If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath. — Amit Ray, Om Chanting and Meditation
Greetings Gentle Readers! How are you all doing today?
For me, it feels like I have reached the Apex of Stress, sans the downhill portion…amirite? My focus as I start this week is to remember to breathe, which is not always as easy as it sounds!
But!! There is help! Perhaps this 5-Minute Meditation will become your friend this week!
Something else to remember… drink lots of water to stay hydrated! (not tea, coffee, or something stronger, lol)
I don’t know if any of you follow the Sarcastic Lutheran on IG…she has some “spiritual Xanax” for us all tomorrow (and perhaps a reminder or two to breathe!
We are the ones we have been waiting for. — The Elders, Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation
I have been in dire need of a shake up here at my blog and late last week some inspiration struck. It started with a quote by a some unknown genius: It’s just another Magic Monday and those simple words led me down the most glorious of rabbit holes on the internet. Such. Fun. Inspirational. Things!
One of the things I discovered was the Hopi Elder Statement and it really moved me. There is so much wisdom contained in this simple statement. The analogies are just so perfect for our Pandemic Lives right now… which most days does indeed feel like a very fast flowing river and here I am desperately trying to cling to the shore and find some normalcy in the abnormal. Maybe I do need to push away from the shore and look around at all of you here with me… and do a little more celebrating!! We started that celebrating with the successful installation (in less than an hour!!) of a new and no longer leaking kitchen faucet! While we feel accomplished in our plumbing debut…Steve is not quitting his day job! But it was infinitely worth the time we spent on Saturday morning.
You might have heard that Pandemic Winter is coming! Did you, like me, miss this really uplifting Life Kit episode…which is made even more brilliant by the comic by La Johnson! This for me was the best motivation: “There is something so satisfying about doing something for future you!” Why, yes there is. So this week, I have added an absolute must-have to my list… refill the LP gas canister for our patio heater. My future self will thank me when we are a wee bit warmer outside as the days get much cooler!
The other thing on my list this week is to figure out Google Meet so that our knit night is less of a hassle (free Zoom is awesome, but 40 minutes is just not enough time!)
So this week… let’s “Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.”
It is me, or do the weeks somehow seem longer. I don’t know why that is, but boy… this week felt so.darned.long! I am chalking this up to the fact that COVID-emic-ELECTION days are some of the longest days ever, amirite? Anyways, this week felt like the perfect time to do a little TGIFing.
Takedown
Obama was in Philly on Wednesday and his speech was exactly what I needed this week! In case you missed it, or you need another dose of glorious Obama Eloquence, here you go!
Grieving
One of the best parts of my morning routine is listening to Tracy K. Smith share some beautiful thoughts and a poem. Sadly, this week she announced that she is leaving The Slowdown and at the end of the month it will go on hiatus until they find a new host. I will miss Tracy’s voice in my morning. I love her perspective, how she expanded my horizons, the poets she introduced me to, and especially how she made me think! I am trying to wrap my head around this change and how it will alter my mornings and mourning this loss.
Installing
Some months ago, the kitchen faucet was dripping. Okay. It was a the tiniest drip which was fixed with a firm shut off to the handle. Enter this the past couple of weeks and that is no longer working. Because, of course…right? End result…Steve is off today, and we are going to pretend we are plumbers and attempt to install a new faucet. Why us? Well, I called around to plumbers to get prices… and about had a coronary. Ummm, for those prices you’d think they were replacing the faucet, sink, and countertop!! Keep your fingers crossed that this goes well (and we don’t kill each other, lol) AND that by the end of the day I have a working kitchen sink with minimal extra trips to the hardware store! Ha!
all the FEELS
I know some of you are seeing your families on the regular, and I am happy for you… most days. The hardest thing I have ever done is this separation from my kids and grandkids. My kids are stressed, which makes me even more stressed. It sucks. But!! I know that I am not alone, there are many in blogland who are in the exact same boat I am and I want you to know I see you, I think about you, and I think about your kids scattered far and wide. My fervent hope is that things will stop being so damned urgent with more rising cases, and that a vaccine will become available that will be safe and effective…soon. Sooner than soon actually. I am not sure how much more I can take.
And that is a wrap for this week! I will be back on Tuesday to join Honoré to share my update on my word.
Weeks that feel unending makes for a fly-by weekend…or at least that is how it seemed here. The weekend was over before it began.
But maybe not… because I got so much done! My planner set up is working wonderfully and it feels good to have everything together. (sorry, I had planned on getting a photo this morning but it is dark and dreary and pouring down rain…sigh)
Yes, I am much farther along than this currently, but the light is not conducive to photography this morning!
In a scrolling of Twitter last week, I noticed that Kate Atherley was doing an impromptu sock KAL. I found some yarn and cast on Thursday night while we caught up on Big Brother and I managed to find time over the weekend to almost complete the leg of the first sock! Good thing because the heel is out sometime today!
Making good progress on my comfort-knitting sock. Anyone up for a little KAL? You need sock yarn and needles to get 32 sts in 4 ins/10cm. I am using @CandySkein Yummy Fingering in Ecto Cooler and 2.25mm. pic.twitter.com/rHjZ4ymCh0
— Kate Atherley is coming from inside the house (@kateatherley) October 13, 2020
But the most fun was beginning the process of knitting acorn caps, which I did while watching The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix. It was so good (and perfect for cranking out several little caps!)
Acorns are so much fun, but even more so with special handspun! Thank you, Sarah!
Finally, I want to share my meditation for the week. I saw this late last week on Facebook and have used this meditation many times over the weekend…it is just exactly what I needed so I thought I’d share it with you. I hope you find it a help for your week ahead!
Happy Monday, everyone! See you all back here on Wednesday!
Last week ended on a stressful note… and then some. Oy.
Friday I had a doctors appointment…a stressful thing in itself…and after making it through the “COVID Screening” to get to my doctors office, I thought it would be smooth sailing from there, HA! Sadly, all my fears intensified when I walked into a very packed waiting room – like WAY too many people in a VERY small waiting room. I had arrived about 15 minutes early for my appointment and still had to wait about 45 minutes… gah! I have COVID fears right now… bad. But, the funniest thing happened in the exam room! My doctor is very soft spoken and wearing a mask does not inspire him to speak louder. I was feeling my age when I kept having to ask what he said over and over and over… yes, in hindsight, it was comical. At the time tho…oy.
From there, it was Flu Shot time! (Slightly shorter wait and, thankfully, way less people)
And if all that was not enough, somehow I thought hitting the grocery store would be a genius idea. HA! Grocery shopping at lunch time on a Friday… not so smart. But at least there is some food in the house now!
Our mail delivery has been sketchy at best, most days we get no mail. No bills, no junk mail, no mail period. I have long been signed up for “informed delivery” and you would think the PO would get sick of me telling them things were not delivered, but nope… it does not matter… I think we have Newman “delivering” our mail. Ha!
So mailing our ballots back to the county was not something I was willing to risk. Saturday morning we headed off to drop off our ballots. Yes, there were long lines! But it was like a well oiled machine! Want to vote? Enter Here! Want to drop off your ballot? Enter Here! So we excitedly, HAPPILY!! cast our ballots on Saturday! And let me tell you how amazing it felt to be voting with lots and lots of Biden Voters!! Hope springs eternal in the voting line!! (but again, LOTS OF PEOPLE!!)
After all that excitement, I was happy to return home and stay there for the remainder of the weekend!
I spent a good bit of time Sunday setting up my new calendar insert…and I am so excited to start this week with it! I have set up through the start of next year and it feels good! Now that laundry is underway I am going to spend some time organizing my inserts! Then I will feel ready to attack the week! I hope to share with you all next week how the new calendar set up is working!
Oh, and I have clean and fill some pens with autumn-y inks on my list today too!
