really enjoying
a delicious glass of mulled wine just now. I have to say I make the best mulled wine....ever
time alone in the house. Well bub is asleep, but hub is out. I love him, but its nice to have the house to myself for a bit. and a glass of mulled wine. hot bath run and ready and waiting for me to finish my mulled wine and finish writing this.
am really excited by the prospect of my art gathering at Kollectiv Gallery tomorrow night. Its only going to be a few of us. But I am totally loving who its going to be. And that we can have mulled wine, and mince pies AND get creative on our projects and discuss some BIG IDEAS. Rocking. So excited. Its the start of something I really really want to do in my life.
Reading Happy Hour is 9-5. A very inspiring book about how to be happy at work.
My work. As above. I love that my work is about helping people be happier at work. Met some happy campers today. Its good to be useful.
Christmas - its not going to be massive and complicated and full of events. And yet it may just turn out even better, or even full of people and events and Christmassyness. But I am settling into it. I made cards on Saturday. I wrote them today. I like doing that. Even though its kind of a pain. Its a pain I enjoy and would miss if I didn't do it. Paper chains and making some gifts next. Decoration and making presents. Yup. That and mulled wine and mince pies. Its what Christmas is all about for me.
Lastly, I have picked my word for 2014. I know! early! Maybe its just my word for now. My byword for considering what to do next.
DELIGHT
enoyx
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Friday, 13 December 2013
a bit of tracking
I ran. too far. my calves hurt. I had to walk back. my calves feel better now, but it was a lesson learnt. don't try to bite off more than you can chew. build it up more slowly.
finances are OK I think. we haven't been going out much, either of us so that helps. in a way. Though we did go to the carols in the park tonight. the Salvation Army brass band were playing. there were mince pies and mulled wine and it was awesome to sing. I love a sing along.
I didn't do my pages this morning as Bub had a lie in, he was up a lot in the night with a sore throat.
I learnt about intuitive mentoring yesterday. It sounds interesting. I have been trying to hear what my subconsious is trying to tell me. Its kind of hard though, as as soon as you 'try' you are being consious about it.
next time I am going running on my own and doing it my way, with lots of stretches and going really slowly! at least I know that even if I have to walk I will probably make it around the 6K course.
finances are OK I think. we haven't been going out much, either of us so that helps. in a way. Though we did go to the carols in the park tonight. the Salvation Army brass band were playing. there were mince pies and mulled wine and it was awesome to sing. I love a sing along.
I didn't do my pages this morning as Bub had a lie in, he was up a lot in the night with a sore throat.
I learnt about intuitive mentoring yesterday. It sounds interesting. I have been trying to hear what my subconsious is trying to tell me. Its kind of hard though, as as soon as you 'try' you are being consious about it.
next time I am going running on my own and doing it my way, with lots of stretches and going really slowly! at least I know that even if I have to walk I will probably make it around the 6K course.
Monday, 9 December 2013
Creative Coffee Club
Oh the most brilliant thing happened to me last week. Apart from the fact that I went running. (which I have done twice now - get me, I AM IN TRAINING) was that I went to Creative Coffee which has moved from being held in a coffee shop to being hosted by its members.
Last week we went to The Ceramic House, which last year won the best Artists Open House in Brighton & Hove. Its been crafted by a friend of mine called Kay Aplin who is a celebrated Ceramic Artist herself. Her work is mainly architectural ceramics and she has a background in public art works. Her house is amazing, and well worth a look if you happen to be in Brighton. She opens for both the Christmas Open Houses and also during the Brighton Festival Open Houses in May. Next year she will be hosting a whole host of Danish superstar ceramic artists.... anyway, I digress. But go (oh and she rents out an extraordinary room via Air BnB if you fancy it)
So 6 lovely creative women met, and told their stories. We had 3 photographers, Kay (Ceramics) an interior designer and a surface pattern designer . Oh and me. We all had other creative backgrounds, and were all seeking to both further our creative careers and seeking an arena to discuss and share our own personal creative projects. We have arranged our next meet up for January and we are all going to read (or re read) The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Which is an amazing book for anyone to read who is wanted to start, continue or finish a creative (or otherwise) project of their own.
I have photos too. I haven't uploaded them yet. I'll do that soon.
It was like finally in Brighton I am meeting my tribe. Hurrah.
Last week we went to The Ceramic House, which last year won the best Artists Open House in Brighton & Hove. Its been crafted by a friend of mine called Kay Aplin who is a celebrated Ceramic Artist herself. Her work is mainly architectural ceramics and she has a background in public art works. Her house is amazing, and well worth a look if you happen to be in Brighton. She opens for both the Christmas Open Houses and also during the Brighton Festival Open Houses in May. Next year she will be hosting a whole host of Danish superstar ceramic artists.... anyway, I digress. But go (oh and she rents out an extraordinary room via Air BnB if you fancy it)
So 6 lovely creative women met, and told their stories. We had 3 photographers, Kay (Ceramics) an interior designer and a surface pattern designer . Oh and me. We all had other creative backgrounds, and were all seeking to both further our creative careers and seeking an arena to discuss and share our own personal creative projects. We have arranged our next meet up for January and we are all going to read (or re read) The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Which is an amazing book for anyone to read who is wanted to start, continue or finish a creative (or otherwise) project of their own.
I have photos too. I haven't uploaded them yet. I'll do that soon.
It was like finally in Brighton I am meeting my tribe. Hurrah.
Friday, 6 December 2013
Running Girl
I did it. Today I did it. I ran for 25 minutes, non stop, very slowly, to the tunes of Chaka Demus and Pliers. I got out there and ran. And uphill for half of that. I am already feeling less scared. I can do it. I am doing it. I will run 6 k through mud and water and uphill and down hill. Though i may do it very slowly!!
Thursday, 5 December 2013
back on track, tracking update
I am starting the day every day with a cup of hot water and lemon. My 2nd cup of tea is PG tips. My third is a rooibosh caffeine free thing. So that is 2 less cups of caffeine a day. Am making an effort to have more rooibosh tea. I really like it anyway, so its not difficult. Am still drinking coffee, but hey. Mostly its one cup a day, but yesterday I had a meeting and had another one. Am totally fine with that.
Food wise, its going really well. I am eating porridge and apple, with dried fruits and nuts in it, every morning. I made a huge swede and celeriac curry - another Abel & Cole recipe and have been eating that, with quinoa and cavalo nero.
Hub is back on his diet, and that is going well too. We have been avoiding doing big shops at the supermarkets. And have discovered Lidl and Aldi, which are super cheap, and in most things, its seems no worse for quality. Our last shop as £60. I mean really. No way would any other supermarket have been that cheap. And Bub really wanted the advent calendar there, which had chocolate in it and was only 49p. Go Lidl.
Hub has got a new work lead. Setting up the Yoga class in town for January is going well.
I have NOT yet done any running. I have to admit I am even MORE scared of it than ever. Its SO COLD. And I have discovered that the run I am signed up to do includes RUNNING THROUGH RIVERS!!!! seriously!!! It turns out I need special shoes. And the best thing to wear is apparently shorts and a vest. I am so so so very not keen!! But I have arranged to go running with friends next Friday. And I need to put in a couple of runs before that. F*CK. I AM going to do it. I have to. I am sponsored. I am committed. I do not like the cold. But I have a sports bra. I may go back on my wearing weird foot wear though. I need trail running shoes..... bloody hell.
I am up to date with work admin. Which I was not up with. And I need to be better at doing that straight away. I am committed to making better notes sooner and entering the data sooner too.
Oh and I sent off our accounts to the accountant. Get me. Hub did as he was told and queried a charge on the credit card bill, and we got £12 back. Also he has transferred some cash out of a rather forgotten ISA and its now in his current account which helps there.
Work, despite the admin lag, is actually going really well. I was pleased with my more improvisational approach this week. I think it helped my clients.
Today I am off to a tea dance with Joyce. Joyce is 92 and I am being a companion to her while her daughter is a way. A tea dance. This is a new thing.
Food wise, its going really well. I am eating porridge and apple, with dried fruits and nuts in it, every morning. I made a huge swede and celeriac curry - another Abel & Cole recipe and have been eating that, with quinoa and cavalo nero.
Hub is back on his diet, and that is going well too. We have been avoiding doing big shops at the supermarkets. And have discovered Lidl and Aldi, which are super cheap, and in most things, its seems no worse for quality. Our last shop as £60. I mean really. No way would any other supermarket have been that cheap. And Bub really wanted the advent calendar there, which had chocolate in it and was only 49p. Go Lidl.
Hub has got a new work lead. Setting up the Yoga class in town for January is going well.
I have NOT yet done any running. I have to admit I am even MORE scared of it than ever. Its SO COLD. And I have discovered that the run I am signed up to do includes RUNNING THROUGH RIVERS!!!! seriously!!! It turns out I need special shoes. And the best thing to wear is apparently shorts and a vest. I am so so so very not keen!! But I have arranged to go running with friends next Friday. And I need to put in a couple of runs before that. F*CK. I AM going to do it. I have to. I am sponsored. I am committed. I do not like the cold. But I have a sports bra. I may go back on my wearing weird foot wear though. I need trail running shoes..... bloody hell.
I am up to date with work admin. Which I was not up with. And I need to be better at doing that straight away. I am committed to making better notes sooner and entering the data sooner too.
Oh and I sent off our accounts to the accountant. Get me. Hub did as he was told and queried a charge on the credit card bill, and we got £12 back. Also he has transferred some cash out of a rather forgotten ISA and its now in his current account which helps there.
Work, despite the admin lag, is actually going really well. I was pleased with my more improvisational approach this week. I think it helped my clients.
Today I am off to a tea dance with Joyce. Joyce is 92 and I am being a companion to her while her daughter is a way. A tea dance. This is a new thing.
Monday, 2 December 2013
circling around
I love that autobiography in 5 chapters I posted last (see here). Because it just shows how we circle around and keep going back over the same things, but each time with more awareness, until finally we are ready to let that thing go.
I am circling back around to tracking. For various reasons.
My glamourous exciting trips abroad this year were all totally worth it, but there has been a price. Not just financially (though of course this is a large part of the issue) but in terms of control. Taking that time out meant not only was I not earning money during those times, but that I didn't take any time to organise myself, take stock, or keep up with my admin.
I was thrown slightly by my trips. I came back to rather a lot of chaos. A workroom I could hardly get into. Piles of admin waiting to be dealt with. And finances in rather a lot of chaotic disarray.
Add to that, the sense of discombobulation, the sense that I am behind on myself, and I am running, running and not yet, quite ever catching up, or feeling satisfied that my jobs are well enough done. It has been a period of flying on a wing an a prayer. Nothing has gone horribly wrong. All is fine. But that sense, that I couldn't quite trust where I was at, has been getting me down. Yesterday, and perhaps for a few days prior to today, I had started to feel a bit depressed. On Friday, I had a lovely day out, but on the journey there, and on the journey back was this gnawing dissatisfied feeling, this slightly sneaking suspicion, that perhaps I ought to have spent my time catching up on myself.
I think for that whole last week, instead of catching up on myself, I had been running away instead. Friday, because I left the house and went to London, seemed to highlight what I was up to. Hell yes a day trip to London with wine and art and trips to Borough Market. And at home, though I knew in my soul I wanted to do more yoga, get running, tidy up and eat better....... instead I have lounged around, eaten fried potatoes and take aways and watched a lot of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. (I do kind of know one of the people on it. But that really is an excuse) and add to that the time spent on facebook, watching Strictly AND all the It Takes 2 subsiduary shows...... Life was feeling sluggish, I was feeling down on myself and yuck. I felt l distracted and dissipated and plain WRONG.
I knew something had to be done. And so, while not wanting to be too hard on myself (I have been reading about self compassion lately) I did change some things this morning. And I am going to go back to various form of tracking. It makes me feel like progress is being made. And YES I am making progress. Hurrah. Am all tidied up. I have various plans moving forward. I am caught up on admin (OK I do still have the 2013 accounts to send in, but I AM working on it) And yes I DO definitely feel better.
I have reduced my current projects right down to the bare bones. These are
Financial control
6K run
Yoga
People Who Do
Art
Christmas
Healthy eating
I am also reducing the amount of time spent on facebook. To this end I have deleted the app from my phone. I fess up to having visited 2 times today. But I did not browse while I drank my morning tea. And at lunch, I did read and interesting article, but it was essentially a pointless waste of time. Yup. Stopping it. Or at the very least cutting right down. Sometimes it is a good thing.
I started the day with hot water and lemon. I am not cutting out caffeine totally. But again, reducing consumption. I had one cup of tea this morning, not 5.
Cooked some delicious food. And we are back on the household budget. We will definitely be making our own Christmas gifts (lots of baking) where possible. And we will be staying home and not travelling for a while. Hub has a large bit of work on in January which should help ease things a little. All is good. And I feel better. So bear with me while I bore on with my tracking. It helps me. And this is my personal blog. Namaste!
I am circling back around to tracking. For various reasons.
My glamourous exciting trips abroad this year were all totally worth it, but there has been a price. Not just financially (though of course this is a large part of the issue) but in terms of control. Taking that time out meant not only was I not earning money during those times, but that I didn't take any time to organise myself, take stock, or keep up with my admin.
I was thrown slightly by my trips. I came back to rather a lot of chaos. A workroom I could hardly get into. Piles of admin waiting to be dealt with. And finances in rather a lot of chaotic disarray.
Add to that, the sense of discombobulation, the sense that I am behind on myself, and I am running, running and not yet, quite ever catching up, or feeling satisfied that my jobs are well enough done. It has been a period of flying on a wing an a prayer. Nothing has gone horribly wrong. All is fine. But that sense, that I couldn't quite trust where I was at, has been getting me down. Yesterday, and perhaps for a few days prior to today, I had started to feel a bit depressed. On Friday, I had a lovely day out, but on the journey there, and on the journey back was this gnawing dissatisfied feeling, this slightly sneaking suspicion, that perhaps I ought to have spent my time catching up on myself.
I think for that whole last week, instead of catching up on myself, I had been running away instead. Friday, because I left the house and went to London, seemed to highlight what I was up to. Hell yes a day trip to London with wine and art and trips to Borough Market. And at home, though I knew in my soul I wanted to do more yoga, get running, tidy up and eat better....... instead I have lounged around, eaten fried potatoes and take aways and watched a lot of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. (I do kind of know one of the people on it. But that really is an excuse) and add to that the time spent on facebook, watching Strictly AND all the It Takes 2 subsiduary shows...... Life was feeling sluggish, I was feeling down on myself and yuck. I felt l distracted and dissipated and plain WRONG.
I knew something had to be done. And so, while not wanting to be too hard on myself (I have been reading about self compassion lately) I did change some things this morning. And I am going to go back to various form of tracking. It makes me feel like progress is being made. And YES I am making progress. Hurrah. Am all tidied up. I have various plans moving forward. I am caught up on admin (OK I do still have the 2013 accounts to send in, but I AM working on it) And yes I DO definitely feel better.
I have reduced my current projects right down to the bare bones. These are
Financial control
6K run
Yoga
People Who Do
Art
Christmas
Healthy eating
I am also reducing the amount of time spent on facebook. To this end I have deleted the app from my phone. I fess up to having visited 2 times today. But I did not browse while I drank my morning tea. And at lunch, I did read and interesting article, but it was essentially a pointless waste of time. Yup. Stopping it. Or at the very least cutting right down. Sometimes it is a good thing.
I started the day with hot water and lemon. I am not cutting out caffeine totally. But again, reducing consumption. I had one cup of tea this morning, not 5.
Cooked some delicious food. And we are back on the household budget. We will definitely be making our own Christmas gifts (lots of baking) where possible. And we will be staying home and not travelling for a while. Hub has a large bit of work on in January which should help ease things a little. All is good. And I feel better. So bear with me while I bore on with my tracking. It helps me. And this is my personal blog. Namaste!
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