Day off - workout, errands, dollhouse

 

Today we got some rain in the morning, which was heartening - we are now pretty confident that we won't have wildfires. Phew, one season with no significant smoke here! 

The kids were still with my mom today (praise the Lord!) and so I got to sleep in, get up slowly, drink my coffee slowly. Then I did a 20-minute Peloton spin class with Hannah Corbin, one of my faves. I pedal mostly with my right foot and keep my broken foot in the CAM boot, and I put very little pressure on it, so I feel like it's OK. Seems less impactful than walking.

Then I did a bit of work, catching up on some email and meeting recordings. After that, I organized a few things and made some Amazon returns to the UPS store. 

I really wanted to make something with my hands, so I finally assembled an IKEA dollhouse that I purchased almost two years ago. I spent so long deciding whether or not to keep it or sell it. Seriously, paralyzed with indecision over an item that costs 39.99. So I finally forced myself to assemble it - it was very easy, it looks cute, and it can serve as a little bookshelf/curio cabinet/etc. for the kids. And we can mount it on the wall at some point. 

Speaking of the garage, there are a few more items in there that need to be either sold, donated or thrown away. Not a ridiculous amount, but OMG, we just have so much stuff. And there's always more coming in. It's just SO much easier to acquire crap than it is to get rid of it in our society. And when you try to sell things on NextDoor, nobody wants it, even if they would pay $$ for it if it's displayed on a Target shelf. Isn't it funny how that works? Marketing is everything.

                            Foot is still broken, but slowly healing                            

Anyway, I also did a 20-minute meditation with Tara Brach (listening to her podcast), during which I was lost in thought for maybe 18 of those minutes. I guess it's all about the practice. 

My husband went to pick up the kiddos from the grandparents', and they'll be home soon. The plan is to have the kiddos decompress, eat dinner - either tacos or Mac-n-cheese bites from Trader Joe's - and do the evening routine. 

My goal for tonight is to floss and brush my teeth with the kids so I don't stay up eating yogurt and scrolling on my phone after their bedtime. And to go to bed by 9pm. Tomorrow I'm supposed to work and have a couple of meetings, but Wednesday through Friday I have off - yay!

Recent goings-on: broken foot, shopping, election...

It's been quite the week. I already had my broken foot, boot and crutches from a bike accident that happened two weeks ago. In addition, I got sick with a really bad cold - who knows, maybe even COVID, I didn't test - and then the election happened. I just felt worse and worse as the week went on, didn't exercise at all towards the end, and spent half of yesterday laying in bed and on the couch. At least I made good progress with The Wire! Thankfully, my mom took the kids for a couple of days and so I could lounge around almost guilt-free. The fact that I would feel any guilt about it is another story, but that's how it is.

This morning I still felt like crap, but then seemed to start feeling better after a weird 11-am nap. I did a little bit of work, some cleaning and food prep, shopped for some lighting for our home (that I hope my father-in-law can install when he visits next weekend!) and then took a very slow walk in the neighborhood on crutches. 

The good news is that I'm almost completely off the crutches - in fact, at home I'm not really using them. Hopefully I'll be done with those in the next few days, and the boot may be off by Thanksgiving! I was actually fairly positive about the whole thing for the first week, until my cold and then the election - all those things at once really did me in.

Working on a robot construction set on a Saturday morning    

In other random updates:

• Both kids are doing dance on Saturdays - Y is dancing ballet and tap, and M is progressing in ballet. It's very cute to watch. 
• Work hasn't been too busy, which is good because I haven't had a ton to give over the last few weeks. I did give a big (for me) presentation to new salespeople last Monday, and that went as well as I wanted it to!
• My caffeine-reduction journey has been OK. Some days are better than others, though today I had a midday Nespresso and that may have been too much. But overall I'm still doing better than a few months ago.
• I've been shopping a lot. I mean, I shop a lot anyway, but lately it's gone into Overdrive as a bit of a coping mechanism after my injury. It's mostly home decor and home organization stuff, plus some sneakers, mostly to wear as I recover from this injury. Maybe I'll take and post some photos.
• I got these black Nike sneakers (which I'm wearing outside now, with some heel inserts to even out with the boot a bit more) and these On ones for inside. They were both pricey, especially the ON ones,  but I didn't have the energy to do a ton of research. I learned from the foot surgeon I've been seeing that Nikes are terrible for running. I'll have to ask about On - whether or not he recommends. In any case, both of these should be good for travel where I can use them for walking and for working out. So I think they will get a lot of use and therefore I can justify the $$$ I spent. 
• I'm not going to say much more about the election, but it was like a gut punch even though I was sort of prepared. Now I'm just trying to look forward and see what I can do. On the bright side, our local school funding measure passed (it failed last time by a very small margin), and that makes me smile. I hope to become more involved in the community and in local politics over the next few years.

OK, time to potentially do 20 minutes of pilates, maybe some work, and maybe some organizing around the house. This is a very random post, but it's the best I can do after not having posted for many months and with my scattered brain.

 

Chill weekend

 The kiddos were at my parent's since yesterday afternoon, and now it's Sunday afternoon, and I've had such a relaxed couple of days. I've been on a home decor kick yet again, and have been trying, but not succeeding, at obsession about lots of different things. Here are a few of the items I have either complete, have in the works or am thinking about right now.

1. Get bookshelves for either side of the sideboard that the TV is on right now. Honestly, in the photo, the space doesn't even look too bad. It just looks...functional and lived in. And yet, I ordered two shelves from West Elm that are supposed to arrive tomorrow. We'll see how much better that looks. Maybe it really won't make a difference...who knows. Maybe I will hate it. In that case, I can probably return them! It looks like they require assembly, which makes them easier to return, I guess. I also just learned that I could buy the Target knock-offs for less than half the price. Should I? The Target ones aren't from real wood, but it's never totally clear to me if that matters or not. At least for bookshelves.

This is the "Ladder Leaning Bookshelf" from West Elm.

2. Repot a couple of plants - done today. I repotted the "ZZ" plant that was in our living room, and now it looks kind of droopy and sad. I also repotted a very healthy-looking succulent outside, hopefully that will do better.

3. I'm also searching for a new rug for our living room because the existing one looks nice, but is totally synthetic and very difficult to clean. And it's starting to look very worn and kind of pilled and gross. I've looked at Article, Quince and West Elm. Looks like almost all the Article ones are partially synthetic. Ugh. Quince doesn't have my favorite patterns, so I may go with West Elm. Of course, do I want to spend $1,000 on a rug (after all the taxes and shipping)? No, I don't.

Other than thinking about home decor today, I've also done a bit of work and organizing, went for a run, and talked with O for some time. So...not too bad of a way to spend the day.