Loving the Journey - Feb 2020 W.I.S.H. Challenge

[sjrec]

My daughter is getting over the flu, so I am grateful I am retired so I can pick up my grandson from school (he attends the school where she’s the librarian) since my son in law needs to attend a parent event tonight where he is a counselor. Will fix them dinner and stay over tonight so I can take him to school tomorrow morning. When I went back to work my parents pitched in many times when I needed them-my husband was often out of town for his job-and I am so glad I can help my daughter and son in law out when they need it.

 

[Summer2018]

I'm grateful for resiliency. I'm very stressed out at work right now. High expectations coupled with little to no support and deadlines is getting to me. I came close to grabbing something, anything junky to eat and comfort myself. Instead, I went on my Noom app and dealt with my emotions. Then I ate an apple. I feel better now, and in the process, I built up my resilience.

 

[sjrec]

I'm grateful for resiliency. I'm very stressed out at work right now. High expectations coupled with little to no support and deadlines is getting to me. I came close to grabbing something, anything junky to eat and comfort myself. Instead, I went on my Noom app and dealt with my emotions. Then I ate an apple. I feel better now, and in the process, I built up my resilience.

The teaching environment is so stressful these days-it’s so different from when I started out. My last year or two was hard. Loved the kids (most of them!) but parents, administration and outside influences made doing your job very difficult at times. Kudos to you coping with all that in a positive way!

 

[sweetpeama]

Another shopping tip that I would give Kelsey is purchase cheese in blocks and shread your own opposed to purchasing a bag of pre shreadded cheese. An 8 oz package of pre shreadded cheese will get you two cups where an 8 oz block of cheese will get you 4 cups. Remember cheese is sold by weight not by the cups.
If your regular store does not have the weekly add in an app or online know which day the sales for the week start and pick up a sales circular or even a local paper. Most places have them online now unless your in a really small town in which case most people are driving every 4-8 weeks to a larger town or even a small city and stocking up usually at places like costco or sam's club both which are on the list of places to either avoid or make darn shure you are there at open or 30-45 minutes prior to close on the weekends especially on Saturday when you might even want to be sitting in the parking lot 30-45 minutes prior to open unless you want to be parking quite a distance away and trying to push your cart down the rows with people being impatient behind you because your blocking their way to find a parking spot. Even more fun when their is heavy snow because those lots get cleared once a day at night.
The closest store to campus may not be the cheapest prices. When I was in school and living in the dorms I used to walk with a friend of mine close to 3 miles one way to go get groceries for items that we could keep in our dorm fridges and just eat or that we could cook in the on the floor kitchenette because we would have to pay almost twice as much at the store that was a little over a mile each way to the dorms. That store is in an area that a good number of the residents close by are relient upon public transportation or walking so they have jacked the prices up knowing that people can not easily go to another store.
Most of those families will once a month when they get their food stamps and if they qualify wic checks either beg a friend with a car to drive them or take the bus to the store shop and stock up for the month and then pay for a taxi home-thanks to the bus rule that you can not bring food on the bus (a lunch bag is allowed but that is it otherwise you have to sneak it in a backpack or messenger bag which majorly limits what you can purchase. The rest of the time if they run out of things it is pay the higher prices.
My friend and I would stop by her brother's apartment (he went to the other college in town and was on the football team so during season he often wasn't home between games, practices, and manditory weight lifting sessions he had on top of a full class load) and if we were lucky and he was home he would give us a ride back to the dorm so we didn't have to carry everything the entire 3 miles.

 

[HappyGrape]

Friday! Last day with our girl Kelsey.

She has been shopping and cooking, walking and hiking and looking after her emotions and her network of friends is growing. It has been few months since we first met her.

It's Friday night. She had a busy week and what is left in the fridge does not look very fun. She is on her own, her room mate is gone home for the weekend. It's Easter break, she could not get home and most of her friends are not around. She has nothing planned and feeling little lonely.

The bell ring and GUESS WHO??? The cheater ex who was cot not once but 7 times! He brings pizza and boy does it smell good, beers, cookies and ice cream and promises he is changed man.

Poor Kelsey is tempted. Fun food, temporary taking the edge of loneliness. Who wouldn't be, left over rice and chicken and being on your own during Easter vs fun food and hot guy?

It's a crossroad, times when we know the temporary relief will take us further away from where we want to go. Facing discomfort is hard when easy and triple hard if quick alternative is available. The road to where we want to get to involves saying no to the cheat ex and dealing with the loneliness and saying no to pizza, cocktails and mickey mouse shaped waffles at times too even if they are right there and it's so much easier to say yes and it will really feel good for a moment.

Kelsey is giving you a call. What will you tell her?

​

 

[HappyGrape]

How about that for light Friday question! Lol. I loved all responses and advise for Kelsey this week. Good refresher and some new things I picked up too. I am going to think about this question and answer tonight as it's a big one for me! How on earth I got back to my not helpful habits and how to guide the conversation in my head to avoid this going forward is my own version of Kelsey's bad ex.

I hope I did not scare you with my play pretend question. @MickeyMom76 is our host for last week of February.

 

[sjrec]

Poor Kelsey! This is a tough one. I hope she’s strong enough to tell the ex she has moved on-I used to tell my daughter that boyfriends should not make you cry. I would tell her to remember how she felt all those months ago and being by yourself doesn’t mean being lonely. Pop some popcorn, watch a good movie on tv-get outside for a walk, call your family. If she still has feelings for the ex, sit down with him and tell him what she needs out of the relationship.

This was a fun exercise, but I have to admit, I am glad those days are behind me and I don’t have an 18 year old in the house!

Doesn’t the sun shine a little brighter on Fridays? Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

[piglet1979]

I have missed all week. it was a really busy off week. DH was sick on Monday, DD finally took the boot off ( I think this was all anxiety driven. Can home Tuesday took it off hopping jumping running with no pain), DD came home from school on Wednesday sick, I wasn't feeling right yesterday but not bad. Work has been really busy this week as well. DS still going strong with no signs of catching what is going around at school or home. DD is the one that is washing her hands as much as she can, uses hand sanitizer when she can't and has Clorox wipes to wipe down her locker and desks at school. DS does none of this. DD has been sick twice now and DS is fine. Thankfully what ever DD had it only lasted a day. She was fine yesterday but we kept her home to make sure. She is very excited to be back at school today.

The weekend will be busy too. DS has a double header basketball game in the middle of the day Saturday. Sunday will be for cleaning and grocery shopping.

February has been a rough month for us with illnesses. I am hoping March will be much better.

 

[sjrec]

I have missed all week. it was a really busy off week. DH was sick on Monday, DD finally took the boot off ( I think this was all anxiety driven. Can home Tuesday took it off hopping jumping running with no pain), DD came home from school on Wednesday sick, I wasn't feeling right yesterday but not bad. Work has been really busy this week as well. DS still going strong with no signs of catching what is going around at school or home. DD is the one that is washing her hands as much as she can, uses hand sanitizer when she can't and has Clorox wipes to wipe down her locker and desks at school. DS does none of this. DD has been sick twice now and DS is fine. Thankfully what ever DD had it only lasted a day. She was fine yesterday but we kept her home to make sure. She is very excited to be back at school today.

The weekend will be busy too. DS has a double header basketball game in the middle of the day Saturday. Sunday will be for cleaning and grocery shopping.

February has been a rough month for us with illnesses. I am hoping March will be much better.

Knock on wood, my husband and I have managed to avoid whatever is going around. My daughter and son in law have said absentee numbers are really high at their schools.
Hope you all stay healthy!

 

[Summer2018]

The teaching environment is so stressful these days-it’s so different from when I started out. My last year or two was hard. Loved the kids (most of them!) but parents, administration and outside influences made doing your job very difficult at times. Kudos to you coping with all that in a positive way!

Thanks. At 55, I'm wishing I could retire now. I plan on getting out at 62 which will not be the best pension-wise, but I care more about my mental health than trying to work as long as possible for the biggest payout.

It's really sad, because things have changed dramatically. I still love the kids and the opportunity to be creative. Otherwise, I am counting the days until April break, then summer break, and on and on...

 

[Summer2018]

Friday! Last day with our girl Kelsey.

She has been shopping and cooking, walking and hiking and looking after her emotions and her network of friends is growing. It has been few months since we first met her.

It's Friday night. She had a busy week and what is left in the fridge does not look very fun. She is on her own, her room mate is gone home for the weekend. It's Easter break, she could not get home and most of her friends are not around. She has nothing planned and feeling little lonely.

The bell ring and GUESS WHO??? The cheater ex who was cot not once but 7 times! He brings pizza and boy does it smell good, beers, cookies and ice cream and promises he is changed man.

Poor Kelsey is tempted. Fun food, temporary taking the edge of loneliness. Who wouldn't be, left over rice and chicken and being on your own during Easter vs fun food and hot guy?

It's a crossroad, times when we know the temporary relief will take us further away from where we want to go. Facing discomfort is hard when easy and triple hard if quick alternative is available. The road to where we want to get to involves saying no to the cheat ex and dealing with the loneliness and saying no to pizza, cocktails and mickey mouse shaped waffles at times too even if they are right there and it's so much easier to say yes and it will really feel good for a moment.

Kelsey is giving you a call. What will you tell her?

​

Slam the door in that jerk's face!

 

[HappyGrape]

That would be my rational advise. If you aren't good for me, you aren't staying - bye!

 

[sweetpeama]

I would tell Kelsey to find something or someplace to volunteer for. Does she like animals than she could go volunteer for a place like Help for Homeless Pets which is where my 15 year old and her best friend went and volunteered today. They brushed several of the cats and played with them as part of their cat project for 4-H. They reported that they had a blast and my 15 year old's friend wants to adopt a kitten from there.

 

[MickeyMom76]

It’s Motivation Monday!
What’s going to help you finish the month strong?

 

[PollyannaMom]

It’s Motivation Monday!
What’s going to help you finish the month strong?

• We had last week off school here, so I'm starting back with fresh ideas and energy.
• I've noticed that my stamina for walking on the treadmill has really increased.
• My vacation is only 3 weeks away! (It's not a Disney year, but I am really looking forward to seeing my Dad, and we're doing a couple of days at Universal as well.)

 

[MickeyMom76]

I have to admit, I’ve been struggling to eat healthy since I’ve come back from vacation. Actually my meals have been ok, but I’ve been snacking on really unhealthy foods. My routine has been a little off which is why I wasn’t posting as much last week. I came back to a 3 day work week, which sounds nice. But it was filled with a parent workshop, data meetings, and a field hockey booster club meeting (and I’m the president). So I was just a little overwhelmed. So stress-eating is which I did!

To refocus this week, I looked back at my February goals. I’m doing great with the exercise. I already finished 2 books! My sleeping as been pretty good (on days I didn’t get 8 hours, I at least got 7). So the area to really focus on is eating! As the quote says, I can’t outrun my fork! So that will be my focus and motivation this week. EAT BETTER!

 

[Oneanne]

I have this personal rule... if I hear something multiple times in short succession from different sources, I need to pay attention. Over the weekend I heard "wildest dreams" twice, once from a gal I follow on IG and then in the cover notes of a book I was looking at the airport bookstore. So my motivation this week is to dream big: dream wild.

I went back thru the IG gal's posts and thought about the path her life has taken the past few years, the choices she's made and the chances she's taken. And I bought the book. I picked it up and put it down multiple times because a lot of books in that genre are what they call "aspirational spirituality", but the "wildest dreams" jumped out at me. I read a bit on the plane and she is speaking to what I've just gone thru with negative thoughts and breaking the thought patterns, so I think I'm going to get some good stuff out of it.

And tomorrow I start a serious cycle of Whole 30 eating to get back on track and feeling good. Before my trip I got a cookbook for Keto Sweets, because I've come to realize not having sweets isn't going to work for me, so I need to find a way to have sweets that aren't harmful. Tonight I'll go to the grocery store with a plan, and stock up.

 

[Oneanne]

View attachment 476197
I have to admit, I’ve been struggling to eat healthy since I’ve come back from vacation. Actually my meals have been ok, but I’ve been snacking on really unhealthy foods. My routine has been a little off which is why I wasn’t posting as much last week. I came back to a 3 day work week, which sounds nice. But it was filled with a parent workshop, data meetings, and a field hockey booster club meeting (and I’m the president). So I was just a little overwhelmed. So stress-eating is which I did!

To refocus this week, I looked back at my February goals. I’m doing great with the exercise. I already finished 2 books! My sleeping as been pretty good (on days I didn’t get 8 hours, I at least got 7). So the area to really focus on is eating! As the quote says, I can’t outrun my fork! So that will be my focus and motivation this week. EAT BETTER!

Love this!

 

[Summer2018]

I have this personal rule... if I hear something multiple times in short succession from different sources, I need to pay attention. Over the weekend I heard "wildest dreams" twice, once from a gal I follow on IG and then in the cover notes of a book I was looking at the airport bookstore. So my motivation this week is to dream big: dream wild.

I went back thru the IG gal's posts and thought about the path her life has taken the past few years, the choices she's made and the chances she's taken. And I bought the book. I picked it up and put it down multiple times because a lot of books in that genre are what they call "aspirational spirituality", but the "wildest dreams" jumped out at me. I read a bit on the plane and she is speaking to what I've just gone thru with negative thoughts and breaking the thought patterns, so I think I'm going to get some good stuff out of it.

And tomorrow I start a serious cycle of Whole 30 eating to get back on track and feeling good. Before my trip I got a cookbook for Keto Sweets, because I've come to realize not having sweets isn't going to work for me, so I need to find a way to have sweets that aren't harmful. Tonight I'll go to the grocery store with a plan, and stock up.

View attachment 476262

Just a tip for a healthy sweet: Cut up apples. Toss them in a pot. Sprinkle with cinnamon (no sugar needed). Heat them up until soft. Tastes just like apple pie filling. Yum!

 

[Summer2018]

I've been really on track. 15 pounds down. So, I gave myself a cheat day yesterday. I grabbed my favorite bagel from Panera...Cinnamon Crunch. I also got a Brittany cherry cheese pastry. Both were delicious.

Back to making better choices today.