Out of the Storm

We're at Part 7 - proof positive we do heal    :yes:     :thumbup:   

Let us know what three good things happened in your life today.   :yes:

1. I managed most of the reading for my exams next week.
2. I turned in some writing assignments for an extra evening course I'm taking, and prepared some that will be assigned in the upcoming weeks already.
3. I made some realisations about my perfectionism as it relates to my social interactions, study habits, and subsequent ability to 'stick it out' in different facets of life.

(I don't know if point one and two are healthy reflections on positive things, since it's likely a CPTSD thing, but they feel good.)

1. Successful shopping trip for household bits.

2. A brief pause in the rain, I walked around the local park and enjoyed getting outside.

3. The flicker of a candle and scent from my oil burner, I rarely light it but this evening I have and I am enjoying it.

4. Snuggling in a blanket listening to the gentle patter of rain on the windows and roof.

this is a good idea! :)

1. the new Friday morning ritual with my boyfriend: getting groceries at the organic / package free market and going for breakfast at a new small place every week. The man who made our breakfast was so friendly.

2. listening to the pretty song i stumbled across yesterday: Kupla - Never Forget. It's a bit sad, but also comforting. Feels like a musical hug.

3. finding all these new creative ideas on Pinterest, feeling how the colours and having something to look forward to, make me calmer inside.

4. feeling welcome and understood on this forum <3

1. Getting out the house. It helped.

2. Gentle lighting. Bright lights hurt.

3. Sweet potato chips.

4. My very patient SO.

5. TV, it is a useful distraction.

1. I left the house to get some fresh air.

2. SO suggested getting a take away, I am so glad I don't have to cook.

Struggling with a third one today.

•I cooked caramalized pear, red onion, and pecan flammkuchen
•I was assigned challenging tasks that I know I will eventually enjoy
•Finding the strength to refocus myself after falling into the muffled tunnel vision of CPTSD
•I had a platform to discuss special interests that are very personal to me, and I spoke, dispite feeling judged and that I was taking up too much space.
•I just feel like the flammkuchen deserves two bullet points because it was so good.

I managed to get up in the morning

A friend has agreed to do some basic cleaning for me once a week

I managed to get back up in the afternoon

I have made it into my office which could help me do the work I need to do

I'm recognising that I need some down-time after all the progress

1 Dancing

2 Someone else driving

3 It didn't rain

4 Pudding

1 The house is tidyer than it was. It was a struggle to do but I feel better for having some space.

2 Fish and chips.

3 The calming effect of a hot water bottle.

• The yummy American pancakes and flat white this morning.
• The short walk that left me a bit overwhelmed by all the stimuli but i did it!
• Feeling less alone and 'strange' now i'm reading Pete Walkers book on CPTSD.
• getting better at crocheting.

1. Photography

2. Autumn leaves

3. Batch cooking

4. Warm showers

5. Calm sensible people

1. Country parks, beautiful open spaces.

2. A friend to enjoy it with.

3. Warm blankets.

1. That I am able to name something good.
2. Autumn.
3. Costumes

1. I see that I am healing, bit by bit through the intense ups and downs. Admitting I've had a streak of a few good days in a row, even after some pretty hefty challenges this past week.

2. Beautiful Fall day

3. Loved by my husband and kids

4. Finding much encouragement and reassurance on this forum

Way to go, Pioneer! :thumbup: :applause:
___________________________________________________

1) The sun was shining today
2) The advertising decals finally came today and got installed on my business windows
3) I'm not moving forward on lit. translation yet, but in a lot of smaller ways I AM moving forwards :cheer: :cheer:
4) I made myself a huge pot of soup with all the left-over veg and also with the lentils I recently bought for that very purpose :)

1) It's a lovely sunny day, balmy and warm for Nov. Had all windows in my apt open to air, and now my office window.
2) I have got various bits and pieces done, both private and business
3) I also passed various things I no longer need on to a friend, who does need them. I like getting rid of things that are otherwise taking up space  :) :)

1. Sometimes it's up to me to take care of myself. And today it felt great.

Last night was an important lesson in self-soothing. I just had to accept that my partner's own well was dry. I felt anger, resentment, despair, blame, abandonment. I was avoiding him, because I didn't want to feel such discomfort and anxiety again. At last he asked if I was punishing him. But I just didn't want the pain, feeling like I couldn't handle any more. I was able to express this to him to some extent today, noting that both our wells are quite empty at the moment. We need each other, but we don't have a lot to offer just now. Both of us acknowledging this helped immensely. My anger and resentment towards him dissipated, and his resentment feelings seem to have dissolved as well. I can be in the same room with him now without having EFs, or fearing major EFs because he might enter the kitchen while I'm cooking!

2. "All enlightenment is making rice."

I can't recall the source for this koan, but it's one I particularly like. Today self care involved making ramen for lunch. I caught myself rushing for no reason, muscles tensing, my inner critics spurring me to "hurry up." Pete Walker describes a very similar experience of his own in The Tao of Fully Feeling. It's great to know I'm not alone in this aspect of recovery, where you try to do something nice for yourself, something enjoyable, but your critical voices take it into an anxious place. For me the critical voices are often very hard to detect clearly, but they're very much there and near-constant. While cooking, it might be something like, "*! Hurry up, hurry up! Let's go! C'mon!" There might be name-calling and worse swearing as it amps up. Cruelty over time pressure is a big one for me. So there are many opportunities to work on noticing, feeling and slowing down throughout the day. Mostly the rushing is entirely needless and counter-productive, only making me so anxious as to be less effective in whatever it is that I'm doing. Instead: practice being truly present while "making rice" and then choose a kinder and more mellow attitude to hold the activity in the moment. Today I can see that I'm getting better at it.

3. It's okay to reach out, and it doesn't have to be perfect.

I made plans to go for a walk with a good, supportive friend this week. She knows I'm going through a difficult time, so she's been opening the door to me, but I've been putting it off with, "too busy" and "not feeling well." The thing is, here is this good friend, and it will feel good to connect in person with her! Why not make that a priority? She will be forgiving that I'm not at my best. Now I'm looking forward to it, instead of feeling anxious about it.

With each of these three good things today, I'm feeling less alone, and more at peace.

1. It has been three really long and difficult months but finally my H will be discharged from the stroke rehab centre this Fri. He is well enough to come home and continue rehab from home.  So much progress and now no more exposure to ongoing microaggressions from underpaid, overworked PSWs - such a relief for us both.

2. We will have home care and therapy (physio, OT) in our home at no cost to us (universal health care has it's cons but there are many pros - lots of free resources, treatment, home care)

3.  We have an amazing doctor who has been as concerned for me as for my H - actually has phoned a few times to ask how I am doing. 

Yay Kizzie!  :hug:

Hooray! :cheer:

1. Today I had an interview and I got the job.  :cheer:

2.  I cleaned something without any hint of a flashback. Just a small section of floor but it feels like a MASSIVE achievement.  :cheer:

3. I didn't go into 'attack  :aaauuugh: mode' when someone attempted to provoke me.

1. I made a really nice dinner for myself tonight. It was great to be able to cook without being too anxious about it.

2. Today is M's birthday, so I called her to say happy birthday, and got through the conversation without too much difficulty.

3. Today is another day that I have been clear minded enough to be able to enjoy food, music, etc.

Congratulations on your job, OceanStar.

Congratulations on all those steps, OceanStar! I sure know about flashbacks during cleaning.

1) I managed to cycle all the way up a steep hill where I thought I'd have to push my bike.  I felt invigorated afterwards too

2) A student brought me a Christmas goody bag from his family to the final lesson today

3) I managed to get to my doctor's on time, despite leaving the house a lot later than planned

4) I bought some much-needed new clothing today in 3 different shops, including having to use changing rooms in two of the shops and I felt OK the whole time. No EFs. No energy suddenly disappearing.  :cheer:

5) All the shop assistants were competent and friendly. The latter isn't a given here.

6) It didn't start raining till the evening, though earlier was forecast. No rain makes a difference when you're cycling.

1) I was able to start tidying and sorting before my cleaning help came which makes cleaning easier for her. So she was able to do more than usual including some jobs that have been waiting to be done for quite a while.

2) I continued tidying various very messy areas of floor while she was working and I felt so energised that I vacuumed and mopped those areas after she'd gone and even went onto tidying and cleaning further surfaces. Afterwards I still had energy to make myself a quick but healthy and tasty lunch :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

3) My apartment looks much better now and I feel better in it

4) I have done my imagination exercise twice so far today, all since the cleaning

1. I tend to set myself daily goals of things that I need to accomplish, usually an unhealthy habit, but i have completed my tasks two days in a row. Woo!
2. I feel that I've been bonding with my little one more. I can tell he is happy around me.
3. I've come out of my low point, obviously, I feel like I'm building my routine again.
Bonus: I ate a whole bag of spinach and arugula today!

Happy days.

1) I've been keeping going cleaning and tidying a bit here and a bit there since Friday. 'Here and there' brings forward movement too  :)

2) Just before I started making my lunch - a big pot of homemade soup - I felt exhausted and was going to boil up some ready-made pasta and maybe wash the remains of a lettuce. But then instead I got the energy from somewhere to make a healthier, tastier lunch than ready-made pasta plus lettuce remains but also an easier lunch than making homemade soup from scratch. I enjoyed my lunch. All sorts of different colours involved, lots of vitamins, also something hot. I also used up quite a few bits and pieces that needed using up e.g. remains of soy sauce - makes a bit of space on the shelf   :thumbup:

3) Good to realise now, a few hours later, that when the exhaustion came on or even before it came on that would have been a good moment to do my imagination exercises again. This realisation in retrospect will help me another time to understand what's going on  - mini-EF probably.

4) Opened my office shutters and windows for the first time in days so I could catch the sun on my inside window ledge to recharge my solar flashlight. At the same time I enjoyed the sun myself while I cleared up papers and this and that in my office.

1 Went grocery shopping
2. Took the dog for a walk
3. Got some house work done

1) Made myself soup stock
2) Went for a little walk in the snow
3) Finally posted a parcel containing a couple of Xmas presents. 
4) Enquiry email about something to do with literary translation  :thumbup:

1. grocery delivery with Pan Dulce
2. snuggles from my kittycat
3. playing animal crossing

sage

Technically it's from yesterday, but it was such a good day!
1. Found a new Vietnamese restaurant that does pickup, is reasonably priced, and amazingly delicious
2. Went to a national wildlife refuge and saw about 110+ sandhill cranes migrating
3. saw some of my favorite hawks

Yesterday + Today:
1) No rain; even :sunny:
2) Finally had shower and washed my hair yesterday and no surprise - I feel better
3) Washed a huge stack of dishes yesterday, which made me feel lots better too

1)  Extreme cold warning has ended here and it's bright and sunny with a tease of spring just around the corner

2)  I used our snowblower to get rid of what snow there was on our driveway (it had been too cold) and enjoyed the fresh air and exercise

3) A kind neighbour put out our garbage bin because I forgot

 :cheer:

Quote from: Kizzie on February 20, 2021, 05:49:16 PM
3) A kind neighbour put out our garbage bin because I forgot

Not TGIF, but TG for kind neigbours!  ;)

I know right? I kind of get a warm fuzzy feeling whereas before it would have (all) been fear that I would 'owe' the neighbour. 

Hey good on you for making that progress, Kizzie! :thumbup: :applause:   I used to be worried about 'owing' the neighbour too.
________________________
1) Lovely sunny day  :)
2) I was up early getting on with this that and the other e.g. looking for important papers, filing, throwing others out and then washing the dishes and doing some tidying up in my apartment
3) Three inquiries for my professional work today, after weeks of zero. I just automatically feel better for being asked

1. I woke up with a terrible motion headache the kind that makes you sick, but my husband got my son ready for preschool, took him to school, and brought me rye crumpets with sundried tomato hummus and avocados in bed. I am feeling a lot better now, which is great because I have class and a tutoring session later.

2. I am going to bouce back and accomplish things.

3. I planted some seeds in my family room and they are sprouting. What is amazing is that I am growing tea indoors, and tea seeds are supposed to be soaked for a day, dried until they crack, peeled, or even boiled before planting and supposedly take a MONTH to sprout. I did no such things, put them in dirt with water under a light and put a drinking glass on top, a week later tiny TEA SPROUTS. In the same container have echinacea and lavender sprouting too. Plant babies make me happy.

1. I eventually got up and stayed up
2. I made it to the farmer's market which means I got some food for myself, for my pets, was out in the fresh air and sunshine and chatted with a few acquaintances
3. I gave my little pet her medicine. I admit I haven't taken my own but I have had some food and drink. Also washed the dishes after playing round after round of solitaire/patience at my table in the sun. So I managed to stop eventually.  :thumbup:

1. The weather was amazing
2. My SO took day off work to spend day with me, even put their phone on silent
3. We went out on our e-mountain bikes and explored new bridleways and paths and had a picnic by a river and best bit was I saw a Kingfisher sitting on a branch across the river and he flew off and came back and flew off again, beautiful

1. Comfortable shoes.

2. A quick dinner to put in the oven.

3. A warm scarf.

4. A hot water bottle.

1. I had a great discussion with my brother today, which lasted a number of hours. It was a really positive social experience for me.
2. I recently made my own salad dressing, which is much healthier, and much tastier than the pre-made stuff available in the store. I'm enjoying it every day!
3. My cat hasn't been eating much the past couple of days, because her normal food was back-ordered, and she didn't like the replacement. Today, I found her some new food which she was able to enjoy.

1- Saw a good video that talks about trauma and addictive behavior. Thoughtful notes to contemplate later.
2- decided to try to eat less junk food just because it's convenient.
3-played with my cloud slime while watching cartoons this morning.

My life is looking quite stable. Sometimes it's hard to see the stability, and hard to appreciate it, but I notice it now. The big things don't feel like mountains and the little things mean very little.

I posted today. I am thinking of myself. Wanting to get back some of that "self" that I never developed. No pressure though. I think that's a good thing.

I'm home alone, and I'm listening to music. I listen to music maybe three times a year. I am enjoying it without judging myself for enjoying it.

Way to go, Bermuda! :cheer:

______________________
1) I dug up a bunch of herbs I have way too much of (they spread) and cut back others as well as dandelions, grass etc and gave them to the Little Furry Rescue Society
2) It was raining most of the time but I didn't let that bother me and actually enjoyed my time outside in among the green and wet.
3) One of my school students has suddenly improved i.e. finally doing extra work, catch up work without me having to plug away at trying to force it :thumbup: Such a relief when a student gets to that stage.

1) I've been given a spot on the literary translation workshop already
2) The first tiny glimmers of pink on some rose buds on the plant I've been carefully tending for a couple of years, hoping it would bloom again. Last summer only one bud, this summer lots.  :)
3) I'm making so much progress atm! But I'm not forcing myself to list it all because I'm tired. So self-care: stop writing.

1 I went for a walk even though it was raining

2 I managed to cook dinner despite feelings of overwhelm.

3 I reached out to a friend and although she was not available I am still glad I thought to do something and try.

1) I went for a little cycle, even though it was raining. Since July 1st I have gone for at least a little cycle every day.

2) I practised singing for the choir this evening. As usual, singing God's word did me a lot of good and I'm looking forward to the first practice after almost a year - which will be next Tuesday.

3) I collected leaves of a plant called French spinach (atriplex hortensis var. rubra) from somebody's garden where I'm allowed to harvest things like that. I'm happy that I wanted to harvest and eat something so healthy and tasty  :)

From yesterday:
4) I got a reply from the friend I've been discussing things with recently. I'll maybe write more about it on my Journal, but at least it's not worst-case scenario and certainly there is now more clarity for me.

1) Yesterday I had a ride on my old 'special bicycle' which is elsewhere atm and I did enjoy it despite various technical issues with the bike. Maybe it was good just to have a final goodbye ride? Maybe I'll change my mind after all?

2) I rode my new 'special bicycle' up to the farm yesterday and back today and realise that I'm still in a transition phase, getting used to it, learning to ride it better, even though I was able to ride right away the very first. But there's still away to go before I've really got the knack. However it was finally more fun on the open road :) rather than just about town

3) Yesterday I sang for the first time with one of the church choirs I'm in. There were only 8 of us altogether. I sang anyway and didn't feel particularly self-conscious. I also don't have the feeling that my singing has gone back to square one with me not singing in a choir for over a year. On the contrary. My impression was that I was managing to adjust my voice to get on the correct note more quickly than I used to. I was also hearing that better.

4) On my bike ride(s) yesterday and today too I could feel more precisely which leg muscles are being used (a bit different than on a standard bike) and felt both some happiness that I could even feel that and feel my legs and in fact lower torso working. I also felt a flash of willingness to keep going bit by bit practising to improve a little bit by bit on my fitness levels to make bike-riding more fun.  :)

5) A willingness to strengthen muscles and work on fitness levels is a HUGE thing for me. Please note all readers who might like to encourage me in this endeavour with tips - this is a big trauma area for whatever reasons and I'm best off if I can go at my own pace, so please no hint of any suggestions. Thanks :) So I'm very happy about this willingness, even if it was there as a feeling for just a few minutes. I have hope it will come again. :)

1) Looking at this thread and trying to inspire myself to think of something good I did for myself today.
2) I did go to my doctor's.
3) I cycled to my doc's in the sunshine.

Yesterday:
1) I finally phoned a friend who also has cptsd. She validated a lot of what I was thinking and feeling. It was good to speak to and hear somebody rather than just write and read.

1) Watched and enjoyed Christmas movies.
2) Wrapped Christmas gifts.
3) Pet therapy---cat on my lap.
4) Did not get down on myself for not getting all the things done that I wanted to do.

1. I  brought milk for breakfast
2. I sorted out a box of rubbish
3. I got realised i was angry.

1)  I did go to evening church service and sang in the choir
2) I warmed up some soup I got as part of a Christmas parcel yesterday
3) I cleaned out my furbabies.

1) got up from nap and ordered my favorite arepa and empanadas instead of hoping to ignore the potential hunger
2) did some flower studies of alstroemerias
3) watered and transferred most plants to my sunny bedroom (thankful for wintertime southfacing bedroom)

1. My body functioned alright today and I was able to interact with the world to some degree.
2. I decided to trade some plant cuttings online for other plants, and got lots of exciting replies. I look forward to making my tropical jungle dreams come true. I need more plant babies.
3. I woke up this morning from my 2 year old coming into the bedroom, crawling under the covers, petting my face and blowing me kisses, then he walked away.

1) I noticed I was brushing my teeth in a gentler fashion than usual
2) I finally got my godson's Xmas present into the post
3) I woke up in a clean, comfortable bed (because I finally changed all my sheets last night and tucked all the blankets in again so they don't fall off in the night)

1) Sang in the church choir this morning
2) Had a laugh at some of the things the priest was saying to the children e.g. the sermon is long and often more for adults, can be a bit difficult to understand so it's quite OK for the children to day-dream or think of something pleasant! ;D  But the adults really should listen otoh. I do, mostly, I like his sermons. Throughout the service he was explaining why we do particular things and say particular things and I really appreciated it because I didn't grow up going to church much anyway and certainly not to this denomination.
3) Felt inspired to do a bunch of cleaning including 2 windows - doing one of them I enjoyed the :sunny: Otherwise little bits and pieces of cleaning and tidying, bit it all feels good atm!

Three Good Things in the Past Few Days

1) On hearing that my furbaby had slipped away, our choir director added a hymn to the service Friday evening "The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended" but in the local language. I was really touched that 1) she remembered me saying it's sung in some English-speaking countries at funerals (it isn't in the country I live in now) and 2) she added it for me, so I could sing in company with others for my furbaby. (She does have her own furbaby so she understands.)

2) All the support I've got on here from quite a number of mbrs over the past days. I really feel it and really appreciate it :grouphug:

3) I get wood shavings from a local carpenter for my furbabies but hadn't contacted him for a while though I knew he was keeping sackloads for me. Finally yesterday I managed to email him and apologise and say my furbabies aren't even with me atm so I won't be needing any shavings for a while. He was really cool about it and even wrote I shouldn't be having a bad conscience over that, which was quite perceptive because that was exactly what I had. Now I've dropped my bad conscience.

Blueberry, it warms my heart that there are people who were attuned to you and your feelings.

1) I truly am accepting myself better today than I have been for what feels like weeks.
2) I went for a nice cycle there and back
3) I took both my morning meds and plan to take my evening ones too (I don't when I go to bed too late because I'm worried about not waking and getting up till noon so planning to take my evening ones means planning to get ready for bed by 11:30 at the latest.)

4) One for yesterday: I told a friend more about FOO and their shenanigans, particularly about finally having had enough of FOO and finally speaking my truth. She listened, she validated, she was appalled at some of what I went thru and continue to go thru and said so. She didn't come up with excuses for FOO.

Good for you BB!!!  :hug:

Thanks Kizzie :) :hug:

1) I had some delicious grapes - tart and sweet and juicy all in one. Given to me by a local person who grew them in his garden, though this is not a grape-growing area
2) I went and sat in the garden in the sun for about an hour in the afternoon and I took my little furry 4-legged lawnmowers with me. It was good to just sit there dozing in the sun and/or gazing at my furbabies.
3) Went to choir practice tonight and it did me a lot of good.

1.  I made my sweet Ladybird feel special for her birthday. 
2.  I made soup with fresh chard from the garden.
3.  I made the effort to write down three good things. 

Quote from: Bach on September 21, 2022, 11:16:04 PM
3.  I made the effort to write down three good things.

:cheer: :hug:

1) Got a pile of food from Neighbourhood Pantry (aka FareShare in the UK, as I recently discovered)
2) I took some sprigs of mint and lemon balm from my garden to Neighbourhood Pantry
3) Weather forecast was wrong - it hasn't rained all day. In fact there's a sort of wintry, watery sun rn
4) Conversing with my sweet little Furbabies

1) woke up at 7-ish and got up at 8 am :thumbup:
2) Having emailed an important missive to my parents and not got an answer, I posted them each a copy this morning. The postman will deliver, they well receive the letters. I have just a little spot of anxiety in my gut, but much smaller than even yesterday morning at the thought of doing above. :cheer:
3) I put some largish give-away stuff outside our building this morning

Three things achieved and it's just past 9am :cheer:   Took my early meds too, now it's time to make breakfast and take other meds.

Wow Blueberry!
Good for you!! That's awesome

Thank you Phil :)

1) I kept going with things today despite my head-ache
2) I managed to go back to thing of: "what's the easiest most beneficial thing I could do?" when I realised I couldn't write any bills or anything like that, which I'd planned for today. That way, I was able to stay up before and after teaching instead of going back to bed as I tend to do when I have a head-ache or otherwise feel under the weather.
3) I wrote more Good Things in my Journal so 2 are enough on here ;)

1) Woke up and got up early
2) Accomplished a lot today and feel good
3) Went to choir practice in evening and still have hymns in my head
4) Got a warm welcome on a cycling forum I joined

1) I sorted thru some papers and threw some out
2) I found both my rental agreements (office and apt)! :cheer:
3) Delivered a copy of both rental agreements to Tenants Rights Assoc-n right away
4) Hearing support for my decision to give up freelancing in unexpected places  :)

1) Discovered I haven't overdrawn my business bank account although I was sure I would have done so this past week
2) Lovely sunny day
3) Carted first load of stuff away into a friend's storage space

I felt silly for a moment yesterday. I can't remember last time I felt goofy and childlike.

I am constantly reminded that the world is changing. Many of the more commonplace occurrences in the childhood of people of my age are no longer accepted as normal. That makes me feel understood.

I ate a bag of crisps today. It was a me-time moment well spent. I never buy myself treats. It felt special.

1) Lovely sunny day
2) I bothered myself to go sing in the choir this afternoon
3) I went for a cycle afterwards, scouting out places where I might be able to find a place to live.

1) I gave my furbabies a long run in the kitchen while I did a thorough cleaning of their massive living quarters and then set their living quarters up differently so that they have a change, which is good for them
2) I gave my old furbaby some painkiller because I think she is maybe in pain atm again and I put ointment on her feet. It was all very easy. There have been times when that was very difficult for me.
3) I did some cleaning in my own apt in corners I seldom clean in :cheer: It feels good to be managing things like that.

1) Once I got up this morning I managed to stay out of bed all day. This is quite something because bed is warm and out of bed isn't. No heating in my apt till tomorrow for various reasons. It's cold plus one of my neighbours had the ground floor front and back doors open most of the day, also for a reason, but it's still cold.

2) I stood in the little bit of sun in the garden (yard) recharging my little solar light, enjoying the warmth on my face and holding my old furbaby so she could get a bit of sun too

3) I allowed myself to start clearing and filing papers in a new spot in my apt, a spot where I could feel I wanted to clear. It isn't finished but I got a good start on it.

4) I've just finished washing dishes (instead of sloping off to bed). Washing dishes involves heating water and then having my hands in nice hot water

1) I finally had a shower and hair wash
2) I went to a friend's to do this because my shower has no hot water and won't till about January. Anyway going to somebody else's is an added hurdle which I got over!
3) I decided not to join a friend at a dance day tomorrow, even though these types of events are few and far between and I like that type of dance, but there's just too much going on this weekend, so it would soon be too much for me. Self-care.

One month later... Tho this tool does me so much good! Could use it more often.

1) I finally collected a bunch of Xmas cookies baked by somebody else for a charity I support. They are already in their respective tins to give people who have been helping me with clear out or who will be helping me with my little move (office to apartment).
2) I went to church this evening, which almost always does me good too.
3) Lovely sunny snowy day today :sunny:

Trigger warning wild animal colony family dynamics

Yesterday, I saw a seal at the beach

I have been assured that he is just napping. And is probably a young male who would be due to be evicted from birth colony at this time of year. But fat with healthy fur

Australian fur seal

(https://scontent.fmel7-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/319854074_487874493331813_6547916379733758032_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=j8WgpEG3KC4AX9Yd6YR&_nc_ht=scontent.fmel7-1.fna&oh=00_AfAeF1tsWk5e8NNf7Tbqi-QxHRen2sJ6JUI_T3ailDguEw&oe=63A43096)

Closing this part off and moving onto #8.  (We close parts off when they reach 5 pages - I was a little late with this one but BB pointed it out - tks BB!)