Friday Thoughts 8/17/2018

The end of another week. It's rainy here today, which isn't a bad thing, since I think we need it. My son went back to school this week to start his junior year, so we're all adjusting to the new schedule, both waking up early and hustling to get ready, and having him gone all day. My daughter will start preschool in a few weeks, and that'll be yet another adjustment! There's always something going on around here. :)


*10 Simple Things That Will Make You Happier At Home*

This is a lovely little article, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how many of the things I already do on a regular basis. I've been trying to focus on gratitude more lately; I try to find something to enjoy or appreciate about every task (including scooping the litterbox! No one LOVES that task, but it has to be done, so I usually play a song I enjoy on my phone while I scoop. It makes the experience...if not enjoyable, then easier to work through); I have a display of things from the travels I've gone on with my mother; I somewhat follow the 'have an intent for each day' rule.

When I'm not running errands like getting groceries or running the kids around, I spend most of my time at home, and it's important to me that the area around me is calm, free of clutter, and a pleasant place to be. I've had to work very hard, both on my house and on myself, to make this possible, and it helps immensely with my anxiety. It's a constant struggle, though; I'm one person, cleaning up after four people (three of whom do NOT clean up after themselves whatsoever) and two cats, so it's truly neverending.

Does it matter what the space around you looks like? Are you one of those lucky people that can feel calm, relaxed, and productive wherever you go, or do you find it easier to be the best version of yourself when your space is organized?


*5 Exercises for Rotator Cuff Pain*

Ow.

So when I went to the doctor a few weeks ago, my doc confirmed that my right shoulder pain is most likely rotator cuff pain, which is what I had suspected. Apparently, physical therapists don't like to do both lower back and shoulder work at the same time, so we're going to focus on getting my lower back in good working order first, and then we'll move on, but for the moment, this shoulder stuff is kind of ruining my life. :( It may be genetic; my dad has shoulder issues and told me this past weekend that he's on his third bout of frozen shoulder, so lucky me!

Hopefully YOU won't need this link. If you do, I'm sorry, and I feel your pain...literally. If you have any other suggestions about alleviating rotator cuff pain, I'd absolutely love to hear it!


*What Do You Want Your Tombstone to Say?*

I am in perpetual indecision.

I've basically been a homemaker most of my adult life. I've had a few part-time jobs, the kind where you wear a nametag and, for the low, low salary of minimum wage, you get to hear what a piece of garbage you are from far too many of the customers (and as a result, I'm so, so nice to retail workers. They work so hard and get treated so terribly). I've taken college classes on and off. But I've never felt like I've had a purpose and that bothers me. There are things that I'd *like* to happen- if time and money were no object, I'd go back to school to become a librarian. Unfortunately, the logistics of that make it an impossible dream: it would be far too expensive, there'd be no one to care for my young daughter when I'm gone, Too Expensive, I'd have to travel too far in order to go to a school with that program, $$$$$, we've already got my son's college to pay for in two years, there's the money issue, there's no guarantee that my back won't die completely the second after I graduate, did I mention it would be prohibitively expensive?

Anyway...I'm going to do the exercises on this page and see what I come up with. There are things I'm working on, like with my writing (which I've been able to get back to a bit this week, now that the majority of the basement is cleaned up!), but...there's more to me too. And I think defining it on paper, to see in front of me in an organized way, will help to clarify a few things for me. :)



That's about it this week. I've been so busy that I haven't had much time online, so those are the only links I had bookmarked! Not necessarily a bad thing, I think. What about you? What have you been thinking about?

Have a great weekend, everyone!