Well this hasn’t happened in a while. While sitting in WLF yesterday afternoon I started feeling overwhelmed and getting depressed. As the time for me to start getting ready to ride approached I couldn’t convince myself to get out of the chair, so I made the decision not to go. I spent the night at home, indoors, taking a massive nap early in the evening, and then watching a few videos before going to bed.
After I return from my next trip to Florida to help take care of my mother, I will have to start taking care of myself. Currently I have both physical and mental hurdles to overcome.
I solved today’s Wordle in four attempts; my starter today was VIOLA.
Wordle in 4.
You ALWAYS have to take care of yourself first. Full stop. We do what we can but it’s ultimately up to you.
After a bit more troubleshooting of my cable run to the mancave, I’ve determined I don’t have to crawl back under the house and the problem is in my repair of where the armadillo chewed the wire.
Dinner was a baked chicken dish that needed more seasoning, accompanied by a nice salad.
The wind was so strong yesterday, it blew a gate closed and LATCHED! Minnie Pearl was in the front pasture by herself and Tanner was running laps in back until I freed her.
-FP
Having an aged parent must be like having a young child. When you think you know what’s coming up, something happens and your priorities shift.
welcome to my world………
My brother has planned ankle surgery for when I’m there, I need to buy Allan’s plane ticket to come up & driver back with me, but now I may stay an extra week (3 weeks in Iowa at my parents house instead of 2…. yikes 😉
Oh my.
It’s been a comedy of errors this morning. While making gravy for biscuits the pepper shaker opened, spilling far too much pepper into the mix; it’s almost inedible. Then, I poured the coffee I ground this morning and it’s see through, so I am wondering if I put the proper amount into the filter. Oh well, minor issues…
I am not a coffee connoisseur- my normal at home is Folgers, I like McDonalds coffee and don’t drink Starsucks. When Debbie went to Costco unattended last week, she bough a can of Dunkin’ coffee, which is good, but is ground finer than the Folgers and takes longer to brew, adding time to my morning!! It’s the little things…
For the first time in quite some time, I ground the beans I used. I probably made a coarser ground than the pre-ground coffee I have been using, thus putting less coffee into the filter.
I don’t drink coffee at all, I barely know how to make coffee with a coffee maker. (how many scoops of coffee to put in the basket? I’ll never know)
We had a plan to go ride last night, but it was too windy, decided it was a bad idea. Then we got sucked into watching Daisy Jones & The Six – we binge it tot he end – got done about 1015pm. Good show, I enjoyed it.
Maybe today I’ll try to leave the house…………
I have three minor goals today:
– shower
– decide what food I am bringing to Betsy’s
– go to grocery store to buy any needed items
Shower – that’s on my list today.
not sure what else.
Y’all are a bunch of barbarians! 😉 I order a special French-Italian dark roast coffee from a roaster in Gainesville, Georgia. To riff off of Ted Lasso, COFFEE IS LIFE! 🙂 Speaking thereof, I’ve based the salt mine out of Joe’s today. And speaking of salt mines, I decided a few weeks ago to figure out exactly what the inside of a salt mine looked like. This was the first and only video I watched because I was SHOOK! https://classroom.ricksteves.com/videos/weiliczka-salt-mine-in-poland
Wordle in 5 starting with DRAFT. Mini in 34.
Alright, now to get cracking on the book that I am woefully behind on.
I do have to give a shoutout to my bad ass daughter who negotiated her way out of a taking a final exam. Inexplicably her history teacher hasn’t given a test all year and Rachel didn’t want her first test from him to be the final. So she and a friend went to him and worked out a way for them to do a project in place of the final. The rest of the class is now like, “whoa, wait, what?” 🙂 🙂 🙂
wow David – that is AWESOME!!!
Thanks you, Barb, it truly is. She is learning so many excellent life skills at such an early age, which pleases me to no end.
As I’ve mentioned before Kevin is our family Costco shopper because it’s right next to his office. He gets the Kirkland (house) brand which you have to grind yourself in their industrial grinders. He always grinds it too fine and grounds get in the coffee carafe. I don’t mind because I like my coffee to be stronger than Superman. It’ll put hair on your chest!
Hear, hear!
As a non coffee drinker, shopping for coffee is nerve wracking- especially in big quantities. I’ll try the Kirkland brand next time.
I wouldn’t say I’m a coffee snob, but I do like decent coffee. The Kirkland brand is quite good.
“After I return from my next trip to Florida to help take care of my mother, I will have to start taking care of myself.”
There’s a Chinese proverb that says a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Get started today. The longer you wait, the less likely you’ll get started. And the longer you’ll stay perpetually stuck. If you haven’t read Atomic Habits by James Clear, that would be an excellent start. He espouses making 1% changes. I’ve been practicing that off and on for a long time now, and he’s spot on, because 1% changes accumulate quickly. I’ve had a lot of success with decluttering my house as of late by making sure that I get rid of just one thing every day. Some days, like tomorrow, that one thing is a carload of crap going to CHARM. Other days it’s just one thing. But keeping it going is literally changing my life, and my kids lives. They’re seeing how to manage possessions, and how much different a house can feel when excess stuff is eliminated. It is magnificent to have breathing room in my pantry. For the first time in 19 years I can store my extra bags of coffee in the pantry instead of the laundry room closet. Inertia is a motherfucker. Start making tiny but consistent changes. Starting today.
This is great advice! I’m overwhelmed by a couple areas in the house and I just need to get started.
I have Atomic Habits downloaded. I guess I should actually read it
Atomic Habits is an easy read. And there’s the thing, you can apply the 1% approach there too by reading say 1 page per day. Or even one paragraph. And yes, regarding the stuff in your house, the “one thing per day” approach is life-changing. It’s so paralyzing when you look at the whole room, closet, garage workshop, etc. But there’s always one thing that you can grab and put in its proper spot, or in a donation pile, or just in the trash. Getting rid of even one thing puts a crack in the ice, and each additional thing makes the crack bigger. Look me up on Facebook or Instagram if you want to be able to DM men to join the accountability circle I have going with my friend Debra, or get my number from Barb or Paulie. We report to each other what we got rid of each day. And sometimes something Debra does reminds me of something I need to do (take a shit ton of papers to CHARM for shredding instead of fucking around with my paper shredder that has been jammed for months) or something I do reminds her. The accountability really juices the process. We all need a little help from our friends.
I actually try to get rid of stuff here & there, but not everyday.
I was looking for a tiara for the MIL (she’s going to a coronation party with some neighborhood ladies Saturday 0500am – ummmm, that’s crazy) and while I was searching, I did throw out a few things. Never found the damn tiara. I probably threw it out, or it’s in a bin out in the garage somewhere.
Oh, I’m sure that Allan has one somewhere, cuz as you discovered, you just never know…. 😉 😉 😉
Changes I can make this week are in the process. However there are things which do not fall within this timeline and will wait until my return from Florida next week.
That’s completely understandable, so set yourself up for success by controlling what you can control now with some small changes, and get some momentum going so that you then move seamlessly into the next level when you’re ready, instead of starting the next level from ground zero, which raises the bar exponentially. It’s all about getting a virtuous cycle rolling, and escaping from the vicious cycle.
Wordle in 3 starting with AISLE.
The ortho did a steroid injection on my knee. Now I know why the vet says to confine a horse after joint injections. My knee was very angry last night after I worked all day after the shot. Hopefully this will take care of it for a good long while.
Fig only got up once last night to pee. I hope this trend continues!
Epsom salt baths help my knee a ton when it gets mad. I put a shit ton of epsom salt in, and I soak for at least an hour, which is good for slowing my goddamn brain down. The hack I figured out is to get generic epsom salt from the first aid aisle at Target to use along with the fancy Dr. Teal’s stuff that smells nice. That helps me stretch my salt bath budget. I use a heavy hand on the plain epsom salt and a light touch on the Dr. Teals.
We have a Jacuzzi tub and the little hot water heater won’t fill it! The other tub isn’t comfortable to lay/lie in and I won’t let Debbie put Epsom salts in the hot tub!
no salt water hot tub???
I would say you’re fairly decent at self-care, Paulie. You go to the doctor when you need to, you try to get exercise, you try to eat right. So many people do none of these things. The only thing you completely neglect is your mental health. Talking to a therapist would be a pretty easy, small step.
I’m gonna venture to say the knee-jerk response will be “Been there, done that.” I do second your opinion 1000% though, Jenka. It takes time to find the right therapist, but when you do, you know it immediately. And your life starts improving slowly, and one day suddenly.
You are correct, and it’s not in the budget. When I tried last year it was $400/month; that’s too much IMO.
My therapist charges $175 and I go once per month. I agree that $400/month is a lot!
Lonely Planet’s email today was about Belize. David, are you planning a trip there or am I crazy? (admittedly those are not mutually exclusive)
Lonely Planet article about Belize
I am taking my kids there the first week in July. We’re going to Placencia. Thanks for linking in the article, I’ll check it out. Jenka went to Belize last year and found that it wasn’t her thing, if I recall correctly. I’m feeling fortunate to have gone to Costa Rica last year and Belize this year. I have no idea what might pop up in 2024, hopefully I’ll find a way to keep my streak alive.
Well, I guess y’all are aware there’s an active shooter over on W. Peachtree. Our law enforcement and Midtown Blue have been lighting up all our phones and email with messages. What. Fun.
Allan just had active shooter training the other day – I wonder if he is there.
Figuring he is busy if he is, I haven’t heard from him.