May Update

I’m trying to hold on to a minimum of one post per month, so here’s May, before the month ends.

 

Last weekend I spent a good chunk of it outside.  I had my veggie cooperative gardening in the morning and took home a bounty of early spring harvest.  I got to harvest the spinach and took home a head of lettuce, green onion, radishes and Jerusalem artichoke (native veggie).  I’m so glad I stumbled upon this gardening group.  They are a great group of people and although I may feel physically tired after three hours in the garden, I’m replenished in other ways.  In the afternoon, I started chipping away at the two cubic yards of mulch I had delivered, trying to tame my garden.

 

Sunday I made it out to Amherst for an orienteering event.  And I wasn’t the only one who made it out – the mosquitos apparently just hatched and before I was even on the course, my legs were swarming with mosquitos.  Luckily they had bug spray but even so, that night, I stopped counting how many bites I had – all over my legs only.  As I started the course I made a comment that “at least I’ll probably run more, to escape the mosquitos”.  Except I didn’t run as much as I thought I would.  It wasn’t until half way through that I realized why – the humidity.  It always sneaks up on me, especially when it’s only in the late 70s/80s.  The bummer is though, the next day, I was checking the final results and found that I had come in second – not too bad.  My goal is to place in single digits (coming in 9^th or less).  And usually I’m happy with my spot, but that’s usually because those who got done before me, did so in a fraction of my time.  Except, this time, I came in second, only 80 seconds behind the first person (with a total time of about 75 minutes).  So if only I had picked up my pace a little – ugh.  Not a bad place to be in though – seeing my improvement of the years.  I did realize that this season I will be attending my 50^th orienteering event I think.

 

On my way back to Boston, I swung by and had a nice visit with my old neighbors who are doing well. And on Monday, I enjoyed Memorial day with a bit of recovery from all the physical activity, more work in the garden, and an addition.  I picked up two concrete bird baths from craigslist.  I put one in the middle of the rhododendron bush in the front yard and still need to move the other one to the back yard.  By the time I cleaned out the one in the front yard and filled it up with fresh water, I was done for the day.  Wallis and I hung out in the living room watching out the front window to see if the birds liked the new addition.  No luck.  Apparently it takes a few days for them to find it and start using it.  Hopefully they will.

 

What was crazy, was that by Monday evening, I should have been exhausted, and crashing early, but instead, found I was carrying on my new habit of trying to get ahead of things.  I was ticking through my chore list to a point I had to say enough, I need to go to bed.  It was great though – I woke up Monday and had a clean house and everything in order as if I was having company over or going on vacation.

 

Speaking of vacation, I’m looking forward to my upcoming trip to Sweden this summer and visiting up north, past the arctic circle, to the land of the midnight sun.  I’ve already started figuring out what to pack (which is half the fun).  My big quandary was on the cat front.  Having lost Webster suddenly last month (hidden heart condition), Wallis and I have been adjusting to life without him.  I think for both of us, we really have been enjoying our snuggles with each other, but there is still a hole.  Not to say I want to replace Webster, but both Wallis and I miss having another cat around.  I’m a bit worried about leaving her on her own (with a cat sitter of course) and her feeling lonely, less secure and maybe abandoned.  I started looking into adopting a buddy.  And through my research and reaching out to friends, talking to my vet, etc. I’ve landed on the best option – two new kittens.  The reasoning is that it’s easier to introduce a kitten to an adult cat (not all adult cats get along together) but that a kitten has a different level of energy than the cat and this can cause issues, so best to get two kittens that can keep each other entertained when Wallis has had enough. 

 

It's basically what I did with Winston, adopted Wallis and Webster as kittens and everyone got along great.  So fingers crossed the same happens this time round.  I do feel like Wallis is really bored and even though I will play with her, it’s not exactly what she is looking for and she wants more.  I reached out to my friend who hooked me up with Wallis and Webster who were a little of a boot-leg acquisition and she connected me with a rescue organization she volunteers.  There is a litter of kittens I have been patiently waiting for them to be big enough to adopt and just got word Monday night that I’ll be able to visit them Sunday 6/9 and if all goes well, take them home that day.  I chose the two black boys since they are bonded together so it’s nice to keep them adopted together, black kittens are harder to place, and boy kittens are easier to introduce to a girl cat.  They are currently named Goober and Milk Dud (their mother is Jellybean and they have two sisters: Jujube and Raisinette) but I have a list of potential “W” names, keeping with tradition, to consider as I get to know their personalities.  Needless to say, I can’t wait but am also anxious it all goes well.  Before, I didn’t have any time to think – I arrived at my god-son’s graduation, wallis and webster needed homes, I was just starting to think about adopting another cat, and I took them home that night.  No time to worry it would go well. 

 

This weekend, more gardening, mulching and enjoying our last weekend together, just the two of us, with Wallis.

 

External Deadline

With everything going on, I've been working on clearing out my to do list so the month of May is pretty low demand. And wow, having a deadline really works on things that can be put off until tomorrow. I came across the concept of your future self last year. When you agree to doing something that is in the future it doesn't seem so bad, because the future is so undefined, but then you end up piling on more than you should have. This year I've not only been working on putting myself first more (for example a few weeks back, I kept snoozing and missed when I should have gone to the gym.  Normally I would have skipped the gym and marched on to work. Instead, I said me first and got into work only a little late but was so much more efficient.). So not only have I been working on putting myself first but also I've been keeping my future self in mind too. And putting my future self first too. 

It's amazing how many little things I crank through because I don't want them to pile up for tomorrow me. It's a real change in reframing things for me. On the bigger items, I cranked through a whole bunch of items: got my muffler system replaced, vet visit, heating system tune up.  And I feel like a handful of other items I can't remember. It feels good (although maybe not on the wallet all at once, but I've been saving up) to have them all taken care of, especially since some have been long overdue (you could hear me coming for quite awhile with the muffler I had). 

Now I can't say it's all just me thinking of things differently, but that helps. Two other things have helped. I built in more social/outdoor activities on the weekends. Now instead of being a home body, I have a nice mix for me, of getting out and about and relaxing time at home. My orienteering started up last weekend. And I didn't do too bad for not being able to run. And I've been enjoying my new vegetable garden cooperative I joined. Next weekend we'll be starting in the garden, up until now it's been seedling work. 

The other thing is exercise. I feel like I've finally made it past a tipping point, after two and a half years of working on this. I've been on again, off again going to the gym. But I keep persisting.  "Tomorrow is a new day" thinking and trying to start over again, and again and again. This year I had been getting back into more of a regular visit and with some of the exercise restrictions after surgery, I found myself itching to get back into the gym. I'm still on week 2 of the couch to 5k program, but am feeling like I'm making headway. And I miss it when I don't get in my work out. I'm hoping once I get my aerobic exercise habit in place, I'll work on more regular stretching and strength training.

Both things really help put fuel in my engine so I'm more productive, better frame of mind and therefore better sleep. And of course, my eating is so much healthier than three years ago. On a side note, when I switched my diet and really focused on healthier foods, I did something similar for my cats and switched their diet to a higher quality food. Unfortunately, lesson learned, the food, although much better and higher protein, less grain, causes lots of problems in cats and poor Webster is suffering urinary issues. Hence the vet visits. He's not out of the woods yet, but hopefully I caught it early enough. Anyways, I'm switching their food back to a more balanced diet for cats.  And here I thought I was being a good mommy. There's just so much information out there to sift through. 

So all in all, doing well and enjoying the little moments, like on Sunday when I was near then end of my orienteering course, I came across a loud sound.  At first I thought it was a flock of wild turkeys just on the other side of the ridge but as I got closer I realized the sound was coming from the bit of swampy pond - it was a cacophony of bull frogs...I think. I paused in my journey to stare and try to spot at least one fog but nothing.  I stared and stared and it was just calm water and piles of leaves on the banks and no movement and yet I was surrounded by the almost deafening sound of the frogs. It was surreal and isn't that what makes life wonderful. 

Charity Bag Sale Lessons for Next Time

Be forewarned, this is mainly a dump of thoughts for my future self. This morning I was on the fence of stopping by my local consignment clothing store for a brown bag sale event. Fill a brown bag for $20. First I had just swung by earlier this month, still in search for some pants that fit my current size and didn't feel there was much I was interested in. I only have two pairs of pants for work and two pairs of jeans that fit right now. Which on a side note is totally doable but do see my work clothes getting worn out quicker. 

I was caught up with a side project I started last night - experimenting with video making on my phone and this morning, before I knew it, it was after 9 and the event started at 9:30. Part of me was like, "there won't be anything that good and last time I went, their sale section in the basement was pretty picked over."  But then my other voice was like, "it's good to get out and the plan was to go to the gym and then the sale, but since I was behind schedule, I'll just switch it."  

And when I pulled up to the parking lot, I was glad I went, if nothing else, just for the experience. There were about 20-30 women waiting outside the door. And there was a buzz in the air. I was chatting wth another lady and for a moment thought I had to pay up front to get through the door.  I wasn't sure about that, since I wasn't sure I'd find anything, but then, 100% of the proceeds go to a good cause, a local charity that sounded really neat. Turns out, no entrance fee, and I was in. 

They had closed off half the store and there were literally piles of clothes every where - on benches and the floor and bins - to just sift through. It was strange and daunting at first, and very crowded, but being a hunter for a good deal I got into it. Everyone was friendly and I made a few friends through the process.  One woman was admiring a cardigan I was trying on and I realized it was nice but not for me and I gave it to her and then she kept trying on something and if it was too small gave it to me. 

Here are my notes for next time - tips and tricks:

1. Wear leggings.  I was going to go to the gym after so was dressed in gym gear - happy accident. There are no changing rooms so I ended up trying on pants over my gym leggings. I was the only one trying on pants.  

2. No Layers. I kept carrying my jacket and zipper sweatshirt and a few times I put them down to try something on people would pick them up thinking they were for sale. Just wear a t-shirt and leggings. Something thin and tight so you can try things in over. 

3. Consider slip on shoes. I kept taking my sneakers on and off for trying on pants. Not too big an issue and ok for next time, but would be easier if I just had loafers or something. Good to have socks in case trying on shoes. 

4. Leave valuables in car. I had zipped the pockets, but really, I should have left my wallet and keys in the car and just carried my cash and car key in my pocket in my pants. 

5. Guard your pile.  I thought I was doing a good job of keeping an eye on my stuff. I lugged it around the whole time but occasionally, put stuff down to try stuff on and try to glimpse myself in the mirror - not many mirrors. I realized later in the day at home, a few things I tried on and planned to get disappeared. A navy thin cardigan that would have been nice, but I'm ok with losing.  But there was a pair of Vince khakis I was excited that fit that I realize now disappeared and now I'm bummed out. I don't think anyone purposely raided my stuff - they just didn't realize it was claimed.  By the end, I tried stuff on, and kept my bag between my legs for higher security. 

6. Bring a bag. I noticed one lady had a diaper bag that she put clothes into. This might be an idea to help contain the pile and keep your arms free. The brown bag got beat up quickly. Consider bringing my 10,000 villages burlap bag next time. 

7. Know European Sizes. There was a great mix of European based clothing and shoes. What's my shoe size and what's my pant size were the two big questions. 

8. Know your weaknesses. I was very proud of what I didn't walk out the door with. I kept finding myself keeping myself in check. Here's a few of my rules I kept with:

- No skirts - I don't wear them and I have a bunch already. No additions.

- No jackets - I did try a few on but in the end reminded myself I already feel like I have too many and it's hard to wear them all. Any new jacket would need to kick a jacket out of my closet. 

- Be careful of projects - I did get one project. A pair of dark linen pants I've been looking for for two years. That are several sizes too big. I'm going to try to take them in. This was my one sewing exception. 

- Color - I found a few things I loved the cut and fit but just wasn't my color. I was honest with myself.

- Cut - all the sweaters I picked up, I love the necklines. I tried on some v-necks and they just weren't as good.  

- Size - since everything was all over the place there was a lot of slightly too big and too small finds. One pair of really cool shoes fit but I think were a half size too small. Even so, it took me having them on for a little while to come to terms that they didn't really fit. 

- Duplicates - I was tempted with a few things I already had. There was a cashmere turtleneck that was nice but I already have three and don't feel like I've gotten enough wear out of them this year - no need for a fourth. Same with cardigans. 

- Focus on Work Clothes - right now, in general I have more weekend clothes than I need so shouldn't be bringing home anymore casual wear and if I do they have to be nicer than what I own already since I'll need to get rid of something. 

- Sets - there was one pair of high waisted pants that fit well that I figured I try as an experiment. I had been considering high waisted for awhile due to my long torso.  There was a blazer that went with the pants but it didn't fit that great - was a little oversized. Which could totally have worked, if I live in NYC, and worked in a funky job. It took me awhile to be ok leaving the jacket behind. In other news, it wasn't until I got home I realized I accidentally bought another set - I think it's the same pants and blazer. Same brand and color - the material is slightly off but don't think you can tell. I found the two pieces in completely separate rooms at different times. 

- Shoes - I was extra careful and only looked for shoes I could walk a lot in. I found a pair of tall boots that were super comfortable but just wasn't my style I realized. I was good and let them go. 

- Quality - I did end up buying two fast fashion items (a nice merino wool sweater from j crew and a pair of leggings from banana republic), but otherwise I kept with higher end, good quality materials. I got two Theory items and a Vince cashmere cardigan, that alone are each $150 full price. Ugh, if only I held onto those Vince khakis. One item I had noticed in my earlier visit to the store was a purple label Ralph Lauren cashmere sweater. The store was selling it for $148 (which means it's likely $300). I found it early on and couldn't believe it. It's so comfy. I made sure to look for stains, holes, snags, but at the same time looked past things I could take care of. For example a few of the sweaters had a few pilling situations (nothing much) which I can easily take care of and give a second life. 

8. Open Minded. At first I didn't think there would be a problem of overfilling the bag. I'd find a piece or two and get a good deal and support a good cause. I picked up a lot of different-for-me-items, and considered them. A different type print shirt (too large in the end). A lot of the items I considered, didn't make the cut, but glad I wasn't narrowly focused on just pants of a certain cut/style which is what I really wanted. I think I would have quickly been frustrated not finding them. In the end I accidently found just what I was looking for that I'd happily have paid $50. So everything else was icing on the cake. 

9. Get There On Time and Stick Around. There were two times I thought I was done and then more bags of stuff were brought up. That's when I found the pants I was looking for and a few other items. So am glad I took my time. 

10. OK to be Imperfect. I was thinking, after all my decluttering and refining my wardrobe, what was I doing bringing home a bag full of clothes. And clothes I wasn't 100% sure on since I couldn't properly try them in or see myself in a mirror. In the end, after multiple cycles of going through the bag, I felt comfortable I was bringing home items on purpose. I was honest with myself that there were a few experiments in the bag but now was the price point to experiment. And I've learned if I key the item out as an experiment up front, I don't end up making the same purchasing mistake twice. Three of the pants are experiments (high waisted, legging like, need to take in), I picked up two skinny dressy belts (haven't worn belts in years), a French silk scarf to experiment (I think it's a real Chanel - the colors worked for me), two cardigans: one is a cashmere hoody - do I wear hoodies?  Am I too old for a hoody?  The other one I loved the cut and but wasn't sure about the color - it's an interesting shade of ligh gray/white, so need to experiment with other colors in the outfit.

11. Stick to One Bag. At one point, when more clothes were being brought out, I was getting into the territory of two bags. At first I thought, stick with one bag and then I was allowing myself to just get more and more. I stopped and really looked at my collection and whittled it down to my favorites. I was happy I stuck to one bag. 

12. Succes previously is no guarantee. I'm setting my expectations low for next time (if there is one). Sometimes you find stuff and sometimes you don't. I don't think I'll hit such a good haul again. But even so, it was a fun experience. One lady commented it was like what the Nordstrom basement special events used to be like. When I first moved to Boston I'd see people lined up in the morning for blocks to go to the wedding dress event. I had a fun time (not for everyone) and the hunt was as fun as the spoils. 

All in all, a wonderful haul.  I ended up donating a little extra because I got such good deals. It was $20 for the bag of clothes, I paid $30 (with the extra donation) and walked away with 16 items, so less than $2 each. Full price and new, I can confidently say over $2,000 of items. And full price but used, sold at the consignment store during regular hours, over $500 at least. I still love me a good deal, especially when it's for something I need and is of quality (I'm trying to move away from good deals but not for things I need or good quality). At the end, I was a bit more tired/worn out and picked up a few items because of the brand, if I'm honest with myself. I got a Chanel scarf (which i have been wanting to experiment with, but it's not high on the list), and some Gucci key chains (which I don't need and already am thinking of who I can gift them to/ sell). But on an upside, the Eileen fisher linen summer sweater I got in part because of the brand, turns out is a really good color for me when I tried it on again at home and am glad I got it. 

Now I'm off to do laundry, and a bunch of hand washing of these items. And depilling. And figuring out what stays and goes in my closet. I have a set number of coded hangers (hangers for Blazers, versus pants) and spaces for sweaters. So although I have room for a few additions, some of my items in my closet are getting bumped out as I slowly upgrade/switch out items. Oh, and on a final note, I logged all the items in my finance ledger of things I buy with the intent that at the end of the year I'll go back through what I bought and figure out what I wouldn't have bought again and use that to help inform future buying habits. This allows feedback loops on things I'm experimenting with. I did this last year and it was very insightful. 

New Year Resolutions

I've been slow to post because I was trying to find time to do a year in review and see how I did with last years resolutions before choosing this years ones. I haven't had a chance to dig into the data, but here's a high level recap. 

Books.  I wanted to read two books a month. At first I was behind, then I was ahead, at one point reading about one a week. And then I started work and it all fell off. Overall, I believe my final count for books read (completed only) was 20.  So not quite the target of 24, but close and considering the change in life situation not bad. The problem now is that with working, I used to do all my reading during my commute but now I drive. So my reading count is way down. 

2019 resolution.  I would like still work on targeting reading since I didn't get to where I wanted to be yet. My goal is twofold:

1. Read one book a month (12 total)

2. Track my books in and my books read. I can acquire more books but by years end, I have to have read at least the same amount I brought into the house. The goal is to reduce the amount of unread books laying around. 

Cookbooks. This one I didn't track but feel like I made progress. I didn't make a recipe from each book, but, I did end up taking out two cookbooks and donating them and have two more I'm about to let go of.  So it feels good cleaning the bookshelf out of just my prized cookbooks. On the recipes from magazines, I've really made a lot of headway - I've used a bunch and weeded through them again last month when I was reorganizing them and got through the of a bunch in a reality check. And as an added bonus, I've really been weeding down the recipes on Pinterest.  By trying out the recipes and also U pinning ones I realize aren't top priorities to try out. So overall, I didn't hit my numbers but feel like I've made progress. One aha moment I had was when I was organizing the magazine recipes and grouping them by category.  I made one category called "aspirational" recognizing that this wouldn't be a recipe I'd go to often but it was interesting and wanted to experiment in the kitchen. For example, making my own potstickers. 

2019 resolution. I'd like to keep the momentum going. I'm going to basically have the same resolution.

1. Make one recipe per cookbook and potentially let go of a few more books - reevaluate. 

2. Magazine recipes - have five per category to try max.  I have 8 categories, so that's 40. The 10 was not a good match, because I always like to experiment and not make the same stuff. 

3. Pinterest recipes. Really work on cleaning up what I have collected. Target having no more than 20 per board. 

3. FInancials. Ugh. I just lost what I wrote. Quick recap.  I went cash only for purchases and it changed my spending habits even more. Although challenging I feel even more in control of what I'm buying because I have to plan appropriately to have the cash on hand. I'm keeping with my monthly budget of $300 cash at the start of the month and I'm proud I've adjusted my habits.  It helps I have a clear focus on my priorities of financial independence and the ability to retire early if I want to.   No numbers bit on average less than one charge to plastic a month. 

Item two of limiting shopping at big box stores was the hardest but I feel the best about.  It's sad to see a monochromatic of options these days and losing the local colorful fabric of options.  Toiletries were the hardest to buy - I found a local five and dime store but then it went out of business. Overall, I had one/month of buying at a big box chain. My preference is to spend a little more time and money and support local businesses. 

Final item was limiting online purchases. This was the easiest and I avoided anything from Amazon. The few times I was forced to find the product online (because I couldn't find it at a brick and mortar), I reevaluated if I needed the item and decided I didn't. The one loophole was my wishlist for presents and even with this, if I sent something I knew was going to be purchased online I tried to send non Amazon links. 

Overall financials was a success and I'd still be interested in the final numbers so will hopefully pull them. I feel like my habits have changed and I'm on the right track. 

My 2019 New Years Resolutions are the two listed above - keep working on food and reading. And two more to do with my health. 

Run 5k. I've not figured out a good workout routine with work. Instead of just having a general resolution of working out more, I have the goal to run 5k. I've been using the couch to 5k program and have been on week 3 for a year!  This will hopefully be a good motivator and give me a milestone and sense of accomplishment. 

Culture/social event. As I work to keep a balanced work/life, I was thinking of what structure to put in place. My social life is dependent on invites I get and are very one sided. My goal is to reach out and arrange one per month social get together. Accepting invites from others doesn't count. And on the cultural front I feel like I should take advantage of everything in my backyard. And with the new job and having access to free and close (my two big obstacles often) events and museums I thought I would have done more. So my goal is one cultural event/month. 

And I'm happy to report progress already on these two fronts. I've reached out to a friend I haven't seen for awhile and we're scheduling something - probably for next month. And earlier this year I had put on my calendar several lecture series at the Fogg museum. The first one was yesterday at lunch and normally I would have bailed because I had too much to do, but I held firm and went. It was great and I was glad I attended. It was a gallery walk on "Intoduction to the Dark Arts: Ancient Egyptian Magic". I thought of mom and how she would have really enjoyed it. We spent most of the time discussing and exploring this one piece - what it depicted, the meaning behind the images and how it was used. The person leading the talk was an Egyptologist. I'd never heard of that term before. It was great fun learning about the hippo God (lower left figure) and what was missing from the tablet (there are places for text that would be the spell). 

Overall I feel on track for keeping a balanced and enriched life. It's amazing how the day to day demands can take over and you lose track of the important things.  So that's why I've recently adopted New Years Resolutions as a way for me to step back and evaluate what habits if like to change and what items I want to prioritize in my life. Here's to 2019!

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Testing to see if a shorter post will publish.

Christmas Festivities

Last I posted, I had collected a few boughs for Christmas decorating from my day trip up to NH. Since then, I learned not to collect greens from Christmas trees found on the side of the road. By the next day, the pile of greens were mostly branches with a carpet of needles underneath. The bulk of my greens were not usable and I had to clean up the mess. I decorated a little but missed having the Christmas feel that comes with a plethora of winter greens in the house. Ornaments and lights just don't cut it on their own for me. 

Fast forward to this week and after work I had swung by the grocery store and the Christmas trees were half off. I partly felt bad for them going to waste and not being used but decided to pass and save the money. Mainly because I wouldn't have time to decorate the tree until after I got back from my travels and then would have it up for only a week before I would need to put it out for the week of tree collection. 

Today we will have our department holiday party and yesterday was the larger campus wide party - a Christmas breakfast in Annenburg Hall which is very reminiscent of the great hall in the Hogwarts movies. It was such a big breakfast, I skipped lunch and barely had a dinner. I arrived midway through and loved that as I was walking down the hall between the occupied tables I was saying hello to person after person.  It was amazing how many people I knew across departments from my short time working. I made a beeline to the food and then came out and was trying to figure out where to sit, who to network with, when I saw my staff waving me over. A good time to connect and bond over the wonderful setting and enjoy the smorgasbord of food. 

I missed a ton of options  even though I went back for seconds and thirds of different options. I started with the hot meal offerings, than moved over to bagels and lox and all the fixings, finally going back for a round at the pastries. Completely missing the drink stations.  Eggnog and mulled cider and the most decadent hot chocolate bar with all the fixings from homemade whipped cream, to peppermint crumbles to chocolate shavings to add to your mug.  Which I didn't see until I was leaving. 

Speaking of which, I ended up leaving with two huge garbage bags. As we were wrapping up our dining and things were winding down, the staff started clearing the tables of decorations which consisted of mini poinsettias on a bed of winter greens. I popped over and asked what they were doing with them and if I could take some home. It worked out perfectly since they had just commented it was a shame to toss it all. Luckily I had parked nearby and could drop the bags off as I went to meetings. When I got back to my car later in the day, it smelled beautifully of Christmas - nice fresh greens. actually that's what I should do next year, a sniff test to see how fresh any greens I come by are. 

What I liked about the whole experience is that my approach to things has changed, and stuck. During my time off, the first Christmas, I had swung, the other way and had bought three Christmas trees (two little ones and a regular one). Granted, I had stumbled upon a local nursery that had good prices, so the cost was not much more than what I'd paid for one tree in years previous.  

But by last Christmas, I had shifted my approach, partially due to lack of disposable income. And couldn't afford a tree. Which is when you get creative and I hit the jackpot of fallen branches up in NH during an orienteering meet. That's the year I found that I still felt like I had accomplished the feel of Christmas, even without having a tree. 

And this year I was resigned to figure out how to achieve the feel of Christmas with minimal greens. I'm actually planning on doing more decorating next week after the holidays. I want to go through my Christmas boxes and really try to use everything. And if it's not being used, question why am I keeping it. Granted, I'll give myself a little buffer so I can rotate things on display year to year. But if it's been two years and I haven't put it out, it's time to reconsider. And last year, by not having a tree I was dictated by the town trash schedule of when I had to take things down. As a result, I had different levels of decorations up much longer.  I'm now thinking of it as decorating for winter. Enjoying the greens during the cold white months and having a little sparkle of light through the dark nights. 

I love that because of my different thinking, I was more inclined to notice these opportunities. I don't know if I would have noticed staff cleaning up in years previous. And I love that I'm rethinking what is a necessity. And not resulting in deprivation. I still decorate way more than a bunch of family and friends, it's just a different approach. It boils down to living below your means (I.e. I spend less than what comes in). And as a result, I get more creative, which in turn gives me an energy boost when I come across creating something new and it works out. 

On the flip side, I've found this is one of the more challenging Christmases for shopping. Usually I squirrel gifts away all year long while I'm out shopping, seeing something I think so and so may like. But now that I don't really go out perusing the aisles, that part of my brain that was really good at finding things is getting mushy. I went to TJ Maxx this week - which used to be one of my favorite stores, and it was just meh. I couldn't find that many treasures (I also think they have shifted their business model and the goods aren't as good as they used to be). Plus, I'm not great at shopping under deadline. But on the flip side, I was getting creative, due to limited funds, and swung by my local used bookstore where I have credit. And I found a bunch of goodies for people. Now that I'm cash only, when I went to wring up (they only let you use credit for a portion of the purchase), I found the total came up about $8 more than a hat I had on me. I started to head off to my car to grab some more money and then I paused and problem solved in a different way, I swapped out one item for just as good an item that was slightly less. As a result, the total came in under what I had on me. 

I used to excuse my spending in the past, by using the loophole: it's a gift so it's ok to be indulgent. But I've learned you can still be indulgent without just throwing money at the situation - and usually the receiver won't notice the difference. I'm almost done my shopping and I think I may be able to pull it off within my regular monthly budget I give myself (I go to the atm at the first of the month and pull out $300 for all my expenses - I don't use my credit cards or debit card any more). We'll see.  The biggest expense is where I'm not allowed to be creative. One person asked for a gift card and there's no way around that expense. And Nick and I are giving out teenage cousin cash - another one you can't get around. 

And on a final note, I find myself making one of the gifts, a repeat of last year.  And yet I didn't learn from last year that it always takes longer than I plan and I always run into snags and roadblocks. I feel great once I've finished and love the end product, but I really need to be more disciplined with when I work on the project. I'm off to try to finish the project this morning, before I try to squeeze in a visit to the gym and eat breakfast and get ready for an early morning meeting.  A little too much to cram into a morning, but time is ticking. 

Well that's me - as I see the time - must run. 

First on Tan

Yesterday, as I "slept" in on a Saturday morning, I kept debating if I should just stay home and get stuff done around the house or go to the orienteering meet. It's the last one of the season but was up in southern NH, over an hour drive away. In the end I rallied, partly because of combining a bunch of stuff. Last year, at this event, I had been able to collect some fallen boughs for Christmas decorating around the house. There were a ton of pine on the ground that I loaded up on at the event and then on my drive home, there was a branch fallen by the road I shipped a few more from. Last year my trunk was stuffed full with boughs. 

This year, not so much. I think I forgot there had been a windy storm before I had gone last year, which helped. Also, this year, we were in a different location of the park and not so many pine trees. I did end up making it out the door a little later then usual, but made it up in plenty of time before the course closed, but... Not before they ran out of maps for the course I wanted to "run". I'm an intermediate level, and have had one foray into advanced courses, this summer, when dad and I went to the canoeing orienteering event. We tried a tan course and after finding the first two markers, promptly became lost. 

It was frustrating haven driven over an hour, across state lines only to be told, too bad. Their printer was out of yellow ink and they couldn't do anything about it. Ugh. They recommended I try the advanced. Based on my last experience, I wasn't wild this was my only option. Going down a level wasn't appealing either as I've found those too easy. Well, I grumbled in my head and took a tan map. 

And you know what, I think this one was an easy tan. Somewhat like an orange like I usually run. It was on the shorter side which helped. And after finding the first two controls realitively easily (I overshot the first one but was able to easily correct) I was feeling ok. On the next control, a more advanced fellow overtook me and got to the control first and then dashed off into the woods for to the next control. I just plugged along, enjoying my hike (not running) and a few minutes later I came across the same guy, running around in the vincinity of the next control. He mentioned he knew it was around here but couldn't find it. Having learned from my previous times, I didn't let him distract me and focused on what direction I thought the control should be, not where he was heading. And I found it for the both of us and again, he sprints off to the next control. And again, a few minutes later I catch up to him dashing back and forth looking. By now I fell like an old regular, and slowly made my way directly to where I thought the control should be. He dashed ahead and clocked the control first and in the meantime, another more advanced fellow comes running up the hill and mentions he's been looking for the control and can't find it. I asked him if he wanted to know where it was, and pointed him in the correct direction. It was literally several feet from us. 

Talk about a boost of confidence. Here are two runners who are used to doing this level course, and it's me finding the controls. I think it also helps to go slow and steady versus trying to dart around. They were on another course that happened to overlap mine and I didn't see them again, but enjoyed the rest of the course finding everything pretty easily. It also helped its winter is so crossing through the woods wasn't too slow going. Although, tons of snow and hidden ice. Another reason to take it slow and steady. 

After the last event, I had bought a pair of gloves that I could sweat in that worked out fabulously. I started off being cold but by then end, was taking off the gloves and hat. At the end, I was making my way back to the finish and jogging a little, and along came another guy. Because of him, I ended up running all the way back and it was only then I got wet feet running through massive puddles in the fields. Luckily, I had also packed a second pair of sneakers and my super warm and cozy socks. 

It was such a lovely day and such a beautiful setting with the narrow (and slippery) bridges through the marshes and I found this one tree whose trunk had grown at a 90degree angle and then straight up, making for a perfect height bench. I had left my phone behind and had wished I had brought it for the pictures and also, I forgot, I wanted to "track my run" so I could look at what I did afterwards. 

Looking at the splits, I find I did ok, but my saving grace was slow and steady and that's how I eeeked out coming in first!  Not too shabby. 

And, after I downloaded my results and was heading out the door, I noticed on the porch a tarp with a huge pile of greens. Clearly, they were using them for making wreaths or something, so I couldn't take the,  but, they had a trash barrel full of scraps and I rummaged around and got a pretty good haul (nothing last year). And, as I was driving back to the highway, I couldn't help scanning the sides of the road , hoping to find another fallen limb like last year, and guess what. I found one! Except, I think it was a Christmas trees eons bought that had fallen off their roof. It had been there awhile since the needles were falling off.  But there were a few branches that were worth saving. Fast forward when I got home, and was doing some quick yard work, putting beds down for winter and found, some grasses I usually trimmed earlier in the fall, had dried in this beautiful way and I thought, this will make for some nice decoration, along with the bamboo clippings I had saved from an earlier yard clean up. So I think I have enough to decorate with. I like having stuff straight from nature and not going to wage (and not costing anything). 

So I had a great orienteering event, picked up some boughs, and also swung by two stores where I found some birthday/Christmas presents. So all in all, definitely worth the trip, and I'm glad I talked myself into going. It was a full day away and now, I need to go off and get all my chores done for the weekend, into one day. 

I've been practicing a new technique. I write down everything I want to get done today, divided into two groups: have tos (like it's going to be hard during the week if I don't do this now) and like tos (like I'd like to paint my bookcase but it doesn't have to happen this weekend). But in addition, I've started putting an estimate of how long (I.e. 20 minutes). And then throughout the day, I make note of how long it actually takes. Interestingly, I've found that a bunch of things take me twice as long as I thought they did. So I've been resetting how long I think it takes. And also, I'll add up all the times, and realize I have two days of work I'm trying to get done in one day which is impossible. So it resets and manages my expectations. I feel much better at the end of day because, although there is still a lot to do, I know I got a lot done. Speaking, of which, this post took longer than I thought it would, surprise, surprise, so need to dash. 

Coyote Siting

I just came back from another orienteering meet yesterday. The last few meets I've been finding that I come away with wet feet. And a resolution to pay attention and plan my route better around water features. I always think of the spring as a time when creeks are gushing full of winter melt from the mountains, but apparently it is also the case in the fall. Anyways, no matter how carefully I try to cross creeks and bogs, I end up with at least one wet foot and this weekend I couldn't help but think it wasn't great to go from wet foot in a stream onto snow. It had snowed last week and mostly melted in town but out in the woods there is still some snow on the ground. Luckily it's still warm out so not too bad. 

As I was out on the course I was finding my mind straying from the current moment, and ruminating about all the stresses from work. I kept trying to recenter myself and live in the moment, that's what I always appreciated about orienteering, you have to be paying attention. 

Well, as I was climbing up an embankment, I heard some noise from above. At first I thought it was another person on a course, dashing through the woods like a deer. The course was compact enough that I'd cross paths with other participants. But nope, this time it actually was deer.  Three of them running across my path just ahead of me. It was quite stunning to see.  They were heading down to the trail I had just left but they stayed in the protection of the trees along the edge as they slowed down, sussing out if they should cross, and actually walking down a bit further before they ran across the trail back into the woods on the opposite side. 

I was torn as I made my way to my control, that with all these people in the woods, we were disturbing the local wildlife and yet still in awe of seeing them up close. A few minutes later, as I was making my way to another control, I had left a path and came across a couple walking the opposite direction who pointed out a coyote just a little ways away in the woods. It looked like she was intent on something and was heading away from us. Not too worried about our presence. She did seem to be heading on a path that might intersect with the deer I had just seen, although she was coming from a different direction. Again another conflict of emotions, awe and worry about what is only the natural course of events in the wild. 

I ended up making it back in good time, even after stoping and watching the wildlife and few stops to talk with others on the course. Interestingly, this was my third meet in a row where I placed in the top three.  Granted, this has more to do with who else is running the course. But the last few courses I haven't had any trouble finding the controls. Usually there is at least one that trips you up and takes a chunk of time. I'm thinking I might be ready to advance on to the next level - the advanced course. It's all woods and no trails. Making it more challenging but also tiring. 

I ended up sticking around and volunteered for the last part of the meet. Partly for my own benefit. I've been working on trying to figure out how to have more energy as I'm getting worn down from work. At work, I've inherited quite a mess of a department and a lot of issues. As I get more tired, I find myself pulled into the weeds and not able to step back as often as needed to see the problem as what it is, in a more balanced light. So in my time not working I've been falling into the habits of trying to relax and rest up but not very successfully. For me, I recognize that I'm on the cusp of introvert/extrovert. I benefit from taking time and hanging out and chatting with people. It gets me out of my head. So staying and chatting with fellow orienteering folks put me in a good frame of mind. I also found that the fuel I have also helps. So on my way home, I stopped by the grocery store and when I got home I went straight into cooking mode. If I stop and rest, I sometimes don't make it back up. I ended up cooking for three hours but have all my meals for the week ready to go. 

And what a difference Saturday and Sunday was. Saturday I went into relaxation mode and slept in, but really well and did a little here and there but didn't accomplish much and in the end felt less recharged. Sunday, having the deadline of having to make it to the meet, I got myself up and out the door and had a very productive day where I felt much better at the end of it all. And slept much better that night too. Which at first glance is counter intuitive. I did more and felt less tired versus laying low and relaxing and felt more tired. 

It got me thinking about misconceptions. As I've been decluttering I realized "retail therapy" was the exact opposite. The concept being if you take some time to be indulgent and shop, you'll feel better. Which is true for the moment, but in the long term you feel worse. It's a quick fix that hurts more than helps. 

And more recently I realized "comfort food" was the same. Yes, you feel good in the moment eating whatever comfort food - often simple carbs.  But later you'll feel worse and it didn't help at all. With the food, I know to stay away from the comfort foods when I'm needing comfort. I need the healthy stuff that will fuel me. It got me thinking of other comfort habits I have that aren't the best habits. And what actually gives me energy. I did notice that sometimes when I'm stressed I'll organize/declutter a specific spot in the house. I think this is a positive because it gives me immediate comfort but also long term, I feel an accomplishment of making something better. I think I have to keep an eye on my Netflix viewing. It definitely feels comforting sometimes, but leaves me decharged. The biggest take away is that I feel more charged after accomplishing something. Granted I need down time and can't just be go, go, go, but need to figure out what a healthy down time is for me. Well, off to feed the cats. 

French Horns

I've been trying to be good and not abandon this blog and post at least once a month. I will say that I find blogging doesn't work into my schedule as well, so I've been exploring alternatives (like vlogging) but haven't found a simple and easy way yet. 

So French horns.  It has to do with the orienteering event last weekend. I just got an email that shared they had posted pictures of the event.  Looking through the pictures, I found I was checking to see if I could see myself,not expecting to since I would have remembered someone taking photos. But, as you can see, I was focused on the course at hand:

It was a great day for being out in the woods. I can tell this photo is later on because I had started off with a hat and gloves but trekking around, you heat up. This event was different and had a great energy in the air. Usually for orienteering, you show up, get an epunch and map and head out and try to be as fast as possible, sometimes crossing paths with others, usually on different courses. It's a rolling start in a two hour window. This event had a mass start which means we were all heading out at the same time. 

The way they make it work is that there are three different courses we all do, but in different orders and they are all on top of each other. So you're in the woods running into a lot more people than usual. Which adds a different energy and can be distracting - you second guess if you are heading the right way or should veer off in the direction the other person is heading, but then they might be on a different course. Anyways, we had a great mass start - instead of starting pistol there were French horns!

How fun, right?!  A great send off as we head into the heart of the forest. Needless to say, I had a fun weekend and so happy I found this sport. I did have one control that took me forever to find, but I did finish which is half the battle. 

It was a great break from the craziness of work. I'm still excited about my job but what I inherited is a mess and exhausting to get back up and running smoothly. That's what I love about orienteering.  It brings you outside and you have to give it your undivided focus or else you get lost. It's a great break for a busy mind. 

Another Dog

This weekend, I realize, I've been mentally preparing for the big procedure tomorrow - my first colonoscopy. Right now, I'm sitting in my bathroom ready for the next phase after just downing the medicine. BTW, my dosage was pretty decent - tasted like a super sweet drink. Speaking of which, I feel like all I've had today is sugar. The clear diet really limits the intake. I had some broth throughout the day but have found when I get a hunger craving I reach for some ginger ale. 

I had pretty much cleared my calendar this weekend in preparation. Figuring I'd need to run errands and get things in order around the house. From what I've heard and seen on tv shows, I'm preparing for being out of commission after downing the last drop of the meds. And know, as I write this, I realize I may have imagined something worse than it really will be... Or I just need to give it time to kick in. 

Anyways, yesterday, after having a nice long consultant with a gardening coach, I was hopping in my car to go pick up the medicine and grab the special diet food at the grocery store. As I was pulling out my driveway, this random dog comes trotting down the sidewalk.  I stopped suddenly and hopped out since I didn't want him (turns out it was a girl)to head into the street or go towards the super busy street. It was a friendly dog and happy to see me as I get out of my car. The strangest thing was that she not only had a collar with tags but also had a leash on that was dragging behind her. I looked around and no one in sight except a jogger coming from the same direction. At first I thought the dog was the joggers, but nope. He stopped and helped me try to figure out whose dog. And even held the leash while I pulled my car back into the driveway. The tags were just rabbi tags and no other info. 

So I ended up having a bit of a detour - my new friend and I went for a walk to the local police station. Along the way there was a lot of sniffing of posts and many marking with the pee. And as we got close to the station we even stopped and had a poop. Luckily, the leash had a built in poop bag holder so I could take care of her business. 

I brought her into the station and the officer had a chuckle when I explained the situation. They don't have tons of random dog drop offs, but apparently this guy is the one that is usually on duty when they show up. My new friend was happy to go with the officer and that was that. 

I did look around my neighborhood a bit more after I got back to see if I could find anyone looking for a dog. And part of my imagination wondered why she was on a leash, like mayber her owner fell and was hurt and the dog ran off. But nothing. And went and ran my errands.  I'm debating about calling the police department to find out if everything worked out. And hope she was reunited and everyone was ok. I'm just happy our paths crossed because I do think she might have ended up in the middle of traffic. 

Well, I don't want to tempt fate, as I feel my tummy working through the meds. So I'll sign off and post this and queue up a fun movie to watch in my new hang out space on the throne. Wish me well. 

Decluttering Books

In my decluttering journey, I feel like I've come along way but also am aware I'm only part way through the process. Books is a good example of where I feel I'm in the middle. I used to keep almost all my books and only thinned them out occasionally. With more books coming in than going out, overtime, my bookshelves were overflowing. I used the Ciscero quote to enable my book acquisition - "A room without books is like a body without a soul."   Side note, I first saw the quote in my local bookstore in college - tricky marketing. 

But these last two years, I've been slowly unpacking my relationships with books and what's behind the surface. Logistically, I took all my books and sorted them into two main categories - books I've read and books I've not read or not finished yet. Of the books I've read, earlier this year, I sorted them again into, books I read and I really enjoyed and would want to reread and worth carrying up several flights of stairs when moving. I was brutal and really questioned if I'd reread the book again.  Making it clear that for every book I reread that meant I couldn't read a new book during that time spent. And interestingly, I was able to weed out quite a few books I enjoyed and liked and would recommend but didn't need to own any longer. My keep pile is suprsimglu small and I feel like I could revisit again and make it smaller. 

What really helped was that in the pile of books I had read I noticed some mental themes. For me I was holding on to a lot of books from two periods of my life: young adult books and books I read in college (not text books). I split the books into three piles and found I could be ruthless weeding out books I've read these last twenty years but the other two groups I was much more sentimental. Was I really going to reread Little House on the Prairie series, and if so, couldn't I just get a copy from the library. Same with some of college books - I loved the Russians and Dickens, but haven't ready any in years. I still have books from these two groups but they are now separated out and I have a time limit.  I'm giving myself some time to see if I'd reread any, otherwise they go. And I'm slowly, mentally, uncoupling the sentimental side of keeping the books. 

But the biggest pile was books I had aquired that looked interesting but I hadn't gotten to yet. I'm slowly realizing they are part of my "fantasy self". The self that knows what's in the books - I've read them already.  Just like with beautiful things, I can't have and own every beautiful thing I see. I don't have enough space (or money). Same with books, I can't read every book I find interesting, there literally isn't enough time in my life. So again, I've been learning to add the filter to prioritize. 

Which gets me to the point of my post. I've been volunteering at my local library helping organize and prepare for their annual book sale. I like the work because it's basically sorting the books into categories and then organizing them on the tables. Last year, I ended up with an armful of books I took home. And had resigned myself that I'd probably do something similar but hopefully not as many, especially since I was out of space on the bookshelf that housed my unread books. 

But surprisingly, this last week. I found myself using some good questioning techniques. I was sorting through the cookbooks and would set aside a few I was interested in and at the end I looked at the books and found that, one, I liked the cookbooks I already owned better (prioritization), and two, that often I was sucked into the idea of the lifestyle (fantasy self). Either through beautiful pictures/graphics or with the idea of the dish. I'd love to eat it and even be able to cook it, but in reality this was a big jump from my current cooking style. Granted, I may want to shift my cooking style, but you only need one cookbook or handful of receipts - not a mini library. If you have more than one book to experiment with, you start feeling burdened for not being your fantasy self, that you've already failed.  And in the end, I put all the books back. 

As I worked through the other sections, same thing - I saw a book that looked interesting. Set it aside. And in the end decided I had enough at home. And at the end of volunteering, I left empty handed. The questioning of priority and fantasy self helped me but also the time delay. Waiting and reflecting after the initial discovery helped the endorphins settle down.  

Now the question will be, will I escape without any books in the next week - the book sale is next weekend and I still have a bunch more volunteer time. And I'm ok if I bring home a few - it's not an absolute. But more about understanding why I want to have the book and being more mindful about my acquisitions. But I feel pretty confident I won't have a huge stack like last time. It's all about progress and not being perfect. 

Weekend Update

Saturday was a beautiful day for the bike orienteering. I had a slow morning which turned into a rush to get to the orienteering meet before the event started at 10. Which meant I took a look at my bike and thought, "the tires are fine". They could use a little air but not having much time to spare I rushed out the door figuring it would be good enough. As I'm biking to the meet I can clearly see my front tire is a bit flat and more importantly, it was a challenging ride. I lucked out and found a hard core adventurer who was pumping up his bike tires before the start and borrowed his pump and fixed my bike tire situation. So that was the first mistake I made, but fixed it before the race. 

We're given the maps ten minutes before the start and the time rushes by as you try to figure out the best route to take to maximize your points, avoid the steep hills and busy roads. This year I was trying out a new strategy - target the bonus points. The more you get, the more your score goes up exponentially. But the bonus controls, of course, are in the far corners of the map. I ended up deciding to go clock-wise, and hit the north west corner first. 

I do have to say this happened to me last year. It's strange bicycling for three hours in near by towns, using a map that has roads and topographic features but no labels. You don't know from the map what town you are in or any of the street names. So I get focused on the course and then realize I'm near where I go for my cat supplies and recognize an intersection - it just suddenly appears and is a bit discombobulating.  

An hour into the race and I'm doing well.  I avoided any steep hills, I'm feeling in shape and finding all the controls pretty well. I enter this one park to hit the next bonus control and it's just so beautiful. There are so many beautiful marshlands with the gorgeous plants. It's so picturesque, I want to take a picture, but I'm focused and plus I know it wouldn't capture the moment. As I find the control, I think, I should come back and explore this park. Lots of great trails to explore and beautiful setting. As I'm biking through the park to hit the next neighborhood, I pass a classic middle-American landscaped portion of the park with an American flag and I think wow, this looks just like a similar corner of the park I was at last weekend for orienteering. I thought it would be neat to take my next visitor to both places so they can see how similar they are. To my defense, this part of the park is very much like a big box store - you see variations of the same thing everywhere. Not very unique. It's not until a little bit farther down the path do I realize - yup, it's the same place I was at last weekend. 

I came to the park from a different direction, but comparing the two maps from this weekend and last weekend and looking at my route, I should've recognized parts sooner. You know what it was, the perspective is different when you're on foot versus quickly biking. I was so surprised how certain I was there were two parks that looked alike versus realizing it was the same place. I have to say I chuckled over that for a good fifteen minutes of my ride. 

My next mistake was I forgot two things I did last year.  One was to set the deadline for getting back to the finish 20 minutes early. You get penalized for every minute you are late. And because I'm bad at estimating how long it will take, I built in a buffer last year - got back to the general vicinity of the start area and picked up a few extra controls near by, without feeling too rushed. Somehow I forgot I did this and this year, I was just hoping I'd squeeze everything in in time. Near the end I was starting to re-edit my route but even so, I was feeling rushed and by now I was getting tired, two hours in. But a quiet kind of tired. The kind you don't notice because the thrill of hunting for the controls overshadowed them. Which leads me to my second thing I forgot. I forgot I had packed a lunch last year. I remember packing a trail mix of sorts and snacking on that. And I was lazy and just had leftover breakfast which was just waffles and not a good hearty breakfast of veggies and protein. Lesson learned, fuel the body. 

I think it's because I'm in better shape, my muscles weren't sending up any signals of being over worked, like last year. Actually, two days later and my leg muscles aren't even that sore. A little but not as much as I thought they'd be. Last year that was the first thing that went so I'd slow down and conserve my energy.  And last year I told myself I should train before hand so my muscles for biking are in better shape. I forgot to do this and had wished I had, but then found I was farther ahead than last year. Don't know how that happened. 

I think I went wrong where I should have had the advantage. By now I'm in the south west corner of the map. Well not really, I cut out a whole section because I'm not that good. But I knew where some of the spots were because they were along where I'd commute for work. Looking back, I should have skipped these because I didn't really have the time. I did them because I could see where they were in my mind and they didn't seem that far. One control was in the park just down the street from my house. In the park that I know is at the top of a pretty steep hill. But I'm always in my car so don't really absorb how steep the hill is. After getting off my bike twice to push it up the steep portions of the hill, I eat up half an hour and finally get to the control in the park in my backyard. And it's dawning on me I'm not going to have enough time and the next bonus control is on another even steeper hill - near the water tower in town. The hill with the view of Boston - it's that steep. I mean not only do I have a topographic map that only has the steepness of hills, I've literally driven up all these hills hundreds of times. 

But again perspective. It's one thing when you're in a car. And another when you're on a bike. I figured I could hit the last control, scrap the rest and head straight back and hopefully make it just in time or only a few minutes late. I'm thinking all this in the park as I'm walking my bike up yet another hill, in the park. I get to a point I can bike and start biking, not too fast mind you, and as I'm about to leave the park, the dirt path turns right, onto paved sidewalk/driveway of sorts, I wipe out. It was going downhill a bit, I wasn't going too fast, but there was a bunch of loose gravel on the paved portion which causes my bike to slip out from underneath me as I take the turn. I wonder if this had happened at the beginning if I would have been able to recover in time. It all happened in slow motion - I fell to my right and was able to catch my fall on my hands. 

And then a wave of just being tired hit after the initial pain. For a second there I was like, no problem, I can pick my bike up and keep going, I have 30 minutes still, I can make it to the last control and then the finish. And then a moment later, I was like, nope, I'm done. I realized I wasn't in a rush to get anywhere any more. Even outside the race, no rush to get home. I had no plans for the rest of the day. So I picked my stuff up and just lay on the grass and chilled. It's weird, because I don't really do that much in any portion of my life. But my body definitely needed a moment. It was weird because it took me a bit to unpack my previous plans. I was like, I'm just a few blocks from home, I biked to the event so it's not like my car was there that I had to pick up. Literally, there was no reason not to just go home. 

I took it easy going home and by then I was so hungry. Also, another mistake, I didn't have pre made food ready for the post race. And since I'm pretty healthy these days, I didn't really have anything to just munch on. But I got myself fed and started cleaning up my wounds. My hands barely have any scratches. No one will notice them at work. Even my legs escaped pretty unscathed. I have a little bit of a raspberry on my right side of my right calf.  I'll have a bunch of bruises along my right side - a big one is forming on my right buttock. What really took the bulk of the hit was my right elbow. I just slid across the pavement on it and gauged it pretty deep. And man it's hard to clean an open wound on yourself. Luckily, I found the trick was to take a shower. I wanted to clean up anyways, plus I was concerned the sunscreen could get into any wounds. I found it was the best way to easily clean the open wound. 

The other injury is my thumb on my left hand.  It feels like it's sprained a bit where the thumb connects to the palm. All in all nothing too bad.  Some soreness throughout the body but not anything out of the ordinary. And the timing to take a nasty fall like this could not have been better - I mean if I had to take a fall in the first place. The next day, I was helping a friend organize a room and her husband is a sports injury doctor. So I had him take a look at my injuries. He did a bunch of poking and prodding and lots of questions. He went from joking around as my friend's husband, into Doctor mode. I felt like I was having a private, at home, consultation. And the verdict is all good. Give everything some time to heal and if things don't improve in three weeks come in for a follow up. Already, after two nights sleep, things are feeling much better. My elbow is starting to scab over and doesn't hurt unless I bang into it. And the rest of me is my normal bruising feeling I'm used to. And on Sunday I was till able to whip my friends bedroom into better shape. I was a little slow, but still at about 90% of my regular self. I took it easy, but the point is most things weren't impeded by my injuries. Turns out we weren't tackling her closet of clothes, it was just all the clutter and extra storage of stuff in the bedroom. She was quite. impressed with what we accomplished and reiterated she thought I should go into business as a side hustle. I was curious which of my lessons learned I could share, and would stick. It was the old adage of "like with like" that we came back to each time. It's a good place to start. For her, she had a lot of plans for things - to mend, to fix, to turn into something else.  So they all went into the same spot - "incomplete actions".  

So all in all a great weekend. I'm hoping I'll still be up for orienteering next weekend - it's the only canoeing event all year. But talk about an activity where you need a healthy elbow. I'll have to wait and see. And nothing like a bonus day (Labor Day), to take it easy and chip away at some chores. The weathers nice, so some more gardening for me. My hope is to get everything in shape before snow comes so next spring, it's not too bad. 

Hobby Update

I didn't know what to call this post. And then it dawned on me that both topics are hobbies in a way. First off, I was going to share I think I have a garden gnome breaking into my house and stealing my gardening tools. Basically I have no explanation about what's happened. Last year I acquired two sets of hand held pruning sheers. They were great and I pruned away all last year. This year, I took them out in spring and started pruning.  And then I started my job and they have gone MIA. I looked everywhere. I'm good about bringing my tools in every time. I put my tools in their home and they are just not there, or anywhere. I looked everywhere and fell further and further behind on my pruning after a few months, I gave up and bought a new set of sheers. I used them once and remember thinking, I'll bring them up into my place instead of leaving them in the basement with my other gardening tools. They are too precious to not keep locked up. 

And then this weekend I went to garden, and nada. I couldn't find the sheers. How did a third pair go missing? I even found the packaging of the third set so I knew I hadn't imagined buying them. Granted, I had enough gardening too keep me busy even without my pruning sheers. I started thinking I'll just use giant loppers for even the small trimming. I mean I can't lose my loppers - they're huge. It's like when the gas station attaches a hub cap to the bathroom key so it doesn't go missing. 

And of course, just writing about the shears, and taking a day off from looking for them, and my brain relaxed and I remembered tucking them away in my back closet. But in amongst my cleaning supplies. Which makes no sense - it was just the closest place when I came up after the last gardening jaunt. Lesson reinforced, everything has a home and put everything back in its home, even if it's an extra step or two. Your future brain will thank you. 

I'm still way behind on the gardening, but I'm slowly getting more comfortable about what to keep and what to get rid of and I've started formulating a plan for planting. A bunch of plants I want to move.  And I'm realizing it makes sense to just tackle a little bit at a time. I was pulling the crab grass in the strip of lawn between the sidewalk and street this evening after work. I haven't mowed all summer and the crab grass took over and killed off the regular grass. My plan is to move some lilies like my neighbor which hopefully will give the tree a little less competition. 

And in other news, orienteering started back up for the fall. I was out all day yesterday. Even though it cooled down last week, to the point I was putting away some summer clothes, I should have looked at the forecast.  It was a warm day yesterday and all this week will be hot and humid again. But I did pretty well. I ended up starting out on the same course as these two other people. One was ahead of me and the other one I could hear running behind me which kept me running a bit longer than I normally would have. I wasn't good about staying in shape in the off-season. I should have been running more this summer but then again I did have my toe injury (I dropped my vacuum on my big toe - it's healed pretty well). I found all the markers pretty well. Number six was the most challenging and that's where I left one of the guys (who had been running behind me and passed me). I kept thinking I knew where it should be and then it wasn't in the spot so I took a lesson I learned earlier which is to give up early, go back to a point where you know where you are on the map and start again to try to find the spot. I blame the bugs because number six was in the woods and flies where on me the second I stopped to look at my map. I basically just kept running around, to get away from the flies. 

And at one point I came up to the marker and the other fellow had gotten there before me but was sitting and studying his map so I took advantage and went off running to the next spot. He ended up catching up to me and we found the next spot together but then took different routes to the following marker. I kind of had an advantage since this is the third year I ran this location. So I knew the way you think you should go according to the map is tricky because the paths aren't clear.  I took the longer way around, but think I got to the spot first. I should add that each year the markers are in different spots, but you get familiar with the areas. 

Anyways, you don't need the play by play. The nice thing is I hung around after I was done which I usually don't do. I said I'd help with clean up and I was meeting up with a fellow orienteering person that I'm helping run a local meet in a few weeks. Im shadowing him this year and the plan is I run the meet next year. The fellow I passed on marker six (he spent over 20 minutes hunting - I've been there before) showed me an app you can download on your phone which tracks your route and then afterwards you can overlay the route onto the topo map and study what you did. I think I'm going to try it out next time. 

Speaking of which, next weekend is the bicycling event. I liked doing it last year but noted I should train  prior since it's a lot of biking. The event is 3 hours plus biking to and from is another 1.5 hours. Not only were my legs sore, my butt was super sore. Somehow, the event snuck up on me, even though it's usually Labor Day weekend. I'm hoping to get into the gym this week to train a little. I'm still sore from yesterday - a few steep hills I ran up and down. I'm writing this down in the hopes I remember, next year, when it's strawberry season (June), I need to start training on my bike. 

And the weekend after, is canoeing orienteering. And the weekend is the event I'm helping run. So lots of exciting weekends planned full of orienteering, and hopefully some gardening. My moss in the backyard is thriving which only makes me want to get out and weed out the grass in the remaining portion. And yet, I haven't made it out back as much as I've wanted to. It's the one nice thing about the weather getting hot again, it feels like it's still summer and I still have time to catch up on my gardening. 

Decluttering: Clothes

A friend of mine reached out asking if I could help her tackle her closet. She's the friend who I helped organize her pantry this spring and she reported the pantry is still super clean and tidy. Which is great to hear. 

Her ask got me thinking about my path to decluttering my clothes. I'm still not there but I've come a long way and tried a bunch of things along the way. I was just noticing the other day how as things were ramping up at work I was pulling items out of my wardrobe and just bringing it down to the core. The crazier work gets, the smaller my wardrobe became. A nice solid core of about 8 tops, 2 bottoms, 1 dress and 2 pairs of shoes. I never thought this would be enough but it is. I should note that this is my summer wardrobe, when it's hot and humid out, And not my entire closet. 

So here's what I found in my path to where I'm now:

1. Taking everything out. I made a pile in my living room of all my clothes, shoes, etc. everything from all my closets, dressers, storage, etc. I was blown away at how much there was and weeded through and took out the not for me anymore items. I think I got rid of about a third. It felt so good but this was just the start. People often stop at this point and don't revisit which is key to not end up back where you were before. 

2. Figure out your categories. I tried a bunch of things on where I store my clothes. From keeping everything active, including out of season clothes, to packing away stuff, including extra clothes I considered my "store" to shop from. What I found, for me, is that if I have too much to chose from, it can get overwhelming and I get into "I don't have anything to wear mode". I divided my clothes into modules that I rotate out. For me I basically have four work modules for each season and four casual modules for each season and a few specialty categories. Specialty categories include: fancy (for a wedding or Christmas party),  shoveling and for each I only have on or two outfits that I don't wear that often. Right now, I have two modules out for summer: work and casual. 

3. Do the math. This was a big aha moment for me. I don't want to have a closet where I only wear items only once or twice a year. I want a closet where I wear things a bunch. I calculated the number of days per season for work and for casual (basically weekends). The first thing I noticed is that I have too much casual items for every season. I had so many tops for casual that I was only wearing an item twice a year This helped me rebalance my closet for my needs. 

4. Holding Pile. I spent a weekend trying everything on and figuring out outfits, head to toe, including jewelry and shoes. At first I just found outfits that worked but after a little practice I became ruthless and the outfit only passed if I felt 100% - dressed to impress. This resulted in a few items I still love but haven't figured out an outfit yet. So I took the pieces out of the closet and bagged them up. This is my working pile that I work on periodically when I'm feeling creative to find an outfit that works or else let the piece go. I only have the pieces that work for me right now in my closet. It's so much simpler. 

5. Sentimental Pile.  This I just did recently and it helped more than I thought. I went through my closet and pulled out pieces that had a story and I'd be hesitant to let go of. Everything from pieces I picked up from my trips abroad to my oldest piece of clothing from college to my first sweater I knit. If I can find a way to use the piece where I feel 100%, then in the closet it goes. For instance my first sweater I knit I wasn't wearing much f at all and then I turned it into my go-to shoveling sweater and wore it tons last winter. But if I don't have a use for it, it goes into my holding pile. This includes my fantasy self items too. Clothes I don't fit into at the moment, too big or small.  Everything I'm not using gets packed away and if the holding pile gets too big, I weed it down but now I know why I'm holding onto it which lets me let go. I don't need three pairs of jeans that are too small, just one. 

6. Know Your Style.  I realized I often bought pieces as experiments but didn't realize they were experiments. So they just lingered longer than they should have. It's easier said than done about finding your style. It's an iterative process of trial and error. The key is to be conscious of what you're trying. And that your style shifts. What used to be a favorite may no longer work, especially with clothing, fashion comes and goes. I had a good quality blazer I loved for work and wore all the time. It took awhile for me to realize it wasn't my favorite anymore. The cut had gone out of fashion gradually so I wasn't reaching for it but the history had me keeping the piece. Recently I had picked up a few key core pieces but I realized a skirt was not in my regular go to category so I to.d myself, this is an experiment piece, let's see how it goes. I've learned to limit the number of "experiments" I purchase. Along with style is knowing what colors, cuts and fabrics work best. I still have a ways to go but I'm getting there 

Driving

So work has ramped up pretty quickly. I knew it would so I was enjoying the "quiet" days of my first few weeks. And I took advantage of the time, networking and connecting with key people throughout the organization. Which is a good thing, as the person who was acting as the interim director is moving on to another position. It's a good move in the long run for all concerned, but in the short term, there is so much institutional knowledge and relationship building that needs to be transferred. 

As I mentioned before, I looked at my life and identified what can I do in my life to minimize the extra stress I will be experiencing.  And one thing I identified early on was my commute. I wrestled for the longest time about going over to the dark side and driving into work. My commute with public transportation took at least an hour. I found the fastest way in to work was to avoid the bus and ride my bike to the subway, take the subway and then from my subway stop, walk to work which is about 15 minutes. But often the commute would creep over 90 minutes, especially getting home.

I had dropped my vacuum on my big toe last month and it's been healing nicely, but the first week I was conscious of not wanting to put too much stress on it, walking everywhere. And since my commute includes a 15-20 minute walk, I opted to drive into work for a week. And that was the beginning of the end. It took about 20 minutes and that's with traffic.  Summer traffic mind you (it will get worse after Labor Day) but still.  All of a sudden I had an extra hour in my day that was freed up.

My whole career I've commuted to work via public transportation. The last time I drove to work for a job was my summer internship after my sophomore year of college. And that was with my first car, "darling". Aptly named because I'd have to coax her up a big hill that was on my way home and every day I'd try to get a running start but 2/3 up the way, she'd run out of steam and putter along with me cheering her on, "darling, you can do it, you're almost to the top". On hot days, she'd have even less umph.  No AC, so I'd listen to my music - a mix tape of Bob Dillon songs, with the window rolled down, while a line of cars would accumulate behind me. Fast forward to now and I'm living the life with a nice luxury car that handles so smoothly, has AC and is just so comfortable. A far cry from Darling and a big step up from being crammed on a bus, trying to keep my balance as I'm forced to stand and we lurch down the street stopping every 100 meters for traffic.

It's taken awhile for me to transition my thinking. I mean it's been over 20 years since I first started commuting to work using subways and busses. It's my time to get my reading done and ignore the traffic situation, leaving it to the bus driver to deal. When the weather is nice, it's such a beautiful bike ride to the subway and I get a lot of steps is with all the walking. Plus, not only is it nice to reduce my footprint for the environment, I save a ton of money. That's why I've always commuted. 

But, I often am worn out at the end of the day and don't get too much reading done.  Most of the year I can't bike because of the weather - winter, rain or too hot/humid. I get plenty of steps walking during the day with this job, outside of the commute. And so really, it boiled down to money and environment - that's why I was so patient with my commute. Wait, I should clarify that previous jobs, public transportation was the only real option since driving in would take just as long.  Maybe a little less but nothing to write home about (or post on my blog). 

So faced with my new situation, with a job much closer to home and farther from the subway stop.  And a sudden demand on my time with work while wanting to keep a work/life balance. I started seriously contemplating switching. The week I was driving in because of my toe was an eye opener of how big a gap in my two modes of transport. I knew there was a gap and had decided that when I paid off my mortgage, I'd treat myself with a parking pass. I'm younger now than later after all, so now is when I should be doing the harder stuff that would wear future me down faster. I'd rather take the subway in my 40s and drive in my 50s and 60s, than the opposite. 

Well, now I'm rambling and trying to explain myself. My point of wanting to blog is to say I got a parking permit at the beginning of the month and have been driving to work. It's been taking some time to unwire my thinking and what I'm used to. Last night, I was working late to finish a report (I'm taking off this afternoon for a dentist appointment).  And when I was almost home, driving down my street, I was still surprised how quickly I went from desk to door. It was 15 minutes!  And I was struck by how much I have geared myself up when I leave work.  It's like I've been taking a deep breath when I leave work, getting ready to endure a long commute with a lot of waiting, either stuck in traffic, or if it's later in the evening, stuck waiting for my bus or subway to show up. It's like I've tensed up in anticipation of how much waiting I'll have to do and now I'm slowly learning that I can just relax. Relax in the comfort of my own car and not being jostled around.  Relax as I have control over my way home and can just go with the flow of traffic. Relax as I listen to music and podcasts - something I stopped doing years ago because I was concerned about my hearing - having to play things so loudly to hear stuff over the rumble of the subway or street noise of the bus. 

It was just so nice last night to zip home after a long day at work. I still need to figure out the financials and environmental impact. I mean, I can afford it, and if you look at my footprint for this job, compared to my last job, it's so much less because I'm not flying all over for work. But I still have a it more work to unwire 20 years of thinking. The question will be, will I be posting in the future complaining about being stuck in traffic. Who knows, but the nice thing is I live and work in an area where I have a lot of options.