves being the center of attention. He likes to sit and talk with his friends, very loudly, in the cafe area, about various musicians and artists and historical figures. It's really unpleasant. I want to say to him, hasn't anyone ever told you that it's unforgivably rude to dominate the space like that? I started carrying headphones to the library because of him -- so that I have the option of tuning him out at least a little. I don't want to know about his opinions on anything, I don't want to know about those two old ladies' health problems and their friends' health problems, I don't want to know about the teenagers' dating woes, I don't want to know about that other old guy's political opinions. I want to sit and drink my tea, read my book, and maybe talk quietly with a companion.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Settling in to the year
What I'm up to:
Reading: _What You Should Know About Politics... But Don't_. I started looking into it for class (I'm teaching a polisci class this session) and while it's not what I needed for class, it seems like it's a good general intro for someone like me -- I tend to know quite a bit about a couple pet causes, and very little about the rest of what's going on. I've really just started it, so I don't have much of a review yet, but so far I'm pleased. For the info I'm already familiar with it seems painfully basic and simplified, but that's apparently just what I need for the topics I'm not already familiar with.
Listening to:
Watching:
We've been renting from Amazon, recently. The Man from UNCLE movie, which was a lot of fun, although it would have been disappointing, I think, if I'd been invested in it faithfully recreating the TV series. The Librarians second season, which was also a lot of fun, although not as good as the first season (in my opinion it's because Noah Wyle's Librarian is a delightfully annoying character when he shows up for 15 minutes twice a season. The moment the actor lost his old show and started showing up more often, I was done with him. He's the executive producer, unfortunately, so I doubt they're going to send him off into the abyss any time soon. More's the pity.). And... Oh, the most recent Mission Impossible movie, which was not much fun at all. We watch Ghost Protocol pretty often because it's silly and fun to watch. I really wasn't looking for great cinema, here. But the most recent one isn't silly, isn't fun to watch, hardly uses the team members who made the other ones (I've only seen the 1st and 4th) entertaining, and wasn't worth the money or the time we spent on it.
Doing:
We finally managed to have folks over for the monthly singalong, after waving them off the last two months because of health stuff. The RPG was really good, this month (there's something for everyone in this adventure, which isn't always the case -- in some of our adventures we've had one session in which a character has loads to do, and then the next month there's just nothing for them because of the way the scenes flow (whether they take longer than expected or other characters do unexpected things or just because of how the dice roll), and there are so many interesting little fiddly bits for us to explore and investigate). I managed to get together with a group of old friends I see *way* too rarely these days.
Also started seeing my TCM dude again, and making some much-needed changes to my routine, to better support my health.
Eating/Cooking:
I started eating steel cut oats and stewed apples in the morning again, and I'm really enjoying it (I'd stopped because I was bored out of my mind with it, but apparently taking a break for a couple years was just what I needed). Tonight I'm experimenting with a noodle-and-canellini-bean dish we made a couple days ago, turning the leftovers into a garlicky soup.
Something that went particularly well, this week:
Seeing friends. Taking control of my health. Doing a really good job of maintaining work boundaries.
Something that went less well:
Anxiety through the roof. Hence the visit to TCM dude, and the changes in routines.
Something I'm grateful for:
The stubbornness I inherited from a variety of family members and further cultivated on my own.
Something I'm thinking about:
The next 20 years. I know I'd said a few times in the last year or two that I feel as if I'm shifting from the rhythms of the last 20 years to the rhythms for the next 20 years, but I actually think I've been in more of a bardo, knowing that new rhythms were needed but not yet knowing what they would be, and maybe not yet being ready to step into them. I'm ready now.
Something I'm looking forward to:
Various upcoming chances to see friends. How I'll be feeling a month from now, once I've stuck to these new routines for a month.
We've been renting from Amazon, recently. The Man from UNCLE movie, which was a lot of fun, although it would have been disappointing, I think, if I'd been invested in it faithfully recreating the TV series. The Librarians second season, which was also a lot of fun, although not as good as the first season (in my opinion it's because Noah Wyle's Librarian is a delightfully annoying character when he shows up for 15 minutes twice a season. The moment the actor lost his old show and started showing up more often, I was done with him. He's the executive producer, unfortunately, so I doubt they're going to send him off into the abyss any time soon. More's the pity.). And... Oh, the most recent Mission Impossible movie, which was not much fun at all. We watch Ghost Protocol pretty often because it's silly and fun to watch. I really wasn't looking for great cinema, here. But the most recent one isn't silly, isn't fun to watch, hardly uses the team members who made the other ones (I've only seen the 1st and 4th) entertaining, and wasn't worth the money or the time we spent on it.
Doing:
We finally managed to have folks over for the monthly singalong, after waving them off the last two months because of health stuff. The RPG was really good, this month (there's something for everyone in this adventure, which isn't always the case -- in some of our adventures we've had one session in which a character has loads to do, and then the next month there's just nothing for them because of the way the scenes flow (whether they take longer than expected or other characters do unexpected things or just because of how the dice roll), and there are so many interesting little fiddly bits for us to explore and investigate). I managed to get together with a group of old friends I see *way* too rarely these days.
Also started seeing my TCM dude again, and making some much-needed changes to my routine, to better support my health.
Eating/Cooking:
I started eating steel cut oats and stewed apples in the morning again, and I'm really enjoying it (I'd stopped because I was bored out of my mind with it, but apparently taking a break for a couple years was just what I needed). Tonight I'm experimenting with a noodle-and-canellini-bean dish we made a couple days ago, turning the leftovers into a garlicky soup.
Something that went particularly well, this week:
Seeing friends. Taking control of my health. Doing a really good job of maintaining work boundaries.
Something that went less well:
Anxiety through the roof. Hence the visit to TCM dude, and the changes in routines.
Something I'm grateful for:
The stubbornness I inherited from a variety of family members and further cultivated on my own.
Something I'm thinking about:
The next 20 years. I know I'd said a few times in the last year or two that I feel as if I'm shifting from the rhythms of the last 20 years to the rhythms for the next 20 years, but I actually think I've been in more of a bardo, knowing that new rhythms were needed but not yet knowing what they would be, and maybe not yet being ready to step into them. I'm ready now.
Something I'm looking forward to:
Various upcoming chances to see friends. How I'll be feeling a month from now, once I've stuck to these new routines for a month.
Friday, January 1, 2016
Happy New Year!
What I'm up to:
Reading: The Wood Wife, book two in my Christmas readathon. Another old favorite, to reconnect with my love of reading.
Listening to:
After a reference to Josquin in Ex Libris, I looked him up, and am enchanted.
Watching:
The Kim Possible DVDs one of us got for Christmas. Winter Soldier.
Doing:
Earlier this week we drove into Queens for our Christmas visit with my Grandma. In a lovely bit of synchronicity, the rest of my family also chose that day for their Christmas visit, so I got the chance to really relax and visit with everyone in a way I couldn't when I was busy hosting on Christmas Eve. It was so indescribably good to see them all. Other than that we're mostly reading, decluttering, and watching movies. No board games so far this week. We must fix that.
Eating/Cooking:
For Christmas we did mostly finger foods -- we made a very lemony hummus and herby focaccia -- and scones and apple spice cake.
Something that went particularly well, this week:
Our routines were cozy and we stuck to them at least moderately well. Sitting together and reading in the morning was... really good.
Something that went less well:
A bit of a stomach bug. A bit of anxiety. A bit of grief.
Something I'm grateful for:
My family. Having the freedom and the luxury to make the choices I'm making about shifting my focus to home and family.
Something I'm thinking about:
What kind of magic phone I should get.
Something I'm looking forward to:
June. Sunday, to have one more relaxing day at home before shifting into the school/work week. Monday, to start getting more deeply into my new work practices.
Reading: The Wood Wife, book two in my Christmas readathon. Another old favorite, to reconnect with my love of reading.
Listening to:
After a reference to Josquin in Ex Libris, I looked him up, and am enchanted.
Watching:
The Kim Possible DVDs one of us got for Christmas. Winter Soldier.
Doing:
Earlier this week we drove into Queens for our Christmas visit with my Grandma. In a lovely bit of synchronicity, the rest of my family also chose that day for their Christmas visit, so I got the chance to really relax and visit with everyone in a way I couldn't when I was busy hosting on Christmas Eve. It was so indescribably good to see them all. Other than that we're mostly reading, decluttering, and watching movies. No board games so far this week. We must fix that.
Eating/Cooking:
For Christmas we did mostly finger foods -- we made a very lemony hummus and herby focaccia -- and scones and apple spice cake.
Something that went particularly well, this week:
Our routines were cozy and we stuck to them at least moderately well. Sitting together and reading in the morning was... really good.
Something that went less well:
A bit of a stomach bug. A bit of anxiety. A bit of grief.
Something I'm grateful for:
My family. Having the freedom and the luxury to make the choices I'm making about shifting my focus to home and family.
Something I'm thinking about:
What kind of magic phone I should get.
Something I'm looking forward to:
June. Sunday, to have one more relaxing day at home before shifting into the school/work week. Monday, to start getting more deeply into my new work practices.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
It's beginning to look a lot like Solstice
What I'm up to:
Reading:
Lots and lots of little bits of Polisci, trying to find a text for January's class.
Listening to:
Watching:
The Invisible Man videos Joe and Sarah got me for Solstice! I'd forgotten that the first episode was full of so many squelchy bits, so it wasn't quite Sarah's cup of tea, but we've all been enjoying the episodes since then. It's a lighthearted, snarky, buddy sorta show, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy the dynamic between Fawkes and Hobbes. I'm also amused to see how much Fawkes reminds me of Fraction's Hawkeye.
Doing:
Being on Vacation! I powered through two anti-procrastination days and got everything but a couple errands (to the bank and post office) off my work GTD list. I'll be taking care of those two errands this afternoon, and I am not going to think about work again until Monday January 4th (with the exception of doing some reading to prep for classes, but the feeling of happily anticipating an upcoming class is very different from and much more pleasant that the feeling of "oh, geez, I really need to finish up X,Y,and Z paperwork before I can relax".
Eating/Cooking:
Sloppy lentils, lots of chopped salad, some slow-cooked apple spice cake. I put the cake in a different vessel from usual, because I couldn't find the usual one. Because of that the top baked really fast and the innards baked really slowly, leading to crunchiness on top and puddingyness further down, after baking it for nearly twice as long as usual. I'm also exploring new tea options, since my source for Irish Breakfast tea went out of business. She's been selling off her leftover stock, so I've had something to tide me over, but I'm not really thrilled with the last batch (the taste is only a little better than what I'd get from bagged tea and seems as if it's lost a lot of its subtler notes) and I suspect I'm only going to give it one more try before I decide to switch entirely to a new source. I've ordered a couple samplers from Adagio Teas. So far their Irish Breakfast tea is not as whimsical or nuanced as I'm looking for. A lot more like the straightforward punch-in-the-face flavor of English Breakfast, to me. I also ordered a sampler of fujian baroque, which I haven't yet tried -- it's described as having notes of cocoa, fruitiness and "glimmers of spice", so I'm hoping it may have the whimsy that I'm looking for.
Something that went particularly well, this week:
Powering through a whole lot of work in just two days. Go me! Also, our RPG group finally successfully contained the evil space cube we've been tracking for months!
Something that went less well:
I'm not quite 100% -- some combination of exhaustion, dehydration, congestion, reflux, anxiety, and sorrow -- and I'm growing seriously frustrated.
Something I'm grateful for:
My sweet kiddo, who surprised me the other day by cleaning the entire house while I was out having breakfast with friends. I came home expecting to need to spend a couple hours cleaning for the afternoon's RPG and instead walked in the door to an almost totally tidy house. She's such a sweetie, and I'm extremely grateful.
Something I'm thinking about:
Something totally superficial -- I noticed when I was out with friends that they were all dressed in classic examples of their own styles, and I was dressed in a grubby old coat that had been Joe's for years until it stopped coming clean in the wash (and then I started wearing it when my old coat gave out and I couldn't be bothered to go shopping for a new one), a tshirt that I wear when all the stuff I love is in the wash (one of those "it's clean, it fits, and it's civilized (read: doesn't have any rude or snarky sayings printed on it)" shirts), and a pair of jeans that have seen better days. I have no real style of my own right now, for a variety of reasons, and it's starting to affect my outlook and the way I carry myself. So I've decided to challenge myself -- as soon as I rack up 100 hours of exercise and ruthlessly clear out my closets, I will take myself on a truly indulgent shopping spree to refill those closets with a (modest) wardrobe I genuinely love. I can buy a handful of pieces before that if I genuinely need them, but the big wardrobe overhaul won't happen until mid-Spring, going by my exercise schedule when I'm on track (which I haven't been since Summer, hence the challenge).
Something I'm looking forward to:
Christmas Eve with my family. It won't be quite like the old days, but almost everyone I was hoping to see will be able to make it, and just the thought of it warms and cheers me.
Reading:
Lots and lots of little bits of Polisci, trying to find a text for January's class.
Listening to:
Watching:
The Invisible Man videos Joe and Sarah got me for Solstice! I'd forgotten that the first episode was full of so many squelchy bits, so it wasn't quite Sarah's cup of tea, but we've all been enjoying the episodes since then. It's a lighthearted, snarky, buddy sorta show, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy the dynamic between Fawkes and Hobbes. I'm also amused to see how much Fawkes reminds me of Fraction's Hawkeye.
Doing:
Being on Vacation! I powered through two anti-procrastination days and got everything but a couple errands (to the bank and post office) off my work GTD list. I'll be taking care of those two errands this afternoon, and I am not going to think about work again until Monday January 4th (with the exception of doing some reading to prep for classes, but the feeling of happily anticipating an upcoming class is very different from and much more pleasant that the feeling of "oh, geez, I really need to finish up X,Y,and Z paperwork before I can relax".
Eating/Cooking:
Sloppy lentils, lots of chopped salad, some slow-cooked apple spice cake. I put the cake in a different vessel from usual, because I couldn't find the usual one. Because of that the top baked really fast and the innards baked really slowly, leading to crunchiness on top and puddingyness further down, after baking it for nearly twice as long as usual. I'm also exploring new tea options, since my source for Irish Breakfast tea went out of business. She's been selling off her leftover stock, so I've had something to tide me over, but I'm not really thrilled with the last batch (the taste is only a little better than what I'd get from bagged tea and seems as if it's lost a lot of its subtler notes) and I suspect I'm only going to give it one more try before I decide to switch entirely to a new source. I've ordered a couple samplers from Adagio Teas. So far their Irish Breakfast tea is not as whimsical or nuanced as I'm looking for. A lot more like the straightforward punch-in-the-face flavor of English Breakfast, to me. I also ordered a sampler of fujian baroque, which I haven't yet tried -- it's described as having notes of cocoa, fruitiness and "glimmers of spice", so I'm hoping it may have the whimsy that I'm looking for.
Something that went particularly well, this week:
Powering through a whole lot of work in just two days. Go me! Also, our RPG group finally successfully contained the evil space cube we've been tracking for months!
Something that went less well:
I'm not quite 100% -- some combination of exhaustion, dehydration, congestion, reflux, anxiety, and sorrow -- and I'm growing seriously frustrated.
Something I'm grateful for:
My sweet kiddo, who surprised me the other day by cleaning the entire house while I was out having breakfast with friends. I came home expecting to need to spend a couple hours cleaning for the afternoon's RPG and instead walked in the door to an almost totally tidy house. She's such a sweetie, and I'm extremely grateful.
Something I'm thinking about:
Something totally superficial -- I noticed when I was out with friends that they were all dressed in classic examples of their own styles, and I was dressed in a grubby old coat that had been Joe's for years until it stopped coming clean in the wash (and then I started wearing it when my old coat gave out and I couldn't be bothered to go shopping for a new one), a tshirt that I wear when all the stuff I love is in the wash (one of those "it's clean, it fits, and it's civilized (read: doesn't have any rude or snarky sayings printed on it)" shirts), and a pair of jeans that have seen better days. I have no real style of my own right now, for a variety of reasons, and it's starting to affect my outlook and the way I carry myself. So I've decided to challenge myself -- as soon as I rack up 100 hours of exercise and ruthlessly clear out my closets, I will take myself on a truly indulgent shopping spree to refill those closets with a (modest) wardrobe I genuinely love. I can buy a handful of pieces before that if I genuinely need them, but the big wardrobe overhaul won't happen until mid-Spring, going by my exercise schedule when I'm on track (which I haven't been since Summer, hence the challenge).
Something I'm looking forward to:
Christmas Eve with my family. It won't be quite like the old days, but almost everyone I was hoping to see will be able to make it, and just the thought of it warms and cheers me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
