More Tactics in the Energy Front

I haven't written about the energy effort in a few days (or more than a week), but I want to keep sharing the steps I'm taking.

Likewise, I'm starting to consider that I may actually start properly writing this blog, which includes editing and perhaps cohesiveness. These considerings have been slowing me down in post creations, but I haven't jumped on the "yes i will edit this before i post bandwagon" yet.

Energy. The next fighting step: CLEARING THE CLUTTER.

I've always been a bit of a clutterbug. Paper seems to be magnetically pulled towards me from all directions. Things pile up. And then get overwhelming. And it seems so much easier to just put it all in a box and tackle it later and then boxes pile up. In addition, there are hundreds of CDs. So many little bits of memorabilia. Mail. Books. Magazines. Things I will craft with later. Things I will wear later. Things I will play with later. Things I will... you get the picture.

This weekend I began to tackle it. It's my (not original) thought that clutter slows us down. Bogs us down. Slugs us down. Keeps us down.

I spent all day on Saturday tackling one section (just one). And while I didn't complete it, I made great headway. Am nearly complete. Will be complete after the Thanksgiving holiday and that has already filled me with space. More space. More energy.

Quick note of internal controversy: all the CDs (about 500 of them)? They are going into storage. I'm not ready to make a decision about them and I don't have a decent way to store/keep handy in the apartment. So, they are getting the boot to storage. This makes me a little nervous.

I stole this idea from Jamelah

10 Things I liked as a teenager that I don't like now

1. Talking on the phone
2. Days of Our Lives
3. Madonna
4. Mustaches
5. Wine coolers
6. St. Elmo's Fire
7. Weird little snack apple pies
8. Cheerleading
9. Bumming money off of people (anyone around me)
10. Christianity

10 Things I didn't like as a teenager that I like now

1. Cilantro
2. The Estero Bay
3. NPR
4. A quiet night in
5. Old Stevie Wonder
6. A lot of jazz
7. Paso Robles
8. Photography
9. Sewing
10. Being with my family

10 Things I have never much cared for and very likely never will

1. Swiss Cheese
2. Rye Bread
3. Rice pilaf
4. Classical music
5. Opera
6. Lionel Richie
7. Conservative Right Wing Radio
8. Exclusion
9. Being weighed
10. Nascar

Ten things I’ve always really liked and probably always will

1. Reading
2. Writing
3. Singing
4. Performing
5. Drawing
6. Being barefoot
7. Wearing earrings
8. Roadtrips
9. Big Sur
10. Lay Lady Lay by Bob Dylan

one

one, originally uploaded by emdot.

friends i have many links and tidbits to share with you

sons and daughters, originally uploaded by emdot.

but they will have to wait until tomorrow.

also, a few thoughts and ponderings. they will have to wait until the day after tomorrow.

i just listened to the news and they said it was 72 degrees in a town just 20 minutes away. it's almost midnight. it's almost thanksgiving. and it's 72 degrees.

we don't even get 72 degrees at night in the summer.

this weather is wacky. and warming.

and i'm tired and fading. good night!

pelican

pelican, originally uploaded by emdot.

Let sleeping sea lions lie

Let sleeping sea lions sleep, originally uploaded by emdot.

This photo is from our table at Pete's Pierside Cafe at Port San Luis in Avila Bay. The tablecloth reflection is off of the protective wind barrier glass.

Random webness I have read lately

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Good Morning, Internets

I should be in the shower. But it's one of those mornings when it's foggy out and cozy in and the coffee's delicious and I'm pretending it's Saturday.

Little Tidbits

Last night we watched All the President's Men (which I'd never seen) and it was really good and it made me even more cynical about politics. Do things ever change? Can political people in high reaching places be decent? Can we trust anyone? It makes me sad. But Robert Redford is hot. That never seems to change, either.

That whole Hilary not tipping thing made me gasp out loud in my car when I heard the segment on Morning Edition while driving to work. And now there are conflicting stories about did/did not tip. And if Hilary did tip... well that is a drag bc you know the evildoers are going to run run run with this. But if she didn't... tsk tsk doesn't do it justice.

Sewing. I've been sewing. What I'm about to share with you could be its own blog post (and hmmm... I may recycle reuse this sentiment at a later date) but I've learned something about sewing. Are you ready? Here it is:

Sewing is not about sewing. Sewing is about ironing, measuring, and ironing. You heard it here first.

The energy thing is going great. Yesterday when I got off from work I still had energy and I was very stoked. By the time I got home, tho, I realized that I was extremely grumpy. Maybe next month I will tackle grumpy. This month I am reacting to grumpy the same way I react to no energy which is to sequester under covers and read a book. Better than a fifth of gin.

office stretching

salt, originally uploaded by emdot.

Do you know what I love about libraries? ILL. Which has nothing to do with feeling sick, but stands for Interlibrary loan. Which means that if your library doesn't have the book you are looking for, they can probably get it for you from another library.

My library loans and borrows from libraries all around the world. China. Europe. Bakersfield. :)

Today I got a book from ILL called Office Stretching and I am oh so excited about it. Me? Doing 60 seconds or so of stretching every hour or so. 60 by 60 you could call it. Or I could call it. 60 by 60.

It took me years to figure this out, but sitting in a chair for a million hours in a row just isn't great on yon body. Who knew?

I'll be sharing office stretches, thoughts and strategies later in the week.

yea! energy!

, originally uploaded by emdot.

Okay. Great thing happened today: I got off work today with a definite spring in my step. Which added more spring.

This is what I think did it: a.) lots of movement in my workday as opposed to sitting at my desk all day; b.) late afternoon protein snack.

I had to run a bunch of errands for work which meant 90 minutes out of the office and a decent amount of walking. And then I had half of a turkey sando around 4... I think this made a huge difference.

Here I thought I was going to say how my new step towards energy was going to be getting to work earlier so I could get off of work earlier and have more day time to do things.

Instead, I worked an extra hour and coulda kept going.

taking my own advice

busy bee resting, originally uploaded by emdot.

this weekend i linked to an article about beating burn out. first piece of advice was to take vacation asap.

i think i knew that implicitly as i had set up november in a way that made me high-five myself. i only have four-day (or less) work weeks for the entire month. i took a four-day weekend this weekend. then i work four days - two days off - work four days - three day weekend - work four days - two days off - work three days - thanksgiving vacation (four days off).

this means i love november.

you need to welcome rejection

anise, originally uploaded by emdot.

i just heard a line on a dan savage podcast that stopped me in my tracks:

you need to welcome rejection.

savage was addressing a gay guy who was too shy to go up to another man at a bar. everyone is afraid of being rejected. everyone. and dan's advice was "you need to welcome rejection."

and i thought to myself, yep. me, too.

and i'm in a really awesome relationship, so i wasn't applying it to my life in a "go to a bar" situation. but in an every other situation.

i am one of the biggest scaredycats i know, deciding to forgo oh so many opportunities (travel, new location, new school, new job, my dreams, etc.) because in truth... i am terrified of rejection. i am terrified of failure. i bank on the tried-true-and-hum-drum because what if the other were to go south?

anyway. dan savage is the man and i swear to god his advice is spot on 100% of the time. or atleast 98%. if you don't know who he is OR if you are a prude and/or easily offended/squeamish, then he is most probably not the guy for you. so don't go googling him. :) all the rest of you should be downloading his podcasts.

Take yourself out on a date

{November 3} i see hearts, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Taylor.

We all need to do this more often: take ourselves out on dates. Whether you are in a relationship or not. What is a great way to spend an afternoon? An evening? Go do that by yourself and exalt.

The photo above and the self-date idea both came from Stephanie in Korea, aka Elizabeth Taylor on the Internets. Read her photo description to hear about her fabulous day/date.

Coping with burn out

natch, originally uploaded by emdot.

Let me just say right up front: I really do love/like my job. Not only that, I love my employer, my co-workers, the location, the hours. There is a lot to love, and love it I do. Not only that, but I feel real gratitude about having this job. Not only do I get to be creative, I get to be creative AND have killer perks. Try finding that in other places. Very hard to come by.

But I was starting to get burned out.

Burn out is something that I am really familiar with, but is not something I have a successful track record with. Me? I'm the one who gets burned out and thinks I can muscle through it. Maybe you are someone who has the wearwithall to succeed with that strategy, but I'm not.

So my surgery was actually a huge blessing. It required me to a.) stay home for two weeks and b.) do nothing. Two things I would have loved to have done but would never have given myself permission. Those two weeks of nothingness fed my soul. Sleeping. Resting. Resting. Sleeping. Reading. Resting. Sleeping. Knitting. Resting. Sleeping.

In the second week I took up embroidery, which was a great addition, because besides the hands moving and the fingers avoiding puncture wounds, embroidery is almost sleeping. :) It's definitely resting.

But I digress.

This is the month of November and the month of November is about regaining energy. And my second tip to share with you came handily today in the form of a web page: Dealing with Professional Burnout without Quitting Your Job.

First piece of advice: take a vacation as soon as possible.

my new, ultra-perfect, keep-yer-paws-off-of-it waterbottle

my new, ultra-perfect, keep-yer-paws-off-of-it waterbottle, originally uploaded by emdot.

I used to be one of those Nalgene Bottle Fan Girls. Seriously. I submitted poetry to their freaking web site. Okay, so they were limericks. Still, I loved me some Nalgene.

But then slowly, throughout a span of years, I got tired of always having to unscrew the lid. I wished that they were "nicer" to bring into professional meetings. And most of all... they were hard to clean (as I tended towards the liter, small-mouth bottle over the larger-mouthed version). And and and. I don't know. I lost my love of Nalgene.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed two of my best friends sporting some new looking bottles. Camelbacks. Hmmm. I was intrigued.

See... I haven't been drinking enough water. Not even close. And I gotta admit, I wonder if my lack of water drinking contributed to my problems with my now-gone gall bladder. Maybe if I'd been drinking enough water, my digestion would have been better and I never would have had this problem.

And then there is the problem of energy -- lack of energy. Me? No energy. I'm pretty good in the mornings... but M - F? When I get off of work? Dawn of the Dead. Or Dusk of the Dead. Whatever. Key point = dead. Walking dead.

So I've decided that November is the month for me to take some positive steps to regain my energy and get my M-F evenings back.

Step one = buy a killer water bottle that I really love to drink out of.

Step one = total success. Yesterday I drank about a gallon and a half. Okay. Or a gallon. Or almost a gallon. Damn near a gallon. A lot.

And it was fun. :)

Bloggers, Start Your Engines

It's that time of year, people; when crazy insane folks decide to write a novel and the rest of us decide to write in our blogs. Color me lazy. I'm not noveling it. But I am blog-posting it.

The focus of November? ENERGY. How to have more of it.