Things in the way (AKA: LIFE!)

Life will always throw distractions in the way. Unfortunately I'm part bird, so I'm easily distracted by the shiny and new. I'd much rather play on my Instagram gardening page apparently then focus on the really important.

My hobby - rescuing plants from our local dumpster. 
It's so rewarding!

In fact I've been feeling SO incredibly distracted lately that I had to sit myself down and make a list. Here it is. It's called "What Matters to Me."

• ·     Money back from old gym
• ·     Re-Join new gym
• ·     Lose weight
• ·     Do Yoga again
• ·     Sell the eBay stuff to make trip money
• ·     Re-activate my MFT license (take needed CEU’s)
• ·     Help Papa get into VA home
• ·     Stay on budget

That last one is rough. I'm not known for keeping a close eye on my budget. Especially with the cost of everything rising 20% recently. But I want my husband to be able to retire as soon as possible, so this needs to become important to me. 

I will always make time for art.
My latest ceramic piece. A little garden Goddess.

Getting rid of things I'm not using and letting them go to people who will love and use them is why I'm selling some belongings on eBay. It makes me feel good that something I'm just holding onto will instead be important to someone else. I'm happy there's a way I can do that and also make a little money. That matters to me.

I miss my old gym terribly. Luckily so does my mother. It's going to be hard for me to get my money out of them. Sadly I can't afford both the new membership and for the old gym to keep my money (see "stay on budget.") Good thing I'm not terrible at getting what I want. I hope I don't have to escalate things with them though. That takes time and energy I'd rather spend at the gym.

Margo and Max will also always get my time and attention.

In fact, they get the most of it.

My two toddlers.

In the meantime there's nothing stopping me from doing Yoga (other than myself.) I managed to do "Chair Yoga" once this week. I'm going to do it again today. I did it along with a video I found on YouTube for people with Cancer. It was excellent. Just what I needed to get me back into Yoga without injury or too much pain.

Next Sunday my mother and I are going back to Oregon to get my grandfather and move him back to California. He's no longer able to live independently and his rent is going up again to a place where he can't afford it anymore. He does not want to go, so we have a battle on our hands. It won't be a "jolly time had by all at the beach." But family matters to me a lot, so there we have it. It will also take as many people as possible to help my Papa through this very hard time in his life. Transitioning to a home.

So there we have it. What matters to me and where I need to be focusing my time. Not that I still won't spend some time on the "shiny" and "new." But these can still be my anchors of attention.

Alone Time

The first time I shopped alone for fun since I can remember!

How important is "alone time?" I think it varies from person to person. As a creative soul I've always craved a lot of alone time. That's something I didn't get much of when I was very ill. I was always at the doctors, asleep or with someone. It doesn't count when you're asleep by the way.

Now that I'm managing my diseases I still don't have much alone time. It seems I'm always with my husband, adult son or mother. My husband only works away from home two days a week. There almost always seems to be something to do on one or both of those days. A medical appointment or gathering or some kind that leaves me "not alone." 

When I am alone I am very good at filling my time with "busy work." Things that need to get done but usually aren't important. Laundry, watering the garden, walking the dogs, that kind of thing. Day-to-Day tasks. Not making art or working on my CEU's. I can fill days and days of time this way. Making medical appointments is a particular specialty of mine.

As someone who has never lived alone I'm pretty used to be around others constantly. Kids of course are rarely alone, so I didn't have too much time by myself even though I'm an only child. There were always friends over, parents around, grandparents, other kids, teachers, classrooms full of kids... you get the picture. 

Solitude is welcome. I'm working on practicing savoring my alone time more and making the most of it.