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.
I know I ask this every single week but seriously, how is it Friday?
That makes no sense.
And yet, here we are. So let’s chicken away.
The hard stuff
Curse you, Devilish Mosquitos!
Gaaaaaaaaaaaah.
Everything I hate about summer.
Walls of gnats. Having to claw your way through acres of spider webs just to get out the door.
Those awful baby crows with their endless evil adolescent raspy cawing.
Way too much to do.
And it keeps building up.
And I wasn’t able to work on any of the really important things this week because of the distractions.
Distractions of the worse possible kind.
People needing stuff from me, always when it wasn’t a time or a situation where I could give it.
Mini-project-ey things coming up that I didn’t ask for and didn’t want but turned out to be unavoidable.
My stuckification around not wanting to do these things making them take longer.
Lots of people in my space. All kinds of resulting sovereignty challenges. Getting irritable and impatient.
One thing gets resolved and another gets borked.
Each time I’d put on my imaginary crown and my super hot sovereignty boots, and solve the thing that wasn’t working.
And then, no sooner than the problem du jour got zapped into being okay, the next sovereignty challenge showed up.
It was like a very not fun video game.
Also, I suck at estimating times, it turns out.
So each time I’d finally get a window to work on that thing I thought I needed twenty five minutes for, it would turn out that it was actually a fifty five minute thing.
Or I’d avoid something because I knew it needed half an hour of uninterrupted time but then it really only needed ten minutes.
Very frustrating.
Drunk Pirate Council.
So I love having Drunk Pirate Council instead of the dreaded “meetings” we used to have avoid.
But what with my crazed teaching schedule, we haven’t had Council, drunk or otherwise in nearly two months.
As if my own Piles of Doom were not enough, the first Council back was hardcore.
We put a time limit on it but it was still way too intense.
The good stuff
We’re back to Drunk Pirate Council!
Everything goes better when there’s a) someone present to help me, b) someone to tell me what to do, and c) whiskey.
Cheers to the First Mate, who does a remarkably admirable job of putting up with my fits of despair.
Genius advice (and help) from Hiro.
I’d been dealing with two different but equally challenging situations that were basically the same thing.
People abdicating responsibility for their choices and the consequences, then blaming me for it and then playing victim.
I turned to Hiro, who did a bad-ass healing for my related stucknesses and then, full of wisdom, as always, suggested:
Give them their blame back. They can do whatever they want with it. You don’t have to accept it into your life and you don’t have to resist it.
Just hand it right back to them and let their little gift-wrapped packages stay with them where it belongs.
This is really what my cousin Anat always says — “just because someone hands you shit doesn’t mean you have to take it from them”.
But this time I think some deeper part of me actually got it. Progress. Yay.
World Cup.
This really needs to be in the hard and the good. But I guess mostly the good.
Also the being done of it is a good.
Oh man. I love it with a passion and yet it hurts so much.
But it’s so beautiful. But.
Exactly.
Ah. Relief.
Got an extremely scary-looking envelope from the Bannister (what I call our business attorney, because having an attorney is weird and because the word barrister is funny).
But it turned out to be just a receipt for payments made, etc.
And exhale.
Everything I love about summer!
Sitting on the porch swing! Smelling the roses! Oregon cherries! And raspberries! And blackberries!
Hoppy House is just the perfect place to live in the summer.
And our blueberries are full of love.
I can’t even tell you how happy our vegetable garden makes me. Just hooray for all of it.
Teaching something fun.
I asked Mariko to co-teach a class with me at the Kitchen Table on the art of cutting your losses.
It’s called something like Sunk Costs, Saying Goodbyes and Getting Out of Dodge.
Anyway, really excited about this, since it’s something I keep learning the hard way. And I’ll try to post some notes here as well about some of the stuff we’ll talk about. Excellent.
Selma is a superstar! Again! Sort of.
One of our readers — inspired by Selma — used a duck in his short film, to spice up scenes with one of the characters.
Worth seeing if only because it also features my all-time favorite German-ism — Haaaenh?!
Here’s the video! That’s Michael’s. Right on.
The first official Shiva Nata class at the Playground is here!
Tonight!
And people have been doing figure eights in the air, as we say in Hebrew, to get there.
Various lovely Shivanauts and the shivanautically-curious are making their way to Portland, Oregon to spend two hours with me and Selma, workshop-ing it up.
So Elana went through hell trying to get here from Vancouver, but wild horses etc.
And then Léan was in California (she lives in Dublin) and talked her monsters into letting her have a secret sale to raise the monies to make it the rest of the way.
Miraculous things happened, the power of community, the magic of the Twitter and so forth. And she’s coming too!
Excitement.
(If you still have no idea why Shiva Nata is the best thing in the entire world, we need to change that.)
A wonderful thing I read this week:
This piece of extreme fabulousness is the very first post ever from Michelle (who is @shellbelle on Twitter.
I freaking LOVE the grey box at the top that says AAH OH GOD WHAT IS THIS BOX FOR NOW. And the title. You should go read it and welcome her to the world of blog because we like her.
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’s band is a bit … uh, salacious-sounding. But their music rocks.
Slow Motion Dinosaur Sex
What a show, if I may say so. Except that in the end it turned out to really be just one guy.
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 day and a restful weekend-ing.
And a happy week to come. Shabbat shalom.
Follow
I read this and then left because I didn’t want my chicken to be the first, because this chicken is not very happy and somehow it seems that something more sparkling should kick off the comments.
The hard:
-virus doom
-my cervix seems to be trying to eat it’s way out of my body
– complete lack of energy or desire to do anything quite possibly (ya think?) related to the above
– feeling remarkably lonely
– the Monster of Why Do I Bother having a 24/7 party
– feeling irritated about feeling all of the above
– stress and pressure at work
– weather that would be horrible in November, let alone July
– having a rather vital bit of support removed, and not even knowing about it until after it happened
– subsequently eating rather unhealthily
The Good:
despite the doom and gloom, there have been twinklings of yay
– a surprise visit from a family member who I don’t know very well, which was lovely
– meeting up with someone from my course for needed studenty nattering
I am *so* ready for a different week.
There’s been so much hard this week.
But thank goodness, I dealt with it all. Even the dog doing his business right next to the bed this morning. (Moved my foot just in time…) There are still repercussions (like the dog not being allowed in the bedroom), but things are getting better.
And also thank goodness, the hard this week is totally overshadowed by the best good I’ve had since you started the Chickens, which is that my Secret Project (which really needs a better name, but I digress) is finally under way. And with the help of some very enthusiastic (if confused, because I keep calling it Secret Project to them too) friends, I’m hoping to have it done by the end of August. I’m so pleased that everything is finally starting to move. 🙂
♥!q
.-= Chris Anthony´s last post … What I learned about business from my Death Knight =-.
the hard:
being at a professional conference that’s just not well-run or well-designed, leaving me with less time than i need to get what i really want to do done, and which sucks up 8 hours of every day; i am alternating between being mad at the presenters for wasting my time or being mad at myself for letting my time be wasted…
not sleeping quite so well–first jet lag, now…not totally sure. but definitely getting less than i am used to.
the conference is taking up time that i would much rather use to be a tourist in this grand, crazy, weird, holy, falling-apart old city.
my hebrew has left the building, pretty completely. i have forgotten so much; only basic conversational stuff is left. so sad…
the good/ great:
hey, i’m here!
summer fruit: mangoes, litchi, figs
the shuk! and teeny organic indian cafes staffed by israelis just back from their post-army travels…
a concert in tel aviv! take that, birthday monsters who think i’m too old to do anything fun!
a small tour of the architecture department of betzalel this afternoon, followed by iced coffee in the cafe next door, reading a new novel and people watching
turning the corner on a new street in nachlaot, and finding a new section, ohel moshe, that i never knew existed! and a small exhibit on the families who used to live there…
and now yoga, reading, more fruit, and a shabbat shalom!
shabbat shalom shalom shalom–
j
Havi, I totally suck at estimating times as well. And it’s sooooo frustrating. As well as solving one problem and having another pop up. I’m totally there with you!
The bad:
-There have been a lot of aftershocks this week, and one of them was a 6.5 Wednesday morning.
-My building is under construction to repair things from the big earthquake. That means jackhammers in my hallway. And drills. And a million construction workers in my elevators.
-Spain won the world cup. Nuff said.
-A lot of stress with driving lately. People here are just sooooo self centered and irresponsible when they drive. And then getting frustrated with myself for being frustrated because they are just being who they are and I should work on changing me, not changing them. Lots of shoulds. Lots of trying to breathe.
-I finally got paid the money I needed at 1 pm on a Thursday before a 3 day weekend when the banks close at 2. Which basically means I can’t deposit the money or do anything with it. Which is equal to waiting three more days to get paid. *sigh*
The good:
-Construction on my building! They’re going to fix the hole in my ceiling!
-The world cup is over. Which means I can calm down (I love it but really it’s a lot of stress).
-Aftershocks. Sometimes they are funny. When they are not scary. Weird, I know.
-I got the checks!
-Made some progress on BIG SCARY project (that I simultaneously love and hate, which is just weird).
-My yoga practice is really helping everything. And its a place where I can go and be safe. And I’ve needed that.
-Talked to some monsters. And by the end of one conversation one was comforting ME! Wow. Working WITH me! Holy monster craziness. And I had been soooooo scared of this monster who was really just trying to say “hey, can we just adjust this thing here?” not “DOOOOOOOOOM”.
– Three day weekend!
Happy Friday Chickeneers!
I think I’ve had some of that kind before. The dinosaur slow bits. I mean, I’ve definitely dated some rather reptilian fellows…
This isn’t going right at all, is it?
Chicken? All right then.
Hard:
-Guinness (the dog, not the beer…the beer would be good) has a 4th-of-July-stress-induced bit of ouch. It’s worse than usual (probably because we weren’t there to comfort him through the awful). So he’s…bloody and icky in one spot.
-Work. I’m into the annual hated project right now. I cannot resolve it. I cannot reframe it. No matter how I try, I still believe it toes the ethical line, and that is a place I do not enjoy navigating.
Good:
-That’s all the hard there is. The really hard bits seem to be dissipating, which is…surprising. And good.
-The universe likes to laugh at me, and for once I am laughing with it. I dropped half of my work clothes into the back (not the bowl) of the toilet this morning. Oy. Should have been frustrating, but I’m still laughing at myself. (Is she actually wearing those clothes? We’ll let that be a mystery…)
-Construction has ended on my favorite route to work. My alternate route features 3 shopping malls, 20 grocery stores, 16? car dealerships and several of those turn-your-gold-into-money places. My favorite route is lined by forest preserves, parks and fields most of the way. It makes a big difference.
-More stoplight poetry.
-Turning off the noise.
-(Whispering…I actually have posted to the blog 7 days of the past 7. Not anything important, say the monsters, but it’s nice to want to say something again, says I.)
Happy Chicken and Happy Weekend Everyone! Hugs and tea for the hard. Whees for the good!
.-= Emily´s last post … The Woolalong & All Its Blessings =-.
Slow Motion Dinosaur Sex? I saw him live in concert once. The earth…moved.
Hard:
-Recurring tension and pain in my neck, not debilitating, but enough to be very distracting and unpleasant.
-Daughter is out of state visiting her grandparents this week (and next). Miss her, miss her, miss her.
-Not progressing on the dissertation proposal. Same old patterns. I’m noticing, yes, but evidently not yet at the point where I feel able to shift anything. Damn.
-It seems that I will be losing my private music therapy client at the end of the month. His status is changing, so he’s losing his funding and won’t be able to afford services. Double damn.
Good:
+I received an email from my university this morning, stating that I’m on financial hold due to an outstanding balance for the current semester. Why is that good, you ask? Because I was so afraid that they had canceled my registration for the current semester because of the money I owe them! So, yeah, this is still a problem, but not nearly the mess I had feared it would be. I still have time to find some way of sorting this out. Hope!
+Daughter out of the house means extra date nights with my sweeties. That’s nice.
+Sweet and loving nightly phone calls with my daughter. She’s having a great time, but still loves and misses me. Perfect.
+Taking care of medical appointments for myself and other family members — that’s the kind of thing that gets put off all too often, but this week, I’m on it!
+Much self-reflection and bubbling creative energy.
Happy weekend, all! Gut Shabbes!
.-= Kathleen Avins´s last post … The trouble with “middle vision” =-.
Friday again? Already! Hello Friday!
My week… has strangely been better than last week, though objectively I’m not sure why. But I’ll take it.
The hard:
-ACK. Ack ack ack. The Giant Test of Doom is in a week and a half. My brain is so full. I am trying to think in large principles, so I do not lose them amidst the hundreds of teeny details, which helps, but ack. With a side of ack.
-Identity crisis continued. I’m starting to wonder if there will ever be an end to this issue.
-The housing situation is starting to wear on me. There has been no progress on improving said situation, and there’s still nothing I can do about it. My consolation is that I have less than a month to go.
-Sleeping poorly. Bother.
The good:
-Finally getting reimbursed for some large expenses, which means I can pay some of my own expenses. Yay!
-A couple of perhaps unnecessary purchases, but I’m happy with them. I’m taking a vacation after the Giant Test of Doom (two whole days! no to-do lists or dogs or ringing phones or stuff to trip over or…). And I bought some goodies to make said vacation even nicer.
-A nice luncheon provided for us at my volunteer gig. The food was not necessarily my thing, but it was such a sweet gesture and I really appreciated it.
-Pots? I hope! First firing as I type, crossing fingers for no cracks or explosions.
@ Jane– I’ve done that very thing. But I think your chicken is absolutely fine. Hugs.
@ Everyone– More hugs! I believe in them.
Happy Friday!
Sorry about the bugs Havi. That’s one of my least favorite summer-ey bits too. Extra big yays for the Shiva Nata class at the Playground!
Ok chicken time. Bwawk bwawk bwawk bwawk… (set to the tune of MC Hammer’s epic hit U Can’t Touch This)
The hard
– A gnarly sinus infection. That’s been hanging around for two weeks now.
– Having to reschedule 10 days of client sessions + assorted work due to the aforementioned sinus thing.
– Trying to find time to fit that work back in the calendar. A calendar that is basically booked until September.
– The intuition course I’m teaching starts next week. And I sound like a frog.
– Bad sleeps. Tiredness. Oof.
The Good
– Seeing people do deliciously kind things to help other people out. The internets really is an amazing place (despite what Prince says).
– Really sweet notes from people. And lots of them.
– An out-of-the-blue phone call from a friend, just to tell me they hope I feel better.
– Finding a guitar I’m in looooooooove with.
– Lots of clarity about my business and my next steps.
– Indian food. Brought home by my wife. At just the right time.
– Sid the Punk Rock Kitty. He brings the happies.
– Writing. This week it has been good and easy and fun.
– Mangoes.
Bwawk bwawk bwawk bwawk…
.-= Fabeku Fatunmise´s last post … Step Away From The Suck =-.
Hard:
-Having to get up earlier in the cold and dark because five weeks of school holidays are over.
-Netherlands lost. So sad. Had to hold my husband’s hand for hours afterwards. Slept to little, drank too much, next day sucked.
-I made an admin mess and it is going very hard to fix because I will have to deal government officials. So cross with myself for not paying attention.
Good:
-School holidays over! Enforcing much needed structure on us all. I’m getting more work done as a result.
-Finally using my new computer running Ubuntu for the first time because my husband is awesome. I love it. Lost of small annoyances have magically disappeared. Even my printer works better.
-Better eating and feeling healthier and more energetic. Hoping to remember why this is important this time. Have to think of some kind of reminder.
-Took my grandparents banking, shopping and lunching this morning. I love how eccentric they are and I love that I get to spend time with them like this.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Well, I have to admit, I’d probably find baby crows adorable. But that’s just me.
Oh, and thanks to Fabeku I now have “Can’t Touch This” running through my head. Over and over and over.
Hard
– Very Bad Insomnia.
– Dog is sick. No, he’s OK. No, he’s sick. He’s OK. I don’t know!
Good
– Extricated my painting from the clutches of the City’s bureaucracy so I could at last mail it to the person who bought it.
– Got lots done this week in spite of the grogginess and insomnia.
– Self-care, heart’s ease, and clarity.
.-= Barbara J Carter´s last post … By popular demand- another dot painting =-.
Yay, chicken time!
Hard this week:
*Sovereignty is hard. I have a kind of awesome plan to do my Thing and also help some money things work out and it is a good plan, but ohmygosh is there all kinds of stuff. Some of it is stuff that has to be eased through with other people, which is extra-hard.
*Boundaries: also hard. Especially when they have to do with someone who you love but who is in a lot of pain, and sometimes the right thing for me to do is not to get involved. Ouch.
*Have eleventy billion iguanas around doing things that I know are good things to do. The iguana is kind of my mascot right now.
*Feeling too busy. This is 100% because I am taking a ballet class that I love but that has tripped my built-in foolproof too-busy detector. Tiiiiiiiired.
Good this week:
*Writing, writing! Hooray! Writing!
*Iguanas have their downsides, but are kinda cute.
*Ballet class. I haven’t taken ballet class in fifteen years. I love ballet class.
*Surprise bonus dinner with a friend, which contributed even more to the good than to the tired.
*It was not a trillion degrees out yesterday. Also, my housemate and I *both* bought popsicles this week.
*Tomorrow is acupuncture day!
Chicken! For once, I’m so glad it’s Friday!
This has been a mixed week of tough, tender, and downright brilliant–the latest in an multi-colored string since I moved to my new place. 🙂
Hard:
– Challenging sovereignty issues that have to do with boundaries and containers for the kind of energy that lets me feel at home, at home. Mostly energetic rather than physical ones. Exhausting.
Good:
+ Long talk with one of my closest friends dissolved some issues that had been hulking for a few days.
+ Perfect summer weather, sunny but with breezes cool enough to be delicious.
+ Wonderful energy and discussions at the first class of Sovereignty Kindergarten this week. People doing such deep and courageous exploration around sovereignty in a playful, fun, light-hearted way.
+ My older son proposed to his lady friend! And they’re coming out here for a visit next week.
+ Water Pilates at my local pool four mornings this week! I love, love, love moving in warm water. Feel like a dancing fish. 🙂
Have a beautiful weekend, everyone. Hugs for all that’s hard for you, and celebrating all that’s good in your life.
Love, Hiro
.-= Hiro Boga´s last post … World-making =-.
Ahoy, chickeneers!
I, too, am not the best at estimating how much time stuff will take, with personal stuff, anyway. The work stuff I pretty much have down, because I have to. But my husband has come to accept that if I say, “I’ll be there in 20 minutes,” he’ll see me in an hour. Weird pattern of not being able to allow enough time for stuff.
Anyway, this week’s hard:
– The woo-woo breathe-through-your-eyelids substitute yoga instructor for the second week in a row. She’s really hard to follow, and she had us doing half the class staring into the mirrors, which brings up all kinds of Major Stuff for me.
– Long week with lots of work following a long weekend with no rest. And realizing I’m going to have to work this weekend, too, to keep on top of everything.
This week’s good:
– High school reunion done. A good time was had by all. Or most, anyway. I did not lose any personal money on it this time, like I did last time, and I’m sworn off of planning future events.
– Time spent catching up with some old friends, some of whom I’ve known since kindergarten.
– Despite all the busy-ness, I’m right on schedule with everything that has to get done to meet my deadlines.
Happy Friday, everyone!
.-= Lori Paximadis´s last post … Tetris =-.
CluckityCluckCluck!
The Hard:
~~HeadACHE!
~~One night of total not sleeping.
~~After a week of making half the neighborhood DRIVE OVER power lines to get into our driveways… the Utility Folks decided to fix it. Which meant digging up half of our fence. It also meant someone somewhere had to muck up, and cut the power off for six hours. In the middle of the day. In JULY. In TEXAS. When I had no transportation out of the steam-bath-that-my-house-became! Much General Anxiety was involved.
~~Much confusions, crossed wires, and general not-going-right-isms.
~~The Utility Company is still doing something awkward in the backyard. I’m afraid to go look.
The Good
~~The power DID come back on!
~~Made real progress on my Right Brained Business Plan, just as Jennifer Lee’s workshop is wrapping up. YAY!
~~This was actually last week, but the final call in that workshop SO seriously rocked, and nearly made me cry.
~~Successfully Forming a Feedback Focus group that so far, is working. Double Yay!!
~~Havi keeps writing about Talking to Monsters. I love it. Really.
~~I’m back on Twitter! I changed my ID, so it’s less MindTweaks specific, and.. I’m back!
~~Dreamed inspiration (just last night!) that will help me finish a long delayed commissioned painting.
~~I MADE A BLOG POST. After what is it.. 3 months? 4? That was a serious wall of procrastination to get through.
Yay Me.
Now, to go back and read everyone else’s chickens. If i read first, I want to do nothing but respond, and I’ll never chicken myself!
.-= ToriDeaux´s last post … Needful Things! The Yes-I’m-Still-Breathing Edition =-.
whoa Friday again!
I’m surprised by how many peoples’ dogs have been sick this week! Mine was, too. He was rather pitiful. But now he’s feeling better and sends good doggy vibes to all of his friends (because according to MacGuffin, all dogs are his friends even if they don’t know it yet.)
for me… the Hard:
— Still Working On Stuff with the husband. Which has its ups and downs, but the downs are more memorable. Our communication needs some serious work.
— The dog was sick. Messes everywhere. Poor baby.
— Job search is going in fits and starts. People say they’ll write back and then… don’t. Interviews are scary and use up more spoons than I have. Especially since on Monday I had trouble public-transitting myself home from an interview, and my phone was dead, and the husband freaked out and thought I was in trouble, and there were Issues.
— My belt died. It just… broke, I don’t know how to describe it. So now I need to shop for a new belt. Boring!
And the Good:
— At least I HAD a job interview! It went decently. So at the very least it’s good practice for future interviews.
— Hearing back from potential employers, even if nothing is definite (or on time, rar), reassures me that at least I’m qualified even if it will be a wait in this job market.
— I’m officially teaching a workshop for my pagan ritual group! We met to plan the event and the priestesses were super nice and excited about my ideas. I’m so happy about being able to share something with the group.
— Art supplies! My bff and I went shopping for them! We’re both doing some art and craft projects. I haven’t made anything with my hands, that wasn’t edible, in a super long time.
— New boyfriend! It’s okay, we’re polyamorous. Everybody is okay with everybody. Also it has been forever since I’ve had a new boyfriend and he is constantly making me break out in goofy grins.
— Plus, I think Husband and I have actually made progress on our Stuff this week. We broke through some I-really-shouldn’t-say-that barriers and shared some of our more hard to talk about concerns. And then I ordered “Nonviolent Communication” for us and we’re going to read it together, so, uh, wish us luck!
I really appreciate this place to share and take stock. Well wishes for my fellow chickeners!
@Fabeku I’m going to be hearing chicken bawking MC Hammer tunes all day now… which may not be a bad thing, come to think of it. It will certainly make my day more interesting 😉
This week’s hard;
* Decisions, decisions! I’m horrible at making them, and yet… somehow, they always come up. /sigh
* So much stress, mostly brought about by the need to make decisions, but then exacerbated by the less-than-healthy choices I tend to make when I’m overly stressed and don’t have the time-freedom to destress in the ways I know work for me (no time to nap, guess I’ll just eat these 12 giant cookies!)
* No time to nap /sigh
But oh! the good!
* Happy Thoughts! They make every day better, when I’m constantly on the lookout for them 🙂
* My first Noozletter 😀 I may not have hardly any subscribers, but it felt so good to get it out (and even better, I got at least one good review on it!)
* Slowly coming to some clarity on the business decisions issues
* Talking w/ my sweetheart about possibly taking a pretty big risk in order to do something that could be HUGE for both me and my business… and getting his amazing wonderful full support!
* The first Sovereignty Kindergarten class! I was at work when it happened (shh! don’t tell), so didn’t get to speak up… but listening in was beautiful 🙂
I’m realizing there has been a trend for the last month or so… even though I’ve been going through a lot of hard, by the time Friday rolls around, there’s been so much good, I can’t hardly remember it all! I like this 🙂
Happy Friday everyone! May your weekends be full of good! <3
.-= Heidi´s last post … Permission granted =-.
Hi all!
Here was my week. It went by really fast
The Hard:
-Major monster issues around my intelligence. It’s soooo hard when you think you’re not very smart. Frustrating.
-Dog was a little sick this week (lots of people seem to be dealing with sick pets).
-Finding Surprise Cat Pee.
-Work frustrations – mixed messages about my role. Patronizing training on how to do easy stuff.
-Concern over diet and slight weight gain. Too many sweets!
-Perceiving friends’ busyness as abandonment.
The Good
+Decided to take on work issues and pair them with monster issues and come up with a solution that tackled both! And it’s working!
+Dog is no longer sick. He hates the heat and humidity, but he’s not staining the carpet anymore with runny diarrhea.
+Weaning self off Facebook as a way to manage time spent online.
+Cleaning up diet, increasing cardio. Feeling good physically.
+Taking good care of my car this weekend. It’s expensive, but necessary due to my loooooooooooooooong commute.
+Havi’s brilliant mind stimulating my week.
New category!
The…Interesting:
~An earthquake. In Virginia? The dog woke me up extra early just so I could experience it. Did he sense it?
.-= Dawn´s last post … All the Monsters Have Hearts =-.
Wootalong and Monster Party! (I misread “woolalong” on your post, Emily, both sound fun to me)
Hard:
My “Why Bother” Monster must have known it was Monster Party week, because he was out in full force with the loud noisemakers and shiny party hats.
This week went by way too fast in some respects (getting to play in studio, getting to rest) and way too slow in others (Izzy is being tormented at camp by one of his fellow troop members)
Having to leave Izzy at camp last night after family night.
Headaches. Probably due to weather. Blergh.
Rain! A lot of it! All in one day!
Did I mention “Why Bother”?
Good:
Discovering the guar and xantham gum trick to make thick thick smoothies.
Date/walnut/chocolate “Fudge babies”
Realizing I needed some “filling the well” and getting it by going to the university library. Checked out my favorite Janet Fish book as well as a book on Rothko and another on textile artists. Took notes from Surface Design Journal and American Craft. Could feel my stuck loosening.
A new paint set to aid in my “learn how to paint better” Super Secret plan.
“Big Yellow” (aka quilt in process) is 2/3 of the way sewn.
Watching some non-child safe movies while Izzy was away at camp. 🙂
Oh, and a ShivaNautical epiphany on why water towers. Permanence! And another realizing I *do* already have 12 images for my grant application! YAY!
Shabbat Shalom indeed!
.-= Andi´s last post … From Concept to Finish =-.
The evil roosters who don’t crow when they should
— discovering once again that no good deed gets unpunished, in spades
— unresolved matter still in limbo
— never enough time it seems to get things done, rather than being realistic about what can be done (reminder to self: go re-read The Art of Time By Jean Louis Servain I think it is)
— a friendship hitting the rocks
The happy clucks
— the boys are back!
— getting to know a next gen family member who’s staying for a bit
— scribblings
— a nest I thought was abandoned wasn’t
— cutting losses class!
— bead-covered vuvuzelas — noisemakers as folk art
— my son’s first business idea
— joining the leadership of an organization that’s doing really cool stuff — a privilege to help make those possibilities a reality
Chicken! I can almost hear the clucks.
Hard:
Not-lovely things outside my window. Things like leaf blowers, grass cutters, car alarms, unidentified loudness, cigarette smoke, neighbors who like to fight on their patio in the middle of the night ..
Hard/Painful realization that caused hours of crying and coughing.
Stocked up on card supplies only to discover (after opening the box) that I bought the wrong color – there is a big difference between ivory & white, she says ruefully.
Good:
I thought of a way to use the “wrong” cards.
The realization will serve me well once I process it fully.
All the love in blog-land.
Farmers’ market.
Receiving some lovely yeses to an ask.
Hiking on the Wildwood with the pup.
Shiva Nata very soon!
Cooler weather.
Fresh cherries.
An unexpected – and larger than might have been expected given the circumstances – check in the mail.
{Hugs} to all the Chickeneers!
My Friday chicken is sitting in a puddle of sweat. Hope you don’t mind. It didn’t forget its deodorant.
The hard:
– Constant 35-40°C (around 100°F), not much cooling down at night, never even a hint of a breeze.
– Being in an office in this weather with 10 other people and no air con.
– Missing out on a weekend with my brother because of job.
– Allergy attacks, lots of sneezing and itching eyes.
– Not sleeping well because of heat.
– Not being able to participate in Hiro’s teleclass because of time difference and other stuff.
The good:
– A job until the end of the month came up rather unexpectedly which means money will come in. Didn’t expect this to happen before my new job in September.
– I made my conditions pretty clear and now have reasonable working hours and I am not doing 10-12 hours a day without a single day off as do some of the colleagues
– Cycling 50 minutes to and 50 minutes back from work every day.
– Getting on my yoga mat despite full-on days.
– Having a spontaneous girls’ picnic in a beautiful garden.
– Getting back in touch with a distant cousin after probably 15 years or so. And she still has a box full of family stuff I was worries she might have gotten rid of.
– I will listen to the recording of Hiro’s teleclass, this is my Friday night treat after the chicken.
Have a beautiful weekend, chickeneers around the globe!
The hard: Heat and humidity. Keeping my curtains closed to reduce the heat which also keeps out the light which fraks with my mood and productivity.
Having a small, super simple ask ignored by so many that it’s highlighting how little support and encouragement I have in my life. Feels like pulling teeth when it was supposed to be positive for both sides. Ah well, over-thinking it and giving it too much weight.
Totally preoccupied and not feeling productive this week.
The good: fresh blueberries! Yum.
Discovered a cool thing on redbubble (a print on demand site) that let me set up a version of my store/gallery with no extraneous branding.
A few cool people who have shown me support and encouragement.
Took care of some of the things that had been distracting me most.
Had an excellent veggie pizza and greek salad the other day.
The Closer is back on and Covert Affairs was cool. And Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman (science channel) is fascinating.
.-= claire´s last post … Life of Art SitRep 23 =-.
Suddenly found myself wondering if the Friday Chicken and Camilla from the Muppet Show know each other?
The Hard.
– Waah! Enough with the migraines already! Uncle! Make it stop! I hope menopause comes SOON.
– My Arial font is all weird (all caps and kind of all squished together so it’s really hard to read, and a lot of symbols don’t show up at all). I figured if I copied arial.ttf from my other computer, that would fix it, but even though I overwrote the old one, it’s still screwed up. I’m stumped.
The Good.
+ One of my customers called me just to tell me how much she was enjoying spinning the fiber she bought from me and how beautiful the yarn is turning out. Yay!
+ Less than a week till Art Fair. I’ll be at the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild booth at State St and N University, selling my yarn and scarves.
.-= Riin´s last post … Art Fair is almost here =-.
Dang, Havi, I don’t think I’ve ever had so many people read something I said like that in my life. Not something I WANTED to say, anyway, something that was important to me. Awesome. Big thanks. Big hug.
The hard:
– very little sleep. No sleep is hard. Extra demands on my time are hard, especially cause
– planning the future, the Big Plan, needs to happen now that I’ve decided not to go back to school full-time, and it’s gonna come down to, mostly,
– time management. hard hard hard.
The good:
– I’m on vacation this weekend starting… now! bye! 🙂
.-= Michelle´s last post … So Have You Ever Gone To Start A Blog And Not Known What To Make The First Post So You Wander Through A Bunch Of Archives And End Up Totally Creeping On Some Blogs =-.
My empathy for the busy busy piles of busy! Good luck with yours, and hopefully it’s a little better knowing you’re not alone.
The Hard
– Busy! The work drags and drags and it’s not even my fault mostly, though I am getting behind on cartoons.
– Social! I has a visitor, who is awesome, but it means lots of Going Out and Being Social and it does wear.
– Reserves = long spent. I think my trip to Mom’s wedding depleted them completely and I still haven’t really recovered, so I’m feeling very overextended even as things calm down.
– Tummy still icky from all the stress and madness. Taking lots of pills. Do not like.
– Keep missing G’s package from UPS, through stupid bad timing. Have resolved to go get it at the UPS center tonight because otherwise it may not arrive until after she leaves.
– I keep being reminded of why I don’t really like public transit, everything is a PITA and takes for-freakin-ever, but at the same time I really don’t want or need a car the other 51 weeks of the year. Bah.
– Not sleeping well. Kind of want a nap, but there’s Much Loud Fuckery going on outside (construction? leaf blowers? something). Sigh.
– Still no art sales. Cannot express how much an art sale would help right now, just making everything go smoother and less stressfully.
– Finished payments from one of May’s art sales & haven’t yet had any time at all to get it packed & shipped. Ironic, really.
– Still processing a lot of family ick, pressure to move closer (NO), Mom’s bizarre food issues (GAH), general realization that no, I do not in fact wish to visit more often.
The Good
+ Project of Doom is done! One last meeting on Tuesday and then no more.
+ Am having a nice half-day of quiet alone time today.
+ Friends are visiting! I love them and they’re very understanding about things.
+ Leg of Beast dinner at Incanto was absolutely brilliant. No secret tomatoes, and I even managed to have a little wine with no real ill effects. Met new friends, took friends from far away, ate many delicious foods, and was very happy.
+ My cats still love me despite being gone a lot, and there are still snuggles and petting. Pod is still his whiny bastard self, and fortunately G is highly amused.
+ Finishing of Project = Moneys = ability to do a little treat shopping when we’ve all gone out. French macaroons ftw.
+ Having Barbie’s High Tea tomorrow at the most twee tea house in all of creation. If the pink doesn’t kill me, I expect to be highly entertained.
+ I may have finally found a makeup that doesn’t make me break out, and will therefore occasionally be able to make myself up as a grownup for work & play.
+ Had a wonderful phone consult with Catherine Caine of Be Awesome Online, and got a few really good tips and to bask in the compliment that AntemortemArts.com does not in fact suck, and does a good job of encouraging people to buy.
+ Also reminded how lucky I am a lot, just to have a good life and good friends and nice apartment and awesome kittehs.
.-= Amy Crook´s last post … Fog =-.
Re: The scary envelope from the Bannister. Ugh.
I had a similar experience this week getting a very official looking letter from the Court of Appeal. Turned out to be nothing, but my heart took off on a little race before I opened that sucker. Yay for scary things turning out to be innocuous.
.-= Patty K´s last post … Taking action on the stuff that scares me =-.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s constantly baffled that it’s Friday already. Again.
OK so here’s how my week shakes out…
The hard:
– Missing my son while he was away with his grandparents.
– Hearing his stories and how they handled some things *very* differently than I would have.
– A persistent feeling since being home that I’m behind and I’ll never catch up. A big feeling of not-enoughness is engulfing me right now… not enough time, not enough money, not enough space, etc., etc. I have that mad hatter voice in my head shouting, “I’m late, I’m late! For a very important date!”
The good:
+ Fun times in Chicago with my hubby and no kid. Did silly touristy things and had a blast.
+ Adventures in food- one of my favorite things about travelling. The delicious definitely outweighed the
‘hmmm- don’t think I’d order that one again…’
+ Fewer articles to write, which was a good thing, seeing as I didn’t get home until deadline day…
+ The boy comes home tonight! I missed him…
.-= Liz´s last post … Summertime and the Livin’ Ain’t Easy =-.
Count me into the group that is baffled that Friday has snuck up on me yet again. And how the heck did it get to be the middle of summer?
The hard:
– OMG – I really can’t possibly work more hours in a given week, can I? I seem to keep trying.
– OMG – a new doctoral class has started and I have no time to write papers due to my insane work schedule.
– OMG – how can the exit exams for my students be looming already? Not prepared despite this being the third year of running them.
– Anyone want a pallet? Seem to have one that isn’t disappearing on its own. Came with a floor mat I got. Too big for the garbage men to haul away. I really don’t have time to deal with this.
The good:
+ My students are really doing a great job in the lab with the research. They made good progress this week. I hope to spend less time in with them and more on data analysis next week.
+ My boss has offered to pick up some bits of the exit exam grading for me. I still have to write the exams and rubrics, but she will take the first cut at grading 13 exams. Bless her!
+ My boss also helped delegate three projects that I was not getting started on to the office assistant. I still need to give direction but the assistant can do all the legwork. Big help!
+ My husband offered to bring over the saw and cut the pallet down into pieces that the garbage men will haul away. Bless him since the heat and humidity are oppressive and he has a case of poison ivy to boot.
+ I got a two day extension on my paper.
+ I have plenty of paid time off waiting to be taken. Need to schedule some of that ASAP!
Those scary letters are the worst. Mine are typically from the IRS, and usually are good news but they are scary until I open them.
Chicken!
The hard…
– I keep saying stupid things. Like sharing things I shouldn’t, or talking instead of listening. Ugh.
– I haven’t been able to ride my bike much this year because every time I do, my backside hurts. Tried again on Monday, I’ve hurt all the rest of this week. This totally sucks.
– My car battery died. It was fairly new, so I’m nervous there is an underlying problem w/ my car. Which times out about right, b/c car is finally paid for.
– Very sad that Lance Armstrong won’t be winning his last tour de france. 🙁
The good…
– Progress! I definitely made some this week.
– Found a potential fix for my bike problem. Ordered.
– At least I didn’t have to pay for the battery.
La Tour!
.-= Avonelle Lovhaug´s last post … What kind of emergency support do you need =-.
My first chicken…
The hard:
– after reading really fantastic and lovely posts re: the middle, kept getting progressively more stuck and pissed and resistant. Wanted to curl up in a pint of ice cream and not come out till Autumn.
– Trying to be present made me feel like exploding. Consequently avoided meditating like the plague.
The good:
– Got a revised plot outline done, finally, and first two scenes written, albeit in sucky format.
– Got Danielle LaPorte’s Firestarter Sessions today. YAY!
Have much hope that this week’s suck is just fertilizer for next weeks’s yay.
The Hard:
Oh the Busy! The Hot! The Roller Coaster! Major Epiphanies! (yes, plural)
A Very Big Sad Tragedy (VBST) shook the family of origin roots
A disappointment – presents a technical challenge for next week. (The Good? I’m so capable of this one. Wish I’d seen it coming. Little sigh.)
The Good:
Stopping was easier (way easier) than I expected.
Shiva Nata really really works. (I knew that – I just like seeing it in action.)
My VPA last week was to focus this week – it worked! (See also the Hard – might have overdone it.)
VBST – I hope anyone reading will understand; very bad things crack foundations and rearrange worlds, but I can all ready see the good stuff happening.
“knock knock”
“who’s there?”
“latechicken”
“latechickenwho?”
……
?
……..
(rustling feathers)
“BwokbwokBWOK!”
The Hard
-humid! melting into a puddle of sweat.
-heat induced short tempers and misunderstandings.
-stooooopid business meeting for the music program in which I teach. Rehashing in painful detail the things (mean people) that aren’t working, but no real progress towards fixing the problems we all knew existed. gah!
-Busy. busybusybusy.
-having to work through the first Sovereignty Kindergarten call (also see good)
The Good
+my work during the Sovereignty Kindergarten call was making up silly songs to sing to a sweet natured 5-month-old boy. So cute! Love playing with this kid!
+listening to the Sovereignty Kindergarten call the next morning! Beautiful class! And I didn’t have to have my phone in one hand the whole time either!
+Shiva Nata and so many shifts!
+Ideas! New directions!
+I realized this week that somehow, slowly-secretly, I’ve become more me. Somehow I am more centered and loving towards myself. Fun to see fruits of all this self-work labor!
+Awesome bikeride along the river!
+Surprise (way-too-short) visit from some of my favorite relatives!
Love and hugs all around!
xox
.-= Eleanor´s last post … Swimming back to Bodh Gaya =-.
Totally late but totally don’t care =)
@Eleanor, totally love your entrance!!! Made my day.
@Havi, So glad you have drunk council again! Whiskey is brilliant.
Apologies in advance, been a hard week.
The hard stuff
-Too much to worry about next week – dentist, exam results, deadlines, seeing family I don’t get on with… leading to:
-No sleep! too much worry!
-Distractions from family this week (the family holiday). Don’t understand I need space and breathing and time.
-Stuckness related to writing, which was my only escape.
-Music player battery wouldn’t charge. Slept for 6 nights with No Music. First time in over 5 years. oy. Not nice. No transition just Bam. Slept with the light on every night instead.
-Lots of people in my space. Did I mention no space? -sigh-.
-Friend got a letter about exam-resits through her door this morning. Shall panic and watch letterbox over next couple of days. She gets higher grades than me, normally. panicpanicworrypanicpanic.
-Other half got on his plane today. No goodbyes. No phone, no MSN for a month. Haven’t seen him since beginning May. Hardhardhard.
The good stuff
-Home now! Own bed and music player and green tea. And relaxxxxx.
-Sovereignty Kindergarten. About to listen to the recording I missed!
-Writing – block gone, stuckness understood.
-Catching up here! Catching up on fluent self blog reading. Feeling more chilled already 🙂 Yay for you, Havi and commenter mice!
Hugs to all.
.-= Rose´s last post … Personal Notes- Vulnerability in Space =-.
The Hard:
– having a virus that has left me feeling very depleted
– struggling with my energy levels
– accidentally wiping a load of notes from my phone in a syncing incident, including the only copy of my Book Of Me. Nooooooooo!
– knowing that I won’t see my gorgeous little niece, Siobhan again before she goes back to Australia next week and not knowing when I’ll get to see her again. Of course, I’ll also miss my brother and SIL but missing out on regular baby cuddles is somehow much harder. I am a sad auntie. 🙁
The Good
– I learnt about how syncing works in the real world instead how I thought it worked
– the syncing accident pushed me to think more about my systems and back-up procedures
– I started my Book Of Me again and realising that I did remember most of it. And I’ve backed it up in about four different places!
– being brave & recording myself singing karaoke for Natalie’s new site, apparently I was one of only 12 people who did it, which makes me feel very brave indeed
– getting to cuddle Siobhan & feeling very close to her and knowing that at least we have Skype, so I can still talk to her and she won’t grow up not knowing who I am
– hearing that my lovely wee nephew’s broken leg has healed
– getting back into making little videos again
– having a fantastic writing week
– feeling like I’m making headway on my sequin apron artwork, there’s loads more to do but the end is definitely in sight
.-= Kirsty Hall´s last post … On Being Brave =-.
Can there be Sunday chickens? I read everyone else’s on Friday, ironically, but wasn’t in a place where I was collected enough to do my own. But now I am, so onward and upward and on with the chickens!
The Hard:
-Having work and interpersonal issues and it’s all kind of converging into one thing and it is stressing me out.
-Working on redoing my site copy so it conveys more detail about who my Right People really are, but it involves being very sovereign and probably scaring more than a few people off.
-Being super sensitive about money issues. My money issues, finding a way to say that my right people have money to pay their invoices in the new copy without being offensive or making anyone think I’m a jerk, other people not coming through with paying things on time. Bah.
-Didn’t work out every day this week, which probably explains where the generally grumpy feeling is coming from.
The Good:
-I got a quote for a website redesign that was scary and large and just as I was about to shamefully say “No thanks” a bunch of amazing people came through and made it possible. I swear I have secret fairy people on my side sometimes.
-Got to write five minute copy at midnight on Friday for someone I really love and admire and now it is up and I get to bask in my super speed writing skills, as well as having helped someone.
-Resisting getting assigned weekend deadlines and marked out the space as my time. I’m getting better at this saying no and sovereignty thing.
-Had a great dinner out and saw Inception and it was really nice and relaxing and wonderful.
Have a great week everyone!
.-= Holly´s last post … Friday Roundup- On Kaffee- thinking before you speak- and the WP-Thesis debate =-.
Have you heard of Hofstadter’s Law?
“It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.”
So true …
.-= Luke´s last post … Ighalsk – release 0115 =-.