And not in some droopy metaphoric way, either.
I've had a cold, combined with too many social events that required chatting, and now...
I literally have NO VOICE.
Yesterday I couldn't even make a sound. Not even little squeaks. Today, I have a super quiet, barely there whisper. I've had to cancel tomorrow's yoga class as there is no way I'm going to be able to teach a room full of people.
It's an odd sensation, being unable to talk. People look at you with a mixture of curiosity and sympathy as you point and sign and make exaggerated facial expressions or just mouth words. Except my family, of course. They simply think it's hysterical fun and a good reason not to have to listen to my directions.
I hope it comes back soon!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
CB or MMM
Cut Back or Make More Money.
That’s the philosophy espoused by Becky’s dad in the hilarious Mini-Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. And it needs to apply to our family as well.
We are well into 2012. It’s a fabulous new year, still so full of so much promise and hope. This is going to be the year when things transform. That includes our financial situation as well. We are reaching the end of the time when we can still save for the future in time to be prepared before it is upon us.
Making more money I am already on top of. I am working as much as I can within the limits of my other responsibilities and my somewhat-fractured attention span.
But I think the time has come to face the dreaded CUT BACK as well.
Our fixed bills are fixed. And they are pretty immovable. Of the range of variable expenses that we have each month, those are surprisingly consistent as well. I’ve gone over and over them and concluded that the ONLY place we can probably successfully cut back is in our food bill.
That’s right. Buy fewer groceries. Eat out less often. Simply eat LESS.
With a bit of attention and some hard choices, I think I can drop our grocery bills by half. And that’s the money we badly need to put into a college fund. ASAP.
We need to eat less anyway. At least my husband and I do. The last few years have not been kind to my figure in terms of caloric consumption. Between stress, laziness, workload and being around food all day long, I’ve gained 70 pounds more than I wish I weighed. So far I am still healthy and active. But it won’t hurt me one bit to cut my food in half.
In fact, food has been my go-to drug of the last few years, the only substance I can count on to safely regulate my mood and calm my anxiety without immediate side effects. Since I stay away from all illegal and legal drugs, and since the yoga studio I relied on closed down, food has been the only thing I had left for quick regulation. And it works beautifully for me.
But now, well, it’s 2012. Time to be healthy. Time to be leaner. Time to cut the food – and the costs – in half.
That’s the philosophy espoused by Becky’s dad in the hilarious Mini-Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. And it needs to apply to our family as well.
We are well into 2012. It’s a fabulous new year, still so full of so much promise and hope. This is going to be the year when things transform. That includes our financial situation as well. We are reaching the end of the time when we can still save for the future in time to be prepared before it is upon us.
Making more money I am already on top of. I am working as much as I can within the limits of my other responsibilities and my somewhat-fractured attention span.
But I think the time has come to face the dreaded CUT BACK as well.
Our fixed bills are fixed. And they are pretty immovable. Of the range of variable expenses that we have each month, those are surprisingly consistent as well. I’ve gone over and over them and concluded that the ONLY place we can probably successfully cut back is in our food bill.
That’s right. Buy fewer groceries. Eat out less often. Simply eat LESS.
With a bit of attention and some hard choices, I think I can drop our grocery bills by half. And that’s the money we badly need to put into a college fund. ASAP.
We need to eat less anyway. At least my husband and I do. The last few years have not been kind to my figure in terms of caloric consumption. Between stress, laziness, workload and being around food all day long, I’ve gained 70 pounds more than I wish I weighed. So far I am still healthy and active. But it won’t hurt me one bit to cut my food in half.
In fact, food has been my go-to drug of the last few years, the only substance I can count on to safely regulate my mood and calm my anxiety without immediate side effects. Since I stay away from all illegal and legal drugs, and since the yoga studio I relied on closed down, food has been the only thing I had left for quick regulation. And it works beautifully for me.
But now, well, it’s 2012. Time to be healthy. Time to be leaner. Time to cut the food – and the costs – in half.
Why Are We Still Talking About This?!
… is what my friend said as she slid into the booth and joined us at our table. My other friend and I were halfway through our dinner and in mid-conversation as well.
Apparently, B, happily and steadily married to a charming husband, just didn’t have the understanding – or the patience – for why we girls might be talking about the ins and outs of relationships – again.
But C has had nonstop romantic drama for the last year. The constancy with which she struggles in love reminds me of a perpetual motion machine. At this point, I simply expect struggle as one aspect of her life, and thus, our friendship.
B’s blunt comment resonated with me; it stuck in my head. Now when I find my thoughts turning to the obsessive tracks that they prefer, I often laugh at myself and say scoldingly, “Why are you still talking about this?”
It’s a great line. Try it.
There are good reasons why we might still be talking about things, why issues or memories might still linger in our lives long after it would seem time to let them go. B had a point – why keep revisiting the past? But C and I had a point too. Sometimes even old business still feels fresh. And then, it does help to talk about it. With a patient, sympathetic friend.
Apparently, B, happily and steadily married to a charming husband, just didn’t have the understanding – or the patience – for why we girls might be talking about the ins and outs of relationships – again.
But C has had nonstop romantic drama for the last year. The constancy with which she struggles in love reminds me of a perpetual motion machine. At this point, I simply expect struggle as one aspect of her life, and thus, our friendship.
B’s blunt comment resonated with me; it stuck in my head. Now when I find my thoughts turning to the obsessive tracks that they prefer, I often laugh at myself and say scoldingly, “Why are you still talking about this?”
It’s a great line. Try it.
There are good reasons why we might still be talking about things, why issues or memories might still linger in our lives long after it would seem time to let them go. B had a point – why keep revisiting the past? But C and I had a point too. Sometimes even old business still feels fresh. And then, it does help to talk about it. With a patient, sympathetic friend.
Fabulous!
Below my happy and contented surface lurks a person prone to deep depression, insecurity, and crippling anxiety. I strive every day to keep myself in balance, with every choice I make. It is second nature for me now, and it works beautifully. The strategies I use tend to make my life look much easier and care-free than it really is. Which I take as a mark of tremendous success.
One of the biggest compliments I receive is when my friends bemoan their lives to me. It means that they are forgetting – or they just don’t understand – exactly how difficult my own life has felt from the inside. And it means that what I’m doing is on track.
Tonight, I have dinner scheduled with friends. At first, I wasn’t too enthusiastic. Part of me prefers to just lounge on the couch with my cozy family. But my friends are truly fabulous when we get together. We are like the group from Sex and the City in real life. We dine, we whine, we sip amazing cocktails as we make each other laugh and sometimes cry. We are always there for each other, and looking amazing at the same time. My friends are my reward for a life well-lived.
I cannot wait to see them all tonight!
One of the biggest compliments I receive is when my friends bemoan their lives to me. It means that they are forgetting – or they just don’t understand – exactly how difficult my own life has felt from the inside. And it means that what I’m doing is on track.
Tonight, I have dinner scheduled with friends. At first, I wasn’t too enthusiastic. Part of me prefers to just lounge on the couch with my cozy family. But my friends are truly fabulous when we get together. We are like the group from Sex and the City in real life. We dine, we whine, we sip amazing cocktails as we make each other laugh and sometimes cry. We are always there for each other, and looking amazing at the same time. My friends are my reward for a life well-lived.
I cannot wait to see them all tonight!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wha Ha Ha Ha - My Ongoing Journal
He He He He He… it’s more of a quiet crazy giggle this morning than a maniacal evil laugh. I’m tired today. The wind is whipping and wrapping itself around our house. When I parked on the edge of the bluff, hoping to drink in the vista and clear my mind, the wind pushed my car like a malicious imp, rocking it back and forth. I wondered idly if a parked car could flip over, but without much actual concern.
Snow-capped mountains fell into the black pools of the clouds’ shadows as they chased by above, intent on their own vaporous affairs. I make a list of things to do during the day before I come back to my house so that I am not sidetracked into aimless puttering. Too bad I have to make so much money – it’s a lot of pressure that never stops.
I would have preferred to sit like a cat watching the grasses wave and bob. I was pretty sure that if I sat there long enough, and looked with the right focus, that the wind itself would become visible to me, huge trailing currents of purple and golden force moving vector-like above the land.
Snow-capped mountains fell into the black pools of the clouds’ shadows as they chased by above, intent on their own vaporous affairs. I make a list of things to do during the day before I come back to my house so that I am not sidetracked into aimless puttering. Too bad I have to make so much money – it’s a lot of pressure that never stops.
I would have preferred to sit like a cat watching the grasses wave and bob. I was pretty sure that if I sat there long enough, and looked with the right focus, that the wind itself would become visible to me, huge trailing currents of purple and golden force moving vector-like above the land.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Wha Ha Ha Ha - My Ongoing Journal
Wha ha ha ha ha. Here I am at Sandwich Cafe and YOU are SO jealous!! The world-famous writer travels the city with her laptop slung against her side. She may be on break; she may be working. She watches all and sees all. You, dabbing at your lips with your crumpled paper napkin, your blue pin sparkling on your lapel. What is that - a small fiery lizard? And, You, with your anachronistic 50s hat and trench coat. And You with your crazy arm tattoo. Poetry, yes, we encourage, but scrawled along your forearm? It seems like the result of one really, really bad night. Dawn cracked slowly over the house and you were still there, quivering with your persistence and with those words left indelibly on your arm.
Wheaton!!!
So, knowing the way that way leads on to way, I just bumbled around on the internet and wound up on Wil Wheaton's Twitter account. Just wanted to see for myself what is so great that it pulls in a whole "Wheaton's"* worth of followers.
And I have to conclude: I just don't get it. I DO NOT GET the appeal of Twitter.
It's just choppy to me. And time consuming. And clearly unnecessary as I survive without it on a daily basis.
I know most congresspeople need an account so they can send out inane updates as policies are discussed. And sports stars and celebrities.
But as much as I want to buy in and be enchanted, I'm just not.
I still think that adult Wil Wheaton is a bit creepy, no matter if he has 191, 607 followers or not, although that might be the envy talking...
********
*Twitter followers: Wheaton
The Wheaton is a measurement of Twitter followers relative to celebrity Wil Wheaton.[34][35] The measurement was standardized when Wil Wheaton achieved half a million Twitter followers, with the effect that Wil Wheaton now has 3.4 Wheatons himself. As few Twitter users have millions of followers, the milliwheaton (500 followers) is more commonly used.
And I have to conclude: I just don't get it. I DO NOT GET the appeal of Twitter.
It's just choppy to me. And time consuming. And clearly unnecessary as I survive without it on a daily basis.
I know most congresspeople need an account so they can send out inane updates as policies are discussed. And sports stars and celebrities.
But as much as I want to buy in and be enchanted, I'm just not.
I still think that adult Wil Wheaton is a bit creepy, no matter if he has 191, 607 followers or not, although that might be the envy talking...
********
*Twitter followers: Wheaton
The Wheaton is a measurement of Twitter followers relative to celebrity Wil Wheaton.[34][35] The measurement was standardized when Wil Wheaton achieved half a million Twitter followers, with the effect that Wil Wheaton now has 3.4 Wheatons himself. As few Twitter users have millions of followers, the milliwheaton (500 followers) is more commonly used.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)