Enduring Second Winter

February was InCoWriMo. The plan for March had been to get started on the yard but the weather was crazy with a nor'easter every week and that trend has continued into the current month of April. Actual spring weather has just started in the last week. Yard work has at least been started but I have no idea when it might continue and when it might finally get finished. I almost feel bad for my neighbors who have to see my eyesore of a flower bed because I know I'm not a fan of it.

In April we were supposed to start our outdoor survival courses. With the weather trapping us indoors and giving us a second winter, we were wanting to spend time outdoors with walk and hikes. While we would be out there, my husband wants to brush up on our survival skills with small lessons like pointing out plants that might be harmful to us and such. We're all actually looking forward to it. 

In the meantime, I've been working on my calligraphy. I've always been complimented on my handwriting and I actually do like my handwriting but I think it'd be fun to do different styles and I've always loved word art but I want to put up my own sayings with brush lettering. 

And now, I will leave you with a quote:

"Perseverance and strength of character will enable us to bear much worse tings." 

--Charles Dickens

2018 check, check, 1, 2, 3

I am still here. Of course, I'm a couple of days late but that is because on the day that I would have posted I did actually journal a bit. I'm not completely done with this blog yet though. Sooner or later, I may actually have to change this blog to something but I'm not sure to what yet. I still need time to think through this.

Time is not something that I have a lot of. It is already April and 2018 has been a mess of a year so far. My sink broke the other day and it cost me just an arm to have it fixed. It was worth the price to get my sink fixed so quickly as living without a kitchen sink is a really annoying thing since we have no dishwasher. My kid is getting braces this year but for the first stage, she is getting just a spacer. Just a few weeks ago, I had to get a tire replaced. What this all means is that I am in a decent amount of debt right now.

I'm doing good on some things and other things I feel as if I'm floundering. I'm doing well with my Flowbook challenge. I like the nice break it gives me to focus on something that is out of the ordinary to do. I actually went jogging the other day and I'm hoping to go jogging again if the weather would not flip out every other day. I've been reading books and played video games. I'm writing letters, which has been so much fun. I'm proud of myself on those ends. My planner system is doing a good job of keeping me organized and not feeling as if I'm constantly forgetting things. My health is a bit of a mix up. I'm more tired and though I try to get to bed on time, it doesn't work out as I'm trying to give myself extra time to work on things that I want to do. It also means that I'm taking more naps, which is a good thing as when I need the rest I'm trying to not resist so hard but it also means I'm not far off from wearing myself down again. I took a nap today, which was only supposed to last 30-45 mins but I didn't wake for 4 hrs. I've been trying to keep healthy but I keep craving sugary things and I'm starving when I get home from work most nights so I end up eating way more than I should for being so late in the evening. Worst of all, I feel a little down lately. I'm not sure if it's stress from everything or that I am legitimately feeling down because of my bipolar.

I'm going to keep going though. I don't have any other choice but to keep taking each step forward. I'll get there, wherever I am supposed to be though it may be a tough journey. Maybe I'm just walking up a very large hill.

For every page there is a turn . . .

I've had this blog for the past 8 years and been fairly diligent with it. It started out as a class assignment and I just kept it going for no particular reason than my own amusement. I know no one reads this and I'm perfectly happy with that. It's just a spot to occasionally put down my thoughts without worrying about who might find this. If someone does stumble along this, well, there isn't really anything all that interesting on here. I think it might be time to move on though. Having this blog prevents me from journaling in an old fashioned notebook and I miss using a pen to do so. It's definitely more convenient to type out my words as there are times when my hand can't keep up with my brain but it's slightly less satisfying and I'm trying to move on from always convenient to more mindful. I still need to consider this some more though. For anyone, who does see this in the mean time, I hope you have a great day cause that's all I've got for now.

Stuff and nonsense

Despite the date being a day late, it is just after midnight for the date to change to the next day but I have not slept for the night so this post is not late! Also, for once, I have a topic that I want to discuss.

I’d like to say that I’m like any other person who likes their stuff but it’s not completely true. I do like stuff and I like collecting stuff but at the same time I could honestly leave behind like 75% of my possessions. I would feel sad about not having those items but for the most part, it wouldn’t take me long to simply move on without them. There are certain items that I would have a really hard time letting them go but the majority of it wouldn’t be a problem to me.

I know that stuff is simply stuff. It’s great to have while I’m here but I can’t take it with me in the end so I try not to get worked up over things too much. Most of it can be replaced. What I do have must have meaning for me. It has to have a memory or function, preferably both. I don’t want something just for it to sit in a dark box for me to never see it, so every few months, I purge things. If I don’t have use for it, I find a new home for it. Preferences change so things around me must be changed to reflect that.

My decorating style is a reflection of this as I lean towards simple, clean designs. I don’t like feeling cluttered. I like space and organization. Having too much stuff around makes me feel chaotic and out of control. To me, it feels like stuff and nonsense! That is all!

Madd for March

It's March! I can hardly believe it! This is just a few days late and going to be another update.

February blew by in a breeze. It's the shortest month of the year but I don't think any of us expected it to go by that fast. InCoWriMo is finished and I completed my version of it by writing at least 2 letters a week. In total it was 10 letters and I have already received 2 replies. Next year I'm doing it the right way and will write a letter everyday.

I came up with the idea of a reflection journal. My plan is that there will be an overall theme for the year that I want to focus on and then for each month there will be a theme that I need to work on as a person that will fit in the year's overall focus. I'm going to figure out at least 3 things on how to work on that subject and then journal a bit about why it's important for me to work on this particular topic., I'm going write a bit whether I feel if I fulfilled those 3 points too. I was kind of already doing this since the beginning of the year in my mind so I figured it was about time I simply put it down on paper. I'm just glad that I finally figured out a use for the Tototo notebook and pet set the hubby had given me so long ago.

I'm not sure if I'm going to have a big project for March yet. I still have a tiny bit of time to figure it out.

2018 so far . . .

Once again, I am a few days late with this post but at least it's better than a whole week late like last time though so I've made some progress, which is actually what this post is going to be about, so it all comes around full circle. 

It's been going well so far. Last month was a month of rest and reset. 2017 was a super busy year and I wore myself into the ground and I definitely needed some time to let my body basically heal up. This month has been a working progress on what I want to happen for 2018. I got my Chic Sparrow notebook and I absolutely love it. It's been a huge help with keeping me organized and focused with what needs to be done when I'm out of the house. 

I've been able to finish up a few small projects. I have also added new projects. I got a book about mindfulness and I have a goal to do at least 1 thing from that book a week. I have already finished reading 4 books and I've started reading my 5th book. I'm super excited and proud of myself that I'm already a fourth of a way through my goal for the year and it's only the 2nd month into this year. I'm really hoping that I won't lost momentum and will keep with it so that I might up my goal if I finish a decent amount of time before the year ends. I've already finished a small crochet project along with a large crochet project. I now have no excuses to not be working on my hubby's Mega Man blanket. I really hope that I can at least made good progress on it this and next month. I have even watched a few movies though I have not watched any new movies for my movie challenge. I've not been doing any learning last month or this month, which is really bad on my end but I'm hoping to change that next month. This month is a bit busy with InCoWriMo. This month I have been very excited to say that I have been taking some good Me Time with playing Mass Effect 3. I need to work on being social a bit more though as I have yet to contact any family for the past few weeks. 

There's still time though and with my planners and journals I definitely notice that I'm way more mindful of time and how I'm spending it. I don't feel as overwhelmed about things as I'm more aware of what needs to happen and how I need to make other things happen. I think I was feeling the same way back in 2017 after doing the planning and journaling for the last half of the year and just overestimated how much I thought I could handle. I'm super proud that I did everything but I'm not thrilled that it was at the cost of my health and how instead of jumping into the newness of 2018 I had to still rest up. It's a lesson learned, for now anyway until the next update. 

In case of writing to do . . .

Once again, I'm almost a week late with this blog post. On the plus side, I'm just about caught up on everything and doing my best to ensure that I'm not pushing myself too hard so there is progress.

I have added a new project to my never ending list to bust boredom and expand my horizons. I found InCoWriMo, which is International Correspondence Writing Month. They even have a list of addresses for people who are participating and I'm planning on joining in since back a few months ago I had expressed interest in doing something of this like. I unfortunately missed the actual start of this project but I don't want to miss out on all the fun so I'm putting my own twist on things. Instead of a handwritten letter everyday for the month of February, I'm simply going to do just a letter a week. It's a bit of a more doable goal for me. I have picked 3 international addresses to write and 1 here in the US. I'm hoping this will work out in the long run!