A confusing week

Sorry for the silence lately - I've been having a highly confusing week - and am, I assure you, MOST grateful it's over.  

I still need some time to sort out my thoughts about some of the things that have happened this week, but hope to be able to sit down and focus a little tomorrow and will try and get a post up tomorrow.

In the mean time, the sun was shining all day today and although I had to work indoors all day today, I am hopeful that wherever you are, you were able to take advantage of spring weather and temperatures...

With love across the waters... 

Sleep Deprived

I made a mistake.  Last night, a little before 7:00 PM, I brewed myself a cup of tea.  Craving something strong, I made the cinnamon tea I had bought a few days before.  MMM – it was yummy!

The mistake? I forgot that it is made with black tea, and therefore strongly caffeinated.  Yup, you guessed it.  Not only was I nearly completely incapable of falling asleep last night, once I finally managed to, I woke a good 2 hours before my alarm & lay there cursing out my tea all over again.

I am estimating I got roughly two hours of sleep.

Today was a very very VERY long day.  Full day at work, by the time my day ended I was so tired I was actually feeling a little on the sick side. This feeling is not entirely conducive to actual exercise, so no exercise-walk after work today – just a short one around the block for Jasmine.

I’m amazed at just how dragged out and unhealthy I feel tonight – and all for basic lack of sleep!  At this point, I am waiting for the dishwasher to finish its cycle. Once done, I’ll empty it and put away the dishes.  Otherwise, my plan is to have a bath, take some melatonin and have a hot date with my pillows.

Moral of the story? Pay attention to what you drink in the evening - and remember just how awful this feels. Sleep is WAY too important, and when missed, it really messes with, well, everything!

With love across the waters,

Hm. Feng Shui in the Home Office...?

My home office is still a bit of a bugaboo for me.  It's where I spend a fair amount of time (on the computer and managing my paperwork and finances) but the room just doesn't feel complete.  It still feels cluttered and, well, out of sync, somehow... I think the computer is in the right place.  The extra table (I was using it to study at when I was a full time student this time last year) has become redundant since I'm not studying as much (OK, at all) right now and it feels crowded and a little heavy in here.

I need to do something about this space.

I'm thinking this will need some help. OK, honestly, I'm thinking this will need a lot of help.  The computer desk I have isn't exactly 100% useful for my needs - the drawers and computer "space" are handy, but the table-top part of it is angled and cluttered.   If I moved the table over here and used it for the computer and workspace it would certainly be more "user friendly" but what do I do about the drawers - I need those... I have stuff in them and need this particular stuff close to hand. It's useful.

Then again, I could probably sell the desk and buy a small 3-drawer cabinet with some of the proceeds...

On the other hand, if my brother decides he wants his table back (it was the original table from the cabin and he did an amazing job restoring it) then I'm without something to have my computer on, if I got rid of the desk...

Decisions, decisions...

I think I better sleep on this one!

A Little LESS Ambitious…

Including yesterday’s exercise walk, this past week I completed 58.29 KM and walked (with a teensy bit of running) that in 10 hours over 7 days.  Yesterday (the last 7 KM) it took me almost 2 KM to loosen up my calf muscles (granted, I’d been wearing low heels all day at work) and today, after using “The Stick” my calves are still a little tender… so I think, perhaps, 58 KM is maybe a bit more than I can handle just yet. 

So this week I’m going to be a little LESS ambitious exercise-wise and keep it to 7.25 KM per day for a total of no more than 50.75 KM this week.

Part of this desire is to preserve and loosen up my calf muscles, and part of it is to do with the fact that I am also going to be working six days this week… the extra money will be nice (though quickly spent) and daylight savings time will still let me get out there and have my walks with Jasmine… A few other things will have to be postponed and/or cancelled altogether.

This desire to ensure I have a less ambitious week comes, part and parcel, due to an article I ready yesterday offering tips on how to simplify things.  A couple of the suggestions involved taking on less and, much more difficult for many people, saying “no” to some things in order to ensure sanity is preserved.

I was invited to an event (I’m still not certain what it is all about even after looking at the woman’s website, but I *think* it involves direct marketing – something I’m not terribly interested in anyhow) tomorrow night and will be calling to cancel as soon as I finish posting this blog entry.  Tuesday night Jasmine and I have another tricks class – which I *will* be attending.  Wednesday after work will be a “do nothing” evening – as will the rest of my evenings this coming week.

I do have a couple of things planned through the week – Thursday, for example, I’m dropping my car off to be serviced and will pick it up after work.  No stress on me for this one since they are within walking distance to my work.

I used a fair amount of my time today in cooking.  Soup – a big pot to freeze into individual portions for lunches. I also cooked up a pan of lasagna – which I have now also divided into dinner sized portions and also frozen.  The only thing left in the kitchen at the moment is the pork roast I’m cooking right now.  That will be dinner tonight (and tomorrow night) and the rest will be divided up and frozen too.

This week I’m going to need to make some more granola, and I’m thinking I will also need to bake up another loaf of bread, but these will be done on my “stay at home” evenings and won’t cause me too much extra work since both recipes are basic and easy to manage.

So how do you plan for your busy weeks…? I’d be interested in hearing the stress busting tips as well as the time management tips that you use in order to help your week go as smoothly as possible.

With love across the waters,