Melaynah

I found a new way to deal with stress AND honor my "new things" challenge yesterday. Run away from it all! Okay, not quite. But I did take a half-day off from work to spend on an adventure with Mr. Mel on his day off. We went to a town we'd never been to (about an hour away from where we live), drove around, saw the sights, stopped for lunch, then came home and made a fire in the fireplace (it's still below freezing for a high these days in the northeastern US) and were cozy together until I had to go and work the end of my closing shift. It was new, it was lovely, it was surprisingly relaxing, and we had a wonderful time. We have a follow-up adventure coming in a few weeks, and I'm very much looking forward to it! In other news, I need to be better about my five-minutes de-clutter challenge. Ick at my house right now. So much laundry, so few waking hours spent home. Blech.

Time for the one-week checkin! 5 days worth of yoga challenge down! (I took a couple of days off after a butt-whooping from my massage therapist. Yowza--I needed that!) 5 days of meditating--done! Tried my new thing for the week (new restaurant, very yummy)! Now, if my work stressors would settle the hell down for a few days and let me get a breath, I'd be all set!

Yoga happened yesterday (posture edition), so lots of cow to cat and back. With my back (lumbar spine surgery after disc rupture six years ago), anything that helps keep my lower back limber and pain-free is good stuff. No yoga this morning, though. I got up, meditated instead, then headed out into the wickedly cold morning (a whopping 1 degree when I woke up, a balmy 9 by the time I left the house) to forage for coffee on my way to work. Some mornings, a little self-bribery is what gets me out the door and headed to work. On my ninth and final day of this long stretch at work, it was kind of crucial this morning. I am using my 5 minutes a day to clean this week focusing on 2 areas. One--sorting through the scads of makeup and beauty samples I've acquired over the years. Two--my car, which I spend a minimum of 1-2 hours in per day, and can get a little...cluttered. So far my car is looking less like I live in it, and my stash of cosmetic "stuff" is slowly dwindling. Refreshing!

Yup! I'm doing this challenge with the Druids--need some major zen time!

Agreed with the above. Need a 1c. Don't die.

Just reporting in that trying the new restaurant last night paid off in spades. We had a wonderful time! Great food, excellent service (seriously, our server was amazing), and great date night. Today is my "off" day for the week. I'm still working the long stretch (two more days!!) but I work the evening shift today, so all bets are off in terms of everything else in my schedule. Up later, went out for breakfast (a rare time off treat shared by myself and Mr. Mel), in at noon, out at 8, commute home then faceplant to start over tomorrow. Maybe some meditation before bed--looking forward to yoga tomorrow morning!

For caffeine cutoff, I usually find 2pm or so works for me. I have my last cup of caffeinated tea with my lunch at work, then switch to herbal or decaf after that. No sleep issues. YMMV.

I love your challenge! Sweet, simple, direct, and made me giggle. Also, thirsty.

Thanks! And Yay for Doctors! Sorry I got punny. It happens.

Looks like an excellent challenge. I'll admit that I'm most intrigued by your extra-credit life quest, as better self-care is something I'm working on constantly. Making time to slow down and really take care of yourself is awesome--I feel sad that it's so often seen as frivolous or that we're not worth the cost. No way! We're no good to anyone else if we're not taking care of ourselves. Woo, apparently I have stronger feels than I thought!

Hi and thanks! I'll be interested to see what sorts of Paleo yummies you come up with this challenge! I tend to lurk in Catspaw's thread over in the warriors for Paleo noms, too. I don't really have a grading system for my goals this time around--I've got goals (30 days of yoga in 6 weeks, 5 days of meditation per week, one new thing each week), and I think they're achievable, so I'm planning on tracking at least on a weekly basis to see how I'm doing. But no grades this time around. Do or do not, there is no try.

Mir! Hang in there, lady. We've got your back.

Subbed because, bears. Obviously.

Gogo batch-cooking! And tea! (I'm drinking a vanilla infused black tea at the moment--I also did not sleep well last night and am trying to wake up so I don't sleep through my afternoon meetings...) And no whining. Wewt!

Thanks! I've been a little hesitant to break away from what I know, but a talk with a friend a few weeks ago really put things in perspective for me. So I've decided to go for it! So far, I'm really happy to be trying new things. Also, wow. I remember being a lot more flexible than this. Hope it comes back sooner rather than later!