Day 29 Post 15 - Busy Day / Good Day

 It was a really busy day today. I feel like I really earned my pay today. I did some problem solving. I did some training. I made some decisions. I did some investigation work.  I attended two long meetings. And I did the paperwork. I even was instrumental in correcting some issues that came up. I did my job and I did it well.

While it was a good day, I was busy the whole day and I am beat now.  I figured out why this week has been so stressful. My boss being out of town never was that much of a hardship. Even having both him and one of the supervisors out hasn't been a big deal before.

But this week, we had corporate mandated training. Which took up a great deal of one of my days. We  had a new equipment install. Which called me away from my desk several times each day. And on top of all that we are making the transition from one chemical company to another one. It has been a very full and busy week.

The next chapter in the book is pretty important. Chapter 15 is "Be the First One to Act Loving or Reach Out". Life is too short to hold grudges.The author points out when we hold onto anger we turn small stuff into big stuff. We start to believe that our side was much more important or that we are totally in the right. Then our position/side is more important than our happiness. It boils down to would you rather be right or happy. 

I had two Uncles who had been in business together. there was a falling out and for years they didn't talk to each other. There children didn't know each other because of the falling out. One of my aunts' sons was getting married and he invited both uncles. They both showed up. After years and years, I mean like 40 or 50 years, they decided they could be in the same place. I don't know if they ever truly buried the hatchet but it did allow for the family to have a reunion and the cousins to get to know each other.  

Currently I have an employee who is upset with me. I am continuing to reach out and be supportive. I will at least know that I did my best for her. Even if she doesn't ever come around. I have kept the door to communication and friendship open. And that is definitely a lot less stressful.

After all we can only control our actions. If our actions help us to not have regrets that will help reduce guilt and therefore stress in the long run.

Day 28 Post 14 - Hectic Week

 I am so glad it is Wednesday. I'm not trying to wish my life away, but I am looking forward to the weekend. I need some down time.  Last Friday was the start on a new pay week. I worked 10 hours that day. Monday, I took half a day a still worked 7.5 hours. Tuesday I worked 11.5 hours. And today I worked 9 hours. So in 4 days I worked 38 hours. Tomorrow will be at least 9 hours. That work life balance is wearing very thin.

Now there is a reason for such long days. Friday, I had a special project that had to be done that day. No if's and or buts about it. Then my relief called in, so I couldn't leave any of the work that I couldn't do while working on the project. So I stayed over.  This week my boss and the other supervisor are in Elgin getting training. so we are down 2 on the management team.

On a normal week being down two isn't so bad. I just do it.  This week, however, we have a new install being put in. And we have training. All of which is pulling me away from taking care of things.  I had to leave a lot of work for my supervisor the past two days. Today I was able to get everything done though. 

Tomorrow I have a lot to do. Fiscal year ends tomorrow. I have to put together all of the new spread sheets and I only really have a couple of day to do it.  I will start with the ones we use everyday. Then I will build out the rest. Fortunately a lot of it can be just cut and past from one year to the next.  But there are some changes that I need to make, so finding information is easier for my boss and me. 

The next two chapters in the book are about Patience. Chapter 13 is about being more patient. We need to remember that interruptions are usually not intentional. When people around us don't seem to respect boundary's or space it is easy to forget that they may not know or understand the issue.

In Chapter 14 he suggest that we start developing more patience. He suggest that we start with 5 minutes and determine to not let anything bother us for that 5 minutes. Then slowly add to that time. As with anything else practice can strengthen that ability. One thing I know for sure, if you pray for patience, you're going to get plenty of practice at being patient. Be careful of what you wish for.

Day 26 Post 13 - June is Almost Gone

 Here it is the last week of June. I can't believe that the year is almost half over.  This month has been particularly hard to get things done. Mostly because I have been so tired. I am coming home exhausted. Several nights I came home and went to bed. Some of that is my Asthma acting up. The stormy weather tends to irritate my asthma. Making breathing hard work.

But I think a lot of that is because I have been very bad about what I am eating. Way too many carbs and too much sugary stuff. I am craving sweets and I am sure it is due to stress. When I stress eat, I eat carbs and sweets.  Things are better at work so I am hoping that I can get back off the high sugar starchy foods and back to protein, veggies and fruit. Starting tomorrow, salads for lunch.  I've goy yogurt and fruit for breakfast, plus I am planning on making a few crustless quiches or mini quiches. I've got to use up these eggs.

It's late in the day for me and I need to get my scripture study done. This week I will have several late days. First, it is the week when I meet with my techs, second my boss and one of the supervisors are in Chicago for work.  So there is just two of us doing the everyday work of 4. It's okay though, I've done it before. 

Have a good night.

Day 21 Post 12 - Rough week.

 Still not completely recovered. Of course the storms are still happening. Not quite with the intensity of last Wednesday but we are still getting thunder storms. I do enjoy them when the trees are not toppling.

I have been struggling with sleep lately. I have not been sleeping well. Which is unusual when we are having storms. Not sleeping well is leaving me with a slightly upset stomach.  So nothing sounds good to me. I decided to try the honey ginger drink that we got at the asian market a while back. Maybe it will help.

Chapter 12 of the book is titled Let Others Be "Right" Most of the Time.  He starts the chaper of with the question "Do I want to be 'right' - or do I want to be happy" He says that many times the 2 are mutually exclusive. 

This is something to really think about. Does it matter if someone has a differing belief than you?  Does everyone have to agree with you? If they are misinformed is it worth correcting them and possibly embarrasing them? 

Maybe it is just better to let sleeping dogs lie. Who is it going to hurt? 

Don't get me wrong, there are some very real issues that you don't let slide. Racism should not be tolerated. I won't stand by and say nothing when someone is being racist.  Child abuse, Child trafficking, or Child Porn can never be considered "right" These are all things that cannont ever be allowed to slide by on"personal" opinion. 

But I am not going to debate religion with anyone. I am always willing to listen to your beliefs and share my beliefs if you want to know. I don't care if you believe that Tornadoes target trailer parks. I can choose to evacuate and you can stay put. It's all about picking your battles.

There are somethings that just don't affect you and there are somethings that affect everyone. Decide what it worth taking a stand on and let the rest go.

Day 18 Post 11 - Stormy Weather = Asthma Triggers

Well, it has been a few days. Thursday after I had finished my post, the power went off for over 20 hours. We had some severe thunderstorms as well as tornadoes nearby. Wednesday night the winds were in excess of 80 miles per hour where we live. It looks like we only had some minor damage to the trees.  They were looking wind battered.  

We did not need to fire up the generator because we were either sleeping or at work. The fridge and freezers were not opened. And because they were full there was a big enough thermal well to keep everything frozen/cold. But the house was hot and muggy making it hard to sleep. I had gone to bed early due to emotional exhaustion. I became aware of the power outage when my c-pap shut off. At that point I felt like I was being smothered. Apparently claustrophobia doesn't kick in as long as there is air blowing. Not that I am really that claustrophobic.

Storms continue on and off all weekend. Thursday night, Killian and I were just exhausted due to poor sleep the night before. He's still fighting off a cold and my asthma was acting up. At first I was thinking the astma was due to the clean at work. I was working up in my boss' office for the clean but I still have to go out on the floor from time to time during the clean. So I was blaming that. Friday, however, I was just feeling crappy. I remembered that my pulmonologist telling me that storms will affect my asthma. Especially big or severe storms. I think they were affecting Killian's health as well. When I looked at the air quality, mold was high and dust and dander were extreme. I think I figured out why my asthma was acting up. Truth is I am still struggling tonight. And there is a thunderstorm happening.

I spent a lot of the past few days sleeping. But I did get some chores done. And I did finish a quilt. And I was able to research and give a talk in church on the Importance of Fathers. All went well despite health struggles and stormy weather.

How are you doing? Are you having stormy weather? Are you keeping safe?

Day 14 Post 10 - Release and Lessons

 One Miserable tasks has been completed. Am I happy about it, No because someone was hurt (emotionally). It brings me no joy that I had to inflict the pain. I truly want to help this person succeed. I am just hoping they will let me.

Good new on the health front. I am a little anemic but that is nothing new. So far the tests are showing nothing significant that would cause rheumatological issue.  There are still a few tests we are waiting on. I suspect my achiness is more due to tendons and muscles than anything else. That and Stress of course.

Chapter 11 in the book is interesting. The title is Imagine that Everyone Is Enlightened, Except You.  You are suppose to imagine that everyone you meet or encounter is enlightened and you aren't. You are suppose to look at what they are trying to teach you. Basically every encounter we have can be a lesson. He suggests that the obnoxious driver or disrespectful teenager are there to teach you patience.

I had a similar experience. I moved to a new branch of my church, There was a special needs woman in the branch who could be rather unpleasant. My first thought when I encountered this woman was "I am going to have to learn to love you" I learned many lessons from her. To be more patient, to be more charitable, and surprisingly to set boundaries. I also learned to love her.

From her I learned that sometimes it is better to spend a little time listening, so you can move onto something else. She was socially awkward but very smart. She had a degree in library sciences but was legally blind. She had medical issues as well. She had a tragic upbringing and she was very lonely.

At one point, I was teaching the lessons for the woman's group at church. I found that if I spent time talking with her before the lesson, She was much less demanding of attention during the lesson. My lesson always went better when I took time with her before hand.

I think I am going to try figuring out what I am supposed to learn from the people that irritate or frustrate me.

Day 13 Post 9 - Not a Bad Day & Working on Being Happy Now

Today was a decent day. I had an appointment with the Rheumatologist this morning. When I went to my GP, I commented that I felt like I had a lot of inflammation in my body. I mention that my carpal tunnel had been acting up and my shoulders hurt especially, the one with the rotator tendinopathy. I was wanting a stronger anti-inflammatory. She sent me to a Rheumatologist.

Good news is that my joints all seem to be good. I have good movement and flexibility and I am very strong. He doesn't believe that I have fibromyalgia. He did do some blood work to check for any possible issues. (6 vials worth of tests) I do have arthritis in the joints where my thumbs connect to my hands. I had suspected as much. I go back in 3 weeks and find out the results. In the mean time, he told me to take vitamin B6 for my carpal tunnel and he prescribed Meloxicam for the achy shoulders and hips.

Today's chapter of the book is "Learn to Live in the Present" I honestly believe that we all need to do this. Some of us more than others. The author says we allow past problems and future concerns to dominate out lives. We put off our happiness for some future time that may never come. 

We all do this. We figure that we'll take that trip later when we retire. Do you know how many women out there are saving the "Good China" for that special occasion.  We need to stop. Tomorrow is not promised. 

I never knew my paternal grandfather. He was looking forward to retiring and fishing in his retirement. He died at age 57.  I had a friend Sarah Mansfield, who was looking forward to and had saved for a very long and expensive cruise. They were going to take it  as soon as the kids were old enough to be left home alone. She died suddenly and the money paid for her funeral.  My sister in-law died at age 32 from breast cancer. She had 3 boys (12, 10 & 8 when she died) and a long awaited for little girl. She only had 3 years with her little girl and she was battling cancer for most of those 3 years.

Let's all start enjoying ourselves now. Work will always be there, turn it off when you get home. Burn the fancy candle. Wear that fancy dress. Eat pizza on the good dishes. If you want multicolored hair go for it. Do what makes you happy now. There is not enough happiness in the world. And we all deserve to be happy.

If we stop letting past mistakes and fears of future problems dominate out thoughts, We will find more to be happy about. It also allows us to step back from work and take a day off now and again. Afterall we can't do anything about the past and there is only so much control we have over the future. Sure have savings, prepare for your future, but don't deprive yourself of today's happiness for a few extra dollars in 50 years.

What makes you happy? 

Day 12 Post 8 - Monday Monday

It was a day. Not a bad day. Not a great day. But a decent day. I got everything on my to do list done. But I didn't get the training that I wanted to do done. I may just do this at home. I really want to have it done before I present it to someone else to do.  But my time is limited and I still want to maintain a work life balance. This is something I will need to mull over.

The next chapter is Chapter 9 - Let Others Have the Glory. Another area where I need to work. This is letting others have the spotlight. So if someone shares a story with you, don't interrupt them. Don't interject your story. Yes, you may have a similar experience but that's not the time to share it.

We all do this to some degree. But when we do we take the attention off of the other person and put it on us.  We are stealing their glory. Resist the urge to think of it as bonding. It is hogging the spotlight. I will have to work on this. I tend to share my experiences and think of them as bonding. But I am really diminishing someone else experience.

There are times to share. I think we need to be careful that when we do share our experiences it benefits the other person more than it benefits us.

Letting others shine will help me to not be so competitive. I can be competitive. That may be why I make it about me.

Do you let others have their glory?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Day 11 Post 7 - Routines Being Sidelined

 While in the Marines, my brother once asked my mother how she coped when my dad was out of town for work for extended stretches. He had heard some military wives complaining about how hard it was when their husbands were deployed. In his memory, Mom just did it. She took care of everything when dad was gone. We did have an awesome capable mother though.

Mom said the hardest part for her was when our dad came home and she had to revert to the routine they had before he was gone. She was used to taking care of everything and doing things her way and in her time. When dad came home she had to hand things back to him and let him do it his way and in his time. Her routines had to be adjusted. I am finding that I need to adjust my routines whenever Kim is home.

I have simple routines that I follow that help with stress and peace of mind. Including blogging and scripture study in the evening. Then listening to conference talks and stitching in the morning. I have no problem keeping these up when Kim is out of town. But when Kim is home, my routines tend to go out the door. 

Part of that is because of the things we are trying to get done when he is here. Projects tend to take precedence over normal activities. Projects such as harvesting the apples and making cider. Or butchering 4 pigs and processing the meat. These are all hands on deck type of projects and often run well into the night. So we are dropping into bed when there is good place to pause in the project.

Part is because Kim apparently needs more sleep than I do. If there is not a project going, bedtime is 9:00pm and no later than 9:30pm. Often I don't start winding down until 10:00pm. But going to bed at different time has never worked very well for us. Also I get up at 5:30am (weekdays) and do my morning routine so I get about 7 hours sleep. Kim wants to sleep until 7:30am , so about 10 hours sleep. Since my morning routine is somewhat noisy and my studio is right by our bedroom, I will interrupt his sleep if I don't find a quiet way to do them. Which really puts a crimp in my routine.

Lastly, part is because I just want to focus on him when he is home. We need to make the most of the time we do have together right now. I'd rather be sitting watching TV with him that being by myself in the studio. When he is home for more than just a couple of days, he spends time out in his shop working stones or out in the yard taking care of his orchard. So if he is busy focused on his hobbies, I don't feel so bad focusing on mine. 

Don't get me wrong, Kim encourages my hobbies.(I should probably say that he enables my addictions to crafts) He doesn't ever try to pull me away from them or make me feel guilty about spending time (or money) on them. This is a choice I am making because I want to be with him. I want him to get the rest he needs. And I want him to be at peace in his own home. Afterall Home should be a refuge from the world.

I realize that Kim will not be traveling forever and at some point I need to figure out how to do these routines when he is home. But as of yet I haven't figured that out. Still, for my continued peace and happiness these routines are important, so I need to find a way to keep them up when he is home. 

Do your routines ever get sidelined for the greater good? (Family Peace and Harmony)

Day 8 Post 6 - A Set Back

 Today started out poorly. Our trainee walked off the job today.  I got the call at 7:00am. I was on the phone and dealing with crap and the fall out of the situation while driving to work.  After a bunch of discussions, HR getting ahold of her and a small investigation. It turns out she had been lying to us about things and it was about to fall apart. We are better off without her.

I feel for her trainer though.  The trainee tried to make it about the trainer being rude and insulting. This trainer would never purposefully hurt someone's feelings. I'll take the word of the person I've known for 8 years over someone who I've known for 2 weeks. Especially when I found out she had already lied to me.

Chapter 8  from the book is a good one. It's titled Do Something Nice for Someone Else - and Don't Tell Anyone About It.  First, I know for a fact that doing things for others is a great mood booster. Second, it creates positive energy in both your lives. 

The trick here is not telling anyone. When we do good things we tend to share with others what we've done.  We are unconsciously seeking approval. That doesn't make us bad.  It could actually inspire others to do the same. 

But there is something very magical about no one knowing.  When I was in High School, one of the clubs would sell flowers before big holidays. They would deliver them to the recipient's homeroom at the start of the day. I had a friend who sent a mentally challenge girl flowers anonymously. He heard her say that she loved the flowers every one got. That it really made her happy to see the other girls smiling all day with their flowers. He decided then and there she should get to smile all day (she usually did smile all day) I helped him pick out the flowers and everyone thought he was getting them for me. (we were just friends). The girl was in my homeroom. She beamed all day. She couldn't believe they were for her. Other people kept commenting on how lucky she was. For once she was the belle of the ball. I did receive flowers from another friend which helped with the secrecy. Without knowing who or why the flowers were sent, there was no second guessing about the motive. There was no opportunity for someone to turn it into a cruel joke. No chance for her to be teased. 

To this day I remember him trying not tell me what he was doing and still getting my help. It was kind of awkward. I am so happy I kept his secret. Plus for the next 2 years this girl got flowers everytime they were sold. Always anonymously, because everyone saw how happy it made her. Everytime she was just as surprised as the first time. 

Keeping nice acts a secret definitely has a way of causing them to multiply. At least that is my experience. On the less generous side, if you keep it to yourself, others won't assume you are going to keep doing it. that opens opportunities for others to get the same blessings.

Why don't you try it this week? I'd love to hear how it goes.

Day 7 Post 5 - One Unpleasant Task Done.

Today was spent taking care of an unpleasant task.  One that I had not actually ever had to do before. This was a new experience and one I would like to never have to do again.  

I am emotionally drained and just want to sleep. Well, sleep and eat. Stress eating is something I am struggling with.

Speaking of things I am struggling with. Chapter 7 is about not interrupting others and/or finishing their sentences. I have a tendency to do this. Not because I want to interject my thoughts but because I understand what they are saying/going through and I feel like I am connecting with them.

We have been going through a lot of communications training at work and one of the biggest rules is to not interrupt people. When I do this, I am forgetting the most important thing about communicating. listening to the speaker.  We validate others when we hear what they are saying and give them a chance to say it. 

Lately I am trying to do better with listening and really hearing. I still get excited to connect but I am learning to wait until the other speaker finishes.

Do you tend to interrupt others? Do you finish their sentences? 

Day 6 Post 4 - Drudgery Continues

 Okay, I should define drudgery. I call anything I don't want to do or am dreading doing drudgery. It is stuff that needs done but is not fun to do and no one ever wants to do it.  There are tasks at work right now that fall into this category.  Some of which are on a deadline. Tomorrow I will put aside paperwork to make one of these tasks a priority.

Today, I had 4 meetings. Four meetings in an 8 hour day. That's half of my work day. The first meeting is a weekly meeting that always goes well. There's never a lot of pressure, more of a here is where we are and this is the next step, type of meeting.  The second meeting was about the drudgery task I have to prioritize. Not really an unpleasant meeting, just about an unpleasant topic. The next meeting was about how HR can support us. Except I already keep them really close at hand these days. Not a very useful meeting. The last meeting was a corporate quality team meeting. Always good to connect and get new information.  Still it was a busy day with a lot of stuff going on. 

I am just happy to be home. But I am not in the frame of mind to work the binding of my quilt.I am a little too sore in the shoulders to wrangle the quilt through the sewing machine. Hopefully a hot soak and a good night's sleep will loosen things up.

Chapter 6 of the book is especially pertinent to me. It's title is "Remind Yourself That When You Die, Your Inbox Won't Be Empty." I need to start being better at delegating. I should be walking out the door at 4:00pm not 5:00 or 6:00pm. I am paid for 40 hours of work and I am only cheating myself when I am working in excess of 50.  Work will be there the next day.  If things delay a project up to the deadline then I need to adjust the deadline not my hours.  I also need to trust my employees to do their job.

I have to admit I am a work-a-holic. But I am going to try and do better. I need to have time with my family. I need to have time to read the books I want to read. I need to have time to create. All of these things make me a better more stable person. So I need to start shutting my computer off a 3:45pm.  I need to put myself on a schedule and stick to it.

How full is you inbox. Have you learned to leave things for the next day?

Day 5 Post 3 - Rough Monday

I was not looking forward to a meeting today because it was going to be an unpleasant topic.  But I was not expecting things to go haywire right at the start of the day.  It has been a stressful day.  One that I am glad is in the books. I suggested to my boss that we have a better day tomorrow. He smiled and reminded me of the meetings we were going to have. I told him not to discourage me.  He's in a good mood because he is going on vacation next week.

I am going to get myself back in a good mood. Just not sure how yet.  I do know that the stress eating is helping.

On to the next chapter in Don't Sweat the Small Stuff  Chapter 5 is about Developing your compassion. He define compassion as a sympathetic feeling.  Compassion requires a willingness to put yourself in someone else's shoes. When we see other people's pain, frustrations, and struggles, we start to see that we don't really have it so bad.

My mom was a very compassionate person. I swear she never met someone that she couldn't find somel.............../thing good about. She had an innate ability to accept people as they were and where they came from. It is something I need to work on. I am getting better at it though.

If I am being honest, I think I am getting better at it because I am studying more about Christ and his life and example. It just makes you want to do better.

I think compassion is a very important step to realizing just how good you have it. I read somewhere that if everyone's trails, struggles and problems were thrown in a heap. We would take bake our own.  I think it helps me to remember that my trials and struggles were chosen for me by Heavenly Father. They are meant to make me a better person. 

So chapter 5 is a good one to work on.

Day 4 Post 2 - Busy Weekend

 Well, I didn't make it very far into June before missing a couple days of posts. But I had two of my married daughters and their families over this weekend. It was a busy time. We had a lot of fun and there was some good cousin bonding as well as some good grandparent/grandchild bonding.

But I have figured out that these really busy weekends take too much out of me. The noise in the house is tiresome, and they just weren't that loud.  I think the fact that I just came off of 3 very hectic and stressful weeks at work is a big part of the problem.  When you start out tired, it's hard to keep up with 5 little kids especially when one is not quite 4 months old.

I didn't get everything accomplished that I wanted too but Rorie (8) did do a little hand sewing.  Dorian (3) did get to sit with grandma while she worked in the studio. Emerson (6) got to be one of the guys. Athena (1) got to play with babies. (animals and her cousin). Wren (almost 4 months) was so very even tempered and pleasant even when all of her cousins were crowding her.

The boys went out and harvested berries this morning so Grandma made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. We had a fish fry for dinner form the fish they caught yesterday. Rorie and Emerson husked corn for the fish fry.  Everyone had a good time.

Busy weekend but so worth it. Now to just recover by going back to work.

Day 1 Post 1 - June Already

 It's June! A new month means a new attempt at 31 days of blogging or since it is June 30 days. I am struggling with how fast this year is racing by. I am way behind on projects and it is showing. Luckily, my husband keep things on track when he's home. Too bad he's only home on the weekends and not even every weekend.

Today went pretty well. No major hiccups but no major progress either. I wasn't expecting the one supervisor to come in but she did. So I left after 9 1/2 hours. Got lots to do tomorrow so I need to be hitting it early.

Chapter 4 in the book is an important one. It is "Be Aware of the Snowball Effect of Your Thinking".  He talks about how quickly negative and insecure thinking can spiral out of control. For example, you wake up and remember something you need to do the next day. Then you think about everything you need to do. Then it's how are you going to get it all done? Then you obsess over a deadline. And the next thing you know you are feeling overwhelmed.  Feeling overwhelmed inhibits your ability to get things done.

He says we need to learn to catch ourselves when we start to have those thoughts and stop ourselves.  Try saying to yourself, there I go again or something similar. I think that may be easier said than done.

I tend to do this when there is something I am dreading coming up. For example, I have found that I will dwell on a meeting and think of all the possible negative outcomes. Then I just really don't want to go to that meeting. I even resent having to deal with the whole situation. Usually the meeting is a whole lot better than I thought it would be. Most recently, I had a meeting that I was dreading but I thought about the issue logically and I chose to dwell on the best possible outcome. I went into that meeting with a better frame of mind. The outcome was about as good as it could get even if it wasn't terribly positive.

I think that idea is to curb the negativity in our minds, activities, and lives in general. I have been working on being positive for awhile now. I am reading positive things, watching upbeat shows, doing things that are more productive. It helps to keep me in a positive state of mind. 

But I have also found that I don't want to be around negativity. I tend to avoid those people who seem to ooze negativity. I am sure you know someone who just brings you down. I need to find a way to not distance myself from them but still block out the negativity they bring. Controlling my thoughts is the first step.

How do you keep negativity at bay?