Everstorm

Have a great time in France!

This is exactly what ACT is: making room for the feeling to exist (because it already does exist) while also recognizing that it isn't the only thing that exists. Our bodies and the world exist around it. We are not being swallowed whole by it. We can continue to move our bodies and be in the world around it. Yay! So happy you have a happy resolution to this situation, even if it was a bit long in coming.

Thank you! It was really nice to look back and see how far I have come with swimming in quite a shirt time. BuJo ftw If it follows the pattern my boys experienced, I expect the sore throat to last one more day, and then it's just a week or so of sniffles. As illnesses go, I'll take it. My throat doesn't even seem as sore as they were complaining of. I definitely like having a motivating training goal. It helps me be consistent when I'm not feeling it. I'm not sure what the prize is actually, but it's fun to commemorate big milestones, anyway, so even if it's just a bumper sticker or something, it will mark the achievement, which is cool. Oh, cool that your school offered swimming (and prizes). The ones around here don't, so we had to pay for our boys to have lessons.

That was my count, too. You beat me to it lol

Mom Brain™️ hard at work. I won't tell you how many times this week I asked my husband "what did I eat for lunch yesterday?" so I could record it and he knew when I didn't. 🙈

Not according to the scale 😭 Also, I am coming down with the cold my boys caught last week. Boo. It doesn't seem to be a particularly nasty strain, but being sick is never fun. And public safety protocols probably call for me to abstain from swimming this week. Double boo. On a more positive note: I have known for some time that my gym offers unspecified prizes for reaching certain mile markers in swimming. I didn't bother to register at first because my swim distances were so small that the lowest level prize for 50 miles would have taken me years to earn. However, my swim distance (and frequency) has increased so much that I decided to go ahead and register. Here is where my BuJo practice paid off in spades. I have my swim distances written down for the year thus far, so I can record 8ish miles already!

This is me in a nutshell right now. There has been a ton of promising research into Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for bulletproofing your brain, and I have been checking it out. The basic idea is that avoiding or fighting negative emotions often leads to destructive behaviors (eating to soothe, procrastination, alcohol/drug addiction, etc), so building a mindset that allows space for negative emotions to exist without overwhelming while you still soldier on towards your goals is something to practice. Might be something worth looking into.

Got a lot done today!

That's so interesting that the scent changes over time or even smells different on different people. I know my sister always loves my perfume on me (always asks what I am wearing) but then she remembers she didn't care for it on herself when I gave her a sample bottle 🤷‍♀️

Yay for super fun soccer game! So lucky the dress came clean. I couldn't even tell you how many sets of clothes I lost to diaper blow-outs. Once, I even had to throw out my own shirt. *shudders*

I hear you on avoidance brain lately, and spring weather is a tempting distraction. Can you make a plan to fit some outside time with your other goals? Handstands in the park?

You're welcome! My ridiculously long spring break is officially over, so school is back in session. GMB Elements workout 5/7 done, then went out in the outrageous heat (89°F) yo work on the raised bed for my vegetable garden that I should have finished a month ago. It still isn't done, but it was really too hot out, so I will have to work on it some more tomorrow. As for my other goals, vegetables were consumed today. Unfortunately, too much sugar was also consumed because the only thing hotter than my boys and I after an afternoon of hard work was everyone's tempers, so we cooled off with ice cream.

Good luck with the possible position! Would you be able to take the new job at your current location so your husband can take the zoo job as well?

What kind of red maples do you like? I know you don't favor the purpley ones.

Very belated Happy Birthday! How was the play?

I'm glad you had a good time and the weather was cooperative. Great photos!

I am so glad you're enjoying them! Have a foxglove (just don't eat it) Thanks! Here's another one just for you It was a very nice surprise. I had no idea the set would be such high quality when she told me to come get them. Experimenting has been pretty fun, but I already want MOAR COLORS. I have been continuing to reflect, and my thinking has lead me to an interesting book called The Happiness Trap. It's basically an introduction to acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). I am on the waitlist for my library's copy, but the sample chapters seem like what I am looking for. Swim 5/7 (I think) done today. I swam 1.25 km and it felt very solid. Not too tired after, either, but super thirsty. I really need to hydrate better.

Yay lifting! And improving pull-up strength while resting!

As a college student, I spent three summers working at a residential summer camp for children and adults with autism (it was a different group each week, sorted by age and functioning level). Nearly all of us councilors/activity directors became convinced that we were high-functioning autistic, too. So many autistic behaviors are really just normal behaviors carried to an extreme -- fixation being one of those. At what point does "invested interest" become "fixation"? Am I socially impaired, or just an introvert? Obviously, there are guidelines about whether the behavior interferes with life, social interactions, etc, but the line is pretty thin.

Yeah, ASD varies widely in presentation. Some people on the spectrum do get hyperfixated on a topic, activity, or even a particular phrase, but others really don't.

Boo. My son is sick, too, as are several people here on NF. Seems to be the season.

Glad no-sleep didn't derail your weekend. Sounds like it was a good one!

Congrats on the pay raise! I'm glad to hear your school system appreciates all the work you do.

Love the green ring; yay for fitting in your cute stuff!