Koaladle

(Not that I'm comparing you to Jenna, but just keep doing what you gotta do and love yourself.)

(Also, super adorable that you got caught up talking to your mom. <3)

10 hours ago, EmeraldEagle said:

@Koaladle that 2nd GIF made me actually laugh out loud. Well played!

My mother in law is an angel, bless her, but she loves all the Christmas music that makes me homicidal. "Little Drummer Boy" is what plays in Hell, I'm sure of it.

1 minute ago, Super Starling! said:

Notebook looks great; dog is cute; sorry you don't feel good. 

 

 

I hope you can make some soup or something simple cooperate.

Has soup? Eat soup!  

Dog is Very Good Dog. He needs multiple hours of cuddles every day or he starts acting up. XD

I'm really excited to add colors to my journal. I think I'm about done with page types; I'll add a few bunches of blank pages because the paper is out and ready anyway. Maybe I'll print out a couple wedding photos or something; I was overweight then, but looked and felt gorgeous and I want to tap into that level of contentment, no matter where I am with progress. Huh, a scrapbook section--that's an idea. 

Spice Girl themed challenge and I'm like

1 minute ago, Super Starling! said:

Last year I was slammed at work; this year my boss just died. And also the president sucks. And I'm not, like, in the ~spirit~.

Oh my gosh, that's awful.  Do what's good for you. <3 Have some holiday fail gifs (one of which has cussing, thus the spoiler thingy).

DAY ELEVEN, EVENING EDITION

Dog encapsulates my feels

Today was also terrible. None of the stress from yesterday dissipated and things got so bad that I vomited up the entirety of my lunch and haven't been able to eat since. I've been drinking a lot of chamomile tea and water to stay post-puke hydrated and only just started getting hungry. I'll wait until the morning for anything more substantial than applesauce. 

Despite meltdowns and getting sick, I did manage to get a little bit done in the chore department, spent the day at my (TIDY!) desk working on my journal (see spoiler), took good care of myself post-porcelain worship, and spent a little koalaty time with Husband (didn't technically eat, but I think that's understandable). My last thing to do is knit in bed and get to sleep early.  Obviously I didn't do yoga today; something about down dog seemed downright disastrous. 

But not as bad as Disaster Date Yoga Girl

• Workout--Nope
• Do Chores--Finished the meager list given by husband
• Self-Care--No yoga, did listen to music a little, mostly just sat at my desk and tried to feel better
• Creative Outlet--Sure did, AND I posted it like I was supposed to do!
• Eat with Family--We talked, a table was involved, I didn't eat

2 hours ago, TGP said:

wowwww

that was ... dreadful.  

hopefully the next day is better...

I really appreciate the validation, I really do. While trying to go to sleep last night, my  Self Doubt monster was saying "EXCUSES, EXCUSES! You used to be such a bad MF, now look at you! SLEEPING BEFORE DAWN!" 

DAY ELEVEN: MORNING EDITION

The stress from yesterday is definitely still hanging around. The stove wasn't converted properly (husband spent over two hours on it last night, bless him, but something isn't quite tight enough so we'll be working on that this evening), the truck's issues may have to do with a recalled part so we could be looking at a three month ordeal (waitlisted parts are waitlisted, yaaaaay), and my eye twitch is entering hour five for today. I just told my neighbor all about it and while she is usually the first one to tell me to git, she totally supported my decision to take today as is comes and try to unwind. I still need to get to the gym (only four days left in the week, and three visits to go -.-), but I may instead do a yoga video at home and just visit the gym for anxiety management. This morning I started getting cold symptoms; I probably shouldn't be trying to go hard today anyway. Last Christmas I pushed it and got bronchitis and pneumonia so bad I was in bed for three weeks. Stress and my immune system go together like arsenic and old lace. 

So, goals for today:

• Workout: Ride to/from gym, stay there for half an hour, do yoga at home
• Self-Care: Yoga, listen to music, breathing exercises, take a long shower, get to bed early, drink a ton of tea
• Creative Outlet: Work on the journal, post progress
• Chores: Already did it--make husband food, bring food from trailer fridge to the house fridge. He also encouraged a recovery day so that's it for today
• Eat with Family: Hopefully dinner! Lunch is going to be spent dealing with the truck

3 hours ago, obax said:

Woo for appliances! But boo for shark week.... Can't wait to see that follow-up gif! Was the gym everything you hoped it'd be and more? 

DAY TEN

Today was a solidly horrible day.

Two hours before the delivery window, my husband unplugged the fridge to get ready for the new appliances. When he pulled on the plug, the outlet snapped in half. Like, the female end attached to the male end and came out of the wall. Neither of us has any experience with electrical hoohas, so I got to calling electricians and he checked Youtube to see if he could do it himself. I set up just-in-case, he decides to go to Home Depot for parts--and the truck battery is freaking dead. Our neighbor jumped the truck for him, he left, got the part, managed to get back home, and spent an hour getting the plug re-attached. The delivery guys got here, told us they weren't going to set up the stove because it was propane, nor were they going to take the microwave because they weren't putting in a replacement. Fine, whatever, we'll handle it. While they were trying to move the fridge out of the house, it wouldn't freaking fit through a doorway; they ended up having to take the doors off which left the house with a horrendous stench that was stuck in the air for another eight hours--because remember, that meat went bad. Really, really bad. >.> Anyway, they leave and the two of us are just bundles of nerves--twitchy eyes, trouble forming coherent sentences, the whole bit. I was finally calming down at 5:30 when a reminder went off for pep band and "OH SHIT OH SHIT GET THE PANTS OUT OF THE HAMPER WHERE'S MY HORN SHIT SHIT SHIT" was pretty much all I said for the next ten minutes. I was, unfortunately, running late with no truck to drive (it wouldn't start up again when Husband got home), no lights on my bike making it illegal to ride on the way home, and way too late to walk there. A friend of mine was also running late and, thank goodness, was close enough to my house to give me a ride. Sweet. On the way to her car I saw that the delivery guys left a refrigerator door just hanging out in the driveway. Once I got home from the basketball game, which had the all the zest of sawdust cereal with skim milk, I wanted to head to the store but once again, the truck won't start (it has something like 60,000 miles on it, it's still new dammit) so we got another neighbor to give us a jump and see what he could see (he's a retired big rig driver). He thinks it's a water level problem, teaches us to fix it, and sends us out for a two hour drive. We get home, try to start up the engine, and once again: the truck won't start. 

During the day, I cried twice, got Batman Voice angry three times, and made two attempts to get psyched to workout; between just a lot of stuff going on and trying to prevent panic attacks during the little downtime I had, it just didn't happen. No gif for me tonight. -.- Better day tomorrow!

Daily Commitments

• Workout--nope -.-
• Do Chores--Not really. There was a lot of stop and go today and I certainly don't feel like I got anything accomplished.
• Self-Care--Did not actually dissolve into a panic attack, so something went right! This time last year, a day like that would have knocked me down for a week. Progress! <3
• Creative Outlet--I bound more pages and started drawing up the journal. The intense concentration that comes with drawing a perfect grid was oddly therapeutic 
• Eat with Family--we ate trash food in a Walmart parking lot, but we did it ~~XOXO~~together~~XOXO~~
•  

1 hour ago, EaseActivate said:

 

Omg no honey we are NOT dealing with that shit this year, do you hear me? Not happening. 

 

I turned to my husband yesterday and said, oh, are we supposed to decorate? 

 

And he shrugged and said it feels like if we were gonna we should have cared by now. 

 

So no.

 

Maybe next year. 

 

But no.

 

(salty disclaimer: yeah, i’m still sick, can ya tell?  )

If it doesn't make you super happy to do it, DO NOT get festive. For me, it's a relaxing thing and was important this year because reasons; I put the tree up, wrapped the presents and hung the stockings on a paper towel holder that we hardly use. If the lights and stockings and crap don't come naturally, don't worry about it.

So Sunday I took did self care like a champ (curl into ball and consume pain killers, nap a lot) and did the same thing the next day, which is not so good considering that I had so much more to do. In the evening I ended up folding a couple loads of laundry just to cross off something on the list of commitments. So, workout/gym visit is switched to today,  and I need to catch up on chores and a creative outlet. 

I'm pretty much going to be stuck here until 5, though. Our appliances are arriving (YAAAAAY) by then, but that gives me time to tidy up ("they aren't guests, they're delivery men" they are STRANGERS in my HOUSE and I might give them something to drink so everything must be P-E-R-F-E-C-T), get the laundry put away, take out the trash, clean up the kitchen, and set the table. 

SO! Busy day of chores, mostly, with a couple hours of fun stuff and a trip to the gym that I really don't want to do because Shark Week is painful, zaps me of all energy and motivation. In fact, this would be the first time in years that I will have managed to do it. I bet that'll feel like a million bucks once I get home.  

So I know I've used this gif before, but there is an amazing follow up 

and I WANT TO EARN IT

23 hours ago, MiaulinTheCat said:

(Confession - do not actually feel like a 'Lady'. 'woman' doesn't work either. Pretty sure 21 is too many years for 'girl' so as best I can tell the takeaway is "boy howdy i gotta Grow the heck Up" that, or just switch my pronoun to "Dragonet"

I'm 28, and I am definitely not a full-time lady. Fart and blech competition is frequent under my roof, but if I'm in a dress I'll put on my sunhat and act like a lady for the afternoon. Once the lady hat is off, the fight for loudest burp is on. It's an awkward position When I was 21, we all just settled for "dude" when with peers and "person" when around real adults.  It's Adolescence: the Sequel, the follow-up you never wanted. 

Think of lady-ness like a hat; you wear it on a nice night out, and hang it up when you get home. It's more of an image than an identity for most people these days (which is good).

23 hours ago, MiaulinTheCat said:

Haven't settled on a sentence for the mini and there's admittedly a huge corner of my entire being that's clanging pots and pans going "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO WE DON'T AFFIRMATIONS. AFFIRMATIONS ARE FOR OTHER PEOPLE. REVOLT."  hmmm maybe just "I am a lady. Ladies finish their fights" or....something.

Get some childproof attachments on the kitchen cabinets because AFFIRMATIONS ARE FOR EVERYONE! There's a title: Miau is Embracing Affirmations and you have a goal of giving yourself a pep talk in the morning.

1 hour ago, obax said:

I stumbled upon your thread because of you user name alone, and I`m so glad I did! It`s full of badassery AND your gif game is on point! I may be a week late, but I`m stayin``til the end!

There's a silly story about it. Achieve an epic goal and I'll tell you all about it. For the next challenge, just search for my username--it's the only title I use for challenge topics so it should be easy to find.  

So I have a suggestion for the sleep thing--assuming it's winter where you live, it can be really helpful to keep the shades open near your bed. The light from sun rising does a lot to naturally wake you up. Depending on your schedule and location this may not be a natural option, BUT there are alarm clocks that simulate sunrise and sunset to help your body tap into the lizard brain to help you sleep. I spent the better part of this year fixing my nightly routine; I try to put away blue-light electronics by 10:30 when I get in bed, turn the lights down, and either read a book or listen to one while I knit for a few minutes. If you stick to a routine, you can Pavlov yourself into bedtime--it's dark here so just talking about it has triggered non-stop yawns. 

Also, set a liquids curfew because no one likes interrupting sleep for a freezing cold toilet seat and florescent-lit sleep face in front of the mirror.

12 minutes ago, Super Starling! said:

YES YOU ARE ACTUALLY SLIGHTLY SCARY. 

Oh noes!  

11 hours ago, Super Starling! said:

Someone tell me that it's, you know, legally necessary, and I'll get a ticket if I don't.

It is legally necessary and you'll get an expensive, avoidable ticket if you put off getting the inspection. I, too, hate dealing with car maintenance (which can extend the life of your vehicle significantly, it is VERY IMPORTANT), so I no longer have my own car and will ride a bike, walk, carpool, or Lyft where ever I want to go. If you have a life where this is possible, it's great! There's so much you get to dodge. If you don't and you need your car to support yourself, you have to: get inspections, renew tags, pay for insurance, get your oil changed, change your windshield wipers, pay for gas, wear your seatbelt, follow traffic laws, rotate your tires, have money available for emergencies, know roadside emergency procedures, inflate and deflate tires as appropriate for the season, know how to drive in adverse weather conditions, and otherwise take on the commitments of car ownership. It's all part of owning a vehicle. Hop to it!

(Is that stern enough?)

11 hours ago, Super Starling! said:

need to hit. that. gym. It's an important part of my plan to keep winter from consuming me.

FACT: Regular exercise supports good mental health. FACT: You do not want to be a lump of calories and weeping. CONCLUSION: You need to exercise regularly to take care of yourself. You can do it and you'll feel like a million bucks when you do.

I highly recommend getting a planner or using a calendar on your phone and writing in those periodic maintenance reminders--I even do this for little stuff, like changing air filters and taking the trash out--so that you can see stuff coming and get it done earlier when it's convenient. For things that end in money loss if you don't do them--you're going to feel so crappy when you have to pay it. That $200 ticket has so many better uses than "I didn't do something because I didn't wanna but now I owe more money and still have to do it." If that walk is really a deal breaker for you, get a Lyft, ask a friend to help you out, whatever--just don't get a dumb ticket. 

You can do it! <3 

10 hours ago, Fonzico said:

I'm sorry your day didn't go as planned.

Can I say that I approve of napping as a coping mechanism however?



Here's to today being a better day!

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 

It was! I got everything wrapped up and under the tree, went to a Christmas party for my quilting group, and... actually, that's pretty much it. I did spend six hours wrapping (lots of small stuff and I'm a perfectionist) so I guess that's where the time went. 

WEEKLY WRAP-UP

Workout--2/3 visits to the gym, 3/3 active things (walking to band two days, riding bike two days, a nine hour day of chores, and a workout in the gym; proud of the improvement!)

Self-Care--5/5 days (mostly naps because anxiety is exhausting and I've been waking up in the middle of the night, but it is an effective coping mechanism)

Do Chores--5/5 days and I am VERY proud of the work I accomplished! This has been a sticking point lately because it is so easy to get overwhelmed but I really kicked ass.

Creative Outlet--3/5 days, but 5/5 hours because I'm counting the wrapping as both a chore and a creative thing. 

Eat with Family--3/7 days. Husband has been too tired to socialize for long when he gets home, poor guy. Heimdall stares at me while I eat, but that doesn't really count. 

Is that a food? Ooooooh I like the food

I am really pleased with how things are going so far! It's not perfect, but this schedule is solidifying nicely and I've done a pretty good job at fulfilling the commitments when I have to move things around. I'm going to drop the journaling goal for now since I'm binding the thing myself. Since I've never done it before, we're still trying to get settled, and it is the holidays, I'm going to pencil in a goal to have a journal ready to use by New Year's Eve. 

Tomorrow starts a new week! Depending on what goes on with my cramps, I may go to the gym and get a workout out of the way just in case Monday is an unholy terror (the standard level of... discomfort). Worst case, all I have going on for Sunday is Self Care and thus curling up into a ball and using the dog as a heating pad is a-okay.

Accidental double post, 

so here is another gif

And it is the weirdest 

7 hours ago, Fonzico said:

So I needed 6 more physical activity points today to meet my goal for the week, so decided the easiest way to do that was a yoga video
This one was fairly gentle, which was just what I needed after yesterday's workout - it should help a bit with the doms.

So this week, I've done 2 yoga videos, a kettlebell class, a mini KB workout, at least one dog walk per day, and some random pushups.

Guys.

That's like the most I've done in a week in a long time! The grind is real.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 

DAY SIX

My schedule for today went from "everything is accounted for and will be done presently" to

Plans changed, packages were supposed to finally arrive, and I basically lost my momentum and couldn't get it back. I did get some cooking done, as well as binding and gift wrapping, so it wasn't like the day was a total mess, but it sure felt like it.

Oh, the struggle!

I'm going to give it another try tomorrow. I'm pretty sure my mood blerg is being exasperated by hormones (and also sads, we're trying to start a family so Shark Week is extra disappointing), but I really need to fight through this and wrap up the week on a high note. I know I can do it!

COMMITMENTS:

Workout--Missed it. -.-

Self Care--Stress Nap (didn't sleep well last night, which didn't help)

Creative Outlet--More binding, some pretty gift wrapping

Do Chores--Missed it. -.-

Eat with Family--Missed this too. -.-

6 hours ago, Fonzico said:

I never find bagels to be worth it whenever I give in to it.

Leave yourself a reminder at your desk about the bagels not being worth it. Seeing the message from yourself all the time might help with saying "nope, not a good enough excuse for a treat".

11 minutes ago, Fonzico said:

The arm gif is beyond disturbing... But the desk clearing one is beyond satisfying. You're just the master of extremes, aren't you?

I'm not going to lie, your chore blitz is inspiring! I'm toying with the idea of tackling my craft storage room this weekend (which I've been putting off forever)


Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 

Hahaha, I find the things and have to share them. 

Thank you! I am not usually that productive, I'm just at the end of my damn rope with this hurricane. Next year, the only hurricanes I want come with extra cherries and rum. -.- I have a craft corner, so I am positively drooling at your craft room. O.O I needed a desk so I took the old dining table (we got the board game table off Kickstarter), and put it in a corner of the sunroom. It's about the length of a regular desk and a little deeper; it gives ample room to store things at the edges and still have space to work with. I have two bins under the table with needlework,(knitting, embroidery, fabric for sewing), painting supplies; and that set of drawer on top that has stamps, ink pads, writing utensils, paper, and stickers. My sewing machine is pretty poor quality sew (haaaa) I go over to my neighbor's house for that, but I have inherited the huge machine-with-cabinet my grandmother got in the sixties (from movers who didn't know how it got on the truck). That thing is a beast! My mom says it does French seams through denim like a hot knife through butter. If I play my cards right, I might get TWO craft corners!   

DAY FIVE, EVENING EDITION:

Wrote a big old post and somehow closed the tab while going for the exclamation mark and lost it. -.- Basically the whole day was spent waiting for things to happen that got delayed. I did go to the gym for the anxiety reduction part of my workout goal, but I didn't do a workout there due to Domestic Rangering DOMS. I walked a mile, and rode my bike for two and that sounds like good active rest to me.

COMMITMENTS

• Workout--Active rest, mentioned above
• Self Care--I missed this, which kinda sucks since it can be anything...
• Creative Outlet--started sewing pages together, worked on a different format for my journal because I'm using watercolor paper and a 365 day journal would be Complete Oxford English Dictionary big. Not happy with the amount of work that got done, adding an hour to Saturday (how I was going to spend Saturday anyway, but now it's OFFICIAL.
• Do Chores--Ran loads of laundry, cleared part of my desk, but I'm not satisfied with the progress so I'm adding an hour to tomorrow.
• Eat with Family--Dinner!

Hey! <3 I'm not currently posting here, but I do have a challenge posted with the Rangers--you can follow the link in my signature.

"Fitness tracker or something" is on my list of rewards for meeting fitness goals, so I will definitely keep that one in mind.

HOCKEY! Excellent usage of a Saturday!

I'm super impressed with how you managed your birthday and am taking notes! Many happy returns!