Oof! I didn’t think cooking 7 meals a week would be as tough as it’s turned out to be, but after two weeks, I can say that this challenge has proven to be the hardest I’ve done for blogging purposes. October’s Rocky Horror Roller Show was a challenge that took a lot of time, but I have to say, I loved every second of it. Same with November’s Writing focus. (December’s focus of Relax and Reflect was, obviously, the easiest 😂)
Cooking, though … I really hate cooking, as it turns out.
Is it weird that I still carry a tiny glimmer of hope for the new year? For a lot of December 2021, I wasn’t sure I would. I wasn’t feeling the same excitement about a new year, even though I can’t say I was a huge fan of much of 2021.
But nonetheless, I found myself looking forward to the start of a new year. And it is nice to bid farewell to the past year and feel that sense of new beginning
I don’t do resolutions anymore for the new year and I’ll talk more about that in a bit, but I do have a few traditions. The first two are very mundane and tedious if I’m being honest. But they’re still my own traditions that have oddly helped me bring in the coming year with a sense of newness, and you’d be surprised at how satisfying it is when they’re done.
Every January, I’m tempted to hop on board the health and wellness marketing train along with others starting their New Year’s Resolutions. I can’t help it. It’s like how after being out of school for 13 years, I still want to buy new pencils and notebooks every September. I’m trying to be more conscious of consumerism and how marketing contributes to these waves of interests, but sometimes I like to get swept up in it.
This January, even though I initially wanted to put some focus on my health and re-evaluate some things, instead I decided to focus on something that actually benefited us as a family. My husband, Mark, and I have been letting the pandemic be our excuse for ordering out and getting drive-thru a lot more in the last two years. But with prices rising and our growing boredom with the usual places around us, I had the idea to challenge both me and Mark to cook at home more.
I didn't originally intend for friendship to be a big theme of mine for 2021, but for a pandemic, I had a very full year of it!
I realized early in the year how much I was longing for past friendships that have dissipated or fallen by the wayside in recent years, even before quarantine and social distancing were in the picture.
This was one of the first times I know of in my life where I actively challenged myself to step outside my comfort zone of hiding behind my screen and to find people like me — and in a way that didn’t feel like I was bending over backward or pretending I was someone else or trying to act “normal” or make everyone like me (the impossible). I made some mistakes, of course. I even repeated a few until the lessons finally sank in. But I'm also proud of how I found strength and rebuilding in the process of getting back up from those setbacks.
Planning on getting a new Nest Hub/Google Home for the holidays and want to learn some of the ways I like using it to manage my ADHD?
Settle in because I have been immersed in the Google ecosystem for a while now. When I tell you I think of Google as my Second Brain, you’ll soon see why.
This will be a quick post, but let me know if you have any questions or want me to expand on anything I mention 😉 you can leave a comment over on my Instagram or in the comments below.
There's this internal conflict that hits around this time of year where there are simultaneous feelings of wanting to rest and recharge, but there's also a push to be productive and finish the year strong. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels it, right?
Maybe that comes from the end of the year reflection and, as I alluded to in my Monthly Focus post, the disappointment we may feel as we look back at the year and find we didn't accomplish the goals we wanted to.
Sometimes I get embarrassed talking about yoga and how much I love it. A lot of people have very strong opinions of yoga I’ve found. I also get a lot of up-and-down looks when I say that I do daily yoga as if someone who does daily yoga should look a certain way, which I do not.
Sometimes people jump to the conclusion that I’m going to talk about how yoga is the be-all, end-all cure for everything. For the record, I try to stay away from that kind of talk about anything — I truly believe people need to search for what works best for them for their health.
NOTE: I am not a doctor or medical professional. I am speaking from my own experience as someone who was diagnosed with Adenomyosis and ADHD. Please see full disclaimer at the bottom of webpage.
Imagine having a tough time with getting things done, and then on top of that, having another condition that actually physically stops you some days.
That’s what it’s like living with ADHD and Adenomyosis. These two conditions aren’t related, as far as I know. But for me, they’re both equally important to consider when it comes to being a mom, running a podcast editing business, and, oh, living in 2021 currently.
If you ever want to literally hear the gears churning in my head, catch me on a day I’ve just had an amazing idea AND can plan it out and brainstorm it to my heart’s content!
With ADHD, this is actually a specialty of mine. I absolutely love that when I get an idea, sometimes it can hit me with such a force that I can pinpoint so many little details and also I’m able to zoom out and see it from a bird’s eye view to know what needs to get done and how. It’s a beautiful thing I credit my ADHD with being able to do.
It's Day 3 of my period. Yesterday it was like a truck hit me. The pain and discomfort is hard to describe, especially to people who've never experienced pain in the uterus before. And the fatigue from being in pain and discomfort is actually one of the most frustrating side-effects of Adenomyosis.
During my period, it’s common for me to wake up feeling like I’m hungover. I don’t drink anymore because I have too many days like this per month that the idea of intentionally doing this kind of damage to myself is not something I like to entertain.
It’s November, and my friends who participate in NaNoWriMo (or NaPodPoMo for podcasters!) every year have finally inspired me and I want to get into writing this month.
November seems like the most idyllic time for writing when I picture it in my mind. Cozy sweaters, candlelight, warmth from a fire, or a heating pad in my case. It’s currently 6:51 a.m. and it’s been the first time in I don’t know how long I’ve woken up before my son, who is the loudest alarm clock on the planet.
I took this photo this morning with no makeup, no filter, and with hair that I slept on when it was wet. I’ve been trying to get morning sunlight to keep my mental health on the up-and-up as the days get shorter. I like to make some tea and open the back door to watch the sunrise. It’s actually a nicer habit I find than sitting in front of my HappyLight, which I still love, but gives me a headache some mornings and it’s been hard to remember to use it, honestly.
I’ve been in a weird rut lately.
My son has his second cold this month. Ah, the joys of finally sending him to school, only for his schedule to be even more out of whack with unexpected sick days, on top of living in a pandemic where he has to be cleared by his doctor and multiple COVID tests to be able to return to school. Luckily, his tests came back negative and that’s a relief by itself.
I find it so fascinating how folks process information differently.
As a podcast editor, I am in a world where most people are great at processing audio information. With ADHD, this hasn’t always been easy for me. In fact, I get overwhelmed with phone calls and when people list off what they need from me because my brain gets easily overwhelmed at that. Especially if that’s the only thing that I am made to focus on.
