Group Therapy

Sunday Lately for this 30-something: Week 62

- Mel 2 Comments

Blogger Tribe_Sunday LatelySunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). Every Sunday morning, the Tribe shares a small glimpse into the last week — and I’m sharing along, too, as part of my “group therapy.” All are welcome, so if you’re a blogger looking for his or her Tribe, click through and join us in the Blogger Tribe Facebook group, and every week we share our thoughts on a rotating theme of prompts. Here’s what’s happening in my space and place for Week 62.

30 therapy SUNDAY LATELY Week 62

This week’s prompts: Doing, Appreciating, Designing, Humming, Expecting.

Doing: Change of address! Shipping boxes! Packing boxes (thankfully, we don’t have to do a lot of this). But, generally, doing all the things one has to do preparing for a relocation.

Appreciating: I’m so greatly appreciating the opportunity to work remotely for my job on a contractual basis. My intent is to find an in-person job in Des Moines though, mostly so that I have some sort of social interactions (aside from talking to cats all day) but also because I really like working in an office setting.

Designing: Designing a week of lunches and happy hours and workouts around friends that I get to see once more before moving. I sincerely know some great people here, who I will miss incredibly.

Humming: I started binge-watching “Damages” from the beginning, since I never watched beyond Season 2. Naturally, I have the show’s theme song in my head.

Expecting: Totally expecting this week to fly by! Next Sunday, I’ll officially be a resident of Iowa. It still all feels really surreal, but my generalized anxiety is definitely at a high right now. I’m *really* trying to work on it by staying calm (but busy) and stress-free (which, hahahahaha). Seriously though, I feel OK about the move, but I think the anticipation and the excitement is partially manifesting in a negative way.

Sunday Lately for this 30-Something: Week 61

- Mel

Blogger Tribe_Sunday LatelySunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). Every Sunday morning, the Tribe shares a small glimpse into the last week — and I’m sharing along, too, as part of my “group therapy.” All are welcome, so if you’re a blogger looking for his or her Tribe, click through and join us in the Blogger Tribe Facebook group, and every week we share our thoughts on a rotating theme of prompts. There’s a whole lot of chaos lately, but here’s what else is going on in Week 61.

30something SUNDAY LATELY Week 61

This week’s prompts are: Planning, Loving, Reading, Wishing, Feeling.

Planning: THE MOVE! I have to segregate the “essentials” from “non-essentials” in my closet to send to Iowa before we leave AND ship my costume jewelry (I guess movers don’t move that… WHAT?!). Since we’ll be without the bulk of our household for a couple weeks, and will be traveling with three cats (and all their stuff), we are severely limited at what we can take in the car. The next couple weeks will be hectic!

Loving: I didn’t wear most of my makeup in Florida, and I was loving how fresh my face felt (despite its imperfections). This weather is just killing my skin right now! But yesterday, I decided not to wear my BB cream under my powder to see if I can take another beauty product out of my regular routine.

Reading: Gretchen Rubin’s Better Than Before*. I got a little bit of reading done pool-side in Florida last week, but haven’t really dedicated my time to unwinding with a book. So… it’s taken me a while to get into this (so much for better habits! HA!). I *really* wanted to finish it though, but when she started talking about drinking diet soda… I just knew I could no longer connect with her message. I think I’m marking this one DNF and moving on to something else.

BTW, based on her framework, I’m considered an Upholder, which makes my not finishing my review copy a HUGE conflict for me!

Wishing: Honestly, I wish I was in my new house! The boyfriend got to spend the entire weekend there, torturing me with pictures of sunsets in the backyard — and all the windows open because it was 60 freaking degrees in Des Moines! — and his new beanbag chair on the living room floor (lol) and our new washer-dryer set. ARGHHHHHHHH!

Feeling: Sad, but excited! As I mentioned, I couldn’t be in Des Moines with my boyfriend to sign the house papers, so while he’s taking care of all the stressful stuff, I feel like I’m missing out. I even asked him if we could bump up our move a week because I want to be in my new house so bad. I know that’s something I would regret later, though, not taking the time to spend with friends before we go. I wrote my schedule out for the next two weeks, and, um… it will definitely be here before I know it.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Sunday Lately for this 30-Something: Week 60

- Mel

Blogger Tribe_Sunday LatelySunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). Every Sunday morning, the Tribe shares a small glimpse into the last week — and I’m sharing along, too, as part of my “group therapy.” All are welcome, so if you’re a blogger looking for his or her Tribe, click through and join us in the Blogger Tribe Facebook group, and every week we share our thoughts on a rotating theme of prompts. Since I had to schedule this post early because of being away for the weekend, here’s a little of what’s going on in my brain in anticipation of running my first challenge race.

This week’s prompts are: Completing, Visiting, Repeating, Writing, Scheduling.

Completing: Gah! Hopefully I can come back here next week and say that I successfully completed the Gasparilla Ultra Challenge! By the time you’re reading this, I should be finishing up my half marathon, getting ready to line up for the 8K.

Visiting: Florida! While I won’t be doing much in the way of sightseeing (aside from things seen during my courses), I do have a couple recovery days down in Sarasota after the races, which I plan to put to good, relaxing use.

Repeating: Left-right-left-right… One foot in front of the other. These races will be a test to my mental strength, for sure, and more than likely brutalize both my mind and body. I need to dial it down and focus on that one step at a time.

Writing: This post! I’ll be back mid-week with, hopefully, some race day recaps.

Scheduling: Scheduling things like sleep and meals and start times and wake-up times is super stressful when you’re running four different races. There is so much info in my brain, that I can’t focus or remember anything.

Sunday Lately for this 30-Something: Week 59

- Mel

Blogger Tribe_Sunday LatelySunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). Every Sunday morning, the Tribe shares a small glimpse into the last week — and I’m sharing along, too, as part of my “group therapy.” All are welcome, so if you’re a blogger looking for his or her Tribe, click through and join us in the Blogger Tribe Facebook group, and every week we share our thoughts on a rotating theme of prompts. I hope everyone is savoring the feeling of love this weekend with your besties or that someone special in your life (and especially those four-legged furry friends keeping us warm on this chilly weekend).

Blogger Tribe, SUNDAY LATELY Week 59, 30-something therapy

This week’s theme, on this Valentine’s Day, is: Updating, Remembering, Needing, Wearing, Being.

Updating: A couple months ago, I worked with a resume writer to tweak my professional documents to turn myriad roles into a comprehensive skill set (and help me get my resume down to a single page, which… she was a miracle worker!). Well, I’ve officially put in my notice at work, so I’ll be updating all my statuses to reflect my job-searching status.

Remembering: that my race is this weekend and trying not to freak out. Granted, I’m doing this solely for fun — but it’s a LOT of miles to run just for shits and giggles. I need to remember to be smart (and not preemptively freak out), and figure out mentally how I will sustain my energy levels for hours of running and socializing). #introvertproblems

Needing: I need a plan of action for my race this weekend, so I’ll be working that into my weekly planner. And I’ll share it in a separate post this week! Thankfully, we have this long weekend to help fine-tune my to-do list and race day(s) schedule.

Wearing: I thought that this heart-inspired Aphrodite set from Fabletics [referral link] would be super-cute to lounge around in on Valentine’s Day — and I ended up getting it as a $19.95 deal.

30-something Valentines Day set Fabletics

But I didn’t anticipate that I would rather want to be wrapped in sweats and wearing a Snuggie all day.

Being: in LOVE. Woke up to coffee and Eggs Benedict, and a gifted bottle of Rose champagne and chocolate… and a cat card, natch. It’s sounds so simple, but it’s perfect.

Sunday Lately for this 30-Something: Week 58

- Mel

Blogger Tribe_Sunday LatelySunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). Every Sunday morning, the Tribe shares a small glimpse into the last week — and I’m sharing along, too. Every week, a new theme is released for all of us to post and share links through one of the host’s post. All are welcome, so if you’re a blogger looking for his or her Tribe, click through and join us in the Blogger Tribe Facebook group. Today’s Lately is, well, a little later than usual because my ass woke up for an early long run today.

30-something SUNDAY LATELY Week 58

This week’s themes: Creating, Finding, Switching, Forgetting, Craving.

Creating: Am I the only one who creates piles when cleaning a room and moves those piles to a different location? I’m in Purge Mode again, so stacks of books-to-be-donated are on my dining room table, picture frames to be packed away are in another pile. Creating some kind of organization from the chaos… eventually.

Finding: Now that the contractor is finished with some of our house projects, we’re finding residual dry wall dust EVERYWHERE. I mean, we knew it would happen but I’m always a little shocked at how much lingers in the air and settles even after we’ve completely Swiffered a room.

Switching: Switching mindsets from buying to selling, as we put our little old rowhouse on the market this weekend. Yes, this is HUGE news, but more to come on that… soonish.

Forgetting: Forgetting about all of my failures so far in training and looking forward. Gasparilla is for FUN (I know my definition of “fun” is warped!), and I have plenty of weeks to make sure that I’m in top form for the Pittsburgh Marathon (which is also for fun, WHO AM I?!). But for now, we do something of a fake taper for the next two weeks, and I’ll come back strong.

Craving: Yesterday, my boyfriend and I went to the Sewickley Chocolate Walk, and one of my favorite items on the taste tour was a chocolate-covered cherry smoothie from Sincerely Yogurt. My second favorite was black cherry balsamic-drizzled ice cream from Two Rivers Olive Oil (as per the chocolate walk, they were featuring their dark chocolate balsamic, too). I’m basically craving everything cherry flavored now. Now, now.

Sunday Lately for this 30-Something: Week 57

- Mel

Blogger Tribe_Sunday LatelySunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). Every Sunday morning, the Tribe shares a small glimpse into the last week — and I’m sharing along, too. Every week, a new theme is released for all of us to post and share links through one of the host’s post. I’m so happy that I found this amazing community of bloggers! And look forward to all that I can learn from them. All are welcome, so if you’re a blogger looking for his or her Tribe, click through and join us in the Blogger Tribe Facebook group.

Sunday Lately, week 57

This week’s themes: Doing, Appreciating, Designing, Humming, Expecting.

Doing: Prepping for BOUT DAY! For a long time, I had a very specific game day ritual (and order of things). After being gone for a season, I wonder what new little quirks and superstitions I’ve picked up. This morning, I’ll also be doing things like cleaning my wheels and bearings (the rink we skate in is SUPER dusty). Also, picking out a Boutfit — what the heck am I going to wear???

Appreciating: We had a contractor come out this weekend to repair some random drywalling and replace trim around our windows in the attic bedroom. This guy worked THE ENTIRE DAY, and didn’t leave until after 6pm. He basically finished everything, and has to come back one more day only to paint the attic. And holy crap, I cannot express how much I appreciate his work ethic!

Designing: I’m currently designing my February plan/challenge around the theme of RELAX. Boy howdy (do city girls say that?), my stress is at a critical mass right now. But I have an action plan to, hopefully, keep my anxiety at bay this month.

Humming: THIS song is my Bout Day theme song. {Explicit lyrics warning!}

I’m a huge old school hip-hop fan (but especially Missy Elliott), and I even have my own lyrics to the chorus that I hum and sing to myself that pertain to roller derby and game day. 😉

Expecting: I have some serious false assumptions about time. Mainly, the amount of time it takes me to do or complete something. This expectation frequently prevents me from using my time wisely. For example, I *really* wanted a hard-boiled egg on my salad and peeling eggs is on my Things That Are Basically The Worst list, despite having 6 minutes left on the oven for my Quinoa patty to finish. I basically had to out-loud yell at myself: JUST PEEL THE EFFIN’ EGG. But with the real swears. It took less than two minutes, by the way.

This same line of thinking has prevented me from doing a lot of my strength and core workouts. I KNOW that I can do this certain HIIT body workout and it only takes TWELVE STUPID MINUTES of my life, but I decide that I don’t have enough of those minutes on this particular day. I’m expecting everything to take MUCH longer than it does, and holy wow, did I have a bitch-slap moment because of that darn egg.

I hope you have a lovely Sunday! (I’m making egg salad now.)

Sunday Lately: Week 56

- Mel

Blogger Tribe_Sunday Lately And we’re back! After missing last week’s prompt, I’m catching up here with Week 56. Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). Every Sunday morning, the Tribe shares a small glimpse into the last week — and I’m sharing along, too. Every week, a new theme is release for all of us to post and share your link through one of the host’s post. I’m so happy that I found this amazing community of bloggers! All are welcome, so click through and join us in the Blogger Tribe Facebook group.

This week’s themes: Planning, Loving, Reading, Wishing, Feeling.

Planning: Another closet purge. I definitely fall into a “sunk cost” loop and really struggle with getting rid of things that I spent a good bit of money on (a pair of bright blue Hunters, a pair of too-big winter Sorels, two pairs (!!!) of Jeffrey Campbell platforms, and a Banana Republic wool coat, for starters). I haven’t had much luck on Poshmark aside from BUYING MORE, and then there is the annoyance (and expense) of shipping {my invite code is HPGQA if you’re interested in signing up and getting $10 for downloading the app!).

But I definitely do not feel joy by looking at these items, hanging out unworn.

Loving: I LOVE winter, so I am loving this recent snowstorm. Comfy PJ pants, good books, cats on laps, lots of hot chocolate… after running around like a crazy person outside first, of course!

30something wine book comfy pants

Reading: Speaking of good books, I borrowed “The Girl on the Train” from my neighbor after seeing a lot of great reviews on Goodreads, and it’s been a really enjoyable and interesting read (so far). You know, since we’re snowed in here in Pittsburgh, the weekend calls for this kind of cozy.

Wishing: Too much to wish for another snowstorm? 😀

Feeling: A little stressed from big decision making. I feel like I can’t adult. Maybe I need to read “The Paradox of Choice” again.

Sunday Lately: Week 54

- Mel

Blogger Tribe_Sunday LatelySunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). Every Sunday morning, the Tribe shares a small glimpse into the last week. Every week, a new theme is release for all of us to post and share your link through one of the host’s post. I’m so happy that I found this amazing community of bloggers! All are welcome, so click through and join us in the Blogger Tribe Facebook group.

This week’s themes: Updating, Remembering, Needing, Wearing, Being.

30-something therapy sunday lately

Updating: I had to update my derby number for this upcoming season, which means new scrimmage tanks, armbands… but basically a new identity too. Having butt-hurt feelings about it, naturally, but not really much that I can do about it.

Remembering: Speaking of derby, I couldn’t remember how long ago I joined and thankful for Timehop to remind me. Five years ago, I was skating at my first Steel City boot camp, and I tried out for Fresh Meat a short time later, which means that I’ve been skating for almost 6 years (I started in a rec league in Ohio the year prior). CRAZY!

Needing: PROTEIN. Hard-boiling eggs, eating all the chicken (as much as I hate it), stocking up on protein bars. And I just received a great sample pack of protein powder (angel food cake flavor!!!) and flavor packs to try from Devotion Nutrition. I’m making this Fruity Hoops Protein Fluff first.

Wearing: These days, it feels as though I can’t get into all the fleece soon enough. Unfortunately, wanting to be all warm and cozy is making me LAZY AF.

Being: My first 30-day “challenge” was to acknowledge and attempt to redirect my behavior of complaining. Man, do I HATE being labeled as a complainer! My focus is to reduce the complaints and more be actionable about changing the situation. A lot of my complaining stems from a loss of independence, so these small behavioral changes will help me gain back a little of my take-charge attitude.

Have a good week!

Sunday Lately: Week 53

- Mel

Blogger Tribe_Sunday LatelySunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). Every Sunday, the Tribe shares a small glimpse into the last week. Join us and share your link on one of the host’s post!

This week’s themes: Creating, Finding, Switching, Forgetting, Craving.

Creating: Sundays are the day that I sit down and plan my week. I start by writing the date range for the week at the top of the page of a small spiral notebook (I start my week on Mondays, to coordinate with my run training schedule). I then give each day its own header and write down any important meetings, events, etc. under each day of the week. Then, in a second column, I write my workout schedule and fill into each day — planning rest days too — and any important to-do items for the week. I’ve been using this method for years and it works for me really well! Plus, I think it’s important to decompress from the weekend and be aware of what’s in the week ahead.

Finding: When applying for some freelance writing work, I realized how many links were dead on my portfolio page. Come to find out, so many websites change their file paths and I need to stay on top of this (I was able to find a few updated links in search, but many sites are long gone and no longer live). I also realized that I don’t even have copies on my new laptop when my old computer shit the bed. Here’s hoping that I find some of my work!

Switching: After two full days without access to my WordPress blog or log-in, I have begun the process of looking into switching to a new host company for my websites. The customer service at Bluehost is beyond abysmal and after 24 hours of them telling me there was nothing they could do about a supposed DDoS attack on my server, I’m over it (I ended up being unable to access my site for nearly 48 hours!). While I understand there’s not much that can be done in this type of situation, I had one agent telling me that the problem was a DDoS attack and another saying that wasn’t true. They refused to acknowledge the problem publicly too and kept pushing me to DM. I reset, cleared caches, loaded on different networks, attempted using a proxy, called my Internet company, replaced routers, closed off repeaters and was still having so many issues. In any event, I’m back up and finally posting today, no thanks to their support.

Forgetting: Did anyone else keep forgetting what day it was for the last week? SIGH, back to work tomorrow!

Craving: You know how “they” say that when you view pictures online of food, you suddenly crave it too? Well, I’m not even a fan of pizza (and generally can’t eat it, unless there’s a gluten-free option) but I saw a Hawaiian pizza in my Instagram feed and can think of nothing else.

Sunday Lately: Week 52

- Mel

I’m participating in this week’s Sunday Lately round-up again with Wild & Wanderful. Today’s focus: Doing, Appreciating, Designing, Humming, Expecting.

Doing: Now that we’re back in Pittsburgh and unwinding from the Ohio holiday celebrations (and their respective party platters and mixed beverages), we have to focus on some of our growing clutter situation in the basement. Admittedly, I have my own personal piles of clothing and shoes that need to go to the donate bins or listed for sale online; we’ve also realized several boxes on shelves that haven’t been opened for a few YEARS… and well, it’s time for this stuff to go. So, I’ll be doing some organization and de-cluttering!

Appreciating: I’m so thankful for the time I could spend with the boyfriend our families this holiday, and I’m also looking forward to spending a day with my sisters and nieces this week. I appreciate my work organization giving us these extra days off to be able to see everybody!

Designing: There are some big things that are happening early in the New Year. This weekend, I’m designing a weekly plan for January and February to keep my goals in check, so that I don’t get overwhelmed and/or procrastinate.

Humming: Have we moved on beyond Christmas songs? Because I’m still humming this one.

Expecting: I’m expecting to finish two more books this week to make my 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge a reality. I can’t wait to cross this one off my 30s Life List! And it truly grew my passion for reading for fun again.