As for the disappointments about the place – you know, at one point I realised that I had grown fonder of the place and would even happily go again in spite of those minor things (which, interestingly, weren’t feeling quite so annoying anymore). I wondered why for a second, and what came to me is that it felt different (or I felt differently about the place) because we had infused Asilomar with our energy. At that point, it was so full of the wonderful energy of our group and retreat that the annoyances really out faded in the background. I now realise I should have told you that as soon as I realised it, so as to relieve the poor momma hen (and her stuff)! :)
.-= Josiane´s last post … Taking action instead of resolving to do so =-.

It’s mostly why I enjoy hanging out with six year olds – they don’t look at me funny when I join in.

Onto the chicken:

the hard:
- Endoscopy disgustingness: Ugh. Tubes. Awful. Terrifying for those moments horribleness. And knowing that whilst I wasn’t scared of this because I didn’t know what to expect, if they ask me for another one I will be terrified.
- Tiredness, sadness, tiredness – the sadness comes hand in hand with the tiredness. I think they might be star crossed lovers. One leads, the other follows.
- Colds – yeah – snot. Gross.

The wonderful:
-My sister came to stay! Yay! Hurrah! She brought my niece! I love them both so much my heart could pop and I got them all to myself for two days. Ah, it was the bestest.
- Seeing friends again who are back from their holidays. Makes me feel like less of a social freak since starting shift work. Friends! You can’t beat em.
- Back to uni. Strangely this is what I needed. A bit of routine and a reminder of what I am doing and why. Makes it all more real and not some distant memory of something I did once and which is lost forever in the past.
- Making new friends. Yes, I think I am. Which is a wonderful thing.
.-= Wormy´s last post … In Praise of the Negative =-.

The Hard:

-being so tired STILL, although it gradually seems to be lifting
-dealing with criticism – peer critiquing on my MA course has sometimes made me want to smack someone and ask them ‘for the love of god, you’re doing a writing MA, can you not actually read what I’ve written’, even though I’m trying to understand that’s everyone’s nervous doing a new thing.

The Good:

- feeling I’m getting good stuff out of the course
- my self confidence creeping back after the bashing it took in the autumn
- working with nice people who I can actually have a laught with
- cat squidging
- nachos and wine with a friend
- my graduate tuition loan seems to have gone throuhg *big sigh of relief*
- realising that I’m listening to my body and not fighting it
.-= Jane´s last post … Mudlarks….Or Not =-.

The hard:

- news of my 9 yr old niece (and closest cousin and bud to my 9 yr old son) going in for a tonsillectomy and then being diagnosed with leukemia. Started chemo on Thursday.

- Harder: seeing her poor dad losing all faith in the goodness and beauty of the universe as a result. I guess I would too.

The good:

- Taking the whole week off so we, as a family, could lend support.

- Having a thunk in the head to rearrange my own priorities and be present to my sons. Now. While they are alive and healthy.

- Getting into deeper touch with my own faith in the goodness and beauty of the universe in light of something so tragic.

What an adventure to be human…
.-= Gina´s last post … Letters to a Young Therapist =-.

The hard:

Really tough week at work. Two out-of-town trips (why oh why do my ears hurt when I fly despite gum-chewing, drugs, etc?). Critical and inappropriate “performance review” from boss, held at airport gate in front of several strangers. Sigh.

The good:

I’m home sweet home! The week is over! My kitties are happy to see me (probably because its cold and I am a large mobile heater in their tiny minds)!

There was a beautiful full moon last night.

Sunshine!

I *have* a pain-in-neck job, which many people wish they had.

I’m in my jammies, drinking coffee, don’t have to leave the house for a WHILE.

The Hard
- Money stress and woe. I should be used to it or something, but I just never am, and it stirs up a ton of mucky Stuff. Ew.
- Erratic sleeping of erraticness, and a lot of having to get up in the morning for this or that thing.
- Tired and bleh.
- A little bit of worky frustration here and there, nothing big but it all adds up.
- Not enough Be a Cartoon people! Okay, this isn’t really that hard, but I was really digging the chance to draw so much.
- Too much rain, not enough sunshine and going for walks and seeing other humans.

The Good
+ A bunch of great teleclasses this week, even if they were all at 11am, aka way too early for my night owl self.
+ Hot delicious tea in the mornings during those calls, and being able to talk (mostly) when I had questions.
+ Etsy sales! I admit it, @blondechicken & @copygeniusgirl are totally right, and I am so, so happy to finally have something going on that front.
+ Today is a day off and it’s awesome.
+ I love being inside in the warm and listening to the rain outside, with warm blankies and comfy mitts and awesomeness.
+ Being stuck in my burrow means lots of stuff got done, including the things that led to the Etsy sales.
+ Inspired to keep making neat stuff for Etsy as a result.
+ Got a couple of awesome client prospects I need to gently nurture into real clients.
+ Got an idea for my first (utterly information-free) product for Not Dead Yet.
+ Got kittehs.
.-= Amy Crook´s last post … Thursday Means Cartoons! =-.

The retreat sounds truly amazing. Wish I was there, even though my week was 80% fantastic and only 20% frustrating.
.-= Sonia Simone´s last post … How To Write For Regular Readers =-.

@emilylime – hugs to you for the cat hard. I used to have a cat that did the scratching on the door at night thing. I finally made a kind of gate consisting of a piece of carpet-covered wood large enough to fit across the door and heavy enough that he wouldn’t pull it over on himself. I called it the “Spike Barrier” (Spike was my cat’s name).

The good
- Totally making progress on my THING!!!! Lots of distinctions about what my THING really is and, more importantly, what it ISN’T. Good to know what it isn’t so now I can let that go without feeling like I’ll be missing out. Yay THING!
- Writing things for my website that aren’t half bad. Noticing that, hey, I’m kinda entertaining…
- Last minute date with a friend involving whiskey. At a new hipster bar that also turned out to be low-key and cool. Whiskey! Yay!
- New friend whose thing is helping group leaders be awesome and he also thinks he might want MY THING. Serendipitous events, yay!

Happy Friday, everyone!
The hard
- Husband had a sleepless night after his own date with too many beers. Nowhere to go in our 400 square foot condo so I didn’t get any sleep either. Tired and pretty useless the next day.
- Wanting to get it right and figure it out.
- Daily meditation practice not going so well. Mostly I forget about it, don’t do it, tell myself I’ll do it later, don’t want to do it. Finally understanding that I don’t have a practice at all yet, if what we mean by practice is showing up for it when you said you would. Ugh!