Thursday's Putterings (With a little Wednesday thrown in.)
Topics contained herein:
What: Coming out of a fog that I didn’t notice surrounding me.
Why: Goats, donkeys, kittens, a llama and an eight year old girl.
Oh...
And The Great Calendar of Anxiety Banishment.
Weather / Phenology:
Another beautiful day. The weather is in full on flux mode. On Tuesday night we had a lovely thunderstorm. Last night, Wednesday, we had frost. Today we had plenty of warmth under clear, bright skies, yet late afternoon coolness forced me into a sweater. The forecast for the coming weekend includes a possible high of 80 degrees. The weatherman also indicated that it will be cold enough for flurries by next weekend! This then is October in Minnesota.
Mood Summary:
My mood is good today. I realized tonight that I might have been dealing with a moderate depression in the last week or so. I’ve been so busy that I’m not sure, but there are some signs. I know that I went into an obsessive frenzy and that I felt quite … frumpy. I know that I have been reclusive. I think I’ve also made some dumb mistakes and spaced out on some tasks that wouldn’t normally challenge me very much. Beyond that, I’ve been hungry an awful lot. I’m not sure if that stems from forgetting to eat much of anything until I’m famished or if I am actually wanting to eat more than usual. (I might just be trying to fatten up for hibernation.) I suppose that the most telling “clue” is this sense that I am somehow better than I have been for a while. It’s all sort of nebulous.
I think I might need to take some time tonight to detail the things in my life that I must address soon but I’ll save it for a separate entry. (My to-do lists can be extensive once I get going.)
Five Gratitudes:
1) Ch- and I purchased season passes to a local petting zoo / pumpkin farm today. He was thrilled with the idea that we can go there on nice days, settle down near the goats or the rabbits and have a lesson or two. We popped in for an hour this afternoon and reacquainted ourselves with the critters that live there. We met an amazing kitten that takes her greeter job very much to heart. We made friends with several goats and a couple of donkeys. We introduced ourselves to the head llama and the emus. (Such creatures require a little time before they will accept just affection without food treats.)
I did the strangest thing when I approached the biggest (male?) llama - I paused a couple of yards from his enclosure and made a tiny curtsy. It wasn’t intentional. I surprised myself by doing it. I’m not really a curtsy kinda woman but it felt right somehow. Ch-followed my lead with a small bow of his own. The llama seemed to approve.
2) Ch- met the owner/operator’s 8 year old daughter and they seemed to hit it off. Wouldn’t that be a lovely friendship? They both have October birthdays. They both adore animals. She is confident and outgoing. She lives nearby and isn’t likely to move away anytime soon. The animals in her family’s care live in excellent conditions which tell me a bit about their priorities. After we chatted with her for a while she showed us one of the new kittens and then returned to her house. As we were leaving she came out wearing a fabulous, glittery wizard’s cape and a pointed hat. We’ll see how it goes but I can think of worse reasons to forge a relationship.
3) I’m grateful for the time I spent with my best beloved last night. We needed to spend some time being focused on each other!
4) The uber calendar, now that I’ve discoverd and fixed my errors, is a dream. For the first time in 24 school days, I was utterly confident that we did exactly what we needed to do. We were able to cheerfully finish up the day’s work and go on with having an evening that didn’t include stress or worry. Halleluiah.
5) I’m about to have a nice warm bath (to remove the lingering traces of parfum de goat from myself) and crawl into bed where I will fall asleep watching something black and white.
I said to my menfolk tonight, “I love you guys.” Then I paused for a few seconds, just allowing contentment to wash over me, before saying, “I love my life.” I meant it.
Accomplishments:
There was some processing of the daily dozen here but it was boring so I moved it to a private entry.
Daily Dozen
My Mission 101 List
My Evil-Twin Mission 101 List
Start Date: July 27, 2006 10:00 pm ---- End Date: April 24, 2009 10:00 pm
Goal Level Behaviors
Routines
Cleaning: zones & weekly schedule
What: Coming out of a fog that I didn’t notice surrounding me.
Why: Goats, donkeys, kittens, a llama and an eight year old girl.
Oh...
And The Great Calendar of Anxiety Banishment.
Weather / Phenology:
Another beautiful day. The weather is in full on flux mode. On Tuesday night we had a lovely thunderstorm. Last night, Wednesday, we had frost. Today we had plenty of warmth under clear, bright skies, yet late afternoon coolness forced me into a sweater. The forecast for the coming weekend includes a possible high of 80 degrees. The weatherman also indicated that it will be cold enough for flurries by next weekend! This then is October in Minnesota.
Mood Summary:
My mood is good today. I realized tonight that I might have been dealing with a moderate depression in the last week or so. I’ve been so busy that I’m not sure, but there are some signs. I know that I went into an obsessive frenzy and that I felt quite … frumpy. I know that I have been reclusive. I think I’ve also made some dumb mistakes and spaced out on some tasks that wouldn’t normally challenge me very much. Beyond that, I’ve been hungry an awful lot. I’m not sure if that stems from forgetting to eat much of anything until I’m famished or if I am actually wanting to eat more than usual. (I might just be trying to fatten up for hibernation.) I suppose that the most telling “clue” is this sense that I am somehow better than I have been for a while. It’s all sort of nebulous.
I think I might need to take some time tonight to detail the things in my life that I must address soon but I’ll save it for a separate entry. (My to-do lists can be extensive once I get going.)
Five Gratitudes:
1) Ch- and I purchased season passes to a local petting zoo / pumpkin farm today. He was thrilled with the idea that we can go there on nice days, settle down near the goats or the rabbits and have a lesson or two. We popped in for an hour this afternoon and reacquainted ourselves with the critters that live there. We met an amazing kitten that takes her greeter job very much to heart. We made friends with several goats and a couple of donkeys. We introduced ourselves to the head llama and the emus. (Such creatures require a little time before they will accept just affection without food treats.)
I did the strangest thing when I approached the biggest (male?) llama - I paused a couple of yards from his enclosure and made a tiny curtsy. It wasn’t intentional. I surprised myself by doing it. I’m not really a curtsy kinda woman but it felt right somehow. Ch-followed my lead with a small bow of his own. The llama seemed to approve.
2) Ch- met the owner/operator’s 8 year old daughter and they seemed to hit it off. Wouldn’t that be a lovely friendship? They both have October birthdays. They both adore animals. She is confident and outgoing. She lives nearby and isn’t likely to move away anytime soon. The animals in her family’s care live in excellent conditions which tell me a bit about their priorities. After we chatted with her for a while she showed us one of the new kittens and then returned to her house. As we were leaving she came out wearing a fabulous, glittery wizard’s cape and a pointed hat. We’ll see how it goes but I can think of worse reasons to forge a relationship.
3) I’m grateful for the time I spent with my best beloved last night. We needed to spend some time being focused on each other!
4) The uber calendar, now that I’ve discoverd and fixed my errors, is a dream. For the first time in 24 school days, I was utterly confident that we did exactly what we needed to do. We were able to cheerfully finish up the day’s work and go on with having an evening that didn’t include stress or worry. Halleluiah.
5) I’m about to have a nice warm bath (to remove the lingering traces of parfum de goat from myself) and crawl into bed where I will fall asleep watching something black and white.
I said to my menfolk tonight, “I love you guys.” Then I paused for a few seconds, just allowing contentment to wash over me, before saying, “I love my life.” I meant it.
Accomplishments:
There was some processing of the daily dozen here but it was boring so I moved it to a private entry.
Daily Dozen
My Mission 101 List
My Evil-Twin Mission 101 List
Start Date: July 27, 2006 10:00 pm ---- End Date: April 24, 2009 10:00 pm
Goal Level Behaviors
Routines
Cleaning: zones & weekly schedule