Catrien's thoughts: October 2010

Not too much to tell. Mom is getting better. She's getting annoyed at the attention ("I just want to deal with things MYSELF!"), which is probably a sign of getting back on track.
Had a lovely free day with Man. Such a happy relationship makes me thankful every day. I hope there are lots of people who can say the same thing.
Looking forward to doing a little straightening up this evening and this weekend. It may not be true for everyone, but a messy environment makes me feel edgy. Not that that means the apartment is pristine....
Got a couple of Border Collie decals in the mail today, which I'll tape onto the inside of the hatchback. Getting psyched for our first Sheepherding Trial-ette next week!
Hope everyone that reads this has a good weekend. What are the good things you'll be doing for yourself and your loved ones? If you run out of ideas, check out The Happiness Project.

Well, it turns out Mom didn't have the test because she is rather sick; looks like some kind of stomach bug, but for a lady "getting up there", as we used to say, she doesn't have much extra strength to deal with not eating and hardly drinking for almost a week now. Luckily she called the doctor and ended up getting extra fluids and some medication at the local hospital. She kept down a few crackers today. Hope she gets stronger soon.
The other downside was that I had to e-mail my brother to bring him up to date. He can be a real [insert word of choice here] and I limit contact with him to what's absolutely necessary. Hope she hears from him.
Speaking of what's important, I read this post on Be More With Less. The video, about not just going on and on in/with your life, really is moving. As much mindfulness as possible, that's my goal, and I'm far from reaching it. How close are you?

Slept pretty well, worked an hour, got my hair cut, bought a new frying pan, went to the gym, and saved money on groceries. Now going to play some music while the washing machine's going. Must call Mom later; she had some kind of chemical stress test today.
I do hate doing grocery shopping at the end of the afternoon: lots of people in the store, trying to get stuff for dinner. Is it that way everywhere? Why don't I do it earlier in the day as long as my schedule allows? Why don't I have personnel to do everything I don't feel like doing? Hehe.

After receiving bad health news last week (luckily not fatal, just painful and annoying) and fighting off a cold, in addition to a lot of Stuff that's come my way recently, I'm once again faced with the question of "how to 'do' today". Today's first steps seem to be: a nap and making soup (zucchini, quinoa, tomato, basil) from a recipe given to me by a kind of Ayurveda dietician. And straightening up the bedroom. I'd love to have a perfectly made bed, but "just straightened up" is fine, especially since straightening up the bed lets me look at our Amish quilt: beautiful in itself, but also special because I remember the family where we bought it on vacation this summer. They were all sitting outside enjoying lemonade and a chat. One of the boys found a cicada skin for us.
In about half an hour I'll take Border Collie and go and care for Horse and possibly ride a little. Horse is recovering from a mild strain and is now trotting for two periods of 3 minutes each most days. She's happy to be doing something "productive" again.
And today's question is: how do people deal with the clothes that have been worn, but are good to go for another day? Don't want to put them back in the closet/drawer. Don't want them cluttering up the view. Looking for your input!