Author: Dianne Smith

I’m back, me! I’ve been thinking about my blog a lot, I missed writing every-ish day. My plan is to do a blog post for April that will be mainly our trip to Vietnam, returning home to a vibrant Spring and Mike’s quick turn around to head out for a short tour of the northeast and Canada. I just need to decide if I want to do a Flickr album of the trip and write something for each photo and then link it here or use the blog for that. I’ll figure it out, it’s what I do!

Why start my May blog with a loaf of homemade sourdough made by Allie? Because I missed it so much while I was on vacation, part of the reason I was stressed about going on our trip was because of my diverticular disease, I’m sure I mentioned it last month LOL but adjusting my diet 5 years ago based on doctors orders to go HIGH FIBER for the rest of my life really has kept me healthy. I love to eat the same things every day and my sourdough, avocado, everything bagel seasoning and hemp heart seeds with a side of sauerkraut has been my staple for at least a year if not longer. I couldn’t wait for Allie’s text to tell me the bread had been delivered to hot! It is always gorgeous, it is always delicious and I appreciate that I have a friend who bakes as a service! My gut held up while in Vietnam but was very happy to have it’s comfort foods once we were home.

Uli and Iris were happy to have us back, ready for lounging, playing, and spanking (Iris) LOL

While we were gone, right at the start of our trip we got the news that Amelia’s boyfriend broke up with her and moved out of the little house they were renting. We were rightly shocked, saddened, concerned… long story short – SHE IS JUST FINE! I’ll leave it at that, I think she is realizing that she feels lighter and more herself this month, but man April was a doozy for her. All that being said, Uli and I headed to Richmond on May 3rd for a sleepover, mommy/daughter(s) visit, tribe check-in, move out organizing and a little brewery break. We got out into the sun to see Caroline at Art in the Park – an enormous art event that had every kind of artist imaginable. We walked around, checked out the art, Amelia got some stained glass earrings and pottery. Uli was great, sniffing people as they walked by, laying around when we stopped to look at things or talk to people, he tucked himself into the shade under our table at Triple and made himself at home on Amelia’s couch as she inventoried some party supplies that she was posting to a Free Stuff group on Facebook. We made great progress getting some things packed up to store at her friend’s house. I took her cute patio chairs to my house for safekeeping, we ate well, we laughed, we cried a little but it was the beginning of her next chapter and I left her on Monday to pick Mike up at the airport with a good feeling in my heart.

May has been pretty crazy schedule wise at work, we had some people leave for full time work, some left for other reasons, but two people reached out looking for a job and both were perfect and their availability fit into our schedule needs! In the meantime, I’ve been doing a lot of subbing which is good for my savings but not for my restorative time LOL. I like being busy and am thankful for my EV Leafy, I don’t have to use a lot of gas to get back and forth to town.

Tuesday was a busy workday, I did the 5:30am shift at hot, came home and chilled then back to town to work the 4:30 shift at the main studio. I’ve been letting Spotify do my Daylists to listen to and am hearing tons of great tunes. I love this song Hypersonice Super-Asterid – it is crazy psych, synth, female vocals, space jam coolness. Plus I like the name, I did a big deep dive into this collective. Artists are cool.

On a drizzly Wednesday I worked in the morning, came home for a bit to hang with Uli and then out to my dads. Bobbi had texted the day before saying they were out at their boat if I wanted to take a drive out with my dad. When I got there I asked if he wanted to go see Dan and Bobbi’s boat and he said “sure!” Shirley mentioned that he had a little scare on the stairs and when I asked him what happened he said “I don’t have problems with stairs, stairs have a problem with ME!” LOL. Into the Pathfinder we went “This is a really nice car, it is warm and cozy” put on the Spotify Jammin’ with DRWD playlist

We had to walk pretty far from the parking lot out to Mai Tai, I was giving my dad directions in both English and German and he did a great job – he was nervous but he trusted that we wouldn’t let him walk straight off the dock and into the cold water. Dan said he was joking around with him while I was in the boat visiting with Bobbi (she was working) and looking around their BEAUTIFUL SAILBOAT. I hung out with my dad and Shirley and then back to work to do an hour and a half at the main studio.

Visited Gracie this week to make sure she knows how loved she is and how thankful we are that she took such good care of George right until the very end. Best girl, we snuggled, I gave her some breakfast and we had a little chat. She’s an apartment girl now with Catie.

Busy Saturday working at the studio, lovely Sunday enjoying the birds, Uli, my coffee, my peace. Grateful for two daughters that I’m so proud to be the mom of. Did virtual yoga with my sisters who are two of the best moms I know! Went to Ni River Reservoir for a mothers day kayak and then had a delicious plant based dinner that Mike made – vegan Italian sausage with red sauce and provolone cheese!!! Excuse the chipped plate haha.

Monday was my first day doing the 5:30am shift AND the 8:30am shift – but then I was done for the day at 11:30 and came home to my beloved sourdough, avocado lunch and hummingbirds. I’ve been wandering the yard in the morning, checking out all of my plants that are growing – peonies, sunflowers, dill, strawberries, obedient plant, sensitive fern, hellebores, Chelone, all the weeds that I’m letting flower for the bees… I saw a big patch of Mayapple across the creek in our woods – turtles eat the fruit and poop the seeds out, I hope they come poop in my woods so that I get some Mayapple, too. Be nice to nature, peace out, bye for now.

Doublin up!

3/30: Morning snuggles with Iris, once the suitcases come out she gets extra snuggly!

Virtual visit for our trip went well, then to my hair appointment to get my roots topped off for the trip, too! Worked a sub from 3:45-9:30 – big long shift like my saturdays and it went by so fast, so much to do!!

3/31: Down to Richmond to go to REI and then see the girls. Lunch with Amelia at Union Market and a big hug, went by Subrosa to give Bryan a big hug (he, Chris and Jillie are in LA with Marissa now) and then to Ashby to see Jillian and give her a big hug and buy a few things. I won’t be blogging while I’m on my trip, it’ll be too much. I’ll be taking pictures and keeping notes. Happy April! Today is my peaceful day, and month. I am excited to see some beautiful temples. BYE FOR NOW! Be nice, be peaceful.

Saturday and Sunday – my peaceful days – seeming like our trip is going to HAPPEN!?!?! I have not even been looking at the map we created, or videos of the places we are going because I don’t want to be disappointed – I’m getting excited, today I felt excited. Lots to pull together and do but I’ll put a lil checklist together and start checking things off! Tonight (sunday) I’m just gonna chill. I’ll get up early Monday, have a virtual visit with the Dr office, get my hair colored and bang trim, then I can tackle whatever goes on my list. I’ll get the packets of wildflower seeds!

3/28: No Kings Rally! Yes, I went to work first and had a fab day! Then over to Bobbi’s for a yummy lunch and sign making sesh for the rally. We chatted, ate and colored and then off to walk up William Street to the intersection with Rt. 3. Perfect weather and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MMMMAAAAAAAAANNNNYYYYYYYY PPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEOOOOOPPPPPPLLLLLLEEEEE!!!

One side of my sign said “honk if you’re not in the epstein files” lol so when people didn’t support us (we got a few middle fingers, one double thumbs down, and some people just driving face forward hands at 10 and 2) I’d say to myself “guess you’re in the files” or “you aren’t rich enough to be in the files” I cannot comprehend how anyone voted for him and still supports him after everything new that they’ve learned about him. ANYWAY, MAJORITY of cars beeped their horns, long and loud, toot toot toots, we saw some cars that were making the rounds and beeped some more. We saw way more waves, thumbs up, smiling faces, and signs than negativity. I wore my RESIST flag like a cape all day. Got home, ate dinner, watched shows and went to bed. Gotta get up early to work a sub shift!

3/29: Up and at ’em, what a busy morning! Aaron and I worked well as a team, we had a lot of guests – we were filled to 10 people in the space at one point I think, and everything went great. After work I ran over to Wren and Sparrow to get birdfood for Karen to keep the feeders full while we are gone. Listened to my book, I think it is almost over I don’t want it to be over noooooooo, came home and did a little work, wrote a reference for my sissy, now I’m writing this! I won’t be doing my daily journaling here while we’re on vacation because I won’t have my laptop and I’ll do a big post about the trip. Be peaceful, resist, be nice and bye for now.

3/25: Doubling up because Thursday was another long but productive day – I was still feeling a bit out of sorts, maybe it was because Anne was travelling and wasn’t coming in behind me as she normally does on Thurs but my new lady that I mentioned I went to coffee with a couple of Tuesdays ago – note to self, remember when you are back from vacation to make a date to meet up with her again. Leaving the spa I remembered to call my mom instead of starting my book IMMEDIATELY I could listen to Christina Applegate narrate anything, her stories are just so interesting too. I love a story. I can remember being in elementary school and my favorite thing was going to the library and listening to Miss Koslow read us stories. I didn’t know until much later in life that my mom was asked to let me be in a gifted kind of program in elementary school, but she didn’t want me to do it because she didn’t want me to be separated and different from the other kids, or something like that. It was because when I entered kindergarten, without having been read to (I say it this way because Mike and I read a gazillion books to our girls before they were 5) or having gone to pre-school or anything like that, no camps, no dance or music classes – I just watched Sesame Street and The Electric Company and my first reading test in kindergarten unveiled that I was already reading at a 3rd grade level. LOL Anyway, each year I was in my own reading group of 1, okay like that isn’t making me appear different to my classmates haha, but I would also go to the younger grades and help kids with their letters or reading and I’d get to read stories, like Miss Koslow. <heart eyes emoji>

Talked to my mom, picked up Jersey Mikes and then listened to a little more of my book. BS with our trip was making my nervous system wonky, I kept checking the element app to see if my new gal made it in and I was using the indicator that the 4:00 guest was checked in. By 4:10 I was in a full panic spiral because the green check wasn’t there, thinking that she didn’t realize I was talking about TODAY when I said we needed someone for 3/25 from 2:45-8 (like am I crazy to think someone misunderstood something that specific??? UGH) I texted her, waited, then called her, I texted Jesse and then called Jesse for one ring because she texted back “I’m here with one guest in the space” to which I said “Oh thank you for letting me know and don’t forget to check him in” then Jesse called me back and I told him how panicked I’d gotten and he (as is his way) calmed me down and told me he doesn’t want me to panic but appreciates that I care that much. Gosh, so lucky to have a friend like Jesse, he and Anne are the best business owners. Thinking that would ease my unease, I started to read the news and it was just too much for me, I gave up. No photos from Thursday, I didn’t even review the bird buddy videos which usually make me laugh, I was too jittery. Gummy and Jersey Mikes helped. I did have a super sugary dessert which was good when I ate it but I think it effected my system haha my legs were super cramping while we watched TV, I got some Dead Sea magnesium spray and sprayed it on my legs and the bottoms of my feet. I drank some more water than normal for night time. Went to bed and it was worse, I got up and drank a glass of water and took a magnesium tablet. Drifted off to sleep…

3/26: woke up dizzy. I don’t remember the last time I felt like this. Opened my eyes and the room was spinning, like it used to when I was little. It would happen to me before I’d fall asleep, I can remember the room spinning so bad that I managed to get up, go into the living room and tell my dad “Daddy, I’m trying to fall asleep but when I open my eyes the room is spinning and tilting” and he said “Just close your eyes and go to sleep that’s what I do” OMG obviously that’s what I was trying to do, too!! LOL.I shared a room with Denise and she was like my dad and could fall asleep fast so my pleas to her were going unanswered, I can see it in my mind looking over toward her bed and seeing the line where the ceiling met the wall tilting side to side and willing it to stop and stay straight. Clearly this little gal was suffering from anxiety! This morning I opened my eyes and saw that same tilting, got up to the bathroom and really was like ‘woah’. When Iris opened the door and shortly thereafter Uli bounded in, I called to Mike “can you bring me a water, too” (with my coffee that he very lovingly brings to me every morning) all he had to ask is “what’s wrong” and I went into it all, stress of lots of things. I texted my sister and she gave me the best advice “do your breathing, focus on your breath, give yourself a hug, move gently, you got this” she always says that I’m her rock, but she is my rock too. Each of my sisters in their own way are the person I can turn to.
I think it was all a combo of the cramping (not enough water, too much sugar in that dessert, standing on my feet all day in flat flip flops or barefoot on concrete floors) the way I had been feeling about people making other people feel guilty, and the anxious thoughts surrounding our trip that has been totally out of control – I was even stressing that I needed to buy wildflower seed so I could get it put down before we go so that it can grow in April, even that felt overwhelming. But talking with Mike, getting outside this morning to fill the birdfeeders at 7:30, redoing our tourist visas because our depart date is now April 2nd, lining up standby subs for my shifts that I’ll be missing and then taking my coffee outside to the front yard to capture with the Merlin app, all of the bird songs – this morning I heard 17 different birds in a span of 5 minutes. The app is so cool, you record and as a bird sings it shows up in the list. By the time I took a shower and was heading out to my dads at 9, I felt nearly 100% perfectly fine.

Shirley had a hair appointment so I got to my dad’s early, but we didn’t have overlap so he was by himself for 10 minutes – I got there and he was sitting in his spot, coffee on the table and a bowl of apples finished by his side. I sat down and said “once the guys are done cutting the grass I’ll take you to the barber and then we can get lunch” and he said “whatever you wanna do” lol. Put on his playlist in the car and had a little jam sesh first song was Boston – More Than A Feeling, got to the barber and Fridays are walkins so we had to wait behind 5 others so we waited in the car and kept listening to music. Our turn, got him in the seat after a few tries and he held his hat and glasses as she worked her magic. I had to snap a photo of this expression of his, making sure she doesn’t cut off his ear! LOL. When she put the warm washcloth on his neck and head I heard him say quietly “oh that feels so nice” and she smiled and said “I know you like this part”

After his ‘spa day’ and back in the car I asked him “do you want to split an eggplant parm sub for lunch before we head home” and he said “sounds good to me” so we went to Vinny’s (Happy Landings) haha I think I mentioned that in an earlier blog. I keep calling it Vinny’s Happy Endings haha I directed him in and since he has trouble sitting down at a table or booth I had to problem solve a little, he tried to sit on the table which Shirley has told me he’s done before but I just gently moved the table and was able to get him onto the bench and slid his legs to the under the table position and then I moved the table. As I was doing all this, a middle agedish woman in the booth behind him was smiling at me and of course smiley me, I was smiling back. I heard her server ask if she needed anything else and she very cheerfully said to him “no, just the check” a few minutes later as I was turned towards the windows the woman was at our table and bawling, saying something and moving the napkins on our table – I jumped up and hugged her as I heard her say “I want to pay for your lunch I miss my dad so much” she had put $30 cash on the table and I said “oh my gosh you don’t have to do that and she said “I want to, I miss my dad” I gave her a big hug and said thank you and she whisked out the door.

I watched her in the parking lot and my dad said “what happened” and when I told him, we both got teary and he said “that makes me sad too” and we talked about how we miss people that we don’t see anymore but that we know they are somewhere, just not with us. I say that because sometimes he says his parents are alive and he isn’t sure where they are. I’ve stopped mentioning that they died, it serves no purpose. I said to him “we are together now, and you’ll always have me” Our lunch was delicious, you’d have thought my dad hadn’t ever tasted anything as good as a ginger ale HAHA he kept taking a sip, go to put it down and then pick it up again and sip some more saying “this is really good” he ate all of his half a sandwich without getting sauce on his pants (my bad prediction, I did put a napkin in his lap but it was clean white when we were done but his face and hands were another story) and most of his fries. When I paid with the $30 from the woman at the table behind us I asked her server if he’d seen her before and he said he had not. I said “we were just meant to be here at the same time I guess” that is what Jillian said when I texted them “She was meant to see you guys”. The human connection, it is always there if your heart is open to it. Chatting with strangers on trains, volunteering with people you don’t know, getting out into the world and experiencing what other people think and feel – it’s nothing to be scared of. I know I’ve documented it here so I won’t forget it, but the feel of that strangers tears on my cheek from my hugging her will ensure that I won’t forget the connection. Be peaceful and cool, bye for now.

I like to wake up happy, and I usually do. I’ll ask Mike “what’s new” since he’s usually up for a couple of hours before me, has read the news, made coffee, walked Uli… likely put dishes in the dishwasher etc… He told me about an interaction between two people and I was immediately in a bad mood (I did shake it off) I just will never understand how someone can feel good about making another person feel guilty about something they did or didn’t do. When I was in my early 30s, I went to therapy by myself because I was having a hard time in my life – I had two little girls who I loved more than anything but I felt like I was doing things because I was ‘supposed to’ not because I wanted to or that I thought it was the best thing to do. The therapist told me to take “should and shouldn’t, “always” and “never” out of my vocabulary and if someone tried to push a ‘should’ on me, I didn’t have to accept it. “You should be visiting more often” “You should be working more hours” “You shouldn’t be feeding the girls a vegetarian diet” the list went on and on. I also went to therapy again because I was still grieving the loss of my brother in law and father in law, two people who were very open with their love for me, their family, their lives and I couldn’t believe my greatest in the world little girls would not have an Uncle Chris to love on them or a Grandpa that would have spoiled them rotten with love. I could not stand that they weren’t ever going to enjoy these fabulous children in our family. It was too much and I decided that I needed the tools to not GAF what other people expected of me, I was going to live my life with love and stand up for myself and my family and my daughters – I wouldn’t make people feel guilty for the ways they talked to me or treated me – I would just stop talking to them and stop being around them. All these years later and I am very comfortable with the decisions I’ve made in my life, I have no regrets and I don’t make people feel guilty for anything they did or said to me in the past (or in the present) I’ve done my absolute best to never have my daughters or husband feel anything but love from me. So hearing that someone tried to make someone else feel guilty just (trigger warning) triggered me LOLOLOL. Eh… I went to work and went to my dads and the feelings dissipated – every day should be my peaceful day regardless of what people do and say to others. The Christina A book also puts things into perspective, it is one of the most powerful autobiographies I’ve read in a while, she is amazing. Interesting what childhood trauma can do to an adults body and mind. Worked the 5:30am shift at hot and went to main to check the phone message book. Then off to King George.

My dad looked and felt great when I arrived – HOLA DIANNE, sitting with him in his nonsense with our coffees made me calm down and I felt my mood lighten. Shirley went out to run some errands and then walk with her neighbor so I did lunchtime with my dad, a personal pizza and a big glass of water on his birthday table as we listened to his music. We talked and sang, just what I needed. I’d picked up an evening shift at element so I left my dads, picked up an impossible whopper and drove to the city dock and ate my whopper and listened to my book. Night shift was great, lots of familiar faces, felt productive. Went home to my guys, had a couple of peanut butter cups, watched a show and went to bed. Be peaceful, don’t give guilt trips, just be a good person and if you want to talk to someone and tell them how you are, just call them. Bye for now.

Mike checked the Qatar Airlines app this morning and our flight on the 7th was gone, cancelled – no notification, when trying to ‘rebook’ in the app, nothing was happening. The live chat was not up and said because of the volume of requests – we’d need to call. We tried a couple of numbers and none of them were going through. That was a bummer, I was planning to go to Walgreens and get the rest of my vaccines… but since he’d been following the Reddit thread he knew that we could call other countries to see if they answer and could rebook us. We figured out how to call India and the call went through – we were able to rebook the same itinerary but leaving two days sooner on the 5th. We took it, Mike had been regretting not having a couple of days on either end of the trip to account for travel and give us 10 days of vacation. Off I went to get my Typhoid and pneumonia vaccines! We’ll see what happens. I am fighting being depressed about the state of the world and the state of the US. I can’t remember if I mentioned that we voted on Monday, too. I’m going to be joining my friends on Saturday after work for a No Kings protest. I’ll make a sign, I’ll wear my RESIST flag, peace begins with me but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be pissed off that not everyone is peaceful or thinks about how their actions impact other people. I’m not even talking about politics, just people who are jerks in general, who don’t care that their words hurt people, that their actions ruin other peoples lives. That parents can ruin children’s lives, by bringing shitty people into their kids lives. I am listening to Christina Applegate’s autobiography when I’m driving – she is the one reading it, too. Love her.

I did tackle my office, it needs to be in some kind of shape before we leave for our trip so that our house/pet sitter can work up there and not be in the middle of my mess. I love a deadline as you can tell by my previous blog posts. I have just a little more to do, I found a frame that I wanted to repurpose and I found an old 8×12 print from my poppy series that was interesting so I cut it up and framed one of the flowers and put a Caroline Q Murphy card from one of her shows next to it. I love the way it looks. Maybe I should just print all my poppies and frame them in interesting ways. Is it just me or are those color blobs in the back so cool? That’s almost what I love more than the in focus flowers. I know Jillie regrets painting her room white, (from a raspberry pink) but the more artwork and photos I find that I want to put up, the happier I am that there is a white background for the colors to jump off of.

Was a little too chilly to work outside (in my opinion) I did get some of the leaves from last week off of the driveway and added bird feed to the bird buddy. I need to fill all the feeders up this week. I do need to get some wildflower seed and put that down in the yard in the two places I’d like to fill in. I want to help the pollinators to have wildflower access. Be peaceful, bye for now.

Oh what a fantastic Monday! Due to my vaccines my body temperature was raised during the night and my ring gave me the ominous “MAJOR SIGNS THAT YOUR BODY IS STRAINING” which it was – I was able to tag my night with “Vaccines”. Still got a fantastic night’s sleep and woke up feeling great, I did also take tylenol. Tax documents are all in (I think) and the accountant has been notified. Kathy scheduled to come clean, a yoga class and contrast session with Mike on the schedule and a walk with Uli in the future. We dropped off the Leaf at Little Tire since the driver side rear tire was losing air and needing refills (yes it had a nail in it) went to yoga and took a scrumptious class with Alana (saw lots of friendly faces!) then down to element for some contrast (another friendly face!) since I’d just done an hour of hot yoga, I went right into a cold shower, then 5 minutes sauna, cold shower, 1 minute 60 degree plunge, 5 minutes rest, then 15 minutes sauna, cold shower, 2 minutes cold plunge, 10 minute sauna, cold shower, changed into comfy close and then 15 minutes rest in the quiet lounge on the new warming chairs!!! My day wasn’t as restorative as Sunday but it was perfectly restorative to me – walking with Mike and Uli, even though at that point the wind had picked up and it was a bit chilly, was a nice break – to be outside and listening to the wind through the pines. Lots of birds at bird buddy, I’ll share this very bright and young looking American Goldfinch!

Peace out peaceful people (me and Mike) who read this blog! Be nice and be peaceful. Bye for now.

3/21: Workday! This is why I shouldn’t let too many days pass between a blog post and the date. LOL I really don’t remember much from Saturday but let’s see. I worked until around 12:45. Using forensics (my phone) it looks like I did my NY Times games, I didn’t take any photos or make any phone calls, didn’t text anyone except my family chat (Amelia’s work had an Irish festival on Saturday so she was sending us videos of llamas and baby goats) if I were to guess, I’d say I finished putting some of my tax documentation together, maybe sat out in my treehouse or on the deck (if it wasn’t cold) ate dinner and then watched TV. My post work metrics from my ring show that I had a chill afternoon and evening YAY.

3/22: Sunday! Day off, Mike even cancelled his yoga class so that we could meet up with an old friend at Titos! Yum, I had a tried and true egg and cheese on rye with a side of hashbrowns! After we were done eating we went over to Starbucks to chat some more. It is always good to see C, Mike has seen him through many stages of his life, we are so proud of him – best dad, best husband, best worker, he is funny and fun. He was driving through and I love that he reached out to see if we could see him for a few hours.

Once he left we went over to total wine because I’d heard that they were selling more variety of drinkies (instead of just Buzzin Berry 2mg) read all of the labels and decided on one. I drank it slowly from around 3-5 and it gave me a good buzz. haha. It tasted good, but I can always taste the CBD. The tangerine was really good, wasn’t very bubbly though so the next one I drink I’ll be sure to add some of my own bubbles. On that note, since Bed Bath and Beyond has gone out of business it is annoying to try and get my CO2 cartridges swapped – as per usual I’m trying to be mindful of my impact and would rather not have them shipped back and forth to reduce carbon imprint and packaging. I also don’t go to Target or Home Depot anymore. Last week I went to Walmart and they don’t do them in store, I tried CVS, no – I think I used Lowes last time so I’ll go there tomorrow.

After that we stopped at Walgreens to get our vaccines topped off, I got 3 and Mike got 4. I’m going back for Typhoid which insurance doesn’t cover BOO but is worth it to me to pay since it is an intestinal infection and I need to be so careful to not get my lower digestive system out of whack. I’m considering getting one of those camping water bottles that filters tap water – not only do I need to stay high fiber, I need to stay hydrated. I can’t think to myself “well you’re gonna have to pee if you keep drinking water” I just need to keep drinking water. Sunday in the treehouse with Uli, texting with my Jordan besties, my afternoon was super relaxing and needed. Saturday and Sunday were my peaceful days, I was nice to people and they were nice to me, bye for now!

Day off! SLEPT 10 hours, got rid of my 1.5 hours of sleep debt, triple crown and I was going to hopefully spend it outside. Had my coffee up in the window seat so I could get some early morning sunshine on my face, Uli joined me – it is one of his favorite places to keep watch. He also likes the bed in the twin guest bedroom.

I can see myself in his eyeball. Handsome boy with pretty eyes. You can see where he puts his nose on the window haha yucky. Did some work in the yard, general walking around and thinking about yard stuff. Raked leaves into the driveway so I could leaf blow them down the driveway and into the woods. As soon as I was done raking and started leaf blowing, the wind started to blow in the opposite direction. Like as soon as I used the leaf blower. Worked on my taxes, worked in the yard. Productive peaceful day at home. Bye for now!

My peaceful workday!, you wouldn’t believe it if you went solely on my metrics from my Oura ring. I remind myself, it is my physiological stress not my psychological stress.

Added another 30 minutes of sleep debt to my tab DANGIT! Since it is currently the future as I write this I know I’m fine haha. Had to have a candid conversation at 6:30am and I think it went over well (again, because it is the future when I write this) and I hope it sticks. Sometimes people change for a little bit and then fall back into old habits, my hope is that this young person can keep it up – I am rooting for them. I got to see so many familiar faces at work, returning guests and people I work with at the yoga studio, VIP MIKE of course. The sun came out and up and shone all day into my peaceful space. After my hard work, I did 15 minutes in the sauna, 2 minutes in the 60 degree cold plunge, and 10 minutes of rest (with one of Anne’s muffins and a cup of tea) in the warming chairs in the community lounge. Listening to the music and the hum of the fans, the tubs, the HVAC… looking at the plants and absorbing it all. I feel very lucky to work here, Anne came in for her shift after mine – we sauna’d together – it is just a nice feeling to be with my friend.

Amelia is feeling a little better, one of my front desk staff starting going downhill and I had to scramble to get a sub for her but one of my stars stepped up to the plate. I’m planning a nice dinner date with her to show her how much I appreciate her. Report back from Shirley on Wednesday was that my dad ate his lunch using his new birthday TV tray table! One of the troubles he has is getting into a chair – the ones at their counter are awkward anyway, especially for tall people, you can’t get close enough to the counter to not spill on yourself and if you do get close to the counter you have to put your knees on either side of the seat cushion. Anyway it’s an ordeal and you add to it someone who you need to give specific directions to and it can quickly become frustrating for all involved. He can do the love seat without direction, he moves his body along the edge until he doesn’t feel the arm anymore and then plops down. Jersey Mike’s night was a blast, and I dozed on and off from 7-8 and Mike told me to go to bed. I fought him on that but he won. Be nice and appreciate the people who get you through the day! Bye for now!