And do them for a week, or longer. I’m starting small here, because my damn ankle still hurts, so walking is not happening this week (except for tomorrow). The scale isn’t moving, because I really do need exercise.
So my three for the week: 10 minutes of morning meditation. There are a few apps I use so much I happily pay for them, and Calm is one of them. (I’m not being compensated for this, because I still suck at making money from blogging.) I love the sleep stories, and I have grown to love the 10 minute morning meditations. Just 10 minutes, you can do it too! You can try it for free, but if you want to unlock all the amazing sleep stories that have done wonders for my insomnia, you do have to pay. For me, a lifetime insomniac, it has been so worth it. The train stories alone are just…magical. I had no idea I’d be a total sucker for European train stories.
Also, a morning smoothie. I was called upon at the very last minute to keep Delaney for the day last week. The entire family was complaining of allergies, and Delaney woke up with a sore throat and was just tired, and didn’t want to deal with school. She’s a straight A student and just got another academic award for the All A Honor Roll, so yeah, no real harm in letting her have a sick day. And hey, Grandma works from home! I was getting into the shower at 7 I was asked if her dad could drop her at 7:30 at the latest.
FUCK!! Okay, I scrambled and was showered and ready for my guest by 7:20. I can still do it. Before he left, my son-in-law said she’d asked if Grandma could make her a smoothie. I did a fast mental inventory of frozen fruit choices in the freezer, FUCK! I hadn’t made a smoothie in months! I had almond milk and a smidge of protein powder, and some probably freezer burned frozen strawberries and mango chunks. We’d have to wing it.
Anyway, she curled up on the couch, dozed for a bit, and I made her a smoothie with the sad stuff left in the freezer, but she pronounced it delicious. And I realized that not making smoothies was a major factor in my not getting enough fruit in my diet. So this week I am doing a banana, frozen strawberries, and a handful of mango chunks with vanilla plant based protein powder and maybe a cup of almond milk. Three fruit servings at once, and it’s delicious.
I had a ton of meetings that day, but she really was absolutely perfect in every way all day. Not a peep while I was on a call, and she even grabbed the ChomChom and de-cat-haired the furniture when she got bored. That thing is absolutely amazing, and far superior to wrangling the vacuum or those sticky rollers. Plus, it’s fun to use!
Third habit: Hibiscus tea. I make a quart in the morning to drink all day, along with my usual constant water. It’s good for your blood pressure . I do object to their calling it “sour tea” in that article. It’s a bit of an acquired taste, but not very sour. The closest description I can come up with is like watered down cranberry juice, but then I like my regular iced tea unsweet with lemon, so yeah, you might want sweetener in yours. I like it as-is.
My sprained ankle is healing, and is a bit better every day, so of course I’m going to go stress test it with a day at Epcot tomorrow. I won’t push it, the park doesn’t open until 11 a.m. and I’ll probably be on my way home by 3. I need a few hours away from my desk, and my last planned days were foiled by rain or actual work shit that demanded my attention. I am getting stabby, and I need a Disney fix. There will be interesting things to eat and to see, and if my ankle gets mad, I can sit on a bench with a teeny festival-sized glass of wine.
Tomorrow I have just one meeting and I have nothing to contribute, so my “assistant” (quotation marks deliberate) can sit in, and say, “Nope, we have no updates,” while I stalk office decor and a school bread, and soak up fresh air for a few hours.
I want this vase. But so does everybody else. I can totally see this with a cheery handful of (fake) daisies and maybe a couple of taller cheerful pops of color. But apparently so can everybody else, that vase is wildly popular, so there’s no guarantee the shopping gods will smile upon me tomorrow.
Sophie is hanging in, but yeah, not great. We’ve pretty much run out of our medication options, she’s getting thinner, she’s pooping liquid, it’s not great, but she’s comfortable, and ate all of her dinner, so, whatever. She’ll tell me when it’s time, and as long as she’s still cheerful I’m not going to hurry her. I’m also not going to try any more expensive Hail Mary treatments that work for a week and then, don’t.
Ellie and Gidget are perfectly fine, thankyouverymuch. Gidget went for her annual heartworm check/shots/checkup, and was pronounced adorable and healthy, no issues at all. Thank God, I can only do one high maintenance dog at a time.
More tomorrow, when I limp home from Epcot.