Persephone Discusses the Seduction of Free Time

In the 15 months I've been living by myself, I've learned a few things.  Some of them are more visibly useful, like learning how to cook - while others are a little more subtle.

It turns out that I am completely incapable of handling "downtime".  Well, I can handle it in small, measured doses, but not if I have a lot of it all at once.

I went from being "off book but productive", to just "off book" to, "off book with my head firmly up my ass".

School started again this past week, and I didn't even have schedules written for the first week because I had social engagements and appointments peppered all over the place. 

I've already scheduled my first final for April 22, so I knew I needed to get back on track.

Last night I did what I was supposed to do, I wrote out my schedules for the week.  I also made some "global" scheduling decisions so that my weeks are more similar from week to week, more routine oriented and less individualized.

Still, I went to bed last night feeling discouraged.  I couldn't even remember the last time I woke up on time, let alone went through my morning and evening routines.

I didn't sleep well.  I haven't been sleeping well, mostly due to crazy intense nightmares.

The alarm went off this morning, and I turned it off like I've done for the past few months, and almost rolled over and went back to sleep until the second round of alarms went off, also just like I've done for the past several months.  After that, I have been snoozing for an hour or more, barely making it to work on time,  let alone getting up on time on the weekends to be productive.

Lest I digress farther, let's go back to this morning.  The first alarm went off.  I turned it off.  I started to close my eyes, already resigned to another failed morning.

But...I didn't close my eyes. I grabbed my Nook, and read for the 15 minutes between the two sets of alarms.  (This is the first part of my morning routine.)

I got up at the second set of alarms.

I went through my routines.  I had breakfast.  I got through both of my scheduled school blocks.  I cleaned my kitchen.  I set up my food processor.  I made dinner.  I am writing my scheduled blog post.  At 9:15pm I will set myself up for the morning, and then I will spend my last hour reading, which is the last part of my evening routine.

Today was a successful day.

Tomorrow I have the chance to be successful too.

When I am scheduled so rigidly, work and school and my other school and bowling and tennis lessons and cooking and reading - I start longing for free time.  When I hear the siren song of said free time, I succumb to it, only to realize that it's not beneficial to me. 

Maybe someday I can strike a balance between being overly rigid and freefalling into no schedules at all, but for now, I realize that I more structure I give myself, the better I feel overall, and the more I succeed.

And that folks, is all I have to say on this tonight.

-Seph

Abby finally tries the Flylady

The first time I saw the word "Flylady" was on my friend's refrigerator about 5 or 6 years ago.  I don't remember which quote it was, but I do remember my friend talking about how awesome the Flylady's website was and it changed her life.

So, of course I didn't even look into it.  Picturing a buxom housefly in a blonde wig didn't inspire confidence.  My imagination sometimes works against me.

Off and on through the years I kept hearing about this Flylady and her awesome plan that changed people's lives.

Earlier today in an email from a friend of mine, I received some links to information specifically for pregnant women with ADHD.  Flylady was there, changing people's lives again.  I signed up.
I discovered FLY is an acronym for Finally Loving Yourself.  Nothing to do with insects.  Her site is for people suffering from CHAOS.  Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome.  That is so totally my house.

I like that us "Flybabies" (snort, Inorite, but still) start out with baby steps.  After all, our house didn't get this jacked up in one day, I can't possibly fix it in one day.  Tim is on board too, which is exciting.

Baby step one:  Shine my sink.  Done!  Feels pretty good, Flylady.  Yes it does.

Anyone care to join me?  It's free, just how I like it.

Abby's Gardening Glee

Tim and I bought a soil tester today.  We also checked out our local gardening store, and they have heirloom tomatoes!  So excited.  For those who don't know, heirloom plants are open-pollinating plants.  Commercially grown produce has to have certain characteristics in order to be successfully grown large scale and shipped all around the world without being damaged or going bad.  Many of those types have been genetically modified or artificially hybridized in some way.  Being hybrids, their seeds don't "breed true" very well.  so, you can't harvest seeds from your tomato plants and plant them successfully the next growing season, which is something I've been wanting to try.
Heirloom seeds are all the ones from smaller farms that have pollinated naturally and survived through natural selection.  These seeds used to be passed down through generations, but have become popular enough in the past few years to be more commonly found.  Seed Savers Exchange is a site I've been looking at recently.  The most exciting part of heirloom seeds for me is that they're all kinds of vegetables with odd characteristics and unique flavors that I've never had before.  For instance!

Cherokee popcorn

Pretzel beans

And who wouldn't want these pumpkins?!

First, however, we must prepare the soil.  As it was previously a perennial Zen garden, I think we'll have quite a bit of work before the soil is ideal for vegetables.  First we have to kill off all the weeds and grass that have overgrown the area.  Then, we find out what kind of soil is there.  According to The Harvest Gardener, the ideal soil for a vegetable garden is silt.  Most soils are a mixture of sand, clay, and silt.  The book calls this type of soil loam.   There are a couple tests I can do to find out soil composition (that doesn't involve calling in an expert.) I could fill a jar with water and drop some soil into it and watch how it settles.  Or, I could squeeze a handful of soil and see if it sticks together.  If so, it's mostly clay.  I think I'll try both.  After that, it's time to test the acidity with the soil tester.  Gardening is a bit more complex than I remember growing up.

In other news, Zoidberg is still doing well.  I just bought my first pair of maternity pants today.  I also got a comfy shirt for work.  I'm getting back into the swing of my pre-medication coping mechanism of making everything in my life into lists.  Tim just downloaded the Evernote app onto my phone.  He created a shared account for us.  It's a program we now have on all of our devices.  So far I really like it.  

Goodnight, folks.

Abby says - Thank goodness for first aid training

There I was, sitting at the netbook with these two books and getting ready to post about soil preparation and what happens during the 8th week of pregnancy (here's a hint:  nausea and being gassy cover just about all of it)

when my dear husband hands me this ball of soft fuzzeh kitteh

This is Ernie.  He gets into ALL the trouble.

I am to hold Ernie while Tim fixes the screen above the kitchen sink.  If not, Ernie will attempt to escape, and then be eaten by the feral kittehs in the alley.  For reals.

I have bad timing.

Me:  Can I let him go now?  He is squirmy.
Tim:  Yes, I got it.  Oh no wait I don't.
Me:  Too late, he escaped.  One sec, I'll grab hi-
Tim:  *Loud yelling, cursing, manly sounds of pain*
Ernie:  *screaming cat noises.  These are the worst ever.*

Turns out, Ernie was way faster than I.  As he almost got out the window, Tim grabbed him and the window shut on Ernie's paw.  Ernie was terrified and in pain and commenced to bite the everloving crap out of Tim's hands.  Blood was everywhere.

After a zillion apologies, good first aid training (thank you Girl Scouts), and lots of kitty treats, both husband and cat are doing fine.

My boys are survivors!

We'll call the doctor in the morning to see if he recommends antibiotics for Tim.  We're keeping an eye on Ernie, and so far he's not limping.  We'll call the vet tomorrow for their recommendation as well.

So, tomorrow (for really reals!) I'll be posting about preparing soil for our garden and the weird but true stuff going on in my god pod.

Goodnight, folks.


P.S.  The entire time I'm trying to get Tim to sit down and apply pressure to his bandage, he's trying to find Ernie to make sure he's alright first.  DAW!

Persephone's a little frustrated

Those of you who know me personally know that April Fool's Day is my least favorite day of the year, but I have to admit this totally cracked me up.

In other news, I was supposed to start my second semester today but my classes haven't been loaded yet, which means I lose an entire weekend study day.

That combined with just generally feeling glitchy the past couple of weeks has me a little cranky today.

I still need to write my schedules for the week, but I am feeling under-motivated.

/whiny post