Less Hustle More Coffee

Hey guys! Yes, it is that time of year when the holidays are over, New Year festivities are wearing off, and things start to settle in. The weather gets weird, dreary days come about, and we don’t get all the sun we need and maybe not all the sleep we need either. And illnesses are on the rise again whether a cold, flu, or some other dreaded respiratory illness or stomach flu. Our immune systems start to wane and that makes us more vulnerable.

Some may be tired from the struggle of starting new habits strong and burning the candle at both ends to make the new goals tick – whether at work, personal goals, or in your family. It’s so easy to start thinking that life is still about the same as it was last year, and erroneously start tell yourself things like who was I to think that I could change anything? Be on guard! Sometimes it’s just a matter of these few things that can keep you from getting down on yourself, or starting to go down the path of unhappiness, negativity, and a depressive state or mood. These are things I try to remember this time of year.

1. Vitamin D. I double up on it because I need it. A quick review of the symptoms can quickly reveal that a lack of enough Vitamin D can do some weird things to your body. Women often do not get enough during the winter months.
2. Don’t forget your Fruits and veggies. As we tighten our belts from the holidays it’s so easy to eat the frozen and canned goods and slim down the grocery bill to make up for some of the Christmas spending. Go ahead and throw broccoli in your basket – grill up those Brussel sprouts. Fix a smoothie or strawberry ice bowl, munch on some blueberries and nuts for snack or breakfast.
3. Vitamin B Complex. I have a good Vitamin B that I take and it really impacts my mood when I don’t take it.
4. Make sure you aren’t skimping on proteins and healthy fats. The proteins give you energy and the healthy fats will help your body absorb all the nutrients.
5. Don’t forget to have some down time and UP the happiness factor. We get all busy with all things NEW YEAR. My own schedule is hopping with the need to work a bit over, Mom needs attention, my New Year list is yelling at me, and fourteen other things just slid sideways and need my attention. Reading for pleasure, buy a Starbucks, take a hot bath, drink a glass of wine and read an article or two, or watch a Netflix or YouTube show. I’ve got one for ya! 😉
6. Try to get in your sleep. I need to take my own advice. I’ve struggled between to do lists and making the difference in getting something done to meet my new year goals or just getting sleep. And sometimes the head is so full of whatever is going on that I can’t sleep well. I might skimp a night or two but one afternoon of being drowsy is enough to remind me, get sleep tonight!
7. Deep breaths. Take a moment. Take a breath.
8. Fresh air. It does wonders, clears the head, aids the productive thoughts, and kicks the cluttered negative thoughts to the curb.
9. Step back and prioritize, or Reprioritize. Sometimes we have to move things around, shake things up, or reconsider how and when we are doing things. Tweaking the schedule is always an ongoing thing. I’m trying to learn to roll with it, but I have my determined moments. Determination gets things done, but YOU get to decide if it’s the right things or not, and in what order they should be done in. Unless you are at work, lol. Then your boss might decide, ha!
10. Be careful what you listen to, who you hang out with, what you read, and what your mind gives attention to. You need positive affirmations, comments and directions. Your mind needs to be aligned with good positive thinking, positive vibes, and not focused on negative energy. What are you reading, listening to? Who are you hanging around? Be lifted up and not brought down.

Now, as you all know, I’m not a medical professional, so you have to take supplements at your own risk or see a doctor. But these are ways that I try to stave off the bad moods and depressive states as I realize it’s starting to settle in.

Today was a great sunny day. I didn’t get to see much of it. The sun was not up yet when I reached the office and by the time I got home it was far down in the sky. So the 67 degree day, for me, was nothing I could take advantage of. But hopefully someone did!.

Just sharing a few things before I begin diving into the next video. I’m only 8 minutes into editing 48 minutes of footage to get it down to less than 20. So here’s to hoping I can get that done by Friday. Here’s some stuff from this week.

So I began getting some things “cleaned” this week. I’m trying to get a few things done at a time. This glass trey was filthy with grease and it’s all cleaned up now. It sits right next to the stove, so it’s in the line of all kinds of sludge, lol.

This just gave me good chi! I allowed the white decor to be prominent for the month of January, on the heels of our little winter party. And the soup book with the white flowers just made me smile.

I added some little cookbooks against the wall for a bit of New Year January inspo!

In recent days, I have cleaned my office which has made me more productive in it. I just have a hard time thriving in a messy space.

Slowly, one by one, I’ve been wearing the necklaces Aunt Martha and Uncle Ken gave me. I’m keeping them here until I get them all worn and then they can reside in the jewelry armoire. I wore the blue on there today.

This image, caught George’s attention, who quickly called me into the room with my camera. It looks like a pregnant angel with a squirrel tail or with a bird on its back. Or a squirrel with a human face, lol. It’s really just an angel that sits on the front porch table that is outside my window. How hilarious from a side profile.

The Apple Yum Yum has been put into little containers and put into the freezer for when the sweet tooth calls. I have found that I love doing this with various cakes, cheese cakes, etc. It really is nice to be able to keep the desserts frozen and pull it out when you really need something sweet. It’ll be like apple ice cream, lol.

I’m pretty far along in my “Black Wave” book and these are the chosen reads that will be next. I’ve been keeping John Grisham waiting for a while. But I try to read a few pages every day. I morphed it into my to do list daily and I use it for when I need a quick break, or even right before bed – even if it’s just a page or two. But most of the time I can get through a whole chapter. It’s quite pleasing to me to be able to read again and not feel like I’m cheating some other project with the time.

News from Texas. Here’s the TeePee we bought Little Roo. Last year we got him the ball pit, and for space saving they put the TeePee OVER the ball pit. lol. Less cold than the floor too. Works for all I think.You can see those Texas mesquite trees out the window. I just love the Texas scene out there. Most of all that’s where my family is!

So work is going ok. As well as it can. Today was a rough payroll day for me. Just lots of interruptions, side tracks, side holes and rabbit holes, all of which do me no favors when I’m trying to focus on payroll. Anything can happen when you lose focus or try to hurry. I also realized that I don’t have as much time as I thought to do the quarter end stuff. I was thinking I had a week to do unemployment claims and a week to do Transports stuff, but actually there is only one full week left after this one and then the last two days of the month I’ll have to focus on payroll again. I might have help on that Monday but one never really knows. Again, all one can do is the best they can do. I’ve worked over some days but usually only by 20 to 30 minutes. My life just does not allow a lot of extra hours in the already off-balanced US work cycle. Just with everything going on, having a 40 to an hour commute, checking on Mom, taking care of the dog so he’s not cooped up too long. It just is what it is. I cannot wait for retirement. And it’s getting closer too! 😉 This morning it took an hour to get to work because the way I go, there was a wreck. I can’t win for losing today. So I needed these reminders above and I thought maybe you might too!

Take care and let me know what you guys are up to this week.