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.
Friday!
To be honest, I’m not even sure how that’s possible (because yesterday was Tuesday, right?).
But yes. Here we are. Chickening it up.
The hard stuff
Traveling.
Not the fun part of travel (like figuring out where to get the weirdest lasagna in Iceland — ask me!).
The annoying parts.
The getting up at dark-thirty and then finding yourself a gazillion hours later still waiting.
Being suspended in various states of nothing-is-happening interspersed by annoyance and loud beeping noises.
Oh, and then we got to the airport, only to find that they won’t let you check in until three hours before your flight.
This was eight hours before our flight. In a place that was too hot to be outside.
Turns out that sitting in an airport doing nothing before checking in is even more excruciating than just regular sitting in an airport doing nothing.
And of course I got pulled over by security.
Again. They can’t help themselves. It’s probably the duck.
And got a cold.
I’m sure it had nothing to do with my two seating companions who could not stop sneezing on me the entire time. Man, that was a terrible plane ride in about a hundred different ways.
Adjusting to Non-Vacation life.
The thing with Extremely Necessary Vacation is that — in addition to being extremely necessary, it was also this beautiful in-between period.
The coming down has not always been the gentlest.
More bots.
Error messages this week when the bad bots made the site to go down.
Lucky tech pirate Charlotte is a genius and got on it right away. It still creeps me out every time it happens though.
I still don’t have my mail.
Remember the asshats who have my mail?
So. No progress at all.
The Better Business Bureau have thrown up their impotent hands.
And the people who lease the space won’t give me real contact information for the people who have my mail. Still mad.
The good stuff
Home!
Oh, my beloved Hoppy House. How I have missed you.
Tramp tramp tramp tramp tramp tramp tramp.
I have a trampoline in my office.
As much as I love tooling around Europe teaching wackiness and being driven crazy by jackhammers … one can’t easily take one’s trampoline on a plane.
It’s really, really good to be back.
Tramp tramp tramp tramp tramp tramp. BOUNCE!
Also: toys.
My morning yoga practice is the thing that kept me sane during the traveling.
But now I’m home and I have space to move around in. And there are blocks and straps and stuff. Toys! Toys!
They aren’t necessary. But oh, they’re appreciated when they’re around.
Routine.
And getting back into one.
The foods!
My gentleman friend is the best cook I know.
All this eating-at-restaurants stuff is good for practicing sovereignty but it’s nothing like the food I get to eat at home.
Seeing homemade pasta hanging from every counter-top and listening to the sounds of walnut pesto being made just for me is … I don’t have a good adjective for it. Supply your own.
My clients.
Now that I actually know what time zone I’m in again, I’ve been back to doing client sessions.
I know it’s not cool to brag about your clients. But still. Mine are so smart and so funny. And I get crazy excited about everything they’re doing. Yay.
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.”
So this week, I bring you:
The Naughty Harem of Sparkles.
I wish I could explain it to you, but I can’t. It came up in one of the hilarious chat room conversations in our Kitchen Table calls and it might not have even made sense then.
Anyway, the Naughty Harem of Sparkles … it’s just one guy.
And … STUISMS of the week.
Stu is my paranoid McCarthy-ist voice-to-text software who delights in torturing me misunderstanding me. I can’t stand him.
Here we go:
- “murderous son” instead of Marissa
- “writable clinical second debate” instead of Right People Clinic date
- “coordinator stats” instead of what are the next steps
- “sovereignt over to the new hay” instead of sovereignty opportunity of the day
- “a film for it to finish the trick in” instead of Don’t for get to finish the Chicken!
- ” exhibiting similar Samari” instead of these are the things I’m worried about
- “Uncle Coop and a” instead of Kung Fu Panda
That’s it for me …
And yes yes yes, of course you can join in my Friday ritual right here in the comments bit if you feel like it.
Yeah? Anything hard and/or good happen in your week?
And, as always, have a glorrrrrrrrrrrrious weekend. And a happy week to come.
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The Naughty Harem of Sparkles reminds me of the part of Don Juan De Marco where Johnny Depp’s character is hiding in the harem. 🙂
So sorry you’re having mail hard. Having been through several permutations of that myself, I really do empathize. (at one point we even had a postmaster who hated our town so much she basically hid/threw away our mail).
This week has been odd. And long. And cold.
The hard:
#2 daughter being ill and needing soup and bed time and not being able to take it due to heavy course load and work. Having to stand by and offer love and tissues, but not being able to make it all better.
Hormonal issues. Can’t we be done with these already? Grr.
The good:
Being able to bring my bear hat out of hibernation.
Receiving my contributor’s copy of A Very Beaded Christmas today.
Going to see Where the Wild Things Are tonight with my boys and my stitch and bitch group. Going to wear my bear hat 😀
Having two pieces selected for publication in 500 Art Quilts (due in spring 2010)
Making it to the object jury at the FAVA Artist as Quiltmaker show. And actually being able to write a cohesive statement about the piece!
Watching the “Fantasy” episode of Art21 on the PBS video portal and realizing why I still love this art-making path I’m on.
We’re hoping to go on the foliage wagon ride at Lake Hope State Park this weekend. I will be thinking of you all and wishing you were here!
.-= Andi´s last post … Taking the Leap =-.
Havi, Oy for all the travel nightmares, evil bots and Stealers of Mail. And hooray for tramping, your return home, toys, home-made food and lovely clients! 🙂
Stu is a savant sometimes. “A film for it to finish a trick in”. Think I’ll write a poem about that.
My hard this week:
Saying a clear no–yet again–to what I no longer want, when it comes decked out in the seductions of security.
My good–no, great!–this week:
Your Wednesday post listed me as an Item! :-)That was a wonderful honor, and I’ve met some lovely people as a result.
Brilliant session this week with my business coach, Havi, mapping out my January class. So much practical, skilled support and help, I feel solidly held in a container love and blessings.
Re-arranged the downstairs of my house. Now reveling in all this delicious spaciousness.
That’s it for me. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.
Love, Hiro
.-= Hiro Boga´s last post … The With-ness of We =-.
Oh dear, traveling and sick and mail issues… I’m so sorry! I hope you feel better soon Havi.
Hard:
– Expensive vet bills.
– Lots of my clients canceled their tutoring this week. Everyone’s sick!
Good:
+ Went to a small contemporary art fair I’d never heard of before, and it was great! Good fun.
+ My sister took me out to lunch for my birthday and we caught up on everything. Usually she’s too hurried and stressed to chat much. It was good to just relax and talk.
+ Craigslist comes through again. I posted an ad looking for a new tutoring client, and got one! Yay!
.-= Barbara J Carter´s last post … “Dots 14? little bitty painting =-.
Once again, welcome back!
Let’s do this chicken.
The HARD:
– Struggling with late bed times and my cat’s 5:30 am friskiness led to some pretty heavy tiredness yesterday. I ended up having another half a cup of coffee to get going at work, but I’m feeling pretty draggy.
– A lot of my stuff about feeling appreciated by others, and feeling like I need to be really busy to get that appreciation was triggered this week. We are hiring a bunch of new staff and I am having trouble with the transition of my job duties and feeling like I know what is expected of me.
– Talking about this in therapy was really unsatisfying and now I know I need to have a difficult conversation around that experience. Grrr.
The GOOD:
– New blinds on my windows! Okay, not new; we bought them when we moved in way back in, oh…April. But one of our friends came over on Tuesday and helped me put up the majority of them.
– I worked on putting up those blinds! I figured my gf, definitely the butchiER one of us, would help our friend…but she really didn’t feel like it and I surprisingly DID so I jumped in and it felt great.
– Yoga routines: I’ve totally got them! I’ve been doing a short wind-down yoga session and meditation before bed for two weeks, and added a wake-up yoga moment too. Making space for this has been great practice on the issue of sovereignty, actually. And having these quiet, empty moments makes me much more aware of all my feelings, good and bad, throughout the day.
– Finished my first pair of Socktober fest socks this week! And realized they are the 18th pair I’ve knit. Whoa, dude. I totally remember when knitting socks seemed impossible.
– Being more present with my gf. Definitely an unexpected, huge benefit of the extra space and sovereignty of my new yoga routines.
Wishing everyone a lovely, restful weekend!
Are you SURE the Naughty Harem of Sparkles is just one guy?! Because I’m pretty sure that should be the name of my bellydance troupe, and there are 4 of us plus the 2 we borrowed from another local troupe… plus our wonderful two roadies and the Voice who does our introductions… Hee hee.
Mail: ICK. Just Ick. I mean, what if there are fansocks in there?! You NEED that mail!
The Hard – The cough that WILL NOT LEAVE. Go away, darn it. A month is WAY too long to be coughing. Especially with no other symptoms to treat!
Transition back to work yesterday from planned but extremely-necessary vacation.
The Good – That bellydance troupe mentioned above. The “Elvis” routine. The King Tut meets burlesque routine that I didn’t get to be part of, but laugh myself silly every time I get to watch it, including the “air strip” at rehearsals…
A weekend with wacky and professional bellydancers at the beach. Extra time at the beach with my wonderful EO. Seafood.
Having the workshop teachers tell us that our performance that night was “worth the trip” to NC from Michigan. Being asked to “please don’t top that performance,” by the organizer. Hearing about the troupe getting a standing ovation at breakfast the next morning. Laughter.
Finishing the model for a new cross stitch pattern.
Naomi Dunford’s SpeakEasy.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
.-= G. Romilly´s last post … I’m baaaack! =-.
Yay Chicken!!
You still don’t have your mail?! Bah, humbug.
But… you have a trampoline?! That’s so awesome. 😀
Hard this week:
– The OMGMONEY freak-out. Which required a couple of hours in my Meditation Chair.
– The weather has been overcast, rainy, and generally blah.
– Sending a few difficult (well… scary to write!) emails.
– It’s been a little over a year since I left London to move to Russia. I still miss London. 🙁
Good this week:
– Shiva Nata DVD is in the mail. Hooray!
– Applied to rescue an injured racing greyhound. It would be nice to have a dog in my life again. Yay greyhounds!
– My friend/delicious and nutritious business partner Greg is inching ever closer to moving up here. Now only 9 days away!
– Scholarship to Project Mojave. Cool!
On balance it was an ok week. Going to meditate on what I need to do to make next week even better. 🙂
.-= Charlotte´s last post … Every Problem Is Solvable =-.
Welcome home! There is NO place like home!
The Hard:
– Still exhausted, still fat, still not enough time for self-care
The Good:
– KITTIES!!! We brought home 2 from the shelter. Original plan was just to get one. So we had picked out a 5 year old (they are harder to adopt) but the little one in the cage next door was very persistent. So we took her out of the cage and she immediately purred in my arms. NO WAY I could leave her at the shelter. So both came home last Saturday. The older kitty is still pretty skittish. The younger one is completely at home and is so innocent. She can’t figure out why the older kitty doesn’t want to be her friend yet. Everyone is her friend. Even when the older kitty hisses and growls, she still wants to go up to her. The older kitty is starting to come out of hiding more and the two of them sat and stared at each other for a long time this morning before the growling began. We are slowly making progress. Someday, they will be friends, I’m certain.
In the meantime, unconditional cat love first thing on a dark morning has brought joy back into my life for the first time in a long time.
The Hard
organising film shoot for last sat 5 days later I’m still tired and scared its the returne of the dreaded ME/CFS
Got an email that I’m not going to get an interview for my dream job 🙁
struggling with self care that line between necessary and ‘self indulgent’
Juggling trying to change my work life, making enough money to live on and doing my creative stuff.
Dealing with tree hating neighbours
THe Good
I’m doing creative stuff again.
I’ve been catching up with friends.
Saw Dr Panusses and the Imaginarium and it was great !
.-= creativevoyage´s last post … messages 5 on a Friday =-.
Hey Havi, I emailed you/your crew a link to a website that might help you track down contact info for the mail jerks. I hope it helps!
aaaaannnnnd CHICKEN!
hard:
awkward week long boyfriend’s mom visit. It was also exhausting not being able to just ‘be at home’ when we were home because she was staying with us.
icky relationship stuff going on. there was some crying for the first time last night. it was HARD and so… UGH. just yuck. I am ready to be done and I feel bad about that and the idea of hurting someone is the worst and it feels like nothing can be done to avoid it. Even if I am acting on what I need and in sovereignty, he will still be hurt because thats how this stuff goes. not fair.
good:
I found a GREAT new home! I get to move to the Alberta neighborhood in Portland and I am very excited about that. I also get a whole room in the basement for an art studio where I can shut the door and shiva it up and do whatever I need to do and its going to be FABULOUS! also, one roommate teaches a screen printing class and will be setting up a screen printing studio in the other basement room and I have always wanted to learn to do that so that is a huge bonus! I am very very very excited
I have good friends. they are all mine and not a gentleman friend’s friends sort of situation and that is a nice change for me and a breakthrough in an old pattern I discovered. I feel so much safer and at ease knowing I have them in my life.
I get to watch the OU/TX college football game with an honest to goodness fan that totally gets what this game in particular is all about and its going to be a blast! BOOMER SOONER! hahaha everyone have a great weekend!
@ilikered Ahh! A Sooner fan! I went to University of Tulsa myself, but my gf’s family are HUGE Sooner fans. Enjoy!
I shake my fist at the universe in solidarity with your mail rage. Seriously. Sheez.
I am at Blogworld, which means I am in Las Vegas, which falls into the category “hard” and also “noisy” and “makes me contemplate renouncing citizenship.” However, it also falls into category “get to hang with naomi and megan and charlie and angela and colleen if I can catch up with her and more lovely people,” so that is a good thing.
.-= Sonia Simone´s last post … What Makes Marketing Hard? =-.
I spent this week wrestling with my client’s website. It was awful, I was crying and angry and not much fun to be around. But I fixed it, and it’s done, and I’m rather proud. So, yay me! Now I just need to learn how not to be so toxic when things don’t go my way.
And I think I sort of fell in love with my husband all over again. So, yay love! 🙂
.-= Amber´s last post … Why I Love the Suburbs =-.
So sorry to hear that you still can’t get your mail. That totally sucks! And traveling Blech!! I love to BE in new places and have glorious adventures but I hate, hate, hate having to go through the rigamarole of actually having to GET there! I am so ready and waiting for the Star Trek form of travel where you just get beamed from place to place.
The hard: I had one last 2 hour dental gum surgery treatment. It was no fun with lots of novocaine and drilling ….IN MY MOUTH…. How barbaric is THAT… and noise and trauma.
I can’t eat solid food for another week. I MISS CHEWING!!
The good:
The gum surgeries are OVER… Finito… DONE!!!
One of my dear friends came with me and she also massaged my feet and my dentist was SOOO jealous and said ” I can’t think of ONE friend of mine who would come and massage my feet at the dentists.” Which means I got to sit in that chair and be reminded over and over agin how much I am loved. And what wonderful people I have in my life.
An upcoming workshop of mine that had only two people a week ago now has a waiting list. YAY for non-icky marketing techniques that work. A lot of which I learned here!!
.-= chris zydel´s last post … Abuse Your Art Supplies =-.
@Romilly – I’m still laughing. I need you to carry me around to all of your fabulous adventures. Excellent!
@ilikered – Welcome to Alberta! Wheeeeeeeee!
Friday Chicken hugs all around. You guys have helped me start liking Fridays a lot more. Thank you.
That’s such a bummer about your mail, have you talked to the post office at all? Given that mail tampering is illegal, there must be something you can do… I had such high hopes they’d just Return to Sender it all, so at least you’d know it could come back someday! Good luck with that.
Also, I am jealous of your trampoline. Tramp tramp BOUNCE! It’s like being your own Tigger. Except with a duck.
The Hard
– Some insomnia crept in and stole away a lot of my energy, and combined with hopefully-allergies-not-sicky has made me lethargic and bleah for the end of this week.
– Waffling and uncertainty and lack. Bleh. I keep trying to trust that things will happen and then find myself overcommitted to social things I can’t really afford, which is filled with yuck.
– Not making as much progress on the New Work Schedule as I want to, and trying not to beat myself up about it as I realize some days are just not going to work that way, and I have to spread things out differently.
– Humidity, ugh. I loveloveloved the giant rains of Tuesday, but the humidity and lingering feeling that the world is filled with mildew I could totally do without.
– Certain sludgy worries are just so pervasive, it feels like it casts a pall on lots of other things.
The Good
+ Painted! Painty painty painting, including work on a piece for myself and some wee pieces for hopeful Etsying.
+ CaffeinatedElf is going to come to my rescue! I found that some of my stuck was just simple, basic do not want, and am hiring her to do the bits of my new site that I just have no desire to learn to do myself.
+ New Client! Probably maybe, it’s never real until you get the check, but she seemed quite sure at the meeting. And New Client will easily pay for Caffeinated Elf, instead of having to scrimp out of a different client’s moneys for her.
+ Awesome friends are awesome. Good hanging out this week, and more coming up that I actually did scrounge up some pennies for. Also, very understanding about the budgetary difficulties.
+ Finished an art commission! And made some good progress on another, and also sold a wee little side project thing to someone who had expressed interest.
+ Art moneys let me take advantage of a sale on awesome soaps that I love, and have been out of for a few weeks.
+ Awesome client project is really coming along apace, and is visually something I can be v. proud of, whew! Also, awesome client is happy with it, double whew!
+ Friday Chicken lets me see again that despite the pall, my life is just way, way more good than bad.
.-= Amy Crook´s last post … Illustration: 24 Nicks =-.
Mail rage is totally justified. There’s got to be some kind of federal law against that, too, some kind of mail tampering. Ugh.
The hard:
– Sickness. I hate being sick. Especially when it involves Pepto Bismol, which is just really gross stuff but seems to be the only thing that helps in the situation I was in.
– Behindness. Because of sickness.
– Frustratedness. Because of clueless people who can’t follow directions, even when the directions have been made so clear and simple that a four-year-old could follow them. And because of customer service types who don’t seem to care about their customers.
The good:
– I am slowly and steadily catching up to where I need to be to make next week’s deadlines.
– Turkeys! They’ve been cavorting about the yard all week. So ugly they’re cute.
– Fall colors. They are beautiful and inspiring (as long as I ignore the bleak cold season they inevitably lead to). (I think I need a bi-hemisphere life so I can live in perpetual late spring to early fall.)
.-= Lori Paximadis´s last post … tidbits: turkey edition =-.
Finding my rhythm with writing one blog post a week (I am happy and it feels good and I’ve stopped worrying that I should be doing more.)
Something percolating inside, taking my work to another level. I’m in the “all I need to do is trust” space, not the “you’ve got to be kidding, panic sets in” space. Very nice.
Seeing you mention Iceland again, Havi, and remembering being 21 years old, exploring Iceland on the way home from Europe, broke, and everyone’s total kindness as I hitch-hiked around by myself.
Best speech recognition guffaw ever – your keys in your bikinis for yogis and yoginis
I don’t spend a lot of time talking about my hard because it doesn’t help me. When it does, I’ll talk. Right now, it’s just as it is.
@GadgetGirl Kitties! There’s a sweet company called catfaeries that makes wonderful flower essences especially for your fur friends. Might sooth your older cat’s transition to a new home.
.-= Mahala Mazerov´s last post … Meditation, Illumination and Plato’s Cave =-.
I come to chicken, because I swore it was a tradition that I would value and enjoy and repeat.
But this week was all hard. Scooter accident. Broken ribs. Fired from my volunteer managerial job!.
The good: no internal bleeding. No more lamenting about hard decisions about all the time the volunteering was going to take from my hippie husband.
Short and savory.
OK, so I flew home today, and I got pulled over by security for the first time ever (I think it was the cargo pants…too many pockets). So yeah, weird touching by complete stranger? I can relate to how not-cool that is now. And all the people staring at you as another person is invading your personal space? Weird.
Sorry your travel was so fraught with blech! But glad you’re home. And wow, you have some gentleman friend. I can’t even think of a word…and I’m a word-girl.
Alright, chickens…
The Hard:
-Hmmmm…I was out of town all week and I missed my Little Bird.
-Terrible migraine and annoying co-worker combined into annoying migraine mind soup.
The Good:
-I further perfected my systems for not turning into a pile of goo, and there are no meanie voices in my head telling me I stink. Instead, I have fond memories, even of the guy who was a jerk to me. Because I didn’t react the way I normally would. So, yay!
-Salt Lake City was a pretty nice place to visit. I liked all the walking, and I had a view of the mountains from my room, so I could sit and sketch on my mini-balcony every morning. Not bad.
-I’m home. And there’s nothing quite so sweet as a wiggly excited-to-see-you dog when you walk in the door. And I pick up the Little Bird tomorrow and we’ll have a fun weekend of fall walking (assuming it doesn’t rain). Nice.
.-= Emily´s last post … A-Ha! Extroversion for Introverts =-.
Still Friday in Portland, I believe, though technically it’s Saturday here.
Hard:
-Money fears. Money monsters lurking in the shadows, jumping out to frighten me in unexpected moments.
-Got confronted (scolded, really) regarding a punctuality issue I’d been having at one of my work sites. Felt shamed. It also fed into my “I’ll never be good enough, no matter how I try” nonsense.
-Struggling to keep moving forward on PhD projects.
Good:
-A really lovely artist date.
-I made time for some Shiva dancing. I love the fizzy feeling it gives me!
-Plenty of cuddles and good times with my family.
Okay — time for me to get a good night’s sleep, the better to enjoy this glor(rrrrrr)ious weekend!
.-= spiralsongkat´s last post … There’s a nap for that. =-.
A trampoline! I used to have one that actually moved to China with me and then to Australia. Before moving back to Germany I gave it to a friend’s little daughter who named it “the jumpy”. Happy jumping, Havi, put some good music on to go with it.
Ok, I will join in for the first time:
The hard:
– not enough sleep
– not enough time to myself
– still coughing
– winter is beginning to set in way too early
– job issue still unresolved
– getting on my husband’s nerves and vice versa
The good:
– long phone conversation with a friend I hadn’t spoken to in ages. I was complaining that I feel as though I am the only person who at almost 40 is still pretty clueless about what she really wants to do in life. She reminded me that this is perfectly ok, that something will come up and that I should have faith in my individual way.
– mail from a teacher and friend to whom I had been complaining for the umpteenth time about job issue and who just wrote: “What is it you really want to do with your life? Be honest and then we can talk”. Much appreciated direct comment that put me back on the intention-forming-track.
– awesome Phil Glass opera in a beautiful church
– a week in France coming up, only 2 more days at work
– made 10 jars of yummy quince and orange jam
Have a great weekend everyone!
Eurgh! what a week, I will dig through the hard to find the good.
The Hard
I had not recovered from the bleurgh of last week before embarking on this one. Result: I got up at 5.45am on Monday and took a five hour train ride to York for a two-day meeting, arrived, felt awful, got back on the train. Got home just after 8pm.
i took tuesday off, this stress just piles on my physical self.
i worked wednesday and thursday, struggling through both.
Friday I woke up having a full-on physical stress-out which manifested as heart-burn with spasms in my chest and ribs. i called the day off and stayed in bed.
It’s saturday and I am relaxing but i know it’s sitting there waiting for me on Monday.
The Good
My wife is very good and looking after me. she went to the shops and came back with Lucozade and Heinz tomato soup (a very British response to being under the weather), some crumbed haddock for dinner and a carton of custard for me to eat at my leisure.
where i am now: sitting in our snug in my leather chair with Connie my MacBook Pro on my knee, thinking about making changes to my website and planning my work exit strategy.
my counsellor Pat: Doing well Pat, good to talk to.
The unbelievable autumn sunshine in the park next to our house this week. Tuesday i walked through it, wednesday I ran. Absolute heaven.
have a peaceful weekend,
Lucy x
http://www.lucysweetman.co.uk
More a saturday chicken, but I wasn’t able to do it yesterday.
The hard:
– weather here decided to skip autumn and went from summer to rainy-winter-weather in two weeks. Knocked me on my butt, healthwise.
– work. I in general love my job, but this week was less than spectacular. Gotta do something about that, but still struggling.
– still lonely.
– angry with a friend. What’s worst, I feel as if it’s my own fault and that makes me even more angry with myself. Lots of triggered “BAD GIRL!” stuff.
The good:
+ OILPAINTS! I spontaneously put down the money for an oilpaint starter set and a how-to book and now I’m mucking around with traditional paint for the first time in my life it’s so fun! 😀
+ got the wireframe design for my webpage down: Huge relief.
+ Video games! I love them. 😀
+ new shower head. My old one was broken and not much fun. Part of fix my life.
.-= Carina (@chalcara)´s last post … Abandoned Powerplant; photos of =-.
Yes, I’ve noticed you’re back in your time zone again, which means you are no longer in mine and I’m back to reading the items, Chickens and adds at least a day late. Not that bad, because they’re still here a day later anyway. Ugh for travelling, especially with sneezing and coughing fellow-travellers.
So, here’s my Friday Chicken on Sunday:
+ Chatting with little Sister about life in a lovely café
+ Knitting night in my local yarn shop
+ Being able to decide to go back to bed and sleep two more hours when it was needed and feeling way more awake afterwards
+/- Shiva plateau. Which probably has a reason that I haven’t figured out yet.
– Procrastination
– More procrastination
– And yes, even more procrastination
– Which might have something to do with the job uncertainty, which I shouldn’t worry about according to my supervisor (who has no decisive power over it).
I am not surprised to hear the Better Business Bureau couldn’t do anything about the asshats who stole your mail.
However, the Portland Postmaster can, since mail theft is a felony offense. You would be shocked how seriously they treat things like this.
First, you need to file a police report. Call your local precinct’s non-emergency number.
Then you have to file a separate report with the USPS Postal Inspector.
You can call. The nearest postal inspector is in Seattle. Their number is 877-876-2455. And their address to mail complaints to (since it seems that your complaint wouldn’t work with their online form):
POSTAL INSPECTION SERVICE
PO BOX 400
SEATTLE WA 98111-4000
Please do not waste time with the BBB any more.
SOmething more interesting & perhaps helpful would be to contact the consumer advocate at your local news stations. They might be interested in doing a story on the vanishing mail. They could interview Selma!
I’ll start playing, I need a place to do this which is safer (for me) than my public social face.
The Hard: despite declaring it to be a week of rest and low-drama, there were still two occasions which made me throw up my hands and declare that I just.want.one.week.of.peace.
Stil not knowing when is a good time to discuss practical things, like finances and living arrangments, with my partner. He’s got a lot of hurt and stuck to work through on those issues, and shuts down if they are mentioned in a time or place that he’s not comfortable with. However, not being able to discuss it is stunting my ability to get on with life. Tough one to work out!
Realising my diet has shifted into the unhealthy end of the spectrum, and I’m starting to panic about what this means and how I change it and trying to not listen to the voice in my head that is telling me I’ve never been successful at it in the past unless I put myself through a period of high acute stress. Need to find a more sustainable solution.
The Good: declaring a week of rest and low-drama, and mostly sticking to it. I’m feeling so much better, refreshed, recuperated, with a bit more perspective and ready to tackle life again.
Noticing that the two times that serious drama did come up we actually dealt with it in a much better, less drawn out way.
Generally feeling more loved and more secure, as well as more connected and grounded for the first time in months (which led to one of my most heart-felt blog posts/communications. Yay!). I really missed that feeling.
Having a good night out with new friends on Friday night, and gently holding my boundaries and dignity with someone who is not very respectful of me.
.-= Karinne´s last post … Philosophy and Practice of Communication: awareness and compassion =-.
@Casey – man, I am so so sorry that your week was so full of hard and suckiness. And physical pain. Ugh. Horrible. Broken ribs? Getting fired? TOTALLY UNFAIR.
Big (cautious super-gentle non-rib-touching) hug to you. I’m hoping this week is way less awful. Love to you and the hippie husband.
@Caryn- thanks for the suggestions. I will absolutely follow up with this. Totally appreciated!
@Karinne – yay! Let’s hear it for low-drama! And holding boundaries. Awesome.
@Leocadia – quince jam! quince jam! And yes, I don’t know *anyone* in their 40s or almost 40s (and that’s a big chunk of who I know) who actually knows what they want to do with their lives. Sounds extremely normal to me. 🙂
Hope the conversations help clear things up and give you a good feeling about possible directions.
Kisses all around. Thank you for chickening with me. It really, really is my favorite part of the week!