Some temporary chaos

Saturday: So much yardwork
Sunday: Yoga 30 minutes, so much yardwork
Monday: So much yardwork
Tuesday: So much yardwork
Wednesday: So much yardwork
Thursday: So much yardwork
Friday: Yoga 20 minutes

I am happy our landscaping project has started, but right now it’s messing up my life a bit.

Mud.

It’s so stressful to have loud noises and constant beeping coming from the back yard, I don’t know how to oversee what’s going on and make sure it’s all OK without making a nuisance of myself, I’m putting in a lot of time “helping” with the cleanup and waste disposal but not actually seeming to achieve all that much, I’m worried about throwing out my back from picking so much stuff up off the ground, and I’ve been skipping most of my other exercise. Oh, and I put “free rock” on Facebook Marketplace, which means I’ve also been juggling dozens of daily interruptions from people messaging me and ringing the doorbell. (Yet the rock never seems to totally go away.)

My Achilles have been particularly painful lately, and I don’t know if it’s from not taking my short morning walks, not stretching as much, eating a bit worse than usual, or some combination of that. Actually I’ve been surprised at how much regular walking seemed to make things better and not worse—that should probably be the priority. I just keep spending my entire morning in the yard and then forgetting to ever go outside again.

Landscaping shenanigans

Wednesday: Yoga 30 minutes, so much yardwork
Thursday: Yoga 25 minutes, so much yardwork
Friday: Yoga 25 minutes, so much yardwork

(Yardwork totally counts as exercise—it is much more strenuous than anything else I’m doing and involves plenty of walking for me and my fussy Achilles.) 

We have major landscaping happening in our back yard. It is going to be awesome eventually, but right now we’re at the “oh no oh no what have we done everything is mud and chaos” phase. We’re helping as much as we can with the labor because our landscaper (Stuart) makes more hourly than either of us—although when you consider that I’m not really all that effective at said labor, it does probably make financial sense for me to sit here and focus on my nice desk job.

But anyway. I’m going to spend the next several weeks moving dirt and rocks around, and it’s honestly a nice change of pace.

Interruptus

Friday: Walk 1.2 miles
Saturday: Yoga 35 minutes, walk 2.1 miles
Sunday: Weights 20 minutes
Monday: Yoga 35 minutes
Tuesday: Walk 1.5 miles

I just decided to write out a to-do list for today, and when I grabbed my scratch paper, there sat yesterday’s list with NOTHING crossed off. So that will also do for today. Sigh.

The problem is that I am trying to give away the TONS of river rocks in my back yard in preparation for landscaping. This entails having Facebook open almost constantly and managing literally dozens of people messaging me, plus random people knocking on the front door. It’s going to save us quite a bit of money in the end because the rocks won’t have to be hauled to the dump, so it is worth it. 

But on the other hand, I am so very easily distracted. Every ding and interruption derails me for 5 to 60 minutes, which you can imagine is not conducive to working at my desk. Adding “Don’t get sidetracked” to the list as we speak.

It’s happening

Monday: Walk 1.2 miles, walk 1.5 miles
Tuesday: Yoga 25 minutes, meditate 10 minutes 
Wednesday: Weights 20 minutes, meditate 10 minutes, walk 1.5 miles
Thursday: Walk 1.5 miles

We met with our landscaper yesterday, and the lawn overhaul is beginning as soon as Monday! I’m so excited; there’s going to be a greenhouse and a ton of garden space, and everything else is going to be sustainable. I have so much to learn about gardening between now and next spring—or maybe next winter, since…greenhouse! 

I’m pleased with my headstand bench—I have been wanting to do inversions again, and this is a nice intermediate step toward “real” headstands and handstands.

Weekend fun

Thursday: Walk 1 mile
Friday: Walk 1.5 miles
Saturday: Walk 1.5 miles, hike 2.5 miles
Sunday: Rest

I ended my “Whole30” on Friday after 10 days, but in a way it’s all part of the plan: Eat according to the plan at home and resist eating out for reasons of laziness, but when something fun comes up, don’t worry about it too much.

This weekend’s fun involved a hike, a waterfall, a Shakespeare in the Parks performance, seeing Dexter, a burrito, a sub sandwich, and many snacks. No regrets, although I actually do feel like crap this morning. According to SnoreLab (and my memories, and my throat), I snored with my mouth open all night and woke up like eight times. Now I feel tired and dehydrated and like fall allergies just reared their ugly heads. I tried doing a little yoga this morning but gave up within five minutes.

I’m on the verge of embarking on an editing project that will mean 20 additional hours of work each week. This is technically doable, and I want to do it, but it’s basically taking me all the way to full time for about six to ten months (or more, depending on my other clients). I’ve been thinking through how that’s going to fit into my life—what needs to go and what needs to stay. Somehow I need to doing the food and exercise that is actually starting to make me better…

Skies have cleared

Monday: Walk 1.5 miles
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Yoga 45 minutes, walk 1.5 miles

Yesterday the smoke in town was TERRIBLE, and I also felt kind of crappy. Today he skies cleared up, I feel great, and I gave myself the gift of not going to the yoga class that has gotten so annoying.

I was on a roll with creative pursuits this weekend and made a useful thing out of old T-shirts:

I need to remember that if I’m (1) caught up with work and (2) actually then step away from my desk, I get to do fun things.

Having a nice weekend

Saturday: Yoga 35 minutes, meditate 10 minutes
Sunday: Walk 1.5 miles 

Here’s the result of art lesson 2:

I actually worked on three paintings today, since I feel inspired and am having an AGGRESSIVELY relaxing weekend. It’s clear to me that my brain is continuing to wake up (this is Whole30 Day 5).

Yoga is great, but I’m thinking it probably shouldn’t come at the expense of walking, at least until walking gets less challenging (yes, I said “challenging”). I can’t quite put my finger on what is hard about it. It’s partly that my Achilles often hurt, especially on any kind of upward incline, but really I think I’m just out of shape to a ridiculous degree. So in the name of tendon healing I don’t want to go any farther, but in the name of getting my body good at walking again, I think I’d better make sure I at least do my short stroll every day.

Day 1, Day 3, Day 20

Thursday: Walk 1.5 miles
Friday: Walk 1.5 miles

This is Day 1 of an online abstract art class I’m taking. The first assignment was to tape off a piece of paper and then play around with a limited color palette. The class is called “Find Your Joy” so in theory we are just supposed to be having fun and enjoying the process, but lately I can’t seem to figure out how to make any marks with a paintbrush that I enjoy. It used to be that everything I painted was a delirious free-for-all, but this was not all that exciting:

BUT…this is Day 3 of the Whole30, and I really do think I feel my brain waking up again, so maybe things will get better.

And finally this is Day 20 of a work marathon—I just looked back, and I haven’t had a day off since August 12. But I am taking the entire weekend off, with plans to see friends, do more painting, and chop up a bunch of T-shirts to make T-shirt yarn. I eventually want to use it to crochet a rustic basket in which I can gather all the garden produce I will have this time next year.