My Tireless Retirement - Week 204

 

Hello everyone!  I hope your week was wonderful.  Mine went better than expected, thankfully.  It started out a little bumpy with one of my poor co-workers having an emotional breakdown with all the stress we’ve been under, but we all rallied around her and got her shored back up.  I am tremendously grateful to be working with such a great group of women, strong and supportive, as we are meeting this challenge head on and not backing down.  We are definitely a cohesive unit.  One of you mentioned how you’d been in a situation where you thought you were the only one until you all began to talk to one another and realized it was happening to all of you.  Well, in December that is what took place with us.  Now we are all pissed off and determined.  I will keep you posted as we navigate this rough chunk of road.

 

Eggs on toast is comfort food for me

This past week I gave myself a lot of grace.  My appetite has been off so I ate what sounded good when I felt hungry and didn’t worry too much about it.  Taking that pressure off and not forcing myself, seemed to help a lot as my appetite is now steadily returning.  I have also been struggling with sleep so I made sure to go to bed early, read and relax, sleep as much as I could and then take a catnap (I literally had a cat in my lap) when I felt sleepy.  I am feeling things turn around for me sleep wise too as I am not able to get a full night of sleep once again.

 

Friday I took a group of seniors to my neighborhood candy shop for a tour of the inner workings and they got to dip some of their own chocolates to take home.  They seemed to really enjoy it and it was a lot of fun.

 

Homemade sausage & black olive pizza

Saturday I got my laundry done and then spent some time in the afternoon paper crafting some pretty bookmarks and making dragonfly die cuts using some new dies I got myself for Valentine’s Day.  It was super fun.  I also made myself a healthy pizza with wholesome ingredients and my own homemade dough for supper.  On Sunday I got out a 500 piece puzzle and worked on that all day.  I completely decompressed and disengaged from the outside world.  It was a perfect and very relaxing weekend.  I am going to focus on having far more of these.

 

Me & Jack

Monday I worked side by side with “Little Miss Toxic” and it was quite a ride, but I didn’t take any shit off of her and it was exhausting.  By the time I left for the day I was so tired, but I was happy to get home and cuddle with Jack.  He is the best therapy.

 

I put a puzzle together

I did not work on Tuesday or Wednesday and enjoyed rainy weather, my lovely home, good food and hot coffee, my fur babies and my own company.  I am putting a lot of focus on loving and taking good care of myself.  After a good night’s sleep I stayed home all day in my pajamas Tuesday and watched it rain all day.  I just enjoyed the simple things while I relaxed.  I did a little declutter in my closet and pulled out several well worn items and a couple things I no longer wear.  The worn items went in the trash and the rest in the donation bag I had going in the garage.

 

Stella!

Wednesday morning I got dressed, had my therapy appointment and then headed off to run errands.  I dropped off a very full bag of donations at the thrift store, dropped off my glass recycling at my neighborhood drop-off site and stopped at Fred Meyer to top up the fuel tank in my car.  Next I headed off to the feed store nearby to pick up a bale of Timothy hay for little Miss Daisy before going back to Fred Meyer to pick up a few items from the grocery store.  At home I was able to restock the bunny’s hay bins, sweep out the garage, clear debris from the storm drain and get the trash wheelie set at the curb.  It felt really good to get a bunch of stuff done.

 

I made some bookmarks and did a lot of reading

Before going to the grocery store I did clear out some old food from the fridge and checked for spills.  I rarely, if ever have food waste, but lately my tummy hasn’t been very happy and I know that is due to stress.  I tend to carry my stress in my gut.  Near the end of the week however, I was feeling much better and back to eating good healthy food.  Getting my stress under control has been very helpful as I have been contemplating my future and what 2026 might look like for me.  Do I work fewer hours, do I work at all?  Or, do I tough it out?

 

Breakfast for dinner is always a winner!

Thursday morning I ran a load of laundry and then worked that afternoon for a few closing out the week uneventfully.  I hope you all enjoyed a good week and have a fabulous weekend.  Take care my friends and let me know what has been keeping you busy lately.