Night Owl
I’m a night owl. I love staying up late. But my current lifestyle doesn’t allow for me to maintain that. I have and 8-4 Monday to Friday office job.
Last year during the week I got into the routine of getting up at 6:30 am and easing myself into my day. And then I went on holidays and reverted back to being a night owl. I wasn’t staying up quite as late as I used to but still later than I was able to during the year. I got up later than usual (still had to get up early to feed my cats) but I was averaging 6-7 hours of sleep everyday. I was happy.
But the holidays ended just as I started to recharge and it was time to go back to the early morning routine. It was awful. Trying to readjust was painful. This past Tuesday was the first day I was able to drag myself out of bed at 6:30 am since my holidays started. No reseting the alarm. It hurt alot. And the rest of the day was rough.
Wednesday and Thursday were good days. I worked from home on Wednesday so the morning routine was shifted later and shortened. Thursday I was successful at getting up at 6:30 am pain free. Today is another story. I’m working from home again (my regularly scheduled work from home day) and its been rough so far. Maybe some happy music and a nap later in the day will help. That and lots and lots of caffeine.
Baking Frenzy!
Earlier in the week we were trying to figure out what to have for our game night on Saturday with two of our friends. My husband asked me to make my overnight French Toast. So this morning, since I was up any ways, I pulled out my beautiful standing mixer
and put it to work. I made 2 loaves of cinnamon bread and 4 loaves of regular bread
The cinnamon bread was used in the overnight french toast
I also whipped up an apple crumble
It took a long time (although half the time it takes mixing everything by hand) but it was a lot of fun. And now we get to relax and role play!
January Resolutions Update
Its Saturday, mid-morning. I’m sitting at the dining room table with the laptop, listening to the washer in the basement spin, and the cats play fighting. I’ve already been pretty productive this morning. I enjoyed a cup of tea, built the cats a blanket fort to play in, started laundry and finished reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.
My own happiness project has been going well so far. I’ve been working on my January resolutions. I haven’t been writing every day, but I have been writing more often – several times a week – and I expect this will improve to every day by the end of the month. I’ve been reading every day and I’ve been doing more research (natural home remedies for treating acne, hand exercises for crocheters, how to become a professional writer etc…). I’ve also been updating my blog twice a week.
I’m excited about reading again and I’m looking forward to getting back into my other book, Quiet by Susan Cain. I was halfway through when I picked up The Happiness Project. I have a very bad habit of reading multiple books.
Since starting my own happiness project, I have been generally excited about making positive changes in my life. And while I am planning to make this a year long project, I’m also eager to tackle my resolutions a lot sooner. In fact, its been tough not to start on all my resolutions now. But patience is a virtue and I need to learn to pace myself. I have a very bad habit of trying to do as much as I can as soon as I can and it always ends in disaster with me getting hurt and/or ending up in a foul mood.
An example of that is my love of crocheting. As soon as I figured out how to crochet and that I really enjoyed it, I immersed myself in it. I couldn’t get enough of it. The consequence of not pacing myself and not being aware of my body’s limitation was sore hands and aching joints. I’ve always had issues with aching joints but now when I crochet too much they ache more. I often forget to stretch out my fingers and I often don’t feel the ache until a few hours later. Today is one of those days. I crocheted a case for my crochet hooks last night. It was a simple design and all that’s remaining is to sew on a button for the flap. But my fingers are aching because I didn’t stretch my hands before I started, during, or after. I will be doing stretches today. In fact, I should get into the habit of doing them every day.
There are a number of things that are not included in my resolutions that I know I’ll end up doing (or bad habits that I’ll end up breaking) as a result of my happiness project. This year is going to be a good year with lots of positive change and energy.
Dreams
I entered the building, confidently at first, and then timidly. I saw a sign for cards and headed to the desk. A lady was standing behind the counter staring out the window, back to me. I scuffed my boot to get her attention.
“Hello, may I help you?” she asked kindly.
“I’d like to get a library card.”
“Have you had a library card before?”
“Yes, a long time ago.” I don’t think she believed me.
She explained the process, and what changes have happened recently. After a few minutes answering questions, I took my new library card and walked away. I’d never been in this location before and I wasn’t sure where to start. I saw a computer and sat down to search for fantasy books. I perused the computer for awhile before deciding to jump in feet first. I tested out the magazine and newspaper section then saw the word dream at the back of the library. I took that as a sign. I delved into the rows of bookshelves and headed to the back.
I found the teen section under the word dream. I skimmed the books with my eyes. And I remembered why I loved the library so much. I wanted to borrow a dozen books. Teen books, books on writing, fantasy novels, science fiction, gardening….but not today. I had two books to read at home. Then, then I could borrow lots of books, and find a nice quiet spot to write on my lunch hour.
The possibilities were enldless and I was excited.
January Resolutions – Write
For January I have decided to concentrate on my writing. So my resolutions for this month are:
Write every day
Blog 2 – 3 times a week
Read more
Do research every week
So I’m going to tackle a few online writing challenges and get a library card to borrow ebooks. I have two books to finish reading first but if I read a little bit every night before bed it shouldn’t take me long to finish them. I’ll do research primarily on writing related topics but also on other interesting things. And blogging about some of the interesting books and topics I come across will help keep my first two resolutions.
My Commandments
Part of the Happiness Project is to create a list of commandments. Here are the ones I have come up with.
Breathe
Enjoy the moment
Be creative
Learn and grow
Lighten up
Live wisely
Achieve balance.
Thank the universe
Dream big
Be spiritual
Know myself
Love unconditionally