Silverwitch

Pretty picture! Though I cannot say that "London" would be the first what comes to my mind looking at it. The road makes me want to put my barefoot runners on and just start running… seems like a very inviting trail!

How is your Saturday? Spat with husband has evened out, I hope? 

Well, sometimes a day off needs to just be a day off. 

Sometimes, I make the mistake to plan what I will do on my day off. As in stuff that needs taking care of, not as in having fun or r&r. Usually, it makes the off day not so enjoyable anymore, because it feels like work. Just that this time the pressure comes from myself. It is important to let go every now and then! 

If you do not plan what you will do, you might find yourself at the end of the day suddenly way more successful and happy than you would have expected.

Maybe you're just too busy to look in here now. 

I still will not stop coming to look for you!

I found some nice forest green cotton wool, and started to crochet granny squares. I love the meditative aspect of crafting. Especially knitting, lace making or crocheting … even mending socks falls in that category.

Might do something else too, though. The weather calls for a change of bedsheets. I think flannel might be in order. Both kids crawled into the bed with husband and me this morning, claiming that they're cold in their own beds. Okay, might have been an excuse, but better make sure.

And I will definitely curl up in front of our fireplace! Love the crackling sound, the smell of a good tea and besides that nothing but QUIET. 

Since the time gets closer, I might even finish the Christmas cards that I had already on my list last challenge. Maybe I just needed different weather to feel like drawing Christmas cards, gilding part of the motive and so on.

Breakfast was nice and long, more brunch than breakfast, but highly enjoyable. Had scrambled eggs with mushrooms and onion, some strips of crispy bacon and a nice bulletproof coffee: coconut oil melted in hot coffee, coconut milk, foamed all of it up with a little hand-held swirly thingy, added more coffee, some cinnamon on top --- delish!!!

Kids are already curled up somewhere in the house, reading books, and husband wanders about in the house planning around with the drafts of the new shelves that we want for the livingroom. At least I think that's what he does, because 10 minutes ago he asked me "why does a living person need a four digit number of books?"

Of course that was aimed at me… I replied that those books wouldn't do me any good if I were dead, but he just glowered at me. rofl 

Yoga yesterday was nice. It felt really good. But somehow I catch myself thinking that it would be good to also work more on my physical strentgh… kettlebell maybe? I don't know yet, but I need to add something. Gym I don't feel drawn to (more the opposite), outside stuff gets increasingly unpleasant with this rain, so gotta find home-centered stuff. Suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Saturday is great! 

Outside: rainy, windy, cold - inside: relaxed, warm, being left to my own devices. Why can't it stay that way a little longer...

This week was crazy. I am so glad that today is Friday! Friday the 13th -- who cares? FRIDAY. That's all that counts. Just a bit of time without any obligations or people wanting stuff from me. Oh, and finally it is a weekend without inlaws. *serene.smile*

It is raining cats and dogs, it is windy and the fireplace emits a weird and spooky whistling sound… I will do some Yoga, some Pilates and then I'll just grab my book and retreat to bed. Or maybe bathtub. Nice hot water, maybe an incense stick or two, some candles around the tub and PEACE. 

Kids are already in bed, didn't want a story. They came back from a birthday party and are exhausted.

Oh, the good old times, when it was just a party that was exhausting us … now I feel pretty much everything is exhausting in one way or the other. 

But - challenge went good so far. I am happy. Whether it's the challenge or my everyday happy pill, I don't know. Could also be that I finally manage to drink more water everyday. Keeps the system flushed. 

Okay, I'm off to my rug for yoga!

Have a great weekend everyone!

yay! hooray for a letter! I'm hopping for you :-)

Me and my little sister once both had typewriters so we would type letters to each other - I remember posting the first one and then expecting a reply any second, Im so used to emails and texts! It was a great way to remember to slow down!

I am hopping, too! Part of this weekend will be writing an answer. I already picked paper, nice ink … looking forward to writing!

OMG typewriters… I just had a flashback from a Jerry Lewis movie where he writes something on an imaginary typewriter: typewriter scene   

Hey there, I hope they didnt lock you up for robbing a chocolate factory… I miss you! 

How do you feel?

I do hope that you READ the nice sign you just posted!!!

Make your happiness a priority! 

I like this, and I can highly recommend it… 

I know what you mean … sometimes, I make buckwheat pancakes and keep telling myself "at least gluten-free." 

Eggs are great, but there are days when one is simply "egged out."

I'm glad too that weekend is here. Doesn't matter that it is raining cats and dogs, having no obligations this weekend feels almost too good to be true!

Now that would freak me out. Looks somehow cool, though...

Sounds like you are determined to gain back your health. Yoga and Pilates are great for building strength in a gentle way. Besides that, they create some kind of physical awareness, which is good to avoid injuries.

Getting enough sleep is key if it is about stress reduction. You might have really dodged a virus that way, because the immune system is also curiously linked to having enough resting time!

Good luck with your goals!

Sounds like solid state and materials research. I agree, interesting topic!

Yeah - what is it about porridge? I had some the other day, and by 11 I was famished!

… I almost don't dare saying it…

Carbs.

Blood sugar goes up, insulin does too good of a job in getting it all nicely stored in your belly => no blood sugar left (or not enough) => hunger.

Your hair looks wonderful and so shimmery shiny! Maybe you can keep them somehow obliged and get your hair done always at this place. Seems they did an awesome job!

I like Pilates, though, like having a bath it was really difficult to make myself keep doing it. It would probably be easier going to a class but there aren't any close at good times for me.
So, I'll aim to do a video pilates session once a week, and something more sweaty once a week too.

Pilates is great - I will retreat in a few minutes to my rug, and do some "Yogilates" in front of the fireplace.

Any ideas ywt, what the "more sweaty" exercise is going to be?

I'm at Rauros (walking to Mordor and back)

it's hailing outside so I have home sound effects of lots of water :-)

Here, too. It was hell of a drive home. 

But yay to the weekend! 

Hmmm, I don't think "small days" should be considered frustrating.

My feeling is - and please correct me if I am wrong - that your energy levels strongly go with your feelings. On some days you feel bursting with energy, maybe not even knowing where it came from, and then there are the days that are the complete opposite.

So when there are all of a sudden days in between that are neither of the two, then I think that might be some sort of "normality" setting in, and that would actually be a good thing.

It would in my eyes also be a step forward instead of "not moving anywhere." Those days are perfect for starting something, because there is not too much energy (which would make for a strong start, but is hard to keep up) and not too little (which would have you rather curl up than doing anything).

Small days will get a completely different meaning for you if you decide to purposely pick them for certain projects... they do contain more magic than it might be obvious on first glance. I'm sure you will find it!

Urgh, heavy conversations that interfere with well-earned rest time... not my favourite either. Plus work stress. Double urgh.

At least it is weekend, and I do hope for you that there will be peace and recuperation. And maybe just another beer.

The park workout sounds like it was really a lot of fun!

Maybe it is not a bad idea if your mom helps you with getting stuff organized. How long will she stay?

What helps me with decluttering: I stick to the "one corner per day only" rule. Otherwise, I start everywhere, and the mess is bigger than before. Wouldn't that work for you? Like saying "two hours fo corner x" and simply look how far it gets you?

I have noticed that the absence and also the reduction of mess is proportional to motivation and happiness. It would be great if your mom could help you to set you on track with this.

Having someone fight the fight with you makes stuff a lot less intimidating.

Decide for laughing. It feels so much better, and hey - at least you found out. Better late than never! 

May I ask what the thesis is about? If I am too curious, just say.

I'm shocked. Obviously, she took more time for someone else, and to get back on schedule, she rushes YOU. That is neither fair nor is it appropriate behaviour.

She might be right that cutting carbs helps to lose weight, but to throw this just as an unreflected sentence at you is irresposible and unworthy of a doctor who claims to care for the patients. I hope she does claim this, doesn't she...? Because her way of acting certainly suggests that she does not care a bit.

I love low carb, but it is very dumb to say that cutting carbs is the one and only solution. People are different!!! Same holds true for fruit consumption. Is she even halfways educated in the field of nutrition?

What a useless and - in my eyes - ridiculous appointment. I am sad for you that you had to go through this nonsense.

To think that this person gets money for this... ugh.

I leave some virtual hugs.

One of the main things that pissed me off about grad school was writing freaking papers. I learn NOTHING from writing papers, but most of the "classes" I had to take had a major component that was "write a paper about a topic from this list". This, on top of thesis writing, outright made me hate writing. Oh, the look on my face when I took the career workshop on campus and the top result it gave me was "writer". Anyway, a lot of the work in grad school felt like jumping through hoops instead of learning.

 

I'm not trying to argue, I'm mainly just ranting about stuff. Getting a Ph.D used to be my dream, and now I'm all like ??? Or should I take more business-y classes? It's one of those points in life where I have no clue what the next step is. I have a feeling that the next step is recovering from the mental stress of grad school (and depression and sleep deprivation) while rocking at the job I have now. Then hopefully I can move on to better and bigger things within the company, since it's growing mad fast and will likely continue to do so. Right, I forget that I need to be relaxing for this challenge.

 

 

That's exactly what I meant. You're expected to write papers. On the ranking of those depends your "value." Basically, you have a high quality education and still get sort of reduced to certain parts of the picture. It is one of the reasons why I left (corporate) science, and decided to do my own thing. Maybe I got lucky, but I am well aware of that there always has been (and still is) the risk of running against a wall and not getting anywhere. Doing your own thing is kind of a tightrope walk without a net. 

Joining the conversation late, and feeling like everything's over my head with the education and business talk.   I'm 27 with no post-secondary education and my only work experience is fast food, retail and janitor.

 

Hoping you'll manage to catch up on the sleep you were missing before Hal-con, Nax. I'd be sad if you burned yourself out.

I don't think that this is above your head. 

Making plans for life is essentially always the same thing, no matter whether PhD or retail or whatever. There are always loads of points to consider and decisions to make. No matter what you do, you can arrive at a turning point where you might decide to just turn your whole life (the way it was before or is now) completely into another direction. I bet you know what I mean!

Some things that we set on track, we believe we've done in vain. But all of a sudden something happens that tells us we were wrong with this assumption!

I did get a letter from one of the friends I wrote to in the last challenge. A really nice super-long handwritten letter. I'm all squeaky giggly happy about this! So reconnecting works beyond the limitations of challenge time. Didn't expect this - and I love love love it! *hops.around.excitedly*

Today's update:

Happy pill => taken

Tea break at work => taken

Declutter => got rid of two binders full with stone-old scientific papers (paper already was yellowing…)

Time for myself => bath is planned - right after storytelling, which starts in half an hour. Kids requested a story with a bear, full moon, a wolf, a magic well and a cave that is hidden. I'll probably hide it behind a waterfall… we'll see.

And now: dinner. First meal after my 6.30am breakfast. 

I'm with you on the rouge noir - or at least a cheaper alternative of it!

Well done on week 1, especially with the challenge of relatives!

Thank you!

Yeah, it does not have to be the expensive version. I'm after the colour, not after the bottle.

The relatives were more challenging than I thought. Bah, I do not like when my energy gets drained from that kind of challenge!

I found these on the NHS website which don't look too bad - http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/nhs-fitness-studio/pages/pilates-for-beginners.aspx

 

This week is really busy with work so I'm going to have to be careful I don't forget to look after myself - self care is an easy thing to let slip. I'll plan pilates in for Thursday morning, there, I have made myself accountable.

Ha, you're absolutely right! I sometimes catch myself too… today, I almost cut my tea break because of busy schedule, but then I decided to NOT cut it. And it carried me through the rest of the day. 

I am curious whether you will like Pilates. 

Hang on to the self care! It feels waaay too great to let go of it!

Gardening counts as exercise, too. Just think of all the different moves you make!

Sounds like you' re going at a steady and stable pace throughout your challenge. I like this a lot!