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.
Oh boy.
Friday.
This has been quite a week.
And really, I should just tell you about it already.
And you should tell me about yours, because misery loves company. I mean, because I like you.
Not miserable. Just tired. Because of the Expotition.
The hard stuff
Stuff I don’t like that is sometimes also uncomfortable.
More dentist. Dermatologist. Opthamologist. Things that end in –ist.
Not happy about it.
Disappearing post.
The blog post that I meant to write the other day totally ran away.
I mean, I did write it and then it just didn’t exist anymore.
It was the most bizarre thing in the entire world and I also couldn’t believe I’d actually lost it because I am the most save-ey backing-up-ey person in the world.
So then I spend forever looking for it anyway even though it was clearly gone. And even more time mourning the lost genius bits.
And feeling bad about the time it took to write and the time it took to look for it … and that only took more time.
And, even though this whole thing is completely ridiculous, it really was an amazing, brilliant post that is no more. Argh.
Just kind of generally stressed out.
A bunch of little things that add up.
No one horrible stressful thing. Just lots of tiny little worries and challenges and things to trip over.
Some shoes being tossed. Stuff like that.
But hey, some good stuff happened too.
The good stuff
Sleeping in.
Okay, so normally I wake up between five and six, because that’s when my body likes to get up.
Which is great. That’s when I get my writing done. Well, first my wacky meditations and then my writing.
But every once in a while I actively try to sleep in (because it’s clear I need more rest) and I can’t. Annoying.
This week though I had two huge victories in that area.
One day I slept in until 7 a.m. (which hardly ever happens) and then the next day I slept in until 9am (which never happens). It was amazing.
And I give full credit to the Great Expotition for wearing me out entirely.
The Great Expotition.
You kind of have to know a bit about Portland to understand how completely insane this walk my brother and I went on was. But you really don’t.
Let’s just say that it was well beyond anything that should fit into anyone’s definition (however casual) of “going for a walk”.
We started in North Portland, because, you know, that seemed as good a place to start as any.
And then six hours and all five city quadrants later* … we collapsed and had a very well-earned dinner.
*Yes. You’re right. Quadrant should mean four. Please don’t ask me why Portland has five. I mean, I know why there are five, but I don’t know why we call them quadrants.
The basic description of the Great Expotition is this:
Ez and I made our way from North Portland to Northeast Portland. Crossed the river into Northwest. Stopped at Powell’s.
Walked from Northwest to Southwest. Got so far south that we were all the way to the Ross Island bridge (the second to last southern bridge) — and then doubled back and crossed the Hawthorne bridge into Southeast.
Oh, and then walked another 40 minutes or so to Sellwood.
In short, it was the longest, silliest urban walk I have ever been on. Expotition!**
**Hat tip to Winnie-the-Pooh.
Weird things happened that resulted in a surprise workshop!
In case you missed the announcement yesterday, I’m teaching a surprise (SURPRISE!) workshop in San Francisco.
This was a fairly exciting part of my week because it was a surprise even for me, and because it’s going to be absolutely fantastic. And because eight people signed up yesterday.
And I know some of them and they’re awesome.
[EDIT: Whoop! Already sold out. Sorry.]
Also, even if you’re nowhere near San Francisco, you should really go to the hastily-scrawled page and read my amusing rant about how the coupon code only works if you press the APPLY COUPON button.
Because oh, I’m hilarious.
Well, I amuse myself at least … and that’s something else that belongs in the “good” category. Good thing there isn’t a “wry” category, because it would definitely have to go there instead.
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.
My favorites this week were all of his pathetic attempts to “translate” the phrase compassionate communication, which Stu likes to call compassionate vindication.
(He also likes compassionate truncation.)
Anyway, the gems from this week, including Stu’s acetyl Freudian slips.
- now help for this is firming instead of “how helpful this is for me”
- print this please instead of “parenthesis”
- wheels so Foran instead of “feels so foreign”
- meritless things (also American listings) instead of “miraculous things”
- Cumber stations with monster’s instead of “Conversations with monsters”
- why Philly instead of “my belief”
- his votes to this thing instead of “let’s do this thing”
- you don’t want a standard hurry instead of “you don’t want to stand in her way”.
- So let’s tame this into A/UX instead of “So let’s take this in chunks”
- I was is supposed to pronounce this for our Virgo instead of “I was supposed to announce this forever ago”
- people will hang at my meme beach house instead of “people will hate me and be jealous”
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.
Follow
I L-O-V-E going on expotitions! It’s the best way to see a city.
My week in review:
The hard:
– A lot of physical labor in the gardens (which I actually love doing) just underlines how out of shape I let myself get.
– A friend and I were supposed to be on a local morning news show to promote our Etsy team (http://clevelandhandmade.com), but we got bumped for Michael Jackson coverage.
The good:
– New projects and new clients continue to roll in with regularity, right when I need them. It’s a great feeling when someone e-mails you and says that they must have you work on their project.
– I panicked all week about what to wear on the teevee, and now I get another couple of weeks to figure it out since we’ve been postponed to mid July.
– The gardens are looking wonderful.
I’ve skipped a couple weeks of chickens here, and I have to say that I truly missed it. Such a wonderful way to end the work week, taking stock.
Lori Paximadiss last blog post..hey, turkey!
You mean we *can’t* hang at your meme beach house? But that sounds like fun!
First-time commentor, but let’s give this a try…
Hard Stuff:
It’s been a long week of sleep-deprivation.
Probably on a related note, I’ve been terribly unproductive.
Good stuff:
I saw the invitations my future sister-in-law is sending out for my wedding shower, and they’re awesome!
I’m going to New York for the weekend, which has some elements of “hard” since I hate both packing and lugging luggage, but is worth it once I get there.
Laura Gs last blog post..Help us pick our wedding song — Round Two (part 2)!
I want to hang at your meme beach house. Because that sounds like a totally cool place. ; )
@Lori – hey, sweetie. Good to see you on the Chicken again. Now I have to read your turkey post because the connection (in my head) is just too weird.
I love that your hard (getting bumped off the television) turned into a good (more time to decide what to wear). That’s kind of neat.
@Laura/Lisa – right? I would *love* to have a meme beach house. It sounds like it would be relaxing and funny. And possibly also full of lolcats.
Also, yay for wedding shower announcements. That’s exciting.
Oh, I totally get you about going to the dentist. Hello anxiety!! I’ve actually decided to keep my wisdom teeth because they only bug me a few times per year. And I’m avoiding going back to get a cavity taken care of. Eeeeeeek *freaks out*
I also hear you on the stress. Oh, MY, do I ever!
Let’s see-
HARD:
– monster flu attack
– so stressed that one of my eyelids and my lips are swollen (I get rashes and other types of allergy-like symptoms from stress several times per year). because of a lot of things. big and little.
– related to the above, I’m having tons of trouble accepting myself, which I think would help tons. I will go back through a bunch of your posts because I just don’t have enough compassion for myself, apparently.
GOOD:
– dogs are in good health
– my partner is a sweetie and takes care of me when I’m sick
– he’s not sick anymore (he got the flu first)
– he’s kind and compassionate towards me. maybe I can learn from him. maybe. I’ve been trying. I’ll try harder…?
Thanks for letting us share, Havi. You really rock.
Love you Havi. You totally make my day each day. Thanks.
I love that Stu thought that you had a beach house and that everyone wanted to hang out there. Seems like he was trying to comfort you when you were feeling insecure. Aww! This week has been rather trying for me too …
The Hard
* Bills. Lots of bills. Ugh.
* Making a very hard decision that is going to affect my life in a HUGE way.
* The very hard decision is going to be hard for me to carry out into action because it’s something that I really don’t want to do.
The Good
* The hard decision will make me happier in the long run. Yay!
* I finally stopped telling myself that I didn’t need to get your Procrastination Dissolve-o-Matic, bought it and have already realized some things about how I view myself (which also had something to do with making the very hard decision that will ultimately bring me happiness).
Whew.
Also, I love your blog. Please don’t ever stop writing. So much of what you have to say, and (almost) more importantly how you say it, resonates with me in a way that is life alteringly awesome.
SuperCareos last blog post..Things I’ve Learned Thursday
It’s 9am Mountain and I seem to be late to the party. But I want to join the chicken this week.
Hard:
* Hit a huge stone wall – part of a mountain. (Old pattern on writing in public)
* Tired, Tired. Slept for 12 hours Wed night and still couldn’t get going.
* Still haven’t planted my carpet rose in the front yard (going on 2 weeks)
Good:
* Wrote a pretty good post.
* Talked to the wall, and it morphed into a solid path and supporting wall that guides me. (Neat trick, huh! Very smart wall.)
* On day 31 of no sugar (and a potato at night) eating plan.
* Vision for Occasional Healer blog and biz complete enough to write the web content. I just set a July 15 rollout date!!
So – thanks Havi, for the chance to join you.
Meredith
Merediths last blog post..How I handle the internet firehose of information that teaches me the internet biz
Your expotition sounded so lovely, Havi. Reminded me of when I did the Portland Marathon (walking) in 2005. What a beautiful city to walk.
This is my first Friday Chicken, and here goes:
Hard:
**My beloved 13 year old Honda Civic died unexpectedly on the way to work on Tuesday morning. First car I ever bought. My dad helped me buy it, and he passed away a few years ago, so I was very attached to the car because it was a strong sentimental tie to my dad. I’m not someone who gets attached to things — except when the thing is more than a thing.
** I let my healthy eating/exercise routine fall apart a bit because of the unexpected death of my car, and then I beat myself up for not “sucking it up” better. Yeesh.
Good:
**I signed up and got into Havi’s San Francisco workshop. WOO HOO! I couldn’t be more excited.
**I got cast as the lead in a musical I auditioned for.
**I went to the awesome Pam Slim Bay Area workshop and got totally inspired and met some wonderful people
**I bought a great new Honda Civic that gets great gas mileage and drives like a dream
That’s it for me. Thanks, Havi, for the space to do this — and for all the other wonderful things you do. And I can’t wait to meet you in July.
Pidge
Sign me up for the meme beach house, too! Guess I can get in on the chicken this week:
Hard:
‘Parenting’ my parents on how to communicate gently with the niece and nephew, parents-sister-me boundaries. 😛
Shin splints.
A good friend going through a break-up.
Good:
I can be there for my friend, just like she was for me.
Got out on the woodland trails with the dog. (Add “humidity” next to shin splints above.)
Seem to have met a really nice gentleman friend, which I wasn’t expecting. We’ve been going out on dates (honest-to-goodness, antiquated type, really nice *dates*) for the last month or so.
Ing
Hi Havi! Boo on all the doctor stuff. 🙁 It is never fun.
The hard:
My roomies are going out of town this weekend. I love them dearly and I miss them when they are gone.
My mom is having a really rough time, but I’m 2.5 hours away so there is very little I can do for her but answer her phone calls.
So. Much. Stress. My to-do list has lengthened every day this week and it just feels like I’ve scarcely made headway on it.
A client who has been running us ragged with demands and changes. Hopefully this week will mark the last of that.
The good:
My roommates are going out of town! I get the apartment to myself for 48 hours. Hooray!
I got the invitation for my brother’s wedding and I’m going to pick up my bridesmaid’s dress from the tailor’s today! Glee and joy!!
The weather. It’s broiling hot but it’s been so beautiful and sunny outside every day. I love it. Perfect snow cone and swimming pool weather!
I cleaned my inbox and backed up my hard drive. It is almost like a spiritual experience to have digital stuff organized.
I wrote a little bit on my novel. I haven’t written anything on it for over a month now, and it’s good to have done SOMETHING on it.
First full week this month that I haven’t been sick. I feel bouncy and happy again, and that is such a relief.
Thank you, Havi!
Michelles last blog post..Blast Negativity to Pieces: Failure Is Silly
Hugs all around for all the hard stuff … and I have to say that the good stuff seems pretty great and it’s totally making me smile reading about everyone’s week.
@Natalia – oh, how hard! This is kind of a short answer (will have to expand on it at some point), but my sense is that if self-acceptance + compassion start turning into obligations, that’s just more gunk and you don’t need it.
Because gunk is just not fun. As we all know from (way too much) experience.
For me it always helps to try and shift my focus to “argh, why can’t I accept myself the way I am yet?” (and yeah, I have those moments) to permission to NOT be accepting.
So that it’s more like … “okay, right now I just can’t be very accepting and that’s where I am with it and even though I hate it, I’m practicing letting this be what is true for me right now”.
Does that make sense? It’s kind of a subtle distinction, but that’s where I start. 🙂
people will hang at my meme beach house, pretty sure it exists or Stu wouldn’t have said anything about it.
Also you don’t want a standard hurry as opposed to wanting a hurry hurry, or a non-standard hurry. In which I thought, no a standard hurry would be just fine.
Hard this week
– self care of any sort
– lots of shoulding on myself & the physical effects of said shoulding
– gaps, holes in my boundaries
Good this week
– learning about gaps & holes in my boundaries
– getting Havi & Hiro blog posts helping me repair/replace/move gaping holey boundaries
– sunshine, sweat & showers stalls
– chewing on an actual direction for my blog
Thanks for being you and for creating chicken!
Minnas last blog post..Coming To Terms – The Rat Has a Reason | More Lessons Learned
I love Chickening In with you on Fridays, Havi. Thank you for this wonderful tradition, and for making space for all of us to join in it.
Hard: Feeling sluggish and slow-moving this week. Frustrated at times with this snail’s pace.
Good: The incredible healing session I had with you yesterday. I slept like a baby, woke up feeling shiny and new, and am still smiling as I write about it now.
Visits from both my sons this week! Yay! I like them so much. Almost as much as I love them. 🙂
Lovely emails from a couple of my long-ago students, telling me about all the wonderful things that are unfolding in their lives now.
That’s it for my week. Have a wonderful weekend!
Much love, Hiro
Hiro Bogas last blog post..Power. Brought To You By The Number Eight
Stu–he is so wise. In a weird way. I really like “compassionate vindication.” I take that to mean those moments when you try so hard to help someone by giving them great advice and they choose to ignore until the moment when they see the light (so rare) and realize you were right all long. You are vindicated! But you were doing it for them with compassion so you don’t want to do the I Told You So Dance too obviously.
And often my husband cuts short my explanations because he knows where I’m going and I need to get to the point. He considers this “compassionate truncation,” although sometimes he is wrong–it isn’t so compassionate.
Anyway, this week was good mostly but weirdly sad for me. I felt frustrated and overwhelmed and I just know I need to be destuckified and dance of shiva’d but I can’t seem to make myself do it. Sigh.
You went on a wonderful expotition but I feel like a bear of little brain. Next week, however, will certainly be full of better.
@Pidge–“I went to the awesome Pam Slim Bay Area workshop and got totally inspired and met some wonderful people.”
Pidge! Loved meeting you yesterday.
And Portland people, you’re in for a treat today if you’re headed to Pam Slim’s workshop! It was amazing. And a great way to meet ultra-cool people like Pidge. ;o)
My week in brief? The hard: Overwhelm, overwhelm, and then some more overwhelm. Mostly self-induced, as usual. Finding out that a certain medical procedure that would help me a lot is not covered by my insurance. (Still deciding whether to appeal, or decide I don’t need another fight in my life right now. Tending toward the latter.)
The good: Pam Slim’s workshop yesterday. Lots of inspiration and reassurance from online friends who, I’m finding, are just as much “real friends” as the ones I interact with face-to-face. Met one of those online friends face-to-face for the first time yesterday. :o)
SOOOO looking forward to this weekend.
Michelle Russells last blog post..Why Getting Things Wrong is Vital to Your Well-Being
I think Meme Beach House would be a great name for a band.
The good: I got lots of dyeing done this week and made lots of labels.
The bad: I think the little power blip we had during yesterday’s big storm may have killed my cordless phone. After the storm I noticed it said “charging” even though the battery hadn’t been low before the storm. It still says “charging.”
I hate it when stuff disappears. I took a binder clip off a bag a few days ago, and when I went to get it, it was just gone. Poof! Black hole? Gremlins? Where did it go?
Riins last blog post..a pain in the neck
Oh My God! I totally wanna hang at your Meme Beach House! Can I? Can I?
*reads the other comments* Ha ha, so does everyone else. You need a meme beach house, Havi!
Hard: It’s hot here. This turns my boyfriend into a miserable mess, and isn’t easy for me, either.
Feeling exhausted. Fighting my exhaustion by doing stuff anyway. Worrying about burning out and getting some kind of indefinable fatigue syndrome and not being able to do anything ever again ever because I’m doing stuff despite being exhausted. Worrying about not getting anything done because I’m taking a break because I’m exhausted.
Wow, that’s a fun little cycle! Wheeee!
Good: NAOMI DUNFORD! YEAH!
Went to a Naomi conference/workshop in Berkhamsted, which is as picturesque as it sounds, and talked biz stuff with a bunch of really clever people all day.
Am now on a major biz high, and have rashly put up a page on my website offering my services as an illustrator. Way scary. Way cool.
My non-sucky yoga DVD finally arrived! Yay! Also, my new bike! Double yay! And the cheque from the insurance to cover for the stolen bike! Say it with me, yay!
Mostly happy in other words. Love you Havi! Love you fellow chickeners! Life is beautiful, yay!
Ah, Friday and the highlight of my week is hanging out here and reading what everyone else has been going through.
The Hard:
– SHOES flying at me from all directions this week. I don’t remember looking up to the sky and saying “BRING IT ON”, but I must have 🙁
– Discovering that we have to amend our 2007 & 2008 tax returns because of missing 1099s. The irony is I’m a CPA. In my defense, it was for a spin off from one of my husband’s stocks that he inherited so I never see that paperwork.
– Something funky going on with the membrane at the back of my eyes (it was optometrist week). Nothing that can be done, yet, just needs to be monitored. Not happy about getting older.
– Massive soap opera with a couple of my students. Let’s just say a close friendship between the opposite sexes got out of control and now they are discovering the consequences of their choices. Unfortunately, it is spilling over onto other students and interfering with their preparation for their exit exams. NOT to mention I’m spending way too much time trying to calm people down and show them that there are always OPTIONS. They may not be easy or pleasant, but there are always options.
– Long awaited printer refuses to talk with new electronic device in our lab. Grrrrr…..
– Way too hot, way too humid…I’m melting…..
The Good:
– Havi’s blog – my lifeline for the week 😉
– Being accepted into the doctoral program that I applied to at the beginning of May!!!!!! 😉
– Comments and emails from my students that show me how much they appreciate all the work that I do for our program.
– A positively delightful interview of a potential applicant to our program. She is someone who will go far in helping others!
– Knowing I will be seeing a bunch of good friends tomorrow and Sunday.
– Knowing that next week will be different than this week. Maybe not easier, but different!
A big thanks to ALL of you who participate in the Friday Check-in. It is the highlight of my week.
Late chicken here.
I had a terrific art show in La Jolla last weekend, and then (per usual) had to sleep a lot this week to recover from it. So, mostly a low-key week for me.
I want to hang at the meme beach house too! Sounds great.
Barbara J Carters last blog post..One Angry Rattlesnake
Well! I’ve had a scummy-scummy-scummy week. It’s been all about the scum.
The hard:
The scum! Feeling like I’m drowned in scum. Covered in it. And it’s all grey and icky and EW.
Something that triggered my majorly nasty food issues. Made me twitchy and even MORE scummy.
Feeling like I will never have anyone to love me, and feeling intensely jealous of everyone I know who does have love in their lives.
The good:
Reading posts on this blog, funnily enough, has kept me hanging on.
Friends who love me and emailed me to find out if I was okay and gave me space to talk about why I wasn’t.
Deciding to get my doctor to give me recommendations for a psychotherapist. Scary! I’m scared of therapy! But good because I’m a step closer to getting some of the help I need.
Realizing that I’m starting with the Kitchen Table next month! Next WEEK, maybe? I don’t know when in July. But I’m exciiiiited!
Lucy Viret (aka randomling)s last blog post..Love. It has teeth.
I’m thinking the meme beach house must be huge, because we’re all going to be there sometime this summer . . . I’m picturing a sleeping porch upstairs, and hammocks all over the yard. And it looks like the house in Little, Big (which everyone might want to read, because it’s a perfect book for summertime).
So, so sorry about the hard, Havi. Just. . . sorry.
The good: my new hammock, on which I got to spend plenty of time this week (see The Hard). A tiny bottle of Fiori di Sicilia, which makes my cupcakes taste like Grace Kelly’s bridal bouquet. Lots of rest. Doing Shiva Nata again.
The hard: having to take four days off because of a strange convergence of allergies and a virus.
The strange: wondering if someone’s put a root on me (as they used to say in North Carolina), because a million little things are going wrong and I’m going around in a blur. Couldn’t light the charcoal for the grill, ate breakfast twice by accident, dropped a full cup of coffee, evaporated a great blog post (I feel your pain, Havi!), curdled the yogurt I was making, couldn’t get my bread to rise, almost ran over someone in the grocery store parking lot . . . If the fog doesn’t lift, I’m going to have to find a conjure woman. Referrals, anyone?
Melyndas last blog post..Anniversary
First off: Gadgetgirl, your name is just about freaking me out! (In a good way.) I was “gadgetgirl” on the old Club Wired telnet chat back in ’95 and met a lot of awesome folks there. I’m glad to see someone cool is using the name and using it well. 🙂
The hard:
– Earlier today, I had a near-pity party. I’m not even sure why, I just had this weird feeling like I wanted to burst into tears and howl “I can’t do this anymore!”
– I think that might be my inner brat trying to get out of completing my take-home Operations final. Sadly, she and I must knuckle down and get through it some time this evening.
The good:
– Revamped my web site this week (which is why Comment Luv thinks I haven’t ever posted anything) and I think it might start reaching clients as well as readers
– Started an email newsletter for the site and feel pretty good about communicating directly with people who have an interest in my stuff
– Between the dog getting spayed last week and the boy cat’s dental surgery, 2 out of my 3 pets are members of the Moon Boot Club (they both have that shaved spot on a foreleg for the IV). I guess it’s not actually good, but I find it kinda cute.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Hello everybody doin’ the Chicken!
I’m doing this on my phone, so it’ll be short and yet still find room for typos.
The hard:
My ankle still hurts. Alot.
I had a mini-stroke (aka a TIA) on Monday so got to spend the night in the hospital. Bleh. Hospitals really suck.
No job; no prospects
Husband lost a big-money project bid that he spent hours deciding the he even wanted to do of in the first place.
I changed my short username on my Macbook and screwed the whole system up.
My cat pissed on our couch AND on my messanger bag.
The good:
I’m alive and didn’t get any more brain damage.
Husband’s weekend suddenly opened up so we used the bad week as a great excuse to grab a friend and run off to Guerneville to camp by the river.
I’m typing this from a hammock tied between two trees. Even though we have to stay in the populated areas (see: ankle pain) we’re still in the woods in a tent. And somehow the bad just pales when I’m swinging in a hammock. Very good.
Wow – busy week and a longer Chicken than I expected!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
wait a minute, wait a minute, guys – I think we might be creating a meme beach house meme.
Spread it.
The hard:
-The pangs of disprized love. Hurts and is confusing because I have so many *thoughts* about what to do with the pain.
-Worrying about the end of my vacation while I’m supposed to be relaxing on vacation.
-Old, unsatisfying patterns triggered by visiting friends and family.
-Weird mixtures of nostalgia and revulsion for my various homes and homes away from home. Maybe this is a good thing, actually – it’s kind of sweet.
The good:
-Not being at work.
-Gettin love from friends and family. Thank you, friends and family.
-OK, something really exciting. I may now have a THING. I knew I had it before but I didn’t see its full potential; I thought it was one of my many many things that aren’t quite my actual thing. What happened was, my aunt’s wonderful friend – blithely assuming that I had a thing – was suggesting how I could support it and go after it. And I realized that if I put her idea behind this thing, it could be a THING. Hot and buttered.
Your brother and I sound like we share the definition of a walk.
If I could be anything, absolutely anything, in the entire world, it would be a professional bushwalker (that’s Australian for hiker).
Amandas last blog post..Wednesday Whiteboard #10: Thesis Deadline Edition
I think we should all leave our shoes outside the meme beach house, so no one can throw them at anyone!
The Hard:
– So much resistance to “replacing” my programmer. My heart wails that Stuart is not replaceable, but my head knows it must be done.
– Money. Money keeping me from going to the cool SF Havi thing, which is totally reasonably priced and yet still out of my reach. Money blah blah bla.
– Procrastination. Trying to get out of the mire of self-sabotage where I play Tetris for an hour instead of doing work I know I can do for clients who deserve my time much more than the game does.
– Had a couple of moments of utter smoothness. Broke a glass & spilled milk tea over chair, floor and work (saved all 3). Poured non-shaker-top cardamom into stew in a truly excessive amount. Etc. Etc. Bleh.
– Stuff. It’s just been a week of my Stuff rearing its head.
The Good:
+ Thanks in a large part to Havi’s blog, when the Stuff pops up I’ve been largely able to acknowledge it and just be in it, which is the first step. Though I still spend a lot of time wishing I had less Stuff.
+ Ordered Shiva Nata! I am insanely excited, and worried that my expectations will be too high, and of course scared liek woah, as one of my friends would say.
+ Progress! I made a lot of progress on Antemortem Arts, on Novel #2, on client things, and I kept pretty well up with my to-do list this week.
+ I FOUND A BOX. I spent weeks looking for a box of the right size to ship a completed art commission, and have finally found it. Plan to pack tomorrow & schedule pick-up for Monday.
+ Have had kitteh snuggles during writing in the evenings, sleepy mornings, and warm afternoons. The two kittehs seem to be getting along better, and the older cat is looking much more svelte and energetic than she was this time last year, thanks to the kitten’s demands for attention and play time.
+ Fresh blueberries, nectarines and bread from the farmer’s market. Local honey, delicious nduja, braised eggplant, and other goodness. Food is so much more than fuel, and summer brings the best stuff.
+ Progress! I got so much done this week, it really bears repeating. I’m very scared of the Antemortem Arts site copy, but I’m making myself work on the site anyway, and that’s just huge. Plus, BOX. omgbox.
I almost didn’t do the Check-in today because I’m taking a weekend day today so I can work tomorrow when no one will be looking for me, but I decided I like the tradition too much to skip.
Amy Crooks last blog post..The Exercise Conundrum
This week’s Fri-Chicken:
Hard:
***CRABBY.***
Gained some weight. No like.
Work has been very stressful.
The downstairs apt. still hasn’t been rented . . I have to hang around and show the apt. every week, as opposed to going somewhere and doing something . . the landlady is getting more nervous by the minute . . . I keep saying “Some of the windows are cracked, and the back door lock is all screwed up, and the bedroom door is all ugly and really difficult to open,” but she’s not willing to spend the money to fix those things. (She HAS fixed some of the big issues, got a new roof, etc.) The handyman has serious ADHD and it takes more effort for me to nag at him to fix stuff in my house than seems reasonable. Still no fixed faucets for my house.
Have been burning through my vacation time and wasn’t sure if I would have enough time to go to North Carolina in August!
Good:
If I’m super-conservative with the vacation time, it should last OK. hooray!!
The week’s over.
It’s my half-birthday in July and I try to always do something fun for my half-birthday.
I still have my job!
Making approx. 0.05% improvement on all my projects.
I might wash laundry tonight and then I can wear all the clothes I like again!
Wow! I wonder if your meme beach house is in walking distance of my “happy place” house on a cliff overlooking a beach. Although, considering your Expotition, I’m not sure your definition of “walking distance” and mine are the same.
The hard: DH on a business trip all week. Miss him, and also feeling tired because I never sleep very well when he’s not home.
Major car repair turned out to be even more major than we though, ended up costing a lot more than we thought.
Didn’t get a job I’d interviewed for that I would have liked a lot.
Overslept and therefore missed morning Shiva Nata most mornings this week, now feel sort of mentally clogged up.
The good:
DH on business trip and kidlets went camping with in-laws – had the house to myself for three whole days! (ALthough I did have to work).
Gave myself permission *not* to do any of the major cleaning/organizing projects I thought about doing while everyone was gone, and just to relax and enjoy myself.
Had very good photo shoot, got pretty detailed compliments on my sweater design by Eunny Jang herself! (Interweave Knits editor). Even got invited to submit more stuff to the magazine. This will mean nothing to the non-knitters, and be huge to the knitters.
Person who got the job I wanted is someone I really like and who I acknowledge will be better at it than me.
FOUND OUT THAT I AM GOING TO BE A GRANDMOTHER BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!
Anna-Lizas last blog post..When the Cat’s Away, Pollyanna Will Play
@Anna-Liza – seriously?! A GRANDMOTHER? Ohmygod. Wow. Also, nice job with the knittery.
@Bonni – hug. That’s a lot of hard to have to have. And showing apartments is really annoying so yeah, you have every right to feel frustrated and annoyed.
@Amy – You are totally giving me hope that I will also find a BOX. I have been looking for one too! And now I am determined to do more teaching in the Bay Area, and am looking at December. So … maybe then?? Would be very cool.
Oh you guys! Hugs all around. I love Fridays. I know I say this every single week but it just astounds me that people read the Friday chicken posts. I do them because they make me happy. And then it’s so cool that you do it with me.
Well, I found out that I have gestational diabetes so this week pretty much sucked. Too many Dr’s appointments and now poking my fingers with needles. 🙁
castocreationss last blog post..Raising Awareness
Meme Beach House sounds like a Beatnik Surfer movie. I’d watch it. Or visit it. Whatever.
@castocreations, gah, major PITA. Hope things all go reasonably smoothly.
Sonia Simones last blog post..Pink Hair Blogging
Well, obviously. We call them “quadrants” because there are four of them: NE, SE, SW, and NW, as defined by Burnside which divides the north from the south, and the Willamette, which divides the east from the west.
Except that the Willamette curves and takes a dive to the west, which leaves part of Portland in an awkward position. If the Willamette were straight, it would be in the NW quadrant. But the Willamette curves, so this section is east of the Willamette, but it’s west of the geographical line the Willamette would have made if it were straight, like the ruler-bearers who laid out this city wish it was.
So if it’s kind of NW and kind of NE, what should we call it? NW!!! No – NE!!!. I know – we’ll compromise – we’ll call it, just plain N.
And thus was born north portland. NoPo. The fifth quadrant in the world’s greatest city.
The punchline: Bad news, ducky. Portland has six quadrants. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland,_Oregon
Joshs last blog post..Confessions of a Former Insurance Defense Lawyer
Hey Stu’s idea for a meme beach house is great. I know I want to hang out there. It looks like Stu needs to make it into a large meme beach house.
The hard. So many interpersonal problems and so much talking. I’m exhausted and it’s so hot, which is also exhausting. Today I just had to get away for the day, which leads to the good. I got away, by myself! It was wonderful and freeing and empowering. Suddenly I felt like I could conquer the world. By the time I got home, everything was approaching normality again.
Sydneys last blog post..Rooftops in the Negative
It’s still Friday for a few more minutes (ok, 8 of them) so I can still play chicken, right? Because that whole Friday Ketchup thing I was going to do on my own blog just didnt happen. Again. Which is ok because I can go to the meme beach house and cluck with all you wonderful people!
The hard: Just a grindingly busy week and feeling way overwhelmed. The significant-whichever is having an equally difficult work week and the puppy (who is almost not a puppy at all anymore) is not letting me sleep in – and I oh so need to sleep in.
The good: A major software release has just solved several of my problems, and more soon-to-come additions to it promise to solve more:) And my membership site keeps selling in spite of the fact that I’m not promoting it one bit and I haven’t fixed the sales page yet.. so that makes me smile. And and and… I got Havi’s testimonials thing and have started digging into it, and THAT is seriously fun.
And boo for everyone else’s bad stuff, and yay for everyone else’s good stuff, but I don’t have time to say more because I have to hit send or this won’t be a Friday Chicken but a Saturday Stew, or Stu, or…. something meme-beach-ish.
Tori Deauxs last blog post..Top 5 Things I’ve Learned From Brain Blogging
The hard: the cash flow issues associated with moving are a bit scary right now. I’m sure it’ll work out but …
And business is slow. V. slow. though one university client contacted me yesterday.
My car died on the way to the airport to drop my daughter off for her big summer expotition (to Scotland and England). The day after we’d spend $400 fixing the exhaust. I hope it is something simple like the coolant and not something complicated like the fuel pump.
The good: I have pigs! and chickens! and they are very cool. And seem to be easy to take care of.
JoVEs last blog post..More Pig Photos!
God I love:
people will hang at my meme beach house.
Also, I think you lost that wonderful post because somehow we weren’t ready to read it. So maybe it’ll come back later.
I love the chance to share some chicken-in with everyone!
My hard:
-Sleep issues: specifically not sleeping doesn’t work for me.
The good:
-my youngest got a full time job in MI – that’s a miracle. More miracles – he loves it too and can transfer to another office when he goes back to school in the fall and work part time.
-my oldest met Obama, Michelle and the kids at a benefit put on by Operation Purple (who help the kids and spouses of our troops) and Feed America. They packed up 25,000 backpacks for these kids to go to summer camp – lots of press there but it was overshadowed by Michael Jackson’s passing. Life changing though for my son who now knows what makes his heart sing with respect to his unique gift to share with the world.
-figuring out how to get some sleep and identifying the non-sleeping pattern.
On the whole, an amazingly miraculous week – especially watching the kids figure out what they really love to do and doing it!
@Josh – Six is good. And … even if there are 49 quadrants … last time I took Latin “quad” still meant four. Pretty sure that hasn’t changed. So I’m going to stand by my original point which kind of got lost in the shuffle. And next time I do an expotition, will expand my range. 🙂
@Tori – oh, you can totally chicken on Saturday if you like. Full permission to spread it out over the weekend. The meme beach house is very lax about time!
@Jo – pigs and chickens! Pigs and chickens! Wow.
@Char – a full time job in Michigan? Seriously? That’s amazing. Wishing you good resolution with the sleeping thing and sending love.
Stu has got to make that a huge meme beach house! I am *so* there!
@Anna-Liza: Wow on the IK thing! That’s huge!
@Amy Crook: A new Shivanaut! Yay! (don’t worry, it’s just that, for some reason, I get really excited when I find out about new Shivanauts!)
Josianes last blog post..Traveling Muffins
Oh, and I forgot to say: your Expotition sounds totally like my kind of walk! It also reminds me of what my ex-boyfriend did the first time he was in Paris: he only had 24 hours there between two flights, and wanted to make the most out of it, so he walked the city all day long, for a total of 31 km! I agree with Lori: an expotition is the best way to see a city. 🙂
Josianes last blog post..Traveling Muffins
More Stu-isms! More Stu-isms!…pretty please? The Stu-isms at the end of this post had me laughing out loud uncontrollably (which is ALWAYS a good thing). I’m off to comb the archives for more posts with Stu-isms now…;)
~ Stu’s #1 Fan