Weekend Coffee Share, Self-Care

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I was up at 7:30 enjoying my chai tai and cereal with fruit. I’d planned on doing cardio in the morning, before my 10:00 a.m. hair appointment. In all honesty, that didn’t happen.

Perhaps it was lack of ambition or lack of motivation, but I was achy and tired, so I gave myself a pass. Not to worry, I had a healthy lunch and did 25 minutes of yoga before going to my later massage appointment. Self-care Saturday, it is, and I’m worth it!

I got my highlights and lowlights and had my salonist style my hair. There are always good conversations with my hair stylist; she and I are around the same age. She has been my hair stylist for more than ten years!

The massage salon I go to is only about 5 minutes away, so the Saturday traffic couldn’t stress me out. I always go for an hour. It truly relaxes me. Just Google the benefits of massage, and it mentions “reduction of tension in the muscles,” in addition to the relaxation I mentioned. I need that tension reduction. My muscles get sore quite often, randomly it seems inordinate to the amount of stress I currently have, it seems.

Such is why I’ve gone to a specialist. I go back to her in two months. I’ve also made an appointment with a practitioner for acupuncture. Yes, I’m trying something new! I look forward to sharing about it.

Tonight, my boyfriend and I are planning to go get dinner. Thai is our plan. ( It’s one of my favorite foods)! We’ll have to dodge rain first!

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A Day in My Life, Day 14 #RRBC

Day 14, Jan. 15-A Day in My Life

After Chris left last night, I dozed off on the couch in front of the fire. It was so relaxing! I had been watching Netflix, but then it froze. So I dozed. The temp got down to around the mid-thirties last night.

I slept in a little this morning, and that’s allowed! Chris and I had eaten at Carrabba’s, and I had my favorite, chicken piccata with capers. We were seated by the kitchen, and a paper ball flew over at one point. No big deal, really, but the waiter involved comped us dessert of chocolate cannollis. It felt like being on last summer’s cruise again!

Today, my son and I went to meet my dad and his girlfriend in St. Augustine. They drove down Saturday from Virginia. They’re staying in a VRBO right near the beach. We drove to meet them and will stay the night. This afternoon, we took a pleasant walk on the beach. As long as I had my layers on, I was fine!

A beach walk day!

This is where I’ll stay tonight. I think it’ll be a good night’s sleep!

We had dinner, then came back and played cards, while my dad played banjo. My son and I made hot tea. It was just all very relaxing. I liked the banjo sounds! Tomorrow, my son and I head home, but we’ll meet up again with Dad sometime during this week. I’d say this was a very good weekend.

Thank you for stopping by and leime tell you about my day!

A Day in My Life, Day 13. #RRBC #weekendcoffeeshare

Jan. 14th–Welcome to my #WeekendCoffeeShare and Day 13 of the daily blogging challenge. I’m having a chai latte to welcome the cool morning.

The weather really cooled yesterday after a rainy night, so we had a warm, relaxing fire going last night. I think my dog Bixby even enjoys sitting by the fire.

A peaceful sight and sound!

Today is a day to take a breath and catch up. Of course, I’ll get my 30 minute cardio. I’ve already walked the dog. Some laundry needs to be done, ( that’s part of the catching up).

I had an interesting dream last night that took me back to my childhood home here in Jacksonville. We lived there 5 years, age 8 to 13. It was the longest time I’d lived anywhere in my youth. The start of my dream was chaotic, I was touring the house, and it was full of ants, the bathroom mirror was covered, I had a memory of being betrayed by a friend and letdown by someone else. But I think the mirror means “leave it in the past.”

As I continued the walk-through, I saw adult friends of recent years, told them I was selling the house, and to come view it with me. It really was a nice house in real life (we moved to an apartment when my parents divorced). I kept finding new, cozy, beautiful rooms (that weren’t there in my youth) and heard my adult friends squealing in delight behind me.

The best I can make of this dream, which totally changed tone halfway through, is: I no longer live in fear, chaos, and self-loathing. Thinking I’m never good enough…that’s no longer me. I NOW LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE, BEAUTY, AND COMMUNITY. I see new beauty everywhere. A Day may start rough for me, but it can change, I can feel gratitude, and I can enjoy my life.

So now, I must get ready for my gym cardio, and later get ready to see my boyfriend, a constant source of laughter, and tomorrow, I’ll see my dad who is visiting from up North. I’ll have some time today to work on a lesson that intrigues me, and yes, catch up on laundry. Life is good!

Have a great weekend, everyone. Thanks for visiting my corner of the blogosphere!

A Day in My Life, Day 12

Day 12, January 13th

Happy Friday the 13th! I was running on empty this morning, even though I had my once in- a- blue -moon coffee . It had been a weird night, as I woke at 3:45 with the sound of the rain. I tossed and turned for 1-2 hours, then kept hitting snooze in the alarm and finally dragged my butt out of bed… But I woke up with the energy of those middle schoolers around me.

We were reading about Malala, who stood up to the Taliban and got shot. The students were in awe of her bravery and the fear under which she had to live. I just loved hearing their questions and seeing them so interested!

During planning time, I met with other teachers and we talked about our plans for Literacy week at the end of the month, a fun part of the job. I also had time to work a little on an upcoming lesson. By the end of the day, I had gotten my momentum back.

I came home to find out that my mom had someone come out, they changed the air filter, and the heat is working fine! Five minutes later, Amazon delivered my heaters that were scheduled to arrive Sunday. Wouldn’t you know! I got online and arranged to return one of them, giving my son the other. He was so grateful, it warmed my heart. ♥️

Just another day in my life. Have a good night everyone!

Day 11, Slaying the Dragons. A Day in My Life. #RRBC

Day 11 of #ADayinMyLife, 1/12/23

Sometimes I have hard days. I kind of have COVID anxiety again because of my mom being sick. I’m masking up around my mother, at work, and around other people. It was coo out l this morning, and when I turned the heater on, it smelled like something was burning. My mom would be in that all day, so of course, I was worried about a carbon monoxide issue, and it smelled like gas.

I ordered two space heaters on Amazon during breakfast. I informed my mom about the heater, as being sick may give her the chills, and she does have a space heater, albeit old. I dealt with this and a sore shoulder before getting to work, where I had to give a test. I’m sure my voice sounded pretty testy. Get it? 🙂

If you suffer from generalized anxiety (or GAD) as I do, there were likely lots of triggers in your life. If you have any other mental health issue (as my son does), yet you get out in the world and work or volunteer, create art and share, you are a warrior, perhaps even a victor. You are daily slaying the dragons, or perhaps making friends with them. Just don’t ever let them stop you!

There are coping mechanisms I’ve developed in testing time like counting and double checking . It seems a lot like OCD, but I know that is a result of anxiety. (Yes, I’m aware OCD is it’s own sort of anxiety disorder). At any rate, this was not an easy day, but I did not let the dragons stop me!

This is my positive self-talk. It quite often works, and gets me out of bed replacing these thoughts with a purpose for my day. I won’t lie, it still was a hectic day. I still survived it, though.

So, this evening I’ll order food again to avoid dirty dishes, and I’ll stop at the store to get bottled water and wood for the fireplace. It is supposed to start getting cold again tomorrow. Nothing compared to what you have if you live up north, but we are not used to this!

Somewhere, I’ll fit in my 30 minute cardio on the Gazelle exerciser on the porch. This day has shaped up nicely in regards to weather, so I’m sure it will lighten my mood a bit. Have a good evening, everyone!

Weekend Coffee Share

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. It is getting to be that time of Summer where these hot hot days and/or the lack of structure in my schedule have led to me not really knowing what day it is!

Luckily, it occurred to me that this is Saturday. Today’s morning Brew is a donut shop blend, most delicious! I had a breakfast date with a friend yesterday morning, and drank my cold green tea before leaving. Some decaf coffee at the breakfast shop left me wanting the real thing, so today, I will reward myself. Sit down, grab your favorite coffee or tea, and let’s chat!

Having slept in a little early, I found that a quiet (but growing more impatient by the minute) Bixby needed a walk right away. So, I’ve already tended to that, and my coffee cooled off while I was gone, which is a good thing today. While it is quite hot out, the sun is not in full force, but the humidity is in full effect.

It would seem that the summer heat and humidity tend to help mushrooms flourish, as we have a lot of new crops of them around the neighborhood. I love looking at them, maybe that’s just me.

It has been an unproductive week in the area of writing. I went to a chair yoga class at the library this week, and the type of stretching we did was great for my shoulder, which is not completely back to normal but felt so good after the class. I plan to go back in the next couple of weeks before school starts. We’ll see what happens with the shoulder!

I did write a poem entry this week in response to the Ragtag Daily prompt, Toys. I think I was all over the place with that one, or perhaps you just notice a change in tone as you read to the end of the poem. Check it out: https://wp.me/p7aqV2-30u

I got a haircut with a little more emphasis on bangs. I think I’ll like it if it’s low maintenance! I won’t really know until I need to style it for myself.

We have my sister-in-law visiting this afternoon, since she is in town. I haven’t seen her in a while, so that should be fun. Bixby I’m sure we’ll be excited, because it’s one more person to give him attention, and since it has started to rain outside, there is not much else for him to do.

I hope you all are having a great weekend and enjoy your week ahead!