September 21
So far September has been an up and down month for me. In the past 10 days it has been very busy and I have paid the price for that.
Fall Cleaning
I had to put fall cleaning on hold. I have been trying to keep what I did do cleaned and tidy. The rest of the house has to wait. It isn't really dirty but I want it to be fresh and clean for the winter.
One of the things I will have to do before starting back in the kitchen is to clean all the windows. I want them done before the weather turns cold. They are a big job but I will do them in groups on sunny days.
Mental Health
I did well balancing everything and then life got busy. I was over doing it and putting a lot of stress on myself. I crashed and burned last night. I was in bed by 8 pm and had a good night's sleep. It was the first in quite a while.
One of the stresses I put on myself is the table runner I am working on. I bit off more than I could chew with it. There was a massive amount of cutting which took a lot of time to do. Then sewing the pieces together was a monumental job. Now I am quilting it and each row has several colour changes in it. I am about half done the quilting and cannot wait to have it done. I noticed that I was less stressed about it last night but know I need to work on it at least 3 to 4 hours a day until it is done.
I haven't been out as much as I would like to be but I will continue to try to get out once a week. I find that I do enjoy shopping in other communities as it gets me away from the area.
Eating Habits
With all the stress, I have been somewhat in the middle of my eating habits. I notice when I am tired I want to snack and snack I do. I also eat poorly when I have to focus on getting things done and forget about taking out food to eat.
I am thinking once I finish the table runner, I will start cooking on a regular basis once again. I do enjoy making meals every two days and eating the leftovers the next day. I just need to plan what I want to make and get all the ingredients for the week.
Movement
As I am doing the table runner, my movement is not as great as it could be. I do sew and press which gives me movement. I do go up and down the stairs a few times a day as the sewing room is in the basement. But it isn't enough and some of it isn't the right movement. The same for when I volunteer at the hall. It all counts but it isn't always what my body needs.
My goal is to start, once again, my stretching exercises in the morning. I would love to do them on the days I am not out first thing in the morning or the days I have physio or osteo. These are stretching exercises which also helps build some muscle tone. There are some housework I do that counts as I am stretching.
Crafts/Sewing/Knitting
I have been overly focused on the table runner as mentioned above. Once it is done, I am taking a bit of a break and doing easier things. I have a craft project to finish, a tote bag I want to make, and the afghan I am knitting to work on. I am going to wander for a while with no set project or deadline.
One of the things I am planning on not doing is keeping track of the fabric buy and sew or the yarn I knit. I find this puts a lot of pressure on me to perform. Can I sew 50 to 100 meters a year? Should I never buy fabric or yarn? I need to work on balancing using up what I own, what I buy, and what I use. I don't want to buy and stash. My goal is to incorporate what I buy with what I have. I will continue to give myself challenges and learn new techniques.
One of the things I am going to monitor is how many times I join into a contest/challenge. I did 2 in 2 months and it was too much. These cause me a lot of stress as I want to be creative and perfect. I have decided to limit this to 4 times a year. I am also wanting to take a couple of classes a year. I need to balance this so I don't burn out sewing.
Knitting is easier. I have lots of yarn on hand to knit for a long time. The afghan is a long project which I am enjoying making. I will also do socks (lots of yarn for them) and some doll clothes.
Crafting is something I don't fit into my schedule. I am going to finish a project and then figure out if I will do anything new in 2027.
Here is hoping that I will have some balance until the end of the month.
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September 11
September came in cool and wet. We had enough rain that we should be going into the winter with a high water table. No worries come spring.
I am feeling like I have levelled out in how I feel. I have been busy and happy so far this month. The only days I felt tired were either days that were dark and gloomy or if I had a bad night's sleep. I do rest on those days but do not allow myself to go down the negative rabbit hole.
Fall Cleaning
I have been fall cleaning and I have done quite a bit. It is good to see areas get cleaned. Each area I have done has been decluttered and then cupboards cleaned and walls washed. I am now cleaning the kitchen and have about half of the bottom cupboards done.
Mental Health
I have had a good month so far. I have been positive in my outlook even on the days I have been sore or overtired. Both physio and osteo left me sore beyond sore, I pushed through the following 24 hours doing what I could and resting when I had to.
I have tried to get out of the house and community at least once a week and it has helped me stay positive in my thinking. The wet weather we had did keep me home but I was able to keep busy on those days.
I joined a quilter's guild for a year to see if I will enjoy it. The meeting was long -- over 2 hours. I was overly tired when we left. I am hoping the meetings won't be as long as people were becoming fidgety and inattentive. But I do know I will be taking part in a few workshops that they are holding and will do some of their challenges.
Eating Habits
My eating habits have been up and down. I have been trying to control portion size. I have been trying to eat a salad once or twice a day. I need to get back to tracking my food which I did and then stopped.
Meal planning consists of making meals for 2 days and using up what I have in the freezer. I do look at recipes so that I can plan beyond 2 days so I can have any extras on hand. I will soon be making soup for lunch which I do love to eat.
My salt consumption is back in the normal range. I did learn that some of the blends I buy are more salt than anything else. It makes them hard to use as you get your salt but not enough flavour. That was something I learned off a video I watched and once these blends are gone I will be doing something different to flavour my meals.
Movement
I am moving a lot while cleaning the house. It isn't just walking but up and down the ladder. I am stretching to reach into corners and force myself to change position quite often so I can stretch muscles I don't normally stretch.
I am still doing some of the stretches both physio and osteo want me to do. Most of them make sure that my SI joint stays in place and not tight. It is helping a lot.
My muscles are quite sore some days. Some soreness has been from the weather we had. Some is rebellion as I am standing and walking more normally. This makes some muscles work differently and harder and it makes some muscles just work after doing nothing or very little in the past. Some of these muscles will tighten up or cramp. I just have to push through and make sure I don't go backwards.
Crafting/Knitting/Sewing
I am focusing more on my sewing at the moment. I am working on techniques, challenges, and learning something new when doing a project.
I am making a table runner using more solid fabrics in soft colours. I learned how I should be making half square triangles without being stressed. I chose a pattern that has a lot of small pieces which makes me focus on accuracy. At the rate I am going, it should be done by next weekend.
My challenge this month is to make a first aid bag out of scrap fabrics. The technique is to put in a zipper with tabs on the end. I am looking forward to making the project.
Knitting is still an evening project. I did rip out the afghan and started over again. I am liking the tension better on smaller needles. I know this will take me most of the fall to knit as I have 10 balls of yarn to knit.
Crafting will come in October. I have a memory book to finish and bind. I am ready to do that as I have done my research on it. The goal is to give it to my friends when they come to visit around October 21.
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My journey continues on in September. August started strong, died along the way only to be revived by the end of the month. It was a combination of mental health and hot humid weather that made my plans fizzle out. That combination wasn't good for me.
I have made a plan for September to hold me accountable. The biggest change I made for the month is to have a plan that I am in control of. The plan is both long range and short term.
Fall Cleaning
I decided it is time to start fall cleaning in the house. This is a long range plan as I can't do it all in a week. A month is more realistic for upstairs.
The short range plan is to break the upstairs into chunks that I can work on in the morning. As I am going through each closet and piece of furniture it will take longer. I am not only cleaning but decluttering and organizing as I go. There will be days that I will have to take a break due to other commitments. My goal is to do something on the days I am tired or sore. A little bit is better than doing nothing.
Mental Health
I am trying to keep a positive attitude about everything. I am working on not letting things get me down though I know it can happen. Facing my feeling is very important and allowing myself time to work through those feeling is necessary.
I am finding that getting out of the house and community is important for my mental health. Snoop shopping is fun and I usually don't buy anything. It is just fun to look at things.
I am finding having projects to work on that I enjoy is important. I am allowing myself to buy fabric and will be looking at my stash next month to see what I will keep and what I will give away.
Eating Habits
I gained some weight in August and am back to where I was in late July. I have made changes to my eating plan.
I track everything I eat in a day. It is necessary if I want to eat healthy and loose weight.
I stopped snacking at night. That was hard for me. I snacked because I was stressed and sad. Food noise is huge when I feel this way.
I am allowing myself to have more protein at each meal. I can have beef and pork when I want it. I have cut back on processed meat but will have some if I want it. Having poultry and fish only was getting boring.
I have increased the amount of vegetables in my diet. As I am tracking, I can have a salad with dressing. I am eating more fresh vegetables at the moment as they are more available locally.
My salt consumption is where I want it to be. I do use some salt when cooking but have found I don't need as much as I use to. I am looking at herb blends when cooking.
I want to meal plan but I hate doing it. I am doing a bit more and will get out my recipes that I collected from when I ordered meals. I do like rice bowls and a few other recipes I have. At the moment, I am figuring out what I can cook that will give me 2 dinners twice a week. Better than I was doing.
Movement
I didn't move a lot in August. Some was from the high humidity and some was from feeling mentally low. I am back to moving more even if I have to push myself to do it. Up and down the stairs and walking around the house are good. Add in fall cleaning which means more walking and climbing up and down a ladder.
I do hope to walk outside more. I hate doing it alone but will force myself to do it. I may start walking at the arena in the winter.
I want to do my yoga exercises once the house is cleaned. The physiotherapist had told me last year that fall/spring cleaning is a good activity and that once I finish it I should then do the exercises.
Crafting/Sewing/Knitting
This is a new category for me. I spent some time thinking about it last month. Not hours of thinking but processing what I was doing, liking, hating, and feeling neutral about.
Sewing is important to me. I love to sew but have found that I like to challenge myself or do studies in something. I have made doll clothes using scraps I would have tossed or given away. I sewed a bag using fabrics outside my comfort zone. I also did some creative designing to meet the rules so I could enter it into a contest. I find this keeps me alert and thinking. It is also telling me I need to get rid of old fabrics as I am no longer interested in them. I am enjoying buying the fabric for a project, making it, and repeating the process. I see a fabric purge happening sooner rather than later.
Knitting is an evening hobby I do while watching TV. I have knit a lot of socks in the evening. I am making an afghan at the moment. I need to start other projects once again as I am almost done the afghan.
Crafting is a hobby I do on occasion. I have gotten rid of a lot of crafting supplies and haven't missed them. I have a memory book to finish which will take 2 afternoons. Maybe 3. I may do a bit more crafting but it will be selective. It is the one hobby I would get rid of first if I had to.
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