Desperately Seeking Joy: Thankfulness Edition Day 6

 

Day 6: Funky T-Shirts

I am a t-shirt addict. Like... I literally have a different t-shirt to wear each day of the year and then some! I love celebrating with t-shirts and I love how funky they can be. This thankfulness reminder is brought to you by SnorgTees and their really adorable D&D Christmas t-shirt that I ordered for myself and my daughter.

Desperately Seeking Joy #9

 

This week has been a bit different than previous weeks. I've started some health goals. After learning over the weekend that I'm slightly anemic, I figured it'd be good to get back on track for making my healthy decisions. The quarantine really did a number on my general physical health. We already know my mental health is a growing struggle.

So first I started with one of those "30 Days to 10,000 Steps" things, but I'm no fool. To push myself that fast would only create frustration and could result in pain (I have a fickle foot that likes to be troublesome). For me personally, that is. So I took the challenge, but divided it up to make it manageable and attainable for myself. For this first week, I wanted to just be able to get myself to walk a mile each day. By the end of the week I should maintain no less than 3,000 steps a day. 

The next health goal was to drink my two bottles of water a day. I have one of those water bottles that has the "drink this much by this time" marks on it. I don't always adhere to the time, but I try to drink two bottles a day. 

Other health goals will be added, but I have to start somewhere. In addition, I've added in some more vitamins to my daily goal and I'm watching my eating so that I can start to take stock of what things I need to start tweaking. Sadly, I'm noticing that two of the things I'm trying to improve in my health have somewhat contradictory diets. One wants me to eliminate meat as much as possible, while the other asks that I add in some red meat to boost my red blood cells. Go figure my health would be so irritating.

Today, though, has been a very productive and fulfilling day. 

• Watched some Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.
• Walked a mile.
• Finished Critical Role: Campaign 2 - Episode 61.
• Purchased a christmas shirt for my daughter that's D&D related.
• Took out the trash and recyclables.
• Put up the fall scarecrows by the front door.
• Put the Halloween bins in the crawl space.
• Took a few extra bins into the crawl space to provide more room.
• Put up the fireplace Thanksgiving decorations (including wreath).
• Put up the shelf Thanksgiving decorations.
• Put up the outside Thanksgiving decorations.
• Earned 43 Zone Mins on my Fitbit.
• Researched healthy diets.
• Found out how long my leave is for.
• Went to the grocery store for spaghetti ingredients.
• Chopped veg, cooked the meat, and assessembled the spaghetti sauce.
• Put away the Thanksgiving bin and other stored items in the closet.
• Planned (on paper) our Alternative-Thanksgiving for my mom and us.
• Worked on organizing my clothes in my bedroom.
• Started watching Critical Role: Campaign 2 - Episode 62.
• Worked on my Birthday/Christmas list on Amazon.
• Worked on my daughter's Christmas list on Amazon.
• Sorted 25 advent calendar gifts, assigning them numbers.
• Wrapped 25 advent calendar gifts (and photographed).
• Monitored and cooked the spaghetti sauce all day (ooof).
• Made the rest of the dinner (noodles, bread).

And at 5PM I turn to trying to relax for the evening. It was a very busy day. I know it might not seem like it, but it definitely kept me busy from minute to minute. I felt so "finished" that doing the noodles for dinner almost made me freak out, because I felt like I forgot how to make noodles. And I still feel so "finished" that I need to remember to make a frozen meal of our dinner for my mom tomorrow. 

But today was a goodish day. Lots of stuff done. Met my fitness goals. Still time to relax in the evening.

Desperately Seeking Joy: Thankfulness Edition Day 5

 

Day 5: Walks

My husband surprised me with a walk at lunch yesterday and it just made my day. We saw a bunch of snakes sunning themselves. We saw a frog hanging out. Our dog got to have some warm day celebrations. The unexpected warm weather that came through was really lovely and just gave me a nice escape from the "real world."

Desperately Seeking Joy: Thankfulness Edition Day 4

 

Day 4: Treadmill

I am so thankful to have my own treadmill. It makes getting back on track so much easier than having to go for a walk outside. Even though I know going outside offers its own benefits, it is also tedious and I've had quite a few negative interactions being out on walks. So I am very thankful for my treadmill, especially living in a cold climate.

Desperately Seeking Joy: Thankfulness Edition Day 3

 

Day 3: Democracy

I can't really go into details, but the idea that we can have our voices be heard to try to make a difference I am thankful for. The right to vote. 

I am scared to death about what is going to happen. We need a change in power to make our world better.

Desperately Seeking Joy: Thankfulness Edition Day 2

 

Day 2: Amazon

I know there's so much controversy surrounding Amazon and how it's affecting stores and things like that, but I've been an Amazon member since they were only dealing with books. Amazon has been so helpful during this trying time and they're always there when I'm trying to find something I need. I am thankful for having access to so many products that I need, while I can also stay home and stay safe.

Desperately Seeking Joy #8

 

Last night was an absolute nightmare. I didn't have my sleep aid when I went to bed. The wind was gusting up to 45mph and it was loud and, at times, concerning. So my sleep wasn't what I had hoped it would be and then add in the clocks changing and I was a mess when I got up.

Today I started my new health regime. Making sure my fasting extended its hours (fasting isn't going to work well for me, but we'll try something). I took an iron supplement with my medication and multi-vitamin and then also took my apple cider vinegar gummies. I drank a partial can of Sugar-Free RockStar. Then I settled in to see if I was more inspired than on a normal day.

• Worked on and completed Halloween entry.
• Gathered and packed up Halloween Decorations.
• Recovered outdoor decorations. Wind blew some other places. One of them was damaged, but we think someone damaged them, not wind damaged. 
• Meeting 250 steps per hour starting at 7AM.
• Finished watching Critical Role Episode 58 and started watching Episode 59.
• Adjusted subscription orders on Amazon.
• Added items to my daughter's Amazon Wishlist.

And then things went downhill. A friend of my mom's decided that she should tell me to go down to see her immediately. My mom was having some hard days and I knew, but I had my own doctor's appointments that kept me up at my home for the weekend. I mean it's about a 2 hour drive to my mom's and it's a taxing trip. Anyways. I've been in contact daily with my mom, offering what I can for support, but I couldn't physically be with her at that time. I was home Thursday to regroup, Friday I had blood tests, Saturday was Halloween! But the accusation that I'm not doing the best that I can for my mom, which is what it really was underneath, sent me into a downward spiral of feeling like a failure and it took all day to pull back out of it. Just in time to go to bed. So today was not a "joy" day, even though I had small moments of "joy." 

Desperately Seeking Joy: Thankfulness Edition Day 1

I wanted to try my daily thankfulness activity again. It probably won't be much writing, but more acknowledging things that I am thankful for.

 Day 1: Dishwasher

I mean seriously.... thanks for getting those dishes extra clean, so I only have to rinse them off. Really appreciate that. 

Desperately Seeking Joy: Halloween 2020

 

Halloween was weird this year. We have up some decorations, but it just doesn't feel right. So I'm trying to make today "joyful."

The morning we all kind of had our own little things to do. I ended up watching The Blair Witch Project and then followed it with Paranormal Activity.

My daughter put on her dragon costume from last year and it still fit her!

I made a basic lunch of chicken nuggets and Cheetos Mac n' Cheese.

I spent a good chunk of the day checking the front patio for packages that never came. My husband then reminded me that so many post offices had been told not to deliver mail or to sit on mail, etc. That broke my heart for so many personal and political reasons. 

I decided to be creative for dinner and I made Mummies in a Sand Storm (mummy hot hogs and rice-a-roni). 

After dinner, I received a notification that my bloodwork results had come back. I went to read through them and saw that one of my numbers was low, which indicated anemia. I wasn't sure why, but I got out my iron supplements that I hadn't taken and I took one. Within two hours I felt more focused and ready to do things. So I wonder if some of what I'm going through is related to having anemia.

I just hung out most of the evening and I actually worked on my calendar. Between having some caffeine and taking the iron supplement and the Cider Vinegar gummy, I was getting all sorts of stuff done.

This entry is wonky, but it was a wonky day for me. Not a normal Halloween, but we had a good one as a family and, no, we didn't go trick-or-treating like so many people in our community.

Funko 13 Day Spooky Countdown - Day 13

 

Day 13: Grady Twins (The Shining)