Because it’s Friday AGAIN. And because traditions are important. In which I cover the good stuff and the hard stuff in my week, trying for the non-preachy, non-annoying side of self-reflection.
And you get to join in if you feel like it.
It has been an odd, schleepy little week.
Full of harbor seals and unexpected bridges and coming home.
I am back in Portland now, and really, really glad to be here. Yay.
The hard stuff
Transitions.
And movement.
And traveling.
And headache-ey wanting to sleep all the time.
Boundaries.
The massive shoe of horribleness I had thrown at me last week still unresolved.
Lovely.
Too much happening!
Lots of absolutely brilliant epiphanies from all the Shiva Nata at my Destuckification Retreat.
But then really, really wanting to implement some of that good stuff, and all these other things popping up in the way.
Impatience!
Worrying about things that haven’t happened.
Contingency-planning mode is not really my best space.
Luckily, there was crazy good stuff this week so moving on.
The good stuff
Oh, boy! Post-retreat vacation.
My gentleman friend and I spent four days in Monterey after the retreat was over.
A tiny hotel. An enormous bath. Much walking the beach.
It was excellent.
Really good hummus.
In Monterey. Of all places.
Things totally not being as bad as I think they’re going to be, and really not being bad at all.
When I left to teach the Retreat, there was a semi-huge pile of Stuff I Didn’t Want To Deal With on my list.
Actually, it was a pile of Stuff I Hadn’t Looked At Because I Was Afraid It Would Turn Out To Be Stuff I Didn’t Want To Deal With.
So I decided to save it to be the Stuff I Psych Myself Up To Look At When I Get Back.
And then I peeked. And of course it all turned out to be absolutely lovely things that didn’t involve me doing anything other than saying why yes I’d love to.
Whew.
Must. Remember.
I think I’m over my massage issues? Or mostly over. AWESOME.
After I went through that whole thing about how I don’t like massage, I spent the Seven Days of Destuckification week working on that.
And getting massages. Really good ones. Here. With Caroline. Who is a wonder.
And working on it some more.
So. Not hating the massage. And sometimes even kind of loving it. Progresses!
Yay!
The most genius idea in the entire world.
Thanks to those Shivanautical epiphanies.
I can’t tell you about it just yet but trust me. This is the coolest thing I have ever done. Ever.
EXCITEMENT!
Back home.
Hello there, sweet, wonderful bed. I have missed you. A lot.
Drunk Pirate Council!
See, my duck and I never have meetings because I loathe meetings.
And it’s a problem because I run a business. And meetings are kind of necessary. But I postpone them because they suck.
Now we have Drunk Pirate Council instead and it’s the bomb. I’m actually looking forward to the next one. If the winds be favourable!
And … playing live at the meme beach house!
Yes, that’s a Stuism too.
My brother and I have this thing where we come up with ridiculous band names and then say in this really pretentious, knowing tone, “Oh, well, you know, it’s just one guy.”
This week we have:
Iguanadon of the Dead
It’s just one guy.
And … STUISMS of the week.
Stu is my paranoid McCarthy-ist voice-to-text software who delights in torturing me misunderstanding me. I can’t stand him.
- inebriated chicken instead of “abbreviated chicken”
- votive enhances instead of “furtive glances”
- iron hick elements instead of “ironic aerobics”
- fork dancing instead of “dork dancing”
- Spanish fly instead of “banish the guy”
- trunk pyrite bounce ill instead of “drunk pirate council”
That’s it for me …
And yes yes yes, of course you can join in my Friday ritual right here in the comments bit if you feel like it.
Yeah? Anything hard and/or good happen in your week?
And, as always, have a glorrrrrrrrrrrrious weekend. And a happy week to come.
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Yay! Yhe harbor seals are A-dorable. I love Monterey and I’m super glad that you and your GF got to spend some time wandering around there. The Hippie and I went there for our first anniversary and it is a wonderful place, especially to share with a loved one.
I’m hiding in our Truckee ski house drinking wine, so that means this is my first inebriated chicken.
Oh boy – what a week – the hard. Too hard.
– paranoid neighbor was served a notice to leave us alone or get served an eviction notice, so he immediately declared everything to be OK. Unless the voices magically vanished after seeing that note, he’s just pretending, and we don’t have the energy to be on home-defense mode, so we’re actively looking for a new home in SF.
– Dave is working on a super complicated site that’s for the superbowl. Excellent money, but he’s so tired and stressed because of the home thing that he’s just plain worn out.
The good:
+ Instead of waiting for our neighbor’s weekly breakdown, we packed up and headed north. We share a house with several people for the winter and I am SOOOO grateful that we could use it as refuge in this really hard time. Within a day of arriving here, Dave’s smile was back and I was able to meditate again. I wish we could just move here.
+ Dave’s project is nearly done. YAY!
+ My head is swimming with all the wonderful possibilities of finding a new home for our little family. After Dave takes a few days off, we can start the viewings. Yippie!
+ I got Item!-ed on Wednesday. Neat! And I even managed some more posts.
Have a most wonderful weekend everyone. I’ll be working on Snowman 2.0: the Snowman returns!
.-= Casey´s last post … Where is the bridge? =-.
oh man, what a week of hard and tears and sickness:
I was ill, then my daughter was ill.
Which brought up my major anxiety ishoos.
Which means that I have not been looking after myself well, just drinking coffee and eating chocolate instead of doing the things I should do to feel better.
And my mum is visiting so we’re all rammed into our tiny flat.
And everything was just hard
Anxiety. Yeah, fun.
The good:
the sun came out yesterday and I went for a run in the woods and it was so beautiful
Friday, the inebriated chicken!
Oh what a week.
Hard: Sick sick sick.
Good: I got accepted into the La Quinta Arts Festival. It’s my first acceptance since I started applying to the show. It’s a big, beautiful, high-end show. I’m very excited.
Well, I would be excited if I weren’t so darned sick.
Pass the Nyquil? *sniffle*
.-= Barbara J Carter´s last post … The 2010 Los Angeles Art Show =-.
Weird week, weird engery shifts. Pretty much off-centre.
Due to:
-Didn’t sleep well at all, not one single night. Look and feel drained.
-PMS.
-Bit of stomach flu.
-Tears.
-Back pain.
-Back into the pattern of freaking out because of not having found my thing.
-Job interview with yet unsure outcome. Went well but looks as though the salary will be insultingly lousy so that I think I couldn’t accept it. Going back for a second interview next week. Bit of disappointment that the whole thing has not turned out as great as expected.
-Yukky greyish melting snow creating big puddles and semi-frozen pavements all over the city.
OMG, quickly need to throw the good stuff in:
+Sunshine today.
+Just bought three bunches of flowers.
+Whatever the outcome, the job interview went well and I felt relaxed.
+Yoga against the back pain.
+Getting on with decluttering bit by bit. Paperstuff yesterday, warderobe today. Idea for what do do with tons of old letters and photos: Will take one big envelope for each year and put a collection of a few photos and letters in and chuck out the rest. The envelopes should then take up nor more than one big box. This will take quite a while though. Karen Kingston’s book on decluttering once more a great inspiration.
I have bought enough flowers to share them with you all, so feel free to pick a rose or a tulip for your weekend.
Isn’t one’s bed after a vacation the best thing ever? 🙂
This week:
Hard:
Getting really frustrated yesterday because I had 3 different things (baking, movie, art) that wanted/needed to be done at the same time, and I had to choose. I went with baking because, well, that’s my job with the most immediate paycheck.
Still struggling with Izzy over his school.
Incipient anxiety over whether there will be any ice/power outages with the storm we are experiencing today/tomorrow.
Good:
Lavender Orange Badger Balm lip balm 😀
Trader Joe’s Green Tea mints, taste great and they are shaped like little leaves 🙂
The just right piece of fabric literally fell out of the fabric closet when I was looking to finish the current water tower piece. I didn’t know I even had that fabric. Spooky.
Seth Godin’s new book is *amazing*.
Shiva Nata with the family! I think we need a bigger living room 🙂
Realizing I can run on Results Oriented Work Environment programming, because I don’t have a typical 9-5. I’ve been running that way anyway, but beating myself up for it. Having a name to it and knowing that I get the work done has been amazingly freeing, and surprise, I’m getting stuff done!
Have a great weekend, y’all!
.-= Andi´s last post … Opening Recap =-.
“Inebriated chicken”: Too funny!
The hard…
Two shoes thrown at me by the same person this week. Dealing with okay, but I could have done a little better. Need to stop being emotional about other people’s issues.
Running into some technical problems with are thwarting my progress on several items. Crap. Lack of progress will impede getting paid.
My to-do list continues to grow. I feel the overwhelm in a massive, massive way.
The good…
I did complete some tasks this week.
I got out of the house this week and met new people.
Fixed a technical problem that has been nagging at me.
Son and his betrothed revealed that they have found a house to buy, and they will be moving closer. Yay!
Have an awesome weekend, guys!
.-= Avonelle Lovhaug´s last post … The cynicism of hourly fees for programming =-.
Now I’m all curious about your genius idea… but I can wait.
Chicken!
The hard:
– The dissertation does not want to be written and needs to be dragged to the finish line like a kicking and screaming and tantruming toddler. I need to have a talk to him, maybe we can compromise.
– Sacrificing the wrong things (sleep, excersize, healthy eating) to work.
The good:
– Good meeting with my diss advisors, feeling their trust that I can do it.
– Getting more clear about the no-brainer and dammit! characteristics of the job I’m looking for. Will be visiting a job market (Ick! Yuck! Issues!) next week. No pressure though, the companies that come there are too big for me so I will use them to practice talking. To real life people. And maybe they will surprise me.
– Right now preparing for a weekend in a beach house with 5 friends. It is a whopping 10 kilometers away from my home, especially arranged by Arranging Friend so I won’t lose too much time travelling (love!), but it is a different environment so it counts as ‘being away’.
Have a wonderful weekend, Chickeneers!
Oh, what, it’s Friday already? Wow. Huh. OK, then.
Hard: I got nothing.
Huh? What, nothing? Oh, well, the back pain is bad but improving, and I’m a bit worried about my upcoming visit to a friend, but really, this was a pretty good week. I got nothing.
Good: I had a weekend! Ho-my-gosh, I haven’t had one of those in aaaages! After noticing how much better I felt after the Christmas holidays, I decided to take time off more regularly: one weekend per month. This involved pulling the plug on the internet, making flap jacks, playing video games and sleeping the sleeps of doom. It was awesome! And it’s only three weeks till the next one, whee!
I’m drawing cute things that people asked me (and paid me money for) to draw! It’s the best thing ever, even though I’m taking way too long on them which means I’m paid, like, $5 an hour or something, but that’s OK. It’s practice. I’m doing The Thing.
I signed up for a bunch-of-organic-plant-foods in a box scheme, and it was great! We have broccoli! And cabbage! I have no idea what to do with either of those but I’m sure I’ll figure it out! I seem to be very exclaimy this week!
Had a chat with a monster and wrote it down. It was pretty cool. May be a blogpost at some point.
I lifted some weights. I did enough yoga to feel good. I’m starting to wonder if I can start doing legs with my level 3 practice. I also tried a new pattern of my own devising, and that was fun. People dug my Shiva Nata practice sheets and started tweeting them up something crazy. Seriously, just good stuff on good stuff.
Even if next week sucks, at least I know what a good week feel like. Hope your weeks were good too. And as always: hugs for the hard.
.-= Willie Hewes´s last post … Mascots for Life =-.
Inebriated chicken? All I can think is “Why did the chicken cross the road?” “To go to the bar.”
The hard
– Day after day after day of migraines this week. Like my migraine monsters tried to land an airplane in my head. Ow. And this morning, while my head finally feels better, I woke up with a backache. Upper back, lower back, shoulders, my whole back. I have no idea what I did to make my back hurt. It feels like the Universe has decided that I must be in SOME type of pain at all times. Not fair.
– My computer died. Or not really died, but became ill enough that to heal it would have cost way too much money to justify repairing a 5 year old computer. So I bought a new one, which is very nice, but now that’s another 1000 bucks on the credit card which I had almost completely paid off.
– Just not enough time to do everything. I need to work on taxes, but I need to dye club yarn first, but I need to organize my studio first so I can get to the yarn I’m going to dye, but first I need to get stuff out of my office closet so the housing inspector can get to my attic….aaugh!
The good
+ My new computer. It’s very nice. It’s clean and fast. And they were able to move all my stuff from the old computer onto the new one. Happy.
+ The customer service at the Apple store. Wow, those people really do the customer service thing right. Impressive! Everyone I interacted with was really nice, really polite, really professional, really helpful, and really knew what they were talking about. If only every store were like that.
+ So many ideas flooding through my head for things to weave. And knit. And spin. And dye. Did I mention not enough time?
.-= Riin´s last post … New stuff =-.
Cheep Cheep Cheep…gurgle, stumble, Chirp Chop Choop
Monterey sounds wonderful. And yay for the massage! I have a person here who I loved but she stopped doing massage (pout), so I haven’t been in years…hard to find the right person for that.
The hard this week:
-Oh why even bother naming it. It’s the same thing as always. It’s not awful. More of a dull ache, like a tooth that will need fixing soon but isn’t an immediate problem. This time it was all punctuated with reinforcing dreams that involved old blues guys making fun of me. Which is STILL bothering me. Ironically, the husband found out yesterday he’s got a gig opening for Buddy Guy this summer, who was one of the blues men in question. Weirdness abounds.
The good:
-Lots and lots of writing. Lots of motivation to write. Just wow. Like the floodgates are open. Just trying to hold onto this.
-It’s just me and the Little Bird for the next few days. So I get lots of requests to do fun stuff followed by, “I need a friend to help me” and “I love you mommy” when I agree to do whatever it is. Play Go Fish on the floor. Color in a fairy coloring book. Put on tutus and feather boas and dance around the house…
-The absent iguana-chicken. So effective. To-do list not nearly as daunting today as at beginning of week.
.-= Emily´s last post … Journaling – Structure Sucks =-.
“…a pile of Stuff I Hadn’t Looked At Because I Was Afraid It Would Turn Out To Be Stuff I Didn’t Want To Deal With” — Oh, I know this!
This week’s hard:
– Customer service “issues” with a delivery company that out and out *lied* to me and made me ultra crankypants for four days straight.
– Our cats are not taking well to the other feline we’re catsitting. They are tangibly expressing their displeasure on the dining room floor. We have four more weeks until the interloper’s owners return to claim her.
This week’s good:
– Although I have a ton of stuff on my desk right now, I’m working through it in a very controlled, flow-y way, and I’m not feeling as overwhelmed by it as less stuff would have made me feel not that long ago. I think this is called progress.
– I was able to take a really nasty comment someone made to me and recognize that it is *their* stuff rearing its ugly head and not *my* stuff, that it is just the way this person deals with the world.
– Two new clients and three new projects! Holy carp!
I love reading everyone’s Friday Chickens — it’s so good to know that we all have our ups and downs and that we’re not alone.
.-= Lori Paximadis´s last post … tidbits: avalanche edition =-.
Chicken…
Hard: Body pain and tired from many hours of traveling to and from retreat. Needing rest and sleep–busy first week back. Returning to winter after being in California’s early spring.
Good: Amazing retreat. Hanging out with Havi, Selma and a wonderful group of people. Asilomar. Pacific Ocean. Learning Dance of Shiva and hula. Meeting Mariko. Powerful sessions with clients. Great class on Wednesday. Angel of Transformation wrapping its wings around me this week.
Wishing you all a beautiful weekend!
Love, Hiro
.-= Hiro Boga´s last post … Responsibility Troll, Meet the Angel of Responsibility =-.
Yeah for harbor seals and massages! And there is nothing better than coming home to your own bed that knows your curves and bumps and exactly where you put you knees. It’s a wonderful thing.
The Bad
I made a bad financial decision. It’s not an all bad decision, but the timing with our finances are not good, and I should’ve waited. I’m looking for freelance writing, editing, and proofing jobs for additional income.
Looking for freelance work means I need to update the resume. Ugh. Hate it. All sorts of stuck and fear on this one. But yesterday I did find a resume that wasn’t to icky but did a very good job of telling what the person could do for you. Using that as a model.
Need to update my About Page on my site because it sucks. More stuck. More fear. More ugh.
The Good
I joined a Toastmasters Group to get better at public speaking, and expand the speaking part of My Thing. The group seems really cool, has fun, and provides good feedback. Think I’m going to like it.
The Book Proposal is coming along! And it doesn’t seem so sucky! Whoo-hoo! I am happy. It’s no longer like pulling teeth. I spent two good afternoons at the library working on it. Am Happy.
My best friend’s birthday is today, and I’m feeding her tonight! Beef bourginon and risotto with leeks and fennel. L loves cheese and honey for dessert, so dessert will be fresh baked bread, goat cheese, brie, honey, chocolate, and almonds. (Because you can’t have a celebration with chocolate.)
I was voted onto the Vestry at church, so I’ll get to see what happens behind the scenes and help make very big decisions. I’m also preaching on March 21 and leading an Adult Faith Forum April 11 on the Women at the Resurrection.
I hope everyone has a good weekend!
.-= Shawna R. B. Atteberry´s last post … Bishop-Abbess and Homemaker: St. Brigid of Kildare =-.
Oh my Chickening Pals,
You saw me through all that europe-related report stuff in the late autumn.
Today – at 4.30pm on a Friday afternoon- i got their response..
The Hard
Report rejected, response from me required and summoned to a meeting in Brussels.
this project, this project.. nothing but hard from start to… not even its finish. unless they terminate us..
so tired of this stress….
The Good
called my interim line-manager. she did good. called the other senior manager who was involved from the start – she did good. feel like i have a couple of heavy-weights on my side and they’re all volunteering for a trip to Brussels..
it’s the weekend. indoor cricket nets tonight.. will raise energy levels.. will try…
Sunset by Kate Bush (it’s on her album Aerial)
happy friday all.
.-= Lucy´s last post … Evening Time Again, Tuna Pasta for Tea =-.
Wow, a week ago I was still in California…
The hard this week:
– being in retreat withdrawal mode, missing everyone and the energy of the retreat so much
– getting back to winter after a week in spring, and consequently spending most of the week inside
– feeling the need to catch up on stuff before I can establish new retreat-related routines
– being almost caught up, but having to leave again for the weekend; bad bad bad timing for what would otherwise be a very fun weekend getaway (but the bad timing kind of ruins it for me right now)
The good:
– the wonderful lady at the Monterey airport who got Diane and I on an earlier flight; not only was that really nice of her, but what we didn’t know at the time is that our planned flight ended up being delayed and we would have missed our connection in SF – so yay!
– being back home to my gentleman friend (and yummy food!)
– going out with my gentleman friend last night; the show was totally worth braving the cold!
– hearing from/keeping in touch with people from the retreat
– feeling that even though I couldn’t integrate the retreat into my life right away (and having it being delayed more than I’d have liked), what I got from it still lives within me and will be there when I can start integrating it
– singing the soul friend nigun (imperfectly, because I don’t remember it all very well) constantly – thank you, Havi, for that wonderful gift!
.-= Josiane´s last post … Taking action instead of resolving to do so =-.
More chicken synchronicity — looks like most of us are sick!
Hard:
-Yeah, I just mentioned I’m sick, right?
-Former landlords trying to screw us over.
-Our new TV stand, which *was* really nice, is already banged up from when we moved the bookcase.
-Cable company is trying to charge us for a piece of equipment *they* broke.
Good:
+Feeling much better!
+Former landlords should know better than to screw with a lawyer who has the contract in his hand. [cue evil laughter]
+Got some writing done!
+Waffles for dinner last night! With lots of leftovers!
.-= Laura G´s last post … In which I evaluate the past week. =-.
Welcome back to Portland, even though I’m not there any more!
The hard this week:
-like so many other people– SICK! sick sick sick.
-dealing with unemployment insurance.
-dealing with the psychology of getting laid off, even though it’s not really a bad thing right now…
-Haven’t felt up to model stitching.
The Good this week:
+Accomplishments on My Thing! Lots of them.
+Artwork.
+8th anniversary with the best Evil Overlord in the world!
+My SANE doctor who looked at my history over the past 6 months and said, this isn’t a sinus infection – well, it is, but it’s fungal based, not bacterial. and gave me stuff to help it. And it IS helping! Yay for clear sinuses! (first time since Havi’s August retreat!)
+Teaching dance classes. My students RAQ! (Yes, that IS a bad Arabic/English pun!)
.-= Romilly´s last post … Chinese Court Embroidery – Pt. 3 My Attempt =-.
Bad:
-Screwed up with the credit card again. Makes me feel terrible about not paying attention to it. Brings up old Stuff about finances and how I feel I haven’t made any progress. But I have. It’d be nice if I could find a little forgiveness for myself on this.
Good
-Made great strides this week on coping techniques. Managed to take care of myself and feel good about doing it.
Limp chicken, again.
The hard:
– not sleeping properply, so I’m still ludicrously tired
– realising I need to resign from the charity I work for, for so many reasons, and feeling all sorts of regretful and scared. And also the things that I haven’t done, that well, aren’t going to get done now.
– stupid, stupid, training course, the most ridiculous waste of my time and taxpayer’s money.
The good:
– getting good feedback from my course
– feeling more ‘settled in’ to my life
– enjoying my work and having a good laugh with my colleagues
– the lighter morning and evenings, and the rising temperatures
– getting to go and giggle with one of my best friends on our work breaks
.-= Jane´s last post … Loose and Periodic Cross The Road. =-.
Am I going mad, or is Stu beginning to make sense to me? After all, if the Chicken goes to the Drunk Pirate Council, then it just may get inebriated. Also, I often find that votive does enhance.
Hard:
-One of my partners, who had more than enough health worries already, thank you, spent all of Wednesday having mysterious chest pains that stabbed straight through to his back. We ended up going to the emergency room, just to be sure. It turned out to be nothing immediately life-threatening, but we still don’t know what it was.
-I still have these blasted preliminary projects I need to complete to move forward in my PhD program. New deadlines have been set up, and it looks like I’m going to have to meet them, or else finally surrender and fail. But that’s what I thought last semester, and the one before that…this is so draining. Feeling stuck and scared.
-It’s that time of the month, and I’ve been irritable, which has contributed to moments of friction with family.
-Major snowstorm happening today and tomorrow. Mind you, I love snow, but I’m feeling anxious about driving home in it this evening.
Good:
+Good luck was with us, and we were able to avert what could have been a major financial disaster. I’m very grateful!
+We celebrated Imbolc on February 2, with a festive meal that was exactly what I wanted, and a bit of candle magic. I’ve become very fond of this holiday.
+This past Sunday’s VPA worked out; I was able to send my paper to my adviser within the allotted time. So, the semester’s off to a pretty good start.
Havi, I’m so happy to hear your good news about massage, and I’m very much looking forward to learning about your new project!
.-= Kathleen Avins´s last post … In which I am a secret agent of change =-.
Reading the comments, it’s not so much inebriated as sicky chicken! Sounds like the cold/flu season has hit the comments section.
Like everyone else , I’m totally coming down with something, and I can only hope that if I give it enough rest and gentleness it will go away in time for DunDraCon next weekend. I hate being Patient Zero when I go to a con!
The Hard
– Sicky icky creeping icky bleh. Not super sick, just enough coming and going in waves.
– Dropped a glass doing dishes, and have a pile more dishes waiting to be done. Hate this impending doom, because sick = clumsy and I like my dishes, dammit.
– Haven’t had much chance to draw or write this week, and am feeling like the creativity is far, far away.
– Almost-finished projects are not quite finished, and money is stretching annoyingly thin. Sigh.
– Sicky = no caffeine. Wah.
The Good
+ Understanding friends & clients about the sicky.
+ Cuddly warm kittehs who snuggle and purr.
+ Lots of sleep and rest, and the space to stay in and eat gentle food and be easy on myself.
+ Having enough energy when the sicky goes to still get some stuff done before it returns.
+ Almost-finished projects are almost finished, with ends in sight! A little patience will bring them within my grasp, yay.
+ Cartooning custom balls (of yarn) and possibly soon, chicken feet!
+ Making connections for future awesome biggification.
+ Valentine Etsy sales! I’ve even sold two of the Cthulhu valentine. Awesome.
.-= Amy Crook´s last post … Guest Post: Using Visuals on My Blog =-.
What, no coq-au-vin jokes? Done.
Okay. Doing this now.
The Hardness: Feeling a little disgusted by the sameness of my circumstances (I’m all “whatever…” *shaking head & shrugging, eyes rolling*) but overall, not a lot of ick this week! Hooray! It’s been a little slow in the decluttering department but That’s Okay.
The Goodness: Lots of bonbons posted on Etsy, found a crinoline for a friend’s recital so I didn’t have to give her the sucky one I made (had fun making it though, forgot how much I like to sew). Mom’s old sewing machine is stuck in reverse, an apt metaphor! Luckily my sewing machine works great.
Had DH’s boss over for dinner and was not stressed or running around like a…coq with its head cut off! We all enjoyed it and DH got some good gossip and bonding time with his “future self” boss.
FINALLY got the nerve to open and watch Shiva Nata DVD; did a few minutes of the very beginning practice and shivasana of course!
No epiphanies yet but a general sense of well being and laughing out loud during rest time afterwards. Guess my mind wasn’t TOTALLY clear; for some reason I kept thinking of a silly joke between me and DH: we have a little Eeyore I bought at a yardsale for 25 cents (named Yardsale, of course, duh!) who is very rowdy and opinionated and obscene.
When he talks to us most of the time he ends his conversations by showing us his butt…so I kept cracking up at the thought of Yardsale’s Butt!!! Is this a metaphor or an epiphany? At any rate I giggled A LOT instead of blanking which is probably still a good thing.
That’s it, errbody. Hope you have a wonderful weekend and more good than hard! *shows butt*
.-= chicsinger simone´s last post … fleur-de-lis bonbon brooch =-.
Thank god for Friday Chicken! And I’m glad you had such a wonderful time on the retreat, and that coming home was so rewarding.
The Hard:
Horrible awful bad full body pain. Gotten through the week with epsom salt baths, whining, and generally not moving at all.
Horrible productivity because of said horrible body pain. Also, have two giant projects that are crawling along despite my complete and total panic over the fact that they are not done yet.
Complete and utter lack of sleep due to horrible body pain and work stress.
The Good:
Worked through my business stuckness, and finally signed up for personal small business coaching: because sometimes, you really can’t do it all yourself, and paying an expert is easier.
Made my first major reinvestment in my business. Terrified and proud all at the same time.
Stuck inside with the snowpocalypse, so maybe this will help me be more productive.
Could not deal with blogging and projects, and was delighted when my lovely community stepped into save me. Felt so supported and loved this week.
Offered to do pro bono work for a charity that I am so excited and proud to be part of, and feel totally fulfilled on that front!
.-= Holly´s last post … Guest Post: Dude, Seriously? =-.
Havi!! Welcome back. Monterey.. love it. Got engaged there, sort of. Actually whilst driving along Big Sur, and then stopping celebrate at the Clock Garden. Wonder if that’s still there.
The Hard:
– Giant shoe thrown at me too, but in a really f***ed up passive aggressive way by people who may not even know that I know they threw it. But guess what, if you’re reading this, I do!!
– Feeling non-descript ick all week. Thought it was gone. But, nope.
The Good:
– Niece is getting used to the chemo and the routine of being in the hospital, now that she knows this wasn’t some cruel trick played on her. But still, she will start losing her gorgeous hair next week. (see post below for a photo)
– I have 5 couples signed up for my shiatsu for partners Valentine’s class. Which is also a hard because speaking to groups makes me ill. But I am still looking forward to it (and buying the chocolate….!!)
And life goes on.
.-= Gina´s last post … in the morning of the magicians =-.
PS… yes I see I forgot a word up there. And yes, I am aware I also took a passive-aggressive approach in response to the shoe-throwing. And I am okay with that.
.-= Gina´s last post … in the morning of the magicians =-.
Hurray for very good walks on the beach and massages. Makes me feel better vicariously. I understand about the massage issue. I have one of my own.
Sympathies for shoes of horribleness.
The Hard:
Hitting a wall in terms of energy. I had planned on taking Wednesday off to rest and found myself unable to get out of bed on Tues.
Stressed out people around me urging me to stress out too when I’m intent on going the other way.
Boundaries pushed with a battering ram. Holding fast but still a bit bruised.
The Good: Lots of things coming together in seemingly magical ways. Stuff I’ve wanted to accomplish for ages just happening without any effort at all.
Found the perfect dress for dancing in an upcoming performance without pain involved in the pocket or store. Was able to find one from a local designer at a local store on a dog walk. The shopkeeper even fed the dogs biscuits as I tried it on before strolling home.
I went to a poetry reading that fed my soul deeply.
I’ve been making new friends, and have been feeling supported as well as supporting the ones I have.
.-= Kate T.W.´s last post … Measurments =-.
(Puts on outlandish bubble gum colored outfit with full head cover and breathing gear so as NOT to catch the sick that loose in the comments)
I’m developing a crush on Stu.
The Hard: Realization 3, projects that die because no one believes in them. Made me cry and it took me till today to realize why. I’m still working with it…and apparently rhyming; which goes with the whole metaphorical thing.
Unintentional Shoe Throwing: being hit by suggestions meant to be helpful but that cost money I don’t have right now so always being reminded of the need for a job, like soon.
Frustration over having identified the components of a possible thing but being unable to pull them together…vexation! I need an inebriated chicken guide to counsel me.
Venn Diagrams…with six components. WHA??
Being cranky from no sleep and above vexation and writing a cranky, blog in which I tell PURPOSE to eff off.
The Good:
Playing with The Bridge and drawing pictures!
Putting a pirate hat on Selma. 🙂
Having a friend remind me Venn Diagrams don’t always need to be drawn with circles. You can you ovals too; which equals a flower, which equals a drawing of a lovely star gazing Lily!
Having all the above things come together in a form that suggests telling PURPOSE to eff off might’ve broken the ice allowing some energy to start flowing again.
A lovely comment from a perfect stranger on above mentioned cranky blog that made me smile and have an AHA moment. Yay!
.-= Wulfie´s last post … Eff Purpose and the Horse it Rode in on =-.
I had a pretty decent week, actually. Better than last week!
The Hard:
– Stressing about what I’m going to do after I leave Japan in 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years. Dealing with the angst of not knowing what comes next.
– Freaking out over scheduling issues: my brother might come visit me in May, but a friend of mine is getting married during the time that he’ll be here, and said wedding is in Korea. Plus trying to figure out what to do during the big vacation week two weeks before that. Taking vacations is more stressful than it should be sometimes.
– Working on my habits. It’s okay to not be able to break them in three days, right?
– Practicing saying no to things I really don’t want to do, leading to an epiphany about how much I hate skiing and why. There, I said it. I grew up near ski resorts my entire life, and I hate skiing. (Phew, it feels better to just say it.)
– Winter is terrible without central heating. I found an icicle in my kitchen yesterday morning, and my pipes have been temperamental at best.
The good:
+ The Ski Hate Epiphany was actually kind of awesome.
+ I wasn’t sick this week! That was last week.
+ Got to teach some new classes at one of my elementary schools yesterday.
+ Spent a week at my favorite middle school, mostly helping the third-years do test prep. The third years at this school are pretty much the greatest, funniest people ever, so it was an awesome week.
+ Started doing Shiva Nata. Not consistent yet, but I’m not beating myself up for that.
+ My best friend sent me a completely hilarious drawing that continues to make my day whenever I look at it.
Wishing lots of rest and health to everyone who’s sick right now.
So glad you decided to spend a couple extra days with your GF in Monterey – sounds beautiful. Welcome home.
Amazing week here
The hard stuff:
-back and hip pain.
-moving in spite of it
-had to close a credit card due to fraudulent transaction
The great part:
-moving through back and hip pain
-made a collage of my biz that was surprisingly awesome to do considering the fact that i’m completely art phobic!
-feel positive and organized about things since doing this
-got through scads of paperwork that i was procrastinating on
-bank was really helpful about closing the credit card
-my boys are doing amazing things with their lives, making big decisions with pride and confidence
-great sleep
life is good and it’s fun being me!! happy weekend-ing everyone.
hard:
a huge HUGE shoe that landed on top of my sorrow, in the middle of my stress over a huge good-but-difficult thing
prepping for the huge good-but-difficult thing
car breakage
more sorrow, exacerbated by a shoe going plop in the middle of it
the good:
my (art) stuff is being looked at and admired by complete strangers (!!!)
I think I addressed the shoe from the least guilty and most sympathetic and least reactionary space I could find or create – at least, the rhetoric from that corner backed off a lot
an astounding number of treasured people have written and emailed and are coming to visit on account of the show – because I sent postcards to EVERYONE, and got back a lot of congratulations and good wishes
aside from the housekeeping involved in prepping for their arrival, this part is ALL GOOD
.-= lee´s last post … What’s next? =-.
Oh man. The week that was filled with beautiful miracles ended with a lot of HARD. Shoes thrown, and hit me square in the mouth. OW! Seriously! OW! Complicated shoes. Old shoes. Damnit. SO. Lets get perspective and move on.
The Hard:
I had to speak to someone this week and give them difficult news. I lost sleep over it. And when I finally did it, it went really well. Like a miracle.
Shoes were thrown at me from an unexpected direction. And it really hurt. Even just telling this person that it hurt is hard. Ugh. But it’s done. And they’re sorry. Ugh. Even that sucks.
The Good:
So much good happened this week. So much! I’ve been posting VPAs about a *thing* that I really want to happen and perhaps could just miraculously unfold in a non-stressy and easy way. SO FAR IT’S miracles after miracles! It’s not completely 100% yet, but the universe has been unfolding in a lovely way. I am entirely grateful.
Another lovely and unexpected good thing that happened this week, is that a person who could have thrown shoes at me, and I expected to at least get a slipper thrown or a sock, absolutely showed me that they are a very kind a wise person. It’s like they gave me a flower instead of throwing a shoe. I learned from this person.
Thanks for having this space for getting perspective. I really needed it this week.
Peg xo
My mother just threw a whole closet of shoes at me. (It’s her thing. I’m used to it. But not.) Ouch. Ouch ouch.
*shiver*
Sovereignty, right? Sovereignty.
Ok.
THE HARD
The past 2 weeks have been crazy workwise. Fun-crazy, but busy-crazy. Too much work and stress about too much work. Been there, done that. And I’m freaking out because this is a pattern I’ve seen before and it never ends well.
I still have too much to do and not enough time to do it at work, and then no energy to do the things I want to do at home.
And the female issues I had last time are back. Probably because I am stressed out.
THE GOOD
But something has shifted because for the first time in EVER since this work pattern became a pattern, I have asked for help in the form of more staff and have been told YES.
And that’s not all: I have for the first time EVER asked for a promotion and raise and have been told YES (but have not negotiated details). Said raise will probably mean no more child support (because my income will be almost equal to my daughter’s father’s). However …
I did a big destuckification exercise with my therapist and the visualizations and epiphanies I had were mind blowing. And the really, really old stuff tying me to my ex has gone from feeling like steel to feeling like jello. Melting jello. Huh.
And all of a sudden instead of wanting to keep punishing him by making him pay (literally), I’m see I’m on the edge of being free from him having any power over me because I will no longer need him for anything. Huh.
Why didn’t I think of that before?
AND, last week’s VPA came true in a surprising way.
.-= lynn @ human, being´s last post … Show & Tell: In which I meet an International Film Star =-.