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.
What an unbelievably full week.
Just full.
I’m still kind of reeling from how busy it was.
Lots of unexpected hard, lots of unexpected good — most of it hidden inside of the hard. And just a lot. In general.
Let’s see.
The hard stuff
Oh, the misunderstandings.
And the multiple ways in which a simple misunderstanding can get tangled up into a giant plonter of a no-longer-simple misunderstanding.
Assumptions piled on assumptions.
Lots of detangling. And more left to do.
Conflict from last week still unresolved.
Another Playground-related thing. Being pushed. And not knowing what to do about it. And not liking any of it.
So now I’m past the vomitous angsty pit of stomach despair phase.
And past the this is impossible to deal with phase.
Past the part that is all about the sad.
But I would really just like to get this cleared up.
Discovered a fairly large administrative disaster.
What fun.
And apparently this problem has been going on for months. Wow.
So we got to discover lots of GIGANTIC FIRES that we didn’t know about while they were happening. And they’re totally irrelevant now. Which I guess is good.
Anyway, that was extremely unnerving.
Horses.
1. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. So they say.
2. Being thirsty is a legitimately uncomfortable experience for horses, who will often express their frustration. All they want is to drink but where is the water?! This happens regardless of how often you lead them there.
3. This often remains true even if you’re right next to the water and you splash in it and drink from it yourself, and point to the giant sign that says in horse-language: WATER! HERE! IT COSTS NOTHING! GO AHEAD AND DRINK IF YOU WANT SOME!
4. Sometimes you just have to accept that there isn’t a whole lot you can do about this. It is not your job to get the horse to drink.
5. I’m not always good at #4.
* I’ve been teaching since I was fourteen. Thinking creatively about new ways to approach learning is what I do. Good things will come from this as always. The narrative will rewrite itself. No advice, please.
Mosquito in my bedroom.
I protest.
“Giants baseball! TORTURE!”
Love hurts. Not always, but on occasion it has been known to.
And loving the San Francisco Giants is a painful, complicated thing that involves some of the most incredibly agonizing moments imaginable.
I’m trying to quit. But of course there is no such thing.
The good stuff
Baseball. I still love it.
The excitement. The beautiful. The astonishing athletic feats that make all the doom worth it.
And yes, still in it.
Roller Derby!
After our disastrous bout with the BAD Girls that killed our chances of going to Chicago for nationals …
Chicago came to us. And it was outrageous. The fourth ranked Western division team (us!) took apart the first ranked North Central division team (them).
Final score? Portland’s Wheels of Justice: 134. Windy City: 90. Gah. We should so be at nationals.
But it was a fantastic bout.
Also Casey and Cairene were there to scream with us, so it was even more fun than you’re already imagining.
Reordering and reorganizing.
Fall cleaning mode is in full swing.
We launched a whole new batch of systems changes.
I managed to get rid of eight categories in the most tangled section of the pirate Log.
So needed! And it only took 90 minutes and not days, like I imagined it would.
And then I closed TWENTY SIX troll doors, and oh the happy. Breath of fresh air.
It’s not hot anymore!
Selma gets to wear her scarf. And I get to wear layers again. This is a good thing.
I am both much more attractive and much nicer when I get to wear layers.
It’s almost flannel sheets season, and yay.
The massive Getting Done of Things!
This week. It was so intense.
- I wrote the Navigation Guide for the Week of Biggification.
- Updated the Rally FAQ! WIth help from the Frolicsome Bar!
- Announced the Great Ducking Out.
- Got the February Rally underway.
- Deconstructed and reconfigured all my programs for next year (shivanautically).
Time off.
Even with all the madness, I managed to take a day and a half off.
And go for walks in the sun.
Making up for all the teaching weekends. Slowly.
Stuff I read and appreciated this week.
This post from Amy with lovely reporting on the Rally.
This piece from Maryann on resting and actually doing it.
Then Alison took my metaphor mouse exercise and did something amazing.
This beautiful and touching obituary detailing the absolutely fascinating life of David’s father Louis. Zichrono livracha.
And … playing live at the meme beach house it’s the Fake Band of the Week!
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 it’s ….
Paper Dorks.
Yes. My favorite kind of dork. But it’s really just one guy.
And some of the lovely presents that arrived in the mail this week.
A handmade rug for the Playground. Another costume. A calendar.
And a fox mask! Brilliant.
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.
p.s. ANNOUNCEMENT! Not mine! Josiane will be teaching an entry-level Shiva Nata class in Toronto on Monday. It’s pay-what-you-want, and if you are anywhere near Toronto, you should go.
Follow
I hear you on the full weeks, Havi. Where did October go anyway?!
The Hard:
-One friend still has MS and money problems. Other friend lost his job and needs his health insurance to keep his bipolar in check. Dad still has cancer. None of this is going away anytime soon, and as much as I try to distance myself from these things, I really can’t. Hard not to feel like everyone I care about will be gone soon, at least mentally and emotionally.
-So busy with work. Getting ready to bid on a huge contract and I’m terrified both of getting it, and of not getting it. Still hoping for the getting it though.
-Cold weather has come in quickly, and I’m dreading the horrible winters here again.
The Good:
-Ran a silly poll on my blog today about what my dog should be for Halloween.
-Made apple sauce with chai spices that was delicious and comforting and hot.
-Feeling like I’m really helping people at work, even if I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed.
-New site design soon, which is delightfully loud and delightfully me.
Have a great week everyone. I’m sending you all hugs.
Now I’ve got the Mr. Ed theme in my head. It won’t stop.
The hard:
– My house is really cold. I refuse to turn the furnace on yet. I’m wearing two shirts, a wool sweater, a scarf, a hat, flannel lined jeans, wool socks, and I’m still cold.
– My boss at the day job is grumpy that I’ve been missing so much work because of my migraines. Vague references of doom doom doom to come.
The good:
+ Fiber Expo is this weekend. I’ve got all my stuff moved out of my studio and into the living room, and this afternoon we’ll pack up a rented van and go set up my booth.
+ I’m baking potatoes for lunch. After they’re done cooking I’ll turn the oven off and leave the door open so the heat can warm the house a bit.
Ah, yes, Paper Dorks. Good band. I keep getting them (well, him) mixed up with Paper Sporks. And then there’s Paper View…
Friday. Hmmm.
Hard:
–Ongoing bumpy times for my daughter at school.
–Feeling strangely foggy. Too much Internet, maybe?
–Writer’s block. I open the document, I stare at the screen…blah.
Good:
–Closing troll doors, which feels so good that I’m feeling kind of inspired to close some of the really scary ones.
–Dreaming and scheming with my sweetie: some lovely conversations that filled me with feelings of hope and possibility.
–Getting up early — not just me, but everyone in my household — so we can share breakfast and start the day together. Playing with new routines and rituals, a thing that also fills me with hope and possibility.
–Reading aloud, singing and playing — it is so marvelous that I do these things daily. I don’t want to ever take that for granted.
–This blog, this Fluent Self space and community, which has become such a touchstone for me.
I know it’s sappy, but every now and then I have to say it: thank you, Havi and Selma and Schmoppet and all of you, for all that you do here. It means more to me than I can say. Love!
I keep trying to time my de-lurking with some clever and brilliant comment, but that’s honestly just a way of continuing to hide, so um. Have a chicken to break the ice! (That’s… quite a mental image, there. Chicken-beak ice-pick!)
The Hard
– Remembering what happened this week. Yes, I’m serious.
– Sleeping way, way too much. And kind of poorly, which is unusual for me.
– Being crushingly bored with nothing-to-do and few feasible ways to entertain myself to pass the time (due to setting). Only happened a couple days, though – the rest were good and productive!
– Lots of mental and emotional shaky. But I dealt pretty well with it, considering.
The Awesome
– Supporting Spirit Day in a purple flannel and by offering shinies to people who read my blog.
– One of those Unusually Meaningful dreams in the midst of all that extra sleep.
– Finding my fingers getting comfortable with finger-pickin’ patterns and a few chords on guitar. Whoo!
– Two of my family members’ medical scares not being nearly as bad as they could have, and both are recovering well. Whew.
– Realizing that I really do love my blog now. I used to be kind of apathetic about it, viewing it as a should-do, rather than the fun-thing-with-lots-of-potential that it is now.
– Finding a fascinating NaNoWriMo plotbeast for next month’s crazy.
– Showing somewhere between two and four people how awesome NaNoWriMo is, and now they want to try it! Yesss.
– Also finding this INSANELY AWESOME free ebook resource full of biology and language books, like “Colloquial Mongolian: The Complete Course for Beginners.” SO COOL. I geeked.
And now that I’m delurked, you’ll be seeing me around a lot more often. 🙂 Which should go under “The Awesome” for this week, as well.
Ohhhhh big sigh of Friday.
The hard:
My car. The check engine light. Oh dear. Echoes of doomdoomdoom.
The not sleeping so well. Which doesn’t just affect me.
That whole thing that Havi mentioned about horses and water. Yes.
The good:
Sidestepped an iguana just now, by refusing to look at it directly until I was half or three-quarters past it. Sometimes just ignoring it works.
Got a great learning tool that I might not have otherwise had access to. Looking very much forward to using it, and deep in gratitude for the people who offered it. (Get to write thank you note, yay! Oh how my attitude about that has changed since I was 10).
Picking up a little extra stuff to do here and there. Always good to do that stuff.
Barn door is swinging open again, but it is not nearly as scary as it has been for the last several Sundays.
Got a few things done unexpectedly.
Helped someone sort something tricky.
Oh! And ran a workshop on talking-to-kids-about-sex that was not perfect but was certainly good enough to satisfy me.
And just now had another person want to connect.
And had several very good and useful meetings, not the annoying kind.
And started a diet shift that I’ve needed for a while.
And it is beautiful and sunny (if chilly).
The masked bash this weekend.
Thank you Havi!
Ooooh, thank you for linking to my Rest post, Havi! Overjoyed!
I never do the Friday Chicken, but I think I’ll take a crack at it.
The hard:
– Still tired. Ready for that to be over.
– Inexplicable headaches and nausea. Bleh.
– Things not going as I’d hoped. Still.
– Anticipating maintenance staff arriving to finish up work on repairs. Would much rather be alone.
The good:
– Anticipating maintenance staff arriving to finish up work on repairs. Looking forward to the closure.
– The webinar I did with Jacquelyn this week! Lots of people! Lots of good questions! And David was a fantastic moderator.
– Ridiculously cheap, fake suede over-the-knee boots that I don’t have to worry about messing up because: cheap!
– Fried apple pie at Rx.
xo
maryann
*yawns, sniffles and sneezes. shakes head* Going to try and find the good. I know it was there.
The hard stuff
People
I was in such a low mood this week. Literally down to depression levels of negativity. Lots of reasons, but overall just living with three bubbly housemates. And seeing their mood drop because I’m in the room. Guilt and then some bad thoughts.
This Caused Conflict
And I don’t think having conflict with me when i’m in that mood; when i’ve warned you that i’m sorry but i just can’t talk right now…. and then throwing shoes and stepping on my stuff. when you know those things get to me.
Not being mean; just careless and not thinking. But darn it, so not good.
Brought me right down from the bottom.
Chai.
I ran out of chai tea last week. And had to go a week without my favourite tea. through the conflict and illness and bleurgh. without my tea to lean on.
Lethargy
No sleep. Nightmares. Dreams where I exhaust myself, then wake and have to get through a day already exhausted. Running out of my iron tablets. No energy.
Falling Over
Having no support. My lifelines all caught up in their own drama and no one to turn to. No one to lean on. So i leaned on food and angry music.
Being angry is more acceptable than falling apart 🙁
Honour
Of the people who are still around for me to talk to? Only one can keep her word. Only one person can actually make a plan and keep it. I understand sometimes clashes are unavoidable and you can no longer do X for Y. But this is ten people all cancelling five minutes before an event or even making 2 plans for the same time – both they’re in charge of.
People saying they can do X then not and NOT EVEN TELLING ME so i can arrange an alternative.
So sick of people who won’t keep their promises. 🙁
There’s more, but I don’t want to focus on the lack anymore.
The good stuff
Movies.
Went to Eat, Pray, Love with some people in our spiritual club/society. I LOVED the book and it wasn’t too bad as a movie. They missed out a lot but some of the parts were really well done.
The Weather
It’s OCTOBER in the UK. And we have Sun. Not a sliver but DAYS AND DAYS OF SUN. BLUE SKIES. No rain for a WEEK. I’ve never seen anything like it. 😛
Exercise
Hiked for 90 minutes last weekend and then did an hour of walking this week. Found a great tree to climb. Also started doing my physio and regular shivanata after about 4 months of not. Feel so much better.
Cleaning and organizing.
I love my autumn cleaning mode. SO much. -hugs it-
I’m going to move around my furniture and dance and the kitchen’s all nice and clean! SQUEE.
Chai.
I bought some Chai about 30 minutes ago. ANd i’m now drinking it. Heaven, seriously.
Sorry to be a bit whiny; just felt maybe if i put it out here then i can leave it here; not carry it all around and such.
Hugs to all who want one.
Rose
Wow, has it really only been 7 days since the last chicken. Somehow feels like weeks.
The hard:
– feeling really tired and lacking in energy and therefore not doing all of the stuff I wanted to get done
– feeling like this was some sort of moral failure
– my slightly bizarre inability to find any decent gloves. Trivial but vexing.
The good:
– energy recovery finally happening, and actually managed to rest yesterday evening instead of rushing around doing loads of stuff even though I felt terrible
– submitting my portfolio in time for the deadline
– finding a job I’m very excited about applying for
– making a train and wire ribbon roses for a burlesque costume. Serious squeeing.
– awesome yoga and working with I felt like I could do rather than what I thought I should be doing
– finishing reading a great book and then starting another one
– good week at work
– excitement for the weekend
And seriously, THANK GOD this week was better than last week.
Have gorgeous weekends, everyone.
Unexpected good hidden inside the hard! Oh Havi, I am right there with you on that one. Oh boy.
Oh this week. I want to give it love because it had so much hard and weird and stuck in it.
I gave it lots more details over at my own blog, but let me say briefly one thing I forgot to blog about: I successfully used freewriting (750words.com baby!) to recover a lost-to-me epiphany that arrived and then disappeared during the evening commute. It was so cool to recover it! Shiny and new and even more awesome than I remembered it!
Many many hugs to all for the hard and the good and the everythingness of this week.
And extraspecial LOLs for @Kathleen for the Paper View band. Ahahahahaha! Love it.
Hi there Havi,
I’m new with this but since I am slacking at my day gig today after a rough week, here we go:
The hard:
– I’m UNPOPULAR on Twitter. Twitter people think I suck. I don’t know why. I never gave a rat’s ass what people thought before, why do I care now?
– I thought of some brilliant event ideas for the winter in the Arts and Wellness Sanctuary but am having worries that they are too ambitious, based on past failures…damn!
– The drycleaner episode: Yesterday I had court, was running late in the morning. Planned to wear a freshly drycleaned skirt (the only thing clean, appropriate, and comfortable left) only to find that it was STANK to high heaven, with OTHER PEOPLE”S FUNK, not mine! Eeewww, nasty! The cleaners neglected to change the filter (AGAIN)! I went ballistic, sprayed the skirt with all kinds of things and had a majorly crankified day.
The good:
– I thought of some brilliant event ideas for the winter in the Arts and Wellness Sanctuary.
– Connected with a dear friend who I thought was avoiding me since July but she was not.
– It’s a gorgeous day and weekend coming up and I have nothing planned except margaritas and the hammock lazing.
Lazified Lisa
Paper Dorks!
Your favorite kind!
The Hard:
-Accepting some money facts. Unwillingly.
-Brunching my new online shop. Happiness, but hard. Hard hard hard.
-Editing over 600 photos. In one day.
The good:
-Asked Twitter for a couch in Portland for 12/6 and ended up with the King’s Suite at Hotel Monoco. For free. DUDE!
-Invited to do a trunk show of my yarn at Twisted, which means I have a time/place to invite Portlanders to come say hi. YAY!
-Taking 600 pictures. In one day! Of yarn! My favorite!
-Launched my new shop! And started the Yarn Party!
Oh. That’s a bunch. I think I’m spending the weekend laying around and drinking hot chocolate while draped in handknits. Yes.
Farewell, October. I barely knew ye.
It’s been weeks (months?) since I did a Chicken. I’m so ashamed. SELF-SHAAAAAAAME (not really, don’t worry, I’m just in a silly mood).
The Hard:
– I had a very important bill come very close to being terminally due.
– I misled someone I cared about to avoid stressing them out unduly about something they couldn’t fix, and ended up stressing myself out even more because of it.
– I have spent much of my time this week wishing I’d known when I started my business what I know now.
– I am distressed by increasingly finding myself assuming the worst, both in terms of what will happen and what people are Really Thinking.
– I had to drive to Delaware and back last weekend. 10 hours each way. Uggggh.
The Good:
+ The bill got paid.
+ The situation got explained, and nobody’s stressed about it anymore.
+ I do know what I know now, and I’m going to spend next week implementing it.
+ I have sat down and explained to my monster that Occam’s Razor demands that the entire world is not lying to me about how they feel and laughing behind my back.
+ I’ve spent several hours today making other people happy. (Have to finish this before the next person’s call…)
+ I get to make someone’s day by proxy.
+ I get to spend a relaxing weekend doing only what I want to do and nothing else.
Have a great weekend, everybody. ♥
@ A. Mancuso – Hullo fellow de-lurker! I find solidarity in your making yourself seen. Ta!
So, even though (those famous words) I’ve technically already de-lurked, having posted a couple of comments over the past few months, this time feels cause for celebration for me, because I finally feel – and this may read strange – internally de-lurked. As in, the other times felt kinda awkward and uncomfortable, and now I feel wonderfully at home in my de-lurkedness. Hurrah!
Anyways… my turn at the Friday Ritual:
The Hard
Can I skip straight to the Good Stuff? Because I’m too excited to wait!
Permission Granted.
The Good Stuff
Shiva Nata Teacher Training! As in, I am going!
Rally! As in, I am going! (Okay, I haven’t yet officially signed up, but, goshdarnit, I am going.
Blog! As in, I started one! After many, many months of extreme stucky stuckness. All welcome aboard! Come and say hullo and brighten my day even more.
…Working through the ‘being seen’ stuck! At least to some degree. Some large degree. That allows me to have a blog! (see above).
Finding the perfect cosy chair for my Creative Dreaming Room. (Not only is it perfect in its form, being round and rattan and deliciously squishy, my love found it in the charity shop for £4! If you don’t live in the UK and that means nothing to you, know that it is very cheap indeed.
Mini-Rally! Inspired by Havi’s Rally, and not being able to wait until February for some Rallying Action, I had a mini-rally with me mam (translation for non-Northern English folk: my mum (who is awesome enough to get her own parentheses dedicated to her awesomeness)). How we rallied!
Writing a blog comment using HTML! I hope I got it right and that this doesn’t come out all funny-looking.
Over-arching theme of MOVEMENT. Exactly what I’m needing right now (refer to ‘many, many months of extreme stucky stuckness’ above). Yay!
The Hard
Working in retail. Even though it’s only part-time. Even though it’s only til February. Even though it’s a lovely little independent shop on a lovely quiet road, and not a soul-destroying chainstore in the busy, overwhelming centre of town – it still sucks.
Eating sugar when I really would rather not. This tends to happen in relation to the above.
And just so I don’t finish on the Hard…
Good! Rupa’s blog warming my soul, my darling’s amazing cooking warming my tummy, and slippersocks warming my toes on these cold autumn evenings!
Love to all & everyone!
Reba x
Update since posting my comment thirty seconds ago:
Slightly Hard
Not quite pulling off the HTML as planned. No bullet points!
Ooh, Paper Dorks! I bet he sends out the best fan club letters.
Somehow between last Friday and this one I managed to remember my theme for the year — Better.
The Hard:
– Realizing that, while I know exactly what I want to do for Thanksgiving now, I’ll have to get some serious hustle on to be able to afford it. And then being too busy to hustle.
– Cat barf. Gah.
– Had a moment of ick with a friend whose work/drama stress levels are (unusually, for him) overflowing into the rest of his life.
– Still in my money stuck. Not a happy camper.
– Sadly I have limited amounts of energy and brains each day, week, etc, and I hate that my limits seem so tiny.
– Having the sad suspicion that even if I do write a fourth novel for NaNoWriMo this year, no one will read it.
– Had my suspicion confirmed that a mildly bad-for-me thing will happen soon, and am surprised at how much it feels like betrayal even now. Bah.
The Good:
+ Seeing the President of the US in a Youtube Video telling GLBT youth, “It Gets Better.”
+ Cleaned ALL the things! My minion came by on Saturday and dusted my many bookshelves and cleaned the kitchen floors, while I cleaned the kitchen counters, sink, and bathroom. Then laundry on Wednesday for clean sheets, and a general sense of awesomeness.
+ Saw RED. Loved it. It is so exactly what it looks like, hilarious explodey shallow boy fun.
+ Saw friends and clients a lot this week, with much excellent awesomeness resulting. Moment of ick solved with nachos.
+ Was inspired by Havi’s recent post about replacing worry with curiosity, and have found it good for a lot of things so far.
+ Have a couple of wonderful ideas for Etsy shop products, and a great Ideastorming session with Tara for how to make it easier to buy stuff from me on my art site.
+ Unstuck a novel that’s been stuck for a couple of years now, and feel as though the end is in sight.
+ Found a plot idea for NaNoWriMo, and am getting back into the writing habit.
+ Developing a few more good habits, slowly but surely. Self care ftw.
+ Spent much of the week smiling and content with life, and confident that somehow it will all work out. Weird, but welcome.
WOW. Is it really Friday already?!
Yeep.
The hard this week:
*Schleepy, as Havi would say. I think I’m still recovering from the trip tot he beach last week… the one that the EO didn’t get to go to even though it was his birthday present because he got SICK!
*worrying that I hadn’t done things right for the trade show and my line wasn’t going to get displayed after all…
*Then scared that no one will buy my patterns at said show.
*Misunderstandings and annoyances with business acquaintances.
The Good:
*EO getting better. Looks like all of the issues might be easily resolved. After a year of dealing with it, this is a Good Thing(TM).
*Finding out that I’m not out of luck on a gig that I thought I’d missed out on due to other people’s actions…
*Making new friends that resulted in above.
*Trade show page DID go up without a hitch. I’m now officially a wholesaler! Eep. (Only time will tell about the buying the stuff thing… I’ll know Monday or Tuesday, I think.)
*Rally! (I WANT to come. I’m not sure I can traverse the entire country to get there, though. 🙁 ) Gonna see what I can do about it, though. 🙂
Friday!?!?!? Again!?!?!
The hard:
– The woman I am replacing coming into the office and not getting any work done for hours during her visit becauses everyone kept coming in for baby watching.
– Three females discussing the wonders of breast-feeding in my presence.
– A “I think life must be very boring outside Bolivia” shoe.
– Interrupted sleep because of full moon.
– Feeling slightly PMSey.
– My boots that I bought only a month ago for a lot of money started to fall apart.
The good:
– Good chat with my boss.
– News on the job front.
– A hermit Sunday in sight.
– Was reimbursed for the pair of boots immediately and bought a cheaper pair which I really like, too.
– A new yoga mat and a new fluffy fleece blanket.
– I can go to bed right after this chicken.
Good night and have a great weekend!
Ohhhh boy. Friday? FRIDAY?
The hard:
I anticipated that this week would be easy and low-stress because two projects just ended last week. This was not the case.
Overscheduling myself so I didn’t accomplish my goal of working my “real career” every day for at least 20 minutes.
The j-o-b being stressful. Actually, think-about-it-when-I’m-not-there stressful. Oh, the humanity!
I’m trying to eat health(ier) and it is difficult! I don’t want vegetables, I want giant tubs of cheese….
The good:
Some lovely time with a friend from out of town
Finishing up a 6-week class feeling positive and like I can create some momentum
REALLY looking forward to this weekend. I read that anticipation is almost as good as the fun thing itself (WOW that can be taken a lot of ways hehehe)
Hugs & happy weekends to all!
~Beth
@ Reba
Solidarity! Yes. It’s still awfully bright outside the shadows, and weird Being Seen, but hey, we’re standing. Right? Right.
@ Amy Crook
Two things.
One, cat barf? Yeah, here too. SYMPATHY.
Two, if I may say this without stepping on toes (*crossing fingers!*), the bit about the sad and no one wanting to read your fourth NaNovel? Would it help the sad if I said I’d like to read the novel if and when you write it?
@ everyone
You guys are so cool. 😀
Paper dorks — hey, that’s me!
This week’s hard:
– Julie Jeep is having lots of engine problems, which makes us sad and empties our wallets and makes us have to stretch out our floor project a little longer.
– Upcoming family celebratory brouhaha this weekend with the side of the family we see least often. Trying to get the house cleaned and host a little lunch and, oh, who was the silly person who volunteered to make all the desserts for the big shindig Saturday? Oh, right, me.
– Admitting that it really is fall and turning on the heat.
This week’s good:
– Finished the first pass edit on the fiction book ahead of schedule.
– Actual real live progress made on the floors. Got one whole room ground down and sealed and the decision finalized on the wood for two of the other rooms.
– Realizing that bakeries make lovely treats and seriously, who cares if I baked the goodies myself or bought them from the good bakery?
Hugs for the hard and cheers for the good, chickeneers! Happy Friday!
The Hard:
Students. Mostly how many of them I have. My biggest class got two more this week so now we have people sitting in chairs with no desks and will soon be out of chairs.
Being a Philly phan. Why did the forgetting how to hit the ball slump happen now? I’m looking at you, Ryan Howard. Also, the whole “lets start postseason games at 8pm” thing makes it hard on those of us who live on the east coast and get up at 5 in the morning. *yaaaaawn*
Pain. Overdid it last week and my knee and lower back made me pay for it the beginning of this one.
The Good:
Philly is still in it!
Moments of good with kids. Feel like I managed to weave the disparate threads of Unit 4 in my World History class together better than usual this year.
Much less pain today. 🙂
The Hard.
I hit someone with a shoe. I didn’t throw it. I took it off because it was hurting me and then I was kind of gesticulating with it about how it hurt and I didn’t like it and it hit someone. And I’m sorry.
The Good.
I’m home. Deliciously home. With laundry being cleaned as we speak.
I just spent the last 7 days at a Buddhist center in the mountains on a writing retreat. Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds.
I found my voice there. I made people laugh.
I get to sleep in my own bed tonight. And pee and poop and shower in a bathroom where no one else is.
Golly. I know where the week went, but there sure as heck didn’t seem to be enough of it.
Hard:
* Insecurity Monster jamborees.
* Friends going through rough patches.
* Glitchy leg and yeast blah.
Good:
* Compliments from clients and friends.
* New sweaters.
* An exchange with my (very and adorably mechanically minded) sweetie about mezuzot that made me laugh out loud: “See, they’re slanted because Rabbi A said they should be vertical and Rabbi B insisted they had to be horizontal.” “So it’s (A+B)/2. Total engineer’s solution!”
* Progress with decluttering.
* Progress on various projects.
Wishing everyone solace and solutions for the hard, and good things for the coming week.
Reminds me of that old Dorothy Parker witticism: “You can lead a whore to culture, but you can’t make her think.”
sigh. so full. I just ‘caught up’ with the posts on this blog.
I was going to blame my not reading for a few weeks on work and vacation and house guests but now I’m wondering. Is there faint shame lurking?
But I love sitting down and reading a whole slew of posts while sipping tea. It’s a pleasure.
Perhaps I like reading in bigger chunks? Getting a narrative going in my head? Maybe this is one way I keep my reading/practice from turning into a sneaky should?
In that spirit I am not going to wrap up my week formally, even though I hear a dim echo of a should in my ear. I am just going to waft kisses to you all and fall sweetly asleep.
xx M
Oops. Friday got away from me, again.
The hard:
– Having to be up early every single morning this week. And getting to bed late every night. Ugh.
– Deadline for producing stats for my research project is rapidly approaching
– Deadline for major project for my current doctoral course is also approaching.
– Pushback from students who don’t want to be expected to know things from previous or concurrent courses on my exams. Seriously? This is GRADUATE school.
– Mystery rash on my hands that causes my itching and appears for no apparent reason and then disappears overnight.
The good:
+ Getting back in sync with the boss. We both acknowledged that we are each doing way too much and things will fall through the cracks as a result.
+ Students who willingly volunteered to help with mass EKG screenings.
+ Students doing very well at their internships
+ Figuring out that the eggs I was eating at breakfast was triggering the mystery rash. Still baffled as I’ve eaten eggs for decades without problems.
+ Finally getting past my head cold and resuming regular exercise
+ Making progress on the stats
+ Getting my required postings for the doctoral course in on time. Not my most brilliant writing, but good enough to get the job done.
Happy weekend, everyone!
Hooray for all the good things in your week, especially the goodest of good things, the advent of LAYERS! I heart layers, in clothing, art, and pretty much everything else.
durn horses and their thirstiness and their not noticing the lovely thirst quenching waters! i have some naughty ponies myself : }
the hard! i really don’t know right now what to say about the hard, it’s there, but i am not feeling it right at this very moment, i was nervous about this week but i vpa’ed it and really it was super smooth!!! i think there were some sneaky little toughies in there but i just could cope with them somehow
the good! handing in my writing, getting my mom outta the hospital, having lovely times with my gentleman friend, having lovely times with my lady friends, seriously i just am so lucky and happy this week, and YAY Amy – http://barefootphoenix.com/blog/
most looking forward to the magics of vpas this week!
So I just checked this chicken to make sure you hadn’t already found a place for SXSW so my answer to the LAST chicken wouldn’t be completely irrelevant, and I have nothing useful to contribute except for a very funny Dorothy Parker joke:
Backstory to this joke: Dorothy Parker and a whole bunch of other writers and wits and playwrights and the like used to hang out at the Algonquin Club, where they would play games that were basically designed to show off how clever they were. One of these was called In a Sentence, where other members would challenge one person to use an obscure word in a sentence in a witty way.
Dorothy Parker was given the word “horticulture.”
To which she responded, “You can lead a whore to culture, but you cannot make her think.”
Thank you. My obscure historical references will be here all week.