c'est plus fort que moi

Warning, this post contains loathing for the season

Christmas time, is the time when we all gather together in recognition that... While in recognition of something anyway, but it is vitally important that every spare moment, now that you have some, because of the holidays, be filled with frantic activity. 

Today, as all sundays, is the least responsible of my days. It is the day where I have parenting support and less demands from work. 

So in my mind it is the day that I set aside to work on hobbies and get things done. But it seems that I am not allowed to do those things because then I come across as unfriendly or angry. 

Which I increasingly become, as I have less time to get done the things that I have to do, because of the frantic activity brought on by the season.

A thing my Chiropractor said to me

 I pop in to see my chiropractor every month, and I was a little sore this month, but in no acute pain at all, which is great. I mean, no knee pain, no hip pain, nothing. With my running increasing, I was getting actually pain points from time to time, so this is kinda a Big Deal.

I did complain a bit though about being sore all the time, and he said, "well yah, you're in training"

And I was like, "no, I'm a jogger with ambition, so I am a glorified amateur"

And he says, "You run five times a week. You have a 20 minute stretching exercise every day. You have core workouts on top that three times a week"

And then I had to think... Am I an athlete?

Focus

 So I have a new approach to focus

I start work, and every hour my alarm goes off and I get up and do a few other things for 15 minutes or so.

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but my productivity is up. Or maybe my thinking about being more focused just makes me more focused.

The OTHER things is that I'm now down to one job, at work, from two, so that helps me focus on getting things done, too

Calendar smearing

 

We're solidly into the second wave here, and the calendar has done that thing when you can't keep track of which day is which again. The Peanuts are doing their ballet at home as Prairie Metropolis is in a partial shutdown again and the gyms are closed.

My work has restructured and I have changed portfolios, but gone back to only having one job, which is very nice. I will miss my team, but I won't miss my add-on duties that involved fighting institutional conservatism and needlessly complex processes.

some rules

If solving someone else's problem is impossible and the effort will make the problem worse, doesn't it make sense not to do that?

If you consistently tell me how terrible the people you love are, I'm not a bad person for reminding you that you need to celebrate them. Don't @ me.

Weird Energy Sink

 I had a rough day yesterday. Just my energy bottomed out and would not come back. Nothing worked... I was supposed to do a bunch of stuff in the evening, and I just... couldn't.

So I noodled. Didn't even _do_ anything, just noodled, and eventually got enough energy to get done a couple of tasks late in the day and then that set up a better day today.

My perfect morning

 Get up at 6 am, listen to National News as delivered by my smartphone

while making coffee

and feeding the cats.

Remember to medicate the old grumpy cat.

Play stupid smartphone games for about 10 minutes while I drink my coffee.

Then make two lunches for Peanuts and put them by the front door.

Make one latte, and two frothed milks with vanilla, and take them upstairs.

Put down the latte, fire up the "Musicals" playlist on the Project Manager's phone, and snuggle her for about four minutes while she complains about the inevitable march of time.

Take the two frothed milks further upstairs to the garret, turn on "911" by Lady Gaga and wake up the Peanuts.Snuggle them too.

Get the Peanuts dressed with some kind of stupid game to make it fun, then all go downstairs and pounce on the Project Manager who is still asleep, or trying to be, to fight the inevitable march of time.

Head downstairs and lure the Peanuts downstairs with promises of a variety of breakfast options: Toast, bread, cereal, bacon & eggs, etc...

Feed 'em. 

Send them upstairs to brush teeth and do mouth exercises, while I do dishes, then meet them back downstairs to read them whatever the morning equivalent of "bedtime stories" is.

They head out the door to school, and I get to go to work.

The best.