Silverwitch

Sinusitis sucks. I find nasal irrigation always very helpful - with fairly warm saline solution. It is a nasty procedure, but it gets all the stuff out.

I'm back. Tired, but definitely back. It went okay, I daresay, and my impression is that they did actually enjoy their visit. Well, they certainly enjoyed it more than my husband and I did. But it was not as bad as I feared. Just having no time to myself after a long work week is catching up with me. It is Monday and I feel as if I did work continously from last week over the weekend into this week. Lack of sleep. If I will EVER live to be as old as I look today, I can be sure to make the worldwide news... :-/ Part of the time I did feel sort of detached, as in sitting there but mentally being in a totally different place. Husband feels beat up today, too. I don't think that I am a sociopath, but I definitely feel terrible if I have to be social over two, three days without ANY chance of retreating. Later, I'll sum up my challenge, and start planning the next one, which will probably be the last of this year. It would be nice to finish this year with some momentum and motivation from a good challenge to carry over into the next year. We'll see.

They're coming here… invited themselves, as usual. No asking whether it fits our schedules or not and expecting to be entertained to their liking, no matter whether any of us has to work, go to school or so. They're just ploughing through our lives. My husband does not have the best of relationships to his parents for a variety of reasons that I can understand very well, but they actually firmly believe they are entitled to my husband's respect, love and undivided attention whenever THEY demand it. Since they're coming from overseas they told us that we should be grateful (!) for their visit. Hell, my husband hasn't slept well for a whole week now, he is dreading their visit! They were also the reason for him going a few years through therapy.

Ugh, so far, the last week is killing me... Gazillions of appointments at work, working late - and ahead a weekend with the inlaws. No rest for the wicked. Sigh.

Ah, the pains and pleasures of living with the parents! I hear you, I vividly recall these times myself. Your mom thinks you're "wasting time on the computer" - but maybe she just needs to understand that writing is nowadays not necessarily done with pen and a few lined pages of paper... Anyway, support is different from giving you the speech about computer time. Okay, she does not have to know why you're doing this right now! It is YOUR decision! Feeling ignored growing up -- I think that is what happens to kids that don't claim attention. Many parents are overwhelmed with parenting, and the kids that is more on the quiet side seem not to need attention, and therefore are not getting any, because the ones that claim the attention are - to the overwhelmed parent - already a handful. I can perfectly understand that her comment of you "not needing help/ attention" was hurtful to you. Because it was maybe her perception, but it wasn't the truth. If I think about my kids now (I have two girls age 9 and 8), they are totally different. The older one is boisterous, quick witted and a bit clingy, she literally demands attention. The younger one is very clever, the quiet observer type that hates noise and perfers to busy herself quietly. It seems (!) that she is quite happy with herself only. But she needs exactly as much attention as the other one, she just does not claim it in the demanding way as her sister! Parents need to recognize this, or they're bound to hurt one kid more than they know. Another important part is to let the kids find their own way and pace - even if it is unnerving sometimes (for the parent). I don't want my girls to be my clones, to copy my ways. They are supposed to be themselves, find their ways and their pace. I am lovingly watching, and I will be there if they need me. More involvement is not required. But two things are vital: mutual trust and communication. On eye level, meaning communication between equals, especially when the "kid" is already of age. I keep my fingers crossed that your mother will recognize this, and that you two will be able to explain to each other your viewpoints as well as the involved feelings.

Hey, too much showering makes dry skin. Who wants that? Every second day is totally fine! Yay to "organising my space" - sounds like cleaning up and decluttering, which I will keep in my next challenge as well. Clearing space = clearing mind. Clearing - NOT emptying! lol Food... as always, a difficult topic. What kind of food do you usually enjoy eating?

You don't hate life, you just hate boring meetings. So do I. People that enjoy these weird me out… I am very very convinced that you do like life, just not all of its aspects. But then, who does? On the other hand: we wouldn't even know what light is if it weren't for the darkness to be there, too. Sometimes it is very hard to embrace life despite some annoying aspects of it. It is even harder when the annoying aspects for a while seem to take over. We must not let them take over. Which is exactly what you're doing in this challenge: you're fending them off. Sometimes it works out better than other times. But I think you have reasons to be happy with the outcome of your challenge. Oh, and by the way: I followed your challenge along, and I liked it, too. I still do.

Well, maybe you replaced fat with muscle, and just didn't notice. Did you take measurements with a tape measure? Circumference of waist, arms, thighs… that's how I assess change, because weight alone is not very accurate. Not even in the morning before breakfast. I agree with you that numbers on scales do not count. Even harder to understand that women especially make their mood many times depending on what these numbers say (I was once the same way). "Looking good" and "definitely getting stronger" are very nice compliments!

I like the picture. Makes me want tea and a friendly fireplace, a good book...

Oh man, so it will be mother and son trying to get over the nasty pest this week … Good that you go with open eyes into this - as in knowing you probably can't completely stick to food rules - and very good that you decided not to beat yourself up for it! Take care of yourself and your fellow patient as good as you can. At this point, whatever feels good, is right. We say here as a figure of speech "don't try to be more catholic than the pope" - it makes no sense. Get well soon!

Hey, you've come this far -- you will manage to finish strong! I have no doubt about it!

Ugh, nasty cold bugs. Send them back to hell! I keep my fingers crossed that you won't have to deal with this through the whole last week of the challenge!

Ouch. Back aches suck. Just physical ouch, though. I think you absolutely made the best possible experience out of this challenge, and it seems that this momentum will also carry you right into the next one, and perhaps even right through it! Very well done! Here's to a good last week - and hopefully one with no pain!

Well, not having enough blankets does not sound that bad after all, considering the outcome!

I also don't think that you're slacking with your art. Too high expectations can give you this feeling, though. The fact that the characters take more time than you at first expected just shows that you love doing it and that it means something to you. So it would be only fair from you to yourself if you would give yourself the time needed… uhm, what a sentence, I hope you know what I mean. English is not my first language. lol I can only say that so far I totally admire (and like) your drawings - and I mean it, even though I am not much of an anime person (due to lack of expertise on the topic).

Don't worry about it. Sometimes, time is simply not right for challenges, no matter which kind. There will always be the next challenge. Hats off to trying NaNoWriMo - sounds like a great endeavor!

Haha, see, even being tired has a function: you can't muster up the energy to beat yourself up! I'm curious what you will say about the movie. I haven't seen it yet, but it is on my "want to see" list, too. Critics in Germany are very mixed, from desastrous to enthusiastic one reads everything. So I think I have to get my own impression.

I wish you a wonderful fall Sunday! Do something that you really enjoy, maybe throw in a little meditation or if the weather permits take a nice walk and try to feel the season. There is so much beauty in this world...

Hm, the toppings on a pizza are usually good… take a big one, and forget about the doughy part. Days like this happen, but they have a function: they remind us what we really want - and what we do not want. Which movie are you going to see?

Sunday. It is cold, drizzling, but the trees look nice in their fall colourings. Fireplace is going and we had a good family breakfast. A warm breakfast with scrambled eggs with shiitake, red bellpeper and chopped onions. Some bacon strips completed the picture - and our beloved bulletproof coffee with coconut oil, coconut milk and cinnamon (plus for me a yellow pill St. John's Wort). The kids wanted loads of bacon, so Monday we'll need to buy more. Kids are now drawing fall pictures and are determined to enjoy their last day of fall recess before school tomorrow. They actually made themselves a calendar to count down the days until Christmas. And I've seen first drafts of wish lists. Dishwasher is running, and it is peaceful in the house. Can't say how much I love this! Yesterday, I decluttered so much stuff from my little room that our trashcan is already half full, and the paper bin as well. It feels good to see that my desktop is white… I almost forgot… It is amazing how much impact a little bit of order has on mood and inner balance! This is the best motivation to stay on it. I might actually do a little knitting and finishing the hematite necklace today… And I will follow Spookyfoot's policy of the small steps. No need to - again! - harness myself into a too ambitious setting. I will remember this for my next challenge, which I am already planning. Since I really like it here at the Druid's, I will stay here. It feels right, and it feels good. I wish you all a wonderful and relaxed Sunday!

Well, just log it as experience. Now you know that drinking in the week off the pill is ill-advised and you can avoid it. But - you stuck to the plan, and that is what counts! Well done! Who knows, maybe in a few hours you'll feel okay to drive, and get the shopping done.

Oh, and I popped my first pill of highly concentrated St.John's Wort! Should take me up to 14 days until the proper levels are reached, and I do hope it will improve my general mood. Those pills look big, and they are bright yellow, let's see whether the happy-coloured things do what the writing on the package says.

Today we had a late late breakfast as family together, then the kids went for two hours to my parents, which gave husband and me a chance to go out and finally buy these huge cutters that are used to trim trees. The tree in front of our house had a branch messing with the shingles on the roof, so it needed to be cut. Now everything is back in order. It is a rainy day, kids are back now and playing inside with their LEGO stuff, and I am ery happy right now because I am in my little office room, cleaning it up and have the computer running at the same time to keep peeking into NF every now and them. Yay to decluttering, it is really the one thing at the moment that improves my mood! Husband is taking care of some stuff in his room, so it is quiet in the house, and everyone is doing something they're happy with. I think this is awesome!

Hopefully, you will enjoy the camping trip. It can be alot of fun to get out of the surroundings one is used to. I find that I get more creative and happy after a change of normal routines. "7 things to do so one can enjoy Christmas later" sounds interesting … my husband and I are also already getting a few things done, some presents for the kids, etc. It is so annoying to run around in the city like a headless chicken shortly before Christmas in order to get everthing - together with all the other headless chickens that are out there to do the same thing.