CHICKEN!

The hard:
– the ankle I hurt in May ’09 (at my freaking wedding reception!) started to hurt again when I was cleaning the catbox. Is nothing safe anymore?! (Well, I was feeling rather cheeky since I’ve been pretty healthy for a few weeks now – my bad.)
– bills, bills, bills, and my unemployment claim got forwarded to the SF board of arguments, which is currently working on cases from August so no hope of an easy outcome there
– need a job but Do Not Want one. mer!

The good:
+ spent a few days sequestered in our Truckee ski-rental place. The peace and quiet of the house there is so beautiful. I love the snow so much and I love watching the happy people return from their days of riding/skiing.
+ Starting in January, Dave and I committed to putting away 10% of any and all income toward the buying-the-Compound fund. We made our first deposit today! Yay for future planning with the man I love.
+ lots of time off means lots of time for Kitchen Table feet-wetting and meditating and Shiving-it-up
+ I found the best helper mouse EVER in sharing a room in Sacramento.
Elizabeth has been sending me daily gentle reminders for the things I want to do. It’s great having an accountability partner.

The Hard
- Frustration at work because the new system IT promised would be ready, isn’t.
- sudden excruciatiing pain in left foot on Wednesday which hurt like toothache all night and left me lame in the morning.
- my doctor’s concern that it was Morton’s syndrome and might need an operation OR a stress fracture.

The Good
- Sudden healing of lame foot after a day’s rest.
- Confirmation via the xray that said foot “could possibly” have a healing fracture (???)
- Total gratitude that I will not be out of action after all.

@Havi – so glad that you had the smarts to get the help you needed this year administratively speaking and show up with all your stuff in a way that we all could learn from. you continue to amaze and inspire me.

the hard and also the good
-practicing patience and being willing to wait to see what’s next with a project that’s coming soon please God
-the heartbreaking situation in haiti and the amazing efforts of others all over the world to help them
-eggplant parmesan: took all day to cook but it didn’t specify what kind of container and oops. . . . but it’s still good.
-watching my son shoot himself in the foot over and over again, stumble, fall, figure it out and move forward in his own way. it’s remarkable watching him figure things out even though it can be a little scary as his mom watching the process

wishing everyone a great weekend.

The Hard:
- Made a few attempts at art sales this week to no success, trying not to feel too discouraged
- Lots of stuck related to my fine art & crafty stuff
- Had a shoe thrown quite hard, a small amount of my own fail turning into a huge vitriolic rant of their stuff in my inbox
- Due to quarterly taxes, feeling v poor, and rather sharply aware of my own financial fail, esp since it means I can’t afford to donate to Haiti relief other than by proxy (& 1 small cell phone donation, which won’t have to be paid for a while yet)
- Got December’s heat bill and ouch — extremely cold weather for here + very achy me = $$$
- A bit of sleep erraticness

The Good:
+ Made a great new friend online who is also mutually ittybiz beneficial, though really the friend part is way awesomer (totally a word shush)
+ Finished all 3 of my Cartoon people, and have 2 more to do this weekend. Being a Cartoon is popular, yay!
+ Thrown shoe showed me how I dodged a bullet, and I’ve mostly let it go now rather than dwelling too much
+ Done some great creative work this week and am slowly learning to make good use of my watercolors
+ Watching everyone pull together for Haiti donations and assistance
+ Took a nap yesterday and it seems to have helped even out the sleep issues
+ Doing some Shiva Nata — dissolved that stuck by giving myself permission to both move on when I feel even slightly competent (as opposed to good) at each section, and also to stop as soon as my shoulders are bothering me no matter how much I’ve done
+ Made an effort last night to move the younger cat from the older cat’s “spot” in bed & as a result had her sleeping with us most of the night
.-= Amy Crook´s last post … Buy Some Art, Be a Cartoon =-.

This week, a Hard week.

The Hard:
-Sickness (Flu?)
-Money hardnesses
-Being asked to explain the value of my Thing
-Being-Ostracized-at-Slumber-Parties Triggers
-Overwhelm
-Clarifying, Backpeddling
-Getting up at 5:45 a.m. on a Friday

The Good:
+Meditation with my beloved Swami at 6:15 a.m. today
+Restful, contented nap today
+Flu has gotten rid of my chronic hip and spine pain (go figure?)
+ Committing with a dear friend to co-coach each other through one of Alexis Neely’s business programs
+Sun
+Trade with a VA and a WordPress consultant (Yay!!)
.-= Rebecca Prien´s last post … Non-Scary Law Question No. 6: How Much Emotional Energy Is Your Law Stuff Taking Up? =-.

Busting out laughing with the “pick a little talk a little pick a little talk a little” part. Also embedded in my brain.

-Stress around the doctoral program. Stress about the money, stress about the projects. Stress about the stress. The whole thing has been feeling quite ominous. Even talking about it is hard, right now.
-Unsurprisingly, lots of fatigue and mental fog this week, making it difficult to work.
-My sweetie’s mysterious and frustrating health problem continues to be mysterious and frustrating.

The good stuff:
+Lovely handwritten cards from past clients, filled with thanks and praise for our work together. Feeling that I truly have helped lives change for the better. So heartwarming!
+Patient, persistent, mindful efforts at self-care are paying off. I’m making music just for me on a daily basis, and it feels good.
+Shiva Nata is my friend. It’s been a deep comfort this week. Amazing, that flailing around going “What the — ?” turns out to be so soothing, but it really does! I can feel things shifting inside, too, in good ways. Lots of li’l ‘piphs this week.
+My ten-year-old has asked me to read The Procrastination Dissolve-o-Matic to her. It’s fun sharing this stuff with her, and fascinating to hear her perspective. Before agreeing to discuss it with her, though, I said, “This stuff is important to me, so don’t throw shoes.” Without missing a beat, she replied, “Okay.” “Wow,” I marveled, “you seem to know just what I mean by that!” She shrugged and nodded: “Like with cats.” …Huh. Right! Somehow, to me, that adds a whole ‘nother layer to the whole shoe-throwing thing. I mean, there you are, soaking up the moonlight, singing your heart out, and BAM! Stuff for me to ponder, which is good, ’cause I like pondering.

Hugs and good wishes to everyone! Here’s hoping that the hard things will ease, and the good things will increase. I wish they may, and I wish they might…Now good night, my Chicken, good night…
.-= Kathleen Avins´s last post … Dramatis personae =-.

Now for the latest saga in “As the University turns”… Last week we left off with the adventure of the policeman and the soon to be ex-boss.

This week’s adventure involved pouring through 7 years of accounting records to try to determine ownership of various pieces of equipment. Let’s just say my ex-boss has an interesting set of ethics where money is involved. Many hours were spent, many inquiries were made and in the end, my CPA credentials paid off as I was very well prepared for the big meeting this morning. Senior management had what they needed to negotiate effectively and things went better than expected.

The Hard:
- Not enough time to do both my ever expanding job PLUS preparing for my class assignments for my doctoral program
- Much insomnia
- Much anxiety over how things would go with the meeting

The Good:
- Senior management who finally gets how overworked and underpaid I’ve been under the ex-boss. My job description and pay are in the process of being adjusted
- Senior management who recognized my extra efforts in the equipment project and are giving me a stipend
- Our new interim program director who is just a delight to work for. I feel respected not put down.
- My students who chipped in and got me a gift certificate for a massage – the PERFECT gift considering the extreme stress I have been under these past few weeks
- The adjunct who agreed to teach one of our classes that needed an instructor due to the boss leaving. I’m really looking forward to working with her!

It will be a demanding semester but at least I know I’m appreciated and no longer have to deal with a paranoid boss!

I am a Beloved Lurker (circa fall 2008) stopping by to say hello. Apparently yesterday was National Delurking Day (http://www.blogworldexpo.com/blog/2010/01/14/national-delurking-day/).

Cheers!
.-= Katie (Sauer) Hart´s last post … A clinical psychologist, a financial literacy program director, and an economist walk into a bar =-.