Rest. Busy. Rest.

Midway through last week all of the events of the last month and a half caught up to me and my introverted self put its foot down.

Turns out that several major family medical emergencies, exploring and wrestling with whole new faith convictions while visiting friends in another country, starting a new semester of nursing school in a brand new area of practice with a steep learning curve, starting to wean off my antianxiety meds, working part time, making changes in diet and exercise practices, and just generally trying to maintain a personal, social, and spiritual life can be exhausting.

I know I'm overwhelmed when I sit in a nursing class before the lecture begins, and the voices of all those women (and a very few men) talking and talking and talking grates on my nerves to the point where I kind of want to scream at everybody to shut up, or I might lose it!

With all that in mind, I set this weekend aside for rest.  (Mostly.)

I am thankful that this semester I have three day weekends in which to actually manage rest a bit more fully.

I slept late on Saturday morning, got up and did a bit of housework, took a long nap, did a bit more housework, and then went to bed.  It was pretty much divine.  I think I only saw one other human being the whole day, and talked to one on the phone.  Perfect for my tapped out self.

Sunday was kind of the opposite.  I had breakfast with a long time friend (stuffed french toast - not the best ever, but not bad). Then we did a couple errands together.  I followed that up by going wedding dress shopping with one of my oldest friends.  She's getting married in February, and I'm her maid of honor, so I joined her and her mom to start the process of finding "the dress". And then I followed that up with a family dinner of sorts with a few extra people, which is pretty much the norm for our family.  Lately family dinners have sometimes been hard - they emphasize that even though I'm the oldest sibling, I'm the only one who is single, without any current prospects, and that goes to a different church than the rest of the family.  Those dinners sort of emphasize the ways in which I often struggle to fit within my family, and if I'm honest, I was kind of dreading this one when my mom called to set it up.  That said, it was lovely!  The addition of the extra bodies this time served to keep it from being quite so awkward feeling, and even though I was tired, it felt good to laugh with my family. I rounded off the day by borrowing mom's car so I could tackle my grocery shopping for the week, then caught a ride home and pretty much crashed.  (Though I enjoyed every bit of the day individually, the sum total of all that people time was still a bit much for my exhausted introvert self.)

And then there's today.  I pretty much slept until 11.  I know, I know, lazy, right?  I justify it by reminding myself that for the next four mornings this week my alarm will go off at 4:15, 4:15, 6:30, and 6:30 to kick off very full days.  I laid in bed for a while catching up on email, and then planned to kick off my day with the last of my pre-made smoothies.  Alas, the smoothie was off, so I tackled the first recipe on my list of cooking for the week - pina colada quinoa.  As I'm sitting to write this, I have a bowl of it in front of me, and it's not too bad!  I'm cooking a lot of quinoa these days in the midst of the effort to eat less starch, and mostly eliminate gluten from my diet, and this is definitely not the best of the quinoa recipes I've tried, but it's edible, and hey, I get to add another recipe to my list of new recipes I've tried this year.  I'm planning to round off this day with a few errands, and a coffee date with a friend, and then some homework.  The first quiz of the semester is happening this week, and I have some policy and procedure documents for neonatal care that I need to work my way through.  Oh, and I'm finally going to hopefully make some progress on the baby blanket I'm making for my future niece or nephew, since, you know, he or she is now two days overdue and likely to show up any time!

Rest. Busy. Rest.  That's my weekend, and while I could use maybe one more day of lying low, the fact that I'm now aware of just how drained I'm feeling is a good thing, and will let me manage my energy and schedule a bit more carefully for the next couple weeks while I work to recover some equilibrium.  Sweet deal.

And with that, I'm off to finish off my breakfast quinoa and get started on some of the little things that I want to do while I'm puttering around and resting today!  Happy Monday!

Weekend List

I don't usually post on Saturdays, but today I felt the need to make a list.  This is the only weekend for the next three weeks or so when I don't have either wedding or baby related events to attend, and I'm taking advantage of it with errands, built in rest time, and trying to get just a bit ahead of the game on the homework front.  And so I'm making a list of things that I need to do today and tomorrow.  Not the exhaustive list that is in the app and website that I use for keeping my to do lists (and life) organized, but the list that reminds me of the priorities.  The one that is public and adds that funny level of accountability.  And so, without further ado, my weekend list:

• take bottles to the depot for refund
• work for mom for a few hours (thankful for parents who will "hire" me)
• grocery shopping
• bake banana muffins
• book a rental car for next week's clinical
• tackle homework
• catch up on a couple weeks worth of blog reading
• work on next week's blog posts
• deal with some banking requirements
• work on writing a personal biography
• tackle a few outstanding emails
• time for rest and creativity
• a little bit of brainless entertainment

Left on Today's List

Since arriving home mid-afternoon, I've accomplished things like washing dishes, a couple loads of laundry, some emails and other random tasks.

The list of things still left for today includes:

• various and sundry school tasks
• prepping some food for the week ahead
• stitching a tiny pair of baby booties
• sending a couple emails
• doing a wee bit of filing
• taking some time to rest

Weekend Rest

I'm spending this weekend resting and catching up.  The first month of school has demanded more from me than I expected, or at least demanded something far different from what I was expecting.  Usually, when I get home on Friday nights, I do some homework, to protect the days of the weekend from also being fully over-run by school.  Last night I declared homework off-limits, and spent the evening doing a bit of cleaning, and a whole lot of relaxing and catching up on all my television favorites.

These are some of my goals for the rest of the weekend:

• hunt for my crockpot in the boxes of kitchen stuffs that are still packed away
• begin to study for the midterm that I have at the end of next week
• catch-up on emails that are waiting for replies
• hit the library and grocery store
• Reflect on a series of anniversaries that begin today - ones that have been bittersweet
• Work on blog posts for the coming weeks

Emails are the biggest one.  Emails and the midterm.  And maybe the shopping.  But basically I have a quietish weekend planned, and I'm really thankful for that!

Friday!

It's Friday!

(well, actually, it's Thursday night when I'm writing this, but by the time this goes live, it will be Friday.)

This week I'm particularly excited to welcome the weekend.

It's been a rough week at the office, for lots of reasons that I can't go into here.  Let's just say that I'm thankful that this particular temp contract is ending in short order.

It's been harder still since I haven't been feeling well physically.  I'm battling a cold that has settled into a wracking (how do you spell that?) dry cough, and on top of that I contracted a mild stomach bug that has rather limited my appetite and food intake (and thus energy).

I'm really excited for a weekend.

With one brief exception, and maybe a couple of errands, I plan to spend it catching up on rest, and hopefully carving out a bit of silence.  My parents will be away for a good chunk of the day on Saturday, so I'm hoping to curl up in my favorite recliner in their living room and carve out some quiet space for rest and restoration.  I need to carve out that space.

And so, today, though I really do try to remember the lesson I began to learn on that humorous day I was hijacked by Stan, I'm not so much postponing joy, as anticipating the greater measure of it that will come with the weekend.  Not too many hours to go...

Friday!

Y'all, I'm so glad it's Friday.

This week has been full of lots of good things, but it's been busy, and I haven't had much quiet, or much rest.

That whole routine I had going of having time to wind-down at night, away from my computer? Out the window this week.  And inspite of giving up that extra hour or more each night, my email inbox still looks somewhat overwhelming to me. 

I have almost no formal plans this weekend, and I can't wait.

I'm going out for Korean food with one of my oldest friends tonight (she spent some time teaching in Korea and knows just what to order).  I'm skyping tomorrow with a very dear friend living on another continent - one of my favorite people.  But other than that, nothing set in stone.  I have a (growing) list of tasks and reading and writing to accomplish, but they're all things that can be done at a gentle pace, and from the comfort of a couch, with my laptop.  A couple of key things are already off that list, as I made some phone calls this morning that were actually productive.

So, a weekend enjoying just a bit of time with friends, and lots of time to rest and/or accomplish.

Can't wait!

Quiet

I'm declaring a quiet weekend in this space, starting now.  I'll be around for the Daily 5 posts this weekend, but that's probably it.

This has been a wearing sort of week, and sleep last night was fleeting.  I had odd dreams of leeches and dogs and all sorts of other things.  A weird conglomeration, really, and morning came far too soon for comfort and rest.

Plus, it's finally snowing here.  Those of you who know me well know that I am NOT a fan of either winter or the white stuff that comes with it.

So, I'm going to take a weekend to rest.  I'm attending a conference this weekend, and recovering from a tiring couple weeks as I gear up for a very busy November.

See you Monday!

Weekend To Do's

Amidst a rather strong need for rest, these are the things I'm going to try to tackle this weekend:

• muffin baking (supplies my breakfasts at work)
• skype with L.  (a couple of hours of catching up with one of my favorite people on the planet)
• winter coat shopping (because I live in a Northern climate, and I've been surviving without a proper winter jacket for years, and I'm tired of it.  this is the year for a jacket to enter my wardrobe)
• catch up on the Look at Jesus course I'm participating in (because I'm excited to be a part of it, but life has happened, and I haven't had a chance to participate the way I'd like)
• Knit (because something creative needs to happen)
• Fill out student loan documents to re-enter repayment (because the government will have their money, one way or another)
• catch up on emails (because there are several people that I owe replies to)
• play on pinterest (because it's restful, and resting is one of the goals for this weekend)
• groceries (because, well, I need to eat for the next week)
• write (because, well, it's kind of like breathing)

Resting and Heading Out

I thoroughly enjoyed spending last night in bed, resting.  I caught up on some of my favorite television online, ate pizza and chocolate in bed, took a bubble bath and wrote a few emails.  It was perfect.

I'm doing more of the same today, with some cleaning thrown in, until later this afternoon.

I'm heading out to spend about 24 hours at local Catholic retreat centre, meeting with leaders of the house church community that I'm a part of.  We will spend time enjoying each others company, dreaming, praying and eating together, as we look towards what the coming year will hold.  I'm excited that a few of the people with whom I share leadership of our house church are also attending.

What that means is that this space will be quiet.

I'll be back tomorrow night with the Daily 5 lists for today and tomorrow.

In the meantime, would you pray for our retreat - that it would be a time of refreshing and relationship building as we plan and pray for the year ahead.

What I Love Best About Sunday Mornings

On Sunday mornings, because I camp out at Mom and Dad on weekends, I get the only chance in my whole week to be completely alone in a given space.

Their house empties as they go to church.

I sleep in, and then dress and head upstairs.

There is a recliner waiting for me, or maybe a kitchen.

On Sunday mornings I tend to do one of two things to enjoy my time alone.

I curl up in a comfy black recliner with my laptop and maybe a book or journal, and I catch up on blog reading, and on emails.  I maybe watch a little bit of television, or play some music.

OR

I putter in the kitchen, tackling a new recipe, or simply baking something that I really enjoy.  If I do this, then I pop in a dvd and laugh as it plays while I cook or bake.  (The kitchen is open concept, separated from the living room by an island, so I can watch in the living room while standing in the kitchen.)

But mostly I just love that whichever of these relaxing activities I choose, I'm alone.  No one else in the building.  The choice of noise vs. silence is mine.  The choice of activity vs. stillness is mine.  I love that.  There is something about that quiet aloneness that feeds my soul in ways that I need.  It's truly lovely.

Saturday at the Soul-Sucking Mega Store

Would you believe that I braved the soul-sucking mega store (my pet name for a local grocery chain) on the morning of Thanksgiving Saturday?  Crazy.  Not a well thought through plan.  I rarely shop at that store any more, but I found myself there today, picking up the groceries needed for the next couple weeks of work lunches.

It was, well, horrible.

I'm spending part of this afternoon hanging out on skype with one of my favorite people.

And I'm planning to spend most of the weekend simply resting.

It'll be good to rest.

Saturday Plans

It's Saturday again.  9:00 am.

I've been awake for a while already.  Turns out that your body thinks you need to wake up early when 5 days a week you force it out of bed at 5:30 am.

So I've been laying in bed, watching a bit of TV on DVD, and enjoying the comfort of my space, and resting.

And that's pretty much what the day ahead holds.  A bit more resting.  A bit more TV.  Some baking.  A library trip (fast becoming part of my Saturday routine.)  Maybe a grocery trip.  Probably some reading and writing.

It sounds like a good day from my 9:00 vantage point in bed.  A good day.

I could use one of those this week.  A good and restful day.  And so I'm going to soak it in.

Sunday, Mid Afternoon

I'm half-way through my Sunday, and some of the things that are done are becoming Sunday habits.

I baked muffins.

And cookies (a new recipe courtesy of pinterest.)

I've even showered and done some work in the garden.

In a little while, I'll head back to grandma's.

The rest of Sunday is also habit - prepping blog posts for the coming week, cleaning and organizing, making lists, reading, tackling various tasks from my list from the past week, and others from the list for the coming week.

It's how I spend my weekends now.  Catching up, and trying to catch some rest.

Not so bad, though not the freedom that I once had.  It's all about adjusting.

I'm getting there.

Skype (and other thoughts)

It's Saturday afternoon.

Would you believe that this new schedule that my current job demands (the one where I wake up at 5:30 on work day mornings) has messed up my ability to sleep in?  I was awake by 8:00 this morning, and up and at it by 9!  And 9:00 felt decadent!  Crazy!

In a few short minutes, I have a skype date planned with one of my favorite people on the planet.  We are, as she would say, going to have a "wee natter" and I can't wait.  There's a lot to catch up on.  Travel.  Boys.  School.  Plans for the next couple years of our lives.  Church and life.  I can't wait!  Skype is absolutely one of my favorite things around, for the moments like this when I get to "sit across" from a friend on another continent and catch up with each other.

In the meantime, I'm catching up on weekend stuff.  This morning I did grocery shopping and a trip to the library.  I have some reading and writing to catch up on.  Some baking to do.  Some random little health things to take care of (things like soaking my right hand in epsom salt and hot water, since I somehow managed to get a badly infected hangnail on my right thumb, that makes me howl in pain every time I accidentally bump it.)

This job has made me so thankful for weekends - for extra bits of rest and quiet.  For the chance to catch up on the myriad of things that just don't happen during the week anymore.

I've got to tell, you, though - I miss the days of moving quietly, nothing urgent.  Now, to get the same things done, I have to be disciplined, and plan.  If something doesn't happen when it should, I have to figure out what gets sacrificed - what's less important.  It's been a study in transition and juggling.  In figuring out how to manage health and rest with needs and desires and obligations.  It's requiring a lot more discipline and more careful use of my time.  And that's okay.  Maybe even good.  But it's definitely taking some adjusting!

Noon, Sunday

By noon today, I'd managed to crawl out of bed, pop a dvd full of Frasier episodes on, and start baking.  I'd made muffins and cookies.

I'm sitting here, staring at apartment listings, and wondering if there is something I can afford.  There are maybe a few possibilities, but nothing that's screaming my name just yet.

I have a list of little (and big) things to accomplish this afternoon.  Things like writing and prep for the week ahead.

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, really.

With maybe a nap thrown in.

We'll see.

In any case, I remain greatly thankful that it's the weekend.  With the job I have right now, weekends are truly a lovely break.

Saturday Stuff

It's late on Saturday morning, and I'm pondering the things that need to be done in the day ahead...

• I have a bunch of correspondence to catch up on
• I need to hunt down some information on tickets to a show I'm hoping to catch with a friend
• I'm playing with this website that I recently discovered - fun and easy way to create some abstract art.
• I'm heading out to the library shortly.  Some books I requested have arrived, and I have a bunch to return as well.
• I'm pondering some reading that I absolutely have to get done
• and some writing
• And I'm thinking about doing a bit of baking or cooking.  Maybe muffins for my breakfasts for the week ahead, or some meals to freeze for lunches for the same reason.
• I'm laughing over the fact that yesterday I bought my first pack of cigarettes.  No, not for me.  For my boss.  It was a calculated thing.  She asked if I would be willing to run out and get them for her, and where normally I would have said no, because of my rather strong objections to smoking and tobacco, I said yes, because she was clearly in need of a smoke, was super busy and stressed, I didn't really have anything else to do, and I knew my experience of the day was going to go better if she had cigarettes.  Crazy huh?  (I also only agreed because she told me it absolutely wasn't mandatory, and after making it clear that this was not something I'd do on any kind of regular basis for her.)  The whole thing still kind of makes me laugh and roll my eyes and wonder just a little about how I handled it, but, given the day that we were having at the office, I feel like it was a decision that I'm okay with.
• I'm considering the fact that I need to run to my favorite clothing store tomorrow, because they're having a customer appreciation sale, and I could really use a couple new tops for work.
• Mostly, I'm sitting here, aware of all the things that need to be done, but thankful that it's the weekend, and I can do them at a much less hurried pace than weekdays demand.

Movie Day

It's Sunday, and I have a couple hours to get things done this morning, and then I'm off to see a couple movies.  It's a good thing that this is a long weekend, given the way my weekend has come together!  There are definitely quite a few things left on my to do list for the weekend!

This afternoon I'm going to see The Help with a friend, and then tonight, Kung Fu Panda 2 with my brother at our local cheapie theatre.

It should be a fun way to spend a Sunday!

(And with that, I'm off to get some things done before all the fun begins!)

Saturday, Smiling

It's 11:24 am, and I am happily propped in bed.

I've been awake for a few hours, and just puttering online.

It makes me happy - to catch up on email, to read blogs, to watch a couple shows that I haven't had time for during the week, thanks to this new crazy schedule.

I'm spending the day on my own, and that also kind of makes me happy.

In a couple minutes, I'll hope out of bed, take a shower, and then head out.

I'm planning to bake these muffins today.   And probably some cookies.  And I think I'll blanch and freeze a bunch of green beans from my garden.

I'm going to the library, and planning to just enjoy a day, doing restful things that I love.  Reading, emailing, cooking and baking, writing, maybe some television or a movie... Just things that I enjoy...

It's Saturday, and I'm smiling.

Friday

Mornings seem to drag at this new job.  They start early - 7:30, at which point I'll have already been awake for about two hours, since it takes me about an hour to wake up and get out the door, and an hour to commute downtown by transit.  There are no real breaks - just quick trips to refill a water bottle, or run to the bathroom - until lunch at noon.  It's a focused length of time, but it does seem to drag.

Afternoons are shorter, and somehow seem to go more quickly, hurrying from one thing to the next after returning from lunch, until the day ends at 4:30. 

Lunch is usually spent sitting in the conference room, eating while I read.

Today, I'm hoping the day passes quickly.  I'm ready for a weekend, and a long weekend at that!

The thing I'm looking forward to the most about this weekend?  Staying in bed until at least 11 am tomorrow.  Doesn't matter if I'm sleeping or not.  I'm house sitting for my parents again this weekend, and if I happen to wake up before 11 (which is likely), I'll just lay in bed and watch some television online on my laptop, or read a book.  Other weekend plans include more of the same.  Some cooking and baking.  A bubble bath or two.  Watching a bit of food network.  Doing some reading and writing and grocery shopping to prepare for the following week.  Maybe seeing a movie or two.  But mostly just enjoying a quiet, low key and restful weekend.  Sounds lovely, doesn't it?

Busy Weekend

Y'all, I go back to work full-time on Monday (assuming, of course, that this time everyone involved has the correct date!)  That means that I'm spending this weekend tackling a whole variety of "must be dones" and "should be dones" and "would be nice to have dones" that I simply won't have as much time for once nine hours of my day, five days a week, plus commuting time are being spent working.  The days will start earlier than they ever have, and that means I'll need to hit bed earlier than I have in a while.  It means personal discipline, fitting in the big and most important things first, and then prioritizing on downwards.  So, I made a list. 

Not everything on this list is going to be accomplished, but I'm hoping to take a significant chunk out of it.  It includes everything from picking up a few groceries and buying a September transit pass to compiling a Bible study for our home church for the next ten weeks, tackling some reading that I have on my plate, and getting ahead on blog posts.

It's the kind of list I mostly enjoy working through.  Wish me luck as I tackle it over the next days and into the week!

(What are your weekend plans?  Are you a list maker, or more of a take it as it comes kind of person?)