Jayniana Jones and the Rollercoaster of Life

[Jayniana Jones]

Right now I'm on a rollercoaster that I can't get off of. There are really great days and some not so great days. What I'd like to do is give myself a steady, predictable routine to carry me through the low parts. I'm not fond of schedules where I have to do things at certain times of the day, however, I think experimenting with a routine that covers the things I want to do may be a good idea because I'm getting tired of feeling disappointed with myself for not getting the things that matter to me done.

 

My responsibilities are shifting over the next few weeks with homeschooling resuming full-time and my teens' activities restarting in September. I figure it's a good time to start carving out time for my items. I plan to carry this challenge through the next 12 weeks.

 

I'd like to focus on the areas below.

 

Maintain my yoga streak
I've been doing yoga every day since Jan. 5. Today is day 229 with no break.

Goal: Keep it going.

 

Rehab my knee
At the start of this round, my rehab was placed on hold thanks to an inflamed tendon (or two) in my ankle. I think I'll be safe to resume knee rehab exercises by the end of the week.
Goal: Focus on my rehab exercises 6 out of 7 days per week.

 

Add to my art journal
I have an art journal that I've been adding to regularly to practice drawing and painting techniques. What I love is that it's portable (meaning it fits in my purse) and meditative. I'm working my way through a watercolor book for beginners and I'd like to continue doing this.

Goal: Add a picture 5 out of 7 days per week.

 

Work through the Artist's Way
I picked up the book as a recommendation from a friend. The book is a 12-week course and I'm curious about the outcomes if I completed it. This one I'll confess I'm a bit worried about how much time it will take, but I figure I'll try it out and see what I think. 

Goal: Work on it daily. Although I won't stress if I miss a day here and there.

 

Train Buddy  

Buddy (my mini-australian shepherd) is afraid of people, dogs, and new things. Originally, I wanted to train him for agility, but, because of his fears, I can't get him to perform reliably. So my first step is to get him to the point where he can pass his good canine citizen test. I've learned some techniques that I can teach him to build his confidence. He has an obedience class once a week until September.

Goal: Ideally daily, but some days I won't be home. 5 out of 7 days per week will be fine.

 

Ideally, I'd like to have the above items (except for training Buddy) completed before lunch. There are doctor appointments, work related projects, helping my parents, and other scheduled items I'll need to work around so having some flexibility will be necessary. 

 

My reward for reaching my goals for the next 12 weeks is a weekend trip by myself in late November. No teens, no hubby, no dog, and no responsibility except to relax... that makes me wish I could hurry the time up a bit.  

 

 

[Leimanu]

Did you make a challenge for me?  Cause this is me, all over it, LOL  Having a steadiness, or a strong core, for all the ups and downs in a day and in life, has been a priority for me over the last year and a half.  It's so important.  It looks like you're already a little ways along that journey!

 

229 days at a yoga studio in a row??  Girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl.  What kinda yoga?

 

You're also a badass for homeschooling teens.  I don't even know how that works.  Don't high schoolers learn advanced quantum mechanics now?

 

Is The Artists Ways just for drawing and painting, or is it applicable for any creative endeavor?  

 

Have fun with your goals!

[Jayniana Jones]

10 hours ago, Leimanu said:

Did you make a challenge for me?  Cause this is me, all over it, LOL  Having a steadiness, or a strong core, for all the ups and downs in a day and in life, has been a priority for me over the last year and a half.  It's so important.  It looks like you're already a little ways along that journey!

 

Haha. I'm learning that I have lots in common with everyone around NF.  

 

10 hours ago, Leimanu said:

229 days at a yoga studio in a row??  Girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl.  What kinda yoga?

 

 

Right now my yoga is mainly focused on restoration poses because of limitations with my knee and my ankle tendon. I can't go on my knees and I can't cross my legs in poses like lotus pose. I'm not cleared by my physical therapists for any poses that turn my foot in slightly.  My practice right now consists of standing poses (mostly single leg balance poses, mountain pose, forward folds both standing and sitting) and floor poses like boat pose, plank, hip openers, seated twists, and whatever else I can think of that's "legal". My favorite yoga style is ashtanga/vinyasa based ones where the poses flow together and gives me a good workout. I aspire to get back to that style when I'm fully healed. I have been experimenting with some of the Inyengar yoga because I'm finding props and the focus on exact proper placement to be helpful since I'm limited in variety.

 

10 hours ago, Leimanu said:

You're also a badass for homeschooling teens.  I don't even know how that works.  Don't high schoolers learn advanced quantum mechanics now?

 

LOL My teens aren't quite at quantum mechanics level. However, I can't help but wonder how parents homeschooled before the Internet. My son, in particular, has reached out to experts on subjects he's interested because he figured out that I don't know everything. I'm pretty tech and math savvy, but some of the sciences I struggle with remembering. That whole "if you don't use it you lose it" rule shows its face to me almost daily around here.

 

10 hours ago, Leimanu said:

Is The Artists Ways just for drawing and painting, or is it applicable for any creative endeavor?  

 

I actually picked it up for writing and so far it looks like it's for creative minded people in general. On the back cover, it says it's a "...comprehensive 12-week program to recover your creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, jealousy, guilt, addictions, and other inhibiting forces, replace them with artistic confidence and productivity." I'm intrigued and figure if it can help me work through a few hurdles, I'll give it a shot.

 

10 hours ago, Leimanu said:

Have fun with your goals!

 

Thanks.

 

[Alexandrite]

It looks like you have figured out moat-important goals over the last few challenges and can maximize your time because you know what you want or need to get done. That's a huge accomplishment!

Looking forward to walking these challenges with you. =)

Sent by my Navi-powered device!

[SaltyDragon]

I know that roller coaster you speak of. Here to offer support and encouragement, hopefully more frequently than I did last challenge!

 

On 8/20/2016 at 3:45 PM, Jayniana Jones said:

I think I'll be safe to resume knee rehab exercises by the end of the week.

 

So does this mean the foot's feeling better?

[Jayniana Jones]

On 8/24/2016 at 0:23 AM, SaltyDragon said:

So does this mean the foot's feeling better?

It's getting there. I was a bit optimistic about being ready to resume normal this week. However, the last few days I have been super focused on not doing anything to inflame it. I mentioned to my family this evening that I should be ready to resume all my activity tomorrow because the pain is minimal and tolerable. They looked at me like I was nuts. 

 

On 8/22/2016 at 3:16 AM, Alexandrite said:

It looks like you have figured out moat-important goals over the last few challenges and can maximize your time because you know what you want or need to get done. That's a huge accomplishment!

Looking forward to walking these challenges with you. =)

Sent by my Navi-powered device!

 

Um, I think you're giving me a bit more credit about maximizing my time. You know how you make a plan in your head and then it meets your family, other people, reality? Yeah, that's how lovely my idea of getting my stuff done before lunch has been working. I've gotten the items done but it has been juggled in between the chaos. 

[SnowOwl]

But, you got it done. And you got it done in between chaos, I mean, that's like the best time management ever!

[SaltyDragon]

23 hours ago, Jayniana Jones said:

I've gotten the items done but it has been juggled in between the chaos. 

 

Then you're obviously outperforming most of us. (annnnd by "most of us" I mean me)

[Jayniana Jones]

Haha. I guess it's easy to lose perspective when I'm in the thick of things.

 

Here's my week in review.

• My yoga streak continues. Today is 237. I did a session outside today and love the stretches where I can watch puffy clouds drift along the sky. It reminds me of my childhood days. 
• My artist journal has a daily entry. I'll post pics when I'm at a computer. 
• Buddy training was done 5 days out of 7 this week. My son came with me to class last week and we discovered that he's a completely different dog - very calm, let's people touch him, and doesn't hide. The trainer told me I need to channel my inner 13 year-old. So I'm supposed to avoid chores, let my bedroom turn into a huge disaster, and wash my hair only once a week.  Or I need to learn how to calm down and not worry so much. Thank goodness I'm doing daily yoga. Otherwise Buddy would be way more crazy than he already is. 
• The Artist's Way I managed to do the morning pages everyday. However, a few times morning was right before bed. It's an interesting book and it's giving me a lot to think about.
• Knee rehab - I'm trying not to freak out about this one. I haven't done any knee rehab for the last 5 weeks because of the inflamed tendons on my ankle. I was told I was at risk of tearing the tendons if I did things that were painful. So in listening to my body I've been doing stretches, icing, ibuprofen, and elevating my leg regularly. On Monday, my chiropractor put k-tape (the stuff Olympians use) on my ankle to support it. That helped a lot. On Saturday and Sunday, I was able to walk 1/4 of a mile with minimal pain. It's icing as I type.  

This week is going to be rougher than last week. I have a very booked week that leaves me driving and waiting a lot. I won't have a day off until Saturday. Wednesday and Thursday are the longest times spent on the road because I'm driving my daughter 4.5 hours one way to an virtual school event she really wanted to do. The driving for a virtual school thing sounds like an oxymoron now that I type it. At the time I said yes the calendar was empty. I know I'll survive but I'm a bit worried about how it will affect my goals. 

 

I'm hoping that I'll have wifi in the various spots I'm waiting so I can keep up with everyone. Have a great week!

 

[SaltyDragon]

On 8/28/2016 at 9:33 PM, Jayniana Jones said:

So I'm supposed to avoid chores, let my bedroom turn into a huge disaster, and wash my hair only once a week.

 

It's been working for me all these years.

 

On 8/28/2016 at 9:33 PM, Jayniana Jones said:

On Monday, my chiropractor put k-tape (the stuff Olympians use) on my ankle to support it. That helped a lot. On Saturday and Sunday, I was able to walk 1/4 of a mile with minimal pain. It's icing as I type.  

 

This is great to hear. I've tried the KT tape before, but it's been one of those things where I can't actually tell if it's helping or not. I'm happy to hear you had a positive experience with it. If you're able to be more active again and do something you couldn't before, that's awesome!

[karinajean]

I hope your week is going ok! and I hope your ankle is feeling better.

[FatboySuave]

On 8/21/2016 at 8:18 PM, Jayniana Jones said:

I actually picked it up for writing and so far it looks like it's for creative minded people in general. On the back cover, it says it's a "...comprehensive 12-week program to recover your creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, jealousy, guilt, addictions, and other inhibiting forces, replace them with artistic confidence and productivity." I'm intrigued and figure if it can help me work through a few hurdles, I'll give it a shot.

 

This sounds like exactly what I need for my writing! I'd love to know how the book works out for you. I'm a very uncreative place "write" now (heh heh) and I need to rediscover my inner 13-year-old as well. Great job on your goals so far! I'm also looking forward to seeing how the dog training goes. That's another thing I need to work on too.

[Jayniana Jones]

Weekly recap:

I survived. The week was literally a rollercoaster. Monday started with the septic backing up, a visit from the septic guy led to the discovery of a larger problem that could mean major repairs or replacement of our drain field. We don't totally know exactly what it means except that the cost was $500 for the septic guy and another $500 will be due on Tuesday for the plumbing experts. Then we're into unknown territory for the actual costs of repairs. I'm praying it isn't a $10,000 bill which is what someone said a new one costs. Gulp. 

 

My ankle is better but I still can't walk far and I can't walk outside off of very flat surfaces. The chiropractor said that if it isn't feeling better in ten days (which my next appointment exceeds that) it's time to get an MRI. I've been practicing the power of positive thinking and sending every happy thought I can to my ankle. I'm hoping some sort of magic happens. If not, our health insurance deductible is maxed out so the MRI is free... yah?

 

So that was the beginning of the week. Then on Tuesday after another day of are you kidding me type events, a miracle happened... I channeled my inner 13-year-old (I actually didn't shower that morning) and Buddy actually passed his Good Canine Citizen test on the first try! He survived sitting next to me while the trainer approached me, getting pet by a stranger, brushed and inspected by a stranger, and being left alone for three minutes on a stay without me in the building. There were other things that he passed with no problems, but the trouble spots weren't a problem for him that night despite his heavy drooling and anxiety before his turn came. He even got a ribbon for the torture. 

 

 

My trip with my daughter went well. My foot was swollen so badly after the drive that I had to loosen my shoelaces to the point that under normal circumstances my shoe would fall off. Since I could do much, we opted for a movie rather than sitting in the hotel room. The theater had reclining seats which were perfect for elevating my foot. We saw Kubo. It's a movie done all in stop motion (something I'm a bit geeky about). It was a good movie. 

 

Friday came and the roller coaster plummeted. My mom is continuing to get worse. She met with the doctor on Friday and her chemo and pain meds were doubled. The pain meds are at the point where it's to make her comfortable. Apparently, the pharmacist voiced remorse at the medication levels of my mom to my dad. My mom struggles with walking without stumbling. She is hesitant to get a wheelchair because she insists she'll get better. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to honor her request of taking her to the Minnesota Zoo with the teens. I'm hoping my ankle is better by the end of the week so I can take her next week. 

 

My goals suffered less than I expected and I gave myself permission not to be perfect.

•  My yoga streak is at day 244. I almost messed up Wednesday night when my daughter and I got back from the movie. We were in bed with the lights off when I remembered we hadn't done yoga for the day. So we did a session in our pajamas. I don't think she was very impressed and kept yawning loudly.  
• My art journal had 3 entries instead of 5 this week. I count it as a success because my 9/2 entry I spent a few hours on and did a bigger painting.
• The Artist's Way had 5 out of 6 entries for the morning pages. I decided to break up Week 2's section in the book over two weeks because of the fact I wasn't home much.
• Buddy's training was 4 out of 5.
• Rehab is simply stretching and resting my foot. I'm trying hard not to brood. As a result, I got sucked into Tropico 4 and manage to be still more than usual because of it. The game is similar to the original Sim City game only I'm supposed to be a dictator ruling the island with an iron fist. In the game, I'm a terrible dictator because I worry about doing the nice and honorable thing. I hesitate to steal money from my citizens, I don't like them working for low wages, I don't like going into debt, and I won't tamper with the elections. I know it's just a game but, for some reason, I just can't be mean. It's not helping me win. I lost once already and I'm only through the second level.  I do like building a pretty city with happy people in it though. 

This week I have doctor appointments Tuesday - Thursday. One of them involves a follow-up with my knee. Hopefully, my ACL is still in place.

 

Life over the last few months has dealt us so many challenges that I feel like a character in a novel with a sadistic author penning it. My hubby and I used to joke about how bad news came in sets of three and then got resolved fairly quickly. We've since ditched that idea because at this point we're in the multiples of threes and stuff keeps piling up. Anyways, enough brooding. There're enough good things happening to keep our spirits up. 

 

 

 

 

[SnowOwl]

4 minutes ago, Jayniana Jones said:

Sorry about all the hard things right now.  But great work Buddy! (and you!) I'm glad the hard is being balanced a bit with good things and that you are able to see them.

[Jayniana Jones]

Before I head off to sleep, I thought I'd post my most recent watercolor painting. The original size is 5" x 8".

[SnowOwl]

His face is so expressive, well done!

[SaltyDragon]

I've had plenty of those after-bedtime moments when I realize something that I forgot to do. I hardly ever get back up and do them, though. Thanks, now I feel lazy. But seriously...better than expected sounds good to me. Like @SnowOwl I too am inspired by you and your ability to pick up on the positive in spite of everything else that's going on. That game sounds fun too, btw. But then, I do have an inner mean streak.

[Schaengel]

First things first: You're awesome!!

Getting up in the night to keep your streak going, passing the buddy test and keeping up the PMA even in hard times are things that are sooo difficult and still you managed to do that...and you will keep on doing that I'm sure

[karinajean]

oh, what a week. xoxoxo. and good job, buddy!

[Jayniana Jones]

On 9/4/2016 at 10:21 PM, SnowOwl said:

Sorry about all the hard things right now.  But great work Buddy! (and you!) I'm glad the hard is being balanced a bit with good things and that you are able to see them.

 

Thanks for the words of support and encouragement.  I tried to show off Buddy's skills off leash with my son watching. Unfortunately, Buddy had a memory lapse on his commands and was distracted by long grass. My son, being the helpful teen he is, suggested that I practice when no one is watching first (which I had been). We had a good laugh about it. So much for me being a dog training extraordinaire. 

 

On 9/5/2016 at 1:33 PM, SaltyDragon said:

I've had plenty of those after-bedtime moments when I realize something that I forgot to do. I hardly ever get back up and do them, though. Thanks, now I feel lazy.  

 

Haha. I know this is going to sound odd, but I make myself feel a bit lazy too. I've been pondering how I could implement a similar kind of thing into other parts of my life (specifically my career transition). My yoga streak is the only thing that I have gotten out of bed to complete otherwise if I forget my other goals I rationalize on why it's okay to miss a day. It could be because the number got bigger than I imagined it would. My hubby suggested it may be that I don't have huge expectations for it and so I'm more focused on what I need when I start the practice rather than being militant with myself. 

 

On 9/6/2016 at 3:30 PM, Schaengel said:

First things first: You're awesome!!

Getting up in the night to keep your streak going, passing the buddy test and keeping up the PMA even in hard times are things that are sooo difficult and still you managed to do that...and you will keep on doing that I'm sure

1

Thanks. I'll confess the positive attitude is a struggle. I've indulged in a few pity parties over the last few days. Luckily (?), there's so much chaos around me that sometimes I'm forced to shift from falling apart and venting my concerns to pretending to be happy for my teens' sakes because they need something other than grown-up fears. 

 

On 9/7/2016 at 11:52 AM, karinajean said:

oh, what a week. xoxoxo. and good job, buddy!

Thanks.  

[Jayniana Jones]

The strangest thing happened this morning. I met with my surgeon today to find out the progress on my ACL. Everything is healing beautifully. He asked me how my physical therapy is going. I explained to him about the tendonitis in my foot. He nodded as I described what I've been doing. Then he smiled and said, "Great! I'd prefer you take things slower anyways so if your foot slows you down that's perfect." He explained recovery need to move slower since it's my second time around because we don't want to do this again. Apparently, it'll be another seven months yet before I'm cleared for all activity. In the meantime, the slower I go the better the healing. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one. Having a doctor tell me it's great I'm having problems walking isn't exactly what you want to hear. 

 

My foot is getting better. I pretty much walk only when I need to and keep it elevated when not in use. It's well k-taped. The swelling is receding slow but sure. I can stand for awhile without pain which is progress. I'm hoping it'll be 100% within the week, but I've been hoping that every week.  

 

My yoga streak is still going. Today I completed day 248. 

 

My other goals are mostly on target. I don't have my sheet in front of me, but I think my art journal is needing attention. Tomorrow the teens are having friends over for a sleepover so I'll have the evening to putter with my stuff or embarrass the teens. Hmm, embarrassing the teens that could be fun... does that count as art? 

[SaltyDragon]

Ye has more days o' yoga, lass, than I has at sea (which be good news for both o'us, btw)!

 

I can understand how that seems like weird and not-really-reassuring advice. Bummer it's gonna take another seven months too. But no, you totally don't want to go through this again! Glad the foot's doing better now. I'll stay tuned for more art postings.

 

And I really hope the kiddos were thoroughly embarrassed!

[Jayniana Jones]

Weekly update:

I overestimated what I could do this last week. I ended up with more driving and waiting than I expected. The teens' school also started up and I found a large portion of my spare time spent teaching and getting myself a bit more organized. I'm not super organized by nature so it takes a while to get into the flow of things.

 

Here's the status:

My yoga streak continues. Today is day number 251. If I did my math correctly, I'll be starting the last 100 days to reach 365 days in a row for my yoga streak on the next challenge round. That's crazy to get my head around. When I started I didn't think I'd make it as far as I did.

 

Buddy's training was daily. I'm finding the more I work with him the calmer he's getting. Or maybe it's I'm more confident in my ability to handle him. 

 

Rehab: I'm putting the care of my ankle first so I didn't do the rehab exercises this week that the therapist assigned. Instead, after some research on Thursday, I decided to pretend my ankle was broken. I kept it elevated, iced, took Ibuprofen on a strict schedule, and walked only when necessary. This may have been a really good idea on my part because this evening it's feeling lots better.

 

My art journal sadly didn't receive much attention this week. I worked two days on one small painting. It was a cup of hot chocolate it looks like a cup but isn't very interesting.  This week, I'm going to schedule the daily art time and set a timer to create.

 

The Artist's Way goal received 3 entries out of 7. I need to rethink my goal because the ideas in the book take a lot of time to implement. I may need to abbreviate it a bit because at the moment I'm struggling to keep up with my other tasks let alone this one. My calendar is pretty full at the moment, so I think I need to either slow it down or drop it.  My goal this week is to decide what I want to do.

 

By the way, the name for my new brace finally came to me: Buzz (named after the astronaut, not the Toy Story character).  

[Jayniana Jones]

On 9/9/2016 at 8:55 PM, SaltyDragon said:

And I really hope the kiddos were thoroughly embarrassed!

 

Well, I didn't succeed at thoroughly embarrassing them. However, I got them a few times and watching them get flustered was amusing. 

[SaltyDragon]

So sorry to hear that the ankle is still bothering you. I think what you're doing to treat it now sounds really smart, and I'm glad to hear it seems to be helping. I also think that your reasons for reevaluating the art goal are totally legit. I hope you can find a compromise that is fulfilling and works with your schedule. And, btw, I think we've had this discussion before, but hot chocolate is very interesting.